Re: [tied] Re: Romance Pequeno, Pequeño, Petit, Piccolo

From: Joao
Message: 31746
Date: 2004-04-06

Yes, pl>ll, but through a hypothetical metathesis *piclu > *plicu. Just a guess.
----- Original Message -----
From: m_iacomi
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 11:02 AM
Subject: [tied] Re: Romance Pequeno, Pequeño, Petit, Piccolo

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Joao" wrote:

> And how about Spanish chico "small, little child"? What's its
> origin? Could be from *pliccus < *picclus < *picculus?

Due to phonetics and history, the safest bet is that Spanish
"chico" /tSiko/ shares a common etymon with Catalan "xic" /tSik/,
that is Latin "ciccu(m)" `cosa de poquísimo valor` (to use own
words of Spanish linguists).
I fail to see why you reconstruct the series above: Latin "pl-"
yields normally Spanish "ll-" (plorare > llorar, plaga > llaga,
planus > llano, plenus > lleno, etc.), far away from /tS/.

  Regards,
             Marius Iacomi