65. The single medial consonants will now be considered separately, in
alphabetical order:--
β, coming from b or v, became v; except in the west and a part of the
centre, where, if it remained intervocalic, it changed to b: _habētis_
＞ avętz abętz, _debēre_ ＞ devẹr debẹr, _faba_ ＞ fava faba; _avārum_
＞ avar, _æstīva_ ＞ estiva, _brĕvem_ ＞ bręu,[43] _clavem_ ＞ clau, _dīe
Jŏvis_ ＞ diiǫus, _lĕvat_ ＞ lęva, _novĕlla_ ＞ novęla nabęra (Gascon),
_vīvus_ ＞ vius. When the preceding or following vowel was o or u, a β
before the accent fell in most dialects, being fused with the vowel:
_abŭndare_ ＞ aondar abondar, _gŭbĕrnare_ ＞ goernar governar, proclitic
_ŭbĭ_ ＞ ọ, _prŏbare_ ＞ proar, _sŭbĭnde_ ＞ soẹn sovẹn sobẹn,
_trĭbūtum_ ＞ treüt; _Lŭdovīcus_ ＞ Lozoics, _Provĭncia_ ＞ Proẹnsa
Provẹnsa, _novĕllum_ ＞ noęl novęl, _novĕmbrem_ ＞ noembre novembre,
_pavōnem_ ＞ paọn, _pavōrem_ ＞ paọr (cf. § 55, V).
1. The perfect endings _-avi_ etc., _-ivi_ etc. had lost their
v in Latin. For avia, etc., see § 87, β.
2. _Abans_, beside _avanz_, _avan_ ＜ _ab_ _ante_, apparently
shows the influence of Pr. _ab_ = _apud_. _Abet_ ＜ _abiĕtem_
(§ 40, 1) is unexplained: cf. Italian _abete_. _Abora_ is a
Provençal compound of _ab_ and _ora_. _Trap_, beside _trau_ ＜
_trabem_, is doubtless from the nominative _traps_ ＜ _trabs_,
which seems to have been differentiated in meaning from the V.
L. nominative _trabis_.
3. _Brey_, _grey_, _ney_, beside _breu_ ＜ _brĕvem,_ _greu_
＜ ✱_grĕvem_, _neu_ ＜ _nĭvem_ (cf. § 25, 1, e), have been
subjected to the attraction of _grey_ ＜ _grĕgem_, _ley_ ＜
_lēgem_. _Greug_ is a post-verbal noun from _greuiar_ ＜
✱_grĕviare_.
4. _Natiz_ = _natius_ ＜ _natīvus_ seems to have been influenced
by _mestis_ ＜ _mixtīcius_. _Massis_ is from ✱_massīcius_.
5. _Paziment_ = _pavamen_ owes its z perhaps to the analogy of
_aizimen_.
6. In purely learned words, _b_ and _v_ were written as in
Latin: _diabol_, _diluvi_.
C, from the 4th to the 6th century, was voiced to g, and then developed
like any other g. See G.
1. After au, apparently, c did not change: ✱_auca_ (＜ ✱_avĭca_
＜ _avis_) ＞ _auca_, _pauca_ ＞ _pauca_, _rauca_ ＞ _rauca_,
✱_traucare_ (? ＜ ✱_trabucare_) ＞ traucar. Cf. § 65, P, 3.
2. In purely learned words, c remained unchanged: _vocal_.
_Alucar_ _aluchar_, _aluc_ seem to be learned formations
patterned after _antelucānus_ and Low Latin _lucānus_.
C´, when it became contiguous to a consonant, through the fall of the
unaccented vowel of the penult, was reduced to i: _cŏcĕre_ ＞ cǫire,
_dīcĕre_ ＞ diire dire, _dīcĭtis_ ＞ ditz, _facĕre_ ＞ faire, _facĭmu(s)_
＞ faim, _facĭtis_ ＞ faitz, _fēcĕram_ ＞ fẹira, _fēcĕrunt_ ＞ fẹiron,
_gracĭlem_ ＞ graile. When it remained intervocalic, it was assibilated
during the transition period (§ 55, C); in most of the Provençal
territory it became dz, which during the literary period was simplified
to z; but in some dialects of the south and the northwest it resulted
in idz (later iz), an i-glide having developed before the consonant
while it was still palatal: _aucĕllum_ ＞ auzęl, _jacēre_ ＞ iazẹr,
_lĭcēre_ ＞ lezẹr, _lūcēre_ ＞ lüzẹr lüzir lüisir, _placēre_ ＞ plazẹr
plaizẹr; _crŭcem_ ＞ crọz crọiz crọis (see §§ 63, 64), _dīcere_ ＞
dízer, _dīcit_ ＞ ditz dis, _dūcit_ ＞ dütz düs, _facit_ ＞ fatz fas,
_jacet_ ＞ iatz ias iays, _pacem_ ＞ patz pas pais, _placet_ ＞ platz plas
plais, _verācem_? ＞ verais, _vōcem_ ＞ vọtz vọiz.
1. _Aucel_, beside _auzel_, perhaps belongs to a dialect in
which c´ was not voiced after au: cf. C, 1. See § 80, Bc´.
2. _Iasser_, beside _iazer_, seems to be due to _ias_ ＜ _jacet_
and _iassa_ ＜ _jaceat_.