I know it's a minor detail, but it's been bugging me: what is
that /h/ doing in Lat. <pulcher>? Considering other inflected forms
("nigra sum, sed pulchra...") it would make sense to assume that
the /h/ is there to indicate that the /c/ should not be
pronounced /c^/, but then it looks like very early Italian? Didn't
the Romans otherwise use /h/ in Greek loans to indicate aspiration?
But this is not aspirated? I'm confused.
Torsten