Lleis fonètiques · Llei 20 · Grups consonàntics

S + consonant at the start of a word

S + consonant (initial)

De moment, les explicacions d’aquesta secció són en anglès; els exemples són en totes les llengües.

Espanyol

es-

Francès

é- (from es-, s lost)

Italià

s- (kept; takes lo, gli)

Portuguès

es-

Romanès

s- (kept)

Català

es-

Què va passar

Initial s + consonant was hard to start a word with after a consonant, so speakers added a vowel before it, already visible in late imperial inscriptions (spellings like ISPIRITUM, ISCOLA). Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and French generalized es-; French later lost the s before the consonant (see circumflex), leaving é-. Italian and Romanian keep the bare cluster, which is why Italian needs the special articles lo and gli (lo studente).

Exemples

Llatí	Italià	Espanyol	Francès	Portuguès	Romanès	Català	Parent anglès
STELLAM‘star’	stella	estrella	étoile	estrela	stea	estrella	stellar
SCRĪBERE‘to write’	scrivere	escribir	écrire	escrever	scrie	escriure	scribe
SCHOLAM‘school’	scuola	escuela	école	escola	—	escola	school
SPATHAM‘broadsword’	spada	espada	épée	espada	—	espasa
SPONSUM‘betrothed → husband’	sposo	esposo	époux	esposo	—	espòs	spouse
SPĪNAM‘thorn (pt espinha 'fishbone')’	spina	espina	épine	espinha	—	espina	spine

Descodificador

Spanish, Portuguese or Catalan es- or French é- + consonant? Drop the vowel for Italian and Romanian: escribir, écrire → scrivere, scrie. French é- often needs an s back: épine → espina, spina.

Excepcions

Later learned words keep a bare s- in French (spécial, statue, scolaire), and Spanish adds e- even to new loans (estrés, esnob, eslogan), as Portuguese and Catalan do in speech. Italian kept a prosthetic i- after a consonant in older usage (in Isvizzera, per iscritto). Romanian școală is a Slavic loan, not SCHOLAM inherited.

Mira com passa: SPATHAM

Què va passar

Exemples

Descodificador

Excepcions

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