[ʕ]→[ɣ]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 2/5

Velarization Pharyngeal Velar Northwest Caucasian Afro-Asiatic

Voiced pharyngeal fricative to Voiced velar fricative

The shift from a voiced pharyngeal fricative [ʕ] to a voiced velar fricative [ɣ] is a process of velarization or 'moving forward' of the articulation point from the pharynx to the velum.

Phonetic Effects

Velarization

Language Examples

Northwest Caucasian Northwest Caucasian

ʕ→ɣ— Historically attested in stages of development where pharyngeal sounds shifted to velar or uvular positions.

Afroasiatic Afro-Asiatic

ʕ→ɣ— Some Afroasiatic branches show the velarization of original pharyngeals.

Related Transformations

weakening pharyngealization

More Northwest Caucasian Shifts

[ʕ] → [a] — Vocalization [ʕ] → [ʔ] — De-pharyngealization [g] → [ɟ] — Palatalization [kʰ] → [tʃ] — Palatalization [kʲ] → [ts] — Palatalization

Sources & References

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