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Labialization




Labialzation may also refer to a type of Assimilation process.


WHERE FOUND


Labialisation is the most widespread secondary articulation in the world's languages. It is phonemically contrastive in the Northwest Caucasian , Athabaskan , Salishan , and Indo-European Language Families , among others.

American English has three degrees of (phonetic) labialization: Fully rounded and initial , open-rounded , and unrounded, which in vowels is sometimes called spread. These secondary articulations are not universal. For example, while French shares the English open-rounding of , Russian does not. Such distinctions are helpful for non-native English speakers whose native languages use different articulations for sounds such as "r" and "l".


TYPES OF LABIALISATION


The most common form of labialisation is rounding of Dorsal Consonant s such as k, g, and q. With non-dorsal consonants, labialisation prototypically involves Velarization as well, so it might more accurately be called ''labiovelarisation.'' However, this is not always the case, and labialisation is not restricted to lip-rounding. The following articulations have either been described as labialisation, or been found as Allophonic realisations of prototypical labialisation:

  • Labial rounding, with or without protrusion of the lips (found in Navajo )

  • Labiodental frication, found in Abkhaz

  • Bilabial frication, found in Ubykh

  • Bilabial Trill , found in Ubykh

  • Bilabial plosion, found in Ubykh

  • "Labilialisation" without lip rounding, found in the Iroquois

  • Rounding without velarization, found in Shona and in the Bzyb Dialect of Abkhaz


Eastern Arrernte is a language with labialisation at all Places and Manners Of Articulation . The labialisation derives historically from adjacent rounded vowels, as is also the case of the Northwest Caucasian Languages .


TRANSCRIPTION

In the International Phonetic Alphabet , labio-velarization of consonants is indicated with a raised double-u diacritic, as in . There are also diacritics, respectively , to indicate greater or lesser degrees of rounding. These are normally used with vowels, but may occur with consonants. For example, in the Athabaskan Language Hupa , Voiceless Velar Fricative s distinguish three degrees of labialization, transcribed either or .

The sounds, .

If precision is desired, the Abkhaz and Ubykh articulations may be transcribed with the appropriate fricative or trill raised as a diacritic: , , , .

For simple labialization, Ladefoged and Maddieson resurrected an old IPA symbol, . In Shona, and contrast with and , and in some dialects with as well. The open rounding of English is also simple (unvelarized).


LABIAL ASSIMILATON

Labialisation also refers to a specific type of assimilatory process where a given sound become labialised due to the influence of neighboring labial sounds. For example, may become in the environment of , or may become in the environment of or .

In the Northwest Caucasian Languages as well as some Australian Languages rounding has shifted from the vowels to the consonants, producing a wide range of labialized consonants and leaving in some cases only two vowels. This appears to have been the case in Ubykh and Eastern Arrernte , for example.


REFERENCES

  • Peter Ladefoged & Ian Maddieson, ''The Sounds of the World's Languages'' (1996) ISBN 0631198156