Back to Matrix [oi] → [ui] Edit this Data

[ui]→[oi]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 5/5

Vowel Shift Diphthong Lowering Indo-European Austroasiatic Germanic

Diphthong ui to Diphthong oi

The phonetic transformation from the diphthong /ui/ to /oi/ involves the lowering of the initial vowel sound. Specifically, the close back rounded vowel /u/ shifts to the mid back rounded vowel /o/, while the second element, the close front unrounded vowel /i/, remains stable. This change results in a more open articulation at the beginning of the diphthong.

Phonetic Effects

Lowering

Language Examples

Middle English Germanic

/ui/→/oi/— The diphthong /ui/, particularly in words borrowed from Old French, evolved to /oi/ in some English dialects, a shift attested from Middle English into the Early Modern English period.

/ui/ (as in "onion", "cullion")→/oi/ (as in "oinon", "cuillon")— Doublets such as "onion" (from /ui/) and "oinon" (from /oi/), or "cullion" (from /ui/) and "cuillon" (from /oi/) illustrate this differentiation and subsequent shift.

Haroi Austroasiatic

*-ui→*-oi— In the pre-Haroi stage, the high diphthong *-ui underwent a lowering process to *-oi, specifically conditioned by a preceding voiceless obstruent.

Related Transformations

Reverse

More Vowel Shift Shifts

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

Sources & References

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