Palatalisation in French from Latin?

Question

How does the Latin “*SAPIAT*” become “*sache*” [saʃ] in modern French?I thought the reason may be palatalisation as [ʃ] seems to be a palatal sound, but I can't think of any other examples to prove this theory.Any ideas?

Answer 1

Yes, you are right. Latin /pi/ often became /ch/ in Modern French, via palatalization.

This is not specific to Latin words, as other non-Latin words that had a /pi/ sound also underwent this sound change.

Latin 'appropiare' became French 'approcher'

Latin 'sepia' became French 'seiche'

Frankish 'happia' became French 'hache'