[k]→[q]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 3/5
Voiceless velar plosive to Voiceless uvular plosive
The shift from the voiceless velar stop [k] to the voiceless uvular stop [q] is a process of retraction or uvularization. It typically occurs in environments with back vowels or retracted consonants, or as part of a push-chain movement to maintain phonetic distance from newly developed fronted sounds like [c] or [tʃ].
Phonetic Effects
Retraction, Uvularization
Language Examples
historical /k/→[q] / [ɢ]— Retraction of velar stops in the presence of emphatic consonants or specific back-vowel environments.
Salishan / Northwest Caucasian Various
/k/→[q]— Historical retraction often driven by the development of palatalized series pushing the original velars further back.
keep [k]→cool [k̠]— Synchronic retraction: the [k] in 'cool' is articulated significantly further back than in 'keep' due to the following back vowel [u].
Related Transformations
More Semitic Shifts
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