A Course in Phonetics summery
Chapter 1; Articulation and Acoustics
Speech production
The airstream from the lungs is the power source for speech. When the vocal folds only leave
a narrow passage for air, they vibrate thus creating sound. Voiced speech sounds are made
with vibrating vocal cords whereas voiceless speech sounds are made with the vocal folds
apart and not vibrating.
The air passages above the larynx are the vocal tract, existing of the oral and nasal tract. The
shape of the oral tract is of great importance in the production of speech.
The parts that can be used to form sound, are called articulators.
Speech production mechanism:
• Airstream process: all the ways of pushing air out that provides the power for speech.
The lungs are the prime movers in this process.
• Phonation process: the actions of the vocal folds, vibrating or not.
• Oro-nasal process: determines whether the airstream goes through the oral or nasal
cavity.
• Articulatory process: the movement of the tongue and the lips interacting with the
roof of the mouth and pharynx
Speech sounds can differ in three ways from one another: pitch, loudness and quality.
In a sound spectrogram we simulate the frequency of the vibrations of the eardrum by sound
by performing a spectral analysis of sound. It shows, for instance, the difference in amplitude
and periodicity between fricatives and vowels.
Places of articulatory gestures
Just behind the front teeth, is the alveolar ridge. Behind the alveolar ridge, is the front, bony
part of the roof of the mouth, called the hard palate. Right behind that, is the soft part of the
roof of the mouth called the soft palate or the velum. This muscular flap can be raised to
press against the back of the pharynx, preventing air from escaping through the nose. This is
a velic closure. Hanging from the end of the soft palate is the uvula. Between the larynx and
the uvula is the pharynx, of which the back wall may be considered an articulator. These
parts make up the upper surface of the vocal tract.
We also have a lower surface of the vocal tract. The tongue can be divided into multiple
parts. The blade and the tip of the tongue are the most mobile parts. The rest of the tongue
can be divided in the front (underneath hard palate), center (underneath hard and soft palate),
,back (underneath soft palate) and root (opposite of pharynx backwall) of the tongue. The
epiglottis is attached to the root of the tongue.
To form consonants, the airstream must be obstructed some way. Consonants can be
classified by the place and manner of this obstruction. The primary articulators that cause
obstruction are the lips, tongue tip and blade, and the back of the tongue. Speech sounds
using lips are labial articulations; those using the tongue tip or blade are coronal
articulations; those using the back of the tongue are dorsal articulations.
The principal terms for the particular types of obstructions required in the description of
English are:
1. Bilabial: the obstruction is made with two lips.
2. Labiodental: the obstruction is created by putting the lower lip against the front
teeth.
3. Dental: the obstruction is created by putting the tip or blade against the front teeth.
(when the tongue protrudes between the teeth, it is called interdental)
4. Alveolar: the obstruction is created by putting the blade or tip against the alveolar
ridge.
5. Retroflex: the obstruction is created by curling the tongue tip backwards and placing
it at the back of the alveolar ridge.
6. Post-alveolar: The obstruction is created by placing the tongue tip against the back
of the alveolar ridge.
7. Palatal: The obstruction is created by placing the front of the tongue against the
hard palate.
8. Velar: The obstruction is created by placing the back of the tongue against the soft
palate.
When producing a nasal consonant, air can only escape through the nasal cavity.
Manners of articulation
During a stop, there is a complete closure of the articulators involved so that the airstream
cannot escape through the mouth. There are two types of stops:
• Oral stop: In addition to articulatory stop in the mouth, the soft palate is also raised,
thereby closing the nasal tract. Air pressure builds in the oral cavity so that when
released a small burst of sound is created. These sounds are called plosives.
• Nasal stop: This time the soft palate is down so that air can escape through the nasal
cavity.
An oral stop is often just called stop, and a nasal stop simply nasal.
During a fricative, there is a close approximation of two articulators so that the airstream is
partially obstructed and turbulent airstream is produced. The higher-pitched sounds with a
more obvious hiss are sometimes called sibilants.
An approximant is a gesture in which one articulator is close to another, but without the
vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
A lateral (approximant) is an obstruction of the airstream at a point along the center of the
oral tract, with incomplete closure between one or both sides of the tongue and the roof of the
mouth.
Even though the following manners of articulations aren’t used in standard English, it is
important to know them. The trill or roll is way the Spanish pronounce their r’s. The tap is
when the tongue makes a single tap against the alveolar ridge, such as in the American way
of saying “pity”.
When producing an affricate, you produce a stop directly followed by a fricative.
, Words in English that start with a vowel are pronounced with a glottal stop at the beginning
of the vowel.
Consonants, thus, can be described in terms of five factors:
1. Voicing
2. Place of articulation
3. Central or lateral articulation
4. Velic closure
5. Manner of articulatory action
In a spectrogram, you can very clearly see the difference between voiced and voiceless
speech sounds. This means vowels are more apparent in spectrograms.
The articulation of vowel sounds
We can describe vowel sounds roughly in terms of the position of the highest point of the
tongue and the position of the lips.
When the highest point of the tongue is in the front, it is a front vowel. When the mouth is
fairly closed (heed), we call it a high front vowel, whereas when it is more open, it is a low
front vowel.
When the tongue is close to the back of the surface of the vocal tract, it is a back vowel.
When the body of the tongue is high, it is a high back vowel. When the tongue is low, it is a
low back vowel.
When the corners of the mouth move inwards, the lips are rounded. When they are wide
apart, the vowel is unrounded.
Vowel sounds may be said on a variety of notes, but they are distinguished from one another
by two characteristic vocal tract pitches associated with their overtones. These are called
formats of the vowels (high overtone is second format; low overtone first format).
Superimposed on syllables are features called suprasegmentals, which include variation of
stress and pitch.
The pitch pattern in a sentence is known as intonation.
Chapter 2; Phonology and Phonetic Transcription
In citation style of speech is the style of speech you use to show someone how to pronounce
a word. In the phonetic transcription of connected speech, you show the style used in normal
conversation. The simplest form of transcription is called broad transcription.
Phonology is the description of the systems and patterns of sounds that occur in a language.
It involves studying a language to determine the distributions of sounds in words, that is, we
must discover when a phonetic contrast is distinctive, that is, when the sounds in contrast
convey a difference in meaning and when a phonetic contrast does not convey a difference is
meaning.
One of the most important properties of a phonological distribution is the relationship called
distinctiveness, or contrast. When two sounds can be used to differentiate the words, they
are said to be distinct, or contrastive. The phonetic difference is phonemic—as opposed to a
simple phonetic difference.
Chapter 1; Articulation and Acoustics
Speech production
The airstream from the lungs is the power source for speech. When the vocal folds only leave
a narrow passage for air, they vibrate thus creating sound. Voiced speech sounds are made
with vibrating vocal cords whereas voiceless speech sounds are made with the vocal folds
apart and not vibrating.
The air passages above the larynx are the vocal tract, existing of the oral and nasal tract. The
shape of the oral tract is of great importance in the production of speech.
The parts that can be used to form sound, are called articulators.
Speech production mechanism:
• Airstream process: all the ways of pushing air out that provides the power for speech.
The lungs are the prime movers in this process.
• Phonation process: the actions of the vocal folds, vibrating or not.
• Oro-nasal process: determines whether the airstream goes through the oral or nasal
cavity.
• Articulatory process: the movement of the tongue and the lips interacting with the
roof of the mouth and pharynx
Speech sounds can differ in three ways from one another: pitch, loudness and quality.
In a sound spectrogram we simulate the frequency of the vibrations of the eardrum by sound
by performing a spectral analysis of sound. It shows, for instance, the difference in amplitude
and periodicity between fricatives and vowels.
Places of articulatory gestures
Just behind the front teeth, is the alveolar ridge. Behind the alveolar ridge, is the front, bony
part of the roof of the mouth, called the hard palate. Right behind that, is the soft part of the
roof of the mouth called the soft palate or the velum. This muscular flap can be raised to
press against the back of the pharynx, preventing air from escaping through the nose. This is
a velic closure. Hanging from the end of the soft palate is the uvula. Between the larynx and
the uvula is the pharynx, of which the back wall may be considered an articulator. These
parts make up the upper surface of the vocal tract.
We also have a lower surface of the vocal tract. The tongue can be divided into multiple
parts. The blade and the tip of the tongue are the most mobile parts. The rest of the tongue
can be divided in the front (underneath hard palate), center (underneath hard and soft palate),
,back (underneath soft palate) and root (opposite of pharynx backwall) of the tongue. The
epiglottis is attached to the root of the tongue.
To form consonants, the airstream must be obstructed some way. Consonants can be
classified by the place and manner of this obstruction. The primary articulators that cause
obstruction are the lips, tongue tip and blade, and the back of the tongue. Speech sounds
using lips are labial articulations; those using the tongue tip or blade are coronal
articulations; those using the back of the tongue are dorsal articulations.
The principal terms for the particular types of obstructions required in the description of
English are:
1. Bilabial: the obstruction is made with two lips.
2. Labiodental: the obstruction is created by putting the lower lip against the front
teeth.
3. Dental: the obstruction is created by putting the tip or blade against the front teeth.
(when the tongue protrudes between the teeth, it is called interdental)
4. Alveolar: the obstruction is created by putting the blade or tip against the alveolar
ridge.
5. Retroflex: the obstruction is created by curling the tongue tip backwards and placing
it at the back of the alveolar ridge.
6. Post-alveolar: The obstruction is created by placing the tongue tip against the back
of the alveolar ridge.
7. Palatal: The obstruction is created by placing the front of the tongue against the
hard palate.
8. Velar: The obstruction is created by placing the back of the tongue against the soft
palate.
When producing a nasal consonant, air can only escape through the nasal cavity.
Manners of articulation
During a stop, there is a complete closure of the articulators involved so that the airstream
cannot escape through the mouth. There are two types of stops:
• Oral stop: In addition to articulatory stop in the mouth, the soft palate is also raised,
thereby closing the nasal tract. Air pressure builds in the oral cavity so that when
released a small burst of sound is created. These sounds are called plosives.
• Nasal stop: This time the soft palate is down so that air can escape through the nasal
cavity.
An oral stop is often just called stop, and a nasal stop simply nasal.
During a fricative, there is a close approximation of two articulators so that the airstream is
partially obstructed and turbulent airstream is produced. The higher-pitched sounds with a
more obvious hiss are sometimes called sibilants.
An approximant is a gesture in which one articulator is close to another, but without the
vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
A lateral (approximant) is an obstruction of the airstream at a point along the center of the
oral tract, with incomplete closure between one or both sides of the tongue and the roof of the
mouth.
Even though the following manners of articulations aren’t used in standard English, it is
important to know them. The trill or roll is way the Spanish pronounce their r’s. The tap is
when the tongue makes a single tap against the alveolar ridge, such as in the American way
of saying “pity”.
When producing an affricate, you produce a stop directly followed by a fricative.
, Words in English that start with a vowel are pronounced with a glottal stop at the beginning
of the vowel.
Consonants, thus, can be described in terms of five factors:
1. Voicing
2. Place of articulation
3. Central or lateral articulation
4. Velic closure
5. Manner of articulatory action
In a spectrogram, you can very clearly see the difference between voiced and voiceless
speech sounds. This means vowels are more apparent in spectrograms.
The articulation of vowel sounds
We can describe vowel sounds roughly in terms of the position of the highest point of the
tongue and the position of the lips.
When the highest point of the tongue is in the front, it is a front vowel. When the mouth is
fairly closed (heed), we call it a high front vowel, whereas when it is more open, it is a low
front vowel.
When the tongue is close to the back of the surface of the vocal tract, it is a back vowel.
When the body of the tongue is high, it is a high back vowel. When the tongue is low, it is a
low back vowel.
When the corners of the mouth move inwards, the lips are rounded. When they are wide
apart, the vowel is unrounded.
Vowel sounds may be said on a variety of notes, but they are distinguished from one another
by two characteristic vocal tract pitches associated with their overtones. These are called
formats of the vowels (high overtone is second format; low overtone first format).
Superimposed on syllables are features called suprasegmentals, which include variation of
stress and pitch.
The pitch pattern in a sentence is known as intonation.
Chapter 2; Phonology and Phonetic Transcription
In citation style of speech is the style of speech you use to show someone how to pronounce
a word. In the phonetic transcription of connected speech, you show the style used in normal
conversation. The simplest form of transcription is called broad transcription.
Phonology is the description of the systems and patterns of sounds that occur in a language.
It involves studying a language to determine the distributions of sounds in words, that is, we
must discover when a phonetic contrast is distinctive, that is, when the sounds in contrast
convey a difference in meaning and when a phonetic contrast does not convey a difference is
meaning.
One of the most important properties of a phonological distribution is the relationship called
distinctiveness, or contrast. When two sounds can be used to differentiate the words, they
are said to be distinct, or contrastive. The phonetic difference is phonemic—as opposed to a
simple phonetic difference.
