Fortition

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In

stop (i.e. [v] becomes [b] or [r] becomes [d]). Although not as typical of sound change as lenition, fortition may occur in prominent positions, such as at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable; as an effect of reducing markedness; or due to morphological leveling.^{[citation needed}

]

Examples

The extremely common approximant sound [j] is sometimes subject to fortition; since it is a

voiceless palatal approximant, it has turned in some Germanic languages into [ç], the voiceless equivalent of [ʝ] and also cross-linguistically rare though less so than [ʝ]. Another change turned [j] to an affricate [dʒ] during the development of the Romance languages

from Latin.

Fortition of the cross-linguistically rare

English dialects, several Uralic languages, and a few Semitic languages, among others. This has the result of reducing the markedness

of the sounds [θ] and [ð].

Fortition also frequently occurs with voiceless versions of the common

voiceless alveolar lateral fricative

[ɬ].

In

Proto-Celtic

with initial [l] or [r] hardened to [ɬ] and [r̥], respectively. Examples: Old Welsh lau /laʊ̯/ to Modern Welsh llaw /ɬaʊ̯/; Old Welsh ros /rɔs/ to Modern Welsh rhos /r̥ɔs/.

In the Cushitic language Iraqw, *d has lenited to /r/ between vowels, but *r has undergone fortition to /d/ word initially.

In Friulian, ž > d : yoyba, jobia > dobia, doba ; gel (tosc. giallo) > dal ; giovane > doven ; giugno > dun ^[2]

Gemination of word-initial consonants occurs in Italian if a word-final stressed vowel precedes without intervening pause. Final stressed vowels are by nature short, and short stressed vowels precede a consonant within a (phonetic) word only if that consonant ends the syllable. An item such as comprò 's/he bought' thus triggers gemination of the following consonant, whereas compra 's/he buys/is buying' does not: comprò la pasta [komˈprɔllaˈpasta] 's/he bought the pasta' but compra la pasta [ˈkompralaˈpasta] 's/he buys/is buying the pasta'.

In addition to language-internal development, fortition can also occur when a language acquires loanwords.

citation form of Goidelic words. Thus initial fricatives of loanwords are strengthened to the corresponding unlenited

variant or the nearest equivalent if the fricative is not part of the phoneme inventory.

Examples from Scottish Gaelic:^[3]

/v/	→ /p/	vervain ’ → bearbhain /pɛɾavɛɲ/
/ʍ/	→ /kʰ/	Scots quhel ‘wheel’ → cuidheall /kʰujəl̪ˠ/
/w/	→ /p/	Middle English wall → balla /pal̪ˠə/
/f/	→ /p/	Latin fundus → bonn /pɔun̪ˠ/ (foundation)
/θ/	→ /t̪ʰ/	Norse þrǣll → tràill /t̪ʰɾaːʎ/ (slave)
/h/	→ /t̪ʰ/	Scots hogsheid ‘hogshead’ → tocasaid /t̪ʰɔʰkəs̪ətʲ/
/j/	→ /kʲ/	English yawl → geòla /kʲɔːl̪ˠə/

Post-nasal fortition

Post-nasal fortition is very common in

Bukusu, v [β] and w become b, y becomes j [dʒ], and l, r become d. In other languages, voiceless fricatives f, s, hl become affricates pf, ts, tl; see for example Xhosa.^[4]

References

ISBN 0333519086
.

^ Sach- und Sprachatlas Italiens, sub vocibus

^ MacBain, A. (1911) An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language. Gairm.

^ Jeff Mielke, 2008. The emergence of distinctive features, p 139ff

Crowley, Terry. (1997) An Introduction to Historical Linguistics. 3rd edition. Oxford University Press.

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[1] ISBN 0333519086
.

[2] Sach- und Sprachatlas Italiens, sub vocibus

[3] MacBain, A. (1911) An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language. Gairm.

[4] Jeff Mielke, 2008. The emergence of distinctive features, p 139ff

[2]

[3]

[4]

Examples

Post-nasal fortition

See also

References