Re: Pseudo-assimilation, Latin to Spanish

Harlan Messinger <hmessinger.removethis@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I came across the expression "in fraganti" in a Spanish newspaper
article the other day in a context in which the Latin "in flagrante
[delicto]" = "in the act", "red-handed" would have made sense. A Google
search shows that this is a very common expression. An interesting
metathesis, made more interesting to me by the fact that it was left
looking as though it were meant to be Latin. It wasn't just Hispanicized
altogether, as "en fraganti" or "infragante", as occurred with Italian
"eccetera" from Latin "et cetera". Also, the change of the final "-e" to
"-i" is interesting.

Are you sure the -i isn't from the original Latin? "In flagranti"
is a common expression in German and a change of the final vowel
would be weird. Duden says it's shortened from "in flagranti
crimine".

--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx
.