Reconstruction:Latin/praecunctare

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 Classical Latin percontārī (“inquire, interrogate”), altered by contamination with the prefix prae- as well as the verb cūnctārī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /preɡunˈtar/

Verb

*praecūnctāre (Proto-Ibero-Romance)

1. to ask
2. to wonder

Reconstruction notes

Some of the descendants show a return of the first /r/ to its original position (e.g. Portuguese perguntar). That this is a secondary development is demonstrated by the fact that original /k/ experienced intervocalic lenition everywhere.

Descendants

• Aragonese: preguntar
• Asturian: preguntar, perguntar
• Extremaduran: perguntal
• Mirandese: preguntar
• Old Galician-Portuguese: preguntar
  • Galician: preguntar, perguntar
  • Portuguese: perguntar, (archaic or dialectal) preguntar
• Spanish: preguntar (see there for further descendants)

References

• Joan Coromines, José A. Pascual (1985) “preguntar”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (in Spanish), volumes IV (Me–Re), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 635