Phonetic documentation in Central African Republic: The acoustics and articulation of Ubangi labial-velars and implosives

This contribution presents the first comprehensive acoustic and articulatory analysis of labial-velar and implosive articulations in the Ubangi languages of the Central African Republic. Integrating electro-glottographic evidence, oral airflow measurements, subglottal pressure analysis, and acoustics, we investigate micro-variation in these rare sound classes, which, while relatively prominent in the Macro-Sudan Belt, remain severely underdescribed in the literature. Labial-velar and implosive consonants are hypothesized to share historical and typological ties, but a general lack of phonetic data has hindered research into these issues. Ongoing work at our university addresses key questions regarding their synchronic and diachronic behavior, including the classification of implosives as stops or sonorants, the headedness of labial-velar left edges, and the adequacy of articulatory phonology in describing these segments. Additionally, our research examines the socio-historical factors underlying the spread of these sounds across Ubangi and their integration into neighboring Bantu speech communities. These findings are presented following the most extensive phonetic documentation mission ever conducted in the Ubangi region, during which numerous under-documented sound systems were surveyed. This research provides critical insights into the linguistic diversity of one of Africa’s least-studied areas and addresses broader phonological and typological questions about the behavior of some of its rarest sounds.