View source for Consonant voicing and devoicing

{{Short description|Phonetic sound change}}
{{Sound change}}
{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}
{{IPA notice}}

In [[phonology]], '''voicing''' (or '''sonorization''') is a [[sound change]] where a [[voiceless]] [[consonant]] becomes voiced due to the influence of its phonological environment; shift in the opposite direction is referred to as '''devoicing''' or '''surdization'''. Most commonly, the change is a result of [[sound assimilation]] with an adjacent sound of opposite [[Voice (phonetics)|voicing]], but it can also occur word-finally or in contact with a specific vowel.

For example, the English suffix ''-s'' is pronounced {{IPA|[s]}} when it follows a voiceless phoneme (''cats''), and {{IPA|[z]}} when it follows a voiced phoneme (''dogs'').{{sfnp|Grijzenhout|2000|p=3}} This type of assimilation is called ''progressive'', where the second consonant assimilates to the first; ''regressive'' assimilation goes in the opposite direction, as can be seen in ''have to'' {{IPA|[hæftə]}}.

==English==<!-- This section is linked from [[English plural]] -->
English no longer has a [[productivity (linguistics)|productive]] process of voicing stem-final fricatives when forming noun-verb pairs or [[English plural|plural]] nouns, but there are still examples of voicing from earlier in the history of English:

* belief ({{IPA|['''f''']}}) – believe ({{IPA|['''v''']}})
* shelf ({{IPA|['''f''']}}) – shelve ({{IPA|['''v''']}})
* grief ({{IPA|['''f''']}}) – grieve ({{IPA|['''v''']}})
* life ({{IPA|['''f''']}}) – live ({{IPA|['''v''']}})
* proof ({{IPA|['''f''']}}) – prove ({{IPA|['''v''']}})
* strife ({{IPA|['''f''']}}) – strive ({{IPA|['''v''']}})
* thief ({{IPA|['''f''']}}) – thieve ({{IPA|['''v''']}})
* bath ({{IPA|['''θ''']}}) - bathe ({{IPA|['''ð''']}})
* breath ({{IPA|['''θ''']}}) - breathe ({{IPA|['''ð''']}})
* mouth ({{IPA|['''θ''']}}, {{abbr|n.|noun}}) – mouth ({{IPA|['''ð''']}}, {{abbr|vb.|verb}})
* sheath ({{IPA|['''θ''']}}) - sheathe ({{IPA|['''ð''']}})
* wreath ({{IPA|['''θ''']}}) - wreathe ({{IPA|['''ð''']}})
* advice ({{IPA|['''s''']}}) – advise ({{IPA|['''z''']}})
* house ({{IPA|['''s''']}}, {{abbr|n.|noun}}) – house ({{IPA|['''z''']}}, {{abbr|vb.|verb}})
* use ({{IPA|['''s''']}}, {{abbr|n.|noun}}) – use ({{IPA|['''z''']}}, {{abbr|vb.|verb}})

[[Synchronic analysis|Synchronically]], the assimilation at morpheme boundaries is still productive, such as in:{{sfnp|Grijzenhout|2000|p=9}}

* cat + '''s''' → ca'''ts'''
* dog + '''s''' → dogs ({{IPA|['''ɡz''']}})
* miss + '''ed''' → missed ({{IPA|['''st''']}})
* whizz + '''ed''' → whizzed ({{IPA|['''zd''']}})

The voicing alternation found in plural formation is losing ground in the modern language,{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}. Of the alternations listed below many speakers retain only the {{IPA|[f-v]}} pattern, which is supported by the [[orthography]]. This [[Voice (phonetics)|voicing]] of {{IPA|/f/}} is a relic of Old English, at a time when the unvoiced consonants between voiced vowels were 'colored' by an [[Allophony|allophonic]] voicing ([[lenition]]) rule {{IPA|/f/}} → {{IPA|[v]}}. As the language became more analytic and less inflectional, final vowels or syllables stopped being pronounced. For example, modern ''knives'' is a one syllable word instead of a two syllable word, with the vowel ''e'' not pronounced and no longer part of the word's structure. The voicing alternation between {{IPA|[f]}} and {{IPA|[v]}} occurs now as realizations of separate [[phoneme]]s {{IPA|/f/}} and {{IPA|/v/}}. The alternation pattern is well maintained for the items listed immediately below, but its loss as a productive allophonic rule permits its abandonment for new usages of even well-established terms: while ''lea'''f'''''~''lea'''v'''es'' in reference to 'outgrowth of plant stem' remains vigorous, the Toronto ice hockey team is uncontroversially named the ''Maple Lea'''f'''s''.

* kni'''f'''e – kni'''v'''es
* lea'''f''' – lea'''v'''es
* wi'''f'''e – wi'''v'''es
* wol'''f''' – wol'''v'''es

The following mutations are optional:{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

* bath ({{IPA|['''θ''']}}) - baths ({{IPA|['''ð''']}})
* mouth ({{IPA|['''θ''']}}) - mouths ({{IPA|['''ð''']}})
* oath ({{IPA|['''θ''']}}) - oaths ({{IPA|['''ð''']}})
* path ({{IPA|['''θ''']}}) - paths ({{IPA|['''ð''']}})
* youth ({{IPA|['''θ''']}}) - youths ({{IPA|['''ð''']}})
* house ({{IPA|['''s''']}}) – houses ({{IPA|['''z''']}})

Sonorants ({{IPA|/l r w j/}}) following aspirated fortis plosives (that is, {{IPA|/p t k/}} in the onsets of stressed syllables unless preceded by {{IPA|/s/}}) are devoiced such as in ''please'', ''crack'', ''twin'', and ''pewter''.{{sfnp|Roach|2004|p=240}}

Several varieties of English have a productive synchronic rule of [[Flapping|/t/-voicing]] whereby intervocalic /t/ not followed by a stressed vowel is realized as [[voiced alveolar flap]] [ɾ], as in ''tutor'', with the first /t/ pronounced as voiceless aspirated [tʰ] and the second as voiced [ɾ]. Voiced phoneme /d/ can also emerge as [ɾ], so that ''tutor'' and ''Tudor'' may be [[homophone]]s, both with [ɾ] (the voiceless identity of word-internal /t/ in ''tutor'' is manifested in ''tutorial'', where stress shift assures [tʰ]).

== In other languages ==
=== Voicing assimilation ===
{{main|Assimilation (linguistics)}}
In many languages, including [[Polish language|Polish]] and [[Russian language|Russian]], there is [[assimilation (linguistics)#Anticipatory assimilation to a contiguous segment|anticipatory assimilation]] of unvoiced [[obstruent]]s immediately before voiced obstruents. For example, Russian {{lang|ru|про'''сь'''ба}} 'request' is pronounced {{IPA|/ˈprozʲbə/}} (instead of {{IPA|*/ˈprosʲbə/}}) and Polish {{lang|pl|pro'''ś'''ba}} 'request' is pronounced {{IPA|/ˈprɔʑba/}} (instead of {{IPA|*/ˈprɔɕba/}}). The process can cross word boundaries as well: Russian {{lang|ru|дочь бы}} {{IPA|/ˈdod͡ʑ bɨ/}} 'daughter would'. The opposite type of anticipatory assimilation happens to voiced obstruents before unvoiced ones: {{lang|ru|о'''б'''сыпать}} {{IPA|/ɐpˈs̪ɨpətʲ/}}.

In [[Italian language|Italian]], {{IPA|/s/}} before a voiced consonant is pronounced {{IPA|[z]}} within any phonological word: {{lang|it|sbaglio}} {{IPA|[ˈzbaʎʎo]}} 'mistake', {{lang|it|slitta}} {{IPA|[ˈzlitta]}} 'sled', {{lang|it|snello}} {{IPA|[ˈznɛllo]}} 'slender'. The rule applies across morpheme boundaries ({{lang|it|disdire}} {{IPA|[dizˈdiːre]}} 'cancel') and word boundaries ({{lang|it|lapis nero}} {{IPA|[ˌlaːpizˈneːro]}} 'black pencil'). This voicing is productive and so it applies also to borrowings, not only to native lexicon: {{lang|it|snob}} {{IPA|[znɔb]}}.

=== Final devoicing ===
{{main|Final-obstruent devoicing}}
''Final devoicing'' is a systematic phonological process occurring in languages such as [[German language|German]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Catalan language|Catalan]].<ref>{{cite journal |date=2 June 2009 |editor1-last=Nasukawa |editor1-first=Kuniya |editor2-last=Backley |editor2-first=Phillip |title=Strength Relations in Phonology |journal=Studies in Generative Grammar |volume=103 |isbn=9783110218596}}</ref>{{Page needed|reason=This is a whole journal. Which paper verifies this fact?|date=November 2022}} Such languages have voiced [[obstruents]] in the [[syllable coda]] or at the end of a [[word]] become voiceless.

=== Initial voicing ===
Initial voicing is a process of historical sound change in which voiceless consonants become voiced at the beginning of a word. For example, modern German {{lang|de|sagen}} {{IPA|[ˈzaːɡn̩]}}, Yiddish {{lang|yi|זאָגן|rtl=yes}} {{IPA|[ˈzɔɡn̩]}}, and Dutch {{lang|nl|zeggen}} {{IPA|[ˈzɛɣə]}} (all "say") all begin with {{IPA|[z]}}, which derives from {{IPA|[s]}} in an earlier stage of Germanic, as is still attested in English ''say'', Swedish {{lang|sv|säga}} {{IPA|[ˈsɛjːa]}}, and Icelandic {{lang|is|segja}} {{IPA|[ˈseiːja]}}. Some English dialects were affected as well, but it is rare in Modern English. One example is ''fox'' (with the original consonant) compared to ''vixen'' (with a voiced consonant).

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{Citation
|last=Roach
|first=Peter
|year=2004
|title=British English: Received Pronunciation
|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association
|volume=34
|issue=2
|pages=239–245
|doi=10.1017/S0025100304001768
|doi-broken-date=5 April 2025
|doi-access=free
}}
* {{Citation
|last=Grijzenhout
|first=Janet
|year=2000
|title=Voicing and devoicing in English, German, and Dutch; evidence for domain-specific identity constraints
|url=http://user.phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de/~grijzenh/sfb116-voice.PDF
|access-date=2009-12-18
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719084837/http://user.phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de/~grijzenh/sfb116-voice.PDF
|archive-date=2011-07-19
|url-status=dead
}}

[[Category:Phonology]]
[[Category:Phonotactics]]
[[Category:Assimilation (linguistics)]]