ablautdriven

Ablaut-driven is a term used in linguistics to describe a type of phonological alternation in which the vowel quality of a word changes systematically according to the stress pattern of the word. This phenomenon is particularly common in Germanic languages, such as English, German, and Dutch. In English, for example, the verb "sing" has a long vowel sound in the present tense (sing) but a short vowel sound in the past tense (sang). This change in vowel quality is driven by the stress pattern of the word, with the stressed syllable determining the vowel quality. Ablaut-driven alternations are a result of historical sound changes and are often found in verbs, nouns, and adjectives. They are an important aspect of the phonology of many languages and contribute to the richness and complexity of their sound systems.