Description of Speech Sounds

BAHROZ HASHIM MAWLOOD

2017

International Phonetics AlphabetThe International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language.

The set of symbols are designed on the basis of articulatory considerations, to provide a consistent and universally understood system for transcribing the speech sounds.

History of IPA• The International Phonetic Alphabet was created soon after the International Phonetic Association was established in the late 19th century.

• It was intended as an international system of phonetic transcription for oral languages, originally for pedagogical purposes. The association was established in Paris in 1886 by French and British language teachers led by Paul Passy. The first published alphabet appears in Passy (1888).

Consonant Sound Chart

Consonant SoundsIn articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are [p], pronounced with the lips; [t], pronounced with the front of the tongue; [k], pronounced with the back of the tongue; [h], pronounced in the throat; [f] and [s], pronounced by forcing air through a narrow channel (fricatives); and [m] and [n], which have air flowing through the nose (nasals).

Contrasting with consonants are vowels.

Consonant Sounds

• Consonants are classified according to three categories:

•place of articulation •manner of articulation •voicing

What is “The place of articulation”?

• The place of articulation (or POA) of a consonant specifies where in the vocal tract the narrowing occurs.

• From front to back, the POAs that English uses are:

• Bilabial, Labiodentals, Dental, Alveolar, Palatal, Velar, Glottal.

What is “The  manner of articulation”?

• Speech sounds also vary in the way the airstream is affected as it flows form the lungs up and out of the mouth and nose. It may be blocked or partially be blocked; the vocal cords may vibrate or not vibrate. It refers to this as the manner of articulation. The process by which the moving column of air is shaped called the manner of articulation.

• The manner of articulation is described according to the following features:

• Stops, fricatives, approximants, affricates, Laterals.

Manner of Articulation of Consonant Sounds

• Plosives: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g],

• Fricatives: [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ], and [ʒ]

• Affricates: [tʃ], [dʒ]

• Approximants: [w], [j], [ɹ], and [l]

• Laterals: [l]

• Nasals: [m], [n]

What is “voicing”?• The vocal folds may be held against each other at just the right tension so that the air flowing past them from the lungs will cause them to vibrate against each other. We call this process voicing.

• Sounds which are made with vocal fold vibration are said to be voiced.

• Sounds that are made without vocal fold vibration are said to be voiceless.

Describing the manner, voicing and place of articulation of a consonant sound

• [p]voiceless bilabial plosive• [t]voiceless alveolar plosive• [ɡ]voiced velar plosive• [tʃ]voiceless postalveolar affricate• [dʒ]voiced postalveolar affricate• [m]voiced bilabial nasal• [f]voiceless labiodental fricative• [ʒ]voiced postalveolar fricative

Is a sound in which there is a continuous vibration of the vocal chords and the airstream is allowed to escape from the mouth without any interruption.

Vowel Sound

Vowels can be

single sounds – pure vowels

Double sounds - Diphthongs

Triple sounds - Triphthongs

Vowel Sounds Chart

Classification of Vowel Sounds

•Vowels can be classified according to:

•Tongue Height•Tongue Position•Shape of the Lips (Lip Rounding)•Length of the Sound

Tongue Height• The first aspect of vowel classification that you will be

introduced to is tongue height. Vowels are classified in terms of how much space there is between the tongue and the roof of the mouth, which is determined by the height of the tongue.

• There are three primary height distinctions among vowels: high, low, and mid.

• In English, examples of high vowels are /i:/, /ɪ/, /u:/, /Ʊ/. These are vowels with a narrow space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

• Examples of low vowels are /ӕ/, /a/. These are vowels with a wide space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

• Examples of mid vowels are /e/, /Ɛ/, /ʌ/, /ɔ/, /o/. These are vowels whose tongue positions are roughly between the high and low vowels.

Tongue Position• Vowels are classified in terms of how far the raised body of the tongue is from the back of the mouth.

• There are three primary height distinctions among vowels: front, back, and central.

• In English, examples of front vowels are /i:/, /ɪ/, /Ɛ/, /ӕ/ . These vowels are articulated forward in the mouth.

• Examples of back vowels are , /u:/, /Ʊ/, /ɔ/,/o/ . These vowels are articulated far back in the mouth..

• Examples of central vowels are /ə/, /ʌ/. These are vowels whose tongue positions are roughly between the front and back vowels.

Lip Rounding• Another aspect of vowel classification is the presence or

absence of lip rounding. There are three shapes of the lips, rounded, spread, and neutral.

• Rounded vowels:

All the back vowels in English

are rounded except [ɑ:].

Unrounded vowels:

All the front vowels and central vowels

in English are unrounded.

Length Long vowels: They are usually marked with a

colon such as[i:] and [ɑ:]

Short vowels: other vowels in English are short vowels such as [e],[ə] and [æ].

Semi-Vowelsthese are vowel like sounds, because they have the same production manner as the vowels, however they aren’t as long as the vowels.

References • http://www.dictionary.com/browse/interna

tional--phonetic--alphabet• https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:I

nternational_Phonetic_Alphabet• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_th

e_International_Phonetic_Alphabet• https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~krussll/ph

onetics/articulation/describing-consonants.html