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CHAPTER 4
LABIALIZATION AND PALATALIZATION
Mono syllables may have one of two secondary articulations: labialization or
palatalization. All three of these terms have been used in different ways in the literature.
Thus, before discussing the realization of these phenomena in Mono, a few definitions
are in order.
Ladefoged and Maddieson (1996: 354) define a secondary articulation as “an
articulation of a lesser degree of stricture accompanying a primary articulation of a higher
degree.” In most cases, the secondary articulation is an approximant, but fricatives have
also been interpreted as such. The difference in stricture between primary and secondary
articulations distinguishes this type of phenomenon from doubly-articulated segments
(Catford 1977 refers to these as “co-ordinate co-articulation”), such as [SF], where the
two articulations have the same degree of stricture.
The timing of a secondary articulation with respect to a primary one has been a
topic of consideration as well. Pike (1947) points out that there are two cases attested:
At the time the stop closure is made, an additional modification may be added at
the lips (labialization), or at the front of the mouth (palatalization). This
articulation may be released either simultaneously with the release of the stop
closure or there may be a delayed release. (p. 32)
In other words, in the first case the secondary and primary articulations are
pronounced simultaneously. In the second case (which is the case in Mono), the
secondary articulation lags the primary one so that it is heard as an off-glide in relation to
the primary articulation. Ladefoged & Maddieson (p. 355) point out that the distinction
between these two cases can be difficult to make, because of the fact that the start and
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