In other words, it has the "plain" phonation of [p, t, ts, tʃ, k] with a voice onset time close to zero (a zero-VOT consonant), as Spanishp, t, ch, k or Englishp, t, k after s (spy, sty, sky).
For most languages, the distinction is relevant only for stops and affricates. However, a few languages have analogous series for fricatives. Mazahua, for example, has ejective, aspirated, and voiced fricatives /sʼ sʰ z/ alongside tenuis /s/, parallel to stops /ɗ tʼ tʰ d/ alongside tenuis /t/.
Many click languages have tenuis click consonants alongside voiced, aspirated, and glottalized series.
In transcription, tenuis consonants are not normally marked explicitly, and consonants written with voiceless IPA letters, such as ⟨p, t, ts, tʃ, k⟩, are typically assumed to be unaspirated and unglottalized unless otherwise indicated. However, aspiration is often left untranscribed if no contrast needs to be made, like in English, so there is an explicit diacritic for a lack of aspiration in the extensions to the IPA, a superscript equal sign: ⟨p˭, t˭, ts˭, tʃ˭, k˭⟩. It is sometimes seen in phonetic descriptions of languages.[3] There are also languages, such as the Northern Ryukyuan languages, whose phonologically-unmarked sound is aspirated, and the tenuis consonants are marked and transcribed explicitly.
In Unicode, the symbol is encoded at U+02ED˭MODIFIER LETTER UNASPIRATED.
An early IPA convention was to write the tenuis stops ⟨pᵇ, tᵈ, kᶢ⟩ etc. if the plain letters ⟨p, t, k⟩ were used for aspirated consonants (as they are in English): [ˈpaɪ] 'pie' vs. [ˈspᵇaɪ] 'spy'.
Etymology
The term tenuis comes from Latin translations of Ancient Greek grammar, which differentiated three series of consonants, voiced β δ γ/b d ɡ/, aspirate φ θ χ/pʰ tʰ kʰ/, and tenuis π τ κ/p˭ t˭ k˭/. Analogous series occur in many other languages. The term was widely used in 19th-century philology but became uncommon in the 20th.
^Collins & Mees, 1984, The Sounds of English and Dutch, p. 281
March 04, 2023
tenuis, consonant, confused, with, fortis, lenis, consonants, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, june, 2018, lear. Not to be confused with fortis and lenis consonants This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations June 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message In linguistics a tenuis consonant ˈ t ɛ n j uː ɪ s or ˈ t ɛ n uː ɪ s 2 is an obstruent that is voiceless unaspirated and unglottalized Tenuis EncodingEntity decimal amp 749 Unicode hex U 02EDIn other words it has the plain phonation of p t ts tʃ k with a voice onset time close to zero a zero VOT consonant as Spanish p t ch k or English p t k after s spy sty sky For most languages the distinction is relevant only for stops and affricates However a few languages have analogous series for fricatives Mazahua for example has ejective aspirated and voiced fricatives sʼ sʰ z alongside tenuis s parallel to stops ɗ tʼ tʰ d alongside tenuis t Many click languages have tenuis click consonants alongside voiced aspirated and glottalized series Contents 1 Transcription 2 Etymology 3 See also 4 Sources 5 ReferencesTranscription EditIn transcription tenuis consonants are not normally marked explicitly and consonants written with voiceless IPA letters such as p t ts tʃ k are typically assumed to be unaspirated and unglottalized unless otherwise indicated However aspiration is often left untranscribed if no contrast needs to be made like in English so there is an explicit diacritic for a lack of aspiration in the extensions to the IPA a superscript equal sign p t ts tʃ k It is sometimes seen in phonetic descriptions of languages 3 There are also languages such as the Northern Ryukyuan languages whose phonologically unmarked sound is aspirated and the tenuis consonants are marked and transcribed explicitly In Unicode the symbol is encoded at U 02ED MODIFIER LETTER UNASPIRATED An early IPA convention was to write the tenuis stops pᵇ tᵈ kᶢ etc if the plain letters p t k were used for aspirated consonants as they are in English ˈpaɪ pie vs ˈspᵇaɪ spy Etymology EditThe term tenuis comes from Latin translations of Ancient Greek grammar which differentiated three series of consonants voiced b d g b d ɡ aspirate f 8 x pʰ tʰ kʰ and tenuis p t k p t k Analogous series occur in many other languages The term was widely used in 19th century philology but became uncommon in the 20th See also EditGrassmann s law Spiritus asper Spiritus lenisSources EditBussmann 1996 Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics R L Trask 1996 A Dictionary of Phonetics and Phonology References Edit tenuis Oxford English Dictionary Online ed Oxford University Press Subscription or participating institution membership required The latter to better distinguish from tenuous Plural tenues ˈ t ɛ n j uː iː z or ˈ t ɛ n uː iː z 1 Collins amp Mees 1984 The Sounds of English and Dutch p 281 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tenuis consonant amp oldid 1126547806, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
