the university of chicago the phonology and ... - SIL International
the university of chicago the phonology and ... - SIL International
the university of chicago the phonology and ... - SIL International
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Despite <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> labial flap M is not widely attested in <strong>the</strong> world’s<br />
languages, it is clearly a phoneme in Mono. It is attested in both word-initial <strong>and</strong> word-<br />
medial positions; it occurs before most vowels in Mono, including front, back, high, <strong>and</strong><br />
low vowels; it occurs in nouns, verbs, <strong>and</strong> ideophones; <strong>and</strong> it is attested in over 25 words<br />
in my corpus. However, it is rare in my corpus <strong>of</strong> texts. This evidence is discussed in<br />
more detail in Appendix D.<br />
There are two steps in <strong>the</strong> articulation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> labial flap M. In <strong>the</strong> first step, <strong>the</strong><br />
lower lip retracts into <strong>the</strong> oral cavity to a position behind <strong>the</strong> upper teeth. At <strong>the</strong> same<br />
time, <strong>the</strong> upper lip descends to wrap over <strong>the</strong> upper teeth. In <strong>the</strong> second step, <strong>the</strong> lower lip<br />
moves forward quickly, flapping against <strong>the</strong> upper lip as it exits <strong>the</strong> oral cavity. It is<br />
voiced throughout <strong>the</strong> articulation. In addition, during <strong>the</strong> articulation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sound, <strong>the</strong><br />
tongue bunches in <strong>the</strong> back <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mouth, adding a velar component to <strong>the</strong> sound.<br />
The video frames in Figure 2.2 show eight steps in <strong>the</strong> articulation <strong>of</strong> a bilabial<br />
flap in Mono. The word is =MA(JH =MA(JH =MA(JH =MA(JH ‘stick used in an animal trap’, produced by a 30-year-<br />
old male speaker. The video recordings were made at <strong>SIL</strong> in Yaoundé <strong>and</strong> digitized at <strong>the</strong><br />
University <strong>of</strong> Chicago Language Laboratories <strong>and</strong> Archives. The frames are in 30 ms<br />
intervals. Frame a shows <strong>the</strong> mouth during <strong>the</strong> articulation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> vowel [a]. Frames b<br />
through f show <strong>the</strong> first stage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> articulation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> flap during which <strong>the</strong> lower lip is<br />
slowly brought into <strong>the</strong> mouth. Also at <strong>the</strong> same time, <strong>the</strong> upper lip is brought down to<br />
cover <strong>the</strong> upper teeth. This stage takes about 120 ms. Frame g shows <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
second stage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> articulation. The upper lip remains stationary as <strong>the</strong> lower lip begins<br />
its movement forward <strong>and</strong> makes contact with <strong>the</strong> upper lip. Frame h shows <strong>the</strong> lips<br />
immediately after <strong>the</strong> flap. Note that <strong>the</strong> lower lip has moved down exposing <strong>the</strong> lower<br />
teeth, while <strong>the</strong> upper lip has moved upward, but remains slightly tensed.<br />
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