Instructor: Neal Snape (nealsnape@gpwu.ac.jp) The sounds of language: Consonants PHONETICS: The science of human speech sounds; describing sounds by grouping sounds into classes - similarities distinguishing sounds - differences SOUNDS: CONSONANTS & VOWELS (GLIDES) - defined by the constriction of the air channel CONSONANTS: Sounds made by constricting the airflow from the lungs. - defined by: the PLACE of articulation (where is the sound made?) and the MANNER of articulation (How is the sound made?) PLACE: Bilabial: [p, b, m] both lips Labio-dental: [f, v] lip & teeth Dental: [, ] tongue tip & teeth Alveolar: [t, d, s, z, l, r, n] tongue tip & AR* Palato-alveolar: [ß, Ω, ß, Ω] tongue blade & AR/ hard palate Palatal: [j] tongue (front) & hard palate Velar: [k, g, Ñ] tongue (back) & velum Labio-velar: [w] lips & tongue (back) & velum Glottal: [h, ] vocal cords (glottis) * AR = alveolar ridge MANNER: Plosives: [p, b, t, d, k, g, ] closure Fricatives: [f, v,,, s, z, ß, Ω, h] friction Affricates: [ß,Ω] combination Nasals: [m, n, Ñ] nasal cavity Liquid: [l, r] partly blocked Glides: [w, j] vowel-like 1
Manner of articulation is about how the sound is produced. It is divided into two types: obstruents (obstruction the air-stream causing the heightened airpressure) and sonorants (no increase of the air-pressure). Then, each of them is further divided into as follows: Manners of articulation Obstruents Sonorants Stops Fricatives Affricates Nasals Approximants (closure release) (friction) (closure friction) (through nose) (partial block + free air-stream) Liquids Glides Rhotics (through center of tongue) Laterals (through sides of tongue) Figure 1. Manners of articulation Also note that there are two types of voicing: voiced and voiceless. IPA SYMBOLS: CONSONANTS Voiceless Voiced Place Example OBSTRUENTS: Plosives: p b Bilabial Pat/bat t d Alveolar tie/die k g Velar cot/got Glottal Scotland Fricatives: f v Labiodental fan/van Dental thigh/thy s z Alveolar sip/zip ß Ω Palato-alveolar ship/measure ç Palatal German ich x Velar German acht/ Margi afë Â Uvular French lettre/rue h Glottal head/ahead Affricates: ß Ω Palato-alveolar cheap/jeep 2
SONORANTS: Nasals: m Bilabial mat n Alveolar net ñ Palatal French agneau Ñ Velar sing Liquids: l Alveolar lip Palatal Italian figlia Alveolar lateralfricative Spanish Llanelli Postalveolar central rip ± Retrolex central Amr. rip À Alveolar flap Spanish pero r Alveolar trill Spanish perro R Uvular trill French rien (Edith Piaf) Glides: w Labio-velar weed j Palatal yield 3
EXERCISES 1. Think of words containing the following sound with a different spelling. [f] [k] [ß] [ß] [Ω] 2. Write down the IPA symbols representing the following descriptions, and illustrate each of the sounds with two English words. a) a voiced labiodental fricative b) a voiceless alveolar fricative c) a voiced palatoalveolar affricate d) a voiced glottal fricative e) a voiceless bilabial stop f) a voiceless dental fricative g) a voiced velar stop 3. Give the phonetic symbols for the sounds represented orthographically by the emboldened letters in the words below: rough Thomas think pen fact stuff seed cede rise gnome Stephen sheep cage jaw gold fission station chocolate chaos dough kilt bus knowledge acknowledge question freeze there castle muscle spaghetti fussy busy fuzzy casual causal sugar Russia rushes table sign flight bomb vanity bombard duke of off ascension escape exit excite succeed division joy thousands tract ghost butter cats act actual 4. Arrange the sounds below into groups according to the following criteria a) voicing b) place of articulation c) manner of articulation [x] [k] [b] [ß] [Ω] [z] [d] [p] [f] [g] 5. Define the consonant sounds in the middle of each of the following words. 4
Voiced or Place of Oral or Manner of IPA voiceless articulation nasal articulation symbol adder voiced alveolar oral stop [d] father singing etching robber ether pleasure hopper selling sunny lodger 5
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SOME PHONETIC DEFINITIONS (alphabetical order) AFFRICATE: A complex consonant made up of a stop gesture and a fricative gesture made in rapid succession, without changing the position of the articulators. APPROXIMANT: The articulators are brought near each other but a large enough gap is left between them for air to escape without causing turbulence. Liquids and glides. CONSONANT: A sound produced with an obstruction to the airflow. cf. Vowel. DIPHTHONG: A combination of two sounds making up a single vowel. FRICATIVE: A consonant sound that involves friction noise made by the air escaping through a narrow obstacle. cf. Stop. LATERAL: An articulation where the airstream flows over the sides of the tongue. NASAL: A sound in which the soft palate is lowered so that there is no velic closure and air may resonate in the nasal cavity. cf. Oral sounds. OBSTRUENT: A sound produced with an obstruction to the airflow. Fricatives, stops, and affricates. PLOSIVE: A stop produced with a pulmonic airstream mechanism. Oral stops. Cf. Nasal stop. RHOTIC: One of the diverse set of sounds recognised a r. SONORANT: Sonorant sounds are produced with the vocal tract (oral or nasal) being sufficiently open so that the air pressure inside and outside the mouth is approximately e the primary constriction in the mouth. Vowels, glides, nasals, and liquids. STOP: The complete closure of two articulators. This is a blanket term which includes both oral and nasal stops. VOICING: Vibration of the vocal cords. VOWEL: An articulation where there is no constriction of the air channel. 7
IPA SYMBOLS: English Consonants SYMBOL EXAMPLES p Pat b bat t tie, Thomas, flight d die k cot, acknowledge, chaos g got, ghost f fan, rough, off v van, of s seed, cede z zip, tins h head, who m mat, lamb, autumn n net, know l lip rip, rhythm w wet, which j yet thigh thy ß ship, Sean Ω measure ß cheap Ω jeep, bridge, cage Ñ sing 8