From: fournet.arnaud
Message: 53782
Date: 2008-02-20
----- Original Message -----
From: Rick McCallister
To: Cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 6:24 AM
Subject: [tied] Spanish /fV-/ > /hV-/
Many histories of the Spanish language link Spanish
initial /fV-/ > /hV-/ (and in modern Spanish > /V-/)
to Basque.
Larry Trask always pooh-poohed this idea, pointing
that Basque handled Latin loanwords with /fV-/
differently.
He also added that Spanish actually developed in
former Celtic-speaking territory, outside where Basque
was spoken.
I wondered if this could have developed due to
Celtiberian. But I ran into Flaccus - Balakos, etc. in
Stifter "Keltiberisch."
I realize that Calabrian also has /fV-/ > /hV-/ but
it's far away and probably much later --given that
I've read that Calabria and Sicily were Greek-speaking
until c. 1000 when Neapolitan speakers and others
spilled in after the Norman conquest of Sicily.
Was Trask right?
BTW: In rural Central America /f-/ > /h-/ also occurs
before diphthongs and /-l-/ e.g. fuerte /fwerte/ >
/hwerte/, flor /flor/ > /hlor/. /f-/ > /h-/ is also
heard in rural Mexico.
===============
The change f to h or h to f
in either way is not rare.
Cf. after = Dutch achter.
Arnaud
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