chain shift

noun

A phonological modification of a vowel system or sometimes consonant system in which a change in a particular vowel or consonant causes other adjacent vowels or consonants to also change in order to avoid phonemic mergers.

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Meanings

nounchain shift (plural chain shifts)

plural chain shifts

  1. human sciencesA phonological modification of a vowel system or sometimes consonant system in which a change in a particular vowel or consonant causes other adjacent vowels or consonants to also change in order to avoid phonemic mergers.

    Many non-Antipodeans cannot readily distinguish Australian and New Zealand English, because the phonologies basically overlap with the exception of an upwards chain shift in the front vowels.

    2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 10

Translations

Spanish conmutación catenaria, transmudación tipo cadena
  • conmutación catenariaTranslations
  • transmudación tipo cadenaTranslations
  • transmudamiento en cadenaTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

chain shift. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chain%20shift

MLA

“chain shift.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chain%20shift. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chain shift,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chain%20shift.

Source: chain shift on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.