View source for Guttural

{{short description|Pronounced using the throat}}
'''Guttural''' [[Phone (phonetics)|speech sound]]s are those with a primary [[place of articulation]] near the back of the oral cavity, where it is difficult to distinguish a sound's [[place of articulation]] and its [[phonation]]. In popular usage it is an imprecise term for sounds produced relatively far back in the vocal tract, such as the German ''ch'' or the Arabic [[ayin]], but not simple glottal sounds like ''h''. The term 'guttural language' is used for languages that have such sounds.

As a technical term used by [[phonetician]]s and [[phonologist]]s, ''guttural'' has had various definitions. The concept always includes [[pharyngeal consonant]]s, but may include [[velar consonant|velar]], [[uvular consonant|uvular]] or [[laryngeal consonant]]s as well.
Guttural sounds are typically [[consonant]]s, but [[breathy voice|murmured]], [[Pharyngealization|pharyngealized]], [[glottalization|glottalized]] and [[strident vowel]]s may be also considered guttural in nature.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Miller | first = Amanda | title = Guttural vowels and guttural co-articulation in Juǀʼhoansi | journal = Journal of Phonetics | volume = 35 | issue = 1 | pages = 56&ndash;84 | date = 2007 | doi=10.1016/j.wocn.2005.11.001| url = https://zenodo.org/record/3731729 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Pullum | first1 = Geoffrey K. | author-link = Geoffrey K. Pullum | last2 = Ladusaw | first2 = William  | title = Phonetic Symbol Guide | publisher = University of Chicago Press | edition = Second | date = 1996 | location = Chicago | isbn = 978-0226685359| title-link = Phonetic Symbol Guide }}</ref>
Some phonologists argue that all post-velar sounds constitute a [[natural class]].<ref>Scott Moisik, Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins & John Esling (2021) Phonological potentials and the lower vocal tract</ref>

==Meaning and etymology==

The word ''guttural'' literally means 'of the throat' (from [[Latin]] ''guttur'', meaning [[throat]]), and was first used by phoneticians to describe the Hebrew glottal {{IPAblink|ʔ}} (א) and {{IPAblink|h}} (ה), uvular {{IPAblink|χ}} (ח), and pharyngeal {{IPAblink|ʕ}} (ע).<ref>See [[Oxford English Dictionary]] entry</ref>

The term is commonly used non-technically by English speakers, especially in America, to refer to sounds that subjectively appear harsh or grating. This definition usually includes a number of consonants that are not used in American English, such as epiglottal {{IPAblink|ʜ}} and {{IPAblink|ʡ}}, uvular {{IPA|[χ]}}, {{IPAblink|ʁ}} and {{IPAblink|q}}, and velar fricatives {{IPAblink|x}} and {{IPAblink|ɣ}}. However, it usually excludes sounds used in English, such as the velar stops {{IPAblink|k}} and {{IPAblink|ɡ}}, the velar nasal {{IPAblink|ŋ}}, and the glottal consonants {{IPA|[h]}} and {{IPA|[ʔ]}}.<ref>McCarthy, John J. 1989. 'Guttural Phonology', ms., University of Massachusetts, Amherst.</ref><ref>McCarthy, John J. Forthcoming. 'Guttural Transparency', ms., University of Massachusetts, Amherst.</ref>

==Guttural languages==

In popular consciousness, [[language]]s that make extensive use of guttural consonants are often considered to be ''guttural languages''. Some [[English language|English]]-speakers sometimes find such languages strange and even hard on the ear.<ref>Hayward, K. M. and Hayward, R. J. 1989. '"Guttural": Arguments for a New Distinctive Feature', Transactions of the Philological Society 87: 179-193.</ref>

===Examples of significant usage===

Languages that extensively use [x], [χ], [ʁ], [ɣ] and/or [q] include:

*[[Afrikaans]]<ref name="wellsblog">{{cite web|title=John Wells's phonetic blog: velar or uvular?|url=http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2011/12/velar-or-uvular.html|date=5 December 2011|access-date=12 February 2015}}</ref>
*[[Arabic language|Arabic]]
*[[Armenian language|Armenian]]<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Dum-Tragut|2009|pp=17–20}}</ref>
*[[Assamese language|Assamese]]
*[[Sureth|Assyrian]]<ref>Beyer, Klaus (1986). ''The Aramaic language: its distribution and subdivisions''. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. {{ISBN|3-525-53573-2}}.</ref><ref>[[Sebastian Brock|Brock, Sebastian]] (2006). ''An Introduction to Syriac Studies''. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. {{ISBN|1-59333-349-8}}.</ref>
*[[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]<ref>Shiraliyev, Mammadagha. ''The Baku Dialect''. Azerbaijan SSR Academy of Sciences Publ.: Baku, 1957; p. 41</ref>
*[[Crimean Tatar language|Crimean Tatar]]<ref>{{Harvnb|Kavitskaya|2010|p=10}}</ref>
*[[Dutch language|Dutch]]<ref>Friedrich Maurer uses the term ''[[Istvaeones|Istvaeonic]]'' instead of Franconian; see Friedrich Maurer (1942), ''Nordgermanen und Alemannen:  Studien zur germanischen und frühdeutschen Sprachgeschichte, Stammes- und Volkskunde'', Bern:  Verlag Francke.</ref>
*[[English language|English]] (some dialects including Scottish and Irish English)
*[[French language|French]]
*[[German language|German]]<ref>For a history of the German consonants see [[Fausto Cercignani]], ''The Consonants of German: Synchrony and Diachrony'', Milano, Cisalpino, 1979.</ref>
*[[Greek language|Greek]]
*[[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]
*[[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] ([[Hindi]], [[Urdu]])
*[[Irish language|Irish]]
*[[Lakota language|Lakota]]
*Mandarin Chinese
*[[Manx language|Manx]] 
*[[Mongolian language |Mongolian]]
*[[Kartvelian languages]] (i.e. [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Mingrelian language|Mingrelian]], [[Laz language|Laz]], [[Svan language|Svan]])<ref name="Boe02">Boeder (2002), p. 3</ref><ref name="Boe05">Boeder (2005), p. 6</ref><ref>Gamkrelidze (1966), p. 69</ref><ref>Fähnrich & Sardzhveladze (2000)</ref>
*[[Kazakh language|Kazakh]]
*[[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]
*[[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]]
*[[Pashto language|Pashto]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Habib |first=Abdul  |title=The Two Thousand Years Old Language of Afghanistan or The Mother of Dari Language (An Analysis of the Baghlan Inscription) |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/pdfs/E_Mother_of_Dari_Language.pdf |publisher=Historical Society of Afghanistan|year=1967 |page=6}}</ref>
*[[Persian language|Persian]]<ref name="Lazard, Gilbert 1971">Lazard, Gilbert, "Pahlavi, Pârsi, dari: Les langues d'Iran d'apès Ibn al-Muqaffa" in R.N. Frye, ''Iran and Islam. In Memory of the late Vladimir Minorsky'', Edinburgh University Press, 1971.</ref> 
*[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
*[[Russian language|Russian]]
*[[Scots language|Scots]]
*[[Scottish Gaelic]]<ref>Bauer, Michael ''Blas na Gàidhlig - The Practical Guide to Gaelic Pronunciation'' (2011) Akerbeltz {{ISBN|978-1-907165-00-9}}</ref>
*[[Sindhi language|Sindhi]] 
*[[Spanish language|Spanish]]
*[[Tajik language|Tajik Persian]]<ref>''A Beginners' Guide to Tajiki'' by Azim Baizoyev and John Hayward, Routledge, London and New York, 2003, p. 3</ref>
*[[Tswana language|Tswana]]
*[[Turkmen language|Turkmen]]
*[[Uzbek language|Uzbek]]
*[[Uyghur language|Uyghur]]
*[[Welsh language|Welsh]]<ref>{{citation|author=John C. Wells|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a3-ElL71fikC|title=Accents of English|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1982|page=390|isbn=9780521285407}}</ref>
In addition to their usage of [q], [x], [χ], [ʁ] and [ɣ], these languages also have the [[pharyngeal consonants]] of [ʕ] and [ħ]:

*[[Berber languages]] (i.e. [[Kabyle language|Kabyle]], [[Tamasheq language|Tamasheq]])<ref name="ReferenceC">{{Harvcoltxt|Brenzinger|2007|p=128}}</ref><ref name="tira">{{Harvcoltxt|Chaker|1996|pp=4–5}}</ref><ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Abdel-Massih|1971b|p=11}}</ref><ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Creissels|2006|pp=3–4}}</ref>
*[[Cushitic languages]] (i.e. [[Somali language|Somali]] and [[Oromo language|Oromo]])<ref name=Hayward>Richard Hayward, "Afroasiatic", in Heine & Nurse, 2000, ''African Languages''</ref><ref name=Sava2003>{{cite book|author1-last=Savà|author1-first=Graziano|author2-last=Tosco|author2-first=Mauro|title=Selected comparative-historical Afrasian linguistic studies|year=2003|publisher=LINCOM Europa|editor-last=Bender|editor-first=M. Lionel|chapter=The classification of Ongota|display-editors=etal}}</ref><ref name=Sands2009>{{cite journal|author-last=Sands|author-first=Bonny|year=2009|title=Africa's Linguistic Diversity|journal=Language and Linguistics Compass|volume=3|issue=2|pages=559–580|doi=10.1111/j.1749-818x.2008.00124.x}}</ref>
*[[Turkish language|Anatolian Turkish]] dialects (as a result of borrowings from [[Arabic]])<ref>{{cite journal|last=Haig|first=Geoffrey|author2=Yaron Matras|year=2002|title=Kurdish linguistics: a brief overview|journal=Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung|location=Berlin|volume=55|issue=1|page=5|url=http://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/aspra/bib-haig/kurdish_linguistics_a_brief.pdf|access-date=27 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014172019/http://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/aspra/bib-haig/kurdish_linguistics_a_brief.pdf|archive-date=14 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[Northeast Caucasian languages]] (i.e. [[Chechen language|Chechen]], [[Lezgian language|Lezgian]], [[Avar language|Avar]])<ref>{{cite book|last=Hewitt|first=George|title=Introduction to the Study of the Languages of the Caucasus|year=2004|publisher=Lincom Europaq|location=Munich|page=49}}</ref><ref name="Plaster">{{cite book|last=Plaster|first=Keith|title=Noun classes grow on trees: noun classification in the North-East Caucasus|url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/kplaster/publications/noun-classes-grow-trees-noun-classification-north-east-caucasus|publisher=Language and Representations (Tentative)|access-date=20 April 2013|display-authors=etal}}</ref> 
*[[Northwest Caucasian]] (i.e. [[Abkhaz language|Abkhaz]], [[Adyghe language|Adyghe]], [[Kabardian language|Kabardian]]).<ref>Nichols, J. 1997 <u>Nikolaev and Starostin's ''North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary'' and the Methodology of Long-Range Comparison: an assessment</u> Paper presented at the 10th Biennial Non-Slavic Languages (NSL) Conference, Chicago, 8–10 May 1997.</ref><ref name=RC2010>Row 7 in {{cite web |script-title=ru:Приложение 6: Население Российской Федерации по владению языками |trans-title=Appendix 6: Population of the Russian Federation by languages used |url=http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/demo/per-itog/tab6.xls |language=ru |format=XLS |access-date=2015-02-21 |archive-date=2021-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006173252/http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/demo/per-itog/tab6.xls |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Salishan languages|Salishan]] and [[Wakashan languages|Wakashan]] language families in [[British Columbia]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/ethno/etb0170e.shtml |title=First Nations Culture Areas Index |work=the Canadian Museum of Civilization}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
| publisher = Indiana University
| last = Jorgensen
| first = Joseph G.
| title = Salishan language and culture
| location = Bloomington, IN
| series = Language science monographs
| date = 1969
| page = 105
}}</ref>
*[[Semitic languages]] (i.e. [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Sureth]], [[Tigre language|Tigre]], [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]], [[Turoyo language|Turoyo]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Ge’ez]])<ref>{{citation|first=Stephen|last=Kaufman|contribution=Aramaic|editor-first=Robert|editor-last=Hetzron|title=The Semitic Languages|pages=117–119|year=1997|publisher=Routledge}}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Garnier|first1=Romain|last2=Jacques|first2=Guillaume|title=A neglected phonetic law: The assimilation of pretonic yod to a following coronal in North-West Semitic|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|volume=75|pages=135–145|year=2012|issue=1|url=https://www.academia.edu/1468535|doi=10.1017/s0041977x11001261|citeseerx=10.1.1.395.1033|s2cid=16649580 }}</ref>

===Examples of partial usage===
In [[French language|French]], the only truly guttural sound is (usually) a [[Voiced uvular fricative|uvular fricative]] (or the [[guttural R]]). In [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], {{IPA|[ʁ]}} is becoming dominant in urban areas. There is also a realization as a {{IPA|[χ]}}, and the original pronunciation as an {{IPA|[r]}} also remains very common in various dialects.

In [[Russian language|Russian]], {{IPA|/x/}} is assimilated to the [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalization]] of the following velar consonant: лёгких {{Audio-IPA|Ru-лёгких.ogg|[ˈlʲɵxʲkʲɪx]}}. It also has a voiced [[allophone]] {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, which occurs before voiced obstruents.<ref>{{cite book|last=Аванесов|first=Р. И.|title=Русское литературное произношение|year=1984|publisher=Просвещение|location=М.|pages=145–167}}</ref> In [[Romanian language|Romanian]], {{IPA|/h/}} becomes the velar {{IPA|[x]}} in word-final positions (''duh'' 'spirit') and before consonants (''hrean'' 'horseradish').<ref name="draghici">{{cite web|author=Ovidiu Drăghici|title=Limba Română contemporană. Fonetică. Fonologie. Ortografie. Lexicologie|url=http://cis01.central.ucv.ro/litere/idd/cursuri/an_1/limba_rom_cont/lrc_an1_draghici.pdf|access-date=April 19, 2013}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In [[Czech language|Czech]], the phoneme {{IPA|/x/}} followed by a voiced obstruent can be realized as either {{IPA|[ɦ]}} or {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, e.g. ''aby'''ch''' byl'' {{Audio-IPA|help=no|cs-abych byl.ogg|[abɪɣ.bɪl]}}.<ref>Kučera, H. (1961). The Phonology of Czech. s’ Gravenhage: Mouton & Co.</ref>

In [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]], the consonant phoneme {{IPA|/k/}} has a uvular realisation ({{IPA|[q]}}) in back vowel contexts. In front-vowel environments, {{IPA|/ɡ/}} is fricativised between continuants to {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, and in back vowel environments both {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} fricativise to {{IPA|[χ]}} and {{IPA|[ʁ]}} respectively.<ref>Кызласов И. Л., ''Рунические письменности евразийских степей'' (Kyzlasov I.L. ''Runic scripts of Eurasian steppes''), Восточная литература (Eastern Literature), Moscow, 1994, pp. 80 on, {{ISBN|5-02-017741-5}}, with further bibliography.</ref> In [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]], the phoneme {{IPA|/ʁ/}} occurs with a back vowel. In the [[Mongolian language]], {{IPA|/x/}} is usually followed by {{IPA|/ŋ/}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://journals.lub.lu.se/index.php/LWPL/article/viewFile/2341/1916|title=Vowels in Mongolian speech: deletions and epenthesis |author=Anastasia Mukhanova Karlsson |access-date=2014-07-26}}</ref>

The [[Tuu languages|Tuu]] and [[Juu languages|Juu]] (Khoisan) languages of southern Africa have large numbers of guttural vowels. These sounds share certain phonological behaviors that warrant the use of a term specifically for them. There are scattered reports of pharyngeals elsewhere, such as in the [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]], [[Tama language]].

In [[Swabian German]], a pharyngeal approximant {{IPAblink|ʕ}} is an [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/ʁ/}} in [[Syllable#Nucleus|nucleus]] and [[Syllable#Coda|coda]] positions.<ref name="Hiller">{{cite web|title=Pharyngeals and "lax" vowel quality|author=Markus Hiller|publisher=Institut für Deutsche Sprache|place=Mannheim|url=http://www.ncl.ac.uk/linguistics/assets/documents/MarcusHiller.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528010540/http://www.ncl.ac.uk/linguistics/assets/documents/MarcusHiller.pdf|archive-date=2014-05-28}}</ref> In [[Syllable#Onset|onsets]], it is pronounced as a [[uvular approximant]].<ref name="Hiller"/> In [[Danish language|Danish]], {{IPA|/ʁ/}} may have slight [[frication]], and, according to {{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996}}, it may be a pharyngeal approximant {{IPAblink|ʕ}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=323}}</ref> In [[Finnish language|Finnish]], a weak pharyngeal fricative is the realization of {{IPA|/h/}} after the vowels {{IPA|/ɑ/}} or {{IPA|/æ/}} in syllable-coda position, e.g. ''tähti'' {{IPA|[tæħti]}} 'star'.

==See also==
* [[Guttural R]]
* [[Laryngeal consonant]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book |title=A Reference Grammar of Tamazight |last=Abdel-Massih |first=Ernest T. |year=1971b |publisher=University of Michigan |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=0-932098-05-3}}
*Bauer, Michael ''Blas na Gàidhlig - The Practical Guide to Gaelic Pronunciation'' (2011), Akerbeltz. {{ISBN|978-1-907165-00-9}}
*Beyer, Klaus (1986). ''The Aramaic language: its distribution and subdivisions''. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. {{ISBN|3-525-53573-2}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Brenzinger |first=Matthias |title=Language Diversity Endangered |year=2007 |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-11-017049-8}}
*{{cite conference |last=Chaker |first=Salem |author-link=Salem Chaker |title=Tira n Tmaziɣt – propositions pour la notation usuelle a base latine du berbere |year=1996 |conference=Problèmes en suspens de la notation usuelle à base latine du berbère |publisher=[[INALCO]] |location=Paris |url=http://www.inalco.fr/crb/docs_pdf/notation.pdf |accessdate=December 20, 2009 |language=fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081129231121/http://www.inalco.fr/crb/docs_pdf/notation.pdf |archive-date=November 29, 2008}}
* {{cite conference |last=Creissels |first=Denis |year=2006 |title=The construct form of nouns in African languages: a typological approach |conference=36th Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics |conference-url=http://www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/tca/onderzoek/call/call2006.html |url=http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/fulltext/Creissels/Creissels_2006c.pdf |access-date = 2010-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728031837/http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/fulltext/Creissels/Creissels_2006c.pdf |archive-date = 2011-07-28 |url-status=dead}}
* {{citation |last=Dum-Tragut |first=Jasmine |year=2009 |title=Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |place=Amsterdam}}
*''An Introduction to Syriac Studies''. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. {{ISBN|1-59333-349-8}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Kavitskaya |first1=Darya |title=Crimean Tatar |year=2010 |location=Munich |publisher=Lincom Europa}}
*Kyzlasov I.L. ''Runic scripts of Eurasian steppes'', Восточная литература (Eastern Literature), Moscow, 1994, pp.&nbsp;80 on, {{ISBN|5-02-017741-5}}
*{{SOWL}}

{{articulation navbox}}
{{Consonants}}

[[Category:Place of articulation]]
[[Category:Guttural consonants]]