Equivalent stretch

In linguistics, a substitute stretching is an assimilatory sound change in which the short vowel preceding it is lengthened (ie "alternatively" stretched) after a consonant is omitted.

Germanic languages

In the history of the German language, such a substitute expansion occurred at the transition from Urgermanic to Old High German; in the sound combinations / anχ / and / unχ / the nasal disappeared , the vowel became long. Examples:

germ. * þanhto to ahd. dāhta "thought"

germ. * þunhto to ahd. dūhta "deuchte"

In the North Sea Germanic languages , an equivalent expansion occurred before the Germanic consonant combinations / ns /, / mf /, / nð / and / nθ /. Examples:

germ. * us to asächs. ūs , engl. west frieze. us , west flanders. uus , limb. oos ; but nl. ons , nd. dt. us

germ. * anþaraz to west frieze . oar , saterfrieze. uur , engl. other , asax. ōðar , āthar , French-Flemish. aajer ; but nl. nd. dt. other

germ. * femfe to north frieze . fiiw , saterfrieze. fieuw , engl. five , nd. fiev , nl. vijf ; but German five

In English, during the transition from Middle English to Early New English, a substitute stretching regularly took the place of the fricative / ç / or its allophone / x /. Example:

Middle English night / niçt / to Early New English / niːt /; with the early New English vowel shift , the / iː / became / ai / (ngl. / nait /)

Ancient Greek

In ancient Greek , equivalent stretching occurs for the original consonant combinations / ns / or / s / + nasal . Examples:

* τόνς * tons > τούς tous (/ -oː- /) "den" (accusative singular masculine of the article )

* γίγᾰντς * gigănts > * γίγᾰνς * gigăns > γίγᾱς gigās "giant"

* ἐσμί * esmi > εἰμί eimi (/ eː- /) "I am"

In some cases, a substitute stretch also compensates for the loss of an original / s / or / j / in the following syllable. Examples:

* ἤγγελσα * ēngelsa > ἤγγειλα ēngeila (/ -eː- /) "I announced"

* κρῐ́νjω * krĭnjō > κρῑ́νω krīnō "I decide"

Slavic languages

In Polish and Slovak among others, the failure of Jers sometimes resulted in a replacement stretch, cf. žena / žien (woman), niósł / niosła (wore). In Polish, the long vowels were narrowed, whereby the phonological quantity was transformed into the quality.