1. Lexical Diffusion

Lexical Diffusion is a theory of sound change proposed by William S.-Y. Wang. The term first appeared in Wang’s article “Competing Change as a Cause of Residue” in 1969. The theory of lexical diffusion challenges the traditional view of sound change as understood by a group of historical linguists of the 19th century called Neogrammarians. Sound change is not merely a change of sound as an abstract phonological entity. It is actually a change in the pronunciation of the words which contain the sound in question…