Articulation & Acoustics of Consonants

Consonant

Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract

Place of Articulation

Where obstruction occurs

Ex: Labial, Dental, Alveolar, Palatal, Velar, Glottal

Manner of Articulation

How airflow is modified/obstructed

Ex: Stops, Fricatives, Affricates, Nasals, Liquids, etc.

Sonorants

Periodic

All voiced

• Nasals

• Liquids

• Glides

Obstruents

Aperiodic

Can be voiced or voiceless

• Stops

• Fricatives

• Affricates

Glides [j]

High F2, Low F1

Fast formant transitions

Glides [w]

Low F1, Low F2

Liquid [l]

Lateral air flow

Visible formant structure

F3 = level

Liquid [r]

Low F3

Retroflexed and rounded

Nasals

• Require an open velopharyngeal port

• [m], [n], [ŋ]

• Low frequency resonance (~200-300 Hz)

• Damping and low amplitude due to absorption and nasal structure

Places of Articulation for Nasal

1. [m] = The lips

2. [n] = Alveolar Ridge

3. [ŋ] = Soft Palate

Place of Articulation for Fricative

1. [f, v] = Labiodental

2. [θ, ð] = Linguadental

3. [s, z] = Alveolar

4. [ʃ, ʒ] = Postalveolar

Fricative Non-sibilants

[f, θ, v, ð]

Low intensity, broadband noise

No strong resonance

Fricative sibilant

[s, ʃ, z, ʒ]

High intensity and frequency specific

Shadle’s Model

Turbulence shaped mostly by front cavity; obstacle affects resonance

Articulation for Stops

Complete closure in the oral cavity

VP port closed = build up and release of intraoral pressure

Acoustics of Stops

Silent interval during closure

Burst of noise at release

Bilabial Stop

[p,b]

Low burst at 600 Hz

Alveolar Stop

[t,d]

High burst at 3 kHz

Velar Stop

[k,g]

Burst dependent on vowel context

Affricates

[d͡ʒ,t͡ʃ]

Stop closure released into fricative

Features include:

• Closure

• Burst

• Frication noise