# Initial dropping > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Initial_dropping > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Initial_dropping.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_dropping > Source revision: 1251343511 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Sound change}} {{IPA notice}} '''Initial dropping''' is a [sound change](/source/sound_change) whereby the first [consonant](/source/consonant)s of words are dropped. Additionally, [stress](/source/stress_(linguistics)) may shift from the first to the second syllable, and the first [vowel](/source/vowel) may be shortened, reduced, or dropped, which can mean the loss of the entire first [syllable](/source/syllable) of a word. These changes have occurred independently in several [Australian Aboriginal language groups](/source/Australian_Aboriginal_languages). Initial dropping may affect all initial consonants, or only some or one of them. It may affect all words that start with those consonants, or sporadically affect some words and not others. In some languages, it seems to have only affected [interjection](/source/interjection)s, and words commonly used as [vocatives](/source/vocatives) such as [pronoun](/source/pronoun)s and kin terms. Like all sound changes, it may affect an entire language or just some [dialect](/source/dialect)s, and may affect multiple adjacent languages or dialects. ==Motivation== Initial dropping is caused by the nature of [stress](/source/stress_(linguistics)) in Australian languages: although stress is usually on the first syllable, the pitch peak of stress occurs late in the syllable, so that stress applies to the vowel and the following consonant, but not the preceding consonant. ==Secondary effects== ===Cluster simplification=== The loss of the initial vowel can result in a difficult consonant cluster. Some languages avoid this by disallowing initial dropping if the result is a difficult cluster. In [Mbabaram](/source/Mbabaram_language) for example, initial dropping doesn't occur if it results in a cluster other than nasal + stop. {| align="center" | {{IPA|*/ɟumbi/}} || → {{IPA|/mbi/}} || "penis" |- | {{IPA|*/ɡurbuɻu/}} || → {{IPA|/arbuɻ/}} || "east" |} Other languages allow initial dropping, dropping additional consonants if needed to simplify the cluster. For example, in [Ngkoth](/source/Ngkoth_language): {| align="center" | {{IPA|*/kalma-/}} || → {{IPA|/ma-/}} || The [root](/source/root_(linguistics)) of the verb "to arrive". |- | {{IPA|*/kulŋkul/}} || → {{IPA|/ŋkul/}} || "heavy" |} ===Phonemicization=== It's not unusual for the second consonant or vowel of a word to have an [allophone](/source/allophone) conditioned by what the first consonant or vowel is. When this conditioning element is lost in initial dropping, these allophones become [phoneme](/source/phoneme)s. ====New vowels==== In [Mbabaram](/source/Mbabaram_language), an {{IPA|/a/}} in the second syllable had {{IPA|[ɔ]}} as an allophone if the first syllable started with {{IPA|/ɡ/}} or {{IPA|/ŋ/}}. When initial dropping occurred and the {{IPA|/ɡ ŋ/}} were lost, the occurrence of {{IPA|[ɔ]}} was no longer predictable: it had become a phoneme {{IPA|/ɔ/}}, distinct from {{IPA|/a/}}. {| align="center" | {{IPA|*/ŋaba-/}} || → {{IPA|*[ŋabɔ-]}} || → {{IPA|/bɔ-/}} || The [root](/source/root_(linguistics)) of the verb "to bathe". |- | {{IPA|*/naɡa/}} || = {{IPA|*[naɡa]}} || → {{IPA|/ɡa/}} || "east" |} ====Prestopped nasals==== Unlike many other languages, where [nasalization](/source/nasalization) tends to begin early so that vowels preceding a [nasal](/source/nasal_consonant) are nasalized, in [Australian languages](/source/Indigenous_Australian_languages) nasalization tends to begin late, so that nasals may be preceded by a short [stop](/source/prestopped_consonant). In [Olgolo](/source/Uw_Olkola_language), nasals in the second [syllable](/source/syllable) had a [prestopped](/source/prestopped_nasal_consonant) [allophone](/source/allophone) if the first syllable started with a [stop](/source/stop_consonant) or a {{IPA|/w/}}, and the vowel in the first syllable was short. When initial consonants were dropped and initial vowels shortened, the occurrence of the prestopped nasals was no longer predictable: Olgolo had innovated a series of prestopped nasal [phoneme](/source/phoneme)s. {| align="center" | {{IPA|*/bama/}} || → {{IPA|*[baᵇma]}} || → {{IPA|/aᵇma/}} || "man" |- | {{IPA|*/ŋama/}} || = {{IPA|*[ŋama]}} || → {{IPA|/ama(ŋar)/}} || "mother" ({{IPA|/-ŋar/}} is a [suffix](/source/Affix).) |} ==List of initial-dropping languages== For details about the extent of initial dropping in a particular language, see that language's article. *[Adjnjamathanha](/source/Adjnjamathanha_language) *[Arabana](/source/Arabana_language) *[Arrernte](/source/Arrernte_language) *[Baagandji](/source/Baagandji_language) *[Bidjara](/source/Bidjara_language) ([Gunggari](/source/Gunggari_(linguistics)) and [Yanjdjibara](/source/Yanjdjibara_(linguistics)) dialects) *[Dharambal](/source/Dharambal_language) ([Wapabara](/source/Wapabara_(linguistics)) dialect) *[Kalkatungu](/source/Kalkatungu_language) *[Kaytetj](/source/Kaytetj_language) *[Maljangapa](/source/Maljangapa_language) *[Mbabaram](/source/Mbabaram_language) *[Muruwarri](/source/Muruwarri_language) *[Nganjaywana](/source/Nganjaywana_language) *[Nhanta](/source/Nhanta_language) *[Ogh-Undjan](/source/Ogh-Undjan_language) *[Oykangand](/source/Oykangand_language)/[Olgolo](/source/Olgolo_language) *Many [Paman languages](/source/Paman_languages) *[Umbindhamu](/source/Umbindhamu_language) *[Uradhi](/source/Uradhi_language) *[Yaygirr](/source/Yaygirr_language) *[Yugambal](/source/Yugambal_language) *[Western Desert Language](/source/Western_Desert_Language) (some dialects) ==See also== *[Aphesis](/source/Aphesis) ==References== *{{cite book |last=Dixon |first=R. M. W. |authorlink=R. M. W. Dixon |year=2002 |title=Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=589–601 |url=http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521473780}} Category:Australian Aboriginal languages Category:Sound changes --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Initial dropping](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_dropping) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_dropping?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.