section_path: Phonology
section_name: Phonology
paragraph_text: Phonology
  
  The Spanish phonological system evolved from that of Vulgar Latin. Its development exhibits some traits in common with other Western Romance languages, others with the neighboring Hispanic varieties—especially Leonese and Aragonese —as well as other features unique to Spanish. Spanish is alone among its immediate neighbors in having undergone frequent aspiration and eventual loss of the Latin initial /f/ sound (e.g. Cast. harina vs. Leon. and Arag. farina). The Latin initial consonant sequences pl-, cl-, and fl- in Spanish typically merge as ll- (originally pronounced), while in Aragonese they are preserved in most dialects, and in Leonese they present a variety of outcomes, including,, and. Where Latin had -li- before a vowel (e.g. filius) or the ending -iculus, -icula (e.g. auricula), Old Spanish produced, that in Modern Spanish became the velar fricative (hijo, oreja), whereas neighboring languages have the palatal lateral (e.g. Portuguese filho, orelha; Catalan fill, orella).