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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.

Davide La Vardera
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  • Maybe have a look at this article: http://selftaughtjapanese.com/2015/02/26/japanese-particle-combination-%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF-de-wa-and-%E3%81%98%E3%82%83-ja/ – Retro Gamer Oct 06 '17 at 19:16
  • The article you cited does not address the origin of the contraction では→じ, but only that of では. Thank you anyway. The article was very interesting! – Davide La Vardera Oct 06 '17 at 20:34

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The contraction is simply a matter of fast speech and sound shapes. で or /de/ is a front-of-the-mouth sound, where 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/.

Eiríkr Útlendi
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