labiovelarize

labiovelarize

English

Etymology

labiovelar +‎ -ize

Verb

labiovelarize (third-person singular simple present labiovelarizes, present participle labiovelarizing, simple past and past participle labiovelarized)

1. (phonetics) To become, or cause to become, labiovelar.
   • 1979, Ivan Zilynsʹkyĭ, A Phonetic Description of the Ukrainian Language, page 175:

     [...] recently attempted to explain the origin of the Ukrainian form buty, etc., in another way, i.e., through the labiovelarizing influence of the l closing the syllable (resulting from the non- palatalized l).

   • 2006, Casper Jan Hendrik Krüger, R.S. Pretorius, Introduction to the morphology of Setswana (→ISBN)

     It is usually defined as a process whereby front vowels consonantalize (palatalize) to the semivowel /j/ when followed by certain other vowels [...] or whereby back vowels consonantalize (labiovelarize) to the semivowel /w/ [...]