2.3 Consonant inventory
2.3.5 Voiced implosive stops
There are only two voiced implosive stops /á â/, with no equivalent voiced velar implosive. The implosives appear both word-initially and word-medially.
Implosive or preglottalized stops are an areal feature of Flores and the Lesser Sunda islands (Donohue 2006, Blust 2013; p87-88), and it is very common to have a gap at the velar place of articulation. In certain languages, such as Komodo (Verheijen 1982), Bimanese (Jonker 1896, Ismail, Azis, Yakub, Taufik and Usman 1985), Kambera (Onvlee 1984, Klamer 1998) and Palu’e (Donohue 2003), the unmarked series of voiced oral stops are implosives, and the plain voiced stops /b, d/ may appear only rarely or in loanwords. Rongga, a close relative of Lio in western Flores, has the full series of implosive stops /á â ä/ (Arka 2016).
These segments are produced with simultaneous oral and glottal closure, hence the label ‘preglottalized’ sometimes used by other authors to describe nearby languages with comparable phonemes (see Baird 2002 on K´eo). However, they have a prominent release burst which suggests that intra-oral pressure is lowered during the closure, leading to an influx of air upon release. Hence, I prefer the label ‘implosive’, because a purely preglot- talized sound would not be expected to show any significant difference in its release burst. It is worth noting that there are good articulatory reasons for having a velar gap in the implosive series. It is easier to expand a large cavity of air than a small one, so anterior implosives like /á/ and /â/ are easier to produce than ones further back like /ä/ (see Ladefoged and Maddieson 1996; p. 82-83).
Due to the glottal constriction involved in producing them, implosives often cause allophonic creakiness in the preceding vowel.
Voiced bilabial implosive stop /á/ The voiced bilabial implosive stop /á/ (spelled with the digraphbh) appears both word-initially and word-medially:
bhondo ["áondo] ‘much, many’
nibho ["niáo] ‘to jump, to be startled’
In word-medial position, it may cause creakiness on the preceding vowel:
nggebh´e ["Ng5
˜á:e] ‘to lie flat’
The following minimal pairs show that /á/ contrasts with the other voiced stops (in- cluding the voiced affricate /dZ/), the glottal stop /P/ and the other labial phonemes, as well as the absence of any phoneme:
/á/ : /∅/ initial bhal´e ‘to return’ medial nibho ‘to jump, to startle’
al´e ‘to ask’ nio ‘coconut’
/á/ : /p/ initial bheni ‘wonderful’ medial sobh´e ‘to cover’ peni ‘to feed birds’ sop´e ‘large sailboat’ /á/ : /P/ initial n/a n/a medial labha ‘dung heap’
n/a n/a la’a ‘to visit’
/á/ : /b/ initial bhoro ‘to bake’ medial dobh´e ‘to pour in’ boro ‘gebang palm’ dob´e ‘sloped’ /á/ : /d/ initial bha ‘plate’ medial mbebhu ‘small chunk’
da ‘towards’ bedu ‘to stamp (feet)’
/á/ : /g/ initial bheto ‘large bamboo’ medial tubh´e ‘to fight’ geto ‘to chop up’ tug´e ‘to stick in fire’ /á/ : /mb/ initial bhal´e ‘to return’ medial labha ‘dung heap’
mbal´e ‘to become’ lamba ‘drum’
/á/ : /nd/ initial bhongo ‘stupid’ medial labha ‘dung heap’
ndongo ‘kind, loving’ landa ‘large fishing net’
/á/ : /Ng/ initial bha ‘plate’ medial labha ‘dung heap’ ngga ‘cool, fresh’ langga ‘to surpass’ /á/ : /â/ initial bhoa ‘valley’ medial labha ‘dung heap’
dhoa ‘to sink’ ladha ‘to hang down’ /á/ : /dZ/ initial bha ‘plate’ medial nibho ‘to jump, to startle’
ja ‘to shine’ nijo ‘to spit’
/á/ : /m/ initial bhesu ‘hefty’ medial labha ‘dung heap’
mesu ‘to fall’ lama ‘fast’
/á/ : /f/ initial bhu ‘to rise (of sun)’ medial n/a n/a
fu ‘hair’ n/a n/a
/á/ : /V/ initial bhanda ‘rich’ medial labha ‘dung heap’
wanda ‘to dance (with cloth)’ lawa ‘to fight’
Voiced apico-alveolar implosive stop /â/ The voiced apico-alveolar implosive stop /â/ (spelled with the digraph dh) appears both word-initially and word-medially:
dhoka ["âokha] ‘deaf’ jedho ["dZ@âo] ‘to limp’
In word-medial position, it may cause creakiness on the preceding vowel:
kodho ["kho
˜âo] ‘to look’
The following minimal pairs show that /â/ contrasts with the other voiced stops (in- cluding the voiced affricate /dZ/), the glottal stop /P/ and the other coronal phonemes, as
well as the absence of any phoneme:
/â/ : /∅/ initial dhana ‘to hold up’ medial modha ‘wet’
ana ‘child’ moa ‘thirsty’
/â/ : /t/ initial dhoka ‘deaf’ medial modha ‘wet’ toka ‘to pierce’ mota ‘betel vine’ /â/ : /P/ initial n/a n/a medial kodho ‘to look’
n/a n/a ko’o ‘slave’
/â/ : /b/ initial dhoka ‘deaf’ medial ladha ‘to hang down’
boka ‘to fall’ laba ‘hive’
/â/ : /d/ initial dhu ‘to pound’ medial kodho ‘to look’ du ‘to reach’ kodo ‘hole in tree’ /â/ : /g/ initial dhana ‘to hold up’ medial redha ‘to tug’
gana ‘manger, stall’ rega ‘market’ /â/ : /mb/ initial dhana ‘to hold up’ medial kadha ‘to yell’
mbana ‘to go’ kamba ‘buffalo’
/â/ : /nd/ initial dhu ‘to pound’ medial ladha ‘to hang down’ ndu ‘to follow, to obey’ landa ‘large fishing net’ /â/ : /Ng/ initial dhana ‘to hold up’ medial ngodho ‘to receive’
nggana ‘right (side)’ ngonggo ‘to feast’
/â/ : /á/ initial dhoa ‘to sink’ medial ladha ‘to hang down’
bhoa ‘valley’ labha ‘dung heap’
/â/ : /dZ/ initial dhoka ‘deaf’ medial ladha ‘to hang down’
joka ‘to push’ laja ‘sail’
/â/ : /n/ initial dhaw´e ‘to work (field)’ medial pedh´e ‘to cook rice’ naw´e ‘lemongrass’ pen´e ‘door’
/â/ : /s/ initial dhaw´e ‘to work (field)’ medial kadha ‘to yell’ saw´e ‘to finish’ kasa ‘chest’
/â/ : /l/ initial dhu ‘to pound’ medial ngadha ‘to look around’ lu ‘teardrop’ ngala ‘can, to be able’ /â/ : /r/ initial dhua ‘misfortune’ medial kodho ‘to look’
rua ‘two’ koro ‘chili pepper’