Ejective consonant
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In
Description
In producing an ejective, the stylohyoid muscle and digastric muscle contract, causing the hyoid bone and the connected glottis to raise, and the forward articulation (at the velum in the case of [kʼ]) is held, raising air pressure greatly in the mouth so when the oral articulators separate, there is a dramatic burst of air.[1] The Adam's apple may be seen moving when the sound is pronounced. In the languages in which they are more obvious, ejectives are often described as sounding like “spat” consonants, but ejectives are often quite weak. In some contexts and in some languages, they are easy to mistake for tenuis or even voiced stops.[2] These weakly ejective articulations are sometimes called intermediates in older American linguistic literature and are notated with different phonetic symbols: ⟨C!⟩ = strongly ejective, ⟨Cʼ⟩ = weakly ejective. Strong and weak ejectives have not been found to be contrastive in any natural language.
In strict, technical terms, ejectives are
Ejective fricatives are rare for presumably the same reason: with the air escaping from the mouth while the pressure is being raised, like inflating a leaky bicycle tire, it is harder to distinguish the resulting sound as salient as a [kʼ].
Occurrence
Ejectives occur in about 20% of the world's languages.[3] Ejectives that phonemically contrast with pulmonic consonants occur in about 15% of languages around the world. The occurrence of ejectives often correlates to languages in mountainous regions such as the North American Cordillera, where ejectives are extremely common. They frequently occur throughout the Andes and Maya Mountains. They are also common in the East African Rift and the South African Plateau (see Geography of Africa). In Eurasia they are extremely common in the Caucasus, which forms an island of ejective languages. Elsewhere, they are rare.
Language families that distinguish ejective consonants include:
- Chadic branches (e.g. Hausa)
- All three families of the Caucasus: the Northwest Caucasian languages (Circassian, Abkhaz and Ubykh); the Northeast Caucasian languages such as Chechen and Avar; and the Kartvelian languages such as Georgian
- the Athabaskan, Siouan and Salishan families of North America along with the many diverse families of the Pacific Northwest from central California to British Columbia
- Mayan family, as well as neighboring Lencan languages and Xincan languages
- Aymaran family
- the southern varieties of Qusqu-Qullaw)
- Puelche and Tehuelche of the Chonan languages
- Alacalufan family
- Tʼwampa and possibly other Nilo-Saharan languages
- Sandawe, Hadza, and the Khoisan families of southern Africa
- Itelmen of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages
- Waima'a of the Austronesian family
- Kunigami and several Northern Ryukyuan and Yaeyama varieties of the Japonic-Ryukyuan family
According to the glottalic theory, the Proto-Indo-European language had a series of ejectives (or, in some versions, implosives), but no extant Indo-European language has retained them.[a] Ejectives are found today in Ossetian and some Armenian dialects only because of influence of the nearby Northeast Caucasian and/or Kartvelian language families.
It had once been predicted that ejectives and implosives would not be found in the same language[
Non-contrastively, ejectives are found in many varieties of British English, usually replacing word-final fortis plosives in utterance-final or emphatic contexts.[5][6][7]
Types
Almost all ejective consonants in the world's languages are
Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Linguo- labial |
Dental | Alveolar | Labial-
alveolar |
Post- alveolar |
Retroflex | Alveolo- palatal |
Palatal | Velar | Labial– velar |
Uvular | Epi- glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop (voiced) |
pʼ | t̪ʼ
|
tʼ
|
t͡pʼ[b] | ʈʼ | cʼ | kʼ ɡ͡kʼ (ɡʼ) |
qʼ ɢ͡qʼ (ɢʼ) |
ʡʼ
| |||||
Affricate (voiced) |
p̪fʼ | t̪θʼ | tsʼ d͡tsʼ (dzʼ) |
tʃʼ d͡tʃʼ (dʒʼ) |
ʈʂʼ | tɕʼ | kxʼ ɡ͡kxʼ (ɡɣʼ) |
qχʼ ɢ͡qχʼ (ɢʁʼ) |
||||||
Fricative
|
ɸʼ | fʼ | θʼ | sʼ | ʃʼ | ʂʼ | ɕʼ | xʼ | χʼ | |||||
Lateral affricate | tɬʼ | c𝼆ʼ (cʎ̝̊ʼ) | k𝼄ʼ (kʟ̝̊ʼ) | |||||||||||
fricative
|
ɬʼ | |||||||||||||
Trill | (theoretical) | |||||||||||||
Nasal | (theoretical) |
A few languages have ejective fricatives. In some dialects of
An ejective retroflex stop [ʈʼ] is rare. It has been reported from
Because the complete closing of the glottis required to form an ejective makes voicing impossible, the allophonic voicing of ejective phonemes causes them to lose their glottalization; this occurs in
Ejective trills aren't attested in any language, even allophonically. An ejective [rʼ] would necessarily be voiceless,
Other ejective sonorants are not known to occur. When sonorants are transcribed with an apostrophe in the literature as if they were ejective, they actually involve a different airstream mechanism: they are glottalized consonants and vowels whose glottalization partially or fully interrupts an otherwise normal voiced pulmonic airstream, somewhat like English uh-uh (either vocalic or nasal) pronounced as a single sound. Often the constriction of the larynx causes it to rise in the vocal tract, but this is individual variation and not the initiator of the airflow. Such sounds generally remain voiced.[12]
Yeyi has a set of prenasalized ejectives like /ⁿtʼ, ᵑkʼ, ⁿtsʼ/.
Orthography
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, ejectives are indicated with a "modifier letter apostrophe" ⟨ʼ⟩, as in this article. A reversed apostrophe is sometimes used to represent light aspiration, as in Armenian linguistics ⟨pʼ tʼ kʼ⟩; this usage is obsolete in the IPA. In other transcription traditions (such as many romanisations of Russian, where it is transliterating the soft sign), the apostrophe represents palatalization: ⟨pʼ⟩ = IPA ⟨pʲ⟩. In some Americanist traditions, an apostrophe indicates weak ejection and an exclamation mark strong ejection: ⟨k̓ , k!⟩. In the IPA, the distinction might be written ⟨kʼ, kʼʼ⟩, but it seems that no language distinguishes degrees of ejection. Transcriptions of the Caucasian languages often utilize combining dots above or below a letter to indicate an ejective.
In alphabets using the Latin script, an IPA-like apostrophe for ejective consonants is common. However, there are other conventions. In Hausa, the hooked letter ƙ is used for /kʼ/. In Zulu and Xhosa, whose ejection is variable between speakers, plain consonant letters are used: p t k ts tsh kr for /pʼ tʼ kʼ tsʼ tʃʼ kxʼ/. In some conventions for Haida and Hadza, double letters are used: tt kk qq ttl tts for /tʼ kʼ qʼ tɬʼ tsʼ/ (Haida) and zz jj dl gg for /tsʼ tʃʼ c𝼆ʼ kxʼ/ (Hadza).
List
Stops
- )
- labialized bilabial ejective stop ⓘ (in Adyghe)
- pharyngealized bilabial ejective stop [pˤʼ] (in Ubykh)
- ]
- Gwich’in, Nez Perce, Quechua, Tlingit, Zulu)
- retroflex ejective stop [ʈʼ] (in Gwich’in)
- palatal ejective stop ⓘ (in Bats, Hausa, Giwi, Nez Perce)
- velar ejective stop ⓘ (in Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Amharic, Archi, Avar, Georgian, Mingrelian, Laz, Svan, Giwi, Gwich’in, Hausa, Kabardian, Lakota, Nez Perce, Quechua, Sandawe, Tigrinya, Tlingit, Zulu)
- uvular ejective stop ⓘ (in Abaza, Abkhaz, Archi, Bats, Georgian, Mingrelian, Laz, Svan, Hakuchi, Nez Perce, Quechua, Tlingit)
- )
Affricates
- labiodental ejective affricate [p̪fʼ] (in Venda)
- dental ejective affricate [tθʼ] (in Chipewyan, Gwich’in)
- alveolar ejective affricate ⓘ (in Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Amharic, Archi, Avar, Georgian, Mingrelian, Laz, Svan, Giwi, Gwich’in, Hadza, Hausa, Kabardian, Sandawe, Tigrinya, Tlingit, Ubykh)
- labialized alveolar ejective affricate [t͡sʷʼ] (in Archi)
- palato-alveolar ejective affricate ⓘ (in Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Amharic, Archi, Avar, Chipewyan, Georgian, Mingrelian, Laz, Svan, Gwich’in, Hadza, Hausa, Kabardian, Lakota, Quechua, Tigrinya, Tlingit, Ubykh, Zulu)
- labialized palato-alveolar ejective affricate [t͡ʃʷʼ] (in Abaza, Archi)
- retroflex ejective affricate ⓘ (in Abkhaz, Adyghe, Ubykh)
- alveolo-palatal ejective affricate [t͡ɕʼ] (in Abaza, Abkhaz, Ubykh)
- labialized alveolo-palatal ejective affricate [t͡ɕʷʼ] (in Abkhaz, Ubykh)
- palatal ejective affricate ⓘ
- velar ejective affricate ⓘ (in Hadza, Zulu)
- uvular ejective affricate ⓘ (in Avar, Giwi, Lillooet)
- alveolar lateral ejective affricate ⓘ (in Baslaney, Chipewyan, Dahalo, Gwich’in, Haida, Lillooet, Nez Perce, Sandawe, Tlingit, Tsez)
- palatal lateral ejective affricate [c͡𝼆ʼ] (in Dahalo, Hadza)
- velar lateral ejective affricate ⓘ (in Archi, Gǀui)
- labialized velar lateral ejective affricate [k͡𝼄ʷʼ] (in Archi)
- uvular lateral ejective affricate [q𝼄̠ʼ] (in Gǀui, ǂʼAmkoe)
Fricatives
- bilabial ejective fricative [ɸʼ]
- labiodental ejective fricative ⓘ (in Abaza, Kabardian)
- dental ejective fricative ⓘ (in Chiwere)
- alveolar ejective fricative ⓘ (in Chiwere, Lakota, Shapsug, Tlingit)
- alveolar lateral ejective fricative ⓘ (in Abaza, Adyghe, Kabardian, Tlingit, Ubykh)
- palato-alveolar ejective fricative ⓘ (in Adyghe, Lakota)
- labialized palato-alveolar ejective fricative ⓘ (in Adyghe)
- retroflex ejective fricative ⓘ (in Keres)
- alveolo-palatal ejective fricative ⓘ (in Kabardian)
- palatal ejective fricative ⓘ
- velar ejective fricative ⓘ (in Tlingit)
- labialized velar ejective fricative [xʷʼ] (in Tlingit)
- uvular ejective fricative ⓘ (in Tlingit)
- labialized uvular ejective fricative [χʷʼ] (in Tlingit)
Clicks
- ǂ’Amkoe)
- Ejective-contour clicks
- [ʘqʼ ǀqʼ ǁqʼ ǃqʼ ǂqʼ]
- [ʘ̬qʼ ǀ̬qʼ ǁ̬qʼ ǃ̬qʼ ǂ̬qʼ]
- [ʘqχʼ ǀqχʼ ǁqχʼ ǃqχʼ ǂqχʼ ~ ʘkxʼ ǀkxʼ ǁkxʼ ǃkxʼ ǂkxʼ ~ ʘk𝼄ʼ ǀk𝼄ʼ ǁk𝼄ʼ ǃk𝼄ʼ ǂk𝼄ʼ
- [ʘ̬qχʼ ǀ̬qχʼ ǁ̬qχʼ ǃ̬qχʼ ǂ̬qχʼ ~ ʘ̬kxʼ ǀ̬kxʼ ǁ̬kxʼ ǃ̬kxʼ ǂ̬kxʼ ~ ʘ̬k𝼄ʼ ǀ̬k𝼄ʼ ǁ̬k𝼄ʼ ǃ̬k𝼄ʼ ǂ̬k𝼄ʼ
The Mountain Hypothesis
A pattern can be observed wherein ejectives correlate geographically with mountainous regions.
See also
- Glottalic consonant
- List of phonetics topics
- Beatboxing
Notes
- Northwestern Indic languages like Sindhi have implosives.
- Ubyx; in free variation with [tʷʼ]; also found in Abkhaz in free variation with [tʷʼ].
References
- ^ Ladefoged (2005:147–148)
- ^ a b Fallon, 2002. The synchronic and diachronic phonology of ejectives
- ^ a b Ladefoged (2005:148)
- ^ Greenberg (1970:?)
- ISBN 9780273016816.
- ISBN 0521297192.
- ISBN 978-0340958773.
- ^ Bickford & Floyd (2006) Articulatory Phonetics, Table 25.1, augmented by sources at the articles on individual consonants
- ^ John Esling (2010) "Phonetic Notation", in Hardcastle, Laver & Gibbon (eds) The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences, 2nd ed., p 700.
- ^ Barker, M. A. R. (1963a).
- ^ Heselwood (2013: 148)
- ^ Esling, John H.; Moisik, Scott R.; Benner, Allison; Crevier-Buchman, Lise (2019). Voice Quality: The Laryngeal Articulator Model. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Liberman (2013).
- ^ Lewis & Pereltsvaig (2013).
- ^ Wier (2013).
Bibliography
- Beck, David (2006). "The emergence of ejective fricatives in Upper Necaxa Totonac". University of Alberta Working Papers in Linguistics. 1: 1–18.
- Campbell, Lyle. 1973. On Glottalic Consonants. International Journal of American Linguistics 39, 44–46. JSTOR 1264659
- Chirikba, V.A. Aspects of Phonological Typology. Moscow, 1991 (in Russian).
- Everett, Caleb (2013), "Evidence for Direct Geographic Influences on Linguistic Sounds: The Case of Ejectives", PMID 23776463
- Fallon, Paul. 2002. The Synchronic and Diachronic Phonology of Ejectives. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-93800-6.
- Hogan, John T. (1976-07-01). "An Analysis of the Temporal Features of Ejective Consonants". Phonetica. 33 (4). Walter de Gruyter GmbH: 275–284. S2CID 144724070.
- S2CID 143225017
- ISBN 0-631-21411-9
- ISBN 0-631-19815-6.
- Lewis, Martin W.; Pereltsvaig, Asya (17 June 2013). "Ejectives, High Altitudes, and Grandiose Linguistic Hypotheses". GeoCurrents. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014.
- Liberman, Mark (14 June 2013). "High-altitude ejectives". Language Log.
- Lindau, Mona (1984). "Phonetic differences in glottalic consonants". Journal of Phonetics. 12 (2). Elsevier BV: 147–155. ISSN 0095-4470.
- Lindsey, Geoffrey; Hayward, Katrina; Haruna, Andrew (1992). "Hausa Glottalic Consonants: A Laryngographic Study". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 55 (3): 511–527. S2CID 143934037.
- Taddese, Takkele (1992). "Are sʼ and tʼ variants of an Amharic variable? A sociolinguistic analysis". Journal of Ethiopian Languages and Literature. 2: 104–21.
- Wier, Thomas (19 June 2013). "Ejectives, Altitude, and the Caucasus as a Linguistic Area". Diversity Linguistics Comment.
- Wright, Richard; Hargus, Sharon; Davis, Katharine (2002). "On the categorization of ejectives: data from Witsuwit'en". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 32: 43–77. S2CID 145579984.
External links
- Listen to Ejective Consonant
- WALS map of languages with ejectives (blue and purple)