Lois phonétiques · Loi 3 · Voyelles

French stressed free A becomes e

A (stressed, open syllable)

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

Espagnol

a (kept)

Français

e, è, é; ie after a palatal (chien)

Italien

a (kept)

Portugais

a (kept)

Roumain

a (kept); â before n (câine)

Catalan

a (kept)

Ce qui s’est passé

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.

Exemples

Latin	Italien	Espagnol	Français	Portugais	Roumain	Catalan	Parent anglais
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

Clé de lecture

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.

Exceptions

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.

Voir la transformation: CLĀVEM

Ce qui s’est passé

Exemples

Clé de lecture

Exceptions

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