[p]→[y]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 3/5
Voiceless bilabial plosive to Close front rounded vowel
The transformation from a voiceless bilabial plosive /p/ to a close front rounded vowel /y/ represents a significant phonetic shift. This change involves the complete vocalization of a consonant, moving from a stop articulation at the lips to a high, front, and rounded vowel produced in the oral cavity. Such a transformation typically entails a series of intermediate phonetic processes, including lenition (weakening of the consonant), palatalization (shift towards a palatal articulation), and ultimately vocalization, often conditioned by adjacent front vowels.
Phonetic Effects
Lenition, Vocalization, Palatalization, Fronting, Rounding
Language Examples
*peela→yɛɛla— Proto-Oti-Volta *p shifted to /y/ in Konni, particularly when followed by front vowels (/i/, /e/, or /ɛ/). This shift is observed both word-initially and word-medially.
p- (initial)→y- (initial)— In Ful (also known as Fula), a morphophonological process for forming plurals involves the alternation of initial consonants. This includes a change from /p/ to /y/ (or /w/) in certain plural forms of nouns belonging to the personal class.
Related Transformations
More Rounding Shifts
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