Subject: Phonetics

Under-graduate students of the Faculty of

Literature
UISU Medan
Lecturer: Prof.Drs.H.Efendi Barus,MA,Ph.D
Identification of Vowels and Vowel-like
Articulations
1. Nasalization
2. Summary of Vowel Quality
3. Semi-vowels
4. Secondary Articulation
 Nasalization.
• In phonetics, nasalization is the production of
a sound while the velum is lowered, so that
some air escapes through the nose during the
production of the sound by the mouth, such
as [n].
• As we have seen, nasalization of vowels
typically occurs when the vowel immediately
precedes, or follows, a nasal consonant /m, n,
ŋ/, as in words such as man [mæ̃ n], now
[naʊ̃ː] and wing [wɪ̃ŋ]. We can conclude that
the phoneme /a/ has at least three
allophones: [ɑ], [ɑː] and [ɑ̃].
 The difference between nasal sound and oral
sounds.

Consonants produced when the air is sent

through the mouth (the oral cavity) are called
oral sounds, and sounds produced when the air
is sent through the nose (the nasal cavity) are
called nasal sounds.
How are nasals produced?

A nasal consonant is a type of consonant

produced with a lowered velum in the mouth,
allowing air to come out through the nose,
while the air is not allowed to pass through
the mouth because something (like the
tongue or the lips) is stopping it.
•
What happens during the production of
nasalized vowel?

For most languages, a nasalized vowel is

produced when an oral opening is coupled with
velopharyngeal opening. This happens when a
nasal consonant occurs next to a vowel. There
are production alterations in the vocal tract
configuration in moving from the vowel to the
nasal consonant articulation [ij], [uw].
•
 Is Nasalization a phonological
process?
• It is argued that the different behavior of
nasalization in these two languages reflects
different inputs to speech production: In
Spanish, vowels followed by a nasal are
targeted as oral and nasalization is an
unintended vocal tract constraint, whereas, in
American English, vowels are targeted as
nasalized and vowel.
•
• Summary of Vowel Quality
• VOWEL QUALITY. A term in phonetics for the
property that makes one VOWEL sound different
from another: for example, /iː/ as in sheep from /ɪ/ as
in ship. The quality of a vowel is determined by the
position of the tongue, lips, and lower jaw, and the
resulting size and shape of the mouth and pharynx.
•
What makes a sound a semi-vowel?
The /w/ sound (letter "w") and /j/ sound (letter "y") are the
only two semi-vowels (also commonly called glides) in English.
These sounds can be created with slightly greater restriction in
the vocal tract than vowels, but less restriction than most other
consonants.
The /w/ sound and /j/ sound are known as "semi-vowels" for
many good reasons. Because the letters "w" and "y" can be
used to spell vowel sounds and because the /w/ sound and /j/
sound are each a portion of two-sound vowels, they are
sometimes thought of as vowel sounds. However, the /w/
sound and /j/ sound are not vowel sounds because they cannot
be syllabic (they cannot create a syllable). For example, if
the /w/ sound and /j/ sound could create a syllable, the words
when, we, you, and year (among many others) would be
pronounced with two syllables.
• Additional confusion is created because both the /w/ sound
and /j/ sound can combine with vowels to create two-sound
vowels. These cases are separate from the use of "w" and
"y" as representatives of distinct vowel sounds, however.

Vowel Sounds spelled with "w" and "y"

Generally speaking, the letters "w" and "y" will represent
a /w/ sound or /j/ sound when they are:
(a) at the beginning of a word (will, you)
(b) the first letter of part of a compound word (homework,
backyard)
(c) the first letter after a prefix (rewind, beyond)
Additionally, the letter "w" usually represents a consonant
sound when it follows another consonant, such as in the word
sweet.

In other positions within a word, the letters "w" and "y" are
usually associated with the spelling of a vowel sound. When
the letters "w" and "y" are used in vowel spellings, they are
representing the vowel sound, and not a /w/ sound or /j/
sound.

Vowel sounds spelled with a "w":

aw /ɑ/ in saw
ew /u:/ in new
ew /ju:/ in few
ow /oʊ/ in snow
ow /aʊ/ in cow
• Vowel sounds spelled with a "y":

• y /i/ happy
• y /aɪ/ by
• y /ɪ/ mystic
• oy /oɪ/ toy
• ay /eɪ/ day
Adding a /w/ sound Between Vowels:

heroic /hɪˈrowɪk/ (/oʊ/+/ɪ/)

fluent /ˈflu:wənt/ (/u:/+/ə/)

Adding a /j/ sound Between Vowels:

idea /aɪˈdi:jə/ (/i:/+/ə/)

science /ˈsaijəns/ (/aɪ/+/ə/)
 Secondary Articulation
• When an approximant articulation occurs at
the same time as another articulation is being
made at a different place in the vocal tract,
the approximant is said to form a secondary
articulation.

• Approximant, in phonetics, a sound that is produced by bringing one

articulator in the vocal tract close to another without, however, causing
audible friction (see fricative). Approximants include semivowels, such as
the /y/ sound in “yes” or the /w/ sound in “war.”
• Secondary articulations
• When an approximant articulation occurs at
the same time as another articulation is being
made at a different place in the vocal tract,
the approximant is said to form a secondary
articulation. There are special terms for some
of these possibilities. Added lip rounding is
called labialization; it occurs in the formation
of several English sounds—e.g., during the
pronunciation of the palato-alveolar fricative
at the beginning of the word shoe.
• Raising of the front of the tongue while simultaneously
making another articulation elsewhere in the vocal tract is
called palatalization. It is the distinguishing characteristic of
the soft consonants in Russian and also occurs, to a lesser
extent, in English; e.g., in the first consonant in the word
leaf. Raising of the back of the tongue to form a secondary
articulation is called velarization; it occurs in the last
consonant in the word feel, which therefore does not
contain the same sounds as those in the reverse order in the
word leaf. Retracting of the root of the tongue while making
another articulation is called pharyngealization; it occurs in
Arabic in what are called emphatic consonants
THANK YOU