- Epiglottal consonant
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Places of
articulation
LabialBilabial Labial–velar Labial–coronal Labiodental Dentolabial
Bidental
CoronalLinguolabial Interdental Dental Denti-alveolar Alveolar Postalveolar Palato-alveolar Alveolo-palatal Retroflex
DorsalPalatal Labial–palatal Velar Uvular Uvular–epiglottal
RadicalPharyngeal Epiglotto-pharyngeal Epiglottal
GlottalTongue shape
ApicalLaminal Subapical
LateralSulcal
PalatalPharyngeal
See also: Manner of articulationThis page contains phonetic information in IPA, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help]
An epiglottal consonant is a consonant that is articulated with the aryepiglottic folds (see larynx) against the epiglottis. They are occasionally called aryepiglottal consonants.
Contents
Epiglottal consonants in the IPA
The epiglottal consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:
IPA Description Example Language Orthography IPA Meaning 
voiceless epiglottal plosive Aghul jaʡ[citation needed] center 
voiced epiglottal fricative or approximant Arabic تَعَشَّى tɑʢɑʃʃæ to have supper 
voiceless epiglottal fricative Aghul mɛʜ whey - A voiced epiglottal plosive may not be possible. When one becomes voiced intervocalically in Dahalo, for example, it becomes a tap.
- Although traditionally placed in the fricative row of the IPA chart, [ʢ] is usually an approximant. The IPA symbol itself is ambiguous, but no language has a distinct fricative and approximant at this place of articulation. Sometimes the lowering diacritic is used to specify that the manner is approximant: [ʢ̞].
- Epiglottal trills are quite common (for epiglottals, that is), but this can usually be considered a phonemic plosive or a fricative, with the trill being phonetic detail. The IPA has no symbol for this, though [я] is sometimes seen in the literature.
Characteristics
Epiglottals are not known from many languages. However, this may partially be an effect of the difficulty European language-speaking linguists have in recognizing them. On several occasions[which?], when supposedly pharyngeal consonants were actually measured, they turned out to be epiglottals. This was the case for Dahalo, for example.
Epiglottals are primarily known from the Mideast (in the Semitic languages) and from British Columbia ("pharyngeal trills" in northern Haida), but may occur elsewhere. It is likely that several of the Salish or Wakashan languages of British Columbia reported to have "pharyngeals" actually have epiglottals, and the same may be true of some of the languages of the Caucasus.
Recently[when?], a new possible radical place of articulation, epiglotto-pharyngeal, was reported.
See also
References
- Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
International Phonetic Alphabet IPA topics IPA International Phonetic Association · History of the IPA · Kiel convention (1989) · Journal of the IPA (JIPA) · Naming conventionsPhonetics Special topics Encodings Consonants IPA pulmonic consonants chartchart image • 
audioPlace → Labial Coronal Dorsal Radical Glottal ↓ Manner Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalv. Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Epiglottal Glottal Nasal m ɱ n̪ n ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ Plosive p b p̪ b̪ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Fricative ɸ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ Approximant ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ Trill ʙ r ɽ͡r ʀ я * Flap or tap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̯ Lateral Fric. ɬ ɮ ɭ˔̊ ʎ̥˔ ʟ̝̊ Lateral Appr. l ɭ ʎ ʟ Lateral flap ɺ ɺ̠ ʎ̯ Non-pulmonic consonants Clicks ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ Implosives ɓ ɗ ʄ ᶑ ɠ ʛ Ejectives pʼ tʼ cʼ ʈʼ kʼ qʼ fʼ θʼ sʼ ɬʼ xʼ χʼ tsʼ tɬʼ cʎ̝̥ʼ tʃʼ ʈʂʼ kxʼ kʟ̝̊ʼ Affricates p̪f ts dz tʃ dʒ tɕ dʑ ʈʂ ɖʐ tɬ dɮ cç ɟʝ Co-articulated consonants Fricatives ɕ ʑ ɧ Approximants ʍ w ɥ ɫ Stops k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m These tables contain phonetic symbols, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help] Where symbols appear in pairs, left—right represent the voiceless—voiced consonants. Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged to be impossible. * Symbol not defined in IPA. Chart image Vowels Vowels: IPA help • chart • chart with audio • viewCategories:- Consonants
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