Provection (from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

: ''provectio'' "advancement") is a technical term of linguistics with two main senses. (1) The carrying over of the final

consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced ...

of a word to the beginning of the following word. Examples in English include

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

''an evete'' becoming ''a newt'' and Middle English ''an eke-name'' becoming ''nickname''. The term is obsolete in this sense; in modern terminology the process is usually called metanalysis or

rebracketing Rebracketing (also known as resegmentation or metanalysis) is a process in historical linguistics where a word originally derived from one set of morphemes is broken down or bracketed into a different set. For example, '' hamburger'', originally ...

, which also cover transposition in the reverse direction, as with Middle English ''a noumpere'' to Modern English ''an umpire''. (2) In

Insular Celtic languages Insular Celtic languages are the group of Celtic languages of Brittany, Great Britain, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. All surviving Celtic languages are in the Insular group, including Breton, which is spoken on continental Europe in Brittany, ...

, the

devoicing In phonology, voicing (or sonorization) is a sound change where a voiceless consonant becomes voiced due to the influence of its phonological environment; shift in the opposite direction is referred to as devoicing or desonorization. Most comm ...

of a consonant, specifically the change of

voiced Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to refe ...

consonants to the corresponding

voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...

consonants, e.g. of to respectively, under the influence of an adjacent voiceless consonant. Examples in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

include > as with ''teg'' "fair", which before a superlative suffix with the earlier form ''-haf'' (with voiceless , gives ''tecaf'' "fairest". This term is also used for a grammatically triggered process with a similar effect as in, for example, Breton ''bro'' "land" but ''ho pro'' "your (plural) land". The term ''provection'' has also been used for a variety of other processes in Celtic with similar effects, such as when two successive voiced

plosives In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lip ...

were replaced by a single voiceless plosive (Welsh *''meid-din'' from Latin ''matutinum'' "morning" becoming Welsh ''(ers) meitin'' "a while ago"), or when a voiced plosive was devoiced before a voiceless one and merged with it (Welsh ''pob'' "every" + ''peth'' "thing" becoming ''popeth'' "everything"). A further process for which the term has been used is for the change of a voiced fricative to a voiced stop after a resonant consonant, as in the case of Proto-Welsh *''benðixt'' from Latin ''benedictio'' "blessing" becoming Welsh ''bendith''. A catalogue of such effects is given in the historical linguistic text ''A Welsh grammar'' by J. Morris Jones, and in ''A concise comparative Celtic grammar'' by Henry Lewis and Holger Pedersen. (For a brief account see also Ball (1993: 309)M.J. Ball, with J. Fife, eds, ''The Celtic languages.'' London: Routledge (1993), pp. 308–309 and 359.). The term is used by linguists both for the historical processes which give rise to a change of pronunciation, and for their legacy, the processes which occur when words or

morphemes A morpheme is the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. In English, morphemes are often but not necessarily words. Morphemes that stand alone are ...

of the appropriate form are brought together in continuous speech or writing. In the earlier history of the

Goidelic languages The Goidelic or Gaelic languages ( ga, teangacha Gaelacha; gd, cànanan Goidhealach; gv, çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historical ...

, some changes of pronunciation comparable to those in British Celtic occurred, and the term is also used to label them, but those processes have no counterparts in the grammars of the surviving modern Goidelic languages,

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

References

Welsh grammar Breton grammar Historical linguistics {{historical-linguistics-stub

See also

References