The sounds of language.
Vowels and diphthongs.
Diphthongs
[aɪ] buy, eye, I, my, pie, sigh [oʊ] boat, home, throw, toe
[aʊ] bough, doubt, cow [ɔɪ] boy, noise
[eɪ] bait, eight, great, late, say.
Our vocal organs move from one vocalic position [a] to another [ɪ].
2) We regularly create sounds that consist of a combination of two vowel sounds.
Front vowels: [i] bead, beef, key, me.[ɪ] bid, myth, women, [ɛ] bed, dead, said,[æ] bad, laugh, wrap.
Central vowels [ə] above, oven, support, [ʌ] butt, blood, dove, tough.
Back vowels,[u] boo, move, two, you, [ʊ] book, could, put, [ɔ] born, caught, fall, raw[,ɑ] Bob, cot, swan.
1) To describe vowel sounds, we consider the way in which the tongue
influences the shape through which the airflow must pass.
Glottal stops and flaps.
2) Flap, This sound is produced by the tongue tip tapping the alveolar ridge briefly.
1) The glottal stop, represented by the symbol [ʔ], occurs when the space between the vocal folds (the glottis) is closed completely (very briefly), then released.
Manner of articulation.
Glides.
These sounds are typically produced with the tongue
in motion (or “gliding”) to or from the position of a vowel and are sometimes called semi-vowels.
They are both voiced and occur at the beginning of we, wet, you and yes.
Liquids.
A lateral liquid sound and is formed by letting the air stream flow around the sides of the tongue as the tip of the tongue makes contact with the middle of the alveolar ridge.
Some obstruction of the air stream in the mouth, but not enough to cause any real constriction or fiction.
Nasals.
When the velum is lowered and the air stream is allowed to flow out through the nose to produce [m], [n] and [ŋ].
These three sounds are all voiced. The words morning, knitting and name begin and end with nasals.
Affricates.
If you combine a brief stopping of the air stream with an obstructed release which causes some friction, you will be able to produce the sounds [ʧ] and [ʤ].
Occur at the beginning of the words cheap and jeep. In the first of these, there is a voiceless affricate [ʧ], and in the second, a voiced affricate [ʤ].
Fricatives.
The set of sounds [f], [v], [], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ], [ʒ] involves almost blocking the air stream.
As the air is pushed through, a type of friction is produced and the resulting sounds are called fricatives.
The sound [h], as in Hi or Hello, is voiceless and also usually included in the set of fricatives.
Stops.
This type of consonant sound, resulting from a blocking or stopping effect on the air stream, is called a stop (or a “plosive”).
The set of sounds [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [ɡ] are all produced by some form of “stopping” of the air stream (very briefly) then letting it go abruptly.
Glottals
There is one sound that is produced without the active use of the tongue and other parts of
the mouth. It is the sound [h] which occurs at the beginning of have and house and, for most speakers, as the first sound in who and whose. This sound is usually described as a voiceless glottal.
Velars
Beyond the hard palate, you will find a soft area, which is called the soft palate, or the velum.
Sounds produced with the back of the tongue against the velum are called velars.
There is a voiceless velar sound, represented by the symbol [k],words like kid and kill, also the initial sound in car and cold.
The voiced velar sound at the beginning of words like go, gun and give is represented by [ɡ]. This is also the final sound in words like bag, mug.
Palatals
If you feel back behind the alveolar ridge, you should find a hard part in the roof of your mouth.,this is called the hard palate.
Examples of palatals are
the initial sounds in the words shout and child, which are both voiceless.
One of the voiced palatals, represented by the symbol [ʒ], is not very common, words like treasure and pleasure.The other voiced palatal is [ʤ], in words like joke and gem.
One other voiced palatal is the [j] sound used at the beginning of words like you and yet.
Alveolars
These sounds are formed with the front part of the tongue on the alveolar ridge.
The initial sounds in top, dip, sit, zoo and nut are all alveolars.
The symbols for these sounds are
easy to remember – [t], [d], [s], [z], [n].
Dentals
These sounds are formed with the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth.
The symbol used for this sound is [], usually referred to as “theta.”
The voiced dental is represented by the symbol [ð], the initial sound of common words like the, there, then and thus.
The term “interdentals” is sometimes used for these consonants when they are
pronounced with the tongue tip between the upper and lower teeth.
Labiodentals
These are sounds formed with the upper teeth and the lower lip.
The initial sounds of the words fat and vat and the final sounds in the words safe and save are labiodentals.
Bilabials
These are sounds formed using both (= bi) upper and lower lips (= labia).
The initial sounds in the words ( pat, bat and mat) are all bilabials.
Place of articulation.
We can use the symbols of the phonetic alphabet for specific sounds.
These symbols will be enclosed within square brackets [ ].
Most consonant sounds are produced by using the tongue and other parts of the mouth to constrict, in some way, the shape of the oral cavity through which the air is passing.
Voiced and voiceless sounds.
2) When the vocal folds are drawn together, the air from the lungs repeatedly pushes themapart as it passes through, creating a vibration effect. Sounds produced in this way are described as voiced.
If we produce sounds such as Z-Z-Z-Z or V-V-V-V, you should be able to feel some vibration, because these are voiced sounds.
1) When the vocal folds are spread apart, the air from the lungs passes between them unimpeded. Sounds produced in this way are described as voiceless.
If we produce sounds like S-S-S-S or F-F-F-F, there should be no vibration because these are voiceless sounds.
Inside the larynx are your vocal folds (or vocal cords), which take two basic positions.
We start with the air pushed out by the lungs up through the trachea to the larynx.
PHONETICS.
1) Which deals with the
physical properties of speech as sound waves in the air.
2) Which deals with the perception, via the ear, of speech sounds.
Other areas of study are 1) acoustic phonetics and 2) auditory phonetics.
Is the study of how speech sounds are made, or articulated.
It discusses about what individual sound is and how each sound differs from all others.
Phonetic alphabet.
These symbols are used to represent both the consonant and vowel sounds of English words.
Also represent what physical aspects of the human vocal tract are involved in the production of those sounds.
A set of symbols that represent sounds.
