GUÍA DIDÁCTICA

CARRERA
PEDAGOGÍA DE LOS IDIOMAS NACIONALES Y EXTRANJEROS

ASIGNATURA
Linguistics

UNIDAD 4
PHONETICS: PRINCIPLES AND FEATURES

AUTOR
Lcda. ELENA NIOLA, MSc.
 UNIT 4

PHONETICS: PRINCIPLES AND FEATURES

Learning Outcomes:
• Analyze the features of sounds, how vowels and consonants are produced by understanding
the International Phonetical Alphabet.

Topics and subtopics:

4.1. Phonetics
• Articulatory phonetics (organs of speech)
• Acoustic Phonetics
• Auditory Phonetics

4.2. Pronunciation
• Stress, accent, dialect
• International Phonetic Alphabet

4.3. Consonants
• Place of articulation
• Manner of articulation
• Voicing

4.4. Vowels
• Short vowels
• Long vowels
• Diphthongs

Learning strategies:
• Reading comprehension
• Use of graphic organizers, mind-maps, etc.
• Forum and debates
• Task-based learning
• Written assignment
• Topic presentation
• Synchronous activities: individual and group work
• Asynchronous activities: forum, group work, lesson plans, mind-maps, graphic
organizers, etc.

2
 CONTENTS
TOPIC 1.1: Phonetics
Phonetics is the branch of linguistics which comprises the study of the sounds of human
speech and their production. It is the study of how speech sounds are made or articulated.

There are three basic areas of study:

Phonetics

Articulatory Acoustic Audutory

Phonetics Phonetics Phonetics

Articulatory Phonetics.
Articulatory phonetics is interested in the movement of various parts of the vocal tract during
speech. The vocal tract is the passages above the larynx where aur passes in the production
of speech. The study of the production of speech sounds by the articulatory and vocal organs
by the speaker. The following are classified as organs of speech:

Lips Teeth Tongue Alveolar Ridge

The upper lip and The tip of the tongue Tongue is divided into Hard ridge behind
lower lip help to helps to produce /t, three sections. upper front teeth. It
produce bilabial d, z, etc/. The blade -Blade of the tongue: is between the roof
sounds with various of the tongue helps /t∫, ∫/ etc. of the mouth and
positions for the to produce /t∫, d, ∫, -Tip of the tongue: the upper teeth.
different vowel and etc/. /t, d, z/ etc.
consonant sounds -Back of the tongue:
like /p, b, m/. /k, g/ sounds.

3
 Hard Palate Velum Uvula Glottis

A thing horizontal It should have holes It functions in Combination of vocal

bony plate of the forming that function tandem with the folds and space in
skull, located in the during speech to black of the throat, between the folds. As
roof of the mouth. separate the oral the palate, and air the vocal folds
The interaction cavity (mouth) from coming up from the vibrate, the resulting
between the the nose, in order to lungs to create a vibration produces a
tongue and the produce the oral number of guttural “buzzing” quality to
hard palate is speech sounds. If this and other sounds. In the speech called
essential in the separation is many languages, it voice or voicing or
formation of the incomplete, air closes to prevent air pronunciation. Sound
certain speech escapes through the escaping through production involving
sounds, notably /t/, nose during speech the nose when only the glottis is
/d/, and /j/. and the speech is making some called glottal.
perceived as hyper sounds. Example is the sound
nasal. /h/.

4
Acoustic Phonetics.
This is the study of the sound waves made by the human vocal organs for communication and
how the sounds are transmitted. The sound travels through the air to the hearer’s ear, through
the form of vibrations in the air. Acoustic phonetics also looks at how articulatory and auditory
phonetics link to the acoustic properties.

Auditory Phonetics.
This is how we perceive and hear sounds and how the ear, brain and auditory nerve perceives
the sounds. This branch deals with the physiological processes involved in the reception of
speech.

TOPIC 1.2: Pronunciation

Pronunciation is a necessary part of speaking (oral communication). It involves making correct
sounds of a particular language, as well as how sounds are put together in the flow of speech.

Strees Accent Dialect

• The part of a word that is • Different ways of • A variety of a language
pronounced with more force pronouncing a language, differing from others in
or duration. depending on factors such pronunciation, vocabulary,
• Example: The difference as geographical origin, grammar, and word order.
between the following words: social class, age, or • Example: American
• reCORD (verb) → stress is educational background.
on the second syllable English vs. Australian
("CORD"). • Example: British accent English.
• REcord (noun) → stress is on vs. American accent.
the first syllable ("RE").

Phonetic transcription
Phonetic transcription (also known as phonetic script or phonetic notation) is the visual
representation of speech sounds.

The most common type of phonetic transcription uses a phonetic alphabet, such as the
International Phonetic Alphabet or (IPA).

5
International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is used in some foreign language text books and
phrase books to transcribe the sounds of languages which are written with non-latin alphabets.
It is also used by non-native speakers of English when learning to speak English.
The IPA is a phonetic notation system that is used to show how different words are
pronounced. Unlike many standard alphabets where one phonetic symbol can often represent
multiple sounds (e.g., the "o" in the words "do," "no," and "not" are all pronounced differently
in English), the IPA has a one-to-one correspondence between a speech sound and the
symbol used to represent it.

Where symbols appear in pairs, the one on the right represents a voiced consonant, while the
one on the left is unvoiced. Shaded areas denote articulations judged to be impossible.

6
7
TOPIC 1.3: Consonants
There are two classes of sounds in all languages namely consonants and vowels. In producing
a consonant, we can clearly feel that there is some obstruction to the flow of air as it passes
from the larynx to the lips. Meanwhile, what happens in the production of vowels is that there
is no obstruction for the air to pass through the mouth.
Consonants are letters that stand for a type of sound we use in speech. These sounds involve
a partial or complete closure of the vocal tract: for example, placing the tongue behind the
front teeth, as with the consonants t and d; or closing your lips, as with the consonants b, m,
and p.
In phonetics, the two classes of speech sounds refer to the types of sounds instead of the
letters. It is important to note that in the scope of both phonetics and phonology, we are not
interested in letters, but sounds. There are 24 consonant sounds in English.

8
PLACE OF ARTICULATION
The point where a sound is produced is referred to as its place of articulation. Symbols are
enclosed with square brackets [ ].

9
 Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar
These are These are These sounds These are The tip of the
sounds formed sounds formed are formed with sounds formed tongue is held in
using both with the upper the tongue tip with the front a position near
upper and lower teeth and the behind the part of the to but not
lips. They are lower lip. upper front tongue on the touching the
represented by Symbols are [f] teeth. The alveolar ridge. back part of the
the symbols [p] [v]. symbol used for The symbols alveolar ridge.
[b] [m] and [w]. these sounds are: [t], [d], [s],
are [θ], [ð]. [z], [n] [l] [r].

Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal

Sounds Sounds Uvulars are A pharyngeal When the glottis
produced with produced with consonants consonant is a is open and
the tongue and the back of the articulated with consonant that there is no
the palate are tongue against the back of the is articulated manipulation of
called palatals. the velum are tongue against primarily in the the air passing
The initial called velars. or near the pharynx. out of the
sounds in the Represented by uvula, that is, mouth, the
words shout and the symbol [k], further back in sound produced
child [ʧ] [ʃ]. [g] and [ŋ]. the mouth than is that
velar represented by
consonants. [h].

10
MANNER OF ARTICULATION
Manner of articulation describes how the tongue, lips, jaw, and other speech organs are
involved in making a sound.
It has to do with the kind of obstruction the air meets on its way out, after it has passed the
vocal folds. It may meet a complete closure (stop / plosives), an narrow closure (fricatives), a
smaller degree of closure (a stop-plosive combined with a fricative: affricate), or the air might
escape in more exceptional ways, around the sides of the tongue (laterals and approximants),
or through the nasal cavity (nasals).
For example, [t] and [s] are both voiceless alveolar sounds. They differ in their manner of
articulation, that is, in the way they are pronounced. The [t] sound is one of a set of sounds
called stops and the [s] sound is one of a set called fricatives.

Stop /
plosive

Approximan
Fricative
t
Manner of
articulation

Nasal Affricate

Stop / Plosive:
This type of consonant sound, resulting from a blocking or stopping effect on the air stream,
is called a stop. There is a complete closure in the mouth, so that the air is blocked for a
fraction of a second and then released with a small burst of sound, called a plosion which
sounds like a very small explosion. They are produced by some form of “stopping” of the air
stream then letting it go abruptly. The set of stops: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [ɡ].

11
Fricative:
The manner of articulation used in producing the set of sounds [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ], [ʒ]
involves almost blocking the air stream and having the air push through the very narrow
opening. As the air is pushed through, a type of friction is produced and the resulting sounds
are called fricatives. If you put your open hand in front of your mouth when making these
sounds, [f] and [s] in particular, you should be able to feel the stream of air being pushed out.

Affricate:
If you combine a brief stopping of the air stream with an obstructed release which causes
some friction, these are called affricates.
They begin like a plosive, with a complete closure, but instead of a plosion, they have a very
slow release, moving backwards to a place where a friction can be heard (post-alveolar).
It occurs at the beginning of the words cheap and jeep. This is the set of affricates sounds: [ʧ]
and [ʤ].

Nasal:
When the velum is lowered and the air stream is allowed to flow out through the nose to
produce the sounds are described as nasals. The words morning, knitting and name begin
and end with nasals. Set of nasals sounds [m], [n] and [ŋ].

Approximant:
They are produced with the tongue moving or gliding, to or from the position of a nearby vowel.
The tongue only approaches the roof of the mouth, so that there is not enough obstruction to
create any friction.
English has three approximants, which are all voiced. [r] is alveolar as in right, brown,
sometimes called post-alveolar, because it is slightly further back than the other alveolar
sounds [t, d, s, l]. [j] is a palatal approximant as in use, youth, and [w] is a velar approximant
as in why, twin, square and [w] always has lip-rounding as well. Yet, in some approaches the
approximants can be broken down into the liquids [l], [r] and glides [w], [j].

[w] [y] [l] [r] e.g., we, wet, you, yes, led and red.

Laterals:
It is a sound where the air escapes around the sides of the tongue. There is only one lateral
in English, [l], a voiced alveolar lateral. It occurs in two versions, the so-called “clear l” before
vowels, light, long, and the “dark l” in other cases, milk, ball. Words like little, lateral have one
of each type. “Dark l” may be written with the symbol [ł]. “Clear l” is pronounced with the top
of the tongue raised, whereas for “dark l” it is the back of the tongue which is raised.

12
VOICING
Voicing refers to two different ways we can make sounds in our mouths. The basic difference
is this:
• Voiced sounds occur when the vocal cords vibrate.
• Voiceless sounds occur when the vocal cords are still (do not vibrate)

Voiceless sounds are those when the vocal cords are spread apart and the air from the lungs
passes between them unobstructed.
Examples: p, t, k, s, sh, ch, th (as in thing).

Voiced sounds are those sounds when the vocal cords are drawn together, the air from the
lungs repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through, creating a vibration effect.
Examples: b, d, th (as in then), v, l, r, z, j

In the following chart, you can see the classification of consonant sounds according to place
of articulation, manner of articulation and voicing.

13
Look at the following chart. There is a list of words for consonant sounds in English.

14
TOPIC 1.4: Vowels.

A vowel is a speech sound that is produced without any obstruction air in the speech tract.
There are twenty vowels in English. These are sub-divided into two: pure vowels
(monothongs) impure vowels(diphthongs). Vowel sounds are produced with a relatively free
flow of air. They are almost always found at the centre of a syllable.

In phonetic terms, each vowel has a number of properties that distinguish it from other vowels.
These include the shape of the lips, which may be rounded (as for an uː vowel), neutral (as
for ə) or spread (as in a smile, or an iː vowel – as in “cheese”. Secondly, the front, the middle
or the back of the tongue may be raised, giving different vowel qualities: the æ vowel (as in
‘cat’) is a front vowel, while the ɑː of ‘cart’ is a back vowel.
In British phonetics we talk about ‘close’ and ‘open’ vowels, whereas American phoneticians
more often talk about ‘high ‘and ‘low’ vowels. The meaning is clear in either case (Roach,
2011). In addition, Yule (2011) summarized the properties of vowel sounds as follow

15
If vowels are illustrated in the form of a chart, it will look like this:

Classification of vowels: Vowels are divided into different categories based on:

• Length of the sound

Long (tense) vowels
Short (lax) vowels

• Position of the tongue

o close (high) or open (low)
The distance between the tongue and the top of the mouth
o front or back
The part of the tongue that is raised

• Shape of the lips

o Rounded ( e.g. /ʊ/)
o Neutral (e.g. /ə/)
o Spread (e.g. /iː/)

The vowels that we have just discussed are all single vowels or so-called Monophthongs. The
single vowels can be then further categorized in two sub-types namely short and long vowels.

16
Short vowels:
• Short vowels are vowel sounds that are pronounced in a short, clipped manner and
often occur in closed syllables (ending in consonants). They do not say their letter
name.
• Short vowels in the IPA are /ɪ/-pit, /e/-pet, /æ/-pat, /ʌ/-cut, /ʊ/-put, /ɒ/-dog, /ə/-about.
• Short vowels are the standard pronunciation of vowels—usually when there is only one
vowel in the word—especially in short words.
o Short ‘a’ is pronounced as /æ/ as in “cat”
o Short ‘e’ is pronounced as /ɛ/ or /e/ as in “wet” or “bed”
o Short ‘i’ is pronounced as /ɪ/ as in “big” or “sit”
o Short ‘o’ is pronounced as /ɒ/ or /ɑ/ as in “clock” or “dog”
o Short ‘u’ is pronounced as /ʌ/ as in “but” or “cup”
Two other short vowels:
o Double “oo” (u) is pronounced /Ʊ/ as in “bull” or “could”
o Schwa ‘uh’ is pronounced as /ǝ/ as in “zebra, doctor, corner”

Long vowels
• Long vowels are vowels that are pronounced longer and typically say their name. These
vowels often appear in open syllables or when followed by a silent "e."
• Long vowels in the IPA are /i:/-week, /ɑ:/-hard,/ɔ:/-fork,/ɜ:/-heard, /u:/-boot.
• Long vowels are a little more complex. Generally, they’re created by combining two
vowels, where one is typically silent. Often they’re pronounced like the name of the
vowel; for example, the long vowel sound in eat is pronounced like the name of letter
e.
o Long ‘a’ is pronounced /ɑ:/ as in “hard”
o Long ‘e’ is pronounced /ɜ:/ as in “heard”
o Long ‘i’ is pronounced /i:/ as in “week”
o Long ‘o’ is pronounced /ɔ:/ as in “fork”
o Long ‘u’ as is pronounced /u:/ as in “boot”

Check the examples of long and short vowels in the following chart:

17
Diphthongs
• Diphthongs are combinations of two vowel sounds in the same syllable, where the
tongue moves from one position to another during pronunciation, creating a glide.
• Diphthong vowels in the IPA are /eɪ/-place, /oʊ/-home, /aʊ/-mouse, /ɪə/-clear, /eə/-
care, /ɔɪ/-boy, /aɪ/-find, /ʊə/-tour.

The following chart provides examples of short and long vowels and diphthongs. Take into
account that some sound might change due to the accent and variations in English
languages (American English, British English, Australian English, and others).

Click on this website for further practice: https://www.speechactive.com/english-vowels-ipa-international-

phonetic-
alphabet/#:~:text=Short%20vowels%20in%20the%20IPA,find%2C%20%2F%CA%8A%C9%99%2F%2Dtour.

18
 ASYNCHRONOUS ACTIVITIES

Activity N° 1
Group work: Organs of speech

Description of the activity:

Work in groups. Read and research additional information about the organs of speech.
Make a mind-map about the organs of speech and provide examples about the
consonant sounds where they are produced.

Sources:
- Bibliography of the unit.
- Study guide

Time: 2 hours of autonomous work.

Evaluation: A rubric will be used.

Activity N° 2

Group work: Consonant sounds

Description of the activity:
Work in groups. Read the topic about consonants. Analyze the classification of consonant
phonemes according to place of articulation, manner of articulation and voicing. Make a
list of words (minimum 5) for each phoneme. If you are not sure about the sounds,
check the dictionaries (Cambridge, oxford, wordreference, or others). Make a 5-slides
presentation and record a video, in group, about consonant phonemes. Practice
pronounciation before recording.

Sources:
- Bibliography of the unit.
- Study guide

Time: 2 hours of autonomous work.

Evaluation: A rubric will be used.

19
 SYNCHORONOUS ACTIVITY

Vowels and consonants chart

Instructions:
Work in groups. Check the topic about consonants and vowels phonemes. Select 3 words for
each vowel sound. Check the transcription in the dictionnaire and describe the consonants
and vowels phonemes. You can use any tool to design your mind-map.
Example:
Word: cotton
Transcription: /kɑtən/
Description: /k/ - voiceless velar stop
/ɑ/ - short ‘o’
/t/ - voiceless alveolar stop
/ə/ - schwa
/n/ - voiced alveolar nasal

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Prizes, N. (2022, November 15). Articulatory phonetics. The University of Sheffield.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/linguistics/home/all-about-linguistics/about-website/branches-
linguistics/phonetics/what-do-phoneticians-study/articulatory

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). (n.d.). Omniglot.com, from

https://www.omniglot.com/writing/ipa.htm

Ruter, W. (n.d.). International phonetic alphabet (IPA) chart Unicode “keyboard.” Github.Io, from
https://westonruter.github.io/ipa-chart/keyboard/

Beare, K. (2008, June 2). Voiced vs. Voiceless consonants. ThoughtCo.

https://www.thoughtco.com/voiced-and-voiceless-consonants-1212092

Georgie. (2019, October 25). IPA English vowel sounds International Phonetic Alphabet exercises.
Speech Active. https://www.speechactive.com/english-vowels-ipa-international-phonetic-alphabet/

20