164. (1) In the first person singular final _-o_ and _-em_ regularly
disappeared: _amo_ ＞ am, _amem_ ＞ am. When, however, the _-o_ or _-em_
was preceded by a consonant group requiring a supporting vowel (§ 52),
the ending was regularly retained as -e: _dŭbĭto_ ＞ dọpte, _sŭffĕro_ ＞
suffre, _trĕmŭlem_ ＞ tremble.
Through the analogy of ai, crẹi, dẹi, sọi, vẹi, and the 1st pers.
sg. of the preterit, this -e was in the indicative generally changed at
an early date to -i: ✱_cŏpĕro_ ＞ cǫbre cǫbri, ✱_opĕro_ ＞ ǫbre ǫbri; so
_ĭmpleo_ ✱_ĭmplo_ ＞ ompli. This -i (occasionally -e) was then taken as
a distinctive ending of the 1st pers. sg., and was added to many verbs
that needed no supporting vowel: auzir, au auze; azorar, azọr azọri;
cantar, can canti; cọrre, cọr cọrri; mẹtre, mẹt mẹti; prezar,
prętz pręzi; remirar, remir remire remiri; respondre, respon respondi;
sentir, sen senti; vẹndre, vẹn vẹndi.
In the subjunctive, when a final vowel was required, -e was usually
kept; it was also extended to some verbs that did not need it: acabe,
dọne, mire, plọre. Very rarely an unnecessary -i was added instead of
-e: laissar, lais laissi.
(2) The ending _-am_ regularly gave -a: _audiam_ ＞ auia.
165. In the second person singular final _-as_ regularly remained, and
_-ēs_ and _-ī̆s_ became -s (or, when a supporting vowel was required,
-es): _amas_ ＞ amas; _valēs_ ＞ vals, _sapĭs_ ＞ saps, _partīs_ ＞ partz;
_dŭbĭtēs_ ＞ dọptes. Cf. § 82, S. Sometimes, especially in late texts,
-s is expanded into -es: canz cantes, partz partes, saps sabes, vals
vales; so floris florisses, etc.
Final _-a_ remained, and _-ē̆_ and _-ī_ fell: _ama_ ＞ ama, _tĕne_ ＞
ten, _crēde_ ＞ crẹ, _partī_ ＞ part.
166. In the third person singular final _-at_ became -a, _-ĕt_ and
_-ĭt_ fell (but remained as -e when a supporting vowel was needed):
_amat_ ＞ ama, _amet_ ＞ am, _tĕnet_ ＞ ten te, _vĕnit_ ＞ ven ve;
_trĕmŭlet_ ＞ tremble. Cf. § 82, T.
167. In the first person plural the final _-s_ disappeared early, _s_
being perhaps regarded as a distinctively second person ending[123].
The rare form ęsmes = _sŭmus_ is the only one that retains the _s_: cf.
§ 162, (15).
Then _-āmu’_, _-ēmu’_ gave regularly -am, -ẹm: _cantāmus_ ＞ cantám,
_habēmus_ ＞ avẹm. Likewise _-ĭmu’_, through the analogy of _-āmu’_,
_-ēmu’_, came to take the accent on its penult, and then regularly
developed into -ẹm: _crēdĭmus_ ✱_credĭ́mu’_ ＞ crezẹm. This -ẹm of
the second and third conjugations passed into the fourth, and entirely
displaced the -im that would have been the regular representative of
_-īmu’_: _partīmus_ ＞ ✱partím partẹm.
1. In _faim_ ＜ _facĭmu’_ the old accentuation apparently
survives: cf. § 52, (4), 1.
2. In some dialects of Béarn, Languedoc, Provence, and
Dauphiné, _-m_ apparently becomes _-n_: _devén_, _havén_,
_volén_; so _aurián_, _trobarén_, _segrián_ (cf. § 152, 1; §
153, 1). Cf. § 65, M, 1.
168. In the second person plural _-ātis_ regularly gave -atz: _amātis_
＞ amatz, _audiātis_ ＞ auiatz. The regular form from _-ētis_ is -ẹtz,
which we find kept in the future (veirẹtz) and in the present
subjunctive (cantẹtz); in the present indicative it was replaced by
-ętz, probably through the analogy of ętz ＜ _ĕstis_: _habētis_ ＞ avẹtz
avętz, ✱_potētis_ ＞ podẹtz podętz, so sezętz, valętz, etc.; the rare
avẹtz and podẹtz are the only forms that preserve ẹ. The ending
_-ĭtis_, taking the accent on its penult (cf. § 167), became ✱-ẹtz,
then -ętz: _crēdĭtis_ ＞ crezętz. This -ętz also displaced the -itz that
would have been regular in the fourth conjugation: _partītis_ ＞ partętz.
The final -tz was reduced, in some of the principal dialects, to -s
(§ 64): cantás, sezęs, partęs. In other dialects it was replaced very
early by -t (§ 64): auiát, avęt, passát, podęt; so partirẹt, etc.
1. In _faitz_ ＜ _facĭtis_ the old accentuation apparently
survives.
169. In the third person plural _-ant_, _-ent_, _-unt_ gave
respectively -an -ant, -en, -on -o (§ 83, Nt): _amant_ ＞ áman ámant,
_audiant_ ＞ áuian áuiant; _valent_ ＞ válen, _ament_ ＞ ámen; _vēndunt_
＞ vẹndon vẹndo. In Languedoc -an was replaced by -on or -o in the
13th century; in other regions, later: ámon, chanto ls, coménso l.
The _Boeci_ has -en for -an: amen, monten. In Gascony and some of the
Limousin territory -en partially displaced -on (floríssen, párten,
vẹnden), elsewhere -on or -o displaced -en (válon).