[t]→[z]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5

Voiceless alveolar plosive to Voiced alveolar fricative

The shift from the voiceless alveolar stop [t] to the voiced sibilant [z] (typically through an intermediate [s] or [ts] stage) is a major feature of the High German Consonant Shift. It involves affrication followed by spirantization and voicing, marking a significant divergence between High German and other Germanic languages.

Phonetic Effects

Assibilation, Spirantization, High German Consonant Shift

Language Examples

Proto-Germanic to High German Germanic

*tehan [t]→zehn [ts/z]— The initial stop affricated into a sibilant-onset sound.

*etan (to eat)→essen [s/z]— Intervocalic stops shifted to full sibilants.

Liverpool English (Scouse) Germanic

two [t]→[ts]oo— Synchronic affrication of initial /t/ in stressed syllables.

Related Transformations

Reverse

More Germanic Shifts

[a] → [ã] — Assimilatory Nasalization [a] → [∅] — Elision [a] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [a] → [ə] — Vowel Reduction [æ] → [ɛ] — Vowel Raising

Sources & References

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