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96 The phonological nature of the beginning of the wordKurp case, in what follows we shall concentrate only on the labial plus/j/ sequences.The process of consonantification of short high and mid vowels inhiatus is one of the characteristic features of vulgar Latin. In this contextthe front vowels /i/ and /e/ change into a glide /j/, while the backvowels /u/ and /o/ become a velar glide /w/, e.g. fiilia > filja ‘daughter’,vidua > wedwa ‘widow’ respectively. Scheer and Ségéral (2001)point to the fact that none of the /Cj/w/ clusters, having their origin inthe process outlined above, survived in identical shape into ModernFrench. Of all the /Cj/ sequences the most representative are those whichare composed of the labial consonant plus yod. This is so because theyproduce identical results, i.e. postalveolar affricate [dZ]. Moreover, theresulting affricate does not reflect any melodic element of the precedinglabial consonant. Consider the examples in (50), which are adapted fromScheer and Ségéral (2001:89).(50)bj>dZ>Zrabia>ragerubeu>rougevj>dZ>Zleviu>liègecavea>cagegloss‘fury’‘red’‘cork’‘cage’mj>ndZ>~Zsiimiu>singevindeemia>vendangepç>tS>Ssapiam>sacheapiu>achegloss‘monkey’‘grape picking’‘know’ (subjunctive)‘celery’Since labials, unlike the coronals and velars, cannot be palatalised, itmeans that the result of the evolution [j] > [dZ/Z] must reflect a purestrengthening of yod. The latter suggestion is confirmed by the samechange occurring at the beginning of the word, e.g. jugu > [Z]oug ‘yoke’,jocu > [Z]eu ‘game’, jurure > [Z]urer ‘swear’. Finally, if the source of thefortition [j] > [dZ/Z] is the yod itself, the labial consonant in this context ispredicted to fall out completely as everywhere else in the language, 33 e.g.rupta > route ‘road’, facta > faite ‘done’, etc. Scheer and Ségéral (2001)indicate that these results are predicted by the Coda Mirror. Thus, yodin a strong post-consonantal position evolves into [dZ/Z], while the labialoccurring in the pre-consonantal weak position disappears /p,b,v/ > P,/m/ > P. Furthermore, it is claimed that since yod is strengthened in thisposition it does not belong with the preceding consonant to the samesyllable. In other words, a labial + yod is a heterosyllabic sequence separatedby an empty position. Recall from section 4.3 that this is one of the33This fate does not affect the nasal [m] which ends up as the nasalization in thepreceding vowel.