Questions tagged [sound-change]
Systematic changes in pronunciation associated with languages and dialects. Includes segmental and prosodic changes. Sound-change is usually used in a diachronic sense and does not refer to the transient or adaptive changes of an individual.
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Why does French "cheveu(x)" have "eu" and not "eau"?
Many French words have lost etymological /l/. I have read that this occured due to a process of l-vocalization around the 10th-12th centuries which turned pre-consonantal l to u after any vowel aside ...
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How and why did so many French letters become silent?
It would seem that much ease of use must have been lost when a lot of French letters came to be silent - I never fail to be amazed that "il parle" and "ils parlent" are homophones, and it's very easy ...
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Has English caused any Languages to undergo Sound Change or Grammar Change?
French historically has caused the presence of several unique sounds in English that would not have been present otherwise. For example the "dʒ" sound in "garage". Similarly, I believe I've read ...
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What factors influence the way we adapt loanwords into English?
If someone pronounces "pizza" as /piːzə/ instead of /pitsə/, we'd surely raise an eyebrow at them. But few people (that I know personally) mind when we pronounce "tagliatelle" with a hard G (I wasn't ...
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Arabic sin and shin sounds in Classical times
What sounds did س and ش make in (early) Classical Arabic?
I have heard that maybe they were not [s] and [ʃ]. Is that a widely accepted truth? If that's true, what is the evidence for that?
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Sound correspondences in Germanic languages
I've noticed that in particular germanic languages have similar base words to english of which many times the only difference is that of the vowels. This would make sense seing as to how they are ...
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Are sound changes regular?
Are sound changes regular now or not? I mean it seems to me that it's accepted that sound change is pretty regular, because of how sound changes are treated in etymology/historical linguistics. I even ...
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What sound change(s) underlie [iʒ-] in São Vicente?
Is there a particular sound change that would explain changing a word-initial [ʒu] (or alternatively [dʒu]) to [iʒ] before a stressed syllable? Or might this be best explained as dropping the [u] by ...
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Historical Linguistics: Merging consonants [closed]
In Middle Egyptian (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_language#Phonology), the /s/ and /z/ merged into one sound, but the graphemes continued to be used interchangeably.
As one who is interested ...
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Voicing as lenition
Why is voicing considered lenition under phonological criteria?
To me voiced consonants seem stronger in articulation, therefore voicing should be considered fortification.
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Am I using the right terms in referring to "soft" and "hard" vowels and consonants?
In English, there is a clear difference between the "a" in "at," and the "a" in "father." I described the difference by saying that the "a" in "father" is "harder" than the other one.
The German word ...
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*sn > n (in Latin)
The older consonant cluster sn- loses its s in Latin:
nix "snow" vs. English snow
cēna "supper" vs. older Latin cesna
Two questions:
1) Since word-medial -sn- was clearly lost within the history ...
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Languages showing affricate-to-plosive fortition (especially diachronically)
It is well known that consonant lenition or weakening tends to be far more common cross-linguistically than the opposite process called fortition or strengthening. Now, some languages have been ...
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What is the approximate time of the loss of the intervocalic /s/ in Greek?
Teachers of Ancient Greek at my university have always been emphasising the importance of being aware of the loss of the intervocalic sigma in the language's history, because it helped to understand ...
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Is diphthongising [ʌ] as [ʌɪ] novel or an accent feature?
I have noticed some speakers diphthongising [ʌ] as [ʌɪ]. For example, in Bea Miller’s Young Blood, she pronounces “young blood” as [jʌɪŋ blʌɪd] and “us” as [ʌɪs]. Has this been documented elsewhere? ...
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How do we get "four" when it doesn't follow Grimm's law?
I understand how Grimm's law has resulted in pairs such as duo / two, tri / three, penta / five. But how do we get "four"? I looked it up in the dictionary and the IE root is
kwetwer- Why doesn't ...
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Determining underlying representation
I'm really confused about how to determine underlying representation. Every thing I read seems to contradict the last.
Trying desperately to solve this problem and I just seem to be going in circles ...
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Armenian pH < PIE *p(H)?
PIE * p has widely become h in Armenian (e.g. հարց (harts) "question" < * prsk-, հուր (hur) "fire" < * pur-, etc.). However, some have claimed that the verb փլիլ (pHlil) "to fall in, collapse", ...
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Semitic: *w > y
In some Semitic languages, the consonant w seems to have become y (a palatal glide) in certain positions: for example Arabic walid "newborn", Hebrew yeled "child", or Arabic waraq "leaves, foliage", ...
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πίστις & ἐλπίζω related linguistically?
This is stemming from a question on BH-SE.
Are faith (πίστις) and hope (ἐλπίς) related linguistically?
Is it at all possible that ἐλπίς is actually el/eli + πίστις or something + faith?
If not, is ...
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Examples of discrete place-of-articulation changes
Most sound changes that involve consonantal place of articulation are gradual changes between two POAs that are contiguous: for example, a velar gets gradually fronted until it becomes a palatal. What ...
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R before TH sound?
Most of time when I say a word with r before θ or ð, my tongue slides on my palate and it goes to down mouth, behind my lower teeth. This movement produce a sound similar with tap or click, sometimes ...
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Why has Paris French mostly lost the distinction between /e/ and /ɛ/?
Why has Paris French mostly lost the distinction between /e/ and /ɛ/? As in, the difference between 'Je le ferai' and 'Je le ferais', 'poignée' and 'poignet', or more simply between the é sound and ...
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Can we choose words to avoid change?
The pronunciation and meaning of words change over time, as a result of a variety of forces. These forces are well documented and fairly well understood.
Given this knowledge, is it possible to coin ...
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Do written languages evolve along the lines of the script?
The medieval sound changes of New Persian are suggestive of tracing back ultimately to the script, so as if to normalize the writting by adjusting the underlying spoken language.
Thus the majhul and ...
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Use of forks/chopsticks and sound change?
Apparently
[European] humans had an ape-like bite until relatively recently, with our top and bottom incisors aligned along their edges. With the invention of the fork around 250 years ago, our ...
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Sound change charts/lists
I am looking for a summary of sound change laws of various language families. For example for Indo-European, Uralic, N. Caucasian, Semitic but also within Indo-European e.g. Germanic, Greek etc. Is ...
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Similarities and differences
Why is it that Spanish and Italian are freakishly similar (for the most part) whilst French* and German are in some sense alien tongue when compared to the former two, even though geographically the ...
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How does PIE *kʷ in **wĺ̥kʷos change to PGmc. *f in *wulfaz?
wĺ̥kʷos
The word *wĺ̥kʷos is a thematic accented zero-grade noun perhaps derived from the adjective *wl̥kʷós ‘dangerous’ (compare Hittite walkuwa ‘dangerous’, Old Irish olc ‘evil’, Sanskrit [script?...
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Quantitative metathesis in other languages than Ancient Greek?
The Attic-Ionic dialects of Ancient Greek underwent a sound change whereby, in a sequence of a long vowel followed by a short vowel, the quantities were switched: -V:V- became -VV:-, e.g. -e:o- > -eo:-...
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How did OF. peindre derive from L. pingere, with a "-ng-" > "-nd-" change?
peindre
From Latin pingere, present active infinitive of pingō (“I paint”).
I am curious about the sound change within the early Romance languages, while this one above maybe not a sound change ...
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How did the English word inveigle evolve from the Latin aboculus?
inveigle
Early corruption of French aveugler (“to blind, to delude”),
from aveugle (“blind”),
from the Old French avugle (“without eyes”),
from Latin ab + oculus (“eye”).
...
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How does PGmc.fl- change to Goth. thl-, such as PGmc *fleuhaną to Goth. þliuhan?
The example is a cognate of flee:
fleuhaną
Descendants[edit]
Old English: flēon
English: flee
Old Frisian: fliā
Old Saxon: fliohan
Old Dutch: *flion
Middle Dutch: vlien
Dutch: ...
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What is the relative chronology of Grimm's and Verner's Law?
I'm trying to understand the relative chronology of Grimm's Law and Verner's Law. I understand that there are different views, and that it is not easy to work out. I believe Ringe argues that the ...
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Dental fricatives for Brazilian Portuguese speakers
Whenever I observe my fellow Brazilian countrymen learning to speak English, a clear sound change pattern stands out:
[θ] → [f]
[ð] → [d], syllable-initial
[f], syllable-final
So, for example,...
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How does PIE *d- in *dlegh- change to PGmc. p- in plegō (E pledge)?
As shown in the Wiktionary:
pledge
From Middle English plege, from Anglo-Norman plege, from Old French plege (Modern French pleige) from Medieval Latin plevium, plebium, from Medieval Latin ...
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How does PIE *s- in *sriges- change to L. f- in frigus?
As shown in the Wiktionary:
frigus
From Proto-Indo-European *sriges-, *sriHges-.
But I can't find the clue to this sound change on Wikipedia, which concludes that PIE*bʰ, *dʰ, *gʷʰ will become L. ...
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Why does "-b-" differ between L “offero” and L "aufero"?
offero
From ob ("towards") + ferō ("bear, carry")
aufero
From ab ("from") + ferō ("bear, carry")
Both prefixes of them end with "-b-", but why do their compounds differ from each other, namely ...
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How does Gk. "hieros" differ from its cognate Gk. "oistros" with an "h"?
oestrus
From the Latin oestrus ("gadfly”, “sting”, “frenzy"), from the Ancient Greek οἶστρος (oistros).
hiero-
From Ancient Greek prefix ἱερo- (hiero-), from ἱερός (hieros, "sacred, holy")
...
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Is there a diagram showing the history of sound changes from Latin to the Romance languages?
We have had a number of questions about sound changes, asking for the history of specific changes. See this one, for example: asking about the change from Latin benedictionem to French beneiçon. Often,...
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How did It "sedano" come from Gk "σέλινον", with a "l">"d" shift?
sedano
From Ancient Greek σέλινον.
The only Italian etymology I can find is on Wiktionary. And why does the Italian noun "sedano" look the same with the Italian verb "sedano"?
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How did L "reddere" change to E "render"?
render
From Old French rendre ("to render, to make"), from Vulgar Latin *rendere, from Latin reddere, present active infinitive of reddō ("return in profit").
I just wonder whether it is a kind of ...
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Grimm's law: what motivates stop -> fricative sound change?
I am trying to understand the sound change that brought PIE *dent- to P.Gmc. *tanth-. Grimm's law seems to be the culprit for the consonant changes:
Initial voiced stop /d/ devoiced to /t/
Terminal ...
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How does "-age" come from L "-aticum", with a change from "t" to "g"?
-age (wiktionary)
From Old French -age, from Latin -aticum.
Cognates include Spanish -aje and Italian -aggio.
-age (etymonline)
word-forming element in nouns of act, process, function, condition, ...
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How does the word "thunder" get the letter "d"?
thunder
O.E. þunor, from P.Gmc. thunraz (cf. O.N. þorr, O.Fris. thuner, M.Du. donre, Du. donder, O.H.G. donar, Ger. Donner "thunder"), from PIE (s)tene- "to resound, thunder" (cf. Skt. tanayitnuh "...
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Why does the Old Norse word "maðr" include "ð", while its cognate E "man" doesn't?
maðr
From Proto-Germanic *mann-, whence also Old English mann, Old High German man.
mann-
Descendants
Old English: mann, man; manna
English: man
Old Frisian: man, mon
West Frisian: man
...
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How does the Icelandic word "finna" come from Proto-Germanic "finþanan"?
finna
From Old Norse finna, from Proto-Germanic *finþanan.
finþanan
From Proto-Indo-European *pent-, *penth- (“to go, pass; path, bridge”). Cognate with Latin pons (“bridge”), Old Indian pánthā ...
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Why don't the French pronounce consonants at the ends of words?
I am curious what could have caused the shift in pronunciation. I presume it must have occurred after the spelling of words was standardized. According to the History of French wikipedia article, this ...
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How does the sound change from L. "benedictionem" to O.Fr. "beneiçon" happen?
benison
c.1300, "blessing, beatitude," from O.Fr. beneiçon "blessing, benediction," from L. benedictionem (see benediction).
Similarly, the word malison comes in the exact way described above.
In ...
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Is PIE "*wank-" the ultimate root of E "wankle"?
wankle
From Middle English wankel, from Old English wancol (“unstable, unsteady, tottering, vacillating, weak”), from Proto-Germanic *wankulaz (“unsteady, wavering”), from Proto-Indo-European *...
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