Labialisation

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Labialisation is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally used to refer to consonants. When vowels involve the lips, they are usually called rounded.

Labialzation may also refer to a type of assimilation process.

1 Where found
2 Types of labialization
3 Transcription
4 Labial assimilaton
5 References

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Where found

Labialisation is the most widespread secondary articulation in the world's languages. It is phonemically contrastive in the Northwest Caucasian, Athabaskan, Salishan, and Indo-European language families, among others.

American English has three degrees of (phonetic) labialization: Fully rounded Template:IPA and initial Template:IPA, open-rounded Template:IPA, and unrounded, which in vowels is sometimes called spread. These secondary articulations are not universal. For example, while French shares the English open-rounding of Template:IPA, Russian does not. Such distinctions are helpful for non-native English speakers whose native languages use different articulations for sounds such as "r" and "l".

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Types of labialization

The most common form of labialization is rounding of dorsal consonants such as k, g, and q. With non-dorsal consonants, labialization prototypically involves velarization as well, so it might more accurately be called labiovelarization. However, this is not always the case, and labialisation is not restricted to lip-rounding. The following articulations have either been described as labialization, or been found as allophonic realisations of prototypical labialisation:

Labial rounding, with or without protrusion of the lips (found in Navajo)Template:Citation needed
Labiodental frication, found in Abkhaz Template:Citation needed
Bilabial frication, found in Ubykh Template:Citation needed
Bilabial trill, found in UbykhTemplate:Citation needed
Bilabial plosion, found in UbykhTemplate:Citation needed
"Labilialization" without lip rounding, found in the Iroquois
Rounding without velarization, found in Shona and in the Bzyb dialect of Abkhaz

Eastern Arrernte is a language with labialization at all places and manners of articulation. The labialization derives historically from adjacent rounded vowels, as is also the case of the Northwest Caucasian languages.

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Transcription

In the International Phonetic Alphabet, labio-velarization of consonants is indicated with a raised double-u diacritic, as in Template:IPA. There are also diacritics, respectively Template:IPA, to indicate greater or lesser degrees of rounding. These are normally used with vowels, but may occur with consonants. For example, in the Athabaskan language Hupa, voiceless velar fricatives distinguish three degrees of labialization, transcribed either Template:IPA or Template:IPA.

The Extended IPA has two additional symbols for degrees of rouding: Spread Template:IPA and open-rounded Template:IPA. It also has a symbol for labialdentalized sounds, Template:IPA.

If precision is desired, the Abkhaz and Ubykh articulations may be transcribed with the appropriate fricative or trill raised as a diacritic: Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA.

For simple labialization, Ladefoged and Maddieson resurrected an old IPA symbol, Template:IPA. In Shona, Template:IPA and Template:IPA contrast with Template:IPA and Template:IPA, and in some dialects with Template:IPA as well. The open rounding of English Template:IPA is also simple (unvelarized).

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Labial assimilaton

Labialisation also refers to a specific type of assimilatory process where a given sound become labialised due to the influence of neighboring labial sounds. For example, Template:IPA may become Template:IPA in the environment of Template:IPA, or Template:IPA may become Template:IPA in the environment of Template:IPA or Template:IPA.

In the Northwest Caucasian languages as well as some Australian languages rounding has shifted from the vowels to the consonants, producing a wide range of labialized consonants and leaving in some cases only two vowels. This appears to have been the case in Ubykh and Eastern Arrernte, for example.

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