Chp 3 - Phonetics: Describing Sounds

Phonetics

study of speech sounds

(IPA) International Phonetic Alphabet

used to transcribe any language phonetically

Phoneme

Unit of sound that makes a difference in the meaning of a word

Consonant

sound characterized by closure or obstructions of the vocal tract

Vowel

sound characterized by an open vocal tract

Minimal Pair

two words that differ by only a single phoneme in the same position (e.g. pit and bit)

Phonemic Transcription

written recording of sounds using the distinctive phonemes of a language, resulting in a one-to-one correspondence between a sound and a symbol

How we describe consonants

Voicing

Place of Articulation

Manner of Articulation

Voicing

controlling the vibration of the vocal cords as the air passes through to make speech sounds

Voiced Consonants

Voicless Consonants

Place of Articulation

the places in the oral cavity where airflow is modified to make speech sounds

Manner of Articulation

the way we move and position our lips, tongue, and teeth to make speech sounds

Natural Class

set of sounds that have certain phonetic features in common

Voiced Consonants

speech sounds produced when the vocal cords vibrate in the larynx (voice box), creating a buzzing or humming sound in addition to articulation made by the mouth (ex - b, d, g, v, z, m, n, l, r, w)

Voiceless Consonants

air passes through the mouth with no vibration in the larynx (voice box) (ex - p, t, k, f, s)

All Vowels are…

Voiced

Articulators

parts of the body involved in speech production: tongue, teeth, lips, glottis, velum, vocal folds

Places of Articulation

Bilabial

Labiodental

Interdental

Alveolar (Av-ee-lir)

Palatal

Velar (vee-lir)

Glottal

Bilabial

sounds made by bring both lips almost together or entirely together (ex - p, b, m, w, wh)

Labiodental

sound made with the lower lip against the upper front teeth (ex - f, v)

Interdental

sounds made with tip of the tongue between front teeth (THick- voiceless, THough - voiced)

Alveolar (Av-ee-lir)

sounds are made with the tip of the tongue at or near the ______ ridge - bump/ridge at the top of mouth adjacent to teeth (t, d, s, z, n, l, r)

Palatal

sounds are made with the tongue near your _____ - the hard part of the roof of your mouth. Right behind Alveolar ridge. (ex - sh, Genre, ch, j, y)

Velar (Vee-lir)

sounds are made with tongue near the ______ - soft part of the roof of your mouth behind the palate (ex - k,g, ng)

Glottal

sound is made at _______ - space between vocal folds/cords (ex - h)

M and W are also sometimes classified as…

velar or labiovelar instead of bilabial because the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum during production of the sound

Manner of Articulation

how the sound is made with respect to airflow.

Stops

Fricatives

Affricates

Nasals

Glides

Liquids

Stops

sounds is made by obstructing the airstream in the oral cavity (ex - p, b, t, d, k, g)

Fricatives

sounds formed by a nearly complete stoppage of the airstream (ex - f, v, THick, THough, s, z, sh, meaSure)

Affricates

sounds are made by briefly stopping the airstream completely and then releasing the articulators slight so that friction is produced; these sounds start AND stop as fricatives

(ex - ch, j)

Nasals

sounds are made by lowering the velum and letting the airstream pass primarily through the nasal cavity (ex - m, n, ng)

Glides

sounds are made with only a slight closure of the articulators - if vocal tract were any more open, the result would be a vowel ( ex - y, w, wh, h)

Liquids

sounds are made when an obstruction is formed by the articulators but is not narrow enough to stop the airflow or to cause friction (L, r)

L is often described as a _____ when discussing it in manner of articulation

lateral liquid - the tongue touches the roof of the mouth near the alveolar ridge, and air flows around the sides of the tongue

R is often describe as a ______ when discussing it in manner of articulation

bunched liquid - the tongue is bunched up under the palate when producing the sound

IPA symbol for

thin, thank, author, bath, breath

IPA symbol for

then, though, wither, bathe, breathe

IPA symbol for

ship, charade, dishes, nation, fish, rash

IPA symbol for

genre, measure, casual, rouge, garage

IPA symbol for

chip, cello, riches, kitchen, ditch, which

IPA symbol for

gem, jump, bludgeon, bridge, ridge, judge

IPA symbol for

ringer, singing, wing, tongue

IPA symbol for

what, which, awhile

Larger Groupings of Sounds

Labials

Sonorants

Obstruents

Labials

bilabials and labiodentals

Sonorants

consonants produced with a relatively open passage for the airflow (i.e. nasals, liquids, and glides)

Obstruents

sounds produced with a greater stoppage of airflow (i.e. stops, affricates, and fricatives

Nasality Exchange

nasal feature moves from one segment of a word to another (i.e. banana → madana)

Vowels that are said in the high and front portion of mouth

bEAt, bIt

Vowels that are said in the mid and front portion of mouth

bAIt, bEt

Vowels said in the low and front portion of mouth

bAt

Vowels said in the mid and central part of the mouth

tunA, bUt

Vowels said in high and back portion of the mouth

bOOt, pUt

Vowels said in the mid and back portion of the mouth

bOAt, bAWdy

Vowels said in the low and back portion of the mouth

bOdy

Rounded vowels

only for vowels said in the high and mid back portion of mouth

Tense vowels

made with more muscular construction

i in bEEt, e in bAIt, u in bOOt, o in bOAt

Lax vowels

any vowel sounds that are not tense

Natural Class distinction between vowels

Stressed vs Unstressed

Lax vs Tense

Lip Rounding/ Rounding vs No Rounding

Stressed Vowels

Unstressed Vowels