`zebra'

[Rick Mc Callister]

What happened was that -minV > -mnV > -mrV > -mbrV
so
	hominem > homine > homne > homre > hombre /ombre/
	feminam > femina > hemna > hemra > hembra /embra/

Asinus become asno

[snip]
>I am not that familiar with Ibero-Romance philology to know exactly
>what the circumstances are that changed proto-Romance -inV to -brV,
>but the examples of

>homine(m) > hombre
>femina(m) > hembre

>might go further in explaining how

>-asinu(m)- ?> -ezebra-.

>In this case the problematic compound *equifera would no longer be
>needful.