ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with typical, well-documented sound changes, and, more importantly, the phonetic and phonological processes which can bring them about. Some of the principles governing sound change can be derived from the discussions of markedness and language universals. Words are the largest unit within which sound changes are usually considered. Polysyllabic words consist of sequences of stressed and unstressed syllables, often in alternation. When changes occur, unstressed syllables of a word are more likely to be lost, or shortened, than stressed syllables. Once a word has come into a language through borrowing, it then, of course, becomes subject to the same processes of sound change as any other word. Sound changes can be divided into those which affect the phonemic system of the language and those which do not. Of the changes which affect the system, some lead to the creation of new phonemes, and others to the loss of old ones.
