Reconstruction:Latin/alenitare

This Latin entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Latin

Etymology

From an older *an(h)ēlitāre, from anhēlitus (“breath”) +‎ -āre (verb-forming suffix). Alternatively, from alēnō +‎ -itāre, the former a late metathetic variant of Classical anhēlō (“breathe”).

The metathesis that moved /l/ leftwards may in part be due to the synonym halāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aleneˈdaːr/, /alenˈtaːr/

Verb

*alēnitāre (Proto-Western-Romance)

1. to breathe

Reconstruction notes

The remarkable variation in Gascon appears to reflect variation in the intervocalic loss of /n/ vis-à-vis syncope of the second /e/, some contamination from Catalan and Spanish, and contact with the French haleter.

Descendants

• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: alendar
  • Franco-Provençal: èlantè (Petit-Noir)
  • Gascon: aleidar, aledar, alidar, aletar, alentar, lendar

    (expressive /h-/?) haleidar, haledar, haletar

• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: alendar
  • Spanish: alentar
    • → Catalan: alentar
    • → Galician: alentar
    • → Portuguese: alentar

References

• Joan Coromines, José A. Pascual (1984) “alentar”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (in Spanish), volumes I (A–Ca), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 142
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “*anhēlĭtare”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volumes 24: Refonte A–Aorte, page 581