A linguistic sound change where a speech sound loses its labial (lip) quality, such as when a /p/ sound becomes /f/.
From the prefix 'de-' plus 'labialization,' which comes from Latin 'labium' meaning 'lip.' This is a technical term in phonetics and historical linguistics developed in the 20th century.
Languages are constantly reshaping their sounds over centuries—delabialization shows how your lips can literally change the history of a language, which is why English speakers today pronounce certain words differently than medieval English speakers did.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.