[ɬ]→[f]Certainty: 4/5Commonality: 3/5
Voiceless alveolar lateral fricative to Voiceless labiodental fricative
The voiceless alveolar lateral fricative /ɬ/ can undergo a historical sound change to the voiceless labiodental fricative /f/, a process documented in certain dialects of Arabic.
Phonetic Effects
Loss of Laterality
Language Examples
[ɬ]→[f]— In Upper Faifi Arabic, a historical voiced emphatic lateral fricative [ɮˤ] (cognate with Classical Arabic *dˤ) underwent a dialect-specific root-initial devoicing and depharyngealization process, transforming it into voiceless [ɬ]. This [ɬ] was then perceived and reanalyzed as [f] by speakers due to perceptual similarity and the absence of [ɬ] in the Faifi Arabic phonemic inventory.
Related Transformations
More Semitic Shifts
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