Secondary articulation

Inphonetics,secondary articulationoccurs when the articulation of a consonant is equivalent to the combined articulations of two or three simpler consonants, at least one of which is anapproximant.The secondary articulation of suchco-articulated consonantsis the approximant-like articulation. It "colors" the primary articulation rather than obscuring it. Maledo (2011) defines secondary articulation as the superimposition of lesser stricture upon a primary articulation.

Types

There are several kinds of secondary articulation supported by theInternational Phonetic Alphabet:

• Labializationis the most frequently encountered secondary articulation. For example, labialized[kʷ]has a primaryvelar plosivearticulation,[k],with simultaneous[w]-like rounding of the lips, thus the name. It is in contrast to thedoubly articulatedlabial-velar consonant[k͡p],which is articulated with two overlapping plosive articulations,[k]and[p].
• Palatalizationis perhaps best known from theRussian "soft" consonantslike[tʲ]), which has a primaryalveolar plosivearticulation,[t],with simultaneous[j]-like (i.e.y-like) raising of the body of the tongue.
• Labio-palatalizationis simultaneous labialization and palatalization. It is found, for example, in the nameTwi.[ᶣ]
• Velarizationis the raising of the back of the tongue toward thevelum,as in the English"dark" L,[lˠ].
• Pharyngealizationis a constriction in the throat (pharynx) and is found in the Arabic"emphatic" consonantssuch as[sˤ].
• Glottalizationinvolves action of theglottisin addition to the primary articulation of the consonant.

It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish primary and secondary articulation. For example, thealveolo-palatal consonants[ɕʑ]are sometimes characterized as a distinct primary articulation and sometimes as palatalization of postalveolar fricatives, equivalent to[ʃʲʒʲ]or[s̠ʲz̠ʲ].

Transcription

See also:International Phonetic Alphabet § Superscript IPA

The most common method of transcription in the IPA is to turn the letter corresponding to the secondary articulation into a superscript writtenafterthe letter for the primary articulation. For example, thewin ⟨kʷ⟩ is written after thek.This can be misleading, as it iconically suggests that the[k]is released into a[w]sound, analogous to ⟨kˡ kⁿ⟩ ([k] with a lateral and nasal release), when actually the two articulations of[kʷ]are generally pronounced more-or-less simultaneously. Secondary articulation often has a strong effect on surroundingvowels,and may have an audible realization that precedes the primary consonant, or both precedes and follows it. For example,/akʷa/will not generally sound simply like[akwa],but may be closer to[awkwa]or even[awka].For this reason, theIPAsymbols for labialization and palatalization were for a time placed under the primary letter (e.g. ⟨k̫⟩ for[kʷ]and ⟨ƫ⟩ for[tʲ]), and a number of phoneticians still prefer such unambiguous usage, with ⟨kʷ⟩ and ⟨tʲ⟩ used specifically foroff-glides,despite the official policy of the IPA. In the official IPA there remains only an alternative symbol for velarization/pharyngealizaton that is superposed over the primary (e.g. ⟨ɫ⟩ fordark L), but that has font support for a limited number of consonants and is inadvisable for others, where it can be illegible. A few phoneticians use superscript letters for offglides andsubscriptletters for simultaneous articulation (e.g. ⟨tʲ⟩ vs ⟨tⱼ⟩).

There is a longstanding tradition in the IPA that one may turnanyIPA letter into a superscript, and in so doing impart its features to the base consonant. For instance,[ʃˢ]would be an articulation of[ʃ]that has qualities of[s].However, the features are not necessarily imparted as secondary articulation. Superscripts are also used iconically to indicate the onset or release of a consonant, the on-glide or off-glide of a vowel, and fleeting or weak segments. Among other things, these phenomena includepre-nasalization([ᵐb]),pre-stopping([ᵖm,ᵗs]),affrication([tᶴ]), pre-affrication ([ˣk]), trilled, fricative, nasal, and lateral release ([tʳ,tᶿ,dⁿ,dˡ]),rhoticization([ɑʵ]), anddiphthongs([aᶷ]). So, while ⟨ˠ⟩ indicatesvelarizationof non-velar consonants, it is also used for fricative release of the velar stop (⟨ɡˠ⟩). Mixed consonant-vowels may indicate a transition:[ᵇa]may be the allophone of/a/with the transition from/b/that identifies the consonant, while[fʸ]may be the allophone of/f/before/y/,or the formants of/y/anticipated in the/f/.

The 2015 edition of theExtensions to the International Phonetic Alphabetformally advocates superscript letters for the first time since 1989, specifically for the release of plosives.

See also

• Labialization
• Labio-palatalization
• Palatalization (phonetics)
• Pharyngealization
• Velarization
• superscript Latin and Greek letters

Sources

• MacMahon, Michael K. C. (2010). "The International Phonetic Alphabet". In Malmkjaer, Kirsten (ed.).The Routledge Linguistics Encyclopedia(3rd ed.). Routledge. pp.269–275.ISBN978-0-415-42104-1.