Slack voice
{{Short description|Type of pronunciation}}
{{One source|date=August 2008}}
Slack voice (or lax voice) is the pronunciation of consonant or vowels with a glottal opening slightly wider than that occurring in modal voice. Such sounds are often referred to informally as lenis or half-voiced in the case of consonants. In some Chinese varieties, such as Wu, and in a few Austronesian languages, the 'intermediate' phonation of slack stops confuses listeners of languages without these distinctions, so that different transcription systems may use {{angbr|p}} or {{angbr|b}} for the same consonant. In Xhosa, slack-voiced consonants have usually been transcribed as breathy voice. Although the IPA has no dedicated diacritic for slack voice, the voiceless diacritic (the under-ring) may be used with a voiced consonant letter, though this convention is also used for partially voiced consonants in languages such as English.{{SOWL|63–6}}
Wu Chinese "muddy" consonants are slack voice word-initially, the primary effect of which is a slightly breathy quality of the following vowel.
| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
! rowspan=2| | colspan=3|Bilabial | colspan=3|Alveolar | colspan=3|Velar |
| IPA|| Wu || gloss || IPA|| Wu || gloss || IPA|| Wu || gloss | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| slack voice
| {{IPA|[b̥ʌ̀ʔ]}} || {{lang|wuu|白}} || {{gloss|white}} | {{IPA|[d̥ǐ]}} || {{lang|wuu|地}} || {{gloss|earth}} | {{IPA|[ɡ̊ə̀ʔ]}} || {{lang|wuu|個}} || {{gloss|mode=def|possessive particle}} | |||
| tenuis
| {{IPA|[pʌ́ʔ]}} || {{lang|wuu|百}} || {{gloss|hundred}} | {{IPA|[tíʔ]}} || {{lang|wuu|的}} || {{gloss|mode=def|a grammatical particle}} | {{IPA|[kóʔ]}} || {{lang|wuu|角}} || {{gloss|corner}} | |||
| aspirated
| {{IPA|[pʰʌ́ʔ]}} || {{lang|wuu|拍}} || {{gloss|to strike}} | {{IPA|[tʰî]}} || {{lang|wuu|天}} || {{gloss|sky}} | {{IPA|[kʰʌ́ʔ]}} || {{lang|wuu|客}} || {{gloss|guest}} |
Javanese contrasts slack and stiff voiced bilabial, dental, retroflex, and velar stops.
| class=wikitable
! !! colspan=2|Bilabial !!colspan=2|Dental Stop !!colspan=2|Dental Affricate !!colspan=2|Retroflex !!colspan=2|Velar |
| phonation || IPA || gloss || IPA || gloss || IPA || gloss || IPA || gloss || IPA || gloss |
|---|
| stiff voice
| {{IPA|[paku]}} || {{gloss|nail}} | {{IPA|[tamu]}} || {{gloss|guest}} | {{IPA|[tsariʔ]}} || {{gloss|sheet (of paper)}} | {{IPA|[ʈiʈiʔ]}} || {{gloss|little}} | {{IPA|[kali]}} || {{gloss|river}} |
| slack voice
| {{IPA|[b̥aku]}} || {{gloss|standard}} | {{IPA|[d̥amu]}} || {{gloss|blow}} | {{IPA|[d̥z̥arit]}} || {{gloss|mode=def|type of women's clothing}} | {{IPA|[ɖ̥isiʔ]}} || {{gloss|first}} | {{IPA|[ɡ̊ali]}} || {{gloss|dig}} |
Parauk contrasts slack voicing in its vowels. The contrast is between "slightly stiff" and "slightly breathy" vowels; the first are between modal and stiff voice, while the latter are captured by slack voice.