Spoken language phonetics:Consonant articulation, transcription

LING 200

Spring 2003

What is phonetics?

• Acoustic phonetics: physical properties of sounds/signs

• Auditory phonetics: perception of sounds/signs

• Articulatory phonetics: production of sounds/signs

Articulatory phonetics

• Description of speech sounds

– Vocal tract structures relevant for speech

• Transcription of speech sounds

• Sound inventories

Of spoken languages:

Vocal tract

anatomy

•Upper articulator

•Lower articulator

Major structures

structure (noun) adjectival descriptor

lips labial

teeth dental

alveolar ridge alveolar

hard palate palatal

soft palate = velum velar

nasal cavity nasal

larynx laryngeal

glottis glottal

Degree of occlusion

• How close are lower and upper articulator?– Relatively close, constricted (‘occluded’)

airflow: consonants• stops• fricatives• approximants

– Relatively far apart, unconstricted airflow: vowels

Phonetic description

• Consonants: some parameters

– Laryngeal settingvoiceless

– Place of articulationbilabial

– Degree of occlusion/manner stop

Phonetic transcription

• Alphabetic and other symbols which abbreviate phonetic descriptions– E.g. voiceless bilabial stop = [p]

• Different systems of phonetic transcription– International Phonetic Association– ‘Americanist’

Phonetic transcription

• A universal framework for the description of languages

• Many languages lack writing systems

• Superior to many writing systems

Preparing a transcription

• What are the sounds of the language?

• How can they be represented?

Phonetic transcription

1. ‘driftwood’

2. ‘cane’

3. ‘footwear’

4. ‘grease’

5. ‘straight up’

6. ‘your collarbone’

Phonetic transcription

1. [tz] ‘driftwood’

2. [thz] ‘cane’

3. [qh] ‘footwear’

4. [] ‘grease’

5. [ntq] ‘straight up’

6. [nt’q] ‘your collarbone’

Witsuwit’en

Consonant charts

labial labio-dental

inter-dental

alveol palatal velar glottal

stops p b t d k g

affricates c

fricatives f v s z š z h

nasals m n

liquids l r

glides w j

English

Vowels

• Vowel quality

– Height

– Backness

– Labiality (lip rounding)

• Vowel quantity

A five vowel inventorySpanish

front central back

high i u

mid e o

low

Spanish vowels

front central back

high [mis] ‘Mass’

[mus] ‘muse’

mid [mes] ‘table’

[mos] ‘waitress’

low [ms] ‘dough’

Quality• Height

– High – mid – low• Backness

– Front – central – back• Labiality

– Rounded – unrounded – Non-low back vowels usually rounded

Phonetic description of vowels

• [i] = high front unrounded vowel

• [e] = mid front unrounded vowel

• [] = low central(-back) unrounded vowel

• [o] = mid back rounded vowel

• [u] = high back rounded vowel

Another five vowel inventoryMandarin (Chinese)

[ü]/[y] = high front rounded vowel

[] = mid central unrounded vowel

front central back

high i ü u

mid

low

Mandarin vowel qualityfront central back

unrnd round unrnd round

high [l] ‘advantage’

[lü] ‘green’ [lu] ‘road’

mid [l] ‘happy’

low ‘spicy’

Vowel quantity: Sahaptin

front central back

high i i: u u:

low :

[] = high central unrounded vowel

[i] = high front unrounded vowel

[i:] = long high front unrounded vowel

Sahaptin short vowels

front central back

high [tit]- ‘fart’ tt] ‘tooth’

[tut] ‘your dad’

low [ttí] ‘dirty’

Sahaptin short vs. long vowels

short long

[sts't] 'night' [sts':t] 'dark'

[pišíš] 'paternal aunt' [ci:š] 'water'

[pjuš] 'snake' [pu:š]'juniper'

English vowels

• English, a Germanic language

• Proto-Germanic vowels

i i: u u:

e e: o:

a

English vowels• Historical length > 'tense'/'lax' contrast

– Long vowels > tense– Short vowels > lax

English vowels

front central backunrounded unrounded rounded

high tense i u

lax mid tense e o

lax/tense low lax/tense

English vowels

front central back

unrounded unrounded rounded

high tense [hid] heed [hud] who'd

lax [hd] hid [hd] hood

mid tense [hed] hayed [hod] hoed

lax/tense head [hd] HUD [hd] hawed

low lax/tense [hd] had š] Shah [sd] sod

Monophthongs

English vowels

• Dialect mergers in N. America. What happened to []: , > (East)

• []: sod, hawed, []: Shah , > (East, Midwest)

• []: sod, Shah, []: hawed , , > (West)

• []: sod, Shah, hawed

English vowels• Diphthongs: 2 vowel qualities

– [w] = [a]: [hwd] (how’d)– [j] = [a]: [hjd] (hide)– [j] = []: [tjd] (toyed)

English vowels

front central backunrounded unrounded rounded

high tense i u

lax mid tense e o

lax ()low lax/tense

Western North America

English vowelsIn Western North America, [] only before [r]:

•[mr] more

•[mor] mower [ ] = syllabic

•[mr] mar

English vowels

• Stressed and unstressed syllables

– to [rikt] a [ríkt] (reject)

– to [protst] a [prótst] (protest)

to [prótst]

English vowels[]

•only occurs in unstressed syllables

stressed: [] unstressed: []

cup [kp] hiccup [hkp]

cud [kd] wicked [wkd]

cut [kt] racket [rkt]

English vowels

• [] + nasals, liquids• For many speakers,

– [l] = [l] [pkl]– [r] = [r] [pkr]

• Compare– [n] [kn]– [m] [rm]

Transcription practice

• fish

• scrimmage

• schism

• asthma

• azalea

• mayonnaise

Transcription practice

• fish [fš]

• scrimmage [skrm]

• schism [skzm]

• asthma [zm]

• azalea [zelj]

• mayonnaise [mnez]

English vowelsRhotic nuclei ([V+r] combinations) in North American English

front central back

high [ur][r]

mid

[r] = [r] [r]

low