Linguistics Encyclopedia.pdf

first case is illustrated by Latin luminosum which became Spanish lumbroso where, after
the loss of unaccented [i], the resultant cluster [mn] dissimilated to [mr] and subsequently
became [mbr]. The nasal [n], by losing its nasal quality and changing to [r], became less
like [m]. The second case is illustrated by Latin arbor which became Spanish árbol by
changing [r] to [l] under the influence of the preceding [r].
The addition of a segment into a particular environment of the word, epenthesis, is
essentially a form of anticipation of a following sound and may involve either consonants
or vowels. The Old English word glimsian through the insertion of an epenthetic [p] in
the environment [m—s] gave rise to Modern English glimpse. The inserted sound agrees
with the preceding [m] in place of articulation (bilabial) and with the following [s] in
manner of articulation (voiceless). Compare Old English timr and Modern English
timber, Old English ganra, Modern gander.
Basque speakers borrowed a number of words from late Latin but lacked certain
consonant clusters found in the lending language. Vowels were inserted in the borrowed
words to make them more compatible to the Basque system of phonological distribution,
which, for example, tended to avoid sequences of plosive plus [r]; compare:
Latin Basque
[krus] [guruts] ‘cross’
[libru] [libiru] ‘book’
The addition of a word-initial segment generally applied to facilitate the pronunciation of
an initial consonant cluster is a process referred to as prothesis; for example,
Latin Spanish
schola [skola] escuela [eskwela]
Stella [stela] estrella [estreλa]
Sounds are subject to deletion. The two most common processes of segment deletion are
apocope and syncope, which are especially common in environments after accented
syllables. In word-final position, apocope has been common in the history of many
languages including French. Compare:
Latin French
cane [kane]
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chien [ ]
caru [karu] cher [ ]
Consonantal loss in word-final position is also common among many languages. Again,
we see in French the deletion of consonants in forms such as Latin pratu > French pré.
Other word positions are also vulnerable to deletion of segments; Old and Middle
English employed the cluster [kn-] as in knight, knot, knee. The [k] was lost in the
transition period to Modern English.