330 likes | 1.12k Views
Consonant Dimensions of Articulation. September 20, 2013. Canadian Raising. Another characteristic of Canadian English is the “raising” of the first part of the diphthongs and . In both cases, [a] “Raising” because low mid.
E N D
Consonant Dimensions of Articulation September 20, 2013
Canadian Raising • Another characteristic of Canadian English is the “raising” of the first part of the diphthongs and . • In both cases, [a] • “Raising” because low mid • This happens only in certain sound environments: • “out” “loud” • “write” “ride” • “pipe” “bribe” • “like”
Canadian Raising (Canadian) Jon (American) Steve “house” “howl” “bike” “bile” • For fun: switch Jon’s vowels in “bike” and “bile” • Also compare: • (Canadian) Aaron: • (American) Steve: • And, lastly, (Canadian?) Amber:
Consonants • To understand the Canadian Raising pattern, it helps to know more about the way consonants are produced. • Consonants productions may be characterized along a series of articulatory dimensions. • The first dimension to consider is: airstream mechanism. • Most speech sounds use a pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. • = air is pushed out of the lungs • it’s possible to produce pulmonic ingressive sounds; give it a try.
Dimension 2: Phonation • On the way out of the lungs • Air passes through the trachea • Reaches the larynx • The larynx consists of two “vocal folds” which may be opened and closed. If the vocal folds are: • 1. open: air passes cleanly through (voiceless sound) • 2. closed: air does not pass through (no sound) • 3. lightly brought together: vocal folds vibrate in passing air • (= voiced sound)
Voicing, Schematized Voiceless (folds open) Voiced (folds together)
Laryngoscopy Source: http://homepage.mac.com/changcy/endo.htm
Some Voicing Distinctions • Among English consonants: • VoicelessVoicedVoicelessVoiced • [f] [v] [p] [b] • [t] [d] • [s] [z] [k] [g]
Voicing Allophony • Vowels are longer before voiced consonants than voiceless consonants. • Length is denoted with the [:] diacritic. ‘feed’ [fi:d] vs. ‘feet’ [fit] • Note that Canadian Raising occurs before voiceless consonants. • voiceless: ‘out’ ‘write’ • voiced: ‘bribe’ ‘ride’
Layers • Canadian Raising occurs when and are followed by a voiceless consonant. • The voiceless consonant does not need to be at the end of a word. • Interesting examples: • ‘rider’ • ‘writer’ • Note: flap is voiced. • The voiceless consonant which induces Canadian Raising does not need to be voiceless on the phonetic “surface”! • The technical term for this is phonological opacity.
More Voicing Allophony • Consonants at the ends of words are sometimes devoiced. • Voicelessness is denoted with the [ ] diacritic. • ‘lose’ ‘peas’ • Also: ‘languages’ example from homework #1. • You can sometimes get contrasts in English like: • ‘peace’ ‘peas’ • /l/ and can be (partially) voiceless in English when they follow an aspirated consonant: • ‘play’
Aspiration Allophony • /p/, /t/, and /k/ are aspirated if: • They are at the beginning of a stressed syllable. • They are not preceded by /s/. • Ex:
Dimension 3:Place of Articulation • After the stream of air passes through the larynx… • speech sounds may be made by constricting the flow of air through the vocal tract. • The place where such constrictions are made is known as the place of articulation of the sound. • Constrictions are made by placing an active articulator against (or near to) a passive articulator. • Generally: • active articulator = on the bottom • passive articulator = on the top
English Places of Articulation Bilabial [p] [b] [m] Labio-dental [f] [v] Interdental Alveolar [t] [d] [s] [n] [l] Post-alveolar Palatal [j] Velar [k] [g]
X-Ray movie revisited • First check out “bogus”
Place Assimilation • Place assimilation occurs when: • One consonant’s place of articulation becomes identical to that of a neighboring consonant. • /n/ often takes on the place of articulation of a following consonant. • ‘unpleasant’ • ‘month’ • ‘engrossed’ • alveolars--except for /s/ and /z/--assimilate to following dentals • Ex: width, tenth, wealth
Front and Back • Velars /k/ and /g/ become fronted when preceding front vowels • the diacritic for “fronter” is • the diacritic for “backer” is • Examples: • ‘coo’ • ‘key’ • These diacritics may apply to vowels, as well. • Ex: ‘spoons’
Dimension 4: Aperture • The type of sound created by a constriction in the vocal tract depends on how narrow the constriction is. • Stop (or plosive): • Complete closure of the articulators • The airstream cannot escape through the mouth. • Fricative: • Close approximation of two articulators • The airstream is partially obstructed • Turbulent airflow is produced.
English Stops • Voiceless Voiced • Bilabial [p] [b] • Alveolar [t] [d] • Velar [k] [g] • Note--stops that: • Follow a vowel involve a closing gesture • Precede a vowel involve an opening gesture • Stops at the end of words may be unreleased. • Example: “chocolate pudding”
English Fricatives Voiceless Voiced Labio-dental [f] [v] Interdental Alveolar [s] [z] Post-alveolar Glottal [h]
Dimension 4:Aperture, continued • Approximant: • a gesture in which one articulator is close to another • but without turbulent airflow being produced. 4. Affricate • combination of stop + fricative
More English Consonants • Approximants: • labio-velar, voiced: [w] • palatal, voiced: [j] • Some dialects of English also distinguish: • ‘witch’ [w] vs. ‘which’ • = voiceless, labio-velar approximant • Affricates -- • Voiced: Voiceless:
For Monday • Have a go at: • Chapter 2, Exercise H, 1-8 (American Speaker) • Transcribe these as narrowly as you can. • (I will post this to the course web page later today.) • Note: this is a practice homework exercise that we will discuss together in class.