N before spirants (f, j, s, v), except in the prefixes con- and in-, became silent during the Republican period, the preceding vowel, if it was short, being lengthened by compensation[40]: mē(n)sis, pē(n)sare. If the syllable con- or in- was not recognized as a prefix, the n fell: co(n)sul, co(n)ventum, i(n)fas. In learned and newly constructed words the n was pronounced. Cf. M.
Qu, gu before o or u were reduced to c, g in the 1st or 2d century: see W.
R before s, in a number of words, became s in the Republican period: deōrsum ＞ deōssum, dŏrsum ＞ dŏssum, sūrsum ＞ sūssum; so, in a part of the Empire, pĕrsĭca ＞ pĕssĭca, vĕrsus (preposition) ＞ vĕssus. Early in our era ss after a long vowel was reduced to s: deōsu, sūsu.
S was probably always voiceless, or surd, in classic Latin, but became voiced between vowels, in Gaul, at the end of the Vulgar Latin period: casa. To initial s + consonant an i or e was prefixed, at first, no doubt, after a word ending in a consonant: in schŏla ＞ in iscŏla; this process began in the 2d century and had become general by the 4th.
V, originally pronounced w, became β probably in the 1st century: vīvĕre ＞ βīβĕre. Before u, v regularly disappeared, but it was restored by analogy in many words: flavus ＞ flaus, ōvum ＞ ŏum, rīvus ＞ rīus; but also ŏvum, rīvus, by the analogy of ova, rivi. In the greater part of the Empire v apparently fell also before an accented o: pavōnem ＞ paōne, pavōrem ＞ paōre. Cf. W. When a β, representing either b or v, became contiguous to a following consonant, it changed to u: ✱avĭca ＞ aβĭca ＞ auca, gabăta ＞ gaβata ＞ gauta, ✱flavĭtat ＞ flaβĭtat ＞ flautat. In several words rv became rb in Latin: vervēcem ＞ berbēce berbīce, cŏrvus ＞ cŏrbus, cŭrvus ＞ cŭrbus.
W coming, in the 2d or 3d century, from u̯ (§ [40]) differed from Latin v, then pronounced β, but was probably identical with Germanic w: dēbuī ＞ dẹbwị, placuī ＞ placwị, sapuit ＞ sapwit, tĕnuis ＞ tęnwis. W fell between a consonant and o or u: antīquus ＞ antịcus, battuo ＞ batto, carduus ＞ cardus, cŏquus ＞ cǫcus, distĭnguo ＞ distįngo, mŏrtuus ＞ mǫrtus; so eccu’hŏc ＞ Pr. acǫ. Cf. Qu.
X (= ks) was reduced to s, in the 2d or 3d century, before a consonant or at the end of a word of more than one syllable: sĕstus, sĕnes; but sĕx. So the prefix ex- ＞ es- before any consonant but s: ✱exgaudēre ＞ Pr. esiauzir, ✱exlucēre ＜ Pr. esluzir, ✱exmĭttĕre ＞ Pr. esmẹtre; excernĕre ＞ ✱escernīre ＞ Pr. eissernir. Ex- + s apparently became either ex- or ess-: ✱exsanguinātum ＞ Pr. eissancnat, ✱exsaritāre ＞ Pr. eissartar, ✱exsĕquĕre ＞ Pr. essęgre, ✱exsŭrgĕre ＞ Pr. essọrger, ✱exsūcāre ＞ Pr. eissügar essügar.
Y coming, in the 2d or 3d century, from e̯ or i̯, (§ [40]) coincided with Latin j: habeam ＞ abya, eāmus ＞ yamus, tĕneat ＞ tęnyat; audio ＞ audyo, fīlia ＞ fịlya, vĕniat ＞ vęnyat. As early as the 4th century the groups dy, gy were reduced to y; and ly, ny probably became l´, n´: mĕdius ＞ mędyus ＞ męyus, corrĭgia ＞ corrįgya ＞ corrẹya; mĕlior ＞ męlyor ＞ męl´or, tĕneo ＞ tęnyo ＞ tęn´o.
56. Germanic b, ð, h, k, þ, w call for special mention:—
B did not participate in the change of Latin intervocalic b to β: roubôn ＞ Pr. raubar. The words containing it were evidently adopted after this phonetic law had ceased to operate.