Features
Rhaeto-Romance is distinguished by a number of features which separate it from its neighbors.
- diphthongization of Vulgar Latin open e into ei, closed e into ie
- Latin pede → Rom. (Surselvan) pei "foot", Lad pl. piesc "feet"
- Latin festa → Rom. (Surselvan) fiasta, Friul fieste "party, feast"
- occasional change of stressed a to e, particularly after a palatalized velar
- fronting of long ū in all stages ui → ü → i
- Latin plūs "more" → Friul plui : Lad plü, Rom (Engadine) plü : Rom (other dialects) pli
- loss of final vowels except -a, which often weakens to -e (in Friulian there is also a feminine plural in -is)
- Rom. saira, Lad sëra, Friul sere "evening"
- Rom. festa, Lad festa, Friul fieste "party"
- Friul pie, pia (pious, f.) "press"
- general palatalization of the ca and ga groups
- Lad ciampana, Friul čhampane "bell"
- preserved cl-, pl-, fl-; preserved Germanic w
- Latin clāvem → Rom clav/clev, Lad (Fascian, Fodom) kle(f), Friul clâv "key"
- Lat plēbs → Rom plaiv "parish", Lad plief "parish", Friul plêv "parish church"
- Lat flātus → Rom flad, Lad fle, fla, Friul flât "breath"
- Gothic werra → Rom (Surselvan) uiara, (Sutselvan) veara, Lad vera, Friul vuere "war"
- voicing of intervocalic unvoiced consonants
- loss of intervocalic voiced consonants
- preserved final -s leading to a single case based on an obsolete oblique which combined different endings from non-nominative cases; formerly a double case system.
- Rom sunàis "you ring" (< sonās)
- Rom culinis "hills" (< *collinīs, dative)
- Rom bels ölgs "beautiful eyes" (< *bellos oculos, accusative)
Read more about this topic: Rhaeto-Romance Languages
Famous quotes containing the word features:
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—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
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