[ʔ]→[j]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 3/5
Glottal stop to Voiced palatal approximant
The glottal stop, a voiceless plosive produced at the glottis, can undergo a transformation into a voiced palatal approximant (j-glide). This shift often involves a process of lenition, where a stop consonant weakens, and a change in the place of articulation, moving from the glottis to the palate. This transformation can occur in various phonetic contexts, including word-initial positions and intervocalically.
Phonetic Effects
Lenition, Palatalization, Approximantization, Change in Place of Articulation From Glottal to Palatal
Language Examples
אַܪִיכָא (arrīḵā)→ܝܲܪܝܼܟ݂ܵܐ (yarīḵā)— Shift from initial glottal stop in Aramaic to /j/ in most dialects of Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, meaning 'long'.
*ܐܲܗܠܵܐ (*ˀahlā)→ܝܗܠܐ (yahlā)— Shift from an older form with an initial /ʔ/ to /j/, meaning 'person' or 'family'.
אֲרַךְ (ăraḵ)→ܝܪܟ (yārḵ)— Inherited from Aramaic with a shift from an initial /ʔ/ to /j/, meaning 'to be long, to last'.
ܐܵܦܹܐ (āpē)→ܝܦܐ (yāpē)— From an older form with an initial /ʔ/ to /j/, meaning 'to bake'.
Related Transformations
More Semitic Shifts
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