ARABIC-L: LING: glottal lingual activity responses

[Dilworth B. Parkinson]

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Arabic-L: Mon 07 Jun 1999
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
[To post messages to the list, send them to arabic-l at byu.edu]
[To unsubscribe, send message to listserv at byu.edu with first line reading:
          unsubscribe arabic-l                                      ]

-------------------------Directory-------------------------------------

1) Subject: glottal lingual activity answers
2) Subject: more on glottal lingual activity

-------------------------Messages--------------------------------------
1)
Date: 07 Jun 1999
From: Robert Langer <rlanger at ix.urz.uni-heidelberg.de>
Subject: glottal lingual activity answers

[The response to this query is found between the lines preceded by ">"]

> I have a question concerning the use of the voice in the Arabian language.
> I would like to quote from a book I'm reading
> ('What happens in singing' by Gerard Macworth-Young (1953) - (p48)):
>
> ..."The 'glottic shock', or 'glotal stop' as it is called in phonetics,
> has been the subject of much barren controversy in the singing world
> ever since the aged Garcia, who called it the 'coup the glotte',
> advocated its use in all vowel attacks.
> Phonetically, the device is a consonant, formed by bringing the vocal
>cords together without vibration and then releasing them with a tiny
>explosion.
> In arabic, it is a recognised consonant with a name and place in the
>alphabet. It does not appear as a recognised consonant in any European
>language....."
>
> If I may, I have some questions about this fragment:
> - Is what is written by the author true?
Yes.
> - What is the name of this consonant?
(Alif-)Hamza.
> - How is it written?
The Hamza representing the described sound is a small sign to be put above
or under the three Arabic "half-vowels" alif ('/â), wâw (w/û), and yâ' (y/î)
according to it's vowel surrounding (a, u, or i). In a lot of cases its
"carrier" is alif, as in the alphabet where the glottal stop is represented
by an alif being the first letter of it.
> - Are there different forms in which it appears?
Yes. As mentioned above the Hamza-sign can appear above and under an alif,
wâw, or yâ'. The sign itself stays the same.
> - What is the background (history) of its existence in the Arabian
language?
Its a phonemic consonant in the Arabic language.
> - How is it pronounced?
As described by the author above. In Indo-European languages (like English
or German) we have the same sound (but just don't write it) with every vowel
beginning which is not preceded by another consonant (at the beginning and
also in the middle of words like in "re-'affirm"; we just don't have it at
the ending of words which Arabic also has.
Please note that all my description of the phenomena is just practical and
might not fit for the taste of a linguist (e. g. a linguist might probably
argue that there are slight differences between an English and an Arabic
glottal stop a. s. o.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2)
Date: 07 Jun 1999
From: Bahana59 at aol.com
Subject: more on glottal lingual activity

my answers will appaer next to the question.
 Is what is written by the author true? yes
 - What is the name of this consonant? Hamza
 - How is it written? really sorry for not having an Arabic font but you can
find it in any book on Arabic language usually in the introduction part or in
a part that is designated to explain the sound and script of Arabic.
 - Are there different forms in which it appears? the shape of the hamza it
self does not change but because its relativally small size it is, most of
the time written on what is called a seat for the hamza and that is either
"alif", "waw", or "Yaa' ". (those are three letters represent long vowels in
Arabic.
 - What is the background (history) of its existance in the Arabian language?
hamza, historically, was a dialectal form that means that it was pronounced
by some Arabain tribes in the Arabian peninsula not all. In the old
inscriptions of Arabic it did not have a letter representing it. Later in the
8th century CE the Arab grammarian alkhaliil ibn ahmad recognized it as a
consonant and came up with a letter to represent it in writing.
 - How is it pronounced? just like what the text you included in your e-mail
said. It is also similar to the sound the british make in pronouncing the
"tt" in the word bottel.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Arabic-L: 07 Jun 1999