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One plausible etymology is:

aqua > agua > egua > ewa > ewe > eawe > eaw > eau > o

So first the k sound changed to a g, then the initial a became an e, which lengthened to a diphthong, the final sound disappeared, the new final sound turned from a consonant into a vowel (like an oo) and the resulting triphthong reduced to a monophthong.

The elision of medial g is pretty surprising to me though.

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Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Are you sure that the Q is supposed to be read like a K? It does not seem to be the case in other neo-latin languages such as Italian and IIRC Spanish

i am not a latin expert– i barelly know it in fact, btw

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- FishFace@piefed.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Yes, Latin qu was pronounced /kʷ/, which became straight /kw/ in English. I don’t know which it was in Old French. Italian does have qu which is pronounced /kw/.
  
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  - hikaru755@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    
    Italian does have qu which is pronounced /kw/
    
    Same in German
    
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    FishFace@piefed.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Sorry bud, but in German it usually (though not always ill grant you) is pronounced /kv/ :) quark, quasseln, usw
    
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  - Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    
    Italian does have qu which is pronounced /kw/.
    
    I can confirm this as native speaker :3
    
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