Pharyngealisation

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Pharyngealisation or pharyngealization is a secondary articulation of consonants or vowels by which the pharynx is constricted during the articulation of the sound. Arabic uses phonemic secondary pharyngealisation for the "emphatic" coronal consonants. The letter ʿayn represents a pharyngealized glottal stop in many dialects. Ubykh, a Northwest Caucasian language formerly spoken in Russia and Turkey, uses pharyngealisation in 14 pharyngealised consonants. Chilcotin has pharyngealized consonants that trigger pharyngealization of vowels. Many languages (e.g. Salishan, Sahaptian) in the Plateau culture area of North America also have pharyngealization processes triggered by pharyngeal or pharyngealized consonants that affect vowels. In Danish many of the vowel phonemes have distinct pharyngealized qualities.