consonants

1. Phonetics III:
Dimensions of Articulation
October 15, 2012

2. A Quick and Dirty Review
• Let’s run through that last set of practice exercises…
• Last time we learned about….
• phonemes, phones, and allophones
• phonetic transcription
• the primary phonemes of the English language
• the principle of contrast
• This time we’ll learn:
• how we actually produce the sounds of English

3. Tools of the
Trade
vocal tract
diaphragm

4. A Basic Distinction
• Vowels and Consonants
• Vowels: unconstricted flow of air through vocal tract
(above the larynx)
• Consonants: completely or severely constricted flow of
air through vocal tract
• Also: sound is often created at the consonant
constriction
• Let’s look at the production of consonants first…
• (it’s easier to sense what we’re doing with our
articulators)

5. Consonants
• Consonants are produced with more obstruction of the
airflow through the vocal tract than vowels
• They are characterized by the following set of attributes:
1. Voicing
• vocal fold position and movement
2. Place of Articulation
• location of constriction in the vocal tract
3. Manner of Articulation
• type of constriction made in the vocal tract

6. Voicing
• On the way out of the lungs
• Air passes through the trachea
• Reaches the larynx
• The larynx consists of two “vocal folds” which may be
opened and closed. If the vocal folds are:
1. open: air passes cleanly through
= voiceless sound
2. lightly brought together: vocal folds vibrate in passing air
= voiced sound

7. Vocal Fold Schematics
Voiceless (folds open) Voiced (folds together)

8. Some Voicing Distinctions
• Among English consonants:
Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced
[f] [v] [p] [b]
[t] [d]
[s] [z] [k] [g]

9. Laryngoscopy
Source: http://homepage.mac.com/changcy/endo.htm

10. Stefan’s Bogus video

11. Place of Articulation
• bilabial =
constriction made by both lips
• bilabial consonants in
English include:
[p] [b]
[m]

12. Place of Articulation
• labio-dental =
constriction made by lower
lip and upper teeth
• labio-dental consonants in
English include:
[f] [v]

13. Place of Articulation
• interdental =
constriction made by
pushing tip of tongue
between the teeth
• interdental consonants in
English include:

14. Place of Articulation
• alveolar =
constriction made by tip of
tongue against alveolar
ridge
• alveolar consonants in
English include:
[t] [d]
[s] [z]
[n] [l]

15. Place of Articulation
• post-alveolar =
constriction made by blade
of tongue behind alveolar
ridge
• post-alveolar consonants
in English include:
[r]

16. Place of Articulation
• palatal =
constriction made by body
of tongue near top of the
palate
• the only palatal consonant
in English is:
[j]

17. Place of Articulation
• velar =
constriction made by back
of tongue against soft
palate
• velar consonants in
English include:
[k] [g]

18. Place of Articulation
• glottal =
constriction made at the
glottis
• glottal consonants in
English include:
[h]

19. Stefan’s Bogus Video, again

20. Manner of Articulation
1. Stop = complete closure in vocal tract
• English stops:
[p] [t] [k]
[b] [d] [g]
2. Fricative - narrow constriction that causes disruption of
airflow
• think “friction”
• English fricatives:
[f] [s] [h]
[v] [z]

21. Manner of Articulation
3. Affricate
• = brief closure with a fricated release
• English affricates:
4. Nasal
• = velum is lowered and allows air to flow through
the nose
• English nasals:
[m] [n]