Consonants: Manners and Places of Articulation PDF

# Chapter Three ## Consonants: Manners and Places of Articulation ### Voicing When air leaves the lungs it moves through the trachea to the larynx which covers and encloses the vocal cords. At the centre of the vocal cords, there is space (the glottis). When this space is closed, the vocal cords...

# Chapter Three ## Consonants: Manners and Places of Articulation ### Voicing When air leaves the lungs it moves through the trachea to the larynx which covers and encloses the vocal cords. At the centre of the vocal cords, there is space (the glottis). When this space is closed, the vocal cords are brought together through the action of the elastic membranes which stretch from the front to the back, across the larynx. This closure of the vocal lips naturally leads to a building up of air pressure below them. The air so built up forces itself through the vocal cords in periodic puffs. The vocal cords will then open under this pressure, first from the bottom and then upwards creating a kind of rippling action. The combined effects of the forced opening and closing lead to a vibration of the vocal cords. A sound that comes with the vibration is normally voiced. Voice may, therefore, be seen as a technical term that refers to phonation - a pre-articulatory output from the vibration of the vocal cords. All voiced sounds in all natural languages are produced when the vocal cords are in a closed position - a position that prepares the way for vibration. But the vocal cords do not always remain in a closed position: sometimes they are partially open and at other times they may be fully open. When they are partially open, the air that passes through them results in whisper. When they are fully open, air passes through them without vibration and those results in the ensuing sounds being voiceless. Thus, the vocal cords help us to distinguish between voiced and voiceless sounds and when they assume a posture of intermediate opening, they help us to identify whisper. Perhaps more importantly, the vocal cords help us to distinguish between vowels and consonants: in the realization of vowels, in practically all natural languages, there is a vibration of the vocal cords. This follows the fact that all vowels in all natural languages are normally voiced. On the contrary, consonant sounds in all natural languages are either voiced or voiceless. ### Place of Articulation Place of articulation concerned with the identification and description of the organs of involved in the production of a specific sound and the particular place of mouth or vocal tract that is used in the production of a specific sound, simply refers to the point where the active and passive articulatory organs meet in order to produce sounds. The place includes bilabial, dental, alveolar, post-alveolar, palato-alveolar etc. | Place | Articulation | of Technical Term | | :------------ | :-------------------------- | :-------------------- | | Bilabial | The two lips | /b/, /p/, /m/, /w/ | | Labiodental | The lower lips and upper teeth | /f/, /v/ | | Dental | The tip of the tongue and upper teeth | /Ө/, /ð/ | | Alveolar | The lip, blade of the tongue and upper teeth ridged/alveolar ridge | /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/, /r/ | | Post-alveolar | The tongue and the back part of the teeth ridge | | | Palato-alveolar | The blade of the tongue and teeth ridge plus palate | /tʃ/, /dz/ | | Palatal | The front of the tongue and hard palate | /j/ | | Velar | The back of the tongue and soft palate | /k/, /g/, // | | Glottal | The glottis and vocal cords | /h/ | | Uvula | The back of the tongue and the uvula | | | | The wall of the pharynx | | a. **Bilabial:** sound are produced by using upper and lower lips together, blocking the air and release it with a force. The air while produced the bilabial plosive /p/, /b/ but there is not explosive, where air passive out through the nose for /m/ the lips open gently. Labials are sound produce by one lip, examples: /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/ etc. b. **Labiodental:** these are produced with upper lips and lower lips. The air is passively blocked, but passing out some with some noisy and friction, they are also called Labio-dental fricative. They are /f/, /v/. c. **Dental:** sounds produce by with rising of tip of the tongue between the upper and the lower teeth, they are partially block the air which blocked out with some noisy. They are called dental fricative. E.g.: /θ/, /ð/. d. **Alveolar:** the tip of the tongue, makes closure or partial closure with roof of the mouth or alveolar ridge for producing of the alveolar sounds. They are /t/, /d/, /l/, /r/, /n/, /s/ and /z/. They are called alveolar. There is complete closure with /t/ and /d/ called alveolar stopped/plosive. There is also /n/ sound, called alveolar nasal produced by allowing the air to flow out through the nose. Another sound is /l/ alveolar lateral, produces with the air passing out by the side of the tongue. Finally /r/ produced with tip and front of the tongue. e. **Palato-alveolar:** in the production of the palate-alveolar sounds, the front of the tongue is raised in the production towards hard palate, the teeth brought close together and air is produced, they are /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ called palatoalveolar fricative, and the other: /dʒ/ and /tʃ/ called palatoalveolar affricative. f. **Palatal:** sound produced by raising the front part of the tongue to the point of the hard palate e.g. /j/ g. **Velar:** sounds produce by raising the back of the tongue to make contact with the soft palate. The air blocked then is exploded, they are called velar plosive/stop; /k/, /g/, other /ŋ/. h. **Glottal:** during the production of the glottal consonant, the air passes out through an open glottis or vocal codes and passes out through an open mouth: /h/ ### Manner of Articulation The manner of speech production concerns the various ways or how these articulators produce speech sounds. For the consonant sounds, it is possible to say that some sounds are produced with total closure of the articulators (stops or plosives), or friction (Affricates/Fricatives). Another sound might be produced by the vibration of the tip of the tongue, slightly touching the palate (Rolled) or just tapping it (TapFlap). It is also possible to shape the mouth such that a sound is allowed to pass through a space at both sides of the blade of the tongue and the mouth (Lateral), or allow the sound to come out of the vocal tract with little or no obstruction of the articulators (Approximant or Semi Vowel). Simply manner of articulation refers to how the sound is articulated during the production of a consonant sound. The flow of air from the lung is normally interpreted within the vocal cavity; the air blocked is usually carried out by the organs of speech. The blocked of the air by this organ may be total or partially, and the consonant can therefore classify as follows: | Manner | Articulation | of Technical Term | | :--------- | :---------------------------------------------- | :-------------------- | | Plosive | Total closure suddenly release with exploitation | /b/, /p/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/ | | Affricate | Total closure gradually release | /tʃ/, /dʒ/, | | Fricative | Partial closure gradually release with friction | /s/, /ʒ/, /ʃ/, /z/, /v/, /f/, /θ/, /ð/, /h/ | | Nasal | Total closure of the mouth, free escape of air through the nose | /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ | | Lateral | Partial closure and gradually release by the sides of tongue | /l/, /r/ | | Glide | very weak closure, semi-vowel like escape of air | /w/, /j/ | ### Plosives / Stops The articulators in question may form a stricture of complete closure; this is what happens when one produces the first sound in pit. Here the lower and upper lips completely block the flow of air from the lungs; that closure may then be released, as it is in pit, and may then produce a sudden outflow of air. Sounds which are produced with complete closure are referred to as stops (or plosives). We may describe the first sound in pit as a voiceless bilabial stop (transcribed as [p]) and we will henceforth identify all consonants with three-term labels of this sort. ### Fricatives Let us now distinguish between complete closure and another, less extreme, degree of constriction: close approximation. Sounds which are produced with this kind of constriction entail a bringing together of the two articulators to the point where the airflow is not quite fully blocked: enough of a gap remains for air to escape, but the articulators are so close together that friction is created as the air escapes. Sounds of this sort are referred to as fricatives. The first sound in fin is created by bringing the lower lip close to the upper teeth in a constriction of close approximation. This sound is a voiceless labio-dental fricative (transcribed as [f]). Its voiced counterpart (the voiced labiodental fricative, transcribed as [v]) is the consonant in Eva. The first sound in thin is created by bringing the tip of the tongue into a constriction of close approximation with the upper teeth. This sound is a voiceless dental fricative, transcribed as [θ]. Its voiced counterpart, the voiced dental fricative (transcribed as [ð]) is, for some speakers, the first sound in the word that. The first sound in sin is created by bringing the tip or blade of the tongue into a constriction of close approximation with the alveolar ridge. This sound, transcribed as [s], is a voiceless alveolar fricative. Its voiced counterpart, the voiced alveolar fricative (transcribed as [z]) is the consonant in zoo. The first sound in ship is created by bringing the blade of the tongue into a constriction of close approximation with the palato-alveolar region. This sound, transcribed as [ʃ], is a voiceless palato-alveolar fricative. Its voiced counterpart, transcribed as [ʒ], is the second consonant in seizure. Fricatives may be articulated at any point of articulation, but many of those sounds are irrelevant to the study of English. The glottal fricative [h] exists in the first sound in hit. This sound is produced by bringing the vocal cords into a constriction of close approximation, so that friction is produced. As the vocal cords are not vibrating, we will take it that this is a voiceless sound. | Sounds | Place of Articulation | Manner of Articulation | State of Glottis | Examples in Words | | :----- | :---------------------- | :----------------------- | :---------------- | :------------------- | | /p/ | bilabial | plosive | voiceless | pet | | /b/ | bilabial | plosive | voiced | bat | | /t/ | alveolar | plosive | voiceless | term | | /d/ | alveolar | plosive | voiced | dog | | /k/ | velar | plosive | voiceless | kettle | | /g/ | velar | plosive | voiced | goat | | /f/ | labiodental | fricative | voiceless | faith | | /v/ | labiodental | fricative | voiced | van | | /θ/ | dental | fricative | voiceless | faith | | /ð/ | dental | fricative | voiced | these | | /s/ | alveolar | fricative | voiceless | sun | | /z/ | alveolar | fricative | voiced | zoo | | /ʃ/ | palatoalveolar | fricative | voiceless | sharp | | /ʒ/ | palatoalveolar | fricative | voiced | leisure | | /h/ | glottal | fricative | voiceless | hurt | | /tʃ/ | post alveolar | affricative | voiceless | cheese | | /dʒ/ | post alveolar | affricative | voiced | jungle | | /m/ | Bilabial | nasal | voiced | man | | /n/ | alveolar | nasal | voiced | nurse | | /ŋ/ | vela | nasal | voiced | sing | | /l/ | alveolar | lateral | voiced | loan | | /r/ | alveolar | lateral | voiced | radio | | /w/ | bilabial | approximant | voiced | wave | | /j/ | palatal | approximant | voiced | young | ### Approximants Approximants The least radical degree of constriction occurs when the articulators come fairly close together, but not sufficiently close together to create friction. This kind of stricture is called open approximation. Consonants produced in this way are called approximants. The first sound in yes is an approximant. It is produced by bringing the front of the tongue close to the hard palate. Although the sides of the tongue are in a constriction of complete closure with the upper gums, the air escapes along a central groove in which the front of the tongue is not close enough to the hard palate to create friction. This sound, transcribed as [j], is a voiced palatal approximant. Approximants are normally voiced, so we will not discuss any voiceless counterparts for these sounds. The first sound in many English speakers' pronunciation of rip, rope, rat, etc. is an approximant. It is produced by bringing the blade of the tongue into a constriction of open approximation with the alveolar ridge. This approximant, transcribed as [r], is referred to as an alveolar approximant. As with [j], the sides of the tongue form a constriction of complete closure with the gums at the sides of the mouth, but the air escapes along a central groove without creating friction. For most speakers (and in varying degrees, depending on the accent), the tongue body is somewhat retracted when [r] is uttered; it is therefore often referred to as a post-alveolar approximant, but 'alveolar approximant' will suffice for our purposes. For the moment, let us identify one further such sound, the sound at the beginning of wet. In producing this sound, the lips form a constriction of open approximation: there is no friction produced. But its articulation is more complicated than that of [j], the palatal approximant, since it also involves another articulation, between the back of the tongue and the velum (i.e. a velar articulation). We will therefore refer to it as a voiced labial-velar approximant; it is transcribed as [w].