Debuccalization

Debuccalization or deoralization is a sound change or alternation in which an oral consonant loses its original place of articulation and moves it to the glottis (usually h, ɦ, or ʔ). The pronunciation of a consonant as [h] is sometimes called aspiration, but in phonetics, aspiration is the burst of air accompanying a stop. The word comes from Latin bucca, meaning "cheek" or "mouth". Debuccalization is usually seen as a subtype of lenition, which is often defined as a sound change involving the weakening of a consonant by progressive shifts in pronunciation. As with other forms of lenition, debuccalization may be synchronic or diachronic (i.e. it may involve alternations within a language depending on context or sound changes across time). Debuccalization processes occur in many different types of environments such as the following: word-initially, as in Kannada word-finally, as in Burmese intervocalically, as in a number of English varieties (e.g. litter [ˈlɪʔə]), or in Tuscan (the house /la kasa/ → [la ˈhaːsa]) /q/ is debuccalized to /ʔ/ in several Arabic varieties, such as northern Egyptian, Lebanese, western Syrian, and urban Palestinian dialects, partially also in Jordanian Arabic (especially by female speakers). The Maltese language, which was originally an Arabic dialect, also shows this feature. Most English-speakers in England and many speakers of American English debuccalize /t/ to a glottal stop [ʔ] in two environments: in word-final position before another consonant (American English IPA) get ready [ˈɡɛʔˈɹɛɾi] not much [ˈnɑʔˈmʌtʃ] not good [ˈnɑʔˈɡʊd̚] it says [ɪʔˈsɛz] Before a syllabic [n̩] following /l/, /r/, or /n/ or a vowel. The /t/ may then also be nasally released. (American English IPA) Milton [ˈmɪlʔn̩] Martin [ˈmɑɹʔn̩] mountain [ˈmæʊnʔn̩] cotton [ˈkhɑʔn̩] Latin [ˈlæʔn̩] In Cockney English, /t/ is often realized as a glottal stop [ʔ] between vowels, liquids, and nasals (notably in the word bottle), a process called t-glottalization. The German ending -en is commonly realized as an assimilated syllabic nasal.

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