Editing Sound change (section)

==Terms for changes in pronunciation==

In [[historical linguistics]], a number of traditional terms designate types of phonetic change, either by nature or result. A number of such types are often (or usually) sporadic, that is, more or less accidents that happen to a specific form. Others affect a whole phonological system. Sound changes that affect a whole phonological system are also classified according to how they affect the overall shape of the system; see ''[[phonological change]]''.

* [[Assimilation (linguistics)|Assimilation]]: One sound becomes more like another, or (much more rarely) two sounds become more like each other. Example: in Latin the prefix *''kom''- becomes ''con''- before an [[Apical consonant|apical stop]] ({{IPA|[t d]}}) or {{IPA|[n]}}: ''contactus'' "touched", ''condere'' "to found, establish", ''connūbium'' "legal marriage". The great majority of assimilations take place between contiguous segments,{{Citation needed|date= September 2012}} and the great majority involve the earlier sound becoming more like the later one (e.g. in ''connūbium,'' ''m- + n'' becomes ''-nn-'' rather than ''-mm-''). Assimilation between contiguous segments are ([[diachronics|diachronically]] speaking) exceptionless sound laws rather than sporadic, isolated changes.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}
* [[Dissimilation]]: The opposite of assimilation. One sound becomes less like another, or (much more rarely) two sounds become less like each other. Examples: Classical Latin ''quīnque'' {{IPA|/kʷiːnkʷe/}} "five" > Vulgar Latin *''kinkʷe'' (whence French ''cinq'', Italian ''cinque'', etc.); [[Old Spanish language|Old Spanish]] ''omne'' "man" > Spanish ''hombre''. The great majority of dissimilations involve segments that are '''not''' contiguous, but, as with assimilations, the great majority involve an earlier sound changing with reference to a later one. Dissimilation is usually a sporadic phenomenon, but [[Grassmann's Law]] (in Sanskrit and Greek) exemplifies a systematic dissimilation. If the change of a sequence of fricatives such that one becomes a stop is dissimilation, then such changes as [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] *hs to {{IPA|/ks/}} (spelled ''x'') in English would count as a regular sound law: PGmc. *''sehs'' "six" > [[Old English]] ''siex'', etc.
* [[Metathesis (linguistics)|Metathesis]]: Two sounds switch places. Example: Old English ''th'''ri'''dda'' became Middle English ''th'''ir'''d''. Most such changes are sporadic, but occasionally a sound law is involved, as Romance *''tl'' > Spanish ''ld'', thus *''kapitlu, *titlu'' "chapter (of a cathedral)", "[[tittle]]" > Spanish ''cabildo, tilde''. Metathesis can take place between non-contiguous segments, as Greek ''amélgō'' "I milk" > Modern Greek ''armégō.''
* [[Lenition]]: "Weakening" of a consonant from one that takes more effort to pronounce (and more constriction in the vocal tract) to one that takes less, e.g. a [[stop consonant]] becoming an [[affricate]] or [[fricative]].
* [[Fortition]]: the opposite of lenition, "strengthening" a consonant, e.g. an [[approximant]] becoming an affricate or fricative.
* [[Vowel reduction|Reduction]]: Whereas the weakening of consonants is called ''lenition'', the weakening of vowels is called ''reduction''. For example, in most varieties of English, unstressed vowels often reduce to a [[schwa]], such as the two a's in ''arena''.
* [[Tone (linguistics)#Origin|Tonogenesis]]: Syllables come to have distinctive [[pitch contour]]s.
* [[Sandhi]]: Conditioned changes that take place at word-boundaries but not elsewhere. It can be [[morpheme]]-specific, as in the loss of the vowel in the enclitic forms of English ''is'' {{IPA|/ɪz/}}, with subsequent change of {{IPA|/z/}} to {{IPA|/s/}} adjacent to a voiceless consonant ''Frank's not here'' {{IPA|/ˈfræŋksnɒtˈhɪər/}}. Or a small class of elements, such as the assimilation of the {{IPA|/ð/}} of English ''the, this'' and ''that'' to a preceding {{IPA|/n/}} (including the {{IPA|/n/}} of ''and'' when the {{IPA|/d/}} is elided) or {{IPA|/l/}}: ''all the'' often {{IPA|/ɔːllə/}}, ''in the'' often {{IPA|/ɪnnə/}}, and so on. As in these examples, such features are rarely indicated in standard orthography. In a striking exception, Sanskrit orthography reflects a wide variety of such features; thus, ''tat'' "that" is written ''tat'','' tac'','' taj'','' tad'','' ''or ''tan'' depending on what the first sound of the next word is. These are all assimilations, but medial sequences do not assimilate the same way.
* [[Haplology]]: The loss of a syllable when an adjacent syllable is similar or (rarely) identical. Example: Old English ''Englaland'' became Modern English ''England'', or the common pronunciation of ''probably'' as {{IPA|[ˈprɒbli]}}. This change usually affects commonly used words. The word ''haplology'' itself is sometimes jokingly pronounced ''haplogy''.
* [[Elision]], [[Apheresis (linguistics)|aphaeresis]], [[Syncope (phonetics)|syncope]], and [[apocope]]: All are losses of sounds. Elision is the loss of unstressed sounds, aphaeresis the loss of initial sounds, syncope is the loss of medial sounds, and apocope is the loss of final sounds.
** Elision examples: in the southeastern United States, unstressed schwas tend to drop, so "American" is not {{IPA|/əˈmɛɹəkən/}} but {{IPA|/ˈmɚkən/}}. Standard English is ''possum'' < ''opossum''.
** Syncope examples: the Old French word for "state" is ''estat'', but the ''s'' disappeared, yielding ''état''. Similarly, the loss of {{IPA|/t/}} in English ''soften, hasten, castle'', etc.
** Apocope examples: the final -''e'' {{IPA|[ə]}} in Middle English words was pronounced, but is only retained in spelling as a [[silent E]]. In English {{IPA|/b/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} were apocopated in final position after nasals: ''lamb, long'' {{IPA|/læm/, /lɒŋ ~ lɔːŋ/}}.
* [[Epenthesis]] (also known as anaptyxis): The introduction of a sound between two adjacent sounds. Examples: Latin ''humilis'' > English ''humble''; in Slavic an -l- intrudes between a labial and a following yod, as *''zemya'' "land" > Russian ''zemlya'' (земля). Most commonly, epenthesis is in the nature of a "transitional" consonant, but vowels may be epenthetic: non-standard English ''film'' in two syllables, ''athlete'' in three. Epenthesis can be regular, as when the Indo-European "tool" suffix *-''tlom'' everywhere becomes Latin -''culum'' (so ''speculum'' "mirror" < *''speḱtlom'', ''pōculum'' "drinking cup" < *''poH<sub>3</sub>-tlom''). Some scholars reserve the term ''epenthesis'' for "intrusive" vowels and use ''excrescence'' for intrusive consonants.
* [[Prothesis (linguistics)|Prothesis]]: The addition of a sound at the beginning of a word. Example: word-initial {{IPA|/s/}} + stop clusters in Latin gained a preceding {{IPA|/e/}} in Old Spanish and Old French; hence, the Spanish word for "state" is ''estado'', deriving from Latin ''status''.
* [[Nasalization]]: Vowels followed by nasal consonants can become nasalized. If the nasal consonant is lost but the vowel retains its nasalized pronunciation, nasalization becomes [[phoneme|phonemic]], that is, distinctive. Example: French "-in" words used to be pronounced {{IPA|[in]}}, but are now pronounced {{IPA|[ɛ̃]}}, and the {{IPA|[n]}} is no longer pronounced (except in cases of [[liaison (French)|liaison]]).