Lecture 1 Consonants

Lecture 1
1. Phonetics vs. Phonology
2. How speech sounds are produced?
3. Consonants
• Definition
• Classification
- According to place of articulation
- According to manner of articulation
- According to voicing
• Describing consonants
• Identifying consonants
1

Phonetics vs. Phonology
1. Phonetics: is the linguistic science that studies
speech sounds: the way in which they are produced
(uttered, articulated), the way in which they are
perceived, their physical characteristics, etc. The
questions that Phonetics answers are:
• What sounds occur in human languages?
• How these speech sounds are made?
• What physical properties do they have?
• In what way can speech sound similar to, or different
from, other speech sounds?

2

• There are three main areas of Phonetics
a. Articulatory phonetics: is the study of how speech
sounds are produced using the articulators - the parts of
the body involved in producing speech sounds.
b. Acoustic phonetics, which is also considered a branch of
physics, involves the study of the speech signals (the
sound waves produced when a speaker speaks). In other
words, it deals with the transmission of speech sounds
through the air.
c. Auditory phonetics, which is also considered a branch of
physiology, is the study of how speech signal is sensed
in the auditory canal and interpreted by the relevant parts
of the brain. In other words, it deals with how speech
sounds are perceived by the listener.
3

1. Phonology is the study or description of the distinctive
sound units (phonemes) of a language and their
relationship to one another. It involves studying a
language to determine its distinctive sounds and to
establish a set of rules that describe the set of changes
that take place in these sounds when they occur in
different relationships with other sounds. The subject
of phonology includes the following areas:
a. Study of the phonemic system.
b. Phoneme sequences and syllable structure.
c. Suprasegmental phonology (stress, intonation).
4

Articulatory Phonetics
The speech organs / articulators

5

Articulatory Phonetics
The speech organs / articulators

6

How are speech sounds produced?
• When we are making sounds, the air from the lungs
comes up through the wind-pipe and arrives first at
the larynx. Then it goes through the vocal cords into
the pharynx and up the pharynx to the uvula. At this
point, it may go in either way. It may go into the oral
cavity (if the soft palate is raised) and go out of the
mouth. Or it may go into the nasal tract (if the soft
palate is lowered) and get out through the nostrils.

7

1. How are oral sounds produced?
In the process of making sounds, at the uvula if the soft
palate is raised, blocking off the nasal tract, the airstream
can only go into the oral tract and go out of the mouth,
then we have oral sounds.
e.g. /g/, /s/, //
1. How are nasal sounds produced?
In the process of making sounds, if the air-stream is
blocked somewhere in the oral cavity but the soft palate is
lowered so that the air-stream can get into the nasal tract
and get out through the nostrils, then we have nasal
sounds.
e.g. //, //, // 8

1. How are consonant sounds produced?
When we are making sounds, if two articulators come
together, obstructing the air-stream and the air-stream
cannot get out freely, we have consonant sounds
e.g.
1. How are vowel sounds produced?
When we are making sounds, if there is no obstruction to
the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips and
the air can get out freely, then we have vowel sounds.
e.g.
9

1. How are voiced sounds produced?
When we are producing sounds, the air-stream goes
through the vocal cords. If the vocal cords come together,
obstructing the air-stream, the air-stream cannot get out
through them freely and it makes them vibrate, then we
have voiced sounds.
e.g. /d/, /v/, /m/
1. How are voiceless sounds produced?
When we are making sounds, the air-stream goes through
the vocal cords. If the vocal cords come apart, they are
open. The air-stream can go out through them freely and it
does not make them vibrate, then we have voiceless
sounds.
e.g. /s/, /t/, // 10

Consonants
1. Definition: Consonants are the sounds in the
production of which one articulator moves towards
another or two articulators come together, obstructing
the air-stream and the air-stream can’t get out freely.
2. Classification:
In order to form consonants, the air-stream through
the vocal cords must be obstructed in some way.
Therefore, consonants can be classified according to
the place where the air-stream is obstructed (the
place of articulation) and the way in which the air-
stream is obstructed (the manner of articulation).
11

According to place of articulation
• The place of articulation is the location of the
obstruction of the air-stream in the articulation of
consonants. It describes the point at which the
articulators actually touch or are at their closest. The
most important places of articulation for the production
of English consonants are listed in the table below.
• Notes: The terms used to describe the sounds are
those which denote the place of articulation of the
sounds

12

Places Articulators Examples

Bilabial Upper lip + lower lip

Labio-dental Lower lip + upper teeth

Dental Teeth + tongue

Alveolar Alveolar ridge + tongue

Retroflex Back of alveolar ridge + tongue

Palato Join of hard palate & alveolar ridge + tongue
-alveolar
Palatal Hard palate + tongue

Velar Soft palate + tongue

Glottal Vocal cords
13

1. Bilabials: are the sounds made with the two lips pressed
together or coming together.
e.g.
1. Labio-dentals: are the sounds which are produced with
the lower lip touching the upper front teeth.
e.g.
1. Dentals: are the sounds which are produced with the tip
or blade of the tongue touching the upper front teeth.
e.g.
1. Alveolars: are the sounds which are produced with the tip
or blade of the tongue touching or approaching the
alveolar ridge.
e.g.
1. Retroflex: is the sound which is produced with the tip of
the tongue curling back towards the back of the alveolar
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ridge.

1. Palato - alveolars: are the sounds which are produced
with the tongue tip or blade coming close to the area
between the back of the alveolar ridge and the front of the
hard palate.
e.g.
1. Palatal: is the sound which is produced with the front of
the tongue coming close to the hard palate.
e.g.
1. Velars: are the sounds which are produced with the back
of the tongue touching the soft palate.
e.g.
1. Glottal: are the sounds which are produced without the
active use of the tongue and other parts of the mouth.
e.g. 15

According to manner of articulation
• Manner of articulation is the way in which
the air-stream is obstructed or altered in the
production of speech sounds. It describes
the types of obstruction caused by the
narrowing or closure of the articulators.

16

Movement of Articulators Examples

Oral Complete closure

Stop
Complete closure in the mouth, air
escapes through nose
Nasal

Fricative Narrowing, resulting in audible friction

Affricate Closure, then slow separation

Lateral Closure in centre of mouth, air
escapes down sides

Approximant Slight narrowing, not enough to cause
friction
17

1. Stops: are the sounds in the production of which there is
a complete closure of the articulators involved so that the
air-stream can’t escape through the mouth. There are two
kinds of stops:
a. Oral stops (Plosives): are the sounds which are
produced with the air-stream being stopped in the oral
cavity and the soft palate is raised blocking off the nasal
cavity. Then the two articulators come apart quickly and
the air escapes through the oral tract.
e.g.
a. Nasal stops (Nasals): they are produced with the air-
stream being stopped in the oral cavity but the soft palate
is down so that the air can go out through the nose.
e.g. 18

• Notes: Although both oral stops and nasal stops can be
classified as “stops”, the term “stop” itself is almost used
by phoneticians to indicate an oral stop, and the term
“nasal” to indicate a nasal stop.
1. Fricatives: are the sounds in the production of which two
articulators come close together but there is still a small
opening between them so the air-stream is partially
obstructed and an audible friction noise (a hissing sound)
is produced.
e.g.
• Notes: Fricatives are continuants consonants which
means that you can continue making them as long as you
have enough air in your lungs.
19

1. Affricates: are the sounds which are produced when a
stop is immediately followed by a fricative.
e.g.
1. Lateral: is the sound which is made when the air-stream
is obstructed at a point along the centre of the oral tract,
with incomplete closure between one or both sides of the
tongue and the roof of the mouth.
e.g.
1. Approximants: are the sounds in the production of which
two articulators come close together but without the vocal
tract being narrowed to such an extent that a friction noise
is produced.
e.g.
• Notes: Approximants are called frictionless continuants.
20

According to voicing.
1. Voiced consonants: are produced when the vocal
cords are vibrating.
e.g.

1. Voiceless consonants: are produced when the
vocal cords are not vibrating.
e.g.

21

Fortis and lenis
• A voiced/voiceless pair such as /s/ and /z/ are distinguished
not only by the presence or absence of voice but also by the
degree of breath and muscular effort involved in the
articulation. It is generally said that those English
consonants which are usually voiced tend to be articulated
with relatively weak energy, whereas those which are
always voiceless are relatively strong. Thus, the voiceless
consonants are sometimes called ‘fortis’ meaning ‘strong’,
and the voiced consonants in opposition are then called
‘lenis’ meaning ‘weak’.
• Fortis consonants have the effect of shortening a preceding
vowel. The effect is most noticeable in the case of long
vowels and diphthong, though it does also affect short
vowels.
• E.g. See seed seat
22

Describing English consonants
• The description includes the following information:
a. Voicing
b. Place of articulation
c. Manner of articulation
e.g. /s/: voiceless alveolar fricative
/n/: voiced alveolar nasal
/f/:
/t/:
/j/:
/g/:

23

Identifying English consonants
• A description is given and you have to identify which
sound is being described.
e.g.Voiced velar nasal: //
voiceless palato-alveolar fricative: //
voiced bilabial stop:
voiced labio-dental fricative:
voiced alveolar lateral:
voiceless palato-alveolar affricate:
voiced dental fricative:
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Lecture 1 Consonants

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Lecture 1 Consonants