Pre-aspiration

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The preaspiration 's phonetics an aspiration prior to closure of an unvoiced obstruents . In other words, when an obstruent is pre-aspirated, the glottis is open for a short period of time prior to closure. To transcribe pre- aspiration with the IPA , the symbol for aspiration is usually placed in front of the pre-aspirated consonant.

Pre-aspiration is relatively rare in the languages ​​of the world, and some claim that there is no language in which it is meaningful. A distinction that is often made is that between “normative” and “non-normative” pre-aspiration. In a language with normative pre-aspiration, pre-aspiration in front of an unvoiced obstruction is mandatory, even if it is not a distinctive feature, while in a language with non-normative pre-aspiration it is not mandatory. Pre-aspirated consonants are mostly allophonic variants of a fortis if they follow a vowel, usually stressed.

Pre-aspiration can be realized in different ways. The most common form is glottal friction, similar to an [h]. The friction can experience an assimilation to the place of articulation of the obstruent or the preceding vowel, for example [ç] after a closed vowel. Other possible realizations are [x] and [f].

Pre-aspiration is best known in the Scandinavian languages , especially Icelandic and Faroese , but also in some dialects of Norwegian and Swedish . But pre-aspiration also occurs in other languages: it is found in Scottish Gaelic , Mongolian , in all Sami languages (except Inari-Sami ) and in several Indian languages , including dialects of Cree, Ojibwe, and Fox and the Hopi.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Sammallahti 1998: 55