epenthesis

[hedgehog]

Does anyone know of any cases of epenthesis in French (especially using  l'  ) ? Thanks.

[Erwan]

Here is a list of epenthesis found in dictionnaries and in internet:

 

Latin word                                   French word

numerus                                            nombre

simulare                                            sembler

cinere                                                 cendre

molere              ->moldre->         moudre

essere               ->estre->              être

lazaru                                                ladre

[Neil Coffey]

Yes, this is a specific type of epenthesis (but quite common) whereby a consonant gets inserted under influence from the articulation of adjacent consonants.

 

Another type of epenthesis occurs in e.g. studium > estude > étude, where a sound is inserted because a particular cluster is phonologically "unstable". (In Spanish, but no longer in French, st- at the beginning of a word is still "unstable", so e.g. in new words, speakers fluctuate between sca(n)ner vs escáner, for example.)