Fundamentals of Articulatory and

Acoustic Phonetics

English Phonology
Ricardo de Souza

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Key Elements of Sound Generation
•  Energy.
•  Vibration.
•  Propagation.
•  Transmission medium.

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 Sound Wave Cycles
•  A wave cycle corresponds to its oscillation, or
vibration. Oscillation is the repetitive variation of
the wave-length measure with respect to its
central measure.

•  The amount of time required for a cycle is

referred to as a period.
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 Sound Wave Cycles
•  The maximum distance that an air particle moves in
each direction form its starting point is the amplitude
of the wave it creates.
•  The number of cycles of a wave in a given amount of
time (usually a second) are measured as its
frequency.

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 Sound Wave Cycles

•  The auditory correlate of the amplitude of a

sound wave is one’s perception of sound
intensity, or loudness.

•  The auditory correlate of the frequency

differences across sound waves is one’s
perception of pitch.

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 Sound Wave Cycles
•  In the International System of Units, the basic
unit of frequency in the hertz. The hertz (Hz) is a
unit of cycles per second, in other words,
oscillations per second.
•  If the air particles in sound waves vibrate at a
frequency of 100 times each second, what we
hear is a 100Hz tone.
•  Amplitude is measured as a ratio of pressure
(force) per area, in a unit referred to as the
decibel.
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Hearing

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Sound Frequency and Amplitude

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Why should true sound waves be complex
rather than simple waves?

Especially in what concerns the human

voice, sounds are the byproduct of a
resonance system.

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The Vocal Tract and the Production
of Speech Sounds

•  T h e v o c a l t r a c t i s m a d e u p o f t h r e e
interconnected areas: the pharynx, the oral
cavity and the nasal cavity.

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The Vocal Tract and the Production
of Speech Sounds

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The Vocal Tract and the Production
of Speech Sounds

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 The Vocal Folds and Phonation

•  The vocal cords, or vocal folds, are two elastic

bands of tissue located at the larynx, a cartilage
structure that separates the trachea and the
pharynx.

•  The primary vibration required for speech

production is produced by the vocal folds.

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The Vocal Folds

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The Vocal Tract and the Production
of Speech Sounds
•  Speech sounds produced while the vocal folds
vibrate are referred to as voiced.

•  Speech sounds produced while the vocal folds

have reduced vibration are referred to as
unvoiced.

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The Vocal Tract and the Production
of Speech Sounds
•  As air passes through the pharynx, the oral
cavity and the nasal cavity, it can be obstructed
in different ways by anatomical structures in the
vocal tract, such as the velum, the tongue, the
teeth, and the lips.

•  Such structures are called articulators.

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The Vocal Tract & the Nasal
Cavity

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