Sibilant consonant: Encyclopedia II - Sibilant consonant - Symbols

Sibilant consonant - Symbols

Of the sibilants, the following have IPA symbols of their own:

• s, z (either apical or laminal)

• ʃ, ʒ (Palato-alveolar: that is, "domed" (partially palatalized) postalveolar, either laminal or apical)

• ɕ, ʑ (Alveolo-palatal: that is, laminal palatalized postalveolar; these are equivalent to ʃʲ, ʒʲ)

• ʂ, ʐ: (Retroflex, which can mean one of three things: (a) non-palatalized apical postalveolar, (b) sub-apical postalveolar or pre-palatal, or (c) non-palatalized laminal ("flat") postalveolar, sometimes transcribed [s̠ z̠] or [ʂ̻ ʐ̻].

Diacritics can be used for finer detail. For example, apical and laminal alveolars can be specified as [s̺] vs [s̻]; a dental (or more likely denti-alveolar) sibilant as [s̪]; a palatalized alveolar as [sʲ]; and a generic postalveolar as [s̠], a transcription frequently used when none of the above apply (that is, for a laminal but non-palatalized, or "flat", postalveolar). Some of the Northwest Caucasian languages also have a closed laminal postalveolar, without IPA symbols but provisionally transcribed as [ŝ ẑ].

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Symbols", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki