# Chain shift > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chain_shift > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chain_shift.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_shift > Source revision: 1326294170 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Sound changes affecting each other}} {{more citations needed|date=July 2010}} {{IPA notice}} {{Sound change}} In [historical linguistics](/source/historical_linguistics), a '''chain shift''' is a set of [sound changes](/source/sound_changes) in which the change in pronunciation of one [speech sound](/source/speech_sound) (typically, a [phoneme](/source/phoneme)) is linked to, and presumably causes, a change in pronunciation of other sounds.{{cite book|last=Murray|first=Robert|chapter=Historical linguistics: The study of language change|title=Contemporary Linguistics An Introduction|editor=W. O'Grady |editor2=J. Archibald |editor3=M. Aronoff |editor4=J. Rees-Miller|publisher=Bedford St. Martin|year=2001|pages=[https://archive.org/details/contemporaryling00ogra/page/287 287–346]|isbn=0-312-24738-9|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/contemporaryling00ogra/page/287}} The sounds involved in a chain shift can be ordered into a "chain" in such a way that after the change is complete, each phoneme ends up sounding like what the phoneme before it in the chain sounded like ''before'' the change.{{specify|date=February 2017|reason=This does seem to happen sometimes, but I can't find a source suggesting it is necessarily true.}} The changes making up a chain shift, interpreted as rules of [phonology](/source/phonology), are in what is termed ''[counterfeeding order](/source/counterfeeding_order)''.{{clarify|date=February 2017}} A well-known example is the [Great Vowel Shift](/source/Great_Vowel_Shift), which was a chain shift that affected all of the [long vowel](/source/long_vowel)s in [Middle English](/source/Middle_English).{{cite book|last1=Fromkin|first1=Victoria|last2=Rodman|first2=Robert|title=An Introduction to Language|publisher=Harcourt Brace|year=1993|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontola00from_0/page/326 326–327]|isbn=0-03-054983-3|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontola00from_0/page/326}} The changes to the [front vowel](/source/front_vowel)s may be summarized as follows: : {{IPA|aː}} → {{IPA|eː}} → {{IPA|iː}} → {{IPA|aɪ}} A '''drag chain''' or '''pull chain''' is a chain shift in which the phoneme at the "leading" edge of the chain changes first.{{cite encyclopedia|year=2011|last=Łubowicz|first=Anna|title=Chain shifts|encyclopedia=The Blackwell Companion to Phonology|pages=1–19|doi=10.1002/9781444335262.wbctp0073|isbn=9781444335262}} In the example above, the chain shift would be a pull chain if {{IPA|/i:/}} changed to {{IPA|/aɪ/}} first, opening up a space at the position of {{IPA|[i]}}, which {{IPA|/e:/}} then moved to fill. A '''push chain''' is a chain shift in which the phoneme at the "end" of the chain moves first: in this example, if {{IPA|/aː/}} moved toward {{IPA|[eː]}}, a "crowding" effect would be created and {{IPA|/e:/}} would thus move toward {{IPA|[i]}}, and so forth. It is not known which phonemes changed first during the Great Vowel Shift; many scholars believe the [high vowel](/source/high_vowel)s such as {{IPA|/i:/}} started the shift, but some suggest that the [low vowel](/source/low_vowel)s, such as {{IPA|/aː/}}, may have shifted first.{{cite book|last=Winkler|first=Elizabeth Grace|title=Understanding Language|location=London|publisher=Continuum|year=2007|page=187|isbn=978-0-8264-84826}} ==Examples== {{Inline audio|section}} During the Great Vowel Shift in the 15th and 16th centuries, all of the long vowels of Middle English, which correspond to [tense vowel](/source/tense_vowel)s in Modern English, shifted pronunciation. The changes can be summarized as follows: {| class="wikitable" |+ Great Vowel Shift |- ! rowspan="2" | Front vowels | {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Close-mid front unrounded vowel.ogg|eː}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Close front unrounded vowel.ogg|i:}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|En-us-I.ogg|aɪ}} |- | {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Open-mid front unrounded vowel.ogg|ɛ:}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Close front unrounded vowel.ogg|i:}} ''or'' {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Close-mid front unrounded vowel.ogg|eː}} |- ! rowspan="2" | Back vowels | {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Open-mid back rounded vowel.ogg|ɔː}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Close-mid back rounded vowel.ogg|oː}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Close back rounded vowel.ogg|uː}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|En-us-ow.ogg|aʊ}} |- | {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Open front unrounded vowel.ogg|aː}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Close-mid front unrounded vowel.ogg|eː}} |} Most vowels shifted to a higher [place of articulation](/source/place_of_articulation), so that the pronunciation of ''geese'' changed from {{IPA|/ɡeːs/}} to {{IPA|/ɡiːs/}} and ''broken'' from {{IPA|/brɔːken/}} to {{IPA|/broːkən/}}. The high vowels {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/uː/}} became [diphthongs](/source/diphthongs) (for example, ''mice'' changed from {{Audio-IPA|help=no|ME-mice.ogg|/miːs/}} to {{Audio-IPA|help=no|ModE-mice01.ogg|/maɪs/}}), and the low back vowel {{IPA|/aː/}} was [fronted](/source/Fronted_(phonetics)), causing ''name'' to change from {{Audio-IPA|help=no|ME-name.ogg|/naːmə/}} to {{Audio-IPA|help=no|ModE-name.ogg|/neːm/}}. The Great Vowel Shift occurred over centuries, and not all [varieties](/source/Variety_(linguistics)) of English were affected in the same ways. For example, some speakers in [Scotland](/source/Scotland) still pronounce ''house'' similarly to its sound in Middle English before the shift, as {{IPA|[hu(ː)s]}}. A chain shift may affect only one [regional dialect](/source/regional_dialect) of a language, or it may begin in a particular regional dialect and then expand beyond the region in which it originated. A number of recent regional chain shifts have occurred in English. Perhaps the most well known is the [Northern Cities Vowel Shift](/source/Northern_Cities_Vowel_Shift), which is largely confined to the "[Inland North](/source/Inland_Northern_American_English)" region of the United States. Other examples in North America are the [Pittsburgh Vowel Shift](/source/Western_Pennsylvania_English), the [Southern Vowel Shift](/source/Southern_American_English) (in the [Southern United States](/source/Southern_United_States)), and the [Low-Back-Merger Shift](/source/Low-Back-Merger_Shift). In England, the [Cockney](/source/Cockney) vowel shift among working-class Londoners is familiar from its prominence in plays such as [George Bernard Shaw](/source/George_Bernard_Shaw)'s ''[Pygmalion](/source/Pygmalion_(play))'' (and the related musical ''[My Fair Lady](/source/My_Fair_Lady)''):{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} : {{IPA|iː}} → {{IPA|eɪ}} → {{IPA|aɪ}} → {{IPA|ɔɪ}} → {{IPA|oɪ}} Many chain shifts are [vowel shift](/source/vowel_shift)s, because many sets of vowels are naturally arranged on a multi-value scale (e.g. [vowel height](/source/vowel_height) or frontness). However, chain shifts can also occur in consonants. A famous example of such a shift is the well-known First Germanic Sound Shift or [Grimm's Law](/source/Grimm's_Law), in which the [Proto-Indo-European](/source/Proto-Indo-European_language) [voiceless](/source/voice_(phonetics)) [stop consonant](/source/stop_consonant)s became [fricative](/source/fricative)s, the plain [voiced](/source/voiced) stops became voiceless, and the [breathy voice](/source/breathy_voice)d stops became plain voiced: : {{IPA|bʱ}} → {{IPA|b}} → {{IPA|p}} → {{IPA|f}} : {{IPA|dʱ}} → {{IPA|d}} → {{IPA|t}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiceless dental fricative.ogg|θ}} : {{IPA|ɡʱ}} → {{IPA|ɡ}} → {{IPA|k}} → {{IPA|h, x}} Another is the [High German consonant shift](/source/High_German_consonant_shift) which separated [Old High German](/source/Old_High_German) from other [West Germanic dialects](/source/West_Germanic_languages) (namely [Old English](/source/Old_English), [Old Frisian](/source/Old_Frisian), [Old Saxon](/source/Old_Saxon), and [Old Low Franconian](/source/Old_Low_Franconian)). :{| class="wikitable" | {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiced alveolar plosive.ogg|d}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiceless alveolar plosive.ogg|t}} → {{IPA|ts}}, {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiceless alveolar sibilant.ogg|s}} |- | {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiced velar stop.ogg|ɡ}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiceless velar plosive.ogg|k}} → {{IPA|kx}}, {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiceless velar fricative.ogg|x}} |- | {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiced bilabial plosive.ogg|b}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiceless bilabial plosive.ogg|p}} → {{IPA|pf}}, {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiceless labiodental fricative.ogg|f}} |} Note that the rightmost development in the table is the oldest (drag chain). The degrees to which High German dialects have completed these changes vary vastly (see [Rhenish fan](/source/Rhenish_fan)). The Romance languages to the north and west of central Italy (e.g. [French](/source/French_language), [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language), [Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_language), [Catalan](/source/Catalan_language) and various northern Italian languages) are known for a set of chain shifts collectively termed ''[lenition](/source/lenition)'', which affected [stop consonant](/source/stop_consonant)s between vowels:{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} : {{IPA|pp}} → {{IPA|p}} → {{IPA|b}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiced bilabial fricative.ogg|β}}, {{IPA|v}} : {{IPA|tt}} → {{IPA|t}} → {{IPA|d}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiced dental fricative.ogg|ð}} (or vanishes) : {{IPA|kk}} → {{IPA|k}} → {{IPA|ɡ}} → {{Audio-IPA|help=no|Voiced velar fricative.ogg|ɣ}}, {{IPA|j}} (or vanishes) 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](/source/phonology) of a language as it exists at a single point in time.Kirchner, Robert. (1996). Synchronic chain shifts in Optimality Theory. ''Linguistic Inquiry'', ''27'', 341-350. [Nzebi](/source/Nzebi_language) (or Njebi), a [Bantu language](/source/Bantu_languages) of [Gabon](/source/Gabon), has the following chain shift, triggered morphophonologically by certain tense/aspect suffixes: {| | {{IPA|a}} || → || {{IPA|ɛ}} || → || {{IPA|e}} || → || {{IPA|i}} |- | || || || || {{IPA|ə}} || → || {{IPA|i}} |- | || || {{IPA|ɔ}} || → || {{IPA|o}} || → || {{IPA|u}} |} Examples follow:Guthrie, Malcolm. (1968). Notes on Nzebi (Gabon). ''Journal of African Languages'', ''7'',101-129. :{| ! Underlying form !! Chain-shifted form |- | {{IPA|sal}} "to work" || {{IPA|sal-i}} → {{IPA|sɛli}} |- | {{IPA|βɛɛd}} "to give" || {{IPA|βɛɛd-i}} → {{IPA|βeedi}} |- | {{IPA|bet}} "to carry" || {{IPA|bet-i}} → {{IPA|biti}} |- | {{IPA|bis}} "to refuse" || {{IPA|bis-i}} → {{IPA|bisi}} |- | {{IPA|kolən}} "to go down" || {{IPA|kolən-i}} → {{IPA|kulini}} |- | {{IPA|tɔɔd}} "to arrive" || {{IPA|tɔɔd-i}} → {{IPA|toodi}} |- | {{IPA|suɛm}} "to hide oneself" || {{IPA|suɛm-i}} → {{IPA|suemi}} |} Another example of a chain from Bedouin Hijazi Arabic involves vowel raising and deletion: {| | {{IPA|a}} || → || {{IPA|i}} || → || ''deletion'' |} In nonfinal open syllables, {{IPA|/a/}} raises to {{IPA|/i/}} while {{IPA|/i/}} in the same position is deleted. Synchronic chain shifts may be circular. An example of this is [Xiamen tone](/source/Amoy_dialect) or [Taiwanese tone](/source/Taiwanese_Hokkien) [sandhi](/source/sandhi):{{rp|fn 348}}{{better source needed|date=February 2017|reason=This is just a passing mention in a footnote.}} {| | 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 [phonological opacity](/source/phonological_opacity). Although easily accounted for in a derivational rule-based phonology, its analysis in standard parallel [Optimality Theory](/source/Optimality_Theory) is problematic. ==See also== * [Isogloss](/source/Isogloss) * [Sound change](/source/Sound_change) ==References== {{reflist}} Category:Historical linguistics Category:Phonology Category:Sound changes --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chain shift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_shift) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_shift?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.