Peripheral consonant
Places of articulation |
Tongue shape |
---|
In Australian linguistics, the peripheral consonants are a natural class encompassing consonants articulated at the extremes of the mouth: labials and velars. That is, they are the non-coronal consonants. In Australian languages, these consonants pattern together both phonotactically and acoustically. In Arabic and Maltese philology, the moon letters transcribe non-coronal consonants, but they do not form a natural class.
Bilabial | Velar | |
---|---|---|
Stop | p | k |
Nasal | m | ŋ |
Approximant | w |
Phonology
Australian languages typically favour peripheral consonants word- and syllable-initially, while they are not allowed or are rare word- and syllable-finally. This is diametrically opposed to the apicals.
In Martuthunira, the peripheral stops /p/ and /k/ share similar allophony. Whereas the other stops may be voiced between vowels or following a nasal, the peripherals are usually voiceless.
See also
- Coronal consonant, the opposite set
References
- Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521473780, ISBN 978-0-521-47378-1.