1. A Provençal final r began to fall in the west and south in the 14th century: cf. § [65], R, 1.
S remained: amīcus ＞ amics, cŏrpus ＞ cǫrs, facias ＞ fassas, fŏrtes ＞ fǫrtz, ŏpĕras ＞ ǫbras, sŭbtus ＞ sọtz. Between a palatal, or an n that did not fall, and an s, a t developed in some dialects: annos ＞ anz, fīlios ＞ filz; cf. § [63], (1), (8).
1. Final s began to fall or to become i in many dialects as early as the 14th century: cf. § [65], S, 1. In mai, beside mais, the fall was earlier.
2. Final ts ＞ t, in the second person plural of verbs, in parts of Limousin and Dauphiné: habētis ＞ avęt. Cf. § [64]. In all first person plural forms (except esmes) final s fell very early: amāmus amāmu’ ＞ amám. Cf. § [167].
3. Through the influence of such common adverbs as entz ＜ ĭntus, fors ＜ fŏris, ios ＜ deōrsum, mais ＜ magis, mens ＜ mĭnus, nemps ＜ nĭmis, plus ＜ plūs, sotz ＜ sŭbtus, sus ＜ sūrsum, s, coming to be regarded as an adverbial ending, was often added to the suffix -men (belamens), to many other adverbs, as ensem-s, era-s, onca-s, poissa-s, and to some prepositions, as sen-s (cf. tras, vers, etc.). By the analogy of such double forms, we have for, men beside fors, mens.
4. Magis, used as a proclitic, probably became in Vulgar Latin ✱mais and ✱mas, whence Provençal mais and mas. For mai, see 1 above.
T, in independent words, fell very early, except in the preterit of verbs; there it was retained in most dialects in weak preterits of the first and third conjugations, in many dialects in weak preterits of the fourth, but disappeared in strong preterits: amat ＞ ama, cantābat ＞ cantava, dar’ ✱hat ＞ darạ, dōnet ＞ dọn, stat ＞ estạ, partībat ＞ partia, placet ＞ platz, tenēr’ + -ē(b)at ＞ tenria, vĕnit ＞ ven; donāvit ＞ donęt donę, vēndĭdit ✱vendĕ́dit ＞ vendęt vendę, partīvit partīt ＞ partị partịt, placuit ＞ plac, vīdit ＞ vi. In the proclitics et and ✱ot (= aut), the t fell before consonants; before vowels it became d, which, under the influence of ad and quĭd, developed like an original d: et ＞ e, eð ez; ✱ot ＞ o, oð oz; later, e and o came to be used often before vowels also.
Final Groups.
83. Ks remained in Vulgar Latin at the end of monosyllables only (§ [55], X); there it became, in Provençal, is: rēx ＞ rẹis, sĕx ＞ sęis. Grecx, nicx are Latinisms.
Nt was generally reduced to n; but in the extreme north and some parts of the south the t was retained in -ant: amant ＞ aman, habē(b)ant ＞ avian aviant; cantent ＞ canten; vēndunt ＞ vẹndon. In some dialects the n fell after o, u (vẹndo, au); -on and -o were used concurrently by the poets.