Phonetics: Dimensions of Articulation

1. Phonetics:Dimensions of Articulation October 13, 2010

2. A Quick and Dirty Review • Last time we learned about…. • phonemes, phones, and allophones • phonetic transcription • the primary phonemes of the English language • the principle of contrast • This time we’ll learn: • how we actually produce the sounds of English

3. The Last Quick Write

4. The Last Quick Write

6. The Last Quick Write http://icanhascheezburger.com/

7. English Phonemes Unfamiliar IPA symbols, for vowels: 30. ‘bid’ “cap-I” 31. ‘bed’ “epsilon” 32. ‘bad’ “ash” 33. ‘bud’ “wedge” 34. ‘foot’ “upsilon”

8. More Diphthongs 35. [aj] ‘bide’ 36. [aw] ‘bowed’ 37. [oj] ‘Boyd’ • And one more: • 38. ‘about’ “schwa” • only appears in unstressed syllables. • Also--the following alphabetic symbols do not represent any English sound: • c q x y • However, they are used for sounds in other languages.

9. Stress • Stress makes a syllable sound more prominent. • (due to increased articulatory effort) • Stress may be denoted by an accent over the vowel in the stressed syllable. • Examples of stress contrasts: • “contrast” • (N) • (V) • “insult” • (N) • (V)

10. Tools of the Trade vocal tract diaphragm

11. A Basic Distinction • Vowels and Consonants • Vowels: unconstricted flow of air through vocal tract (above the glottis) • Consonants: completely or severely constricted flow of air through vocal tract • Also: sound is often created at the consonant constriction • Let’s look at the production of consonants first… • (it’s easier to sense what we’re doing with our articulators)

12. Consonants • Consonants are produced with more obstruction of the airflow through the vocal tract than vowels • They are characterized by the following set of attributes: • Voicing • vocal fold position and movement • Place of Articulation • location of constriction in the vocal tract • Manner of Articulation • type of constriction made in the vocal tract

13. Voicing • 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: • open: air passes cleanly through = voiceless sound • 2. lightly brought together: vocal folds vibrate in passing air • = voiced sound

14. Vocal Fold Schematics Voiceless (folds open) Voiced (folds together)

15. Some Voicing Distinctions • Among English consonants: • VoicelessVoicedVoicelessVoiced • [f] [v] [p] [b] • [t] [d] • [s] [z] [k] [g]

16. Laryngoscopy Source: http://homepage.mac.com/changcy/endo.htm

17. Stefan’s Bogus video

18. Place of Articulation • bilabial = • constriction made by both lips • bilabial consonants in English include: • [p] [b] • [m]

19. Place of Articulation • labio-dental = • constriction made by lower lip and upper teeth • labio-dental consonants in English include: • [f] [v]

20. Place of Articulation • interdental = • constriction made by pushing tip of tongue between the teeth • interdental consonants in English include:

21. Place of Articulation • alveolar = • constriction made by tip of tongue against alveolar ridge • alveolar consonants in English include: • [t] [d] • [s] [z] • [n] [l]

22. Place of Articulation • post-alveolar = • constriction made by blade of tongue behind alveolar ridge • post-alveolar consonants in English include: [r]

23. Place of Articulation • palatal = • constriction made by body of tongue near top of the palate • the only palatal consonant in English is: • [j]

24. Place of Articulation • velar = • constriction made by back of tongue against soft palate • velar consonants in English include: • [k] [g]

25. Place of Articulation • glottal = • constriction made at the glottis • glottal consonants in English include: • [h]

26. Stefan’s Bogus Video, again

27. Manner of Articulation • Stop = complete closure in vocal tract • English stops: [p] [t] [k] [b] [d] [g] • Fricative - narrow constriction that causes disruption of airflow • think “friction” • English fricatives: [f] [s] [h] [v] [z]

28. Manner of Articulation • 3. Affricate • = brief closure with a fricated release • English affricates: • 4. Nasal • = velum is lowered and allows air to flow through the nose • English nasals: • [m] [n]

29. The X-Ray video

30. Manner of Articulation • 5. Liquid = minimal constriction in vocal tract • lateral = tongue is constricted in center of mouth; air passes out through the sides of mouth • English lateral liquid: [l] • retroflex = tongue is either: • curled back • bunched up English retroflex: [r] 6. Glide = least amount of constriction without being a vowel • English glides: [w] [j]

31. What about vowels? • Vowel articulations can be characterized along four dimensions: • Height (of tongue body) • high, mid, low • Frontness (of tongue body) • front, central, back • Roundness (of lips) • rounded, unrounded • Tenseness • tense, lax

32. Corner Vowels

33. [i] to [a] movie

34. The “Vowel Space” The dimensions height and front/backness define the vowel space.

35. Other Vowel Features • Rounding: • [u], [o], are pronounced with rounded lips • the other English vowels are not • “Tenseness”: • A “tense” vowel is closer to the edge of the vowel space • a “lax” vowel is closer to the center • Ex: [i] is tense, is not. • Note: tense/lax distinctions are very hard for non-native speakers of English to hear