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There are two readings of 人, as in these two examples: 恋人【こいびと】 and 素人【しろうと】

Why is 素人 (among others) the way it is and not しろひと or しろびと?

Furthermore, 狩人 is かりゅうど. Why is the final mora voiced here?
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2014-01-06T06:43:02.523
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words etymology
人：difference between ひと and -うと
This phenomenon is called
[onbin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology#Onbin) “euphonic
sound change”, specifically _u_ -onbin,
[ウ音便](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9F%B3%E4%BE%BF#.E3.82.A6.E9.9F.B3.E4.BE.BF),
and in this case consists of ひと → うと ( _hito_ → _uto_ ), or びと → うど ( _bito_ →
_udo_ ) with _rendaku,_ in some cases combined with vowel changes (these are
the same you see in modern forms of historic kana spellings).

The basic native reading (kun'yomi) is _hito_ (there’s also _ri,_ as in
[一]{ひと}[人]{り} _hito-ri,_ [二]{ふた}[人]{り} _futa-ri_ ); with _rendaku_ this may
become _bito._

In the case of [素人]{しろうと}, originally [白人]{しろひと} (white person, for
“inexperieced”), this underwent しろひと → しろうと, _shirohito_ → _shirouto_ →
_shirōto_ (note that _ou_ → _ō_ is not reflected as a change in kana).

In the case of [狩人]{かりゅうど}, this underwent かりびと → かりうど → かりゅうど, _karibito_ →
_kariudo_ → _karyuudo_ → _karyūdo_ – note the additional vowel change.

An example that includes a familiar sound change is [仲人]{なこうど} “matchmaker”,
from なかびと → なかうど → なこうど ( _nakabito_ → _nakaudo_ → _nakoudo_ → _nakōdo_ ).
This underwent the あう → おう ( _au_ → _ou_ → _ō_ ) sound change you’re familiar
with in [お早う]{おはよう} (from _hayaku_ → _hayau_ → _hayou_ → _hayō_ ).

There are many more details at Wikipedia, both in English and Japanese!
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answer