Phonetics-I
(Consonants)
Semester I
Prof. Younnes ELKHADIRI
What is phonetics?
Phonetics: the study of the way
Humans make, transmit, and
receive sounds
Phonetics
• In phonetics we refer to individual sounds as
phones or sounds; never letters
• All phonetic transcription is done within phonetic
brackets: [si]
• Our linguistic knowledge allows us to ignore
nonlinguistic differences in speech (such as
individual pitch levels, rates of speed, coughs)
Phonetics
• Knowledge of a language includes:
• knowledge of sounds
• how they are combined to form meaningful units
• Some sounds are found in one language but not another.
• All the sounds in the world constitute a limited set of the
sounds that the human vocal tract can produce.
Main areas of phonetics
Phonetics
Articulatory Phonetics Acoustic Phonetics Auditory Phonetics
the study of how speech deals with the physical
the perception, via the air, of
sounds are made, or properties of speech as
speech sounds
articulated sound waves in the air
Consonants & Vowels
Sounds
Consonants Vowels
obstruction of airflow free flow of air
The Organs of Speech
• The respiratory system, consisting of the lungs,
the muscles of the chest, and the wind-pipe
(trachea)
• The phonatory system, formed by the larynx
• The articulatory system, consisting of the nose,
the mouth (including the tongue, the teeth, the
roof of the mouth, and the lips)
Organs of Speech
Lungs Muscles of Trachea Pharynx Lips Teeth Roof Tongue
the chest of the
Larynx mouth
Vocal Teeth Hard Soft Uvula
cords ridge palate palate
Tip Blade Front Back Rims
Articulatory Phonetics
• Most speech sounds are produced by pushing air
through the vocal cords
– Glottis = the opening between the vocal cords
– Larynx = ‘voice box’
– Pharynx = tubular part of the throat above the
larynx
– Oral cavity = mouth
– Nasal cavity = nose and the passages connecting
it to the throat and sinuses
The larynx
• The air from the lungs comes through the wind
pipe or trachea, at the top of which is the larynx.
• In the larynx are two vocal cords, which are like a
pair of lips placed horizontally from front to back.
• They are joined in the front, but can be separated
at the back, and the opening between them is
called the glottis.
The roof of the mouth
• The roof of the mouth can be subdivided into four
parts:
– the teeth-ridge or the alveolar ridge, i.e., the hard convex
surface just behind the upper front teeth
– the hard palate, i.e., the hard concave surface behind the
teeth-ridge
– the soft palate, i.e., the soft portion behind the hard palate
– the uvula, i.e., a small fleshy structure at the end of the soft
palate
Consonants: Place of Articulation
• Consonants are sounds produced with some
restriction or closure in the vocal tract
• Consonants are classified based in part on
where in the vocal tract the airflow is being
restricted (the place of articulation)
• The major places of articulation are:
bilabial, labiodental, interdental, alveolar, palatal,
velar, uvular, and glottal
Consonants
Consonants are classified by answering three
questions
1. Voicing
2. Place of articulation
3. Manner of articulation
Voiced and voiceless sounds
• Vocal cords are spread apart air from lungs
passes between them unimpeded (no vibration) (-v)
• Vocal cords are drawn together air from lungs
repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through (vibration)
(+v)
• Try it!
• Z-Z-Z-Z-Z
• V-V-V-V
• S-S-S-S
• F-F-F-F
The State of the Glottis
• When we breath in and out, the glottis is open. That is, the
vocal cords are drawn wide apart producing voiceless
sounds.
• If the vocal cords are held loosely together, the pressure of
the air coming from the lungs makes them vibrate; that is,
they open and close regularly many times a second.
Sounds produced in this way are called voiced sounds.
The State of the Glottis
Raised Lowered
Nasal passage blocked Nasal passage open
Oral sounds produced
Oral passage blocked Oral passage open
Nasal sounds produced
Nasalized sounds produced
The Articulators
• The organs of speech above the glottis are the
articulators involved in the production of
consonants:
– Active articulators
• the lower lip and the tongue
– Passive articulators
• the upper lip, the upper teeth, the roof of the mouth and the back
wall of the throat (or Pharynx).
• In the production of a consonant, the active
articulator is moved towards the passive articulator.
Passive articulators
Active articulators
The Nature of Stricture Involved-I
• that is, the different ways in which the passage of air is
restricted in the production of consonants
– Complete closure
• The active and the passive articulators making a firm contact with
each other, thus preventing the passage of air between them. E.g., /p/,
/b/
– Complete oral closure
• The active and passive articulators make a firm contact with each
other, thus preventing the passage of air between them, but the soft
palate is lowered, thereby allowing the air to escape through the nose.
E.g., /m/, /n/
The Nature of Stricture Involved-II
– Intermittent closure
• The air passes between the active and passive articulators
intermittently. It involves the vibration of the active
articulator against the passive. [Scottish r]
– Flap
• For some consonants the active articulator strikes against
the passive articulator once only. /r/ in very
– Close approximation
• The two articulators are brought very close to each other
so that the space between them is very narrow. E.g., /f/,
/v/, etc.
The Nature of Stricture Involved-III
– Partial closure
• There may be a contact of the articulators in the center of
the vocal tract but the air may pass through the sides.
e.g., /l/
– Open approximation
• The two articulators are brought close to each other but
the space between them is wide enough for the air to
escape without friction. E.g., all vowels and the English
/j/ and /w/ as in yes, west.
Consonants: Place of Articulation
• Bilabials: [p] [b] [m]
– Produced by bringing both lips together
• Labiodentals: [f] [v]
– Produced by touching the bottom lip to the upper teeth
• Interdentals [θ] [ð]
– Produced by putting the tip of the tongue between the
teeth
Consonants: Place of Articulation
• Alveolars: [t] [d] [n] [s] [z] [l] [r]
– All of these are produced by raising the tongue to the alveolar
ridge in some way
• [t, d, n]: produced by the tip of the tongue touching the alveolar
ridge (or just in front of it)
• [s, z]: produced with the sides of the front of the tongue raised but
the tip lowered to allow air to escape
• [l]: the tongue tip is raised while the rest of the tongue remains down
so air can escape over the sides of the tongue (thus [l] is a lateral
sound)
• [r]: air escapes through the central part of the mouth; either the tip
of the tongue is curled back behind the alveolar ridge or the top of
the tongue is bunched up behind the alveolar ridge
Consonants: Place of Articulation
• Palatals: [ʃ] [ʒ] [ʧ] [ʤ][ʝ]
– Produced by raising the front part of the tongue to the palate
• Velars: [k] [g] [ŋ]
– Produced by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate or velum
• Glottals: [h] [Ɂ]
– Produced by restricting the airflow through the open glottis ([h]) or by
stopping the air completely at the glottis (a glottal stop: [Ɂ])
Consonants: 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
• Voiceless sounds are those produced with the
vocal cords apart so the air flows freely through
the glottis
• Voiced sounds are those produced when the
vocal cords are together and vibrate as air
passes through
Consonants: Manner of Articulation
• The voiced/voiceless distinction is important in English
because it helps us distinguish words like:
rope/robe fine/vine seal/zeal
[rop]/[rob] [faɪn]/[vaɪn] [sil]/[zil]
• But some voiceless sounds can be further distinguished as
aspirated or unaspirated
aspirated unaspirated
pool [phul] spool [spul]
tale [thel] stale [stel]
kale [khel] scale [skel]
Consonants: Manner of Articulation
• Oral sounds are those produced with the velum raised to
prevent air from escaping out the nose
• Nasal sounds are those produced with the velum
lowered to allow air to escape out the nose
• So far we have three ways of classifying sounds based
on phonetic features: by voicing, by place of
articulation, and by nasalization
– [p] is a voiceless, bilabial, oral sound
– [n] is a voiced, alveolar, nasal sound
Consonants: Manner of Articulation
• Stops: [p] [b] [m] [t] [d] [n] [k] [g] [ŋ] [ʧ][ʤ] [Ɂ]
– Produced by completely stopping the air flow in
the oral cavity for a fraction of a second
• All other sounds are continuants, meaning that the
airflow is continuous through the oral cavity
• Fricatives: [f] [v] [θ] [ð] [s] [z] [ʃ] [ʒ] [h]
– Produced by severely obstructing the airflow so as
to cause friction
Consonants: Manner of Articulation
• Affricates: [ʧ] [ʤ]
– Produced by a stop closure that is released with a lot of
friction
• Liquids: [l] [r]
– Produced by causing some obstruction of the airstream in
the mouth, but not enough to cause any real friction
• Glides: [j] [w]
– Produced with very little obstruction of the airstream and
are always followed by a vowel
Consonants: Manner of Articulation
• Approximants: [w] [j] [r] [l]
– Sometimes liquids and glides are put together into one category
because the articulators approximate a frictional closeness but do not
actually cause friction
• Trills and flaps: [r]* [ɾ]
– Trills are produced by rapidly vibrating an articulator
– Flaps are produced by a flick of the tongue against the alveolar ridge
• Clicks:
– Produced by moving air in the mouth between various articulators
– The disapproving sound tsk in English is a consonant in Zulu and some
other southern African languages
– The lateral click used to encourage a horse in English is a consonant in
Xhosa
Consonants Chart
Exercise
Write definitions for the sounds: f, v, s, ŋ, ð
What are
Voiceless glottal fricative
Voiced velar stop
Voiced alveolar liquid
Exercise
Exercise
Exercise
References
Crystal, D (1995) The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of
The English Language: Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press
Crystal, D (1997) A Dictionary of Linguistics and
Phonetics: London, Blackwell
Fromkin, V& Rodman, R (1974) An Introduction to
Language: Orlando, Harcourt Brace.
Lass, R (1984)Phonology An Introduction to Basic
Concepts: Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
