Iberian palatal and dental-palatal fricatives
Quote:
>I am trying to trace the evolution of palatal and dental-palatal
>fricatives, and their spellings, in the principal Iberian languages
>(Catalan, Basque, Castilian and Galician-Portuguese).
>It is my impression that in the Middle Ages they were represented
>as follows:
> [S] was represented by <x> (which could also represent [ks]
>and [gz]), except that in Catalan when <x> (representing [S]) was
>at the end of a syllable and followed a vowel other than <i>, a
>(silent?) <i> was inserted, e.g. baix, mateix (fem. baxa, matexa);
The i was not silent originally. I still pronounce it, as a
Western Catalan speaker (Lleida province): [baiS], [baiSE].
In Eastern Catalan, the <i> *is* silent.
Quote:
> [Z] was represented by <j> (<g> before <e> or <i>);
> [tS] was represented by <ch> in Castilian and Galician-
>Portuguese, by <tx> in Basque and Catalan, except that Catalan used
><ig> at the end of a word;
> [dZ] (Catalan only) was represented by <tj> (<tg> before <e>
>or <i>).
>The orthographic scheme seems to remain unchanged in Basque, and
>largely so in Catalan, except that the inserted <i> is no longer
>limited to <x> syllable final (baixa, mateixa).
>Phonetic changes in Catalan vary with region. There seem to be no
>changes in Mallorca, while in central Valencia all four sounds have
>become /tS/ ("apitxat"). In Eastern Catalonia, many a [S] and [Z]
>has become /tS/ and /dZ/, respectively, especially when at the
>beginning of a phrase or following a consonant. In Barcelona,
>moreover, [dZ] is sometimes pronounced /tS/.
In Western Catalan, initial x- and j-/g- are always prounced
[tS] and [dZ], as they are after a nasal.
The shibboleth "setze jutges d'un jutjat mengen fetge d'un penjat"
("16 judges of a court, eat liver from a hanged person", if you want
to know) is pronunced:
East:
West:
/sedze dZudZes dun dZudZat mendZen fedZe dum pendZat/
Apitxat:
/setse tSutSes dun tSutSat mentSen fetSe dum pentSat/
Quote:
>In Castilian both [S] and [Z] evolved into [x] or [h], spelled <j>,
>leaving <x> free to represent [ks] or [gz] only. Judaeo-Castilian
>("Ladino") retains the original sounds.
>In Galician [Z] changed to [S], with spelling changed accordingly
>(xunta).
>In Portuguese (except in Northern Portugal?) [tS] changed to [S],
>but <ch> spelling remains. Moreover, syllable-final [s] and [z]
>are palatalized in Portugal and Rio de Janeiro (not elsewhere in
>Brazil).
>I would appreciate additions and corrections, as well as
>information about Aragonese and Asturian.
I think I've got some info on Aragonese but I'll have
to get back to you on that (can't seem to find it now).
--
Miguel Carrasquer ____________________ ~~~
Amsterdam [ ||]~