On Sat, 17 Aug 2002 07:15:56 -0000, "altamix" <
altamix@...> wrote:
>About fata beeing a feminin of foetus i have just my doubt. The semantic he=
>re is far away.
You're kidding: "feminine child" ~ "girl". The semantics can't get any closer
than that (Latin fe:tus does *not* mean specifically "foetus").
The phonetical development is exactly as expected: Latin stressed e: gives -ea-
when there's an e or a (but not an u) in the follwing syllable (directu > dreptu
> drept, directa > drepta > dreapta~; unstressed fetit,a "little girl"). Before
-e, -ea- is reduced to -e- (pl. fete, mese). Finally, in "Daco-Romanian"
(Mac.Rom. still feata~ "girl"), -ea- is reduced to -a- after a labial (feata~ >
fata~, measa~ > masa~).
=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...