Americanist phonetic notation

Americanist phonetic notation
Script type	Alphabet
Time period	1880s to the present
Languages	Reserved for phonetic transcription of any language
Related scripts
Parent systems	Latin alphabet Americanist phonetic notation

Americanist phonetic notation (variously called [North] American[ist] Phonetic Alphabet, or APA) is a system of phonetic notation originally developed by European and American anthropologists and language scientists (students of Neo-grammarians) for the phonetic and phonemic transcription of Native American and European languages. It is still commonly used by linguists working on, among others, Slavic, Indic, Uralic, Semitic and Caucasian languages (however, Uralists commonly use a variant known as Uralic Phonetic Alphabet). The term "Americanist phonetic alphabet" is misleading because it has always been widely used outside the Americas. For example, a version of it is the standard for the transcription of Arabic in articles published in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, the journal of the German Oriental Society.

Certain Americanist symbols have been used as nonstandard variants of IPA symbols in certain transcriptions.

History

John Wesley Powell used an early set of phonetic symbols in his publications (particularly Powell 1880) on American language families, although the choice of symbols had its origins in work by other phoneticians and American writers (e.g., Pickering 1820; Cass 1821a, 1821b; Hale 1846; Lepsius 1855, 1863; Gibbs 1861; and Powell 1877). The influential anthropologist, Franz Boas used a somewhat different set of symbols (Boas 1911). Boas' alphabet was greatly expanded upon with the publication of American Anthropological Society (1916). This alphabet was modified and discussed in articles in Bloomfield & Bolling (1927) and Herzog et al. (1934). The Americanist notation may be seen in the journals, American Anthropologist, International Journal of American Linguistics, and Language. Useful sources explaining the symbols and/or with comparisons of the alphabets used at different times are Campbell (1997:xii-xiii), Goddard (1996:10-16), Langacker (1972:xiii-vi), Mithun (1999:xiii-xv), and Odden (2005).

It is often useful to compare the Americanist tradition with another widespread tradition, International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Unlike the IPA, Americanist phonetic notation does not require a strict harmony among character styles: letters from the Greek and Roman alphabets are used side-by-side. Another contrasting feature is that the Americanist tradition relies heavily on diacritics where the IPA, which reserves diacritics for specific uses, relies on newly created Greek and Roman letters with character shape modifications. The reason for these differences is the result of a different philosophy. The Americanist linguists were interested in a phonetic notation that could be easily created from typefaces of existing orthographies. This was seen as more practical and more cost-efficient, as many of the characters chosen already existed in Greek and East European orthographies.

Abercrombie (1991:44-45) recounts the following concerning the Americanist tradition:

In America phonetic notation has had a curious history. Bloomfield used IPA notation in his early book An Introduction to the Study of Language, 1914, and in the English edition of his more famous Language, 1935. But since then, a strange hostility has been shown by many American linguists to IPA notation, especially to certain of its symbols.

An interesting and significant story was once told by Carl Voegelin during a symposium held in New York in 1952 on the present state of anthropology. He told how, at the beginning of the 1930s, he was being taught phonetics by, as he put it, a "pleasant Dane", who made him use the IPA symbol for sh in ship, among others. Some while later he used those symbols in some work on an American Indian language he had done for Sapir. When Sapir saw the work he "simply blew up", Voegelin said, and demanded that in future Voegelin should use ‘s wedge’ (as š was called), instead of the IPA symbol.

I have no doubt that the "pleasant Dane" was H. J. Uldall, one of Jones's most brilliant students, who was later to become one of the founders of glossematics, with Louis Hjelmslev. Uldall did a great deal of research into Californian languages, especially into Maidu or Nisenan. Most of the texts he collected were not published during his lifetime. It is ironic that when they were published, posthumously, by the University of California Press, the texts were "reorthographized", as the editor's introduction put it: the IPA symbols Uldall had used were removed and replaced by others.

What is strange is that the IPA symbols seem so obviously preferable to the Americanist alternatives, the ‘long s’ to the ‘s wedge’, for example. As Jones often pointed out, in connected texts, for the sake of legibility diacritics should be avoided as far as possible. Many Americanist texts give the impression of being overloaded with diacritics.

One may wonder why there should be such a hostility in America to IPA notation. I venture to suggest a reason for this apparently irrational attitude. The hostility derives ultimately from the existence, in most American universities, of Speech Departments, which we do not have in Britain. Speech Departments tend to be well-endowed, large, and powerful. In linguistic and phonetic matters they have a reputation for being predominantly prescriptive, and tend to be considered by some therefore to be not very scholarly. In their publications and periodicals the notation they use, when writing of pronunciation, is that of the IPA. My belief is that the last thing a member of an American Linguistics Department wants is to be mistaken for a member of a Speech Department; but if he were to use IPA notation in his writings he would certainly lay himself open to the suspicion that he was.

Alphabet

Consonants

Below is a generalized chart of phonetic symbols used by linguists of the Americanist tradition for transcribing consonant sounds.

				Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Alveopalatal	Palatal (pre-velar)	Velar	Uvular (post-velar)	Pharyngeal (faucal)	Laryngeal
Stop (oral)	plain		voiceless	p		t̪	t	ṭ	t̯	k̯	k	q
			voiced	b		d̪	d	ḍ	d̯	g̑	g	ġ
	glottalized		voiceless (ejective)	p̓		t̪̕	t̕	ṭ̕	t̯̕		k̓	q̓		ʔ
			voiced (imploded)	b̓			d̓				g̓	ġ̕
Affricate	central	voiceless			pf	tθ	c	č̣	č		kˣ	qˣ̣
		voiced			bv	dð	ʒ	ǯ̣	ǯ		gγ	ġγ̇
		glottalized				t̕θ	c̓		č̓
	lateral	voiceless					ƛ
		voiced					λ
		glottalized					ƛ̕
Fricative	central	voiceless		φ	f	θ	s	ṣ	š	x̯	x	x̣	ḥ	h
						s̪
		voiced		β	v	ð	z	ẓ	ž	γ̑	γ	γ̇	ʕ
						z̪
		glottalized				s̓
	lateral	voiceless				ł
		glottalized				ł̕
Nasal		voiceless		M	Ɱ		N		Ñ		Ṇ
		voiced		m	ɱ	n̪	n	ṇ	ñ	ŋ̑	ŋ	ŋ̇
		glottalized		m̓			n̓				ŋ̓	ŋ̇̕
Liquid	rhotic	plain					r	ṛ				ʀ
		glottalized					r̓
	lateral	plain				l̪	l	ḷ		l̯	ʟ
		glottalized					l̕
	glide	plain		w						y
		glottalized		w’						y’

Notes:

• Among the dental fricatives, [θ] and [ð] are slit fricatives while [s̪] and [z̪] are grooved fricatives.

Rhotics table

Most languages only have one phonemic rhotic consonant (only about 18% of the world's languages have more than one rhotic). As a result, rhotic consonants are generally transcribed with the < r > character. This usage is common practice in Americanist and also other notational traditions (such as the IPA). This lack of detail, although economical and phonologically sound, requires a more careful reading of a given language's phonological description to determine the precise phonetics. A list of rhotics is given below.

RHOTICS	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Uvular
Tap		r
Flap		ᴅ
Trill		r̃
Fricative (spirant)		ř
Frictionless spirant

Alternate symbols

There are many alternate symbols seen in Americanist transcription. Below are some equivalent symbols matched with the symbols shown in the consonant chart above.

j   =   ʒ   ǰ   =   ǯ   ƚ   =   ł   ɸ   =   φ

G   =   ġ   χ   =   ẋ   ʸ   =     ̯      (e.g., kʸ = k̯)

In addition, many researchers use the x-haček (x̌) for the voiceless uvular fricative. The use of the standard IPA belted-l (ɬ) for the voiceless lateral fricative is becoming increasingly common.

Vocalics

Vowels and glides.

		Front		Central		Back
		spread	rounded	spread	rounded	spread	rounded
High	glide	y	ẅ			ÿ	w
	tense	i	ü	ɨ	ʉ	ï	u
	lax	ɪ	ᴜ̈			ɪ̈	ᴜ
Mid	tense	e	ö	ə		ë	o
	lax	ɛ	ɔ̈	ʌ		ɛ̈	ɔ
Low		æ		a		ɑ	ɒ

Notes:

• Voiceless vocalics can be transcribed with capital letters, e.g. [W] = voiceless [w], [A] = voiceless [a].

Diacritics

Diacritics are widely used in Americanist notation. Unlike the IPA, which seeks to use as few diacritics as possible, the Americanist notation uses a narrow set of symbols and then relies on diacritics to indicate a sound's phonetic value.

Historical charts of 1916

The following chart appeared in American Anthropological Society (1916).

	Stops					Spirants			Affricates			Nasals		Laterals			Lateral Affricates			Rolled Consonants
	Surd	Sonant	Intermed.	Aspirated	Glot- talized	Surd	Sonant	Glottalized	Surd	Sonant	Glottalized	Surd	Sonant	Surd	Sonant	Glottalized	Surd	Sonant	Glottalized	Surd	Sonant	Glottalized
Bilabial (rounded)	pw	bw	ʙw	pw‛	p̓w , pw!	ƕ	w	ƕ!	pƕ	bw	pƕ!	ᴍw	mw
Bilabial (unrounded)	p	b	ʙ	p‛	p̓ , p!	φ	β	φ!	pφ	bβ	pφ!	ᴍ	m
Dento- labial						f	v	f!	pf	bv	pf!
Inter- dental						θ	ϑ	θ!	tθ	dϑ	tθ!
Linguo- dental	t̯	d̯	ᴅ̯	t̯‛	t̯̓ , t̯!	s̯	z̯	s̯!	t̯s	d̯z	t̯s!	ɴ̯	n̯	ƚ̯ , ʟ̯	l̯	ƚ̯!	t̯ƚ	d̯l	t̯ƚ!	ʀ̯	r̯	ʀ̯!
Linguo- alveolar	t	d	ᴅ	t‛	t̓ , t!	s	z	s!	ts	dz	ts!	ɴ	n	ƚ , ʟ	l	ƚ!	tƚ	dl	tƚ!	ʀ	r	ʀ!
Cerebral	ṭ	ḍ	ᴅ̣	ṭ‛	ṭ̓ , ṭ!	ṣ	ẓ	ṣ!	ṭs	ḍz	ṭs!	ɴ̣	ṇ	ƚ̣ , ʟ̣	ḷ	ƚ̣!	ṭƚ	ḍl	ṭƚ!	ʀ̣	ṛ	ʀ̣!
Dorso- dental	τ̯	δ̯	Δ̯	τ̯‛	τ̯̓ , τ̯!	σ̯	ζ̯	σ̯!	τ̯σ	δ̯ζ	τ̯σ!	ν̯	ν̯	Λ̯	λ̯	Λ̯!	τ̯Λ	δ̯Λ	τ̯Λ!
Dorsal	τ	δ	Δ	τ‛	τ̓ , τ!	σ	ζ	σ!	τσ	δζ	τσ!	ν	ν	Λ	λ	Λ!	τΛ	δΛ	τΛ!
Dorso- palatal	τ̣	δ̣	Δ̣	τ̣‛	τ̣̓ , τ̣!	σ̣	ζ̣	σ̣!	τ̣σ	δ̣ζ	τ̣σ!	ν̣	ν̣	Λ̣	λ̣	Λ̣!	τ̣Λ	δ̣Λ	τ̣Λ!
Anterior c-sounds	(τy)	(δy)	(Δy)	(τy‛)	(τ̓ , τy!)	cy	jy	cy!	tcy	djy	tcy!	( ν y)	( ν y)	(Λy)	(λy)	(Λy!)	(τΛy)	(δΛy)	(τΛy!)
Mid c-sounds	(ty)	(dy)	(ᴅy)	(ty‛)	(t̓ , ty!)	c	j	c!	tc	dj	tc!	(ɴy)	(ny)	(ƚy , ʟy)	(ly)	(ƚy!)	(tƚy)	(dly)	(tƚy!)
Posterior c-sounds	(ṭy)	(ḍy)	(ᴅ̣y)	(ṭy‛)	(ṭ̓ , ṭy!)	c̣	j̣	c̣!	ṭc	ḍj	ṭc!	(ɴ̣y)	(ṇy)	(ƚ̣y , ʟ̣y)	(ḷy)	(ƚ̣y!)	(ṭƚy)	(ḍly)	(ṭƚy!)
Anterior palatal	k̯	g̯	ɢ̯	k̯‛	k̯̓ , k̯!	x̯	γ̯	x̯!	k̯x	g̯γ	k̯x!	Ŋ̯	ŋ̯				k̯ƚ	g̯l	k̯ƚ!	Ρ̯	ρ̯	ρ̯!
Mid- palatal	k	g	ɢ	k‛	k̓ , k!	x	γ	x!	kx	gγ	kx!	Ŋ	ŋ				kƚ	gl	kƚ!	Ρ	ρ	ρ!
Back palatal, velar	ḳ (q)	g̣	ɢ̣	ḳ‛	ḳ̓ , ḳ!	x̣	γ̣	x̣!	ḳx	g̣γ	ḳx!	Ŋ̣	ŋ̣				ḳƚ	g̣l	ḳƚ!	Ρ̣	ρ̣	ρ̣!
Glottal	’			’‛		‛ , h	a (any vowel)		’‛											(a̓)
Laryngeal	’̣			’̣‛		ḥ	(any vowel with laryngeal resonance)		’̣ḥ

Notes:

• surd = voiceless; sonant = voiced; intermed. = partially voiced
• In the glottalized stop column, the phonetic symbol appearing on the left side (which is a consonant plus an overhead single quotation mark) represents a weakly glottalized stop (i.e. weakly ejective). The symbol on the right side is strongly glottalized (i.e. it is articulated very forcefully). Example: [k̓] = weakly glottalized; [k!] = strongly glottalized.
• "Laryngeal" refers to either pharyngeal or epiglottal.

See also

• Phonetic transcription
• International Phonetic Alphabet
• English Phonetic Alphabet
• Uralic Phonetic Alphabet
• Teuthonista
• Phonetics
• Phonology

External links

• Description of phonetics using Americanist notation

Bibliography

• Abercrombie, David. (1991). Daniel Jones's teaching. In D. Abercrombie, Fifty years in phonetics: Selected papers (pp. 37–47). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. (Original work published 1985 in V. A. Fromkin (Ed.), Phonetic linguistics: Essays in honor of Peter Ladefoged, Orlando, Academic Press, Inc.).
• Albright, Robert W. (1958). The International Phonetic Alphabet: Its background and development. International journal of American linguistics (Vol. 24, No. 1, Part 3); Indiana University research center in anthropology, folklore, and linguistics, publ. 7. Baltimore. (Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, 1953).
• American Anthropological Society [Boas, Franz; Goddard, Pliny E.; Sapir, Edward; & Kroeber, Alfred L.]. (1916). Phonetic transcription of Indian languages: Report of committee of American Anthropological Association. Smithsonian miscellaneous collections (Vol. 66, No. 6). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution (American Anthropological Society).
• Bloomfield, Leonard; & Bolling George Melville. (1927). What symbols shall we use? Language, 3 (2), 123-129.
• Boas, Franz. (1911). Introduction. In F. Boas (Ed.), Handbook of American Indian languages (pp. 5–83). Bureau of American Ethnology bulletin (No. 40). Washington. (Reprinted 1966).
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• Herzog, George; Newman, Stanley S.; Sapir, Edward; Swadesh, Mary Haas; Swadesh, Morris; Voegelin, Charles F. (1934). Some orthographic recommendations. American Anthropologist, 36 (4), 629-631. doi:10.1525/aa.1934.36.4.02a00300
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• Kemp, J. Alan. (1994). Phonetic transcription: History. In R. E. Asher & J. M. Y. Simpson (Eds.), The encyclopedia of language and linguistics (Vol. 6, pp. 3040–3051). Oxford: Pergamon.
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• Maddieson, Ian. (1984). Patterns of sounds. Cambridge studies in speech science and communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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• Pike, Kenneth L. (1943). Phonetics: A critical analysis of phonetic theory and a technic for the practical description of sounds. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
• Powell, John W. (1880). Introduction to the Study of Indian languages, with words, phrases, and sentences to be collected (2nd Ed.). Washington: Government Printing Office.
• Pullum, Geoffrey K.; & Laduslaw, William A. (1986). Phonetic symbol guide. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-68532-2.
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