The L-pattern and the U-pattern

The chapter presents the two types of Romance palatalization that have given rise to patterns of allomorphy. These involve principally the first-person singular present indicative and all the forms of the present subjunctive (the L-pattern); and in some cases the third-person plural present (the U-pattern). The diachronic persistence, replication, and ‘repair’ of this morphomic pattern is illustrated. It is argued that the apparent realignment of the alternant just with present subjunctive in Gallo-Romance is itself morphomic, rather than motivated semantically; that the patterns may retain a measure of phonological conditioning in Italo-Romance and Daco-Romance; and that morphomic patterns may involve asymmetrical distributions in paradigms.