Re: linguolabials (was: Re: Hell hath no Fury)

John Cowan wrote:

> J Matthew Pearson wrote:
>
> > In IPA, they are represented using the regular coronal symbols ([t], [d], [n],
> > etc.) with a diacritic underneath them.  This diacritic looks like a flattened V
> > (or an upside-down circumflex) with the ends curled down--or like a squashed
> > McDonald's-style M.
>
> Ah, the Unicode character U+033C COMBINING SEAGULL BELOW.  This
> is one of the mystery marks that Unicode doesn't explain, along
> with RIGHT HALF RING BELOW, INVERTED BRIDGE BELOW, SQUARE BELOW,
> X ABOVE, and DOUBLE OVERLINE.
Looking at my IPA chart, here are my guesses:

  right half ring below = more rounded
  inverted bridge below = apical
  square below = laminal
  X above = mid-centralized
  double overline = ???

No idea what the last one could be.  The 1993 edition of the IPA chart does not
include a diacritic which fits this description.  Maybe it's for use in indicating
tone?

For those not up on phonetic terminology:  "More rounded" means made with greater
rounding of the lips than usual (typically used of vowels), "apical" means made with
the tip of the tongue, "laminal" means made with the blade of the tongue (the flat
part of the tongue right behind the tip), and "mid-centralized" means made with the
tongue closer to the middle of the mouth (used of vowels).

Matt.