--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Rick McCallister <gabaroo6958@...>
wrote:
>
> Why so much quibbling over this. It's pretty obvious that Latin <s>
was perceived by Basques as laminal, while Spanish <s> was perceived as
apical.
>
Not exactly. As modern Basque has both /s/ and /s'/ as separate
phonemes, this must indicate the ancient language had a different
distribution, having /s/ but no /s'/. However, there's evidence of
ancient Basque words with /s'/, e.g. s'eni > sehi, segi, sein 'boy,
servant', we must conclude they come from a different language/dialect,
probably related to Iberian (e.g. s'ani).
> Both apical and laminal <s>, of course exist in Spanish, but as
regional traits.
>
But always as *allophones* of /s/, not as separate phonemes. In northern
varieties (which also include the std one), Spanish /s/ *is* an apical
[s'], as probably was Latin /s/. For example, Latin Sixtus was adapted
by Iberian as S'is'te, with an apical sibilant.
> In any case, most Romance borrowings into Basque were not from
Spanish, but from Gascon and Aragonese.
>
The influence of neighbouring Romances is mainly reflected in borrowings
to adjacent Basque dialects. For example, Roncalese has fungo 'mushroom'
from Aragonese instead of the common onddo. But must Romance loanwords
in Basque are from indigenous varieties superseded by Basque itself.