unit 4 phonetics

UNIT 4

SUMM ARY AND KEY CONCEPTS

The Distinctive Consonant

There are 24 distinctive units which are consonant both in terms of their position in syllables and, in the majority of cases, in terms of their phonetic nature.They are classified in two general categories: OBSTRUENTS: those articulations in which there is a total closure or a stricture

causing friction, both groups being typically associated with a noise component. There is a distinctive opposition between voiceless and voiced types.Plosives, affricates and fricatives.

SONORANTS: those articulations in which there is only a partial closure or an unimpeded oral o nasal escape of air. Such articulations. They are tipically voiced and frictionless, i.e. without a noise component, and may share many phonetic characteristic with vowels.Nasals and approximants.

Consonant chart

PLOSIVE AFFRICATE FRICATIVE NASAL APPROXIMANT

BILABIAL p b m (w)LABIODENTAL f v DENTAL θ δ ALVEOLAR t d s z n lPOST-ALVEOLAR rPALATO-ALVEOLAR ʧ ʤ ∫ Ʒ PALATAL jVELAR k g ŋ wGLOTTAL h

PLACE OF ARTICULATIONS:Plosives and nasals -> bilabial, alveolar and velarAffricates, laterals and /r/ -> alveolarFricatives -> labiodental, dental, alveolar palto-alveolar and glottal

Usual spelling forms for consonants

/p/ → p, pp pin, apple

* Note: hiccough /ˈhɪkʌp/

/b/ → b, bb big, ribbon

/t/ → t, tt tea, littleth Thomas, Thamesed jumped, locked

/d/ → d, dd dog, middle

/k/ → k, c, cc king, car, occurq, qu, cqu cheque, quite, acquirech, ck stomach, chicken

/g/ → g, gg, gh go, egg, ghostgu, gue guilt, league

/t∫/ → ch, tch chair, watcherti, tu question, nature, actual

/ʤ/ → j, g jam, gemdj, dg adjective, edge

/f/ → f, ff fricative, affricateph, gh physics, enough

* Note: sapphire /ˈsæfaɪə/

/v/ → v, ve view, live, love

/θ/ → th thatch, cloth

/δ/ → th breathing, there

/s/ → s,se bus, tensess kissc, ce licencesc sciencex = /ks/ six

/z/ → s, se prison, rosess scissors, dessertz zoozz dizzy, jazzx = /gz/ exam

* Note: xenophobia /zenəˈfəbiə/

/∫/ → sh shoech, chs machine, fuchsias + u sure, sugar

ss + u assureti, si nation, missionsci, ci, ce conscience, special, ocean

* Note: schedule, fascist, luxury

/Ʒ/ → g genresi vision, divisions, z, ss + u measure, seizure, issuege beige, garage

* Note: regime

/h/ → h heat, abhor, adhere

/m/ → m morningmm summermb comb

* Note: autumn

/n/ → n nosenn funnygn gnawkn knowpn pneumonia

* Note: rendez-vous

/ŋ/ → ng songn + /k,g/ sink, uncle, income, bangle

/l/→ l leavell allow

* Note: talk, salmon

/r/→ r redrr carrywr writerh rhythm

/j/→ y yesi view, familiaru useue avenueew, eu new, adieu

* Note: beauty, you

/w/ → w westwh which, whatu following quick, language, suite<g,q,s>

* Note: one, once, choir

Obstruents

Plosives

Articulatory CharacteristicsThe complete articulation of a pulmonic egressive plosive, or stop, consonant consists of three stages:1) The CLOSING stage: articulating organs move together in order to form the

obstruction. There is often on-glide (a transition) audible in a preceding sound.

2) The COMPRESSION stage: lung action compresses the air behind the closure. It may or may not be accompanied by voice (vibration of the vocal folds)

3) The RELEASE stage: the organs forming the obstruction part rapidly, allowing the compressed air to escape abruptly (with an explosion)

Bilabial plosives: /p, b/. Definition

The soft palate being raised, the obstruction is made by the closure of the lips. Lung air is compressed behind this closure, during which stage the vocal folds don’t vibrate for /p/ but may vibrate for /b/ according to its situation in the utterance. The air escapes with force when the lip closure is released.

Alveolar plosives: /t, d/. Definition The soft palate being raised, the obstruction is formed by the closure made between the tip and rims of the tongue and the upper alveolar ridge and the side teeth. Lung air is compressed behind this closure, during which stage the vocal folds don’t vibrate for /t/ but may vibrate for /d/ according to its situation in the utterance. The air escapes with force when the alveolar closure is released.

Velar plosives: /k, g/. Definition The soft palate being raised, the obstruction is formed by the closure made between the back of the tongue and the soft palate. Lung air is compressed behind this closure, during which stage the vocal folds don’t vibrate for /k/ but may vibrate for /g/ according to its situation in the utterance. The air escapes with force when the linguo-velar closure is released.

Glottal plosive (stop): //. Definition

The obstruction is formed by the closure of the vocal folds that interrupts the passage of air into the supraglottal organs. The air pressure below de glottis is released by the sudden separation of the vocal folds. The compression stage consists of silence, its presence is manifested only by the sudden cessation of the preceding sound or by the sudden onset of the following one. The vocal folds don’t vibrate, so this plosive is voiceless, but an alternative viewpoint regards it as neither voiced nor voiceless because the position of the vocal folds is not that associated with other voiceless sounds.The glottal plosive is not a significant sound in the RP system, although is frequently used by RP speakers as a reinforcement or replacement, above all of plosives.

Phonemes and Main Allophonic VariationsOppositions in plosives phonemes may be realized by one or several of the following of phonetic features, i.e. plosives may be phonetically distinguished by:1) Place of articulation

/p, b/ -> bilabial/t, d/ -> alveolar/k, g/ -> velar

2) Force of articulation/p, t, k/ -> strong or fortis (because of they are voiceless)/b, d, g/ -> relatively weak or lenis (because of they are voiced)

3) AspirationOperates in voiceless plosives, /p, t, k/, when initial in an accented syllable followed by a vowel or an approximant. There is a voiceless interval consisting of strongly expelled breath between the release of the plosive and the onset of the following vowel or approximant.When a vowel follows /p, t, k/ the phenomena is called aspiration: [pn]When /l, r, w, j/ follow /p, t, k/ is called devoicing (of the approximant): [ple] Even though there are different degrees of aspiration, in general it may be said: /p, t, k/ with aspiration

vowel (aspiration) [pe]initial in stressed syllable +

approximant (devoicing) [twn]

/p, t, k/ without aspiration vowel [' pep ]

initial in unstressed syllab.+ approximant []

vowel [sp en]s + plosive within the same syllable in stressed syllab. + approximant [end]

4) VoicingVoiced plosive /b, d, g/ Are fully voiced when surrounding by voiced sounds Are devoiced /d, d, g/, though they remain lenis,

In initial position after a pause #[bn]a voiceless sound []

In final position before a pause #[bb]#a voiceless sound #[bb kem]

5) Length of preceding sounds. Pre-fortis clippingSyllables closed by voiceless consonant are shorter than those closed by voiced consonant.Shortening of vowels (particularly a long vowel or diphthong) and sonorants operates where the voiceless plosive series /p, t, k/ are in syllable-final position, and also when medially in a word (beat, writer) (pre-fortis clipping, i.e. shortening of sound before a fortis sound).When /b, d, g/ are devoiced in final position the only thing that makes these sounds different from the voiceless series /p, t, k/ is the length of the preceding vowel: /i:/ in beat is shorter than in bead, because t is fortis and d, although it becomes devoicing, maintains its original lenis.

6) The release stage of English plosivea) No audible release in final position

See allophonesb) No audible release in stop cluster

(a cluster of two stops: plosive + plosive or plosive + affricate) See allophones

c) Nasal releaseSee allophones

d) Lateral releaseSee allophones

e) Glottal reinforcement of final /p, t, k/It is typical of many types of British English that final /p, t, k/ (shop, shot, shock) have the oral closure reinforced by a glottal closure [].In some cases this glottal coincides in time with the oral closure, this latter may or may not be released audibly; in others the glottal closure anticipates the articulation of the oral closure so that the glottal is heard followed by the audible release of the oral plosive. In certain cases [] may replace /p, t, k/.

f) Affrication and weakening of plosiveIf the release of plosive closure is made slowly, a fricative sound articulated in the same place as the plosive will be heard; plosive made with this fricative release are said affricated, i.e., /p, b, t, d, k, g/ may be followed by brif fricatives [, , s, z, x, ]

ALLOPHONES OF PLOSIVES

1. Change in place of articulation/p, b/ + /f, v/ -> labiodental [ ]: subvert [sbt]

/t, d/ + /, / -> dental [ ]: width [wd] /t, d/ + /r/ -> postalveolar [ ] (retraction): train []

/k, g/ + w -> postvelar [ ] (retraction): gone []back vowel

/k, g/ + j -> prevelar [ ] (advance): kit []front vowel

2. Aspiration/p, t, k/ -> aspiration

vowel (aspiration): attire []stressed syllable initial + posution approximant (devoicing): twin [twn]

/p, t, k/ -> unaspiration vowel: paper []

unstressed syllable initial .+ position approximant: attribute []

vowel: spy []preceded by /s/ within the +same stressed syllable approximant: strange []

3. Types of release

Nasal release (velum is lowed before the release of plosive)/p, t, k/ + nasal -> [p, t, k]: chutney []/b, d, g/ [b, d, g]: submit []

[, , ] depend on the place of articulation of the plosive

Lateral release/t, d/ + lateral release -> [t, d]: Scotland []

bottle [] Non-audible release []

Affricate []/p, t, k/ + Plosive with dif. place of []/b, d, g/ articulation (non-homorganic plosive)

In final position []

Unreleased [ ]/p, t, k/ + homorganic plosive subplot []/b, d, g/

4. Voicing and devoicing/b, d, g/ -> devoiced

In initial position after a pause #[]#a voiceless sound []

In final position before a pause #[]#

a voiceless sound #[bb kem]Codfish [kdf]

/b, d, g/ -> fully voiced when surrounded by voiced sounds: London []

Recommendations for Spanish SpeakersSee Guía didáctica page 66.

Fricatives

Articulatory CharacteristicsIn the articulation two organs are brought and held sufficiently close together for the escaping airstream to produce local air turbulence; their, like plosives and affricates characterized by a noise component. This turbulence may or may not be accompanied by voice.

Labiodental fricatives /f, v/. Definition

The soft palate being raised, the inner surface of the lower lip makes a light contact with the edge of the upper teeth, so that the escaping air produces friction. For /f/ the vocal folds don’t vibrate, but may vibrate for /v/ according to its situation in the utterance.

Dental fricatives /, /. Definition

The soft palate being raised, the tip and rims of the tongue makes a light contact with the edge and inner surface of the upper incisors and a firmer contact with the upper side teeth, so that the air escaping between the fordward surface of the tongue and the incisors produces friction (being very weak in //). For // the vocal folds don’t vibrate, but may vibrate for // according to its situation in the utterance.

Alveolar fricatives /s, z/. Definition

The soft palate being raised, the blade (or the tip and blade) of the tongue makes a light contact with the upper alveolar ridge, and the side rims of the tongue make a firmer contact with the upper side teeth. The air escapes by means of a narrow groove (ranura, surco) in the centre of the tongue and causes friction between the tongue and the alveolar ridge. There is a little opening between the teeth. For /s/ the vocal folds don’t vibrate, but may vibrate for /z/ according to its situation in the utterance.

Palato-alveolar fricatives /, /. Definition

The soft palate being raised, the tip and blade of the tongue make a light contact with the upper alveolar ridge, the front of the tongue being raised at the same time in the direction of the hard palate and the rims of the tongue make contact with the upper side teeth. The air escapes diffusely (comparing with that of /s, z/), the friction occurring between a more extensive area of the tongue and the roof of the mouth. For // the vocal folds don’t vibrate, but may vibrate for // according to its situation in the utterance.

Glottal fricative /h/. Definition

English /h/ occurs only in syllable-initial, pre-vocalic positions.The air is expelled from the lungs with considerable pressure, causing some friction throughout the vocal tract, the upper part of which is shaped in readiness for the articulations of the following vowel. Thus differing types of friction (patterns of resonance) will be heard for /h/.

Phonemes and Main Allophonic VariationsOppositions in fricatives phonemes may be realized by one or several of the following of phonetic features, i.e. fricatives may be phonetically distinguished by:1) Place of articulation

/f, v/ -> labiodental/, / -> dental/s, z/ -> alveolar/, / -> palato-alveolar/h/ -> glottal

2) Force of articulation/f, , s, / -> strong or fortis (because of they are voiceless)/v, , z, / -> relatively weak or lenis (because of they are voiced)/h/ -> is normally fortis in character, but may have a lenis allophone

3) VoicingVoiced fricatives /v, , z, / Are fully voiced when surrounding by voiced sounds Are devoiced /v, , z, /, though they remain lenis,

In initial position after a pause vana voiceless sound

In final position before a pause rougea voiceless sound

Voiceless /h/ -> voiced in word-medial position between voiced sounds: anyhow

4) Length of preceding sounds. Pre-fortis clippingWhen fricatives occur in final and medial position, the perception of voiceless and voiced consonants is largely determined by the length of the preceding sound.Shortening of vowels (particularly a long vowel or diphthong) and sonorants operates when the voiceless fricatives series /f, , s, / occur in a final or medial position (leaf, earthy) (pre-fortis clipping, i.e. shortening of sound before a fortis sound).When /v, , z, / are devoiced in final position almost the only thing that makes these sounds different from the voiceless series /f, , s, / is the length of the preceding vowel: /i:/ in leaf is shorter than in leave, because f is fortis and v, although it becomes devoicing, maintains its original lenis.While they shorten the vowels and sonorants which precede them, voiceless fricatives are themselves longer than their voiced equivalents.

ALLOPHONES OF FRICATIVES

1. Voicing and devoicing

/v, , z, / -> devoiced /v, , z, / (the same rules as plosives)word initial position a pause #[]#

after a voiceless sound

word final position a pause #[]#before a voiceless sound [bb f] 1

/h/ -> voiced [] surrounded by voiced sounds: ahead [][] vs. ]


Affricates

Articulatory CharacteristicsThe term ‘affricate’ denotes a concept which is primarily of phonetic importance. Any plosive whose release stage is performed in such a way that considerable friction occurs approximately at the point where the plosive stop is made, may be called ‘affricative’. In English only /t, d/ may have this type of release, namely // They are, like plosives and fricatives, characterized by a noise component. This friction may or may not be accompanied by voice.

Palato-alveolar affricates /t, d/. Definition

The soft palate being raised, the closure is made between the tip, blade and rims of the tongue and the upper alveolar ridge and side teeth, the front of the tongue being raised at the same time towards the hard palate in readiness for the fricative release. The closure is released slowly, the air escapes diffusely over the whole of the central surface of the tongue with friction occurring between the blade/front region of the tongue and the alveolar/front palatal section of the roof of the mouth. During both stop and fricative stages, the vocal folds don’t vibrate for /t/, but may vibrate for /d/ according to its situation in the utterance.

Phonemes and Main Allophonic VariationsFrom a functional or distributional point of view these sounds may be considered either as single phonemic entities or as sequences of two phonemes. The choice of phonemic solution will depend upon the purpose of the analysis.Only /t, d/ are taking as phonemic affricates (unit phonemes)

1 The voiceless sound (/f/) affects the two preceding sounds in case of plurals, 3th person singular, past tense and genitive.

Length of preceding sounds. Pre-fortis clippingThe voiceless /t/, when final in a syllable has the same effect reducing the length of preceding sounds as was noted for /p, t, k/.This effect must be taken as the primary perceptual cue to the /t/-/d/ opposition in final position.

ALLOPHONES OF AFFRICATES

1. Devoicing

/d/ -> devoiced /d/ (the same rules as plosives and fricatives)word initial position a pause #[dd]#

after a voiceless sound

word final position a pause #[dd]#before a voiceless sound


Sonorants

Nasals

Articulatory CharacteristicsNasal consonant resembles oral plosive in that a total closure is made in the mouth; they differ in that the soft palate is lowered, allowing the airstream to escape into the nasal cavity. Since the air may escape freely through the nose they are continuants; they differ from continuants such as fricatives in that they are frictionless and voiced.They resemble vowel-type sound (frictionless continuants and voiced).

Bilabial nasal: /m/. Definition

The lips form a closure as for /p, b/; the soft palate is lowered, adding the resonance of the nasal cavity to those of the pharynx and the mouth cavity closed by the lips. Except when partially devoiced by a preceding voiceless consonant, /m/ is voiced.

Alveolar nasal: /n/. Definition The obstruction is formed by the closure made between the tip and rims of the tongue and the upper alveolar ridge and the side teeth, as for /t, d/; the soft palate is lowered, adding the resonance of the nasal cavity to those of the pharynx and of that part of the mouth cavity behind the alveolar closure. Except when partially devoiced by a preceding voiceless consonant, /m/ is voiced.

Velar nasal //. Definition A closure is made in the mouth between the back of the tongue and the soft palate as for /k, g/; the soft palate is lowered, adding the resonance of the nasal cavity to those of the pharynx and of that small part of the mouth cavity behind the velar closure.// is normally voiced, except for partial devoicing in the possible, though uncommon, case of syllabic // in words like bacon, thicken.Word-final // may result in context of /n/, e.g. ten cups.

Phonemes and Main Allophonic Variations1) Place of articulation (correspond to the three oral plosive areas of

articulation)/m/ - /p, b/ -> bilabial/n/ - /t, d/ -> alveolar// - /k, g/ -> velar

2) // does not occur initially in a word or morpheme.3) The vocalic nature of nasals is underlined by the fact that they readily

perform the syllabic function of vowels (syllabic consonant): most often /n/ (mutton [‘mtn]), less commonly /m/ (rhythm [‘r]), occasionally // (bacon [‘be])

ALLOPHONES OF NASALS

1. Change in place of articulation/m, n/ + /f, v/ -> labiodental []: comfort [‘kft] /n/ + /, / -> dental [ ]: tenth [ten] /n/ + /r/ -> postalveolar [ ] (retraction): Henry [‘henri]

[‘lri] 2

// preceded by back vowel -> postvelar [ ] (retraction): long [l]// preceded by front vowel -> prevelar [ ] (advance): king []

2. Devoicing/m, n/ -> devoiced when preceded by a voiceless sound: [smel] [sn]

(in the same word)// -> devoiced when becomes syllabic and preceded

by a voiceless sound: [‘be]


2 /r/ affects both sounds /n, d/ because both are alveolar

APPROXIMANTS (Oral approximants)

Articulatory CharacteristicsThe airstream escapes through a relatively narrow aperture in the mouth without friction but with voice (apart from some allophones).A consonant plus an approximant (/l, r, j, w/) is one of the most common two-consonant clusters which occur in syllable-initially, the other is /s/ plus consonant. Palatal and Labial-velar approximants /j, w/ are called semi-vowels. A semi-vowel is a rapid vocalic glide onto syllabic sound of greater steady duration. The semi-vowels /j/ and /w/ glide from positions of /i:/ and /u:/ respectively. The actual point at which the essential vocalic glide begins depends on the nature of the following sound.

Lateral (alveolar) approximant: /l/. Definition

The soft palate being raised, the tip of the tongue is in contact with the upper alveolar ridge, allowing the air to escape on both sides or, in case of a unilateral tongue-rim closure on the upper side teeth, on one side.For clear [] the front of the tongue is raised at the same time towards the hard palate, thus giving a front vowel resonance to the consonant.For dark [] the front of the tongue is somewhat depressed and the back raised towards the soft palate, giving a back vowel (or velorized) resonance. Both are voiced except when the preceding consonant is voiceless.

Post-alveolar approximant: /r/. Definition

The most common allophone of RP /r/ is a voiced post-alveolar approximant []3. The soft palate being raised, the tip of the tongue is held near to, but not touching, the rear part of the upper alveolar ridge; the back rims of the tongue are touching the upper molars; the central part o the tongue is lowered, with a general contraction of the tongue (slight retroflexion of the tip). It allows the air to escape freely, without friction, over the centre of the tongue. The vocal folds vibrate except when the preceding consonant is voiceless.Therefore, this allophone of the RP phoneme is phonetically vowel-like, but having non-central situation in the syllable, it functions as a consonant.

Unrounded Palatal approximant (semi-vowels): /j/. Definition It is articulated by the tongue assuming the position for a close-mid to close front vowel and moving away immediately to the position of the following sound. The soft palate is raised and the vocal folds vibrate except when the preceding consonant is voiceless.

Labial-velar approximant (semi-vowel): /w/. Definition It is articulated by the tongue assuming the position for a close-mid to close back vowel and moving away immediately to the position of the following sound. The soft palate is raised and the vocal folds vibrate except when the preceding consonant is voiceless.

3 For our teacher is []to avoid confusion with the fricative []. Cruttenden uses [] for both, approximant and fricative.

Phonemes and Main Allophonic Variations1) Place of articulation (correspond to the three oral plosive areas of

articulation)/l/ -> alveolar/r/ -> post-alveolar/j/ -> palatal/w/ -> labial-velar

2) We transcribe phonologically /r/ and phonetically [] (corresponds to IPA []).[] post-alveolar approximant[] post-alveolar fricative

3) /l, r/ may perform the syllabic function of vowels (syllabic consonant): little [‘]), camera [‘km]

4) Despite the fact that semi-vowels /j, w/ are, in phonetic terms, generally vocalic, they are treated within the consonant class mainly because their function is consonantal rather than vowel-like (they have a marginal rather than a central position in the syllable).

ALLOPHONES OF APPROXIMANTS

1. Change in place of articulation/l/ + /, / -> dental [ ]: wealth [wel] /l/ + /r/ -> postalveolar [ ] (retraction): children [‘trn] 4

2. Change in place and manner[] -> tap [] Preceded by /, / [i:]

Between vowels [‘vei](free variation)

[] -> fricative [] Preceded by /d/ [da]in stressed syllable

[] Preceded by /p,t,k/ [pas] (devoiced) in stressed syllable

3. Devoicing[] -> [] Preceded by /p,t,k/ [pe]

in stressed syllable [] Preceded by voiceless fricatives [fu:]

(partially devoiced) or voiceless plosives (/p,t,k/) in unstressed syllable

[] -> [] Preceded by /p,t,k/ [pe](fricative devoiced) in stressed syllable

4 /r/ affects both sounds /l, d/ because both are alveolar

[] Preceded by voiceless fricatives [fa](partially devoiced) or voiceless plosives (/p,t,k/)

in unstressed syllable

[] -> [] Preceded by /p,t,k/ [p](devoiced) in stressed syllable

Preceded by /h/ [hu:]in stressed syllable

[] In the same context than [] but [p] (devoiced fricative) there is friction [hu:]

[] Preceded by voiceless fricatives[ɪn'ɵjʊ:zɪæzəm] (partially devoiced) or voiceless plosives (/p,t,k/)


[w] -> [w] Preceded by /p,t,k/ [twn](devoiced) in stressed syllable

[] In the same context than [w] but [tn](devoiced fricative) there is friction

[w] Preceded by voiceless fricatives [swm] (partially devoiced) or voiceless plosives (/p,t,k/)


4. Velarization[] + vowel or /j/ -> [] [‘:j]

(clear)[] + consonant or pause -> [] [mk] [f]

(dark or velarized)

unit 4 phonetics

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