[∅]→[ʔ]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 3/5
Tonogenesis Laryngeal Coda Pitch Contour Glottalization Consonants Sino-Tibetan Austroasiatic Coda Addition Sinitic Tai-Kadai
Empty sound / Zero to Glottal stop
The development of a final glottal stop [ʔ] (represented here as empty to glottal_stop) is a precursor to Tonogenesis. This Laryngeal Coda originally triggered a rising Pitch Contour on the preceding vowel, which would eventually become phonemicized as a rising tone (Shàng sheng or hỏi/ngã) upon the subsequent elision of the glottal stop.
Phonetic Effects
Epenthesis, Glottalization, Tonogenesis, Pitch Rise, Coda Addition
Language Examples
*pa→bả [ʔaː˦ˀ]— Historical roots in Mon-Khmer developed final glottalization (Laryngeal Coda), which then led to the rising tone in Vietnamese.
Historically open syllable→*-ʔ— Early stage where short vowels developed a glottal closure, leading to the Sắc/Hỏi tone categories.
*pau→bǎo [pɑu˧˥]— The 'Rising' category (Shàng sheng) in Middle Chinese is reconstructed as having acquired a final [ʔ] which influenced the Pitch Contour.
*ka→kâ /kaː˥˩/— The interaction of laryngeal features and vowel duration in Tai-Kadai languages provided the phonetic basis for the complex tonal systems observed today.
Open syllable (dialectal)→[-ʔ]— Allophonic glottal closure in short syllables as a precursor to tone stabilization.
Related Transformations
More Tai-Kadai Shifts
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