[m]→[ə]Certainty: 4/5Commonality: 1/5
Bilabial nasal to Mid central vowel
The bilabial nasal consonant /m/ can undergo a process of vocalization, transforming into a mid-central vowel (schwa) /ə/. This shift typically occurs in specific phonological environments, often involving the reduction of unstressed syllables where the nasal loses its consonantal articulation and takes on a vowel-like quality.
Phonetic Effects
Vocalization, Lenition, Centralization, Syllabification
Language Examples
/m/→[ə]— In unstressed morphemes, such as the imperfective aspect suffix or the bound stem for 'people' (/mix/), the /m/ shifts to a schwa after the original vowel is deleted. The labial features of /m/ are then transferred to the following segment, e.g., /x/ becoming [xʷ].
Related Transformations
More Lenition Shifts
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