Phonetics 2: Consonant Articulation and Phonological Processes

LING 1000 - Phonetics 2: Consonant Articulation and Phonological Processes

Consonant Articulation

Consonants are produced by modifying the placement of the tongue and the positioning of the lips.
Consonants naturally group into classes based on their place of articulation.

The Tongue

The tongue is the primary articulator for most speech sounds, including both consonants and vowels.
Tongue Movements
- Can be raised, lowered, stretched forward, retracted back, or rolled back.
- Sides can also be raised or lowered.
Vowel Articulation (Review)
- Tongue positioning dictates vowel sounds:
  - High vowels: [i, ɪ, u, ʊ] (tongue raised).
  - Low vowels: [æ, aw, aj, ɑw] (tongue lowered).
  - Front vowels: [i, ɪ, æ] (tongue forward).
  - Back vowels: [u, ʊ, ow, oj, ɑ] (tongue back).
Parts of the Tongue for Consonant Articulation
- Tongue tip: Narrow area at the very front.
- Tongue blade: Wider area just behind the tip.
- Tongue body: Main mass of the tongue.
- Tongue back: The base of the tongue.
- Tongue root: Part contained within the upper throat (pharynx).
- Dorsum: The tongue body and back combined.

Place of Articulation

Definition: Each point within the vocal tract where the airstream can be modified to produce a different speech sound.
General Locations: Lips, inside the oral cavity, in the pharynx (throat), and the glottis.
There are 9 distinct places of articulation for speech sounds:
- Labial: Any sound made with the lips.
  - Bilabial: Both lips are used.
    - Examples: p as in 'peer' [p], b as in 'bin' [b], m as in 'mouth' [m].
  - Labio-dental: Upper teeth and lower lip are used.
    - Examples: f as in 'fire' [f], v as in 'vow' [v].
- Dental and Interdental: Any sound using the teeth.
  - Interdental: Tongue placed between the teeth.
    - Examples: 'th' as in 'think' [θ] (voiceless interdental), 'th' as in 'these' [ð] (voiced interdental).
  - Dental: Tongue placed against or near the teeth.
    - Canadian English lacks true dental sounds apart from interdentals.
    - Examples in other languages/dialects: [t̪ɪn] for 'thin' (vs. [θɪn]), [d̪iz] for 'these' (vs. [ðɪŋ] - typo in original, likely [ðiz]).
- Alveolar: Tongue placed against the alveolar ridge (bumpy ridge behind upper teeth).
  - English has many alveolar sounds.
  - Examples: t [t], d [d], s [s], z [z], l [l], r [r], n [n].
- Alveopalatal (or Palatoalveolar, Alveolopalatal): Tongue placed against the smooth area just behind the alveolar ridge.
  - Examples: sh [ʃ], s in 'measure' [ʒ], ch [tʃ], j [dʒ].
- Palatal: Tongue on or near the palate (highest, smooth part of the roof of the mouth).
  - In Canadian English, only the glide [j] is palatal (as in 'yes').
  - Examples in other languages: German palatal fricative [ç] as in 'ich' [iç].
- Velar: Tongue against or near the velum (soft area toward the rear of the mouth).
  - Examples: c/k [k], g [g], ng [ŋ] (note: ng is a single sound [ŋ]).
- Uvular: Tongue against or near the uvula (small fleshy flap at the back of the mouth).
  - English has no uvular sounds.
  - Examples in other languages: Inuktitut 'Iqaluit', European French 'très' [tʁɛ].
- Pharyngeal: Air constricted in the pharynx (upper throat between uvula and larynx).
  - Canadian English has no pharyngeals.
  - Found in languages like Arabic.
- Glottal: Vocal folds as the primary articulator.
  - Canadian English has two glottal sounds:
    - 1. [h]: Vocal folds open, no oral constriction (e.g., 'hall' [h], 'healthy').
    - 2. [ʔ] (glottal stop): Vocal folds closed tightly.
      - Found between vowels in some English dialects (e.g., Cockney 'bottle' [bɑʔəl]).
      - Neither voiced nor voiceless because vocal folds are completely closed.

Manner of Articulation

Definition: The ways in which articulators (lips, tongue, velum, glottis) are positioned to produce different sound types, usually related to the type or degree of constriction.

Nasality

The velum's position determines nasality.
- Raised velum: Airflow cannot pass through the nasal cavity = Oral Sound.
- Lowered velum: Airflow can pass through the nasal cavity = Nasal Sound.
Both consonants and vowels can be oral or nasal.
Some consonants are inherently (always) nasal:
- Examples: m [m], n [n], ng [ŋ].
- Note: [ŋ] occurs only at the end of a syllable or word in English.

Stops

Production: Complete closure in oral cavity or glottis, followed by a release of trapped air.
Can occur at any place of articulation.
Oral Stops: Velum raised (blocking nasal airflow).
Nasal Stops: Velum lowered (allowing nasal airflow). Often just called 'nasals'.
English Stops Chart:
- | Place of Articulation | Voiceless | Voiced | Nasal |
- |-----------------------|-----------|--------|-------|
- | Bilabial | [p] | [b] | [m] |
- | Alveolar | [t] | [d] | [n] |
- | Velar | [k] | [g] | [ŋ] |
- | Glottal | [ʔ] | N/A | N/A |

Voice Lag and Aspiration

Aspiration: A burst of air ([ʰ]) produced after the release of certain voiceless stops ([p, t, k]) when they occur at the beginning of a word or syllable.
- It is a lag in the onset of voicing.
- Aspirated Examples: 'pat' [pʰæt], 'tub' [tʰʌb], 'cope' [kʰowp].
Unaspirated: Voiceless stops not at the beginning of a word or syllable.
- Unaspirated Examples: 'spat' [spæt], 'stub' [stʌb], 'scope' [skowp].
Results from a delay in voicing when transitioning from a voiceless stop to a voiced vowel.

Fricatives

Production: Continuous airflow through the mouth, accompanied by audible noise.
- Noise is produced because airflow passes through a narrow opening.
English Fricatives:
- Voiceless: f [f], th [θ], s [s], sh [ʃ], h [h].
- Voiced: v [v], th [ð], z [z], s in 'pleasure' [ʒ].
Production of [s] and [z]:
- 1. Raise tongue tip to alveolar ridge, air through grooved channel.
- 2. Tongue tip against lower teeth, air through groove along tongue body.

Continuant vs. Non-continuant

Continuant Sounds: Continuous airflow (e.g., Fricatives).
Non-continuant Sounds: Complete blockage of airflow (e.g., Stops).

Affricates

Production: Non-continuant consonants with a slow release of closure.
- Essentially, they are stops that release into fricatives.
English Affricates:
- ch [tʃ] (voiceless alveopalatal affricate).
- j [dʒ] (voiced alveopalatal affricate).
Note on Complex Symbols: Affricates and diphthongs (e.g., [oj], [ej]) are single segments but transcribed with two IPA symbols to show their complex articulation.

Liquids

Definition: A class of oral, sonorous consonants, including l and r sounds.
- l sounds = Laterals
- r sounds = Rhotics

Laterals (l sounds)

Production: Complete closure in the oral cavity, but air escapes along the lowered sides of the tongue.
English l:
- Primarily alveolar [l] (e.g., 'leaf' [lif]).
- At syllable/word ends, a velarized [ɫ] (dark 'l') is used (e.g., 'pill' [pʰɪɫ]).

Rhotics (r sounds)

English [r] (retroflex): Can be produced in two ways:
- 1. Tongue tip curls back and touches the palatal region.
- 2. Tongue body is bunched upward and back in the mouth.
Flap [ɾ]: Another rhotic type, articulated by a very quick touch of the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge.
- Found in English words often written with 't' or 'd' (e.g., 'butter' [bʌɾər], 'ladder' [læɾər]).

Syllabic Consonants

Definition: Highly sonorous consonants that can form the nucleus of a syllable.
In English, only nasals and liquids can be syllabic consonants.
Transcription: Using a diacritic [ ̩] or a sequence of schwa [ə].
- Examples: 'chasm' [kʰæzm̩] or [kʰæzəm], 'funnel' [fʌnl̩] or [fʌnəl], 'hidden' [hɪdn̩] or [hɪdən].
- | Syllabic | Non-syllabic |
- |----------|--------------|
- | [l̩] | [l] |
- | [r̩] | [r] |
- | [n̩] | [n] |
- | [m̩] | [m] |

Glides

Definition: Rapidly articulated vowels that behave like consonants because they are non-syllabic (do not form the nucleus of a syllable).
English Glides:
- yes [j] (palatal glide).
- walk [w] (labiovelar glide).
- Note: [w] has two simultaneous places of articulation: bilabial and velar.

Describing Consonant Articulation

Consonants are always described using three parameters:
1. Voicing: Voiced or voiceless.
2. Place of Articulation.
3. Manner of Articulation.
Examples of Articulatory Descriptions:
- [p]: voiceless, bilabial stop
- [ŋ]: voiced, velar, nasal stop
- [s]: voiceless, alveolar fricative
- [dʒ]: voiced, alveopalatal affricate
- [r]: voiced, alveolar retroflex liquid
- [w]: voiced, labiovelar glide
The IPA consonant chart organizes consonants by these parameters.
Utility of Articulatory Descriptions:
- Universality: Applicable to sounds in any human language.
- Allows description and production of any speech sound cross-linguistically.
Examples of Non-Canadian English Fricatives (by description):
- voiceless bilabial fricative [ɸ] (Japanese)
- voiceless palatal fricative [ç] (German)
- voiceless lateral fricative [ɬ] (Welsh)
- voiceless velar fricative [x] (German)
- voiceless uvular fricative [χ] (Welsh)
- voiceless pharyngeal fricative [ħ] (Arabic)
Examples of Non-Canadian English Vowels (by description):
- high, front, rounded, tense [y] (French)
- mid, front, rounded, tense [œ] (French)
- high, back, unrounded, tense [ɯ] (Japanese)
- low, back, rounded, tense [ɒ] (British English)

Phonological Processes

Definition: Adjustments or alterations in speech sound sequences to make them easier to produce or perceive.
Occur because speech sounds are not produced in isolation; they affect surrounding sounds within words and sentences.

Coarticulation

Definition: When one sound influences the articulation of another sound in a sequence.
- Articulators start moving for the next segment before the current one is completed due to rapid speech.
Example: 'please' [pl̥iz]
- Lips are together for [p]. Before they separate, the tongue moves toward the alveolar ridge for [l].
- Vocal folds are open for voiceless [p], and may remain open during the [l], resulting in a voiceless l ([l̥]).
- Note: [ ̥] below an IPA symbol indicates a normally voiced sound is pronounced as voiceless.

Types of Phonological Processes

1. Assimilation
- Definition: Articulation of one segment becomes more similar to a nearby segment in phonetic characteristics (place, manner, voicing, or a combination).
- Examples:
  - Regressive Nasal Assimilation (English): Nasal consonants cause preceding vowels to become nasalized ([̃] diacritic).
    - 'can' [kæ̃n] vs. 'nap' [næp]
    - 'ma'am' [mæ̃m] vs. 'map' [mæp]
  - Progressive Nasal Assimilation (Scottish Gaelic): Nasal consonants cause following vowels to become nasalized.
    - [mõːr] 'big', [nĩ ] 'cattle'
  - Voicing Assimilation (English): Liquids and glides can be devoiced after a voiceless stop ([̥] diacritic).
    - please [pl̥iz], try [tr̥aj], cure [kjur̥], quaint [kw̥ejnt]
  - Regressive Nasal Place Assimilation (English): The ending of the prefix '-in' changes place of articulation to match the following consonant.
    - intolerant [ɪnt...] (alveolar [n] before alveolar [t])
    - impossible [ɪmp...] (bilabial [m] before bilabial [p])
    - incompatible [ɪŋk...] (velar [ŋ] before velar [k])
2. Dissimilation
- Definition: Articulation of one segment becomes less similar to a nearby segment.
- Example: Fricative Dissimilation (English): Sequences of fricatives may be dissimilated by turning one into a stop.
  - fifths [fɪfθs] vs. [fifts]
  - sixths [siksθs] vs. [sɪksts]
  - diphthong [dɪfθɑŋ] vs. [dɪpθɑŋ]
3. Deletion
- Definition: A speech sound is removed from a sequence.
- Often occurs in rapid speech or to simplify consonant sequences.
- Examples: English Schwa [ə] deletion:
  - parade [pr̥ejd] vs. [pərejd]
  - suppose [spowz] vs. [səpowz]
  - Toronto [tərɑntow] vs. [trɑnə]
- To simplify consonants: fifths [fifs] or [fiθs] vs. [fifθs]
4. Epenthesis
- Definition: A speech sound is added into a sequence.
- Examples:
  - Consonant Epenthesis: something [sʌmθɪŋ] vs. [sʌmpθɪŋ], prince [prɪns] vs. [prɪnts].
  - Vowel Epenthesis: athlete [æθlit] vs. [æθəlit], glove [glʌv] vs. [gəlʌv].
5. Metathesis
- Definition: The order of a sequence of speech sounds is changed.
- Examples:
  - Child speech: spaghetti [spəgɛɾi] vs. [pəskɛɾi].
  - Adult speech: prescribe [prəskrajb] vs. [pərskrajb].
6. Vowel Reduction
- Definition: A vowel moves to a more central position (usually schwa [ə]) in an unstressed syllable.
- Example:
  - Canada [kʰænədə] (first syllable stressed, [ə] in unstressed syllables).
  - Canadian [kʰənejdiən] (second syllable stressed, [ə] in first unstressed syllable).

Why Phonological Processes Occur

Easier to Pronounce: Simplifies articulation or complex consonant sequences.
Easier to Perceive: Makes speech sounds more distinct and easier to differentiate.

Further study of these processes will occur in phonology.

Summary of Phonetics

Phonetic transcription and its importance.
Sound production and vocal tract anatomy.
Articulation of vowels.
Articulation of consonants.
Coarticulation and phonological processes.