[v]→[l]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 3/5

Epenthesis Morphophonology Slavic Nakh-Dagestani

Voiced labiodental fricative to Alveolar lateral approximant

The appearance of [l] in positions formerly occupied by or adjacent to [v] is most common in Slavic historical phonology. This occurs either through Epenthetic L (L-epentheticum), where an [l] is inserted between a labial and a palatal semivowel, or through Dissimilation, where a labial [v] shifts to [l] to distinguish itself from a following labial consonant (as seen in the variation between *svoboda* and *sloboda*).

Phonetic Effects

Epenthesis, Palatalization, Labial-Liquid Cluster Development

Language Examples

Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak Slavic

svoboda [v]→sloboda [l]— Dissimilation of the first labial (v) before the second labial (b) in the word for 'freedom'.

Russian sloboda→Russian svoboda— Russian preserved both: 'svoboda' (freedom) vs 'sloboda' (historical free settlement).

Russian Slavic

lovit' [v]→lovlyu [vl']— 1st person singular 'I catch'. The 'l' appears to resolve the historical 'v + j' cluster.

gotovit' [v]→gotovlyu [vl']— 1st person singular 'I prepare'.

Ukrainian Slavic

staviti [v]→stavlyu [vl']— 1st person singular 'I place'.

Bats vs. Chechen Nakh-Dagestani

te b lar [v/b]→tillan [l]— Regular correspondence where the Bats labial consonant corresponds to a lateral sound in Chechen.

Related Transformations

Nasal correspondence Inverse: Vocalization

More Slavic Shifts

[a] → [ə] — Vowel Reduction [dʲ] → [dʒ] — Affrication [d] → [dʑ] — Palatalization [e] → [i] — Vowel Raising [e] → [o] — Backing

Sources & References

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