The Sounds of Language

PHONETICS

The general study of the characteristics of speech sounds is called phonetics. Our main interest will be in articulatory phonetics, which is the study of how speech sounds are made, or articulated.

VOICED AND VOICELESS SOUNDS

In articulatory phonetics, we investigate how speech sounds are produced using the fairly complex oral equipment we have. We start with the air pushed out by the lungs up trough the trachea (or windpipe) to the larynx. Inside the larynx are you vocal folds (or vocal cords), which take two basic positions.

HOW DO WE KNOW IF A SOUND IS VOICELESS OR VOICED?

VOICELESS (VL) = NO VIBRATION OF VOCAL CORDS

VOICED (VD) = VIBRATION OF VOCAL CORDS.

S-S-S-S-S-S or F-F-F-F-F-F

Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z or V-V-V-V-V-V

left: VOICELESS  right: VOICED - closed but should be vibrating

PLACE OF ARTICULATION Once the air has passed trough the larynx, it

comes up and out trough the mouth and/or the nose. Most consonant sounds are produced by using the tongue and other parts of the mouth to constrict, in some way, the shape of the oral city trough which the air is passing.

The terms used to describe many sounds are those which denote the place of articulation of the sound: that is, the location inside the mouth at which the constriction takes place.

BILABIALSTwo lips. Bilabial consonants are

produced by creating a closure with both lips. 

LABIODENTALLower lip and upper teeth. Labiodental

consonants are produced by raising the lower lip to the upper teeth. English has only fricative labiodentals, and no stops.

INTERDENTAL Tongue between the teeth, or just behind the

upper teeth (also called "dental"). In English, the interdental consonants are also all fricatives. In the ASCII phonetic alphabet, these sounds are the voiced [th] and the voiceless [TH].

ALVEOLAR Tongue tip at the alveolar ridge, behind the

top teeth. English alveolar consonants are formed by raising the tip of the tongue to the alveolar ridge, which lies right behind the teeth. There are both fricatives and stops.

PALATAL The front or body of the tongue raised to

the palatal region or the domed area at the roof of your mouth. In our ASCII phonetic alphabet, these are the voiceless [S] and the voiced [Z]

VELAR The back of the tongue raised to the

soft palate ("velum"), the area right behind the palate

GLOTAL At the larynx

(the glottis is the space between the vocal folds). Locate the glottis (the vocal folds) in the diagram, below.A glottal stop is a speech sound articulated by a momentary, complete closing of the glottis in the back of the throat.

IN CONCLUSIONThe airflow can be modified at

various points within vocal organs to produce distinct speech sounds. The point where a sound is produced is referred to as its place of articulation.

VOWELS

HIGH

MID

LOW

FRONT CENTRAL BACK

MANNER OF ARTICULATION

In articulatory phonetics, the manner of articulation is the configuration and interaction of the articulators (speech organs such as the tongue, lips, and palate) when making a speech sound. Also is the type of closure made by the articulators and the degree of the obstruction of the airstream by those articulators

Stops: an oral occlusive, where there is occlusion (blocking) of the oral vocal tract, and no nasal air flow, so the air flow stops completely. Examples include: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g].

Fricatives: sometimes called spirant, where there is continuous frication (turbulent and noisy airflow) at the place of articulation. Examples include: [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [ ʃ ], [ʒ].

Affricates: which begins like a stop, but this releases into a fricative rather than having a separate release of its own.Examples include: [ ʧ ], [ʤ].

Nasals: a nasal occlusive, where there is occlusion of the oral tract, but air passes through the nose. The shape and position of the tongue determine the resonant cavity that gives different nasals their characteristic sounds.Examples include: [m], [n], [ŋ].

Liquids: 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. For example, the initial sounds in led and red are described as liquids.

Glides: 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.

In some approaches, the liquids [l], [r] and glides [w], [j] are combined in one category called “approximants

Glottal stop: is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is [?].

Flap: In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator (such as the tongue) is thrown against another.