Americanist phonetic notation
Script type
Time period
1880s to the present
LanguagesReserved for phonetic transcription of any language
Related scripts
Parent systems
Latin alphabet, augmented by Greek
  • Americanist phonetic notation

Americanist phonetic notation, also known as the North American Phonetic Alphabet (NAPA), the Americanist Phonetic Alphabet or the American Phonetic Alphabet (APA), is a system of phonetic notation originally developed by European and American anthropologists and language scientists (many of whom were students of Neogrammarians) for the phonetic and phonemic transcription of indigenous languages of the Americas and for languages of Europe. It is still commonly used by linguists working on, among others, Slavic, Uralic, Semitic languages and for the languages of the Caucasus, of India, and of much of Africa; however, Uralists commonly use a variant known as the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet.

Despite its name, NAPA has always been widely used outside the Americas. For example, a version of it is the standard for the transcription of Arabic in articles published in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, the journal of the German Oriental Society.

Diacritics are more widely used in Americanist notation than in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which seeks to use as few diacritics as possible for phonemic distinctions, retaining them only for the dentalalveolar distinction. Americanist notation relies on diacritics to distinguish many other distinctions that are phonemic in the languages it transcribes. On the other hand, Americanist notation uses single letters for most coronal affricates, whereas the IPA requires digraphs. Otherwise Americanist notation has grown increasingly similar to IPA, and has abandoned many of the more obscure letters it once employed.

Summary contrast with the IPA alphabet

Certain symbols in NAPA were once identical to those of the International Phonetic Alphabet, but have become obsolete in the latter, such as ι. Over the years, NAPA has drawn closer to the IPA. This can be seen, for example, in a comparison of Edward Sapir's earlier and later works. However, there remain significant differences. Among these are:

  • y for [j], ñ for [ɲ], c or ¢ for [t͡s], ƛ for [t͡ɬ] and ł for [ɬ]
  • Palato-alveolar č ǰ š ž and sometimes alveopalatal ć ś ź ń
  • Advancing diacritic (inverted breve) for dentals and palatals (apart from non-sibilant dental θ ð), and retracting diacritic (a dot) for retroflex and uvulars (apart from uvular q)
  • r or ř for a flap and for a trill
  • Ogonek for nasalization
  • Dot over vowel for centering, two dots (diaeresis) over a vowel to change fronting (for front rounded vowels and unrounded back vowels)
  • Acute and grave accents over vowels for stress

History

John Wesley Powell used an early set of phonetic symbols in his publications (particularly Powell 1880) on American language families, although he chose symbols which had their origins in work by other phoneticians and American writers (e.g., Pickering 1820; Cass 1821a, 1821b; Hale 1846; Lepsius 1855, 1863; Gibbs 1861; and Powell 1877). The influential anthropologist Franz Boas used a somewhat different set of symbols (Boas 1911). In 1916, a publication by the American Anthropological Society greatly expanded upon Boas's alphabet. This same alphabet was discussed and modified in articles by Bloomfield & Bolling (1927) and Herzog et al. (1934). The Americanist notation may be seen in the journals American Anthropologist, International Journal of American Linguistics, and Language. Useful sources explaining the symbols – some with comparisons of the alphabets used at different times – are Campbell (1997:xii-xiii), Goddard (1996:10–16), Langacker (1972:xiii-vi), Mithun (1999:xiii-xv), and Odden (2005).

It is often useful to compare the Americanist tradition with another widespread tradition, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Americanist phonetic notation does not require a strict harmony among character styles: letters from the Greek and Latin alphabets are used side-by-side. Another contrasting feature is that, to represent some of the same sounds, the Americanist tradition relies heavily on letters modified with diacritics; whereas the IPA, which reserves diacritics for other specific uses, gave Greek and Latin letters new shapes. These differing approaches reflect the traditions' differing philosophies. The Americanist linguists were interested in a phonetic notation that could be easily created from typefaces of existing orthographies. This was seen as more practical and more cost-efficient, as many of the characters chosen already existed in Greek and East European orthographies.

Abercrombie (1991:44–45) recounts the following concerning the Americanist tradition:

In America phonetic notation has had a curious history. Bloomfield used IPA notation in his early book An Introduction to the Study of Language, 1914, and in the English edition of his more famous Language, 1935. But since then, a strange hostility has been shown by many American linguists to IPA notation, especially to certain of its symbols.

An interesting and significant story was once told by Carl Voegelin during a symposium held in New York in 1952 on the present state of anthropology. He told how, at the beginning of the 1930s, he was being taught phonetics by, as he put it, a "pleasant Dane", who made him use the IPA symbol for sh in ship, among others. Some while later he used those symbols in some work on an American Indian language he had done for Sapir. When Sapir saw the work he "simply blew up", Voegelin said, and demanded that in future Voegelin should use 's wedge' (as š was called), instead of the IPA symbol.

I have no doubt that the "pleasant Dane" was H. J. Uldall, one of Jones's most brilliant students, who was later to become one of the founders of glossematics, with Louis Hjelmslev. Uldall did a great deal of research into Californian languages, especially into Maidu or Nisenan. Most of the texts he collected were not published during his lifetime. It is ironic that when they were published, posthumously, by the University of California Press, the texts were "reorthographized", as the editor's introduction put it: the IPA symbols Uldall had used were removed and replaced by others.

What is strange is that the IPA symbols seem so obviously preferable to the Americanist alternatives, the 'long s' to the 's wedge', for example. As Jones often pointed out, in connected texts, for the sake of legibility diacritics should be avoided as far as possible. Many Americanist texts give the impression of being overloaded with diacritics.

One may wonder why there should be such a hostility in America to IPA notation. I venture to suggest a reason for this apparently irrational attitude. The hostility derives ultimately from the existence, in most American universities, of Speech Departments, which we do not have in Britain. Speech Departments tend to be well-endowed, large, and powerful. In linguistic and phonetic matters they have a reputation for being predominantly prescriptive, and tend to be considered by some therefore to be not very scholarly. In their publications and periodicals the notation they use, when writing of pronunciation, is that of the IPA. My belief is that the last thing a member of an American Linguistics Department wants is to be mistaken for a member of a Speech Department; but if he were to use IPA notation in his writings he would certainly lay himself open to the suspicion that he was.

Alphabet

Consonants

There is no central authority. The Western Institute for Endangered Language Documentation (WIELD) has recommended the following conventions since 2016:[1]

Advanced is and retracted is . Geminate is C꞉ or CC. Glottalization is e.g. č̓ or (ejectives are not distinguished from other types of glottalization). Palatalization is written . Labialization, velarization, aspiration, voicelessness and prenasalization are as in the IPA. Pharyngeals, epiglottals and glottals are as in the IPA, as are implosives and clicks.

WIELD (2016) recommendations for NAPA consonants
  Bilabial Labio-
dental
Dental Alveolar Retro-
flex
Palato-
alveolar
Alveo-
palatal
Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn-
geal
Glottal
Plosive voiceless p   t k q ʔ[2]
voiced b   d ɡ̯ ɡ ɡ̇
Affricate central voiceless   pf c č ć kx qx̣
voiced   dz dẓ ǰ
dz̯
lateral voiceless       ƛ          
voiced       ꟛ (λ)          
Fricative central voiceless ɸ f θ s š ś x ħ h
voiced β v ð z ž ź ɣ̯ ɣ ɣ̇ ʕ ɦ
lateral voiceless       ł       łʸ    
voiced       ɮ            
Nasal m n ń ñ ŋ ŋ̇
Trill             ʀ
Tap     r      
Approximant central   ʋ   ɹ ɹ̣     y  
labialized     w
lateral     l  

Differences from the IPA fall into a few broad categories: use of diacritics to derive the other coronal and dorsal articulations from the alveolar and velar, respectively; use of c j ꟛ ƛ for affricates; y for its consonantal value, and r for a tap rather than a trill.

Notes:

Rhotics table

About 90% of languages only have one phonemic rhotic consonant. As a result, rhotic consonants are generally transcribed with the r character. This usage is common practice in Americanist and also other notational traditions (such as the IPA). This lack of detail, although economical and phonologically sound, requires a more careful reading of a given language's phonological description to determine the precise phonetics. A list of rhotics is given below.

Common rhotic conventions
Alveolar Retroflex/Uvular
Approximant r
Flap řṛ̌
Tap ᴅ̇
Trill ṛ̃

Other flaps are ň, l͏̌, etc.

Common alternate symbols

There are many alternate symbols seen in Americanist transcription. Below are some equivalent symbols matched with the symbols shown in the consonant chart above.

  • ¢ may be used for c.
  • č̣ may be used for .
  • j may be used for ʒ.
  • ǰ may be used for ǯ.
  • ƚ may be used for ł.
  • ɸ may be used for φ.
  • G may be used for ġ.
  • X may be used for .
  • ʸ may be used for fronted velars (e.g., kʸ = k̯, gʸ = g̑).
  • Some transcriptions superscript the onset of doubly articulated consonants and the release of fricatives, e.g. ᵍɓ, t̓ᶿ.
  • There may be a distinction between laminal retroflex č̣ ṣ̌ ẓ̌ and apical retroflex c̣ ṣ ẓ in some transcriptions.
  • The fronting diacritic may be a caret rather than an inverted breve, e.g. dental ṱ and palatal k̭.
  • Many researchers use the x-caron (x̌) for the voiceless uvular fricative.
  • The use of the standard IPA belted l (ɬ) for the voiceless lateral fricative is becoming increasingly common.

Pullum & Ladusaw

According to Pullum & Ladusaw (1996),[3] typical Americanist usage at the time was more-or-less as follows. There was, however, little standardization of rhotics, and may be either retroflex or uvular, though as noted above or ṛ̌ may be a retroflex flap vs ṛ̃ as a uvular trill. Apart from the ambiguity of the rhotics below, and minor graphic variants (ȼ g γ for c ɡ ɣ and the placement of the diacritic in g̑ γ̑), this is compatible with the WIELD recommendations. Only precomposed affricates are shown below; others may be indicated by digraphs (e.g. dz).

Typical NAPA consonant values (1996, not prescriptive)
  Bilabial Labio-
dental
Inter-
dental
Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palato-
alveolar
Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn-
geal
Glottal
Stop (oral)voiceless p   t k q   ʔ
voiced b   d g ġ    
Affricatevoiceless   ȼ č      
voiced   ǰ      
Lateral affricatevoiceless       ƛ              
voiced                    
Fricativevoiceless ɸ f θ s š x ħ h
voiced β v ð z ž γ̑ γ γ̇ ʕ ɦ
Lateral fricativevoiceless       ł              
Nasal m n ñ ŋ ŋ̇    
Rhotic     r        
Lateral     l      
Glide (w)           y (w)    

Ejectives and implosives follow the same conventions as in the IPA, apart from the ejective apostrophe being placed above the base letter.

Pike

Pike (1947) provides the following set of symbols:

Pike (1947) consonant values
  Bilabial Labio-
dental
Inter-
dental
Alveolar Retroflex Alveolo-
palatal
Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn-
geal
Glottal
Stop (oral)voiceless p   t k ḳ (q) ḳ̣ ʔ
voiced b   d g g̣ (G)    
Affricatevoiceless pᵽ   t̯θ ts (ȼ) tš (č)   kx    
voiced bb̶ d̯ꟈ dz (ʒ) dž (ǰ)   gg̶    
Lateral affricatevoiceless       tƚ (ƛ)              
voiced       dl (ꟛ)              
Flat fricativevoiceless f θ θ̣ x h
voiced v ꟈ̣ g̶̯ g̶̣ ɦ
Sibilantvoiceless w̱̟ (W̟) s ṣ , ṣ̌ š
voiced z ẓ , ẓ̌ ž
Lateral fricativevoiceless       ƚ̟              
voiced                    
Nasalvoiceless m̱ (M) ṉ (N) ṉ̃ (Ñ) ŋ̱ (Ŋ)    
voiced m n ñ ŋ    
Lateralvoiceless     ƚ (L) ƚʸ      
voiced     l      
Flapvoiceless     ṟ̌        
voiced ř , l͏̌ ṛ̌
Trillvoiceless ṟ̃
voiced ṛ̃

Voiceless, voiced and syllabic consonants may also be C̥, C̬ and C̩, as in IPA. Aspirated consonants are Cʻ or C̥ʰ / C̬ʱ. Non-audible release is indicated with superscripting, Vꟲ.

Fortis is C͈ and lenis C᷂. Labialization is C̮ or Cʷ; palatalization is Ꞔ, C⁽ⁱ⁾ or Cʸ; velarization is C⁽ᵘ⁾, and pharyngealization is C̴.

Other airstream mechanisms are pulmonic ingressive C, ejective Cˀ, implosive Cˁ, click C˂, and lingual ejective (spurt) C˃.

Anthropos

The journal Anthropos published the alphabet to be used in their articles in 1907.[4] Although European, it is the same basic system that Sapir and Boas introduced to the United States. Transcription is italic, without other delimiters.

Anthropos alphabet (1907)
  Labial Coronal
("Dental")
Palatal Dorsal
("Guttural")
Pharyn-
geal
Epi-
glottal
Glottal
Bilabial Labio-
dental
Inter-
dental
Alveolar Retroflex Pre-
velar
Velar Uvular
Plosivevoiceless p   t c k ʼ
voiced b   d j g    
Affricatevoiceless (pf)   t͏̯̌ (t̯s̯) t͏̌ (ts) ṭ̌ (ṭṣ) č () ǩ̯ (k̯x̯) ǩ (kx) ḳ̌ (ḳx̣)
voiced (bv)   d͏̯̌ (d̯z̯) d͏̌ (dz) ḍ̌ (ḍẓ) ǰ () ǧ̯ (g̯y) ǧ (gÿ) ǧ̣ (g̣ỵ̈)    
Fricativevoiceless () f s š x h
voiced w v z ž y ÿ ỵ̈    
Rhotic     r̯ ꭈ̯ r ꭈ ṛ ꭈ̣   ꭉ̯ ꭊ̯ ꭉ ꭊ ꭉ̣ ꭊ̣  
Lateral flap     𝼑      
Lateral liquid     l (ĺ)   ɫ    
Lateral affricatevoiceless       ()[5]     ()        
voiced       ()     ()        
Lateral fricativevoiceless       ()     ()        
voiced       ()     ()        
Nasal m () n (ń) ꬻ̯ () ꬻ̣    
Prenasalized?voiceless  
voiced      
Ejective  
Ingressive p   ʇ ʇ̣ ɔ ʞ

Palatalized consonants are written with an acute – ć ś ź ĺ ń etc. Semivowels are ü̯ etc.

Vowels

WIELD recommends the following conventions. It doesn't provide characters for distinctions that aren't attested in the literature:[1]

WIELD (2016) recommendations for NAPA (semi)vowels
  Front Central Back
unround round unround round unround round
Glide y   w
Close higher i ü ɨ ʉ ï u
lower ɪ ʊ̈ ʊ̇ ʊ
Mid higher e ö ə ȯ ë o
lower ɛ ɔ̈ ɛ̇ ɔ̇ ʌ ɔ
Open higher æ ɒ̈ æ̇ ɑ ɒ
lower a a

No distinction is made between front and central for the lowest unrounded vowels. Diphthongs are e.g. ai or ay, depending on phonological analysis. Nasal vowels are e.g. ą. Long vowels are e.g. a꞉. A three-way length distinction may be a a꞉ a꞉꞉ or a aꞏ a꞉. Primary and secondary stress are e.g. á and à. Voicelessness is e.g. , as in the IPA. Creak, murmur, rhoticity et al. are as in the IPA.

Pullum & Ladusaw

According to Pullum & Ladusaw (1996), typical Americanist usage at the time was more-or-less as follows:

Typical NAPA vowel values (1996, not prescriptive)
FrontCentralBack
unroundroundunroundroundunroundround
Glide y w
High(higher) iüɨʉïu
lower ɪᴜ̈ɪ̈
Midhigher eöəëo
lower ɛɔ̈ʌɔ
Low æa/ɑ
Lower-Low aɑɒ

Pike

Pike (1947) presents the following:

Pike (1947) vowel values
FrontCentralBack
unroundroundunroundroundunroundround
Glide y w
High(higher) iüɨʉïu
lower ιᴜ̈ϊ
Midhigher eöəëo
lower ɛɔ̈ʌɔ
Low higher æ
lower aɑɒ

Nasalization is V̨ or Vⁿ. A long vowel is V꞉ or Vꞏ; half-long is V‧ (raised dot). Positional variants are fronted V˂, backed V˃, raised V˄ and lowered V˅.

Anthropos

Vowels are inconsistent between languages. ï ë etc. may be used for unrounded central vowels,[6] and the a-based letters are poorly defined, with height and rounding confounded.

Anthropos (semi)vowels (1907)
  Front Central Back
unround round unround round unround round
Semivowel ü̯ ī̯ ū̯ ï̯
High higher i ü ī (ï) ū ï u
lower ü̠ ī̠ ū̠ ï̠
Mid higher ọ̈ ẹ̄ ọ̄ ẹ̈
mid e ö ē (ë) ō ë o
lower ö̠ ē̠ ō̠ ë̠
Low higher a̤̣ a̰̣
mid
ä
lower a

There are actually three heights of low front and back vowels. ā is also seen for a low back vowel.

Reduced (obscure) vowels are etc. There are also extra-high vowels etc.

Bloch & Trager

Bloch & Trager (1942) proposed the following schema, which was never used. They use a single dot for central vowels and a dieresis to reverse backness. The only central vowels with their own letters are ɨ, which already has a dot, and , which would not be distinct if formed with a dot.

Bloch & Trager (1942) vowel symbols
FrontCentralBack
unroundroundunroundroundunroundround
High iüɨu̇ïu
Lower-high ɪᴜ̈̇ɪ̈
Higher-mid eöėȯëo
Mean-mid ꭥ̈̇̇ᴇ̈
Lower-mid ɛɔ̈ɛ̇ɔ̇ɛ̈ɔ
Higher-low æω̈æ̇ω̇æ̈ω
Low aɒ̈ȧɒ̇äɒ

Kurath

Kurath (1939) is as follows.[7] Enclosed in parentheses are rounded vowels. Apart from ʚ, ꭤ and some differences in alignment, it is essentially the IPA.

Kurath (1939) vowel symbols
Front Half-
front
Central Half-
back
Back
High i (y) ɨ (ʉ) ɯ (u)
Lower high ɪ (ʏ) ᵻ (ᵾ) ɤ (ᴜ)
Higher mid e (ø) ɘ (o)
Mid ə (ɵ)
Lower mid ɛ (ʚ) ɜ (ɞ) ʌ
Higher low æ ɐ (ɔ)
Low a ɑ ꭤ (ɒ)

Chomsky & Halle

Chomsky & Halle (1968) proposed the following schema, which was hardly ever used. In addition to the table, there was ə for an unstressed reduced vowel.

Chomsky & Halle (1968) vowel symbols
[−back][+back]
[−round][+round][−round][+round]
[+high −low][+tense] iüᵻ̄u
[−tense] ɪᴜ̈
[−high −low][+tense] eȫʌ̄ō
[−tense] ɛöʌo
[−high +low][+tense] ǣꭢ̄āɔ̄
[−tense] æaɔ

Tone and prosody

Pike (1947) provides the following tone marks:

  • High: V́ or V¹
  • Mid: V̍ or V²
  • Norm: V̄ or V³
  • Low: V̀ or V⁴

Stress is primary ˈCV or V́ and secondary ˌCV or V̀.

Short or intermediate and long or final 'pauses' are |, ||, as in IPA.

Syllable division is CV.CV, as in IPA, and morpheme boundaries are CV-CV.

Historical charts of 1916

The following charts were agreed by committee of the American Anthropological Association in 1916.[8]

The vowel chart is based on the classification of H. Sweet. The high central vowels are differentiated by moving the centralizing dot to the left rather than with a cross stroke. IPA equivalents are given in a few cases that may not be clear.

narrowwide
backmixedfrontbackmixedfront
high ïı (= ˙ı)iɩ̈ɩ (= ˙ɩ)ɩ
mid α [ʌ]eaε
low ȧä
high round uüυυ̇ϋ
mid round oȯöɔɔ̇ɔ̈
low round ωω̇ω̈
  Stops Spirants Affricates Nasals Laterals Lateral Affricates Rolled Consonants
Surd Sonant Intermed. Aspirated Glot-
talized
Surd Sonant Glot-
talized
*
Surd Sonant Glot-
talized
*
Surd Sonant Surd Sonant Glot-
talized
*
Surd Sonant Glot-
talized
*
Surd Sonant Glot-
talized
*
Bilabial
(rounded)
pw bw ʙw pwʽ w , pwǃ ƕ w ƕǃ bw pƕǃ w mw                  
Bilabial
(unrounded)
p b ʙ  ,  φ β φǃ pφǃ m                  
Dento-
labial
          f v pf bv pfǃ                      
Inter-
dental
          θ ϑ θǃ tθǃ                      
Linguo-
dental
ᴅ̯ t̯ʽ t̯̓ , t̯ǃ s̯ǃ t̯s d̯z t̯sǃ ɴ̯ ƚ̯ , ʟ̯ ƚ̯ǃ t̯ƚ d̯l t̯ƚǃ ʀ̯ ʀ̯ǃ
Linguo-
alveolar
t d  ,  s z ts dz tsǃ ɴ n ƚ , ʟ l ƚǃ dl tƚǃ ʀ r ʀǃ
Cerebral ᴅ̣ ṭʽ ṭ̓ , ṭǃ ṣǃ ṭs ḍz ṭsǃ ɴ̣ ƚ̣ , ʟ̣ ƚ̣ǃ ṭƚ ḍl ṭƚǃ ʀ̣ ʀ̣ǃ
Dorso-
dental
τ̯ δ̯ Δ̯ τ̯ʽ τ̯̓ , τ̯ǃ σ̯ ζ̯ σ̯ǃ τ̯σ δ̯ζ τ̯σǃ ν̯ ν̯ ᴧ̯ ꟛ̯ ᴧ̯ǃ τ̯ᴧ δ̯ᴧ τ̯ᴧǃ      
Dorsal τ δ Δ[9] τʽ τ̓ , τǃ σ ζ σǃ τσ δζ τσǃ
ν
[10]
ν
ᴧǃ τᴧ δᴧ τᴧǃ      
Dorso-
palatal
τ̣ δ̣ Δ̣ τ̣ʽ τ̣̓ , τ̣ǃ σ̣ ζ̣ σ̣ǃ τ̣σ δ̣ζ τ̣σǃ
ν̣
ν̣
ᴧ̣ ꟛ̣ ᴧ̣ǃ τ̣ᴧ δ̣ᴧ τ̣ᴧǃ      
Anterior
c-sounds
y) y) (Δy) yʽ) (τ̓ , τyǃ) cy jy cyǃ tcy djy tcyǃ (
ν
y)
(
ν
y)
(ᴧy) (ꟛy) (ᴧyǃ) (τᴧy) (δᴧy) (τᴧyǃ)      
Mid
c-sounds
(ty) (dy) (ᴅy) (tyʽ) (t̓ , tyǃ) c j tc dj tcǃ y) (ny) y , ʟy) (ly) yǃ) (tƚy) (dly) (tƚyǃ)      
Posterior
c-sounds
(ṭy) (ḍy) (ᴅ̣y) (ṭyʽ) (ṭ̓ , yǃ) c̣ǃ ṭc ḍj ṭcǃ (ɴ̣y) (ṇy) (ƚ̣y , ʟ̣y) (ḷy) (ƚ̣yǃ) (ṭƚy) (ḍly) (ṭƚyǃ)      
Anterior
palatal
ɢ̯ k̯ʽ k̯̓ , k̯ǃ γ̯ x̯ǃ k̯x g̯γ k̯xǃ ᴎ̯ ŋ̯       k̯ƚ g̯l k̯ƚǃ Ρ̯ ρ̯ ρ̯ǃ
Mid-
palatal
k g ɢ  ,  x γ kx kxǃ [11] ŋ       gl kƚǃ Ρ ρ ρǃ
Back palatal,
velar
 (q) ɢ̣ ḳʽ ḳ̓ , ḳǃ γ̣ x̣ǃ ḳx g̣γ ḳxǃ ᴎ̣ ŋ̣       ḳƚ g̣l ḳƚǃ Ρ̣ ρ̣ ρ̣ǃ
Glottal ʼ     ʼʽ   ʽ , h a (any
vowel)
  ʼʽ                     (a̓)    
Laryngeal ʼ̣     ʼ̣ʽ   (any vowel with laryngeal resonance)   ʼ̣ḥ                          

Notes:

  • surd = voiceless; sonant = voiced; intermed. = partially voiced
  • In the glottalized stop column, the phonetic symbol appearing on the left side (which is a consonant plus an overhead single quotation mark) represents a weakly glottalized stop (i.e. weakly ejective). The symbol on the right side is strongly glottalized (i.e. it is articulated very forcefully). Example: [k̓ ] = weakly glottalized, [kǃ] = strongly glottalized. (Cf. = [k] followed by glottal stop.) This convention is only shown for the glottalized stops, but may be used for any of the glottalized consonants.
  • "Laryngeal" refers to either pharyngeal or epiglottal.

Variation between authors

Following are symbols that differ among well-known Americanist sources.[12][13]

Powel
1880
Boas
1911
AAA
1916
Sapir
1934
Sturtevant
1978
WIELD
2020
IPA
plosives
kꞏkyk̯, kʸc
gꞏgyɡ̯, ɡʸɟ
qq, ḳqq
ġɡ̇ɢ
ʼʔʔʔʔ
affricates
θ̂t͜θ
ð̂d͜ð
tsccct͜s
dzʒʒdzd͜z
tctcčččt͜ʃ
djdjǯǯǰd͡ʒ
ʟtł, tʟƛƛƛt͡ɬ
ʟ̣dld͡ɮ
fricatives
ççθθθθ
ȼȼϑδðð
cccššʃ
jjjžžʒ
qxxxx
xγγγɣɣ
xχ
γ̣γ̣γ̇ɣ̇ʁ
ħħ
nasals
ñññŋŋŋŋ
ṇ̃ṇ̃ŋ̇ŋ̇ɴ
M
ɴN
ñ̥ɴ̃ŋ̊
laterals łł, ʟłłɬ
trills ɹʀʀ
Powel
1880
Boas
1911
AAA
1916
Sapir
1934
Sturtevant
1978
WIELD
2020
IPA
aspiration Cʽ, Cʰ
glottalization Cʼ (bʼ)C!Cʼ,
palatalization CꞏCy, Cy
labialization CᵘCw, Cw
length V̄?Vꞏ (V:)Vꞏ (V:)V꞉ (a꞉ a꞉꞉ or aꞏ a꞉)Vː (Vːː)
nasalization VⁿVⁿ
Powel
1880
Boas
1911
AAA
1916
Sapir
1934
Sturtevant
1978
WIELD
2020
IPA
vowels
ǐii, īiii
iɩ, iɪɪɪ
ěee, ēeee
eɛ, eɛɛɛ
ää, ăæææ
uuu, ūuuu
ǔυ, uʊʊ
ooo, ōooo
ǒɔ, oŏɔɔ
ɔâωɔɒɒ
ïɨɨ, ïɨ, ɯ
ûəəəə
ɑ, ȧʌʌ?ɐ

See also

References

  1. 1 2 WIELD's Recommended Americanist Transcription System
  2. ʔ is often rendered by removing the dot from a question mark ?.
  3. Phonetic Symbol Guide, 2nd ed., p. 301–302
  4. P. W. Schmidt, P. G. Schmidt and P. J. Hermes, "Die Sprachlaute und ihre Darstellung in einem allgemeinen linguistischen Alphabet (Schluß) / Les sons du langage et leur représentation dans un alphabet linguistique général (Conclusion)", Anthropos, Bd. 2, H. 5. (1907), insert at page 1098
  5. Although Anthropos specifies a bridge for lateral obstruents, it was more common at the time to use a tilde.
  6. The central vowels shown here do not appear in the main vowel charts, but occur in various illustrations.
  7. Kurath, Hans (1939). Handbook of the Linguistic Geography of New England. Brown University. p. 123.
  8. Boas, Goddard, Sapir & Kroeber (1916) Phonetic Transcription of Indian Languages: Report of Committee of American Anthropological Association. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 66.6. Chart is a fold-out behind the back cover that is not reproduced at this link.
  9. There is no small-capital delta in Unicode. A full capital would normally be substituted.
  10. Not supported by Unicode. It can be kept distinct in a database as Greek Ν, but that is not visually distinct in print.
  11. Small-capital engma is rendered various ways. is the form it takes in the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet and is the form supported by Unicode.
  12. Mithun, Languages of Native North America, 1999, p. viii.
  13. Sturtevant, Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 17, 1978, p. 12ff

Bibliography

  • Abercrombie, David. (1991). "Daniel Jones's teaching". In Abercrombie, David (ed.). Fifty years in phonetics: Selected papers. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 37–47.(Original work published 1985 in Fromkin, V. A. (ed.). Phonetic linguistics: Essays in honor of Peter Ladefoged. Orlando: Academic Press, Inc.
  • Albright, Robert W. (1958). The International Phonetic Alphabet: Its background and development. International journal of American linguistics (Vol. 24, No. 1, Part 3); Indiana University research center in anthropology, folklore, and linguistics, publ. 7. Baltimore. (Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, 1953).
  • American Anthropological Society; Boas, Franz; Goddard, Pliny E.; Sapir, Edward; Kroeber, Alfred L. (1916). Phonetic transcription of Indian languages: Report of committee of American Anthropological Association (Report). Smithsonian miscellaneous collections. Vol. 66. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
  • Bloomfield, Leonard; Bolling, George Melville (1927). "What symbols shall we use?". Language. 3 (2): 123–129. doi:10.2307/408965. JSTOR 408965.
  • Boas, Franz (August 29, 2013) [1911]. "Introduction by Franz Boas". Handbook of American Indian Languages. Vol. 40. Cambridge University Press. pp. 5–83. ISBN 978-1-108-06342-5.
  • Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
  • Clark, John; Yallop, Colin (1995). An introduction to phonetics and phonology (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19452-5..
  • Goddard (1996). "Introduction". In Goddard, Ives (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians: Languages. Vol. 17. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 1–16. ISBN 0-16-048774-9.
  • Herzog, George; Newman, Stanley S.; Sapir, Edward; Swadesh, Mary Haas; Swadesh, Morris; Voegelin, Charles F (1934). "Some orthographic recommendations". American Anthropologist. 36 (4): 629–631. doi:10.1525/aa.1934.36.4.02a00300.
  • Hill, Kenneth C. (1988). "Review of Phonetic symbol guide by G. K. Pullum & W. Ladusaw". Language. 64 (1): 143–144. doi:10.2307/414792. JSTOR 414792.
  • International Phonetic Association (1949). The principles of the International Phonetic Association, being a description of the International Phonetic Alphabet and the manner of using it, illustrated by texts in 51 languages. London: University College, Department of Phonetics.
  • Kemp, J. Alan (1994). "Phonetic transcription: History". In Asher, R. E.; Simpson, J. M. Y. (eds.). The encyclopedia of language and linguistics. Vol. 6. Oxford: Pergamon. pp. 3040–3051.
  • Langacker, Ronald W. (1972). Fundamentals of linguistic analysis. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
  • MacMahon, Michael K. C. (1996) (1996). "Phonetic notation". In Daniels, P. T.; Bright, W. (eds.). The world's writing systems. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 821–846. ISBN 0-19-507993-0.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • Maddieson, Ian (1984). Patterns of sounds. Cambridge studies in speech science and communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Mithun, Marianne (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7.
  • Odden, David (2005). Introducing phonology. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82669-1.
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