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Initiation (phonetics)

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Language: Linguistics · Semiotics · Speech

In phonetics, initiation is the action by which an air-flow is created through the vocal tract. Along with articulation, it is one of the two mandatory aspects of sound production: without initiation, there is no sound. The means of initiating a phone is called its airstream mechanism.

Initiation may be divided into pressure and suction. In the former, the organ performing the initiation—called the initiator—builds up pressure within the vocal tract, creating an outward airflow. In the latter, the initiator reduces pressure within the vocal tract, creating an inward airflow. Phones pronounced with pressure initiation are called egressive, and those pronounced with suction initiation are called ingressive.

There are three initiators in spoken human languages, the lungs/diaphragm, the glottis, and the tongue, for six possible airstream mechanisms. Four of these are found in 'normal' words around the world:

  • pulmonic egressive, where the air is pushed out of the lungs by the ribs and diaphragm; all human languages employ such sounds (such as vowels), and many, such as English, use them exclusively.
  • velaric ingressive, AKA lingual ingressive, where the air in the mouth is rarefied by a downward movement of the tongue. These are the clicks.


In interjections, other initiations may be employed. For example, in Canada, Sweden, Turkey, and Togo, a pulmonic ingressive ("gasped" or "inhaled") vowel is used for back-channeling or to express agreement, and in France a velaric/lingual egressive (a "spurt") is used to express dismissal. The only language where such sounds are known to be contrastive in normal vocabulary is the ritual language Damin; however, that language appears to have been intentionally designed to be different from normal speech.

Pulmonic initiation Edit



In interjections, but not in normal words, pulmonic ingressive vowels such as [ə↓] occur in languages as diverse as Swedish and Ewe. In Ewe, [ə↓] is used for back-channeling, to indicate that one is listening (like ah or I see in English).

Glottalic initiation Edit

It is possible to initiate an airflow in the upper respiratory tract by means of the vocal cords or glottis. This is known as glottalic initiation.

To perform glottalic pressure initiation, one lowers one's glottis (as if to sing a low note), closes it as if for a glottal stop, and then raises it, building up pressure in the upper trachea and oral cavity. Glottalic egressives are also called ejectives. Since the glottis must be fully closed to form glottalic egressives, it is impossible to pronounce voiced ejectives.

To perform glottalic suction initiation, the sequence of actions performed in glottalic pressure initiation is reversed:  one raises one's glottis (as if to sing a high note), closes it, and then lowers it to create suction in the upper trachea and oral cavity. Glottalic ingressives are also called implosives.

It is usual for implosives to be voiced. Instead of keeping the glottis tightly closed, it is tensed but left slightly open to allow a thin stream of air through. Unlike pulmonic voiced sounds, in which a stream of air passes through a usually-fixed glottis, in voiced implosives a mobile glottis passes over a nearly motionless air column to cause vibration of the vocal cords. More open phonations than modal voice, such as breathy voice, are not condusive to glottalic sounds because in these the glottis is held relatively open, allowing air to readily flow through and preventing a significant pressure difference from building up behind the articulator.


Velaric initiation Edit

The third form of initiation in human language is velaric or lingual initiation, where a sound is produced by a closure at two places of articulation, and the airstream is formed by movement of the body of the tongue. Velaric stops are more commonly known as clicks, and are almost universally ingressive.


Velaric egressive initiation is performed by reversing the sequence of a velaric ingressive: the front and back of the tongue (or lips and back of the tongue) seal off the vocal cavity, and the cheeks and middle of the tongue move inward and upward to increase oral pressure. The only attested use of a velar egressive is a bilabial nasal egressive click in Damin. Transcribing this also requires the use of the Extended IPA, [ŋʘ↑].

Since the air pocket used to initiate velaric consonants is so small, it is not thought to be possible to produce velaric fricatives, vowels, or other sounds which require continuous airflow.


In nasal clicks, the velum is lowered so as to direct air through the nasal cavity. This nasalization is pulmonic, and as it involves a second airstream, it may itself be egressive or ingressive, independently of the nature of the rest of the click. Nasal clicks may be voiced, but are very commonly unvoiced and even aspirated, which is rare for purely pulmonic nasals.

See alsoEdit

External linksEdit

he:מנגנון זרימת אוויר

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