Konsonantenschwächung

German Etymology From de Konsonant -en- Schwächung consonant weakening. Noun f de linguistics a sound shift whereby consonants are lenited and/or distinctions between fortis-lenis pairs lost de die Konsonantenschwächung im Dänischen the consonant lenitions in Danish de specifically a shift of this kind which occurred in many dialects of Late Middle High German de binnendeutsche Konsonantenschwächung Usage notes With regard to German dialects, both the underlying consonantal systems (see High German consonant shift) and the rules of de Konsonantenschwächung themselves vary. For example, mostly stem-initial consonants are affected in Bavarian, but mostly stem-internal ones in Rhine Franconian. When the development has resulted in mergers, merged stops are unaspirated and usually voiceless (or weakly voiced), while merged fricatives may be voiced or voiceless.