compensatory lengthening

noun

, Historical Linguistics.

1. the lengthening of a vowel when a following consonant is weakened or lost, as the change from Old English niht [ni, kh, t] to night [nahyt], with loss of [kh] and lengthening of [i] to a vowel that eventually became [ahy].

Example Sentences

The result of contraction and “compensatory lengthening” was not ει and ου as in Attic and Ionic, but η and ω: ἦμεν infinitive = εἶναι from *esmen; gen. sing. of o-stems in ω: θεῶ, acc. pl. in -ως: θεώς; dy was represented by δδ, not ζ, as in Attic-Ionic; μύσιδδε = μύθιζε.

From Project Gutenberg

The sonant n appears in Brythonic as an, whereas in Goidelic the nasal disappears before k, t with compensatory lengthening of the vowel, e.g.

From Project Gutenberg

Similarly b, d, g disappear in Goidelic when standing after a vowel and preceding l, r, n with compensatory lengthening of the vowel, but in Welsh they produce a vowel forming a diphthong with the preceding vowel, e.g.

From Project Gutenberg

So in many cases there is a choice between compensatory lengthening and compensatory pause.

From Project Gutenberg

This was lost before -an of the infinitive, contraction and compensatory lengthening being the result.

From Project Gutenberg