Emphatic consonant

InSemiticlinguistics,anemphatic consonantis anobstruentconsonantwhich originally contrasted, and often still contrasts, with an analogousvoicedorvoicelessobstruent by means of asecondary articulation.In specific Semitic languages, the members of the emphatic series may be realized asuvularized,pharyngealized,velarizedorejective,or by plain voicing contrast; for instance, inArabic,emphasis involves retraction of the dorsum (or root) of the tongue, which has variously been described as velarization or pharyngealization depending on where the locus of the retraction is assumed to be. The term is also used, to a lesser extent, to describe cognate series in otherAfro-Asiatic languages,where they are typically realized as ejective,implosiveor pharyngealized consonants.

InSemitic studies,emphatic consonants are commonly transcribed using the convention of placing a dot under the closest plain consonant in theLatin alphabet.However, exceptions exist: original emphatickdeveloped into/q/in most Semitic languages; strictly speaking, it has thus ceased to be an emphatic version ofkand has become a different consonant, being most commonly transcribed asq(rather thanḳ) accordingly.

Within Arabic, the emphatic consonants vary in phonetic realization from dialect to dialect, but are typically realized as pharyngealized consonants. InEthiopian SemiticandModern South Arabian languages,they are realized as ejective consonants. While these sounds do not necessarily share any particularphoneticproperties in common, most historically derive from a common source.

Five such "emphatic" phonemes arereconstructedforProto-Semitic:

Proto-Semitic			Hebrew	Aramaic	Arabic
Phoneme description	IPA	Trans.	Letter/phoneme name			IPA	Trans.
Alveolar ejective	[tʼ]	ṭ	Tetט	Tethט	Ṭāʼط	[tˤ]	ṭ
Dental ejective fricative	[θʼ]	ṯ̣	Tsadiצ		Ẓāʾظ	[ðˤ]	ẓorḏ̣
Alveolar ejective fricativeoraffricate	[tsʼ]/[sʼ]	ṣ		Ṣadeצ	Ṣādص	[sˤ]	ṣ
Alveolar lateral ejective fricativeoraffricate	[ɬʼ]/[tɬʼ]	ṣ́		Ayinע	Ḍādض	[dˤ]	ḍ
Velar ejective	[kʼ]	ḳ	Qofק	Qophק	Qāfق	[q]	q

An extra emphatic labial*ṗoccurs in some Semitic languages, but it is unclear whether it was a phoneme in Proto-Semitic.

• The classical Ethiopian Semitic languageGeʽezis unique among Semitic languages for contrasting all three of/p/,/f/,and/pʼ/.While/p/and/pʼ/occur mostly in loanwords (especially fromGreek), there are many other occurrences whose origin is less clear (such ashepʼä'strike',häppälä'wash clothes').
• According to Hetzron,Hebrewdevelopedan emphatic labial phonemeṗto represent unaspirated/p/fromPersianand Greek; this phoneme is not attested in Hebrew orthography.

GeneralModern Israeli HebrewandMalteseare notable exceptions among Semitic languages to the presence of emphatic consonants. In both languages, they have been lost under the influence ofIndo-European languages(chieflyYiddishandSicilian,respectively, though other languages may also have had an influence; seerevival of the Hebrew language).

• In Hebrew, the lettertsadi(from Proto-Semiticṯ̣,ṣ,ṣ́) remains distinct, but has been replaced by a non-pharygealizedaffricate/ts/.Emphaticḳhas been merged with plainkin non-lenitedpositions, but remains distinct post-vocally, where the plain consonant becomes/x/(phonetically[χ]), while the original emphatic does not. Semiticṭhas been fully merged with plaint.
• In Maltese, only emphaticḳ(spelledq) remains distinct. It is still realised as a uvular stop[q]in a few villages but has otherwise developed into aglottal consonantstop[ʔ].All other emphatics have been merged into plain consonants. However, they are often still recognizable from special vocalic developments that they triggered before the mergers: comparesejf('sword',from Arabicسَيْف⁩sayf) withsajf('summer',from Arabicصَيْف⁩ṣayf). The emphaticṣprevented theafrom beingraisedtoeas it did with the plains).