On Mon, Dec 29, 2003, at 12:24 AM, m_iacomi wrote:
> unstressed Latin /e/ does not go always in /&/ even in
> the first syllable: "venenum" > "venin", "venire" > "veni",
> "berbecem" (CL "vervex") > "berbec(e)", etc.
BTW, <vení, veníre> has a variant with [i] instead
of [e], e.g. <am vinít>, in vast Daco-Romanian sub-
dialectal areas, namely in the entire Transylvania
plus its subdialectals "belongings" (incl. Northern
Maramuresh that today belongs to Ukraine), as well as
the entire Banate and entire Moldavia. (What's more:
in central Transylvania, the participle <vinit> becomes
<vin't> [vi:nt]: <o vin't Si o zîs> = <a venit Si a
zis> = <venit et dicit>.) I expect a census-like
inquiry in the DR populace to reveal that to pretty
more than 50% of them the verb is <a vini, vinire,
vinit>, contrasting the written language, <a veni,
venire, venit>.
George