Types of sound change
Uradhi (QL)
*pinta winta ‘arm’ *pilkul wilu ‘hip’ *pat̪a wat̪a ‘bite
Palauan *paqi waɁ ‘leg’ *paqit waɁəð ‘bitter’ *qatəp Ɂaðow ‘root’ p → w
Lenition: the change of a sound from a “stronger” sound to a “weaker” sound stronger weaker b p p f f h x h b w v w a ə i ɨ d l s r k Ɂ voiced > voiceless stop > continuant consonants > glides oral > glottal peripheral > central
Lenition: Kara (NI, PNG) *bulan fulan ‘moon’ *tapine tefin ‘woman’ *punti fut ‘banana’ *topu tuf ‘sugarcane’ Lenition: Jajgir (NSW) *ɖaːlaɲ jaːlaɲ ‘mouth’ *buːluɲ juluɲ ‘belly’ *gaɲaːmbil jaɲaːmbil ‘tongue’
Lenition: rhotacitism in Latin *amiːkosum amiːkorum ‘of the friends’ *genesis generis ‘of the type’ *honoːsis honoːris ‘of the honor’
Lenition? intervocalic voicing in Spanish Latin Spanish skōpa escoba ‘broom’ natāre nadar ‘swim’ amīka amiga ‘friend’
Fortition: relatively rare Q’eqchi’ *winq kwiːnq ‘person’ *ijax itjax ‘seed’
Latin French Italian i- j- gi- [j]ucundus [ʒ]aconde [ʤ]acondo ‘mirthful’ [j]uventa [ʒ]eune [ʤ]ovane ‘young’ [j]uncare [ʒ]oindre [ʤ]ungere ‘join (v.)’ [j]akobus [ʒ]acques [ʤ]acomo ‘James’ [j]ubilantem [ʒ]ubilante [ʤ]ubilante ‘jubilant’ [j]udex [ʒ]uge [ʤ]udice ‘judge’ [j]urata [ʒ]uree [ʤ]uria ‘jury’ [j]ustus [ʒ]uste [ʤ]usto ‘just (a.)’ v- v- v- [w]entus [v]ent [v]ento ‘wind’ [w]ariare [v]arier [v]ariare ‘vary’ [w]anitas [v]anite [v]anita ‘vanity’ [w]idere [v]oire [v]edere ‘see’ [w]enire [v]enir [v]enire ‘come’ [w]olare [v]ouloir [v]olere ‘want’ Deletion: lenition down to nothing syncope: loss of medial segment syncpe apocope: loss of final segment apocop aphaeresis: loss of initial segment phaeresis
Syncope: Spanish populus pueblo ‘people’ fābulare hablar ‘speak’
Syncope: Lenakel *namatana nɨmrɨn ‘his/her eye’ *nalimana nelmɨn ‘his/her hand’ *masa mha ‘low tide’
Deletion: Swedish norðman norman ‘Norseman’
Apocope: English sticca stick sunu son mōna moon
Apocope: Fijian *ɲiur niu ‘coconut’ *taŋis taŋi ‘cry’ *ikan ika ‘fish’ *bulan vula ‘moon’ *tansik taði ‘sea’ *lajar laða ‘sail’ *laŋit laŋi ‘sky’
Apocope: SE Ambrym *utu ut ‘lice’ *aŋo aŋ ‘fly’ *asue asu ‘rat’ *tohu toh ‘sugarcane’ *hisi his ‘banana’ *use us ‘rain’
Apocope: Estonian jalka jalk ‘foot’ hærkæ kærk ‘bull’ hooli hool ‘care’ leemi leem ‘broth’
Aphaeresis: Angkamuthi *maji aji ‘food’ *nani ani ‘ground’ *ŋampu ampu ‘tooth’ *nukal ukaː ‘foot’ *ɣantu antu ‘canoe’ *wapun apun ‘head’
Apocope: Mbabaram *wula lo die *ŋali li we *ɟiwa we month *bamba mba belly *guju ju fish *ɟina ne stand *ŋuba bo bath *wuna no lie down *ɟiba be liver *gumbi mbi penis *naga ga east *ŋulu lu s/he *gunda ndo cut up *guwa wo west
Insertion: epenthesis prothesis: insertion of initial vowel paragoge: insertion of final vowel excrescence: consonant insertion prothesis: Latin → Spanish scutu escudo shield scola escuele school stabula estable stable
excrescence: English thimble, humble, thunder, chamber some[p]thing chan[t]ce
Metathesis: linear reordering of segments
Metathesis: English thridda third hros horse brid bird
Metathesis:Rotuman *hula hual ‘moon' *hɔsa hɔas ‘flower' *rito riot ‘to glitter’ *seseva seseav ‘erroneous’ *ulo wol ‘kind of bird’ *pure pwer ‘to rule’ *fupa fwap ‘to distribute’ *karpiso karpjos ‘kind of plant’ *aire ajer ‘true’ *kawika kawiak ‘shoal’ *fæeŋa fæjaŋ ‘to speak’ *hoɁa hwaɁ ‘to take’
Metathesis: Sinhalese kareɲu kaɲera ‘elephant (f.)’ upaːnah vahan ‘sandals’
Fusion (Coalescence): two segments combine into one
Fusion: French nasal vowels *œn œ̃ ‘a’ *bɔn bɔ ̃ ‘good’ *vɛn vɛ ̃ ‘wine’ *blan blã ‘white’
Fusion: Attic Greek *gwous bous ‘cow’ *gwatis basis ‘going’ *gwasileus basileus ‘official’ *leikwoː leipoː ‘I leave’ *jɛkwar hɛpar ‘liver’
Compensatory lengthening: one segment is lost; another lengthens to fill the gap
Compensatory lengthening: English *fimf fīf five *hlink hlink ridge *gans- gōs goose *hund hund hound *grinst grīst grist *land land land *hanh- hōh heel *sing sing sing *linθj- līθe lithe *slink slink slink *munθ- mūθ mouth *sundan sund sound *tanθ tōθ tooth *swing swing swing *grind grind grind *wund wund wound
Unpacking: one segment splits into two; each has some features of original
French Bislama kamiɔ ̃ kamioŋ ‘truck’ aksidã aksidaŋ ‘accident’ kaʁtɔ ̃ kartoŋ ‘carton’ kalsɔ ̃ kalsoŋ ‘skivvies’ lagɔ lagoŋ ‘lagoon’ pytɛ ̃ piteŋ ‘whore’ avãs avaŋs ‘advance pay’ busɔ busoŋ ‘cork’
Breaking: one vowel splits into two
Southern American English bid [biəd] bed [beəd] bad [bæɪəd] brown [bræɪaʊn]
Assimilation (Palatalization, affrication, voicing, devoicing) total/partial, progressive/regressive, contact(immediate)/distant
Italian: total regressive assimilation octo otto ‘eight’ noctem notte ‘night’ factum fatto ‘done’ septem sette ‘seven’ aptum atto ‘apt’ somnus sonno ‘sleep’
English/Latin: partial regressive combust, contest, conquest imperfect, intend, inconsiderate
English palatalization: partial regressive kinn chin kuman kʌm come k si cheese ɛː kandəl̩ kændl̩ candle geldan yield korn ko n corn gearn yarn ɹ kre odan k a d crowd keaf ʧæf chaff ː ɹ ʊ kwe n kwijn queen keːse ʧijz cheese ː kla θ kla θ cloth keːap ʧijp cheap ː ː ku ka cow kiːld ʧajld child ː ʊ kald kold cold kirike ʧɹʧ̩ church klɪf klɪf cliff kiːdan ʧajd chide kleːofan klijv cleave keastr ʧɛstɹ ̩ chester keːosan ʧuwz choose
Total distant assimilation: IE *penkwe ‘five’ Italic *kwenkwe regressive assimilation pre-Germanic *penpe progressive assimilation ( → fenfe)
Contact assimilation: Spanish intervocalic voicing: Latin Spanish skōpa escoba ‘broom’ natāre nadar ‘swim’ amīka amiga ‘friend’
contact assimilation: Banoni intervocalic voicing and spirantization pekas beɣasa feces wakar baɣara root pakan vaɣana add meat to staple tipi tsivi traditional dance makas maɣasa dry coconut
Final devoicing German, Polish, etc.
Vowel harmony: distant assimilation
Proto-Micronesian → Chuukese aːwo ɒː fishline maŋini menin poison tasi seti salt water taːpwo sɒːpwo- division tau soː dead person mwa ne mwæ n man ː ː kapi -kepi- bottom fa le fæ n meeting house ː ː raːni ræːni- day mwa re mwæ r lei ː ː maːta maːs eye faifine feːfin woman paŋaki peŋgesi- crosswise sai teː sew maːi mæːj breadfruit masaki meteki pain faso fɒto- planting a fi æ f fire ː ː tapwo sɒpw be at an end tau-tau soː-soː holder maːŋo mɒːŋ head
Dissimilation
English/Latin alveolar, velar, uvular, circular, regular, solar, lunar labial, dental, palatal, tonal, cerebral, vocal, floral, global, normal
Spanish encinal, pinal; frijolar, tular, chilar
Grassman’s law phephūka pephuka converted (Gr.) bhabhūva babhuva became (Sk) ti-sthaːsa ‘stand’ di-dhiːrʂa ‘hold’ (desiderative) ja-ghása ‘eat’ bi-bhr̩ ‘bear’ bu-bhuːrʂa ‘carry’ (desiderative)
Relative chronology
Latin → French kentum → sã kentum → cent → sent → sen → sẽ → sã t → w t → θ → f → v → w p → Ø p → f → h → Ø
Mekeo *dua ŋua two *dau ŋaŋau leaf d → ŋ ? d → l → n → ŋ
Spanish hominem → homne → homre → hombre ‘man’ femina → femna → femra → hembra ‘female’ nomina → nomna → nomra → nombre ‘name’
Chain shifts
Great vowel shift Grimm’s law