Articulatory Phonetics

Speech sounds can be split into

• consonants
  • involves obstruction/construction of airflow in some way
• vowels
  • does not involve obstruction/construction of airflow

Consonants

Consonant sounds

Amount of consonants in the spelling does not equate to the amount of consonant sounds in the word. For example: in box, there are 3 consonant sounds.

Production of consonants involves different way of combining articulators (lips, tongue).

Phonetic transcription

Phonetic transcription is a transcription of speech sounds.

If the word is pronounced differently, it is transcribed differently. Thus, the same word may have multiple IPA transcriptions, depending on who is transcribing it.

Example

The word “tomato”

Different configurations of articulators can be used to make different consonants. There are no two consonants in English that have the exact same set of articulators - (use of IPA)

1. Place of articulation
2. Manner of articulation
3. Voicing.

Place of Articulation

Definition

Described as where the airflow is obstructed/constricted - the location


There are multiple types of sound:

• bilabial (close lips)
  • b in beef
  • w in swish (combined with one at the velum
• labio-dental (lower lip to upper teeth)
  • f in beef
• (inter)dental (tongue between teeth)
  • th in tooth
• alveolar (touches the alveolar ridge)
  • t in tooth
  • s in swish
• post-alveolar (tongue touches tip of the mouth)
  • sh in swish
• palatal (hard boney surface at the back)
  • y in young
• velar (soft tissue at the back)
  • g in hog
  • w in swish (combined with one at the bilabial)
  • k and ng in king
• glottal (vocal folds)
  • h in hog

Categorisation of other sounds like whistling/tongue click

In English, they are not part of speech sounds, thus they are not transcribed in English words. These sounds, however, are found in certain African languages.

Manner of Articulation

Definition

Described as how the airflow is obstructed/constricted

There are different ways to block the airflow

• stops (airflow is completely blocked)
  • plosives (oral stops) t, p, k, b, d, g There is a complete closure in the oral cavity, velum raised. Air cannot escape from vocal tract, causing build up of pressure.
  • nasal stops n, m There is a complete closure in the oral cavity, velum lowered. Air cannot escape from the oral cavity, but escapes from the nasal cavity
  • glottal stops
• fricatives f, v, s, z narrow constriction creating friction in the airflow
• affricates ch in church single sounds beginning as plosive ending as fricative
• approximants articulators approximate each other, not closely enough to create turbulence in airflow - air flows through center of the sound
  • central approximants w air flows through center of mouth
  • lateral approximants l tongue tip touches alveolar ridge, but tongue is lowered at the sides, so air can flow through the sides without turbulence
• flap tongue briefly taps roof of the mouth, not long enough for pressure to build up closure (water in American English).

Voicing

To tell if a sound is voiced - feel for vibration at larynx/throat as vocal folds are encased within the larynx, and the vocal fold vibration creates voicing.

Configurations of vocal fold

• held far apart to allow air to pass through freely (creates a voiceless sound)
• adjusted so they are gently touching (creates a voiced sound)
• held tightly together to create a complete closure (glottal stop)

Tip

Glottal stops are generally voiceless.

Convention

Important

Voicing + place + manner

paybaymaytiedienocakegosingfeevowsozoothightheyshowJacqueschurchjudgelieryeweighhayyes # Vowels

Vowels can be described in terms of three core dimensions:

1. tongue backness
2. jaw height
3. tenseness
4. lip rounding.

Backness

Backness refers to the position of the tongue. The levels of backness refers to:

1. front
2. central
3. back

Height

1. high
2. medium
3. low

Lip Rounding

1. unrounded/spread
2. rounded

Remark

In English, all the round vowels are found in the back. Generally, most round vowels are found in the back.

Tenseness

1. tense
2. lax

Combinations

There are also combinations of vowels that function as a single unit in the sound system.

Diphthongs and monophthongs

A diphthong is a combination of multiple vowels, unlike a monophthong which is produced with a single articulatory configuration.

Example

A diphthong could be [ai] while a monophthong could be [a].

A diphthong is defined as a vowel that includes a movement of the tongue body from one position to another. It can be noted as a “vowel-glide” sequence or “vowel-vowel”

• for this course, it is transcribed as a vowel, to better show that they are made in one sound.

A diphthongized vowel is when a vowel is sometimes transcribed as a diphthong to reflect that there is some movement in the tongue for some people when pronouncing the aforementioned vowel. Note that these are not real diphthongs - the movement in a diphtongized vowel is optional.

Variation

There can be variation of vowel pronounciation between dialects of English. This is as the vocal space is continuous and crowded.

Vowel Charts

 

Remark

Notable differences are that US English is rhotic while UK english are non-rhotic (r-dropping).

Example

Consider the pronounciation of the word “cure”.

 Mostly rhotic, but increasingly the younger generation are more non-rhotic.