Lenition Totally Explained

Everything about Lenition totally explained

Lenition is a kind of consonant mutation that appears in many languages. Along with assimilation, it's one of the primary sources of historical change of languages.
Lenition means 'softening' or 'weakening' (from Latin lenis = weak), and it refers to the change of a consonant considered 'stronger' into one considered 'weaker' (or fortis → lenis). Common examples include voicing or sonorization, as in [f] → [v]; affrication or spirantization (turning into an affricate or a fricative), as in [t] → [ts] → [s]; debuccalization (loss of place), as in [s] → [h]; degemination, as in [kː] → [k]; deglottalization, such as [k’] → [k], etc. These may occur one after the other in the history of a language. Eventually, consonants may be lost completely, which is the ultimate lenition. Lenition, then, can be seen as a movement on the sonority scale from less to more sonorous.

Sound changes associated with lenition

Two common lenition pathways are the "opening" type, where the articulation becomes more open with each step,

stop	ЖТ	ffrication	ЖТ	pirantization	ЖТ	ebuccalization	ЖТ	lision
[p] or [pʰ]	→	[pf] or [pɸ]	→	[f] or [ɸ]	→	[h]	→	(zero)
[t] or [tʰ]	→	[ts] or [tθ]	→	[s] or [θ]	→	[h]	→	(zero)
[k] or [kʰ]	→	[kx]	→	[x]	→	[h]	→	(zero)

and the "sonorization" type, which involves voicing as well,

stop	ЖТ	onorization	ЖТ	pirantization	ЖТ	pproximation	ЖТ	lision
[p]	→	[b]	→	[v] or [β]	→	[ʋ] or [β̞]	→	(zero)
[t]	→	[d]	→	[ð] or [z]	→	[ð̞] or [ɹ]	→	(zero)
[k]	→	[g]	→	[ɣ]	→	[ɰ]	→	(zero)

These pathways may become mixed. For example, [kʰ] may spirantize to [x], then sonorize to [ɣ]. However, whereas sounds change easily in these directions, change in the opposite direction (fortition) generally requires a specific triggering environment.

Diachronic lenition

Diachronic lenition is found, for example, in the change from Latin into Spanish, in which the voiceless stops [pt k] first changed into their voiced counterparts [bd g], and later into the approximants [β̞ð̞ ɰ]: vita → vida, caput → cabo, caecus → ciego. A similar development occurred in the Celtic languages, where non-geminate intervocalic voiced consonants were converted into fricatives through lenition, and voiceless stops became voiced (in Welsh, Cornish and Breton). An example of historical lenition in the Germanic languages is evidenced by English-Latin cognates such as pater, tenuis vs. father, thin. The Latin words preserved the original stops, which became fricatives in old Germanic.

Synchronic lenition

Allophonic lenition (sandhi)

Like several Romance languages, many varieties of Sardinian offer an example of sandhi where the rule of intervocalic lenition extends across word boundaries. Since it's a fully active synchronic rule, lenition isn't normally indicated in the normal orthography.

/b/	→ [β]: baca [baka] 'cow' → sa baca [saβaka] 'the cow'
/d/	→ [ð]: domu [dɔmu] 'house' → su domu [suðɔmu] 'the house'
/g/	→ [ɣ]: gupu [gupu] 'ladle' → su gupu [suɣupu] 'the ladle'

Grammatical lenition

In the Celtic languages, the phenomenon of intervocalic lenition extended across word boundaries. This explains the rise of grammaticalised initial consonant mutations in modern Celtic languages through the loss of endings. A Scottish Gaelic example would be the lack of lenition in am fear /əm fɛr/ ('the man') and lenition in a’ bhean /ə vɛn/ ('the woman'). The following examples show the development of a phrase consisting of a definite article plus a masculine noun (taking the ending -os) compared with a feminine noun taking the ending -a. The historic development of lenition in these two cases can be reconstructed as follows:
╗ Old Celtic *(s)indos wiros → Old Irish ind fer → in fer → an fear → am fear

╗ Old Celtic *(s)inda bena → Old Irish ind ḃen → in ḃen → an bhean → a' bhean

Synchronic lenition in Scottish Gaelic affects almost all consonants (except /l̪ˠ/ which has lost its lenited counterpart). Changes such as /n̪ˠ/ to /n/ involve the loss of secondary articulation; in addition, /rˠ/ → /ɾ/ involves the reduction of a trill to a tap. The spirantization of Gaelic nasal /m/ to /v/ is unusual among forms of lenition, but is triggered by the same environment as more prototypical lenition. (It may also leave a residue of nasalization in adjacent vowels.) The orthography shows this by inserting an h (except after l n r):

Spirantization
/b̊/	→ /v/	bog /b̊oɡ̊/ → glé bhog /ɡ̊leː voɡ̊/
/b̊j/	→ /vj/ (before a back vowel)	beò /b̊jɔː/ 'alive' → glé bheò /ɡ̊leː vjɔː/ 'very alive'
/k/	→ /x/	cas /kas̪/ 'steep' → glé chas /ɡ̊leː xas̪/ 'very steep'
/kʲ/	→ /ç/	ciùin /kʲuːnʲ/ 'quiet' → glé chiùin /ɡ̊leː çuːnʲ/ 'very quiet'
/d̪̊/	→ /ɣ/	dubh /d̪̊uh/ 'black' → glé dhubh /ɡ̊leː ɣuh/ 'very black'
/d̥ʲ/	→ /ʝ/	deiseil /d̥ʲeʃal/ 'ready' → glé dheiseil /ɡ̊leː ʝeʃal/ 'very ready'
/ɡ̊/	→ /ɣ/	garbh /ɡ̊aɾav/ 'rough' → glé gharbh /ɡ̊leː ɣaɾav/ 'very rough'
/ɡ̊ʲ/	→ /ʝ/	geur /ɡ̊ʲiaɾ/ 'sharp' → glé gheur /ɡ̊leː ʝiaɾ/ 'very sharp'
/m/	→ /v/	maol /mɯːl̪ˠ/ 'bald' → glé mhaol /ɡ̊leː vɯːl̪ˠ/ 'very bald'
/mj/	→ /vj/ (before a back vowel)	meallta /mjaul̪ˠd̪̊ə/ 'deceitful' → glé mheallta /ɡ̊leː vjaul̪ˠd̪̊ə/ 'very deceitful'
/p/	→ /f/	pongail /pɔŋgal/ 'exact' → glé phongail /ɡ̊leː fɔŋgal/ 'very exact'
/pj/	→ /fj/ (before a back vowel)	peallagach /pjal̪ˠaɡ̊əx/ 'shaggy' → glé pheallagach /ɡ̊leː fjal̪ˠaɡ̊əx/ 'very shaggy'
Loss of secondary articulation
/n̪ˠ/	→ /n/	nàdarra /n̪ˠaːd̪̊ərˠə/ 'natural' → glé nàdarra /ɡ̊leː naːd̪̊ərˠə/ 'very natural'
/rˠ/	→ /ɾ/	rag /rˠaɡ̊/ 'stiff' → glé rag /ɡ̊leː ɾaɡ̊/ 'very steep'
Debuccalization
/s̪/	→ /h/	sona /s̪ɔnə/ 'happy' → glé shona /ɡ̊leː hɔnə/ 'very happy'
/ʃ/	→ /h/	seasmhach /ʃes̪vəx/ 'constant' → glé sheasmhach /ɡ̊leː hes̪vəx/ 'very constant'
/ʃ/	→ /hj/ (before a back vowel)	seòlta /ʃɔːl̪ˠd̪̊ə/ 'sly' → glé sheòlta /ɡ̊leː hjɔːl̪ˠd̪̊ə/ 'very sly'
/t̪/	→ /h/	tana /t̪anə/ 'thin' → glé thana /ɡ̊leː hanə/ 'very thin'
/tʲ/	→ /h/	tinn /tʲiːnʲ/ 'ill' → glé thinn /ɡ̊leː hiːnʲ/ 'very ill'
/tʲ/	→ /hj/ (before a back vowel)	teann /tʲaun̪ˠ/ 'tight' → glé theann /ɡ̊leː hjaun̪ˠ/ 'very tight'
Elision
/f/	→ Ø	fann /faun̪ˠ/ 'faint' → glé fhann /ɡ̊leː aun̪ˠ/ 'very faint'
/fj/	→ /j/ (before a back vowel)	feòrachail /fjɔːɾəxal/ 'inquisitive' → glé fheòrachail /ɡ̊leː jɔːɾəxal/ 'very inquisitve'
Reduction of place markedness
In the modern Goidelic languages, grammatical lenition also triggers the reduction of markedness in the place of articulation of coronal sonorants (l, r, and n sounds). In Scottish Gaelic, /n/ and /l/ are the weak counterparts of palatal /ɲ/ and /ʎ/.
/ɲ/	→ /n/	neulach /ɲial̪ˠəx/ 'cloudy' → glé neulach /ɡ̊leː nial̪ˠəx/ 'very cloudy'
/ʎ/	→ /l/	leisg /ʎeʃɡ̊ʲ/ 'lazy' → glé leisg /ɡ̊leː leʃɡ̊ʲ/ 'very lazy'

Orthography

In the modern Celtic languages of Britain and Ireland, lenition of the 'opening' type is usually denoted by adding an h to the lenited letter. In Welsh, for example, c, p and t change into ch, ph, th as a result of the so-called 'aspirate mutation' (carreg 'stone' → ei charreg 'her stone'). An exception is Manx orthography, which tends to be more phonetic, although in some cases etymological principles are applied. In late Gaelic calligraphy and in traditional Irish typography, opening lenition (simply called 'lenition' in Irish grammar) was indicated by a dot above the affected consonant. However, since the introduction of typewriters, the convention has been to suffix the letter h to the consonant, to signify that it's lenited. For example, a mháthair (as above) is a Latin alphabet rendering of a ṁáṫair.
Sonorization-type lenition is represented by a simple letter switch in the Brythonic languages, for instance carreg 'stone' → y garreg 'the stone' in Welsh. In Irish orthography, it's shown by writing the 'weak' consonant alongside the (silent) 'strong' one: peann 'pen' → bpeann, ceann 'head' → gceann (sonorization is traditionally called 'eclipsis' in Irish grammar).
For more details, see Welsh morphology and Irish initial mutations.

Consonant gradation

The phenomenon of consonant gradation in Samic and Baltic-Finnic languages is also a form of lenition.
An example with geminate consonants comes from Finnish, where geminates become simple consonants while retaining voicing or voicelessness (for example katto → katon, dubbaan → dubata). It is also possible for entire consonant clusters to undergo lenition, as in Votic, where voiceless clusters become voiced, for example itke- → idgön.
If a language has nothing but voiceless stops, other sounds are encountered, as in Finnish, where fricatives are represented by chronemes, approximants, taps or even trills. For example, Finnish used to have a complete set of spirantization reflexes for /p t k/, though these have been lost in favour of similar-sounding phonemes. In Pohjanmaa Finnish, /ð/ was changed into /r/, thus the dialect has a synchronic lenition of an alveolar stop into an alveolar trill /t/ → /r/. Furthermore, the same phoneme /t/ undergoes assibilation te → si, for example root vete- → vesi and vere-. Here, vete- is the stem, vesi is its nominative, and vere- is the same stem under consonant gradation.

Fortition

A consonant mutation in which a sound is changed from one considered 'weak' to one considered 'strong', the opposite of lenition, is called fortition. Although less frequent than lenition in the languages of the world, word-initial and word-final fortition isn't uncommon. Italian, for example, presents numerous regular examples of word-initial fortition both historically (Lat. Januarius with initial /j/ > gennaio, with [dʒ]) and synchronically (for example /kasa/ 'house, home' → [kaːsa] but /a kasa/ 'at home' → [akːaːsa]). Catalan is among numerous Romance languages with diachronic word-final fortition (frigidu > *[fred] > [fret] 'cold'). Word-medially, /ll/ is subject to fortition in numerous Romance languages, ranging from [dd] in many speech types on Italian soil to [dʒ] in some varieties of Spanish.

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