Pharyngealization is a
secondary articulation
In phonetics, 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-articu ...
of
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...
s or
vowel
A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...
s by which the
pharynx
The pharynx (: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the human mouth, mouth and nasal cavity, and above the esophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs respectively). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates ...
or
epiglottis is constricted during the articulation of the sound.
IPA symbols
In the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standard written representation ...
, pharyngealization can be indicated by one of two methods:
#A
tilde
The tilde (, also ) is a grapheme or with a number of uses. The name of the character came into English from Spanish , which in turn came from the Latin , meaning 'title' or 'superscription'. Its primary use is as a diacritic (accent) in ...
or
swung dash (IPA Number 428) is written through the base letter (typographic overstrike). It is the older and more generic symbol. It indicates
velarization
Velarization merican spelling/small> or velarisation ritish spelling/sup> 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 Ph ...
,
uvularization or pharyngealization, as in , the guttural equivalent of .
#The symbol (IPA Number 423) – a superscript variant of , the
voiced pharyngeal approximant – is written after the base letter. It indicates specifically a pharyngealized consonant, as in , a pharyngealized .
Computing codes
Since
Unicode
Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...
1.1, there have been two similar superscript characters: IPA () and Semiticist (). U+02E4 is formally a superscript (, = reversed glottal stop), and in the Unicode charts looks like a simple superscript , though in some fonts it looks like a superscript reversed lower-case letter
glottal stop
The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication, spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic ...
. U+02C1 is a typographic alternative to (); which is used to transliterate the Semitic consonant
ayin
''Ayin'' (also ''ayn'' or ''ain''; transliterated ) is the sixteenth letter of the Semitic scripts, including Phoenician ''ʿayin'' 𐤏, Hebrew ''ʿayin'' , Aramaic ''ʿē'' 𐡏, Syriac ''ʿē'' ܥ, and Arabic ''ʿayn'' (where it is si ...
and which = reversed , which itself transliterates the glottal Semitic consonants
aleph
Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first Letter (alphabet), letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician ''ʾālep'' 𐤀, Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew ''ʾālef'' , Aramaic alphabet, Aramaic ''ʾālap'' � ...
and
hamza
The hamza ( ') () is an Arabic script character that, in the Arabic alphabet, denotes a glottal stop and, in non-Arabic languages, indicates a diphthong, vowel, or other features, depending on the language. Derived from the letter '' ʿayn'' ( ...
. In the Unicode charts U+02C1 looks like a reversed (), which is used in the IPA for
glottalization
Glottalization is the complete or partial closure of the glottis during the articulation of another sound. Glottalization of vowels and other sonorants is most often realized as creaky voice (partial closure). Glottalization of obstruent cons ...
. There is no parallel Unicode distinction for modifier glottal stop. The IPA Handbook lists U+02E4 as the Unicode equivalent of IPA Number 423, the dedicated IPA symbol for pharyngealization.
The superimposed tilde is assigned Unicode character U+0334. This was originally intended to combine with other letters to represent pharyngealization. However, that usage is now deprecated (though still functional), and several precomposed letters have been adopted to replace it. These are the labial consonants and the
coronal consonant
Coronals are consonants articulated with the flexible front part of the tongue. Among places of articulation, only the coronal consonants can be divided into as many articulation types: apical (using the tip of the tongue), laminal (using the ...
s .
Usage
Ubykh, an extinct
Northwest Caucasian language spoken in
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, used pharyngealization in 14 pharyngealized consonants.
Chilcotin has pharyngealized consonants that trigger pharyngealization of vowels. Many languages (such as
Salishan,
Sahaptian) in the Plateau culture area of North America also have pharyngealization processes that are triggered by pharyngeal or pharyngealized consonants, which affect vowels.
The
Tuu/"
Khoisan
Khoisan ( ) or () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for the various Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the San people, Sān peo ...
" language
Taa (or !Xóõ) has pharyngealized vowels that contrast phonemically with voiced, breathy and epiglottalized vowels. That feature is represented in the orthography by a tilde under the respective pharyngealized vowel. In
Tuu languages
The Tuu languages, or Taa–ǃKwi (Taa–ǃUi, ǃUi–Taa, Kwi) languages, are a language family consisting of two language clusters spoken in Botswana and South Africa. The relationship between the two clusters is not doubted, but is distant. T ...
, epiglottalized vowels are phonemic.
For many languages, pharyngealization is generally associated with more dental articulations of coronal consonants.
Dark l tends to be dental or denti-alveolar, but clear l tends to be retracted to an alveolar position.
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and
Syriac use secondary
uvularization, which is generally not distinguished from pharyngealization, for the "
emphatic" coronal consonants.
Examples of pharyngealized consonants
(
Uvularized consonants are not distinguished.)
Stops
*pharyngealized
voiceless alveolar stop (in
Chechen,
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
,
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
Kurmanji,
Mizrahi and
Classical Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew ( or ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanitic branch of the Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...
)
*pharyngealized
voiced alveolar stop (in
Chechen,
Tamazight
The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berber communities, who ar ...
and
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
)
*pharyngealized
voiceless bilabial stop (in
Kurmanji,
Chechen and
Ubykh)
*pharyngealized
voiced bilabial stop
The voiced bilabial plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is b. The voiced bilabial stop oc ...
(in
Chechen,
Ubykh,
Siwa,
Shihhi Arabic and
Iraqi Arabic
Mesopotamian Arabic (), also known as Iraqi Arabic or the Iraqi dialect (), or just as Iraqi (), is a group of varieties of Arabic spoken in the Mesopotamian basin of Iraq, as well as in Syria, southeastern Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Iraqi diaspor ...
, allophonic in
Adyghe and
Kabardian)
*pharyngealized
voiceless uvular stop
The voiceless uvular plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It is pronounced like a voiceless velar plosive , except that the tongue makes contact not on the soft palate but on the uvula. The symbol in ...
(in
Ubykh,
Tsakhur, and
Archi)
*pharyngealized
voiced uvular stop (in
Tsakhur)
*pharyngealized
glottal stop
The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication, spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic ...
(in
Shihhi Arabic; allophonic in
Chechen)
*pharyngealized
voiceless velar plosive
The voiceless velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in almost all spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k.
The sound is a ver ...
(in
Kurmanji)
*pharyngealized
voiced velar plosive
The voiced velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication, spoken languages.
Some languages have the voiced pre-velar plosive, which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulat ...
(in
Sorani
Central Kurdish, also known as Sorani Kurdish, is a Kurdish dialect or a language spoken in Iraq, mainly in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan in western Iran. Central Kurdish is one of the ...
)
Fricatives
*pharyngealized
voiceless alveolar sibilant (in
Chechen,
Kurmanji,
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
Classical Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew ( or ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanitic branch of the Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...
and
Northern Berber)
*pharyngealized
voiced alveolar sibilant (in
Chechen,
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
,
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and
Kurmanji)
*pharyngealized
voiceless postalveolar fricative
A voiceless postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some Speech, spoken languages. The International Phonetic Association uses the term ''voiceless postalveolar fricative'' only for the sound #Voiceless palato-alveolar frica ...
(in
Kabyle and
Chechen)
*pharyngealized
voiced postalveolar fricative
The voiced postalveolar or palato-alveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The International Phonetic Association uses the term ''voiced postalveolar fricative'' only for the sound , but it also describe ...
(in
Kabyle and
Chechen)
*pharyngealized
voiceless dental fricative
The voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is familiar to most English speakers as the 'th' in ''think''. Though rather rare as a phoneme among the world's languages, it is encount ...
(in
Zenaga,
Shawiya and
Shehri)
*pharyngealized
voiced dental fricative
The voiced dental fricative is a consonant sound used in some spoken languages. It is familiar to English-speakers as the ''th'' sound in ''father''. Its symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is eth, or and was taken from the Old Engl ...
(in
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
, and as , a variant pronunciation in
Mehri)
*pharyngealized
voiceless alveolar lateral fricative
*pharyngealized
voiced alveolar lateral fricative
The voiced alveolar lateral fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents voiced dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral fricatives is (sometime ...
(in
Soqotri, a variant pronunciation in
Mehri, and postulated for
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...
)
*pharyngealized
voiceless labiodental fricative (in
Sorani
Central Kurdish, also known as Sorani Kurdish, is a Kurdish dialect or a language spoken in Iraq, mainly in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan in western Iran. Central Kurdish is one of the ...
)
*pharyngealized
voiced labiodental fricative (in
Ubykh)
*pharyngealized
voiceless uvular fricative
The voiceless uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound that is used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , the Greek chi. The sound is represented by (ex with underdo ...
(in
Ubykh,
Tsakhur,
Archi and
Bzyb Abkhaz)
*pharyngealized
voiced uvular fricative
The voiced uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some Speech communication, spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , an inverted small uppercase letter , or in broad t ...
(in
Ubykh,
Tsakhur and
Archi)
*pharyngealized
voiceless glottal fricative
The voiceless glottal fricative, sometimes called voiceless glottal transition or the aspirate, is a type of sound used in some spoken languages that patterns like a fricative or approximant consonant '' phonologically'', but often lacks the ...
(in
Tsakhur)
Affricates
*pharyngealized
voiceless alveolar affricate (in
Chechen)
*pharyngealized
voiced alveolar affricate (in
Chechen)
*pharyngealized
voiceless postalveolar affricate
The voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant affricate or voiceless domed postalveolar sibilant affricate is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with , , (formerly ...
(in
Chechen and
Kurmanji)
*pharyngealized
voiced postalveolar affricate
The voiced palato-alveolar sibilant affricate, voiced post-alveolar affricate or voiced domed postalveolar sibilant affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic A ...
(in
Chechen)
Trills
*pharyngealized
voiced alveolar trill (in
Kabyle,
Chechen and
Siwa)
Nasals
*pharyngealized
bilabial nasal (in
Chechen,
Ubykh,
Moroccan Darija, and
Iraqi Arabic
Mesopotamian Arabic (), also known as Iraqi Arabic or the Iraqi dialect (), or just as Iraqi (), is a group of varieties of Arabic spoken in the Mesopotamian basin of Iraq, as well as in Syria, southeastern Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Iraqi diaspor ...
)
*pharyngealized
alveolar nasal (in
Chechen)
Approximants
*pharyngealized
labialized velar approximant (in
Shihhi Arabic,
Chechen and
Ubykh)
*pharyngealized
alveolar lateral approximant
The voiced dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral approximants are a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral ...
(in
Kabyle,
Chechen, English, and Northern Standard
Dutch)
*pharyngealized labialized
postalveolar approximant (an variant in
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
)
*pharyngealized
velar approximant , with the body of the tongue bunched up at the velum (in some dialects of American English and Dutch)
Examples of pharyngealized vowels
*pharyngealized
open-mid back rounded vowel
The open-mid back rounded vowel, or low-mid back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . The IPA symbol is a turned letter ''c'' ...
in Northern Standard
Dutch
*pharyngealized vowels in the
Air Tamajeq language
*pharyngealized vowels in
Even
*pharyngealized vowels in
Tsakhur
*pharyngealized vowels in
Udi
*pharyngealized vowels in
Mambay (Mangbai)
*pharyngealized vowels in
ǃXóõ
See also
*
Velarization
Velarization merican spelling/small> or velarisation ritish spelling/sup> 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 Ph ...
*
Creaky voice (laryngealization)
*
Pharyngeal consonant
A pharyngeal consonant is a consonant that is articulated primarily in the pharynx. Some phoneticians distinguish upper pharyngeal consonants, or "high" pharyngeals, pronounced by retracting the root of the tongue in the mid to upper pharynx ...
*
Epiglottal consonant
*
Pharynx
The pharynx (: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the human mouth, mouth and nasal cavity, and above the esophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs respectively). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates ...
Notes
References
*
*
*
Further reading
*
Ian Maddieson
Ian Maddieson (1 September 1942 – 2 February 2025) was a British-American Linguistics, linguist and professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of New Mexico. He is best known for his work in phonetics and phonological Linguistic typolo ...
Typology and occurrence of pharyngeals and pharyngealization around the world.
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Phonetics
Pharyngeal consonants
Secondary articulation