Re: root *pVs-

As far as LAtin is concerned,
ba:sium is not a Latin word, straight down from Indo-European,
but a dialectal word.
So some odd and irregular factors must be expected.
As far as Old French is concerned,
the verb ba:siare > bais-i-er with yod. (1st class)
Other Old French form : bais-ir (2nd class) same meaning
The yod was erased in Middle FRench
ba:siare > bais-i-er > bais-er (to kiss)
bassiare > baissi-i-er > baiss-er (to lower)
French comes straight down from this dialectal word.
Nothing odd.

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@...>
wrote:

>
> At 4:02:12 PM on Monday, July 2, 2007, Rick McCallister
> wrote:
>
> > Latin ba:sium vs. Modern Romance forms such as Spanish
> > beso, Portuguese beija, French baiser, Italian bacio seems
> > to skew either the vowel, the sibillant or both.
>
> > What's happening?
> > Is it a yod phenomenon?
>
> Yes, according to the references that I have on hand. Using
> <y> for yod, /sy/ preceded by a vowel yields Port. /z^/
> (<j>). In most VCy groups the yod affects either the V or
> the C but not both, but Vsy is one of the exceptions, and
> /ay/ gives Port. <ai> or <ei>, whence <beijo>. In French
> /sy/ > /yz/, and /ay/ then becomes OFr /ai/; in Spanish
> /sy/ > /ys/, and /ay/ > /e/.
>
> I've no decent source for Italian historical phonology. One
> of the minimal sources on hand says that Italian /sy/
> regularly yields /z^/, spelled <gi>, the yod not affecting
> the preceding vowel, so that one would indeed expect *bagio
> (as in <cagione> from <occa:sio:, -o:nis>). Another seems
> to suggest that in some cases it became /s^/, and that /c^/
> is a non-Tuscan hypercorrection stemming from a Tuscan
> tendency to deaffricate /c^/ to /s^/.
>
> Brian
>