THE THE SOUNDS OF SOUNDS OF LANGUAGELANGUAGE

BY GEORGE YULE BY GEORGE YULE

PhoneticsPhoneticsThe study of the characteristics of speech sounds.

-Articulatory phonetics: How speech sounds are made-Acoustic phonetics: Speech sounds as “waves in the air”-Auditory phonetics: Perception of speech sounds-Forensic phonetics: Speaker identification (legal)

How speech sounds are produced using the complex oral apparatus we have.

Air pushed out by lungs through the trachea (‘windpipe’) to the larynx. Once in the larynx your vocal cords may take two basic positions:

1)Vocal cords spread apart, air stream unimpeded.

2)Vocal cords drawn together, air pushes them apart, vibration effect.A

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Once the air has passed through the larynx, it comes up and out through the mouth and/or nose.

The tongue and other parts of themouth constrict the shape of the oralcavity where the air passes through.

The location, inside the mouth, where

this constriction takes place is calledplace of articulation. P

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BilabialsBilabials

They are formed by using both upper and lower lips.

pat, bat, mat

They are represented by the symbols [p], [b], and [m], which are voiced.

The [w] sound at the beginning of way, walk, and world is also a bilabial.

LabiodentalsLabiodentalsThese are sounds formed with the upper teeth and the lower lip.

fat, vat

safe, save

They are represented by the symbols [f], which is voiceless, and [v], which is voiced.

*Notice the case of final sounds of laugh and cough

Also, pay attention to initial sound of photo.

DentalsDentalsThese are sounds formed with the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth. The term interdental is sometimes used to describe a manner of pronunciation with the tongue tip between the upper and lower teeth.

thin, three, teeth, bath (voiceless)

They are represented by the symbol [Ɵ], which is voiceless, and [ð], which is voiced.

there, then (initial position)

feather (middle position)

bathe (final position)

AlveolarsAlveolarsThese are sounds formed with the front part of the tongue on the alveolar ridge, which is the rough, bony ridge immediately behind the upper teeth.

top, dip, sit, zoo, nut (initial position)

They are represented by the symbols [t], [d], [s], [z], and [n].

[t] and [s] are voiceless/voiced

[d], [z], and [n] are voiceless/voiced

Other alveolars are [l] in initial position in words like lap and lit, and the [r] in initial position in words like right, write, and rip.

Alveo-palatalsAlveo-palatalsBack behind the alveolar ridge you can find a hard part in the root of your month (palate). Sounds which are produced at the very front of the palate, near the alveolar ridge, are called alveo-palatals.

shout, child (voiceless)

They are represented by the symbols [ʃ] and [ʧ respectively.

Voiced alveo-palatal [ʒ] is not very common in English. It can be found in middle position, as in treasure and pleasure or in final position, as in rouge.

The other voiced alveol-palatal sound [ʤ] can be found in initial position in words like joke and germ, judge, and George.

[ȷ] at the beginning of words like you and yet is also a palatal. sound. This sound is pronounced with the tongue in the middle of the palate.

Velars Velars Even further back in the root of the mouth, beyond the hard palate, you will find a soft area which is called the soft palate, or the velum. Sounds which are produced with the back of the tongue against the velum are called velars.

kid, kill, car, and cold (voiceless velar sound, [k])

go, gun, bag, muge, and plague (voiced velar sound, [g])

The velum can be lowered to allow the air to flow through the nasal cavity and produce another voiced velar sound, [ƞ]. In written English it is normally spelled as two letters ‘ng. ’

sing, sang, and tongue

ringing ([ƞ] occurs twice)

bang ([ƞ] occurs only once) Careful: There is no [g] sound

Glottals Glottals There is one other sound that is produced withouth the active use of the tongue and other parts of the mouth. It is the sound [h] which occurs at the beginning of words like:

have, house, who, and whose (voiceless glottal)

The ‘glottis’ is the space between the vocal cords in the larynx.

Manner of ArticulationManner of Articulation

This aspect deals with how the sounds are articulated.

Stops Stops

These sounds are produced by some form of complete ‘stopping’ of the airstream (very briefly) and then letting it go abruptly. They are also called ‘plosive’ sounds.

[p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g]

A full description of the sound [t] at the beginning of a word like ten, for example, is a ‘voiceless alveolar stop.’

Fricatives Fricatives

The articulation of such sounds involves almost blocking the airstream, and having the air push through the narrow opening. As the air is pushed through, a type of friction is produced and the resulting sounds are called fricatives.

[f], [v], [Ɵ], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ], [ʒ]

fish: begins and ends with ‘voiceless fricatives’

those: begins and ends with ‘voiced fricatives’

Affricates Affricates

If you combine a brief stopping of the airstream with an obstructed release which causes some friction, you will be able to produce the sounds:

[ʧ] and [ʤ]

They occur at the beginning of words like:

cheap with ‘voiceless affricate’

and

jeep with ‘voiced affricate’

Nasals Nasals

Most sounds are produced orally, with the velum raised, preventing airflow from entering the nasal cavity. However, when the velum is lowered and the airstream is allowed to flow through the nose, these sounds are nasals.

[m], [n] and [ƞ]

Nasal sounds are all voiced.

Examples: morning, knitting, and name (they begin and end with nasal sounds).

Approximants Approximants The articulation of approximant sounds is strongly influenced by the following vowel sound.

•[w] and [y] are sometimes called ‘semivowels’ or ‘glides,’ because they are typically produced with the tongue moving, or ‘gliding,’ to or from the position of a nearby vowel. They are voiced.

•Initial approximants in led and red are also voiced. The [l] and [r] sounds are also called ‘liquids.’

•The [h] sound is a voiceless approximant. In words like hi or hello, simply begins the pronunciation of the next vowel.

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The Glottal Stop and the The Glottal Stop and the Flap Flap

The glottal stop, represented [Ɂ] occurs when the space between the vocal cords (glottis) is closed completely, very briefly, and then released. Oh oh! Uh-uh! It is used by Scottish speakers and New Yorkers. In London speech, they pronounce a glottal stop in words like butter and bottle.

Butter similar to ‘budder’ in American English. This is a flap, which is represented by [D] or [ɾ]. This flap is produced by the tongue tip being thrown against the alveolar ridge for an instant.

[t] and [d] between vowels are usually flapped so that, in casual speech, ladder and latter, writer and rider, and metal medal do not have distinct middle consonants.

Vowels Vowels

• Vowel sounds are produced with a relatively free flow of air. They are all voiced. To talk about place of articulation, we think of the space inside the mouth as having a front versus a back and a high versus a low area.

heat and hit (high, front vowels)hot and hat (low, back vowels)

Diphthongs Diphthongs

• [aІ], [aʊ], and [oІ] are diphthongs because they contain two sounds. Note that in each case, they begin with a vowel sound and end with a glide. In pronouncing diphthongs, we move from one vocalic position to another.