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The phonetics of localising uvularisation in Ammani-Jordanian Arabic

An acoustic study
  • Bushra Adnan Zawaydeh and Kenneth de Jong
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Instrumental Studies in Arabic Phonetics
This chapter is in the book Instrumental Studies in Arabic Phonetics

Abstract

This paper examines the localisation of consonant uvularisation in vowels produced by six speakers of Ammani-Jordanian Arabic. Certain coronal consonants traditionally called ‘emphatics’ are accompanied by a uvularised quality correlating with a depressed second formant (F2) in vowels located in various parts of the word in which they appear. Three corpora were gathered to examine the strength of uvularisation in vowels in different locations with respect to the emphatic, finding four levels of F2 difference systematic enough to statistically generalise to the population of speakers. In addition, blocking effects of high segments are found to be the result of coarticulation of other vowel and consonant contrasts. Finally, productions of uvular stops also trigger another weaker variety of uvularisation. Since these effects seem to be general to the variety of Arabic studied, a model of these patterns is discussed in light of the phonological factors implicated by the patterns.

Abstract

This paper examines the localisation of consonant uvularisation in vowels produced by six speakers of Ammani-Jordanian Arabic. Certain coronal consonants traditionally called ‘emphatics’ are accompanied by a uvularised quality correlating with a depressed second formant (F2) in vowels located in various parts of the word in which they appear. Three corpora were gathered to examine the strength of uvularisation in vowels in different locations with respect to the emphatic, finding four levels of F2 difference systematic enough to statistically generalise to the population of speakers. In addition, blocking effects of high segments are found to be the result of coarticulation of other vowel and consonant contrasts. Finally, productions of uvular stops also trigger another weaker variety of uvularisation. Since these effects seem to be general to the variety of Arabic studied, a model of these patterns is discussed in light of the phonological factors implicated by the patterns.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. List of contributors ix
  5. Transliteration and transcription symbols for Arabic xi
  6. Introduction 1
  7. Part I. Issues in syntagmatic structure
  8. Preliminary study of Moroccan Arabic word-initial consonant clusters and syllabification using electromagnetic articulography 29
  9. An acoustic phonetic study of quantity and quantity complementarity in Swedish and Iraqi Arabic 47
  10. Assimilation of /l/ to /r/ in Syrian Arabic 63
  11. Part II. Guttural consonants
  12. A study of the laryngeal and pharyngeal consonants in Jordanian Arabic using nasoendoscopy, videofluoroscopy and spectrography 101
  13. A phonetic study of guttural laryngeals in Palestinian Arabic using laryngoscopic and acoustic analysis 129
  14. Airflow and acoustic modelling of pharyngeal and uvular consonants in Moroccan Arabic 141
  15. Part III. Emphasis and coronal consonants
  16. Nasoendoscopic, videofluoroscopic and acoustic study of plain and emphatic coronals in Jordanian Arabic 165
  17. Acoustic and electromagnetic articulographic study of pharyngealisation 193
  18. Investigating the emphatic feature in Iraqi Arabic 217
  19. Glottalisation and neutralisation in Yemeni Arabic and Mehri 235
  20. The phonetics of localising uvularisation in Ammani-Jordanian Arabic 257
  21. EMA, endoscopic, ultrasound and acoustic study of two secondary articulations in Moroccan Arabic 277
  22. Part IV. Intonation and acquisition
  23. Acoustic cues to focus and givenness in Egyptian Arabic 301
  24. Acquisition of Lebanese Arabic and Yorkshire English /l/ by bilingual and monolingual children 325
  25. Appendix 355
  26. Index 359
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.319.12zaw

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. List of contributors ix
  5. Transliteration and transcription symbols for Arabic xi
  6. Introduction 1
  7. Part I. Issues in syntagmatic structure
  8. Preliminary study of Moroccan Arabic word-initial consonant clusters and syllabification using electromagnetic articulography 29
  9. An acoustic phonetic study of quantity and quantity complementarity in Swedish and Iraqi Arabic 47
  10. Assimilation of /l/ to /r/ in Syrian Arabic 63
  11. Part II. Guttural consonants
  12. A study of the laryngeal and pharyngeal consonants in Jordanian Arabic using nasoendoscopy, videofluoroscopy and spectrography 101
  13. A phonetic study of guttural laryngeals in Palestinian Arabic using laryngoscopic and acoustic analysis 129
  14. Airflow and acoustic modelling of pharyngeal and uvular consonants in Moroccan Arabic 141
  15. Part III. Emphasis and coronal consonants
  16. Nasoendoscopic, videofluoroscopic and acoustic study of plain and emphatic coronals in Jordanian Arabic 165
  17. Acoustic and electromagnetic articulographic study of pharyngealisation 193
  18. Investigating the emphatic feature in Iraqi Arabic 217
  19. Glottalisation and neutralisation in Yemeni Arabic and Mehri 235
  20. The phonetics of localising uvularisation in Ammani-Jordanian Arabic 257
  21. EMA, endoscopic, ultrasound and acoustic study of two secondary articulations in Moroccan Arabic 277
  22. Part IV. Intonation and acquisition
  23. Acoustic cues to focus and givenness in Egyptian Arabic 301
  24. Acquisition of Lebanese Arabic and Yorkshire English /l/ by bilingual and monolingual children 325
  25. Appendix 355
  26. Index 359
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