English Phonetics and Phonology (1st Week/Fall 2022)

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language (what we know when we know a

language.)

Language is a system that uses some physical signs (e.g., sound, gesture, mark) to

express/convey meaning.
Subfields

Main areas of linguistics

Branches

1. Phonetics: The scientific study of speech sounds in a language.

2. Phonology: The study of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in languages.
3. Morphology: The study of the form of words.
4. Syntax: How words combine to form phrases and sentences.
5. Semantics: The study of lexical relations in words and sentences. (meaning)
6. Pragmatics: The study of how sentences are used to communicate (meaning of
context/text in discourse)

Other areas/branches of linguistics

1. Applied linguistics
2. Sociolinguistics
3. Psycholinguistics
4. Historical linguistics
5. Computational linguistics
6. Language acquisition
7. Discourse analysis
 Main areas/types of Phonetics

1. Articulatory phonetics:
The study of how speech sounds are produced/made/articulated. Articulatory phonetics looks
at the production side.

2. Acoustic phonetics:
The study of the physical properties of speech as sound waves. Acoustic phonetics looks at
the transmission of these sounds (what are the acoustic properties of speech (e.g., duration,
frequency, energy, loudness, etc.)

3. Auditory phonetics:
The study of the perception of speech sounds by the ear, also called “perceptual phonetics”.
In other words, auditory phonetics looks at how humans perceive these speech sounds (what
happens in the ear.)

Accents and dialects

• Languages have different accents: they are pronounced differently by people from
different geographical places, from different social classes, of different ages and different
educational backgrounds.

• The word accent is often confused with dialect.

• Accent deals with pronunciation differences only, whereas dialect includes not only
pronunciation but also vocabulary, grammar and word order.

Stress & Intonation

• Stress is described as the relative strength of a syllable.

Examples:
One syllable: `pen, `book, `car
Two syllables: a `record (noun); to re`cord (verb)

• Intonation is the use of the pitch of the voice to convey meaning.

Exercises (pages 6-7)

1. Give three different names that have been used for the accent usually used for
teaching the pronunciation of British English.

1. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)

2. RP (Received Pronunciation)
3. GB (General British)

4. How many sounds (phonemes) do you think there are in the following words?

1. love three /lʌv/

2. half three /hɑːf/
3. wrist four /rɪst/
4. shrink five /ʃrɪŋk/
5. ought two /ɔːt/

Written by: Mashael

z
Unit 2: The production
of speech sounds
Prepared by: Mashael
 z
2.1 Articulators above the larynx
1. All the sounds we make when we speak
are the result of muscles contracting.

2. The muscles in the chest that we use for

breathing produce the flow of air which is
needed for all speech sounds.

3. Muscles in the larynx produce many

different modifications in the flow of air
from the chest to the mouth.
 z
2.1 Articulators above the larynx
4. After passing through the larynx, the air goes
through vocal tract. (vocal cord/ vocal folds)

(Vocal folds or vocal tract, which are two thick

flaps of muscle rather like a pair of lips; an older
name for these is vocal cords.)

5. Vocal tract ends at the mouth and the nose.

6. The part comprising the mouth is called oral

cavity.

7. The part that leads to the nose is called nasal

cavity.
 z
2.1 Articulators above the larynx
8. It is necessary to become familiar with
the different parts of the vocal tract in order
to learn how the sounds of speech are
produced.

9. The different parts of the vocal tract are

called articulators.

10. The study of the different parts of the

vocal tract is called articulatory
phonetics.
 z
The Articulators
1. The pharynx is a tube which
begins just above the larynx. It is
about 7 cm long in women and
about 8 cm in men, and at its top
end it is divided into two parts, one
part being the back of the oral
cavity and the other being the
beginning of the way through the
nasal cavity.
 z
The Articulators
2. The soft palate or velum: it allows air
to pass through the nose and through the
mouth, but often in speech it is raised so
that air cannot escape through the nose.

• The soft palate can be touched by

tongue.

• When we make/produce the sounds /k/

and /g/, the tongue is in contact with the
lower side of the soft palate, and they
are called velar consonants.
 z
The Articulators

3. The hard palate is called “the roof

of the mouth”.

• You can feel its smooth curved

surface with your tongue.

• A consonant made with the tongue

close to the hard palate is called
palatal.

• The sound /j/ in “yes” is palatal.

 z
The Articulators

4. The alveolar ridge is between the

top front teeth and the hard palate. You
can feel its shape with your tongue.

• Its surface is much rougher than it

feels, and is covered with little ridges.

• Sounds made with the tongue

touching here (e.g., /t,/d/,/n/) are
called alveolar.
 z
The Articulators
5. The tongue: is a very important articulator and it
can be moved into many different places and
different shapes.

• It is divided into different parts, though there are

no clear dividing lines within its structure.

• Those parts are tip, blade, front, back and

root.

1. The first part of the tongue is called tip.

2. The part opposite the hard palate is called front.

3. The part opposite the soft-palate is

called back of the tongue.
 z
The Articulators
6. The teeth (upper and lower): are only
at the the front of the mouth, immediately
behind the lips.
• Most speakers have teeth to the sides
of their mouths, back almost to the soft
palate.
• The tongue is in contact with the upper
side teeth for most speech sounds.
• Sounds made with the tongue touching
the front teeth, such as /θ/ and /ð/ are
called dental.
 z
The Articulators

7. The lips are important in speech.

• They can be pressed togather (when
we produce the sounds /p/,/b/, brought
into contact with the teeth (as in /f/ and
/v/), or rounded to produce the lip-
shape for vowels like /u:/.
• Sounds in which the lips are in contact
with each other are called bilabial;
while those with lip-to-teeth contact are
called labiodental.
 z
Active and Passive Articulators

Active articulators
An active articulator is actively involved in the
production of speech sounds. It moves towards the
passive organ of speech during the articulation of a
sound.
• Lips (especially lower lip)

• The tongue

• The velum
z
Active Articulators
 z
Active and Passive Articulators
Passive articulators:
A passive articulator is a position in the vocal tract which is
involved in the production of speech sounds but it does not
move. The organ of speech that is not movable during the
articulation of a sound is called passive articulator.
• The teeth

• The alveolar ridge

• The palate (hard palate)

• The pharynx
z
Passive Articulators
z
Find the active and the passive
articulators in the diagram below.
z

Any questions?
2.2 Vowel & Consonant
Prepared by: Mashael
Vowel and Consonant

Vowels Consonants
Sounds that are produced Sounds that are produced
without obstruction to the with obstruction to the
flow of air as it passes flow of air as it passes
from the larynx to the lips. from the larynx to the lips.
Vowel and Consonant

• A doctor who wants to look at the back of a patient’s

mouth often asks them to say “ah”; making this vowel
sound is the best way of presenting an unobstructed view.
 Vowel and Consonant

• /s/ & /d/ …. It is difficult/impossible for the air to pass through the mouth.
• 2 cases/problems regarding the decision of making consonants:
1. Some English sounds we think as consonants (‘hay’ & ‘way’) don’t
obstruct the flow of the air more than some vowels do.
2. Different languages have different ways of dividing their sounds into
vowels and consonants (‘red’) is felt to be a consonant by most English
speakers; in other languages (Mandarin Chinese) is treated as one of the
vowels.
 Vowel and Consonant

• Looking at the different contexts and positions in which particular

sounds can occur (this is the study of the distribution of the sounds)
/h/ what sounds can come next after this h in the word ‘hen’?
>>> vowel e in the word ‘hen’ /hen/
/j/ in ‘huge’/hjuːdʒ/?
/bI/ a consonant d in the word ‘bid’ or l in the word ‘bill’
 Vowels

 In what ways vowels differ from each other?

1. The shape and position of the tongue.

2. Lips-position.
 1. The shape and position of the tongue.

• Firstly, the vertical distance between the upper

surface of the tongue and the palate (the roof of
the mouth).
1. The shape and position of the tongue.

Close Vowel Open Vowel

 The tongue is held up close  There is a distance between

to the roof of the mouth. the surface of the tongue
 Ex: /i:/ ‘see’ and the roof of the mouth
(which is much greater)
 Ex: /æ/ ‘cat’
1. The shape and position of the tongue.

• The difference between /i:/ and /æ/ is a difference of tongue

height.
• Tongue height can be changed by moving the tongue up or
down, or moving the lower jaw up or down.
• Usually we use some combination of the two sorts of
movement.
Close & Open Vowels
1. The shape and position of the tongue.

• Secondly, the part of the tongue, between front

and back, which is raised highest.
1. The shape and position of the tongue.

Front Vowel Back Vowel

• The front of the tongue is • The back of the tongue is

higher than the back of the higher than the front of the
tongue. tongue. (the back of the tongue is
raised)
• EX: /i:/ ‘see’
• EX: /u:/ ‘too’
/æ/ ‘cat’ /a:/ ‘calm’
1. The shape and position of the tongue.

• By changing the shape of the tongue we can

produce vowels in which a different part of the
tongue is the highest point.
Front & Back Vowels
Look And Compare … (4 vowels shown in a diagram)

Front Back

Close i: u:

Open æ a:
 2. Lips-position

Rounded Spread Neutral

• Where the corners of • With the corners of the • Where the lips are not
the lips are brought lips moved away from noticeably rounded or
towards each other each other, as for a spread.
and the lips pushed smile. • The noise most English
forwards. • This is most clearly people make when
• This is most clearly seen in cardinal vowel they are hesitating
seen in cardinal vowel no. 1 [i]. (written 'er') has
no. 8 [u]. neutral lip. EX: /a/
2. Lips-position
Cardinal Vowels
 Cardinal Vowels are a standard reference system.

 If you learn the cardinal vowels, you are not

learning to make English sounds, but you are
learning about the range of vowels that the human
vocal apparatus can make, and also learning a
useful way of describing, classifying and
comparing vowels.

 The cardinal vowels are located on a four-sided

figure (a quadrilateral of the shape seen in Fig. 4)
 Cardinal Vowels
• These are the so-called primary cardinal
vowels; these are the vowels that are most
familiar to the speakers of most European
languages.

• In this course cardinal vowels are printed

within square brackets [ ] to distinguish
them clearly from English vowel sounds.
Cardinal Vowels definition

heat/free

Cardinal Vowels are the basic loop/two

general
vowels which are produced when go

the tongue is in an extreme bed/set thought

position, either front or back, high
or low. hat/bra hot

(e, i, ɛ, a, ɔ, o, u, ɑ)
 Describing Cardinal Vowels

1. Tongue height
• How high is the highest part of the tongue in the mouth?
2. Frontness or backness
• How front or back is the highest part of the tongue in the mouth?
3. Lip positions
• Are the lips rounded or unrounded?
Descriptive labels of
Cardinal Vowels

• close
• close-mid
• open-mid
• open
• front
• central
• back
Description of
Cardinal Vowels

1. [i] close front unrounded

2. [e] close-mid front
unrounded
3. [ɛ] open-mid front
unrounded
4. [a] open front unrounded
5. [ɑ] open back unrounded
6. [ɔ] open-mid back rounded
7. [o] close-mid back rounded
8. [u] close back rounded
International Phonetics Association

 Phoneticiansuse a large set of symbols when they are trying to

represent sounds more accurately.

 Theseset of symbols known as the International Phonetic

Association's alphabet (IPA)
International Phonetics Association

 The International Phonetic Alphabet is defined as an alphabet

used across the world where each symbol represents the sounds
of spoken language.

 Anexample of a part of the International Phonetic Alphabet

(IPA) is the sound of a "p" which is shown in the IPA as "/p/."
Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_vowels
Any questions?
2.3 ENGLISH SHORT
VOWELS
PREPARED BY: MASHAEL
ENGLISH SHORT VOWELS
• All vowels are voiced.
• English has a large number of vowel
sounds; the first ones to be examined
are short vowels.
• Short vowels are only relatively short;
vowels can have quite different
lengths in different contexts.
• Each vowel is described in relation to
the cardinal vowels.
• /ɪ/ (example words: 'bit', 'pin', 'fish’). This
vowel is in the close front area, compared
with cardinal vowel no. 1 [i].
• It is more open, and nearer in to the center,
and the lips are slightly spread.
• /e/ (example words: 'bet', 'men', 'yes’).
This is a front vowel between cardinal
vowel no. 2 [e] and no. 3 [ɛ]. The lips are
slightly spread.
• /æ/ (example words: 'bat', 'man', 'gas')
This vowel is front, but not quite as open
as cardinal vowel no. 4 [a]. The lips are
slightly spread.
• /Ʌ/ (example words: 'cut', 'come', 'rush')
This is a central vowel, and the diagram
shows that it is more open than the open-
mid tongue height. The lip position is
neutral.
• /ɒ/ (example words: 'pot', 'gone', 'cross')
This vowel is not quite fully back, and
between open-mid and open in tongue
height. The lips are slightly rounded.
• /ʊ/ (example words: 'put', 'pull', 'push')
The nearest cardinal vowel is no. 8 [u], but
it can be seen that ʊ is more open and
nearer to central. The lips are rounded.
ENGLISH SHORT VOWELS
SCHWA

• There is one other short vowel, for which the symbol is /ᵊ/
• This central vowel called schwa is a very familiar sound in English; it is
heard in the first syllable of the words 'about', 'oppose', 'perhaps’.
• It is different from the other vowels in several important ways
QUADRILATERAL OF SHORT VOWELS
DESCRIPTIVE LABELS OF SHORT VOWELS

Descriptive labels : Close, close-mid, open-mid, open, front,

central, back, lip position.
SHORT VOWELS CONTRASTED (MINIMAL
PAIRS)
• A minimal pair is a pair of words that have different
meanings and which differ in one phoneme.
• Examples:
• ‘bit’ /bɪt/and ‘bet’ /bet/
• ‘fan’ /fæn/ and ‘fun’ /fʌn/
MINIMAL SETS

• When a group of words can be differentiated, each one from the

other, by changing one phoneme (in the same position in the
word), we can have a minimal set.
e.g.
• feat/fit/fat/fate/fought/foot (vowel phonemes)
• big/pig/rig/dig/wig (consonant phonemes)
MINIMAL PAIRS AND SETS

Four golden rules:

1. They must have the same number of sounds.

2. They must be identical in every sound except for one.
3. The sound that is different must be in the same position in each word.
4. The words must have different meanings.
Any questions?
 English Long Vowels
Prepared by: Mashael
English Long Vowels

• Long vowels are the vowels which tend to be longer than the short vowels in
similar contexts.
• Why is it necessary to say "in similar contexts”?
• Because the length of all English vowel sounds varies very much according
to their context (such as the type of sound that follows them) and the
presence or absence of stress.
English Long Vowels

• The symbols consist of one vowel symbol plus a length mark made of two dots :
• The five long vowels are different from the six short vowels not only in length but also in
quality.
• If we compare some similar pairs of long and short vowels, for example
• ɪ (ship) with i: (sheep)
• ʊ (foot) with u: (food)
• æ (had) with ɑ: (heart)
• we can see distinct differences in quality (resulting from differences in tongue shape and
position, and lip position) as well as in length.
 English Long Vowels

• For this reason, all the long vowels have symbols which are different from
those of short vowels.
• You can see that the long and short vowel symbols would still all be different
from each other even if we omitted the length mark.
• So it is important to remember that the length mark is used not because it is
essential but because it helps learners to remember the length difference.
/i:/ (example words: 'beat', 'mean', 'peace') This
vowel is nearer to cardinal vowel no. 1 [i] (i.e. it
is closer and more front) than is the short vowel
of 'bid', 'pin', 'fish’.
• Although the tongue shape is not much
different from cardinal vowel no. 1, the lips
are only slightly spread and this results in a
rather different vowel quality.

/ɜ:/ (example words: 'bird', 'fern', 'purse') This

is a mid-central vowel which is used in most
English accents as a hesitation sound (written
'er'), but which many learners find difficult to
copy. The lip position is neutral.
/ɑ:/ (example words: ‘card’, 'half’, 'pass') This
is an open vowel in the region of cardinal vowel
no. 5 [ɑ], but not as back as this. The lip position
is neutral.

/ɔ:/ (example words: 'board', 'torn', 'horse') The

tongue height for this vowel is between cardinal
vowel no. 6 [ɔ] and no. 7 [o], and closer to the
latter. This vowel is almost fully back and has
quite strong lip-rounding.
/u:/ (example words: 'food', 'soon', 'loose') The
nearest cardinal vowel to this is no. 8 [u], but
BBC u: is much less back and less close, while
the lips are only moderately rounded.
Quadrilateral of long vowels
 Descriptive labels of long vowels

Descriptive labels: Close, close-mid, open-mid, open, front, central, back,

lips position.
English Short and Long Vowels
Any questions?
Diphthongs & Triphthongs
Prepared by: Mashael
 Diphthongs: Sounds which consist
of a movement or glide from one
vowel to another.

Diphthongs
A pure vowel: A vowel which
remains constant and does not glide.
 In terms of length, diphthongs are similar to the long vowels.

• The most important thing to remember about all

the diphthongs is that the first part is much
longer and stronger than the second part.

Diphthongs • Example, aɪ (as in the words 'eye', 'I’) consists

of the a vowel, and only in about the last
quarter of the diphthong does the the glide to I
become noticeable. As the glide to I happens,
the loudness of the sound decreases. As a result,
the I part is shorter and quieter.
 The total number of diphthongs is eight
(though ʊə is increasingly rare)

Diphthongs

weird
scarce
lure paid time voice most house
 • The centering diphthongs glide towards
the ə (schwa) vowel, as the symbols
indicate.

• ɪə (example words: 'beard', 'weird',

'fierce') The starting point is a little closer
than /I/ in 'bit', 'bin’.

• eə (example words: 'aired', 'cairn',

Diphthongs 'scarce') This diphthong begins with a
vowel sound that is more open than the /e/
of 'get', 'men'.

 ʊə (example words: 'moored', 'tour',

'lure') For speakers who have this
diphthong, this has a starting point similar
to /ʊ/ in 'put', 'pull’.
 • The closing diphthongs have
the characteristic that they all
end with a glide towards a
closer vowel.
• Because the second part of the
diphthong is weak, they often
do not reach a position that
Diphthongs could be called close. The
important thing is that a glide
from a relatively more open
towards a relatively closer
vowel is produced.
 • Three of the diphthongs glide
towards /ɪ/, as described below:
• /eɪ/ (example words: 'paid', 'pain',
'face') The starting point is the same
as the /e/ of 'get', 'men’.
• /aɪ/ (example words: 'tide', 'time',
'nice') This diphthong begins with an
Diphthongs open vowel which is between front
and back; it is quite similar to the /Ʌ/
of the words 'cut', 'bun’.
• /ɔɪ/ (example words: 'void', 'loin',
'voice') The first part of this
diphthong is slightly more open than
/ɔ:/ in 'ought', 'born’.
  Two diphthongs glide towards /ʊ/, so that as
the tongue moves closer to the roof of the
mouth there is at the same time a rounding
movement of the lips. This movement is not
a large one, again because the second part of
the diphthong is weak.

Diphthongs  /əʊ/ example words: 'load', 'home', 'most')

The vowel position for the beginning of this
is the same as for the "schwa" vowel ə, as
found in the first syllable of the word 'about'.
The lips may be slightly rounded in
anticipation of the glide towards /ʊ/, for
which there is quite noticeable lip-rounding.
 • /aʊ/ (example words: 'loud', 'gown', 'house') This diphthong
begins with a vowel similar to aɪ. Since this is an open vowel,
a glide to ʊ would necessitate a large movement, and the
tongue often does not reach the ʊ position. There is only slight
lip-rounding.

Diphthongs
 • The most complex English sounds of the vowel type are
the triphthongs. They can be rather difficult to pronounce,
and very difficult to recognise.

• A triphthong is a glide from one vowel to another and then

to a third, all produced rapidly and without interruption.
• For example, a careful pronunciation of the word 'hour’
aʊə.
Triphthongs • It begins with a vowel quality similar to a:, goes on to a
glide towards the back close rounded area (for which we
use the symbol ʊ), then ends with a mid-central vowel
(schwa ə).
• We use the symbol to represent the pronunciation of
‘hour’, but this is not always an accurate representation of
the pronunciation.
 • There are five triphthongs. (The five closing
diphthongs described in the last section, with ə
added on the end. Thus we get:

Triphthongs
 The principle cause of difficulty for the
foreign learner is that in present-day English
the extent of the vowel movement is very
small, except in very careful pronunciation.
Triphthongs Because of this, the middle of the three vowel
qualities of triphthong (i.e. the I or ʊ part) can
hardly be heard and the resulting sound is
difficult to distinguish from some of the
diphthongs and long vowels.
 There is also the problem of whether a
triphthong is felt to contain one or two
syllables. Words such as ‘fire’ or ‘hour’ are
probably felt by most English speakers (with
Triphthongs BBC pronunciation) to consist of only one
syllable, whereas ‘player’ or ‘slower’ are
more likely to be heard as two syllables.
 We will not go through a detailed description of
each triphthong. This is partly because there is so
much variation in the amount of vowel movement
according to how slow and careful the
pronunciation is, and also because the “careful”
pronunciation can be found by looking at the
Triphthongs description of the corresponding diphthong and
adding ə to the end.
Any question?
Prepared by: Mashael
THE LARYNX
• The larynx is in the neck; it
has several parts.

• The main structure of the

larynx is made of cartilage, a
material that is similar to bone
but less hard.
THE LARYNX
• The larynx’s structure is made of
two large cartilages.

• These two large cartilages are

hollow and are attached to the top
of the trachea; when we breathe,
air passes through the trachea and
the larynx.
THE LARYNX
• The front of the larynx “comes
to a point and you can feel this
point at the front of your nick
“is prominent in men” which
is called Adam’s Apple.
THE LARYNX
• Inside the "box" made by these
two cartilages are the vocal
folds.

• Vocal folds: are two thick flaps

of muscle rather like a pair of
lips; an older name for these is
vocal cords.
 THE LARYNX
• At the front vocal folds are joined
together and fixed to the inside of
the thyroid cartilage.
• At the back they are attached to a
pair of small cartilages called the
arytenoid cartilages so that if the
arytenoid cartilages move, the vocal
folds move too.
 THE LARYNX
• The arytenoid cartilages
are attached to the top of
the cricoid cartilage, but
they can move so as to
move the vocal folds apart
or together.
THE LARYNX
• Glottis: is the opening area
between the vocal folds.

• The status of glottis:

1- Open glottis
2- Close glottis
THE LARYNX
• The status of glottis:
1- If the vocal folds are apart
away, we say that the glottis is
open.

2- If the vocal folds are

pressed together we say that
the glottis is closed.
FOUR POSITIONS OF VOCAL CORDS
OR
FOUR STATES OF THE VOCAL CORDS

1. Wide apart

2. Narrow glottis

3. Position for vocal fold vibration

4. Vocal folds tightly closed

WIDE A PART
The vocal folds are wide apart for
normal breathing and usually
during voiceless consonants like p,
f, s.
NARROW GLOTTIS
If air is passed through the
glottis when it is narrowed, the
result is a fricative sound for
which the symbol is h.
The sound is not very different
from a whispered vowel. It is
called a voiceless glottal
fricative.
POSITION FOR VOCAL FOLD
VIBRATION
• When the edges of the vocal folds are
touching each other, or nearly touching,
air passing through the glottis will usually
cause vibration.
• Air is passed up from the lungs and this
air pushes the vocal folds apart so that a
little air escapes.
POSITION FOR VOCAL FOLD
VIBRATION
• As the air flows quickly past the edges of
the vocal folds, the folds are brought again.

• This opening and closing happens very

rapidly and is repeated regularly, roughly
between two and three hundred times per
second in a woman’s voice and about half
that rate in an adult man’s voice.
VOCAL FOLDS TIGHTLY
CLOSED
The vocal folds can be firmly pressed together so
that air cannot pass between them. When this
happens in speech we call it a glottal stop or glottal
plosive, for which we use the symbol ʔ
FOUR POSITIONS OF VOCAL CORDS
OR
FOUR STATES OF THE VOCAL CORDS
RESPIRATION AND VOICING
• The normal way for this airflow to be produced is for some of the air
in the lungs to be pushed out.

• when air is made to move out of the lungs we say that there is an
egressive pulmonic airstream.

• The egressive pulmonic is by far the most commonly found air

movement in the languages of the world.
HOW IS AIR MOVED INTO AND
OUT OF THE LUNGS?
• Knowing such process is important, especially
regarding many aspects of speech such as the nature
of stress and intonation.

• The lungs are like sponges filling with air and are
contained within the rib cage.

• If the rib cage is lifted upwards and outwards there is

more space in the chest for the lungs and they
expand, with the result that they take in more air.
HOW IS AIR MOVED INTO
AND OUT OF THE LUNGS?
• If we allow the rib cage to return to its rest position quite slowly,
some of the air is expelled and can be used for producing speech
sounds.

• If we wish to make the egressive pulmonic airstream continue

without breathing in again, when saying a long sentence and not
wanting to be interrupted – we can make the rib cage press down on
the lungs so that more air is expelled.
HOW IS AIR MOVED INTO AND
OUT OF THE LUNGS?
• In talking about making air flow into and out of the lungs, the process has been described as

though the air were free to pass with no obstruction. But, to make speech sounds we must
obstruct the airflow in some way – breathing by itself makes very little sound.

• We obstruct the airflow by making one or more obstructions or strictures in the vocal

tract, and one place where we can make a stricture is in the larynx, by bringing the vocal
folds close to each other.

• There will be no vocal fold vibration unless the vocal folds are in the correct position and

the air below the vocal folds is under enough pressure to be forced through the glottis.
VOICING OR PHONATION
• Voicing or phonation:
• If the vocal folds vibrate we will hear the sound that we call voicing or
phonation.
• There are many different sorts of voicing that we can produced – think
about the different quality of your voice between singing, shouting and
speaking, or reading a story to young children in which you have to read
out what is said by characters such as giants, fairies, mice or ducks

• Many of the difference are made with the larynx, including vocal cords.
SUBGLOTTAL PRESSURE
• The pressure of the air bellow the vocal cords called, the
subglottal pressure.
• There are 3 main differences in the subglottal pressure:
1. Variations in intensity
2. Variations in frequency
3. Variations in quality
MAIN DIFFERENCES IN
SUBGLOTTAL PRESSURE

1. Variations in intensity:
We produce voicing with high intensity for shouting, and
with low intensity for speaking quietly.
MAIN DIFFERENCES IN
SUBGLOTTAL PRESSURE
2. Variations in frequency:
If the vocal folds vibrate rapidly, the voicing is at high
frequency; if there are fewer vibrations per second, the
frequency is lower.
MAIN DIFFERENCES IN SUBGLOTTAL
PRESSURE

3. Variations in quality:
We can produce different-sounding voice qualities, such as:
harsh, breathy, murmured or creaky.
Any questions?
 MANNERS OF
ARTICULATION (1)
PLOSIVES
Chapter 4
Ms. Aliyah Alghamdi
 How to Describe consonants:

■ Consonant sounds are described or classified by 3 things:

1. VOICING: is the sound voiced or voiceless?

2. PLACE OF ARTICULATION: where is the sound constricted?

3. MANNER OF ARTICULATION: how is the airstream constricted?

How to Describe consonants:
 Manner of articulation
■ Each major type of consonant (such as
plosives like p, t, k) obstructs the airflow in
a different way, and these are classed as
different manners of articulation.
First Manner of articulation

 Plosives (stops)
Definition of plosives (stops)
Consonant sounds that are formed by
completely stopping airflow in the mouth
and then suddenly release.
Characteristics of plosives
■ One articulator is moved against another, or two
articulators are moved against each other, so as to form
a stricture that allows no air to escape from the vocal
tract. The stricture is, then, total.
■ After this stricture has been formed and air has been
compressed behind it, it is released - that is, air is
allowed to escape.
■ If the air behind the stricture is still under pressure
when the plosive is released, it is probable that the
escape of air will produce noise loud enough to be
heard. This noise is called plosion.
■ There may be voicing during part or all of the plosive
articulation.
 Plosives’ Phases
There are four phases in the production of plosives.

1. Closing Phase: is when the articulator or articulators move to form

the stricture for the plosive
2. Hold/Compression Phase: is when the compressed air is stopped
from escaping.
3. Release Phase: is when the articulators used to form the stricture
are moved so as to allow air to escape.
4. Post-release Phase: is what happens immediately after the
release phase; producing “aspiration”
The Articulators
Plosives’ places of articulation

■ p, b are bilabial since the

lips are pressed together.

■ Examples:
■ /p/ in pat /pæt/
■ /b/ in ‘bat’ /bæt/
Plosives’ places of articulation

■ t, d are alveolar since the

tongue blade is pressed
against the alveolar ridge.

■ Examples:
■ /t/ in ‘Top’ /tɒp/
■ /d/ in ‘Dip’ /dɪp/
Plosives’ places of articulation
■ k, g are velar; the back of the tongue is
pressed against the area where the
hard palate ends and the soft palate
begins.

■ Examples:

■ /k/
■ in ‘kill’ /kɪl/ and in ’car’ /kɑː/

■ /g/
■ In ‘go’/gəʊ/, ‘bag’ /bæg/
■ and ‘plague’
/pleɪg/
 Voicing

■ Voicing: is the sound that we hear if the vocal folds

vibrate.
■ There are 2 types of voicing:
1. Voiced : when there is vibration in the vocal folds .
2. Voiceless: when there is no vibration in the vocal folds.
Practice
Symbols and Phonetics Description
of Plosives
■ /p/
Voiceless bilabial plosive
■ /b/
Voiced bilabial plosive
■ /t/
Voiceless alveolar plosive
■ /d/
Voiced alveolar plosive
■ /k/
Voiceless velar plosive
■ /g/
Voiced velar plosive
Voicing characteristics of English
Plosives
■ All six /p,b,t,d,k,g/plosives can occur at the following
environments:

■ At the beginning of a word (initial position), preceding vowels

(CV), where C stands for a consonant and V stands for a vowel),

■ Between other sounds (medial position), between vowels (VCV),

■ At the end of a word (final position), following vowels (VC).

Voicing characteristics of English
Plosives
■ Initial position (CV): The most important difference between
initial p, t, k and b, d, g is the aspiration of the voiceless
plosives p, t, k.
■ Aspiration (a brief puff of air), in the post-release phase, a
period during which air escapes through the vocal folds,
making a sound like h.
■ The IPA diacritic for aspiration is a superscript [h]:
■ In initial position, b, d, g cannot be preceded by any
consonant, but p, t, k may be preceded by s. When one of p, t,
k is preceded by s it is unaspirated sp, st, sk.

pill [pʰɪl] spill [spɪl]

till [tʰɪl] still [stɪl]
kill [kʰɪl] skill [skɪl]
Voicing characteristics of English
Plosives
■ The two environments where voiceless plosives are aspirated are:
1. At the beginning of a stressed syllable.
– Example:
– kill [kʰɪl] skill [skɪl]

– (The [k] of skill isn't at the beginning of the syllable, there's

a [s] before it.
2. At the beginning of a word, whether the syllable is stressed or not.
– Example:
– potato [pʰəˈtʰeIɾo]
In potato, the [p] will be aspirated because it is at the beginning of
the word and [t] will be aspirated because it's at the beginning of
a stressed syllable: [pʰəˈtʰeɾo].
Voicing characteristics of English
Plosives
■ Medial position (VCV): The pronunciation of p, t, k and b,
d, g in medial position depends to some extent on whether
the syllables preceding and following the plosive are stressed.

■ Final position (VC): Final b, d, g normally have little voicing

at the beginning of the compression phase; p, t, k are always
voiceless.

■ The difference between p, t, k and b, d, g is primarily the fact

that vowels preceding p, t, k are much shorter.

■ The shortening effect of p, t, k is most noticeable when the

vowel is one of the long vowels or diphthongs. This effect is
sometimes known as pre-fortis clipping.
 Fortis and Lenis

■ Voiceless plosives p, t, k are called fortis (meaning 'strong')

■ Voiced plosives b, d, g are called lenis (meaning 'weak').

Online Resources
Places of articulations
Online Resources:
bilabial consonants
 Online Resources

■ English plosives videos..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLFTTyQirs8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEx9uFAcsLs&t=365s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVoM4TUvWhE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfoRdKuPF9I
■ The /p/ Sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3bI_PE_kNc
■ The /b/ Sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPdBni6svgQ
■ The /t/ Sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gP9ygo2988
■ The /d/ Sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R6hh1aKDiE
■ The /g/ Sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H_Xis2wigA
■ The /k/ Sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YJdNE8na9M
 Online Resources

■ /p/ voiceless Consonants – 1

■ http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation/vlessconst1

■ /t/ voiceless Consonants – 2

■ http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation/vlessconst2

■ /k/ voiceless Consonants – 3

■ http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation/vlessconst4

■ /b/ voiced Consonants – 4

■ http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation/voicedconst1

■ /d/ voiced Consonants – 5

■ http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation/voicedconst2

■ /g/ voiced Consonants – 6

■ http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation/voicedconst4
■ Thank you.
■ See you next class 