Phonetics Exam 2

English has ____ consonant phonemes,

24

consonants are produced by…

vocal tract constrictions that involve the coming together of two articulators

• vowels are less constricted

2 types of consonants

sonorant and obstruent

sonorant/resonant consonants

nasals, liquids, glides

Obstruent

stops, fricatives, affricates

**blocking air from flowing

T/F: Consonants cannot stand alone as an utterance, unlike some vowels

True

syllabic vowels and consonants

Vowels (+ a few consonants) that form the main part of a syllable

Prevocalic consonants

Consonants that occur before a vowel in a syllable

Postvocalic consonants

consonants following a vowel

consonats are classified by…

manner of production

place of articulation

voicing

Manner of production

refers to how the airstream is changed as the consonant is produced

Place of articulation

the place in the vocal tract where the constriction is located that produces a consonant.

Voicing

refers to whether the vocal folds vibrate when producing a consonant

Cognates

phonemes when they have the same manner and place and differ only in voicing

• Ex) p/b, t/d, s/z, k/g, f/v —> goat/coat, ban/pan, ted/dead,

Vowels vs Consonants: Vowels

• Produced with a relatively open vocal tract

• Airstream is mostly unobstructed.

• All vowels are voiced.

• Different vowels are created by a change in tongue, lip, and tension occurring.

• Classified by:

  1. Tongue Height

  2. Tongue Advancement (Frontness)

  3. Tension

  4. Roundedness

• Sounds are acoustically most intense.

• Functions as a syllable nucleus of the rime

Vowels vs Consonants: Consonants

• Produced with some degree of constriction in the vocal tract; varies across manner of groups.

• Airstream encounters some constriction from vocal folds to lips or nostrils.

• Consonants are produced with and without vocal fold vibration; some are voiced and some are not.

• Different consonants are created by changed in voicing, how airstream travels, and where obstruction takes place

• Classified by:

  A. Voicing

  B. Place

  C. Manner

• Sounds are acoustically less intense

• Functions as a syllable onset, coda of the rime

Place and Manner of Production Chart

Note: /r/ is Spanish trill, /ɹ/ is English “r” sound

Class of Consonants

Stops/Plosives

• produced by blocking the airstream behind the

  point of constriction

• air is then released, resulting in a burst of sound (consonant phoneme is produced)

• Stops have the shortest duration of the English phonemes

  • voiced vs voiceless stops

Voiced stops

produced by the release of the constricted articulators

Voiceless Stops

produced by both vibrations in the vocal folds and the release of the constricted articulators

Resonance

• depends on shape of vocal tract

• listeners can tell difference in place of articulation of phonemes bc of the difference in this

Stop Consonants /p/ and /b/

cognates

• Voiced bilabial stop: /b/

• Voiceless bilabial stop: /p/

Stop Consonants: /t/ and /d/

cognates

• Voiced alveolar stop: /d/

• Voiceless alveolar stop: /t/

Stop Consonants: /k/ and /g/

cognates

• Voiced velar stop: /g/

• Voiceless velar stop: /k/

Nasal Consonants

/m/ /n/ /ŋ/

• produced by lowering the velum to allow the airstream to emerge from the nasal cavity and blocking airstream from emerging from oral cavity

• all are voiced

• 3 places of articulation (same as stops): bilabial, alveolar, or velar.

Nasal Consonants: /m/

voiced bilabial nasal

Nasal Consonants: /n/

voiced alveolar nasal

Nasal Consonants: /ŋ/

can NOT be syllabic

Voiced velar nasal: /ŋ/

Fricative Consonants

• obstruents

• produced by forcing the airstream through a narrow constriction of the articulators or vocal folds

• can be voiced or voiceless (more intense)

Fricative Consonants: /f/ and /v/

• Cognates

• Voiceless labiodental fricative: /f/

• Voiced labiodental fricative: /v/

Fricative Consonants: /θ/ and /ð/

• interdentals

• Voiceless dental fricative: /θ/

• Voiced dental fricative: /ð/

Fricative Consonants: /s/ and /z/

• cognates

• Voiceless alveolar fricative: /s/

• Voiced alveolar fricative: /z/

Fricative Consonants: /ʃ/ and /ʒ/

• cognates

• Voiceless palatal fricative: /ʃ/

• Voiced palatal fricative: /ʒ/

Fricative Consonants: /h/

• Voiceless glottal fricative: /h/

• greatly influenced by the vowel that follows

Affricate Consonants

• a combination of a stop and fricative

• the consonants consist of a plosive portion and a fricative portion during production

Affricate Consonants: /tʃ/ and /dʒ/

• cognates

• Voiceless palatal affricate: /tʃ/

• Voiced palatal affricate: /dʒ/

Approximate Consonants (Semi Vowels)

a group of phonemes where the articulators only approximate a certain position within the oral cavity to produce the consonant

• VP port closed

• can be syllabic

• Glides and Liquids

Palatal Approximate Consonants

/j/ and /ɹ/

NOT COGNATES

palatals because of the tongue's movement toward the palate

• /j/ is a glide

• /ɹ/ is a liquid

Glides

/w/ and /j/

Liquids

/ɹ/ and /l/

Vocalic

/r/ can differ based on its placement within the word.

A vocalic /r/ is classified by the vowel sound it follows.

Prevocalic

Prevocalic /r/: the sound at the beginning of the word such as rake, ram, rice, race.

Labiovelar

the involvement of the lips and velum in its production

/w/ is a glide labiovelar

Alveolar

the tongues movement toward the alveolar ridge during articulation

/l/ is a liquid alveolar