View source for Uvular consonant

{{Short description|Consonants produced with tongue near or against the uvula}}
{{IPA notice}}
'''Uvulars''' are [[consonant]]s [[place of articulation|articulated]] with the back of the [[tongue]] against or near the [[Palatine uvula|uvula]], that is, further back in the mouth than [[velar consonant]]s.  Uvulars may be [[stop consonant|stops]], [[fricative consonant|fricatives]], [[nasal consonant|nasals]], [[trill consonant|trills]], or [[approximant consonant|approximants]], though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and the symbol for the voiced fricative is used instead. Uvular [[affricate consonant|affricates]] can certainly be made but are rare: they occur in most Turkic languages, most Persian languages, most Arabic languages, in some southern High-German dialects, as well as a few African and Native American languages. (Ejective uvular affricates occur as realizations of uvular stops in  [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], [[Bashkir language|Bashkir]], [[Arabic languages|Arabic dialects]], [[Lillooet language|Lillooet]], or as allophonic realizations of the ejective uvular fricative in [[Georgian language|Georgian]].) Uvular consonants are typically incompatible with [[advanced tongue root]],<ref name="Vaux99">{{cite journal|first=Bert|last=Vaux|title=A Note on Pharyngeal Features|year=1999|journal=Harvard Working Papers in Linguistics}}</ref> and they often cause [[retracted vowel|retraction]] of neighboring vowels.

==Uvular consonants in IPA==
The uvular consonants identified by the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] are:

{|class=wikitable
|-
! rowspan="2" | IPA
! rowspan="2" | Description
! colspan="4" | Example
|-
!Language
!Orthography
!IPA
!Meaning
|-
! {{IPA|ɴ̥}}
|[[voiceless uvular nasal]]
|[[Lamo language|Lamo]]
|colspan=3|{{example needed|date=December 2020}}
|-
! {{IPA|ɴ}}
|[[voiced uvular nasal]]
|[[Bai language|Bai]] (Luobenzhuo dialect)<ref>{{Cite news|title=Bai Dialect Survey|last=Allen|first=Bryan|date=August 2007|work=SIL Electronic Survey Report 2007-012|citeseerx = 10.1.1.692.4221 |url=https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/31352}}</ref>
|我/'''n'''ò
|[ɴɔ˦˨]
|{{gloss|I}}
|-
! {{IPA|q}}
|[[voiceless uvular plosive]] 
|[[Arabic language|Arabic]]
|{{lang|ar|قصّةٌ}} {{transliteration|ar|'''q'''iṣṣatun}}
|{{IPA|['''q'''isˤˈsˤɑtun]}}
|{{gloss|a story}}
|-
! {{IPA|ɢ}}
|[[voiced uvular plosive]]
|[[Inuktitut]]
|{{lang|iu|uti'''r'''ama}}
|{{IPA|[ʔuti'''ɢ'''ama]}}
|{{gloss|because I return}}
|-
! {{IPA|q͡χ}}
|[[voiceless uvular affricate]] 
|[[Kabardian language|Kabardian]]
|{{lang|kbd|'''кхъ'''э}} 
|{{Audio-IPA|Qkhaa.ogg|[q͡χa]}}
|{{gloss|grave}}
|-
! {{IPA|ɢ͡ʁ}}
|[[voiced uvular affricate]]
|[[Ekagi language|Ekagi]]<ref>{{cite conference |first=Peter |last=Staroverov |first2=Soren |last2=Tebay |year=2019 |chapter=Posterior Affricate in Mee and Consonant-Vowel Place Interactions |title=Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Meeting on Phonology |publisher=LSA}}</ref>
|{{lang|ekg|'''g'''aati}} 
|{{IPA|[ɢ͡ʁaːti]}}
|{{gloss|ten}}
|-
! {{IPA|χ}}
|[[voiceless uvular fricative]]
|[[Peninsular Spanish]]
|{{lang|es-ES|en'''j'''uto}}
|{{IPA|[ẽ̞ɴˈ'''χ'''ut̪o̞]}}
|{{gloss|skinny}}
|-
! {{IPA|ʁ}}
|[[voiced uvular fricative]]
|[[French language|French]]
|{{lang|fr|'''r'''ester}}
|{{IPA|['''ʁ'''ɛste]}}
|{{gloss|to stay}}
|-
! {{IPA|ʁ̞}}
|[[voiced uvular approximant]]
|[[Danish language|Danish]]<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Basbøll|2005|p=66}}</ref>
|{{lang|da|'''r'''ød}}
|['''ʁ̞'''œ̠ð̠]
|{{gloss|red}}
|-
! {{IPA|ʟ̠}}
|[[voiced uvular lateral approximant]]
|[[English language|English]] (some [[American English|American]] speakers{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=221}})
|[[English orthography|woo'''l''']]
|{{IPA|[wʊ'''ʟ̠''']}}
|{{gloss|wool}}
|-
! {{IPA|ɢ̆}}
|[[voiced uvular flap]]
|[[Hiw language|Hiw]]{{sfnp|François|2005|p=44}}
|colspan=2 align=center|{{IPA|[βɔ̞'''ʀ̆''']}}
|{{gloss|hibiscus}}
|-
! {{IPA|ʀ̥}}
|[[voiceless uvular trill]]
|[[French language|French]]<br />([[Belgian French|Belgian]]){{sfnp|Demolin|2001|pp=65, 67-68, 70-71}}
|{{lang|fr-BE|t'''r'''iste}}
|{{IPA|[t̪'''ʀ̥'''is̪t̪œ]}}
|{{gloss|sad}}
|-
! {{IPA|ʀ}} 
|[[voiced uvular trill]]
|[[French language|French]]<br/>(20th century Paris accent)
|{{lang|fr|Pa'''r'''is}}
|{{IPA|[paˈ'''ʀ'''i]}}
|{{gloss|Paris}}
|-
!ʀ̆
|[[Voiced uvular tap and flap|voiced uvular tap or flap]]
|[[Yiddish]]
|{{lang|yi|ב'''ר'''יק}}
|{{IPA|[b'''ʀ̆'''ɪk]}}
|{{gloss|bridge}}
|-
! {{IPA|qʼ}}
|[[uvular ejective stop]]
|[[Quechua languages|Quechua]]
|{{lang|qu|'''q{{'}}'''allu}}
|{{IPA|[ˈ'''qʼ'''aʎu]}}
|{{gloss|section, piece, slice, sauce}}
|-
! {{IPA|q͡χʼ}}
|[[uvular ejective affricate]]
|[[Georgian language|Georgian]]
|{{lang|ka|'''ყ'''ოფა}} {{transliteration|ka|'''q''''opa}}
|{{IPA|['''q͡χʼ'''ɔpʰɑ]}}
|{{gloss|being/existence}}
|-
! {{IPA|χʼ}}
|[[uvular ejective fricative]]
|[[Tlingit language|Tlingit]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://phoible.org/inventories/view/579|title = Phoible 2.0 -}}</ref>
|{{lang|tli|'''x̱{{'}}'''aan}}
|{{IPA|['''χʼ'''àːn]}}
|{{gloss|fire}}
|-
! {{IPA|ʛ}}
|[[voiced uvular implosive]]
|[[Konso language|Konso]]{{sfnp|Orkaydo|2013}}
|{{lang|kxc|po'''g'''oota}}
|{{IPA|[po'''ʛ'''oːta]}}
|{{gloss|mandible}}
|-
! {{IPA|ʛ̥}} ({{IPA|ʠ}})
|[[voiceless uvular implosive]]
|[[Mam language|Mam]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=England |first=Nora C. |title=A grammar of Mam, a Mayan language |date=1983 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=0292729278 |location=Austin |oclc=748935484}}</ref>
|{{lang|mam|'''q{{'}}'''ootj}}
|['''ʛ̥'''oːtʰχ]
|{{gloss|dough}}
|-
! {{IPA|ʞ᫢}}
|[[uvular-released click]]
| [[Wolof language|Wolof]] ([[Paralanguage|paralexical]])
|colspan=2| {{IPA|[ʞ᫢]}} (allophonic with velar {{IPA|[ʞ]}})
| 'yes'
|}

==Descriptions in different languages==
[[File:Places of articulation.svg|thumb|Uvular consonants are produced near marker 9.]]
[[English language|English]] has no uvular consonants (at least in most major dialects), and they are largely unknown in the indigenous languages of Australia and [[Pacific islands|the Pacific]], though uvular consonants separate from [[velar consonant]]s are believed to have existed in the [[Proto-Oceanic language]] and are attested in the modern [[Formosan languages]] of [[Taiwan]], while a  [[uvular approximant]] may occur in [[arrernte language|Arrernte]]. Uvular consonants are, however, found in many Middle-Eastern and African languages, most notably [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Somali language|Somali]], and in [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|native American languages]]. In parts of the [[Caucasus Mountains|Caucasus mountains]] and northwestern North America, nearly every language has uvular stops and fricatives. Two [[uvular R]] phonemes are found in various languages in northwestern Europe, including [[French language|French]], some [[Occitan language|Occitan]] dialects, a majority of [[German dialects]], some [[Dutch dialects]], and [[Danish language|Danish]]. Uvulars are almost unknown in the [[Indian subcontinent]], but have been found in [[Malto language|Malto]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Steever |first=Sanford B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n2DxBwAAQBAJ&q=malto+phonology&pg=PA359 |title=The Dravidian Languages |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-136-91164-4 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Kusunda language|Kusunda]] natively.<ref name="Watters">[[Kusunda language#Watters2005|Watters (2005)]].</ref> However, several languages spoken in the northwest of the subcontinent have loaned uvular consonants from [[Arabic]] and even [[Persian language|Persian]], especially languages that were spoken in places that were under [[Muslim rule of India|Muslim rule]] for long periods of time, such as [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A Panorama of Indian Culture: Professor A. Sreedhara Menon Felicitation Volume|author1=Menon, A.S.|author2=Kusuman, K.K.|date=1990|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=9788170992141|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z4JqgSUSXDsC&pg=PA87|page=87|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209045039/https://books.google.com/books?id=z4JqgSUSXDsC&pg=PA87|archive-date=9 February 2018}}</ref>

The [[voiceless uvular plosive|voiceless uvular stop]] is transcribed as {{IPA|[q]}} in both the IPA and [[X-SAMPA]]. It is pronounced somewhat like the [[voiceless velar stop]] {{IPA|[k]}}, but with the middle of the tongue further back on the [[velum (anatomy)|velum]], against or near the uvula. The most familiar use will doubtless be in the transliteration of Arabic place names such as ''Qatar'' and ''Iraq'' into English, though, since English lacks this sound, this is generally pronounced as {{IPA|[k]}}, the most similar sound that occurs in English.

{{IPA|[qʼ]}}, the uvular [[ejective consonant|ejective]], is found in [[Ubykh language|Ubykh]], [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]], [[Cuzco Quechua language|Cusco Quechua]], and some others. In Georgian, the existence of this phoneme is debatable, since the general realization of the letter "ყ" is {{IPA|/χʼ/}}. This is due to {{IPA|/qʰ/}} merging with {{IPA|/χ/}} and therefore {{IPA|/qʼ/}} being influenced by this merger and becoming {{IPA|/χʼ/}}.

{{IPA|[ɢ]}}, the [[voiced uvular plosive|voiced equivalent]] of {{IPA|[q]}}, is much rarer. It is like the [[voiced velar stop]] {{IPA|[ɡ]}}, but articulated in the same uvular position as {{IPA|[q]}}. Few languages use this sound, but it is found in [[Iranian Persian]] (and allophonicly in other varieties of Persian) and in some [[Northeast Caucasian languages]], notably [[Tabasaran language|Tabasaran]], and [[Pacific Northwest]], such as [[Kwakʼwala]].  It may also occur as an [[allophone]] of another uvular consonant. In [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], the [[voiced uvular stop]] is an allophone of the [[voiced uvular fricative]] after the [[velar nasal]].

The [[voiceless uvular fricative]] {{IPA|[χ]}} is similar to the [[voiceless velar fricative]] {{IPA|[x]}}, except that it is articulated near the uvula. It is found in Georgian, and instead of {{IPA|[x]}} in some dialects of German, [[Spanish dialects and varieties|Spanish]], and [[varieties of Arabic|colloquial Arabic]], as well as in some Dutch varieties and in standard [[Afrikaans]].

Uvular flaps have been reported for [[Kube language|Kube]] ([[Trans–New Guinea languages|Trans–New Guinea]]), [[Hamtai language|Hamtai]] ([[Angan languages|Angan]] family), and for the variety of [[Khmer language|Khmer]] spoken in [[Battambang province]].

The Enqi dialect of the [[Bai language]] has an unusually complete series of uvular consonants consisting of the stops /q/, /qʰ/ and /ɢ/, the fricatives /χ/ and /ʁ/, and the nasal /ɴ/.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Feng|first=Wang|date=2006|title=Comparison of Languages in Contact: The Distillation Method and the Case of Bai|url=http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/Files/LL/UploadFiles/MonoFullText/WF-Bai-All.pdf|journal=Language and Linguistics Monograph Series B. Frontiers in Linguistics III}}</ref> All of these contrast with a corresponding velar consonant of the same manner of articulation.<ref name=":0" /> The existence of the uvular nasal is especially unusual, even more so than the existence of the voiced stop.

The Tlingit language of the [[Southeast Alaska|Alaska Panhandle]] has ten uvular consonants, all of which are voiceless obstruents, while the extinct Ubykh language of [[Turkey]] has [[Ubykh phonology|twenty]]. The Tlingit uvular consonants are:

{|class=wikitable
|+Uvulars in Tlingit<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Maddieson |first1=Ian |last2=Smith |first2=Caroline L. |last3=Bessell |first3=Nicola |date=Summer 2001 |title=Aspects of the Phonetics of Tlingit |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=43 |jstor=30028779 |pages=140–141}}</ref>
|-
!Description !! Orthographic !! IPA !! Gloss
|-
|tenuis stop || {{lang|tli|'''g̱'''ákw}} || {{IPA|'''q'''ákʷ}} || {{gloss|tree spine}}
|-
|aspirated stop || {{lang|tli|'''ḵ'''ákw}} || {{IPA|'''qʰ'''ákʷ}} || {{gloss|basket}}
|-
|ejective stop || {{lang|tli|'''ḵʼ'''ákw}} || {{IPA|'''qʼ'''akʷ}} || {{gloss|screech owl}}
|-
|labialized tenuis stop || {{lang|tli|náa'''ḵw'''}} || {{IPA|náa'''qʷ'''}} || {{gloss|octopus}}
|-
|labialized aspirated stop || {{lang|tli|'''ḵw'''áan}} || {{IPA|'''qʷʰ'''áan}} || {{gloss|people, tribe}}
|-
|labialized ejective stop || {{lang|tli|'''ḵʼw'''átl}} || {{IPA|'''qʷʼ'''átɬ}} || {{gloss|cooking pot}}
|-
|voiceless fricative || {{lang|tli|'''x̱'''aakw}} || {{IPA|'''χ'''aakʷ}} || {{gloss|fingernail}}
|-
|ejective fricative || {{lang|tli|'''x̱ʼ'''áakw}} || {{IPA|'''χʼ'''áakʷ}} || {{gloss|freshwater sockeye salmon}}
|-
|labialized voiceless fricative || {{lang|tli|'''x̱w'''astáa}} || {{IPA|'''χʷ'''astáa}} ||{{gloss|canvas, denim}}
|-
|labialized ejective fricative || {{lang|tli|'''x̱wʼ'''áalʼ}} || {{IPA|'''χʷʼ'''áaɬʼ}} || {{gloss|down (feathers)}}
|}

==Phonological representation==
In [[Distinctive feature|featural]] [[phonology]], uvular consonants are most often considered to contrast with [[velar consonant]]s in terms of being [–high] and [+back]. Prototypical uvulars also appear to be [-ATR].<ref name="Vaux99"/>

Two variants can then be established. Since [[palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]] consonants are [-back], the appearance of palatalized uvulars in a few languages such as [[Ubykh language|Ubykh]] is difficult to account for. According to Vaux (1999), they possibly hold the features [+high], [-back], [-ATR], the last being the distinguishing feature from a palatalized velar consonant.

== Uvular rhotics ==

The uvular [[Trill consonant|trill]] {{IPA|[ʀ]}} is used in certain [[dialect]]s (especially those associated with European capitals) of [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]] and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], as well as sometimes in [[Modern Hebrew]], for the [[Rhotic consonant|rhotic]] phoneme. In many of these it has a uvular fricative (either [[voiced uvular fricative|voiced]] {{IPA|[ʁ]}} or [[voiceless uvular fricative|voiceless]] {{IPA|[χ]}}) as an [[allophone]] when it follows one of the [[voiceless]] [[stop consonant|stop]]s {{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/t/}}, or {{IPA|/k/}} at the end of a word, as in the French example ''[[wikt:maître|maître]]'' {{IPA|[mɛtχ]}}, or even a [[uvular approximant]] [ʁ̞].

As with most trills, uvular trills are often reduced to a single contact, especially between vowels.

Unlike other uvular consonants, the uvular trill is articulated without a retraction of the tongue, and therefore doesn't lower neighboring high vowels the way uvular stops commonly do.

Several other languages, including [[Inuktitut]], [[Abkhaz language|Abkhaz]], [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] and some [[varieties of Arabic]], have a voiced uvular fricative but do not treat it as a [[rhotic consonant]]. However, Modern Hebrew and some modern varieties of Arabic also both have at least one uvular fricative that is considered non-rhotic, and one that is considered rhotic.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

In [[Lakota language|Lakhota]] the uvular trill is an allophone of the voiced uvular fricative before {{IPA|/i/}}.

==See also==
*[[Uvularization]]
*[[Place of articulation]]
*[[List of phonetics topics]]
*[[Guttural R]]
*[[Retracted vowel]]s

== Notes ==
<references />

==References==
*{{Cite book |last=Basbøll |first=Hans |author-link=Hans Basbøll |title=The Phonology of Danish |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2005 |isbn=9780198242680}}
* {{Cite book |last=Cruttenden |first=Alan |title=Gimson's Pronunciation of English |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4441-8309-2 |edition=8th}}
* {{Cite book |last=Demolin |first=Didier |title='r-atics |publisher=Etudes & Travaux |year=2001 |editor-last=van de Velde |editor-first=Hans |series=Rapport d'Activités de l'Institut des Langues Vivantes et de Phonétique |location=Brussels |pages=61–73 |chapter=Some phonetic and phonological observations concerning {{IPA|/ʀ/|cat=no}} in Belgian French |issn=0777-3692 |editor-last2=van Hout |editor-first2=Roeland |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254818745}}
* {{cite journal |last=François |first=Alexandre |title=Unraveling the history of the vowels of seventeen northern Vanuatu languages |work=[[Oceanic Linguistics]] |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=443–504 |year=2005 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1330221 |doi=10.1353/ol.2005.0034 |s2cid=131668754}}
* {{SOWL}}
* {{cite book |last=Orkaydo |first=Ongaye |title=A Grammar of Konso |year=2013 |publisher=Landelijke Onderzoekschool Taalwetenschap |isbn=978-94-6093-109-3}}

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