Are the Mandarin retroflex initial consonants really retroflex? Are the palatals really palatal?... Notes on terminology (lecture)

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68378009%3A_____%2F08%3A00476934" target="_blank" >RIV/68378009:_____/08:00476934 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Are the Mandarin retroflex initial consonants really retroflex? Are the palatals really palatal?... Notes on terminology (lecture)

Original language description

The terms such as palatal, velar, retroflex etc. are used both in phonetic description (to capture the articulatory features of particular consonants), and in phonology (to classify and label the consonants within the phonemic system of a specific language). If these terms are used as phonological “labels”, only major contrasting features are considered, while the phonetic details can be neglected. The initial consonants ( 声母 ) of Mandarin can be classified into several phonological rows acording to their articulatory features (place of articulation, and active articulator – the tongue or the lips). Each of the rows has its respective name (based on the place of articulation in most cases). Classifying terms can be different with different authors, though. Most common analysis is following: nb, p, m, f (labial row 唇音), d, t, n, l (alveolar row 齿龈音), z, c, s (dental row 齿音), zh, ch, sh, r (retroflex row 卷舌音), j, q, x (palatal row 腭音), g, k, h (velar row 软腭音).n The names of the rows, i.e. the phonological “labels”, are not always phonetically accurate, e.g. the retroflex row is not articulated with the tongue bent backwards, the palatal row has alveolo-palatal articulation, etc. This can sometimes cause confusion, especially in language teaching. The paper first explores the articulatory properties of particular rows in speech production (the place of articulation and the involvement of the tongue), as given by different authors. The palatograms and sagittal sections of articulatory organs are presented. Various IPA transcriptions are introduced. Then various labeling terms, as given by different authors, are reviewed, and the degree of their articulatory accurateness is explored. The author attempts to decide which labelling terms are the most appropriate. Finally a modified analysis is proposed. n

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60202 - Specific languages

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2008

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů