Nasals and other consonantsFonética y Fonología I

2015

- Nasals /m/ /n/ /ŋ/- /l/ /r/ /j/ /w/

• CONSONANTS• CONTINUANTS• They usually have no FRICTION noise• But in other ways different from each other

Nasals/m/ /n/ /ŋ/• Air escapes through the nose soft palate is lowered

• Air does not pass through the mouth complete closure at some point

• 3 types of closure: bilabial, alveolar, and velar ( /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/)

Nasals /m/ /n/ /ŋ/

• /m/ and /n/ distributions similar to plosives• /ŋ/ different

• problems to foreign speakers• place of articulation is the same as /k/ and /g/• distribution is unusual

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcq9m2Q9Plo

• (i) Never in initial position• (ii) In medial position quite frequent BBC English

(rule)• When may / ŋ/ be pronounced without a following

plosive? /g/ /k/

• “nk” middle of a word /k/ always THINKING /θɪŋkɪŋ/• “ng” middle sometimes / ŋg/ or /ŋ/

MORPHOLOGY MORPHEMES 2 morphemes“sing” +“er”“hang” + “er”

-/ŋ/ without /g/ at the end of a morpheme-/ ŋg/ if it is in the middle of a morpheme

• Words ending orthographically with “ng” ALWAYS /ŋ/e.g. song, bang, sing, thing, long

• EXCEPTION TO THE MORPHEME-BASED RULE

• Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives single morpheme

longer /lɒŋgə/ longest /lɒŋgəst/stronger /strɒŋgə/ strongest/stɒŋgəst/

• (iii) It rarely occurs after a diphthong or long vowel

PHONETICALLY SIMPLE BUT PHONOLOGICALLY COMPLEX

EXERCISE- /ŋg/ or /ŋ/? Transcribe phonemically these words younger – language – single – ringing

/jʌŋgə/ /læŋgwɪdʒ/ /sɪŋgl/ /rɪŋɪŋ/

The consonant /l/• LATERAL APPROXIMANT• Complete closure between the centre of the tongue

and the alveolar ridge• Air escapes along the sides of the tongue

The consonant /l/• DISTRIBUTION• Initial, medial and final position /lɒk//pleɪ/ /kɔ:l/• BBC English REALISATION of /l/ before vowel sounds

different in other contexts

DARK /l/ CLEAR /l/ “eel” /i:l/ “lea” /li:/

The consonant /l/• Clear /l/ never occurs before consonants or a pause• Dark /l/ never occurs before vowels

Allophones of the phoneme /l/ in complementary distribution

The consonant /l/

• Another allophone of /l/ when it follows /p/, /t/ beginning of a stressed syllable. e.g. “play”, “clear”

• /l/ devoiced and pronounced as a fricative

The consonant /r/• POST-ALVEOLAR APPROXIMANT• (Approximant an articulation in which the articulators approach each

other but do not get close enough to produce a “complete” consonant)

• ARTICULATION tip of the tongue approaches the alveolar area never makes contact with any part of the roof of the mouth (post-alveolar)

• Beginning of a syllable preceded by /p/, /t/, /k/ voiceless & fricative

• Tongue slightly curled backwards, tip raised (retroflex)• Lips slightly rounded (don’t exaggerate)

The consonant /r/• DISTRIBUTION BBC Accent /r/ occurs only before vowels

(i)

(ii)(iii)

Accents • /r/ in final position and before a consonant RHOTIC• /r/ only before vowels (BBC English) NON-RHOTIC

The consonants /j/ and /w/• APPROXIMANTS• PHONETICALLY like VOWELS• PHONOLOGICALLY like CONSONANTS• ARTICULATION• /j/ practically the same as a front close vowel [i], but very short• /w/ [u]

The consonants /j/ and /w/• DISTRIBUTION• We use them like consonants:

- They occur before vowel phonemes e.g. /ju:nɪvɜ:sɪtɪ/- “ an apple” , “ an umbrella” – “a way”, “a yard”- “the aunt” , “the wild”

• We hear friction noise in /j/ or /w/ Preceded by /p/ /t/ /k/ at the beginning of a syllable.

• e.g. /pleɪ/, /treɪ/, /kwɪk/, /kju:/ have devoiced and fricative /l/, /r/, /j/, /w/