Examples of sound shifts that have occurred in English are the Great Vowel Shift and the Northern cities vowel shift.

While a chain shift usually occurs as a set of vowel shifts, chain shifts can also occur in consonants. For example, a set of plosives that have a voiced / voiceless distinction may shift to have a aspirated / unaspirated distinction. In this case, the voiceless consonants become aspirated, and the voiced consonants become voiceless.