XPost: alt.usage.english   
   From: Silvano@noncisonopernessuno.it   
      
   Christian Weisgerber hat am 02.09.2024 um 21:48 geschrieben:   
   > On 2024-09-02, Peter Moylan  wrote:   
   >   
   >> Some southern Italian dialects have dropped a few final vowels, but   
   >> this does not extend to northern dialects or the mainstream version of   
   >> the language.   
   >   
   > Okay, this opportunity is as good as any to mention something I've   
   > been burning to post ever since I re-read it in Akire/Rosen:   
   >   
   > Have you ever wondered why the third person plural present tense   
   > forms of Italian verbs are so strangely stressed, e.g., pàrlano   
   > instead of *parlàno?  And where is that -o from anyway?  Spanish   
   > doesn't have it and if you look at Latin (-ant), there's no source   
   > for it.   
   >   
   > Oh, you haven't wondered? ;-)   
   >   
   > Apparently Old Italian had the expected ending -an, so what happened?   
   > The blame goes to the 'to be' word.  The Latin first singular "sum"   
   > and third plural "sunt" both ended up regularly as "son" in Old   
   > Italian.  But that was the only first person form that didn't have   
   > -o, so eventually it picked one up, producing "sono".  Now, since   
   > the first singular and third plural had already merged, "sono" also   
   > became the third pural.  And from there the -o spread to the third   
   > plural of all other verbs, but as a latecomer it didn't move the   
   > stress.   
      
   Please note, however, that the first singular and third plural present   
   forms merged only in "sono".   
      
      
   > It's an intriguing explanation, especially since it includes two   
   > developments that ran in opposite directions: First the addition   
   > of -o from many forms to one, then the spread of -o from one form   
   > to many.  I would guess the strong overall tendency toward open   
   > syllables in Italian had something to do with it.   
      
   I would guess the strong overall tendency toward open syllables in   
   Italian was the main reason for this development.   
      
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