[k]→[s]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 5/5

Voiceless velar plosive to Voiceless alveolar fricative

The shift from the velar stop [k] to the alveolar fricative [s] is a long-term historical process resulting from palatalization and assibilation. It typically begins when [k] occurs before front vowels (like [i] or [e]), pulling the tongue forward into an affricate [ts] or [tʃ], which later simplifies into a fricative [s].

Phonetic Effects

Palatalization, Assibilation, Deaffrication

Language Examples

Latin to French Romance

centum [k]→cent [s]— The initial velar stop palatalized before the front vowel 'e', eventually softening to a sibilant.

civitas [k]→cité [s]

Proto-Indo-European to Satem Languages Indo-European

*ḱm̥tóm (hundred)→sato (Old Church Slavonic) / sūd (Avestan)— The defining feature of 'Satem' languages is the fronting and assibilation of PIE palatovelars.

Related Transformations

Reverse Intermediate step: Palatal affricate

More Romance Shifts

[ã] → [õ] — Raising [a] → [ã] — Assimilatory Nasalization [a] → [∅] — Elision [a] → [ə] — Vowel Reduction [ai] → [e] — Monophthongization

Sources & References

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