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

[ʃ]→[t]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 2/5

Child Language Hardening Afro-Asiatic

Voiceless postalveolar fricative to Voiceless alveolar plosive

The shift from the postalveolar fricative [ʃ] to the alveolar stop [t] is a form of consonant hardening known as stopping. It involves moving from a continuous airflow to a complete blockage. While rare as a diachronic law in adult speech, it is a hallmark of child language development.

Phonetic Effects

Stopping, Hardening, Fortition

Language Examples

Child Phonology Universal

shoe [ʃ]→[tuː]— Developmental stopping: substituting a stop for a hushing fricative.

fish→fit

Maltese (Historical) Afro-Asiatic

historical [ʃ/x]→[t]— Merger of several historical fricatives into the alveolar stop in specific environments.

Related Transformations

More Afro-Asiatic Shifts

[kʲ] → [ts] — Palatalization [r] → [ɣ] — Backing [g] → [ʁ] — Lenition [ɣ] → [ʁ] — Backing [k] → [t] — Velar Fronting

Sources & References

Ladefoged: A Course in Phonetics

Spotted a mistake or have a better example?

EchoDrift is community-driven. You can suggest a change directly through GitHub.

Propose an Edit on GitHub