PHONETICS

SOUND SEGMENTS

 Knowing a language includes knowing the sounds of that language

 Phonetics is the study of speech sounds

 We are able to segment a continuous stream of speech into distinct

parts and recognize the parts in other words

 Everyone who knows a language knows how to segment sentences into

words and words into sounds

IDENTITY OF SPEECH SOUNDS

 Our linguistic knowledge allows us to ignore nonlinguistic differences

in speech (such as individual pitch levels, rates of speed, coughs)

 We are capable of making sounds that are not speech sounds in English
but are in other languages

 The click tsk that signals disapproval in English is a speech sound in

languages such as Xhosa and Zulu where it is combined with other
sounds just like t or k is in English

THE PHONETIC ALPHABET

 Spelling, or orthography, does not consistently represent the sounds of

language

 Some problems with ordinary spelling:

o The same sound may be represented by many letters or combination

of letters:
he people key
o The same letter may represent a variety of sounds:

father village
o A combination of letters may represent a single sound

shoot character

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o A single letter may represent a combination of sounds

xerox
o Some letters in a word may not be pronounced at all

psychology
o There may be no letter to represent a sound that occurs in a word

use

THE PHONETIC ALPHABET

 In 1888 the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) was invented in order

to have a system in which there was a one-to-one correspondence
between each sound in language and each phonetic symbol.

 Regularly re-examined and revised by Association

 Based on articulatory categories

 Designed to capture the phonemes of all languages of the world: i.e.

phonetic distinctiveness of the corresponding sound in a language of the
world is one key criterion for adopting a symbol

ROLE OF SOUNDS IN COMMUNICATION

Communication using language :- the two mediums
a) Spoken communication (aural) more important than written medium
b) Written communication (visual)
Communication without language
a) Facial expressions
b) Signals
c) Gestures

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There are several reasons for importance of speech as a medium of
communication:
1) Speech came first in history, centuries before writing
2) Speech came first in life of any individual
3) Speech is used much more common than writing in any society
4) Written language is only an attempt to represent , using marks on
paper, the sounds used in spoken language.
If a certain sound doesn’t exist in a language, there will be no letter
in the alphabet of that language to represent that sound
5) Modern technology like telephone, radio, taperecorder and several
other such devices have contributed tremendously to importance of
sounds in communication.

Role of Sound in Communication

Sound travels in waves, much like those that roll across the ocean, to give our
ears information which we may or may not understand. And most important
is sound's role in communication:
1. Communication is a complex form of signaling, is an ability that we share
with animals.
Sound is the only main form of communication for animals while it is the key
for humans communicate with spoken languages besides body languages.
Animals communicate in their own language of sounds by moan, cry, weep
etc. Humans have developed an intricate form of signaling that we call
language. Without sound, voice would have been difficult to be emitted out.
For humans, this voice communication expands to telephonic (distant
communication) means by using mobiles and phones.
The communication is understood by ears through hearing, auditory words,
expressive tone etc. One can express feeling just by sound variation even.

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2. Music: Music is the art which relies solely on sound. Without sound there
is no music from music systems. Music communicates message, soothes the
mind and also helps relieve stress.
Music is a sound in a controlled and fine tuned manner. Music relies a lot on
frequency and pitch of the voice.

3. Omnidirectional: It is omni-directional, meaning that it can signal an

object or event that is completely out of sight and beyond tactile senses.
When we cannot see (whether dark or visually impaired), sound can be used
to know where we are and to help us find our way. This can be as easy as
listening for the sound of traffic if lost in the woods or as sophisticated as
using sonar to find enemy vessels.
There are certain animals, such as bats, that don’t rely on their sense of sight
very much at all. Living mostly in the dark, they use their own sonar to know
where they are.

Whether driving your car or reading in the library, sound provides

information about the world around. Sound serves two basic functions for
people around the world: signaling and communication.
Sound travels in waves, much like those that roll across the ocean, to give our
ears information which we may or may not understand.
Sound is important because it can tell us about character, place, and time. It's
important because it informs us and moves us in ways visuals can't, and
because certain combinations of sound and visuals can evoke what neither
can do alone. It's also potentially important because it can help to determine
what we see.

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DOMAIN OF PHONETICS / BRANCHES OF PHONETICS
Phonetics is a component of linguistics that deals with speech sounds.

Phonetics deals with :

a) Articulation or production of speech sounds
b) The way in which speech sounds are transmitted from speaker to
listener
c) The way in which listener receives sounds
d) Classification of speech sounds--- vowels and consonants

1) Articulatory phonetics is concerned with the production of speech

sounds
2) Acoustic phonetics deals with the transmission and physical
properties of speech sounds
3) Auditory phonetics is the study of perception of speech sounds.

The scientific methods used in phonetics are

 direct observation (“impressionistic”), usually based on simple models

such as articulatory phonetic categories

 measurements based on simple models

o of position and movement of articulatory organs

o of the structure of speech signals

o of the mechanisms of the ear and perception in hearing

 statistical study of categories of observation and measurement

 creation of more complex models:

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o production, transmission, perception

ARTICULATORY SYSTEM

Articulatory domain: sound sources

 Domain of speech production

 Articulatory organs are relatively easily observable

 Domain of reference for phonetic categories of the IPA

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How does sound production work?

Sources, switches and filters

 A “model” is a simplified representation of relevant features of reality

(but it also adds its own artefacts)

 In the Source-Filter Model of speech production, the sound is

generated by the SOURCE and modified by the FILTER

 The Source-Filter Model represents the speech production process in

two phases:
o The SOURCE of the sound + SWITCHES:

 LARYNX (for resonant, voiced sounds)

 CONSTRICTION OF THE ORAL CAVITY (for noisy sounds such

as obstruents)

 The FILTER through which the sound has passed:

o The PHARYNGEAL CAVITY, the ORAL CAVITY and the

NASAL CAVITY

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Organs of speech:
The articulatory system consists of few organs in our head and neck.
a) Lips
b) Tongue
c) Teeth
d) Palate

The production of any speech sound takes place when the air escapes from
the lungs which serve as an air reservoir and energy source. Then, the

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airstream passes through the trachea (wind pipe) and through the larynx
which lies behind the throat.

The larynx contains two stretched membranous cords called ‘the vocal
cords’ which are made of an elastic tissue. As they open and shut off, the
vocal cords regulate the amount of air that passes to the lungs. Afterwards the
air goes up through the pharynx, and escapes via either the oral cavity or the
nasal cavity.

Any production of language by means of speech happens through three

stages:
1. The psychological stage: In the first place, the concept of the
information will take place in the brain.
2. The articulatory stage: The nervous system transmits this message to
the organs of speech. These in turn will produce a particular pattern of
sounds.
3. The acoustic stage: The movement of the organs of speech will
create disturbance in the air which enables us to hear particular sounds
and discriminate between them. - Transmission through sound waves

Almost all the organs involved in speech production also have other
functions. The lungs and the diaphragm are involved in breathing, as is the
nasal cavity, which cleans, heats and humidifies the air that is breathed in.
The teeth and the tongue play a part in digestion, and in a way, so do the
vocal folds, as they have to be closed when swallowing, to keep the food
from going down the wrong way.

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THE FUNCTION OF EACH ORGAN OF SPEECH

1. The Vocal Cords (folds)

When the air is released from the lungs, it arrives first at the larynx which
contains two elastic tissues lying opposite each other across the air passage.
The vocal cords, which can move towards each other to stop or let the air to
pass freely in the glottis.

2. Pharynx
It is the place which comes immediately above the larynx and behind the
back of the tongue. It is between the larynx the nasal cavity.

3. The Palate
The palate forms the roof of the mouth and separates the mouth cavity from
the nasal cavity. It contains hard palate, soft palate which can be lowered or
raised.

4. The Teeth
The lower front teeth are not important in speech except in /s/, /z/. But the
two upper front teeth are used more in English sounds.

5. The Tongue
The tongue is divided into four parts,
o the back of the tongue is under the soft palate and

o the front is under the hard palate whereas

o the blade is under the alveolar ridge and

o the tip behind teeth.

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The tongue takes many shapes and positions when articulating vowels
6. The Lips
The lips can take many positions/shapes. They can stop the air and release it
suddenly like in /p/ & /b/. Lower lip can touch the upper teeth to produce
/f/, /v/. The articulation of vowels depend mainly on the shape of the lips
such as: /i:/, /u:/

Alveolar ridge is part of jaw where teeth are rooted. Blade is tip of tongue.

ACOUSTIC PHONETICS

 Acoustic phonetics is concerned with investigating the transmission of

speech signals through
o gases such as air, other substances (e.g. bone, tissue)

o electronic amplification and storage

 The basic parameters of the speech signals are

o amplitude

o time (duration)

 The main derived parameters of speech signals are

o intensity

o noise vs. resonance (voicing)

o frequency and formants

 The methods used to analyse speech signals are:

o analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion

o mathematical definitions of filters and transformations

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 Speech is transmitted through air (and other substances) as a regular

wave of pressure changes:
o The changes in air pressure can be heard, cannot be seen (unlike the
waves on the ocean), but can be measured (like the waves on the
ocean)
and the measurements can be visualised and used for calculating tatistical
models of the structure of speech.

Acoustic phonetics is the study of the physical properties of speech, and

aims to analyse sound wave signals that occur within speech through varying
frequencies, amplitudes and durations.
Acoustic phonetics is concerned with investigating the transmission of
speech signals through
– gases such as air, other substances (e.g. bone, tissue)
– electronic amplification and storage

The basic parameters of the speech signals are

– amplitude
– time (duration)

The main derived parameters of speech signals are

– intensity
– noise vs. resonance (voicing)
– frequency (Hz) and formants

The methods used to analyse speech signals are:

– analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion

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– mathematical definitions of filters and transformations
AUDITORY PHONETICS
It focuses on the perception of sounds or the way in which sounds are heard
and interpreted.

Any sound coming from any source, be it a door slamming or someone

speaking, is spreading from that source as a sound wave, causing the
molecules on its way to vibrate. When these vibrating air molecules reach the
ear, they cause the eardrum in the middle ear to vibrate too and this vibration
is then carried on from the eardrum to the three little bones: mallet, incus
and stirrup.
From the stirrup, the vibration is carried on to the inner ear, and into the
cochlea, a little coil-like organ filled with liquid. Inside the cochlea there are
two membranes. This plays a central role in the act of audition, because this
is, where the auditory receptor cells are located.
Depending on the frequency of the sound coming in, a different part with
different receptor cells of the cochlear membrane is stimulated. The cells on
the basilar membrane convert these vibrations into neural signals that are

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transmitted via the auditory nerves to the brain, where we identify the
incoming sound as actual sound with a specific pitch .
Auditory phonetics includes:
1) pitch (how high or low do we perceive a sound)
2) loudness (how loud or soft do we perceive a sound)
3) speech tempo (how fast or slow we perceive a speech signal)

SPEECH ORGANS, OR ARTICULATORS

Speech organs produce the sounds of language.
Organs used for speech include the lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate,
velum (soft palate), uvula, glottis and various parts of the tongue.

They can be divided into two types: passive articulators and active
articulators.

Active Articulators
The organs which actively move toward the passive articulators during sound
production. There are:

Lower lip:- The lips play a role in changing the resonance of

different speech sounds. By altering the shape of our lips we can form
different speech sounds.

Tongue: - The most important active articulator is the tongue as it is

involved in the production of the majority of sounds.
The tongue is the most mobile articulator (with the tip, for instance, being
capable of movements of up to 9 times per second) and can take up an almost
limitless number of positions, both vertically and laterally. The versatility of
the tongue can also be felt during eating as its main physical function is to

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move the food around in the mouth during chewing and swallowing. The
tongue is the principal agent in the formation of vowel sounds.
The various parts of the tongue are (from back to front)
a) Root or back (the part facing the soft palate)
b) Front (opposite the hard palate)
c) Blade (the part facing the teeth-ridge) –
d) Tip (apex).
e) The edges of the tongue are called the rims.

In the production of vowels, the tongue tip usually remains low behind the
lower teeth.

Vocal folds or vocal cords of the larynx : The larynx contains the VOCAL
FOLDS (two horizontal bands of ligament and muscle). They vibrate during
the articulation of vowels and of many consonants. It manipulates pitch and
volume, which is essential for phonation The space between the vocal folds
is called the GLOTTIS. Articulation of the vocal folds: GLOTTAL
articulation.

Lungs : The most important function of the lungs, which is relevant

to speech production, is respiration and it is responsible for the movement
of air. Lungs are controlled by a set of muscles which make them expand
and contract alternately so that the air from outside is drawn in and pushed
out alternatively.

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Passive articulators

The upper lip

Teeth : With the lips and tongue, teeth help form words by controlling
airflow out of the mouth. The tongue strikes the teeth or the roof of the
mouth as some sounds are made.

Alveolar Ridge : Sounds produced with the tongue touching this part are
said to be alveolar.

Hard Palate - The hard palate, which is often simply called the palate, or the
roof of the mouth, is the vaulted bony structure that lies just behind the
alveolum. When the forward part of the tongue touches the hard palate, the
resultant sound is said to be palatal.

Soft Palate The soft palate (velum) is a thin sheet composed of muscle
fibres, tissue, blood vessels, nerves, and glands. Its main function is to
separate the nasal cavity from the oral cavity (the mouth). If a lowered velum
is combined with an obstruction at some point in the oral cavity, the resultant
sound is nasal. Sounds which are pronounced with simultaneous oral and
nasal articulation are said to be orinasal.
This type of nasalized speech can also be heard when people have a cold, for
instance. If one is unable to make an effective closure because the soft palate
itself is defective or because an abnormal opening in the roof of the mouth
gives access to the nasal cavity (as is the case for instance in people with a
cleft palate), there will be an overall nasalization of the vowels and the
failure to pronounce, for instance, /b/, /g/, /d/. Sounds like /g/ or /k/, whereby

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the back of the tongue is in contact with the lower side of the velum are
called velar consonants.

Uvula : The uvula is a small fleshy flap of tissue that hangs in the back of
the mouth and is the extension of the soft palate. Sounds articulated with the
back of the tongue and the uvula are called uvular.

Pharynx Wall The pharynx is a funnel-shaped muscle tube. It stretches

from the larynx and oesophagus to the area in the rear of the velum. A
muscle keeps the passage between the pharynx and the oesophagus closed
except when swallowing. The shape, length, and volume of the entire
chamber can be modified by the constrictive action of the muscles enclosing
the pharynx, the movement of the back of the tongue, and by the position of
the velum, which, when raised, excludes the nasopharynx. A a result, it is in
the pharynx that the voice pattern (distinctive voice quality) of an individual
person is formed.

Most speech sounds are produced by pushing air through the vocal cords
– Glottis = the opening between the vocal cords
– Larynx = ‘voice box’
– Pharynx = tubular part of the throat above the larynx
– Oral cavity = mouth
– Nasal cavity = nose and the passages connecting it to the throat and sinuses

INITIATION /AIR STREAM MECHANISM

The airstream mechanism is the method by which airflow is created in
the vocal tract. When we articulate any speech sound, the air from lungs goes
out into outer atmosphere either through our mouth or through nostrils.

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Three main components of speech production are (1)Phonation, (2)
Articulation and (3) Airstream mechanism
The airstream mechanism is mandatory for sound production and constitutes
the first part of this process, which is called initiation.
The organ generating the airstream is called the initiator and there are three
initiators used in spoken human languages:

 the diaphragm together with the ribs and lungs (pulmonic mechanisms),

 the glottis (glottalic mechanisms), and

 the tongue (lingual or "velaric" mechanisms).

Pulmonic initiation
Initiation by means of the lungs (actually the diaphragm and ribs) is called
pulmonic initiation. The vast majority of sounds used in human languages are
pulmonic.

Glottalic initiation
It is possible to initiate airflow in the upper vocal tract by means of the vocal
cords or glottis. This is known as glottalic initiation.
For glottalic initiation, one lowers the glottis, closes it as for a glottal stop,
and then raises it, building up pressure in the oral cavity and upper trachea.
Glottalic egressives are called ejectives. The glottis must be fully closed to
form glottalic egressives.
For ingressive glottalic initiation, the sequence of actions performed in
glottalic pressure initiation is reversed:  one raises the glottis, closes it, and
then lowers it to create suction in the upper trachea and oral cavity. Glottalic
ingressives are called implosives, although they may involve zero airflow
rather than actual inflow. Because the air column would flow forwards over
the descending glottis, it is not necessary to fully close it, and implosives may
be voiced.

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Lingual (velaric) initiation

In the lingual or velaric initiation, a sound is produced by a closure at two
places of articulation, and the airstream is formed by movement of the
tongue. Lingual stops are more commonly known as clicks, and are almost
universally ingressive.

Types of airstream mechanism

Any of the three initiators − diaphragm, glottis or tongue − may act by either
increasing or decreasing the pressure generating the airstream. These changes
in pressure often correspond to outward and inward airflow, and are therefore
termed egressive and ingressive respectively.

Pulmonic egressive, where the air is pushed out of the lungs by the ribs and
diaphragm. All human languages employ such sounds (such as vowels), and
nearly three out of four use them exclusively.

Glottalic egressive, where the air column is compressed as the glottis moves
upward. Such consonants are called ejectives. Ejective and ejective-like
consonants occur in 16% of the languages.

Glottalic ingressive, where the air column is rarefied as the glottis moves
downward. Such consonants are called implosives. Implosive and implosive-
like consonants occur in 13% of the world's languages. Despite the name, the
airstream may not actually flow inward: While the glottis moves downward,
pulmonic air passes outward through it, but the reduction in pressure makes
an audible difference to the sound.

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Lingual ingressive, aka velaric ingressive, where the air in the mouth is
rarefied by a downward movement of the tongue. These are the click
consonants.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN VOWELS AND CONSONANTS

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CLASSIFICATION OF VOWELS
Vowels classified by how high or low the tongue is, if the tongue is in the
front or back of the mouth, and whether or not the lips are rounded

Criteria for classifying vowels:

Part of tongue used:
a) front vowels
b) back vowels
c) central vowels
Height to which tongue is raised:
a) close vowels (high vowels
b) half close (high mid vowels)
c) half open (low mid vowels)
d) open vowels (low vowels)
Position of lips:
a) unrounded vowels
b) rounded vowels

Tongue position
When the tongue moves forward and backward, various parts of it may be
raised in the direction of the palate.

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 FRONT VOWELS: When the tongue is in the front part of the
mouth, and the front part of it is raised to the hard palate e.g. I in sit, E
in head

 CENTRAL VOWELS: When the front of the tongue is raised

towards the back part of the hard palate e.g. U in cut, I in girl

 BACK VOWELS: When the tongue is in the back part of the

mouth, and the back of it is raised towards the soft palate. e.g: A in part
, O in hot

HEIGHT OF TONGUE
Moving up and down in the mouth various parts of the tongue may be raised
to different height towards the roof of the mouth.

 Close/High: When the tongue is raised high towards the palate. [i],
[u]

 Open/Low: When the tongue is as low as possible in the mouth. [a]

 Half close: When the highest part of the tongue occupies the
position intermediate between the close and the open one but nearer to
close position

 Half open: When the highest part of the tongue occupies the
position intermediate between the close and the open one but nearer to
open position
Half close and Half open are together called mid vowels.

Lip Position
The shape of the mouth cavity is very dependent on the position of the lips.

 Unrounded: When the lips are neutral or spread

 Round: When the lips are drawn together so that the opening
between them is more or less round.

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STABILITY OF ARTICULATION
On the articulatory level the vowels change in the stability of articulation.

Stability of Articulation
All English vowels are divided into three groups: pure vowels or
monophthongs, diphthongs and diphthongoids.

Monophthongs /Pure Vowels/ Simple Vowels: are vowels the articulation

of which is almost unchanging. The quality of such vowels is relatively pure.

Diphthongs/ Complex Vowels [aɪ] [aʊ] [ɔɪ]: when we articulate these

vowels the organs of speech glide from one vowel position to another within
one syllable. The starting point, the nucleus, is strong and distinct.
The glide which shows the direction of the quality change is very weak. e.g.
1) Prolong vowel in word (high): we hear 2 distinct vowels. First it
sounds like (a)--front open unrounded vowel. Then it sounds like (i)
-- front unrounded vowel between close and half close.
2) Diphthong (ei) in face: glide from front unrounded vowel between
half open and half close to a front unrounded vowel between close
and half close.
In Diphthong, the two vowels, the starting point (or first element) and the
finishing point (second element) are not perceived as two separate vowels
and perceived as a transitional, gliding, sound starting at the first element and
gliding towards the second element within a single syllable.

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So diphthongs are speech sounds during the articulation of which tongue
starts in the position required for articulation of a certain vowel and then
quickly moves or glides in direction of position required for articulation of
another vowel, but such a glide to be termed as diphthong must occur within
a single syllable.

In the pronunciation of diphthongoids the articulation is slightly changing

but the difference between the starting point and the end is not so distinct as
it is in the case of diphthongs. There are two diphthongoids in English: [i:],
[u:].

CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS

 Consonants are sounds produced with some restriction or closure in the

vocal tract

 Consonants are classified based in part on where in the vocal tract the
airflow is being restricted (the place of articulation)
It is based on:
1) Air stream mechanism (pulmonic egressive)

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2) States of glottis (voiced and voiceless)
3) Position of soft palate (oral and nasal sounds)
4) Active and passive articulators (places of articulation)
5) Different strictures involved (manners of articulation)

Voiced consonants are: vocal cords are brought close to each other and kept
loosely together and so they vibrate when we articulate voiced consonants.
The force of exhalation and the degree of muscular tension in their
articulation are weaker.

Voiceless consonants are: vocal cords are far away from each other and
therefore glottis is wide open when we articulate voiceless consonants. The
force of exhalation and the degree of muscular tension are greater in the
production of voiceless consonants.

Position of the soft palate:

All consonants are subdivided into oral and nasal.
 
ORAL: When the soft palate is raised, it touches back wall of pharynx, thus
closes nasal cavity completely and the air from the lungs gets into the
pharynx and then into the mouth cavity, oral consonants are produced.

NASAL: When the soft palate is lowered, it comes away from back wall of
pharynx, Nasal cavity is open and the air on its way escapes through the nasal
cavity, nasal consonants are produced.

According to the position of the active articulator against the point of

articulation consonants are classified into:

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Active articulator Passive articulator

1 Bilabial Lower lip Upper lip

2 Labio-dental Lower lip Upper front teeth

3 Dental Blade of tongue Upper front teeth

4 Denti - alveolar Tip & blade of tongue Upper front teeth

&teeth- ridge

5 Alveolar Tip of tongue Alveolar ridge

6 Post alveolar Tipof tongue Part of roof of mouth

7 Palato-alveolar Blade & front of Hard Palate

Tongue

8 Palatal Front of Tongue Hard Palate

9 Velar Back of Tongue Soft palate

10 Uvular Extreme Back of Uvular

Tongue

11 Pharyngeal Roof of Tongue Back wall of pharynx

12 Glottal 2 Vocal Cords ---

13 Labial - velar Back of Tongue & Soft Palate and upper

Lower Lip lip

Bilabials – Produced by bringing both lips together

Labiodentals – Produced by touching the bottom lip to the upper teeth
Interdentals – Produced by putting the tip of the tongue between the teeth
Alveolars – All of these are produced by raising the tongue to the alveolar
ridge in some way
Palatals – Produced by raising the front part of the tongue to the palate
Velars – Produced by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate or
velum

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Uvulars – Produced by raising the back of the tongue to the uvula
Glottals – Produced by restric0ng the airflow through the open glottis ([h]) or
by stopping the air completely at the glottis (a glottal stop)

Different strictures involved (manners of articulation)

The manner of articulation is the way the airstream is affected as it flows
from the lungs and out of the mouth and nose
Voiceless sounds are those produced with the vocal cords apart so the air
flows freely through the glottis
Voiced sounds are those produced when the vocal cords are together and
vibrate as air passes through
Oral sounds are those produced with the velum raised to prevent air from
escaping out the nose
Nasal sounds are those produced with the velum lowered to allow air to
escape out the nose
So far we have three ways of classifying sounds based on phonetic features:
by voicing, by place of articulation, and by nasalization
– [p] is a voiceless, bilabial, oral sound
– [n] is a voiced, alveolar, nasal sound
Stricture means relationship between active and passive articulators. It means
manner of articulation of that consonant.

Complete closure and sudden release/PLOSIVES/ STOPS: both oral and

nasal passages of air are closed completely.
Nasal passage closed completely by raising the soft palate so that it touches
back wall of pharynx.
Oral passage closed by firm contact between active and passive articulators.

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 PHONETICS
When active articulator is suddenly removed from passive articulator, air
rushes out of mouth with a slight explosive noise.
Sounds articulated with stricture of complete closure and sudden release are
called PLOSIVES/ STOPS. e.g. "p" in SPOON

Complete closure and Slow release/Affricates: both oral and nasal passages
of air are closed completely.
Nasal passage closed completely by raising the soft palate so that it touches
back wall of pharynx.
Oral passage closed by firm contact between active and passive articulators.
When active articulator is slowly removed from passive articulator, air
escapes with slight friction.
Sounds articulated with stricture of complete closure and slow release are
called Affricates.

COMPLETE ORAL Closure / Nasals:

Oral passage closed by firm contact between active and passive articulators.
Nasal passage opened by lowering of soft palate and it comes away from
back wall of pharynx.
The air from lungs escapes freely through nostrils.
Sounds articulated with stricture of complete oral closure are called
NASALS.

Close approximation/ Fricatives:

Nasal passage closed completely by raising the soft palate so that it touches
back wall of pharynx.
Active articulator is brought so close to passive articulator that there is a very
narrow gap between them.
Air from lungs escapes through this narrow gap producing audible friction.

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 PHONETICS

OPEN APPROXIMATION/ FRICTIONLESS CONTINUANTS/

Semivowels
Nasal passage closed completely by raising the soft palate so that it touches
back wall of pharynx.
Active articulator is brought near to passive articulator that there is a wide
gap between them.
Air from lungs escapes through this narrow gap freely without friction.

Intermittent closure / Trills/ Rolled sounds

Nasal passage closed completely by raising the soft palate so that it touches
back wall of pharynx.
Active articulator strikes against passive articulator several times in quick
succession.
Air from lungs escapes through this space between articulators intermittently.

Quick closure and release //Taps// flaps

Active articulator strikes quickly against passive articulator just once.

Partial closure / laterals

Complete closure in the centre of the oral passage, but the sides of the tongue
are lowered and the air from the lungs escapes along the sides of the tongue.

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 PHONETICS
PHONOLOGY -- It is a component of linguistics which deals with:
a) Selection and organization of sounds
b) Sound units called (phonemes)
Page ---87 book

SYLLABLE -- A convenient starting point for analysis of speech is the

syllable. page-98

Consonant cluster—a sequence of 2 or more consonants occurring at the

beginning or end of a syllable
Differences b/w GIE (GROUP INDIAN ENGLISH) and RP (Received
pronunciation)----page 169

Intonation: The pattern of variation of the pitch of our voice when we speak
(or sing)

The rate at which vocal cords vibrate when we speak----frequency of

vibration
-- pitch of our voice

Assimilation
Speech is a continuum and not a stringing together of discrete units and that a
sound may be affected by the sounds that precede/succeed it. The way in
which sounds influence each other is assimilation.

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