Campaniacum is the etymon inferred from numerous toponyms in France. The Toponymie générale de la France (TGF) derives it from a Roman personal name Campanius and the Gaulish suffix -acum.[1] The -i- (which is important in the phonetic evolution of *Campaniacum) suggests that Campanius is a gens name.[2]

The modern forms differ according to the diverse phonetic evolutions of the local dialects.

The initial /ka/ of *Campaniacum became /ʃa/ (written Cha) in most of Gaul, both in langue d'oïl dialects and the northern langue d'oc dialects; but north of the Joret line, and most Langue d'oc dialects (southern one) /ka/ (written Ca-) was preserved.

In the form Champigny, Gaston Zink offered an explanation for the sequence ign in place of the expected agn: before the palatal consonant /ɲ/, the /a/ shifted to /e/, which in turn closed to /i/; Zink points out the parallel form (fungum) campaniolum ('mushroom') which became champegneul in Old French and champignon (with substitution of suffix) in modern French.[3] This shift is restricted to central langue d'oïl.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ernest Nègre, Toponymie générale de la France (TGF), Librairie Droz, 1990.
  2. ↑ Ernest Nègre
  3. ↑ Gaston Zink, Phonétique historique du français (French Phonetic History), 1986, page 184.
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