Leggi fonetiche · Legge 14 · Consonanti
L before a consonant becomes u
L + consonant
Per ora le spiegazioni sono in inglese; gli esempi sono in tutte le lingue.
Spagnolo
al → o (otro); ult → uch (mucho); often kept
Francese
l → u, fused with the vowel: au [o], ou [u], eau
Italiano
l kept (altro, caldo)
Portoghese
al → ou, oi in some words (outro, foice); written l elsewhere, said [w] in Brazil
Rumeno
l kept (alt, cald)
Catalano
l kept (altre, falç)
Cosa è successo
Before a consonant, l was 'dark': the back of the tongue rose toward the soft palate, close to a w. French turned it fully into u, which merged with the vowel before it (al → au → [o], ol → ou → [u], el → eau). Spanish and Portuguese did this only in a few words: al + consonant became o in Spanish, ou or oi in Portuguese (otro, outro; hoz, foice), and ult became uch in Spanish (mucho, escuchar). Italian, Romanian and Catalan kept the l; Brazilian Portuguese has since vocalized every syllable-final l in speech (alto [ˈawtu], Brasil [bɾaˈziw]).
Esempi
| Latino | Italiano | Spagnolo | Francese | Portoghese | Rumeno | Catalano | Parente inglese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALTERUM‘other’ | altro | otro | autre | outro | alt | altre | alter |
| FALCEM‘sickle, scythe’ | falce | hoz | faux | foice | — | falç | |
| AUSCULTĀRE (VL *ASCULTĀRE)‘to listen’ | ascoltare | escuchar | écouter | escutar | asculta | escoltar | auscultation |
| CULTELLUM‘knife (pt cutelo 'cleaver')’ | coltello | cuchillo | couteau | cutelo | — | coltell | |
| CALIDUM (VL CALDUM)‘hot (es, pt caldo 'broth')’ | caldo | caldo | chaud | caldo | cald | — | |
| PALMAM‘palm’ | palma | palma | paume | palma | palmă | palma | palm |
Chiave di decodifica
French au, ou before a consonant often hide an l: autre → altro, alt, altre; chaud → caldo, cald; couteau → coltello. Spanish uch can hide ult (escuchar → ascoltare), and Portuguese ou, oi an al (outro, foice).
Eccezioni
Before a vowel French keeps the l, which explains pairs like cheval/chevaux, bel/beau, nouvel/nouveau, fol/fou. Spanish and Portuguese mostly kept l (alto, alba, Spanish dulce), and learned words keep it everywhere (altérer, falsifier, alternativa). Catalan calent 'hot' comes from CALENTEM, not CALDUM.
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