Cluster reduction
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| Sound change and alternation |
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General
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Lenition (weakening)
Sonorization (voicing)
Spirantization (assibilation) Rhotacism (change of [z] or [d] to [r]) L-vocalization (change of [l] to [w]) Debuccalization (loss of place) |
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Epenthesis (addition)
Anaptyxis (vowel)
Excrescence (consonant) Prosthesis (initial) Paragoge (final) Unpacking Vowel breaking |
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Coarticulation
Palatalization (before front vowels) Velarization (before back vowels) Labialization (before rounded vowels) Initial voicing (before a vowel) Final devoicing (before silence) Metaphony (vowel harmony, umlaut) Consonant harmony |
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Cheshirisation (trace remains)
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Sandhi (boundary change)
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In phonology and historical linguistics, cluster reduction is the simplification of consonant clusters in certain environments or over time.
In some dialects of English, certain historical consonant clusters reduce to single consonants at the ends of words. Friend, for example, rhymes with Ben, and cold is homonymous with coal. In both cases, historical */nd/ reduces to /n/: /ˈfrɛn/, /ˈkoʊl/ However, in colder, where the consonant cluster falls between vowels, the /d/ remains: /ˈkoʊldɚ/.
A well known language with cluster reduction is Italian, where stop clusters have become geminates. For example, Victoria has become Vittoria. In other words, while the articulation has been reduced, the length has not.
[edit] References
- Crowley, Terry. (1997) An Introduction to Historical Linguistics. 3rd edition. Oxford University Press.
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