Provencal Language and Literature

(b) Latin tonic free diphthong

au: L. AUrum, Pr. Aur, F. or.

(c) Posttonic a: L. clarA, Pr. clarA (later claro), F. clerE (later clArre).

(d) Latin intertonic free a: L. durAmente, Pr. durAmen, F. durament.

(e) Latin

C and G before A were kept C and G in Provencal (except Limousin and Auvergne) and became CH (first pro nounced TCH) and .1 (first pronounced DJ) in French (except Normanno-Picard dialect where they persisted as C and G, like Provencal) : L. caballum, Pr. Caval, F. CHeval; L. callina, Pr. Galina (later calino), F. reline.

(f) Latin intervocalic

C: L. pacare, Pr. pacer (later paw), F. pacer; L. securum, Pr. secur (in part of Basses-Pyrenees secur). Latin intervocalic G: L. placa, Pr. placa (later yaw), F. plaie; L. ruca, Pr. ruca (later ruco), F. rue. Latin intervocalic T: L. viTa, Pr. viva (later vino), F. vie; L. quaTernum, Pr. cazern, F. cahier. Latin intervocalic D: L. creDere, Pr. crezer (in part of Basses-Pyrenees creDer), F. creire (later croire).

N.B. In some parts of Mod. Pr. there is a form

creire which represents the state of evolution to be found in France till the 13th century. Latin intervocalic DR, TR: L. quaDratum, Pr. carat, F. caRRe, L. paTrem, Pr. pore, F. pere (later Ore).

(g) In the group or

2 consonants, s has been kept in Provencal spelling and pronunciation ; from French pronuncia tion it disappeared since the 13th century, although it was pre served in spelling till the middle of the 18th century (suppressed in the 3rd edition of the Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, 1740); L. scribere, Pr. escriure, F. escrire (later ecrire) ; L. castellurn, Pr. castel, F. chasteau (later chateau).

(h) Among the final consonants let us quote p, v, s, Vulg. L. caPum (cl. L. caput), Pr. caP (a regression of caT—a form which is not attested in the documents at our disposal), F. chiefs; L. brevem, Pr. brew, F. breF. Final s has been preserved both in spelling and pronunciation in the greatest part of Provencal; it disappeared from the pronunciation of French in the course of the 13th century. L. causas, Pr. cauzas (later cauzos), F. choses.

Among the Provencal dialects Gascon has quite peculiar fea tures, the following three are most specially characteristic : (a) Change of Latin intervocalic // to r; L. appeLLare, Gasc. apeRar

(later apeRa) ; (b) change of Latin final II to t: L. agneLLum, Gasc. agneT; (c) change of Latin f to aspirate h: L. Temina, Gasc. remna till the end of the 13th century, then Hentna (later Homo).

Note that there are two other peculiar features (d) the pro nunciation of b as in Spanish (i.e., an intermediary sound between b and v) ; (e) the fall of Latin intervocalic n as in Portuguese : L. galliNa, Gasc. garia (later gario). But (d) has gone beyond Gas cony since the middle ages, and (e) is not to be found in Bor delais.

As general remarks on the morphology it may be pointed out that the declension of nouns and adjectives ceased to exist earlier than in French : the 13th century is the limit reached by the dis tinction between the two cases. In some parts like Bearn no trace of any declension at any time is to be found. In the con jugation we find (a) a past simple ending in—ei (like cantei, can test, cantet, cantem, cantetz, canteron; vendei, vendest, etc.), most likely corresponding to L.—edi—eti, as in dedi steti. (b) a rem nant of Latin pluperfect ending in aram (contracted from averam), irain (contracted from iveram), ederam, e.g., cantara or cantera, partira, vendera used in the meaning of a conditional.

There is a great similarity in the aspect of old and modern Provencal. The only important facts since the 15th century are (a) the change of final a into o (except in some parts where it has persisted as a, and in others where it became e, closer than in French).

(i) The great simplification of the conjugations, many verbs having passed to the—ar conjugation. (L. B.) Provencal literature is much more easily defined than the language in which it is expressed. Starting in the iith and 12th centuries in several centres it thence gradually spread out, first over the greater portion, though not the whole of southern France, and then into the north of Italy and Spain.