1. According to Meyer-Lübke, Gram., II, p. 304, Latin -ai became by phonetic process -ęi in Vulgar Latin, and -ęi or -ięi in Provençal. There seems to be no evidence to support this theory. Cf. § [23], 2.
2. In the dialects of Béarn and Catalonia the original a remains in some parts of the preterit.
176. A final -c, which developed in the strong -ui preterits (§ [184]), often became attached to the 3d pers. sg. of weak preterits of the fourth conjugation: floríc, fugíc, iauzíc, partíc.[126] It was sometimes extended to other weak preterits: chantęc, entendęc, nasquęc,[127] paręc.[128] We find also a 3d pers. pl. cazęgron, etc., and even a 1st pers. sg. ameguí, etc. In some western dialects the final -c was adopted by the whole first conjugation: donęc, portęc, etc.
177. Some strong preterits occasionally assumed weak endings:—
(1) In the 1st pers. sg. several verbs in -s sometimes either added an -í or shifted the stress to an originally unaccented final -i (cf. §§ [172], [173]): dis dissí, pris presí, quis quesí, respos respozí. A few verbs in -c did the same: aic aiguí, bẹc beguí, conọc conoguí, saup saubí, vinc venguí, vǫlc volguí. An ending -guí being thus established, this syllable was sometimes added to preterits not of the -c class: costrenguí, destrenguí, prenguí, remanguí, restrenguí, traguí.
(2) In the 3d pers. sg. weak endings are rare: ac aguęt, vẹnc venguęt.
(3) In the 3d pers. pl. the weak ending is not uncommon in -s preterits: diron dissęron, düistrent düissęron, mẹsdren mezęron, prẹson presęron, remastrent remazęron, traissęron. We probably have to deal here, as in (1), with a shift of accent—dīxĕrunt ＞ ✱dísseron ＞ dissęron, etc.: see § [49], (2). The same thing may be true of such a form as aguęron, beside ágron, from ✱áβwerunt = habuĕrunt; such a form as visquęron, on the other hand, is doubtless imitative.
Strong Preterits.
178. (1) The reduplicative perfects were discarded in Vulgar Latin, with the exception of dĕdi (and its compounds) and stĕti, whose reduplicative character was no longer apparent. Cecĭdī became ✱cadui or ✱cadéi; the rest either disappeared or passed into the -sī class: cucŭrrī ＞ ✱cŭrsī, momŏrdī ＞ ✱mŏrsī, pepĕndī ＞ ✱pē(n)sī, pupŭgī ＞ ✱punxī, tetĕndī ＞ ✱tē(n)sī, tetĕgī ＞ ✱taxī ✱tanxī.