--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "m_iacomi" <m_iacomi@...> wrote:
> ... So it cannot be for final -s, like the one in "chevals/chevaus"
> since there is no further consonant. ...
That is: In [chevals] -> [chevaus] -> [chevax] etc, given the usual
style of French mediaeval handwriting, handwritten [-us] at the end
of a word got to look like [-x].
English examples are:-
- The thorn letter gradually became the same shape as [y], whence
spellings such as [ye olde].
- The yogh letter sometimes persisted in surnames and Scottish words
and presents as silent [z], e.g. in "tailzie" and "Menzies".
Sometimes people then pronounce the word phonetically and an
unetymlogical [z] sound appears.