Word-initial heterosyllabic clusters in loanword adaptation: from Catalan, Spanish and Italian loanwords into Sardinian

This paper deals with the phonological adaptation of heterosyllabic clusters of Catalan, Spanish and Italian origin into Sardinian, from the early Middle Ages onwards. The focus is on whether any changes in syllabic structure occurred in the transition from the donor languages to Sardinian: while some clusters have been borrowed without adaptation, others involved the gemination of single segments. In addition, I discuss the long-standing effect of lexical stratification in affecting several phonological rules in Sardinian to this day.