[ʕ]→[ʌ]Certainty: 3/5Commonality: 3/5
Voiced pharyngeal fricative to Open-mid back unrounded vowel
Similar to its shift to [æ], the pharyngeal fricative [ʕ] (Ayin) can shift to the back unrounded vowel [ʌ] (the caret or 'strut' vowel) when borrowed into English. This occurs when the pharyngeal constriction is perceived as 'darker' or when it coincides with a stressed, short syllable.
Phonetic Effects
Vocalization, Loanword Adaptation, Backing
Language Examples
عمر ('Umar) [ʕu]→Omar [oʊ]— The pharyngeal is dropped; the adjacent /u/ is adapted as [oʊ] in English rather than [ʌ]. Vowel quality shift driven by English phonology.
عبد ('Abd) [ʕa]→Abdul [ʌ]— In some dialects, the short 'a' following a lost ayin is centralized toward [ʌ] in English pronunciation.
Related Transformations
More Backing Shifts
Sources & References
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