[v]→[j]Certainty: 2/5Commonality: 1/5

Glide Formation Palatalization Lenition Germanic

Voiced labiodental fricative to Voiced palatal approximant

The change from voiced labiodental fricative [v] to palatal glide [j] would require both a large shift in place of articulation (labiodental → palatal) and a manner change (fricative → approximant). No direct v→j change is attested as a regular sound change in any documented language family. The closest well-documented interaction is in cluster simplification: sequences of /v/ + /j/ (as in English 'view' /vjuː/) can be reduced to [j] through yod-absorption in casual speech, but this is a cluster reduction, not a standalone v→j rule. The preamble's claim that this 'is most likely before /i/ or /j/' is consistent with that reanalysis but not with a direct phonological change.

Phonetic Effects

Palatalization, Lenition, Glide Formation

Language Examples

English (casual speech, cluster reduction) Germanic

/vj/ in 'view' [vjuː], 'virtue' [ˈvjɜːtʃu]→[juː], [ˈjɜːtʃu] (cluster simplification in rapid speech)— In some varieties of informal English, the initial /vj/ sequence can reduce to [j] through yod-absorption. This is not a regular phonological rule but rather a casual speech reduction. It parallels the better-documented /tj/ → [tʃ] and /dj/ → [dʒ] patterns but produces glide output rather than an affricate. The original /v/ in 'view' is historically from Latin 'videre'.

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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