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Consonant (idea)

See all of Consonant, there is 1 more in this node.
(idea) by Mercuryblues Thu Jan 23 2003 at 22:04:40

Every consonant in every human language can be described in a few simple parameters. For instance, the letter 'b'of English's technical name is 'leinously voiced unaspirated bilabial plosive stop with egressive pulmonic air. And the technical name of our 'sh' sound is voiceless palato-alveolar fricative with egressive pulmonic air. These are the parameters:

Type of voicing:

  • voiced (fortous or leinous)
  • voiceless
  • breathy voiced
  • creaky voiced

Type of release (mainly for stops and affricates):

  • aspirated
  • unaspirated
  • unreleased
  • glottalized
  • velarized
  • pharyngealized
  • labialized
  • palatized
  • nasal release
  • lateral release

Place of Articulation:

  • bilabial
  • labiodental
  • dental
  • alveolar
  • alveo-palatal
  • palato-alveolar
  • retroflex*
  • palatal
  • velar
  • uvular
  • pharyngeal
  • glottal
  • epiglottal
  • labial-alveolar
  • labial-velar
  • alveolar-velar
  • labial-palatal

Manner of Articulation:

  • plosive stop
  • nasal stop
  • retroflex*
  • trill
  • tap/flap
  • lateral flap
  • fricative
  • lateral fricative
  • affricate
  • lateral affricate
  • approximant
  • lateral approximant
  • double stop
  • double fricative

Air-stream mechanism:

  • egressive pulmonic air
  • egressive glottal air
  • ingressive glottal air
  • ingressive mouth air

* Retroflection is debated as either a place or manner of articulation...linguists are divided on this. Peter Ladefoged regards it as a manner of articulation.

Using these parameters, it is possible to describe any consonant in human language, including clicks and other odd sounds.

I like it! 1 C!
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