Week2-Phonetics1-Consonants

Week 2: Phonetics 1

• Course Info: Speech sound basics and consonants in English

• Course Designation: Linguis 101, Linguis/Anthro 301 | Spring 2025

• Instructors: R. E. Henke & R. Shields

Objectives

• Understand how speech sounds are produced.

• Introduce the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

• Analyze how consonants are articulated.

What is Phonetics?

• Definition: Study of the production, acoustic properties, and perception of speech sounds (adapted from Hayes, 2009).

• Subfields of Phonetics:

  • Articulatory: Focus on the physiological mechanisms of speech production.

  • Acoustic: Examines the physical properties of sound waves produced in speech.

  • Auditory: Concerns the perception of sound, including the processes in the ear, auditory nerve, and brain during speech perception.

• Course Focus: Production and perception of sounds in spoken languages; understanding language requires understanding its sounds.

Overview: Producing Speech Sounds

1. Airflow:

   • Begins with the airstream mechanism.

   • Air drawn into lungs (pulmonic) and pushed outward (egressive).

2. Sound Source:

   • Air passes through the larynx (voice box) where vocal folds vibrate or do not vibrate.

   • The larynx is made of cartilage and muscle and contains vocal folds and glottis.

3. Airflow Filters:

   • The airflow then goes through various filters.

   • Articulators are adjusted to influence the airflow as it exits through the mouth or nose.

Tracts Related to Speech Production

1. Vocal Tract: Air passages above the larynx.

2. Pharynx: Tube between larynx and oral tract.

3. Oral Tract: Mouth and pharynx.

4. Nasal Tract: Passage from velic port up through nose.

Articulators Affecting Airflow

• List of Articulators (from front to back):

  1. Lips

  2. Teeth

  3. Tongue

  4. Alveolar ridge

  5. Palate (hard palate)

  6. Velum (soft palate)

  7. Uvula

  8. Pharynx

  9. Glottis + vocal folds

Representing Speech Sounds

• Segments: Words are composed of individual segments, also known as phones.

• Notation Systems: Scientific discipline necessitates predictable, reliable, standardized notation systems to represent speech sounds in any language.

• Requirements for System:

  • Must use one written symbol for each speech segment.

  • Needs to be predictable, reliable, and standardized.

English Spelling Problems

• English spelling is not an ideal system due to inconsistencies:

  • Same letter(s) can represent multiple sounds.

  • The number of sounds in a word does not consistently match the number of letters.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

• Importance: IPA provides a one-to-one correspondence between sounds and symbols, allowing transcription of any language reliably.

• Examples include:

  • [f] in fun, laugh, puff, phone;

  • [i] in dream, green, receive, believe.

• Universal Application: IPA can transcribe any single spoken language, regardless of the sounds used.

The Consonants of English

• Focus: Explore the speech sounds of “General” American English (GAE) which consists of ~40 speech sounds.

• Awareness of variations among various American English dialects is crucial.

Classes of Speech Sounds

• Major Classes:

  • Consonants vs. Vowels

  • Articulatory distinction: how much airflow is constricted.

  • Acoustic distinction: vowels are more sonorous and possess greater intrinsic intensity.

• Next Steps: Focus on consonants; vowels will be examined next week.

26 Consonants in English

• Overview of Consonants:

  • Linguists classify consonants by four dimensions:

    1. Voicing: The state of the glottis.

    2. Nasality: Airflow through the nasal cavity.

    3. Place of Articulation: Point of greatest stricture in the vocal tract.

    4. Manner of Articulation: How stricture is formed.

Dimension #1: Voicing

• Description:

  • Voiced: Vocal folds are close, causing vibration (e.g., [z, v, ð]).

  • Voiceless: Vocal folds are apart, allowing airflow without vibration (e.g., [s, f, θ]).

  • Example Pairs:

    • [s] vs. [z]

    • [f] vs. [v]

    • [θ] vs. [ð]

Dimension #2: Nasality

• Types:

  • Oral: Velum raised, no nasal escape (e.g., “bud”).

  • Nasal: Velum lowered, airflow through nasal cavity (e.g., “mud”).

Dimension #3: Place of Articulation

• Point of Stricture: The place in the vocal tract where airflow is most restricted.

• IPA Chart Design: Columns mirror pathways in the vocal tract from lips to larynx.

Types of Articulation Locations

• Bilateral: Lips closed.

• Labiodental: Lower lip touches upper teeth.

• Interdental: Tongue positioned between teeth.

• Alveolar: Tongue interacts with alveolar ridge.

• Post-Alveolar: Tongue just behind alveolar ridge.

• Palatal: Tongue contacts or approaches hard palate.

• Velar: Tongue near or touching the velum.

• Glottal: Constricts vocal folds (e.g., [ʔ] in expressions like "uh oh").

Dimension #4: Manner of Articulation

• Definition: The method and degree of stricture in airflow to produce speech sounds.

• Types:

  • Stops: Complete blockage followed by release.

  • Flap: Rapid tongue contact with the roof of the mouth (e.g., “ladder”).

  • Fricative: Near closure, producing turbulent sound (e.g., [f]).

  • Affricate: Combination of stop and fricative (e.g., [tʃ] in “chop”).

  • Approximant: Narrowing without friction (e.g., [w]).

  • Lateral Approximant: Airstream flows along the sides of the tongue (e.g., [l]).

Useful Terms for Grouping Consonants

• Nasals: Nasal stops [m], [n], [ŋ].

• Glides: Approximants [j], [w] (semivowels).

• Liquids: Includes [l] and [r] sounds.

Sample Diagrams

• Comparative Analysis of different speech sounds, noting articulatory positions for various phonemes.

Describing Consonants

• Activity: Identify speech sounds indicated by descriptions based on voicing, place, and manner of articulation:

  1. Voiceless oral bilabial stop: [p] (pat)

  2. Voiced oral labiodental fricative: [v] (vet)

  3. Voiced nasal velar stop: [ŋ] (sing)

  4. Voiceless oral post-alveolar fricative: [ʃ] (ship)

  5. Voiced oral palatal approximant: [j] (young)