[ʌ]→[e]Certainty: 4/5Commonality: 3/5

Open-mid back unrounded vowel to Close-mid front unrounded vowel

The shift from the back unrounded vowel [ʌ] (the 'strut' vowel) to a mid-front unrounded vowel like [e] or [ɛ] involves fronting and raising. It is a hallmark of certain modern chain shifts where back vowels move forward to fill spaces left by other shifting vowels.

Phonetic Effects

Fronting, Raising, Chain Shift

Language Examples

California English Germanic

fun [fʌn]→[fɛn] / [fen]— Eckert documents STRUT shifting toward BET/BEN; quantitative evidence is less robust than for back vowel fronting in the CVS.

Midland American English Germanic

but [bʌt]→[bɛt]— Fronting of the STRUT vowel is attested in younger Midland speakers as part of broader front vowel shifting.

Related Transformations

Reverse

More Raising Shifts

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

Sources & References

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