[ɢ]→[ʁ]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5

Spirantization Lenition Indo-European Turkic Iranian

Voiced uvular plosive to Voiced uvular fricative

The shift from the voiced uvular stop [ɢ] to the voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] is a classic example of spirantization (lenition). Due to the articulatory difficulty of maintaining voicing so far back in the vocal tract, the stop closure is frequently relaxed into a fricative or approximant.

Phonetic Effects

Spirantization, Lenition

Language Examples

Persian (Farsi) Iranian

Aghā [ɢ]→[ɒːˈʁɒː]— Intervocalic spirantization of the uvular stop into a voiced fricative.

Uyghur Turkic

/ɢ/→[ʁ]— Systematic allophonic shift where the voiced uvular stop spirantizes in most positions except after nasals.

Related Transformations

Reverse Further lenition (Elision)

More Lenition Shifts

[a] → [∅] — Elision [b] → [v] — Spirantization [tɕ] → [ʃ] — De-affrication [tɕ] → [ɕ] — Lenition [d] → [∅] — Elision

Sources & References

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