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:
“I am already kindly disposed towards you. My friendship it is not in my power to give: this is a gift which no man can make, it is not in our own power: a sound and healthy friendship is the growth of time and circumstance, it will spring up and thrive like a wildflower when these favour, and when they do not, it is in vain to look for it.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“The higher the mountain on which you stand, the less change in the prospect from year to year, from age to age. Above a certain height there is no change.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)