X (= ks) was reduced to s, in the 2d or 3d century, before a consonant or at the end of a word of more than one syllable: _sĕstus_, _sĕnes_; but _sĕx_. So the prefix _ex-_ ＞ es- before any consonant but s: ✱_exgaudēre_ ＞ Pr. esiauzir, ✱_exlucēre_ ＜ Pr. esluzir, ✱_exmĭttĕre_ ＞ Pr. esmẹtre; _excernĕre_ ＞ ✱_escernīre_ ＞ Pr. _eissernir_. Ex- + s apparently became either ex- or ess-: ✱_exsanguinātum_ ＞ Pr. eissancnat, ✱_exsaritāre_ ＞ Pr. eissartar, ✱_exsĕquĕre_ ＞ Pr. essęgre, ✱_exsŭrgĕre_ ＞ Pr. essọrger, ✱_exsūcāre_ ＞ Pr. eissügar essügar.
Y coming, in the 2d or 3d century, from e̯ or i̯, (§ 40) coincided with Latin _j_: _habeam_ ＞ abya, _eāmus_ ＞ yamus, _tĕneat_ ＞ tęnyat; _audio_ ＞ audyo, _fīlia_ ＞ fịlya, _vĕniat_ ＞ vęnyat. As early as the 4th century the groups dy, gy were reduced to y; and ly, ny probably became l´, n´: _mĕdius_ ＞ mędyus ＞ męyus, _corrĭgia_ ＞ corrįgya ＞ corrẹya; _mĕlior_ ＞ męlyor ＞ męl´or, _tĕneo_ ＞ tęnyo ＞ tęn´o.
56. Germanic b, ð, h, k, þ, w call for special mention:--
B did not participate in the change of Latin intervocalic b to β: _roubôn_ ＞ Pr. raubar. The words containing it were evidently adopted after this phonetic law had ceased to operate.
ð, þ were pronounced by the Latins as d, t: ✱_waiðanjan_ ＞ ✱_wadanyāre_ ＞ Pr. gazanhar (It. guadagnare), _þrëscan_ ＞ ✱trescāre ＞ Pr. trescar.
H, at the beginning of a word, was lost in the greater part of the Empire, including southern Gaul: _hapja_ ＞ ✱apya ＞ Pr. apcha. H between vowels was lost in some words and replaced by kk in others: _spëhôn_ ＞ Pr. espiar, _fëhu_ ＞ Pr. fęu, _jëhan_ ＞ ✱yekkīre ＞ Pr. gequir. Ht was regularly replaced by tt: _slahta_ ＞ ✱sclatta ＞ Pr. esclata; but _wahta_, perhaps borrowed at a different period, became Pr. gaita.
K, in southern Gaul, did not take the palatal pronunciation before front vowels: _skërnon_ ＞ Pr. esquernir, _skina_ ＞ Pr. esquina, _skiuhan_ ＞ Pr. esquivar, ✱_rîk-ĭtia_ ＞ Pr. riquẹza; only the derivatives of _Franko_ (doubtless Latinized early) show palatalization, as ✱_Francia_ ＞ Pr. Fransa. G, however, seems to have been palatalized: _gîga_ ＞ Pr. giga, _geisla_ ＞ Pr. giscle. Before a, in words introduced early, k and g were treated like Latin c and g: _kausjan_ ＞ Pr. cauzir chauzir, _gâhi_ ＞ Pr. gai iai; see § 11, (1).