Chain shift
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| Sound change and alternation |
|---|
| Fortition |
| Dissimilation |
In
A well-known example is the
may be summarized as follows:- aː → eː → iː → aɪ
A drag chain or pull chain is a chain shift in which the phoneme at the "leading" edge of the chain changes first.
Examples
During the Great Vowel Shift in the 15th and 16th centuries, all of the long vowels of Middle English, which correspond to
| Front vowels | ⓘ → ⓘ → ⓘ |
|---|---|
| ⓘ → ⓘ or ⓘ | |
| Back vowels | ⓘ → ⓘ → ⓘ → ⓘ |
| ⓘ → ⓘ |
Most vowels shifted to a higher
The Great Vowel Shift occurred over centuries, and not all varieties of English were affected in the same ways. For example, some speakers in Scotland still pronounce house similarly to its sound in Middle English before the shift, as [hu(ː)s].[4]
A chain shift may affect only one
- iː → eɪ → aɪ → ɔɪ → oɪ
Many chain shifts are
- bʱ → b → p → f
- dʱ → d → t → ⓘ
- ɡʱ → ɡ → k → h, x
Another is the High German consonant shift which separated Old High German from other West Germanic dialects such as Old English, Old Frisian, and Old Saxon:
The Romance languages to the north and west of central Italy (e.g.
In this case, each sound became weaker (or more "lenited").
Synchronic shifts
It is also possible for chain shifts to occur synchronically, within the phonology of a language as it exists at a single point in time.[5]
| a | → | ɛ | → | e | → | i |
| ə | → | i | ||||
| ɔ | → | o | → | u |
Examples follow:[6]
Underlying form Chain-shifted form sal "to work" sal-i → sɛli βɛɛd "to give" βɛɛd-i → βeedi bet "to carry" bet-i → biti bis "to refuse" bis-i → bisi kolən "to go down" kolən-i → kulini tɔɔd "to arrive" tɔɔd-i → toodi suɛm "to hide oneself" suɛm-i → suemi
Another example of a chain from Bedouin Hijazi Arabic involves vowel raising and deletion:[5]
| a | → | i | → | deletion |
In nonfinal open syllables, /a/ raises to /i/ while /i/ in the same position is deleted.
Synchronic chain shifts may be circular. An example of this is
| 53 | → | 44 | → | 22 | → | 21 | → | 53 |
The contour tones are lowered to a lower tone, and the lowest tone (21) circles back to the highest tone (53).
Synchronic chain shifts are an example of the theoretical problem of
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 0-312-24738-9.
- ^ ISBN 0-03-054983-3.
- ^ ISBN 9781444335262.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8264-84826.
- ^ a b c d Kirchner, Robert. (1996). Synchronic chain shifts in Optimality Theory. Linguistic Inquiry, 27, 341-350.
- ^ Guthrie, Malcolm. (1968). Notes on Nzebi (Gabon). Journal of African Languages, 7,101-129.