[r]→[o]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5

Alveolar trill to Close-mid back rounded vowel

The shift from the rhotic consonant [r] to the mid-back rounded vowel [o] (or its open-mid counterpart [ɔ]) is a form of r-vocalization and compensatory lengthening. It occurs in non-rhotic dialects where the consonant is lost as a distinct segment, leaving behind a lengthened or modified back vowel.

Phonetic Effects

Vocalization, Compensatory Lengthening, R-dropping

Language Examples

Non-rhotic English (RP / Australian) Germanic

four [fɔːɹ]→[fɔː]— Historical loss of the rhotic resulted in the stabilization of the long back vowel.

door→[dɔː]

Standard German Germanic

Tor [toːʁ] (gate)→[toːɐ̯]— Coda r vocalizes into a central vowel quality that often rounds toward [o] in certain environments.

Related Transformations

Reverse

More Germanic Shifts

[a] → [ã] — Assimilatory Nasalization [a] → [∅] — Elision [a] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [a] → [ə] — Vowel Reduction [ʕ] → [a] — Vocalization

Sources & References

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