Principles of Linguistics

1
Principles of Linguistics

• CHAPTER 6
• Phonetics The Sounds
• of language

Dr. Robert Schwab, 2007
2
Consonants and the ESL Learner

• English consonants are often a source of
  confusion for ESL learners as sounds classes may
  overlap or be presented differently than those in
  the first language
• Further complicating the relationship is the fact
  that the number of consonants will vary from one
  dialect of English to another, and the incredible
  variety of consonant cluster forms that can occur
  in English

3
The English Inventory

• We will use the North American Mid-Western
  English dialect as our general reference base
• Our inventory of sounds will be 24 consonants
• By comparison, Korean has 19 consonants
• We will discuss the implications of this for
  second language learners of English in the
  subsequent section on teaching pronunciation in
  the Korean context

4
Classification of Consonants

• There are 3 corresponding categories of
  classifying or specifying consonants.
• Voicing refers to vibration or lack of vibration
  of the vocal cords
• Place of Articulation refers to the points at
  which the air stream can be modified to produce
  different sounds
• Manner of Articulation refers to the process by
  which (or how) a particular speech sound is
  produced (240-251)

5
Places of Articulation

• Each point at which the air stream can be
  modified to produce a different sound is called a
  place of articulation. These include
• Lips (Labials)
• Teeth (Dentals)
• Alveolar ridge (Alveolars)
• Hard Plate (Palatals)
• Velum (Velars)
• Uvula (Uvulars)
• Pharynx (Pharyngeals)
• Glottis (Glotals) (242-243)

6
The Labials

• Labial means that one or both lips are active in
  the production of the speech sound.
• Bilabials involve both lips, and include
• p sound in slap pour
• b sound in boy crab
• m sound in my game
• w sound in why away
• Labiodentals involve the lower lip and upper
  teeth
• f in fool after
• v in very shove
  (242)

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The Dentals

• Dental means that the teeth play are active in
  the production of the speech sound.
• Interdentals with the tongue between the teeth
• th sound in thy, other, and the
• th sound in thigh, bath.
• Dentals with the tongue placed near or against
  the teeth - not a common speech sound in English.
  In French, the sound in the words temps, sept
  and zizi. (242)

8
The Alveolars

• Alveolar means the tongue is placed at or near
  the alveolar ridge just behind the upper front
  teeth.
• Alveolars include the
• t sound in time adept
• d sound in dock blood
• s sound in soup miss
• z sound in zoo buzz
• n sound in nice and sun
• l sound in low and call
  (242)

9
The Palatals

• Palatal means tongue placement occurs in the area
  of the hard plate (the roof of the mouth). The
  tongue will curve into the upper portion of the
  mouth to make these sounds. These sounds,
  referred to as alveopalatal include
• sh sound in shock wish
• j sound in measure visual
• ch sound in chick ditch
• j sound in germ wedge
• y sound in use and yes
  (243)

10
The Velars

• Velar refers to speech sounds made with the back
  of the tongue drawn up towards the vellum at the
  back of the mouth. Velars include
• k sound in skip uncle
• g sound in get mugger
• ing sound in sing longer
• w sound in whitch and queen. (243)

11
The Glottals

• Glottal sounds are produced in the glottis, with
  the vocal folds acting as the primary
  articulators.
• The only English glottal is
• h sound in hat, who hope (243)

12
The Uvulars

• The uvula is the small protrusion of flesh that
  hangs down from the velum at the back of the
  mouth.
• Uvulars are speech sounds made with the tongue
  touching the uvula
• There are no uvulars in English, but the r sound
  in French is an uvular sound. (243)

13
The Pharyngeals

• Pharyngeal refers to sounds that are made through
  the modification of airflow in the area of the
  throat between the uvula and the pharynx.
• Pharyngeals do not occur in English, but are
  common in other languages including Arabic

14
Voiced and Voiceless

• Voice and voiceless are distinctive features
  resulting from positioning of the vocal cords.
• When the vocal cords are brought together and
  allowed to vibrate, the result is a voiced sound,
  as in /z/ and /v/ sound.
• When the vocal cords are separated and allowed to
  relax, the result is a voiceless sound, as in the
  /s/, /f/ and /t/ sound.
• In a continuous breath, switch between the f
  and v sounds with your finger held on your
  throat to feel the difference
  (244-245)

15
Manner of Articulation

• The process by which speech sounds are produced
  through the manipulation of various muscles in
  the lips, tongue, velum glottis. These include
  the categories voiced and voiceless, and are then
  are divided into the following groups
• Stops Fricatives
• Affricates Nasals
• Liquids Glides
  (246-250)

16
The Stops

• Stops occur when the air stream is completely
  stopped for a brief moment before exiting the
  vocal tract.
• Voiceless stops include
• p sound in pour slap
• t sound in time adept
• k sound in cold poke
• Voiced stops include the
• b sound in bow crab
• d sound in dock blood
• g sound in game bag
  (247)

17
The Fricatives

• Fricatives occur when the air stream is audibly
  interfered with but not stopped completely..
• Voiced fricatives include
• v sound in very shove
• th sound in thy bathe
• z sound in zoo buzz
• j sound in measure Taj Mahal
• Voiceless fricatives include
• f sound in fool laugh
• th sound in thigh bath
• sh sound in shock wish
• s sound in soup miss
• h sound in hope ahoy.
  (248)

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The Affricates

• Affricates occur when the sound properties of a
  stop and a fricative are combined in the same
  speech sound. Often referred to as
  non-continuent with slow release.
• The voiceless affricate is the
• ch sound in lunch ditch
• The voiced affricate is the
• j sound in germ, journal wedge (248)

19
The Nasals

• Nasals occur when the air stream passes through
  the nasal cavity instead of the mouth.
• Voiced Nasals include
• m in mind sum
• n in now sign
• ng sound in sing, longer bank
• There are no voiceless nasals

20
The Liquids

• Liquids occur when the air stream flows
  continuously through the mouth with less
  obstruction than that of a fricative
• The voiced lateral liquid is the
• l sound in low call
• The voiced retroflex liquid is the
• r sound in rough chore (249)

21
The Glides

• Glides occur when the air stream passes
  unobstructed, producing an articulation that is
  vowel-like, but moves quickly to another
  articulation making it a consonant. Often
  referred to as a semi-vowel.
• The glides in English include
• w sound in why away
• y sound in yes yoyo (250)

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• English Consonants Descriptions Examples
• b voiced bilabial stop
  boy, crab
• p voiceless bilabial stop
  pour, slap
• d voiced alveolar stop
  dock, blood
• t voiceless alveolar stop
  time, adept
• g voiced velar stop
  game, bag
• k voiceless velar stop
  cold, poke
• v voiced labiodental fricative very,
  shove
• f voiceless labiodental fricative fool,
  laugh
• D voiced interdental fricative thy,
  bathe
• T voiceless interdental fricative thigh,
  bath
• z voiced alveolar fricative zoo,
  buzz
• s voiceless alveolar fricative soup,
  miss (251)

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• English Consonants Descriptions Examples
• Z voiced palatal fricative Jacques, beige,
  azure
• S voiceless palatal fricative azure,
  mission, mash
• h voiceless glottal fricative hope, happy,
  home
• j voiced alveo-palatal affricate jump,
  budget, fudge
• c( voiceless alveo-palatal affricate.. choke,
  matching, itch
• m voiced bilabiam nasal my, ammonia, lame,
  Mary
• n voiced alveolar nasal nice, piano, aunt,
  never
• N voiced velar nasal ink, song
• l voiced alveolar lateral liquid low,
  call, light, list
• r voiced alveolar retroflex liquid rough,
  cherry, are
• w voiced bilabial velar glide why, away,
  weather
• j voiced palatal glide yes, yoyo
  (251)

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Vowels and the ESL Learner

• Vowels present many problems for second language
  learners of English.
• Their production is far more difficult to
  physically describe compared to consonants
• There is very little correspondence between sound
  and spelling (the a in apple and ape)
• Vowel pronunciation may change depending on the
  syllable it is attached to, a result of the need
  in English to differentiate the stressed syllable
  from other syllables in a word

25
The English Inventory

• Most languages have 5 to 8 vowels.
• Korean has a large vowel inventory with 10 vowel
  sounds
• The basic inventory of English vowels is 14 vowel
  sounds
• This section will cover basic English vowels
• We will discuss the implications for second
  language learners of English in the subsequent
  section
  (252-255)

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Classification of Vowels

• Vowels are classified based on 4 corresponding
  categories of sound production
• Lip Position
• Tongue Height
• Tongue Advancement
• Tongue Tenseness (252-255)

27
Lip Position

• Lip Position refers to a comparative measure of
  how rounded or spread-out the lips are during
  articulation.
• Lip Position is classified in three divisions
• Rounded refers to a sound produced with
  rounding of the lips
• Neutral refers to a relative position that is
  between rounded and spread
• Spread refers to lip positioning that is
  distended, as in a smile (254)

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Tongue Height

• Tongue Height refers to tongue position with
  regard to the vertical axis during articulation
• Tongue height is classified in three divisions
• High refers to a relative location in the top
  third of the mouth
• Mid refers to a relative location in the middle
  third of the mouth
• Low refers to a relative location in the lower
  third of the mouth (252-255)

29
Tongue Advancement

• Tongue Advancement refers to tongue position with
  regard to the horizontal axis during articulation
• Tongue advancement is classified in 3 divisions
• Front refers to a relative location in the front
  third of the mouth
• Central refers to a relative location in the
  middle third of the mouth
• Back refers to a relative location in the back
  third of the mouth
  (252-255)

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Tongue Tenseness

• Tongue Tenseness refers to a comparative
  measure of how flexed the muscles in the tongue
  are during articulation
• Tongue tenseness is classified in two divisions
• Tense refers to articulations that are made with
  greater effort or stiffness of the tongue
• Lax refers to articulations made with lesser
  effort of the muscles in the tongue (252-255)

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• ENGLISH VOWEL CHART Font color Tense
• For the PPA
  Font color Lax
• Front Central
  Back
• i (ease)
  u (ooze)
• High I (ignore)
  U (look)
• e (able)
  (undo) o (oak)
• Mid E (elbow) (atomic)
• 
  a (bomb)
• Low Q (cat) A (cot)
  (bore)
• Dipthongs aj (aisle, why) aw (out, loud)
  j (oyster, boy)

V
c
c
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The Central Mid Vowels the tent and the
schwa

• The (tent) and (schwa) is produced in the
  area referenced as mid central lax.
• The (tent) is considered as a fully
  articulated vowel, such as in undo, but, bus
  buzz
• The (schwa) is considered as a reduced vowel,
  such as in atomic and avoid
• The (schwa) is characterized as of very brief
  duration briefer than any other vowel (252-255)

V
V
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• ENGLISH VOWELS
• DESCRIPTIONS EXAMPLES (254-255)
• Description Examples
  
• i high front tense ease, keep, be,
  sleet, she, cream
• I high front lax ignore, thing,
  rid, slip, hit
• e mid front tense able, wait, bake,
  say, they, clay
• e mid front lax elbow, egg, slept,
  merry, led, say
• Q low front (lax) apt, cat, radical,
  laugh, panic
• u high back tense ooze, loose, rule,
  shoe, to, Lucy
• U high back lax put, should, look,
  pudding, hood
• o mid back (tense) oak, okay, abode,
  show, no
• low back lax awful, bought,
  caught, wrong, law
• A low mid (tense) option, cot,
  father, lob, rob
• mid central (lax) undo, but,
  hinted, telegraph
• mid central (lax) reduced atomic, avoid,
  adopt

c
V
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THE END Principles of Linguistics Chapter
6 Phonetics The Sounds of languageDr. Robert
Schwab, 2007