[ɣ]→[w]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 3/5
Voiced velar fricative to Voiced labio-velar approximant
Vocalization of voiced velar fricative [ɣ] to labio-velar approximant [w], driven by the loss of the oral constriction in post-vocalic position. Because [ɣ] and [w] share a velar gesture, weakening the friction of [ɣ] naturally yields [w], especially before or after rounded back vowels. The best-documented case is the Early Middle English vocalization of Old English post-vocalic /g/ (realized as [ɣ] between voiced sounds), which produced new [aw]/[ow] diphthongs around 1200 CE.
Phonetic Effects
Vocalization, Lenition
Language Examples
OE lagu [laɣu] (law)→ME lawe [lawə]— Old English post-vocalic /g/ was phonetically [ɣ] between voiced segments. Around 1200 CE this fricative vocalized to [w] before back vowels, yielding new aw/ow diphthongs. Further examples: OE bōga [boːɣa] (bow) → ME bowe; OE dragan [draɣan] (drag) → dialectal ME drawen.
[ɣ] in agua [ˈa.ɣwa]→[w] → [ˈawa] (elision stage)— In informal and fast speech across several Spanish dialects, the intervocalic [ɣ] in clusters like [ɣw] can weaken to [w] and merge with the following glide, yielding [ˈawa] for agua. The change is gradient rather than categorical and represents the far end of the Spanish lenition continuum.
Related Transformations
More Romance Shifts
Sources & References
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-language-and-linguistics/article/abs/old-english-cg-and-its-sound-correspondences-in-old-english-and-middle-english/1BCD6753AABC4655380379A8DAA00435
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_diphthongs
- Lass, R. (1992). Phonology and Morphology. In N. Blake (ed.), The Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press.
Spotted a mistake or have a better example?
EchoDrift is community-driven. You can suggest a change directly through GitHub.
Propose an Edit on GitHub