Abstract Given the common intuition that consonant lenition occurs more often than fortition, we formulate this as a hypothesis, defining these sound change types in terms of decrease or increase in oral constriction. We then test the hypothesis on allophonic processes in a diverse sample of 81 languages. With the hypothesis confirmed, we examine the input and output of such sound changes in terms of manner and place of articulation and find that while decrease in oral constriction (weakening) affects most consonant types, increase in oral constriction (strengthening) is largely restricted to palatal and labial glides. We conclude that strengthening does not appear to be the simple inverse of weakening. In conclusion we suggest some possible avenues for explaining how glide strengthening may result from articulatory production pressures and speculate that strengthening and weakening can be encompassed under a single theory of sound change resulting from the automatization of production.

中文翻译：

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辅音加强：跨语言调查和发音建议

摘要鉴于通常的直觉，辅音高发比强发多发生，我们将其表述为一种假设，以减少或增加口腔收缩的方式定义了这些声音变化类型。然后，我们在81种语言的不同样本中测试了同素异形过程的假设。证实了这一假设之后，我们从发音方式和位置方面研究了这种声音变化的输入和输出，发现虽然口腔收缩的减少（减弱）会影响大多数辅音类型，但口腔收缩的增加（加强）主要限于lat侧和唇侧滑动。我们得出结论，加强似乎不是削弱的简单逆向。