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Relative articulation
Relative articulation
Relative articulation
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In phonetics and phonology, relative articulation is description of the manner and place of articulation of a speech sound relative to some reference point. Typically, the comparison is made with a default, unmarked articulation of the same phoneme in a neutral sound environment. For example, the English velar consonant /k/ is fronted before the vowel /iː/ (as in keep) compared to articulation of /k/ before other vowels (as in cool). This fronting is called palatalization.

The relative position of a sound may be described as advanced (fronted), retracted (backed), raised, lowered, centralized, or mid-centralized. The latter two terms are only used with vowels, and are marked in the International Phonetic Alphabet with diacritics over the vowel letter. The others are used with both consonants and vowels, and are marked with iconic diacritics under the letter. Another dimension of relative articulation that has IPA diacritics is the degree of roundedness, more rounded and less rounded.

Advanced and retracted

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Advanced, retracted
◌̟ ◌᫈ ◌˖
◌̠ ◌᫢ ◌˗
See also: Fronting (phonetics)

An advanced or fronted sound is one that is pronounced farther to the front of the vocal tract than some reference point. The diacritic for this in the IPA is the subscript plus, U+031F ◌̟ COMBINING PLUS SIGN BELOW. Conversely, a retracted or backed sound is one that is pronounced farther to the back of the vocal tract, and its IPA diacritic is the subscript minus U+0320 ◌̠ COMBINING MINUS SIGN BELOW. For letters with descenders, diacritics above or obsolete U+02D6 ˖ MODIFIER LETTER PLUS SIGN and U+02D7 ˗ MODIFIER LETTER MINUS SIGN may instead be used after the letter, as in [ɡ˖] and [y˗].

Both vowels and consonants may be fronted or backed. In verbal description, the prefix pre- may be used to indicate fronting, especially in the terms prepalatal and prevelar. Otherwise phrases like "fronted u" may be used. For retraction, either the prefix post- may be used to indicate retraction, as above, or phrases like "retracted i" may be used.

In most dialects of English, the back vowel /u/ is farther forward than what is normally indicated by the IPA letter ‹u›. This fronting may be shown explicitly, especially within a narrow transcription: [u̟]. Whether this is as far front as the central vowel [ʉ], or somewhere between [u] and [ʉ], may need to be clarified verbally, or on a vowel diagram.

The difference between a fronted and non-fronted consonant can be heard in the English words key [k̟ʰi] and coo [kʰu], where the /k/ in key is fronted under the influence of the front vowel /i/. In English, the plosive in the affricate /tʃ/, as in the word church, is farther back than an alveolar /t/ due to assimilation with the postalveolar fricative /ʃ/. In narrow transcription, /tʃ/ may be transcribed [t̠ʃʰ]. In English, the /d/ in the phrase "I need that" is farther front than normal due to assimilation with the interdental consonant /ð/, and may be transcribed as [aɪ̯ ˈniːd̟ ðæt].

Languages may have phonemes that are farther back than the nearest IPA symbol. For example, Polish sz is a postalveolar sibilant. While this is often transcribed as [ʃ], it is not domed (partially palatalized) the way a prototypical [ʃ] is. A more precise transcription is therefore [s̠]. Similarly, the velar consonants in Kwakiutl are actually postvelar; that is, pronounced farther back than a prototypical velar, between velar [k] and uvular [q], and is thus transcribed [k̠].

Officially, the IPA symbol [a] stands for the open front unrounded vowel. However, in most languages where it is used, [a] actually stands for the central, rather than the front vowel. If precision is desired, this may also be indicated with the minus sign [a̠], although a number of other transcriptions are also possible.[1]

Raised and lowered

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Raised and lowered
◌̝ ◌᷵ ◌˔
◌̞ ◌᫛ ◌˕
See also: Raising (phonetics)

A raised sound is articulated with the tongue or lip raised higher than some reference point. In the IPA this is indicated with the uptack diacritic U+031D ◌̝ COMBINING UP TACK BELOW.

A lowered sound is articulated with the tongue or lip lowered (the mouth more open) than some reference point. In the IPA this is indicated with the downtack diacritic U+031E ◌̞ COMBINING DOWN TACK BELOW. Both consonants and vowels may be marked as raised or lowered.

When a letter has a descender, the tack may be written above it, or using the obsolete U+02D4 ˔ MODIFIER LETTER UP TACK, as in [ɭ˔], or U+02D5 ˕ MODIFIER LETTER DOWN TACK, as in [ɣ˕].

Raised and lowered vowels

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In the case of a vowel, raising means that the vowel is closer, toward the top of the vowel chart. For example, [e̝] represents a vowel somewhere between cardinal [e] and [i], or may even be [i]. Lowering, on the other hand, means that the vowel is more open, toward the bottom of the chart. For example, [e̞] represents a vowel somewhere between cardinal [e] and [ɛ], or may even be [ɛ].

In other non-IPA transcription systems, raised vowels are indicated with the iconic upward-pointing arrowhead U+02F0 ˰ MODIFIER LETTER LOW UP ARROWHEAD while lowered vowels have the downward arrowhead U+02EF ˯ MODIFIER LETTER LOW DOWN ARROWHEAD. Thus, IPA [e̝] is equivalent to [e˰], IPA [e̞] is equivalent to [e˯].

Raised and lowered consonants

[edit]

With consonants, raising and lowering changes the manner of articulation to have more or less stricture. For example, raised approximants and trills are fricatives, whereas lowered fricatives are approximants. The ambiguous symbols for rear approximant/fricatives may be specified as fricatives with the raising diacritic, [ʁ̝, ʕ̝, ʢ̝], or as approximants with the lowering diacritic, [ʁ̞, ʕ̞, ʢ̞]. In Spanish, the lenited allophones of the voiced stops are generally transcribed as fricatives even though they are approximants, or intermediate between fricative and approximant. This may be partially due to the fact there is only a dedicated IPA symbol for one of them, the velar approximant. More precise transcription will use the fricative symbols with the lowering diacritic, [β̞, ð̞, ɣ˕] (the last symbol may be rendered as [ɣ̞], but that may not display properly in some browsers). Czech, on the other hand, requires the opposite: Its fricated trill, which is a separate phoneme, may be transcribed as a raised trill, [r̝]. Similarly, the non-sibilant coronal fricative is written [ɹ̝], and the voiceless velar lateral fricative as [ʟ̝̊]. (A dedicated letter for this sound, ⟨𝼄⟩, is provided by the extIPA and may be used in IPA transcription.)

From most open (least stricture) to most close (most stricture), there are several independent relationships among speech sounds. Open vowel → mid vowel → close vowel → approximant → fricative → plosive is one; flap → stop is another; and trill → trilled fricative yet another. The IPA chart has been organized so that the raising diacritic moves the value of a letter through these series toward the top of the chart, and the lowering diacritic toward the bottom of the chart, but this only works for some of the consonants. While it would be convenient if all consonants could be so ordered, consonants are too diverse for a single dimension to capture their relationships. In addition, many of the points along the series may be nasalized or lateralized as well, and these parameters are independent of stricture.

Examples of stricture series
Oral Nasal Flap Trill Lateral
Stop ɟ ɲ d t͡ɬ
Fricative ʝ ʝ̃ r̝ ɬ
Approximant / Vibrant j ȷ̃ ɾ r l̥
Close vowel i ĩ (N/A)
Near-close vowel e̝ ẽ̝
Close-mid vowel e ẽ
Mid vowel e̞ ẽ̞
Open-mid vowel ɛ ɛ̃
Near-open vowel æ æ̃
Open vowel a ã

Centralized

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For non-lateral consonants, see Central consonant.

Centralized vowels

[edit]
Centralized
◌̈

A centralized vowel is a vowel that is more central than some point of reference, or that has undergone a shift in this direction. The diacritic for this in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the diaeresis, U+0308 ◌̈ COMBINING DIAERESIS.

For example, to transcribe rounded and unrounded near-close central vowels, the symbols [ɪ̈, ʊ̈] may be used.

In other (non-IPA) transcription systems, ⟨ᵻ, ᵿ⟩ (or ⟨ɪ, ʊ⟩) will be seen instead of [ɪ̈, ʊ̈] (by analogy with [ɨ, ʉ]). Before the letters [ɘ, ɵ, ɜ, ɞ] were added to the IPA in 1993, the symbols [ë, ö, ɛ̈, ɔ̈] were used for these near-schwa values. [ë, ö, ɛ̈, ɔ̈] would now be assumed to represent articulations intermediate between [e, o, ɛ, ɔ] and [ɘ, ɵ, ɜ, ɞ]. Similarly, [ï, ÿ, ü, ɯ̈] would be intermediate between [i, y, u, ɯ] and [ɨ, ʉ].

However, since the IPA does not specify the exact amount of centralization that centralized vowels have, the symbols [ë, ö, ɛ̈, ɔ̈] and [ï, ÿ, ü, ɯ̈] can in modern transcriptions[2] be used at times to transcribe fully central vowels, or vowels that have a variable amount of centralization.

In the majority of languages described as having an [a] (which denotes a front vowel), the vowel is actually central and therefore a more narrow transcription of it is [ä]. However, this symbol is not commonly used mainly because of the common practice of avoiding using diacritics wherever possible, and because very few languages contrast front and central open unrounded vowels.

Instead of the diacritic for centralization, the advanced or retracted diacritics may be used (an equivalent transcription of [ä] is retracted [a̠]), but the concept of centralization is convenient in cases where front and back vowels move toward each other, rather than all advancing or retracting in the same direction.

When a transcription system uses both the centralized and the advanced/retracted diacritics, generally the former indicates a more central vowel, so that e.g. [i̠] indicates an only slightly centralized (retracted) front vowel [i], whereas [ï] indicates a more centralized (retracted) front vowel, or even a fully central vowel [ɨ].[citation needed]

Centralized semivowels

[edit]

Semivowels can be centralized much like vowels; for instance, the semivowels corresponding to the close central vowels [ɨ, ʉ] can be written as centralized palatal semivowels [j̈, ɥ̈], or centralized velar semivowels [ɰ̈, ẅ]. The transcription [ɥ̈] vs. [ẅ] may also denote a distinction in the type of rounding, with the former symbol denoting a semivowel with compressed rounding typical of front vowels, and the latter symbol denoting a semivowel with protruded rounding typical of central and back vowels, though an additional verbal clarification is usual in such cases, as the IPA does not provide any official means to distinguish sounds with compressed and protruded rounding.

Mid-centralized vowels

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Mid-centralized
◌̽ ◌͓

Mid-centralized vowels are closer to the midpoint of the vowel space than their referent vowels. That is, they are closer to the mid-central vowel schwa [ə] not just by means of centralization, but also by raising or lowering. The diacritic used to mark this in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the over-cross, U+033D ◌̽ COMBINING X ABOVE. To avoid an ascender, or a diacritic above, the mark may be placed below the letter, as in [ɯ͓̃́]

In most languages, vowels become mid-centralized when spoken quickly, and in some languages, such as English and Russian, many vowels are also mid-centralized when unstressed. This is a general characteristic of vowel reduction.

Mid-centralization of vowels can be a speech impediment. An example from Polish is zobaczyłem dziś dwa samochody [zɔ̽bɐˈt͡ʂɘwɛ̽m ˈd͡ʑɪʑ ˈdvɐ sɐmɔ̽ˈxɔ̽dɘ] ('I saw two cars today'), instead of the standard [zɔbäˈt͡ʂɘwɛm ˈd͡ʑiʑ ˈdvä sämɔˈxɔdɘ]. This can severely affect intelligibility.[3]

More and less rounded

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More or less rounded
◌̹ ◌͗ ◌˒
◌̜ ◌͑ ◌˓

There are also diacritics, respectively U+0339 ◌̹ COMBINING RIGHT HALF RING BELOW and U+031C ◌̜ COMBINING LEFT HALF RING BELOW, to indicate greater or lesser degrees of rounding. For example, the English /ʊ/ often has very little rounding, and may be transcribed [ʊ̜]. In Assamese, on the other hand, the open back rounded vowel is much more rounded than is typical for a low vowel, and may be transcribed [ɒ̹].

These diacritics are sometimes also used with consonants to indicate degrees of labialization. For example, in the Athabaskan language Hupa, voiceless velar fricatives distinguish three degrees of labialization, transcribed either [x x̹ xʷ] or [x x̜ʷ xʷ].[4]

The Extensions to the IPA have two additional symbols for degrees of rounding: spread, as in [i͍], and open-rounded ⟨ꟹ⟩ (œ), as in English [ʃꟹ] and [ʒꟹ].

Sound changes

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Many sound changes involve changes in place of articulation:

References

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Bibliography

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Relative articulation

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In phonetics and phonology, relative articulation describes the manner and place of articulation of a speech sound in comparison to a reference point, such as a neutral or prototypical position for that sound class. This approach allows for precise notation of subtle variations in sound production, particularly useful in transcribing allophones, dialectal differences, and disordered speech across languages. For consonants, relative articulation often involves adjustments in the primary place of articulation relative to a baseline; for instance, English velar stops like /k/ are typically advanced (fronted) before high front vowels, as in "keep" [k̟iːp], and retracted (backed) before back vowels, as in "cool" [k̠uːl]. These variations are marked in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using diacritics such as the advanced diacritic (̟) under the consonant and the retracted diacritic (̠). For vowels, relative articulation frequently pertains to tongue root position and overall centrality; advanced tongue root (+ATR) involves forward advancement of the tongue root to create a tense, expanded pharynx, as in the English tense vowel /i/ of "beat" [biːt], while retracted tongue root (-ATR) keeps the root neutral or pulled back for lax vowels like /ɪ/ in "bit" [bɪt]. Vowels may also be described as centralized, shifting the tongue body toward the center of the oral cavity, as in the schwa [ə] or the English /ʌ/ in "but" [bʌt], denoted by the diaeresis diacritic (̈) in IPA transcription, such as [ï]. Other relative descriptors include raised or lowered for vertical adjustments and mid-centralized for intermediate positions, enabling detailed analysis of coarticulatory effects where neighboring sounds influence articulation. These concepts are integral to the IPA framework, supporting cross-linguistic comparisons and clinical applications in speech therapy.

Fundamental Concepts

Definition and Scope

Relative articulation in describes the manner and place of articulation of a speech sound in relation to a neutral reference point, such as a prototypical (e.g., a cardinal vowel) or a standard position in the vocal tract. This relational framework emphasizes comparative positions and movements of articulators, like the or , rather than fixed absolute measurements, accommodating variations due to individual vocal tract differences, accents, and contextual influences. For example, vowels are often plotted relative to auditory reference points like the high front or open central , which serve as benchmarks for height and frontness without implying precise anatomical coordinates. The scope of relative articulation includes secondary features that modify primary articulatory categories, such as fronting or backing, height adjustments, centralization toward a schwa-like neutral , and changes in rounding. These modifications highlight subtle phonetic distinctions essential for perceptual separation and ease of production across languages, contrasting with absolute articulation's rigid designations like alveolar ( tip to alveolar ridge) or velar ( body to ). Unlike absolute measures, which ignore contextual coarticulation, relative articulation accounts for dynamic interactions, such as a consonant's place shifting slightly based on adjacent s to optimize prominence or sonority. Historically, the term emerged in phonetic literature during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to address limitations in early classificatory systems, building on traditional tongue-position descriptions that were later refined through auditory validation and . Pioneering works, including those contributing to the International Phonetic Alphabet, formalized relative descriptions to capture variations beyond broad manner and place categories, enabling precise notation of dialectal and idiolectal differences. This development prioritized perceptual and articulatory relativity over anatomical absolutes, influencing modern and analysis.

IPA Diacritics for Relative Articulation

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) employs a set of s to denote relative articulatory modifications, allowing phoneticians to specify deviations from standard without introducing new base symbols. These include the advanced diacritic ◌̟, which indicates a forward shift in the place of articulation; the retracted diacritic ◌̠, for a backward shift; the raised diacritic ◌̝, signifying elevation toward a higher position; the lowered diacritic ◌̞, for depression to a lower position; the centralized diacritic ◌̈, marking a shift toward the center of the vowel space; the more rounded diacritic ◌̹, denoting increased lip protrusion; and the less rounded diacritic ◌̜, indicating reduced lip rounding. These symbols are positioned as subscripts or superscripts relative to the base phonetic symbol, depending on typographic conventions and the symbol's , to ensure clarity in transcription. Diacritics can be combined to represent multiple relative features simultaneously on a single , such as [k̟] for an advanced velar stop or [ɑ̝̹] for a raised and more rounded , provided the modifications do not conflict with the base symbol's inherent properties. Placement rules specify that voiced or voiceless distinctions take precedence in stacking, and diacritics are applied in a logical order from left to right when multiple are used, though software rendering may vary. These diacritics were introduced in earlier revisions of the IPA: the centralized diacritic in 1921, raised/lowered and more/less rounded in 1926 (with raised/lowered revised in 1947), and advanced/retracted in 1947. The 1989 Kiel Convention revised the overall IPA chart to enhance articulatory precision, with minor adjustments in 1993 to refine presentation and examples; no significant changes to these specific symbols have occurred since. The 1999 Handbook of the International Phonetic Association documented their standardized use, emphasizing their role in narrow phonetic transcription. A key limitation of these diacritics is that they denote relative deviations from a neutral or prototypical articulation—such as a slight advancement relative to a standard alveolar stop—rather than providing absolute measurements of or position in millimeters or degrees. They do not notate associated acoustic properties, like frequency shifts, which require separate .

Modifications to Place of Articulation

Advanced and Retracted Sounds

Advanced articulation refers to the production of a sound with the tongue positioned farther forward in the vocal tract relative to a neutral or canonical place of articulation for that sound. This modification is denoted in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using the advanced diacritic [̟], placed under the symbol, as described in the official guidelines for phonetic transcription. For consonants, advanced articulation often occurs due to coarticulatory influences, such as palatalization triggered by adjacent front vowels; a classic example is the velar stop /k/ in English, which is fronted to [k̟] before high front vowels, as in "keep" [k̟iːp], compared to the more retracted [k̠] in "cool" [k̠uːl]. This fronting shifts the tongue body anteriorly, reducing the distance between the tongue dorsum and the hard palate. Retracted articulation, conversely, involves a posterior displacement of the tongue relative to the neutral position, marked by the retracted diacritic [̠] in IPA notation. This backing can affect both consonants and vowels, often resulting from or coarticulation with back vowels or uvular sounds; for instance, the in Polish "sz" is realized as a retracted postalveolar [ʂ] or [s̠], contrasting with the alveolar in "s". In like Polish, retracted are phonemically distinct and involve greater tongue retraction toward the or postalveolar region, enhancing contrast with alveolar counterparts. These retracted sounds are common in languages with rich sibilant inventories, where backing helps maintain perceptual distinctions. Articulatorily, both advanced and retracted modifications primarily involve shifts in the position of the body along the front-back axis of the vocal tract, altering the cavity resonances without necessarily changing the primary height. Advancement shortens the front cavity, while retraction lengthens it, leading to distinct acoustic profiles; advanced sounds typically exhibit higher second (F2) frequencies due to the forward position, which is evident in the rising F2 transitions for fronted velars in English. In retracted articulations, such as pharyngealized or backed , F2 is lowered, reflecting the extended back cavity and greater airflow turbulence at posterior sites. Cross-linguistically, velar fronting before front vowels is a widespread coarticulatory pattern in languages like English, driven by anticipatory gestures, whereas retracted in like Polish often serve phonemic functions, illustrating how relative articulation contributes to inventory contrasts.

Centralized Sounds

Centralized vowels are produced by shifting the tongue position toward the midline of the vocal tract, resulting in a quality closer to the neutral schwa [ə] while retaining the original vowel's height and rounding. This relative articulation is denoted in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) by the diaeresis diacritic ¨ placed above the vowel symbol, as in [ä] for a centralized low vowel derived from or [ë] for a centralized mid vowel from . Articulatorily, centralization involves relaxing the tongue's front-back tension, allowing the tongue body to adopt a more equidistant posture from the palate's edges, which minimizes articulatory effort without altering vertical height. In phonological processes like , peripheral vowels often centralize in unstressed s, converging toward a schwa-like position to facilitate faster speech rates. For instance, in English, the high /ɪ/ in unstressed positions, as in the second syllable of "," may surface as [ɪ̈], and the high back /ʊ/ in words like "focus" as [ʊ̈], reflecting spectral centralization with frequencies shifting toward mid-central values. This pattern is widespread in , where reduction promotes perceptual efficiency by clustering unstressed vowels in the central vowel space. Centralized semivowels, or , involve similar midline adjustments but are less common, typically occurring in transitional or coarticulatory contexts. The IPA uses the same ¨ for these, such as [j̈] for a centralized palatal or [ɹ̈] for a centralized alveolar , where the dorsum moves centrally during glide formation. These variants appear rarely in phonetic descriptions, often in rapid speech or dialectal allophones, as in some realizations of /j/ in approaching a central glide. Mid-centralized vowels represent partial centralization, indicated by the over-cross diacritic ̽, which denotes a deviation toward the mid-central position without full schwa quality. Examples include [e̽] for a mid-centralized close-mid or [o̽] for a mid-centralized close-mid , often arising in prosodic weakening or as speech impediments where vowels are incompletely reduced. Articulatorily, this involves a subtle inward shift, preserving more of the original peripheral features than full centralization. Cross-linguistically, centralization features prominently in languages with small vowel inventories, such as many Australian Aboriginal languages, where vowels like /a/ may centralize to [ä] or /ɨ/ in unstressed contexts within triangular three-vowel systems (/i, a, u/). In Central Arrernte, an Australian language, central vowels /ə/ and /ɐ/ exhibit formant patterns showing centralized realizations in non-prominent syllables, contributing to harmony systems that favor mid-central qualities. These processes highlight centralization's role in maintaining perceptual contrasts with minimal articulatory demands in vowel harmony environments.

Modifications to Height of Articulation

Raised and Lowered Vowels

Raised vowels are produced by elevating the toward a more close position relative to the base vowel symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), indicated by the raising [◌̝]. This adjustment involves raising the tongue body or the jaw position minimally, resulting in a higher tongue height that acoustically lowers the first (F1) frequency, as F1 inversely correlates with height. For instance, the in "dress" may be transcribed as [dɹæ̝s] in certain accents, where the [æ] is slightly raised toward a near-close quality. Lowered vowels, conversely, involve depressing the or opening the to achieve a more open position relative to the base symbol, marked by the lowering [◌̞]. Articulatorily, this widens the oral cavity, raising F1 and shifting the toward greater openness, often observed in dialectal variations or prosodic contexts. An example is the in "face" transcribed as [fe̞ɪs] in some varieties, where the initial is lowered slightly. In Spanish, the close vowels /i/ and /u/ are typically realized with a slightly laxer articulation. Similarly, in Czech, long vowels often exhibit a raised relative to their short counterparts; for high front vowels, the long /iː/ is articulated higher than the short /ɪ/, contributing to a qualitative distinction alongside duration differences. Recent ultrasound imaging studies have revealed subtle height variations within vowel inventories, demonstrating that tongue height adjustments for raised or lowered realizations can be as variable articulatorily as acoustically, with implications for phonological contrasts in languages like English.

Raised and Lowered Consonants

In , raised and lowered consonants describe variations in the degree of stricture or during consonant articulation, distinct from modifications to tongue height in vowels. The raised [̝] indicates a consonant with increased , often transforming an into a fricative-like , while the lowered [̞] denotes decreased , typically resulting in a more open realization from a stop or . These are applied primarily to obstruents and sonorants to capture subtle manner shifts, as defined in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) standards. Lowered consonants are prevalent in lenition processes, where articulatory gestures undershoot their targets, reducing closure and friction to produce . In Spanish, intervocalic voiced stops /b d ɡ/ undergo to [β̞ ð̞ ɣ̞], characterized by incomplete oral closure and brief voicing without full stop formation; this is evident in words like habla [ˈaβ̞la] and nada [ˈnað̞a]. Articulatorily, this involves partial lowering of the active ( for [β̞], tip for [ð̞], body for [ɣ̞]), expanding the vocal tract slightly and minimizing airflow turbulence. In (an Athabaskan language), ejective stops are neutralized to voiceless unaspirated stops in pre-consonantal positions after short vowels due to obscured release and absent creaky voicing. These patterns align with articulatory models, where gestural overlap between and adjacent vowels reduces gesture magnitude, leading to less constricted outputs (Browman & Goldstein, 1992). Raised consonants, by contrast, are rarer and involve heightened constriction, often in emphatic or intensified articulations that border on fricatives. For instance, the voiced bilabial approximant [β] can be raised to [β̝], a fricative approximant with greater lip approximation and audible friction, as noted in IPA exemplars for transitional sounds. This occurs sporadically in emphatic contexts across languages, where speakers increase vocal tract narrowing for perceptual emphasis, though such realizations are not phonemically contrastive in most systems. In articulatory terms, raising entails amplified gestural strength or reduced overlap, contracting the vocal tract to enhance stricture without altering place. Recent models in articulatory phonology extend this to gestural dynamics, positing that raised forms arise from expanded gesture targets in prosodically prominent positions (Browman & Goldstein, 1992).

Modifications to Lip Rounding

More Rounded Sounds

More rounded articulation refers to an enhancement of lip protrusion beyond a baseline rounded or neutral state, serving as a feature in . This modification is denoted in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using the right half-ring ◌̹ placed below the symbol, as in [i̹] for a with added or [u̹] for an intensified back rounded . The acoustic effects of increased primarily involve lowering the second (F2), which contributes to a of greater backness or depth in the sound, while also slightly reducing higher formants due to the extended effective length of the vocal tract. This feature is particularly prevalent in s, where rounding reinforces the retracted tongue position, though it remains relative to language-specific norms—for instance, the English high back vowel /u/ exhibits more rounding than the central unrounded /ʉ/ found in some dialects or languages like Swedish. Representative examples include the enhanced in French front rounded vowels, transcribed as [y̹] in narrow phonetic descriptions of words like tu /ty/, where lip protrusion intensifies the high front quality. In consonants, Kwak'wala (formerly known as Kwakiutl) features labialized velars with variable degrees of , such as [kʷ̹], where the secondary lip articulation exceeds standard , interacting with surrounding rounded vowels to produce richer dorsal contrasts. Articulatorily, more rounded sounds arise from greater compression of the lip corners combined with forward protrusion, forming a tighter circular that narrows the oral outlet; this often couples with retraction in back contexts, amplifying the coarticulatory influence on adjacent segments. Modern imaging techniques, such as (MRI), have quantified these degrees, revealing greater lip advancement in enhanced rounding for like American English /u/ compared to unrounded counterparts, with variations across speakers highlighting the gradient nature of the feature in vowel inventories.

Less Rounded Sounds

Less rounded sounds refer to articulations with decreased lip protrusion or compression compared to a prototypically rounded counterpart, such as a high with neutral or spread lips rather than pursed ones. In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), this modification is denoted by the ◌̜ placed beneath the symbol, as in [u̜] for a high with reduced . This highlights relative decreases in , often resulting from phonetic processes like partial unrounding during assimilation or in lax variants of tense vowels. Articulatorily, less rounded sounds involve a relaxation of the , shifting the toward a more neutral or spread position without full protrusion, which contrasts with the enhanced puckering seen in more rounded articulations. Acoustically, this reduction in lip typically raises the second (F2) frequency, as the lengthening of the vocal tract by rounded lowers F2, and its absence or has the opposite effect; for instance, a less rounded [u̜] exhibits a higher F2 than canonical . In applications, English illustrates this with the near-high near-back /ʊ/ in words like "," which features weaker lip than the tense high back /u/ in "," often transcribed as [ʊ̜] to capture the relative laxness and reduced protrusion. Derounding also appears in contexts, where historically rounded front vowels like French /y/ may shift toward unrounded with minimal in casual speech or adaptation. Dialectal variations further demonstrate rounding assimilation, as in some dialects where /ʊ/ undergoes partial derounding before unrounded vowels, leading to neutral lip positions in sequences like "." Psycholinguistic studies emphasize perceptual cues for less rounded sounds, showing that listeners rely on both auditory indicators like elevated F2 and visual lip spread to distinguish reduced rounding from full unrounding, with integration enhancing accuracy in noisy environments. These cues underscore how relative rounding contributes to vowel identity beyond binary rounded-unrounded distinctions.

Phonological and Historical Applications

Sound Changes

Relative articulation features, such as advancements, retractions, height adjustments, centralizations, and rounding modifications, have driven numerous historical phonological shifts by altering the positional relationships between sounds, often through assimilation or shifts that propagate changes across or inventories to preserve phonemic contrasts. In , for instance, these mechanisms are evident in the differential treatment of dorsal consonants, where relative fronting or backing influenced branch-specific developments. Advancements prominently feature in palatalization chains, as seen in the centum-satem division of Indo-European. Proto-Indo-European distinguished three dorsal series: plain velars (*k, *g), palatovelars (*ḱ, *ǵ), and labiovelars (*kʷ, *gʷ); in satem branches like Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic, palatovelars advanced to alveolar (e.g., *ḱ > /s/ in satəm 'hundred') before front vowels, while plain velars remained or merged differently, reflecting a where the fronting of one series pulled others forward to avoid mergers. This advancement contrasted with centum languages (e.g., Greek, Latin), where palatovelars merged with plain velars without sibilantization (e.g., PIE *ḱm̥tóm > Latin centum). Retractions, conversely, appear in uvularization processes, such as in where uvular consonants (*q, *χ) retracted the tongue root ([RTR]), spreading to adjacent vowels and leading to emphatic mergers (e.g., Proto-Semitic *q > /q/ (uvular stop) or uvular fricatives in shifts to Hebrew). In Indo-European satem languages, similar retractions affected plain velars in specific environments, as in Indo-Iranian where post-ruki contexts (after *r, *u, *k, *i) retracted velars before palatalizing to affricates, contributing to chains (e.g., PIE *k > retracted /x/ > /š/). Height shifts illustrate chain dynamics in vowel systems, notably during the (c. 1400–1700 CE) in English, where relative raising pulled mid long vowels upward (e.g., ME /eː/ > /iː/ as in "meet," while high /iː/ diphthongized to /aɪ/ as in "time," and low /aː/ raised to /ɛː/ > /eɪ/ as in "name") while high vowels diphthongized or lowered to fill gaps, preventing systemic collapse through compensatory adjustments. Lowering occurred in lenition contexts, such as in where intervocalic stops lowered in height and voicing (e.g., Latin vita > Spanish vida, with relative lowering of /t/ toward approximants), often triggered by assimilatory weakening to adjacent vowels. Centralization in reduction processes centralized unstressed vowels toward schwa, as in English where historical full vowels (e.g., OE /i, u, a/) reduced to [ə] in weak positions, fostering mergers like the loss of distinct unstressed /ɪ, ʊ/ into schwa in many dialects (e.g., America > [əˈmerɪkə]). Rounding evolutions involved derounding of front vowels in shifts, particularly in Slavic languages where Proto-Slavic nasal front rounded vowels (*ę < PIE *en, *öN) partially derounded in non-nasal contexts (e.g., Common Slavic *ǫ > Polish /ɔ/ unrounded from earlier rounded realizations, while *ę > /ɛ̃/ > /ɛ/ in denasalization), driven by assimilation to unrounded environments and chain effects from jer vowel loss. These changes exemplify broader mechanisms: assimilation spreads relative features (e.g., frontness or rounding) across syllables, while chain shifts, as in the satem developments or Great Vowel Shift, ensure perceptual distinctions by sequentially adjusting articulatory positions. In Indo-European, such processes underscore how relative articulation maintained inventory balance during divergence.

Cross-Linguistic Examples

In English, velar stops exhibit fronting ([k̟]) before high front vowels like /i/, as in the word "key," due to anticipatory coarticulation where the body advances toward the following vowel's position. Unstressed vowels in English undergo centralization toward the mid-central schwa [ə], a process of that neutralizes height and backness contrasts in non-prominent syllables. In Romance languages, Spanish features lowering of the voiced dental stop /d/ to an approximant [ð̞] in intervocalic positions, such as in "nada" [ˈnaða̞], reflecting lenition where the articulators are relaxed to produce a more open approximation. French demonstrates increased lip rounding in its high front vowel /y/, transcribed as [y̹] in words like "tu" [ty̹], enhancing the labial protrusion relative to unrounded front vowels for perceptual distinctiveness. Among , Polish sibilants include a retracted alveolar [s̠], as in "sok" [s̠ɔk], where the is pulled back slightly compared to non-retracted , contributing to the language's rich inventory. In Czech, the open-mid /ɛ/ shows mid-centralization [ɛ̽] in certain prosodic contexts, shifting toward a more central position relative to its canonical form to facilitate with surrounding sounds. Australian Aboriginal languages, such as those in the Pama-Nyungan family, frequently exhibit vowel centralization during reduction in connected speech, where peripheral vowels shift toward a central [ə]-like quality to optimize the small three- or five-vowel inventory for acoustic efficiency. Assamese, an Indo-Aryan language, displays derounding of back vowels in coarticulatory contexts, such as /u/ approaching [ʉ] before front environments, resisting full rounding propagation. Modern phonetic research using ultrasound and MRI has revealed relative articulation patterns in underdocumented languages, such as retracted consonants in African Bantu languages like Zulu, where [s̠] occurs before back vowels, and centralized vowels in Austronesian languages like Tagalog, with unstressed /a/ shifting to [ə] for rhythmic alignment. These imaging techniques from 2010s-2020s studies highlight global variation, including labial adjustments in understudied African click languages and height modifications in Austronesian vowel systems, broadening understanding beyond Eurocentric data. For example, in Sino-Tibetan languages like Mandarin, retroflex approximants [ɻ] show retraction relative to alveolar [ɹ], affecting consonant-vowel interactions in tonal contexts.

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