Hausa

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Stops in Hausa

Chadic languages such as Hausa (spoken in Northern Nigeria and some nearby countries) are often described as having a series of laryngealized stops. In Hausa, the picture is complicated by the fact that at the labial and alveolar place of articulation the laryngealized stops may be implosive (contrasting with plain voiced egressive stops) and at the velar place of articulation they may be ejective. (Sounds of the World's Languages has a more extensive demo illustrating these possibilities. See also Ladefoged & Maddieson, 2008, p. 84-86). Although the implosives are nominally voiced, there may not be voicing throughout the closure, and in fact the laryngealization may be more in evidence at the beginning of the adjacent vowel. Hausa is related to Bura.


ba:be
("locust")
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ba:b̰e
("to quarrel")
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deidei
("all right")
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d̰eid̰ei
("one by one")
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Audio Source:
Sounds of the Worlds Languages.

References:
Ladefoged, P. / Maddieson, I. (2008): The Sounds of the World's Languages. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Laver, J. (1994): Principles of Phonetics. Cambridge University Press.