Emphatic consonant

The term comes from the emphatic consonants Linguistics in the Semitic languages, and describes a number of sound consonants, which are distinguished from other voiced and voiceless consonants.

Pronunciation and origins in Proto - Semitic

In some Semitic languages ​​the emphatic sounds are articulated as Pharyngale, velars or ejectives, in contrast to the simple, well-known in European languages ​​, voiced or voiceless consonants. The term emphatically is partly used also in relation to other Afro- Asiatic languages ​​in which the emphasis is expressed by ejective or implosive consonants. In the Semitic literature the emphatic consonants are usually characterized by an additional point below the corresponding consonants of the Latin alphabet (eg, T, S, D and Z ) to highlight the phonetic characteristics that distinguish these consonants from the other consonants. In the Arabic language the term is emphatic equivalent to a secondary articulation constricted throat or tongue back room, which is considered depending on the place of articulation as velarization or pharyngealization. Within the Arabic language varies the phonetic realization of the emphatic consonants from dialect to dialect, but it is mostly the pharyngale consonant used. In modern South Arabian languages ​​Ethiopian and the emphatic consonants are articulated by ejective consonants. Although these sounds are not necessarily phonetically match each other, so they come but historically written off from a common source.

These 5 emphatic consonants can already be found in the proto- Semitic language:

• T: A dental plosive ( = [t ']), coinciding with today's Arabic ط.
• T: A (inter ) dental fricative ( = [ θ ']).
• S: An alveolar affricate ( = [( t) s'] ), it was hebrew צ.
• S: A lateral affricate ( = [( t) ɬ ']).
• K: a velar plosive ( = [ k ' ] and [ q ']), coinciding with today's Arabic ق.

Emphatic consonants in Arabic

The consonants known as emphatically differ from their non- emphatic counterparts in that they further back and emphatically, that emphasizes something, and be pronounced pressed. For this one presses the rear and front tongue reinforced at the mouth ceiling. Thus, the vowels become discolored. The ا, usually pronounced as [e], sounds like the [ aw ] in closely. "dawn ", a ي [i ] goes to [ e] and a و [ u] sounds more like [ o]. The emphasis is not only limited to the surrounding vowels directly, but can spread to the whole word.

These 5 emphatic consonants are used in the Arabic language:

• S: ص is the emphatic variant of س.
• D: ض is the emphatic variant of د.
• T: ط is the emphatic variant of ت.
• Z: ظ is the emphatic variant of ذ.
• Q: ق is the emphatic variant of the k ك.

There is a letter that can also be spoken emphatically, namely the ل, but only in a single word: الله - God.

Emphatic consonants in Hebrew

In modern Ivrit no differences between emphatic and non- emphatic consonants are made ​​in the debate. In some dialects, however, emphatic consonants are still articulated; for example, differentiate between Iraqi Jews Kaf ( כ ) and QOF ( ק ), Taw ( ת ) and Tet ( ט ). In the Hebrew Scriptures the three emphatic consonants are preserved even as his own letter:

• Q: ק is the emphatic variant of the k כ.
• S: צ is an emphatic consonant.
• T: ט is the emphatic variant of ת.