Introduction to Phonetics Week 3 Basics of Articulation

Introduction to Phonetics Week 3 Basics of Articulation Ruben van de Vijver October 27, 2014

Basics of Articulation Questions about last week (The vocal tract?) This week: Human language, transcribing speech, building blocks of speech This week s class is based on chapter 2 of Zsiga (2013).

One more time: the vocal tract sub = below

Basics of Articulation Human language discrete (phrases words sounds articulatory gestures) combinatorial (articulatory gestures used to create sounds...) unbounded (Lokführer, Lokführerstreik, Lokführerstreikankündigung,...)

Articulatory gestures But how do we produce all these different sounds Each speech sound is make with a specific configuration of parts of the vocal tract. The articulators do a little dance (Zsiga, 2013).

These gestures change the movement of the air All speech is audible air movement Zsiga (2013).

Describing speech sounds as articulations Each speech sound is a combination of 1. airstream mechanism 2. state of the larynx 3. state of the velar port 4. combination of active and passive articulators 5. manner of articulation

Transcribing speech Observation 1 How should we notate spoken language? German has a vowel in für, which English lacks. Dutch has a vowel in huis which German lacks.

Transcribing speech Observation 1 How should we notate spoken language? German has a vowel in für, which English lacks. Dutch has a vowel in huis which German lacks. In short, each language has a subset of the sounds of the languages of the world.

Transcribing speech Observation 2 Different languages use different letters or combinations of letters to refer to the same sound. The first sound in the word See in German is written with z in Dutch zee. The vowel in the German word Buch is written oe in Dutch: boek.

Transcribing speech Observation 3 It is not the case that each letter represents one sound. In this slide I am using specific phonetic symbols, which I will tell you about next week. Schal 5 letters, but [Sal] only 3 sounds. Axt 3 letters, but [Akst] 4 sounds. China 5 letters, but [kina] or [çina] 4 sounds.

Transcribing speech letters speech sounds! These observations lead to a very important conclusion: Letters are not speech sounds!

Transcribing speech letters speech sounds! These observations lead to a very important conclusion: Letters are not speech sounds! Repeat after me: letters speech sounds!

Question time Are speech sounds the same as letters? a no b nein c non d yok e nee f nie

The International Phonetic Alphabet To avoid confusion (and to avoid fights over which alphabet is the best) the International Phonetic Association decided to define an alphabet that characterizes all speech sounds found in all languages. The last revision is from 2005. We ll deal with the IPA next week in detail. This week I ll introduce the necessary ones as we go along.

Speech sounds 1: Airstream mechanism How do we get the air moving? pushed out of the lungs (egressive)? sucked into the mouth (ingressive)?

Speech sounds 1: Airstream mechanism Try and speak while breathing in. It is possible, but really difficult.

Speech sounds 1: Airstream mechanism Try and speak while breathing in. It is possible, but really difficult. Try and speak while breathing out... The way you almost always speak. Not many languages make use of the possibility to speak while breathing in, but many languages make use of the possibility to speak while breathing out. Sounds that are relatively difficult to make are called marked sounds and sound that are relatively easy to make are called unmarked sounds.

Speech sounds 1: Airstream mechanism We make speech sounds by changing the airflow, by building up pressure with a sudden release by making the air molecules vibrate by creating turbulence.

Speech sounds 2: Larynx The first part of the body the air passes through is the larynx, and an important part of the larynx are the vocal folds.

Speech sounds 2: Larynx What is the state of the vocal folds? closed (voiced sounds) open (aspirated and voiceless sounds)

Speech sounds 2: Larynx What is the state of the vocal folds? closed (voiced sounds) open (aspirated and voiceless sounds) closed and very tense? (creaky voice) closed but more relaxed? (breathy voice)

Speech sounds 3: Active and passive articulators Active and passive articulators The active articulator is the articulator that moves towards the passive articulator. For example, in a [t] the tongue (active articulator) moves towards the alveolar ridge behind the teeth (passive articulator). (https://www.llas.ac.uk//materialsbank/mb081/images/pic003.gif)

Manner of articulation What are the active and passive articulators in [k]?

Manner of articulation What are the active and passive articulators in [k]? What about [p]?

Manner of articulation What are the active and passive articulators in [k]? What about [p]? or [v]?

Speech sounds 4: State of the velar port In the picture on the left the velar port is closed and the sound produced is oral. In the picture on the right, the velar port is open and the sound is nasal. (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/voyelles cropped.png)

Manner of articulation How is the air stream manipulated? air stream is blocked? (stops), [p, t, k]

Manner of articulation How is the air stream manipulated? air stream is blocked? (stops), [p, t, k] air stream is almost blocked, causes turbulence? (fricative) [s, f, v]

Manner of articulation How is the air stream manipulated? air stream is blocked? (stops), [p, t, k] air stream is almost blocked, causes turbulence? (fricative) [s, f, v] air stream is blocked and slowly released? (affricates) [ > pf, [ > ts]] air stream can move freely, but there is an obstruction somewhere? (sonorants) [m, n, N, l, r] air stream can move freely, but there is a relatively narrow constriction? (glide) [j, w] (sonorants and glides together are called approximants)

Place of articulation The place of articulation describes where in the vocal tract the air is modified. The active articulator moves towards a specific place in the vocal tract.

Place of articulation The lips The lower lip is an active articulator and it can move towards the upper lip. Speech sounds produced this way are called bilabials.

Place of articulation The lips The lower lip is an active articulator and it can move towards the upper lip. Speech sounds produced this way are called bilabials. Give an example of a bilabial sound.

Place of articulation The lips The lower lip is an active articulator and it can move towards the upper lip. Speech sounds produced this way are called bilabials. Give an example of a bilabial sound. If the lower lip moves towards the teeth the speech sounds are called labiodentals.

Place of articulation The lips There are even a few languages that have linguo-labial sounds. Can you imagine what the active articulator and what the passive articulator is?

Place of articulation The lips There are even a few languages that have linguo-labial sounds. Can you imagine what the active articulator and what the passive articulator is? (Ladefoged & Maddieson, 1996), the languages are: Vao, Tangoa, Umotina. An example of a linguolabial trill; non-native I think

Place of articulation The tongue front The tongue can move towards many places in the mouth and there are many sounds that can be made with the tongue front as an active articulator. It can move towards the upper teeth to produce dental speech sounds. It can be placed between the teeth, producing interdentals. It can move towards the alveolar ridge to produce alveolars. Examples? If the tongue moves further back, to the area between the alveolar ridge and the roof of the mouth the sounds produced are called palato-alveolar or alveo-palatal or post-alveolar. These are synonyms.

Place of articulation

Place of articulation The tongue front If the front of the tongue is curled back to make a constriction in the post-alveolar area the speech sounds are called retroflexes. If the tongue moves even further back, towards the hard palate, the sounds are called palatal.

Place of articulation

Place of articulation The tongue body Speech sounds made with the tongue back as constrictor are called dorsal. If the constriction is made with the back dorsum of the tongue at the soft palate velum the sounds are called velar.

Place of articulation

Place of articulation The back of the mouth Speech sounds can be made even further back in the mouth; constriction against the uvula are called uvular and constrictions made even further back at the pharynx are called pharyngeal.

Place of articulation

Vowels Vowel triangle The vowels of German: The vowels in the left part of the triangle are produced with the tongue in the front of the mouth, those in the right part are produced with the tongue in the back of the mouth. The vowels in the upper part of the triangle are produced with the tongue high in the mouth, those in the lower part are produced with the tongue low in the mouth. The vowels to the right of a dot are produced with rounded lips. i y e ø I Y E œ a @ 5 U u o O A

Assignment Questions 1 6, 8,9 Zsiga (2013, 30-32)

References Ladefoged, P. & Maddieson, I. (1996). The Sounds of the World s Languages. Wiley-Blackwell. Zsiga, E. C. (2013). The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Wiley-Blackwell.