[y]→[e]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5

Close front rounded vowel to Close-mid front unrounded vowel

The shift from the high front rounded vowel [y] to the mid front unrounded vowel [e] involves both Unrounding and Lowering. This process is common in dialects where front rounded vowels are lost or lowered while simultaneously losing their rounded quality.

Phonetic Effects

Unrounding, Lowering

Language Examples

Old English (Kentish) Germanic

fyllan [y]→fellen [e]— Kentish dialect of Old English characteristically unrounded and lowered /y/ (from i-mutation of /u/) to /e/, whereas other dialects typically unrounded to /i/.

Related Transformations

Reverse Unrounding only

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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