Voiceless bilabial implosive
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| Voiceless bilabial implosive | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɓ̥ | |||
| ƥ | |||
| Audio sample | |||
| |||
A voiceless bilabial implosive is a rare consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɓ̥⟩ or theoretically ⟨pʼ↓⟩. A dedicated IPA letter, ⟨ƥ⟩, was retired in 1993.
Features
[edit]Features of a voiceless bilabial implosive:
- Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a plosive.
- Its place of articulation is bilabial, which means it is articulated with both lips.
- Its phonation is un-voiced, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
- It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
- Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the central–lateral dichotomy does not apply.
- The airstream mechanism is implosive (glottalic ingressive), which means it is produced by pulling air in by pumping the glottis downward. As it is voiceless, the glottis is completely closed, and there is no pulmonic airstream at all.
Occurrence
[edit]A rare and evidently unstable sound, /ɓ̥/ is found in the Serer of Senegal and in the Owere dialect of Igbo in Nigeria. It can also be found in Ngiti in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[1] It is also found in multiple Mayan languages, such as Kaqchikel, Mam, and Akatek.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akatek | kaapʼ | [kaːɓ̥] | 'two' | Word-final allophone of /ɓ/. |
| Ese Ejja | ba'i | ['ɓ̥aʔi] | 'moon' | [2] |
| Kaqchikel[3] | b'ojoy | [ɓ̥oχoj] | 'pot' | |
| Mam[2] | b'aj | [ɓ̥aχ] | 'finish' | In free variation with /ɓ/. |
| Serer[4] | [example needed] | Contrasts /ɓ̥, ɗ̥, ʄ̊, ɓ, ɗ, ʄ/. | ||
| Ngiti[5] | [example needed] | |||
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Kutsch Lojenga, Constance (1994). Ngiti: a Central-Sudanic language of Zaire (PhD). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. p. 31.
- ^ a b England, Nora C. (1983). A grammar of Mam, a Mayan language. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0292729278. OCLC 748935484.
- ^ Patal Majzul, Filiberto; García Matzar, Pedro Oscar; Espantzay Serech, Carmelina (2000). Rujunamaxik ri Kaqchikel Chiʼ = Variación dialectal en Kaqchikel. Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala: Proyecto de Investigación Lingüística de Oxlajuuj Keej Mayaʼ Ajtzʼiibʼ (OKMA); Editorial Cholsamaj. pp. 24ff. ISBN 99922-53-13-4. OCLC 46849157.
- ^ Mc Laughlin (2005:203)
- ^ Kutsch Lojenga, Constance (1994). Ngiti: a Central-Sudanic language of Zaire (PhD). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
Works cited
[edit]- Mc Laughlin, Fiona (2005), "Voiceless implosives in Seereer-Siin", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 35 (2): 201–214, doi:10.1017/S0025100305002215, S2CID 145717014
