22. The vowels of Vulgar Latin are a, ẹ, ę, ị, į, ọ, ǫ, ụ, ų, with
the diphthongs áu and úi; the old æ and œ had become identical in sound
with ę and ẹ. As early as the 3d century of our era, į was changed, in
nearly all the Empire, to ẹ, and thus became identical with the vowel
coming from original ē. A little later, perhaps, ų, in the greater
part of the Empire, became ọ, thus coinciding with the vowel that was
originally ō. Ypsilon, in words taken from the Greek, was identified,
in early borrowings, with Latin u; in later ones, with Latin i: βύρσα
＞ Pr. _borsa_, γῠρος ＞ Pr. _girs_. Omicron, which apparently had
the close sound in Greek, generally (but not always) retained it in
recently borrowed words in Vulgar Latin: τόρνος ＞ tọrnus (cf. Pr.
tọrn), but κόλαφος ＞ _cŏlăphus_ = cọlapus or cǫlapus (cf. Pr. cǫlp).
The development of the Vulgar Latin vowels in Provençal will now be
examined in detail:--
a
23. Cl. L. ā, ă ＞ V. L. a ＞ Pr. ą: _ărbŏrem_ ＞ ąrbre, _grātum_ ＞ grąt,
_măre_ > mąr.
1. The ending _-arius_ shows an irregular development in
French and Provençal, the Provençal forms being mainly such as
would come from _-ĕrius_; as in _parlier_, _parleira_. In the
earliest stage we find apparently -ęr´ and -ęr´a; then -ęr´
and -ęir´a; next -ęr, -ięr and -ęira, -ięira; finally, with
a reciprocal influence of the two genders, -ęr, -ięr, -ęir,
and -ęra, -ięra, -ęira, -ięira: _caballarium_ ＞ _c(h)avaler_
_-ier_, _-eir_, ✱_man(u)aria_ ＞ _manera_ _-iera_ _-eira_
_-ieira_. The peculiar treatment of this suffix has not been
satisfactorily explained. See E. R. Zimmermann, _Die Geschichte
des lateinischen Suffixes -arius in den romanischen Sprachen_,
1895; E. Staaff, _Le suffixe -arius dans les langues romanes_,
Upsala, 1896, reviewed by Marchot in _Zs._, XXI, 296, by
Körting in _Zeitschrift für französische Sprache_, XXII, 55;
Meyer-Lübke, _Gram._, I, 222, § 237; Zimmermann in _Zs._,
XXVI, 591; Thomas in _Rom._, XXXI, 481 and in _Bausteine zur
romanischen Philologie_, 641. The likeliest theory is that of
Thomas: that _-arius_ was associated with the Germanic ending
_-ari_ and participated in the _umlaut_ which affected the
latter; cf. _Phon._, pp. 34-36.
2. In Gascony and Languedoc _ei_ is used for _ai_ ＜ _habeo_.
The _ei_ perhaps developed first as a future ending (_amar
-ei_) by analogy of the preterit ending _-ei_ (_amei_): see
Morphology, §§ 152, 1, 162, (4), 175, (4), where this latter
ending is discussed also. For a different explanation, see
Meyer-Lübke, _Gram._, I, 222, § 237.
3. A few apparent irregularities are to be traced to the
vocabulary of Vulgar Latin. For instance, Pr. _sereisa_
represents, not Cl. L. _cĕrăsus_, but V. L. _cĕrĕsĕa_: see
Meyer-Lübke, _Einf._, § 103. _Uebre_ is from ✱_ŏpĕrit_, or
_apĕrit_ modified by ✱_cŏpĕrit_ = _cōperit_. _Voig_ is from
✱_vŏcĭtum_ = _vacuum_: _Einf._, § 114.
4. Such forms as _fontaina_ = _fontana_ ＜ _fontāna_, etc., and
_tres_ = _tras_ ＜ _trans_, etc., are French or belong to the
borderland between French and Provençal.
24. In some dialects, particularly in Rouergue, Limousin, Auvergne, and
Dauphiné, a became ạ before a nasal, and at the end of a monosyllable
or an oxytone: _canem_ ＞ cạn, _grandem_ ＞ grạnt, _cadit_ ＞ cạ,
_stat_ ＞ estạ.
1. The conditions differ somewhat in the various dialects,
according as the nasal consonant falls or remains, and is
followed by another consonant or not. In Limousin the sound
is ą before an n that cannot fall: see § 11, (5). In Rouergue
and in Dauphiné, ạ appears before all nasals. The poets
generally follow the Limousin usage. See F. Pfützner, _Ueber
die Aussprache des provenzalischen A_, Halle, 1884.
ẹ
25. Cl. L. ē, ĭ, œ ＞ V. L. ẹ ＞ Pr. ẹ: _habēre_ ＞ avẹr, _mē_ ＞ mẹ,
_mensem_ ＞ mẹs, _plēnum_ ＞ plẹn, _rēgem_ ＞ rẹi, _vēndĕre_ ＞ vẹndre;
_ĭnter_ ＞ ẹntre, _fĭdem_ ＞ fẹ, _malĭtia_ ＞ malẹza, _mĭnus_ ＞ mẹns,
_mĭttĕre_ ＞ mẹtre, _sĭccum_ ＞ sẹc, _vĭrĭdem_ ＞ vẹrt, _pœna_ ＞ pẹna.