manner of articulation & vowels

manner of articulation

how much the airflow is blocked, and which pathway it take

stop (plosive)

complete closure of the vocal tract /b/ /t/ /k/

nasal stop

air flows through the nose /m/ /n/ /ŋ/

fricative

narrow gap, turbulent (hissy) airflow /f/ /s/

affricative

stop + fricative /tʃ/ ‘ch’

approximant

tract narrows, not enough for turbulence /r/

lateral approximant

air flows around the sides of the tongue /l/

vowel features

pulmonic airflow + voiced + air through oral/nasal cavity

high (close)

tongue close to the roof of the mouth - /i/ in see

low (open)

tongue low, mouth open, jaw lowered - /a/ in father

mid (close-mid, open-mid)

tongue between high and low

backness

tongue pulled back to the velar region /o/ /u/

front

tongue forward, below hard palate /e/ /i/

central

between front and back - /3:/ in bird

monophthong

one pure vowel, mouth stays still - /ɪ/ in pit

nucleus

mandatory part of a syllable (usually the vowel) cAt

onset

consonant(s) before the vowel STring

coda

consonant(s) after the nucleus caT

primary stress

strongest emphasis (loudness, pitch) on one syllable in a word

example of primary stress

REcord (noun) vs reCORD (verb)

diphthongs

one syllable, two vowels: tongue glides from one to the other

/ɪə/ in beer