[h]→[k]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 3/5

Voiceless glottal fricative to Voiceless velar plosive

The shift from the glottal fricative [h] to the velar stop [k] is a form of fortition (strengthening). It frequently occurs in historical clusters, loanword adaptations into fortis-heavy languages, or specific morphological environments like in Swiss German.

Phonetic Effects

Fortition, Hardening

Language Examples

Old High German Germanic

uχs- [h/x]→ohso [ks]— Pre-sibilant fortition where the fricative hardened into a stop component.

Swiss German (Loanwords) Germanic

Caribbean [k]→[kxariˈb̥ikx]— Loanword hardening into the native fortis affricate system.

Related Transformations

Inverse: Lenition

More Germanic Shifts

[a] → [ã] — Assimilatory Nasalization [a] → [∅] — Elision [a] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [a] → [ə] — Vowel Reduction [æ] → [ɛ] — Vowel Raising

Sources & References

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