--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Miguel Carrasquer wrote:
> On Wed, 12 May 2004 18:23:59 +0000, tolgs001
> <st_george@...> wrote:
>
>> The [ea]-[e] relationship is valid for the standard
>> language and Marius's and Alex's own subdialects.
>> As for those areas I keep mentioning, I'd put it this
>> way:
>>
>> no vowel-diphtong, but a simple [a] versus [e]
>> relationship; following the same palatal G', i.e.
>> [g'atz&] vs. plural [g'etzurj].
>
> I don't think there is such a vast difference between
> [g'ats&] and [gjats&]: it's a matter of degree (and
> notation).
Indeed, it isn't.
> The surprising thing is that g'a-/gja- becomes g'e-/g(j)e-
> in the verbal forms you mention, and in the plural, but not
> in the singular. Early merger of /gja-/ and /gea-/, as
> Marius Iacomi suggests would solve that problem for the
> literary dialect, but not for Moldavian etc., where such a
> merger did not take place(?).
Why not?! regional phonetism has its own parallel rules (it's
essentially a kind of mapping of Southern DR, with only a few
broken correspondences).
For a better picture, I'll resume it as follows:
I. Latin -cl-, -gl- > Common Romanian -kl'-, -gl'-, conserved
as such in AR, MglR & IR;
II. In DR, early enough we have -kl'-, -gl'- > k,g + palatal
glide [j]
III. Before (stressed) vowel, this palatal glide...
1. is preserved as non-syllabical element of diphthong with
/a/ and /o/ (e.g. "scloppus" > /s^kjop/, "clarus" > /kjar/,
"clagum" > /kjag/, "(per) vigila(re)" > /privegja/, etc.);
2. is absorbed by front vowels /e/, /i/ ("inclino" > /1nkin/,
"*glemus" [for cl. "glomus"] > /gem/);
3. induces /u/, /&/ (/1/) > /i/ and is subsequently absorbed by
the vowel ("includo" > /1nkid/, "glandem" > /gind&/, etc.);
IV. Further evolution of diphthong [ja] resulted from above
described process is conditionned by phonetical environment
(including umlaut) and follows mostly similar patterns with
/ea/ (in alternance) since they merge naturally:
1. preserved as such before an /a/ or /&/ in the next syllable:
/kjam&/ (written "cheamã"), /gjac&/ (written "gheaTã"), /gjaca/
(written "gheaTa"), etc.
2. turned into /e/ if the next syllable contains an /e/, or
in alternance with /e/ in the next syllable (if any), or if
dipthong is final; it also shifts into /e/ when becoming
unstressed:
/ke(j)e/ (written "cheie"), /keme/ (written "cheme"), /kem'/
(written "chemi"), /kemàre/ (written "chemare"), etc.
Since a word like "chiar" is not involved in any alternance,
the diphthong [ja] is preserved even if the syllable is final;
the same holds for "cheag" whose form does not change at the
plural ("cheaguri").
Regards,
Marius Iacomi