[c]→[ʃ]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5

Palatalization Spirantization Romance Lenition

Voiceless palatal plosive to Voiceless postalveolar fricative

The shift from the voiceless palatal plosive [c] to the voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ] is a classic example of palatalization followed by spirantization. This transition is famously documented in the evolution from Latin to French, where [k] before [a] passed through a palatal stage [c] before becoming [ʃ].

Phonetic Effects

Palatalization, Spirantization, Lenition

Language Examples

French Romance

caballus [c]→cheval [ʃ]— Latin [k] before [a] palatalized to [c] in early Gallo-Romance before spirantizing.

cantare [c]→chanter [ʃ]— Regular palatalization and spirantization of initial velars before [a].

Related Transformations

Reverse initial palatalization further debuccalization

More Romance Shifts

[ã] → [õ] — Raising [a] → [ã] — Assimilatory Nasalization [a] → [∅] — Elision [a] → [ə] — Vowel Reduction [ai] → [e] — Monophthongization

Sources & References

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