Sound laws · Law 13 · Consonants

Germanic W- becomes gu- / g-

Germanic W-

Spanish

gu- ([gw] before a, o; [g] before e, i)

French

g(u)- [g]

Italian

gu- [gw]

Portuguese

gu- ([gw] before a, o; [g] before e, i)

Romanian

— (Romanian has no words from this Germanic layer)

Catalan

gu- ([gw] before a, o; [g] before e, i)

What happened

Words borrowed from Germanic peoples (Franks, Goths, Lombards) in late antiquity began with a [w] that spoken Latin no longer had, since its own V had become a fricative. Speakers rendered it as gw, reinforcing the lip-rounding with a velar stop. Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Catalan keep gu-; French reduced gw to plain g, writing gu before e and i. Romanian, cut off from the West, never received these words (gardă and gherilă are modern loans).

Examples

Latin	Italian	Spanish	French	Portuguese	Romanian	Catalan	English relative
Germanic *WERRA‘strife → war’	guerra	guerra	guerre	guerra	—	guerra	war
Germanic *WARDŌN‘to watch, guard’	guardare	guardar	garder	guardar	—	guardar	guard
Germanic *WĪSA‘manner, way’	guisa	guisa	guise	guisa	—	guisa	guise
Frankish *WARNJAN‘to equip, furnish’	guarnire	guarnecer	garnir	guarnecer	—	guarnir	garnish

Decoder

Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or Catalan gu- and French g- often go back to English w-: guerra, guerre ~ war; guardar, garder ~ ward. Italian guardare means 'to look at', Spanish and Portuguese guardar 'to keep'.

Exceptions

Germanic w sometimes rubbed off on Latin V-words in French: VESPAM → guêpe (beside avispa, vespa), VASTĀRE → gâter. Norman French kept w, which is why English has war, warden and wardrobe beside guard and guardian.

What happened

Examples

Decoder

Exceptions

In your word bank