Semantic Change Language Change

13

b. Types of Sound Changes

Sound changes might occur among speakers of second language and be formed into many types. In general, according to Crowley 1992, there are nine types of sound change that are classified pp. 39-59. This part explains those nine types of sound changes according to Crowley 1992.

1 Lenition and Fortition

Lenition means sound weakening, while fortition refers to the opposite: strengthening Crowley, 19 92: p. 39. In Crowley‟s book, the explanation of lenition and fortition refers to the change of the sound from a „stronger‟ sound to „weaker‟ sound lenition and vice versa fortition. Crowley explains that voiced sounds are considered as strong and voiceless sounds are considered as weak. The appearance of schwa is also an other example of lenition. Lenition, in Crowley‟s opinion, is a more common phenomenon of sound change rather than fortition p. 41. In certain periods, the weakening might develop into the loss of sounds. The loss of sounds –or commonly called deletion–, according to Crowley 1992, can be classified into five forms: Aphaeresis which refers to the deletion of consonantal sound in the beginning of the word, Apocope which refers to the loss of vowel sound in the end of the word, Syncope which refers to the dropped vowel sound in the middle of the word, Cluster Reduction which refers to the omission of consonantal sound in such a cluster, and Haplology which refers to the loss of an entire syllable in a word pp. 39-43. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 14

2 Sound Addition

Another phenomenon of sound change might occur in some form of sound addition Crowley, 1992: p. 43. Crowley 1992, however, states that the phenomenon of sound addition is actually rarely found. The addition of the sounds can also be classified into three forms. They are Excrescence or the addition of extra consonantal sound between two other consonants in the word, Epenthesis and or the insertion of a vowel to break up the cluster in the middle of the word, and Prothesis, which is similar to epenthesis but occurring in the beginning of the word Crowley, 1992: pp. 43-45. For example is the addition of schwa in [sm] cluster as seen in word smile. 3 Metathesis Metathesis has taken place in the English history of an English word, and the changed form has been accepted as the standard Crowley, 1992: p. 46. Metathesis is considered as another type of sound change, but rarely occurs in the development of language. It refers to a change in the order of the sounds Crowley, 1992: p. 45. It can also be defined as a transposition of the sounds: where a certain sound exchanges position with another sound of a word Campbell, 2004: p. 39. Metathesis phenomenon can be seen in tongue twisters, where speakers might transpose such syllable from former position into new position, as seen in word desk into deks. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI