Language Change

noun a phonetic phenomenon in which vowel sounds change within a root or word to indicate changes in tense, aspect, or mood

• The linguist explained the concept of ablaut in great detail during the lecture.
• I still can't wrap my head around the whole ablaut thing in language class.
• Ablaut sounds like some crazy language voodoo to me.
• The changing vowel sounds in the word 'sing', 'sang', and 'sung' demonstrate ablaut in action.

noun a line on a map marking the limits of an area within which a feature of pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary is constant

• The isogloss marks the boundary between two distinct dialect regions.
• The isogloss shows where people start talking differently.
• The isogloss is where the language switch happens.
• The isogloss acts like a linguistic border separating different speech patterns.

noun the linguistic process by which a repeated sound or syllable is omitted from a word

• Haplology is a linguistic phenomenon where a sequence of sounds is shortened by omitting one of the repeated syllables or letters.
• I learned about haplology in my linguistics class, it's pretty interesting!
• Haplology is like when you say 'probly' instead of 'probably', it's a shortcut in language.
• In a way, haplology can be seen as a form of linguistic efficiency, streamlining repetitive elements in speech.