Hi, Everyone:
As I mentioned in my many other messages, I am now adding my quarter's worth
to the discussions. One of the old messages (forgive me if this is already
known and some of you are going, "Well, duh") talks a bit about Spanish
spellings, y for I, etc. I found the following in an Hispanic Genealogy
book (Sorry, it's late and I'm too lazy to find out which book right now):
Interchangeable Letters:
i-y: used interchangeably until less than 100 years ago.
b-v: used interchangeably even today- also "u" for "v".
j,x,g: used interchangeably by 1550, by 1850 "x" not used as Spanish "j"
sound when used before "i" and "e".
c,s,z,ss: used interchangeably in early Spanish, along with "x,". C,s, and z
still used interchangeably, depending on location.
i-e,a-o,a-u,o-u: used interchangeably in early Spanish and in some regions
still today.
ch-ll: used interchangeably depending on region.
b-p,c-g,d-t: as late as 1700, these interchanges can be found, a carry over
from Latin.
l-r: used interchangeably, some regions more than others.
m-n: used interchangeably between vowel and consonant in words, significant
specifically in names.
Latin Influences:
c-q: Latin "qu" becomes Spanish "cu", such as from quando to cuando.
ff-ph: "ph" introduced into Spanish from Latin to express sounds in
Greek-origin words, such as filosofia to philosophia.
Impure "s": from "es" sound at beginning of words in Latin, sometimes "is,"
later dropped, such as espiritu to spiritu.
Insertion of letters: when Latin spelling is followed closely, such as santo
to sancto, bautizar to baptizar.
Letter "h": may be omitted or added or substituted by "g" or "f". "F" is
used in words now having "h", such as fijo to hijo. Persists into 16th and
17th centuries. "H" may be replaced with "g", such as guevo and huevo. You
can pronounce the words outloud, the "h" is silent, so the meaning will
become clear.