Consonant and Vowel Sound Qualities

Summary of consonant qualities

Table 341 (continued)

Several features of the above chart need explanation. First, the columns refer to the place of articulation of the sound. They move from the front of the mouth to the back of the mouth going from left to right. Bilabials are sounds produced with the lips. Alveolars are sounds produced with the tongue on the front of the palate. Velar sounds are produced in the back of the mouth, and glottal sounds are produced in the throat. In each of the columns, the consonant may be voiced or unvoiced. Voiced consonants (found on the right) involve vibration in the throat, and unvoiced consonants (found on the left) do not have vibration.

Second, the rows refer to the manner of articulation of the sound. The rows move from the most amount of obstructed airflow to the least amount going from top to bottom. Plosives/stops (both names are common and are interchangeable) have the airflow impeded entirely. Affricates impede the airflow entirely and are then followed by a fricative which allows some airflow. Nasals allow airflow out the nose only. Trills are repeated taps where airflow is obstructed and released rapidly. Fricatives and approximants both allow for continuous airflow with the latter being more than the former.

Third, phonological systems often display symmetry between different types of sounds. If you look at the plosive/stop row, you will see that the bilabial, alveolar, and velar columns all alternate between having an aspirated version of a consonant and an unaspirated version. Alveolar is the only column with a voiced stop [d], but the system before Koine Greek as given in Kantor (2023b:75) had voiced stops for both bilabial (β) and velar (γ). There are sometimes asymmetries in the system, particularly when languages change, but the general pattern and expectation is that the system would be symmetrical.

In an ordinary phonological sketch, the next section would be devoted to describing the pronunciation of each phoneme in different phonetic environments or in various dialects (we could call this the phonetics-phonology interface). For example, we might say that the phoneme /β/ was realized as [b] following nasal consonants or that evidence for β being a fricative is found in the 1st century AD in Miletos and in the 2nd century AD in Magnesia (Kantor 2023b:44–45). However, because we support different pronunciation systems (some of which are not standardized), these rules would be of limited value. Those interested can refer to Wikipedia for both Modern Greek and Ancient Greek (for the early high Koine pronunciation, though there will certainly be differences) for a relevant discussion of some of the issues in an accessible format (see also Horrocks 2010). Those interested in reconstructed Koine can consult Kantor’s shorter (2023a) or comprehensive (2023b) study on the Koine pronunciation.

Instead of concerning ourselves with the phonetics-phonology interface, we here present some of the major rules found in the phonology-morphology interface (also called morpho-phonology). In other words, we are answering the question of what happens to the sounds when we combine morphemes together. The following rules summarize the most important ways sounds change when morphemes combine to form complex words. Most of these rules are introduced in the lessons, and the list is not exhaustive. For a more thorough discussion, see Mounce (1994).

Morpho-phonological notes for consonants:

1. σ-related

• a. Both bilabial stops and fricatives (π/φ/β) and velar stops and fricatives (κ/χ/γ) combine with σ to form the affricates ψ and ξ respectively (see 14.1.3.1).
• b. Alveolar stops (τ, δ, θ) drop instead of combining with σ (see 14.1.3.1).
• c. Nasals (μ and ν), approximants (λ), and trills (ρ) generally cause σ to drop where they otherwise would combine (see 14.1.3.1).

2. θ-related

• a. Unaspirated bilabial stops (π), fricatives (β), and affricates (ψ) become aspirated before θ, e.g. π/β/ψθ→φθ (see 40.1.3.1).
• b. Unaspirated velar stops (κ), fricatives (γ), and affricates (ξ) become aspirated before θ, e.g. κ/γ/ξθ→χθ (see 38.1.3.1).

[o] is that the mouth opens slightly more when pronouncing the latter. Just as we saw with the consonants, we expect the vowels to exhibit symmetry, and this is indeed the case for the most part. The fact that nothing corresponds to [ε] suggests that the split between [e] and [ε] was a later development, and that is indeed what we find in Kantor’s reconstruction of the system before Koine (2023b:76).

The vowel chart represents the inventory of vowel sounds available in Koine, but the sounds do not necessarily correspond to a single grapheme (the symbolic representation of a language’s sound system). For example, the single sound [o] was originally split up into two phonemes distinguished on the basis of length, i.e. /o/ (short) and /oː/ (long). (Note the distinction between “short” and “long” is not the same as short and long vowels in English which refer to two different kinds of sounds, i.e. the a in fat has a different quality than the a in fate; the two sounds are technically not distinguished based on length.) The grapheme ο was originally /o/, while ω was originally /oː/. Other sounds are diphthongs (a combination of two qualitatively different vowel-like sounds produced together). This does not mean that two vowels written together will always form a phonetic diphthong. Though we might expect ου to make two sounds, it forms the single sound [u] and is not phonetically a diphthong. Again, see the Introduction for how the vowels map onto the different graphemes in each pronunciation system.

Finally, vowels often change when they are adjoined together across morphemes. The following chart, reproduced from Mounce (1994), shows how the vowels combine to form different sounds and/or graphemes:

To explain these contractions, Mounce gives three basic rules with a number of exceptions. We expand these rules to six to cover the exceptions:

1. Vowels in the same class but different lengths will always form the longer vowel (for example, ε and η are both e-class vowels, so they will always combine to form η)

2. Both e-class and o-class short vowels combine to form a diphthong when contracting with another short vowel in the same class (for example, ε + ε forms ει, and ο + ο forms ου)

3. If an e-class or a-class vowel combines with an o-class vowel, the result is always a ω unless ε is combining with ο, which is ου.

4. When an a-class vowel combines with an e-class vowel, the resulting vowel will be the long form of whatever vowel comes first (for example, α + η = α, and ε + α = η)

5. If a short vowel combines with ι or any vowel combines with υ, a diphthong is formed (for example, α + ι forms αι and ε + υ forms ευ)

6. If a long vowel combines with ι, it appears with an iota subscript (for example ω + ι = ῳ)

Besides vowel contraction in two adjoined morphemes, vowels can also be lengthened, especially when a consonant drops out. This is called compensatory lengthening. For example, the word ἔμεινα ‘I stayed’ is originally from the stem μένω. When the σ of the Aorist drops out because of the ν, the previous vowel lengthens from ε to ει. When lengthening does occur, vowels are lengthened according to the following chart (again reproduced from Mounce 1994):