Editing Romance languages (section)

=== Intertonic vowels ===
The so-called ''intertonic vowels'' are word-internal unstressed vowels, i.e. not in the initial, final, or ''tonic'' (i.e. stressed) syllable, hence intertonic. Intertonic vowels were the most subject to loss or modification. Already in Vulgar Latin intertonic vowels between a single consonant and a following /r/ or /l/ tended to drop: ''vétulum'' "old" > ''veclum'' > Dalmatian ''vieklo'', Sicilian ''vecchiu'', Portuguese ''velho''. But many languages ultimately dropped almost all intertonic vowels.

Generally, those languages south and east of the [[La Spezia–Rimini Line]] (Romanian and Central-Southern Italian) maintained intertonic vowels, while those to the north and west (Western Romance) dropped all except /a/. Standard Italian generally maintained intertonic vowels, but typically raised unstressed /e/ > /i/. Examples:
* ''septimā́nam'' "week" > Italian ''settimana'', Romanian ''săptămână'' vs. Spanish/Portuguese ''semana'', French ''semaine'', Occitan/Catalan ''setmana'', Piedmontese ''sman-a''
* ''quattuórdecim'' "fourteen" > Italian ''quattordici'', Venetian ''cuatòrdexe'', Lombard/Piedmontese ''quatòrdes'', vs. Spanish ''catorce'', Portuguese/French ''quatorze''
* ''metipsissimus''<ref>The Latin forms are attested; ''metipsissimus'' is the superlative of the formative -''metipse'', found for example in ''egometipse'' "myself in person"</ref> > ''medipsimus'' /medíssimos/ ~ /medéssimos/ "self"<ref>Ralph Penny, ''A History of the Spanish Language'', 2nd edn. (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002), 144.</ref> > Italian ''medésimo'' vs. Venetian ''medemo'', Lombard ''medemm'', Old Spanish ''meísmo'', ''meesmo'' (> modern ''mismo''), Galician-Portuguese ''meesmo'' (> modern ''mesmo''), Old French ''meḍisme'' (> later ''meïsme'' > MF ''mesme'' > modern ''même'')<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Espinosa |first=Aurelio M. |year=1911 |title=Metipsimus in Spanish and French |journal=[[Modern Language Association#Activities|PMLA]] |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=356–378 |doi=10.2307/456649 |jstor=456649}}</ref>
* ''bonitā́tem'' "goodness" > Italian ''bonità'' ~ ''bontà'', Romanian ''bunătate'' but Spanish ''bondad'', Portuguese ''bondade'', French ''bonté''
* ''collocā́re'' "to position, arrange" > Italian ''collocare'' vs. Spanish ''colgar'' "to hang", Romanian ''culca'' "to lie down", French ''coucher'' "to lay sth on its side; put s.o. to bed"
* ''commūnicā́re'' "to take communion" > Romanian ''cumineca'' vs. Portuguese ''comungar'', Spanish ''comulgar'', Old French ''comungier''
* ''carricā́re'' "to load (onto a wagon, cart)" > Portuguese/Catalan ''carregar'' vs. Spanish/Occitan ''cargar'' "to load", French ''charger'', Italian ''caricare'', Lombard ''cargà/caregà'', Venetian ''carigar/cargar(e)'' "to load", Romanian ''încărca''
* ''fábricam'' "forge" > {{IPA|/*fawrɡa/}} > Spanish ''fragua'', Portuguese ''frágua'', Occitan/Catalan ''farga'', French ''forge''
* ''disjējūnā́re'' "to break a fast" > *''disjūnā́re'' > Old French ''disner'' "to have lunch" > French ''dîner'' "to dine" (but *''disjū́nat'' > Old French ''desjune'' "he has lunch" > French ''(il) déjeune'' "he has lunch")
* ''adjūtā́re'' "to help" > Italian ''aiutare'', Romanian ''ajuta'' but French ''aider'', Lombard ''aidà/aiuttà'' (Spanish ''ayudar'', Portuguese ''ajudar'' based on stressed forms, e.g. ''ayuda/ajuda'' "he helps"; cf. Old French ''aidier'' "to help" vs. ''aiue'' "he helps")
Portuguese is more conservative in maintaining some intertonic vowels other than /a/: e.g. *''offerḗscere'' "to offer" > Portuguese ''oferecer'' vs. Spanish ''ofrecer'', French ''offrir'' (< *''offerīre''). French, on the other hand, drops even intertonic /a/ after the stress: ''Stéphanum'' "Stephen" > Spanish ''Esteban'' but Old French ''Estievne'' > French ''Étienne''. Many cases of /a/ before the stress also ultimately dropped in French: ''sacraméntum'' "sacrament" > Old French ''sairement'' > French ''serment'' "oath".