Sound Change
Voicing of initial letter is a process of historical sound change where voiceless consonants become voiced at the beginning of a word. For example, modern German sagen, Yiddish זאָגן, and Dutch zeggen (all "say") all begin with, which derives from in an earlier stage of Germanic, as still attested in English say, Swedish säga, and Icelandic segja . Some English dialects were affected by this as well, but it is rare in Modern English. One example is fox (with the original consonant) compared to vixen (with a voiced consonant).
Read more about this topic: Consonant Voicing And Devoicing
Famous quotes containing the words sound and/or change:
“Like many of the Upper Class He liked the Sound of Broken Glass.”
—Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953)
“The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues,
“Jug Jug” to dirty ears.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)