2026-09-18 14:00 UTC
I wonder when French took the wrong path, because it seems unexplainable to me how we end up from Latin’s “aqua” to French’s “eau”
Replies (2)
-
@CommanderCloon@lemmy.ml 2026-09-19 02:06
here is a whole video on that exact topic Aqua ➡️ eau is one of the explained examples 😁
-
@FishFace@piefed.social 2026-09-18 14:47
One plausible etymology is: aqua > agua > egua > ewa > ewe > eawe > eaw > eau > o So first the k sound changed to a g, then the initial a became an e, which lengthened to a diphthong, the final sound disappeared, the new final sound turned from a consonant into a vowel (like an oo) and the resulting triphthong reduced to a monophthong. The elision of medial g is pretty surprising to me though.