DESCRIBING SPEECH SOUNDS CONSONANTS INTRODUCTION The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) was created by the International Phonetic Association. The Association was established in 1886 by a group of teachers and scholars inspired by the idea of using phonetics to improve the teaching of spoken language to foreign learners. In fact, the IPA ( /ˌaɪ piː ˈeɪ/ ) is a system of written symbols devised to help one pronounce words correctly. The IPA is used to represent not only the spoken English language, but all languages. And it is not an ordinary alphabet. It is a set of symbols, each one representing the distinctive sounds of a language. We call the distinctive sounds phonemes. The IPA symbols are therefore phonemic symbols, and are usually enclosed in slant brackets (slashes, or obliques: /---/). For example, book is transcribed /bʊk/. The transcription (i. e., the pronunciation) of phoneme is /ˈfəʊniːm/; phonemic, /fəˈniːmɪk /; obliques, /əˈbli:ks/; phonemic transcription /fəˈniːmɪk trænˈskrɪpʃn/. DESCRIBING SPEECH SOUNDS: CONSONANTS Consonant sounds are described in the following IPA chart. (N.B.: Stops, in the left column of the chart, is synonymous with plosives) 1
That is a general chart, including sounds from a large number of languages. We shall concentrate on the English consonants as shown in the table below, which you already know: In the IPA chart, consonants are basically described according to two characteristics: - The place or articulation (arrow on the right in the chart above); - The manner of articulation (arrow on the left in the chart above). 2
PLACES OF ARTICULATION: Consonants are the result of an obstruction of the flow of air from the lungs through the vocal tract. The obstruction is produced by the articulators ( articolatóri ). The principal articulators are the tongue, the lips, the lower jaw, the teeth, the velum or soft palate, the uvula and the vocal folds. The PLACES OF ARTICULATION used in the IPA chart (arrow on the right) are the following: - bilabial /ˌbaɪˈleɪbiəl/ ( bilabiale ): both lips are joined together to produce the consonant sound. The /p/, /b/and /m/ sounds are bilabials. - labiodental /ˌleɪbiəʊˈdentl/ ( labiodentale ): the upper front teeth touch the lower lip. /f/ and /v/ are labiodentals. - dental /ˈdentl/ ( dentale ): the tongue touches the upper front teeth: /θ/ and /ð/ in English, and /t/ and /d/ in Italian are dental sounds. Specifically, in /θ/ and /ð/ the tip of the tongue is protruded between the teeth, and the sound is called interdental. (/θ/ and /ð/ are also produced by placing the tip of the tongue against the inside of the front teeth.) - alveolar /ælˈviːələ(r)/ ( alveolare ): the tongue touches or is close to the tooth ridge, i.e. the part of the palate where the roots of the upper front teeth are. The English sounds /t/,/d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/ are alveolars. - post-alveolar /ˌpəʊst ælˈviːələ(r)/ ( postalveolare ): the front of the tongue touches or is close to a part of the mouth that is a little further back than the alveolar region. /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/ are post-alveolar sounds. - palatal /ˈpælətl/ ( palatale ): the tongue is against or near the hard palate. E.g. /j/ as yes in English; /ʎ/ as gli in Italian. - velar /ˈvi:lə(r)/ ( velare ): the back of the tongue is in contact with the velum. /k/, /g/, /ŋ/ are velars. - uvular /ˈju:vjələ(r)/ ( uvulare ): the back of the tongue is in contact with the uvula. It is the French sound /ʁ/ in rouge. - glottal /ˈglɒtl/ ( glottidale ) is a sound produced by the glottis, i.e. the part of the larynx that contains the vocal folds. The /h/ sound in hat is glottal, and is produced by the flow of air going through the open, non-vibrating vocal folds. 3
In this picture you can see the places of articulation of the English sounds, as described above. PLACES OF ARTICULATION bilabial labiodental alveolar post-alveolar palatal velar uvular glottal dental 4
MANNER OF ARTICULATION: While the place of articulation is the place in the vocal tract where the articulators (mainly the tongue) obstruct the flow of air from the lungs, the manner of articulation is the type of obstruction of the flow of air. In fact, the obstruction can be a complete closure of the vocal tract (as in the production of the /p/ sound), or a partial closure (as in the /ʃ/ sound). Manners of articulation are classified as follows. - plosive /ˈpləʊsɪv/ ( occlusiva ): a speech sound made by stopping the flow of air at some point in the vocal tract, and then suddenly releasing it. The air is compressed inside the mouth, and when it is released, there is a very short explosive noise, called plosion /ˈpləuʒən/. /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/ in pie, buy, tie, die, come, gum are plosives. - nasal /ˈneizl/ ( nasale ): in this manner of articulation the velum is lowered and closes the oral cavity; the air from the lungs goes out through the nasal cavity. /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/, as in map, nap, sung, are nasals. - fricative /ˈfrɪkətɪv/ ( fricativa ): a speech sound made by forcing breath out through a narrow space in the mouth, with the lips, teeth or tongue in a particular position, so that a hissing sound is produced. / f /, / ʃ /, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /v/, /ʒ/, as in fee, she, thin, that, sin, zip, vat, pleasure are fricatives. - affricate /ˈæfrɪkət/ ( affricata ): a speech sound that starts as a plosive (i.e. by totally stopping the flow of air at some point in the vocal tract), but instead of ending with a plosion, ends with a fricative sound. / tʃ / and / dʒ / in chair and jar are affricates. - approximant /əˈprɒksɪmənt / ( approssimante ): a consonant which makes very little obstruction to the air flow. This class of sounds includes lateral approximants like /l/ (as in less), post-alveolar approximants like [ɹ] (as in rest), and semivowels like [j] and [w] (as in yes and west, respectively). N.B.: the approximant sound [ɹ] in the transcription of English words is commonly trascribed as /r/. (See the second table above.) - A trill is a speech sound produced by the rapid vibration of one of the vocal organs. Typical trills are the tongue-tip trill, which is produced in the Italian /r/, as in carro, and the uvular trill, as found in French (/ʁ/, rouge), in German and in other European languages. A further distinction to be made in the manner of articulation is between voiced and voiceless consonants. - In voiced /vɔɪst/ consonants there is a vibration of the vocal folds. /b/ as in bin, /d/ day, /ð/ those, /m/ may, /l/ low, /v/ van, /z/ zoo, /ʒ/ measure, /dʒ/ just are voiced consonants. - Voiceless /ˈvɔɪsləs/ (or unvoiced) consonants have no vibration of the vocal folds. /t/ as in tram, /θ/ thanks, /s/ soup, /tʃ/ chair, /ʃ/ shop, /k/ key are voiceless consonants. 5
The American English t sound In American English the t sound includes the following four common types of pronunciation: 1. A regularly aspirated t sound 2. A pronunciation like a quick d (also called an alveolar tap) 3. A glottal stop 4. T sound omitted 1. Regularly aspirated t sound. The t is a regular, aspirated t sound when it is the first sound of a word or a stressed syllable. This rule overrides all other t sound rules below. In the examples below, the /t/ is pronounced normally because the t sound is at the beginning of a stressed syllable. attach pretend italic /əˈtæʧ/ /prɪˈtɛnd/ /ɪˈtælɪk/ 2. A pronunciation like a quick d. Also called an alveolar tap. A tap is produced when the tongue tip hits lightly and quickly the upper teeth or the alveolar ridge. It is often heard in American English, when the t sound occurs after a stressed vowel and before an unstressed one. (/t / is the symbol for the t-tap sound). daughter /ˈd t ɚ/ computer /kəmˈp t ɚ/ settle /ˈ ɛt l/ Not all speakers of American English pronounce t as a tap sound. Tapping of T is not common in British English though it is common in Australian English. If you don t pronounce t as a tap you will be understood anyway. 3. A glottal stop. A glottal stop is a consonant made by the closure of the vocal folds. When they are opened after the closure, the released air causes the production of a sort of explosion, and the air from the lungs goes out violently through the nasal cavity. The symbol of a glottal stop is /ʔ/. A glottal stop is found in many local accents in Britain. In American English the letter t is pronounced as a glottal stop when it follows a vowel, n sound, or r sound, and is followed by an n sound, schwa+n sound, m sound, or non-syllablic l sound. partner /ˈpɑrʔnɚ/ certain /ˈ ɚʔn/ fitness /ˈfɪʔnə / 6
4. T sound omitted. In colloquial speech the t sound is typically omitted in two cases. A. The letter t is optionally omitted (not said) when it follows an n sound and precedes a vowel sound, r sound or a syllabic l sound. center gentle advantage /ˈ ɛnɚ/ /ˈʤɛnl/ /ədˈvænɪʤ/ Similarly: interview /ˈinəvju:/ international /inəˈnæʃnəl/ percentage /pəˈsenɪʤ/ B. In addition to the above instances, the t sound is often omitted when it occurs between two consonant sounds. This is likely to occur when an -s ending is added to a word. prints /prɪn / acts /æks/ accepts /əkˈ ɛp / The use of this t sound varies widely among native speakers, and even within a single speaker's speech patterns. For example, the t sound is less likely to be omitted when the speaker intends to emphasize the word. Also, among all the t sound pronunciations, omitting the /t/ can be considered the most informal and non-standardized. 7