Chapter 3: The sounds of

language
Phonetic
s
 Phonetics The scientific study of the production,
transmission and perception of speech sounds.
Types of phonetics
 There are, therefore, three types of phonetics:
1. Articulatory phonetics studies speech production (i.e.
how speech sounds are produced or made)
2. Acoustic phonetics studies speech transmission (i.e.
how speech sounds travel in the air as sound waves)
3. Auditory phonetics studies speech perception (i.e.
how speech sounds are heard or perceived by a
hearer)
 Vocal Organs

Vocal tract

Larynx

Sub-glottal system
Speech orgins
The Larynx and the Vocal
Folds
Articulation:Voiced and
Voiceless
 How speech sounds are produced using the complex oral
apparatus we have.
 The air is pushed out by the lungs up through the trachea (or
windpipe) to the larynx. Inside the larynx are your vocal folds
(or vocal cords), which take two basic positions.
1. When the vocal folds are spread apart, the air from the lungs
passes between them unimpeded. Sounds produced in this way
are described as voiceless.
2. When the vocal folds are drawn together, the air from the
lungs repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through,
creating a vibration effect. Sounds produced in this way are
described as voiced.
Open vocal cords
(air passes through freely)
e.g. /s/
Vocal cords drawn together
(vibration: open and close
rapidly and repeatedly)
Speech
Organs
THE TONGUE
THE PALATE

alveolar hard soft

ridge palate palate
 States Of The Velum (Soft Palate)

Lowered position: gap between soft palate and

pharynx; air goes into the nasal cavity and the oral
cavity. (e.g. /m/)
Raised position: contact with the back wall of
pharynx; nasal cavity is closed; air goes into the
mouth only. (e.g. /b/ )
Describing
Consonants
 How do we describe/classify
consonants?

1. Voicing
2. Place of Articulation
3. Manner of Articulation
Voicin
g
 Consonants produced with the vocal cords vibrating
are described as voiced.

 Consonants produced with no vibration of the vocal

cords are described as voiceless.
Place of
Articulation
 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 the mouth constrict
the shape of the oral cavity where the air passes
through.
 The location, inside the mouth, where this constriction
takes place is called place of articulation.
 Bilabial
s
 Bilabials They are formed by using both upper
and lower lips.
pat, bat, mat
They are represented by the symbols [p], which is
voiceless,[b], and [m], which are voiced.

 The [w] sound at the beginning of way,

walk, and
world is also a bilabial.
 Labiodental
s
 Labiodentals These 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.
 Dental
s
 Dentals These are sounds formed with the tongue tip
behind the upper front teeth. The term interdental
is sometimes used to describe a place of
articulation 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, feather, bathe (voiced)
 Alveolar
s
 Alveolars These 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
 They are represented by the symbols [t], [d], [s], [z],
and [n]. [t] and [s] are voiceless
[d], [z], and [n] are 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.
 Palatal
s
 Palatals These are sounds which are produced
at the very front of the palate.
shout, child
 They are represented by the symbols [ʃ] and [ʧ]
respectively. (voiceless)
 Voiced palatal [ʤ] 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.
 Palatal
s
 The other voiced 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 voiced palatal sound.
 Velar
s
 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, cold (voiceless velar sound, [k])
go, gun, bag, mug, plague (voiced velar sound,
[g])
 Velar
s
 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, tongue
ringing ([ƞ] occurs twice)
bang ([ ]ƞ occurs only once) Careful: There is no [g]
sound
 Glottal
s
 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
Articulation
 Manner of Articulation This aspect deals with how
the sounds are articulated.
 Stop
s
 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’.
 Fricative
s
 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’
 Fricative
s
 The sound [h], as in Hi or Hello, is voiceless and
also usually included in the set of 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’
 Nasal
s
 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, the sounds produced are
nasals.
[m], [n] and [ƞ]
 Nasal sounds are all voiced.
 Examples: morning, knitting, name (they begin
and end with nasal sounds).
 Approximant
s
 Approximants
• [w] and [j] 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 Glottal Stop and the
Flap
 The Glottal Stop and the 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.
The Glottal Stop and the
Flap
 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, latter and ladder, writer
and rider, and metal and medal do not have
distinct middle consonants
What is a
vowel?
 While the consonant sounds are mostly articulated via
closure or obstruction in the vocal tract, vowel sounds
are produced with a relatively free flow of air.

 Vowels are all voiced

Describing
Vowels
 How do we describe/ classify consonants?
 Voicing
 POA
 MOA
 How do we describe/ classify vowels?
 Tongue height: How high is the highest part of the tongue in
the mouth?
 Tongue position: Which part of the tongue is the highest in
the mouth?
 Lip shape: Are the lips rounded or unrounded?
Describing
Vowels
 How high is the highest part of the tongue in the
mouth?
 High
 Mid
 Low

 How front or back is the highest part of the tongue

in the mouth?
 Front
 Central
 Back
 Vowel

Height
High Mid Low

[i], [u] [ɪ], [ʊ] [e], [ə], [o] [ɛ], [ʌ], [ɔ] [æ] [a], [ɑ]
 Vowel Height

Hig Mid Lo
h w

[i] [ɛ] [æ]

dead, pet, said ban, laugh, sat
eat/ key/ see
The primary cardinal
vowels
Vowel
Height
 High [i], [u]

 [i] (front)
e.g. eat/ key/ see

 [u] (back)
e. g. move/ two/
too
Vowel
Height
 High [ɪ], [ʊ]

 [ɪ]
e.g. hit, myth, women

 [ʊ]
e.g. could, foot, put
Vowel
Height
 Mid High [e], [ə], [o]

 [e]

 [ə]
e.g. above, sofa, support

 [o]
Vowel
Height
 Mid low [ɛ], [ʌ], [ɔ]
 [ɛ]
e.g. dead, pet, said

 [ʌ]
e.g. blood, putt, tough

 [ɔ]
e.g. ball, caught, raw
Vowel
Height
 Low
 [æ]
e.g. ban, laugh,
sat
 [ɑ]
e.g. Tom, hot, got
(UK)
 [a]
e.g. spa, far, father
 Vowel
Backness

Fron Centr Bac

t al k

[u], [ʊ],
[i], [ɪ], [e],
[ə], [ʌ], [a] [o], [ɔ],
[ɛ], [æ]
[ɑ]
Front and back
vowels
He /hi/ Who /hu/
Lip
roundedness
 Rounded [u], [ʊ], [o], [ɔ], [ɑ]
[u] e.g. noon

 Unrounded [i], [ɪ], [e], [ɛ], [æ], [ə], [a], [ʌ]

i. e.g. heat
Diphthong
s
 A combination of two sounds
 begins with a vowel & ends with the glides [w] or [j]
 Vowel + glide

 [eɪ]bait, eight, great, late, say

 [aɪ]buy, eye, I, my, pie, sigh
 [ɔɪ] boy, noise
 [aʊ] bough, doubt, cow
 [oʊ] boat, home, throw, toe
Activity: identifying
diphthongs
Fright joy
Avoi
Haste d
Hide
Prou
 Fright [aɪ] ]
d Joy
 [ɔɪ]
 Avoid [ɔɪ]
 Prou [aʊ]
d [aɪ]
 hide
Vowels’ full
description
 Vowels can be classified according to three
parameters: height, backness, and lip
rounding

Examples:
 [i]
high front unrounded vowel
 [u]
high back rounded vowel
 Phonetic
Transcription
 The best-known system:
 The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
 IPA has been developing since 1888.
 The system represents each sound of human speech
with a single symbol.
 The symbol is enclosed in brackets [ ] or / /.
Phonetic
Transcription
 We can use IPA transcription across languages,
there is one symbol for EVERY possible human
sound

  There
Cat is a[kæt]
1-1 correspondence of sound to symbol
 Cell [sɛl]
Transcription
Practice
Transcribe the following
words

 Kick
 Boot
 She
 The
 Thin

 [kIk]
 [but]
 [ʃi]
 [ðə]
 [θɪn]
Important
terms
 Articulatory phonetics
 articulators
 Consonants and vowels
 Places of articulation
 Manner of articulation
 Voicing
 Parameters for describing
vowels
 Phonetic transcription
   Thank you
  
Next class:
Plz read chapter 4: The sound patterns of
language