From: Miguel Carrasquer
Message: 32577
Date: 2004-05-12
>--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Miguel Carrasquer wrote:The question is: why is the singular not *ghetzã or *ghietzã
>
>> On Wed, 12 May 2004 10:14:40 +0000, tolgs001
>> <st_george@...> wrote:
>>
>>>>4) ja > e (not in Aromanian: kl^ae, not cheie "key")
>>>>
>>>> [/glakja/ > /glaca/ > /gl^aca/ > /gl^ac&/ > /gjac&/
>>>
>>> Up to here.
>>>
>>>>/gec&/ = ghetz-]
>>>
>>> These are not extant in the DR dialect. There is only
>>> the diphtongued variant ['gea-tz&], which happens
>>> to be the one chosen for the artificial standard language,
>>> because of (historically explained) influences exerted
>>> by the Muntenia subdialects. I underline: take [ea] as
>>> a diphtong. The [e] as a distinct vowel occurs in the
>>> plural only, as you've already mentioned:
>> >
>> >>This is the plural form (ghetzuri).
>>
>> But is <ghetzuri> also the plural in places where the
>> singular is ghiatzã /g^ac&/? Or is is <ghiatzuri> there?
>
> AFAIK, <ghiatzuri> does not exist. Might be to hear out some
><ghietzuri> but this is rather rare.
> I think the whole story about vowels in the 1st syllable is
>slightly excessive. To put it into clear: in Romanian there
>is no phonetical distinction between "e" and "i" as first
>diphthong elements when preceeded by "ch" or "gh" (which is
>also phonematically supported by inexistence of opposition
>in these specified conditions). So in the normal voicing [gjac&],
>the palatal glide (as diphthong element) can be interpreted as
>well (at a phonematical level) as /e/ or as /i/. It happens
>that most people have reinterpreted this as /e/ and analogically
>rebuilt the umlaut sequence according to the last syllable vowel;
>in other words the spoken [gjac&] was phonematically perceived
>not as /g(ja)c&/ but as /g(ea)c&/ since the two are pronounced
>the same way, the latter form was sustained by plural umlaut
>-ea-& <-> é-i. If the spelling of the singular does not make the
>difference in pronouncing (for non-syllabic [j], as expected),
>the plural form with /e/ is fixing the phoneme and justifies
>the actual spelling <gheaT&>.
> Non-diphthongued pronouncing of the word (with syllabic /i/)
>is rather uncommon and hypercorrect.