Nonpharyngealization

Nonpharyngealization is a phonological feature describing the absence of pharyngealization in a segment or sound. In languages that contrast pharyngealized (emphatic) versus nonpharyngealized segments, the nonpharyngealized value often serves as the default against which contrastive pharyngealization is defined. The term is used across the phonological description of consonants and vowels, depending on the language’s system of features.

Phonetic and articulatory considerations emphasize that pharyngealization involves constriction or retraction within the pharyngeal region, sometimes accompanied by secondary adjustments of the tongue root and surrounding articulators. Nonpharyngealized segments lack this specific pharyngeal constriction, yielding a more neutral or typical articulatory posture. In practice, nonpharyngealization can be realized with a standard vowel quality adjacent to the segment, though coarticulatory effects may influence the surrounding vowels.

Typology and cross-linguistic distribution vary. Some languages maintain a clear binary contrast between pharyngealized and nonpharyngealized segments, while others treat emphatic or pharyngealized realizations with alternative feature specifications (such as glottalization or constriction in different articulatory domains). In feature-geometric analyses, nonpharyngealization is often the default value for the pharyngealization feature unless a segment is specified as pharyngealized.

Historical and evolutionary notes indicate that pharyngealization can be gained, lost, or shifted in phonological systems, with nonpharyngealization arising as a historical default or as a result of sound change. The concept helps describe how languages organize emphatic or pharyngealized contrasts relative to nonpharyngealized counterparts.

See also: pharyngealization, emphatics, consonantal features, vowel quality.