Debuccalization
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Sound change and alternation |
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Fortition |
Dissimilation |
Debuccalization or deoralization
Debuccalization is usually seen as a subtype of
Debuccalization processes occur in many different types of environments such as the following:[3]
- word-initially, as in Kannada
- word-finally, as in Burmese
- intervocalically, as in a number of English varieties (e.g. litter [ˈlɪʔə]), or in Tuscan (the house /la kasa/ → [la ˈhaːsa])
Glottal stop
Arabic
/q/ is debuccalized to /ʔ/ in several Arabic varieties, such as northern Egyptian, Lebanese, western Syrian, and urban Palestinian dialects, partially also in Jordanian Arabic (especially by female speakers).[4] The Maltese language, which was originally an Arabic dialect, also shows this feature.
British and American English
Most English-speakers in England and many speakers of American English debuccalize /t/ to a glottal stop [ʔ] in two environments: in word-final position before another consonant (American English IPA)
- get ready [ˈɡɛʔˈɹɛɾi]
- not much [ˈnɑʔˈmʌtʃ]
- not good [ˈnɑʔˈɡʊd̚]
- it says [ɪʔˈsɛz]
Before a syllabic [n̩] following /l/, /r/, or /n/ or a vowel. The /t/ may then also be nasally released. (American English IPA)
- Milton [ˈmɪlʔn̩]
- Martin [ˈmɑɹʔn̩]
- mountain [ˈmæʊnʔn̩]
- cotton [ˈkʰɑʔn̩]
- Latin [ˈlæʔn̩]
Cockney English
In Cockney English, /t/ is often realized as a glottal stop [ʔ] between vowels, liquids, and nasals (notably in the word bottle), a process called t-glottalization.
German
The
Voiced stops are not usually debuccalized. However, many Upper German and East Central German dialects merge voiced and unvoiced stops at least word-internally, and the merged consonants may be debuccalized. For example, in Bavarian, both Anten ('ducks') and Anden ('Andes') are pronounced [ˈɑnʔn̩]. Speakers are often unaware of that.
Glottal fricative
Kannada
In old Kannada at around 10th-14th century, most of the initial /p/ debuccalized into a /h/ e.g. OlKn. pattu, MdKn. hattu "ten".[5]
Slavey
All coda consonants in Slavey must be glottal. When a non-glottal consonant would otherwise be positioned in a syllable coda, it debuccalizes to [h]:[6]
- /ts’ad/ → [ts’ah] ('hat')
- /xaz/ → [xah] ('scar')
- /tl’uɮ/ → [tl’uh] ('rope')
Slavic
The /ɡ/ of many Eastern and Western Slavic languages spirantized and later debuccalized, eg. Serbian bog, Russian box, Czech bůh, Ukrainian bih.
English
Scots and Scottish English
In some varieties of
Scouse
Pre-pausally, /t/ may be debuccalized to [h], eg. it, lot, that, what pronounced [ɪh, lɒh, d̪ah, wɒh].
Proto-Greek
In Proto-Greek, /s/ shifted to [h] initially and between sonorants (vowels, liquids, and nasals).
- Proto-Indo-European *septḿ̥ → Proto-Greek *heptə́ → Ancient Greek heptá (ἑπτά) "seven" (vs. Latin septem)
Intervocalic /h/ had been lost by the time of
- post-PIE *ǵénesos → Proto-Greek *génehos → Ionic géneos (γένεος) : Attic génous (γένους) "of a race"
Before a liquid or nasal, an /h/ was assimilated to the preceding vowel in Attic-Ionic and Doric and to the following nasal in Aeolic. The process is also described as the loss of /h/ and the subsequent lengthening of a vowel or consonant, which kept the syllable the same length (compensatory lengthening).
- PIE *h₁ésmi → Proto-Greek *ehmi → Attic-Ionic ēmí (εἰμί) : Aeolic émmi (ἔμμι) "I am"
Sanskrit
In Sanskrit, /s/ becomes [h] (written ḥ in transliteration) before a pause: e.g. kā́mas ('erotic love') becomes kā́maḥ.
Additionally, the Indo-European aspirated voiced palato-velar *ǵʰ- became [ɦ]: e.g. *bʰeh₂ǵʰús "arm" becomes Sanskrit bāhúḥ.
West Iberian
Spanish
A number of
Galician
In many varieties of Galician, as well as in Galician-influenced Spanish, the phoneme /ɡ/ may debuccalize (gheada) to [ħ] in most or all instances; [x] and [h] are also possible realizations. There is also an inverse hypercorrection process of older or less educated Galician speakers replacing the phoneme /x/ of the Spanish language with [ɡ], which is called gueada.
Portuguese
Portuguese is much less affected by debuccalization, but it is especially notable in its Brazilian variety.
Throughout Brazil, the phoneme /ʁ/ (historically an alveolar trill /r/ that moved to an uvular position) has a rather long inventory of allophones: [, give preference to voiced allophones; elsewhere, they are common only as coda, before voiced consonants.
In such dialects, especially among people speaking an educated variety of Portuguese, it is usual for the rhotic coda in the syllable rhyme to be an alveolar tap, as in European Portuguese and many registers of Spanish, or to be realized as [χ] or [x]. In the rest of the country, it is generally realized as [h], even by speakers who either do not normally use that allophone or delete it entirely, as is common in the vernacular.
However, in some
Finally, many fluminense registers, especially those of the poor and of the youth, most northern and northeastern dialects, and, to a much minor degree, all other Brazilian dialects, debuccalize /s/ (that is, [ɕ ~ ʑ]) but less so than in Spanish. However, a mar-mas merger or even a mar-mais merger occurs: mas mesmo assim "but even so" or mas mesma, sim "though, right, the same (f) one" [mɐɦ ˈmeɦmə ˈsĩ]; mais light "lighter, more slim", or also "less caloric/fatty" [ˈmaɦ ˈlajtɕ]; mas de mim, não "but from me, no" or mais de mim, não "not more from me" [ˈmaɦ dʑi ˈmĩ ˈnɜ̃w]. A coda rhotic in the Brazilian dialects in the Centro-Sul area is hardly ever glottal, and the debuccalized /s/ is unlikely to be confused with it.
Romanian
In the Moldavian dialect of
Goidelic languages
In Scottish and Irish Gaelic, s and t changed by lenition to [h], spelled sh and th.
Faliscan
Inscription in Faliscan from the 4th century BC on show occasional debuccalization of /f/ to /h/ (e.g. hileo : Latin filius). Whether the shift is displayed in the inscriptions is highly irregular, with some forms even showing an ostensibly opposite shift of written f in place of an expected h (e.g. fe : Latin hic), possibly by means of hypercorrection.[7]
Yoruboid languages
Debuccalization occurs extensively within the dialectal contiuum of Yoruboid languages, particularly among the
- )
- )
- Proto-Edekiri *V̀-sʊ̃ → Olukumi ùhọn "ground squirrel" (vs. Ekiti Yoruba ụ̀sụn)
- Proto-Yoruboid *á-folo → Igala áfolo (vs. Standard Yoruba ehoro)
Debuccalization also occurs in other
Loanwords
Debuccalization can be a feature of loanword phonology. For example, debuccalization can be seen in Indonesian loanwords into Selayar.[8]
References
- ^ Trask, R. L. (1996), A Dictionary of Phonetics and Phonology, London and New York: Routledge, p. 106
- ^ O'Brien (2012:2)
- ^ O'Brien (2012:8–10)
- ISBN 978-1-58901-573-9.
- ^ Krishnamurti (2003), p. 120.
- ^ Rice (1989:144,150)
- JSTOR 40266879.
- ^ O'Brien (2012:28)
Bibliography
- Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003). The Dravidian Languages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77111-5.
- O'Brien, Jeremy Paul (2012), An experimental approach to debuccalization and supplementary gestures
- Rice, Keren (1989), A Grammar of Slave
External links
- "Debuccalization" (Chapter 4 of Paul D. Fallon's The Synchronic and Diachronic Phonology of Ejectives [Routledge, 2001]) gives many other terms that have been proposed for the phenomenon.
- Debuccalization and supplementary gestures[permanent dead link]