By Wafaa ouhemmou, S6

Phonetics

Consonants
Places of articulation

Bilabial: lips together p b m β ʙ ɸ

Labiodental: put your lower lip to your upper teeth- ɱ ⱱ f v ʋ

Dental: the tip of the tongue (active articulator) approaches or touches the upper teeth
(passive)- θ ð

Alveolar: the tongue tip approaches/touches the alveolar ridge- t d n r s z l ɾ ɬ ɮ ɹ l

Post-alveolar/palato-alveolar: blade of tongue constricts back of alveolar ridge- ʃ ʒ

Retroflex: the tongue tip is curled up to the back of the alveolar ridge- ʈ ɖ ɳ ɽ ʂ ʐ ɻ ɭ

Palatal: front of the tongue body (active) to the hard palate (passive)- c ç j ɟ ɲ ʝ ʎ

Velar: the back of the tongue(active) to the soft palate (velum-passive)- k ŋ x ɡ ɣ ɰ ʟ

Uvular: back of tongue(active) raised towards the uvula(passive)- q χ ɢ ɴ ʀ ʁ

Pharyngeal: constricting muscles of the neck and contracting the pharynx- ħ ʕ

Glottal: narrow opening between the vocal folds which creates some turbulence in the
airstream- ʔ h ɦ

---------------------------------------------------------

Stricture: The extent to which the oral tract is constricted

Vowels (no friction)àopen approximation (approximant)àclose approximation(fricative)à

complete closureà non-maintainableàtap/flap àtrill àmaintainableàstop àplosive

Modes of phonation: Voicing-status of the vocal folds when speaking.

Bernoulli effect:

- an aerodynamic effec

-cycle of opening and closing the vocal folds-produces vibrations

1. As the air encounters the vocal folds, the stream of air creates pressure. As this pressure

builds up it causes the vocal folds to blow apart.

2. As the vocal folds blow apart (slowly) the air travelling through them speeds up.

3. This acceleration of air in turn causes the pressure to drop at the glottis.

4. Because of the low air pressure, the vocal folds are sucked together and approximate again

5. The folds stay together, of course, only until the pressure builds up again to blow the vocal

folds back apart.

Consonants non-pulmonic:

Click: raising the back of the tongue to make firm contact with the soft palate. Air in front of this tongue
may then be sealed off (velaric/oral airflow)-ingressive- ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ

Implosive: sounds using an ingressive glottalic airflow- ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ

Ejective(glottalised stops): egressive glottalic sounds- ʼ

Other symbols

ʍ vl labial-velar fricative

w vd labial-velar approximant

vd labial-palatal approximant ɥ

vl epiglottal fricative ʜ
vd epiglottal fricative ʢ

ʡ vd epiglottal plosive

vl alveolo-palatal fricative ɕ

ʑ vd alveolo-palatal fricative

ɺ vd alveolar lateral flap

A. Major Articulators

Articulations will be described in terms of the five major parts of the vocal tract that move (i.e.
Active Articulators):

• LABIAL (gestures involving the upper and the lower lips)

• CORONAL (articulations involving the tip and the blade of the tongue)

• DORSAL (articulations involving the body of the tongue)

• RADICAL (articulations involving either the root of the tongue or the epiglottis)

• GLOTTAL (gestures involving the glottis)

The five articulators are shown in the figure below:

Following are the different parts involved in the generation of speech sounds:
B. Place Features

1. LABIAL: If consonants in which either the upper or lower lip is involved as an articulator are
classified as labials then there are two place classes among labial sounds:

a. Bilabial: are made with a gesture that involves a lowering of the upper lip in addition to the
larger and more significant movement of the lower lip:

b. Labiodental: Labiodental articulation involves the juxtaposition of the lower lip and upper
teeth as in the production of

2. CORONAL:

Sounds made with the tip of the tongue are said to be apical. Those made the blade are said to
be laminal.

a. apical dental (interdental)

b. alveaolar /t, d, s, z, ts, dz/

c. postalveolar

d. Other consonants

i. The alveoaler laterals & The r-sounds

• Lateral approximant [l] as in English Laugh and lie.

• Lateral fricative and the lateral voiceless alveolar fricative occurs in Welsh, Bura
(Nigeria). Zulu (South Africa) has both voiceless and voiced
• Approximant : In producing this consonant there is no contact, but instead only an
approximation between the articulators. The sound occurs in languages such as Czech.

• Trill [r]: the primary characteristic of a trill is that it is the vibration of one speech organ
(usually the tongue tip) against a contact point in the dental/alveolar region, driven by
aerodynamic conditions

• Flap & tap Flaps are most typically made by retracting the tongue tip behind the alveolar
ridge and moving it forward so that it strikes the ridge in passing. This is

exactly what happens when American English speakers produce the well-known flap

allophone of post-stress pre-syllabic alveolar stop in words such as city, latter and

ladder. Taps are most typically made by a direct movement of the tongue tip to a

contact location in the dental or alveolar region as in the production of Spanish words such as

‘expensive’

3.DORSAL

a. Palatals

• The palatal stops [c] and the fricatives are not very common in

languages, but they are attested in Hungarian.

• the approximant [j] this is the semi-vowel in yes

• The palatal nasal is traditionally said to be the pronunciation of the French gn

in campagne, the Italian go in ogni, the Spanish ñ in mañana. However, in these

languages the is not always pronounced as a genuine palatal nasal. It may,

instead, be pronounced as an apical alveolar, laminal postalveolar, or larninal -

prepalatal nasal followed by a palatal semivowel [nj].

• The lateral approximant is traditionally said to be the pronunciation of Italian

gl in egli, Castilian Spanish ll in pollo. Again, however, it is not always

pronounced as a genuine palatal in these languages, but rather as

b. Velars

_ Sounds such as velar stops / k, g/, velar fricatives and the velar nasal .

c. Uvulars

_ Sounds such as uvular stops /q, G/, fricatives nasal /N/ and trill /R/.

C. Multiple Articulatory Gestures

There two types of co-articulation: double (coordinate) articulation and secondary

articulation:

a. Double articulation

b. Secondary articulation
Manners of articulation: (how is the flow of air restricted or stopped in the mouth ?).

Plosive: air is stopped and suddenly released-closing phase (of articulators)àhold

phaseàrelease phase:

Nasal: air through the nose- m n ŋ ɱ ɳ ɲ ɴ

Stop: complete closure followed by release: nasal + plosive: voice onset time-length of time
that passes between the release of a stop consonant and the onset of voicing, the vibration of
the vocal folds (p-voiceless-longer VOT. B-voiced-shorter VOT.)

Trill: series of taps-

Tap/flap: brief stop:

Fricative: constricted airflow through the vocal tract; air escapes through a narrow passage and
makes a hissing sound :

z: partial voicing-it’s quiet and it dies away in the middle of the friction
Lateral: sounds which involve airflow around the side of the tongue

Affricate: a single sound composed of a stop portion and a fricative portion.

Nasal: consonant sound made with a complete closure in the vocal tract (oral) and the velum lowered.

Liquid: a consonant sound in which the tongue produces a partial closure in the mouth, resulting in a
resonant vowel-like consonant.

Glide(semi-vowel): a vowel-like sound. such as /j, w/: these are vowel-like segments that function as
consonants. They are often called glides based on the idea that they involve a quick movement from a
high vowel position to a lower vowel.
 Vowels

- Air flows freely to create different sounds(resonant)

II. Vowel Patterns

Front vowel: bright vowel

Back vowel: dark vowel.

Diphthong: gliding vowel

-vowels that change quality during production

Central vowel: schwa.

The secondary cardinal vowels use the opposite lip rounding.

Foot: strut split-Northerners have a 5 term system whereas Southerners have a 6 term system
because they pronounce the vowels in these 2 words differently.

Qualitative vowel: nothing specific about the duration.

Quantitative vowel: long vowels.

Tenseness: pronunciation of a vowel with narrower mouth width (often, with the tongue being
raised), less centralization and longer duration.

Laxness: opposite of tenseness-vowel is produced as relatively more widened (often lowered),

centralized and shortened.

Distinctive Features
Tongue-root Features
Laryngeal Features

Manner of Articulation Features

 Phonology

PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES
1. ASSIMILATION AND DISSIMILATION
1.1 ASSIMILATION
Assimilation is the modification of a sound in order to make it more similar to some other
sound in its surrounding environment.
1.2 DISSIMILATION
2. SYLLABLE STRUCTURE PROCESSES
These refer to the relative distribution of consonants and vowels within a word.

Consonants or vowels may be deleted or epenthesized. Two segments may coalesce

into a single segment. A segment may change major class features. Two segments

may interchange. Any of these mentioned processes could cause an alteration in the

original syllable structure

2.2 Vowel deletion
3. WEAKENING AND STRENGTHENING
4. NEUTRALIZATION
 PHONOLOGICAL RULES

- They are similar, though not identical to phonemic rules.

- Phonemic rules express formally the relationship between sounds on the surface of the
corpus.

- Phonological rules relate the basic/underlying form of sounds to their surface manifestation.
They state the changes that occur to individual sounds in certain contexts.

Five types of rules will be considered. These are:

– Feature changing rules

– Rules for deletion and insertion

– Rules for permutation and coalescence

– Rules with variables

– Mirror image rules

1. FEATURE CHANGING RULES

-When segments undergo change, there are 3 things that need to be known:

a- which segments change

b- how they change

c- under what conditions they change

reminder: Obstruent sounds [-son] are produced without such characteristics :

stops, fricatives and affricates.

1.1 The Brace Notation

- The brace notation is a way of representing a set of sounds or phonemes in phonology. It uses curly
braces {} to enclose the set, and can be used to represent phonemes or phones that may appear in a
particular position in a word or phrase.

- For example, the set of vowel phonemes in English can be represented as {I, ɪ, e, ɛ, æ, ʌ, ɔ, o, u, ʊ}. This
means that any of these vowel phonemes could appear in a given position in a word or phrase.

- We can also use the brace notation to represent a set of sounds that are similar in some way. For
example, if we wanted to represent a set of voiceless plosives in English, we could write it as {p, t, k}.
This notation indicates that all of these sounds are voiceless plosives, and that they may differ in
terms of their place of articulation (e.g., bilabial, alveolar, velar).

- The brace notation can also be used in combination with other symbols to represent specific
phonological rules or processes. For example, we might use the notation [ ] to represent phonemes,
and the brace notation {} to represent a set of allophones that are in complementary distribution. So,
if we wanted to represent the allophones of the /t/ phoneme in English, we could write it as /t/ → [tʰ]
/ _{s, f, θ}/, indicating that the voiceless unaspirated [t] allophone appears before /s/, /f/, and /θ/ but
the plain [t] appears in all other contexts.
1.2 The Parenthesis Notation
Parenthesis notation in phonetics is a way of indicating additional information about a sound, such
as its aspirated or nasalized quality. It is also used to show differences in pronunciation that occur in
different contexts, called allophonic variation.

For example, let’s say we have the English word “cat”. The standard IPA symbols for the three sounds in
this word would be /k/ for the “c” sound, /æ/ for the “a” sound, and /t/ for the “t” sound. However, we
might want to indicate some additional information about these sounds. Perhaps we want to indicate
that the “t” sound is aspirated, meaning there’s a puff of air when it’s pronounced. We could do this
using parenthesis notation, like this: /k/ /æ/ /tʰ/.

The "tʰ" in this example Is the standard IPA symbol for an aspirated “t”, but with a small “h” inside
parentheses to indicate that it’s aspirated. Similarly, we could use parenthesis notation to indicate other
features, such as nasalization, length, or voicing.

Another common use of parenthesis notation is to indicate allophonic variation. Allophones are
different pronunciations of the same phoneme that occur in different contexts. For example, the English
“t” sound can be pronounced differently depending on where it occurs in a word. In some contexts, it’s
aspirated, as we saw above. In other contexts, it’s unaspirated, meaning there’s no puff of air. We could
use parenthesis notation to indicate this, like this: /t/ [tʰ] (before stressed vowel).
In this example, we’re saying that the “t” sound is pronounced as a regular, unaspirated “t” most of the
time, but when it comes before a stressed vowel, it’s pronounced as an aspirated “t”.

Parenthesis notation is a powerful tool for indicating phonetic features and allophonic variation. It
allows us to be more precise in our transcriptions, and to capture subtle differences in pronunciation
that might otherwise be overlooked.

2. RULES FOR DELETION AND INSERTION

2.1 Rules for Deletion
Deletion is the process of omitting a sound or sounds in a particular environment. For example, in
English, the sound /t/ may be deleted in the word "often", which is often pronounced as "of-en". This
deletion occurs because the /t/ sound is in a cluster with the following /n/ sound, and many English
speakers find it easier to pronounce the word without the /t/.
2.2 Rules for Insertion

Insertion, on the other hand, is the process of adding a sound or sounds in a particular environment.
For example, in some dialects of English, a /r/ sound is inserted after vowels in certain words, such as
"idea" or "saw". This insertion occurs because the dialect in question has a rule that requires a /r/
sound to be added in this context.
The rules for deletion and insertion vary from language to language and even from dialect to dialect
within a language. They can be quite complex, and they are often influenced by factors such as the
surrounding sounds, the stress pattern of the word, and the speaker's personal habits.

It's worth noting that while deletion and insertion are often thought of as separate processes, they
can also be seen as two sides of the same coin. For example, the deletion of a sound in one context
may result in the insertion of another sound elsewhere in the word.

3. RULES FOR PERMUTATION AND COALESCENCE

Permutation is a type of transformational rule that involves the reordering of sounds in a word. For
example, in English, the word "ask" is pronounced as /æsk/, but in some dialects or casual speech it
can be pronounced as /sæk/. This change in the order of the sounds is a result of a permutation rule.

3.1 Transformational Rules

Transformational rules are used in generative grammar to describe the relationship between underlying forms and
their surface forms. These rules account for the phonological changes that occur during the pronunciation of
words. Here are some general guidelines for formulating transformational rules:

Identify the underlying form (UF) and the surface form (SF) of a word or phrase. The underlying form represents
the abstract or phonemic representation, while the surface form represents the actual pronunciation.

Determine the specific phonological changes that occur between the UF and the SF. This can include processes
such as assimilation, dissimilation, deletion, insertion, and metathesis.

Define the conditions under which the transformational rule applies. This can involve specifying the phonetic
environment or adjacent sounds that trigger the rule.

Express the transformational rule using appropriate notation. The notation typically consists of symbols and
formulas that represent the input, output, and phonological changes involved.

Provide examples to illustrate the application of the transformational rule. These examples can demonstrate how
the rule operates on specific words or phrases.

Consider the order of application of transformational rules. Some rules may need to be applied before or after
others to account for the correct surface forms.

Evaluate the output of the transformational rule to ensure it produces the desired phonetic or phonological
changes. The resulting surface forms should align with the observed pronunciation patterns of the language in
question.

It's important to note that the specific formulation of transformational rules can vary depending on the linguistic
framework or theory being applied. The above guidelines provide a general outline, but the actual rules and their
notation may differ based on the theoretical approach used.
 It is worth noting that permutation and coalescence are just two of the many types of
transformational rules that exist in phonology. Other types of rules include
assimilation, dissimilation, deletion, epenthesis, and metathesis.

3.2 Metatesis and Coalescence

3.2.1 Metathesis
Metathesis is a process in which two sounds switch positions in a word. For example, in
English, the word "ask" is sometimes pronounced as "aks". This is an example of
metathesis, as the "s" and "k" sounds have switched places. Metathesis can occur for a
variety of reasons, such as ease of pronunciation or historical changes in a language.
One way to remember metathesis is to think of it as “switching it up” – the sounds are
switching places.
3.2.2 Coalescence
Coalescence, on the other hand, is a process in which two sounds merge together to
form a new sound. This can happen in a variety of ways, such as when a nasal consonant
(like "n" or "m") assimilates to a following consonant, or when two vowels merge
together to form a diphthong. For example, in many dialects of English, the word "tune" is
pronounced as /tjun/ or /tʃun/. This is a result of the coalescence of the sounds /t/ and /j/ or /tʃ/
and /j/, respectively.

Both metathesis and coalescence are governed by certain rules in phonology. For
example, in many languages, metathesis is not allowed to occur between certain sounds,
or it may only occur in certain phonetic environments. Similarly, coalescence may only
be allowed in certain contexts, such as when two specific sounds come into contact with
each other.

4. RULES WITH VARIABLES

In phonology, we often use rules to describe the way sounds interact with each other in a
language. Rules with variables are rules that involve placeholders, or variables, that represent
any sound in a particular position. These rules allow us to describe patterns that apply to
multiple sounds, rather than just specific sounds.

4.1 Assimilation
One common type of rule with variables is assimilation, which occurs when one sound becomes more
like another sound nearby. For example, in English, the word “impossible” is pronounced with a nasal
sound at the end, like “imposimble.” This is because the "n" sound in “impossible” assimilates to the
“m” sound in “able” that follows it. The rule for this assimilation might be written as “nasal + plosive →
nasal + nasal.”
4.2 Dissimilation
Another type of rule with variables is dissimilation, which occurs when two similar sounds in close
proximity become less similar. For example, in Spanish, the word for “sixth” is “sexta,” but the “s” and
“t” sounds are pronounced differently than they would be in isolation. This is because of a rule of
dissimilation, which might be written as “alveolar + alveolar → alveolar + dental.” In this case, the “t”
sound becomes dentalized to avoid having two alveolar sounds in a row.

4.3 Rules with Multiple Variables

Rules with multiple variables are rules that involve more than one placeholder, or variable. These rules
allow us to describe more complex patterns of sound changes in a language. For example, in many
languages, there is a pattern of vowel harmony, where the vowels in a word must all come from the
same class of vowels. We can describe this pattern using a rule with multiple variables, like “[-back] +
[+back] → [-back][+back].”
In this rule, the variables “[-back]” and “[+back]” represent two different classes of vowels, where one is
not back and the other is. The rule says that if there is a non-back vowel followed by a back vowel, the
non-back vowel becomes back to match the other vowel. So, for example, in Turkish, the word for
“water” is “su,” but the word for “tea” is “çay.” This is because the vowel in “su” is not back, while the
vowel in “çay” is, and the vowels in each word must agree with each other due to vowel harmony.

5. MIRROR IMAGE RULES

In phonology, mirror image rules refer to a specific type of phonological process in which the features of
a sound are reversed or “mirrored” in another sound within a word. This can occur across different
phonemes or within the same phoneme.
For example, let’s consider the English words “sip” and “ship.” In these two words, the difference in
sound is the presence or absence of aspiration, which is the release of a puff of air when producing a
sound. The “s” in “sip” is unaspirated, meaning there is no puff of air released, while the “sh” in “ship” is
aspirated, meaning there is a puff of air released.

Now, let’s consider the mirror image rule that applies to the consonants “t” and “k” in some languages.
In these languages, the aspiration or lack of aspiration in these sounds can be mirrored or switched. So,
in some contexts, an aspirated “t” can become an unaspirated “k,” and vice versa. For example, in Hindi,
the word for “three” is “teen,” pronounced with an unaspirated “t.” However, in the word for “thorn,”
which is “kaante,” the same sound is aspirated and pronounced as a “k.” This is an example of a mirror
image rule in action.
Overall, mirror image rules can be a useful tool in understanding how sounds in a language can interact
with each other and change based on their surrounding context. By understanding these rules, we can
better understand the complex patterns and processes that govern language at the phonological level.

RULES ORDERING

1- Determining underlying representations

2- Rule ordering
In phonology, rule ordering refers to the idea that the order in which phonological rules are applied can
affect the outcome of the phonetic realization of a word. Specifically, when multiple phonological rules
are applicable to a particular sound or sound sequence, the order in which these rules are applied can
influence the final output of the sound.
For example, let’s consider the English word “cats”. In English phonology, there is a rule that governs the
pronunciation of the plural “-s” morpheme. Specifically, the “-s” morpheme is pronounced as /s/ when it
follows a voiceless consonant, such as in the word “cats”, but is pronounced as /z/ when it follows a
voiced consonant, such as in the word “dogs”.

However, there is another phonological rule in English that governs the pronunciation of final
consonants in certain contexts. Specifically, a final voiceless plosive (such as /p/, /t/, or /k/) is often
pronounced with a glottal stop in certain contexts, such as when it occurs before a vowel sound.
Now, let’s consider how these two rules might interact in the word “cats”. If we were to apply the plural
rule before the final consonant rule, we would end up with the pronunciation [kæts] (with a final /s/
sound). However, if we were to apply the final consonant rule before the plural rule, we would end up
with the pronunciation [kæʔts] (with a glottal stop after the /t/ sound).

Thus, the order in which these rules are applied can have a significant impact on the final pronunciation
of the word. This is why rule ordering is an important concept to consider when analyzing phonological
patterns in a language.