CHAPTER 2 THE PRODUCTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS
Questions / Topics
2.1. Articulators above the larynx
1. Articulators
2. 7 main of articulators:
Main ideas / Details
1. Vocal tract: The air goes through after passing via the
larynx, ends at the mouth and nostrils
2. which so-called articulatory phonetics
3. the different part of vocal tract
1. The pharynx : a tube – 7cm (women); 8cm (man) – begins
above the larynx (divided into 2) – can see the back of it
when you look in your mouth open
2. The soft palate (velum): a position that air pass through
the nose and the mouth. Raised: oral sounds , lower: notrils
sounds.
+ It is raised when you speak therefore the air cannot escape
via the nose
+ Velar consonants : the tounge is in contact with the lower
side of the soft palate - sounds k, g
3. The hard palate (the root of the mouth): you can feel it by
your tongue.
+ Palatal: A consonant made with the toungue close to the
hard palalte – sound j in ‘yes’
4. The alveolar ridge: between the top front teeth and hard
palate
+ It is much rougher than it feels; covered with little ridges
 + You can only see it by the small mirror which can be fit
your mouth
+ Alveolar: made sounds by touching here (t, d, n)
5. The tongue (the important part): Can be moved many
places and shapes in your mouth
+ have no clear dividing lines within its structure
+ It consists of tip, blade, front, back, root
6. The teeth (upper and lower): at the front of mouths, back
to the soft palate
+ Toungue + the upper side teeth = speech sounds
+ Dental: sound ade with tongue touching front teeth (θ; ð)
7. The lips: important in speech
+ pressed together (p, b); or with each other are called
bilabial
+ lip-to-teeth (f, v) are called labiodental
+ rounded-shape (u:)

3. Three things we should 1. The larynx is also articulator – avery complex and
remembers independent one
2. Jaw are sometimes called articulator
3. Vocal apparatus: nose and the nasal cavity (such as m,n)

2.2. Vowels and consonants

1. Vowel (20 vowels) Sounds in which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it
Should be called vocoids passes from the larynx to the lips (the air go straight from the
larynx to the lips without blocked by the teeth) – a, o, e, u, i
2.Consonant (24 consonants)
Should be called contoids
3. Distribution
The different contexts and positions in
which particular sounds can occur.
Study of the sounds found at the
beginning and end of English words
has shown that two groups of sounds
with quite different patterns of
distribution can be identified, and
these two groups are those of vowel
and consonant.
1. Sounds making in difficult or impossible for the air to pass
through the mouth
(Consonants are pronounced by stopping the air from flowing 
easily throug the mouth, especially by closing the 
lips or touching the teeth with the tongue) – p, t, k, s,d,..
“hay”, “way” – /h/,/w/ is also consonant.
2. Different language have different ways of dividing their
sounds into vowels and consonants
e.g: “red” – r is a consonant in English however it is one of
the vowels in Mandarin Chinese.
Ways vowels differ from ech other:
1. Shape and position of the tongue
+ the vertical distance between the upper surface of the
toungue and the palate (close, close-mid, open-mid, open)
+ the part of the toungue, between front and back, which is
raised highest (front, central, back)
E.g: /i:/ - “see”; the tongue is held up close to the roof of the
mouth. (close vowel)
/æ/ - “cat”; The distance between surface of the tongue
and the roof of the mouth is now much greater (open vowel)
-> the difference between /i:/ and /æ/ diferrence of tongue
height
Tongue height can be changed by moving the tongue/ jaw up
and down.
Front vowels: the back of the tongue is not raised /i:/ /æ/
Back vowels: the back of the tongue is the highest point ɑː -
calm; uː - too
2. Cardinal vowels are a standard reference system, and
people have to learn to make the phonetics accurately and
recognise them correctly.
Primary cardinal ( most familiar to the speaker of most
European language)
Secondary cardinal (less familiar)
 Front and back: The movement of the back of tongue with
the roof of mouth
Close – Open: strong/ weak open

3. Lip-position: 3 possibilities
+ Rounded: lips are brought towards each other and the lips
pushed towords. Eg: /u/
+ Spread: lips moved away from each other, as for a smile.
Eg:/i/
+ Neutral: lips are not noticeably rounded or spread . eg:/er/
has neutral lip position

2.3 English short vowels

bit –bid 1. Short vowels : are only relative short

- /I/ in “bit” precedes a fortis (because vowels can have quite different lengths in different
consonant t contexts) context: bid-bit (i đứng trước d; đứng trước t)
- /I/ in “bid”, precedes a lenis Position or environment
consonant d 2. The symbols: ɪ, e,ӕ, ʌ, ʊ, ɒ, ǝ
So /I/ in “bit” is shorter than /I/ in + /ɪ/: the close front area (eg: bit, pin, fish)
“bid” + /e/: lips slightly spread; between cardinal – 2 /e/ and – + /ɜ/
(eg: bet, men, yes)
+ /ӕ/: lips slightly spread; this vowel is front, but not quite as
open as cardinal vowel – 4 /a/ (eg: bat, man, gas)
+ /ʌ/: lips position is neutral; this is central vowel; more
open than the open-mid toungue height (eg: cut, come, rush)
+ /ʊ/: lips are rounded; nearest cardinal vowel – 8 /u/ (put,
pull, push)
+ /ɒ/: lips are slightly rounded; not fully back, and between
open-mid and open in toungue height. (eg: pot, gone, cross)

End.