NativLang | Sound Change - Various Changes (part 4 of 5) @NativLang | Uploaded 11 years ago | Updated 5 hours ago
How do sounds change over time in language? This series explores the basics of phonological change in the history of world languages.

In this video, you will learn about a variety of changes with examples from English and other languages, including:

- Lenition: make a stop weaker and voiced (e.g. voiceless stop to voiced fricative)
- Compensatory lengthening: delete a consonant but lengthen preceding vowel to compensate for loss
- Metathesis: swap two or more sounds
- Vowel harmony: make vowels sound more alike, e.g. umlaut (V becomes like /i/)
- Accent shift: change the placement of an accent (e.g. penultimate to first syllable)

This series builds on previous material, specifically (1) nativlang's IPA lessons and (2) nativlang's historical linguistics lessons:
(1) http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL790D33882C5EF41A
(2) http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD11358A8871F8587

Visit the website for a text version of these and other lessons:
http://www.nativlang.com/linguistics/historical-sound-changes.php

music by Audionautix and Kevin MacLeod