1. LANGUAGE
1.1 LANGUAGE
May refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication.
1.2 PHONETICS
Is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds (phones): their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory perception, and neurophysiological status.
1.3. PHONOLOGY
Is concerned with abstract, grammatical characterization of systems of sounds.
1.3.1 PHONEME
Is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances.
/b/
1.3.2. ALLOPHONE
Is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds (or phones) used to pronounce a single phoneme.
2. PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION
2.1 THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA)
Is used as the basis for the phonetic transcription of speech. It is based on the Latin alphabet and is able to transcribe most features of speech such as consonants, vowels, and suprasegmental features. Every documented phoneme available within the known languages in the world is assigned its own corresponding symbol.
3. TYPES OF TRANSCRIPTION
Phonetic transcription can be of two types:
● Narrow: indicates only the more noticeable phonetic features of an utterance.
● Broad: encodes more information about the phonetic variations of the specific allophones in the utterance.
4. SUBFIELDS OF PHONETICS
Phonetics as a research discipline has three main branches:
● Articulatory phonetics: is concerned with the articulation of speech: The position, shape, and movement of articulators or speech organs, such as the lips, tongue, and vocal folds.
● Acoustic phonetics: is concerned with acoustics of speech: The spectro-temporal properties of the sound waves produced by speech, such as their frequency, amplitude, and harmonic structure.
● Auditory phonetics: is concerned with speech perception: the perception, categorization, and recognition of speech sounds and the role of the auditory system and the brain in the same.
5. THE SPEECH MECHANISM
5.1.1 THE VOCAL TRACT
Is the cavity in human beings and in animals where sound that is produced at the sound source (larynx in mammals; syrinx in birds) is filtered.
Here we find:
● Passive articulators: those which remain static during the articulation of sound. (Upper lips, upper teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, etc.)
● Active articulators: those which move towards these passive articulators to produce various speech sounds in a different way. (Uvula, lower jaw, lower teeth, lower lips, etc., the most important active articulator is the tongue)
5.1.2 THE LUNG
Is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream, and to release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere.
5.1.3 THE LARYNX
Is an organ in the neck of mammals (including humans) and many other vertebrates involved in breathing, sound production, and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. It manipulates pitch and volume. The larynx houses the vocal folds.
5.1.4 THE VOCAL FOLDS
Also known commonly as vocal cords, are composed of twin infoldings of mucous membrane stretched horizontally across the larynx. They vibrate, modulating the flow of air being expelled from the lungs during phonation. They can assume different positions:
5.1.5 THE PHARNYX
Is the part of the throat situated immediately posterior to (behind) the mouth and nasal cavity, and superior to the esophagus and larynx. The pharynx is part of the digestive system and also the respiratory system; it is also important in vocalization.
5.1.6 THE MOUTH
Is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food and saliva. In addition to its primary role as the beginning of the digestive system, in humans the mouth also plays a significant role in communication. While primary aspects of the voice are produced in the throat, the tongue, lips, and jaw are also needed to produce the range of sounds included in human language.
Inside the mouth we find:
● The lips: are a visible body part at the mouth of humans and many animals. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech.
● The teeth: are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates that are used to break down food.
● The tongue: is a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication. In humans a secondary function of the tongue is phonetic articulation. The tongue also serves as a natural means of cleaning one's teeth.
5.1.9 THE THROAT
Is the anterior part of the neck, in front of tvertebral column.
5.1.10 THE JAW
Is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food.
6. ENGLISH VOWELS
6.1 DEFINITION
6.1.1 FROM THE PHONETIC POINT OF VIEW
A sound produced with no constriction in the vocal tract.
6.1.2 FROM THE PHONOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW
A sound that forms the peak of a syllable.
6.2 DESCRIPTION OF ENGLISH VOWELS
6.2.1 /i:/
The front of the tongue is raised to a height slightly below and behind the close front position; the lips are spread; the tongue is tense, with the side rims making a firm contact with the upper molars; the tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. Its quality is nearer to CV3 [i] than to CV [e]. It does not occur in a syllable closed by /ŋ/.
6.2.2 /ɪ/
A part of the tongue nearer to center than to front is raised just above the half-close position; the lips are loosely spread; the tongue is lax, with the side rims making a light contact with the upper molars; the tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. Its quality is that of a centralized CV [e]. /ɪ/ may occur in all positions in the word.
6.2.3 /e/
The front of the tongue is raised between the half-open and half-close positions; the lips are loosely spread and are slightly wider apart than for /ɪ/; the tongue may have more tension than in the case of /ɪ/, the side rims making a light contact with the upper molars; the tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. Its quality lies between that of CV [e] and that of CV [Ԑ]. /e/ does not occur word-finally or in stressed open syllables.
6.2.4 /æ/
The front of the tongue is raised just below the half-open position, with the side rims making a very light contact with the back upper molars; the mouth is slightly more open than for /e/; the lips are neutrally open; the tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. It is often produced with considerable constriction in the pharynx (esp. in the south of England), the tongue having rather more tension than is the case of /e/. Its quality is nearer to CV [Ԑ] than to CV [a].
6.2.5 /ʌ/
The center of the tongue (or a part slightly in advance of center) is raised just above the fully open position, no contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars; the jaws are considerably separated and the lips are neutrally open; the tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. Its quality is that of a centralized and slightly raised CV [a]. /ʌ/ does not occur word-finally or in stressed open syllables.
6.2.6 /ɑ:/
A part of the tongue between the center and the back is in the fully open position, no contact being made between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars; the jaws are considerably separated and the lips are neutrally open; the tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. Its quality is somewhat nearer to CV [ɒ] than to CV [a]. /ɑ:/ does not normally occur before /ŋ/.
6.2.7 /ɒ/
The back of the tongue is just below the half-open position, no contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars; the jaws are wide open and there is slight, open liprounding; the tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. Its quality is that of an open lip-rounded CV [ɑ], i.e., secondary CV [ɑ:]. /ɑ:/does not occur word-finally or in stressed open syllables.
6.2.8 /ɔ:/
The back of the tongue is raised between the half-open and half-close positions, no contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars; there is medium lip-rounding. Its quality lies between CV [ɔ] and CV [o]. /ɔ:/ does not normally occur before /ŋ/.
6.2.9 /ʊ/
A part of the tongue nearer to center than to back is raised just above the half-close position; the tongue is laxly held, no firm contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars. The lips are closely but loosely rounded; the tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. Its quality is that of a centralized CV [o]. This vowel occurs in both accented and unaccented syllables. /ʊ/ does not occur in stressed word-initial position or before word-final /ŋ/.
6.2.10 /u:/
The back of the tongue is raised relaxedly from the closest position and is somewhat advanced from the true back; its articulation is tenser compared with that of /ʊ/, though no firm contact is made between the tongue and the upper molars; the tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. The lips tend to be closely rounded. Its quality is that of a relaxed, slightly lowered and centralized CV [u]. /u:/ does not normally occur before /ŋ/.
6.2.11 /ɜ:/
The center of the tongue is raised between the half-close and half-open positions, no firm contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars; the lips are neutrally spread. The tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. Its quality is remote from all peripheral Cardinal Vowel values, but it often coincides with that of unaccented /ə /. /ɜ:/ does not normally occur before /ŋ/.
6.2.12 /ə/
n non-final word positions, the center of the tongue is raised between the half-open and halfclose positions; in the vicinity of the velar consonants /k, g/ and /ŋ/, the tongue may be slightly more raised and retracted; in word-final positions, the tongue is in the half-open central position or in the most open region of the central area. The tongue tip is behind the lower teeth. The lips have a neutral position (i.e., are unrounded). So the quality of /ə/ will vary depending on its position in the word. This sound has very high frequency of occurrence in unaccented vowels. It is considered the neutral English vowel.
6.3 ARTICULATION OF ENGLISH VOWELS
6.3.1 HEIGHT
Is named for the vertical position of the tongue relative to either the roof of the mouth or the aperture of the jaw. In high vowels, such as and, the tongue is positioned high in the mouth, whereas in low vowels, such as , the tongue is positioned low in the mouth.
The IPA prefers the terms close vowel and open vowel, respectively, which describes the jaw as being relatively open or closed.
The International Phonetic Alphabet identifies seven different vowel heights:
● close vowel (high vowel)
● near-close vowel
● close-mid vowel
● mid vowel
● open-mid vowel
● near-open vowel
● open vowel (low vowel)
6.3.2 BACKNESS
Is named for the position of the tongue during the articulation of a vowel relative to the back of the mouth. In front vowels, such as, the tongue is positioned forward in the mouth, whereas in back vowels, such as, the tongue is positioned towards the back of the mouth.
The International Phonetic Alphabet identifies five different degrees of vowel backness:
● front vowel
● near-front vowel
● central vowel
● near-back vowel
● back vowel
Although English has vowels at all five degrees of backness, there is no known language that distinguishes all five without additional differences in height or rounding.
6.3.3 ROUNDEDNESS
Refers to whether the lips are rounded or not. In most languages, roundedness is a reinforcing feature of mid to high back vowels, and is not distinctive. Usually the higher a back vowel is, the more intense the rounding.
Different kinds of labialization are also possible. In mid to high rounded back vowels the lips are generally protruded ("pursed") outward, a phenomenon known as exolabial rounding because the insides of the lips are visible, whereas in mid to high rounded front vowels the lips are generally "compressed", with the margins of the lips pulled in and drawn towards each other, a phenomenon known as endolabial rounding. However, not all languages follow this pattern.
6.3.4 NASALIZATION
Refers to whether some of the air escapes through the nose. In nasal vowels, the velum is lowered, and some air travels through the nasal cavity as well as the mouth. An oral vowel is a vowel in which all air escapes through the mouth.
6.3.5 PHONATION
Describes whether the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation of a vowel. Vowels are devoiced in whispered speech. Modal voice, creaky voice, and breathy voice (murmured vowels) are phonation types that are used contrastively in some languages. How a vowel is pronounced depends greatly on the type of phonation.
6.3.6 TONGUE ROOT RETRACTION
The contrast between advanced and retracted tongue root resembles the tense/lax contrast acoustically, but they are articulated differently. ATR vowels involve noticeable tension in the vocal tract.
6.3.7 SECONDARY NARROWINGS IN THE VOCAL TRACT
Pharyngealized vowels occur in some languages. Pharyngealisation is similar in articulation to retracted tongue root, but is acoustically distinct. Note that the terms pharyngealized, epiglottalized, strident, and sphincteric are sometimes used interchangeably.
6.3.7.1 RHOTIC VOWELS
Are the "R-colored vowels" of English and a few other languages.
6.3.8 TENSENESS / CHECKED VOWELS VS. FREE VOWELS
Is used to describe the opposition of tense vowels as in leap, suit vs. lax vowels as in lip, soot. This opposition has traditionally been thought to be a result of greater muscular tension, though phonetic experiments have repeatedly failed to show this.
Unlike the other features of vowel quality, tenseness is only applicable to the few languages that have this opposition whereas the vowels of the other languages cannot be described with respect to tenseness in any meaningful way. In discourse about the English language, "tense and lax" are often used interchangeably with "long and short", respectively, because the features are concomitant in the common varieties of English. This cannot be applied to all English dialects or other languages.
6.4 DIPHTHONGS
The lax and tense vowels we have looked at so far are monophthongs, sometimes called pure vowels. This is because the tongue and lips are relatively stationary while these vowels are being pronounced - the vowels do not move around in the vowel chart. Diphthongs, on the other hand, move through the chart as they are pronounced: they start at one vowel-position, and move towards another. The word di-phthong is from Greek: it means "two vowels", and we write them as two vowels.
Diphthongs are tense vowels; they can be unchecked, and are subject to clipping like the "pure" tense vowels - they can be long or short.
It's useful to distinguish between rising and centring diphthongs:
● Rising to ɪ: price aɪ, face eɪ, and choice ɔɪ.
● Rising to ʊ: goat əʊ and mouth aʊ.
● Centring to ə: near eɪ, square eə and cutre ʊə.
.
6.5 TRIPHTHONGS
Is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement of the articulator from one vowel quality to another that passes over a third.
● eɪ ə: layer.
● aɪ ə: tyre.
● ɔɪ ə: employer, soya.
● aʊ ə: power, shower.
● əʊ ə: slower, lower.
7. ENGLISH CONSONANTS
7.1 DEFINITION
7.1.1 FROM THE PHONETIC POINT OF VIEW
There is an obstruction of thr air stream.
7.1.2 FROM THE PHONOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW
They mark the boundaries of the syllable.
7.2 LETTERS
Consonant letters in the English alphabet are B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Z, and usually W and Y.
7.3 FEATURES OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS
7.3.1 MANNER OF ARTICULATION
Is how air escapes from the vocal tract when the consonant or approximant (vowel like) sound is made. Manners include stops, fricatives and nasals.
7.3.2 PLACE OF ARTICULATION
Is where in the vocal tract the obstruction of the consonant occurs, and which speech organs are involved. Places include bilabial (both lips), alveolar (tongue against the gum ridge), and velar (tongue against soft palate). Additionally, there may be a simultaneous narrowing at another place of articulation, such as palatalisation or pharyngealisation.
7.3.3 PHONATION
Is how the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation. When the vocal cords vibrate fully, the consonant is called voiced; when they do not vibrate at all, it's voiceless.
7.3.4 VOICE ONSET TIME (VOT)
Indicates the timing of the phonation. Aspiration is a feature of VOT.
7.3.5 AIRSTREAM MECHANISM
Is how the air moving through the vocal tract is powered. Most languages have exclusively pulmonic egressive consonants, which use the lungs and diaphragm, but ejectives, clicks and implosives use different mechanisms.
7.3.6 LENGTH
Is how long the obstruction of a consonant lasts.
7.3.7 ARTICULATORY FORCE
Is how much muscular energy is involved. This has been proposed many times, but no distinction relying exclusively on force has ever been demonstrated.
7.4 MANNER OF ARTICULATION OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS
7.4.1 PLOSIVE
Where there is complete occlusion (blockage) of both the oral and nasal cavities of the vocal tract, and therefore no air flow. Examples include English /p t k/ (voiceless) and /b d g/ (voiced). If the consonant is voiced, the voicing is the only sound made during occlusion; if it is voiceless, a plosive is completely silent. What we hear as a /p/ or /k/ is the effect that the onset of the occlusion has on the preceding vowel, as well as the release burst and its effect on the following vowel. The shape and position of the tongue (the place of articulation) determine the resonant cavity that gives different plosives their characteristic sounds. All languages have plosives.
7.4.2 NASAL STOP
Where there is complete occlusion of the oral cavity, and the air passes instead through the nose. The shape and position of the tongue determine the resonant cavity that gives different nasal stops their characteristic sounds. Examples include English /m, n/. Nearly all languages have nasals.
7.4.3 FRICATIVE
Where there is continuous frication (turbulent and noisy airflow) at the place of articulation. Examples include English /f, s/ (voiceless), /v, z/ (voiced), etc. Most languages have fricatives, though many have only an /s/. Here we find two kinds of fricatives:
● Sibilants: are a type of fricative where the airflow is guided by a groove in the tongue toward the teeth, creating a high-pitched and very distinctive sound. These are by far the most common fricatives. Fricatives at coronal (front of tongue) places of articulation are usually, though not always, sibilants. English sibilants include /s/ and /z/.
● Lateral: are a rare type of fricative, where the frication occurs on one or both sides of the edge of the tongue. The "ll" of Welsh and the "hl" of Zulu are lateral fricatives.
7.4.4 AFFRICATE
Which begins like a plosive, but this releases into a fricative rather than having a separate release of its own. The English letters "ch" and "j" represent affricates. Affricates are quite common around the world, though less common than fricatives.
7.4.5 FLAP
Is a momentary closure of the oral cavity. The "tt" of "utter" and the "dd" of "udder" are pronounced as a flap in North American English. There are also lateral flaps.
7.4.6 THRILL
In which the articulator (usually the tip of the tongue) is held in place, and the airstream causes it to vibrate. Trills and flaps, where there are one or more brief occlusions, constitute a class of consonant called rhotics.
7.4.7 APPROXIMANT
Where there is very little obstruction. Examples include English /w/ and /r/. In some languages, such as Spanish, there are sounds which seem to fall between fricative and approximant. Here we find two kinds of approximants:
● One use of the word semivowel, sometimes called a glide, is a type of approximant, pronounced like a vowel but with the tongue closer to the roof of the mouth, so that there is slight turbulence. In English, /w/ is the semivowel equivalent of the vowel /u/, and /j/ (spelled "y") is the semivowel equivalent of the vowel /i/ in this usage. Other descriptions use semivowel for vowel-like sounds that are not syllabic, but do not have the increased stricture of approximants. These are found as elements in diphthongs. The word may also be used to cover both concepts.
● Lateral approximants, usually shortened to lateral, are a type of approximant pronounced with the side of the tongue. English /l/ is a lateral. Together with the rhotics, which have similar behavior in many languages, these form a class of consonant called liquids.
7.4.8 BROADER CLASSIFICATIONS
Manners of articulation with substantial obstruction of the airflow (plosives, fricatives, affricates) are called obstruents. These are prototypically voiceless, but voiced obstruents are extremely common as well. Manners without such obstruction (nasals, liquids, approximants, and also vowels) are called sonorants because they are nearly always voiced. Voiceless sonorants are uncommon, but are found in Welsh and Classical Greek (the spelling "rh"), in Tibetan (the "lh" of Lhasa), and the "wh" in those dialects of English which distinguish "which" from "witch".
Sonorants may also be called resonants, and some linguists prefer that term, restricting the word 'sonorant' to non-vocoid resonants (that is, nasals and liquids, but not vowels or semi-vowels). Another common distinction is between stops (plosives and nasals) and continuants (all else); affricates are considered to be both, because they are sequences of stop plus fricative.
7.5 PLACE OF ARTICULATION OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS
7.5.1 ACTIVE
The articulatory gesture of the active place of articulation involves the more mobile part of the vocal tract. This is typically some part of the tongue or lips. The following areas are known to be contrastive:
● The lower lip (labial)
● Various parts of the front of the tongue:
● The tip of the tongue (apical)
● The upper front surface of the tongue just behind the tip, called the blade of the tongue (laminal)
● The surface of the tongue under the tip (subapical)
● The body of the tongue (dorsal)
● The base aka root of the tongue in the throat (radical)
● The epiglottis, the flap at the base of the tongue (epiglottal)
● The aryepiglottic folds at the entrance to the larynx (also (epiglottal)
● The glottis (laryngeal)
In bilabial consonants both lips move, so the articulatory gesture is bringing together the lips, but by convention the lower lip is said to be active and the upper lip passive. Similarly, in linguo-labial consonants the tongue contacts the upper lip with the the upper lip actively moving down to meet the tongue; nonetheless, in this gesture the tongue is conventionally said to be active and the lip passive, if for no other reason than the fact that the parts of the mouth below the vocal tract are typically active, and those above the vocal tract typically passive.
In dorsal gestures different parts of the body of the tongue contact different parts of the roof of the mouth, but this cannot be independently controlled, so they are all subsumed under the term dorsal. This is unlike coronal gestures involving the front of the tongue, which is more flexible.
The epiglottis may be active, contacting the pharynx, or passive, being contacted by the aryepiglottal folds. Distinctions made in these laryngeal areas are very difficult to observe and are the subject of ongoing investigation, with several as-yet unidentified combinations thought possible.
The glottis acts upon itself. There is a sometimes fuzzy line between glottal, aryepiglottal, and epiglottal consonants and phonation, which uses these same areas.
Unlike the passive articulation, which is a continuum, there are five discrete active articulators: the lip (labial consonants), the flexible front of the tongue (coronal consonants: laminal, apical, and subapical), the middle–back of the tongue (dorsal consonants), the root of the tongue together with the epiglottis (radical consonants), and the larynx (laryngeal consonants). These articulators are discrete in that they can act independently of each other, and two or more may work together in what is called coarticulation. The distinction between the various coronal articulations, laminal, apical, and supapical, are however a continuum without clear boundaries.
7.5.2 PASSIVE
the passive place of articulation is the place on the more stationary part of the vocal tract where the articulation occurs. It can be anywhere from the lips, upper teeth, gums, or roof of the mouth to the back of the throat. Although it is a continuum, there are several contrastive areas such that languages may distinguish consonants by articulating them in different areas, but few languages will contrast two sounds within the same area unless there is some other feature which contrasts as well. The following areas are contrastive:
● The upper lip (labial). Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. The most common distribution between bilabials and labiodentals is the English one, in which the stops, [m], [p], and [b], are bilabial and the fricatives, [f] ,and [v], are labiodental. Bilabial fricatives and the bilabial approximant do not exist in English, but do occur in many languages.
● The upper teeth, either on the edge of the teeth or inner surface (dental). Dental consonant is a consonant articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth. Dentals are primarily distinguished from sounds in which contact is made with the tongue and the gum ridge, as in English, due to the acoustic similarity of the sounds and the fact that in the Roman alphabet they are generally written using the same symbols (t, d, n, and so on).
● The alveolar ridge (to see its definition click here), the gum line just behind the teeth (alveolar). Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. Alveolar consonants may be articulated with the tip of the tongue (so-called apical consonants), as in English. To see them click here.
● The back of the alveolar ridge (post-alveolar). Postalveolar consonants (sometimes spelled post-alveolar) are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). Examples of postalveolar consonants are the English palato alveolar consonants [ʃ] [ʧ] [ʒ] [ʤ], as in the words "shill", "'ch'ill", "vision", and "J'ill", respectively.
There are a large number of types of postalveolar sounds, especially among the sibilants. The three primary types are palato-alveolar (e.g. [ʤ], weakly palatalized); alveolo-palatal (e.g. [c,z] , strongly palatalized); and retroflex (e.g [s,z] , unpalatalized). The palato-alveolar and alveolo-palatal subtypes are commonly counted as "palatals" in phonology, since they rarely contrast with true palatal consonants.
● The hard palate (to see its definition click here) on the roof of the mouth (palatal). Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). Consonants with the tip of the tongue curled back against the palate are called retroflex.
● The soft palate (to see its definition click here)further back on the roof of the mouth (velar). Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). They often become automatically fronted, that is partly or completely palatal before a following front vowel, and retracted before back vowels.
Palatalised velars (like English /k/ in keen or cube) are sometimes referred to as palatovelars. Many languages also have labialized velars, such as [kw], in which the articulation is accompanied by rounding of the lips. There are also labial-velar consonants, which are doubly articulated at the velum and at the lips, such as [kp]. This distinction disappears with the approximant [w], , since labialization involves adding of a labial approximant articulation to a sound, and this ambiguous situation is often called labiovelar.
● The uvula (to see its definition click here) hanging down at the entrance to the throat (uvular). Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and the symbol for the voiced fricative is used instead. Uvular affricates can certainly be made but are rare..
● The throat itself, aka the pharynx (pharyngeal). A pharyngeal consonant is a type of consonant which is articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx.
● The epiglottis (to see its definition click here) at the entrance to the windpipe, above the voice box (epiglottal). An epiglottal consonant is a consonant that is articulated with the aryepiglottic folds (see larynx) against the epiglottis. They are occasionally called aryepiglottal consonants. To see them click here.
7.6 VOICE OR VOICING
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless (unvoiced) or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate. This is its primary use in phonetics to describe phones, which are particular speech sounds. It can also refer to a classification of speech sounds that tend to be associated with vocal cord vibration but need not actually be voiced at the articulatory level. This is the term's primary use in phonology when describing phonemes, or in phonetics when describing phones.Voicing is the difference between the pairs of sounds that are associated with the English letters "s" and "z". The two sounds are symbolically written [s] and [z] to distinguish them from the English letters, which have several possible pronunciations depending on context. If one places the fingers on the voice box (ie the location of the Adam's apple in the upper throat), one can feel a vibration when one pronounces zzzz, but not when one pronounces ssss.
7.6.1 VOICED CONSONANTS IN ENGLISH
At the articulatory level, are those in which the vocal cords vibrate.
7.6.2 VOICELESS CONSONANTS IN ENGLISH
At the articulatory level, are those in which the vocal cords do not vibrate.
●
Voicing contrast in English fricatives
Articulation Voiceless Voiced
Pronounced with the lip against the teeth: [f] (fan) [v] (van)
Pronounced with the tongue against the teeth: [θ] (thin, thigh) [ð] (then, thy)
Pronounced with the tongue near the gums: [s] (sip) [z] (zip)
Pronounced with the tongue bunched up: [ʃ] (pressure) [ʒ] (pleasure)
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Voicing contrast in English plosives
Articulation Unvoiced Voiced
Pronounced with the lips closed: [p] (pin) [b] (bin)
Pronounced with the tongue near the gums: [t] (ten) [d] (den)
Pronounced with the back of the tongue against the palate: [k] (con) [ɡ] (gone)
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Voicing contrast in English affricates
Articulation Aspirated Partially voiced
Pronounced with the tongue bunched up: [tʃ] (chin) [dʒ] (gin)
7.7 HOMORGANIC CONSONANTS
Consonants that have the same place of articulation, such as the alveolar sounds /n,t,d, s,z,l/ in English, are said to be homorganic. Similarly, labial /p,b,m/ and velar /k,g, ŋ/ are homorganic. A homorganic nasal rule, an instance of assimilation, operates in many languages, where a nasal consonant must be homorganic with a following plosive. We see this with English intolerable but implausible.
7.8 CENTRAL AND LATERAL ARTICULATION
The tongue contacts the mouth with a surface, which has two dimensions: length and width. So far only points of articulation along its length have been considered. However, articulation varies along its width as well. When the airstream is directed down the center of the tongue, the consonant is said to be central. If, however, it is deflected off to one side, escaping between the side of the tongue and the side teeth, it is said to be lateral.
7.9 COARTICULATION
Some languages have consonants with two simultaneous places of articulation, called coarticulation. When these are doubly articulated, the articulators must be independently movable, and therefore there may only be one each from the major categories labial, coronal, dorsal, radical, and laryngeal.
More commonly, coarticulation involves secondary articulation of an approximantic nature, in which case both articulations can be similar. This is the case of English [w], which is a velar consonant with secondary labial articulation.