What does "betacism" mean?

A sound change in which [b] (the voiced bilabial plosive) shifts to [v] (the voiced labiodental fricative).

What is a synonym for "betacism"?

Common synonyms include: gradation, mutation, phonetics, phonology.

Pronounced //ˈbiːtəsɪzəm//.

//ˈbiːtəsɪzəm// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A sound change in which [b] (the voiced bilabial plosive) shifts to [v] (the voiced labiodental fricative). uncountable, usually
"Betacism is a fairly common phenomenon: it has taken place in Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, and some Portuguese dialects, among others."
2
A speech disorder involving excessive use of the [b] sound, or conversion of other sounds into it. uncountable, usually

"Betacism is a fairly common phenomenon: it has taken place in Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, and some Portuguese dialects, among others."

From beta + -cism (“phenomenon related to a specific phoneme”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.