Phonetics Review

Articulation

Function of speech organs during the process of speaking → describes a person’s speech

Articulation Disorder

difficulty w/ production of speech sound

• phonetic errors

• inability to produce sound

• problem w/ motor processes

• ability to contrast sounds

• relatively few speech errors in connected speech

• typically not influenced by other language domains

Phonetics

perception and production of speech sounds

• articulatory (production)

• acoustic (transmission)

• auditory (perception)

Phonological Disorders

• phonemic errors

• ability to produce sound

• problem w/ phonological level (i.e., phonemes) of language system

• inability to contrast sounds

• many errors in connected speech

• influenced by other language domains

Phoneme - aka allophone

Spoken/sound form

Grapheme

written form of phoneme

Phonetic inventory:

persons inventory of speech sounds

Phonemic Inventory

persons inventory of phonemes used contrastively

Articulatory System

Vowels

• Open vocal tract

• voiced (vocal fold vibration)

• tongue is primary articulator

• sonorants (louder than most consonants)

• 14 english vowels & 5 dipthongs

youtube:

Chart for Vowel tongue position

Diphthongs

A single vowel sound gliding smoothly from one position to another in the same syllable.

Lip rounding - retracted

all front vowels are retracted unstressed mid-central vowels and 1 low-back vowel

• /i, ɪ, e, ε, æ, ɑ, ə, ʌ/

Lip Rounding - Rounded

most back vowels

• /u, Ʊ, o, ɔ/

Tense Vowels

longer duration and more effort; can end an open syllable; extreme tongue position

• /i, e, u, o, ɔ, ɑ, ɝ /

Lax Vowels

shorter duration, less effort; centralized in the mouth

• / ɪ, ε, æ, Ʊ, ə, ʌ, ɚ /

Vowels

• longer in duration

• greater intensity

• can stand alone → “I”, “oh, “A”

Consonants

• shorter in distance

• less in intensity

• cannot stand alone as a meaningful utterance

Resonants (Sonorants)

• resonance coming through the entire vocal tract

• sound source at the vf

• nasals, liquids, all glides = all voiced

• all vowels

Nonresonants (obstruents)

• resonance occurs just anterior to the point of constriction

• sound source is at the point of constriction

• stops, fricative, affricates

Consonant Positions

Prevocalic = occurs before a vowel in a syllable → “see”, “ray

Postvocalic = occur after a vowel → “eat”, “ouch”, “all”

Intervocalic = occur between vowels → “easy”, “away”, “utter”

Classification of Consonants → Manner, Place, Voicing

Classification of Consonants: Manner

the way in which the airstream is modified as it passes through the vocal tract

• stops

• fricatives

• affricates

• nasals

• glides

• liquids

Classification of Consonants: Manner (stops)

A stop involves a complete closure such that no air passes out of the mouth.

• / p t k b d g /

Classification of Consonants: Manner (nasal stops)

• Sounds /m n ŋ/ are called nasals or nasal stops. All nasals in english are voiced.

• When velum is lowered, it allows the air to pass through the nasal passages, producing that is nasal.

Classification of Consonants: Manner (oral stops)

When the velum is raised, blocking airflow through the nasal passages, oral sounds are produced

• /p b k t d g/

Classification of Consonants: Manner (Fricatives)

Sounds made w/ small opening, allowing air to escape with some friction. The escaping air is turbulent and produces a noisy friction-like sound called frication.

• /f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h/

Classification of Consonants: Manner (Affricates)

Sequences of stop plus fricative. The english sounds /tʃ dʒ/ are postalveolar affricates. These are the sounds in church and judge. Closure → frication

• ch → tʃ

• j → dʒ

Classification of Consonants: Place

• bilabial

• labiodental

• interdental

• alveolar

• palatal

• velar

• glottal

Classification of Consonants: Voicing

• Vocal fold (vf) vibration either ‘on’ or ‘off’

• cognates → phonemes that only differ in voicing

  • /p/, /b/

  • /s/, /z/

  • /ɵ/, /ð/

Front Vowels:

Back Vowels:

Central Vowels:

Stop Consonants (Plosives)

Consonant Charts continued: