In
phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...
, secondary articulation occurs when the articulation of a consonant is equivalent to the combined articulations of two or three simpler consonants, at least one of which is an
approximant. The secondary articulation of such
co-articulated consonants is the approximant-like articulation. It "colors" the primary articulation rather than obscuring it. Maledo (2011) defines secondary articulation as the superimposition of lesser stricture upon a primary articulation.
Types
There are several kinds of secondary articulation supported by the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
:
*
Labialization
Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels involve ...
is the most frequently encountered secondary articulation. For example, labialized has a primary
velar plosive articulation, , with simultaneous -like rounding of the lips, thus the name. It is in contrast to the
doubly articulated labial-velar consonant , which is articulated with two overlapping plosive articulations, and .
*
Palatalization
Palatalization may refer to:
*Palatalization (phonetics), the phonetic feature of palatal secondary articulation
*Palatalization (sound change)
Palatalization is a historical-linguistic sound change that results in a palatalized articulation ...
is perhaps best known from the
Russian "soft" consonants like ), which has a primary
alveolar plosive
In phonetics and phonology, an alveolar stop is a type of consonantal sound, made with the tongue in contact with the alveolar ridge located just behind the teeth (hence alveolar), held tightly enough to block the passage of air (hence a stop conso ...
articulation, , with simultaneous -like (i.e. ''y''-like) raising of the body of the tongue.
*
Labio-palatalization is simultaneous labialization and palatalization. It is found, for example, in the name ''
Twi''.
*
Velarization is the raising of the back of the tongue toward the
velum, as in the English
"dark" L, .
*
Pharyngealization
Pharyngealization is a secondary articulation of consonants or vowels by which the pharynx or epiglottis is constricted during the articulation of the sound.
IPA symbols
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, pharyngealization can be indicated ...
is a constriction in the throat (pharynx) and is found in the Arabic
"emphatic" consonants such as .
*
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 consonant
In phonetics, alveolo-palatal (or alveopalatal) consonants, sometimes synonymous with pre-palatal consonants, are intermediate in articulation between the coronal and dorsal consonants, or which have simultaneous alveolar and palatal arti ...
s are sometimes characterized as a distinct primary articulation and sometimes as palatalization of postalveolar fricatives, equivalent to or .
Transcription
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 is written after the ''k''. This can be misleading, as it iconically suggests that the is released into a sound, analogous to (
with a lateral and nasal release), when actually the two articulations of are generally pronounced more-or-less simultaneously. Secondary articulation often has a strong effect on surrounding
vowel
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (l ...
s, and may have an audible realization that precedes the primary consonant, or both precedes and follows it. For example, will not generally sound simply like , but may be closer to or even . For this reason, the
IPA symbols for labialization and palatalization were for a time placed under the primary letter (e.g. for and for ), and a number of phoneticians still prefer such unambiguous usage, with and used specifically for