Vowel Breaking - Romance Languages

Romance Languages

In many of the Romance languages, the Vulgar Latin vowels e and o in stressed position sometimes underwent breaking. The result of breaking varies between languages: e and o become ie and ue in Spanish, but ea and oa in Romanian.

In some languages breaking is absent in some cases.

  • Latin mortem "death" (acc.) → Spanish muerte (breaking), but French mort (no breaking)
  • Latin festa "feast" (neuter plural) → Spanish fiesta, but Middle French feste, Modern French fête (no breaking)

Read more about this topic:  Vowel Breaking

Famous quotes containing the words romance and/or languages:

    I do like a little romance ... just a sniff, as I call it, of the rocks and valleys.... Of course, bread-and-cheese is the real thing. The rocks and valleys are no good at all, if you haven’t got that.
    Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)

    The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.
    Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1934)