Английская Википедия:Advanced and retracted tongue root
Шаблон:Infobox IPA Шаблон:Infobox IPA In phonetics, advanced tongue root (ATR) and retracted tongue root (RTR) are contrasting states of the root of the tongue during the pronunciation of vowels in some languages, especially in Western and Eastern Africa, but also in Kazakh and Mongolian. ATR vs RTR was once suggested to be the basis for the distinction between tense and lax vowels in European languages such as German, but that no longer seems tenable.Шаблон:Sfn
Advanced tongue root
Advanced tongue root, abbreviated ATR or +ATR, also called expanded,Шаблон:Sfn involves the expansion of the pharyngeal cavity by moving the base of the tongue forward and often lowering the larynx during the pronunciation of a vowel. The lowering of the larynx sometimes adds a breathy quality to the vowel.
Voiced stops such as Шаблон:IPA can often involve non-contrastive tongue root advancement whose results can be seen occasionally in sound changes relating stop voicing and vowel frontness such as voicing stop consonants before front vowels in the Oghuz Turkic languages or in Adjarian's law: the fronting of vowels after voiced stops in certain dialects of Armenian.[1]
True uvular consonants appear to be incompatible with advanced tongue root, i.e. they are inherently [−ATR]. Combined with the above tendency for voiced stops to be [+ATR], that motivates the extreme rarity of the voiced uvular stop Шаблон:IPA compared to its voiceless counterpart Шаблон:IPA.[1]
The International Phonetic Alphabet represents ATR with a "left tack" diacritic, Шаблон:IPA.
In languages in which they occur, advanced-tongue-root vowels very often contrast with retracted tongue root (RTR) vowels in a system of vowel harmony, which occurs commonly in large parts of West Africa.Шаблон:Sfn
ATR vowels involve a certain tension in the tongue, often in the lips and jaw as well; the ear can often perceive this tension as a "brightness" (narrow formants) compared to RTR vowelsШаблон:Citation needed. Nonetheless, phoneticians do not refer to ATR vowels as tense vowels since the word tense already has several meanings in European phonetics.
Retracted tongue root
Retracted tongue root, abbreviated RTR, is the retraction of the base of the tongue in the pharynx during the pronunciation of a vowel, the opposite articulation of advanced tongue root. This type of vowel has also been referred to as pharyngealized.Шаблон:Sfn
The neutral position of the tongue during the pronunciation of a vowel, contrasting with advanced tongue root and thus marked -ATR, is also sometimes referred to as retracted tongue root.Шаблон:Cn
The diacritic for RTR in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the right tack, Шаблон:IPA.
Tongue root position and vowel harmony
As mentioned above, many African languages, such as Maasai, have systems of vowel harmony based on tongue root position. That is illustrated here with the Fante dialect of Akan, which has fifteen vowels: five +ATR vowels, five −ATR vowels, and five nasal vowels.
Fante ±ATR vowels Ortho-
graphy+ATR
value−ATR
valueApprox. European
equivalentsi Шаблон:IPA Шаблон:IPA e Шаблон:IPA Шаблон:IPA Шаблон:IPA, Шаблон:IPA ɛ Шаблон:IPA Шаблон:IPA a Шаблон:IPA Шаблон:IPA Шаблон:IPA, Шаблон:IPA ɔ Шаблон:IPA Шаблон:IPA o Шаблон:IPA Шаблон:IPA Шаблон:IPA, Шаблон:IPA u Шаблон:IPA Шаблон:IPA
There are two harmonization rules that govern the vowels that may co-occur in a word:
- All −ATR vowels become +ATR when followed by a peripheral +ATR vowel (Шаблон:IPA). That is, orthographic e ɛ a ɔ o become i e a o u before i u and sometimes before a.
- As long as it does not conflict with the previous rule, the +ATR mid vowels (Шаблон:IPA) become −ATR high vowels (Шаблон:IPA) when preceded by a −ATR non-high vowel (Шаблон:IPA). (It is not reflected in the orthography; underlying and surface vowels are both spelled e o.)
In the Twi language, the ±ATR distinction has merged in the low vowel and so Шаблон:IPA is harmonically neutral, occurring with either set of vowels. In addition, the two vowels written e (Шаблон:IPA and Шаблон:IPA) and o (Шаблон:IPA and Шаблон:IPA) are often not distinguished and are approximately equivalent to European Шаблон:IPA and Шаблон:IPA, as reflected in the orthography; for such people, the second harmonization rule does not apply.[2]
Tongue root and phonation
With advances in fiber-optic laryngoscopy at the end of the twentieth century, new types of phonation were discovered that involve more of the larynx than just the glottis. One of the few languages studied thus far, the Togolese language Kabiyé, has a vocalic distinction that had been assumed to be one of tongue root. However, it turned out to be a phonation distinction of faucalized voice versus harsh voice.[3]
It is not yet clear whether that is characteristic of ±ATR distinctions in general.
Additional images
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Tongue root
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See also
- The back-vowel constraint, an effect of tongue-root retraction in some click consonants.
References
Sources
External links
- Maasai Vowels, with audio examples of [+ATR] and [-ATR]
- ↑ 1,0 1,1 Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ J.E. Redden and N. Owusu (1963, 1995). Twi Basic Course. Foreign Service Institute (Hippocrene reprint).
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
