Lenition of the Sound /d/ in Dashtestani Dialect

Lenition is a process in which a certain sound is pronounced with less muscular power and weaker respiratory energy, thus making an attempt towards the principle of economy and causing continuous changes to languages. This paper is an attempt to study the phonological changes of the sound [d] in Dashtestani dialect spoken in Boushehr Province. Relying on some evidences, the study concludes that the alveo-dental, stop, voiced and discontinuous sound [d] in this dialect loses its [-continuant] feature and changes to the alveo-dental approximant [®4], the change considered as an spirantization process by some others. This finding and some other phonological changes of the sound [d] towards weakening come finally to be interpreted as convincing evidences suggesting the growing process of weakening or lenition in Dashtestani and the neighboring dialects.