Sound Changes in Historical Linguistics: Assimilation, Palatalization, and More

Sound Changes in Historical Linguistics

Assimilation

Assimilation occurs when a sound becomes more similar to an adjacent sound in voicing, manner, or place of articulation. The direction of assimilation can be:

• Regressive: For example, Old English wifman becomes wimman.
• Progressive: For example, Germanic *wulno becomes wullo and then Old English wull.

The extent of assimilation can be:

• Total: For example, Old English wifman.
• Partial: For example, Latin in + premiere becomes impremiere.

Assimilation can also be relative to the environment, such as:

• Immediate: For example, English attain.

Palatalization

Palatalization is a process in which a front vowel causes a sound to move forward or backward to become more palatal in articulation. For example:

• Old English lic (body)
• kcester > caester > ceaster (chester)
• Change from /g/ to /j/, for example, Old English ges 'geese' < *gosi.
• /k/ palatalized to /tʃ/, for example, scip 'ship', fisc 'fish'.
• /g/ > /dʒ/, for example, secg 'man'.

Assimilation with Vowels

• Vowel Harmony: Some languages will tolerate only certain combinations of vowels in the syllables of a word. For example, in Turkish, the vowels of a word are either all front or all back.
• Umlaut/Mutation: This is the most important change affecting vowels. It affected all Germanic languages except Gothic. It is a conditional sound change.

I-Umlaut in Old English

Due to the influence of a high-front vowel or a semi-vowel in the following syllable, the vowel undergoes a process of fronting or raising when followed by /i, i:, j/ in the following syllable. For example, Germanic fulljan becomes Old English fyllan. This has left a legacy in Modern English, such as in irregular plurals (tooth > teeth) and comparatives.

Dissimilation

Dissimilation occurs when a sound becomes different from an adjacent sound, often with liquids or nasals. It can be regressive (e.g., Italian colonello becomes Spanish coronel) or progressive.

Weakening/Lenition

Weakening or lenition involves reduced muscular tension in articulation. It can manifest as:

• Sonorization: Substitution of a voiceless consonant by a voiced consonant. For example, Latin cupa and vita become Spanish cuba and vida.
• Vocalization: Shift of a sound which is not a vowel to a vowel. For example, Latin alter becomes autero and then Spanish otro.
• Rhotacism: Involves a sound shift in which /s/ becomes /r/ through an intermediate /z/. For example, Latin genesis becomes generis.

Loss of a Sound

• Aphaeresis: Loss of an initial sound. For example, knight/gnat.
• Syncope: Loss of a medial sound. For example, Old English strangara becomes stangra and then strangle.
• Apocope: Loss of a final sound. For example, Old English nama becomes English name.
• Consonant-Cluster Reduction: Reduction of a group of consonants that occur at the beginning or end of a syllable. For example, Old English betst becomes Modern English best.
• Haplology: Loss of a syllable quite similar to the following one.

Insertion of a Sound

• Prothesis: Insertion in the initial position. For example, Latin spiritus becomes Spanish espiritu.
• Epenthesis: Insertion in the medial position. For example, Old English glimsin becomes Modern English glimpse.
• Vowel Breaking: For example, Old English werpan becomes weorpan 'to throw'.

Metathesis

Metathesis is the reversal or reordering of two sounds, especially common with liquids and vowels. For example, Old English frist becomes Modern English first, Spanish tronada becomes Modern English tornado, and Old English axian (x=ks) becomes Modern English ask.

The Great Vowel Shift

The Great Vowel Shift occurred in the early decades of the 15th century. It affected long vowels that were raised in articulation or became diphthongs. Despite changes in pronunciation, old spelling was maintained. For example, Middle English /i:/ and /u:/ became Modern English /ai/ and /au/.

*gosi.>