English Phonology: Study Guide - 2

1.4 Consonants: described and classified along the three dimensions

1.4.1 Voicing: vibration of vocal cords

y Voiced (Fig. 1.2a)
y Voiceless (rarely, “unvoiced”; Fig. 1.2b)

1.4.2 Manner of articulation: how the air is modified in the supralaryngeal space (in the oral cavity)

y Stop (= plosive):

y Fricative (= spirant):

y Sibilant (or grooved) fricative

y Slit fricative

y Affricate (or affricated stop) with ligature (arch)

y Nasal

y Nasal (stop)
y (Oral) stop

y Tap/Flap: alveolar tap (IPA [ɾ]) in water and rider

y Trill
y Alveolar trill (IPA [r]) in Spanish perro ‘dog’
y Uvular trill (IPA [ʀ]) in French amour ‘love’ and German Rad ‘wheel’

y Approximant
y Lateral approximant: l-sounds
y Central approximant: [j] as in youth, [w] as in win, [ɹ] as in ray

y Alternative classification for taps/flaps, trills and approximants

y Liquid
y Rhotic (r-sound)
y Lateral (l-sound)

y Glide (semivowel)

y Stops, fricatives and affricate are grouped into “obstruents.”

y Other consonants are grouped into “sonorants.”

A few things to consider in phonology:

y In many languages including English, voicing contrast is found only among obstruents.
y In English, sonorants can be syllabic, meaning that they can form a syllable without a vowel.
y In American English, [t] and [d] can be pronounced as the same sound [ɾ], writer vs. rider, even if
[t] and [d] in tire and dire can not.
y The two vowels in cap and cab are the same and different.
 English Phonology: Study Guide - 3

1.4.3 Place/point of articulation: where the air is modified in the oral cavity (Fig. 1.4)

y Bilabial:

y Labiodental:

y Interdental:

y Alveolar:

y Palato-alveolar/post-alveolar/alveopalatal:

y Retroflex:

y Palatal:

y Velar:

y Uvular:

y Pharyngeal:

y Glottal (laryngeal):

y Description of a consonant: voicing, place, manner. E.g.,

[p] voiceless bilabial stop [v]
[θ] [t]
[ɡ] [n]
[ʒ] [ɲ]
[Ɂ] [ɻ]
[l] [j]
[w] [ð]

1.4.4 Consonant chart (Table 1.1): sample sounds: http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/index/sounds.html

y Non-pulmonic consonants: Table 1.2
y Consonants that do not fit into the main IPA chart: Table 1.3

1.5 Vowels: no constriction in the vocal tract

1.5.1 Lip rounding

y Rounded (or round)
y Unrounded

1.5.2 Height (of the tongue)

y High
y Mid
y Low
y IPA (jaw opening): close, close-mid, open-mid, and open

1.5.3 Backness
y Front
y Back
y (Central)