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Sound laws · Law 22 · Clusters

Italian assimilates clusters

PT, PS, X [ks], MN

Spanish

simplified: pt → t; mn → ñ; x → j [x] or s

French

simplified or lost: pt → t; x → s

Italian

assimilated: tt, ss, ss, nn

Portuguese

simplified: pt → t, mn → n; x → ss or ix [jʃ]

Romanian

pt and mn kept (șapte, somn); x → s, ps

Catalan

simplified: pt → t, mn → n; x → ix [ʃ]

What happened

Italian made the first consonant of a cluster identical to the second, producing a double consonant held a little longer: PT → tt, PS and X (ks) → ss, MN → nn, and CT → tt (see ct). Spanish, French, Portuguese and Catalan simplified the same clusters instead, or turned them into new sounds; Romanian kept PT and MN as they were and even created new ones (see velar-to-labial). The result is that Italian double consonants often mark a Latin cluster the other sisters have lost.

Examples

LatinItalianSpanishFrenchPortugueseRomanianCatalanEnglish relative
SEPTEM‘seven’settesieteseptseteșaptesetSeptember
SOMNUM‘sleep’sonnosueñosommesonosomnsonsomnolent
SCRĪPTUM‘written’scrittoescritoécritescrito—escritscript
FRAXINUM‘ash tree’frassinofresnofrênefreixofrasinfreixe
DĪXIT‘he said’dissedijoditdissezise—

Decoder

An Italian tt or ss where Spanish, Portuguese or Catalan has a single t or s often hides pt, ct or x: sette ~ siete, sete, set; scritto ~ escrito. Romanian and English often keep the cluster: șapte, somn; September, script.

Exceptions

Learned words resist: Italian keeps ps in psicologia and Spanish ct in acto. French sept is spelled with p but says [sɛt]. Spanish sueño blends SOMNUM 'sleep' and SOMNIUM 'dream', and French somme now means 'nap'. Romanian scris 'written' is built on a new participle (*SCRĪSUM), and Catalan says va dir or digué for 'he said'.

Watch it happen: SEPTEM

In your word bank