Back to Matrix [w] → [bʱ] Edit this Data

[bʱ]→[w]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 2/5

Voiced aspirated bilabial plosive to Voiced labio-velar approximant

The shift from the voiced aspirated bilabial stop [bʱ] to the labio-velar approximant [w] is a form of extreme lenition. It typically occurs in intervocalic positions where the stop closure is completely lost, leaving only the labial glide quality.

Phonetic Effects

Lenition, Vocalization

Language Examples

Eastern Indo-Aryan (Bengali/Sylheti) Indo-Aryan

bhala [bʱ]→wala [w]— In Sylheti and some Bengali dialects, standard voiced aspirates weaken to glides or fricatives.

Related Transformations

Reverse Alternative lenition

More Lenition Shifts

[a] → [∅] — Elision [ai] → [e] — Monophthongization [ʕ] → [a] — Vocalization [b] → [v] — Spirantization [tɕ] → [ʃ] — De-affrication

Sources & References

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