Nasal release
Encyclopedia
In phonetics
, a nasal release is the release of a plosive consonant into a nasal stop
. Such sounds are transcribed in the IPA with superscript nasal letters, for example as [dⁿ]. In English words such as sudden in which historically the tongue made separate contacts with the alveolar ridge for the /d/ and /n/ ([ˈsʌdən]), many speakers today make only one contact. That is, the /d/ is released directly into the /n/: [ˈsʌdⁿn̩]. While this is a minor phonetic detail in English (in fact, it is more commonly transcribed as having no audible release
, [ˈsʌd̚n̩]), nasal release is more important in some other languages.
Prestopped nasals, and prenasalized stops, occur when the oral cavity is closed, and the nasal cavity
is opened by lowering the velum
, but the timing of these two events does not coincide. A prenasalized stop starts out with a lowered velum that raises during the occlusion, much like the [nd] in candy. A postnasalized stop or prestopped nasal begins with a raised velum that lowers during the occlusion. This causes an audible nasal release, as in English sudden.
The Slavic languages
are most famous for having (non-phonemic) prestopped nasals. This can be seen in place names such as the Dniester River. The Russian word for "day", for example, is inflected день, дня, дни, дней [d̻ʲen̻ʲ, d̻ʲn̻ʲa, d̻ʲn̻ʲi, d̻ʲn̻ʲej], "day, day's, days, days'". (Here the "palatalized" stops are presented as laminal
postalveolars
.)
Prestopped nasals also found in Australia. The Eastern Arrernte language has both prenasalized stops and prestopped nasals, but does not have word-initial consonant cluster
s. Compare [mwarə] "good", [mpwaɻə] "make", [pmwaɻə] "coolamon".
Note that there is little or no phonetic difference between a "prenasalized stop", e.g. /ⁿd/, and a cluster, e.g. /nd/, and similarly for prestopped nasals. The difference is essentially one of phonological analysis. For example, languages with word-initial /nd/ (or /ⁿd/), but no (other) word-initial clusters, will often be analyzed as having a unitary prenasalized stop rather than a cluster of nasal + stop. For some languages, it is claimed that a difference exists (often medially) between /ⁿd/ and /nd/. Even in such cases, however, alternative analyses are possible. Ladefoged
and Maddieson
investigated one such claimed case and concluded that the two sounds were better analyzed as /nd/ and /nnd/, respectively.
and Malay
, which are generally described as having unreleased final stops
, actually have a short nasal release in such cases. Since all final stops in these two languages are voiceless, the nasal release is voiceless as well.
Although the difference is commonly chalked up to aspiration, final nasal release is contrastive in Wolof
:
|+Contrasting releases in Wolof
!colspan=2|Nasal release!!colspan=2|Aspirated release
|-
|[lapᵐ̥]||'to drown'||[lapʰ]||'to be thin'
|-
|[ɡɔkᵑ̊]||'bridle rope'||[ɡɔkʰ]||'white chalk'
|}
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
, a nasal release is the release of a plosive consonant into a nasal stop
Nasal consonant
A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...
. Such sounds are transcribed in the IPA with superscript nasal letters, for example as [dⁿ]. In English words such as sudden in which historically the tongue made separate contacts with the alveolar ridge for the /d/ and /n/ ([ˈsʌdən]), many speakers today make only one contact. That is, the /d/ is released directly into the /n/: [ˈsʌdⁿn̩]. While this is a minor phonetic detail in English (in fact, it is more commonly transcribed as having no audible release
Unreleased stop
An unreleased stop or unreleased plosive is a plosive consonant without an audible release burst. That is, the oral tract is blocked to pronounce the consonant, and there is no audible indication of when that occlusion ends...
, [ˈsʌd̚n̩]), nasal release is more important in some other languages.
Prestopped nasals
In some languages, such consonants may occur before vowels, and are called prestopped nasals.Prestopped nasals, and prenasalized stops, occur when the oral cavity is closed, and the nasal cavity
Nasal cavity
The nasal cavity is a large air filled space above and behind the nose in the middle of the face.- Function :The nasal cavity conditions the air to be received by the other areas of the respiratory tract...
is opened by lowering the velum
Soft palate
The soft palate is the soft tissue constituting the back of the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is distinguished from the hard palate at the front of the mouth in that it does not contain bone....
, but the timing of these two events does not coincide. A prenasalized stop starts out with a lowered velum that raises during the occlusion, much like the [nd] in candy. A postnasalized stop or prestopped nasal begins with a raised velum that lowers during the occlusion. This causes an audible nasal release, as in English sudden.
The Slavic languages
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
are most famous for having (non-phonemic) prestopped nasals. This can be seen in place names such as the Dniester River. The Russian word for "day", for example, is inflected день, дня, дни, дней [d̻ʲen̻ʲ, d̻ʲn̻ʲa, d̻ʲn̻ʲi, d̻ʲn̻ʲej], "day, day's, days, days'". (Here the "palatalized" stops are presented as laminal
Laminal consonant
A laminal consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the blade of the tongue, which is the flat top front surface just behind the tip of the tongue on the top. This contrasts with apical consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the tongue apex only...
postalveolars
Postalveolar consonant
Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate...
.)
Prestopped nasals also found in Australia. The Eastern Arrernte language has both prenasalized stops and prestopped nasals, but does not have word-initial consonant cluster
Consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word splits....
s. Compare [mwarə] "good", [mpwaɻə] "make", [pmwaɻə] "coolamon".
Note that there is little or no phonetic difference between a "prenasalized stop", e.g. /ⁿd/, and a cluster, e.g. /nd/, and similarly for prestopped nasals. The difference is essentially one of phonological analysis. For example, languages with word-initial /nd/ (or /ⁿd/), but no (other) word-initial clusters, will often be analyzed as having a unitary prenasalized stop rather than a cluster of nasal + stop. For some languages, it is claimed that a difference exists (often medially) between /ⁿd/ and /nd/. Even in such cases, however, alternative analyses are possible. Ladefoged
Peter Ladefoged
Peter Nielsen Ladefoged was an English-American linguist and phonetician who traveled the world to document the distinct sounds of endangered languages and pioneered ways to collect and study data . He was active at the universities of Edinburgh, Scotland and Ibadan, Nigeria 1953–61...
and Maddieson
Ian Maddieson
Ian Maddieson is a linguist at UC Berkeley, an Adjunct Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico, Vice-President of the International Phonetic Association, and Secretary of the Association for Laboratory Phonology...
investigated one such claimed case and concluded that the two sounds were better analyzed as /nd/ and /nnd/, respectively.
Final consonants with nasal release
However, some languages such as VietnameseVietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
and Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, which are generally described as having unreleased final stops
Unreleased stop
An unreleased stop or unreleased plosive is a plosive consonant without an audible release burst. That is, the oral tract is blocked to pronounce the consonant, and there is no audible indication of when that occlusion ends...
, actually have a short nasal release in such cases. Since all final stops in these two languages are voiceless, the nasal release is voiceless as well.
Although the difference is commonly chalked up to aspiration, final nasal release is contrastive in Wolof
Wolof language
Wolof is a language spoken in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family...
:
-
- {| class=wikitable
|+Contrasting releases in Wolof
!colspan=2|Nasal release!!colspan=2|Aspirated release
|-
|[lapᵐ̥]||'to drown'||[lapʰ]||'to be thin'
|-
|[ɡɔkᵑ̊]||'bridle rope'||[ɡɔkʰ]||'white chalk'
|}