[y]→[h]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 3/5
Close front rounded vowel to Voiceless glottal fricative
The debuccalization of the high front rounded vowel [y] (or the palatal glide [j]) into the glottal fricative [h] is a documented form of lenition, typically occurring in word-initial positions or as a result of historical fricativization followed by oral constriction loss.
Phonetic Effects
Debuccalization, Lenition, Weakening
Language Examples
Proto-Indo-European *j→[h]— Regular shift in word-initial position where the historical palatal glide became a 'rough breathing' (e.g., PIE *yos > Greek hos).
Historical palatal [j] (written as j)→[h]— Widespread weakening in Caribbean and Andalusian dialects where historical palatal or velar fricatives (e.g., 'Juan') are realized as glottal fricatives.
Related Transformations
More Romance Shifts
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