Lois phonétiques · Loi 18 · Groupes consonantiques

CL-, PL-, FL- at the start of a word

CL- PL- FL-

Les explications sont pour l’instant en anglais ; les exemples sont dans toutes les langues.

Espagnol

ll- (often)

Français

cl- pl- fl- (kept)

Italien

chi- pi- fi-

Portugais

ch- [ʃ]

Roumain

CL- → che-, chi- [kʲ]; PL-, FL- kept

Catalan

cl- pl- fl- (kept)

Ce qui s’est passé

Italian turned the l after a consonant into a y-glide (a common change: the tongue skips the lateral). Spanish went further and fused the whole cluster into one palatal sound, written ll, and Portuguese further still, to a hushing ch [ʃ] (once [tʃ]). Romanian did the Italian thing only after c (and g): CL- → chi-, che- [kʲ], GL- → ghi-, while PL- and FL- stayed. French and Catalan kept the clusters as Latin had them.

Exemples

Latin	Italien	Espagnol	Français	Portugais	Roumain	Catalan	Parent anglais
CLĀVEM‘key’	chiave	llave	clé	chave	cheie	clau	clavicle
CLAMĀRE‘to cry out → to call’	chiamare	llamar	clamer	chamar	chema	clamar	claim
PLĒNUM‘full’	pieno	lleno	plein	cheio	plin	ple	plenty
FLAMMAM‘flame’	fiamma	llama	flamme	chama	—	flama	flame
PLUVIAM‘rain’	pioggia	lluvia	pluie	chuva	ploaie	pluja	pluvial
PLAGAM‘blow → wound’	piaga	llaga	plaie	chaga	—	plaga	plague

Clé de lecture

Spanish ll- or Portuguese ch- at the start of a word? Try cl-/pl-/fl- for French and Catalan and chi-/pi-/fi- for Italian: llave, chave → clé, clau, chiave. Romanian chi-, che- answers only to cl-: cheie, chema.

Exceptions

Learned words keep the cluster everywhere: clave, plano, flor (es) beside llave, llano; Portuguese has a third outcome, pr-, in words like praia (PLAGIAM) and prazer (PLACĒRE). French clamer is now literary ('to proclaim'); Romanian GL- → ghi- shows in gheață (VL *GLACIAM).

Voir la transformation: CLĀVEM

Ce qui s’est passé

Exemples

Clé de lecture

Exceptions

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