Exploring Sound Changes in Language Development

Languages undergo fascinating sound changes over time, as seen in the evolution of words like 'woman' from Old Irish 'bén' to English 'Queen' through phonetic shifts from 'Gwen' to 'bén'. The shift from 'bén' to 'na' for 'women' in Old Irish demonstrates how sounds shift in the mouth, with 'B' and 'M' being bilabial consonants interchangeable in pronunciation. Similarly, in Indo-Aryan languages, sound changes impact numbers, like how English numbers have unique words for 11 and 12, diverging from the pattern of 'teen' for the rest.