Articulatory Phonetics: The Vocal Tract, Articulation, and Consonant Description Notes

The Vocal Tract and Articulation

• Definition of Articulation: Articulation is the process of using specific body parts to produce a language signal. In the context of spoken language, this occurs within the vocal tract, utilizing the lips, tongue, and various components of the mouth and throat.

• Midsagittal Diagram: Linguists use this specific cross-section of the head to depict the vocal tract. By convention, the diagram shows the nostrils facing to the left and the back of the head facing to the right.

• Major Regions of the Vocal Tract:

  • Oral Cavity: The space inside the mouth extending from the lips to the back of the tongue.

  • Pharynx: The throat region, specifically the area situated behind the back of the tongue.

  • Nasal Cavity: The open space located above the oral cavity and pharynx, extending from the nostrils back and down into the pharynx.

• Airway Division: Below the pharynx, the airway splits into two separate tubes:

  • Trachea (Windpipe): Leads to the lungs. This is the primary air source for most speech sounds (pulmonic air).

  • Esophagus: Leads to the stomach. This structure is not relevant to the field of phonetics.

• Key Anatomical Landmarks (Front to Back):

  • Lips

  • Teeth

  • Alveolar Ridge: The bony bump located immediately behind the upper front teeth. It serves as the resting place for the tongue tip when the mouth is closed.

  • Hard Palate: The bony structure forming the roof of the mouth.

  • Soft Palate / Velum: The flexible, muscular back portion of the roof of the mouth.

  • Uvula: The small, pendulous piece of tissue dangling at the very back of the soft palate.

  • Pharynx: The throat cavity.

  • Epiglottis: A flap of cartilage located near the bottom of the pharynx.

  • Glottis: The opening between the vocal folds. It serves as the functional divider between the pharynx and the trachea.

Phones: The Basic Unit of Speech

• Definition of a Phone: Also known as a segment, a phone is an individual speech sound that can function as a constituent part of a word in a specific language.

• Linear Ordering: The identity of a word depends on the order of phones. For example, the words "spill," "slip," "lisp," and "lips" all utilize the exact same four phones but in different sequences.

• Language Inventories: Every language possesses its own specific inventory of phones. A sound is considered part of a language's inventory if it appears in ordinary words, excluded from which are marginal interjections (e.g., "ugh").

• The Fundamental Split:

  • Consonants: involve a significant constriction of airflow within the vocal tract.

  • Vowels: Do not involve such constriction.

Phonation and Voicing

• Definition of Phonation: The broader category describing how the vocal folds (glottis) shape the airflow.

• Voicing: A specific type of phonation referring to the state of the vocal folds during sound production.

  • Voiceless ($[-voice]$): Air passes through an open glottis; the vocal folds do not vibrate. Examples include symbols such as $/p, t, k, f, s/$.

  • Voiced ($[+voice]$): Air passes through the glottis while the vocal folds are vibrating. Examples include symbols such as $/b, d, g, v, z/$.

• Voicing Pairs: Many consonants exist in pairs that share the same place and manner of articulation but differ only in voicing (e.g., /p/b, t/d, k/g, f/v, s/z, ̈θ/ð, ʃ/ʒ, tʃ/dʒ/).

Place of Articulation

• Concept: Place of articulation refers to the specific location in the vocal tract where the airflow is constricted.

• Primary Places of Articulation:

  • Bilabial: Both lips are brought together (e.g., $/p, b, m, w/$).

  • Labiodental: The lower lip touches the upper teeth (e.g., $/f, v/$).

  • Interdental: The tongue is placed between the upper and lower teeth (e.g., $/θ, ð/$).

  • Alveolar: The tongue is at or near the alveolar ridge (e.g., $/t, d, n, s, z, l/$).

  • Palatal (Postalveolar): The front of the tongue is near the hard palate or the back of the alveolar ridge (e.g., $/ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ, j, ɹ/$).

  • Velar: The back of the tongue moves against the soft palate or velum (e.g., $/k, g, ŋ/$).

  • Glottal: Produced at the glottis without significant movement of oral articulators (e.g., $/h, ʔ/$).

• Active vs. Passive Articulators:

  • Active (Lower) Articulator: The moving part of the vocal tract.

  • Passive (Upper) Articulator: The fixed target toward which the active articulator moves.

  • Formula: A consonant's place is defined by the combination of the two (Active + Passive).

Detailed Articulator Correspondence

• Coronal: This is an umbrella term for any sound made with the front of the tongue (tip and/or blade).

• Retroflex: Specifically described as using the underside of the tongue tip targetting the postalveolar region (found in some pronunciations of "run").

Manner of Articulation

• Concept: Manner of articulation describes how the airflow is constricted, shaped, or released.

• Stops (Complete Closure): Airflow is fully blocked before being released.

  • Plosive (Oral Stop): Air is trapped behind a closure and released in an explosive burst (e.g., $/p, b, t, d, k, g/$).

  • Nasal Stop: The oral cavity is closed, but the velum is lowered, allowing air to escape through the nose (e.g., $/m, n, ŋ/$).

  • Ejective: Air is pushed upward by raising the vocal folds (non-pulmonic).

  • Implosive: Air is sucked inward by lowering the vocal folds (non-pulmonic).

  • Click: Air is sucked in by rapidly lowering the tongue (non-pulmonic).

• Fricative: The articulators form a narrow passage, forcing air through to create turbulent, hissing noise (e.g., $/f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h/$).

• Affricate: A stop is immediately released into a fricative at the same place of articulation. It is considered a continuant/stop sequence (e.g., $/tʃ, dʒ/$).

• Approximant: Articulators approach each other but do not create a narrow enough constriction to produce turbulence.

  • Liquid: Includes $/l/$ (lateral approximant - air flows around the sides of the tongue) and $/ɹ/$ (postalveolar approximant).

  • Glide (Semivowel): Includes $/w/$ (bilabial/labiovelar) and $/j/$ (palatal). These behave phonetically like very fast vowels.

• Tap or Flap: A motion involving a single, rapid flick of the tongue against the alveolar ridge (e.g., the middle sound in "atom").

• Trill: Rapid, repeated taps (2–3 times), such as the "r" in Scottish pronunciations of "run."

Functional Groupings of Manners

• Obstruents: Consonants involving a significant obstruction to airflow. This includes oral stops, fricatives, and affricates.

• Sonorants: Consonants with relatively free airflow. This includes nasals, approximants, taps, and trills.

• Continuants: Sounds where oral airflow continues without complete blockage. This includes fricatives and all approximants.

Describing a Consonant: The 3-Part Formula

To fully describe any consonant, three properties must be stated in a rigid, specific order:

1. Phonation (Voicing)

2. Place of Articulation

3. Manner of Articulation

Characterization Examples

• $(/p/)$: Voiceless bilabial plosive.

• $(/z/)$: Voiced alveolar fricative.

• $(/n/)$: Voiced alveolar nasal stop.

• $(/m/)$: Voiced bilabial nasal stop.

• $(/s/)$: Voiceless alveolar fricative.

• $(/ŋ/)$: Voiced velar nasal.

• Special Case of $(/w/)$: It is described as a labiovelar approximant because it has two simultaneous places of articulation: the lips come together (bilabial) and the back of the tongue raises toward the soft palate (velar).

IPA Symbols to Memorize

Note on the letter R: In IPA, the symbol $/r/$ refers specifically to a trilled "r" (common in Italian or Spanish). The standard American English "r" sound must be transcribed as $/ɹ/$ (the turned r).

Introduction to Vowels and Tongue Twisters

• Vowel Description: Vowels are mapped onto a vowel quadrilateral (vowel chart) based on the vertical height and horizontal position of the tongue.

• Diphthongs: These are complex vowels that begin in one tongue and lip position and glide toward another within the same syllable.

• Lip Rounding: Lips contribute to vowel quality by being either rounded or unrounded.

• Tongue Twister Mechanics: These are difficult to articulate because they require the speaker to rapidly reorder similar places or manners of articulation (e.g., swapping $/k, p, s/$) or to switch lip rounding states (rounded to unrounded) at high speeds.

Self-Check Review Questions

• Can you list the 3-part formula for consonant description in order?

• Can you trace air traveling from the lungs $\rightarrow$ trachea $\rightarrow$ glottis $\rightarrow$ pharynx $\rightarrow$ oral/nasal cavity?

• Can you categorize all manners of articulation into obstruents versus sonorants?

• Why is $/w/$ considered to have two places of articulation?

• What is the difference between voicing and phonation?