Leyes fonéticas · Ley 3 · Vocales

French stressed free A becomes e

A (stressed, open syllable)

Por ahora, las explicaciones de esta sección están en inglés; los ejemplos están en todas las lenguas.

Español

a (kept)

Francés

e, è, é; ie after a palatal (chien)

Italiano

a (kept)

Portugués

a (kept)

Rumano

a (kept); â before n (câine)

Catalán

a (kept)

Qué ocurrió

In northern Gaul, a stressed A ending its syllable lengthened and fronted until it became an e, in the centuries before the first French texts; the other five sisters kept the a. After a consonant that had turned palatal (the ch from CA, see ca-to-cha) the result was ie instead (Bartsch's law): CANEM → chien. In most such words the i later disappeared after ch, so CARUM gave Old French chier, today cher.

Ejemplos

Latín	Italiano	Español	Francés	Portugués	Rumano	Catalán	Pariente en inglés
MARE‘sea’	mare	mar	mer	mar	mare	mar	marine
PATREM‘father’	padre	padre	père	pai	—	pare	paternal
SALEM‘salt’	sale	sal	sel	sal	sare	sal	saline
PRĀTUM‘meadow’	prato	prado	pré	prado	—	prat
NĀVEM‘ship’	nave	nave	nef	nau	—	nau	nave
CANEM‘dog’	cane	can	chien	cão	câine	ca	canine
CĀRUM‘dear’	caro	caro	cher	caro	—	car

Descodificador

A French stressed e, è or é before a single consonant (or at the end) often hides an a: mer, père, pré → mar/mare, padre/pare, prado/prato. After ch, look for ca: chien, cher → cane, caro.

Excepciones

Before a nasal the A gave ai instead (PANEM → pain, MANUM → main, AMAT → aime). In a closed syllable it stayed a (PARTEM → part, CARRUM → char), and learned words keep a (natal, salaire). Spanish can and Catalan ca are literary or regional for dog; everyday Spanish says perro and Central Catalan gos.

Míralo en acción: CLĀVEM

Qué ocurrió

Ejemplos

Descodificador

Excepciones

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