1.3.2 Voicing
-
When the vocal cords are apart(open), the air passes freely through the glottis.
Sounds made with such a configuration of the glottis are called 'voiceless'. On
the other hand, if the vocal cords are brought together, the air passing through
creates vibration, and the resulting sounds are 'voiced'.
-- Refer to figure 1.3 & 1.4
- It is important to point out that the cord vibration is not a muscular action.
When the cords are brought close to one another, the passing air creates a suc-
tion effect, and the cords are brought together.
1.3.3 Places of articulation
- The places of articulation of a consonant is the description of where the conso-
nantal obstruction occurs in the vocal tract by the placement of the tongue or by
lip configuration.
Bilabial: /p, b, m/
Labio-dental: /f, v/
Interdental: /ɵ, ð/
Alveolar: /t, d, s, z, n, l/
Palato-alveolar: /ʃ, ʒ, ʧ, ʤ/
Retroflex:
Retroflex sounds are made by curling the tip of the tongue up and back toward
the back of the alveolar ridge. The only retroflex sound in American English is /
r/.
Although both in retroflex sounds and in palato-alveolar sounds the constriction
is at the back of the alveolar ridge, these two groups are not identical; the
former is "apical"(with the tip of the tongue), and the latter is said to be
"laminal"(with the blade of the tongue).
(The possible place of /r/ can be alveolar or palatal)
Palatal: /j/, as in yes, is the only palatal sound of English. It is made with the front of
the tongue articulating against the hard palate.
Velar: In the production of English velars, /k, g, ŋ/, the back of the tongue articulates
against the velum(soft palate).
Glottal: These are sounds formed at the glottis, which include /h/(e.g. home) and the
glottal stop /ʔ/.
Labio-velar: The sound /w/ is the only consonant that has two places of articulation.
In the production of this sound, the lips are rounded("labial"), while at the
same time the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum("velar").
As a result, we place the symbol at both bilabial and velar places and call
the sound "labio-velar."
1.3.4 Manners of articulation
Stop: /p, b, t, d, k, g, ʔ/
Fricative: /f, v, ɵ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h/
Affricate: /ʧ, ʤ/
- Affricates always behave like one unit. For example, in a speech error such as key
chain [ki ʧen] becoming [ʧi ken], the affricate /ʧ/ is interchanged with a single
segment /k/. Affricates are also sibilants including fricatives /s, z, ʃ, ʒ/.
# Stops, fricatives, and affricates, which are produced by a considerable amount of
obstruction of the laryngeal airstream in the vocal tract, are collectively known as
'obstruents'.
Approximant: liquids + glides /l, r, j, w/
liquids: lateral /l/, retroflex /r/(rhotic)
glides: /j, w/
- Glides(semi-vowels) are vowel-like sounds that function like consonants: /j/ is like
the vowel /i/ and /w/ is like the vowel /u/ in production, while functioning like
consonants, as they do not occupy the syllable nuclei and they always need a vowel
to lean on.
Nasal: /m, n, ŋ/
# Approximants(liquids and glides) and nasals collectively form the group of consonants that
is known as 'sonorants' because they include a relatively unobstructed flow of air be-
tween
the articulator and the place of articulation.
# Refer to Table 1.2 for the consonants of English