[n-/l- + herskari] taldeen bilakabide diakronikoa eta erronkarieraren lekukotasuna: irudia(k) fintzen

Abstract

In this article, we will analyze the opposition of occlusives posterior to n-/l- that have been debated in the history of Basque. Until recently, it was argued that the voiced stop is the oldest sound after the lateral and the nasal, as found in Roncalese and Souletin. Mitxelena (1961), however, argued the opposite clearly and concisely. We will prove this, together with the grammaticalization and “Trask’s law”, through 17th-century letters by Gabriet Etxart and Miguel Ros. Thus, we will show that the evolution of occlusives was morphological at some point. Then, we will explain in detail how it was phonologically disseminated and how it spread from its old legacy to borrowings. In order to do so, it is essential to bear in mind both sociolinguistic conditions and differences we have found in the corpus.