Fortis and Lenis - Notation

Notation

The IPA provides no specific means for representation of a fortis-lenis contrast. Only the Extensions to the IPA provide a diacritic for strong articulation (e.g. ) and weak articulation .

Different ways of transcribing the fortis-lenis contrast have been used. For instance, for the transcription of the Zürich German fortis-lenis contrast, notations such as the following ones have appeared in the relevant literature:

• The fortis-lenis contrast may be transcribed with plain vs., even though this is in contradiction to their IPA definition that relies solely on voice.
• The fortis-lenis contrast may be transcribed as a gemination contrast ( or vs. ).
• The fortis-lenis contrast may be transcribed as vs., that is, the lenes are marked with the IPA diacritic for voicelessness. By strict IPA definition, this appears contradictory because if and differ but in their voicedness, then a that is voiceless should be identical to a . This notation emphasizes that there is more than just voice to the contrast between vs. .