Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
West Germanic gemination also operated inconsistently on consonants followed by /l/ or /r/, e.g. Old English æppel 'apple' < Proto-Germanic *aplaz.In some cases this led to doublets, e.g. West Saxon Old English tēar 'tear (of the eyes)' < *tæher < Proto-Germanic *tahraz (without gemination) vs. Northumbrian Old English tæhher 'tear (of the eyes)' (with gemination).
Gemination of consonants is distinctive in some languages and then is subject to various phonological constraints that depend on the language. In some languages, like Italian, Swedish, Faroese, Icelandic, and Luganda, consonant length and vowel length depend on each other. A short vowel within a stressed syllable almost always precedes a long ...
It is found in a wide range of languages and language groups, though its level of linguistic productivity varies. Examples can be found in language as old as Sumerian, where it was used in forming some color terms, e.g. babbar "white", kukku "black". [2] Reduplication is the standard term for this phenomenon in the linguistics literature.
For example, the English suffix -s is pronounced [s] when it follows a voiceless phoneme (cats), and [z] when it follows a voiced phoneme (dogs). [1] This type of assimilation is called progressive, where the second consonant assimilates to the first; regressive assimilation goes in the opposite direction, as can be seen in have to [hæftə].
Consonant gradation involves an alternation in consonants between a strong grade in some forms of a word and a weak grade in others. The consonants subject to graduation are the plosives (p, t, k) that are followed by a vowel and preceded by a vowel, a sonorant (m, n, l, r), or h. The strong grade usually appears in an open syllable or before a ...
In English, a stop consonant is often added as a transitional sound between the parts of a nasal + fricative sequence: English hamster / ˈ h æ m s t ər / often pronounced with an added p sound, GA: [ˈhɛəmpstɚ] or RP: [ˈhampstə] English warmth / ˈ w ɔːr m θ / often pronounced with an added p sound, GA: [ˈwɔɹmpθ] or RP: [ˈwɔːmpθ]
In Early Middle English, partly by borrowings from French, they split into separate phonemes: /f, v, θ, ð, s, z/. See Middle English phonology – Voiced fricatives. Also in the Middle English period, the voiced affricate /dʒ/ took on phonemic status. (In Old English, it is considered to have been an allophone of /j/).
Compensatory lengthening in Classical Hebrew and Aramaic is dependent on the class of consonant which follows the prefix (definite article in Hebrew and prefix waw-hahipukh in both languages). E.g. (using the Hebrew definite article [hey with pataḥ plus dagesh in following consonant]): [3] Before ע and א it is usually [hey with qametz].