Phonetics Exam 2 — Consonants + Place & Manner (consolidated, slide-checked)

[p]

• Voiceless

• Bilabial

• Stop (plosive)

[b]

• Voiced

• Bilabial

• Stop (plosive)

[t]

• Voiceless

• Lingua-alveolar (apical)

• Stop (plosive)

[d]

• Voiced

• Lingua-alveolar (apical)

• Stop (plosive)

[k]

• Voiceless

• Lingua-velar (dorsal)

• Stop (plosive)

[g]

• Voiced

• Lingua-velar (dorsal)

• Stop (plosive)

[m]

• Voiced

• Bilabial

• Nasal

[n]

• Voiced

• Lingua-alveolar (apical)

• Nasal

[ŋ]

• Voiced

• Lingua-velar (dorsal)

• Nasal

[l]

• Voiced

• Lingua-alveolar

• Lateral liquid

[ɾ]

• Voiced

• Lingua-alveolar

• Flap / tap (one-tap trill)

• Intervocalic only

[r]

• Voiced

• Lingua-palatal

• Rhotic liquid

• Transcribed /r/ no matter how it's produced

[f]

• Voiceless

• Labiodental

• Fricative

[v]

• Voiced

• Labiodental

• Fricative

[θ]

• Voiceless

• Interdental (lingua-dental)

• Fricative

[ð]

• Voiced

• Interdental (lingua-dental)

• Fricative

[s]

• Voiceless

• Lingua-alveolar

• Fricative

[z]

• Voiced

• Lingua-alveolar

• Fricative

[ʃ]

• Voiceless

• Lingua-palatal

• Fricative

[ʒ]

• Voiced

• Lingua-palatal

• Fricative

[tʃ]

• Voiceless

• Lingua-palatal

• Affricate (/t/ + /ʃ/)

[dʒ]

• Voiced

• Lingua-palatal

• Affricate (/d/ + /ʒ/)

[j]

• Voiced

• Lingua-palatal

• Glide (semivowel)

[w]

• Voiced

• Labio-lingua-velar

• Glide (semivowel)

[ʍ]

• Voiceless

• Labio-lingua-velar

• Fricative / glide

[h]

• Voiceless

• Glottal

• Fricative

[ʔ]

• Voiceless

• Glottal

• Stop (a 'marginal' consonant)

Consonant

• From Latin 'to sound with'

• Sound made with a constriction or closure of the vocal tract

• Pairs with vowels to form spoken syllables

• Rarely produced in isolation (without a vowel)

Prevocalic

A consonant that comes before the vowel nucleus

Postvocalic

A consonant that comes after the vowel nucleus

Intervocalic

A consonant between two vowels

Three phonemic features of English consonants

• Place

• Manner

• Voicing

Place aspect of a consonant

Location of the closure or constriction (the 'where')

Manner aspect of a consonant

Nature of the closure or constriction (the 'how')

Voicing aspect of a consonant

Whether the vocal folds vibrate during the closure or constriction

Places of English consonants (front to back)

• Bilabial

• Labiodental

• Interdental (lingua-dental)

• Lingua-alveolar

• Lingua-palatal

• Lingua-velar

• Glottal

Manners of English consonants

• Stop

• Nasal

• Fricative

• Affricate

• Liquid (lateral and rhotic)

• Glide

How many consonants does English use?

• About 27

• About 100 would exist if every place, manner and voicing combination were used

• Not all combinations are physically possible

Stop (plosive)

• Complete closure of the vocal tract

• Followed (in some cases) by explosive release of the air pressure behind the closure ('stop burst')

• Also called occlusive, plosive, stop-plosive

Stop: articulatory summary

1. Oral cavity completely closed for a brief interval

2. Velopharynx is closed

3. On release, a burst of noise can be heard

4. Closing and opening movements are very fast (generally the fastest in speech)

Stops of English

• /p/ /b/ (bilabial)

• /t/ /d/ (alveolar)

• /k/ /g/ (velar)

• /ʔ/ (glottal)

Lingua-alveolar tap /ɾ/

• 'Flap T' or 'one-tap trill'

• Modified stop: tongue tip rapidly strokes or flaps the alveolar ridge

• Occurs in intervocalic position only

• Examples: city, ladder, butter, water, patty

Glottal stop /ʔ/: where it's common

• Intervocalically, when the vowels on either side are the same or similar

• Prevocalic, at the start of words

• As an interjection (uh-oh)

Why is the glottal stop called 'marginal'?

• Whether it's truly a phoneme depends on which phonetician you ask

• It should still be transcribed

• In this course, it's only transcribed in 'uh-oh'

Fricative

• Incomplete closure: articulators in close contact but the tract isn't closed

• Air escapes through the narrow opening

• Produces continuous noise/turbulence

Fricative: articulatory summary

1. Articulators form a narrow constriction that channels airflow

2. Velopharynx is closed

3. Air pressure increases behind the constriction

4. Airflow made turbulent

Fricatives of English

• /f/ /v/

• /θ/ /ð/

• /s/ /z/

• /ʃ/ /ʒ/

• /h/

Nasal

• Air flows through the nasal cavities; oral passage usually closed

• The velopharyngeal flap lowers to open the passage between oropharynx and nasopharynx

• All English nasals are voiced

• Nasals tend to influence adjacent vowels

Nasal: articulatory summary

1. Oral tract is closed (like a stop)

2. Velopharyngeal port is open; sound radiates through the nasal cavity

3. Even if the oral closure breaks, sound keeps radiating through the nose while the port is open

Nasals of English

• /m/ (bilabial)

• /n/ (alveolar)

• /ŋ/ (velar)

Liquid

• Vowel-like consonant

• Voicing energy passes through a vocal tract only somewhat more constricted than for vowels

• The shape and location of the constriction defines the type of liquid

• Two types: lateral /l/ and rhotic /r/

Liquid: articulatory summary

1. Sound goes through a distinctively shaped oral passage that can be held indefinitely

2. Velopharynx is almost always closed

3. Passage is narrower than for vowels but wider than for stops, fricatives and nasals

Lateral liquid /l/

• Tongue makes a midline closure with the alveolar ridge

• Opening is kept at the sides of the tongue

• Sound radiates laterally around the tongue

Rhotic liquid /r/

• Complex, variable production

• Commonly either: tongue tip curled back slightly, not quite touching the alveolar ridge or palate (retroflex)

• Or: tongue bunched in the palatal area (bunched)

Glide

• Also called semivowel

• Constriction narrower than a vowel but wider than other consonant types

• Articulators glide from partly constricted to a more open state for the following vowel

• Slower movement than a stop's closing and opening

Glides of English

• /j/ (lingua-palatal)

• /w/ (labio-lingua-velar)

• /ʍ/ (voiceless labio-lingua-velar)

Where must a glide always occur?

Before a vowel (prevocalic)

Approximants

• Liquids + glides: /l/ /r/ /j/ /w/ /ʍ/

• Vocal tract is not tightly constricted or closed

• Not vowels because they don't generally form a syllable nucleus

• Also called semivowels

Affricate

• Stop closure followed by a fricative segment

• Air pressure built up during the stop phase is released as a sustained noise

Affricate: articulatory summary

1. Stop closure followed by frication

2. Velopharynx is completely closed

Affricates of English

• /tʃ/ (as in Chester)

• /dʒ/ (as in judge)

Bilabial

Two lips brought into proximity or contact

Bilabials of English

• Stops /p/ /b/

• Nasal /m/

• Glides /w/ /ʍ/

Labiodental

Lower lip contacts the upper incisor teeth

Labiodentals of English

/f/ /v/ (fricatives)

(Inter)dental (lingua-dental)

Tip of the tongue between the upper and lower incisor teeth

(Inter)dentals of English

/θ/ /ð/ (fricatives)

(Lingua)alveolar

Tongue against or near the alveolar ridge (behind the incisor teeth)

(Lingua)alveolars of English

• Stops /t/ /d/

• Tap /ɾ/

• Fricatives /s/ /z/

• Lateral /l/

• Nasal /n/

Most common place of articulation in American English

Alveolar (roughly half of all consonant productions)

Palatal (lingua-palatal)

• Tip and blade of the tongue raised toward the palate

• Many lip positions possible, but most talkers round their lips, especially in isolated productions

Palatals of English

• Fricatives /ʃ/ /ʒ/

• Affricates /tʃ/ /dʒ/

• Rhotic liquid /r/

• Glide /j/

Velar (lingua-velar, dorsal)

• Dorsum of the tongue raised to the roof of the mouth

• True place may be palate or velum, depending on vowel context

Velars of English

• Stops /k/ /g/

• Nasal /ŋ/

• Glides /w/ /ʍ/

Glottal

• Formed at the vocal folds

• Constriction is between the folds themselves, not articulators in the mouth

• Mouth articulators can be in many positions, depending on vowel context

Glottals of English

• Fricative /h/

• Stop /ʔ/ (only transcribed in 'uh-oh')

Voicing contrast

Most easily described by pairs of sounds with the same place and manner but different voicing (cognates)

Cognate pairs (voiced / voiceless)

• /b/ /p/

• /w/ /ʍ/

• /v/ /f/

• /ð/ /θ/

• /d/ /t/

• /z/ /s/

• /ʒ/ /ʃ/

• /dʒ/ /tʃ/

• /g/ /k/

Voiced

• The vocal folds vibrate during production

• Pitch can change; easily maintained

Voiceless

• The vocal folds don't vibrate during production

• No pitch change

Syllabic consonant

• A consonant that forms the nucleus of a syllable (takes the vowel's place)

• Marked with a small line under the consonant: /m̩/ /n̩/ /l̩/

• The omitted vowel is almost always /ə/

• Stops like /t/ are never syllabic: button = /ˈbʌtn̩/

When do syllabic consonants occur?

• Markedly unstressed syllables

• Rapid speech

• Nasal plosion

Nasal plosion

• Modification of /t/ or /d/ before syllabic /n̩/

• Tongue doesn't release the stop

• Stop is released by dropping the velum, so air releases through the nose

• Marked like /sʌdⁿn̩/ (sudden)

-ed transcribed as /t/

• After a voiceless sound

• Popped /pɑpt/, locked /lɑkt/

-ed transcribed as /d/

• After a voiced sound

• Bagged /bægd/, wronged /rɔŋd/, rubbed /rʌbd/

'n' spelled before a velar consonant

• Produced and transcribed as /ŋ/, not /n/

• Thing, think, inquire