--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "alex" <alxmoeller@...> wrote:
> m_iacomi wrote:
> > Latin /gi/ gives Romanian /g^i/
> > (as in "gingiva" > "gingie").
> > Marius Iacomi
>
>
> I see it too that "gingie" is a loan from Latin; if it should have
been
> a substratual word I should have expected an "â" there; the Rom.
own
> words from the same root (*geng-) are "gânguri" and "gângãvi" with
their
> derivatives; DEX see here onomatopeas or loans from Slavic (gângav
< Sl.
> go~gnavU)
Surely *geng- should have resulted in a soft 'g' (/Z/), as in
_gingie_!
The first vowel is interesting. The fate of the first vowel, be it
*e, *e: or *i, depends on whether it is stressed. If stressed, it
should yield _i_; if unstressed, it should yield _e_. It's just
possible that if unstressed, the result could start geâ- /Z1/.
Forms starting "gâ" are implausible derivatives of *geng-.
I presume _gingie_ is stressed on the first syllable. Latin
_gingi:va_ was stressed on the second syllable. Why did the stress
move? Italian _gengiva_ is stressed on the second syllable. If
Spanish _encía_ be related, note that it too is stressed on the same
syllable. French _gencive_ also argues for a stress on the second
syllable.
Richard.