Phonetics k Phonology - uni-tuebingen.decebert/teaching/10PhonPhon/handout03.… · Phonetics k...

Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert

Christian Ebert

[email protected]

Phonetics k Phonology

(Hall, Kapitel 1.1 – 1.5; Clark & Yallop, Chapter 2 & 3, 4.1; Ladefoged, Chapter 9)

Articulatory Phonetics

Universität Tübingen

Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft


Vowels

vowels are produced without forming any particular obstruction in the oral tract

they hence are closer to clean sounds/tones than to noises (as consonants are)

instead of building a constriction, the shape of the resonating cavities (in particular: the oral cavity) and hence the resulting sound's character is changed

the tongue is the most important organ in shaping the oral cavity

further importance have the lips, which can be rounded or unrounded

hence vowels must be classified differently from consonants


Vowels

to describe the position of the tongue within the oral cavity one takes the highest point of the dorsum as a point of reference

the tongue's position can hence be described along two dimensions

the horizontal dimension tells us whether the reference point isin the front or in the back of the oral cavity

the vertical dimension (tongue height) tells us whether the reference point is high or in the low

cardinal vowels


the extreme positions of the tongue are those where further movement would lead to a constriction (ð consonantal sound)

these positions are the reference points w.r.t. which all other vowels need to be described

aus: Karl-Heinz Wagner, Skript zur Phonetik und Phonologie

Vowelscardinal vowels

low

high

front back


Vowels

schematically the extreme positionsyield the following diagram of the vowel space (ger. Vokaltrapez)

hence the highest point of the tongue can belocated somewhere within this space duringvowel production

the british phonetician Daniel Jones (1881-1967) had the idea to create an abstract set of vowels located within such a vowel space that could be regarded as reference points

the abstract set of vowels are called cardinal vowels

cardinal vowels


the eight primary cardinal vowels are defined by introducing four additional positions, two at the back and two at the front, at two new height levels equidistant from the extreme points

depending on the tongue position the corresponding vowel is called a front/central/back and high (closed)/mid-high (half-closed)/mid-low (half-closed)/low (open) vowel

high (close)

mid-high (half-close)

mid-low (half-open)

low (open)

front central back



the corresponding IPA symbols are as follows

the vowels [u o O] arerounded (i.e. they are producedwith rounded lips)

the vowels [i e E a A] areunrounded (i.e. they are producedwith unrounded lips)

the following sounds from English and Germancome close to the cardinal vowels

i

E

e

a

u

o

O

A

beat

bet

ger. See

ger. Ball

ger. gut

hawkhard


ger. Lot


Vowels

the missing counterparts of the primary cardinal vowels are the secondary cardinal vowels

this exhausts all possible combinationsof four heights, two horizontalpositions and two ways of lip rounding

for instance, [M] is a unrounded high (closed) back vowel, while [9] is a rounded mid-low (half-closed) front vowel

examples: Englisch: [V] luck [Q] rod

German: [y:] müde [2:] Möbel [9] möchte

i

E

e

a

u

o

O

A

y

2

9

& Q

V

7

M

cardinal vowels


Vowelsfurther vowels

four tongue height levels are not enough to adequately describe the vowel sounds of the worlds languages

therefore, three further levels have been introduced for the following vowels:

[I Y U] (ger. mit, müssen, muss) between high and mid-high[I Y] are front vowels, [U] is a back vowel, [I] is a rounded vowel, [Y U] are unrounded vowels

[{ 6] (man, ger. Mutter [mUt6]) between low and mid-low[{] is a unrounded front vowel, [6] a unrounded central vowel

[@] (the so-called schwa) is an unrounded central vowel between mid-high and mid-low


the schwa [@] is produced with the tongue in completely neutral position (hence the other German name Neutralvokal)

occurs in German and English as follows:

Bitte, lieben, geheim about, China, simpler [BE]

in German the sound [6] is called vokalisiertes 'R' since it constitutes and alternative way of articulating a consonantal rhotic, e.g. at the end of a syllable after a vowel

[6] [R] weiter – weitere

Tor – Toreleer – leeren



the completed vowel diagram looks as follows

at each position marked with there is a further pair of vowels (see IPA table for details).

i

E

e

a

u

o

O

A

y

2

9

& Q

V

7

MI Y

{ 6

@

U

front central back

closed

half-closed (close-mid)

half-open (open-mid)

open

high

mid-high

mid-low

low



VowelsIPA table


Vowels

from Clark & Yallop (1995), p. 28

reminder: the cardinal vowels and the vowels in the IPA diagram are abstract reference points not derived from a particular language

for comparison: the chart on the right shows some English vowels as articulated in the British Received Pronunciation


Vowelsadvanced tongue root

the two dimensions of tongue position + the aspect of lip rounding is not enough to describe all vowel sounds of the world's languages

in Akan (spoken in Ghana) for instance, vowels differ in the size of the pharynx

if the root of the tongue is drawn forward and the larynx is lowered, the vowel is called an advanced tongue root (or +ATR) vowel, otherwise it is a -ATR vowel

the IPA provides two diacritical symbols to deal with ±ATR:

advanced tongue root retracted tongue root


Vowelsadvanced tongue root

from

Lad

efog

ed (

2006

), p

. 22

3


Vowelsnasal vowels

all vowels that have so far been looked at are articulated with the velum raised (i.e. the passage to the nasal cavity closed)

vowels might also be nasalized, i.e. produced with a lowered velum yielding nasal vowels

nasalization is indicated by the diacritical symbol ~ in the IPA

there are quite some nasal vowels in French that can also be found in the German loanwords

[E~] bassin (Bassin) [O~] balcon (Balkon) [9~] parfum (Parfüm)


reminder: semivowels (or glides) are consonantal sounds (more precisely: approximants) with vocalic quality

vowels (usually) form the peak of a syllable (more on this in the session on the phonology of the syllable); they are syllabic

seg.ment

consonants (usually) don't form the peak of a syllable, but rather the periphery; they are non-syllabic

(exceptions are e.g. [l] and [n] as in shuttle [S.tl]

the syllabic status of a consonant is indicated by the diacritic )

Vowelssemivowels


semivowels can hence be regarded as non-syllabic vocalic sounds since they also do not serve as peak of syllables

Vowelssemivowels

some semivowels and their corresponding vowels:

[j] (as in you; [i]) [w] (as in water; [u])

[] (as in french lui; [y]) [] (in Japanese; [])

vocalic sounds

syllabic

vowels

semi-v

owels

cons

onan

ts

non-syllabic

non-vocalic sounds


Vowelslength

vowels also differ w.r.t. their length

long vowels are marked by a diacritical : in the IPA

[i:] ihn – vital [i][e:] Mehl – Mechanik [e][o:] oben – Moral [o][E:] Mädchen – Bett [E][a:] Kahn – kann [a]

in German some vowels only occur in their short form

[I] Pille [Y] Küsse [U] uns [O] normal


Vowelslength and tenseness/laxness

there is a correspondence between the length of a vowel and its tenseness/laxness

a vowel is called tense if the muscles of the tongue are relatively contracted during articulation, otherwise it's called lax

the tense vowels thus include [i y e 2 u o], while the lax vowels comprise [I Y E 9 a U O @ 6]

across the languages of the world there seems to be a close relationship of the form tense ó long resp. lax ó short

this is only an observation that seems to hold in general and there are exceptions


in German, tense vowels are long in generalbieten — bitten [i:] — [I]Hüte — Hütte [y:] — [Y]Beet — Bett [e:] — [E]Höhle — Hölle [2:] — [9]spuken — spucken [u:] — [U]Schoten — Schotten [o:] — [O]

in particular, stressed tense vowels are always longbefore the position bearing the main stress of the word, tense

vowels may be short: Idée — ideál [e:] — [e]

Physík — physikálisch [i:] — [i]

Barón — Baronésse [o:] — [o]

Beis

piel

e au

s K.

-H.

Ram

ers:

Ein

führ

ung

in d

ie P

hono

logi

e, S

. 32

f



after the position bearing the main stress of the word also unstressed tense vowels can occur as long vowels

Álmosen [o:] Hérzog [o:]

in German all lax vowels are short, except [E:] und [a:]

Hähne — Henne [E:] — [E]

stählen — stellen [E:] — [E]

Bahn — Bann [a:] — [a]

if [a:] is analysed as [A:], this case is no longer exceptional since [A] is a tense vowel



Vowelsdiphthongs

a diphthong is a sequence of two vowels pertaining to one syllable where articulation proceeds continuosly from one to the other

a single vowel sound is thus called monophthong

example for diphthongs are

Meise, Ei, Kaiser, Mais [aI] high, bite, buyHaus, tausend, Clown [aU] loud, about

heute, neu, Läuse, Säule, Konvoi [OI] boy, noise„Ey, Mann, ey!“ [eI] laser, bait

[I@] hear, feared, beer[OU] boat, dough[E@] fared, bare, bear


sometimes diphthongs are notes as vowel + glide:

[aI] à [aj] [aU] à [aw] [OI] à [Oj]

the movement of a tongue from one vowel to the other in a diphthong can be depicted in the vowel diagram

[aI] [aU]

[OI]

[I@]the end position can varyconsiderably (between speakers, dialects, etc.) andis thus only indicated by an arrow

depending on the direction of movement closing and centering diphthongs aredistinguished

Vowelsdiphthongs


Die

IPA-

Tabe

lle


Further Aspects of Articulation

for plosives there is one further aspect of articulation concerning the exact timing of release of the closure and the voice onset

example: articulation of German <Opa> consists of the three segments [o:] (vowel, hence voiced), [p] (voiceless plosive), [a:] (vowel, hence voiced)

the following modes of articulation are possible for the plosive:

aspiration

articulator distance

vocal folds distance

vocal folds vibration

closure

(1) fully voiced: [b] [o:] [a:]





closure

(2) partially voiced: [b] [o:] [a:]




closure

(3) voiceless unaspirated: [p] [o:] [a:]

Further Aspects of Articulationaspiration





closure

(4) aspiriated: [p] [o:] [a:]

aspirationif the voice onset happens after release of the closure, an aspirated sound can be heard until voice onset ð the plosive is aspiriated

in German, aspirated plosives can be found before stressed vowels und word-finally; in Burmese also fricatives occur aspirated, e.g. [s]

the diacritic is used in the IPA to indicate aspiration

Further Aspects of Articulationaspiration


most consonants looked at so far could be characterized by one place of articulation

however, there are cases of complex articulation, where two distinct places are involved. The following distinction can be made:

double articulationsimultaneous occurence of two equally important constrictions at two distinct places

secondary articulationa further (secondary) constriction in addition to the primary constriction of the consonant

Further Aspects of Articulationcomplex articulation


double articulation is indicated by a sequence of two segements with an overarching þ in case there is no separate IPA symbol (cf. to affricates)

plosivescommon in west-african Niger-Congo languages

[kþp] [gþb] (voiceless/voiced velar-bilabial)

[tþp] [dþb] (voiceless/voiced alvelar-bilabial)

[µþp] (voiceless retroflex-bilabial)

the first sound can be heard on the formation of the closure, the second on its release

Further Aspects of Articulationdouble articulation


nasalsvery rare, occuring in some African languages

[Nþm] (voiced labial-velar)

fricativesoccur more often than other types ð distinct IPA symbols

[W] corresponds to [þx] (voiceless bilabial-velar)

[�] corresponds to [Sþx] (voiceless postalveolar-velar)

[] and [¿] correspond to [sþC] and [zþ], respectively (voiceless/voiced alveolar-palatal)



approximantssemivowels (glides) can also be analysed as cases of double articulation

[H] corresponds to [Bþj ] (voiced bilabial-palatal)

(e.g. in French <huit> [Hit])

[w] corresponds to [Bþ¦] (voiced bilabial-velar)



a secondary articulation is a gesture with a lesser degree of closure occuring at the same time as another, primary gesture

for secondary articulations the IPA provides diacritical symbols

four main types of secondary articulation

labialization palatalization velarization pharyngealization

Further Aspects of Articulationsecondary articulation


labializationrounding of the lips in addition to primary articulation

indicated by the diacritical ½ in the IPA

example: Bura (spoken in Nigeria) [k½aæraæ] („donkey“)

palatalizationraising of the front of the tongue (the tongue blade) roughly to the position of the palatal approximant [j]

indicated by the diacritical ' in the IPA

example: Russian [n'os] („he carried“)



velarizationraising of the back of the tongue to a [u] like tongue position

indicated by a diacritical ¼ in the IPA; for the velarized [l] the symbol [5] is used

examples: Irish [f¼i] <faoi> („under“)

velarized „l“ („dark l“) in English

<feel> [fi:5] vs. <leaf> [li:f]



pharyngealizationsuperimposition of the narrowing of the pharynx by retraction of tongue root towards pharynx wall, roughly to the position of an [A]

indicated by a diacritical Â in the IPA

examples: Arabic: [dal:at] („she pointed“)[dÂalÂ:at] („sie stayed“)

for the pharyngalized „l“ the same symbol [5] as for the velarized variant is used



if a secondary articulation is caused by the phonetic context we speak of coarticulation

coarticulation occurs because the speech organs need to make continuous transitions from one gesture to another such that there might be a gestural overlap

aspects of the subsequent gesture may be anticipated (ð anticipatory coarticulation) or aspects of the preceeding gesture might be preserved (ð perseverative coarticulation)

example: labialization: <Lulu> [l½ul½u] <Glück> [g½l½yk]

<Who'd choose prune juice?>

Further Aspects of Articulationcoarticulation


standardly a plosive's articulation ends with a release of the oral closure such that compressed air bursts out of the oral cavity

however, this release might also happen differently or not at all

no releasea plosive is unreleased if the air pressure is lowered to an extent that allows the release to happen without the charactersitic burst noise

the diacritical ¬ indicates unreleased plosives in the IPA

unreleased plosive occur word-finally or before other plosives

<map> <road> <rubbed> <Haupt>ma[p¬] roa[d¬] ru[b¬d] Hau[p¬t]

Further Aspects of Articulationrelease types


nasal releasebefore a homorganic nasal, the compressed air in the oral cavity of a plosive might escape through the nasal cavity as soon as the velum is lowered (and not by release of the oral closure)

the diacritical ¨ indicates nasal release in the IPA

examples:

ger. <beten> ger. <sagen> <topmost> <sudden>be[t¨n=] sa[g¨Nê] to[p¨m]ost su[d¨n=]



laterale releasebefore a lateral, the compressed air in the oral cavity might escape via the lateral constriction

the diacritical indicates lateral release in the IPA

examples:

<eagle> <riddle> ger. <Dattel> ger. <paddeln>ea[gl] ri[dl] Da[tl] pa[dln]



Summary

vowels are the more tone-like sounds built without considerable obstruction of the oral cavity

the most important parameters for classification are tongue position and lip rounding

the cardinal vowels serve as reference points in the vowel space for a language specific characterisation of vowel sounds

further aspects of vowel articulation include nasalization (articulation with a lowered velum), ±ATR (articulation with an advanced tongue root), length and tenseness/laxness

a diphthong is a continuously articulated sequence of two vowels, regarded as one sound; it may be closing or centering

semivowels are the non-syllabic counterparts of certain vowels

vowels


Summary

an obstruent is aspirated if the voice onset of a subsequent voiced sound happens after the release of the closure/constriction

in cases of complex articulations two distinct places of articulation are involved

in the case of double articulation these are equally important, in the case of secondary articulation a gesture with a lesser degree of closure occurs at the same time as another, primary gesture

the four main types of secondary articulation are labialization, palatalization, velarization und pharyngealization

coarticulation is a special instance where secondary articulation is caused by the context in which a sound occurs

for plosives four types of release can be distinguished: normal, no release, nasal release and lateral release

further aspects of articulation


Exercise

(1) Visit the website of the Interactive IPA Chart

http://web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/ipa-lab.htmand listen to the vowel sounds

(2) Note the IPA symbol for the following sounds:(a) the long closed rounded back vowel(b) all short lax unrounded front vowels(c) the long rounded front vowel

at height between close and close-mid(d) the nasalized unrounded open-mid front vowel

(3) Give an exact description of the following sounds:(a) [W] (b) [DÂ] (c) [g] (d) [o:] (e) [O~] (f) [{]

Phonetics k Phonology - uni-tuebingen.decebert/teaching/10PhonPhon/handout03.… · Phonetics k...

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