[y]→[i]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 5/5

Unrounding Germanic Hellenic Indo-European

Close front rounded vowel to Close front unrounded vowel

The shift from the high front rounded vowel [y] to its unrounded counterpart [i] is a process of delabialization (Unrounding). This is a common historical development as front rounded vowels are often phonetically unstable and tend to merge with their unrounded equivalents over time.

Phonetic Effects

Unrounding, Delabialization

Language Examples

Old English to Middle English Germanic

mȳs [y:]→mis [i:]— The high front rounded vowels of Old English (resulting from i-mutation) unrounded during the transition to Middle English.

cynn [kyn]→kin [kɪn]— Short [y] also unrounded to [i/ɪ].

Modern Greek Hellenic

φύσις [y]→φύση [i]— Greek iotacism involved the merger of several distinct vowels, including [y], into [i].

Yiddish Germanic

grün [y:] (Germanic)→grin [i:]— Yiddish systematically unrounded the front rounded vowels inherited from Middle High German.

Related Transformations

Inverse: Rounding

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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