Articulatory Phonetics

Introduction

• Study of how speech sounds are produced in the vocal tract.
• Three main topics:
  1. Differences between consonant and vowel sounds.
  2. International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and navigating the IPA chart.
  3. Practice with phonetic transcription.

Differences Between Consonants and Vowels

• Consonants:
  • Involve constriction of airflow in the vocal tract.
• Vowels:
  • No constriction of airflow.

Describing Consonant Sounds

Linguists use three criteria:

1. Voicing
2. Place of articulation
3. Manner of articulation

Voicing

• Two types:
  • Voiced sounds:
    • Air passes through vibrating vocal folds.
    • Notable vibration felt when producing these sounds (e.g., "zzz").
  • Voiceless sounds:
    • Air passes through open vocal folds.
    • No vibration felt (e.g., "sss").

Place of Articulation

• Refers to where in the vocal tract constriction occurs.
• Types of places:
  • Bilabial sounds: Produced with both lips (e.g., p, b, m).
  • Labiodental sounds: Produced with the lips and upper teeth (e.g., f, v).
  • Dental (/ interdental) sounds: Produced with the tongue between teeth (e.g., th).
  • Alveolar sounds: Produced at or near the alveolar ridge (e.g., t, d).
  • Palatal sounds: Produced with the roof of the mouth (e.g., y, sh).
  • Velar sounds: Produced at the soft palate (e.g., k, g).
  • Glottal sounds: Produced at the glottis (e.g., uh-oh, in certain contexts).

Manner of Articulation

• Refers to how sound is produced in the vocal tract.
• Types of manners:
  • Stops: Complete closure followed by a release (e.g., p, b, t, k, g).
  • Fricatives: Involves friction or bottlenecking of airflow (e.g., s, z, f, v).
  • Affricates: Combination of stops and fricatives (e.g., ch, j).
  • Nasals: Air flows through the nasal cavity (e.g., m, n, ng).
  • Liquids: Involve flexible tongue motion (e.g., l, r).
  • Glides: Similar to vowels, dynamic tongue movement (e.g., w, y).

Summary of Consonant Description

• Order of description by linguists:
  1. Voicing
  2. Place of articulation
  3. Manner of articulation
• Example descriptions:
  • "p" = voiceless bilabial stop.
  • "g" = voiced velar stop.