D, in a part of the west, remained unchanged; elsewhere, during the
Vulgar Latin period, it opened into ð, which fell in the 11th century
and earlier in parts of the north and east, and in the rest of the
Provençal territory became z as early as the first part of the 12th
century: _audīre_ ＞ auzir auir audir,[44] _audit_ ＞ au,[45] _cadit_ ＞
ca, _crudēlem_ ＞ cruzęl cruęl crudęl, _fīdat_ ＞ fia, ✱_gaudo_ ＞ gau,
_hŏrrĭda_ ＞ ǫreza, _hŏrrĭdum_ ＞ ǫre, _laudo_ ＞ lau, _alauda_ ＞ lauzẹta
laudẹta, _rīdat_ ＞ ria, _tradĕre_ ＞ trazir trair tradir, _vidēre_
＞ vezẹr vẹr vedẹr, _vĭdet_ ＞ vẹ. When ð became contiguous to a
following consonant (except final s), it changed to i: _divīdĕre_ ＞
divire,[46] _traditōrem_ ＞ traidọr (which, influenced by _traïr_, was
pronounced traïdọr).[47]
1. _Crey_, beside _cre_ ＜ _crēdo_, follows _dei_ ＜ _dēbeo_,
_vei_ ＜ _vĭdeo_. _Mercey_, beside _merce_ ＜ _mercēdem_, shows
the influence of _grey_ ＜ _grĕgem_, _lei_ ＜ _lēgem_, and
perhaps French _fei_ ＜ _fĭdem_. Cf. β, (3).
2. _Grau_ = _gra_ ＜ _gradum_, _niu_ = _ni_ ＜ _nīdum_ belong to
the Catalan dialect, in which ð fell before the 8th century:
_gradum_ ＞ _graðu_ ＞ _gra-u_ ＞ _grau_, the u being preserved
through combining into a diphthong with the a.