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ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY HANDOUT
ENGLISH VOWELS HANDOUT
ENGLISH MORPHOLOGY HANDOUT
TRIALS / PAST QUESTIONS
UNIT ONE
INTRODUCTION TO PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
What is phonetics?
It is the general study of the characteristics of speech sounds. Or phonetics is the study of the inventory of all the speech sounds which humans are capable of producing. Phonetics has four areas of study however the fourth one is not considered:
a-) Articulatory Phonetics: The study of how speech sounds are made or articulated.
b-) Acoustic Phonetics: It deals with the physical properties of speech as sound waves in the air.
c-) Auditory Phonetics: It deals with the reception, via the ear, of speech sounds.
d-) Forensic Phonetics: It deals with the identification of the speaker and the analysis of recorded utterances.
What is phonology?
Phonology is the description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in a language. It is concerned with the ways in which speech sounds form systems and patterns in human language. According to Kataba (1989), phonology is a branch of linguistics which investigates the ways in which sounds are used systematically in different languages to words and utterances.
What is alphabet?
Is a standard set of letters (symbols) which is used to present words orthographically in a language while Orthography has to do with spelling or writing implying the English alphabet are used in writing but not used in or speech. Out of the alphabet of twenty-six letters, five are vowels and twenty-one are consonants.
ENGLISH VOWELS
Definition of vowels
Vowels are sounds during whose production or articulation the lung-air escapes through the mouth without any friction or obstruction/constriction.
Vowels are sonorous, syllabic sounds in whose production the vocal tract is wide open. Different vowel sounds (qualities), occur depending on the varying degrees of the body of the tongue and shape of the lips.
Parameters for vowel classification
a. Height of the tongue (high/low/semi-low)
b. part of the tongue (front, central, back)
c. Shape of the lips (rounded and unrounded)
Types of vowel
There are two main types of vowels in English. These are pure vowels also known as monophthongs and diphthongs also called vowel glides.
Pure vowels
Pure vowels are vowel sounds that are said with one pitch level. English has twelve (12) pure vowels. They include:
Vowel 1. |i:| as in eat, beat, heed, me, people.
Vowel 2. |i| as in it, bit, hit, live.
Vowel 3. |e|, or, |ε| as in ate, bet, head, wed, bed
Vowel 4. |æ| as in at, bat, had, man, catch
Vowel 5. |a:| as in art, cart, hard, heart.
Vowel 6. |ɒ|, or |||; as in on, pot, hot
Vowel 7. |: |; as in corn, port, hoard, caught, court.
Vowel 8. |ʊ |, or | u|; as in pull, full, push, took, book
Vowel 9 |u:|; as in pool, fool, cool
Vowel 10. |Λ|; as in cut, bud, buck, wonder, monkey, worry, won, couple, trouble
Vowel 11 | ɜ: |; or |ə:| as in heard, word, curse
Vowel 12 | ə| as in about, ago, letter
Vowel length:
Vowel length refers to how some vowels have longer pitch than others. English vowels are either long or short. Long vowels are shown by ‘double dots’ (:) after them. This sign is termed end mark. End mark (:) is thus the sign or mark used to indicate that a vowel is a long vowel.
There are five (5) long pure vowels and seven (7) short pure vowels in English. The long vowels include:
Vowel 1 |i:|, e.g. feel, meet, peak, he, beat, key, deceive, people
Vowel 5 |a:| e.g. card, half, reservoir, laugh, psalm, heart
Vowel 7 |ɔ:| e.g. board, Paul, horse, ball, saw, door, sought
Vowel 9 |u:| e.g. food, do, true, fruit, you, chew
Vowel 11 |ɜ :| or |ə:| e.g. bird, fern, purse, word, shirt, her
The short vowels are:
Vowel 2. |i| e.g. bit, pin, fish, pretty, symbol, minute
Vowel 3 |e| e.g. bet, men, yes, friend, bury, many
Vowel 4 |æ| e.g. bat, man, gas, cat, plait, hat
Vowel 6 |ɒ| e.g. pot, gone, cross, want, what, hot
Vowel 8 |ʊ | or |u| e.g. put, pull, push, wood, foot, good
Vowel 10 |Λ| e.g. but, some, rush, flood, blood, enough
Vowel 12 |ə | e.g. about, oppose, perhaps, waiter, famous, doctor
Vowel quality
1. Vowel quality refers to the distinctive character of a vowel sound with regard to the various possible positions of the tongue during the production of the vowel sound (s).
2. It refers to the difference in the sounds of vowels as a result of the positions taken by the tongue during different vowel articulation.
3. Vowel quality is the distinctive sounds among vowels.
4. Vowel quality refers to how each vowel sounds distinctive from the other.
The vowel chart of the twelve pure vowels in English indicating the approximate tongue positions during the production of these vowels is presented below:
THE PURE ENGLISH VOWEL CHART
CLASSIFICATION OF PURE VOWELS
The vowel chart given above takes into consideration two dimensions of vowel quality.
Dimension 1: Front-Back parameter (Horizontal Axis).
This dimension has to do with the part of the tongue that is highest in the mouth when the vowel is being produced. That is, the part of the tongue that is raised towards the roof of the mouth (hard palate) during the articulation of the vowel. Is it the front part, the central or back part?
Here, we are concerned with the horizontal axis of the tongue. This gives us Front vowels, central vowels and back vowels.
So, from the diagram, we can see that |i:|, |i|, |e| and |æ| are Front vowels, |ɜ :|, |ə| and |Λ| are
Central vowels while |a:|, |ɒ |, |ɔ:|, |ʊ | and |u:| are Back vowels.
Front vowels:
Front vowels are vowels during the articulation of which the front part of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate (roof of the mouth).
Central vowels:
These are vowels during whose production the central part of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate.
Back vowels:
Similarly, Back vowels are vowels during the production of which the back part of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate (roof of the mouth).
Dimension 2: The open-close parameter (vertical axis).
This dimension relates to tongue height; That is to say how high the tongue is in the mouth in relation to the palate when the vowel is being made. If it is the front, central or back part of the tongue that is raised towards the palate, how high is it? Here, we are looking at the vertical axis of the tongue; (i.e. the up and down movement of the tongue). That is to say, is the tongue at the close, half-closed, half-open or open position during the production of the vowel?
This dimension, therefore, gives us four types of vowels:
1. Close vowels, e.g. |i:|and |u:|.Vowels during their production of which the tongue is raised to the close position in relation to the roof of the mouth.
2. Half close vowels, e.g. |i| and |ʊ |, |ә:| or |ȝ:|; vowels during whose articulation the tongue is
raised to the half-close position in relation to the roof of the mouth
3. Half-open vowels, e.g. |ȝ:|; |ε|, |ɜ :|,|ә| and |Λ|: These are vowels during whose production the tongue is raised to the half-open position in relation to the roof of the mouth.
4. Open vowels, e.g. |æ|, |a:| and |ȝ|: Vowels of which their articulation the tongue is raised to the open position in relation to the hard palate.
However, there is a third dimension of vowel quality that is not captured in the chart. This has to do with or relates to the shape of the lips when the vowel is being made.
This dimension also gives us three (3) types of vowels:
(1). Rounded (2). Spread (3). Neutral
1. Rounded vowels
Rounded vowels are vowels for which (the corners of) the lips are brought forward during their production; e.g. |u:| as in pool, |ʊ | as in pull |ɒ | as in pot, and |ɔ:| as in port.
2. Spread vowels
These are vowels for which ( the corners of) the lips are pulled or drawn back, (like when we are smiling) during their production; e.g. |i| as in seat, leave, |i| as in sit, live, |Ɛ | or |e| as in set, let, bet. /ɜ :/ or /ə:/ as in earth, hurt /ə/ as n about, ago, and letter.
(3). Neutral vowels
These vowels are so-called because they are vowels for which during their articulation, the lips are
neither brought forward nor pulled back; e.g. |æ| as in bat, cat, |a:| as in cart, part, |Λ| as in but,
cut. From our discussion so far, we realise that vowels can be classified by making reference to
three main dimensions (three-term-label): ( 1).Front-back parameters,(2) Open-close parameters
and ( 3) shape of the lips.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PURE VOWELS IN ENGLISH
How to describe vowels.
We said earlier in our discussion that vowel quality simply means the distinctive sounds among vowels. We wish to add that vowel quality depends largely on the point of articulation of the vowels. Point of articulation is the point in the mouth where vowels are produced.
Point of Articulation, thus, helps us classify vowels in the three dimensions discussed earlier. These include:
1. Whether the vowel is a front, centre or back vowel.
2. Whether the vowel is a close, half-close, half-open or open vowel.
3. The shape of the lips during the articulation of the vowel. (Are the lips rounded, spread or
neutral?)
Therefore, we describe vowels by taking into account the above three-term label otherwise restated
below:
• Part of the tongue raised in relation to the palate (roof of the mouth), (i.e. the part of the tongue that is highest in the mouth when the vowel is being made. This gives us front, centre or back.
• Tongue height => the height to which the tongue is raised in relation to the palate, (i.e. how high the tongue is in the mouth in relation to the palate when the vowel is being made =>close, half-close, half-open, open.
• The shape of the lips when the vowel is being made => rounded, spread or neutral (unrounded)
To the three-term label listed above which are very crucial for the description of vowels, we can add a fourth one — whether the vowel is a long vowel or a short one.
Let us now turn our attention to the full description of the twelve (12) pure vowels in English.
Vowel 1. |i :|; Front close spread vowel or front-close vowel said with spread lips. What this means is that when we are articulating the vowel |i:|, the front part of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate to a position almost near close. We may as well add the fourth label – whether the vowel is long or short. Since |i:| is a long vowel, we will then have:
|i:| is front close long vowel said with spread lips, or front-close long spread vowel. This then becomes the fullest description of |i:|s
Vowel 2 |I| or |i| (Centralised) front short vowel just above the half-close position said with spread lips. This means during the articulation of |i|, the rear part of the front of the tongue (i.e. a part of the tongue that is nearer to the centre than to the front) is raised in the direction of the hard palate,
just above the - half-close position. ( Note: The phrase “ just above the half-close position” can be rounded off as “ half-close). This way, |i| can then be described as (centralised) front short half-close spread vowel)
Vowel 3 |e| or |ε| Front short vowel between half-close and half-open said with spread lips, or, front short half-open spread vowel. (‘ Between half-close and half-open is rounded off to half-open because the tongue position of |e| is nearer half-open than half-close.)
Vowel 4 |æ| Front short vowel just below the half-open position said with neutral lips, or front short neutral vowel just below the half-open position.
Vowel 5 |ɑ :|Back open long unrounded vowel =>back open short vowel said with neutral lips.
Vowel 6 |ɒ| or ||| Back rounded short vowel just above the open position => back short vowel just above the open position said with rounded lips.
Vowel 7 |ɔ:| Back long rounded vowel between half-open and open =>back long vowel between
half-open and half-close said with rounded lips.
Vowel 8 |ʊ|, or |u| Back short rounded vowel just above half-close, or back short vowel, just above half-close said with rounded lips.
Vowel 9 |u:|Back close long vowel said with rounded lips/back close rounded long vowel.
Vowel 10 |Λ| central short vowel just above open said with neutral lips/central neutral short vowel just above open.
Vowel 11 |ɜ :|, or, |ə:| Central long vowel between half-close and half-open said with spread lips /central spread long vowel between half-close and half-open.
Vowel 12 |ə| Central short vowel just above half-open said with spread lips => central spread short vowel just above half-open.
DIPHTHONGS
Diphthongs, also known as gliding vowels, literally meaning two sounds or two tones refer to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable.
The word ‘diphthong’ comes from the Greek word “diphthongus” which means ‘double sound’.
Diphthongs are, therefore, vowels (sounds) for which the tongue (and sometimes the lips as well) moves from one vowel position to another; or, diphthongs are sounds during the articulation of which the tongue starts in the position required for the articulation of a particular vowel and moves in the direction of the position required for the articulation of a different vowel. We say that diphthongs glide from one vowel position to another.
Therefore, another name for diphthongs is glide. The glide that occurs, however, should take place within one syllable. The starting point of the glide is usually called the first element of the diphthong and the point in the direction in which the glide is made is often referred to as its second element.
TYPES OF DIPHTHONGS
There are two types of diphthongs in English.
These are (1). Closing diphthongs, and (2) Centring diphthongs
1.Closing diphthongs
Closing diphthongs are diphthongs during the articulation of which the tongue moves from a more open vowel to a closer one.
There are five (5) closing diphthongs in English; from vowel thirteen (13) to seventeen (17). Given below is the chart indicating the tongue positions of the closing diphthongs.
N.B. The arrows in the above diagram, show the direction of the movement of the tongue when these diphthongs are being articulated.
The diphthongs in words.
The closing diphthongs, as shown above, are formed in the following words:
Vowel 13: |ei| as in day, make.
Vowel 14:|əu|, or |əʊ |, as in goat, go.
Vowel 15: |ɑ i| as in buy, sky, high.
Vowel 16: |ɑ ʊ |, as in now, about.
Vowel 17: ||ui|, as in boil, toy.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CLOSING DIPHTHONGS
Vowel 13: |ei|; during the production of this diphthong, the front (part) of the tongue begins from a point just below the half-close position and moves in the direction of R.P. |i|. The lips are spread.
This diphthong may therefore be described as a glide from a front spread short vowel just below half-close to a centralized front spread short vowel just above half-close.
Vowel 14: |əu| a glide from central spread short vowel between half-close and half-open to a (centralised) back short rounded just above half-close.
Vowel 15: | ɑ i|, a glide from front open (short) neutral vowel to (centralised) front (short) spread vowel just above half-close.
Vowel 16: | ɑ ʊ | a glide from a back open neutral vowel to a back rounded (short) vowel just above half-close.
Vowel 17: | ui|, a glide from a back rounded (short) vowel between open and half-open to (centralised)s front spread (short) vowel just above the half-close position.
2.CENTRING DIPHTHONGS
These are diphthongs during whose production the tongue moves from one vowel position to a central vowel position.
English has three (3) centring diphthongs:
Vowel 18: |iə|, as in near, ear, hear, beer
Vowel 19: |eə|, or |εə|, as in chair, hair, where, were, air, fair
Vowel 20: |uə|, or |ʊ ə|, as in poor, tour, moor, truer, fewer
The centring diphthongs are illustrated in the following chart.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CENTRING DIPHTHONGS
Vowel 18: |iə|, a glide from a (centralised) front spread (short) vowel just above half-close to a central spread short vowel between half-close and half-open.
Vowel 19: |εə|, or |eə|, a glide from a front half-open neutral (short) vowel to a central spread vowel between half-close and half-open.
Vowel 20: |uə| or |ʊ ə|, a glide from (centralised) back rounded short vowel just above half-close to a central unrounded (spread) vowel between half-close and half-open.
Another important thing about the description of vowels is that just as we have place of articulation, and manner of articulation in describing consonants, we also have the same for describing vowels.
Added to these are points of articulation and the shape of the lips. Thus, we can also describe vowels by making use of these four-term labels:
• Place of Articulation
• Manner of Articulation
• Point of Articulation
• Shape of the lips
Place of Articulation refers to where the vowel is articulated; (that is to say the part of the tongue used in the production of the vowel sound= front, centre, or back
Point of Articulation refers to the point in the mouth where the vowel is produced. This gives us high, middle and low.
Hint: Vowel |i:|,|i|, |ʊ | and |u:| are high because they are found in the highest point in the mouth in relation to the palate (roof of the mouth). They are found between close and half-close.
The vowel |e|, |ə:| or |3:| and |ə| are in the middle, therefore, they are middle (mid) vowels, while vowel |æ|, |a:|, | / | and |ɔ:| are at the lowest point between half-open and open. So their point of articulation is low. (Take note of the three main divisions in this respect: Vowels found in the region between close and half-close are High Vowels. Those found between half-close and half-open (i.e. the middle zone) are Middle or mid Vowels; whilst those found between half-open and open are termed Low Vowels.
Manner of Articulation simply means the way the sound is produced. This gives us close, half-close, half-open and open.
The shape of the lips has to do with whether the mouth is brought forward or backwards or neither of the two when the sound is being made. This gives us rounded (lips are brought forward) spread (lips are brought backwards like when we are smiling), and neutral (lips assume neither of the two). Consequently, |i:| can be described as front close high spread vowel and |i| as front half-close high spread vowel.
A full description of the twelve pure English vowels using the four-term –label discussed is given below.
DIPHTHONGS VERSUS DIGRAPH
Diphthongs, as said earlier, refer to two adjacent vowel sounds that occur within the same syllable.
Digraphs, on the other hand, refer to two (a pair of) letters that represent one sound. For example,
the letters “sh” represent the sound |ʃ | as in the word shame,’ir’ represents the sound ||:| as found in bird, shirt , whilst the letters ‘ar’ represents the sound |a:| as in bark, car etc.
TRIPHTHONGS
Triphthongs are three vowel sequence sounds. They are generally composed of one of the closing diphthongs—|ei|, |əu|, |ai|, |au| and |ᴅ:| plus a schwa |ə| within a word.
Some examples of triphthongs are given below:
|ei| + |ə| => player |pleiə|, sayer |seiə|, layer |leiə| |əu| + |ə| => goer |gəuə|, mower |məuə|, slower |sləuə|
|ai| + |ə| => buyer |baiə|, fire |faiə|, iron |aiən|, messiah |misaiə|, Irish |aiəri∫|
|au| + |ə| => power |pauə|, shower |∫auə|, hour |auə|
| ᴅ i| + |ə| => employer |imˈ plᴅiə| or |emplᴅiə|
MINIMAL PAIRS
A minimal pair is a set of two words that differ from each other in one sound.
Minimal pairs are the pairs of words used to demonstrate (show) phonemic contrast in a language.
The term phonemic is derived from the word “phoneme”. Phonemes are the sounds that distinguish meaning in a language. What this means is that phonemes are sounds that bring about a meaning change of words in a language. For example, if we substitute (replace) the sound |f| with the sound |s| in the English word ‘fit’, we shall have the word ‘sit’, which has a different meaning from “fit”.
Since the two words are the same in medial and final positions except the initial, we can say that the two sounds |f| and |s| are responsible for the meaning change (difference) in the words ‘fit’ and ‘sit’.
Therefore, the sounds |f| and |s| are phonemes in English. In other words, the two sounds are contrastive in English.
From our analysis so far, we can define a phoneme as a minimal, distinctive sound unit of a language. By minimal, we mean that it cannot be sub-divided, and by distinctive we mean that it
has the potentiality of changing the meaning of a word. A basic fact of phonemes is that phonemes
are language-specific, and of minimal pair is that they (pair of words) should differ from each other
by only one sound.
Other examples of minimal pairs include:
Minimal pair is also known as minimal set. By using large numbers of minimal pairs we can
establish all the phonemes of a language
The cardinal vowel chart (primary cardinal vowels)
The Cardinal Vowel Chart is a chart (system of vowels) that serves as a reference point by which the actual vowels of a specific language can be described
The cardinal vowel chart was designed by a British Linguist called Daniel Jones. It does not exist in any particular language. The cardinal vowel chart is very important because it serves as a reference point by which the actual vowel system of a language can be described. We can say for example that the vowels in the English word ‘see’ |si:| is very near the cardinal vowel |i|, that the vowel in the English word “shoe” |∫u:| is very near the cardinal vowel 8 |u| and so on.
The cardinal vowels are described using a three-term label:
- The front-back parameter (horizontal Axis)
-The open-close parameter (Vertical Axis)
- The state or shape of the lips,{rounded, spread, or neutral}.
The description of the cardinal vowels with the three-term label for each and the phonetic symbol given to each by the International Phonetic Association (IPA) is given below:
Definition of some key Terms
1. Articulators: Speech organs used in the production of sounds. Another name for it is organs of speech or speech organs/vocal organs.
2. Minimal pair: Two words in a language, which differ from each other by only one distinctive sound (phoneme) and which also differ in meaning.
3. Phoneme: Smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish two words.
4. Phonetic symbols: Special symbols which express or represent the sounds of actual spoken utterance in writing.
5. Point of Articulation: A point in the mouth or oral cavity where a sound is produced.
6. Stricture: Linguistic term that refers to the way in which the passage of air is restricted by the various organs of speech.
7. Voicing: A term used to refer to whether a consonant sound is voiced or voiceless. This depends on the state of the glottis whether they are kept close together (glottis in vibration) producing a voiced sound or they are wide apart (open) producing a voiceless sound, during the production of a consonant sound.
8. Received Pronunciation: This refers to the type of pronunciation that is internationally accepted as standard pronunciation.
UNIT TWO
ENGLISH CONSONANTS
What are consonants?
Consonants or consonant sounds are sounds in which during their production, the movement of the airstream is blocked as a result of a narrowing or a complete blockade (closure) of the air passage; or they are sounds during whose production there is friction or obstruction in the vocal cords. There are twenty-four (24) consonant sounds in English.
TYPES OF CONSONANT SOUNDS
Consonant sounds may be put into two main groups.
Group 1: voiced consonants and voiceless consonants.
Group 2: Oral sounds and Nasal sounds
1.VOICED CONSONANTS
Voiced (consonants) sounds are consonant sounds during whose production there is a vibration of the vocal cords. We can also say that consonant sounds are sounds during the production of which the vocal cords vibrate. The vocal cords vibrate because they are kept close together. There are fifteen voiced consonant sounds in English. They include:
1. |b| as in book.
2. |r| as in rat
3. |d| as in dog
4. |m| as in man
5. |n| as in name
6. |ŋ| as in wrong, tongue, strong, wing, sing
7. |g| as in game
8. |ð| as in they, breathe, bathe, although, them.
9. |v| as in voice
10. |z| as in zoo, house, lose, buzz.
11. |ʒ | as in measure, leisure, vision, treasure
12. |w| as in way
13. | I | as in lady, kill
14. |ʤ| as in judge, George, joy, agility.
15. |j| as in you, year, use, yes
2.VOICELESS CONSONANTS
Voiceless consonants are consonants during whose production there is no vibration of the vocal cords. What this means is that during the articulation of voiceless consonants the vocal cords do not vibrate. This is because the vocal cords are wide apart leaving the glottis open for the air (sound) to pass through freely. There are nine (9) voiceless consonants in English.
The following are the voiceless consonants in English.
1.|p| as in pen, pepper
2.|t| as in ten, bitten
3.|f | as in fish, phone, laugh, staff
4.|s| as in sin, assistant, cement
5.|k| as in king, kick, cup, opaque, khaki.
6.|h| as in hat, ahead
7.|∫| as in shirt, wish, ashamed.
8.|θ| as in thin, fifth, bath, think, tooth.
9.|t∫| as in church, catch, witch
ORAL SOUNDS
These are sounds during the production of which there is velic closure and the air is forced through the oral cavity and out of the mouth. That is, during the production of oral sounds the velum (soft palate) is raised to close the nasal cavity and the air escapes (or is forced) through the oral cavity out of the mouth. With the exception of |m|, |n| and |ŋ| which are nasals, all the other consonants (21 consonants) are oral sounds.
NASALS
Nasals are sounds produced through velic opening and completely blocking the airstream from the lungs at someplace (point) in the mouth and letting or forcing the air to escape only through the nose. This means that nasals are produced by lowering the velum (soft palate) and blocking completely the air from the lung in the mouth, and allowing the air to escape through the nasal cavity out of the nose. I.e. sounds that are produced with a stricture of complete oral closure. There are only three nasal sounds in English. These are |m|, |n|, and |ŋ|.
Note: All nasal sounds are voiced.
DESCRIPTION OF CONSONANT SOUNDS
Consonant sounds are described using a three-term label:
1. The state of the glottis (voicing). This gives us, voiced or voiceless.
2. Place of articulation/place of formation (i.e. the part of the mouth the sound is produced). This gives us the following:
(a). Bilabial (b) Labio-dental (c) Dental (d) Alveolar (e) Post-alveolar (f) Palato-alveolar (g).Palatal (h)Velar (i) Glottal
3. Manner of articulation/Mode of formation. This indicates how the airstream is obstructed during the production of sounds.
The manner of articulation or mode of formation gives us:
(i)Plosive (ii)Nasal (iii)Fricative (iv)Affricate (v)Lateral (vi)Approximants (Frictionless continuant & semi-vowel)
Examples: |p| voiceless Bilabial plosive/stop.
|b| voiced Bilabial plosive/stop.
|m| voiced Bilabial nasal.
|f| voiceless Labio-dental fricative.
Given below is The English Consonant Chart (RP=Received Pronunciation)
NB: Sounds on the right or in the middle are voiced. Those on the left are all voiceless.
Now, let us consider the full description of all the twenty (24) consonant sounds recognized by RP
(Received Pronunciation).
1.|p| voiceless bilabial plosive/stop.
2.|b| voiced bilabial plosive/stop.
3.|m| voiced bilabial nasal.
4.|w| voiced bilabial approximant.
5.|f| voiceless labio-dental fricative
6.|v| voiced labio-dental fricative
7.|t| voiceless alveolar plosive/stop
8.|d| voiced alveolar plosive/stop.
9.|k| voiceless velar plosive/stop
10.|g| voiced velar plosive/stop.
11.|n| voiced alveolar nasal
12.|ŋ| voiced velar nasal
13.|θ| voiceless dental fricative
14.|ð| voiced dental fricative
15.|s| voiceless alveolar fricative
16.|z| voiced alveolar fricative
17.|∫| voiceless palato-alveolar fricative
18.|ӡ | voiced palato-alveolar fricative
19.|ɭ | voiced alveolar lateral
20.|h| voiceless glottal fricative
21.|j| voiced palatal approximant
22.|r| voiced post-alveolar approximant
23.|t∫|voiceless palato- alveolar affricate
24.|ʤ| voiced palato-alveolar affricate
PLACE OF ARTICULATION (PLACE OF FORMATION)
What is meant by place of Articulation?
Place of articulation simply means points in the mouth/the part of the mouth or oral cavity the
(consonant) sound is made. That is to say, that place of articulation refers to the part of the mouth or throat that is used in the production (articulation) of speech sounds. The following are the various places of articulation arranged sequentially, starting with the lips.
1. Bilabial: The word ‘bi’ means two, or involving or relating to “two”, while ‘labial’ literally means ‘lips’ (lower and upper lips). Therefore, consonant sounds that are produced by means of the two lips (by bringing the two lips together) are called Bilabial sounds. The Bilabial sounds are |p|, |b|, |m| and |w|.
2. Labio-dental: Lower lips working against upper teeth. Hence, Labio-dental sounds are sounds produced when the lower lip articulates with the upper front teeth. The Labio-dental sounds include |f| and |v|.
3. Dental: The tip or blade of the tongue against the upper front teeth.
Dental sounds are thus, sounds produced when the tip or blade of the tongue articulates with the upper front teeth. |θ| voiceless dental fricative and |ð| voiced dental fricative are the dental sounds.
4. Alveolar: Tip or blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge or teeth ridge. Alveolar sounds are produced when the tip or blade of the tongue articulates with the alveolar ridge or teeth ridge. The following are the alveolar sounds: |n|, |t|, |d|, |s|, |z|, |l|.
5. Post-alveolar: Tip rims of the tongue working against the back of the alveolar ridge. Postalveolar sound is the sound produced when the tip rims of the tongue articulate with the back of the alveolar ridge or teeth ridge. The retroflex |r| is the post-alveolar sound.
6. Palato-alveolar: blade of the tongue against the rear part of the alveolar ridge.
Palato-alveolar sounds: Sounds that are realised when the blade of the tongue articulates with the rear part of the alveolar ridge. Sounds produced this way are |t∫|, |ʤ|, |∫| and |ʒ |.
7. Palatal: The front of the tongue works against the hard palate. Palatal sound is produced when the front part of the tongue articulates with the hard palate. The palatal sound is |j|.
8. Velar: The back of the tongue works against the velum (soft palate).
Velar sounds: These are sounds made when the back of the tongue articulates with the soft palate(velum). The velar sounds are |ŋ|, (voiced velar nasal) .|k| voiceless velar stop (plosive) and |g|, voiced velar plosive (stop).
9.Glottal: Narrowing the glottis.
Glottal sound: It is the sound realized when a narrowing of the glottis causes friction between the vocal cords, (but there is no vibration in the vocal cords). E.g. |h| voiceless glottal fricative.
MANNER OF ARTICULATION (MODE OF FORMATION)
Before we look at the manner of articulation, Let us consider the words: articulate, articulation and articulator.
Articulate: (verb) in speech work means to produce, make or pronounce.
Articulation: simply means production or making (of speech sounds).
Articulators: This, refers to the organs of speech that participate in the production of speech sounds. In other words, articulators are the various organs used in the production of speech sounds.
Therefore by the manner of articulation, we mean how the articulators (speech organs) are used to obstruct the pulmonic airstream (air coming from the lung) in the production of speech sounds.
- Basically, the manner of articulation gives us four (4) types of obstructions.
These are: (1).Complete closure/blockade (2). Partial closure (3). Narrowing (4).Intermittent closure
(1). Complete closure/blockade
Here, the articulators can be in full contact or complete closure. Complete closure produces three(3) manners of articulation: plosives, Affricates and Nasals.
(a) Plosives (Oral Stops). Plosives are consonant sounds that are produced through velic closure and completely blocking the air in the oral cavity (mouth) and suddenly releasing it with plosion through the mouth. That is, plosives are articulated with a stricture of complete oral closure and sudden release of the air through the mouth. |p|, |b|, |t|, |d|, |k| and |g| are the plosive sounds.
Another name for plosives is oral stop.
(b).Affricates (Affricate, literally means double sound). Affricates are produced as in the case of plosives but in the case of affricate, there is a slow release of the puff of air trapped behind the blockade (closure) instead of sudden release. Affricates are thus, consonant sounds that are produced with a stricture of complete closure and slow release of the air through the mouth. That is, affricates are produced by completely trapping the air in the mouth (oral cavity) and slowly releasing it through the mouth.
We can also say, affricates are produced when there is velic closure, and the air is completely blocked or trapped in the oral cavity and released slowly out through the mouth. E.g. |t∫| as in watch, change, children, |ʤ| as in George, Knowledge, joy.
(c).Nasals. Nasals are articulated with a stricture of complete oral closure, but the velum is lowered, allowing the air to escape through the nose. (I.e. Nasals are produced by trapping the air behind the blockade in the mouth and releasing it through the nose). The nasal sounds are: |m|, |n| and |ŋ|
(2). Narrowing
Narrowing: This characterizes the production of fricatives. Fricatives are consonant sounds that are produced by bringing the articulators into close approximation (narrowing the air stream in the oral cavity) so that the air escapes with audible friction through the mouth. Examples: |s|, |z|, |f|, |v|, |θ|, |ð|, |∫|, |ʒ | and |h|.
(3). Partial closure
Partial closure falls under approximant (frictionless continuant plus semi-vowel). Approximants as the name suggests, are articulated with a stricture of open approximation (partial closure). Thus, in the production of approximants, the articulators are brought to open approximation and the air is allowed to pass through them without friction out through the mouth.
Note: The air passage is a bit wider than narrowing, and the air escapes through the mouth without friction. The approximants include the semi-vowels |w| and |j|
(4). Intermittent closure
Intermittent closure: The sounds produced through intermittent closure are; the lateral consonant sound |l|, and the retroflex (trill) |r|.
In intermittent closure, the air is trapped behind the tip of the tongue and the alveolar ridge by the articulators and allowed to escape around the tongue.
From our discussion so far, as far as manner of articulation is concerned, we realized that:
1. Six (6) of the English sounds are plosives. They are:|p|, |b|, |t|, |d|, |k|, and |g|
2. Two (2) are affricates => |t∫| and |ʤ|
3. Three (3) are nasals => |m|, |n| and |ŋ|
4. Nine (9) are fricatives => |f|, |v|, | θ|, |ð|, |s|, |z|, |∫|, |ʒ | and |h|
5. One (1) is a lateral => |l|
6. Three (3) are approximants => |w|, |r| and |j|
Total: 24 (consonant sounds).
QUICK ANALYSIS OF MANNER OF ARTICULATION
1. Plosives versus Affricates and Nasals
Plosives =>complete closure of the air in the oral cavity and sudden release of it through the mouth.
Affricates =>complete closure of the air in the oral cavity and slow-release through the mouth.
Nasals =>complete oral closure (i.e. complete closure of air in the oral cavity), the velum is lowered and the air is allowed to escape only through the nose.
2. Fricatives versus Approximants
Fricatives =>Narrowing of the air passage by means of the articulators, so that the air escapes with audible friction or difficulty out of the mouth; or, the articulators are brought to close approximation so that the air escapes with audible friction or difficulty out of the mouth.
Approximants =>Partial closure of the air passage by means of the articulators so that the air escapes without friction or difficulty out of the mouth; or, The articulators are brought to open approximation so that the air escapes out through the mouth (without friction or difficulty).
CONSONANT CLUSTERS
A consonant cluster is when two or more consonants are put together without any intervening vowel. Consonant clusters may occur at syllable initial or syllable-final depending on the disposition of the word.
Syllable initial clusters:
This is a type of consonant cluster that occur at the beginning of a syllable. The maximum number of consonants that can occur at the beginning of an English syllable is three.
Examples:
TWO CLUSTER: train, tray [tr]; print, pry [pr]; skirt, skill [sk]; twin, twist [tw]; slip, slap [sl]; quick [kw], sway [sw] etc. In the examples above, the first consonant is pre-initial and the second consonant is initial.
THREE CLUSTER: splash, split [spl]; spray, spring [spr]; square, squat [skw]; stray, string [str]; screen, script [skr]; spew, spume [spj]; skew, skewer [skj]; stew, student [stj] etc.
Syllable-final Clusters:
This is where consonant clusters occur at the end of a syllable. The maximum number of consonants that can occur at the end of the syllable is four.
Examples:
TWO CLUSTER: beliefs, stuffs, [fs]; tent, rent [nt]; bagged, tagged [gd]; baked, lacked [kt]; bump, cramp [mp]; bank, thank [ŋk]; belt, felt [lt] etc.
THREE CLUSTER: prompt [mpt]; twelfth [lfθ]; helped [lpt]; banks [ŋks]; asked [skt], fifths [fθs] etc.
FOUR CLUSTER: prompts [mpts]; twelfths [lfθs]; students [dnts] etc.
Note that the first code after the vowel pre- final consonant, followed by final, post-final (1) and post final (2) the case of four final syllable clusters.
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