[r]→[z]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5
Alveolar trill to Voiced alveolar fricative
The shift from the rhotic [r] to a voiced sibilant like [z] or [ʐ] is known as assibilation. It typically involves an intermediate stage where the trill or tap acquires simultaneous friction (a fricative trill) before the trill component is lost entirely, leaving only the sibilant quality.
Phonetic Effects
Assibilation, Spirantization, Fricativization
Language Examples
rjeka [rʲ] (Old Slavic)→rzeka [ʐ]— Historical palatalized r regularly shifted to a voiced postalveolar fricative, written as 'rz'.
mar- (Latin)→morze [ʐ] (sea)
[r] (historical)→ř [r̝]— Czech preserves the intermediate stage of assibilation: a sound that is simultaneously a trill and a fricative.
perro [r] (trill)→[ˈpeʐo] / [ˈpezo]— Dialectal 'erre arrastrada' where the trill is realized with intense friction, sounding like a buzzy sibilant.
Related Transformations
More Romance Shifts
Sources & References
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