Voiceless alveolar implosive
Consonantal sound
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A voiceless alveolar implosive is a rare consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is â¨ÉÌ¥ââ© or theoretically â¨tʼââ©. A dedicated IPA letter, â¨Æâ©, was retired in 1993.
Features
Features of a voiceless alveolar implosive:
- Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a plosive.
- Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
- Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
- It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
- It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
- The airstream mechanism is implosive (glottalic ingressive), which means it is produced by pulling air in by pumping the glottis downward. As it is voiceless, the glottis is completely closed, and there is no pulmonic airstream at all.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ese Ejja | dokwei | [ÉÌ¥É'kwεj] | 'stag' | [1] | |
| Mam[2] | tʼutʼan | [É̥ɯÉÌ¥aÅ] | 'finish' | Alternates between [ÉÌ¥] and [tʼ].[2] | |
| Serer[3] | [example needed] | Contrasts /ÉÌ¥, ÉÌ¥, ÊÌ, É, É, Ê/. | |||
| Igbo | Owere | [example needed] | Has a seven-way contrast of /tÊ° t ÉÌ¥ dʱ d É n/. | ||