Phonetics: Introduction and Air- stream mechanism

Phonetics: Introduction and Air-stream mechanism

Dr. Rajnish Mishra Head, Department of English

Sanjay Gandhi PG College, Sarurpur-Khurd, Meerut. From the syllabus of CCS University, B A English Part I,

Paper II (English Grammar and Phonetics)

Syllabus: Phonetics

1. Air stream mechanism

2. Organs of Speech: a. Respiratory System, b. Phonatory System, c. Articulatory System

3. Classification of speech sounds: a. Vowels b. Consonants

4. Phonetic transcription: a. Monosyllabic b. Disyllabic words

5. Syllables: a. Accented b. unaccented

Phonetics—basics

1. Linguistics is the scientific study of language/s. Phonetics is a part of linguistics.

2. Phonetics is the study of human speech sounds

3. In phonetics we refer to individual sounds as phones or sounds; Never letters

How Are Sounds Produced?

• Most sounds are produced by an air stream from lungs through one or more speech organs.

• Where and how obstructions are in the air stream determine the identity of the sound produced.

Speech Production Mechanism

• Nasal cavity

• Oral cavity

• Pharynx

• Vocal folds

• Glottis

• Energy source LUNGS

LARYNX

VOCAL TRACT

(shapes

sounds)

(voicing)

Air-stream Mechanisms

Pulmonic (Egressive and Ingressive)

Glottalic/ Pharyngeal (Egressive and Ingressive)

Velaric (Egressive and Ingressive)

English: Pulmonic egressive air-stream mechanism

Reference

Balasubramanian, T. A Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian Students. New Delhi: Macmillan, 2003. Print.

Phonetics: Organs of Speech



Paper II (Grammar and Phonetics)

Organs of Speech

a. Respiratory System

b. Phonatory System

c. Articulatory System

Speech Production Mechanism

• Nasal cavity

• Oral cavity

• Pharynx

• Vocal folds

• Glottis

• Energy source LUNGS

LARYNX

VOCAL TRACT

(shapes

sounds)

(voicing)

Respiratory System

Phonatory System

Glottis

Articulatory System

Reference


Phonetics: Classification of Speech Sounds




Classification of speech sounds

a. Vowels

b. Consonants

Vowel and Consonant sounds

• Consonant Sounds- Articulated from a relative significant degree of obstruction in the flow of air from mouth.

• Vowel Sounds- Sounds which are free from obstructions during articulation. Different vowel sounds require different tongue and lip position.

Types of Vowel Sounds

The Vowel Sounds are further divided into two parts-

Monopthongs(12)- Single vowel sounds in the production of which the position of tongue remains unchanged. E.g. it, see etc.

Dipthongs(8)- Combination of two different vowel sounds. E.g. Fear

6 Factors to Describe Consonants

i. Air stream mechanism (Pulmonic egressive)

ii. State of the glottis (Voiceless/voiced)

iii. Position of the soft palate (Oral/nasal)

iv. Active articulator (Place of articulation)

v. Passive articulator (Place of articulation)

vi. Stricture involved (Manner of articulation)

3 Term Label

/p/ : voiceless bilabial plosive

/g/ : voiced velar plosive

/m/ : voiced bilabial nasal

/v/ : voiced labio-dental fricative

/l/ : voiced alveolar lateral

Voicing

Reference


Phonetics: Consonants (Place and Manner of Articulation)




Place and Manner of Articulation of Consonants

Other than the position of the glottis and classification of a phoneme being voiced or voiceless(depending on the position of vocal chords in vibration or wide apart) a sound is also classified on the basis of:

• Where it is produced

• How it is produced

• Plosives – An oral sound where the soft palate is raised blocking the nasal passage and air gushes into the mouth. This air stream is trapped by the two articulators and then released suddenly with an explosion. Thus, there is complete closure of both oral and nasal passage and sudden release with slight explosion. /p/, /b/, /t/,/d/, /k/,/g/.

• Affricates – Complete closure and slow release with friction. /tʃ/, / dʒ/.

Manner of Articulation

• Fricatives – Here the closure is CLOSE APPROXIMATION i.e. the two articulators are brought very close but there is a narrow gap. The air escapes through the gap with audible friction. /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/,/z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/.

• Nasals – Complete oral closure by lowering of the soft palate and air passes freely through nose. /m/, /n/, /ŋ/.

• Frictionless continuant – open approximation as the air passes through the two articulators easily without any friction.

• Semi vowel - /j/, /w/, two of these sounds is considered as semi vowels as the two are closer to vowel sounds but do not work as vowels.

• Trill/ Roll- These consonant sounds are created through repeated tap of tip of the tongue on teeth ridge. It results in a intermitted release of air sometimes through nose and sometimes through mouth. E.g. /r/ (red)

• Flap- It includes only a single tap. E.g. /r/ sound in various, variety

Place of Articulation

For the production of each sound we need two articulators an active and a passive articulator, the former moves towards the latter to produce a sound.

• Bilabial- Sounds (phonemes) produced at the two lips. Lower lip active articulator and lower lip passive articulator. /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/

• Labio-Dental- The active articulator here is the lower lip and the passive articulator the upper teeth. /f/ ,/v/

• Dental- The sounds produced with active articulator as tip of the tongue and passive articulator as upper teeth. /θ/, / ð /

• Alveolar- Active articulator blade/tip of the tongue. Passive articulator teeth ridge. /t/,/d/, /l/, /n/, /s/, /z/

• Post alveolar- Active articulator is the tip of the tongue and passive articulator is the rear part of the teeth ridge. /r/, /t/.

• Palato- alveolar – For the production of /tʃ/, /dʒ/, active articulator is the blade of the tongue and passive the teeth ridge. For the production of /ʃ/, /ʒ/ active articulator is the front of the tongue and passive the hard palate, towards which the tongue is raised.

• Palatal- The active articulator is the front of the tongue against the hard palate as the passive articulator./j/

• Velar – The active articulator here is the back of the tongue and the passive articulator is the soft palate. Sounds produced here are /k/, /g/, /ŋ/.

• Glottal – Two articulators are the two vocal chords. /h/

Consonants

Reference


Phonetics: Vowels




Features of vowels

• A vowel is a speech sound during the articulation of which the pulmonic egressive air escapes: freely (no narrowing), continuously (no obstruction) and through the mouth.

• English vowels can be categorized by 3 distinctive features: (1) Part of the tongue used (Front, Back, Central) (2) Height of the tongue (Close, Half-c, H-open, Open) (3) Position of the lips (Unrounded, Rounded)

e.g. / i: / : front close unrounded, / a: / : back open

unrounded

Pure Vowels

The Vowel Diagram

Diphthongs

The Diphthong Diagram

Diphthong: Description

• / aʊ / cow: A glide from a back open unrounded vowel to back rounded vowel between close and half-close.

• /eə / share : A glide from a front half open unrounded vowel to a central unrounded vowel between half-close and half-open.

Reference


Phonetics: Transcription




Phonetic Transcription

a. Monosyllabic words

b. Disyllabic words

Transcription Vs. Spelling

• We want, as much as possible, to create a system of one-to-one sound-symbol correspondence.

• This is not necessarily the case with spelling.

• Examples: ice vs.police; tine vs. machine.

• Also: catch, cough, phlegm, bought, trick, knight, leisure, queen, this, threw, Xerox, psychology, design.

International Phonetic Alphabet

• All the world’s languages can be transcribed using the IPA.

• In IPA transcription, one phone (IPA symbol) usually equals one sound.

• We can use IPA transcription across languages, there is one symbol for EVERY possible human sound.

• There is a 1-1 correspondence of sound to symbol.

• Brackets show the pronunciation of the word, which may change from time to time, even if it’s the same word.

IPA Chart

Levels of representation

• Phonetic representation [phɑɪ] – directly observable

– measurable properties

– [ ] brackets, contains (allo)phones

• Phonemic representation /pɑɪ/

– inferred, not observed

– abstract, streamlined representation

– / / brackets, contains phonemes

Aspiration

(phonological rule)

Reference


Phonetics: Syllable




Syllable

a. Accented

b. Unaccented

Syllable

• A unit of speech consisting of either a single vowel (or a syllabic consonant) or a vowel and one or more consonants associated with it.

• The vowel is the nucleus of the syllable. The consonant that begins the syllable is called the releasing consonant, and one that comes at its end is called the arresting consonant.

3

Syllable structures

• V [eye], VC [eat], CV [be], CVC[come], CCVC [slate], CCCVC [scream], CVCC [box], CVCCC [tents], CVCCCC [tempts].

• The syllable is often used to describe patterns of

stress and timing in speech. – Open syllable starts with one or more

consonants and ends with V, no arresting C • CV [bee, blue, eye, draw, fee, go, high, law]

– Closed syllable consonants at the end.

• CVC, CVCC (etc.) [arm, ball, dim, fast, ground, heat, jump, killed, minds, next, prompt]

Syllabic consonants

• Let us take the English words bundle, cuddle, little, button, cotton and sudden. They end in: /tl/, /dl/, /tn/ and /dn/.

• When a vowel is absent in a syllable. the consonant sound: /l/ or /n/ acts as a vowel. They can do so, since the lung air DOES escape freely and continuously (along the side of the tongue in the case of /l/ and through the nostrils in the case of /n/). Such consonants which take the place of vowels in syllables are called Syllabic Consonants

Counting Syllables

The total number of syllable in a word = The number of vowel sounds in that word.

• Monosyllabic (I, go)

• Disyllabic (father, honest)

• Trisyllabic (beautiful, dangerous)

• Polysyllabic (agriculture, examination)

Reference


Phonetics: Stress and Syllable




Stress and Syllable

English language is spoken with a rhythm which is known as stress term rhythm. This rhythm is created due to continuous stressing and unstressing of different syllables.

Syllable is the initial unit of a word which has only one vowel sound that can be a monophthong or a diphthong.

Stress placement

• The symbol /ˈ / is a stress mark that has

been placed before the syllable carrying

the main stress.

• Stress should always be marked in words

of more than one syllable.

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Syllables: Strong and Weak

In an English word of more than one syllable, one of the syllables is pronounced with greater prominence than the others. That syllable is said to be accented. The syllable that is prominent in a word is called the strong syllable or the accented syllable and the syllable or syllables that is/are pronounced without prominence is/are called weak or unaccented. e.g.

/ ɪnfəˈmeɪʃən /

/ dɪˈveləpmənt /

Content vs. Functional Words

When we speak English, content words are stressed and structural/functional words are never stressed.

Content words include Noun, Main verb, Adjective, Adverb, Demonstrative and Interrogative Pronouns. Structural words include Articles, Auxiliary verbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, Personal and Relative Pronouns. Stress is marked by a vertical bar.

Stress laid on a single syllable is known as Accent. It frequently shifts to create stress term rhythm.

Primary and Secondary Accent

• Most modem dictionaries mark PRIMARY accent with a vertical mark (the mark [ ' ] ABOVE and BEFORE the syllable that receive primary accent.

• They mark SECONDARY accent with a vertical mark. BELOW and BEFORE the syllable in question.

Reference


Phonetics: Introduction and Air- stream mechanism

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