Dimensions of Consonants Flashcards
A word about glottal stops
glottal stops occur in a few “exclamatory” words like “uh uh” (no) or “uh oh” (whoops). They’re more common than you might think, though. Glottal stops often serve as separators, as in:
no notion vs. known ocean
[no noʃən] vs. [non ʔ oʃən]
Phone number with 00 in it, glottal stop will almost always be inserted to separate the two “oh’s”
[oʔo]
glottal stops also appear as an allophone of /t/:
button
kitten
cotton
smitten
scranton
sentence
Consonants
A speech sound produced with a complete or partial obstruction to the airstream and combines with a vowel to form a syllable
Remember vowels - produced with relatively unimpeded air stream
Vowels are open-ish, consonants are closed-ish
Classification system for vowels
tongue height
advancement
lip rounding
tense/lax
Classification system for consonants
place
manner
voicing
Characteristics of consonants
- generally occur with a vowel to form a spoken syllable
- can be produced in isolation (ex. sss)
- rare to have an isolated consonant to have lexical status, but a single consonant can have morphemic status
- e.g. lexical vowel “a”
- e.g. morphemic consonant /s/ signifying a plural
- consonants are associated with closure or constriction of the vocal tract, whereas vowels are associated with a relatively open vocal tract
- CV - most frequently used syllable in the structures across ALL languages
Voicing Description
voiced or voiceless
Place descriptors
bilabial
labiodental
interdental
alveolar
palatal
velar
glottal
Manner descriptors
stop
nasal
fricative
affricate
liquid
(a) lateral
(b) rhotic
glide
Example of Consonant Description for /b/
/b/
Voiced bilabial stop consonant
Voiced - vocal fold vibration
Bilabial - two lips
Stop - complete closure of the vocal tract of the place of articulation
The unvoiced (voiceless) bilabial stop consonant would be /p/
Manners of Production
OBSTRUENT - sound made with a complete or narrow constriction at some point in the vocal tract
Stops, fricatives, affricates
SONORANT - also includes vowels; produced with a relatively free flow of air through the vocal tract
Nasals, liquids, glides
Obstruents - Stops or stop consonant
Stop consonant - produced with complete closure of the vocal tract, so that the airflow ceases temporarily and air pressure builds up behind the point of closure
- pressure builds up behind the point of closure and is then released producing a short burst of noise (stop burst)
- oral cavity is completely closed at some point
- velopharynx is closed (so air does not escape through the nose)
- stops can be “unreleased” at the end of a word; no stop burst
- opening and closing movement for stops are VERY FAST
English Stops
/b/ bill
/p/ pill
/t/ till
/k/ kill
/d/ dill
/g/ gill
Say these words and note: oral closure, velopharyngeal closure, noise burst associated with release, and rapid articulatory movement
Flap - allophonic variation of lingua-alveolar stops /t/ and /d/
Obstruents - Fricatives
- Articulators form a narrow constriction through which the airflow is channeled
- air pressure increased in the chamber behind the constriction
- as the air flows through the narrow opening, frication noise is generated
- velopharynx is closed (velum is raised)
Fricative examples in English
/f/ leaf
/θ/ teeth
/s/ bus
/ʃ/ rush
/v/ leave
/ð/ teethe
/z/ buzz
/ʒ/ rouge “zh” sound
The initial sound in he
Most occur in syllable-initial, syllable-final, and intervocalic positions. /h/ does not occur in the final position
Obstruents - Affricates
- Combination of stop and fricative
- Air is built up (like a stop) then released as a burst of noise (like a fricative); unlike stops, they must be released for their properly? heard
Velum raised: velopharynx closed
English affricates: /ʧ/, /ʤ/
Final consonant in words: rich and ridge
Sonorants - liquids
- Vowel-like consonants where the vocal tract is constricted only slightly more than for vowels
-Velum raised - Sustained sound production
- Tongue makes a midline (central) closure with the alveolar ridge, but there is an opening maintained at the sides of the tongue
- Oral passage is narrower than for vowels. But wider than for stops, fricatives, nasals
- two types of liquids:
a. lateral /l/ - low
b. rhotic /r/ (consonant /r/) - row
- Can occur in syllable-initial, syllable-final, or intervocalic positions
Sonorants - Nasals
- Sound energy created by pulses of air from the vibrating vocal folds must pass through the nasal cavities
- Usually produced with complete oral closure (like a stop), but with lowered velum (open velopharynx) - sound travels through nose
English nasals: /m/, /n/ /ŋ/
ram
ran
rang
- Can occur in syllable-initial, syllable-final, and intervocalic positions
- Say each of these words “normally” and then by pinching your nose
Rhotic Sound /r/
Two MAJOR ways to produce sound
- RETROFLEX /r/ - hold the tongue tip so it is point up slightly and not quite touching the alveolar ridge or the adjoining palatal area
- Bunched /r/ - bunch the tongue in the palatal area of the mouth
Sonorants - Glides
AKA Semi-vowels (resemble vowels; short duration)
- Gliding movement of articulators from a partially constricted state to more open for the following vowel
- Velum raised
- Cannot occur as the nucleus of a syllable
- Found exclusively in the prevocalic position (i.e. always followed by a vowel)
English glides: /w/, /j/, /ʍ/
woo
you
why
Categories of Consonants
STRIDENTS:
have intense fricatives energy
Affricates + labiodental, alveolar, and palatal fricatives
What phonemes are stridents?
SIBLANTS
alveolar and postalveolar (palatal) fricatives and affricates
What phonemes are sibilants?
Place of articulation terms
Labio - lips
Dental - teeth
Lingua = tongue
Alveolar = gum ridge
Palatal = hard palate
Velum = soft palate
Glottal = space between the vocal folds
Place of Articulation
Point of closure or constriction
Where the sound is formed
Bilabials (both lips)
Bilabial stops -/p/, /b/
Bilabial nasal - /m/
Bilabial glide - /w/
No English fricatives, affricates, or liquids are bilabials
Labiodentals
Constriction b/w lower lip and upper incisors
/f/, /v/
Lingua-Dentals (interdentals)
Both lingua-dentals are fricatives:
/θ/, /ð/
Weaker fricative energy than /f/ and /v/
Alveolars
Most common place for consonant production
-alveolar stops - /t/, /d/
- alveolar fricatives - /s/, /z/
- Lateral (alveolar lateral) / Alveolar
- Alveolar nasal - /n/
Palatals
Elevating tongue tip and blade toward palate
/ʃ/, /ʒ/ have intense fricative energy (shoe, beige)
/ʧ/, /ʤ/ palatal affricates (chew, jump)
/r/ - palatal rhotic (run)
/j/ - palatal glide (yes)
Velars
Velar stops - /k/, /g/
Velar nasal /ŋ/ (ring, wink)
Labio-velar glides /w/, /hw/
Glottal
Glottal fricative /h/
Glottal stop ʔ - sometimes heard in certain English dialects
Voicing Contrast -Cognates
Cognates - pairs of sounds that share the same place and manner of articulation but differ in the voicing feature
Examples:
/b/ (voiced), /p/ (voiceless) bay-pay
/w/ (voiced), /M/ (voiceless) witch-which
/v/ (voiced), /f/ (voiceless) vat-fat
/ð/ voiced, /θ/ voiceless, thy-thigh
/d/, /t/ doe-toe
/ʒ/, /ʃ/ rouge-rush
/ʤ/, /ʧ/ gin-chin
/z/, /s/ zip-sip
/g/, /k/ gap-cap
Non-cognates
Voiced: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /r/, /j/
Voiceless: /h/
Syllabic Consonants:
Omit the preceding vowel
A syllabic consonant becomes it’s own syllable
it is taking on the function of a vowel, which is the syllable nucleus
Examples:
syllabic /n/ curtain
syllabic /l/ table, purple
syllabic /m/ bottom
Label Phonemes by voice, place, manner
/ʒ/ - voiced, post-alveolar?, fricative
/ŋ/ - voiced, velar, nasal
/ʤ/ - voiced, post-alveolar, fricative
/ʃ/ - voiceless, post-alveolar, fricative
/l/ - voiced, alveolar, liquid
/r/ - voiced, post-alveolar, liquid
/z/ - voiced, alveolar, fricative
/n/ - voiced, alveolar, nasal
/p/ - voiceless, bilabial, stop-plosive
Common Features
How are these phonemes related?
/t/, /s/, /n/, /l/
They are all alveolar consonants
/ʧ/, /ʤ/
affricates
/t/, /d/, /p/, /b/, /k/, /g/
All stop-plosive consonants
/l/,/r/
They are liquid consonants
/m/, /p/, /b/
bilabial
Phoneme changes
Start with /z/, change manner to nasal. What phoneme do you have? /n/?
Start with /k/, change only voicing. What phoneme? /g/
Start with /ʃ/, change manner to affricate. What phoneme do you have? /ʧ/
