89. (1) During the late Vulgar Latin and early Romance period neuter
nouns gradually became masculine; this change was doubtless due in
part to phonetic developments which obliterated distinctive endings:
_dōnum_ ＞ dọn, m.; _nōmen_ ＞ nọm, m. _Mare_, however, became almost
always feminine in Gaul: la mar. Some neuter plurals in _-a_, used
mainly in a collective sense, were preserved and eventually became
feminine singulars: _fŏlium_ _fŏlia_ ＞ fǫlha, f. sg.; _lĭgnum_ _lĭgna_
＞ lẹnha, f. sg.; so luǫgua, pọma, prada, beside lǫc, pọm, prat (and,
by analogy, grasa, beside gras ＜ _gradus_); similarly _labia_ ＞ lavias,
f. pl.
(2) Masculine and feminine nouns usually kept their original gender.
Abstract nouns in _-or_, however, regularly became feminine in Gaul,
other abstract nouns being mostly feminine in Latin: _honōrem_ ＞
onọr, f.; _sapōrem_ ＞ sabọr, f. With the exception of _manus_,
which generally retained its gender, feminine nouns of the second and
fourth declensions, unless they passed into the first declension
(_pĭrus_ ＞ pẹra), became masculine, to conform to the usual _-us_
type: _fraxĭnus_ ＞ fraisnes, m.; _pīnus_ ＞ pins, m. Attracted by such
words as these, _arbor_ became masculine. There were some other less
important shifts.
1. _Juventus_, passing into the second declension, became
masculine (_ioven_); but we find also _ioventut_, f. _Laus_
became masculine in Provençal; _fin_, on the other hand, is
always feminine. _Mĕrŭla_ ＞ _merle_, m. _Correitz_, _linh_,
both m., occur beside _correia_ ＜ _corrĭgia_, _linha_ ＜
_līnea_. Other similar changes might be noted. Pr. _dia_ (also
_di_), like Latin _dīes_, is usually masculine.
90. Some nouns passed from the fourth to the second declension in the
classic Latin period (_dŏmus_, _fīcus_); the rest doubtless followed in
Vulgar Latin (_frūctus_,[82] _gradus_, _manus_). Fifth declension nouns
in _-ies_ went over, for the most part, to the first declension:[83]
_dīes_ ＞ dia, _facies_ ＞ fassa, _glacies_ ＞ glassa, _rabies_ ＞ rabia;
but we find also di, fatz, glatz (ratge is probably French), following
the third declension type. Fifth declension nouns which did not
shift to the first came to be declined after the model of the third
(_fides_, _res_, _spes_). The five declensions were therefore reduced
to three, presumably in Vulgar Latin times. Among these there were some
exchanges: polvera, vergena; cf. § 89, (1), (2), 1.
91. The use of cases became more and more restricted in Vulgar Latin,
prepositional constructions taking the place of pure case distinction.
At the beginning of the Romance period, nouns probably had, in
unstudied speech, only two cases in constant use: a nominative and
an accusative or accusative-ablative. These two cases were generally
retained in Provençal, for the second and third declensions, until the
literary period: we may call them _nominative_ and _objective_.
(1) The locative, which had almost vanished in classic Latin, lingered
in Vulgar Latin only in names of places. It has left no sure traces in
Provençal.
(2) The vocative, in classic Latin, was like the nominative for most
words; in Vulgar Latin it probably disappeared, except in Church
phrases, such as _mī dŏmĭne_. In Provençal we find the nominative
regularly used in address (chanzọs, companh, emperaire, ioglars,
Papiols), although the objective occasionally occurs in its stead
(barọns pl., ioglar malastrüc, trachọr).
(3) The genitive, in the popular language, was little by little
replaced by other constructions--commonly by the ablative with _de_ or
by the dative; the beginnings of this substitution may be observed as
early as Plautus. Among Provençal nouns--aside from such learned forms
as ancianọr, christianọr, companhọr, paianọr, parentọr--we find
remnants of the genitive only in a few compound words, as diiǫus ＜ _dīe
Jŏvis_, and in the standing phrase ẹs mestięr ＜ _est ministĕrii_.
(4) The dative, which in most words had the same ending as the
ablative, came to be replaced, in the greater part of the Empire, by
the accusative with _ad_; this construction, too, goes back as far as
Plautus. Provençal nouns retain no traces of the dative.
(5) The ablative, after the fall of final m (§ 55, M) and the loss
of quantitive distinctions in unstressed syllables (§ 21), differed
little or not at all from the accusative in the singular of nearly all
nouns: _causăm_ _causā_, _dōnŭm_ _dōnō_, _patrĕm_ _patrĕ_, _frūctŭm_
_frūctū_, _dīĕm_ _dīē_. Furthermore, some prepositions (especially
_in_) were used both with the accusative and with the ablative. It
was inevitable, then, that the two cases should be confounded in the
singular, and we have evidence of such confusion as early as the
first century of our era; this led gradually to a substitution of the
accusative for the ablative in the plural, the accusative plural being
somewhat commoner and frequently simpler than the ablative. We may,
therefore, take the accusative as the basis of the Provençal objective,
remembering, however, that this accusative has been more or less
blended with the ablative.
(6) The two-case declension remained theoretically in use in Provençal
literature through the 14th century; but in texts later than the 12th,
cases are often confused. From the spoken language the declension
disappeared, in the west (as in Catalan), before the literary period;
in the centre and east, probably in the 12th century; in the north, in
the 13th. The case preserved was usually the objective, but sometimes
the nominative. Some nouns in _-aire_ _-adọr_ kept both forms, with a
differentiation of meaning.
92. In the discussion of declensions some phonetic peculiarities must
not be overlooked:--
(1) In the nom. pl. of the 2d declension, a stressed ẹ, followed in
the next syllable by final -ị, would regularly give ị (cf. § 27, 1);
but the ẹ is preserved by the analogy of the nom. and obj. sg. and the
obj. pl.: _capĭllī_ ＞ cabẹl, _mĭssī_ ＞ mẹs, _quētī_ ＞ quẹt, _sērī_
＞ sẹr. We do, however, find cabil, and (perhaps by analogy) auzil ＜
_aucĕllī_.
(2) In the nom. pl. of the 2d declension, a c or g before the final -ị
would regularly be palatalized (cf. § 55, C, G); but it is preserved
from palatalization by the analogy of the other three forms: _amīcī_ ＞
amic, _lŏngī_ ＞ lonc.
(3) For the development of a t between a palatal or an n and a final s,
see § 82, S: _annos_ ＞ anz, _fīlios_ ＞ filz.
(4) For the simplification of final scs, sts to cs, ts, see § 78, 2:
✱_bŭscus?_ ＞ bǫcs, _trīstes_ ＞ tritz.
(5) For the history of _-arius_ and _-tōrius_, see § 23, 1 and § 73,
Ry, 1.
93. (1) Nouns whose objective singular ended in s were invariable in
the earlier part of the literary period; _bracchium_ ＞ bratz, _cŏrpus_
＞ cǫrs, _imperatrīcem_ ＞ emperairitz, _fascem_ ＞ fais, _latus_ ＞ latz,
_lūcem_ ＞ lütz, _mĭssum_ ＞ mẹs, _nasum_ ＞ nas, _ŏpus_ ＞ ǫps, _ŭrsum_ ＞
ọrs, _pĭscem_ ＞ pẹis, _pĕctus_ ＞ pęitz, _prĕtium_ ＞ prętz, _tĕmpus_ ＞
tems, _vĕrsum_ ＞ vęrs, _vīsum_ ＞ vis, _vōcem_ ＞ vọtz. Later, however,
a plural (originally obj. pl.) was made for such words by adding
-es, generally at a time when final ts had been reduced to s (§ 64):
brasses, cǫrses, mẹsses, pẹisses, vęrses; examples occur as early as
the end of the 12th century.
(2) Other invariable nouns are midons, sidons, and often laus and rẹs;
the last two sometimes have an objective lau, rẹ. Midons comes from
the Church Latin _mī dŏmĭne_, which was popularized by the substitution
of the Provençal don for _dŏmĭne_ and the addition of the nom. -s; the
term was transferred from religious to feudal, and thence to amatory
use, and came to mean ‘my lady.’ _Mi domina_ was common in Church
Latin. Sidons is formed on the model of midons.
(3) For nouns in tš, see § 63, (1): ✱_disdūctum_ ＞ desdüg, _frūctum_
＞ früch, _gaudium_ ＞ gaug, _nŏctem_ ＞ nuech. Such words were very
often written in the plural with _-gz_, which was pronounced either ts
or tš. The pronunciation ts is attested by such rhymes as _malfagz_:
_alumenatz_.
94. Infinitives used substantively conformed to the 2d declension
type: lauzars lauzar (like fǫcs fǫc), rire-s rire (like fabre-s fabre):
see § 96. The same thing is true of masculine post-verbal nouns:
(getar) gętz gęt, (guidar) guitz guit, (lansar) lans (invariable).