Back to Matrix [t] → [s] Edit this Data

[s]→[t]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 2/5

Child Language Hardening Austroasiatic

Voiceless alveolar fricative to Voiceless alveolar plosive

The shift from the alveolar fricative [s] to the voiceless alveolar stop [t] is a form of consonant hardening known as stopping. It involves moving from a continuous airflow to a complete blockage of the vocal tract. While rare as a diachronic sound law, it is a universal phonetic process in child language development.

Phonetic Effects

Stopping, Hardening, Fortition

Language Examples

Child Phonology Universal

sun [s]→[tʌn]— Developmental stopping: substituting a stop for a fricative during early speech acquisition.

see→tee

Vietnamese / Korean L2 English Austroasiatic

bus [s]→[bʌt]— L2 speakers whose native languages do not allow final sibilants often substitute them with final stops.

Related Transformations

More Austroasiatic Shifts

[b] → [p] — Voice Loss [d] → [t] — Voice Loss [g] → [k] — Voice Loss [ʔ] → [∅] — Elision [dʒ] → [tʃ] — Voice Loss

Sources & References

Ladefoged: A Course in Phonetics

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