Many Spanish words with a /d/ have a /t/ in Italian. The Spanish /d/ is the result of lenition and occurs intervocalically or between a vowel and a sonorant. Here are examples:
abogado avvocato (lawyer)
certificado certificato (certificate)
dedo dito (finger)
estado stato (state)
helado gelato (ice cream)
lado lato (side)
piedra pietra (stone)
poder potere (power)
rueda ruota (wheel)
vida vita (life)
The consonants /p/ and /k/ also lenite in Spanish. Examples include cabra/capra (goat) and amigo/amico (friend). Lenition also occurs in Portuguese. The Portuguese words for goat and friend are the same as in Spanish.
In contrast to Italian, the /t/ of Latin often becomes a /d/ in Spanish. This is also the case for the consonants /p/ and /k/. The process is known as lenition and also occurs in Portuguese. This process can also be analyzed as assimilation because voiceless segments become voiced between two voiced sounds.
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