Velarization
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velarization
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Velarization is a secondary
articulation of consonants
by which the back of the tongue
is raised toward the velum
during the articulation of the consonant. In the International
Phonetic Alphabet, velarization is transcribed by one
of three diacritics:
- A tilde
or swung
dash through the letter covers both velarization and
pharyngealization,
as in [ɫ]
(the velarized equivalent of [l])
- A superscript
gamma
<ˠ>
after the letter standing for the velarized consonant,
as in [tˠ]
(the velarized equivalent of [t])
- A superscript double-u <ʷ>
indicates either simultaneous velarization and labialization,
as in [sʷ],
or labialization of a velar consonant, as in [kʷ].
Although electropalatographic
studies have shown that there is a continuum of possible
degrees of velarization,[1]
the IPA offers no way to indicate degrees of velarization,
for this difference has not been found to be contrastive
in any language.
The velarized
alveolar lateral approximant (or dark l) of many
accents
of English
is an example of a velarized consonant.
In many languages, including Irish
and Russian,
velarized consonants contrast phonemically
with palatalized
consonants. The palatalized/velarized contrast is known
by other names, especially in language pedagogy: in Irish
language teaching, the terms slender (for palatalized)
and broad (for velarized) are often used, while in
Russian language teaching, the terms soft (for palatalized)
and hard (for velarized) are usual. The terms light
(for palatalized) and dark (for velarized) are also
widespread. For many languages, velarization is generally
associated with more dental articulations of coronal consonants
so that dark l tends to be dental or dentoalveolar while
clear l tends to be retracted to an alveolar position.[2]
In some accents of English, such as Received
Pronunciation, the phoneme
/l/
has "dark" and "light" allophones: the "dark" allophone
appears in syllable
coda position (e.g. in full), while the "light"
allophone ("light" meaning "non-velarized" rather than "palatalized"
here) appears in syllable
onset position (e.g. in lawn). Other accents
of English, such as Scottish
English and Australian
English, have "dark L" in all positions, while Hiberno-English
has "clear L" in all positions.
Notes
References
- Recasens,
Daniel & Maria Dolores. Pallarès (1995), "Velarization
degree and coarticulatory resistance for /l/ in Catalan
and German", Journal of Phonetics 23: 37-52
- Recasens, Daniel
& Aina Espinosa (2005), "Articulatory, positional
and coarticulatory characteristics for clear /l/ and dark
/l/: evidence from two Catalan dialects", Journal of
the International Phonetic Association 35 (1):
1-25
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velarization
Published - November 2008
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