Phonetic Implementation of Implosives

Abstract

This article demonstrates that implosives in Sindhi involve ingressive airflow, unlike the implosives in Hausa. The immediate consequence of this fact is that the proposal that there are no true implosives, i.e., those that involve suction, must be rejected. It also raises the question whether implosives should be characterized in phonological theory as sounds involving suction, or as sounds involving the lowering of the larynx. Comparison of the implosives in Sindhi with those of Hausa also demonstrates the need for including certain kinds of “phonetic implementational phenomena” in the domain of phonology.