Consonant mutation

Consonant mutation is a feature in languages when the sound of a consonant changes depending on morphology and syntax.

 English 
In English, the plural morpheme -(e)s and the singular third-person present tense morpheme -(e)s all have different pronunciations depending on which depending on which type of phoneme, or unique sound, comes before it. These variations of the plural morpheme are called allomorphs.

 If the base word ends with a voiceless stop like /p/, /t/, or /k/, then -(e)s will be pronounced /s/, like in lips, cats, and socks.
 If the base word ends with a sonorant, like /b/, /d/, /g/, /n/, /m/, /ŋ/, /l/, /ɹ/, or any vowel sound, then -(e)s will be pronounced /z/, like in cabs, lids, dogs, cans, rims, wings, bowls, cars, bows, toys, laws, and trees.
 If the based word ends with a sibilant or an affricate, like /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /t͡ʃ/, and /d͡ʒ/, then -(e)s will be pronounced /ɪz/, like in cases, mazes, washes, mirages, patches, and wages.

In English, the past tense morpheme -(e)d also has different pronunciations depending on which depending on which type of phoneme comes before it.

 If the base word ends with a voiceless consonant like /p/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /t͡ʃ/, then -(e)d will be pronounced /t/, like in licked, packed, laughed, passed, and pitched.
 If the base word ends with a voiced sound, like /b/, /g/, /n/, /m/, /ŋ/, /l/,  /ɹ/, or any vowel sound, then -(e)d will be pronounced /d/, like in stabbed, lagged, sinned, hummed, hanged, bowled, scored, played, bowed, skied, and mowed.

Category:Linguistics