Re: [tied] Re: Cattle Trouble

From: alex
Message: 29169
Date: 2004-01-06

g wrote:
> On Tuesday, January 6, 2004, at 01:42 AM, Miguel wrote:
>
>> Bou is Catalan for ox[*]. In Romanian we would have expected
>> bovem > *bouã (like novem > nouã). That *bouã was altered to
>> bou is not surprising: cutting off a bull's balls doesn't make
>> the ox feminine.
>
> Exactly. (Now and then, jokingly, some people, esp. children
> use/invent a feminine form of <bou> => <boauã> ['boa-w&] or
> [bO-w&]. The same apply to <porc> => <poarcã>. Of course, the
> no-nonsense feminine word remains <scroafã> (in Transylvania &
> other neighbor areas is pronounced without diphtongation:
> ['skrO-f&].)
>
> George


go further: bou + ca > boca: since b=v, then boca= voca. I am curious
about the protolatin form of "vaca" here... it seems a nice game.
but do not forget. The suffix "-cã" in Rom. Lang. is considered as being
of slavic origin from slavic "-ka".

Alex