[a]→[e]Certainty: 3/5Commonality: 3/5
Open front unrounded vowel to Close-mid front unrounded vowel
The vowel [a] shifts to [e] or [æ] through fronting, a common process in vowel systems where back vowels advance toward the front of the oral cavity. This occurs frequently as a conditioned change (after palatalized consonants or before front vowels) and less commonly as an unconditioned historical shift.
Phonetic Effects
Fronting, Vowel Raising
Language Examples
sariy [a]→seriq [e]— Southeastern Turkic umlaut: /a/ in initial syllable is raised and fronted to /e/ under influence of primary /i/ in subsequent syllable. Also shows palatal-conditioned vowel lowering in final syllable (i → iq).
stem /a/→[ɛ]— Verb stem fronting: stem vowel /a/ alternates with /ɛ/ in the 3sg morphological form, a nonconcatenative vowel-change pattern. E.g., /ɣap/ 'to catch' (infinitive) → /ɣɛp/ (3sg). This is one of two complementary vowel alternations (fronting and lowering) that drive the Dinka verbal paradigm.
Related Transformations
More Romance Shifts
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