Re: -l > -w

From: Marc Verhaegen
Message: 842
Date: 2000-01-10

Marc says:    You mention French chaud. Dutch kald>koud (Engl.cold) changed in parallel with French cald->caud- (later >chaud). Both words have a common origin, I believe, but opposite meaning.
 
They are "false friends". Chaud is from Latin calidus 'hot, warm', unrelated to Germanic *kalda-.    Cold forms a word-family with chill and cool. They all seem to be related to Latin gelu: 'frost, cold' and gelidus 'icy, cold' (PIE *g > Gmc *k by Grimm's Law); hence jelly, gelid, gelatin and other Romance loans in English.    --Piotr
 
Of course. I read somewhere that both words had a common origin, but I should have known. But it's a lot easier to ask you than to think a bit myself. Thanks.     --Marc
 
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A further question is: why did Portugese & esp. French have the strongest stress, stronger than in other Romance languages? French could have got its strong stress from the Franconian invaders, but what about Portugese? Visigoths?? --Marc
 
Why not? Or some Iberian substrate (Lusitanian?). Of course strong stress may be a spontaneous development within Portuguese. There doesn't have to be an external stimulus for everything.    --Piotr
 
Not for everything, no, but I have the impression that contacts between languages (mutually unintelligible) & dialects (mutually intelligible) are often very important in how languages change. Do you think languages in isolation can remain relatively unchanged for a long time?
 
--Marc