Uvularization or uvularisation ( British English ) is a secondary articulation of consonants or vowels by which the back of the tongue is constricted toward the uvula and upper pharynx during the articulation of a sound with its primary articulation elsewhere.

IPA symbols [ edit ]

In the International Phonetic Alphabet , uvularization can be indicated by the symbol ??? (a superscript voiced uvular fricative (inverted small capital R)) after the letter standing for the consonant that is uvularized, as in [t?] (the uvularized equivalent of [t] ). The symbol ??? (a superscript voiceless uvular fricative ) is sometimes used on voiceless consonants. This is specified in VoQS standards.

Occurrence [ edit ]

Uvularized consonants are often not distinguished from pharyngealized consonants , and they may be transcribed as if they were pharyngealized.

In Arabic and several other Semitic and Berber languages , uvularization is the defining characteristic of the series of " emphatic " coronal consonants . ^{[1] [2]}

Uvularized consonants in standard Arabic are /s?/ , /d?/ , /t?/ , /ð?/ , /l?/ . Regionally there is also /z?/ and /r?/ . Other consonants, and vowels, may be phonetically uvularized.

In Greenlandic , long vowels are uvularized before uvular consonants , ^[3] and English speakers retaining the Northumbrian Burr are reported both to uvularize and to retract vowels before a rhotic . ^[4]

References [ edit ]