Standard Lemma guide

betacism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈbiːtəˌsɪzəm/
  • /ˈbeɪtəˌsɪzəm/

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonology, sciences

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A speech disorder involving excessive use of the [b] sound, or conversion of other sounds into it.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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