Implosive consonants

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Czwartek
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Implosive consonants

Post by Czwartek »

Does anybody here know how to pronounce implosive consonants? I've been reading up on them on wikipedia, and the best I can figure out is that they're produced by breathing instead of breathing out while vibrating the vocal chords. Surely this can't be right, since the following vowel would also be 'breathed in'. Whenever I try it it sounds like I'm choking, and it sounds completely different from the samples on wikipedia.

Any suggestions?
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Ossicone
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Re: Implosive consonants

Post by Ossicone »

I think it's similar to the click mechanism, and does not actually involve inhaling.

Let me go check my book...
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Micamo
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Re: Implosive consonants

Post by Micamo »

I'm not fluent in any languages with implosives, but my understanding of them is this: You articulate them by forcing air downward with the glottis, sort of the opposite of an ejective. Try making a loud, audible swallow. That's the basic airstream mechanism. To produce the bilabial implosive, for example, close both your lips, then make the loud swallow sound just before you open them. For the other points of articulation do the same thing.

Note also that the downward motion is made only with the glottis: The diaphram pushes air upward normally as it does for normal pulmonics. So the proceeding vowels/clustered consonants need not be implosive as well. They'll disproportionately loud compared to your other phonemes when you try to practice them at first, so try to make them more subtle.
My pronouns are <xe> [ziː] / <xym> [zɪm] / <xys> [zɪz]

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Ossicone
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Re: Implosive consonants

Post by Ossicone »

From Phonetics: The Science of Speech Production, "An oral occlusion is made (bilabial, alveolar, etc.) at the same time as the vocal folds are closed. This time, however, the vocal folds are brought together with the larynx high in the throat (it is at its highest in mid-swallow; you can feel it by putting your hand on your throat as you swallow). In this case, the larynx is lowered in the throat during the articulation. [This what cause the air to go in, NOT the diaphragm.]"

The book says that the pulmonic stream [ie using the diaphragm to draw air into the lungs] is used to add the voicing after the lowering of the larynx.

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I don't know if that helps, but the bottom line is that implosives are not simply produced by breathing in instead of out.
[I know I'm still confused. :(]
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Micamo
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Re: Implosive consonants

Post by Micamo »

If it helps, I don't know about the universality of this but my local English dialect has an onomatopoeia for swallowing, [ɠlʌg]. If you already know what I'm talking about, then congratulations! You can do a velar implosive!
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Czwartek
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Re: Implosive consonants

Post by Czwartek »

Thanks for your help guys but I'm still no closer to understanding how to pronounce these. :-s
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Re: Implosive consonants

Post by taylorS »

Try to do a strongly voiced gemminated (long) plosive. your vocal cords should lower as air builds up in your mouth before it is released. In fact, voiced gemminate stops are a common source of implosives, diachronically.
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Re: Implosive consonants

Post by teh_Foxx0rz »

As Micamo suggested, you can make an implosive g by acting out glugging down some fluid really over-the-top-ly, like they do in cartoons or Scooby Doo, for instance. Then you can just extend that action to other articulations :-)
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Re: Implosive consonants

Post by Wanderer »

Try a glottal stop + voiced plosive. In some languages implosives are arguably the realization of an underlying phonemic cluster of a glottal stop + plosive. It has been argued Vietnamese implosives are actually /ʔp/ and /ʔt/, but are realized [ɓ] and [ɗ].

Start with bilabial. bilabial implosives are supposed to be easiest.

Also, wikipedia says:
wikipedia wrote:In order to produce an implosive b, do as follows:

1. Close your lips together so as to pronounce a .
2. Move your glottis downward as if you were swallowing. You should be able to feel it move with your fingers; if you have a noticeable adam's apple, you should also be able to see it move in a mirror.
3. While 'swallowing', open your lips and say [ba]. Try doing this quickly so that the air flows into your mouth while you pronounce the . There should be a deep hollow sound, and the [a] should follow smoothly.


That description of how to pronounce it works for me. 8-)
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Chandith
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Re: Implosive consonants

Post by Chandith »

So basically implosives are the counterpart of ejectives rather than explosives?
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Re: Implosive consonants

Post by Nortaneous »

Pronounce [p]. Voice it. Then voice it more. You'll either get [mb] or [b_<].
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