3) passarus should be *paxaro, paixaro, peixaro in Portuguese. "pássaro"
>
>
> *passero+ > pajaro (if *ssr wasn't allowed at the time,
> so e>0 couldn't occur).
>
For that, I think the usual explanation (i.e. that Spanish tends to
make an -a- out of the penultimate vowel in first-syllable stress
trisyllabic words such as relámpago or ciénaga, in application of the
"law of typical word-finals" ) is more natural than looking for some
phonetic rationalization (which, I'm sorry to confess, reminds me in
this case of Procust's bed).
Ton Sales
Ton Sales