Re: Albanian pre and Romanian prada (was: Question on Albanian sy)

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham"
<richard.wordingham@...> wrote:

>
> > > Will pre (pre:) 'prey, quarry' <
> > > praeda satisfy you? And this is my last word on this sub-
> > > thread.
> > > Sorry,
> > > but I'm fed up with it.
>
> > Piotr, the Latin Latin word was praeda and the transition was
> > via a hiatus : Balkan Latin *pra-a-da (Rom pradã) => (the trace
> > of hiatus is still visible in Romanian when I pronounce it
> > correctly: pra'a-dã). So the word was tri-syllabic for sure...
>
> I am not convinced.
>
> 1. praeda > pre:da (Rural Latin)
>
> Middle English _preie_ from Old French suggests a Proto-Romance

high

> vowel /e:/ rather than a low vowel /E:/.
>
> 2. pre:da > *preada (Rom. breaking before a)
>
> 4. *preada > _prada_
>
> I'm not sure about this last change, but it might explain your
> hiatus. ea > a after labials is a definite change, but I don't
> know how it's affected by an intervening liquid.
>
> Richard.
>

I am not sure either. The plural form shows an "ã" instead of the
expected "e" if there has been an earier "e" > "ea" > "a".
I should have expected "*prezi" but the plural is "prãzi" and that
will speak for an "a" there, not for an "e".

Alex