Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The evolution of stressed vowels
- 2 Early changes in syllable structure and consonants
- 3 Consonant weakening and strengthening
- 4 New palatal consonants
- 5 More about vowels: raising, yod effects, and nasalization
- 6 Verb morphology: the present indicative
- 7 Verb morphology: systemic reorganization
- 8 Noun and adjective morphology
- 9 History and structure of Portuguese: an overview
- 10 History and structure of Romanian: an overview
- 11 Formation of the Romance lexicon
- 12 Emergence of the Romance vernaculars
- Notes
- Glossary of linguistic terms
- Suggestions for further reading
- Works cited
- Index
1 - The evolution of stressed vowels
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The evolution of stressed vowels
- 2 Early changes in syllable structure and consonants
- 3 Consonant weakening and strengthening
- 4 New palatal consonants
- 5 More about vowels: raising, yod effects, and nasalization
- 6 Verb morphology: the present indicative
- 7 Verb morphology: systemic reorganization
- 8 Noun and adjective morphology
- 9 History and structure of Portuguese: an overview
- 10 History and structure of Romanian: an overview
- 11 Formation of the Romance lexicon
- 12 Emergence of the Romance vernaculars
- Notes
- Glossary of linguistic terms
- Suggestions for further reading
- Works cited
- Index
Summary
The languages of the Romance family are descended from Latin, but what kind of Latin? Just as Modern English exists in many varieties and registers, so also Latin came to be a socially complex language, extending over a vast territory and serving the needs of diverse speech communities. Among the educated, a codified literary Latin existed, enshrined in the classics and in treatises on grammar. But Latin also lived on as an evolving spoken language among the far-flung populations of the Roman Empire. The basic vocabulary of the Romance languages bears the imprint of a casual, spoken style of Latin, always open to change. In conservative social contexts, in the domain of religion and high culture, the frozen classical language remained an influential presence in the minds of the literate few, and became in later centuries a source of new layers of vocabulary.
Syllables and word stress in Latin
In this overview of the sound changes leading from Latin to the major Romance languages, we begin with the stressed vowels. Since the first requisite is knowing how to identify the stressed vowel, this lesson explains vowel quantity, syllable weight, and the rule that assigns stress in Latin.
Why word stress matters
Stress position in a Latin word (etymon) has a crucial effect on its Romance outcomes (reflexes).
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- Romance LanguagesA Historical Introduction, pp. 5 - 25Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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