[ʑ]→[j]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 3/5
Voiced alveolo-palatal fricative to Voiced palatal approximant
The voiced alveolo-palatal fricative /ʒ/ can undergo lenition, a process of weakening where its articulation becomes less obstructed, resulting in the voiced palatal approximant /j/. This shift involves a reduction in the degree of stricture in the vocal tract, moving from a fricative, which produces turbulent airflow, to an approximant, which allows air to flow with little to no turbulence.
Phonetic Effects
Lenition, Approximantization, Reduction of Stricture, Debuccalization
Language Examples
/kənkluːʒn/→/kənkluːjən/— Adaptation of English loanwords by Pahari speakers, where /ʒ/ is modified to /j/ due to the absence of /ʒ/ in Pahari phonology.
/trænsfjuːʒn/→/trænsfjuːjən/— Adaptation of English loanwords by Pahari speakers, where /ʒ/ is modified to /j/ due to the absence of /ʒ/ in Pahari phonology.
fajr (Arabic /ʒ/)→pajri /pajri/— Arabic loanwords with /ʒ/ (from a source dialect where Arabic jīm was realized as /ʒ/) were adapted into Georgian with /j/.
Related Transformations
More Lenition Shifts
Sources & References
- Abbasi, F., et al. (2024). Modification of /ʒ/ to /j/ Sound. Journal of Communication and Cultural Trends (JCCT), 6(1), 51-59.
- Kapanadze, N. (2016). An Analysis of the Phonological and Semantic Changes in Words of Arabic Origin Passed into Georgian. Disiplinler Arası Dil Araştırmaları Dergisi [DADA], International Journal of Interdisciplinary Language Studies [IJILS], 3(2), 387-400.
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