Places Of Articulation

Hard

Phonemic Method

Broad transcription (can be reached by everyone)

Represents abstract sounds

Transcriptions use slashes

Phonetic Method

Narrow transcription

Transcription use square brackets

Transcribes speech sounds exactly how they are stated

Vowels (in articulation terms)

Can be stated without touching of the lips

Consonants

Sounds that are obstructed by lips

Places of articulation (where consonants are produced)

Lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, tongue, hard palate, velum, uvula, pharynx, vocal folds, glottus

Metalinguistic Movements of Articulation

Bilabial, Dental, Labiodental, Alveolar, Palato Alveolar, Platel, Velar, Glottal, Labial-Velar

Bilabial

Both lips are used to create sound

Dental

Tip of tongue and both upper and lowe teeth are used

Labiodental

Upper teeth and lower lip are used

Alveolar

Blade of tongue touches the area between upper teeth and hard palate

Palato Alveolar

Tongue touches back of alveolar ridge

Palatal

Middle of the tongue touches hard palate

Glottal

Airflow is obstructed in the glottis

Labial-Velar

Lips and Velum are used to create sound

Classifications of consonants

Place

Manner Of Articulation

Voiced and voiceless

Manner Of Articulation

In what way is the sound expressed

Types of Manner of Articulation

Plosive, nasal, fricative, affricative, lateral, approximant

Plosive

Complete stop, then sudden explosion of air (e.g. ‘b’, ‘p’)

Nasal

Complete closure at mouth and air escapes through nose (e.g. ‘m’, ‘n’)

Fricative

A narrowing between articulators, creating friction as it passes (e.g. ‘f’, ‘z’)

Affricative

Starts like plosive, but turns into fricative (e.g. ‘pizza’ or ‘jam’)

Lateral

Air passes around side of tongue

Approximant

Minimal obstruction, sometimes referred to as semivowels (e.g. ‘we’, ‘yes’)

Voiced phoneme

When vocal folds vibrate to make a sound (e.g. ;’v’, ‘s’)

Voiceless phoneme

When vocal folds don’t vibrate to make a sound (‘b’)

Vertical Tongue positions

Close, Close-mid, Mid, Open-mid, Open

Close

Tongue is close to roof of mouth

Close-Mid

Tongue os between middle to rook of mouth

Mid

Tongue is middle of mouth

Open-Mid

Tongue is lower than middle of mouth

Open

Tongue is low

Horizontal tongue positions

Front, Central, Back

Front

Tongue is at front of mouth (near)

Central

Tongue is at the middle fo the mouth (near)

Back

Tongue is at back of mouth (near)

Types Of Vowels

Monophthong, Diphthong, Schwa

Monopthong

Single vowel phoneme is produced in a syllable (e.g. “pool”)

Dipthong

When articulators glide to suit vowel sounds (e.g. ‘scout, coin’)

Schwa

Like unstressed “uh” sound (e.g. “alone” or “problem”)

❓ What is assimilation?

✅ When a sound changes to become more like a nearby sound
🧠 "green pen" → /griːm pɛn/

❓ What is elision?

✅ When a sound is omitted for ease in speech
🧠 "friendship" → /frɛnʃɪp/ (no 'd')

❓ What is insertion?

✅ When an extra sound is added between others
🧠 "drawing" → /drɔːrɪŋ/ (insertion of /r/)

❓ What is vowel reduction?

✅ When an unstressed vowel becomes a weaker sound, often /ə/
🧠 "banana" → /bəˈnɑːnə/

❓ What 3 things define a vowel sound?

✅ 1. Vertical tongue position (high/mid/low)
✅ 2. Horizontal tongue position (front/central/back)
✅ 3. Lip rounding (rounded/unrounded)

❓ What does vertical tongue position refer to?

✅ How high or low the tongue is during articulation
🧠 High: /iː/ (seat) | Low: /a/ (cat)

❓ What does horizontal tongue position refer to?

✅ Whether the tongue is placed toward the front or back of the mouth
🧠 Front: /iː/ | Back: /uː/

❓ What is lip rounding in vowels?

✅ 1. Vertical position → 2. Horizontal position → 3. Lip rounding
🧠 Example: /iː/ = high front unrounded vowel

❓ What does “near” refer to in vowel production?

✅ The approximate point in the mouth where the vowel is produced — a “near” match to a known place of articulation.