González Magical Notes History of Language

History of the Language
2015
Historical grammar of Spanish
Dr. Javier González

Notes
HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE - 2015
History of the Language 2015....................................................................................................1

Notes.......................................................................................................................................2
HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE - 2015..........................................................................3
Unit I – Evolution of Latin Vowels and Diphthongs......................................................1
4. Linguistic laws set a guideline, but should not be considered universal. They all
may have exceptions...................................................................................................1
Latin levels..................................................................................................................1
Quantitative system.....................................................................................................4
ā ă ŏ ō ŭ ū........................................................................................................................5
ą ǫ ọ ų ụ...........................................................................................................................5
a ue ou.............................................................................................................................5
Diphthongs..................................................................................................................5
a. In the diminutive endings it – she........................................................................6
Tonic Latin Tripthongs ae > ę > i - caelum > caelum > sky oe > ẹ > e - poena > pẹna
> pena au > ou > o - auru > ouro > gold......................................................................6
ī ĭ ē ĕ ā ă ŏ ō ŭ ū..............................................................................................................7
ie ooh...........................................................................................................................7
Pretonic diphthongs.....................................................................................................7
ī ĭ ē ĕ ā ă ŏ ō ŭ ū..............................................................................................................8
e / - (*) a either.............................................................................................................8
Unit II – Yod Joint........................................................................................................10
Yod third....................................................................................................................15
Yod fourth.................................................................................................................15
Unit III – Evolution of Latin initial consonants............................................................18
Simple initial consonants that are preserved.............................................................18
1. Simple initial stops :...........................................................................................18
2. Voiced initial stops :..........................................................................................18
Simple initial consonants that transform...................................................................20
Simple initial consonants that are lost.......................................................................21
1. Fricatives............................................................................................................21
Loss of the Latin initial F..........................................................................................22
Unit IV – Evolution of Latin interior consonants.........................................................26
Periphrastic forms 79
Eastern Romance languages......................................................................................26
Western Romance languages.....................................................................................27
Sardinian....................................................................................................................27
Development of the lenition process.........................................................................27
Unit V – Evolution of Latin interior consonant groups................................................31
Two consonants grouped together.............................................................................31
Three consonants grouped together...........................................................................35
Unit VI – Evolution of final consonants.......................................................................39
Introduction...............................................................................................................39
How these languages avoid final consonants............................................................39
a. Drop of lsa final consonants...............................................................................39
Final consonants that fall...........................................................................................40
Medieval Apocope....................................................................................................42
Unit VII – Evolution of secondary groups or Castilian romances................................43
5. In some cases the fall of the vowel is brought forward, preventing voicing :...43
Group L + Consonant................................................................................................44
Consonant + L...........................................................................................................45
Consonant + Voiceless Plosive - Voiced..................................................................46
Voiceless plosive + consonants - Voicing.................................................................46
Voiced plosive...........................................................................................................46
Double Consonant + Consonant................................................................................46
Consonant + Nasal.....................................................................................................47
C+N - C+M...............................................................................................................47
Nasal + Liquid...........................................................................................................47
Unit VIII – Sporadic Spanish phonetic changes...........................................................49
Sporadic phonetic changes........................................................................................49
Unit IX – Historical morphology..................................................................................53
Cases..........................................................................................................................54
Declensions...............................................................................................................55
1. Quarter...............................................................................................................55
Gender.......................................................................................................................55
Syncretic case............................................................................................................55
Unit X – The adjective..................................................................................................59
Degrees of the adjective............................................................................................59
Romance languages...................................................................................................60
Different procedures for nominal training.................................................................61
Nominal training in Romance languages..................................................................61
Generation of adjectives............................................................................................62
Formation by Suffixes or Prefixes.............................................................................62
Doublet suffixes........................................................................................................63
Training using prefixes..............................................................................................63
Parasynthetic nouns...................................................................................................63
Formation of nouns by composition..........................................................................63
Composed by juxtaposition.......................................................................................63
Composed of ellipses.................................................................................................64
Unit XI – The pronoun..................................................................................................65
Simplified declination conservation..........................................................................65
3. Second Person singular :....................................................................................66
4. Second Person Plural :.......................................................................................66
Passage from Latin to the Romance languages.........................................................68
Enclitic position of personal pronouns......................................................................69
Pleonastic companion circumstantials in pronominal forms.....................................69
Gazdaru theory:.........................................................................................................74
3. Adverbs composition results:.............................................................................77
Unit XII – The verb.......................................................................................................79
Simplification of Latin conjugation..........................................................................79
Periphrastic forms......................................................................................................79
a. I felt....................................................................................................................81
Endings......................................................................................................................81
Dialectology..................................................................................................................85
c. Many times it remains in the domains of orality ..............................................85
Advancement of the five languages towards the south during the Castilian
reconquest..................................................................................................................89
Other dialects.............................................................................................................90
Andalusian.................................................................................................................90
Bridge dialects between different varieties...............................................................92
First stage..................................................................................................................94
Second stage..............................................................................................................98
Third stage.................................................................................................................99
Importance of indigenous languages.........................................................................99
Lexicon of indigenous origin..................................................................................100
Influence of morphosyntax......................................................................................101
Influence of phonetics.............................................................................................101
Periphrastic forms 79
Characteristic features of American Spanish..........................................................103
Morpho syntax.........................................................................................................103
Vocabulary..............................................................................................................105
Unit I – Evolution of Latin Vowels and Diphthongs
Phonetics of medieval Spanish. Evolution of Latin vowels in Spanish. Open and closed vowels in Vulgar Latin.
Evolution of tonic, pretonic and posttonic vowels. Evolution of diphthongs. Accentuation.
Historical Phonetics
1. It is studied in relation to a Starting Point (Latin) and an Arrival Point (current Spanish) but
what is taken into consideration are the Intermediate Steps .
2. Phonetic laws (19th century): positivist climate. Positivism aims to apply the guidelines of
natural and physical sciences to all phenomena in reality (regular guidelines).
3. Positivists seek to apply this regularity to human behavior. The laws of the physical world are
regular because they govern the material world. Human behaviors are governed by the spirit,
which is free, and therefore do not have necessary and universal laws.
4. Linguistic laws set a guideline, but should not be considered universal. They all may have
exceptions.
5. Positivism does not consider exceptions, but rather second and even third laws of more
restricted applications.
Latin levels
1. Reference point in historical grammar: Latin . There was not a single Latin. Three levels must be
distinguished:
a. Classical or literary Latin : It does not count for historical grammar, because it was
never a living language, but rather it is an artificial language to be used in certain
contexts (poetry, literature, the historiographic or philosophical discourse forum and in
school).
b. Familiar or colloquial Latin : spoken Latin of educated people. He rarely wrote, except
in letters.
c. Vulgar Latin / sermorusticus : Latin of uneducated people. It is oral by definition.

Testimonies: 'graffiti' on walls or bathrooms, political campaigns, realistic works that
imitate low speech, theater, testimonies from uneducated people who write for different,
grammatical reasons (e.g. Probus's appendix).
History of the Language 2015 1

2. The Romance languages derive from oral Latin , both vulgar and colloquial. They are a product of
the gradual formation of speech. In each region there are different variants and deformations that
result in the different Romance languages.
3. Classical Latin is not older than Vulgar Latin, but Vulgar Latin is even older than Classical Latin.
Classical and Vulgar Latin derive from Archaic Latin .
LATE CLASSICAL LATIN /

BASE LATIN •
ARCHAIC LATIN
CLASSICAL LATIN
“Freezing”
CENTURY + V
-------------------• EVOLUTION -------------------------------•

LATE VULGAR LATIN
-------------------► FAMILY VULGAR LATIN
a. Archaic Latin : Almost no testimonies are preserved, except for some inscriptions and
testimonies of authors or of the judicial language.
b. Classical Latin : 'FROZEN'. Formula to fix an immovable Latin.
c. Vulgar / familiar Latin: Archaic Latin continues to evolve during the classical Latin stage, in
parallel.
2 History of the Language 2015

Phonetics of medieval Spanish
Ṡ ≠ Z - SS ≠ S – Spanish lost this opposition but the other languages retain it
Š ≠ Ž- x [sh] ≠ g /j
Palatal (muxer ≠woman / woman)
Ŝ ≠ Ẑ - ç [ts] ≠ z [ds] (CORAÇON ≠ FAZER)

dental dental deaf voiced
1. These oppositions did not survive in modern Castilian. The oppositions were defined in favor of
the deaf solution. Only the unvoiced “s” remained. The remaining cases had a rearrangement of
the point of articulation/occlusion.
a. The voiceless palatal evolved into an aspirated guttural Ŝ > χ
b. The voiceless dental stopped being an affricate and became a voiceless interdental
fricative
2. B/V Opposition:
a. Latin – b (bonus)
b. v: [u] – Evolution [v] – It is said that at a certain time it was pronounced as a dental lip
and that only in the 12th century (Basque influence) did it begin to be pronounced
bilabial. Others believe that he was always bilabial.
3. Only two Romance languages have the loss of the initial Latin f : Castilian and Gascon , both
close to the Basque area. As in Spanish it also happened with the -v, which is assimilated to the
bilabial. It is believed that it is due to the Basque substrate (Some say that apparently their
rivers did not have fluoride and their teeth fell out).
Latin Vowels
Quantitative system
ā ē ī ō ū - LONG – Quantity – Longest duration. Better articulation.

CLASSICAL
to LATIN
ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ - BRIEF – Less articulation, less perfect.

Timbral System
1. Vulgar Latin: He never distinguished long and short, but closed and open (relation to timbre)
a. Long – closed (.) – Better articulation
b. Brief – open (c) – More relaxed
Evolution of Latin vowels in Spanish
tonic vowels
āăŏōŭū CLASSICAL
LATIN
ąǫọ ųụ LATIN VULGAR
a ue ou CASTILIAN
Diphthongs
1. They also originate in Italian (more restricted – free syllable), with exceptions.
ī
to. ficu- (cases are not recorded) > fig
b.
mitto > meto
Yo
c. ē stell- > star
d.
herb- > grass
and
a aratr- > plow
n
F. latr- > side
g. strong >
strong
h. I know > I know
Y bucca >
o mouth
j. muru > wall

2. The diphthong ie that comes from a short tonic e, in certain contexts, then monotongues in i.
There we have:
a. e – brief
b. a diphthongization in ie
c. Final step which is a monothongization in i
3. The contexts where this further step happens are two:
a. In the diminutive endings it – she
b. In the Cantar del Mio Cid, it was not called Castilla but Castiella
Castella (with short tonic e) > Castiella > Castilla
It happens because the e of the diphthong is between two very closed articulations
(between a yod and an ll) that force the palate to close a lot. In the middle of all that
closure you have to open it to articulate the e of the diphthong. The e does not have the
strength to resist the closing pressure of the phoneme that precedes and succeeds it.
Naturally, that e tends to weaken, fail to open and finally disappear.
c. When the vowel e –breve is in a hiatus position (two vowels that coincide but do not
form a diphthong, they are two syllables) with another vowel. It has to do with words
like meus.
i. meu > meu > mine
initial diphthongation the e disappears
ii. iudaeu- > iudeu- > jewish > jewish
diphthong ae is equivalent to a short e
Tonic Latin Tripthongs ae > ę > i - caelum > caelum > sky oe > ẹ > e - poena > pẹna > pena au > ou > o -
auru > ouro > gold
semivowel w infects closedness to a

Pretonic vowels
īĭē ĕ ā ă ŏ ō ŭ ū
ie ooh
1. The two á es do not actually have a clear timbral distinction, so they are assimilated into one.
2. Those at the ends are preserved.
3. The middle six is where the differences occur. There are no diphthongs.
4. Examples
a. ī bernus (it is an adjective) which later lasted as a noun.
b. c ĭ rcare > fence
c. s ē curu > sure
d. s ĕ ptimana > week
e. c ā ntare > sing
f. l ă vare > wash
g. d ŏ lore > hurt
h. c ō rona > crown
i. s ŭ spectare > suspect
j. m ū tare > change
Pretonic diphthongs
1. The diphthong ae results in a short (or open) e.
• Example : saeculare > secular (also gives secular, but it is a cultism).

2. The diphthong oe results in a closed (or long) e
• Example: poenitentia > penance

3. The diphthong au also monotongues in o
• Example laudare > loar
• Sometimes it can monotongue in a, when there is a subsequent syllable with another u,

and then they dissimilate. Example: augustu - the first u, to differentiate itself from the
second it dissimilates > agustus > august
• Dissimilation is a phenomenon by which two identical or close sounds are

differentiated. This differentiation can occur because one of these two sounds changes to
another or because it disappears. For example, the Latin rotundus , since the tonic u is
short and the ending –us always ends in –o , in Spanish it would have to have given
rhodondo , then the first o dissimilates, it becomes e and this gives it light,
decompresses it so much or.
• In Augustus the u goes directly. augustus > agustus > august
postonic vowels
īĭē ĕ ā ă ŏ ō ŭ ū
e / - (*) a either
(*) When the vowel is final, that vowel can fall.
Unlike the previous cases, the endings are taken into account, because since they are
postonic vowels they are often in final position and the end of the word must be well
indicated, especially in verbs in their conjugated forms.
1. ī (long i)
a. vigint ī > twenty (first it is accented without diphthong ve-ín-te) and then it is
diphthongized.
b. Imperative verb come ī , here the vowel falls > come
2. ĭ (short i)
to. v ĕ n ĭ t (3rd person singular present, both i and e are short) > (the diphthong ĕ in
tonic ie, and the posttonic ĭ opens on e) > comes
3. ē (long e)
to. am ē s (second person present subjunctive) > ames
4. ĕ (short e)
a. pat ĕ r > father
b. levar ĕ > carry (the final vowel falls). To carry, in this case in addition to the triple
name of casticismo, popularismo and patrimonialismo, a fourth would have to be
added: leonismo, since it is a Leonese word)
5. ā (long)
to. cant ā (imperative) > sing

6. ă (shortly)
to.trigint ă (numeral) > thirty (medieval with hiatus)
7. ō (or long)
to. oct ō > eight
8. ŏ (or short)
to. leg ŏ (first person verb legere) > leo
9. ŭ (short u)
to. cantam ŭ s (first person plural) > we sing
10. ū (long u)
a. manu > hand
b. fructu > fruit

Unit II – Yod Joint
The yod articulation in Spanish: concept, causes, description and effects. The four kinds of yod in Spanish.
Definition
1. Yod is the Semivowel name of the Hebrew alphabet that we use in historical phonetics to also
refer in our language to an articulation that can be:
a. semivocalic or
b. semiconsonantal
2. It is very similar to the vowel i, but it is much closer although it is written as an i and may look
like an i.
3. Examples:
a. fear – Yod – between a consonant and a vowel - Semivowel
b. six – Yod – between a vowel and a consonant - Semiconsonant
c. die – It is the only vowel i
4. The sound difference between semivowel and semiconsonant is secondary, the behavior is the
same.
5. Why must it be distinguished? The yod is much more closed. In Latin there may be but in Spanish
it is never intervocalic and never interconsonantal
6. It is so closed that the closedness does not fit into itself and merges with the nearby phonemes, it
overflows the limits of the yod itself and then this closedness is spread to the nearby phonemes.
This contagion effect of the closedness of the Yod on nearby phonemes is called inflection . The
phonemes inflect, that is, they receive the contagion of the yod's own closedness. There we see
that not everyone is infected in the same way. Vowels do not inflect in the same way as
consonants close to the yod:
a. The vowels inflect, closing . They receive contagion the closedness of the yod
b. Consonants palatalize or assimilate (become sibilant)
Formation of the Yod
1. The Yod is a typical product of Latin bass. In classical Latin there is something similar but only in
intervocalic position.............................
2. It is formed from three phenomena.
a. Diphthongization of what is classically a hiatus in Latin. Examples

• Classical Latin: SLEEP Í O, there is a hiatus, the i is not a yd is not a
semivowel because there is another syllable, it is a full vowel.
• But in Vulgar Latin or Low Latin the hiatus disappears and a diphthong is generated as
we would say in Spanish DOR MIÓ , the i becomes a yod.
• Sometimes it is not necessary to write it with an i: LANCÉ A, the closing of the e begins to
occur, and it ends up being pronounced as i (lancia) and the Yod appears.
b. Vocalization of a guttural grouped with another consonant. Examples:
• FA CT U- > FA IT O > FEI T O > FE CH O > HE CH O
i. Vocalizes guttural c in i FAITO
ii. Then a process takes place according to the inflections caused by the yod. It closes
the closest vowel: a in e. FEITO
iii. The closest consonant is palatalized: DATE
iv. SEE SOMETHING FROM THE PREVIOUS CLASS THAT I DON'T HAVE: DONE
c. Syncopation of a consonant (Loss of an intermediate sound that is neither initial nor final):
• CANTA U I (CANTAVI) > CANT AI > CANT EI > CANT É
i. Uau falls: CANTAI
ii. The i is now a Yod. If the Yod appears between a vowel and nothing, it is the same if it
appeared between a vowel and a consonant. It is a semiconsonant. Ex. in Spanish the
word very. Then close to the vowel closest to: CANTEI
iii. …. SING.
3. When the Yod closes the preceding vowels it may happen that that vowel does not diphthongize.
Because those that diphthong are the open tonics. If I say that
Yod articulation closes that vowel, a vowel that in itself would have to diphthong because it is
open, when closed by inflection due to contact with the Yod, can stop diphthongizing. But this
happens sometimes, not always. Sometimes it diphthongs the same and sometimes it does so in
some dialect varieties and not in others. Ex. oculum, the yod closes the oy and the eye remains,
while in Mozarabic (jarchas) traces remain.
Yod classes
1. According to Menéndez Pidal there are four kinds of Yod.
first yod

Ty - Cy > Ç [ts] - Z [ds] > C/Z [ɵ]
They cause an assimilation into a voiceless dental affricate into a voiced dental affricate, in a
medieval stage, and modernly into an interdental fricative, which is written as cozy and
pronounced like an English th. Examples:
FŎ R TI A > FOR Ç A > F UE RÇA > FORCE Z A
a. If you closed the vowel o, it should not diphthongize and remain FOR Ç A, but vowel closing
can occur.
b. It did not close and diphthongized in F UE RÇA
DURĬ TI A > DURE Ç A > DURE Z A
MĬNA CI A > MENA Ç A > AMENA Z A
second yod
Ly - C'L - G'L - T'L > LL > X [š] > J [x]
The yod is produced from an L +Yod or from a series of syncopation situations (syncopation is
the phenomenon by which an intermediate phoneme disappears). The apostrophe indicates that
in the middle of the consonants there was a vowel that syncopates, that is, it leaves, and when
that vowel falls due to syncopation, those consonants that were previously separated become a
group, and within those grouped consonants the generation of the yod occurs. Examples:
FŎ LI A > FO LL A > F O X A > FO J A > LEAF (≠ fŏ rtia)
a. The short o should become closed o and not diphthongize, it should give a page. In this case it did
close on o.
b. Palatalize the l in ll
APĬC Ŭ LA > APĬ CL A > AP E CLA > A B ECLA > AB EIL A > ABE LL A > ABE X A > ABE J A (from little bee)
a. Case of Syncopation: the u falls and APĬ CL A remains.
b. There remains a short tonic i that passes to e – AP E CLA
c. There is a p left between two vowels. Intervocalic voiceless guttural sounds in Spanish are voiced.
A B ECLA
d. Grouped guttural vocalizes AB EIL A. This is how the semivowel Yod appears.
e. The Yod is going to palatalize the L.ABE L A

f. The palatal is devoiced in ABE
g. The pronunciation, finally, with change of point of articulation ABE J A
It is difficult to recognize the final diminutive in the final work, because apicula is a little bee, not a
bee, it has the ending –icula, iculum of the diminutives. In Latin bee is apis.
REG Ŭ LA > RE GL A > RE IL A > RE LL A > RE X A > RE J A
a. Case of Syncopation: the oops fall and the RULE remains. We could say that it remains there, a
regular subject thing is a thing subject to the rules, but this is a semi-cultism, the traditional word
continues to evolve.
b. Vocalize the G. REILA
c. The Yod is going to palatalize the L. RELLA
d. The palatal is deafened in REXA
e. The pronunciation, finally, with change of point of articulation RE J A
VӖ T Ŭ LU- > VӖ C Ŭ LU- > VE CL O > V EI LO > VIEI L O > FRI LL O > VIE X O > VIE J O (Acoustic
equivalence) Menéndez Pidal puts it but the T is not a guttural. He puts this word as an example
but it might not apply, because this word does not reflect what happens with the TL group, it is a
very special word. It is known that in the “appendix probit” (with a list of words mispronounced
by the Romans) that in Vulgar Latin it was said vetulu instead of veculu, (the two voiceless stops)
due to the phenomenon of acoustic equivalence, a phenomenon by which the speaker replaces
one consonant with another that has some feature in common. (Ex. the countrymen who say
almó ndiga instead of meatball)
a. By acoustic equivalence: VӖCŬLU
b. Case of Syncopation: the u falls and VECLO remains.
c. Grouped guttural vocalizes VEILO.
d. Diphthong e VIEILO.
e. The Yod is going to palatalize the L. VIELLO
f. The palatal is deafened in VIEXO
g. The pronunciation, finally, with change of point of articulation OLD J O
Subclass:
Ny - GN – NG + ĕ > Ñ = (NG + vowel) (Palatalize in Ñ )
VI NE A- > VI NI A > VI Ñ A

a. In classical Latin there is no Yod, it is pronounced vi-ne-a. But in Vulgar Latin it is
pronounced vinea and the Yod appears. VINIA
b. The Yod is going to palatalize the N.VINEYARD
PU GN U- > PU IN O > PU Ñ O
a. Guttural grouped with another consonant vocalizes. PUINE
b. The Yod is going to palatalize the N.FIST
RE GN U- > RE IN O
a. Here it is an intermediate result
b. Guttural grouped with another consonant vocalizes. KINGDOM
c. I should have continued and given REÑO, but it ended up in KINGDOM.
TA NG Ӗ RE > TA NI ER > TA Ñ ER
a. Guttural grouped with another consonant vocalizes. TANIER
b. The Yod is going to palatalize the N.TA Ñ ER
Yod third
Gy - Dy > Y = the consonants disappear, the Yod remains alone.
FÁ GE A > FA GI A > F A Y A > H AYA
a. But in Vulgar Latin it closes and diphthongs in phagea and the Yod appears.
PHAGY
b. The g falls FAYA
c. IS
RA IUD > RA ME
to. LIGHTNING FALLS
Vy - By - My > BI - MI > Y
PL UVIA > LL UVIA
a. Palatalize the P into L and it becomes . RAIN
b. Even if it is written with “v”, it is done bilabial

RUB EU - > RŬ B IO > R OY O
V I ND E MIA > SELL I MIA
Yod fourth
1. It has to do with the vocalization of grouped vowels. The one that most influences the evolution
of the language. Very important because it links all Western Romance languages. It is divided into
two large groups:
a. OCC : North-West of the parallel north latitude 44 (From the Genoese, Emiliano towards
the NW).
b. OR : From Tuscan (Italian) downwards and to the east.
2. There are three differences:
a. Voicing of voiceless intervoc stops. LUPUS > OCC: LOBO (cast.) > OR: LUPO (ital.)
b. OCC: sigmatic plurals. OR: vowel plurals (i/e)
c. Yod 4 : exists in the OCC languages and not in the OR.
3. These traits come from a common substrate of the Iberian Peninsula – Galicia – Northern Italy:
the CELTS .
a. Spanish: CELTÍBEROS
b. France: GALOS TRANSAPLINES.
c. Nor. Italy: GALOS CISALPINOS.
CT / UL > VOCALIZE > CH (PALATALIZE)
LŬ CT A- > LU I TA > LU CH A (≠ it. CT: C is assimilated to t= TT).
TRU CT A- > TRU I TA > TRU CH A
NŎ CT E- > NO I TE > NO CH E
MU LT U- > MU I TO > MU CH O
X [ks] > X [š] > J [x] (x being ks is also a grouped guttural)
A X E- [akse] > A IS E > E ISE > E X E [eše] > E J E
Ry - Sy - Py // GR > i + cons. > e + cons . = SIMPLE METATHESIS.
Simple metathesis : a phoneme that changes place.

Reciprocal metathesis : two phonemes that exchange places.
i. MATTER > MATEIRA > MADEIRA > WOOD metathesis sound

ii. BA SI U- > B AI SO > B EI SO > B E SO
metathesis close
iii. (beiso should have palatalized: bexo > bejo. Portuguese: beijo[š])
iv. SA PI AT > S AI PA > S EI PA > S E PA metathesis Yod prevents sound
v. ĬNTE GR U- > INT EI RO > E NT E RO

i brief pretonic vocalization

Unit III – Evolution of Latin initial consonants
Evolution of Latin initial consonants in Spanish. Simple initial consonants: stops, nasals, fricatives that are
preserved, fricatives that are transformed, fricatives that are lost. The Latin initial F-. Liquids. Clustered
initial consonants: consonant + -R-; deaf + -L-; S- liquid or impure: group QU- + vowel.
Simple initial consonants
Simple initial consonants that are preserved
1. Simple initial stops :
a. P Ӗ TRA > STONE
b. T ECTU- > T ECHO
c. CAUSE > C OSA (c + a/o/u = guttural c)
2. Voiced initial stops :
a. B ASIU > B ESO
b. D Ŏ MINA > D UEÑ A / D OÑ A (doñ a Claudia: not diphthong because the accent is placed
on the name)
c. G Ŭ LA > G OLA (throat) (G+ a/o/u = guttural)
3. Nasal :
a. M ARE > M AR
b. N Ŏ STRUM > OUR
c. M ULTUM > M UCH
d. N OVEM > N NEVE
4. Vibrant :
to. R ADĪCE > R AÍZ
5. Side :
to. L ANA > L ANA
6. Fricatives : They can be preserved, transformed or lost.
Among those that are preserved is, for example, the “ S”
a. S OLE > S OL
b. S Ŏ MNU- > S Ŏ MNU

Menéndez Pidal also places among those that are conserved, in a debatable way, the “V”
(labiodental)
a. V ACCA > V ACCA
b. V ĬRĬDE > the second G ERDE falls
But can we say that this has been preserved? No, it's more of a spelling trick. Do we pronounce
that “v” like in Vulgar Latin? No, because it has gone from labiodental to bilabial. In Spanish there
is no labiodental. It can be assumed that up to a point in the Middle Ages it existed, but in modern
Spanish it does not exist. Sometimes this transition from labiodental to bilabial is reflected in the
spelling, examples:
a. V OTUM > V OTO in the sense of promise (singular)
b. V OTA (plural, set of promises) > B ODA (not only pronounced bilabial but also written
with “b”, and voicing of the intervocalic “t”)
c. V ERRERE > B ARRER
d. V ULTŬ RE > V UITŬ RE > V UITRE > B UITRE
i. When UL (fourth Yod) is found, he vocalizes the L VUITŬ RE
ii. The unstressed short u falls VUITRE
iii. Then VULTURE
iv. The fourth Yod did not palatalize the T. Because this T when forming a group with
the R, this R somehow disables the palatization of the T in CH. If the Ŭ had been
preserved and the T had remained intervocalic, it would have been palatalized.
e. V ERMICULU > V ERMICLO > V ERMEILO > V ERMELLO > V ERNEXO > B ERMEJO
i. Here we have the diminutive ending that is from the second Yod (as apicula). The u V
ERMICLO falls
ii. The short I according to the norm opens in e, and the grouped Guttural, vocalizes the
guttural , V ERMEILO
iii. Then the Yod palatalizes the L in LL V ERMELLO
iv. V ERNEXO deafens
v. Finally we put the long b and the palatal sound changes the point of articulation
and becomes guttural B ERMEJO
vi. Vermiculu is a little worm: Mollusk from which the red ink was extracted. (red
vermin)

Simple initial consonants that transform
1. Fricatives: There is also the initial “S”, which in some cases is transformed.
a. It can palatalize .
S > X [š] > J [x] =
i. S YRINGA > X ERINGA > J ERINGA (Syringa: Musical instrument)
ii. S UCU- > X UGO > G UGO
iii. S APONE > X ABON > J ABON
Some say that this phenomenon of the S being palatalized in initial position is influenced
by Arabic. It is not an exclusively Castilian phenomenon. It also occurs in Italian words. It
is a purely Romanesque phenomenon that occurs occasionally. Italian examples
i. S IMPLU > S CEMPIO
ii. S IMIA- > SC IMMIA
b. The “S” can become Ç
S > Ç [c]
i. S ERRARE > CLOSE
ii. S UBSUPRARE > Ç OZOBRAR
2. Latin initial C : [k] is modified
to. C > CH
i. C UCCU- > CH ICO
ii. C IMĬCE > CH INCHE
iii. C ICERO > CH ICHARO (did not last) cicero > ciceron
Simple initial consonants that are lost
1. Fricatives
to. GELI / J > And they can evolve in two ways:
i. They can be kept as initial Yod if it follows a stressed vowel
• G É LU- > Y ELO (> ice) = H antietymological (*)
• J ACET > Y ACE
• J AM > Y A

ii. It is lost if it follows an unstressed vowel .
• We transform into the verb derived from (*)
G ELÁ RE > ELAR (> HELAR) = antietymological H
• J ECTÁ RE > ECTARE (CT Yod 4 item) > ECHAR
• J ANUARIU- > JANARIO > JANAIRO > JANEIRO > JANUARY
a. Yod 4 – ua > a JANARIO
b. The Yod makes metathesis JANAIRO
c. Closes at > JANEIRO
d. Close the other one further away and the j falls > JANUARY
2. We can indicate here what happens with the Latin initial H , it is lost in medieval Spanish:
a. H OMINE > O MINE > H OMBRE
b. The Latin h was restored due to a desire for etymological fidelity only in the Golden
Centuries, 17th century, (Ex: Cobarrubias in 1611 (attempt at an etymological
dictionary))
c. In relation to this, there are words that do not have axes in Latin. When the Latin initial
h's began to be reintroduced, they became so enthusiastic about the axes that they ended
up putting them where they didn't belong.
d. In medieval times the initial U's were pronounced B. They put the H to distinguish:
i. Ŏ VO > (or short diphthong) UE VO > H UEVO
ii. Ŏ SSU > UE SO [kiss] > B O N
e. They got excited about the H's and placed them where there was nothing to distinguish:
1. O RPHANU > UE RFANO (> orphan ) = the H was not necessary, because the
pale does not exist in the original word.
Loss of the Latin initial F
1. At some point in the early Middle Ages (c. X- The way to graph both aspiration and muting is
using the H.
a. FEMALE > FEMALE > FEMALE
b. F ILIU > SON > SON
c. F ACTUM > F ECHO > F ECHO
2. There are some cases where the initial f is preserved :

a. If what follows is a diphthong (it means that in Latin there was a short o or e, the
diphthong is in the Romance language):
i. F Ŏ CUS > F UEGO with preserved f, although in some dialect forms the form
HUEGO existed in the Middle Ages, with aspirated h.
ii. F Ӗ RA > F IERA
b. When it forms a group with FR – FL consonants:
i. FR IGIDUS > FR IO (drops the two intervocalic consonants)
ii. FL ORE > FL OR
c. There are some cases in which, despite not following a diphthong and not forming a
consonant group, it is still preserved:
i. F ĬDE > F EDE > F EE > F E
ii. F OEDUS > F EO (d falls)
iii. F ALLĬTARE > F ALTAR
3. The disappearance of the Latin f and its replacement by aspiration and then muteness is due to a
Basque substratum because of all the Romance languages it only affects two , because they are
located around the Basques, in the Pyrenees:
a. Castilian
b. Gascon (French dialect)
4. This phenomenon must be studied concomitantly with the disappearance of the labiodental v
and its replacement by the bilabial v (only in cast). The fact that in Spanish the two labiodental
articulations have disappeared: f and v (voiceless and voiced labiodental), suggests a reality,
which is that in the Basque language there was a rejection of labiodental articulations. They
simply didn't have those letters in that language.
5. Gregorio Salvador makes a bizarre explanation, which postulates that Basques lost their teeth
very early because there is little fluoride in the area's rivers. To this we would have to respond
that for it to be valid we would have to do two parallel studies, one possible and expensive which
would be if in the rest of the planet there are other rivers without fluoride and see if they also
eliminated the labiodentales there, another study impossible because it says nothing that today
the Basque rivers do not have fluoride, since how do we know if in times of the Roman conquest
or the time of the formation of Castilian there was no fluoride in that river either.
6. In the golden age, it is seen that when there is an h you cannot make sinalefa. (See Garcilaso: As
long as there are roses …. In the verse, for not changing its custom, sinalefa cannot be made: the h
was still aspirated. Garcilaso was Toledano, and there, as in Andalusia, the aspiration of h lasted

much longer than in Castile. There could also have been an archaizing desire in the language to
be used.
Clustered initial consonants
1. Consonant Cluster + R is preserved:
a. PR ATU > PR ADO
b. TR AERE > TR AER
c. CR EDERE > CR EER
d. CR UDELE > CR UEL
1. In some cases CR can evolve differently:
1. C RASSU- > G RASO (there is a voicing, it is strange because the initial

c neither simple nor grouped is voiced)
2. C REPARE > C REBAR > BRAKE (Here is another anomaly, it means

burst, break)
a. first voicing of p in b
b. Metathesis the first r will stop after the b.
c. We use Qu to maintain the guttural sound of the c
e. BR ACCIU > BR AZO
f. DR ACONE > DR AGON
g. GR AN > GR AN
h. FR ENU > FR ENO
2. Group SORDA + L > evolve into LL (palatalize)
a. PL ENU- > LL ENO
b. PL ANU- > LL ANO
c. CL AMARE > LL AMAR
d. KEY > KEY
e. FL AMMA > LL AMA
f. Exceptions :
1. FL ACCIDU- > L ACIO
3. SONORA Group + L: The first consonant can be kept or dropped and L remains alone:
a. BL ANDU- > BL ANDO

b. GL OBO > GL OB
c. BL ASTEMARE > L ASTIMAR (first consonant drop)
d. GL ATIRE > L ATIR
e. GL IRONE > L IRONE
4. S LIQUID (you impure). It is characteristic of Latin: Initial + consonant. Spanish adds a

prosthesis, a prosthetic -E (Italian does the opposite. If you can't, invent: AESTIMARE >
STIMARE)
a. STARE > ES TAR
b. SCRIBERE > IS WRITING
c. SCHOOL > IS SCHOOL
In this, Spanish behaves exactly like the antithesis of Italian, who likes this liquid “s” that he
invents, to the point that some words that in Latin began with a vowel, in Italian produces
apheresis of those vowels (removes them) to start with the s:
a. aestimare in Italian stimare
b. Hispania in Italian Spagna

Unit IV – Evolution of Latin interior consonants
Evolution of Latin simple interior consonants in Spanish. Intervocalic voiceless stops: importance of
knowledge of their evolutionary behavior for the classification of Romance languages. Intervocalic voiced
stops. Voiceless intervocalic fricatives. Intervocalic voiced fricatives. Nasal. Liquids. Evolution of double or
geminate consonants in Spanish: stops, fricatives, nasals. Cases of -RR-, -LL- and -NN-.
Simple Interior Consonants
Intervocalic voiceless stops
1. It is an important topic because the behavior of intervocalic voiceless stops serves to classify
Romance languages into Eastern and Western .
2. According to the evolution of these voiceless words ( ptk – c followed by a/o/u ) and according to
the type of plural adopted, the Romance languages are divided into Eastern, Western and
Sardinia .
3. The limit would be the 44th Parallel of North Latitude. which more or less passes between the
limits of Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, Tuscany and Marche to the south. Others say
that the line runs between La Spezia on the Tyrrhenian Sea and Rimini on the Adriatic.
Eastern Romance languages
1. Italian (Tuscany base)
2. All Southern Italian Dialects .
3. The Dalmatian (extinct at the beginning of the 20th century).
4. Romanian .
5. Characteristics:
a. Voiceless intervocalic stops are not voiced
b. They make their vowel plurals .
Western Romance languages
1. All northern Italian dialects: Genoese, Piedmontese, Lombard, Emilian, Veneto ).

2. The Romance language of Switzerland ( Retoromance – Reto for Retia which is the Roman name
for Switzerland, or also called Romansh ).
3. Provencal
4. French
5. Provençal franc
6. Catalan
7. Castilian
8. Galician-Portuguese.
9. Characteristics:
a. They voice the voiceless plosives (in Spanish they also become fricatives )
i. P > B (> b fric) life
ii. T > D (> đ )
iii. C > G (> g )
b. They make their Sigmatic Plurals
Sardinian
1. We say that Sardinian is different because Sardinia , in addition to being an island (more
conservative) is right on the limit of the aforementioned division, it is close to Tuscan but also to
French and Catalan.
2. Characteristics
a. It does not voice the voiceless ones (just like the oriental ones), but
b. makes plurals with – S. (just like Western ones)
Development of the lenition process
1. The lenition process does not stop at voicing.
a. The t. AMATU- > LOVED (≈amađo). It not only sounded but became fricative.

b. In some places there is a further step: > AMAO: T > D > D > Ø – Phenomenon
conditioned by the substrate of Celtic lenition.
2. When the voiceless stop is not intervocalic , but is between a vowel and a semivowel, it does
not voice:
to. CAP I O > C AI PO > WHAT TYPE > WHAT PO
YOD 4TH METATHESIS CLOSES THE A
3. Italian - oriental language . It doesn't sound. In some words yes: scudo, recivere, etc. :
contamination of man's dialects. Use of Tuscan as a literary language. Acquisition of non-Tuscan
vocabulary. 20th century: Roman influence from the media (based in Rome).
4. Castilian : what happens to the words that already had intervocalic voiced stops in Latin?: They
become fricatives or fall :
a. CRE D ERE > BELIEVE
b. AU D IRE > HEAR
c. CRU D ERE > CRU D O

D – Can fall or become fricative
d. PLA G A > LLA G A
e. PUNISHMENT G ARE > PUNISHMENT G

AR
f. SMOKE G ARE > SMOKE G – Can fall or become fricative

g. LITI G ARE > LI D IAR
Originally it was a bullfight.

h. CA B ALLU- > CA B ALLO
Educated level: judicial
i. FA B A > HA B A
B: Bilabial does not fall, it becomes a
j. RI B US > RIVER fricative
k. GINDI V A > GUM
l. AESTI V OS > SUMMER
m. NA V E > NA V E
n. LE V ARE > LLE V AR B labiodental drops or becomes

bilabial
o. NOT GOING > NEW GOING
Intervocalic fricative consonants
1. S : is preserved . EM: sonorous. Modernity: deaf.
2. F : can be kept or voiced > labiodental V (in the long run it will be bilabial), or it can be kept as an

initial, aspirated and converted into –H.
a. PRO F UNDUS > PRO F UNDO
b. PRO F ECTUS > PRO V ECHO
c. STE PH ANUS > ESTE V AN > ESTE B AN
d. TRI F OLIUM > TRE B OL
3. G + E/I : CAE:
a. LE GE RE > L EE R
b. MA GI STRU- > M AE STRO
c. RE GE - > R EE > RE Y (Dissociation. The second becomes yod ) (> it. RE)
d. GRE GE > GR EE > GRE Y
Nasal and liquid consonants
1. In general they are preserved :
a. FU M U > HU M O
b. A M ARE > A M AR
c. MOON A > MOON A In Galician-Portuguese it does not pass, but falls:
d. BO N US > GOOD N O LUA, BON, DOOR.
e. DO L ORE > DO L OR
f. CAE L UM > SKY
g. O R A > TIME R A
h. FĔ R A > FIE R A
i.
Clustered consonants
Double Consonants / Antevocalic Geminates
1. ( Wrong expression – Double concept in spelling, not phoneme. It represents not two phonemes but
a single reinforced one: The first is an implosive step and the second is an explosive step)
2. Most of them are simplified in Spanish. (does not happen in Italian):
a. CI PP U- > CE P O
b. GE MM A > GE M A
c. A BB ATE > A B AD

d. FLA MM A > CALL M A
e. MY TT ERE > ME T ER
f. GRŎ SS US > GRUE S O
g. A BD UCERE > A D UCIR
h. CRA SS US > GRA S O
i. PE CC ATU > PE C ADO
j. BU CC A > BO C A
k. A CC ESUS > A CC ESO (the spelling is preserved, but there are two phonemes ≠)
l. FĔ RR U > HIE RR O (the spelling is preserved to mark the multiple vibrating)
m. TĔ RR A > TIE RR A
n. VA LL E > VA LL E (the graphics are preserved. The double L palatalizes).
o. PA NN U- > PA NN O > CLOTH O

Unit V – Evolution of Latin interior consonant groups
Evolution of the Latin interior consonant groups in Spanish: -S-, -L- and -R- + consonant;
nasal + consonant. Assimilation cases. Cases of change of the second consonant. Cases of
vocalization of the first consonant. Consonant cases + -L- or - R-; labial + dental; occlusive
+ dental. Groups of three consonants. Consonants + semivowels.
Clustered Interior Consonants
Two consonants grouped together
1. When the consonants of the inner group belong to different syllables , both are generally
preserved, because the second element behaves as an initial one.
2. Therefore all those groups of R + consonants are usually preserved.
a. SE RP ENTE > SE RP IENTE
b. PŎ RT A > PUE RT A
c. CI RC U > CI RC O
d. CŎ RV U > CUE RV O
e. E RB A > HIE RB A
f. FO RM ICA > HO RM IGA
g. CŎ RD A > CUE RD A
h. TO RN ARE > TO RN AR
3. Something similar happens in N + Consonant , it is also usually preserved
a. FU NG U > HO NG O
b. QUI NQ EU > CI NC O
4. Ditto M + consonant
a. TĔ MP US > TIE MP O
b. THE MP ADA > THE MP ARA
5. Ditto L + consonant
a. A LT US > A LT O
b. FA LS US > FA LS O
c. A LB A > A LB A
d. CA LD US > CA LD O
e. To LG A > To LG A
f. U LM US > O LM O
6. Ditto S + consonant
a. VE SP A > AVI SP A
b. RE SP ONDERE > RE SP ONDER
c. CŎ ST A > CUE ST A
d. MU SC A > MO SC A
7. Some of these groups produce a phenomenon of assimilation (it is the contagion that one joint
produces on another nearby one in such a way that this second becomes equal to the first). In RS,
we are going to observe that the S transmits its articulation to the R, it assimilates it, and once we
have the double S, it is simplified into a single S:
a. RS > SS > S
i. Ŭ RS US > O SSO > O S O
ii. VĔ RS US > FRI SS O (medieval – verse is a cultism)
iii. A compound from the preposition VERSUS, in Latin it is ADVERSUS. Cicero's

speeches are PRO or ADVERSUS. It still exists today in the classification of
forensic speeches. ADVERSUS also originated a traditional word that is little
used, but is current: AVIESO. It is not used as a preposition but as an adjective:
malicious attitude, malicious look, this is a grim look, an attitude that suggests
hostility.
iv. DORSUS in Italian to indicate something that one carries on ADOSO, and from
there comes a verb INDOSARE. DORSO is the upper part, and the back is the
dorsal column.
b. MB > M
i. PLU MB US > PLO M O
ii. LU MB US > LO M O
iii. PALU MB A > PALO M A
iv. In Italian it does not assimilate, it remains MB.
8. There are other groups that are palatalized . Palatalization is a subsequent result, first it begins
with an assimilation: MN assimilates into NN, but since NN ends in a palatal Ñ , a second step
occurs here, instead of simplifying into N, it palatalizes into Ñ :
a. MN > NN > Ñ

i. AUTU MN U > OTO NN O > AUTUMN O
ii. DA MN U > DA NN O > DAM O
iii. This phenomenon can even occur when the M and N do not form a group, but
instead have an I or a short vowel in the middle:
iv. DO MĬN A > (the i falls) DO MN A > DO Ñ A
v. Depending on how the word is located in the phonic chain, if it is located in a

tonic position the short diphthong and it becomes OWNER, if it is located in an
unstressed position it is not diphthong and then it becomes DOÑ A. That is why
DOÑ A always accompanies a name and it is in that name where the accent falls.
Ex. Doñ a María, if I take out the María and only Domina is left, I make the accent
fall to domina and it is then DUEÑ A. Sometimes the phenomenon of tonicity is
not enough to focus on the isolated word, this is called syntactic phonetics,
because the phonetic result depends on something higher up, on something that
goes beyond the isolated word.
b. SC + E/I > Ç - Palatalizes in a voiceless Z (Ç)
i. MY SCE RE > ME Ç ER
ii. FLORE SCE RE > FLORE Ç ER
iii. PI SCE > PE Ç E (>PEZ)
iv. FA SCE > HA Ç E (> HAZ)
9. They assimilate:
a. NS > SS > S :
i. A NS A > A SS A > A S A
ii. SE NS US > SE SS O > SE S O
b. NF > FF , In medieval Spanish this group could also be assimilated. In the Middle Ages
the two forms coexisted and finally the etymological one ended up being imposed.
i. I NF ANTE- > I FF ANTE
ii. I NF ERNU- > I FF ERNO
c. Sometimes in these consonant groups you can vocalize the first consonant:
i. ALT E RŬ -
1. > (the e falls) A L TRO
2. > (first consonant vocalization) A U TRO
3. > (the u is a uau semivowel that begins to close the a) OU TRO

4. > (monothongous in o) O TRO
ii. ALTAR I U-
1. > (Yod 4 is displaced by metathesis after the a) ALT AI RO
2. > (starts to close the a) A L TEIRO
3. > (vocalizes the L) AU TERO
4. > (monothongous in o) O TERO
iii. TA L PA >
1. > (vocalizes the L) T AU PA
2. > (monotonous and changes gender) T O PO
10. Groups of CONS + R: the first consonant behaves as intervocalic :
a. SORDA + R we will have Sonora + R, it is voiced as intervocalic:
i. CA PR A > CA BR A
ii. A PR ILE > A BR IL
iii. PA TR EM > PA DR E
iv. PE TR A > FOOT DR A
v. LA CR IMA > LA GR IMA
b. SONORA + R : The group can be preserved or the sound can be dropped:
i. E BR IUS > E BR IO (Ebrius in Latin is a comparative, it is more drunk, so what is

more drunk or very drunk in Latin, in Spanish is simply drunk, there is a
readjustment of the degrees)
ii. CUA DR U- > CUA DR O
iii. With the GR group the sound can be preserved or lost:
1. NI GR U- > NE GR O
2. PI GR ITIA > PE R EZA
3. INTE GR U- > INT R O
11. DEAF CONSONANT + L: the consonant behaves as intervocalic and is voiced
1. DU PL ARE > DO BL AR
11. E CCL ESIA > I GL ESIA
12. LABIAL + DENTAL : Assimilation in TT and then simplification in T
to. PT > TT > T
1. SCRI PT UM > WRITTEN

2. SĔ PT EM > SIE T E
13. PS > SS > S Assimilate into SS and then simplify into S
a. I PS E > É S E
b. GY PS U- > (G followed by stressed vowel makes Yod) YE SS O > YE S O
14. Latin X (counts as two consonants [ks] in a single grapheme). It behaves like yod 4, it will end in a
palatal result
a. DI X I [ks] > DI X E [š] > DI J E
1. There is actually an intermediate step. If we have DIXI [DIKSI] with grouped

guttural, then the Yod appears, > D EIS I closes the e and palatalizes the s > DIXI [š]
b. MA
c. There are exceptions in which the x is maintained as a double phoneme but those are
cultisms.
Three consonants grouped together
1. MBR – NTR –STR : They are preserved
a. NOVEMBER > NOVEMBER MBR E
b. INCO NTR ARE > ENCO NTR AR
c. CA STR ARE > CA STR AR
d. The STR group in the Middle Ages could be assimilated into SS :
i. NO STR UM > NUE SS O
ii. VO STR UM > VUE SS O
YOU:
1. VUE SS A MERÇED
2. > Apocope of the possessive pronoun Vuessa VUM ERÇED
3. > Intervocalic fall of the MV UE RÇED
4. > Opening of the EV UAR ÇED
5. > Combined phenomenon of simplification and metathesis. The consonant Ç

is also double, it is equivalent to ts , so a metathesis st is produced and it
will also be simplified VUA Ç ED > VUA ST ED
6. > Simplifies to V YOU > YOU
7. It went through this process because it is a very frequent word and in very

general use and then it underwent this wear and tear and transformation,
an intense process and more acute than other words.
8. The Galician/Portuguese vossa merced is the origin of the Portuguese vosse
2. RCT – NCT: They simplify with the drop of the C and two groups of two consonants remain. The
interspersed C is very little related to Romance articulatory habits:
a. RCT > RT : taking the participle of the verb torcere
1. TO RCT UM > TUE RT O (which means Twisted)
b. NCT > NT :
i. QUI NCT US > QUI NT O
ii. SA NCT US > SA NT O
iii. PU NCT US > PU NT O
3. X + CONS > S + CONS (It is taken as a group of three consonants since the x is double)
to. SE XT A (sixth hour) > SIE ST A
4. NX > NS
to. A NX IA > A NS IA
5. CONS. + PL / FL / CL > CONS + CH (Palatalizan)
a. A MPL US > A NCH O
b. I NFL ARE > HI NCH AR
c. MANŬ CŬ LA > MA NCL A > MA NCH A
6. FFL > LL (can palatalize in LL but sometimes not or does)
a. A FFL ARE > HA LL AR
b. RESU FFL ARE > RESO LL AR

Unit VI – Evolution of final consonants
Evolution of Latin final consonants in Spanish. General trends in Romance languages. Final
nasals; final -S and -X; -T, -D, -C, -R and -L endings. Secondary final consonants or Spanish
romances. Medieval apocope.
Introduction
1. Vulgar Latin has a very marked tendency to avoid final consonants at the end of the word,
phrase or phrase. And this tendency that contrasts with classical Latin was inherited by the
Romance languages, but each language does it to different degrees and strengths. Also in poetry
for rhythmic reasons, so that the hendecasyllable fits well, or a desire to end in acute diction, a
type of stanza where every few verses has to end in acute and much more so in sung poetry.
+ +/- -
ITALIAN CASTILIAN FRENCH

(there are practically no
PORTUGUESE PROVENCAL
words that end in a
ROMANIAN CATALAN
consonant)
How these languages avoid final consonants
a. Drop of lsa final consonants
i. AMAN T > AMAN (3rd person Latin)
ii. NOVE M > NINE
iii. ALIQUO D > SOMETHING
b. Add a paragogic vowel to the final consonant : It does not happen in Spanish but it
does in Italian:
1. SING T > cast. THEY SING, but in Italian they also want to avoid
n, since he can't make it fall because it would be SINGING, so he adds an o and it
remains. SING OR
c. Metathesis : Send the final consonant to the middle of the word. In general the

metathesis is verified with the final r, but it is not a rule, it is an indication.
i. SEMPE R > SIEM PR E
ii. QUATO R > FOUR TR O
Final consonants that fall
1. M - Weaker consonant in final position. In meter it is the Latin consonant that is the fastest, when
measuring a Latin verse, a final m appears and the following word begins with a vowel. You can
practice the Sinalefa between those two words even if there is an m in the middle. This means
that the final m of the first word was not pronounced and this must have been so strong that even
in classical, cultured, literary Latin, which is where the laws of meter govern, it had already
penetrated. Conclusion, m is the weakest consonant, it is likely that it resolved as a short
nasalization of the short vowel. It cannot be known with certainty, but this possibility can be
deduced. In Spanish it can be resolved in two ways:
a. Cae : Indeclinable words are taken as an example. For example
i. NOVE M > NINE
ii. IA M > YA
iii. SU M > SO(Y) =
1. [And it does not belong to vb. But it is the adv. Medieval IBI (ALLI)
2. STO IBI > I AM THERE
3. Then it was added to the verbal form and the concept of its origin was
lost].
b. It becomes the other nasal that is a little more resistant: N (especially in monosyllables).
i. CU M > CO N
ii. WHAT M > WHO N
2. N - Can fall or be preserved :
a. Cae in Spanish:
1. NO N > NO
b. In Italian it can fall (in negation when answering No) or be preserved
1. Item. NO / NON (when followed by a verb)
c. [Monosyllables: phonetic evolution very subject to the rhythm of the phrase – they do not
evolve alone but according to the stressed word that supports it]. In this case of Italian, it

evolves in two different ways. When it maintains the accent by itself it loses the final n,
when it does not have it because it is attached to a verb and the accent goes on the verb, it
loses it.
3. S - Taking into account that Spanish belongs to Western Romania, and that in this the plurals are in
s, it can be deduced from this principle that Spanish will retain the final s. (≠ R. Or: it. NOI / VIENI).
Examples:
a. Sigmatic plurals
b. Invariants: NO YES > NO YES
c. Verb forms that end in s - 2nd sg: CANTA S > tu CANTA S
4. X – Simplify in S:
to. Invariants: SE X > SEI S (grouped gutturals>yod)
5. T – Cae : The Spanish rejects the final voiceless dental.
to. AMA T > AMA
6. D – Cae : ( The final Ds we have come from LATIN INTERMEDIATE T: VERITATE > VERDAD):
a. AD>A
b. QUI D > WHAT
7. C – Fall
a. Loss of the demonstrative HI C , HAE C , HO C.
b. NE C > NI
c. YES C > YES
d. AD HI C > THERE
8. R - It is resolved by metathesis , passing the R to the middle of the word:
a. SEMPE R > SIEM PR E
b. INTER R > EN TR E
Medieval Apocope
1. Phenomenon by which until the s. XIII, some words in Spanish lost their final vowels that do not
fit well in Spanish as we see it today.
a. SEVEN > SEVEN
b. SANT > HOLY

c. PRINCEP > PRINCE
d. PART > PART
e. GRAND > GRAND
f. NUEF > NINE
g. DULC > DULÇE
h. COM > AS
i. NIGHT > NIGHT
2. S. XIII : ALFONSO THE WISE (X) did not like these anti-etymological endings. He ordered that all
the final vowels be restored and that it be written with these.
3. Some were left as they were (when the final consonants were softer):
a. SOL (≠ sole)
b. BREAD (≠ bread)

Unit VII – Evolution of secondary groups or Castilian romances.
Romance group concept. Causes of its formation; its relationship with the voicing of
voiceless intervocalic stops. Intercalation of sounds or epenthesis. Different examples of
romance groups.
Romance Groups
1. They are the non-Latin Consonant Groups. They are formed from the fall of a short internal
pretonic or posttonic vowel that causes consonants that were previously separated to form a
new consonant group .
2. They evolve in a different way than Latinas, according to the following steps:
a. Voice the voiceless intervocalic, and only after
b. The vowel falls, to produce the formation of the romance group
3. Examples:
a. DOMÍN ĬC U- > DOMIN ĬG O > DOMIN NG O
i. (Because if I do >DOMINICO the C stops being intervocalic, therefore it cannot

be voiced to reach >SUNDAY)
ii. When there are 2 brief internal pre or post tonics , the one closest to the accent
falls.
b. CĂ BALL ĬC Á RE > CABALL ĬG AR > CABA LG AR
4. In some cases the vowel does not fall, by analogy with a word from the same family:
a. MA TŬ RÁ RE > MA DŬR AR [ > MADRAR ]
b. MAT Ū RUS > MA DUR O => The tonic U is long, therefore it cannot fall.
5. In some cases the fall of the vowel is brought forward, preventing voicing :
a. SOLĬTÁ R I U- > SOLĬT AI RO > SOL Ĭ T EI RO > SO LTE RO ≠ SOL Ŭ TÁ RE > SO LT ARE
b. Once the vowel falls, the consonant group can be maintained , or if after the vowel falls there
are groupings that are intolerable for Spanish speech, there are several solutions (without
fixed laws). Ex: Two solutions for the same problem:
a. VĔ N Ĕ RIS (DIES) > FRI NR ES > FRI RN ES (the day of Venus)
b. VENIRE HABEO > VENIRE HE > VEN I RÉ > VE NR É > VEN D RÉ (D because the alveolar
N facilitates it)

c. CATĔ NÁ TU- > CA DĔ NADO > CA DN ADO > CA ND ADO Medieval solution: (>CANNADO
> CAÑ ADO)
Group L + Consonant
1. Between the L and the consonant we must assume the vowel that falls.
2. L Solidarity with R - L is a phoneme intimately supportive of another phoneme: R. So castling

and reciprocal exchanges between /l/ and /r/ are very frequent:
a. PÁ LL Ĭ DUS > (the i falls) PA LD O > (it settles into r) PA RD O
b. But the opposite can happen, in a group of consonant + R it can give consonant + L
1. ROB Ŭ RE > (the short u falls) RO BR E > RO BL E (here the phenomenon of

dissimilation operates, there are two r's, the initial one and the one of the last
syllable, so they end up differentiating -DISIMILATION: difference 2 sounds = o ≈
next.)
3. L Solidarity with N :
a. ĬL Ĭ CINEMA > (the second i falls and the first becomes e) E LC INA > (The l changes into n)
E NC INA
b. The other way around:
1. Á N Ĭ MA > (the i falls) A NM A > A LM A
Consonant + L
1. Several options:
a. It can be preserved (minus the sound):
1. PO P Ŭ LOS > POB Ŭ LO > (diphthong the short o and drops the u) PUE BL O

b. You can do metathesis :
1. SIB Ĭ LARE > SI BL AR > SI LB AR > (can undergo a strange process of

palatalization where the BL group and also the initial S are palatalized)
CH I LL AR (double palatalization)
c. It can give a palatal result that can be CH or LL
1. CÁ P Ŭ LA > (drops the u) CA PL A > (pl is palatalized in Ch) CA CH A
d. Can give J (2nd YOD):
1. OC Ŭ LUS > O CL O > O IL O > O LL O > O X O > O J O
Consonant + Voiceless Plosive - Voiced
1. When you have a Consonant + voiceless stop , this stop will be voiced in its equivalent,
depending on the point of articulation. Example:
a. BONĬ T A T E > (the t's are voiced) BON ĬD A D E > (The I and the final e fall BO ND AD
b. COMĬ T E > COM ĬD E > CO M DE > (it is difficult to pronounce bilabial+dental, so

remains) CO ND E
c. MANĬ C A > MAN ĬG A > MA NG A
Voiceless plosive + consonants - Voicing
1. RECŬ P Ĕ RARE > RECO BĔ RAR > RECO BR AR
to. Why isn't C also voiced? Because it is perceived to be a word

composed with a prefix, and that the true initial of the word is C, then it does not behave
as an intervocalic but as an initial.
Voiced plosive
1. When the stop is already voiced in Latin, it is preserved :
a. SOL Ĭ DARE > SO LD AR
b. LIB Ĕ RARE > LI BR AR
Double Consonant + Consonant
1. In this case the double is simplified:
to. LI TTĔ RA > LE TR A
Consonant + Nasal
1. SN Group Retained:
a. AS Ĭ NU- > (The i falls) A SN O
b. ELEMOS Y NA > LIMO SN A

C+N - C+M
1. They go to Z + N - Z + M (Because the short vowel is usually a front vowel that requires a change
in the point of articulation of the guttural).
a. DECIMU- > (diphthong the e and the i falls) DIE ZM O
b. DURACIMU- > DURA ZN O
Nasal + Liquid
1. In the Nasal + liquid group, a voiced plosive is usually inserted.
2. M + R (interleaved B)
a. HOM Ĭ NE > HO MN E > HO MR E > HOM B RE
b. SEM Ĭ NARE > SE MN AR > SE MR AR > SEM B RAR
c. LUMINE > LUMNE > LUMRE > LUMBRE
d. The R may already be given in the original Latin group itself:
i. HUM Ĕ RUS > HO MR O > HOM B RO
ii. MEM Ŏ RARE > ME MR AR > MEM B RAR
3. M + L (interleaved B)
to. TE R EMULA R E > (dissimilation of the r, the first disappears) TEM Ŭ LARE > TE ML AR >
TEM B LAR
4. N + L (With the N a D is inserted, because the point of art. Matches N)
to. INGEN Ĕ RARE > ENGE NR AR > ENGEN D RAR
5. N + R (sometimes it does not interleave D, but does metathesis )
a. VĔ N Ĕ RIS (DIES) > FRI NR ES > FRI RN ES (the day of Venus)
b. GEN Ĕ RU > YE NR O > YE RN O
Plosive Groups
P.S
B'T BD > UD (>D)
V'T
Examples:
1. RÁ P ĬDU- > (Voices the P) RA BĬ DI > (drops the i) RA BD O > ( vocalizes the b, which is labial like the
u) RA UD O
2. DEBI T A > The T becomes louder DEB ĬD A > The i falls DE BD A > DE UD A

3. CI V Ĭ T A T E- > They voice the Ts and the V goes to B by its own pronunciation CI BĬD A D E > the i falls
CI BD AD > the long b falls CI UD AD
4. CŬ BĬ T U- > ( The short stressed u gives o, voices the T) COB ĬD O > the i falls CO BD O > vocalizes the b
CO UD O > CO D O
C+VOC. + T > Z + D > Z
1. RECĬ T ARE > RE CĬD AR > RE ZD AR > RE Z AR

Unit VIII – Sporadic Spanish phonetic changes
Sporadic Castilian phonetic changes: assimilation, dissimilation, differentiation,

metathesis, epenthesis, analogy, popular etymology, ultracorrection, acoustic equivalence,
etc. Castilian cults. Concept and particular phonetic evolution. Latin voices with double
results: traditional and cultist. Semi-cultisms .
Sporadic phonetic changes
They do not respond to fixed phonetic laws but to other less definable causes or unpredictability.
Although they do not respond to general laws, they can be classified:
1. Assimilation : Equalization of two different nearby sounds through contagion from one to the
other, making them totally or partially the same:
a. IPSE > ESSE > ESE

TOTAL ASSIMILATION
b. URSO > USSUS > BEAR
2. Dissimilation : Differentiation of two similar or equal sounds that are close
a. CARCERE > CÁ R CE R > PRISON
b. ARBORE > A R BO R > TREE
c. ROTUNDUS > R O D O NDO > RE DONDO - (Possible false analogy with prefix “ re ”)
d. HISPANIONE > SPANISH > SPANISH

PARTIAL DISSIMILATION
Many times it does not modify a phoneme, but rather eliminates it:
a. PR OR PR IU > OWN
b. A R A TR US > A R A TR O > ARA T O > PLOW
3. Metathesis : Change of place of a sound within the word.
a. Simple : Change of a single sound
i. INTEGRATE RE > ENTER DELIVERY
ii. CREPARE > C RE BAR > QUE BR AR
b. Reciprocal : Exchange of two similar sounds in adjacent syllables.
i. PARABOLA > PAR AB L A > WORD AB R A

ii. it: PARA B OLA > PAR AO LA > PAR AU LA > PA RO LA
4. Analogy : Influence of one word on the other, so that the speaker, through sound, highlights a kinship
or similarity between both words, which may be real or imaginary.
a. PRIMARIUS > FIRST
b. POSTREMUS > POSTRERIUS > POSTRERO
c. LUNAE DIES > *LUNE > MONDAY
d. MARTIS DIES > TUESDAY
e. MERCURII DIES > *MERCOLE / WEDNESDAY > WEDNESDAY
f. JOVIS DIES > THURSDAY
g. VENERIS DIES > FRIDAY
h. NINE > *NINE HUNDRED
i. FOUR > FOUR HUNDRED
j. WITH ME - *WITHOUT ME (Logically correct, but not enabled by usage)
5. Epenthesis : Added sound
a. Prosthesis : At the beginning of the word:
1. PACIFICARE > APPEACH
b. Epenthesis in the middle of the word
i. YOURS > YOURS
ii. TOMUS > THUNDER
c. Paragoge : At the end of the word. There is none in current Spanish.
6. Apheresis : Removing a sound at the beginning of a word.
to. ELEMOSYNA > ALMS

7. Syncopation : Removing a sound from the middle of a word
to. DOMINICUS > SUNDAY
8. Apocope : Removing a sound at the end of a word
to. GOOD > GOOD
9. Popular Etymology : Cross of two words based on a supposed etymological relationship:
to. νεκρομαντεια > necro mantia > necromancy > negromancy

divination for confusion black magic
the dead with niger
10. Ultracorrection: Correction of an error that does not exist.
to. *BALADO by COD
b. *ERUDICTION for ERUDITION
c. *CARIE for CARIES
11. Acoustic equivalence: Confusion of sounds that have features in common: (replaces one consonant
with another with similar characteristics)
a. *GOOD instead of GOOD

l b and g are voiced stops
b. *AGUELO instead of GRANDFATHER
c. *MEATBALL instead of MEATBALL

L b and m are bilabial
d. *MONDIOLA instead of BONDIOLA

and. CEASE
In some cases both results
F. Brow are accepted
12. Others : (These were in Claudia's notes but somewhere else, I put it here)
a. Linguistic doublet , when there is a popular word and a cultism. They can mean different
things. Monetary and wallet example. The traditional result is usually to refer to something
more concrete. Digitum = digit and finger.
b. Traditional, popular heritage words : They imply a diachronic evolution that gradually
evolved from Latin through oral evolution, from popular speech that begins speaking Latin and
over time becomes deformed until it ends up generating a word romance
c. Cultism: Cult, written and voluntary phenomenon. Instant synchronous tracing. It does not
occur in a process. It can be spoken from a cultured oral language, someone who knows Latin
and who wants to import a word from Latin to Spanish, and thus it does not suffer the same
phonetic changes that the traditional word suffers because there is no phonetic deformation due
to speech.

Unit IX – Historical morphology
Historical morphology of the noun and the adjective in Spanish. Inflection of the noun.
Tendency of Romance languages towards periphrasis and loss of cases. Accusative survival
theory. The bicasual nominal inflection of medieval French. The nominal declension of
Romanian. Theory of Demetrius Gazdaru. Reduction of declensions and genders. Loss of
the neuter gender and its assimilation to the feminine and masculine.
Loss of declines
1. It is the first major difference in the transition from Latin to the Romance languages. Most
Western languages have declensions. Why were the declensions lost? There are two theories:
a. Because the endings were phonetically relaxed: Mispronunciation of the final

phonemes of the word, and it was no longer clear to which case the word was referring.
This problem had to be overcome with the use of prepositions.
b. Prepositions have always existed. In late Latin, prepositions began to be abused, even
when the case was already marked. For linguistic economy, the use of declension was no
longer necessary.
c. Cannot be corroborated: Concomitant causes, mutual feedback process.
2. Menéndez Pidal : Why didn't the same thing happen with the endings of the verbs? Why did we
lose only the declension and not also the conjugation like English?
a. Verb : the word that designates an action. And this carries in its own meaning the idea of
change, evolution. A process is executed. It is logical that the word that designates a
change itself changes form as it passes from one time to another. ≠ Not all verbs express
a process (be, remain).
b. Noun : Substance. Something that remains, that is not subject to any change. It is logical
that it does not change its shape. ≠ Not all nouns express an action (Change, process,
mutation).
c. Broader process that affects all Indo-European languages. In all of them there is a
tendency to reduce the number of cases. More archaic, greater morphological
complexity. The more cases, the more archaic.
d. The article appears to accompany the noun at a time when constructions become more
periphrastic.
e. Latin: language more archaic than Greek.

f. Greek crystallized into classical Greek at a time when it already had only five cases and
had already introduced the article. In the case of Latin, this evolution coincided with the
formation of the Romance languages.
Cases
1. The weakest is the Vocative : It is assimilated to the nominative.
2. Genitive : (belonging, possession, origin) because it can be expressed through a (unde: de + ab)
(words that retain the genitive: the days of the week, earthquake: movement of the earth,
aqueduct)
3. Dative : I give the book to the girl: indirect object marked as the end of the action, the final place
where the book ends (quo: ad + ac).
4. Accusative and Ablative: They merge into one because they are the only two cases that can use
prepositions. The same prepositions are used, but the meaning of this changes depending on the
case.
5. But this ends up confusing, and then all the weight is put on the preposition. The simplest and
most prevalent prevails: the accusative. (you, like... ≠ibus)
6. Nominative (straight case) and Accusative (oblique case). Accusative: this brings together all the
cases that were eliminated, except the vocative that was assimilated to the nominative. In 13th
century French they still have to decline (only 2 cases).
Declensions
1. Quarter
2. The fifth is assimilated according to the words. Some at the third time, at the first (dies: day).
3. First in -a accommodates some of the fifth and remains as the Castilian declension of feminine in
theme -a (plural in s).
4. Second welcomes those of the fourth and remains as the declension in cast for the masculine for
the theme -o (plural in s).
5. Third welcomes some of the fifth and remains as the decl masc or fem with theme -eo consonant
theme (plural es).
Gender
1. The genre is simplified: Lat: 3 > Cast: 2

2. NEUTRAL > MASCULINE (templum > the temple)
3. NEUTRALS WITH PLURAL in –A > FEMININE SG. (opera, plural of opus > the work)
4. Sometimes the same neutral word can be considered fem or masc,
5. LIGNUM survived in the cast in two forms (in both cases it is singular):
a. SG: LIGNUM > LONG
b. PL: LIGNA > FIREWOOD
Supposed privilege of the Latin accusative in the Western Romanesque declension. Demetrius Gazdaru.
Romanesque Magazine of the University of La Plata No1 1968 – Pna 69-85
The noun
Syncretic case
1. Nouns in the Spanish and Western languages derive from a Latin form that we call syncretic case
, because as the cases were lost, they converged into a single form in which all the old oblique
cases were concentrated and which is distinguished from the nominative. .
2. However, in historical grammar manuals it was always stated that the nouns and adjectives of
Western Romance languages derive from the Latin accusative. The problem that arises is to
elucidate whether our names derive from the accusative case or from the syncretic case, where
they can no longer be distinguished.
3. It is obvious that the answer is the latter, but for some reason it has always been stated that the
names of Western Romance derive from the accusative. On the other hand, the names of Eastern
Romance derive from the nominative, that is why we say man , which clearly derives from a
syncretic case homine , while the Italian uomo clearly derives from the nominative homo.
4. The old explanation, which said that names in Castilian derived from the accusative, was basically
based on the total coincidence of form between the Castilian plural with the Latin accusative
plural (e.g.: roses > roses).
a. First opposition to this argument: the coincidence only occurs in the plural (rosam >
rosa, medicum > doctor). Therefore the s/as/os of the Castilian plural is a plural
morpheme only, not an accusative one. Because if it were an accusative sign and if there
had been a community will to preserve that “s” as an accusative sign, all the more reason
the m should have been preserved as a singular accusative morpheme, which did not
happen.
b. On the other hand, only a more frequent use of a certain case could give this case such
primacy as to make it last over the others, and if a statistic is made regarding the most

frequent cases in Spanish, covering the history from Spanish (Gazdaru takes El Cid for
the Middle Ages, an exemplary novel by Cervantes for the classical period and the novel
Nada by Carmen Laforet for the 20th century), there it is stated that the most frequent
case in Spanish is not the accusative but the nominative.
c. On the other hand, and this would be the central argument, if one applies the ABC of
structuralism, in a structure (which is the system of cases) each element is defined in
opposition to the others. If I maintain that cases are lost, I cannot simultaneously affirm
that a single case is preserved, or at least two are preserved, or none, if there is only one
it is no longer a determined case, there are already cases because there is no other at the
same time. which to oppose. If a single form is preserved, I cannot call it any more
accusative, because I cannot oppose it to another (nominative, genitive, etc.), then that
form cannot be named after a particular case.
d. Finally, of the famous “s” of the plural that coincides with the accusative plural “s” of
Latin, we must remember that Castilian is a language strongly influenced by two
substrates: the Celtic substrate and the Osco-Umbrian that traveled to the Iberian
Peninsula. with the legionaries from southern Italy and who were not Latin, but from the
central south, Latinized, Latin with a strong Oscan substratum. In both Celtic and Oscan
the s is a nominative morpheme and not an accusative one. This condition of s being a
nominative morpheme in these substrates is also one of the explanations given to try to
elucidate why in the languages of Western Romany plurals are formed with s and not
with a vowel like Italian or Romanian. , because throughout Western Romania there is
the Celtic substratum and it has the nominative plural in s.
5. All this arises from a confusion of terms that was never developed. What are we referring to
when we talk about the Accusative of a function or a form ? When Gazdaru does his statistics to
see which is the most frequent case in the mentioned works, he refers to the accusative and the
nominative as functions, not as forms because in Spanish there are no longer forms, however
when he talks about the “s” and of the rose/rose coincidence refers to the shapes.
6. It all lies in that:
a. If we talk only about forms we can admit the syncretic form of the cases from which the
Spanish name is derived is a form almost identical to that of the old accusative case.
Because in that form the nominative is not included, in that form only the oblique cases
are included, and even in late Latin or in medieval stages, as in French, there were two
cases, an oblique case where the main component due to its Most often it may have been
the old accusative and the straight case (old nominative).
b. But if we talk about functions , we can no longer maintain the concept of the accusative.

Because functions in Spanish are determined by the order of the words or the use of
prepositions. In the romance stage we can no longer speak accusatively.
7. The fact that there is a greater statistical frequency of the accusative function has to do with the
fact that the old accusative form has prevailed. But in the romance stage we can no longer speak
accusatively, but rather we speak in a single way that is not accusative or anything.
8. All this comes from the notable contrast that we discover with the nominative, especially in the
words of the third imparisyllable declension. It is clear that our forms do not come from the
nominative, because there it is distinguished from the rest of the cases. We say man and not
homme, we say lumbre and not lume, which it should be if we derived the word from the
nominative. But deep down this discussion is Byzantine, we all understand what we are talking
about and it becomes unnecessarily complicated. Since 1968, the subject has not been discussed
again.
9. The Spanish name then derives from a syncretic case . The accusative is more frequent in terms
of function, but not in terms of form, because it is no longer an accusative form but a unique form.

Unit X – The adjective
The adjective: gender, degrees, apocopes. Remains of the comparative ablative. New forms
of comparatives and superlatives in Spanish. Evolution of numerals in Spanish: cardinals,
ordinals, multiples, partitives. Nominal formation in Spanish: non-substantive or adjective
words enabled as such; formation by suffixes, prefixes, composition, juxtaposition,
parasynthesis.
Characteristics
1. The adjective always agrees in gender, number and case with the noun it modifies. If I say that
the cases for the noun have been lost and the adjective accompanies or coincides in case with the
noun it accompanies, it goes without saying that, if the case is lost for the noun, it is lost for the
adjective.
2. It also coincides in number and gender. But if I say that of the three Latin genders we pass two
genders into Spanish, because the neuter is lost in nouns, it is also lost in adjectives in the same
way.
3. In such a way that adjectives with three endings in Latin ( altus,a,um ) become two, only
masculine and feminine, and those that were two endings become one (sweet). Those that were
single-ended are still single-ended.
Degrees of the adjective
1. In classical Latin:
a. Comparative of superiority ior ( altior ) + 2nd term in ablative
b. Superlative: isimus (altisimus)
2. In the more familiar (but correct) Latin:
a. magis altus quam puer = 2nd t: quam and the same case of the comparative (periphrasis)
b. satis altus/ maxime altus
3. In vulgar Latin it would be said Plus altus quam puer.
4. In informal Latin, periphrasis is used more, in literary Latin inflection is used more. (Fewer
words to say the same)
Romance languages
1. In the superlative , we in Spanish say very high, but this form is a cultism. The Romance form,
the traditional form, the popular form is “ the highest ” or “ very high ”. The “highest” is used for

the absolute superlative.
2. In the comparative , it is interesting to see how we, the Portuguese, the Romanians, form our
comparative periphrasis with the adverb more , it comes from magis, from familiar Latin. On the
other hand, the central languages use the plus derivation (French, Italian). This means that, in
the lateral, extreme areas of the empire, the language is more conservative. Innovations are
generated in the central areas and take time to reach or never reach the lateral areas. What this
is telling us is that the more vulgar forms were more innovative with respect to the less vulgar
forms that were older. These innovative forms caught on in the central Gallo-Italian axis but did
not come with the force to catch on in the marginal areas of the Iberian Peninsula.
3. Irregular comparatives and superlatives persist that come from Latin and are not built on the
same basis as the positive adjective. For example: I can say in Spanish the comparative of good ,
more good than , or the superlative of good, very good . But in reality there is “ better ” and “
optimal ”, or in the case of bad , worse and lousy .
4. There are other superlatives that are formed with prefixes, which are typical of youth language:
good, super big, rebalanced. And there are also prefix agglutinations. What seems colloquial and
modern was already done in Latin. Ex. Participle factum, which is also an adjective, means fact.
But if it is very well done it is called perfect . If it is durable, it will last forever. Grace is very
abundant, superabundant : Where sin abounded, grace abounded.
5. We can also make superlatives with infixes, particles that go in the middle, and even with
suffixes. Ex. Something very small, I say small . I use the diminutive, it is equivalent to a
superlative. But if I want to make it even more emphatic, I use an emphasizing reduplicating infix
and say that it is tiny . And still in a colloquial language it can continue to be reduplicated, as an
expressive mechanism of the language.
6. In Spanish we can only apocopate the masculine singular and in a preposed position:
a. A great man (NOT: A great man, but a great man – This case is an exception because it
also applies to feminine).
b. We cannot say the * first time or the * first week , we have to say the first time or the
first week .
7. In some sentences in Spanish we can find fossil remains of the ablative of the second
comparison term, in those cases when we do not express it with que but with de (expression of
the old ablative). We say:
to. Taller than Juan, or taller than fat (two qualities of the same person), but we say
i. This costs more than 100 pesos. The ablative fossil indica
ii. Or when we build the expression with a neutral term, when we say: “It is

higher than necessary.”
Nominal Training
Different procedures for nominal training
1. Greek, Latin, German: great ability to generate names by juxtaposition, by synthesis. Romance
languages don't use this much.
Nominal training in Romance languages
2. Take a word that is not a noun and turn it into one . Or convert a noun of one type into another
(own noun converted into a common noun: ex: donjuá n, apolo, venus, lazarillo, celestina). Ability
to substantiate any type of word (or sound).
a. Adjectives as nouns : hazelnut (in Latin it was an adj: abellana nux: hazel nut), winter
(tempus hibernum/hiems), summer (tempus aestium/aestas).
b. Substantive adjectives preceding it with an article : the newspaper, the narrow one,
the plain one.
c. Participles:
i. past : the going, the coming, the errand, the inn, the position.
ii. present : the current, the west, the adolescent, the lover, the president.
d. Infinitives : singing, sleeping, sayings, my opinion.
e. Conjugated verbs : the promissory note, the condolences, the ruling. Conjugates in
Latin: the deficit.
f. Adverbs : good, bad, no.
g. Prepositions : the envelope.
h. Personal pronouns : the I, the it.
i. Conjunctions : the buts.
j. Sounds : 'a woe! after another'.
Generation of adjectives
1. Bermejo comes from a Latin noun: vermiculus (tincture).
2. All Participles can function as an adjective .

Formation by Suffixes or Prefixes
1. These must mark a meaning (the beginning of the word al- is not a prefix because
does not mean. It does not add new meaning, but is a grouped Arabic article).
2. Suffixes that can mark various ideas:
a. - bear : indicates quality: 'cheater': someone who has the quality of cheating.
b. - dor : 'killer': someone who has the quality of agent of an action.
3. Almost all of the suffixes in Spanish come from Latin (not from Greek and if there are any they
enter through Latin) and not from any other language that may have entered as a super stratum.
There are two exceptions :
a. ARABIC : SUFFIX –i as a suffix of origin . Gentilicio: Iranian, Pakistani, Moroccan.

Sephardic. Alfonsí (Alfonso the wise: Arabic context).
b. MAYA : suffix -ECO -ECA : Central America: Guatemalan, Aztec, Toltec.
Doublet suffixes
1. MONETARIUS > WALLET /> MONETARY are not exactly the same.
2. Castizo: -ERO: Sgdo. more concrete.
3. Cultism: -ARY: Sgdo. more abstract.
Training using prefixes
1. They are all of Latin origin, although Greek may appear in some cultured words. There are
different types of prefixation:
a. Prepositionals : Semantically it is a preposition. Glass : What is in front of the eye.
b. Adverbials : serves as an adverb that modifies the noun it accompanies. Forearm : The
front part of the arm.
Parasynthetic nouns
1. They have prefix and suffix):
a. Decorum > indecorum.
b. They can be grouped: Ultra indecorous. Super indecorous
Formation of nouns by composition
1. Union of two words that retain their independent meaning but may also present a new meaning.
The accent falls on the second of the two words (and the accidents of gender and number as

well): our father (s), skylight , deaf and dumb (three deaf and dumb) [Exc: Hijosdalgo].
Composed by juxtaposition
2. They indicate the sum idea of the ideas of their terms: deaf (deaf+mute). The words that are
joined can be of ≠ classes:
a. S+s: Ups and downs, agriculture
b. S+adj: noon, low tide
c. Vb+sust: lightning rod, sunshade, life preserver, corkscrew.
d. Vb+adv: spyglass.
e. Vb+vb: sleepless.
f. Correveidile.
Composed of ellipses
1. Express a new idea. Ex: Kick : aggressive action executed with the tip of the foot. Sweet and
sour : mixture of sweet and salty (not sour). Bocacalle .

Unit XI – The pronoun
Historical morphology of the Spanish pronoun: personal, possessive, demonstrative, relative, interrogative
and indefinite pronouns. Formation of the Spanish article. Contractions.
Historical morphology of particles in Spanish: adverbs, new adverbial formation, prepositions, conjunctions.
Characteristics
1. The pronoun is what is in place of a noun, but it can also be in place of adverbs, etc. Very
conservative and regressive subclass.
2. It is the only name that preserves traces of the declension . Not all. the staff .
3. There is a class of pronoun that preserves the neuter gender (the demonstratives , and to a
point the personal ones , because I can say that and that is a neuter)
The Personal Pronoun
Simplified declination conservation
1. If we decline the first person singular pronoun:
a. Nominative: ME
b. Accusative: ME
c. Regime: MI
2. There is no common root that unifies the two casual forms, the lexematic base of the nominative
has nothing to do with the accusative: remember that one reason why the cases disappeared was
the relaxation of the endings and when the endings were relaxed due to phonetic neglect cases
disappeared since the cases resided in the endings. On the other hand, I cannot say that the
nominative case in YO resides in the O, or that the accusative case of ME resides in the E, it
resides in the entire word because the word is all different, there is nothing lexematically in
common between YO and ME , are two absolutely different words, they do not have a root that
remains. Then it is impossible for a mere phonetic relaxation of the ending (moreover, these are
monosyllables) to lead to a loss of cases. The case remains because the case resides in the whole
word, and whole words are very different.
Evolution
1. First singular
a. Nominative : ĔGO > IEO > IO > YO
i. E brief tonic diphthong . But we have a voiced guttural intervocalic G that falls

according to the norm. So the first step in the evolution is going to be IEO
ii. But what happens is that the accent will tend to shift towards the O because that
form is understood as a monosyllable. (ieó )
iii. When this accommodation of tonicity occurs, the IE diphthong will tend to become
a monophthong in I , which, being in initial position and next to another, is not a
vowel, it is not exactly a vowel but a semiconsonant , that is, it is not an i but a yd. >
ME .
b. With respect to the Accusative case of the first singular it remains the same: ME = ME
c. With respect to the Regime case, (Ablative) MIHI > MI [A version mi with a long i coexists in
classical Latin, which gives rise to our pronoun].
2. First Plural : US > WE
a. Straight Case : We preserve the NOS , adding a reinforcer: -OTHER . Which only appears at
the end of the Middle Ages. Throughout MS, only nos was used for NOS and VOS.
b. Accusative and dative case : They saw us. They proved us right.
c. The we reappears for the regime form (against us, of us.)
3. Second Person singular :
a. Nominative TU = TU [the Latin tu lasts].
b. Ac: TE = TE
c. TIBI Regime. The TI contracta form coexisted. From this we derive our you.
4. Second Person Plural :
a. VOS unaltered from Latin until the end of the Middle Ages when the -OTHER is added.
b. The NOS is distinguished from the VOS, because here there is a loss of the initial v in the
vos ('I tell you so'), during the Middle Ages until the 15th century it was said 'I tell you
so'.
c. Regime Case is the nominative form: with you, against you .
5. Third person : There are no third person personal pronouns in Latin. But it served as the Ille,
illa, illud . And there are also remains of the decline, it is no longer the same:
a. the nominative case He who comes from ille , She who comes from illa and It who comes
illud,
b. that the accusative pronouns lo and la that come from illum and illa with apheresis, that
is, with the fall of the first vowel,
c. and the dative pronoun le which comes from the dative illi , also with apheresis with the
fall of the first vowel.

d. And their respective plurals.
6. We remember that in medieval Spanish the word gelo appears a lot, it is a pronominal
construction equal to se lo . We have two pronouns, an accusative lo and an indirect one. Since
when is it a third person dative:
a. I can say: I GIVE YOU THE CHALK, but I cannot say I give you the chalk, but I can say: I
GIVE IT TO YOU ( le becomes se when it is followed by an accusative with l la or lo to
avoid cacophony. To dissimilate the two L's: * I GIVE IT TO YOU )
b. There is another possibility to explain why we use se instead of le, and it is from the
phonetic evolution of the medieval form. This medieval form comes from Latin, we
replace it with the dative and accusative that correspond in Latin:
i. illi illum dedit = gave it to him.
ii. Illi illum is considered as a unit and begins to evolve:
1. Agglutination of both words: illiello
2. Apheresis lliello
3. It is simplified, and the palatal with the yod is maintained, but under the
gelo form the palatality of the articulation increases.
4. In Spanish there is a tendency for the sound to become deafened, and

here the same thing happens [xelo], at the same point of articulation, it
is an intermediate result that is not witnessed in writing. This brings us
much closer to the s.
5. From the voiceless palatal x to the voiceless sibilant, both fricatives,

there is a step. Acoustic equivalence, the point of articulation is
changed, but frication and devoicing are maintained.
c. This affects those who study Spanish, since they have:
i. He puts it on himself (be thoughtful).
ii. He puts it to someone else (third-class pronoun).
Passage from Latin to the Romance languages.
1. In this step there was a revolutionary change regarding the forms and functions of the accusative
and dative.
a. In Latin if we find a Form in -e (me, te) it will always be Accusative. If we find Forms in
-i they will always be Dative or ablative , never accusative.
b. In Spanish : If I say I see you ( Ac ) instead you give me your pen ( Dat ), and the same
form in -e can have the value of OI or OD . The same thing happens in the second
person: I see you (OD) I give you this paper (OI). The same way works for both objects.
c. We can even say the same but a little more forced, for the forms in -i, if I admit that there
can be an accusative constructed with a preposition, the same form in -i can serve as an
accusative and as a dative: (It is an emphasizing form)
i. You see me (Ac. OD )
ii. You give me the pencil (Dat. I HEARD )
d. This distinction between endings is modified in Spanish: 'Me' has an accusative form but
can be used for the dative.
Enclitic position of personal pronouns
1. Personal pronouns can be in an enclitic position: dígote, díjome, etc.
2. Let us remember that in the Middle Ages these forms could be apocopated: digot, etc.
3. King Alfonso the wise did not like these apocopate forms and the apocope could only be allowed
in the third person forms, in the forms with l: dixol, etc.
Pleonastic companion circumstantials in pronominal forms
1. In French there are circumstantials of reasonable companies, avec moi, etc.
2. In Italian too, but it exists withme and in an archaic form meco, teco.
3. In Spanish we have both forms in a single solution. The Italian opts, we say it simultaneously:
with me, with you, the go is the Latin cum, it is a pleonastic form, we reduplicate the preposition.
This occurs in modern Spanish only in the singular. In the medieval period it existed in the plural
forms connusco, etc.
The Possessive Pronoun
1. It is easy to explain it, with some phonetic adjustment it is the same as Latin. In medieval
Castilian the personal pronoun was used with the article: My house, my father, my brothers.
2. First person singular:
a. MEUM
i. M ĔU ME short must be diphthongized because it is tonic >
ii. W IE O =. To then monophthong >
iii. MINE
b. The same thing happens in M ĔO S > M IE OS > M ÍOS

c. When the pronoun precedes the noun it is apocopated in MI (modern formula of what in
the Middle Ages was the same pronoun mine that was placed before it: 'Cantar del Mío
Cid'.
3. In the second person we have,
to. T ŬU M > T OO > T O pl. Fem : TUA pl. YOURS

COUGH
b. S ŬU M > S OO > S O pl. S.O.S. Fem: SUA pl. SUAS
c. In both cases the first of the two u's is short and stressed, therefore it tends to
open on an o, the ending -um always gives o, then you have -oo, then
this form will be assimilated into a single -o. (Verse from the Cid where the angel
appears, I take it)
d. Subsequently, we have to see where the form of ours with a “y” comes from:
i. YOURS, YOURS : The YOD is not in Latin etymology. Is there nothing to explain
where it came from? It has to be a fairly early appearance because the U had not
yet mutated into O. And for what appearance, it is actually an Epenthesis
(addition of sounds in the middle of the word), but there seems to be an
explanation:
ii. Here we are talking about possessives, which expresses the idea of belonging. It
also expresses the idea of belonging and is constructed with the “y” which is
(singular genitive of the relative pronoun) that also expresses belonging. There
was then a crossover between the genitive singular of the relative and the
possessives made possible by the related idea of belonging that both forms
present ( cuius, eius, uius : a form that for Latin people was always related to
possession). It is a form of analogy.
4. Among the first and second possessives for various possessors we have:
a. N Ŏ STRUM > N UE STRO, a short or diphthong, and with its respective feminine and
plurals.
b. In the second it is different, in Latin we had VESTER, VESTRUM > UUESTRO: [In oral
Latin there had to have been a form VOSTRUM that was analogical because if not we
cannot explain tu].
c. In the Middle Ages they did not say ours and yours but vuesso, nuesso , that is, there
was an assimilation of the STR group into SS. Hence those expressions your grace that
you ended up giving. This was until the beginning of the golden age, but in the 17th
century the etymological form began to be preferred and it returned to ours and yours.
5. With respect to the third person there is one of the greatest discomforts of Spanish, because we
have
to. SUUS > SUYO: To indicate the idea that something belongs to them. And this word is the
same one we use for something that belongs to him. So the Possessive SU can indicate
belonging to both singular and plural. Added to this is the use in You and You. It can be
his house, theirs, yours, yours. At the beginning of the 20th century or the end of the 19th
century, in novels it was very common that, if a man approached a young lady and asked
to speak to her father, he would say something like: “When can I talk to your father about
you? ” The possessive expression was doubled.
The demonstrative pronoun
1. The pronoun hic, haec, hoc was lost. (Gonzalez doesn't like the sound of hic, haec , hoc and
amato, amatote). Some substitute had to be found for the demonstrative of immediate proximity
and it was at hand: ESTE = de ISTA, ISTA, ISTUD [lat: ese = intermediate distance]. It then goes
on to determine proximity, our East .
2. We solved the problem of closeness, but the intermediate box is left empty because we have
nothing to determine what is neither near nor far, so it goes on to designate intermediate
closeness ESE = of the IPSE identity demonstrative. With an assimilation of the group ps into
double ss .
3. We can dispense with the demonstrative of identity and use a substitute form like itself .
4. To designate distance , we had ille [lat: that one], which in romance is used as an article and as a
third-person personal pronoun, so we have that AQUEL comes from EQUM ILLE [lat: here that
one]. The form of that as equm ille was so widely accepted in popular language that it began to be
used to reinforce something that did not need to be reinforced. For example, in the Middle Ages:
Aqueste, aquese. Then it falls because it was a passing consumer fad.
Indefinite pronouns
1. More sporadic use. They remained :
a. UNUS > ONE
b. TOTUS > EVERYTHING
c. ALTER, ALTERUM > OTHER
d. CERTUS > TRUE
e. ALIQUEM > SOMEONE
f. ALIQUEM UNUM > SOME
g. ALIUD > AL

2. They got lost:
a. NULLUS: lasts as an adjective, but not as a pronoun, since we say NONE.
b. NIHIL: Replaced by NADA. (The first thing we see if we want to go back is to desound the
d and we have nata which is the feminine participle of nascor : to be born: born . It is
strange that to express non-being, the non-existent, the unborn, a feminine word is used,
which is what was born. To explain it we must resort to a broader context, in a larger
expression:
i. Why the feminine, probably because it accompanied a feminine noun, because

the participle, in itself, is an adjective.
ii. It comes from the expression 'res nata': born thing. For this expression to have
the meaning of absolute negation, it must appear in the context of a phrase that
has a non before it. To avoid the double negation that we admit in Spanish but
that in the majority is not admitted and not admitted in Latin [≈I don't give a
damn]. It should be said that we do not find anything born, for example. Over
time the semantic load of non shifted to res nata, and finally to nata
1. In French it shifted to res (ac: rem) > rien .
2. In Italian one possibility is nec gentem (nor people, niente ) but to say
that there is no one in Italian we say nessuno. Another possibility is
nec entem , with the participle of sum.
c. CUISQUE: each (gr. Kata).
d. CUILIBET: whoever.
The interrogative pronoun
1. It is preserved, but it has been greatly simplified.
2. In the Middle Ages the qui was quite preserved. Only in the s. XIV was replaced by QUIEN which
comes from quem (who does not have plural until the modern age. It was valid for both sg and pl,
it is a rarity compared to other Romance languages)
3. QUID > WHAT
4. CUIUS > WHOSE
5. QUALIS > QUAL
Article
1. It has origins in ILLE, ILLA, ILLUD (lat. That)
2. In Latin there are no articles, this is a trait of archaism in the Ide languages . (Latin is
linguistically speaking more archaic than Greek, although the moments of its splendor and its

cultural development are reversed).
3. There is a tendency specific to ide . to generate the article at a certain point in the evolution. But
this appearance is a rather late phenomenon.
4. When the article appears in Latin it occurs in the circumstance that Latin is ceasing to be Latin
and segmenting into the Romance languages. This coexistence of two phenomena: appearance of
the article and atomization of Latin in different Romance languages can lead us to establish a
causal relationship that is not such and conclude that the article appears as a consequence of the
Romance languages or that the appearance of the Romance languages romances is the cause of
the appearance of the article. But this is not the case, the article would have appeared the same in
Latin even if it had not been segmented as it did, even if the fall of the empire and the lack of
communication of the different provinces had not occurred and therefore the autonomous
evolution of each regional Latin that evolves. in each Romance language, although it would have
remained unitary, it was in the genetic project of the language, it so happens that that moment
coincided with the historical circumstances that caused the segmentation of Latin into different
languages.
5. So one of the possible causes of the appearance of the article is that it is in the genetics of the ide
languages . At a time in the evolution of the ide languages. appears.
6. It is common to all Romance languages, all Romance languages have an article.
Gazdaru theory:
1. Why does this coincidence occur? Can a concomitant cause be established that explains why the
birth of the Latin article occurred at the time it did?
2. Gazdaru responds with a plausible explanation as a secondary cause but it is not enough to
explain the appearance of the article at that time.
3. He says that the article in Tardolatin or Proto-Romance is generated from the demonstratives as
a consequence of the influence of the religious and biblical discourse of nascent Christianity
because the phenomenon coincides with the moment in which Christianity spread in the empire,
therefore So much so that it coincides with the moment in which catechesis and preaching
become widespread, and as a support for this preaching, it is the moment in which the first
translations of the Bible into Latin emerge (the first of which is the so-called vetus latina ).
4. These early translations of the Bible into Latin provide the linguistic model for catechesis and
preaching. And these first translations of the Bible into Latin are translated from Greek. Both
from the New Testament and those from the Old Testament since the latter were in Greek and
those from Hebrew had been translated into Greek ( Septuagint ).
5. Since the Bible is a sacred book, it translates literally, because if it is not translated literally,

there is a risk of betraying the word of God. Problem: in Greek there are articles and in Latin
there are not. Therefore, there is no way to preserve these words that appear all the time in
Latin, and by not preserving them they are no longer being translated as literally. It can be said
that it is an excess of pruritus, but it was respecting literality to the extreme. They then set out to
find a Latin equivalent of the Greek articles; Greek articles also derive from pronouns . And it is
true that at that time the demonstrative was sufficiently weakened and desemantized to have
lost a good part of its strong semantics, therefore the translators decided that this was an
appropriate word to translate the Greek article, because the strong demonstrative meaning was
already there. delimited and already functioned in practice as a mere companion to the noun and
did not add greater semantics with differential meaning (≈art).
6. The linguistics of catechesis and evangelization were generated on the model of the translated
language, especially after the conversion of Constantine the Great and Christianity became the
language of the empire . That language with those articles becomes the language of the school.
It becomes a model and that way of speaking with attenuated demonstratives and almost articles
becomes the norm , with which the dissemination of the articles is ensured and ends up being
universal.
7. This coincides precisely with the moment in which Latin begins to disintegrate and become
French, Spanish, Catalan, Romanian, etc. And this is the explanation of the birth of the article
according to Gazdaru. According to Gonzá lez, it is still a secondary cause; it cannot be considered
the main cause of the phenomenon. And even if the problem of catechetical or biblical language
had not mediated, the articles would have been born the same.
8. In the case of Spanish there can be no doubt that the Spanish article comes from the Latin
demonstrative ILLE, ILLA, ILLUD.
9. There were no shortage of those who maintained that the Spanish article is related to the Arabic
article al . This is a popular etymology, it is not true. The proof that it does not derive from the
Arabic article is that all the words of Arabic origin that we incorporate into Spanish include the
article within the noun: we say cotton, jewelry, sugar, pillow, the article al is incorporated into
the noun, it is no longer perceived. as article. Comparing with other languages that took
Arabisms, the other languages dispensed with the article. Cotton-cotton, sugar-sugar. In Spanish,
al was not perceived as an article. In Spanish the phenomenon of articles is so early and is so
similar to the articles of the other Romance languages where there was no Arabic influence that
this hypothesis is not supported.
10. Let us also remember that in the Middle Ages there were the forms ELO (illo), ELA (illa) for the
masculine and feminine singular article. The article Ela explains why we use the in front of nouns
that begin in a-:

a. When I say water , it does not mean that it is masculine but rather we would say the
waters and yet we say the waters.
b. When we say water we are using the medieval article ela agua which, due to a sinalefa
phenomenon that assimilates the final -a to the initial a- of the noun and gives the
sensation of being the masculine article el but the form el remains as feminine as ela. .
The adverb
1. A good part of the Latin Adverbs are usually preserved . They are indeclinable words with a
greater capacity for survival:
a. QUOMODO> LIKE
b. CIRCA > NEAR
c. MAGIS > MAIS > MORE
d. TANTUM > TANT
e. SIC (adv manner) : it was preserved as an adverb of affirmation (in Latin it was not
agreed with an adverb. of affirmation, but rather the verb of the question had to be
repeated. But to emphasize the statement of he added an adverb of manner.
CERTE VENIO (certainly I come), VERE VENIO (truly I come), SIC VENIO (in this way, in fact I
come). Due to linguistic economy, the greater weight of the affirmation of the verb shifted to
the adverb of manner. It was enough to say Yes. We run out of an adverb of manner, so we
use a compound form of sic: AD+SIC > ASI
2. Adverbs preserved in the Middle Ages, which were later lost:
a. CRAS > TOMORROW
b. INDE > ENDE (indeterminate adv) that only remained fossilized in the phrase: therefore
c. UBI > OVE (we say where it comes from unde and means something else)
d. IBI > Í (Can be locative or temporal) It is kept in the and of I am, I am going…
e. SUSO, YUSO (up, down) Preserved in Italian (su, giu)
3. Adverbs composition results:
a. Preposition plus adverb:
i. FROM + ENTER > INSIDE
ii. FROM + TRANS > BEHIND
iii. IN TUNC ECCE > THEN
iv. EX TUNC ECCE > ESTONCES (medieval form)

v. FROM EX POST > AFTER
vi. DE POST > AFTER (medieval form)
b. conjunction + adverb:
1. DUM + INTERIM > SUNDAY > WHILE > WHILE
c. adverb + adverb:
1. IAM + MAGIS > NEVER
d. pronoun + conjugated verb:
1. QUI + SAPIT (who knows) > MAYBE
e. pronoun + noun (with a declension remainder):
1. AC TIME (at this time) > AGORA > NOW
4. Formation of adverb of manner:
1. In Latin it was formed by replacing the ending of the adj with -E (LENTUS > LENT E ). It
persists in some fossilized cases in Spanish: TARDUS > TARD E
2. If they were second class by -TER (FIRMIS > FIRMI TER ).
3. But in general our adverbs of manner opt for another ending: with – MIND:
a. This comes from the ablative of the noun mens, mentis: MIND, (the ablative
indicated circumstantial and in this case manner).
b. The adverbs of manner ending in mind from Spanish, and from French, Italian, and
Portuguese, since it is a pan-Romanic phenomenon, originate in Latin ablatives of
manner, but those ablatives of manner were restricted to those expressions that
had something to do with the mind . For example, if he wanted to say something
that had been done with a quick mind, he would say that someone thought quickly
(separately, that is, with a quick mind: noun and ablative adjective ). This, over time,
came together and the noun mind became like a mere suffix of an adverb of
manner . But when this phenomenon occurred, it was no longer necessary for the
action to have to do with the mental because it was no longer perceived that this
ending mind referred to the noun mind, which is why I can say that someone
crossed the street or crossed the garden quickly, without We mean that he did it
with a quick mind, but with a quick foot.
c. Likewise, in more abstract concepts, for example, when I say: “These things have to
be done separately,” which means doing two tasks without mixing them.

Unit XII – The verb
Historical morphology of the Spanish verb. Simplification of Latin conjugation. Loss of
times and forms. Creation of new times. Periphrastic forms. Endings. The infinitive and
conjugations. The present. The imperfect. The perfect and related tenses. The past
participle. The future and the conditional. Verbal derivation.
Simplification of Latin conjugation
1. Unlike what happened with declensions, the Latin conjugation is preserved very well in all
Romance languages. It is not exactly the same as the Latin conjugation, it undergoes
modifications, but it cannot be said that there was a ruin of the conjugation in the same way as
there was in the declensions and in the same way that there was in the conjugation itself as in
other Indo-European languages such as English.
2. But, in any case, there was some simplification continuing the process that Latin had begun with
respect to Indo-European. For example, Latin had lost the dual, it had lost the optional mood that
Greek preserves and that Indo-European had, Latin had lost the middle voice, which Greek
preserves.
Periphrastic forms
1. The Romance languages continued this trend, and accentuated the tendency towards periphrasis
that was already observed in Latin. Example: The Passive Voice in Latin is built with endings. On
the other hand, in Spanish for this the periphrasis of the verb ser + past participle is used: soy
amar. At some point in low Latin the amato was replaced by the amatus sum , which ended in I
am beloved. The amatus sum already existed in classical Latin , it did not mean I am loved but I
was loved , the periphrastic form of the passive was only for the past tense, we generalize them.
2. But the future amabo-type indicatives are also lost. In Romance languages the ending - abo
was too similar to - aba , it suggests an idea more of the imperfect than the future and this future
was replaced by the periphrasis amare habeo , which originally had a nuance , rather than the
future, of obligation , I have to love , I am obliged to love. But a simple semantic shift is enough
to move from the obligation to the future, because the execution of an obligation necessarily
occurs in the future. In such a way that the idea of having to love , there is one step to the idea of
loving .
3. The perfect inflectional subjunctives are lost, so typical of Latin that we replace them with
periphrastic forms amaverim (have loved) or the perfect infinitive amavisse (have loved).
4. But on the basis of these replacements, which always consist of replacing inflectional forms with
periphrastic forms, new tenses are created that did not exist in Latin, for example, in Latin the
conditional did not exist, and we form the periphrastic conditional according to the model of the
future:
a. future : infinitive + have in present
b. conditional : infinitive + haber in imperfect
5. We also form the perfect indicative compound , to coexist with amé, we form he loved with the
verb habeo + past participle (habeo amatum) and this is something common to all Romance
languages that generates a series of nuances regarding the use of amé and he beloved, which in
certain Spanish-speaking areas tends to be lost, among them the River Plate native who does not
use the compound form and universalizes the simple form for everything. On the other hand, in
the northwest of Argentina and in the Andean zone the opposite happens, he loved is generalized
and amé is almost not used. Galician does not have perfect tenses and immigration transfers
Galician to Spanish.
6. Past tense is from Spanish, it did not exist in Latin, and is not currently used.
7. In addition to verb modes and tenses being lost and generated, some forms are also lost that are
difficult to understand what they mean when we study Latin. For example, the supine . Future
imperatives were also erased: amatote.
8. The present participle was also lost. We keep it atrophied, we have it as a noun or as an
adjective, not as a verboid , we cannot put verbal complements to it. We have also asked for the
gerundive .
9. An important thing that must be said is that it is in the verbs, or in the verbal conjugation, that
the analogy as a mechanism of phonetic evolution is most verified. Beyond the laws of
phonetic evolution, many words evolve by analogy, by contagion from one word to another. But
for one word to be infected by another in its phonetic evolution, the speaker has to perceive, with
a degree of reality, a kinship, a relationship that unites those two words, that makes them
members of the same family. Nothing is more appropriate to perceive this than verbal
conjugation, because in verbal conjugation, because in verbal conjugation the different forms,
tenses, moods of the same verb are perceived as belonging to the same structure and then some
forms influence another. within the same conjugation. Example: First person of the verb feel. If it
evolves according to phonetic norms, the following happens:
a. I felt
b. diphthongize the e because it is short tonic > I feel
c. I have a t followed by yod, it is a first yod, it would have to give something like > sienço
or > sienzo
d. But it did not give that, but the yod did not behave like yod and gave > I feel , as if there

were no yod.
e. This is because it operated by analogy with the forms that there are no yod. For
example: ille felt, nos sentimus. In all these cases there is i and there is no yod . So by
analogy they infected the first person and prevented the mechanism of the first yod
from working here. This is very common in the evolution of verbal forms.
Endings.
1. The endings of the verb in Spanish, like those in Latin, can be grouped into three groups or
classes:
a. General or infectum endings
b. perfectum endings
c. Endings of imperatives
2. For the endings of infectum that are those of the present tense, for example, it is convenient for
us to take as a paradigm, not the present indicative but the present subjunctive:
a. amem > the m falls > I loved
b. ames > just like Latin > you love
c. amet > the t falls > he ame a coincidence occurs between the first and third person
d. amemus > the short u opens in o > - mos – let us love. If the enclitic -nos is added to the
first plural, the -s. must be removed: amémonos . But with all the other pronouns you
have to keep it: let's love him . This fall occurs to dissimilate two close s's, although,
nevertheless, it is said let's love them , proof that the language is capricious.
e. ametis > the intervocalic t is voiced and the short postonic i gives e > amedes > the
intervocalic d falls amees > it can be a dissimilation amés / or they can be assimilated
and remain amés. These two forms coincided in Spanish depending on whether these
two e were dissimilar into ei or assimilated into an e, the former prevailed although in
some regions (like ours) the latter remained. Nowadays in our voseo we tend to use the
tuteantes forms and not the voseantes, that is why now we do not hear amés, cantés, but
rather ames, cantes, etc. In fact, our voseante paradigm is a mixed paradigm, at some
times we are voseantes, but at other times we are tuteantes. For example, in the future
(although we use it little because we do it through periphrasis I'm going to). If we see
the future of loving, you will love, if we say it in a voseante context, we say you will love,
but in a strict voseante form we would have to say you will love. The past perfect simple,
we say you left, you came, etc. However, it is a tuteante form, the voseante form would
be with a final -s. It is a rule problem, which makes the law of the voseante form not

strict and remains half voseeo and half tuteo. In general they are mixed. We do not
perceive our own but we perceive others, for example the Uruguayan that says tú tenés.
Also the pronouns, we say you get tired , the verb in voseante but the pronoun is
tuteante.
f. ament falls the t > amen
3. Imperative endings
to. love stays the same love
4. amate > sounds the t amade > an apocope occurs, the e falls and remains amad and the d and
remains amá can also fall, which is the form of our voseo.
5. Conclusions of the Perfectum
a. amavi > syncopation of the “v” amai > the yod closes the a amei > amé
b. amavisti > syncopation not only of the v, but of the syllable vis > then the final i opens in
e > amaste
c. amavit > the t falls amavi > there is a risk that the first and the third end in the same
result, so instead of falling due to syncopation the v (which is a uau, a semivowel) the
yod falls and remains amau > closes the a en or loved > loved
d. amavimus > syncopation of the syllable vi and the final u opens in o > we love the
discomfort that the present is equal to the perfect and has to be determined by the
context.
e. amavistis > syncopation of vi and the short i opens in e > amastes with ey without
diphthong, the etymological form is tú amastes, that's how it was said in the Golden Age
and that's how it should be said in our voseo, but in our voseo we have taken the
tuteante form and by analogy with the present forms you love, you fear, in the form of
the plural you the e was replaced by the diphthong ei and it remains amasteis
f. amaverunt > syncopation of the syllable ve, the final t falls. they loved
Bibliography manual to complete

Dialectology
Definition
1. It is a word of Greek origin: dialectos , which simply meant language , had no other connotation.
They distinguished the different modalities of Greek through this word. And there was no
dialectizing characteristic
2. Modernly, the concept of dialect began to be opposed to that of language based on a series of
criteria that are very confusing: none of these criteria is exhaustive and conclusive:
a. It does not have autonomous grammar . It is subsidiary to the grammar of a language

that contains it.
b. It does not have the value of an official language , but rather a familiar or everyday
language, which is not used in school, nor in the press, nor in public signage.
c. Many times it remains in the domains of orality .
d. Literary cultivation : There may be an oral literary cultivation, classic folklore

manifestations, legends, etc., but great literature is prohibited to the dialect.
e. Quantitative criterion Less number of speakers than a language.
f. It would never coincide with the linguistic mastery of an entire nation, but would be a
phenomenon limited to a region, a region, within a nation.
3. None of these criteria is exhaustive or conclusive, which is why today there is a tendency to
banish this position and to speak plainly about languages, on a level of equality:
a. As a linguistic phenomenon, the number of people who speak it does not matter.
b. Regarding grammatical autonomy, for example, Spanish, French or Italian grammars

depend on Latin. All languages can become a dialect.
c. Regarding literary cultivation, we have seen how many of these dialects and these
languages have gone to the cultivation of great literary genres. In Spain it is clear how,
for example, the Asturian has an appreciable written literary cultivation.
4. So these criteria appear to be insufficient and perhaps the only way to differentiate the concept of
dialect is through a relative criterion that, once adopted, allows a certain linguistic code to be
called a dialect with respect to another code, but to be taken as a language. with respect to
another. It is a merely operational distinction for the purposes of historical study, but not as a
proposal of timeless and synchronic validity. Ex:
a. We take Catalan as a language comparable to other languages. But as a dialect with

respect to Latin. Every language is a dialect with respect to something else . Not every

dialect is a language, because not every dialect generates dialects in turn. But every
language in its historical development was a separate variety of a previous language.
b. It can be said that at one time Castilian was a historical dialect and genetically refers it to
Latin, but you can go further, but you can say that it was an innovative dialect variety of
Asturian-Leonese, and over time they were reversed and today Today Leonese is a
dialect of Spanish. Because variations in political power also come into play here. Who
imposes their rules on whom, who has the power to impose linguistic regulations
together with political power or military power.
c. Galician, which, like Catalan, no one doubts is a language, today is very Castilianized,
because for a long time it was despised and it regained its place only in the 20th century,
so it had to be given an orthography and regulations, which They actually came from
Spanish. That is why today in Galicia it seems like a Castilian who speaks Portuguese
with a Castilian accent, it is a Portuguese that is understandable at first hearing. Even
between languages this phenomenon occurs, the power of Spanish is undoubted.
d. The Spanish dialect variety is very poor compared to some other European languages
(For example: Italy, whose area is smaller than that of Spain, has more than 60 dialects)
5. In Spain the panorama is much simpler, because there were two historical phenomena that
prevented the generation of a mosaic of languages:
a. The Muslim invasion : It prevented the Mozarabic bloc from being segmented.
b. The Castilian reconquest:
c. These two phenomena, these two movements swept away the incipient dialectal births
that were taking shape, and established linguistic uniformity.
d. In the southern area there is a Mozarabic dialect: Romance dialect of those who lived
under Muslim rule and under a language completely different from their own. But living
free is not the same as living under the rule of a totally different civilization that has a
totally different language such as Arabic as its language of culture. Because being under
Arab domination prevents the Mozarabic dialect block from fragmenting. The need to
remain united in the face of the Arab world is not only political but linguistic.
e. But when the opposite movement comes, when the Castilians advance from the north,
and they advance not only with their military power and their political organization,
they also advance with their language, and implant Spanish in the Mozarabic speakers.
Before there was no possibility of mixing between Arabic and Mozarabic, because they
had nothing to do with each other. However, when Spanish, which is the brother of
Mozarabic, advances, the Mozarabic dialect is diluted in the practice of Spanish and
disappears. Because they did not see the northern dialect as something foreign to them,

as something different to which they had to react. Castilian being implemented
throughout the center and south aborts the possible permanence of Mozarabic, which
would undoubtedly have segmented and fragmented into more dialects.
f. So, if you take a country like France or Italy, one can see, if one can exemplify in a
simplifying way one can make a grid to indicate the dialects. On the other hand, in Spain
this does not work. It is vertically striped, because what happened was that the northern
dialects, as the conquest advanced, fell like ribbons towards the south. One of these
ribbons is more prominent than the others: As Castilian goes down, it widens and covers
the entire south of the country. (bottle shape)
Historical dialects
1. They are called Historical Dialects , those that we genetically refer directly to Latin. They are
dialects of peninsular Latin, although Castilian in a certain way was a dialect of Asturian Leonese.
a. Galician Portuguese
b. Astur-Leonese
c. Castilian
d. Aragonese Navarrese
2. Catalan (3 dialects: Barcelona, Valencian, Balearic)
3. We can add a sixth historical dialect, which is Mozarabic , throughout the southern strip. We do
not consider Basque, which is overlapped with Galician and Navarrese-Aragonese, because it is
not romance.
4. We can also add a seventh historical dialect: Jewish/Ladino/Sephardic Spanish. (Ladino for
Latin). It is an extraordinary linguistic phenomenon: The Catholic kings expelled the Jews in the
same year of the discovery of America and the taking of Granada. These Jews, who spoke the
Spanish of the time, the Spanish of the late 15th century, emigrated to different parts of Europe:
first to Portugal and then they were also expelled from there, one of them was the famous
philosopher Espinosa who ended up in Holland. They settle in the Netherlands, in Italy, in
Morocco, and in the Balkan Peninsula: Greece, and also further north (Serbia, Croatia, Romania)
and in Asia Minor and the Holy Land, because the Turkish sultan welcomes them. These Diaspora
Jews gave Spain the name Sephardic , and called themselves Sephardic or Sephardi. These Jews
preserve Spanish, but as the isolated languages are more conservative, this Spanish, which in
Spain continued to evolve, crystallized and fossilized in the Jewish communities until today. In
the few Sephardic communities they maintain the Spanish of that time, which is a very useful
element for the historical study of Spanish. These communities are in decline, as is Yiddish
(German Jewish dialect, which had the same process as Sephardic, it is archaic German), since the

state of Israel is promoting it, imposing modern Hebrew in schools, etc. Many Castilian romances
that were lost were preserved in the Jewish diaspora thanks to the Sephardic tradition.
5. PREPARE FOR THE END of the book by Alonso Zamora Vicente. Volume of Hispanic
Dialectology . 3 historical dialects (Asturian-Leonese, Navarrese-Aragonese. Mozarabic –
Learn ten or twelve features of each that distinguish them from Spanish. They are usually the
same. They are 3 languages very similar to each other, compared to Spanish. They are very
conservative and stay in the middle of the evolution. We are going to find results that reflect the
intermediate points of the evolution of Spanish.
Advancement of the five languages towards the south during the Castilian reconquest
1. The five northern dialects are going to advance south in bands.
2. The Galician is the simplest because it goes very straight and as it advances it generates Portugal
and the Portuguese . Today they are different, originally they were. Today's Galician is
something intermediate between Portuguese and Spanish.
3. Catalan advances on the other side, also almost in a straight line and generates Valencian .
Barcelona Catalan and Valencian Catalan are dialects of Catalan.
4. It didn't happen so directly in the center. Because the reconquest barely advances, Castilla takes
primacy (before the kingdom of Leó n was the main one, but then Castilla ends up engulfing
Leó n), it will be a bottle-type curve and the entire Extremadura is Castilianized and not Leonized.
On the other hand, the kingdom of Aragon will be independent of Castile until the Catholic kings,
the primacy of the reconquest goes to Castile. This is how Mozarabic is barred and dialects of
Castilian are generated in this vast space, which over the centuries gives rise to modalities within
Castilian.
Spanish dialects
1. Riojano: It is very old and is a bridge language between Navarrese-Aragonese and Castilian,
greatly influenced by Basque as well.
2. Andalusian: Taking Madrid as the center today, from Madrid down is the southern area
where the most important variety of Spanish is spoken, numerically speaking and its
transatlantic expansion. Spanish dialect.
3. Murciano : Between the Valencian and the Andalusian.
4. Extremeño : Between Leonese, Andalusian and Portuguese.
5. Canario : Several kilometers outside, which is very strange.
6. American Spanish : Going further, they consider it as a sub-variety of Andalusian.

7. Filipino Spanish : Even further, although in retreat because the Philippines remained in the
power of the North Americans. Unlike Puerto Rico, in the Philippines they swept away
Spanish. Evidently it was not very rooted. Spanish was spoken only by the ruling classes,
because the people spoke the native language. The ruling classes for convenience or comfort
adopted English. The cultivation of Spanish remains something exquisite of some
conservative and traditionalist gentlemen.
Other dialects
1. Galician also has its own dialects:

a. Western
b. Central
c. Oriental
2. In Catalan there are three dialect varieties:

a. Barcelonan
b. Valencian
c. Balearic Catalan, from the Balearic Islands
Andalusian
1. According to some theories, it is the origin of American and Canarian Spanish.
2. Within Castilian, the Andalusian dialect variety is much more innovative phonetically , not
morphologically, there it is conservative.
3. We have to distinguish two areas:
a. Occidental , whose center is Seville, which is the great Andalusian city and which was
reconquered and repopulated earlier by Ferdinand the Saint, first half of the 13th
century, Castilian was implemented earlier and took root with other characteristics
earlier.
b. On the other hand, the Eastern zone, whose center was Granada , repopulated two
hundred years later, at the end of the 15th century, the Castilian that was implemented
was already different.
4. The characteristic feature that differentiates them is the behavior of the implosive “s” (they are
those that are not initials of words ), these “s” are aspirated, as in the Río de la Plata.
5. This also happens throughout Andalusia, but in Western Andalusia there is one more step since
they are not satisfied with sucking them up, but rather they make them fall. There are marks
such as pauses, greater opening of the vowel, etc., which are perceived by Andalusians.
6. In the eastern zone they remain in aspiration, they do not take the step towards the fall of the “s”.
7. This aspiration and potential fall of the implosive “s” can generate a series of subsequent chain

catastrophes in the phonetics of the word:
a. You can voiceless and aspirate the following consonant . For example: Helmets
/ lojcajco/ lo caco. But in the eastern zone the aspiration of the “s” can infect the guttural
“c” that transforms it into “j”: [lojajo]
b. It can also trigger assimilations : reduplication of the following consonant. For example:
In the western area where the “s” falls, it ends with the reduplication of the “c”, [cacco]
c. The group “rn” is “nn”: horn/cuenno
8. This aspirational tendency does not stop there. It is an influence of Arabic phonetics. For
example:
a. The j and g aspire. (aspiration is softer than j). Hence the Andalusian pronunciation that
is also seen in the Caribbean. We have it as a Cuban, Puerto Rican, etc. trait, but it comes
from here.
b. In very rural areas they also aspirate the initial h .
9. Another great trait is seseo : a trait that it shares even more with American Spanish. It is the
pronunciation of the “c” and the “z” as if they were “s”. (it is universal in America as well as in
Andalusia). There are some marginal pockets, increasingly in retreat, where the opposite
phenomenon is practiced, which is to pronounce “z”, “c” and “s”, but it is frowned upon and is not
a cultured norm, it is considered vulgar.
10. Another trait is the tendency to lose the “n”, “l”, “r” in final position. Ex The sun / er só
11. Neutralization of the opposition “l” / “r”.
12. Loss of the intervocalic “d” is not a particular phenomenon of Andalusia, it is more general to all
of Spain. And when it is feminine, it is directly assimilated into a single “a”.
13. They also practice a type of yeismo. Softer than the River Plate. In Buenos Aires we practice a
very strong yeismo. The Andalusian can say “yuvia” (sound) much softer.
14. Another is the fricatization of the affricate ch . He does not pronounce č but š. boy>mushasho
15. Morphosyntactic features (which are conservative), and which shock the Spaniards of the rest of
the peninsula:
16. Disappearance of you . And the generalization of you , even as plural of you, unique, both of trust
and respect.
17. Absence of leism .
Bridge dialects between different varieties
There are other dialects that can be considered a bridge between different modalities:
1. Extremeño : bridge between Leonese and Andalusian Castilian.

a. Some features are typically Leonese:
i. close “ o ” and “ e ” endings in “ u ” and “ i ” .
ii. Keep the final Latin “ e” (sede/rede).
iii. Keep the group “ mb” (lamer> lamber)
iv. use possessive with article (my mother)
b. Andalusian features:
i. Implosive “ s ” aspiration,
ii. Aspiration of the “ j”.
iii. Occasional aspiration of the “ h ”.
iv. Yeísimo reilada softer than Buenos Aires.
v. Neutralization l, r at the end of the syllable.
2. Murciano : It is a bridge dialect, it is like a communications center, because Murcia is between

Andalusia, Valencia and the last foothills of Aragonese Castilian, between Andalusian Castilian,
Aragonese Castilian and Valencian. Always heard it seems Andalusian.
a. All the Andalusian features seen, aspirated “s”, siseo, etc. further
b. Some Aragonese traits such as, for example:
i. Conservation of voiceless intervocalic stops that do not voice: acachar instead of

acachar, Pescatero instead of Pescadero.
ii. Palatalization of the initial l, llengua instead of tongue
iii. Imperfect verbs in iba instead of ia , understood .
iv. Diminutive in ico instead of ito .
3. Riojano: Bridge between Castilian and Aragonese (but it also has many Basque features, because
it is next to Navarra). Language of Emilian glosses. Language of the first poet with a known name
in the Spanish language, Gonzalo de Berceo.
a. It is characterized by having Hiatos where Spanish has diphthongs:
i. rocket > rocket
ii. pillow> pillow.
iii. Teacher>maister (they are archaisms, from marginal areas)
b. They preserve the “ lc ” group where the cast vocalizes the “l” and then monotongues in
“o”
i. Instead of willow they say > salce
ii. Channel > wedge .

iii. sickle > sickle
c. They tend to etymologically accentuate imperfect plurals, in the Latin way: we loved >
we loved
d. They tend to keep the final “e” of imperatives: Get out, get up
e. Basque influence: they do not distinguish between the conditional and the imperfect
subjunctive and in the hypothetical period they confuse the conditional with the
subjunctive.
f. They wet the r : cažo. They also wet the tr : otžo (the Argentine Rioja was founded by
Spanish Riojans, and the Castilian that was implemented was the same and there are
features that are the same).
4. Canario : It is an intermediate between the Andalusian and the American Caribbean. It has all the
phonetic features of Andalusian, but with the song and some Caribbean vocabulary.
American Spanish
Read to the end Article GERMAN DE GRANDA, On the initial stage in the formation of American Spanish . It
is in a compilation book: Spanish from America, Spanish from Africa, you speak Hispanic Creoles, changes,
contacts and contexts.
First stage
1. It is proposed to address and provide a more organic solution to the Andalusian or non-
Andalusian character of American Spanish.
2. The Andalusian Thesis : traditionally says that American Spanish is a variety of Andalusian,
because most of the first colonizers came from Andalusia, and as there are many coincident
features, especially phonetics, the thesis was explained. In the records of the Casa de Indias, of
those who passed to America in the 16th century, the settlers did not come from a single area,
they were Spaniards from different linguistic families and from different areas, and they spoke
different varieties and languages. And Europeans who were not Spanish also came (Portuguese,
Italians, Germans), others said that the permissions they gave took years to be agreed upon and
since the ships left from Seville, and when they settled there, marriages took place with
Andalusian women and the woman imposed the language when transmitting it to children, that
is why it is spoken of as the mother tongue.
3. The important thing is that, according to German de Granda's thesis, this coexistence of residents
from different origins caused a process of koineization . Koine is a common language that is
formed through a process of linguistic accommodation, which is the mutual adaptation between

language/linguistic modalities that are different from each other, managed by speakers with
purposes aimed at a convenient social integration of those speakers, the need to communicate in
a maximally homogeneous community, and therefore tends to eliminate group differentiations.
When there are speakers with different linguistic modalities, diatopic, diastatic, sociocultural,
etc., naturally in order to understand each other and configure a homogeneous community from
those groups that are heterogeneous in their origin, they will have to find a common speech, they
will put instantly and instinctively as speak more or less the same. This is called koineization; we
seek that common modality capable of nullifying or tempering as much as possible the
differences with the linguistic heterogeneities of origin.
4. For German de Granda the first period is marked by the koineization process. By which the
diatopic (≠places and dialects) and diastratic (≠sociocultural levels) linguistic heterogeneity is
homogenized in a common modality that we call American Spanish and de Granda's thesis is
that this American koine does not coincide with any specific peninsular dialect, nor with
Andalusian, although he has many contacts with Andalusian that he explains in a different way
and of Andalusian origin.
5. How he explains the supposed Andalusianism of American Spanish: He notes that during the
16th century there was a majority of colonizers of southern origin, not exclusively Andalusian,
Andalusians were barely 37%, but if we add 16% of Extremadurans, 1% of Murcians and 1%
from the Canaries, there is a majority of speakers of southern modalities who have more or less
the same. There was a strong numerical predominance of the southern linguistic modality.
6. The features of southern Spanish that we also verify from the 16th century in American Spanish
are:
a. Aspiration or elimination of the implosive “s”
b. implosive lyr neutralization too
c. loss of final d and intervocalic d (verda < truth / finisho < finish)
d. aspiration of j, g and possibly of h
e. the seseo
f. the yeism
g. the generalization of you as the only second plural pronoun to the detriment of you
h. almost total absence of leism.
7. But, says de Granda, that these traits are not in the American because they have been
transplanted from the southern or Andalusian modality, but because they were imposed in
Konization due to their status as simpler traits. Two mechanisms operate in every koneization
process:

a. Simplification In the process of koineization, the selection of features causes the
simplest features to prevail due to the principle of linguistic economy. If I have speakers
from different regions and/or different sociocultural levels who have or use different
phonetic features, and I have to homogenize this heterogeneity of features, the features
that will prevail are the simplest ones.
b. Leveling : This mechanism does not impose the prevalence of the simplest traits but the
prevalence of the major traits. If the majority features are not also the simplest, the
simplest ones end up being imposed. It is true that only in a first stage the Andalusian
traits were the majority, but they were not imposed by the majority, even if they were a
minority they would have been imposed just the same, but because they were the
simplest. Because in the following waves without a majority they continued to prevail.
Although the first wave is usually the strongest and generally the following ones adapt,
there are exceptions due to very large waves: the Italian Migration (late 19th century)
changed not so much the phonetics, but the intonation, it was four hundred years later,
but it was so alluvial that was imposed.
c. Why do we say that these traits were imposed in America because they were the
simplest, and not necessarily the majority? All these features consist of the elimination of
a phonetic differentiation:
i. Seseo: simplifying into an “s” feature what are originally two different sounds in
one.
ii. Yeism: reduce opposition y/ll to a single realization y.
iii. Neutralization rl
iv. You: simplify the opposition of a plural of trust and one of respect.
v. Absence of leism, annulling the distinction between a direct object of a person

and that of a thing.
vi. Aspiration of the “s” or the j/g/h is to homologate these four phonemes into a
single simple realization.
d. Southern Andalusian and American phonetics are simpler than the normative peninsular
phonetics.
8. Another important aspect of de Grande's thesis is that he says that these traits are coincident
between America and Andalusia, but not transplanted. What happens is that Andalusia was also a
territory linguistically colonized by Spanish-speaking settlers who came from different regions
during the reconquest. It is then “ coincident with ” and not necessarily “ son of ” the Andalusian
process. In both cases the situation arose of a reconquered or conquered territory that had to be

populated, and that was populated with speakers of different modalities that had to be
homogenized, koineized, and in both cases this occurred by seeking the simplest features.
9. In a way, Granda harmonizes the Andalusian and anti-Andalusian thesis. The Andalusian has the
recognition that the numerical predominance of the southern population in the first stage of
American settlement could have had a secondary influence on the adoption of those features of
Spanish that coincide with the Southern ones, and the anti-Andalusian has the fact that the main
thing is the condition of simple features.
10. This koineization process covers the First Stage for the formation of American Spanish,
approximately the 16th century .
Second stage
1. In a second stage that he calls Monocentric Standardization in some regions of America these
simple features of the first stage were giving way and in some cases even disappearing compared
to other features of northern Castilian, normative Castilian, of the court of Toledo and later of
Madrid. The Spanish that to this day we identify with peninsular Spanish. Not all the simple
features of the first stage disappeared: The hissing did not disappear. The You did not give in to
the you and it is in almost all of America, the almost absence of leism, and there is almost no
leism in all of America. Yes he went back in
a. Aspiration or elimination of the implosive “s”
b. implosive lyr neutralization too
c. loss of final d and intervocalic d
d. aspiration of j, g and possibly of h
2. This second stage covers the 17th and 18th centuries. It occurs especially in the central areas :
headquarters of the great viceroyalties: Mexico and Peru and their areas of influence. It occurs in
these places because there are the viceregal courts, the universities and the colonial
administration centers that are managed by bureaucratic officials and by a not insignificant
number of nobles and Spanish noble class who come to America with another cultural level and
with another type of linguistic diastratic belonging much more cultured and much more similar
to the courtly modality of the Toledo metropolis and that Spanish prevails in teaching, in the
language of the documents, in the very speech of these officials. But it is limited to these central
places, which is why in the Río de la Plata this second stage is very late, since the viceroyalty was
created forty years before independence. In northern Argentina they received the influence of
Peru. In Chile and the Caribbean it didn't catch on either. What happens in these regions where
this second stage did not take hold is a vernaculization of the koine of the first stage , the traits
of the first stage are more affirmed, it would be like a second stage of the non-central regions.
Some call the process of the central regions a process of nobility .

Third stage
1. There is, finally, the third stage , which begins with the independence of the countries. It covers
the 19th century. This stage is called Polycentric Standardization because it does not follow a
single standard, but rather responds to different standards depending on each country (Mexican,
Argentine or Peruvian standards are not the same). They are given by the cultural consequences
of independence that led to a strong Hispanophobia and a refusal to adhere to the linguistic
norms of the former metropolis. Then, when the schooling process began in the second half of
the 19th century, a standard had to be set and each country set its own.
2. American Spanish stands out for its impressive unity. In comparison, for example, with the
difference between two small peninsular towns within a short distance.
3. In addition to being a homogeneous language, American Spanish is a strongly Archaizing or

conservative language, due to the distance from the center. [Mateo Bá rtoli who says the marginal
areas remote and/or isolated from the center of irradiation of linguistic novelties are necessarily
archaizing.] Spanish Latin was, as was Portuguese Latin, and here with Spanish something
exactly the same happens.
Importance of indigenous languages
1. There are no native languages because man is not native to America, he came from other places,
there are no native settlers or peoples.
2. The issue of indigenous languages as a substrate for Spanish was also highly debated. The
colonizers encountered more than 3,000 indigenous languages in America, many of them related
and many insignificant, but others had millions of speakers.
3. The first one they found was the araguaco, which Columbus found on the Caribbean islands.
4. Other important languages:
a. Caribbean
b. Nahuatl (Aztec)
c. Mayan quiche
d. Quechua (great imperial power)
e. Aymara
f. Guarani
g. Araucanian
5. All these languages functioned as a substrate, but they are still alive functioning as an adstratum,
because they are alive.

6. You have to be careful not to fall into extreme positions:
a. The Anti-indigenists : there was no influence
b. Los Indigenistas : Indigenous languages are the key to understanding American

Spanish. For example, for Rudolf Lentz (Chilean of German origin) all Chilean Spanish in
all its features is explainable from Araucanian.
7. Where the influence is undeniable is in the lexicon . In morphosyntax the influence is null. In
phonetics and intonation it is not null, but it is unimportant.
Lexicon of indigenous origin
1. The oldest Indianism is the word canoe (from the Caribbean language. Columbus used it in 1492.
In 1493 Elio Antonio de Nebrija already included it in his dictionary)
2. Caribbean : Cacique, pirogue, tobacco, sweet potato, potato, cannibal, savanna, petticoat, shark,
hammock, corn, mahogany, iguana, peanut, chili, macana.
3. Nahuatl (or Aztec) : cocoa, tomato, chocolate, chewing gum, rubber, chalk, coyote, cuate, peanut,
ocelot.
4. Quichua : condor, vicuñ a, puma, guanaco, llama, coca, mate, pampa, puna, potato, carp, chacra,
china (as a woman), yapa, pucho, bean, corn, tambo, chiripa, vincha, achura, chasqui, quena,
campo, vizcacha, zapallo, yuyo.
5. Guaraní : tapir, tapioca, cassava, rhea, jaguar, pineapple, yacaré, bagual, toucan, maid,
mamboretá , tapera, guinea pig, coati, petunia, che (possessive of 1 person: mine)
6. Araucano ( or Mapuche ): gaucho (according to some theories), poncho, maló n, boldo (yuyo),
laucha.
Influence of morphosyntax
1. The suffix - eco/-eca comes from Nahuatl (ecatl) and implies national origin, for example, in
words like Guatemalan, Aztec.
2. Guaraní : diminutive i: patroní = little patron. Cué suffix (like our ex prefix): corazó ncué = ex-
husband, Possessive che = my
3. Bolivia : tendency to put verbs at the end may be due to the influence of Quechua, where that is
the natural order.

Influence of phonetics
1. Andean areas (Bolivia): drop of unstressed interior vowels and reinforcement of esses : this is
very characteristic of Quechua. “Ests plbs” = these words. In Santiago del Estero: the most
Quechuized area of Argentina (they do not elide the vowels, but they emphasize the S's a lot),
because it was founded four times: in one of these it was repopulated with Quechua Indians who
came from Upper Peru, that is why there are more Quechua substrate in Santiago del Estero than
the northern provinces such as Jujuy and Salta.
2. Another characteristic phenomenon of the Quechua and Nahuatl areas is that stops are
pronounced, some of which are fricatives in Spanish:
a. intervocalic bgd.
b. /TRUE/
3. This phenomenon reaches such a point that some staunch defenders of Hispanism say that it is
not an indigenous substratum but rather an archaism, so archaizing that it refers to times before
sound. (It's a bit exaggerated)
4. Quechua does not have five vowels but three: (a- i/e – o/u). The native Quechua speaker does not
always distinguish between i/eyo/u, because he applies his three-vowel system, which is why it
can be heard in Bolivia and Peru: veda=life. Dolzora=sweetness.
5. R velar from Puerto Rico (French style): Hispanists attribute it, without evidence, to a
Romanesque phenomenon because it is in French and Portuguese. But it is not in Spanish and
why does it appear precisely in Puerto Rico. But on the other hand, the indigenous people, also
without further evidence, attribute it to a strange Antillean substratum that has not been able to
be corroborated either.
6. African influence : The African language of the slaves influenced the language of Curaçao and
neighboring islands: Papiamento (mosaic language with a Creole base but highly penetrated by
Castilian elements. Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-African languages. The base is fundamentally
Portuguese, but it is constantly mutating. The influence is greater in the lexical aspect: conga,
mambo, samba (Brazilian), tango (discussed theory), matungo, mandinga (it is an African tribe,
we use it as “devil”, it would be an association between the diabolical and the black , of that
tribe).
7. A critic named Pedro Enrique Sureña . Dominican, but the core of his intellectual activity was
developed between Buenos Aires and La Plata. He was the first who began to qualify the
Andalusian thesis. Many years ago he established a division of American Spanish into five zones,
which were later criticized in their foundations, but not in their geographical design, which is
why it continues to be used as the most practical division.
a. Southern USA, Mexico and continental Central America [ Náhuatl, Quiche and Mayan ]

b. Insular America of the Caribbean and the Antilles, northern Venezuela and the Atlantic
coast of Colombia [ Arawak and Caribbean ]
c. Andean zone: southern Venezuela, Pacific coast of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia,
northern Chile, northwest Argentina [ Quechua and Aymara ]
d. Central and southern Chile [ Araucano ]
e. Rio de la Plata: Argentina (except the northwest), Uruguay, Paraguay [ guaraní ]
8. The basis of this division is the indigenous substrates, and this was criticized. Since, if the
indigenous influence was greater in the lexicon, but it had little or no influence on the rest, it is a
problem to found a zoning of American Spanish on the basis of an element that is not decisive. At
each point the substratum defined by Sureñ o was detailed, it is highlighted that recognizing a
Guarani substratum in the Río de la Plata is absurd. If we think about what Rio de la Plata
Spanish is and we see the phenomena that define us, for example, yeísimo rehilado , the only
place where it is not used is in Corrientes, where Guaraní is found. If we say that we leave aside
the rewoven yeism for the analysis, the most important characteristic of the River Plate Castilian
is left aside.
9. Complete with Zamora Vicente, Dialects and American Spanish.
Characteristic features of American Spanish
1. Seseo , throughout America
2. Yeism in almost all of America. The one from the Río de la Plata is the most extreme, it is the one
called Yeísimo rehilado. We have the coexistence of two possible realizations of the y and of the
ll, both repeated, one voiceless and the other voiced: Š Ž . Sometimes it connotes sociolectal
condition, the voiceless “y” is less well regarded than the voiced one.
3. Implosive “s” aspiration: it is not in all of America.
4. R wet or Tr wet
5. Intervocalic d drop
Morpho syntax
1. The difference between American and peninsular Spanish is noticeable in details such as the use
of diminutive suffixes: pajarico (Caribbean), pajarito (rio de la plata), pajarillo (peninsular).
2. Make plural nouns that are singular: In the countryside we say “he went to the houses”/ “the
payments”/ “the fields”. It is an archaism, in medieval Spanish they talked about palaces.
3. Put feminine or masculine:
a. Idol/idola (not accepted)
b. In Rosismo: federally

c. In the north, the one who plays the bass drum: Bombisto - the one who plays the violin,
violinisto - the one who makes jokes: joker
4. Use adjectives with adverbial value:
a. Good luck to you
b. They walked slowly
c. This is made very easy
5. The subject pronoun comes between the interrogative (archaism):
a. Caribbean: what do you say: what do you say
b. Arg: why do you want that , instead of saying why do you want that . Why do you tell me
such a thing?
6. There is no leism and laism (There is a little bit of leism in Paraguay and Chile)
7. Use “le” as a plural dative when the dative refers developed: I told my students. The correct thing
is I told my students :
8. Trend use of “le” dative plural I told you so: no: *I told you so (se does not have plural and I only
told you one thing). When the dative is plural there is a tendency
9. Prevent enclitic pronouns from taking the plural n: * understandlon
10. Use of the Possessive instead of the personal pronoun: in front of me / * in front of me
11. The American tends to put the possessive first: “How are you doing my friend” [not bad]
12. Another error is to coordinate the subject with the impersonal having
a. * There were many people
b. * There were many
13. Universalization of the perfect simple (tendency towards linguistic economy)
14. Incorrect : Imperfect subjunctive as if it were a pluperfect or perfect indicative: Example
to. And then from the plane we began to see the city that Garay founded (NOT: founded).
15. Do not confuse the conditional with the subjunctive (of Basque origin)
16. We have a tendency towards periphrastic futures. I will come/I will come…
17. Inchoative periphrastics: Ex. I grabbed him and told him / he came and told me / go away and cry
/ send him to move.
18. Use of “know” with the sense of “soler”
19. Just with the value right there.

20. We should avoid the use of “Recién” (apocope of recently) it can only accompany participle
adjectives: newly married. It should not be said *we saw it just now.
21. Che, is a universal vocative, it can be singular and plural.
Vocabulary
1. Archaisms:
a. Skirt instead of skirt
b. Light instead of light
c. Cute instead of pretty
d. Stained glass window instead of shop window
e. Challenge instead of reprimand
f. Blanket instead of a blanket
2. Andalusianisms:
a. Tie for the sake of tying
b. Stew by stew
3. Leonisms:
a. stone per stone (of fruit)
b. Throw to throw
c. Stand up to stand up
4. Galicianisms:
a. Laja
b. Piola or piolin
c. Changador
d. Stone
5. Italianisms: most of the words in lunfardo are Genoese, South Italian or Brazilian Portuguese.
a. Pibe (poor form of pibello)
b. Bye (which is also hello in Italian)
c. bochar
d. Cool. Banished
e. Give a biaba

f. Piringundín (acriollization of perigordino : dance from northern Italy, but at the same
time it is an Italianization of a French dance from Perigord. From dance it came to mean
the place where it is danced).

González Magical Notes History of Language

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History of the Language

Dr. Javier González

History of the Language 2015....................................................................................................1

c. Vulgar Latin / sermorusticus : Latin of uneducated people. It is oral by definition.

History of the Language 2015 1

LATE CLASSICAL LATIN /

-------------------• EVOLUTION -------------------------------•

-------------------► FAMILY VULGAR LATIN

b. Classical Latin : 'FROZEN'. Formula to fix an immovable Latin.

2 History of the Language 2015

Ṡ ≠ Z - SS ≠ S – Spanish lost this opposition but the other languages retain it

Palatal (muxer ≠woman / woman)

Ŝ ≠ Ẑ - ç [ts] ≠ z [ds] (CORAÇON ≠ FAZER)

a. The voiceless palatal evolved into an aspirated guttural Ŝ > χ

ā ē ī ō ū - LONG – Quantity – Longest duration. Better articulation.

History of the Language 2015 3

a. Long – closed (.) – Better articulation

b. Brief – open (c) – More relaxed

Evolution of Latin vowels in Spanish

ąǫọ ųụ LATIN VULGAR

4 History of the Language 2015

c. Final step which is a monothongization in i

3. The contexts where this further step happens are two:

a. In the diminutive endings it – she

Castella (with short tonic e) > Castiella > Castilla

i. meu > meu > mine

initial diphthongation the e disappears

ii. iudaeu- > iudeu- > jewish > jewish

diphthong ae is equivalent to a short e

History of the Language 2015 5

2. Those at the ends are preserved.

a. ī bernus (it is an adjective) which later lasted as a noun.

b. c ĭ rcare > fence

c. s ē curu > sure

d. s ĕ ptimana > week

e. c ā ntare > sing

f. l ă vare > wash

g. d ŏ lore > hurt

h. c ō rona > crown

i. s ŭ spectare > suspect

j. m ū tare > change

1. The diphthong ae results in a short (or open) e.

• Example : saeculare > secular (also gives secular, but it is a cultism).

• Example: poenitentia > penance

• Example laudare > loar

• Sometimes it can monotongue in a, when there is a subsequent syllable with another u,

• Dissimilation is a phenomenon by which two identical or close sounds are

6 History of the Language 2015

• In Augustus the u goes directly. augustus > agustus > august

b. Imperative verb come ī , here the vowel falls > come

to. am ē s (second person present subjunctive) > ames

a. pat ĕ r > father

to. cant ā (imperative) > sing

History of the Language 2015 7

to.trigint ă (numeral) > thirty (medieval with hiatus)

to. oct ō > eight

to. leg ŏ (first person verb legere) > leo

to. cantam ŭ s (first person plural) > we sing

a. manu > hand