Chapter 2: Phonetics III

Description of speech sounds

Consonants

In the description of consonants, we need to specify 3 things:

• State of the vocal cords: Remember that a voiced sound is produced when the vocal
cords approach each other and vibrate while in a voiceless sound the cords are wide
apart; we breathe openly: Open glottis.

• Place of articulation: The point at which the airflow is modified. In other words, the
organs of speech responsible for their production (Lips, teeth, tongue, palate…)

• Manner of articulation: The way in which the air is modified: Is it stopped, constricted
etc. (See below).

The following is a description and classification of English consonants and some Arabic
consonants.

/b/: voiced bilabial stop as in: back, break

/p/: voiceless bilabial stop as in: pack, Lip

/m/: voiced bilabial nasal as in: moon, mice

/n/: voiced alveolar nasal as in: noon, nice

/w/: voiced bilabial approximant (semi-vowel) as in: way, weak

/d/: voiced alveolar stop as in: dear, doll

/t/: voiceless alveolar stop as in: tear, toll

/l/: voiced alveolar lateral as in: light, label

/θ/: voiceless dental fricative as in: tooth, faith

/ð/: voiced dental fricative as in: though, this

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/ƒ/: voiceless labio-dental fricative as in: fast, off
/v/: voiced labio-dental fricative as in:
vast, of

/ѕ/: voiceless alveolar fricative as in: bus, rice

/z/: voiced alveolar fricative as in: buzz,
rise

/ʃ/: voiceless palato- alveolar fricative as in: show, brush

/Ʒ/: voiced palato- alveolar fricative as in: measure, television

/ʧ/: voiceless palate-alveolar affricate as in: choke, each

/ʤ/: voiced palate- alveolar affricate as in: joke, jungle

/ј/: voiceless palatal approximant (semi-vowel) as in: young, beyond

/k/: voiceless velar stop as in: came, pick

/g/: voiced velar stop as in: game, pig
/ŋ/: voiced velar nasal as in: writing, singing

/h/: voiced glottal fricative as in: hell, behind

/r/: voiced alveolar trill as in: bright, read (this consonant is also described
differently according to variation in spoken language)
/ҁ/: voiced glottal stop as in: butter, little (used in some British accents)

Some Arabic consonants:

/q/: voiced uvular stop as in: /qalam/, /qI sm/

/ˠ/: voiced velar fricative as in: /ˠali/, /ˠI ta/
/x/: voiceless velar fricative as in: /xatəm/, /xalI /
/ʕ/: voiced pharyngeal/glottal stop as in: /muʕmin/ - /suʕa l/
/ħ/: voiceless pharyngeal fricative as in: / ħanan/, /ħlal/

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Vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs.
Vowels:

A vowel is defined as a voiced sound which involves no obstruction, no contact and

no friction of air. Air escapes in a continuous stream through the pharynx and the
mouth.

Vowels differ from one language to another. It is difficult to describe them, and this is
why phoneticians devised a frame, in the form of a quadrilateral (see below), which is a
model to refer to, and they used Cardinal Vowels as points of reference.
Cardinal Vowels are clearly measured, have fixed invariable characteristics and do not
belong to any language. They are theoretical points to which phoneticians refer in
studying the differences between vowels in terms of openness, backness and
rounding.

There are 8 primary cardinal vowels (and 8 secondary cardinal vowels), according to
which phoneticians classify vowels in specific languages. They use a quadrilateral as a
frame to show the position of vowels.

(You can find more examples in the links below).

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https://www.google.com/search?q=a+quadrilateral+for+cardinal+vowels&tbm=isch&sou
rce=iu&ictx=1&fir=ZpThJZ5hPhMmwM%253A%252Cxb56shopfRTZMM%252C_&vet=1
&usg=AI4_-kRmfXnpkImOubntBL-
soNiEM3v50w&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj0lfK3x_DoAhWOAGMBHULHA5UQ9QEwCnoEC
AMQGw#imgrc=EVA2qpvFLZWQqM

Vowels are generally described and classified in terms of 3 main articulatory

dimensions, represented in a quadrilateral:

• The state of jaws: the degree to which the mouth is open. We can identify 4 positions:
open, half-open, half close, and close.

• The position of the highest point of the tongue: front, central or back.

• The position of the lips: rounded vs. unrounded. (Within unrounded vowels we can
identify vowels produced with neutral lips or spread lips)

For some vowels, the length (represented by two dots “:”) also needs to be specified:
long vs. short vowels.

The following is a description and classification of English vowels. Note that different
schools of phonetics use different symbols; for example, the vowel in sheep may be
represented as /I/ or as /i:/. However, we will be using one type of transcription,
suggested by the phonetician Daniel Jones.

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In phonetic transcription, students are advised to use, consistently, the same set of
symbols.

The vowels on the sides are cardinal vowels and those inside the diagram are English
vowels.

/I/: short front close, unrounded (with neutral lips) as in: sit, hit
/i:/: long front close unrounded (with spread lips) as in: seat, heat

/e/: front half-close unrounded (with neutral lips) as in: set, let

/æ/: front half-open unrounded (with neutral lips) as in: sat, practice

/ə/: short central half-close unrounded (with neutral lips) as in: ago, Teacher
/ ɜː/: long central half-close unrounded (with neutral lips) as in: bird, heard

/ ʌ/: central half-open unrounded (with neutral lips) as in: but, Sudden

/ʊ/: short back close rounded as in: pull, full

/ uː/: long back close rounded as in: pool, fool

/ɒ/: short back half-open rounded as in: shot, lot

/ ɔː/ long back half-open rounded as in: short, pour

/ɑː/: long back open unrounded (with neutral lips) as in: far, park

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 Diphthongs:

A diphthong is a vowel sound (a phoneme in English) where two single vowel

sounds/monophthongs are combined within a single syllable. It starts as one vowel
sound and goes to another. It can be considered as a double vowel sound, and this is
why we have to provide a description of the two sounds that are heard when
pronouncing a diphthong.

Diphthongs can be classified according to the second vowel sound, as shown in this
quadrilateral:

• tending to → /I/:
/eɪ/: front half-close unrounded → to front close unrounded as in late,
/aɪ/: central half-open unrounded → to front close unrounded as in: light, fight
/ɔɪ/: back half-open rounded → to front close unrounded as in: boy, boil

• tending to → /ʊ/:
/əʊ/: central half-close unrounded → to back close rounded as in: hole, low
/aʊ/: central half-open unrounded → to back close rounded as in: loud, crowd

• tending to → /ə/:
/ɪə/: front close unrounded → to central half-close unrounded as in: fear, rear
/ʊə/: back close rounded → to central half-close unrounded as in: secure,
endure
/eə/: front half-close unrounded → to central half-close unrounded as in: dare, prayer

Triphthongs:

A triphthong is a phoneme in English, considered as one vowel sound, but it is a

combination of a diphthong with the schwa /ə/ vowel. It is a combination which involves

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a quick but smooth movement of the articulator from one vowel quality to another that
passes over (i.e. via) a third. While "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, are said to have
one target articulator position, diphthongs have two, and triphthongs have three.

In the classification of triphthongs, we need to describe the three vowel sounds

involved.

/eɪ/ + /ə/ = /eɪə/: front half-close unrounded →via front close unrounded → to central
half-close unrounded as in: layer, player

/aɪ/ + /ə/=/aɪə/: central half-open unrounded →via front close unrounded → to central
half-close unrounded as in: fire,
higher

/əʊ/ + /ə/ = /əʊə/: central half-close unrounded →via back close rounded →to central half-
close unrounded as in : lower, grower

/ aʊ /+/ə/=/ aʊə/: central half-open unrounded →via back close rounded →to central half-
close unrounded as in: flower, hour

/ɔɪ/+/ə/=/ɔɪə/: back half-open rounded →via front close unrounded →to central half-
close unrounded as in: employer, destroyer

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 Some useful references:

 Allen, Robert. How to Write Better English. London: Penguin, 2005.

 Princeton University Dictionary. Word Web Pro. Online: WordWeb.info
 Campbell, Lyle. Historical Linguistics, An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 1998.
 Clark, John. An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1990.
 Crystal, David. How Language Works. Penguin Books Ltd, 2008.
 Gimson, A. An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English by A. C. Gimson. 2nd ed.
London: Edward Arnold, 1970.
 Hale, Mark. Historical Linguistics: Theory and Method. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.
 Jones, Daniel. An Outline of English Phonetics. 9th ed. Cambridge ; New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1975.
 Lehmann, Wilfred. P. Historical Linguistics: An Introduction. London: Routledge, 1992.
 Laver, John. “Linguistic Phonetics.” The Handbook of Linguistics. Ed. Mark Aronoff and
Janie Rees-Miller. Malden, Mass: Blackwell Publishers, 2001.
 O’Connor J. D. Advanced Phonetic Reader. Cambridge: year not known.
 O’Connor, J. D. Phonetics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973.
 Ogden, Richard. An Introduction to English Phonetics. Edinburgh University Press,
2009.
 Trask, R. L. Language and Linguistics, The Key Concepts. Abingdon: Routledge, 2007.
 Robinson, Tony. BEEP (British English Example Pronunciations). 1996. Cambridge
University Engineering Department, Cambridge, UK. Accessed Aug. 2010. <ftp://svr-
ftp.eng.cam.ac.uk/pub/comp.speech/dictionaries/beep.tar.gz>

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