place of articulation january 29, 2014 the agenda due at 5 pm tonight: backwards name exercise! for...
TRANSCRIPT
Place of Articulation
January 29, 2014
The Agenda• Due at 5 pm tonight: backwards name exercise!
• For Friday, there will be a transcription exercise on place of articulation.
• Hungarian and Bengali
• For Monday: provide both narrow + broad transcriptions of either American or British English sentences.
• Your choice!
• This is a graded homework exercise.
Moving On• Hitherto: rapidly running through the vocal tract
• for English only
• From here on out:
• go back through the whole process in slow motion
• building up our understanding of how speech sounds are made in the process…
• for all the languages of the world.
• Goal: get from what we know about articulation to acoustics
• i.e., how speech sounds are transmitted through the air
Just So You Know• This (and most future lectures) will include sound samples from many different languages from around the world.
• Sound files may be found at:
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/index/sounds.html
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/contents.html
• And also on the Course in Phonetics CD
Consonant Dimensions: Summary
[t] [j]
1. Airstream Mechanism pulmonic egressive p.e.
2. Phonation Type voiceless voiced
3. Place of Articulation alveolar palatal
4. Aperture stop approx.
5. Retroflexion non-retroflex non-retro
6. Nasality oral oral
7. Laterality central central
Manner of Articulation• Phoneticians usually combine dimensions 4-7 under the rubric of manner of articulation.
• Example manners of articulation:
• [t] = (oral) stop
• [n] = nasal stop
• [v] = fricative
• [w] = approximant
• [l] = lateral approximant
• = retroflex approximant
• = affricate
Notes• Consonant sounds are generally assumed to be:
pulmonic egressive
oral
central
…unless stated otherwise
• Big picture thought:
• Through combinatorics, language makes a large number of distinctions out of a minimal number of articulatory gestures.
English Consonant Chart
Back to the Big Picture• Through combinatorics…
• languages can make a large number of distinctions out of a small number of articulatory dimensions
• However--consider the gaps in the IPA chart
• Not all combinations of gestures are possible
• Not all combinations of gestures are likely
• Why?
• The dimensions interact
• They’re based on physical realities
• i.e., they are not abstract
Another Perspective• Note: all speech sounds involve the flow of air.
• Articulation and acoustics are linked through aerodynamics
• = the study of the flow of air (in speech sounds)
• Aerodynamics can also limit the combinatorial possibilities of speech.
An Aerodynamic Exception• Stops
• Stop the flow of air through the articulatory tract
• How is this done?
• By making an airtight seal between articulators
• Are there some places in the articulatory tract where this is easier than others?
• Try the tongue experiment.
• An easy place: between the lips
• A difficult (impossible?) place: between the teeth and lips
IPA Chart:Stops
• You are already familiar with Bilabial, Alveolar, Velar
• = the 3 most common places of articulation for stops
• UPSID Database (in Maddieson’s Patterns of Sounds, 1984)
• surveys 317 languages
• 314 have bilabial stops (Wichita, Hupa, Aleut)
• 316 have alveolar/dental stops (Hawaiian)
• 315 have velar stops (Hupa, Kirghiz)
Bilabials-Alveolars-Velars
Palatals
Palatal Stops
• Peter says:
• 59 languages in UPSID database have palatal stops
• Palatals vs. Velars in Ngwo (spoken in Cameroon)
Also: Palatal Nasals
• symbol:
• not to be confused with the velar nasal:
• PL:
• Examples from Hungarian
Uvulars
Uvular Stops
• Peter says:
• 47 languages in UPSID database have uvular stops
• Uvular nasal:
• Peter, again:
• Japanese: ‘Japan’
Quechua Contrasts
• Quechua is spoken primarily in Bolivia and Peru.
Pharyngeals
Epiglottals, Glottals
• There are no pharyngeal stops.
• However, there is an epiglottal stop:
• Peter says:
• Check out Stefan’s epiglottis
• There are also glottal stops:
• As in English: “uh-oh”, “bottle”, “kitten”
• More on these later
Epiglottals in Agul
• Agul is spoken in Dagestan, near the Caspian Sea, in Russia
• Note: no nasal pharyngeals, epiglottals, or glottals.
• Why?
Back to the Coronals
Back to the Coronals• Two parameters to consider here:
• The active articulator
1. The tongue tip (apical)
2. The tongue blade (laminal)
• The passive articulator or target
1. The upper lip (linguo-labial)
2. Between the teeth (interdental)
3. The upper teeth (dental)
4. The alveolar ridge (alveolar)
5. Behind the alveolar ridge (post-alveolar)
Coronal Basics• Coronal stops are usually dental or alveolar.
• Dental stops are usually laminal
• produced with the blade of the tongue
• as is typical in, e.g., French, Spanish
• Alveolar stops are usually apical
• pronounced with the tip of the tongue
• as is typical in English
• Dental ~ Alveolar contrasts are rare, but they do exist.
Laminal Dentals
• check out the labio-dental flap file
Apical Alveolars
Yanyuwa Coronal Contrast
• Yanyuwa is spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia
• UPSID data--
Languages with the following number of stop place contrasts:
2 -- 2 3 -- 171 4 -- 103
5 -- 35 6 -- 6 <-- 5 of these languages are from Australia!
• Yanyuwa has 7 stop place contrasts!
Retroflex Stops• Retroflex stops are produced in the post-alveolar region, by curling the tip of the tongue back.
• Common in south Asian languages.
•Peter says:
Sindhi place contrasts
Malayalam Place Contrasts
Palatography +
Linguography
Yanyuwa, again