[j]→[h]Certainty: 4/5Commonality: 4/5

Debuccalization Lenition Devoicing Glottalization Indo-European Mayan Yoruboid Hellenic Armenian

Voiced palatal approximant to Voiceless glottal fricative

The phonetic transformation from the voiced palatal approximant /j/ to the voiceless glottal fricative /h/ is a documented sound change, primarily occurring through a process known as debuccalization. This involves the weakening of an oral consonant, where its place of articulation shifts to the glottis, often accompanied by a loss of voicing and a change in manner from approximant to fricative.

Phonetic Effects

Debuccalization, Lenition, Devoicing

Language Examples

Yoruba Yoruboid

/j/ (before nasalized vowels)→[h]— In the standard variety of Yoruba, the glide /j/ undergoes debuccalization to the glottal fricative /h/ before nasalized homorganic vowels, often in intervocalic contexts.

Proto-Greek Hellenic

initial *j→/h/— In Proto-Greek, initial *j was replaced by /z/ (possibly [dz]) or was lost.

Old Armenian Armenian

Yovsep→Hovsep— The /j/ sound in borrowings like 'Yovsep' (from Hebrew Yosef) became /h/ in Armenian.

Related Transformations

Reverse

More Lenition Shifts

[a] → [∅] — Elision [a] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [æ] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [b] → [p] — Voice Loss [b] → [v] — Spirantization

Sources & References

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