[u]→[∅]Certainty: 4/5Commonality: 5/5

Italic Apocope Syncope Vowel Deletion Germanic

Close back rounded vowel to Empty sound / Zero

Vowel deletion, specifically the loss of the close back rounded vowel /u/, is a common phonetic transformation known as apocope (word-final deletion) or syncope (word-medial deletion). This process often occurs in unstressed syllables, contributing to syllable reduction and changes in word structure.

Phonetic Effects

Apocope, Syncope, Vowel Reduction, Syllable Reduction

Language Examples

Old English Germanic

*handuz→hand— The final unstressed /u/ of the Proto-Germanic nominative singular ending *-uz was lost in the development to Old English.

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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