Airstream mechanics Flashcards
Pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism
When lung air is pushed out of the lungs
Plosives
Stops with an egressive (outward) pulmonic airstream
Egressive glottalic airstream mechanism for ejectives
- Back of tongue forms a velar closure. The glottis is shut, creating a pocket of air that is disconnected from the lung.
- Closed glottis is raised
- Body of air in pharynx is compressed.
- Back of tongue is lowered, releasing compressed pharynx air.
- Glottal closure is released.
Ejective Notation
Transcribed with a diacritic : apostrophe [ʼ] indicates that the preceding segment is ejective
E.g. Georgian [mt͡s’vrtneli]
What segments can be ejectives ?
Obstruents (fricatives and affricates are possible, but rare)
Cue for ejective detection
First ejective consonant burst
* Higher amplitude then for plosives
* Greater lag before onset of following segment
2nd stop release burst
* Release of the vocal folds
* Much lower in amplitude
When do people produce ejectives in English ?
Ejectives are articulatorily equivalent to a glottal stop followed by an obstruent, where the release of the obstruent happens before the release of the glottal stop
* [ʔk] ≈ [k’]
- In free variation with plosives at the end of words in UK English
True or false : speakers of English can produce ejectives but they do not interpret them as phonemically contrastive
True
Implosives
Stops made with an ingressive glottalic airstream mechanism
Ingressive glottalic airstream
- Closure of the lips
- Downward movement of vibrating glottis. Air from the lungs continues to flow through the glottis.
- Little change in pressure of the air in the oral tract
- Lips come apart
Implosive notation
Voiced plosives with a right hook on the top
* Plosive [b] vs implosive [ɓ]
* Plosive [d] vs implosive [ɗ]
* Plosive [g] vs implosive [ɠ]
What segments can be implosives ?
Obstruents (typically voiced)
Cue to detecting implosives
Pre-voicing
* Increases in amplitude over time for implosives
* Slightly decreases for regular voiced plosives
Implosive allophone distribution in English
When putting emphasis on bilabial stops, e.g. in ‘billions’
Distribution of Implosives
Phonemic implosives in 76/567 languages
Voiced plosives in some languages are (slightly) implosive
* Thai, Vietnamese, Swahili
Velaric ingressive airstream mechanism in a dental click
- Back of tongue raised to form velar closure. Tongue tip up to form front closure.
- While both the anterior and the velar closure are maintained, the body of the tongue moves down, decreasing the pressure of the air in the front part of the mouth
- Tongue tip lowered so that air rushes into the mouth
- Velar closure released
Clicks are stops made with an _____ingressive/egressive velaric airstream mechanism
Ingressive
Click Notation in the IPA
Transcribed with a separate symbol (orthography)
Dental click /ǀ/ (c)
Alveolar /!/ (q)
Labial /ʘ/ (pc)
Lateral /ǁ/ (x)
Palatal /ǂ/
Distribution of clicks
9/567 languages
- used phonemically only in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. Zulu)
Paralinguistic clicks
Convey emotional state, imitate animal
English :
[ʘʷ] signals affection
[ǀ] signals disgust
(These do not count as click consonants because not phonemes)
Pulmonic Ingressive Airflow
Physically possible but not attested phonemically in any language
Northern Swedish ‘yes’ is a pulmonic ingressive [hʷ]
Arytenoid cartilages
Adjust vocal cords position
2 ways to move vocal cords
- Bought closer together and moved apart
- Tightened and loosened
* Determines vibration rate
Determines how much air passes through the glottis
Distance between vocal cords, changes by pushing together or moving apart
