Phonetics Basics

Phonetics

The classification and description of speech sounds according to their production, transmission, and perceptual characteristics

Phonology

The organization of sound patterns within a language

Articulation

The physical and motor movements of speech

• Involves the planning and execution of sequences of overlapping gestures that result in speech

Phone

A concrete physical entity of sound that can be perceived and is not language specific

Phoneme

The smallest linguistic unit that establishes word meaning and distinguishes meaning between words

Allophone

A phonetic variation of a phoneme that doesn’t change its meaning

Types of allophones

• Free variation

• Complementary distribution

Free variation

Allophones of the same phoneme that can occur in the same environment and therefore can be interchangeable and unpredictable

• e.g. /p/ can be released at the end of “top”, or unreleased without changing the meaning

Complementary distribution

Allophones of a phoneme that occur in mutually exclusive contexts — they cannot occur in the same place, and are predictable based on the context

• e.g. /p/ in “pig” is aspirated, but not aspirated in “spy”

Speech production systems

• Respiration

• Phonation

• Resonance

Respiration

The respiratory system moves air moves through the larynx and vocal tract

Egressive airstream

Airstream flows outword

Ingressive

Airstream flows inward

What airstream are English sounds produced with?

Egressive

What contexts involve ingressive speech sounds?

Clicks and implosives in other languages, occasionally by children with speech sound disorders

Phonation

Vocal folds in larynx come together and vibrate to create sound → air moves through the opening between the vocal folds

Glottis

The space between vocal folds

Resonance

Articulators create constriction, which changes the acoustics of the sound

Types of airflow

• Oral

• Nasal

Oral sounds

Velopharyngeal port is closed

Nasal sounds

Velopharyngeal port is open

Articulators

• Lips

• Tongue

• Teeth

• Alveolar ridge

• Palate (i.e., hard palate)

• Velum (i.e., soft palate)

• Uvula (not used in English)

• Pharynx (not used in English)

• Glottis

Active articulators

Move to create constriction (e.g., tongue)

Passive articulators

Stationary- active articulators move towards them to create constriction (e.g., alveolar ridge)

Ways to describe consonant sounds

• Place of articulation

• Manner of articulation

• Voicing

Place of articulation

Which articulators are used

Manner of articulation

How the airstream is modified

Voicing

Vocal fold involvement

Places of articulation - English consonants

• Bilabial

• Labiodental

• Dental/Interdental

• Alveolar

• Post alveolar

• Palatal

• Velar

• Glottal

Bilabial

Lower lip to upper lip

Bilabial consonants

/p/, /b/, /m/

Labiodental

Lower lip to upper teeth

Labiodental consonants

/f/, /v/

Dental/interdental

Tongue tip to teeth

(Inter)dental consonants

/θ/, /ð/

Alveolar

Tongue tip to alveolar ridge

Alveolar consonants

/s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/, /ɹ/

Post alveolar

Tongue tip to behind the alveolar ridge

Post alveolar consonants

/ʃ/, /ʒ/

Palatal

Tongue body to hard palate

Palatal consonants

/j/

Velar

Tongue body to velum (soft palate)

Velar consonants

/k/, /g/, /ŋ/

Glottal

Vocal folds come together

Glotal consonants

/h/, /ʔ/

Manners of articulation

• Plosives

• Fricatives

• Affricates

• Nasals

• Liquids

• Glides/semivowels

Plosives

• Sounds produced with a complete closure in the vocal tract

• Air temporarily builds up in the closure and is released

• Build up and release of intra-oral breath pressure

Plosive consonants

/p b t d k g ʔ/

Stops

• A blockage of oral airflow

• Includes plosives and nasal stops

Fricatives

Sounds that are produced when air passes through a narrowed constriction created by the articulators closely approximating each other and causing turbulence in the airflow

Fricative consonants

/f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h/

Affricates

• Sounds that are produced by an initial closure of the vocal tract (stop) followed by a release of air through a narrowed constriction (fricative)

• The plosive and fricative are produced in one fluid movement and considered to be one sound

Affricate consonants

/tʃ dʒ/

Nasals

Sounds that are produced with an open velopharyngeal port; the articulators block the flow of air in the oral cavity, redirecting it through the nasal cavity

Nasal consonants

/m n ŋ/

Liquids

Vowel-like sounds that are produced when the articulators come close to one another but do not create a complete closure

Liquid consonants

/ɹ l/

Glides/semivowels

• Sounds that are characterized by a gliding motion of the articulators from a partly constricted position into a more open position

• In English, always appear before vowels

Glide consonants

/w j/

Voicing

The presence or absence of vocal fold vibration during speech sound production

Voiced sounds

Vocal folds are close together and are vibrating

Voiceless sounds

Vocal folds are apart and not vibrating

Voice Onset Time (VOT)

The time that passes between the release of a stop and the onset of voicing

Voiceless consonants

/p, t, k, ʔ/

/f, θ, s, ʃ, h/

/tʃ/

Voiced consonants

/b, d, g/

/m, n, ŋ/

/v, ð, z, ʒ/

/dʒ/

/ɹ, l/

/j, w/

Sound Categories

• Obstruents vs. sonorants

• Stridents or sibilants

• Approximants

Obstruents

• Consonant sounds in which the main sound source is due to turbulence that is created by a complete or narrow constriction of the articulators

• Includes plosive, fricative, and affricate consonants

Sonorants

• Sounds produced with a relatively open vocal tract and with little turbulence in the air stream as it passes through the oral cavity

• Includes nasals, liquids, and glides

Stridents

Sounds that are produced with an intense noise; can be viewed as a continuum

Strident consonants

/f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/

Sibilants

A subset of fricatives that are characterized by greater acoustic energy in the higher frequencies

Sibilant consonants

/s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/

Approximants

Sounds that are produced when the articulators are brought together but not closed; the constriction is less than that associated with obstruents

Approximant consonants

Liquids (/l, ɹ/) and glides (/w j/)

Vowels

Formed as sound energy passes through a relatively open vocal tract

Vowels - Shape of tract

Depends on the posirtion of the tongue and lips

Vowels - Voicing

Always voiced

Vowel categories

• Monophthongs (pure/steady state)

• Diphthongs

Vowel dimensions

• Height

• Frontness/backness

• Lip rounding

• Tenseness

Vowel Height

Determined by how close the tongue is to the roof of the mouth and how open or closed the jaws

High/close vowels

• Tongue is close to the roof of the mouth, jaws relatively more closed

• /i, ɪ, u, ʊ/

Mid vowels

• Includes close-mid and open-mid

• /e, ɛ, ə, o, ʌ, ɔ/

Low/open vowels

• Tongue is far away from the roof of the mouth, jaws relatively more open

• /æ, ɑ/

Vowel frontness/backness

Determined by which part of the tongue is involved in creating the constriction

Front vowels

• Front of the tongue is the highest

• /i, ɪ, e, ɛ, æ/

Central vowels

• Centre of the tongue is the highest

• /ə/

Back vowels

• Back of the tongue is the highest

• /u, ʊ, o, ʌ, ɔ, ɑ/

Vowel Rounding

Determined by the shape of the lips

Rounded Vowels

• Lips are rounded during vowel production

• /u, ʊ, o, ɔ/

Unrounded vowels

• Lips are unrounded during vowel production

• /i, ɪ, ɛ, æ, ə, ʌ, ɑ*/

• /ɑ/ is often considered to be rounded in Canadian English

Vowel tenseness

Length of the vowels

Tense (long) vowels

• Vowels that are longer in duration, more peripheral in the vowel space, and produced with an advanced tongue root

• /i, u, o, ɔ/

Lax vowels

• Vowels that are relatively shorter in duration, less peripheral in the vowel space, and not produced with an advanced tongue root

• /ɪ. ɛ. æ. ʊ/

Diphthongs

• Vowels whose quality changes within a single syllable

• /͡aɪ, ͡aʊ, ͡ɔɪ/

Rhotic vowel

• Occurs in words such as “bird” or “butter”

• /bʌtɚ/

Factors impacting speech sound acquisition

• Ease of production

• Frequency of sound in language

Early 8

/m, b, j, n, w, d, p, h/

Middle 8

/t, ŋ, k, g, f, v, tʃ, dʒ/

Late 8

/ʃ, θ, s, z, ð, l, ɹ, ʒ/