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
