chain shift
noun1
Human sciences, Linguistics, Phonology, Sciences A phonological modification of a vowel system or sometimes consonant system in which a change in a particular vowel or consonant causes other adjacent vowels or consonants to also change in order to avoid phonemic mergers.
- Many non-Antipodeans cannot readily distinguish Australian and New Zealand English, because the phonologies basically overlap with the exception of an upwards chain shift in the front vowels.2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 10: