Phonetics - Manner of Articulation

1. Manner of
Articulation

2. Manner of Articulation
• The manner of articulation is the
way the airstream is affected as it
flows from the lungs and out of
the mouth and nose.

3. Manner of Articulation
Stop / Plosives
Fricatives
Affricates
Glides
Liquids
Rhotic
Alveolar Continuant

4. Stop / Plosives
• Produced by completely stopping the air flow.
– Articulators – complete closure, airstream cannot
escape through the mouth.
– Can be oral (velum raised) or nasal (velum lowered).
• 3 stages in the production:Closing stage
• The two
articulators
move
towards
each other.
Closure stage
• The two
articulators
are in
contact
with each
other.
Release stage
• The two
articulators
move away
from each
other.

5. Stop (cont.)
• Oral Stop (velum raised)
– Nasal tract is blocked off, then
airstream will be completely
obstructed.
– 3 pairs of oral stop:Voiceless
Voiced
Bilabial
[p]
[b]
Alveolar
[t]
[d]
Velar
[k]
[g]

6. Stop (cont.)
• Nasal stop (velum lowered)
– Air is stopped in the oral cavity
but velum is down so that air
can go through the nose
– Voiced only:Voiced
Bilabial
[m]
Alveolar
[n]
Velar
[ɳ]

7. Stop (cont.)
• Glottal stop: is voiceless, vocal folds
are completely closed, can’t vibrate
when they are in contact /complete
blockage. [ʔ]
• Normally found at the beginning of
English words that start with a vowel in
spelling.
• Example: Flee east (glottal stop at the
beginning of east)

8. Fricatives
• Sounds which are produced with this kind
of constriction entail a bringing together of
the two articulators to the point where the
airflow is not quite fully blocked: enough
of a gap remains for air to escape but the
articulators are so close together that
friction is created as the air escape
• When they are produced, air escapes
through a small passage and make a
hissing sound

9. Fricatives (cont.)
Labiodental
Dental
Alveolar
Post alveolar
Glottal
Fortis
(voiceless)
[f]
[θ]
[s]
[ʃ]
[h]
Lenis
(voiced)
[v]
[δ]
[z]
[ʒ]
[h]

10. Fricatives (cont.)
Fricatives according to their place of articulation:•
•
•
[f],[v] (Labiodental) : fan, van, safer, saver, half, halve
– Lower lip is in contact with the upper teeth. Fricative is
never very strong and is scarcely audible
[θ], [δ], (dental) : thumb, thus, father, breathe
– The tongue is placed between the teeth, normally tongue is
placed behind the teeth with the tip touching the inside of
the upper teeth. The air escapes through the gaps between
the tongue and the teeth. The fricative noise is weak
[s], [z] (alveolar): sip, zip, facing, phasing, rice, rise
– Same place of articulation as t n d. the air escapes through
a narrow passage along the center of the tongue and the
sound produced is comparatively intense

11. Fricatives (cont.)
Fricatives according to their place of articulation
(cont.):• [ʃ ] , [ʒ] ( post-alveolar): ship, Russia, measure, Irish,
garage
– The tongue is in contact with an area slightly
further back than that for [s],[ z]. if you make [ʃ ] ,
you should be able to feel your tongue move
backwards.
– The air escapes through a passage along the center
of the tongue, as in [s] and [ʃ ] , but the passage is
a little wider
• [h] (glottal): head, ahead, playhouse
– The narrowing that produces the friction noise is
between the vocal folds

12. Affricates
• Affricates are consonant sounds that begin by
fully stopping the air from leaving the vocal
tract, then releasing it through a constricted
opening. English has two affricate sounds, ’ch’
sound and ’j’ sound, just like "church" and
"judge".
[t∫] - voiceless post - alveolar affricate
[dʒ] - voiced post - alveolar affricate

13. Affricates (cont.)
[t∫] and [dʒ]

14. Affricates (cont.)
• [t∫] and [dʒ] are affricate sounds, which you
produce by blocking off the breath - stream
between the tongue and gum ridge, for a stop
and a fricative.
• The [t∫] is a blend combined of [t] and [∫]: it
starts out as a [t] stop and then the tongue
moves into the position for [∫].
• Example: cheese

15. Affricates (cont.)
Vowel Lengthening
• The ch sound is an unvoiced consonant (the vocal cords
do not vibrate during its pronunciation) and the j
sound is a voiced consonant (the vocal cords do vibrate
during its pronunciation).
• The vowel sound before an unvoiced consonant sound
has a shorter duration than the vowel sound before its
voiced counterpart.
• This change in vowel duration subtly helps listeners of
English to determine which sound was spoken.
• Some dictionaries will use a colon-like symbol of
stacked triangles (ː) note a vowel with increased
to
duration.

16. Affricates (cont.)
• The [dʒ] is a blend of [d] and [ʒ]: it starts out
as a [d] and then the tongue moves into the
usual position for [ʒ].
• Example: joy
Vowel length comparison
• Unvoiced affricate: etch /ɛʧ , rich/rɪʧ/
• Voiced affricate: edge /ɛː , ridge/rɪː
ʤ/
ʤ/

17. Approximant
• Approximant: an articulation in which
one articulator is close to another, but
without the vocal tract being narrowed
to such an extent that a turbulent
airstream is produced.
• The articulators approximate a
frictional closeness, but no actual
friction occurs.

18. Approximant (cont.)
Glides
Semivowels
[j] , [w]
Lateral approximant:
[l]
Approximant
Liquids
[l] , [r]
Central approximant :
Alveolar continuant
[ɹ]
Rhotic:
Alveolar trill [r]
Alveolar tap [ɾ]

19. Approximant (cont.)
Glides/ Semivowels [w], [j]
• Articulatorily, similar to vowel : there are no contacts
between articulators
• Phonologically, behave like consonant as does not
syllable nuclei at the edge of syllable.
• After articulating, the tongue quickly into place for
pronouncing the next vowel. Hence the name glides.
• The articulation of each of glides varies lightly
depending on the articulation of the following vowel:
[wi] vs [ː
wɔːt
ə]
• [w]: labio-velar: two places of articulation- lips and the
back of the tongue and velum [wʌn]
• [j]: palatals [jes]

20. Approximant (cont.)
Liquids
Unhindered airflows compared to stops, affricates and fricatives
but unlike vowels and glides, are produced with open
approximation.
• LATERAL APPROXIMANT: no contact between active (tongue)
and passive articulator (roof of a mouth).no contact for at
least one side of the tongue. Air is free to flow along both
sides of the mouth. [l]
• CENTRAL APPROXIMANT: tongue blade raised towards the
alveolar ridge and the sides of the tongue in contact with the
molars. [ɹ]
• RHOTIC:
– Alveolar trill: tongue blade vibrates repeatedly against
the alveolar ridge. (Scottish accent) [r]
– Alveolar tap: a single tap against the tongue blades and
the alveolar ridge. (American accent) [ɾ] (betty, witty,
riders)

21. Approximant (cont.)
Liquids
• Unhindered airflows compared to stops, affricates and fricatives
but unlike vowels and glides, are produced with open
approximation.
• LATERAL APPROXIMANT: no contact between active (tongue) and
passive articulator (roof of a mouth).no contact for at least one
side of the tongue. Air is free to flow along both sides of the
mouth. [l]
• CENTRAL APPROXIMANT: tongue blade raised towards the
alveolar ridge and the sides of the tongue in contact with the
molars. [ɹ]
• RHOTIC:– Alveolar trill: tongue blade vibrates repeatedly against the
alveolar ridge. (Scottish accent) [r]
– Alveolar tap: a single tap against the tongue blades and the
alveolar ridge. (American accent) [ɾ] (betty, witty, riders)
Exercises

22. Which of the following end with a stop?
Pill
Lip
Lit
Graph
Crab
Dog
Hide
Laugh
Back

23. Transcribe the following word phonemically:1. These
2. Measure

24. Which of the following end with an affricate?
Much
Back
Edge
Ooze

25. Please identify types of approximant for the following:-