Bangabandhu Institute of Comparative Literature & Culture

Jahangirnagar University

Course: CLC 402: Comparative Linguistic

Write a comparative analysis on key components of

Articulatory Phonetics along with examples.

Submitted to

S M Sabbih Hossain
Assistant Professor

Department Of English

City University

Submitted by

A. T. M. Foysal Rabbi
BA (Honors), 4th Year, Roll: 2055

Bangabandhu Institute of Comparative Literature & Culture

Jahangirnagar University
 Write a comparative analysis on key components of
Articulatory Phonetics along with examples.
In Linguistics phonetics is a subfield that focuses on how speech sounds are
produced and categorized globally. The process of producing speech examines how
various vocal organs, such as the lips, tongue, and teeth, work together to make
certain sounds. Phonetics studies speech sounds from different viewpoints and is
broken down into three categories that are studied in linguistics: i) Articulatory
phonetics: the production of speech sounds; ii) Acoustic phonetics: the physical way
speech sounds travel; iii) Auditory phonetics: the way people perceive speech
sounds.
Articulatory Phonetics is the study of how humans use their speech organs to
produce specific sounds. Articulatory phonetics concerned with describing the
speech sounds of the world’s languages in terms of their articulations; that is, the
movements and/or positions of the vocal organs (articulators). Generally speaking,
articulatory phonetics looks at how aerodynamic energy (airflow through the vocal
tract) is transformed into acoustic energy (sound). Our speech organs are: Lips,
Teeth, Tongue, Palate, Uvula (the teardrop-shaped soft tissue that hangs at the
back of your throat), Nasal and oral cavities, Vocal cords. Humans can produce
sound simply by expelling air from the lungs; however, we can produce (and
pronounce) a large number of different sounds by moving and manipulating our
speech organs (articulators).
In this discussion, we will look at the similarities and differences in the basic features
of Bengali and English articulatory phonetics.

Comparative Analysis between English and Bangla: The

perspective of Articulatory Phonetics
Although Bangla and English are quite different languages, they are also very
similar. They can be compared and contrasted with one other depending on
phonemics. Articulatory phonetics, a branch of phonemics, opens the gateway to
an exhaustive discussion of English and Bangla vowels and consonant sounds. It
also shows how vowel length and reduced vowels affect the meanings of the words
in English. Meanwhile, unique features of Bangla like vowel doubling and
nasalization are also learnt through Articulatory Phonetics discussion.
Both in Bangla and English, sound is divided into two parts: i) Consonant: sounds
that are produced with a major obstruction in the mouth cavity. ii) Vowel: sounds
that are produced without obstruction.
 Comparative Analysis: Consonant
There are mainly four parameters for describing the Articulatory Phonetics of
Consonants. They are:
Voicing: Whether the sound is voiced or voiceless
Nasality: Whether the sound is Nasal or Oral
Place of Articulation: Where the vocal tract is manipulated
Generally, Our vocal tract can be manipulated by:
• Bilabial (contact between the lips)
• Labio-Dental (contact between the
lower lip and the upper teeth)
• Dental (contact between the tip of
the tongue and the area just behind
the upper teeth)
• Alveolar (contact between the
tongue and the Alveolar ridge; this is
the ridged area between the upper
teeth and the hard palate)
• Post-alveolar (contact between the
tongue and the back of the Alveolar ridge)
• Palatal (contact between the tongue and the hard palate
or Alveolar ridge)
• Velar (contact between the tongue and the soft palate)
• Glottal (restriction of the airflow at the glottis)
Manner of Articulation: How the vocal tract is manipulated
• Plosive
• Fricative
• Affricate
• Approximant
 Figure: 1
Place of Articulation
Voicing Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Post- Palatal Velar Glottal
dental alveolar
Plosive Voiceless p t k
Manner of Articulation

Voiced b d g
Fricative Voiceless f s ʃ h
Voiced v z ʒ
Affricate Voiceless θ tʃ
Voiced ð dʒ
Nasal Voiced m n ŋ
Lateral Voiced l
Approximant
Approximant Voiced w r j

Figure: 1 shows the points of Articulation of English Consonant Phonetics.

Figure: 2

Figure: 2 shows the points of Articulation of Bangla Consonant Phonetics.

According to Figure 1 and Figure 2; Similarities between English and Bangla
Consonants:

The bilabial plosives /p b/ or /প ব/; the alveolar plosives /t d/ or /ট ড/; the alveolar
fricative /s/; the palatal fricative sound /ʃ/ or / / sound and the velar plosives /k g/
or /ক গ/ phones exist in both English and Bangla.

Both languages have same nasal consonants. Bengali has nasal plosives like /m/,
/n/, and /ŋ/, which are similar to English nasal consonants like /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/
Bangla and English are similar in that they share the lateral consonant /l/.
Furthermore, both Bangla and English have the glottal sound /h/. Another similarity
between Bangla and English is the approximate consonants /r w j/.

According to Figure 1 and Figure 2; Differences between English and Bangla

Consonants:

The bilabial plosives /pʰ / bʱ / or /ফ ভ/; the alveolar plosives / tʰ/ dʱ / or /ঠ ঢ/ and
the velar plosives /kʰ / gʱ / or /খ / ঘ/ are present in Bangla but absent in English.
On the other hand, Bangla lacks the palatal fricative /ʒ/, the alveolar fricative /z/,
and the bilabial fricatives /f / v/.
Bangla and English sounds are entirely different in some places. For instance, Bangla
features a new set of dental plosives, /t̪ t̪ ʰ d̪ d̪ʱ /, whereas English has the dental
fricative sounds / θ ð /.

English and Bangla post-alveolars differ as well. Bangla has the /c cʰ ɟ ɟʱ/ or /চ ছ
জ ঝ/ post-alveolars plosives whereas, English has the /tʃ ʤ/ fricatives.

In English, the sound ‘r’ comes from Post-Alveolar Approximant. In Bangla, there
are three different value for ‘r’; one from Alveolar Tap (র/ r), Another two from
Alveolar Flap (ড়/ɽ, ঢ়/ɽʱ).

Comparative Analysis: Vowels

The definition of a vowel is a speech sound that is articulated with the airstream
flowing freely through the nasal or oral cavities without any closure, obstruction, or
narrowing. There are four parameters for describing the Articulatory Phonetics of
Vowel:
Tongue Height: How close to roof of the mouth; can be classified into high, low,
and mid Vowels.
Tongue Backness: How far back in mouth; classified into front, back, and central
vowels.
Lip Rounding: Whether lips are ‘puckered’
Tongue Tenseness: How ‘Tense’ the tongue is
 English Vowel Diagram Bangla Vowel Diagram

Similarities between English and Bangla Vowels:

Both languages have similar basic vowel categories such as front vowels (/i/, /e/),
central vowels (/ə/), and back vowels (/u/, /o/).
Both languages use similar articulatory features to distinguish vowels, such as vowel
height (high, mid, low) and backness (front, central, back). For example, both
languages have high front vowels (/i/ in English, /i/ in Bangla) and low back vowels
(/ɑ/ in English, /ɑ/ in Bangla).
Differences between English and Bangla Vowels:
Bangla have pure vowels such as /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, and /u/, while English includes
additional diphthongs and tense/lax vowel pairs like /eɪ/ (as in "day"), /aɪ/ (as in
"sky"), and /æ/ (as in "cat").
Between English and Bangla, the length of vowels affecting the meaning of
homonyms is a feature unique to English. For example English has both Front Close
/ i / and Front half-close / I /. On the other hand, Bangla has only Front close / i /.
Bangla has phonemic nasalized vowels, such as /ã/, where the nasalization is
inherent to the vowel phoneme itself. In contrast, English typically nasalizes vowels
due to the influence of adjacent nasal consonants.
In conclusion, the comparative analysis of Bangla and English articulatory phonetics
unveils both similarities and distinctions in the production of consonants and vowels.
While shared articulatory features exist, such as place and manner of articulation,
the nuanced differences in phonetic realization underscore the unique linguistic
systems of Bangla and English.