English Phonetics Essentials: Articulation & Sound Production

Understanding English Speech Sounds

Manner of Articulation

• Plosive: Air is completely stopped, then released suddenly.
• Affricate: Air is stopped, then released gradually with friction.
• Fricative: Air is forced through a narrow channel, creating audible friction.
• Nasal: Air flows through the nasal cavity, with a complete closure in the oral cavity.
• Lateral: Air flows around the sides of the tongue.
• Approximant: Articulators approach but do not touch, creating a wide opening without significant friction.

Place of Articulation

• Bilabial: Both lips come together.
• Labiodental: The lower lip touches the upper teeth.
• Dental: The tongue tip or blade touches the upper teeth.
• Alveolar: The tongue tip or blade touches the alveolar ridge (the gum ridge behind the upper teeth).
• Palato-alveolar: The tongue blade touches the area just behind the alveolar ridge.
• Palatal: The tongue body touches the hard palate (the hard part of the roof of the mouth).
• Velar: The tongue back touches the soft palate (velum).
• Glottal: The vocal folds come together or close.

Vocal Fold States

• Voiced
• Voiceless

Soft Palate Position

• Oral Sounds: The soft palate is raised, blocking airflow to the nasal cavity.
• Nasal Sounds: The soft palate is lowered, allowing airflow through the nasal cavity, with a closure in the oral cavity.
• Nasalized Sounds: The soft palate is lowered, allowing air to flow through both the mouth and nose simultaneously.

Tension in Consonant Production

Refers to the force, energy, or muscle tension with which a consonant is produced.

1. Fortis: Produced with greater muscle tension (often voiceless).
2. Lenis: Produced with less muscle tension (often voiced).

Vowel Classification: Tongue Height

• Close (High): The highest point of the tongue is positioned close to the roof of the mouth.
• Mid: The highest point of the tongue is midway between close and open positions.
• Open (Low): A considerable distance exists between the highest point of the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

Lip Posture

• Rounded: Lips are rounded and often protruded. Examples: /ɔː/, /ɒ/, /uː/, /ʊ/.
• Unrounded: Lips are spread or neutral. Examples: /iː/, /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɜː/, /ə/.

Diphthongs

• A movement or glide from one vowel sound to another within the same syllable.
• The first element is typically stronger and longer than the second.
• There are eight common diphthongs in English.
• They are categorized into two main groups:
  1. Centring Diphthongs (3): The second element glides towards the schwa /ə/.
     • /ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/
  2. Closing Diphthongs (5): The second element glides towards a closer vowel (/ɪ/ or /ʊ/).
     • Ending in /ɪ/: /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/
     • Ending in /ʊ/: /aʊ/, /əʊ/

Triphthongs

• A combination of three vowel sounds, typically formed by a closing diphthong followed by a schwa /ə/.
• There are five common triphthongs in English:
  1. /eɪə/
  2. /aɪə/
  3. /ɔɪə/
  4. /aʊə/
  5. /əʊə/

Key Phonetic Terms

• Cluster: A sequence of two or more consonants occurring together in a syllable (e.g., 'tr' in tree, 'dr' in drum).
• Roll (Trill): The tip of the tongue rapidly touches the alveolar ridge multiple times in succession (e.g., 'rr' in Spanish perro).
• Flap: A single, rapid touch of the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge (e.g., 'tt' in American English butter, 'r' in Spanish caro).
• Open Rounded & Protruded Vowels: Vowels produced with lips rounded and pushed forward (e.g., /ɔː/, /ɒ/, /u/, /uː/).
• Sonorants: Speech sounds produced with continuous, non-turbulent airflow, including nasals and approximants.
• Obstruents: Speech sounds produced with significant obstruction of airflow, including plosives, affricates, and fricatives.
• Stop: A consonant sound produced by completely stopping the airflow in the vocal tract, then releasing it. This category includes plosives, affricates, and nasals.
• Close Vowel: A vowel produced with the tongue positioned high in the mouth, minimizing the space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth (hard palate).
• Consonant Description: Consonants are typically defined by their Vocal Fold State (Voiced/Voiceless), Place of Articulation, and Manner of Articulation.

Phonetic Segments: Vowels and Consonants

Phonemes: The smallest distinctive units of sound in a language, existing as abstract mental representations within the phonological system. They are a finite set.

Sounds (Phones): The concrete, physical realizations of phonemes. They are infinite in number and represent the actual acoustic output of speech, often varying based on context (allophones).

Key Differences: Consonants vs. Vowels

• Consonants have a greater variety of production mechanisms (manners and places of articulation).
• Consonants are generally more structured in their production than vowels, involving greater obstruction of airflow.
• It is often easier to infer the meaning of a sentence from consonants alone than from vowels alone, due to their more distinct articulatory features.