english phonetics and phonology 1. voiced and … phonetics and phonology lecture 6: english...

English Phonetics and Phonology

Lecture 6: English consonants in detail

KAMIYAMA, [email protected]

1. Voiced and voiceless plosives

21/4/2015 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology 2014-2015 Lecture 63

Voiced and voiceless plosives:Word-initial position

• Observe the consonant at the beginning of thefollowing words:

• /ppæk/• /bbæk/• Then compare them with the consonant at the

beginning of the following words in French:• /ppak/ (« Pâque »)• /bak/ (« bac »)


/ppæk/ /bbæk/

aspirationaspiration devoicing devoicing (absence of (absence of voicingvoicing))


/ppæk/ /bbæk/

aspirationaspirationupper lip

lower lip

vocal foldvibration

upper lip

lower lip

vocal foldvibration

devoicing devoicing (absence of (absence of voicingvoicing))

initiation(airstream)

initiation(airstream)


AspirationAspiration• /pæk/ : phonemic transcription• [ppʰhæk] : narrow (detailed) transcription

Devoicing: (partial) absence of voicingDevoicing: (partial) absence of voicing• /bæk/• [bbæk]

Voiced and voiceless plosives:Word-initial position


Voiced and voiceless plosives:Word-initial position(unstressed syllable)

• Observe the consonant at the beginning of thefollowing words:

• /ppəˈræmɪtə/• /bbɪˈliːf/


Voiced and voiceless plosives:Word-medial position

• Observe the voiced bilabial plosive //pp// in thefollowing words:

• /ˈppʌblɪk/• /rɪˈppʌblɪk/

• /ˈppeɪppə/



• Observe the voiced bilabial plosive //pp// in thefollowing words:

• /ppeɪs/• /sppeɪs/


/ppeɪs/ /sppeɪs/

aspirationaspiration no aspirationno aspiration


AspirationAspiration• /ppeɪs/• [ppʰheɪs]

No aspiration after No aspiration after /s//s/• /sppeɪs/• [sppeɪs]

Voiced and voiceless plosives:after /s/



• Observe the voiced bilabial plosive //bb// in thefollowing words:

• /bbeɪt/• /dɪˈbbeɪt/

• /bbiː/• /ˈæbbi/


Voiced and voiceless plosives:Word-initial/medial position

• In English, voicelessvoiceless plosives /p /p t t k/k/ areaspiratedaspirated [ppʰh t tʰh k kʰh], especially in word-initialposition before a stressed vowel (/pæk/[ppʰhæk]).

• But it is not the case before before or after after /s//s/(/speɪs/ [sppeɪs], /fɪks/ [fɪkks]), or immediatelyafter another plosive (/ˈæktə/ [ˈækttə]).


Voiced and voiceless plosives:Word-initial/medial position

• In English, voicedvoiced plosives //b b d d gg// are totallyor partially devoiceddevoiced [bb d d g g (or gg )] in word-initial position.

• Word-medially they can be partially devoiced.• In any case, they are not aspirated.


Voiced and voiceless plosives:Word-final position

• Observe the consonant at the endend of thefollowing words:

• /bækk/• /bægg/• Then compare them with the consonant at the

beginning of the following words in French:• /bakk/ (« bac »)• /bagg/ (« bague »)


/bækk/ /bægg/

clipping clipping ((preceding vowel shortened preceding vowel shortened )) devoicing devoicing (absence of (absence of voicingvoicing))


Clipping: shortening of the preceding vowelClipping: shortening of the preceding vowel• /bæk/• [bææ k]

Devoicing (no clipping)Devoicing (no clipping)• /bæg/• [bægg (or gg )]




• In English, a vowel is clippedclipped (shortened)when followed by a voicelessvoiceless plosive (//p p t t kk//)in the same syllable: /bæk/ [bææ k].



• In English, voicedvoiced plosives //b b d d gg// aredevoiceddevoiced totally or partially in word-finalposition (especially in utterance-final position)[bb d d g g (or gg )], as in /bæg/ [bægg (or gg )].

• But the explosion noise tends to be smallerthan that of voiceless ones (//p t k//) in thesame position.

• The preceding vowel is not clipped.


N.B. Clipping and long/short vowels

What happens to the following words?• /biːd/• /biːt/• /bɪd/• /bɪt/


/biːd/ /bɪt/

clipping clipping ((preceding vowel shortenedpreceding vowel shortened))

/biːt/ /bɪd/

2. Voiced and voiceless fricatives


Voiced and voiceless fricatives:Word-final position

• Observe the consonant at the endend of thefollowing words:

• /feɪss/• /feɪzz/• Then compare them with the consonant at the

beginning of the following words in French:• /fass/ (« face »)• /fazz/ (« phase »)


/feɪss/ /feɪzz/



Clipping: shortening of the precedingClipping: shortening of the precedingvowelvowel

• /feɪs/• [feeɪɪs]

Devoicing (no clipping)Devoicing (no clipping)• /feɪz/• [feɪzz ]




• In English, a vowel is clippedclipped (shortened)when followed by a voicelessvoiceless fricative (//f f θθ s sʃʃ//) in the same syllable: /feɪs/ [feeɪɪs].



• In English, voicedvoiced plosives //v v ð z ð z ʒʒ// aredevoiceddevoiced totally or partially in word-finalposition (especially in utterance-final position)[vv ð ð z z ʒʒ (or ʒʒ)], as in /feɪz/ [feɪzz ].

• But they tend to be shorter, and the frictionnoise tends to be smaller than that of voicelesscounterparts (//f θ s ʃ//) in the same position.


3. Voiced and voiceless affricates


Voiced and voiceless affricates:Word-initial position

• Observe the consonant at the beginning ofthe following words:

• /ttʃʃeɪn/• /ddʒʒeɪn/


/ttʃʃeɪn/ /ddʒʒeɪn/

aspiration (long aspiration (long hissing hissing noise)noise) devoicing devoicing (absence of (absence of voicingvoicing))


AspirationAspiration• /tʃeɪn/• [ttʃʰʃʰeɪn]

Devoicing: (partial) absence of voicingDevoicing: (partial) absence of voicing• /dʒeɪn/• [dd ʒʒeɪn]

Voiced and voiceless affricates:Word-initial position


Voiced and voiceless affricates:Word-initial/medial position

• As in plosives, the voicelessvoiceless affricate //ttʃʃ// isaspiratedaspirated [ttʃʰʃʰ], (/tʃeɪn/ [tʃʰeɪn]).

• The voicedvoiced affricate //ddʒʒ// is totally or partiallydevoiceddevoiced [dd ʒʒ] in word-initial position.


Voiced and voiceless affricates:Word-final position

• Observe the consonant at the end of thefollowing words:

• /eɪttʃʃ/• /eɪddʒʒ/


/eɪttʃʃ/ /eɪddʒʒ/



Clipping: shortening of the precedingClipping: shortening of the precedingvowelvowel

• /eɪtʃ/• [eeɪɪtʃ]

Devoicing (no clipping)Devoicing (no clipping)• /eɪdʒ/• [eɪdd ʒʒ]




• As in plosives and fricatives, a vowel isclippedclipped (shortened) when followed by avoicelessvoiceless affricate //ttʃʃ// in the same syllable:/eɪtʃ/ [eeɪɪtʃ].



• As in plosives and fricatives, the voicedvoicedaffricate //ddʒʒ// is devoiceddevoiced totally or partially inword-final position (especially in utterance-finalposition) [dd ʒʒ], as in /eɪdʒ/ [eIdd ʒʒ].

• But the friction noise tends to be smaller thanthat of the voiceless counterpart //tʃ// in thesame position.


english phonetics and phonology 1. voiced and … phonetics and phonology lecture 6: english...

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