[n]→[t]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5

Alveolar nasal to Voiceless alveolar plosive

The shift from the alveolar nasal [n] to the voiceless alveolar stop [t] typically occurs through 'excrescent epenthesis' in consonant clusters or through denasalization (fortition). When a nasal is followed by a voiceless fricative, the premature raising of the velum creates a momentary stop burst.

Phonetic Effects

Epenthesis, Denasalization, Fortition

Language Examples

English Dialects Germanic

sense [ns]→cents [nts]— Excrescent epenthesis: a voiceless stop is inserted between the nasal and the fricative.

prince→prints

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) Germanic

man [n]→[mæ̃t]— Word-final denasalization and devoicing in emphatic or specific regional speech.

Related Transformations

Reverse

More Germanic Shifts

[a] → [ã] — Assimilatory Nasalization [a] → [∅] — Elision [a] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [a] → [ə] — Vowel Reduction [æ] → [ɛ] — Vowel Raising

Sources & References

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