Chapter 3: The sounds of language

Introduction to Linguistics – ENG 229

Phonetics
 Phonetics:
The study of the characteristics of speech sounds.
Articulation:Voiced and Voiceless
 How speech sounds are produced using the complex oral
apparatus we have?
 The air is pushed out by the lungs up through the trachea (or
windpipe) to the larynx. Inside the larynx are your vocal folds
(or vocal cords), which take two basic positions.
1. When the vocal folds are spread apart, the air from the lungs
passes between them unimpeded. Sounds produced in this way
are described as voiceless.
2. When the vocal folds are drawn together, the air from the
lungs repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through,
creating a vibration effect. Sounds produced in this way are
described as voiced.
Speech Organs
Speech Organs
Describing Consonants
 How do we describe/classify consonants?

1. Voicing
2. Place of Articulation
3. Manner of Articulation
Voicing
 Consonants produced with the vocal cords vibrating
are described as voiced.

 Consonants produced with no vibration of the vocal

cords are described as voiceless.
Voicing
 The presence and absence of vocal fold vibration can be
physically determined by placing your finger gently on
your Adam’s apple.
 Try to prolong the sound at the beginning of a word
like zinc (“zzzzzzz”).
 This is a voiced consonant produced with vocal fold
vibration.
 You should feel this vibration with your finger.
Voicing
 The presence and absence of vocal fold vibration can be
physically determined by placing your finger gently on
your Adam’s apple.

 Try to prolong the sound at the beginning of a word

like sink (“sssssssss”).

 This is a voiceless consonant produced without

vocal fold vibration.
 You should not feel any vibration with your finger.
Voicing
 The presence and absence of vocal fold vibration can be
physically determined by placing your finger gently on
your Adam’s apple.

 Try to prolong the following sounds:

[v] vs. [f]
[d] vs. [t]
[g] vs. [k]
Place of Articulation
 Once the air has passed through the larynx, it
comes up and out through the mouth and/or nose.
 The tongue and other parts of the mouth constrict
the shape of the oral cavity where the air passes
through.
 The location, inside the mouth, where this constriction
takes place is called place of articulation.
 Bilabials
 Bilabials They are formed by using both upper and
lower lips.
pat, bat, mat
They are represented by the symbols [p], which is
voiceless,[b], and [m], which are voiced.

 The [w] sound at the beginning of way, walk, and

world is also a bilabial.
 Labiodentals
 Labiodentals These are sounds formed with the
upper teeth and the lower lip.
fat, vat safe, save

 They are represented by the symbols [f], which is

voiceless, and [v], which is voiced.
 *Notice the case of final sounds of laugh and cough
Also, pay attention to initial sound of photo.
 Dentals
 Dentals These are sounds formed with the tongue tip
behind the upper front teeth.
thin, three, teeth, bath (voiceless)

 They are represented by the symbol [Ɵ], which is

voiceless, and [ð], which is voiced.
there, then, feather, bathe (voiced)
 Alveolars
 Alveolars These are sounds formed with the front part
of the tongue on the alveolar ridge, which is the
rough, bony ridge immediately behind the upper
teeth.
top, dip, sit, zoo, nut
 They are represented by the symbols [t], [d], [s], [z],
and [n]. [t] and [s] are voiceless
[d], [z], and [n] are voiced
 Other alveolars are [l] in initial position in words like
lap and lit, and the [r] in initial position in words like
right, write, and rip.
 Palatals
 Palatals These are sounds which are produced with
the tongue and the palate.
shout, child
 They are represented by the symbols [ʃ] and [ʧ]
respectively. (voiceless)
 Voiced palatal [ʒ] is not very common in English. It
can be found in middle position, as in treasure and
pleasure or in final position, as in rouge.
 Palatals
 The other voiced palatal sound [ʤ] can be found in
initial position in words like joke and germ, judge,
and George.
 [j] at the beginning of words like you and yet is also
a voiced palatal sound.
 Velars
 Velars Beyond the hard palate, you will find a
soft area which is called the soft palate, or the
velum.
 Sounds which are produced with the back of the
tongue against the velum are called velars.
kid, kill, car, cold (voiceless velar sound, [k])
go, gun, bag, mug, plague (voiced velar sound, [g])
 Velars
 The velum can be lowered to allow the air to flow
through the nasal cavity and produce another
voiced velar sound, [ƞ].
 In written English it is normally spelled as two letters
‘ng. ’
sing, sang, tongue
ringing ([ƞ] occurs twice)
 Glottals
 Glottals There is one other sound that is produced
withouth the active use of the tongue and other
parts of the mouth. It is the sound [h] which occurs
at the beginning of words like: have, house, who,
and whose (voiceless glottal)
 The ‘glottis’ is the space between the vocal cords in
the larynx.
 Manner of Articulation
 Manner of Articulation This aspect deals with how
the sounds are articulated.
 Stops
 Stops These sounds are produced by complete
‘stopping’ of the airstream (very briefly) and then
letting it go abruptly. They are also called ‘plosive’
sounds.
[p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g]
 A full description of the sound [t] at the beginning
of a word like ten, for example, is a ‘voiceless
alveolar stop’.
 Fricatives
 Fricatives The articulation of such sounds involves
almost blocking the airstream, and having the air
push through the narrow opening. As the air is pushed
through, a type of friction is produced and the
resulting sounds are called fricatives.
[f], [v], [Ɵ ], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ ], [ʒ]
 fish: begins and ends with ‘voiceless fricatives’
those: begins and ends with ‘voiced fricatives’
 Fricatives
 The sound [h], as in Hi or Hello, is voiceless and also
usually included in the set of fricatives.
 Affricates
 Affricates They combine a stop sound with an
immediately following fricative sound sharing the
same place of articulation, e.g. [ʧ] and [ʤ]

 These sounds occur at the beginning of words like:

cheap with ‘voiceless affricate’
and
jeep with ‘voiced affricate’
 Nasals
 Nasals Most sounds are produced orally, with the
velum raised, preventing airflow from entering the
nasal cavity. However, when the velum is lowered
and the airstream is allowed to flow through the
nose, the sounds produced are nasals.
[m], [n] and [ƞ]
 Nasal sounds are all voiced.
 Examples: morning, knitting, name (they begin and
end with nasal sounds).
Speech Organs
Speech Organs
What is a vowel?
 While the consonant sounds are mostly articulated via
closure or obstruction in the vocal tract, vowel sounds
are produced with a relatively free flow of air.

 Vowels are all voiced

IPA symbols for English vowels

[i] bead, beef, key, me

[ɪ] bid, myth, women
[ɛ] bed, dead, said
[æ] bad, laugh, wrap
IPA symbols for English vowels

[ə] above, oven, support

[ʌ] butt, blood, dove, tough

IPA symbols for English vowels

[u] boo, move, two, you

[ʊ] book, could, put

[ɔ] born, caught, fall, raw

[ɑ] Bob, cot, swan

Articulation of Vowels
 Different vowels are produced by changing the size
and shape of the vocal tract.
 The shape of the tongue is the primary factor in
determining the shape of the vocal tract.

 Articulatory descriptions of vowel sounds focus on

the position of the highest point of the tongue.

 The position of lips can also affect the quality of a

vowel.
Articulation of Vowels
 We think of the space inside the mouth as having a
front versus a back and a high versus a low area.
Articulation of Vowels
 Three major articulatory dimensions used in
classifying the vowels:

1. Height
❑ By moving the tongue body up and down within
the lower jaw, the oral cavity can be made
narrower or wider.

❑ This vertical dimension is called the height of the

vowel.
 Vowel Height

High Mid Low

[i] [ɛ] [æ]

dead, pet, said ban, cat, sat
eat, key, see
Articulation of Vowels
 Three major articulatory dimensions used in
classifying the vowels:

2. Frontness
❑ Most vowels are produced with a certain arching
of the tongue. This arching may be toward the
front, center, or back of the oral cavity.

❑ This horizontal dimension is referred to as the

frontness (or backness).
Front and back vowels

He /hi/ Who /hu/

Articulation of Vowels
 Three major articulatory dimensions used in
classifying the vowels:

3. Lip rounding
❑ Vowels may be produced with the lips rounded or
unrounded.
Lip roundedness
 Rounded [u], [ʊ], [o], [ɔ], [ɑ]
[u] e.g. noon

 Unrounded [i], [ɪ], [e], [ɛ], [æ], [ə], [a], [ʌ]

[i] e.g. heat
Describing Vowels

❑ The vowels are written in a chart that roughly represents the

height and frontness of idealized tongue positions.
❑ This representation is known as a vowel quadrilateral.
Describing Vowels

❑ [i] and [ɪ] are high front unrounded vowels.

❑ [e] and [ɛ] are mid front unrounded vowels.
❑ [æ] is a low front unrounded vowel.
Describing Vowels

❑ [ə] and [ʌ] are mid central unrounded vowels.

❑ [a] is a low central unrounded vowel.
Describing Vowels

❑ [u] and [ʊ] are high back rounded vowels.

❑ [o] and [ɔ] are mid back rounded vowels.
❑ [ɑ] is a low back rounded vowel.
Diphthongs
 A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds.
 A diphthong is a movement from one vowel to
another vowel.

 It begins with a vowel & ends with the glides [w] or

[j].

 [eɪ] bait, eight, great, late, say

 [aɪ] buy, eye, I, my, pie, sigh
 [ɔɪ] boy, noise
 [aʊ] bough, doubt, cow
 [oʊ] boat, home, throw, toe
Diphthongs

 [eɪ] bait, eight, great, late, say

 [aɪ] buy, eye, I, my, pie, sigh
 [ɔɪ] boy, noise
 [aʊ] bough, doubt, cow
 [oʊ] boat, home, throw, toe
Activity: identifying diphthongs

a. fright
1. [eɪ]
b. haste
2. [aɪ]
c. proud 3. [ɔɪ]
4. [aʊ]
d. joy
5. [oʊ]
e. avoid

f. hide
Activity: identifying diphthongs

 fright [aɪ]
 joy [ɔɪ]
 avoid [ɔɪ]
 proud [aʊ]
 hide [aɪ]
Phonetic Transcription

 We can use IPA transcription across languages,

there is one symbol for EVERY possible human sound

 There is a 1-1 correspondence of sound to symbol

 Cat [kæt]
 Cell [sɛl]
Transcription Practice
Transcribe the following words

 kick
 boot
 she
 the
 thin
Transcription Practice
Transcribe the following words

 Kick
 Boot
 She
 The
 Thin

 [kIk]
 [but]
 [ʃi]
 [ðə]
 [θɪn]
 ☺ ☺☺ Thank you ☺ ☺ ☺
Next class:
Plz read chapter 4: The sound patterns of language