common origin and history, but have experienced somewhat different developments. Though the language is typically Romance, some words are not of Latin origin, and are of uncertain etymology. One such is "nura", found in "nuraghe", the main form of pre-Roman building, hence the term for the pre-Roman era as the Nuragic Period. Various place names similarly have roots that defy analysis. Logudorese Sardinian changed only very slowly from Vulgar Latin in comparison to other Romance lects, with Linguist Mario Pei reporting an 8% degree of separation from Latin in the Nuorese subdialect, the most conservative compared to other Romance languages. Because of this reason, as well as the preservation of many works of traditional literature from the 15th century onwards, Logudorese is often considered to be the most prestigious variety of Sardinian. Subdialects Logudorese Sardinian has multiple subdialects, some confined to individual villages or valleys. Though such differences can be noticeable, the dialects are mutually intelligible, and share mutual intelligibility with the neighbouring Campidanese dialects as well. Northern Logudorese Spoken in the north of Sardinia, this subdialect contains the following features: , , changes to , , (Lat. plovere > piòere "rain", florem > fiore "flower", clavem > kiae "key"); > in an intervocalic, pre-consonantal position (Northern Saldigna vs Southern Sardigna). Central (Common) Logudorese Spoken in Central Sardinia, this subdialect contains the following features: , , changes to , , (Lat. plovere > pròere "rain", florem > frore "flower", clavem > crae "key"); > in an intervocalic, pre-consonantal position (Northern altu vs Southern artu "high"). Nuorese The Nuorese dialect is spoken in three historical regions: Baronìa, Nuorese and Barbàgia of Ollolài. The three sub-varieties are quite different from one another, and each one of them includes some distinctive features not found anywhere else in Sardinia, many of which demonstrate the conservative nature of these dialects: No lenition of intervocalic plosives (e.g. Lat. focum > focu "fire", ripa > ripa "shore, bank", rota > rota "wheel" – Barbagian : ròda); No palatal realisation of and , instead turning into and , respectively (e.g. Lat. Sardinia > Sardinna and folium > foza "leaf"); Preservation of intervocalic , , and (Lat. augustus "August" > Log. austu but Nuo. agustu, Lat. credere "to believe" > Log. creere but Nuo. credere, Lat. novem "nine" > Log. noe vs Nuo. nobe/nove < nove); Deletion of the initial f, except when preceded by other consonants – and