Sound Classification Flashcards
Articulation
The vocal tract movements needed for speech sound production.
Involves accuracy in placement of the articulators to include timing, direction of movement, force extended, speed of response and integration of all of these events
Articulators
Tongue Teeth Lower Jaw or Mandible Lips or Labial Muscles Hard Palate -- Alveolar Ridge Soft Palate/Velum
The Tongue
Most important and most mobile articulator
Parts of the Tongue
Body: the main mass of the tongue (does not include Root)
4 articulating parts of the tongue include:
Tip: Forward end of Tongue
Blade: Behind tip; used with tip down, more than tip alone; forms constriction in front part of palate
NOTE: The Tip is seldom separated from the Blade in normal use; The combination occurs during over 50% of consonant productions in an average English speech sample
Dorsum: back part, forms constriction in palatovelar area (where soft and hard portions of palate come together); used in velar sounds (/k, g/)
Root: forms the front wall of pharynx; shapes the vocal tract
CONSONANTS
Closed or narrowly constricted passage – Some consonants are voiced and some are unvoiced.
VOWELS
Open passage – All vowels are voiced
Categorized by 3 dimensions: Tongue Position & Height (Front, Central, Back, High, Mid, Low) Tongue Tension - Tense or Lax Lip Rounding - Rounded or Unrounded
High front Vowel(s)
/i/ and /ɪ/
Mid front Vowel(s)
/e/ and /ɛ/
Low front Vowel(s)
/æ/
Mid central Vowel(s)
/ʌ/ /ə/ /ɝ/ /ɚ/
High back Vowel(s)
/u/ /ʊ/
Mid back Vowel(s)
/о/ /ɔ/
Low back Vowel(s)
/ɑ/
Tense-Tongue Vowel(s)
Tense = longer duration & more muscle tension. Occurs in word final syllable usually at the end of a one syllable word. Examples: ‘bee’, ‘bay’, ‘too’, ‘tow’, ‘law’, ‘spa’,
/i/, /e/, /u/, /o/, /ɔ/, /ɑ/
Lax-Tongue Vowel(s)
Lax = without tension and cannot usually end a word in final position.
- /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ʊ/,
Rounded Lips
Rounded
/o/, /u/, /ʊ/, /ɔ/
Most front vowels are unrounded and back vowels are rounded except for /ɑ/.
Unrounded Lips
Unrounded
- /i/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ɑ/,
Most front vowels are unrounded and back vowels are rounded except for /ɑ/.
Consonant Characteristics:
Place
Manner
Voicing
Place of Articulation
Place of articulation refers to the point of contact for articulators to produce a speech sound. Think of where the sound is anatomically produced.
Labials Bilabial Labiodental Interdentals Alveolar Palatals Velars Glottal
Labials
One or both lips are used (labial muscles)
Bilabial
(both lips)
/p/ /b/ /m/
/w/ (note that the /w/ is doubly-articulated in place of production and produced as both a labial & velar)
Labiodental
(lower lip and teeth)
/f/ /v/
Interdentals/Linguadental
Tongue placed between teeth or contacts the upper teeth
/Ɵ/ (theta or unvoiced “th”)
/ð/ (eth or voiced “th”)
Alveolar
Tongue makes contact with upper alveolar ridge.
/t/ /d/ /s/ /z/ /n/ /l/
/r/ may be classified as Alveolar in some books
Palatals
Tongue makes contact with the hard palate
/ʃ/ /ʒ/ /ʧ/ /ʤ/ /j/ /r/
/ɚ/ We put the /ɚ/ here so you can feel the difference between the vocalic “er” and /r/ but it usually isn’t classified as a palatal with the consonant phonemes
Velars
Back of tongue makes contact to the soft palate or velum
/k/ /g/ /ŋ/
Glottal
Sound is produced at the level of vocal folds.
/h/= only glottal phoneme in American English
/ ʔ/= glottal stop
Stoppage of air at the vocal folds
“uh-oh”
Manner of Articulation
Refers to: HOW sounds are produced or how the airflow is obstructed
Plosives or Stops Fricatives Affricates Nasals Glides Liquids
Plosives or Stops
Air pressure is built up in the mouth/oral cavity and suddenly released.
/p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/
Fricatives
Air is forced through a narrow opening in mouth. Creates friction.
/f/ /v/ /Ɵ/ /ð/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /h/
Affricates
Affricates are a combination of a stop and a fricative (stop onset and fricative release)
/ʧ/ and /ʤ/
Nasals
Nasals are created by closing the oral cavity, thereby allowing air to pass through the nasal cavity or nose.
/m/ /n/ /ŋ/
Glides
AKA= Semivowels
These phonemes possess vowel-like qualities (constriction of vocal tract is greater though than of vowels)
Early developing sounds in sound development
/w/ /j/
Liquids
The phonemes in this category used to be considered glides or approximants
AKA: semivowels or laterals (but do not use these terms in this class – stick to liquids).
Production is made with large opening between tongue and hard palate.
Later developing sounds in sound development
/l/ /r/
Voicing
Another way to classify sounds.
Dependent upon if voicing occurs when phoneme is produced.
Voiced: vocal cords vibrate together during production (glottis is closed)- adduction
Voiceless: vocal cords are open during production (glottis is open) - abduction
Cognates
A pair of consonants are produced in the same place and manner but differ only in voicing. (that is, one is voiced and one is voiceless).
One can distinguish over half of the consonants by voicing!
8 cognates (pairs)=16 consonants /p,b/ /Ɵ,ð/ /f,v/ /t,d/ /s,z/ /ʧ,ʤ/ /ʃ,ʒ/ /k,g/
Sonorant / Obstruent
“A classification to distinguish All English consonants according to the amount of vocal tract obstruction necessary for their production”.
Sonorant:
Minimal obstruction of laryngeal airflow in the vocal tract
All Sonorants are voiced
/m, n, ŋ, l, r, j, w/ (and all vowels are too)
Obstruents
Consonants that are produced with a considerable amount of obstruction to the breathstream in the oral cavity.
Approximately ½ of Obstruents are voiced and ½ are unvoiced.
/p,b,t,d,k,g,ʧ,ʤ,f,v,Ɵ,ð,s,z,ʃ,ʒ,h/
Which letters in English spelling are not used in English language phonetic transcription?
x, c, q, y
Flap /ɾ/
A very quick stop usually between two vowels
Contact between two articulators (which ones?) is very brief.
Examples: /lɪɾəl/ or /lɪɾl/,
A very quick stop usually between two vowels
Contact between two articulators (which ones?) is very brief.
Examples: /lɪɾəl/ or /lɪɾl/,
Syllabics
Defined - a consonant with a vowel like quality
All syllables must contain a vowel or vowel-like sound.
The nucleus of a syllable is generally the vowel.
When there isn’t a vowel , some sonorants will serve as the vowel for the syllable and become the nucleus
