[g]→[y]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5
Voiced velar plosive to Close front rounded vowel
Palatalization of the voiced velar stop or fricative [g/ɣ] often results in the formation of the palatal glide [j] (y).
Phonetic Effects
Palatalization, Glide Formation
Language Examples
dagas [daɣas]→dayes [dajəs]— intervocalic glide formation
geard→yard— initial palatalization
/g/ before or after front vowels→[j] or [ʝ]— In some Kabyle and Central Moroccan Berber varieties, lax /g/ adjacent to front vowels can further palatalize and weaken to the palatal glide [j] or voiced palatal fricative [ʝ]. This extends the Northern Berber spirantization chain: /g/ → [ɣ] → [ʝ]/[j] in the most advanced dialects.
/g/ in weakened prosodic position→[ʝ] ~ [j]— Central Atlas Tamazight dialects (northern Morocco and northern Algeria) exhibit g → [ʝ] or [j] as the most advanced stage of spirantization, documented by Kossmann (1997). The extent of this shift varies dialectally; High Atlas varieties are more conservative.
Related Transformations
More Germanic Shifts
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