List of Sound Changes

Below is a large list of attested sound changes in natural languages.

Deletion

Aphaeresis

• {C/V} > Ø / #_
  • Example: μνημονικός /mnemonikos/ (Greek) > mnemonic /nǝmɑnɪk/ (English)
  • Example: *cneo /kneo/ (Old English) > knee /niː/ (English)
  • Notes: This sound change is also spelled "apheresis". Often this is a way to resolve complex onset consonant clusters. As a counterpart to this sound change, see prothesis.

Epenthesis

Paragoge

• Ø > V / _#
  • Example: தஞ்சாவூர் /t̪antɕaːʋuɾ/ [t̪andʑaːʋuɾu] "Thanjavur (name of a city)" (Tamil)
  • Notes: The vowel inserted at the end is usually either a copy vowel of the previous vowel, or some neutral vowel in the system. In the Tamil example, it looks like the former, but it's actually the latter: [u] is always inserted.

Prothesis

• Ø > V / #_
  • Example: *scola /skola/ (Latin) > escuela /eskuela/ "school" (Spanish)
  • Example: *scola /skola/ (Latin) > école /ekol/ "school" (French)
  • Notes: Often the vowel inserted has the status of the most neutral or basic vowel in the system (with the terms "neutral" and "basic" being defined internal to the system). Also, this sound change often applies to words that begin with an impermissible consonant cluster. As a counterpart to this sound change, see aphaeresis.

Lenition

Consonant-Adjacent Devoicing

• V > [-voice] / C[-voice]_, _C[-voice]
  • Example: 私 /watasi/ [wataɕi̥] "I" (Japanese)
  • Example: 悲観 /hikaɴ/ [çi̥kãɴ́] "I" (Japanese)
  • Notes: In Japanese, this only affects high vowels, and successive potential devoicing areas can block devoicing where it might ordinarily occur.

Word Final Devoicing

• {C/V} > [-voice] / _#
  • Example: друг /drug/ [dɾuk] “friend” (Russian)
  • Example: /xaːj/ [xaːj̥] "house" (Mayan)
  • Notes: Often these are near mergers, where the vowel length may differ between forms that end with a phonologically voiced vs. voiceless consonant, or there may be a difference in how the voiceless stop is released if it’s phonologically voiced vs. voiceless.

Tonogenesis

Consonant Opposition Loss

• C[phonation]V > CV[tone]
  • Example: /keta/ [kʰèdá] "fold", /kʰeta/ [kʰédà] "dig" (Korean)
  • Notes: Typically "more voiced" consonants become lower tone, and "more aspirated" consonants become higher tone.

Final Consonant Loss

• C > [tone] / _#
  • Example: *pah > pâ (Vietnamese)
  • Notes: Typically lower-sonority consonants (e.g. voiceless stops) become higher tone, while higher-sonority consonants (voiced stops, fricatives) become lower tones.