secondary articulation

There are several kinds of secondary articulation supported by the International Phonetic Alphabet:

• Labialization is the most frequently encountered secondary articulation. For example, labialized {{IPAblink|kʷ}} has a primary velar plosive articulation, {{IPA|[k]}}, with simultaneous {{IPA|[w]}}-like rounding of the lips, thus the name. It is in contrast to the doubly articulated labial-velar consonant {{IPAblink|k͡p}}, which is articulated with two overlapping plosive articulations, {{IPA|[k]}} and {{IPA|[p]}}.
• Palatalization is perhaps best known from the Russian "soft" consonants like {{IPA|[tʲ]}}), which has a primary alveolar plosive articulation, {{IPA|[t]}}, with simultaneous {{IPA|[j]}}-like (i.e. y-like) raising of the body of the tongue.
• Labio-palatalization is simultaneous {{IPA|[ɥ]}}-like labialization and palatalization. It is found, for example, in the name Twi, {{IPA|[tɕᶣi]}}.
• Velarization is the raising of the back of the tongue toward the velum, as in the English "dark" L, {{IPA|[lˠ]}}.
• Pharyngealization is a constriction in the throat (pharynx) and is found in the Arabic "emphatic" consonants such as {{IPA|[sˤ]}}.
• Glottalization involves action of the glottis in addition to the primary articulation of the consonant.

It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish primary and secondary articulation. For example, the alveolo-palatal consonants {{IPA|[ɕ ʑ]}} are sometimes characterized as a distinct primary articulation and sometimes as palatalization of postalveolar fricatives, equivalent to {{IPA|[ʃʲ ʒʲ]}} or {{IPA|[s̠ʲ z̠ʲ]}}.

{{also|International Phonetic Alphabet#Superscript IPA}}

The most common method of transcription in the IPA is to turn the letter corresponding to the secondary articulation into a superscript written after the letter for the primary articulation. For example, the w in {{angbr IPA|kʷ}} is written after the k. This can be misleading, as it iconically suggests that the {{IPA|[k]}} is released into a {{IPA|[w]}} sound, analogous to {{angbr IPA|kˡ kⁿ}} ([k] with a lateral and nasal release), when actually the two articulations of {{IPA|[kʷ]}} are generally pronounced more-or-less simultaneously. Secondary articulation often has a strong effect on surrounding vowels, and may have an audible realization that precedes the primary consonant, or both precedes and follows it. For example, {{IPA|/akʷa/}} will not generally sound simply like {{IPA|[akwa]}}, but may be closer to {{IPA|[awkwa]}} or even {{IPA|[awka]}}. For this reason, the IPA symbols for labialization and palatalization were for a time placed under the primary letter (e.g. {{angbr IPA|k̫}} for {{IPA|[kʷ]}} and {{angbr IPA|ƫ}} for {{IPA|[tʲ]}}), and a number of phoneticians still prefer such unambiguous usage, with {{angbr IPA|kʷ}} and {{angbr IPA|tʲ}} used specifically for off-glides, despite the official policy of the IPA. In the official IPA there remains only an alternative symbol for velarization/pharyngealizaton that is superposed over the primary (e.g. {{angbr IPA|ɫ}} for dark L), but that has font support for a limited number of consonants and is inadvisable for others, where it can be illegible. A few phoneticians use superscript letters for offglides and subscript letters for simultaneous articulation (e.g. {{angbr IPA|tʲ}} vs {{angbr IPA|tⱼ}}).

There is a longstanding tradition in the IPA that one may turn any IPA letter into a superscript, and in so doing impart its features to the base consonant. For instance, {{IPA|[ʃˢ]}} would be an articulation of {{IPA|[ʃ]}} that has qualities of {{IPA|[s]}}.{{cite journal

|author=International Phonetic Association

|year=1978

|title=The International Phonetic Alphabet (Revised to 1979)

|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

|volume=8

|issue=1–2

|at=Supplement

|jstor=44541414

}} Reprinted in {{harvp|MacMahon|2010|p=271}}. However, the features are not necessarily imparted as secondary articulation. Superscripts are also used iconically to indicate the onset or release of a consonant, the on-glide or off-glide of a vowel, and fleeting or weak segments. Among other things, these phenomena include pre-nasalization ({{IPA|[ᵐb]}}), pre-stopping ({{IPA|[ᵖm, ᵗs]}}), affrication ({{IPA|[tᶴ]}}), pre-affrication ({{IPA|[ˣk]}}), trilled, fricative, nasal, and lateral release ({{IPA|[tʳ, tᶿ, dⁿ, dˡ]}}), rhoticization ({{IPA|[ɑʵ]}}), and diphthongs ({{IPA|[aᶷ]}}). So, while {{angbr IPA|ˠ}} indicates velarization of non-velar consonants, it is also used for fricative release of the velar stop ({{angbr IPA|ɡˠ}}). Mixed consonant-vowels may indicate a transition: {{IPA|[ᵇa]}} may be the allophone of {{IPA|/a/}} with the transition from {{IPA|/b/}} that identifies the consonant, while {{IPA|[fʸ]}} may be the allophone of {{IPA|/f/}} before {{IPA|/y/}}, or the formants of {{IPA|/y/}} anticipated in the {{IPA|/f/}}.

The 2015 edition of the Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet formally advocates superscript letters for the first time since 1989, specifically for the release of plosives.{{cite journal

|last1=Ball

|first1=Martin J.

|authorlink1=Martin J. Ball

|last2=Howard

|first2=Sara J.

|last3=Miller

|first3=Kirk

|year=2018

|title=Revisions to the extIPA chart

|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

|volume=48

|issue=2

|pages=155–164

|doi=10.1017/S0025100317000147

|s2cid=151863976

}}

• Labialization
• Labio-palatalization
• Palatalization (phonetics)
• Pharyngealization
• Velarization
• superscript Latin and Greek letters

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book

|last=MacMahon

|first=Michael K. C.

|year=2010

|chapter=The International Phonetic Alphabet

|editor-last=Malmkjaer

|editor-first=Kirsten

|title=The Routledge Linguistics Encyclopedia

|url=https://archive.org/details/routledgelinguis00malm

|url-access=limited

|edition=3rd

|publisher=Routledge

|pages=[https://archive.org/details/routledgelinguis00malm/page/n307 269]–275

|isbn=978-0-415-42104-1

}}

{{refend}}

Category:Phonetics