[k]→[j]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5

Voiceless velar plosive to Voiced palatal approximant

Lenition of the velar stop /k/ to a palatal glide is a significant stage in many sound changes, particularly in the evolution of Romance languages where /k/ followed by front vowels or in certain clusters palatalizes.

Phonetic Effects

Lenition, Palatalization

Language Examples

Spanish Italic

factum (Latin)→hecho [etʃo]— The Latin cluster /kt/ developed into /jt/ in Old Spanish (still preserved in Portuguese 'feito') before evolving into the affricate /tʃ/ in 'hecho'.

Related Transformations

Reverse

More Lenition Shifts

[a] → [∅] — Elision [b] → [bʲ] — Palatalization [b] → [v] — Spirantization [tɕ] → [ʃ] — De-affrication [tɕ] → [ɕ] — Lenition

Sources & References

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