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What is the origin of the contraction では->じゃ? I googled around for a bit, but
I wasn't able to find any answer at all.
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2017-10-06T18:44:23.750
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2017-10-07T03:49:45.150
26043
question
grammar etymology history
Origin of じゃ as contraction of では
The contraction is simply a matter of fast speech and sound shapes. で or
`/de/` is a front-of-the-mouth sound, where
[affrication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affricate_consonant#Affrication)
is not uncommon. Consider how English _don't you_ often becomes _doncha_ in
fast speech, or how _could you_ becomes _cudja_. So too with では -- `/de wa/` →
`*/dea/` → `*/d͡ʑea/` → `/d͡ʑa/`.
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2017-10-06T20:58:11.970
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answer