Rampant analogy: The untold scope of analogical change from Latin to Romance

Abstract

Analogical change has played a greater role in historical Romance verb morphology than is commonly recognized. Latin possum ‘be able’ (< pot- + sum ‘be’) has only one Spanish reflex derived via regular sound change, puedes ‘you can’. All other forms result from grammaticalization or analogy. This extent of analogical creation undermines claims that homophony avoidance drives analogy. The lower level of analogy elsewhere in Romance challenges the notion of necessity for the Spanish changes. Despite this verb’s high frequency, speakers replaced nearly every form on the basis of a single reflex without eliminating irregularity.