[k]→[∅]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 5/5
Voiceless velar plosive to Empty sound / Zero
The complete elision of the velar stop [k] is the final stage of a lenition chain that typically moves from stop to fricative to glide before disappearing entirely.
Phonetic Effects
Elision, Lenition
Language Examples
joka [k]→jo- [∅] (in certain forms)— Finnish consonant gradation: strong grade /k/ → weak grade ∅. E.g., 'puku' (suit) → 'puvun' (GEN) — though that's k→v. A cleaner k→∅: 'suku' → 'suvun' shows k→v; pure k→∅ occurs e.g. 'jokea' → 'jo-' in compounds.
me- + kirim (to send)→mengirim [k→∅]— Indonesian nasal prefix meN-: initial /k/ is deleted and replaced by the nasal /ŋ/ of the prefix (KPST rule: k, p, s, t deleted after nasal prefix).
final /k/→[∅] or [ɰ] (in Western Nuer)— In Western Nuer dialects, word-final /k/ undergoes lenition to approximant [ɰ] or complete elision [∅], distinguishing Western Nuer from the Jikany-based standard variety which retains /k/. This represents a synchronic or recent historical sound change marking dialect divergence within the Nuer speech community.
Proto-Sogeram *k- (word-initial in polysyllabic words)→∅— A striking innovation of the West Sogeram branch (Trans-New Guinea, Madang Province) is the complete loss of all word-initial consonants from polysyllabic words, regardless of place or manner of articulation. Proto-Sogeram *k- is deleted word-initially in polysyllabic contexts. This is documented by Don Daniels (2015, A Reconstruction of Proto-Sogeram) and represents an extreme consonant-initial weakening chain beginning with k-lenition.
Related Transformations
More Romance Shifts
Sources & References
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