Editing Emphatic consonant

{{Short description|Series of obstruent consonants in Semitic languages}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2024}}
{{IPA notice}}
In [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] [[linguistics]], an '''emphatic consonant''' is an [[obstruent]] [[consonant]] which originally contrasted, and often still contrasts, with an analogous [[voiced]] or [[voiceless]] obstruent by means of a [[secondary articulation]]. In specific Semitic languages, the members of the emphatic series may be realized as [[uvularized]], [[pharyngealized]], [[velarized]] or [[ejective]], or by plain voicing contrast; for instance, in [[Arabic]], emphasis involves retraction of the dorsum (or root) of the tongue, which has variously been described as velarization or pharyngealization depending on where the locus of the retraction is assumed to be. The term is also used, to a lesser extent, to describe cognate series in other [[Afro-Asiatic languages]], where they are typically realized as ejective, [[implosive]] or pharyngealized consonants.

In [[Semitic studies]], emphatic consonants are commonly transcribed using the convention of placing a dot under the closest plain consonant in the [[Latin alphabet]]. However, exceptions exist: original emphatic {{Transliteration|sem|k}} developed into {{IPAslink|q}} in most Semitic languages; strictly speaking, it has thus ceased to be an emphatic version of {{Transliteration|sem|k}} and has become a different consonant, being most commonly transcribed as {{Transliteration|sem|q}} (rather than {{Transliteration|sem|ḳ}}) accordingly.

Within Arabic, the four emphatic consonants vary in phonetic realization from dialect to dialect, but are typically realized as pharyngealized consonants. In [[Ethiopian Semitic languages|Ethiopian Semitic]] and [[Modern South Arabian languages]], they are realized as ejective consonants.  While these sounds do not necessarily share any particular ''phonetic'' properties in common, most historically derive from a common source.

Five such "emphatic" phonemes are [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] for [[Proto-Semitic]]:  
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="3" | Proto-Semitic !! [[Modern South Arabian languages|Modern South<br/>Arabian]] 
! colspan="2" |[[Modern Standard Arabic|Standard<br/>Arabic]]
! colspan="2" |[[Modern Hebrew|Modern<br/>Hebrew]] 
! colspan="2" |[[Aramaic]]
|-
! Phoneme description !! IPA !! {{abbr|Trans.|Transcription}} 
!IPA
!Letter
!IPA
!Letter
!IPA
!Letter
!IPA
|-
| [[Alveolar ejective]] || {{IPAblink|tʼ}} || {{Transliteration|sem|ṭ}} || {{IPAblink|tʼ}}|| {{Transliteration|sem|[[Ṭāʼ]]}} {{lang|ar|ط}}
|{{IPAblink|t̪|tˤ}}
|{{Transliteration|he|[[Teth|Tet]]}} {{lang|he|ט}}
|{{IPAblink|t|t}}
| rowspan="2" |{{Transliteration|tmr|[[Teth]]}} {{lang|tmr|ט}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPAblink|t̪|tˤ}}
|-
| [[Dental ejective fricative]] || {{IPAblink|θʼ}} || {{Transliteration|sem|ṯ̣}} 
|{{IPAblink|θʼ}}|| {{Transliteration|ar|[[Ẓāʾ]]}} {{lang|ar|ظ}}
|{{IPAblink|ð|ðˤ}}
| rowspan="3" |{{Transliteration|he|[[Tsade|Tsadi]]}} {{lang|he|צ}}
| rowspan="3" |{{IPAblink|t͡s|t͡s}}
|-
| [[Alveolar ejective fricative]] or [[Alveolar ejective affricate|affricate]] || {{IPAblink|tsʼ}}/{{IPAblink|sʼ}} || {{Transliteration|sem|ṣ}} || {{IPAblink|sʼ}}|| {{Transliteration|ar|[[Ṣād]]}} {{lang|ar|ص}}
|{{IPAblink|s|sˤ}}
|{{Transliteration|tmr|[[Ṣade]]}} {{lang|tmr|צ}}
|{{IPAblink|s|sˤ}}
|-
| [[Alveolar lateral ejective fricative]] or [[Alveolar lateral ejective affricate|affricate]] || {{IPAblink|ɬʼ}}/{{IPAblink|tɬʼ}} || {{Transliteration|sem|ṣ́}} || {{IPAblink|ɬʼ}}|| {{Transliteration|ar|[[Ḍād]]}} {{lang|ar|ض}}
|{{IPAblink|d̪|dˤ}}{{refn|group=note|Historically, the emphatic consonant {{IPA|/dˤ/}} was pronounced {{IPAblink|ɮ|ɮˤ}}, or possibly {{IPAblink|dɮ|d͡ɮˤ}}<ref>{{citation|last=Ferguson|first=Charles|author-link=Charles A. Ferguson|title=The Arabic Koine|journal=[[Language (journal)|Language]]|volume=35|issue=4|page=630|year=1959|doi=10.2307/410601|jstor=410601}}</ref>—either way, a highly unusual sound. The medieval Arabs even termed their language {{lang|ar|لغة الضاد}} {{Transliteration|ar|ALA|lughat al-ḍād}} 'the language of the {{Transliteration|ar|Ḍād|i=no}}' (the name of the letter used for this sound), believing the sound unique to their language, though it also occurs in [[Mehri language|Mehri]]. It is preserved among older speakers in a few isolated dialects.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Al-Azraqi |first=Munira |year=2019 |title=Delateralisation in Arabic and Mehri |journal=Dialectologia |volume=23 |pages=1–23 |url=http://www.edicions.ub.edu/revistes/dialectologia23/}}</ref>}}
|{{Transliteration|tmr|[[Ayin]]}} {{lang|tmr|ע}}
|{{IPAblink|ʕ|ʕ}}
|-
| [[Velar ejective]] || {{IPAblink|kʼ}} || {{Transliteration|sem|ḳ}} || {{IPAblink|kʼ}}|| {{Transliteration|ar|[[Qāf]]}} {{lang|ar|ق}}
|{{IPAblink|q}}{{refn|group=note|This consonant is not considered emphatic in Arabic, and it is pronounced as a {{IPAblink|ɡ}} or {{IPAblink|ʔ}} or {{IPAblink|q}} in most [[Arabic dialects]], the latter ({{IPAblink|q}}) is also considered the standard pronunciation in both [[Modern Standard Arabic|Standard]] and [[Classical Arabic|Classical]] Arabic registers.}}
|{{Transliteration|he|[[Qoph|Qof]]}} {{lang|he|ק}}
|{{IPAblink|k}}
|{{Transliteration|tmr|[[Qoph]]}} {{lang|tmr|ק}}
|{{IPAblink|q}}
|}

An additional emphatic phoneme {{IPA|/ʃʼ/}} ({{IPA|/çʼ/}} in Central Jibbali) occurs in all the Modern South Arabian languages. There are few occurrences of it and the phoneme never appears in the same words in the six MSAL ([[Mehri people|Mehri]], [[Soqotri language|Soqotri]], [[Shehri language|Shehri (Jibbali)]], [[Ḥarsusi language|Harsusi,]] [[Hobyót language|Hobyot]], and [[Baṭḥari language|Bathari]]),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Simeone-Senelle |first=Marie-Claude |date=1997 |title=The Modern South Arabian Languages |url=https://llacan.cnrs.fr/fichiers/Senelle/SAMLanguages.pdf |journal=The Semitic Languages. London}}</ref> in a few occurrences, no phonological explanation can be given to its occurrence, but it appears to be connected to different phonological developments:

# From Proto-Semitic {{Transliteration|sem|ṣ}} {{IPAblink|sʼ}}: '''Mehri''' {{IPA|/ʃʼəbaːʔ/}}, {{IPA|/haʃʼbaːʔ/}} or {{IPA|/ħaʃʼ.baːʕ/}}, '''Hobyot''' from Hedemet {{IPA|/hiːʃʼəbaːʔ/}}, '''Harsusi''' {{IPA|/haʃʼbaːʔ/}} ''vs''. '''Jibbali''' {{IPA|/ʔisʼ.baːʕ/}}, '''Hobyot''' from [[Hawf]] {{IPA|/ʔiːsʼəbaːʕ/}}, '''Soqotri''' {{IPA|/ʔəsʼ.baʕ/}} and '''Arabic''' {{IPA|/ʔisˤ.baʕ/}};  meaning 'finger'. 
# From Proto-Semitic {{Transliteration|sem|ṣ́}} {{IPAblink|ɬʼ}}: '''Mehri''' {{IPA|/ʃʼəf.deːt/}}, '''Harsusi''' {{IPA|/ʃʼəf.daːjt/}} vs. '''Arabic''' {{IPA|/dˤif.daʕ/}}; meaning 'frong'.
# From Proto-Semitic {{Transliteration|sem|ḳ}} {{IPAblink|kʼ}}: '''Jibbali''' {{IPA|/ʃʼujeːt/}} ''vs''. '''Mehri''' {{IPA|/kʼaːjmət/}} and '''Arabic''' {{IPA|/qijaːma/}}; meaning ‘judgment day’.

An extra emphatic labial {{Transliteration|sem|*ṗ}} occurs in some Semitic languages, but it is unclear whether it was a phoneme in Proto-Semitic.
* The classical Ethiopian Semitic language [[Geʽez]] is unique among Semitic languages for contrasting all three of {{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/f/}}, and {{IPA|/pʼ/}}. While {{IPA|/p/}} and {{IPA|/pʼ/}} occur mostly in loanwords (especially from [[Greek language|Greek]]), there are many other occurrences whose origin is less clear (such as {{Transliteration|gez|hepʼä}} 'strike', {{Transliteration|gez|häppälä}} 'wash clothes').<ref>{{cite book|last=Woodard|first=Roger D.|editor-first1=Roger D. |editor-last1=Woodard |title=The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2008|page=219|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511486845|isbn=978-0-521-68496-5 }}</ref>
* According to Hetzron, [[Hebrew]] developed{{when|date=July 2024}} an emphatic labial phoneme {{Transliteration|he|ṗ}} to represent unaspirated {{IPA|/p/}} from [[Persian language|Persian]] and Greek; this phoneme is not attested in Hebrew orthography.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hetzron|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Hetzron|title=The Semitic languages|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9780415412667|year=1997|page=147}}</ref>

General [[Modern Israeli Hebrew]] and [[Maltese language|Maltese]] are notable exceptions among Semitic languages to the presence of emphatic consonants. In both languages, they have been lost under the influence of [[Indo-European languages]] (chiefly [[Yiddish]] and [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]], respectively, though other languages may also have had an influence; see [[revival of the Hebrew language]]).

* In Hebrew, the letter [[tsadi]] (from Proto-Semitic {{Transliteration|sem|ṯ̣}}, {{Transliteration|sem|ṣ}}, {{Transliteration|sem|ṣ́}}) remains distinct, but has been replaced by a non-pharygealized [[affricate]] {{IPAslink|ts}}. Emphatic {{Transliteration|sem|ḳ}} has been merged with plain {{Transliteration|sem|k}} in non-[[lenition|lenited]] positions, but remains distinct post-vocally, where the plain consonant becomes {{IPAslink|x}} (phonetically {{IPAblink|χ}}), while the original emphatic does not. Semitic {{Transliteration|sem|ṭ}} has been fully merged with plain {{Transliteration|sem|t}}.
* In Maltese, only emphatic {{Transliteration|sem|ḳ}} (spelled {{lang|mt|q}}) remains distinct. It is still realised as a uvular stop {{IPAblink|q}} in a few villages but has otherwise developed into a [[glottal consonant]] stop {{IPAblink|ʔ}}. All other emphatics have been merged into plain consonants. However, they are often still recognizable from special vocalic developments that they triggered before the mergers: compare {{lang|mt|sejf}} ({{gloss|sword}}, from Arabic {{lang|ar|سَيْف⁩}} {{Transliteration|ar|sayf}}) with {{lang|mt|sajf}} ({{gloss|summer}}, from Arabic {{lang|ar|صَيْف⁩}} {{Transliteration|ar|ṣayf}}). The emphatic {{Transliteration|ar|ṣ}} prevented the {{Transliteration|ar|a}} from being [[raising (sound change)|raised]] to {{Transliteration|ar|e}} as it did with the plain {{Transliteration|ar|s}}).

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emphatic Consonant}}
[[Category:Phonology]]
[[Category:Phonetics]]
[[Category:Semitic linguistics]]