1 |ENG ED 111 1BSE-A SEPT 6_12_2021

CHAPTER 2
THE SOUNDS OF LANGUAGE

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
LESSON 1:
1. Identify the parts of the body that humans use to produce
PRODUCING
speech sounds
SPEECH
2. Classify speech sounds according to their articulatory
SOUNDS properties.
3. Discuss the ways that consonants and vowels differ from each
other
4. Use the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
to represent speech sounds.
5. use the IPA to transcribe words and sentences

CONTENT:

Phonetics studies human speech. Speech is produced by bringing air from the lungs to the
larynx (respiration), where the vocal folds may be held open to allow the air to pass through
or may vibrate to make a sound (phonation). The airflow from the lungs is then shaped by
the articulators in the mouth and nose (articulation).

Speaking involves controlling parts of the mouth and nose to shape the air that comes from
the lungs. This lesson the names and locations of the articulators that are used to produce
the sounds of English: the tongue, lips and teeth, the alveolar ridge, the palate, the velum,
and the nasal cavity.

 The description of English consonants:

 Place of articulation- where in the mouth the airstream is obstructed

 Manner of articulation- the way in which the airstream is obstructed
 Voicing- whether there is vibration of the vocal cords

 PLACE OF ARTICULATION

 The places in the mouth where the airstream is obstructed in the formation of
consonants- the articulators involved and the place in the mouth where the
articulators cause an obstruction of the airstream.
 Articulators- tip of the tongue, blade of the tongue and back of the tongue
 Places of articulation-teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, soft palate(velum), glottis

2 |ENG ED 111 1BSE-A SEPT 6_12_2021

 Figure 1: The Speech Mechanism

 Sounds made with the lips

1. Bilabial (both lips): The sound is made with the two lips coming together and touching
momentarily. The obstruction of the airstream occurs at the lips. /p/, /b/, /m/ and /w/.
2. Labiodental (lower lip and upper teeth).The sound is made with the top teeth touching the
bottom lip. The obstruction of the airstream occurs because the top teeth and bottom lip
come together. /f/ and /v/
3. Sounds made with the tip of the tongue
4. Interdental(tip of the tongue and teeth). The sound is referred to as interdental sounds
because the tongue is placed between(inter) the teeth(dental). The obstruction of the
airstream occurs because the tip of the tongue is between the teeth or just behind the
teeth. /θ/ and /ð/
Note: The two sounds are difficult for second language learners because they are not common sounds in many
of the world’s languages.
5. Alveolar(tip of the tongue and the tooth ridge). The tip of the tongue touches the
roof of the mouth just behind the upper teeth. The place of articulation is the tooth
ridge or the alveolar ridge./t/, /d/, /n/, / l /, /r/, /s/ and /z/

3 |ENG ED 111 1BSE-A SEPT 6_12_2021

  Sounds made with the blade of the tongue

1. Alveo-palatal or Palatal/Post-alveolar(blade of the tongue and the hard palate). The sound
is made with the blade of the tongue approaching the hard palate just behind the tooth
ridge./∫/ or /š/ or /sh/, /ʒ/ or /ž / or /zh/, /t∫/ or /č/ or /ch/ or /tš/, /dʒ/ or /ǰ/ or /dž/ or /ʤ/, /y/
 /∫/ final sound in wish; /ʒ/ final sound in beige. Note that the /ʒ/ sound very rarely begins a word in English. Words
of foreign origin include ‘genre’ or ‘Jacques’
 /t∫/ initial sound in chug and /dʒ/ in jug

 Sounds made with the back of the tongue

1. Velar (back of the tongue and soft palate). The back part of the tongue touches the soft palate or
velum. /k/, /g/ and /ŋ/ or /ng/

 Sounds made with the glottis

1. Glottal. The space between the vocal folds is the glottis. English has 2 sounds made at the glottis:
easy to hear /h/ and the glottal stop /?/ uh-oh which occurs before each of the vowel sounds.

 MANNER OF ARTICULATION refers to the way in which the obstruction

of the airstream, which characterizes all consonants is achieved.

1. Stops or Plosives (complete obstruction of the airstream). Consonants that involve

complete blockage of the airstream. /p/,/b/, /t/,/d/, /k/ and /g/
2. Fricatives/continuants (partial obstruction). Partial obstruction of the airstream results
from the lips or the tongue coming close to some part of the upper mouth. These are
called fricatives because the close approximation of the articulators causes turbulence
or friction in the airflow. /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /θ/, /ð/, /∫/ and /ʒ/
3. Affricates(complex consonant sounds). A combination of stop followed immediately by
a fricative. The initial consonant of chug begins as a stop consonant /t/ and is released as
the fricative /ʒ/. Similarly, the initial consonant of jug begins as the stop consonant /d/
and is released as the fricative /ʒ/.
Note: Fricatives with hissing sounds like /s/, /z/, /∫/ and /ʒ/ are called SIBILANTS.
4. Nasals/sonorants (sounds made with the air escaping through the nose). Air is blocked in
the mouth. However, the soft palate is lowered, allowing air to escape through the nose.
/m/,/n/ and /ŋ/
5. Liquids or Approximants. The air passes through the mouth in a somewhat fluid manner.
 The lateral /l/ is made with the tip pf the tongue touching the tooth ridge and air
passing through the mouth over the sides of the tongue.
 The retroflex /r/ is made with the tip of the tongue slightly curled back in the mouth.
6. Glides (semi-vowels). The sound is made with a relatively wide opening in the mouth. In
the production of /w/, the lips are rounded and at the same time the back of the tongue
approaches the soft palate. In the pronunciation of /y/, the blade of the tongue approaches
the hard palate.
Note: Stops, fricative and affricative continuants all have in common that the air is not let
out through the nose; consonants produced in this way are called OBSTRUENTS.

 VOICING. Consonants differ from each other in terms of voicing or

phonation.

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 1. voiced- sound made with the vocal cords vibrating
2. Voiceless- sound made with no vibration of the vocal cords

The vocal cords are bands of muscle attached to the walls of the larynx (voicebox). When
they are held close together, the air passing from the lungs into the mouth causes them to
vibrate. When they are apart, the air passing though causes no vibration.

CONSONANT CHART

Place of articulation
M
Red-voiceless Bilabial Labiodental Interdental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
A
Black-voiced
N
N Stops
E
p b t d k g ?
R
Fricatives f v Ѳ ð s z ∫ ʒ h
O
F š ž

A Affricates t∫/ dʒ/

R
T č ǰ
I
C Nasals m n ŋ
U
L Lateral
A
l
liquid
T
I Retroflex
O
r
liquid
N
Glides w j

 The description of English vowels

 Vowels exhibit a great deal of dialect variation. This variation can depend on factors
such as geographical region, social class, educational background, age and gender.
 Vowels are differentiated from consonants by the wide opening in the mouth as air
passes from the lungs out of the body.
 This means that there is little obstruction of the airstream in comparison to
consonants.
 Different vowel sounds result from different positions of the tongue and lips.

 Four characteristics of vowels:

1. Tongue height- whether the tongue is high or low in the mouth
2. Frontness/Backness of Tongue(Tongue Advancement)- whether the front or the
back of the tongue is involved.
3. Tenseness/Laxness-whether the muscles are tense or not
4. Lip Rounding- whether the lips are rounded.

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  TONGUE HEIGHT
1. high- the tongue is raised almost touching the hard palate and the jaw is also raised.
2. Mid- the tongue is neither high nor low in the mouth
3. Low- the tongue is lowered and the jaw is dropped

 TONGUE ADVANCEMENT
1. front- front part of the tongue high or low in the mouth
2. central- tongue is neither high nor low in the mouth
3. Back-back part of the tongue high or low in the mouth

 TENSENESS/LAXNESS
1. tense- vowels are produced with extra muscle tension; sometimes causes a greater
spreading of the lips; vowels are pronounced with the tongue slightly higher in the
mouth than their lax counterparts.
2. lax- vowels without this tension

 LIP ROUNDING
1. rounded- lips are rounded
2. unrounded- lips are spread

VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS

Front Central Back Diphthongs

Unrounde Unrounde Unrounded Rounded
d d
Upper high /i/ /u/ /aɪ/, /aʊ/,
beat boot /ɔɪ/
bite, bout, Coit
Lower high /ɪ/ /ʊ/
bit foot
Upper mid /e/ /ə/ /oʊ/ Rhotacized
upper mid
bait abbot boat central
Lower mid /ɛ/ /ɔ/ unrounded
bet /ʌ/ law
/ɚ/
but
Bert
Low /æ/ /ɑ/ /ûr/
bat father burn

6 |ENG ED 111 1BSE-A SEPT 6_12_2021

 INSTRUCTIONS:

1. READ the content for the lesson.

2. ANSWER all the TASKS for this lesson and WRITE your answer with
this format:
a. Paper size: A4
b. Font style: CAMBRIA
c. Font size: 12
d. Space: 1.5
e. Font color: black
3. SUBMIT a word file or PDF copy of your answer to the VLE/moodle.
Email will not be accepted.
4. Don’t forget to write your name.
5. You are given ONE WEEK to complete the tasks. WORK
independently. No plagiarism is allowed.
6. OBSERVE the due date.

HAPPY READING….HAPPY LEARNING….

TASK 1. For each of the

TASK 2. For each of the following
following words, give the IPA
words, give the IPA symbol and the
symbol and the articulatory
articulatory description for the vowel
description for the first sound in
sound in the word:
the word:
1. Thumb 4. knee
1. Desk 4. spill
2. Rainbow 5. gym
2. Weight 5. duck
3. holiday
3. boost

TASK 3. For each of the following words,

give the IPA symbol and the articulatory
description for the last sound in the word:
1. Lamb 4. crave
2. Fling 5. dill
3. frog

7 |ENG ED 111 1BSE-A SEPT 6_12_2021

TASK 4.Give the phonetic transcription for each of the highlighted words in the poem
I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you
On hiccough, thorough, laugh and through?
Well done! And now you wish perhaps
To learn of these familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word,
That looks like beard and sounds like bird,
And dead: it's said like bed, not bead,
For Goodness' sake, don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat,
They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.
A moth is not a moth in mother
Nor both in bother, broth in brother,
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,
And then there's does and rose and lose-
Just look them up: and goose and choose,
And cork and front and word and ward
And font and front and word and sword.
And do and go and thwart and cart-
Come, come, I've hardly made a start!
A dreadful language? Man Alive,
I'd mastered it when I was five!
Written by an anonymous poet.

TASK 5. How many speech sounds are there in the following words? You can use a
dictionary to check your answers.
Example: cat – 3; book – 3; rattle – 4.
1) porch 9) universal Question: What conclusion can
2) sculptures 10) group you make about the relationship
3) cure 11) mathematics between the number of letters
4) surgeon 12) word and the number of speech
5) argue 13) wrap sounds in the analyzed English
6) sergeant 14) psalmist words?
7) mailbox 15) prudential
8) starring 16) snub

TASK 6. Elaborate . What is the role of phonetic transcription? Why is it important to

have a standardized phonetic alphabet like the International Phonetic Alphabet?

8 |ENG ED 111 1BSE-A SEPT 6_12_2021

 TASK 7. After each of the following articulatory descriptions, write in phonetic
brackets the sound described. Example: voiced labiodental fricative – [v].

1. high back rounded lax vowel

2. voiced labiodental fricative
3. voiced palato-alveolar affricate
4. voiced palatal glide
5. voiced velar nasal
6. voiced interdental fricative
7. low front unrounded vowel
8. high front tense unrounded vowel
9. mid central lax unrounded vowel
10. mid-high front unrounded vowel

TASK 8. This exercise deals with the relationship of the phonetic alphabet to the English
alphabet.
a. List the phonetic symbols for consonants that are usually pronounced
essentially the same as they are in orthography (spelling).
b. Are there some English consonant sounds that never occur in the initial
position? If so, which ones?
c. Are there some English consonant sounds that never occur in the final
position? If so, which ones?

TASK 9. For the following words, identify which letters are silent and mark all
combinations that represent only one sound.
Example: photocopy; autumn
(Highlighted in yellow are letters representing one sound. A slash through a letter
means that it is silent.)
a. listen g. bride
b. anger h. teethe
c. passed i. mechanic
d. who j. comb
e. critique k. hiccough
f. philosophy l. knight

TASK 10. Transcribe into phonetic symbols the vowel sounds in:
a. take e. lust i. make
b. mat f. ball j. keep
c. know g. women k. coop
d. bate h. cook l. teach

9 |ENG ED 111 1BSE-A SEPT 6_12_2021