10 CHAPTER 1 Articulation and Acoustics Figure 1.6 The principal parts of the lower surface of the vocal tract. center blade ront back lip (tip TONGUE epiglottis Now compare the words true and tea.In which word does the tongue move- ment involve a contact farther forward in the mouth?Most people make contact with the tip or blade of the tongue on the alveolar ridge when saying tea,but slightly farther back in true.Try to distinguish the differences in other conso- nant sounds,such as those in sigh and shy and those at the beginning of fee and thief. When considering diagrams such as those we have been discussing,it is im- portant to remember that they show only two dimensions.The vocal tract is a tube,and the positions of the sides of the tongue may be very different from the position of the center.In saying sigh,for example,there is a deep hollow in the center of the tongue that is not present when saying shy.We cannot represent this difference in a two-dimensional diagram that shows just the midline of the tongue-a so-called mid-sagittal view.We will be relying on mid-sagittal dia- grams of the vocal organs to a considerable extent in this book.But we should never let this simplified view become the sole basis for our conceptualization of speech sounds. In order to form consonants,the airstream through the vocal tract must be ob- structed in some way.Consonants can be classified according to the place and manner of this obstruction.The primary articulators that can cause an obstruction in most languages are the lips,the tongue tip and blade,and the back of the tongue.Speech gestures using the lips are called labial articulations;those using the tip or blade of the tongue are called coronal articulations;and those using the back of the tongue are called dorsal articulations. If we do not need to specify the place of articulation in great detail,then the articulators for the consonants of English (and of many other languages)can be described using these terms.The word topic,for example,begins with a coronal
10 CHAPTER 1 Articulation and Acoustics Now compare the words true and tea. In which word does the tongue movement involve a contact farther forward in the mouth? Most people make contact with the tip or blade of the tongue on the alveolar ridge when saying tea, but slightly farther back in true. Try to distinguish the differences in other consonant sounds, such as those in sigh and shy and those at the beginning of fee and thief. When considering diagrams such as those we have been discussing, it is important to remember that they show only two dimensions. The vocal tract is a tube, and the positions of the sides of the tongue may be very different from the position of the center. In saying sigh, for example, there is a deep hollow in the center of the tongue that is not present when saying shy. We cannot represent this difference in a two-dimensional diagram that shows just the midline of the tongue—a so-called mid-sagittal view. We will be relying on mid-sagittal diagrams of the vocal organs to a considerable extent in this book. But we should never let this simplified view become the sole basis for our conceptualization of speech sounds. In order to form consonants, the airstream through the vocal tract must be obstructed in some way. Consonants can be classified according to the place and manner of this obstruction. The primary articulators that can cause an obstruction in most languages are the lips, the tongue tip and blade, and the back of the tongue. Speech gestures using the lips are called labial articulations; those using the tip or blade of the tongue are called coronal articulations; and those using the back of the tongue are called dorsal articulations. If we do not need to specify the place of articulation in great detail, then the articulators for the consonants of English (and of many other languages) can be described using these terms. The word topic, for example, begins with a coronal Figure 1.6 The principal parts of the lower surface of the vocal tract. 31269_01_Ch01_pp001-032 pp2.indd Sec2:10 10/29/09 4:57:15 PM Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part
Places of Articulatory Gestures 11 consonant;in the middle is a labial consonant;and at the end a dorsal conso- nant.Check this by feeling that the tip or blade of your tongue is raised for the first (coronal)consonant,your lips close for the second (labial)consonant,and the back of your tongue is raised for the final (dorsal)consonant. These terms,however,do not specify articulatory gestures in sufficient de- tail for many phonetic purposes.We need to know more than which articulator is making the gesture,which is what the terms labial,coronal,and dorsal tell us.We also need to know what part of the upper vocal tract is involved.More specific places of articulation are indicated by the arrows going from one of the lower articulators to one of the upper articulators in Figure 1.7.Because there are so many possibilities in the coronal region,this area is shown in more detail at the right of the figure.The principal terms for the particular types of obstruc- tion required in the description of English are as follows. 1.Bilabial (Made with the two lips.)Say words such as pie,buy,my and note how the lips come together for the first sound in each of these words.Find a comparable set of words with bilabial sounds at the end. 2.Labiodental (Lower lip and upper front teeth.)Most people,when saying words such as fie and vie,raise the lower lip until it nearly touches the upper front teeth. Figure 1.7 A sagittal section of the vocal tract,showing the places of articulation that occur in English.The coronal region is shown in more detail at the right. Palatal Velar Coronal Coronal Alveolar Palato-Alveolar Dental Retroflex
Places of Articulatory Gestures 11 consonant; in the middle is a labial consonant; and at the end a dorsal consonant. Check this by feeling that the tip or blade of your tongue is raised for the first (coronal) consonant, your lips close for the second (labial) consonant, and the back of your tongue is raised for the final (dorsal) consonant. These terms, however, do not specify articulatory gestures in sufficient detail for many phonetic purposes. We need to know more than which articulator is making the gesture, which is what the terms labial, coronal, and dorsal tell us. We also need to know what part of the upper vocal tract is involved. More specific places of articulation are indicated by the arrows going from one of the lower articulators to one of the upper articulators in Figure 1.7. Because there are so many possibilities in the coronal region, this area is shown in more detail at the right of the figure. The principal terms for the particular types of obstruction required in the description of English are as follows. 1. Bilabial (Made with the two lips.) Say words such as pie, buy, my and note how the lips come together for the first sound in each of these words. Find a comparable set of words with bilabial sounds at the end. 2. Labiodental (Lower lip and upper front teeth.) Most people, when saying words such as fie and vie, raise the lower lip until it nearly touches the upper front teeth. Figure 1.7 A sagittal section of the vocal tract, showing the places of articulation that occur in English. The coronal region is shown in more detail at the right. 31269_01_Ch01_pp001-032 pp2.indd Sec2:11 10/29/09 4:57:15 PM Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part
12 CHAPTER 1 Articulation and Acoustics 3.Dental (Tongue tip or blade and upper front teeth.)Say the words thigh,thy.Some people(most speakers of American English as spoken in the Midwest and on the West Coast)have the tip of the tongue protruding between the up- per and lower front teeth;others (most speakers of British English)have it close behind the upper front teeth.Both sounds are normal in English and both may be called dental.If a distinction is needed,sounds in which the tongue protrudes between the teeth may be called interdental. 4. Alveolar (Tongue tip or blade and the alveolar ridge.)Again there are two pos- sibilities in English,and you should find out which you use.You may pronounce words such as tie,die,nigh,sigh,zeal,lie using the tip of the tongue or the blade of the tongue.You may use the tip of the tongue for some of these words and the blade for others.For example,some people pronounce [s]with the tongue tip tucked behind the lower teeth,produc- ing the constriction at the alveolar ridge with the blade of the tongue; others have the tongue tip up for [s].Feel how you normally make the alveolar consonants in each of these words,and then try to make them in the other way.A good way to appreciate the difference between dental and alveolar sounds is to say ten and tenth (or n and nth).Which n is far- ther back?(Most people make the one in ten on the alveolar ridge and the one in tenth as a dental sound with the tongue touching the upper front teeth.) 5.Retroflex (Tongue tip and the back of the alveolar ridge.)Many speakers of English do not use retroflex sounds at all.But some speakers begin words such as rye,row,ray with retroflex sounds.Note the position of the tip of your tongue in these words.Speakers who pronounce r at the ends of words may also have retroflex sounds with the tip of the tongue raised in ire, hour,air. 6.Palato-Alveolar (Tongue blade and the back of the alveolar ridge.)Say words such as shy, she,show.During the consonants,the tip of your tongue may be down behind the lower front teeth or up near the alveolar ridge,but the blade of the tongue is always close to the back part of the alveolar ridge.Because these sounds are made farther back in the mouth than those in sigh,sea, sew,they can also be called post-alveolar.You should be able to pro- nounce them with the tip or blade of the tongue.Try saying shipshape with your tongue tip up on one occasion and down on another.Note that the blade of the tongue will always be raised.You may be able to feel the
12 CHAPTER 1 Articulation and Acoustics 3. Dental (Tongue tip or blade and upper front teeth.) Say the words thigh, thy. Some people (most speakers of American English as spoken in the Midwest and on the West Coast) have the tip of the tongue protruding between the upper and lower front teeth; others (most speakers of British English) have it close behind the upper front teeth. Both sounds are normal in English, and both may be called dental. If a distinction is needed, sounds in which the tongue protrudes between the teeth may be called interdental. 4. Alveolar (Tongue tip or blade and the alveolar ridge.) Again there are two possibilities in English, and you should find out which you use. You may pronounce words such as tie, die, nigh, sigh, zeal, lie using the tip of the tongue or the blade of the tongue. You may use the tip of the tongue for some of these words and the blade for others. For example, some people pronounce [s] with the tongue tip tucked behind the lower teeth, producing the constriction at the alveolar ridge with the blade of the tongue; others have the tongue tip up for [s]. Feel how you normally make the alveolar consonants in each of these words, and then try to make them in the other way. A good way to appreciate the difference between dental and alveolar sounds is to say ten and tenth (or n and nth). Which n is farther back? (Most people make the one in ten on the alveolar ridge and the one in tenth as a dental sound with the tongue touching the upper front teeth.) 5. Retroflex (Tongue tip and the back of the alveolar ridge.) Many speakers of English do not use retroflex sounds at all. But some speakers begin words such as rye, row, ray with retroflex sounds. Note the position of the tip of your tongue in these words. Speakers who pronounce r at the ends of words may also have retroflex sounds with the tip of the tongue raised in ire, hour, air. 6. Palato-Alveolar (Tongue blade and the back of the alveolar ridge.) Say words such as shy, she, show. During the consonants, the tip of your tongue may be down behind the lower front teeth or up near the alveolar ridge, but the blade of the tongue is always close to the back part of the alveolar ridge. Because these sounds are made farther back in the mouth than those in sigh, sea, sew, they can also be called post-alveolar. You should be able to pronounce them with the tip or blade of the tongue. Try saying shipshape with your tongue tip up on one occasion and down on another. Note that the blade of the tongue will always be raised. You may be able to feel the 31269_01_Ch01_pp001-032 pp2.indd Sec2:12 10/29/09 4:57:15 PM Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part
The Oro-Nasal Process 13 place of articulation more distinctly if you hold the position while taking in a breath through the mouth.The incoming air cools the region where there is greatest narrowing,the blade of the tongue and the back part of the alveolar ridge. 7.Palatal (Front of the tongue and hard palate.)Say the word you very slowly so that you can isolate the consonant at the beginning.If you say this con- sonant by itself,you should be able to feel that it begins with the front of the tongue raised toward the hard palate.Try to hold the beginning consonant position and breathe in through the mouth.You will probably be able to feel the rush of cold air between the front of the tongue and the hard palate. 8.Velar (Back of the tongue and soft palate.)The consonants that have the place of articulation farthest back in English are those that occur at the end of hack,hag,hang.In all these sounds,the back of the tongue is raised so that it touches the velum. As you can tell from the descriptions of these articulatory gestures,the first two,bilabial and labiodental,can be classified as labial,involving at least the lower lip;the next four-dental,alveolar,retroflex,and palato-alveolar(post- alveolar)-are coronal articulations,with the tip or blade of the tongue raised; and the last,velar,is a dorsal articulation,using the back of the tongue.Palatal sounds are sometimes classified as coronal articulations and sometimes as dor- sal articulations,a point to which we shall return. To get the feeling of different places of articulation,consider the consonant at the beginning of each of the following words:fee,theme,see,she.Say these consonants by themselves.Are they voiced or voiceless?Now note that the place of articulation moves back in the mouth in making this series of voiceless conso- nants,going from labiodental,through dental and alveolar,to palato-alveolar. THE ORO-NASAL PROCESS Consider the consonants at the ends of rang,ran,ram.When you say these con- sonants by themselves,note that the air is coming out through the nose.In the formation of these sounds in sequence,the point of articulatory closure moves forward,from velar in rang,through alveolar in ran,to bilabial in ram.In each case,the air is prevented from going out through the mouth but is able to go out through the nose because the soft palate,or velum,is lowered. In most speech,the soft palate is raised so that there is a velic closure.When it is lowered and there is an obstruction in the mouth,we say that there is a nasal consonant.Raising or lowering the velum controls the oro-nasal process,the distinguishing factor between oral and nasal sounds
The Oro-Nasal Process 13 place of articulation more distinctly if you hold the position while taking in a breath through the mouth. The incoming air cools the region where there is greatest narrowing, the blade of the tongue and the back part of the alveolar ridge. 7. Palatal (Front of the tongue and hard palate.) Say the word you very slowly so that you can isolate the consonant at the beginning. If you say this consonant by itself, you should be able to feel that it begins with the front of the tongue raised toward the hard palate. Try to hold the beginning consonant position and breathe in through the mouth. You will probably be able to feel the rush of cold air between the front of the tongue and the hard palate. 8. Velar (Back of the tongue and soft palate.) The consonants that have the place of articulation farthest back in English are those that occur at the end of hack, hag, hang. In all these sounds, the back of the tongue is raised so that it touches the velum. As you can tell from the descriptions of these articulatory gestures, the first two, bilabial and labiodental, can be classified as labial, involving at least the lower lip; the next four—dental, alveolar, retroflex, and palato-alveolar (postalveolar)—are coronal articulations, with the tip or blade of the tongue raised; and the last, velar, is a dorsal articulation, using the back of the tongue. Palatal sounds are sometimes classified as coronal articulations and sometimes as dorsal articulations, a point to which we shall return. To get the feeling of different places of articulation, consider the consonant at the beginning of each of the following words: fee, theme, see, she. Say these consonants by themselves. Are they voiced or voiceless? Now note that the place of articulation moves back in the mouth in making this series of voiceless consonants, going from labiodental, through dental and alveolar, to palato-alveolar. THE ORO-NASAL PROCESS Consider the consonants at the ends of rang, ran, ram. When you say these consonants by themselves, note that the air is coming out through the nose. In the formation of these sounds in sequence, the point of articulatory closure moves forward, from velar in rang, through alveolar in ran, to bilabial in ram. In each case, the air is prevented from going out through the mouth but is able to go out through the nose because the soft palate, or velum, is lowered. In most speech, the soft palate is raised so that there is a velic closure. When it is lowered and there is an obstruction in the mouth, we say that there is a nasal consonant. Raising or lowering the velum controls the oro-nasal process, the distinguishing factor between oral and nasal sounds. 31269_01_Ch01_pp001-032 pp2.indd Sec2:13 10/29/09 4:57:15 PM Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part
14 CHAPTER 1 Articulation and Acoustics MANNERS OF ARTICULATION At most places of articulation,there are several basic ways in which articulatory gestures can be accomplished.The articulators may close off the oral tract for an instant or a relatively long period;they may narrow the space considerably;or they may simply modify the shape of the tract by approaching each other. Stop (Complete closure of the articulators involved so that the airstream cannot escape through the mouth.)There are two possible types of stop. Oral stop If,in addition to the articulatory closure in the mouth,the soft pal- ate is raised so that the nasal tract is blocked off,then the airstream will be completely obstructed.Pressure in the mouth will build up and an oral stop will be formed.When the articulators come apart,the airstream will be released in a small burst of sound.This kind of sound occurs in the consonants in the words pie,buy (bilabial closure),tie,dye (alveolar closure),and kye,guy (velar clo- sure).Figure 1.8 shows the positions of the vocal organs in the bilabial stop in buy.These sounds are called plosives in the International Phonetic Association's (IPA's)alphabet(see inside the front cover of this book). Nasal stop If the air is stopped in the oral cavity but the soft palate is down so that air can go out through the nose,the sound produced is a nasal stop.Sounds of this kind occur at the beginning of the words my (bilabial closure)and nigh (alveolar closure),and at the end of the word sang (velar closure).Figure 1.9 shows the position of the vocal organs during the bilabial nasal stop in my.Apart from the presence of a velic opening,there is no difference between this stop and the one in buy shown in Figure 1.8.Although both the nasal sounds and the oral sounds can be classified as stops,the term stop by itself is almost always used by phoneticians to indicate an oral stop,and the term nasal to indicate a nasal stop.Thus,the consonants at the beginnings of the words day and neigh would be called an alveolar stop and an alveolar nasal,respectively.Although the term stop may be defined so that it applies only to the prevention of air es- caping through the mouth,it is commonly used to imply a complete stoppage of the airflow through both the nose and the mouth. Fricative (Close approximation of two articulators so that the airstream is partially ob- structed and turbulent airflow is produced.)The mechanism involved in making these slightly hissing sounds may be likened to that involved when the wind whistles around a corner.The consonants in fie,vie (labiodental),thigh,thy (dental),sigh,zoo (alveolar),and shy (palato-alveolar)are examples of fricative sounds.Figure 1.10 illustrates one pronunciation of the palato-alveolar fricative consonant in shy.Note the narrowing of the vocal tract between the blade of the
14 CHAPTER 1 Articulation and Acoustics MANNERS OF ARTICULATION At most places of articulation, there are several basic ways in which articulatory gestures can be accomplished. The articulators may close off the oral tract for an instant or a relatively long period; they may narrow the space considerably; or they may simply modify the shape of the tract by approaching each other. Stop (Complete closure of the articulators involved so that the airstream cannot escape through the mouth.) There are two possible types of stop. Oral stop If, in addition to the articulatory closure in the mouth, the soft palate is raised so that the nasal tract is blocked off, then the airstream will be completely obstructed. Pressure in the mouth will build up and an oral stop will be formed. When the articulators come apart, the airstream will be released in a small burst of sound. This kind of sound occurs in the consonants in the words pie, buy (bilabial closure), tie, dye (alveolar closure), and kye, guy (velar closure). Figure 1.8 shows the positions of the vocal organs in the bilabial stop in buy. These sounds are called plosives in the International Phonetic Association’s (IPA’s) alphabet (see inside the front cover of this book). Nasal stop If the air is stopped in the oral cavity but the soft palate is down so that air can go out through the nose, the sound produced is a nasal stop. Sounds of this kind occur at the beginning of the words my (bilabial closure) and nigh (alveolar closure), and at the end of the word sang (velar closure). Figure 1.9 shows the position of the vocal organs during the bilabial nasal stop in my. Apart from the presence of a velic opening, there is no difference between this stop and the one in buy shown in Figure 1.8. Although both the nasal sounds and the oral sounds can be classified as stops, the term stop by itself is almost always used by phoneticians to indicate an oral stop, and the term nasal to indicate a nasal stop. Thus, the consonants at the beginnings of the words day and neigh would be called an alveolar stop and an alveolar nasal, respectively. Although the term stop may be defined so that it applies only to the prevention of air escaping through the mouth, it is commonly used to imply a complete stoppage of the airflow through both the nose and the mouth. Fricative (Close approximation of two articulators so that the airstream is partially obstructed and turbulent airflow is produced.) The mechanism involved in making these slightly hissing sounds may be likened to that involved when the wind whistles around a corner. The consonants in fie, vie (labiodental), thigh, thy (dental), sigh, zoo (alveolar), and shy (palato-alveolar) are examples of fricative sounds. Figure 1.10 illustrates one pronunciation of the palato-alveolar fricative consonant in shy. Note the narrowing of the vocal tract between the blade of the 31269_01_Ch01_pp001-032 pp2.indd Sec2:14 10/29/09 4:57:15 PM Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part