Word evolution game

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Syllable weight draws stress:

[ɨ'kɨʃ]
ykysh
"small reptile; (literary or dialectal) snake, serpent"

[Man in Space]

Intervocalic stop lenition:

[ɨ'gɨʃ]
ygysh
"small reptile; (literary or dialectal) snake, serpent"

[Darren]

Rounding dissimilation

[ʉˈɡɨʃ]
ygysh
"small reptile; (literary or dialectal) snake, serpent"

[Rounin Ryuuji]

[j]-prosthesis on front and near-front rounded vowels:

[jʉˈɡɨʃ]
yugysh
"small reptile; (literary or dialectal) snake, serpent"

[Zju]

Vowel backing after velars:

[jʉˈɡɯʃ]
yugysh
"lizard, skink; (literary or dialectal) snake, serpent"

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Fortition:

[ʒʉˈɡɯʃ]
zhugysh
"lizard, skink; (literary or dialectal) snake, serpent"

[Darren]

ʉ > ʏ

[ʒʏˈɡɯʃ]
zhugysh
"lizard, skink"

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Anticipatory roundness and frontness assimilation

[ʒʏˈɡʉʃ]
zhügush
"lizard, skink"

[foxcatdog]

*g > *k in stressed syllables (it becomes *y otherwise)
[ʒʏˈkʉʃ]
zhügush
"lizard, skink"

[Darren]

Paragoge to prevent closed syllables

[ʒʏˈkʉʃʏ]
zhügushü
"lizard, skink"

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Loss of pretonic unstressed vowels

['ʒkʉ.ʃʏ]
zhkushü
"lizard, skink"

[foxcatdog]

Usually the preceding consonant would assimilate in voicing but because there's a voiceless obstruent in the same syllable the opposite happens.

['ʒgʉ.ʃʏ]
zhgushü
"tail, (literary) lizard, skink"

[Darren]

/ʏ/ > /ø/

[ˈʒgʉ.ʃø]
zhgushü
"tail, (literary) lizard, skink"

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Metathesis:

[ˈgʒʉ.ʃø]
gzhusheo
"tail, (literary) lizard, skink"

[Zju]

Word-final vowels get an offglide:

[ˈgʒʉ.ʃøɥ]
gzhusheo
"tail, (literary) lizard, skink"

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Lengthening in open, stressed syllables:

[ˈgʒʉː.ʃøɥ]
gzhûsheow
"tail, (literary) lizard, skink"

[Travis B.]

Schwa epenthesis between initial consonant clusters.

[ˈgəʒʉː.ʃøɥ]
gzhûsheow
"tail, (literary) lizard, skink"

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Derounding of mid front rounded vowels and accompanying semivowels

[gə'ʒʉː.ʃej]
gëzhûshey
"tail, (literary) lizard, skink"

[Travis B.]

Fronting of vowels between coronals.

[gə'ʒyː.ʃej]
gëzhûshey
"tail, (literary) lizard, skink"

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Final diphthongs monophthongise.

[gə'ʒyː.ʃi]
gëzhûshi
"tail, ribbon, streamer"