[æ]→[a]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5

Near-open front unrounded vowel to Open front unrounded vowel

The shift from the near-open front unrounded vowel [æ] (ash) to the open front unrounded vowel [a] is a form of vowel lowering. This change simplifies the vowel space by moving the tongue to a maximally open position.

Phonetic Effects

Lowering

Language Examples

English (Northern Cities Shift) Germanic

[æ]→[a]— Part of the chain shift where /æ/ lowers and backs in some American dialects.

Proto-Germanic to Old Norse Germanic

historical *æ→[a]— General lowering of short front vowels in North Germanic developments.

Related Transformations

Inverse: Raising

More Germanic Shifts

[a] → [ã] — Assimilatory Nasalization [a] → [∅] — Elision [a] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [a] → [ə] — Vowel Reduction [æ] → [ɛ] — Vowel Raising

Sources & References

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