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Re: Numbers in my con romance lang

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Sunday, October 15, 2000, 4:36
Christophe Grandsire wrote:
> I thought one said /'mexiko/?
Today, yes, but at the time that the Spanish invaded, <x> indicated /S/.
> As for my use of x for /S/, I got the idea from Portuguese
Yeah, Portuguese keeps the older values for <x> and <j>. Old Spanish had <j> = /Z/, <x> = /S/. Then, the voicing distinction was lost, so that both represented /S/, which then became /x/. Hence, French _chef_ was borrowed into Spanish as _jefe_, originally /Sefe/ -> /xefe/, and Spanish _lunja_ became English _lunch_ (/lunSa/ -> /lVntS/), and the town of Xérez (/SereT/, /Serets/? Not sure how <z> was pronounced at the time; modern Jérez) gave "sherry"