ContinuantIn phonetics, a continuant is a speech sound produced without a complete closure in the oral cavity, namely fricatives, approximants, vowels, and trills. While vowels are included in continuants, the term is often reserved for consonant sounds. Approximants were traditionally called "frictionless continuants." Continuants contrast with occlusives, such as plosives, affricates and nasals. Compare sonorants (resonants), a class of speech sounds which includes vowels, approximants and nasals (but not fricatives), and contrasts with obstruents.
Welsh phonologyThe phonology of Welsh is characterised by a number of sounds that do not occur in English and are rare in European languages, such as the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative [ɬ] and several voiceless sonorants (nasals and liquids), some of which result from consonant mutation. Stress usually falls on the penultimate syllable in polysyllabic words, while the word-final unstressed syllable receives a higher pitch than the stressed syllable. Welsh has the following consonant phonemes: Symbols in parentheses are either allophones, or found only in loanwords.
Taa languageTaa ˈtɑː, also known as ǃXóõ ˈkoʊ (also spelled ǃKhong and ǃXoon; ǃ͡χɔ̃ː˦), is a Tuu language notable for its large number of phonemes, perhaps the largest in the world. It is also notable for having perhaps the heaviest functional load of click consonants, with one count finding that 82% of basic vocabulary items started with a click. Most speakers live in Botswana, but a few hundred live in Namibia. The people call themselves ǃXoon (pl. ǃXooŋake) or ʼNǀohan (pl. Nǀumde), depending on the dialect they speak.
Fortis and lenisIn linguistics, fortis and lenis (ˈfɔːrtᵻs and ˈliːnᵻs,_ˈlɛnᵻs; Latin for "strong" and "weak"), sometimes identified with 'tense' and 'lax', are pronunciations of consonants with relatively greater and lesser energy, respectively. English has fortis consonants, such as the p in pat, with a corresponding lenis consonant, such as the b in bat. Fortis and lenis consonants may be distinguished by tenseness or other characteristics, such as voicing, aspiration, glottalization, velarization, length, and length of nearby vowels.
Durcissement (phonétique)Le durcissement est un terme utilisé pour qualifier diverses modifications phonétiques, qui impliquent toutes un renforcement articulatoire tendant à abaisser sur l'échelle de sonorité le niveau du phone concerné. Le terme est imprécis quant à la réalisation exacte du phénomène. Il peut recouvrir ainsi : la transformation d'une consonne sonore en consonne sourde - il s'agit alors plus spécifiquement d'un dévoisement ; la transformation d'une consonne sonante (semi-voyelle, spirante, vibrante ou nasale) en consonne obstruante (fricative, occlusive ou affriquée) ; la transformation d'une consonne fricative en consonne occlusive.
PrénasalisationLa prénasalisation de consonne occlusive ou de consonne fricative est un phénomène phonétique qui modifie une consonne en la précédant d'une consonne nasale tout en créant une seule consonne phonologique. La prénasalisation est particulièrement fréquente dans les langues bantoues, les langues océaniennes, les langues oto-mangues et dans certaines familles de langues asiatiques comme les langues hmong. Remarque : est parfois retranscrit (avec une ligature tirant), (avec une ligature des deux symboles) ou .
Délai d'établissement du voisementvignette| Une représentation graphique du DES des arrêts des occlusives voisées, non voisées et aspirées En phonétique, le délai d’établissement du voisement, abrégé DES ou DÉS (en anglais voice onset time, abrégé VOT), est une caractéristique de la production des consonnes occlusives. Il s'agit de la durée qui s'écoule entre l'occlusion et le début du voisement (vibration des cordes vocales) ou, selon d'autres auteurs, la périodicité.
Modal voiceModal voice is the vocal register used most frequently in speech and singing in most languages. It is also the term used in linguistics for the most common phonation of vowels. The term "modal" refers to the resonant mode of vocal folds; that is, the optimal combination of airflow and glottal tension that yields maximum vibration. In linguistics, modal voice is the only phonation found in the vowels and other sonorants (consonants such as m, n, l, and r) of most of the languages of the world, but a significant minority contrasts modal voice with other phonations.
