Practical Phonetics Week 3 Consonant Sounds Say mmmm

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Practical Phonetics Week 3

• Consonant Sounds

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Thinking about sounds /m/

• Say mmmm which parts of the vocal tract are
  involved?
• Mainly the lips - its a bilabial consonant
• WHERE PLACE OF ARTICULATION
• Pinch your nose what happens?
• The sound stops its a nasal (not an oral)
  consonant HOW MANNER OF ARTICULATION
• Put your fingers in your ears what do you hear?
• (Or put them on your larynx what do you
  feel?)
• The vibrations of the vocal cords its a voiced
  consonant VOICED or VOICELESS

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Classifying consonants

• Using these three variables we can classify
• any consonant
• Place of articulation (where)
• Manner of articulation (how)
• Voiced or voiceless
• In this presentation, voiced sounds are given
  red symbols, e.g. /m/

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Some places of articulation bilabial consonants
lips
p pie b buy m mute w wood
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Labiodental consonants
upper teeth
lower lip
f fine v vine
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Dental consonants
upper teeth
tip of tongue
? thin ð this
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Alveolar consonants
alveolar ridge
tip/blade of tongue
t tie d die s Sue z zoo n night l
light
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Post-alveolar / palato-alveolar consonants
? shoe, pressure ? pleasure ? cheap
? jeep r rack
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Palatal consonants
j yes
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Velar consonants
velum
back of tongue
k curl g girl ? rang
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Some manners of articulation plosive or stop
consonants
Bilabial p b
Alveolar t d
Velar k g
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Fricative consonants
Palato-alveolar or post-alveolar ? ?
Labiodental f v
Alveolar s z
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Oral consonants Nasal consonants
(Velum is lowered, allowing air to enter the
nasal cavity)
(Velum is raised, directing air out through the
oral cavity)
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Nasal consonants
Bilabial m
Velar ?
Alveolar n
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Other consonants

• Affricates (a combination of stop fricative)
• ? voiceless post-alveolar affricate
• ? voiced post-alveolar affricate
• Approximants (articulators approach each other
  but do not touch) w r j
• Lateral (also called lateral approximant air
  flows over sides of tongue) l

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Classifying consonants

• Voiced or voiceless
• Place of articulation
• Manner of articulation
• Example 1 s (sing)
• A voiceless, alveolar, (central), (oral)
  fricative
• A voiceless, alveolar plosive/stop ?
• /t/ What is /k/?
• - A voiceless, velar plosive/stop

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The International Phonetic Alphabet the English
consonants
Full IPA with audio illustrations
http//web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/charts/IPAla
b/IPAlab.htm
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• And finallyx-ray (not x-rated) movies
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?glUSvDcNMCB-Gsn8
• Animations of English sounds (but with AmE
  symbols) http//www.uiowa.edu/acadtech/phonetics
  /
• Review activities
• Labels practice http//www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/j
  ohnm/flash/phonflashrp.htm
• Symbols practice
• http//www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/flash/findrp.
  htm
• http//cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_Focus/
  
• Read Roach chapters 4, 6 and 7 for more
  information. Try the transcription exercises
  (4.2, 6.1, 7.2)
• Mark your symbol sheet using the terminology
  from this weeks lecture place and manner,
  voiced/voiceless. Use different colours if this
  helps you to remember.