What is a sound change in language?
Q: What is a sound change in language?
A: A sound change in a language is when the sounds of the language become different over time in historical linguistics.
Q: How does this happen?
A: This happens when people of different languages or dialects often talk to each other, and the way they talk becomes more like the way the others talk.
Q: What is an example of a sound change in English?
A: An example of a sound change in English is the Great Vowel Shift, when all of the long vowel sounds in Middle English changed into what they are today.
Q: What kind of spelling systems are more difficult for learners to learn how to read?
A: Spelling systems that do not change with the sound changes of a language are often more difficult for learners to learn how to read. These include spelling systems like English, French, Mongolian script, and Thai.
Q: What kind of spelling systems are easier for learners to learn how to read?
A: Spelling systems that change with the sound changes are often easier for learners to learn how to read. These include languages like Japanese, Turkish, and German.
Q: What is an example of a small sound shift in many dialects of English?
A: An example of a small sound shift in many dialects of English is the cot-caught merger, where words with lower back vowels like cot and caught sound exactly the same and are spoken without any difference between them by native speakers from certain dialects.
