1

I. ORGANS OF SPEECH AND THE MECHANICS OF SPEECH PRODUCTION

1) The speech chain

1. the psychological/psycholinguistic stage – the formulation of the concept in

the brain

2. the articulatory/physiological stage – the organs of speech produce a

particular pattern

of sound in accordance with the message transmitted by the nervous system

3. the acoustic/physical stage – the movement of the organs of speech creates

disturbances in the air (varying air pressures)

these stages are reversed at the listening end: the sound waves are received
by the

hearing apparatus and the information is transmitted along the nervous system
to the

brain, where the linguistic interpretation of the message takes place

2) The vocal tract, speech organs and their function in the production of speech

the primary physiological function of the organs we use to produce speech is

unconnected with vocal communication (organs situated in the respiratory

tract)

a) the lungs – they provide an airstream which is the source of energy for
speech

production

b) the windpipe / trachea – the airstream produced by the lungs goes into the
windpipe, at

the top of which the larynx is situated

c) the larynx – the vocal folds are situated there

d) the vocal folds (cords) – two folds of ligament and elastic tissue (typically 17-
22 mm

long in males and 11-16 mm in females) which may assume three major
positions:

 they may be held tightly closed – the glottal stop [Ɂ] is produced

 they may be held open – for normal breathing and the production of voiceless
sounds

 they may be brought sufficiently close together that they vibrate when
subjected to

air pressure from the lungs – they produce voice or phonation, which is a

characteristic feature of voiced sounds

 the higher the frequency of vocal folds vibration, the higher the pitch of a
sound

 the opening between the vocal folds is called the glottis

e) the pharyngeal cavity / pharynx – when the airstream has passed through
the larynx, it

enters the pharynx, i.e. the cavity which extends from the top of the trachea
and

oesophagus, past the epiglottis and the root of the tongue, to the region at the
rear of

the soft palate; the sound is further modified in the pharynx, which is one of
the

principle resonators of the voice produced in the larynx; the shape and volume
of the

pharynx may be modified by the constrictive action of the muscles enclosing

the

pharynx, by the movement of the back of the tongue, by the position of the
soft palate

and by the raising of the larynx itself

f)

the velum / soft palate – its position determines whether the sound produced is
oral

(the velum is raised) or nasal / nasalized (the velum is lowered); it articulates

with the

back of the tongue during the production of velar sounds (e.g. /k, g/)

g) the nasal cavity / nose – the sound may be further modified in the nasal
cavity, which

is another principal resonator; when the soft palate is lowered, the air can
escape
through the nasal cavity and thus nasal or nasalized sounds are produced
(e.g. /m, n/)

h) the oral cavity / mouth – a resonating cavity in which the final quality of the
majority

of speech sounds is determined; the major articulators, including the tongue,

are

situated there

i)

the hard palate – it articulates with the front of the tongue during the
production of

palato-alveolar sounds (e.g. /ʃ, ʒ/) and palatal sounds (e.g. /j/)

j)

the uvula – it is the back part of the soft palate and it shuts off the nasal cavity
when

the velum is raised; it also takes part in the articulation of uvular sounds in
some

languages (e.g. French)

k) the alveolar ridge / teeth ridge – it articulates with the tip or/and the blade of
the

tongue during the production of alveolar sounds (e.g. /t, d, n, s/) and palato-
alveolar

sounds (e.g. /ʃ, ʒ/)

l)

the tongue (tip / apex, blade, front, centre, back, root) – the major articulator
which

takes part in the articulation of the majority of speech sounds; its various parts
may

come into contact with different regions of the roof of the mouth thus
producing a

variety of sounds

m) the lips – they constitute the final obstruction to the airstream when the
nasal cavity is

shut off; the shape they assume affects very considerably the total shape of
the oral

cavity; they may be shut or held apart in various ways (spread, neutral,
rounded); lip
position is particularly significant in the formation of vowel quality; they are
also

active articulators in the production of labial sounds (bilabial /p, b, m/ and

labio-dental

/f, v/)

3) Articulation of speech sounds

Workbook, ex. 2 p. 26

4) Division of sounds into:

a) pulmonic & non-pulmonic – based on the source of an airstream: when it’s

set in

motion by the lungs, the sounds are referred to as pulmonic; when the source
of an

airstream is different than the lungs, the sounds are referred to as non-
pulmonic

b) egressive & ingressive – based on the direction of an airstream; when it’s

forced

outwards, the sounds are referred to as egressive; when it’s sucked inwards,
the sounds

are referred to as ingressive

c) voiced & voiceless – based on the presence/absence of vocal folds vibration;

when

they vibrate, the sounds are voiced; when they are held apart, the sounds are
voiceless

d) fortis & lenis – based on the force of articulation, i.e. the relative degree of
breath and

muscular effort involved in the articulation; voiced consonants tend to be

articulated

with relatively weak energy (lenis), whereas those which are voiceless are
relatively

strong (fortis)

e) oral & nasal – based on the position of the soft palate; when the velum is
raised, oral

sounds are produced; when the velum is lowered, nasal or nasalized sounds are
produced

f)

vowels & consonants – based on a number of phonetic and phonological

criteria;

phonetic: 1. vowels are normally louder or more prominent than consonants 2.

in

consonants the passage of air through the mouth is typically narrower than in
vowels

3. consonants have a definite place of articulation, while vowels do not

phonological: vowels can function as the centre of the syllable, whereas

consonants

cannot

5) General characteristics of English and Polish sounds in terms of these

divisions.

both English and Polish speech sounds are pulmonic egressive sounds

6) Types of sounds non-occurring in English and Polish.

a) glottalic egressive sounds (ejectives) – the glottis is closed, so that lung air is

contained beneath it; a closure or narrowing is made at some point above the
glottis

(the soft palate being raised) and the air between this point and the glottis is

compressed by a general muscular constriction of the chamber and a raising of

the

larynx

b) glottalic ingressive sounds (implosives) – a complete closure is made in the

mouth but,

instead of air pressure from the lungs being compressed behind the closure as
in the

case of ejectives, the larynx is lowered so that the air in the mouth and
pharyngeal

cavities is rarefied

c) velaric ingressive sounds (clicks) – the tongue forms a double closure within
the
mouth; the air in the cavity contained within these closures is rarefied by a
downward

movement of the tongue5

3. Definitions of different manners of articulation

(a) complete closure

 plosive (stop) (zwarto-wybuchowe)

- a complete closure at some point in the mouth, behind

which the air pressure builds up and can be released

explosively, e.g. English and Polish /p, b, t, d, k, g/

 affricate (zwarto-szczelinowe)

- a complete closure at some point in the mouth, behind

which the air pressure builds up; the separation of the

organs is slow compared with that of a plosive, so that

friction is a characteristic second element of the sound,

e.g. English /ʧ, ʤ/ and Polish /c, dz, č, ǰ, ć, dź/

 nasal (nosowe)

- a complete closure at some point in the mouth but, the

soft palate being lowered, the air escapes through the

nose, e.g. English /m, n, ŋ/ and Polish /m, n, ń/

(b) intermittent closure

 roll (trill) (drżące)

- a series of rapid intermittent closures or taps made by a

flexible organ on a firmer surface, e.g. Polish /r/, where

the tongue tip taps against the alveolar ridge

 flap (tap) (uderzeniowe)

- a single tap made by a flexible organ on a firmer surface,

e.g. an allophone of English /r/ - [ɾ], where the tongue tip

taps once against the teeth ridge

(c) partial closure

 lateral (boczne)
- a partial (but firm) closure is made at some point in the

mouth, the air-stream being allowed to escape on one or

both sides of the contact, e.g. English and Polish /l/

(d) narrowing

 fricative (spirant) (szczelinowe)

- two organs approximate to such an extent that the air-

stream passes between them with friction, e.g. English /f,

v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h/ and Polish /f, v, s, z, š, ž, ś, ź, x/

 frictionless continuant (approximant) (aproksymanty)

- the vocal tract is narrowed, but not enough to cause

friction, e.g. English /r/

 semi-vowel (glide) (półsamogłoski)

- the tongue moves rapidly in a gliding fashion toward or

away from a neighbouring vowel; fast transitions from

one tongue position to another; e.g. Polish and English

/w, j/

4. Division of consonants into:

(a) obstruents (true consonants) - plosives, fricatives,

affricates

- there is a total closure or a narrowing causing friction

(b) sonorants - nasals, liquids (laterals + rhotics), semi-

vowels

- there is only a partial closure or an unimpeded oral or

nasal escape of air; typically voiced and frictionless

5. A comparison of consonantal inventories of English and

Polish

 the number of consonant phonemes: 24 in English vs. 28

in Polish

 Polish has three times as many affricates as English (6 vs.

2)

 /t, d, s, z, n/ are alveolar in English and (post)dental in

Polish

 /r/ is post-alveolar frictionless continuant in English and

alveolar trill in Polish

 there are fewer places of articulation in Polish than in

English (7 vs. 9) – no palato-alveolar and glottal sounds

in Polish

6. Distinction between phonemes and allophones

 phoneme – the smallest contrastive linguistic unit which

may bring about a change in meaning; slant brackets, e.g.

/t/

 allophone – a concrete phonetic realization of a phoneme

in a particular context; square brackets, e.g. [t]

EXAMPLE:

PHONEME

/l/

ALLOPHONES

[l] [l̥] [lj]

[l]as myś[l̥] [l’]ipa

 in Polish there is a phoneme /l/, as evidenced by the

minimal pairs, such as las – pas, lewy – mewy; this

phoneme may be phonetically realized (i.e. actually

pronounced) in different ways, depending on the context:

a) as a devoiced alveolar lateral [l̥] after voiceless sounds

word-finally, as in myś[l̥]

b) as a palatalized alveolar lateral [lj], as in [lj]ipa

c) as a voiced alveolar lateral elsewhere, as in [l]as1

II. CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS

1. Factors relevant in the description of English and Polish

consonants

(a) force of articulation (relevant for obstruents only)

- the degree of breath and muscular effort involved in

articulation

- the energy of articulation

- voiced consonants are lenis (articulated with relatively

weak energy)

- voiceless consonants are fortis (articulated with relatively

strong energy)

(b) voicing

- voiced (the vocal folds vibrate)

- voiceless (the vocal folds are held apart)

(c) nasality

- oral (the soft palate raised)

- nasal (the soft palate lowered)

(d) syllabicity

- some English consonants, e.g. /m, n, l/, can be syllabic –

they can form the nucleus (centre) of the syllable (e.g.

rhythm, button, bottle)

(e) place of articulation

- the point in the vocal tract at which the closure or

narrowing takes place

(f) manner of articulation

- the type of closure or narrowing at the point of

articulation

2. Definitions of different places of articulation

(a) bilabial (dwuwargowe)

- the two lips are the primary articulators, e.g. English and

Polish /p, b, m/

(b) labio-dental (wargowo-zębowe)

- the lower lip articulates with the upper teeth, e.g. English

and Polish /f, v/

(c) dental (interdental, post-dental) (zębowe, międzyzębowe,

zazębowe)

- the tongue tip and rims articulate with the upper teeth

- interdental – pronounced with the tip of the tongue

between the upper and the lower teeth, e.g. English /θ, ð/

- post-dental – pronounced with the tip of the tongue

touching the back part of the upper teeth, e.g. Polish /t, d,

s, z, n/

(d) alveolar (dziąsłowe)

- the blade, or tip and blade, of the tongue articulates with

the alveolar ridge, e.g. English /t, d, s, z, n, l/ and Polish

/l, r/

(e) post-alveolar (zadziąsłowe)

- the tip and rims of the tongue articulate with the rear part

of the alveolar ridge, e.g. English /r/ and Polish /š, ž, č, ǰ/

(f) palato-alveolar (dziąsłowo-podniebienne)

- the blade, or the tip and blade, of the tongue articulates

with the alveolar ridge and there is at the same time a

raising of the front of the tongue towards the hard palate,

e.g. English /ʃ, ʒ, ʧ, ʤ/

(g) palatal (podniebienne/palatalne)

- the front of the tongue articulates with the hard palate,

e.g. English /j/ and Polish /j, ń, ś, ź, ć, dź/

(h) velar (miękkopodniebienne/welarne)

- the back of the tongue articulates with the soft palate, e.g.

English /k, g, ŋ/ and Polish /k, g, x/

(i) uvular (języczkowe)

- the back of the tongue articulates with the uvula, e.g.

French /ʁ/

(j) glottal (krtaniowe)

- an obstruction, or a narrowing causing friction but not

vibration, between the vocal folds, e.g. English /h/

(k) labio-velar (wargowo-welarne)

- double articulation: 1) the lips are rounded; 2) the back of

the tongue is raised towards the soft palate, e.g. English

and Polish /w/1

ENGLISH OBSTRUENTS

Obstruents involve an obstruction to the airstream in the form of a complete

closure or a narrowing causing friction (three manners of articulation: plosives

(6), affricates (2), fricatives (9)).

I. Factors relevant in the description of English obstruents

1. force of articulation

fortis obstruents tend to be pronounced with more muscular energy and a

stronger breath effort than lenis obstruents

fortis (strong)

/p, t, k, ʧ, f, θ, s, ʃ, h/

lenis (weak)

/b, d, ɡ, ʤ, v, ð, z, ʒ/

2. voicing

A. fortis obstruents are voiceless

B. lenis obstruents are

 fully voiced when they occur between voiced sounds, e.g.

labour

[ˈleɪbə]

leader

[ˈliːdə]

hunger

[ˈhʌŋɡə]

margin

[ˈmɑːdʒɪn]

cover

[ˈkʌvə]

other

[ˈʌðə]

lazy

[ˈleɪzi]

leisure

[ˈleʒə]

 partially devoiced elsewhere (i.e. in all other contexts), e.g.

 word-initially (=after a pause)

boast

[ əʊst]

date

[ eɪt]

guess

[ɡ es]

joke

[ʤ əʊk]

van

[v æn]

they
[ð eɪ]

zoo

[z uː]

genre

[ˈʒ ɒnrə]

 word-finally (=before a pause)

rib

[rɪ ]

mad

[mæ ]

leg

[leɡ ]

bridge

[brɪʤ ]

leave

[liːv ]

breathe

[ riːð ]

maze

[meɪz ]

rouge

[ruːʒ ]

optionally, lenis obstruents may be completely devoiced word-finally

(while remaining lenis)

 between a voiceless and a voiced sound or between a voiced and a

voiceless sound

obtain

[əb ˈteɪn]

vodka

[ˈvɒd kə]

upgrade
[ˈʌpɡ reɪd]

lockjaw

[ˈlɒkʤ ɔː]

lovesick

[ˈlʌv sɪk]

withstand

[wɪð ˈstæn ]

cheesecake [ˈtʃiːz keɪk]

3. place of articulation

A. modification of bilabials

bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/ become labio-dental p n before labio-

dental /f, v/, e.g.

obvious

ˈɒ vɪəs]

capful

ˈkæp fʊl]

upfront

ˌʌp ˈfrʌnt]

subvert

[sʌ ˈvɜːt

B. modification of alveolars

alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/ become post-alveolar n before post-

alveolar /r/, e.g.

address

[əˈ res]

try

[ raɪ]

retract

[rɪˈ rækt
trust

[ rʌst]

dream

[ riːm

dread

[ red]

alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/ become dental t n before ent l /θ/

and /ð/, e.g.

eighth

[eɪt θ

breadth

[bre θ

width

[wɪ θ

C. modification of velars

velar plosives /k/ and /ɡ/ adjust the closure placement to adjacent

(especially following) vowels – it shifts forwards before front vowels,

i.e. /iː, ɪ, e, æ/, (advanced [k] and [ɡ]), and backwards before back

vowels, i.e. /ɑː, ɒ, ɔː, ʊ, uː/, (retracted [k] and [ɡ])

advanced [k] and [ɡ]

geese

[ɡiːs]

kill

[kɪl]

get

[ɡet]

can

[kæn]

retracted [k] and [ɡ]

car

[kɑː
got

[ɡɒt]

core

[kɔː

good

[ɡʊd]

cool

[kuːl

4. manner of articulation

A. plosives

three stages in the articulation of plosives

1. the approach/closing stage – the articulating organs move together in

order to form the obstruction

2. the hold/compression stage – lung action compresses the air behind

the closure; this stage may or may not be accompanied by voice, i.e.

vibration of vocal folds

3. the release/explosion stage – the organs forming the obstruction part

rapidly, allowing the compressed air to escape abruptly

B. affricates

a complete closure at some point in the mouth is made, behind which the

air pressure builds up; the separation of the organs is slow compared

with that of a plosive, so that friction is a characteristic second element

of the sound

C. fricatives

two organs approximate to such an extent that the airstream passes

between them with friction

5. aspiration (only in plosives)

aspiration = a voiceless interval consisting of strongly expelled breath

between the release of the plosive and the onset of a following vowel;

positive VOT (40-75 msecs)

VOT = Voice Onset Time = the interval between the release burst and

the onset of voicing

 strong aspiration

fortis plosives /p, t, k/ are strongly aspirated when initial in a stressed

syllable, e.g.

pin

[phɪn]

test

[thest]

coat

[khəʊt]

appear

[əˈphɪə]

attain

[əˈtheɪn]

occur

[əˈkhɜː]

 weak aspiration

fortis plosives /p, t, k/ are weakly aspirated when initial in an unstressed

syllable, e.g.

zipper

[ˈzɪphə]

better

[ˈbethə]

locker

[ˈlɒkhə]

 optional aspiration

fortis plosives /p, t, k/ are optionally aspirated word-finally before a

pause, e.g.

map

[mæph] / [mæp]

mat

[mæth] / [mæt]

back

[ ækh] / [ æk]

 no aspiration

fortis plosives /p, t, k/ are unaspirated when they are preceded by /s/

initially in a syllable, even when the syllable is stressed, e.g.

spit

[spɪt]

spin

[spɪn]

stop

[stɒp]

skin

[skɪn]

lenis plosives /b, d, ɡ/ are not aspirated

6. modifications of the release stage (only in plosives)

A. obligatory modifications

 no audible release in stop clusters

plosive + plosive or plosive + affricate sequences (both within a word

and at word boundaries) – the first plosive has no audible release, i.e.

the closure for the second stop is made before the release of the first,

e.g.

dropped

[drɒp t]

rubbed
[rʌ d]

white post [waɪt pəʊst]

good boy

[ɡʊ bɔɪ]

locked

[lɒk t]

big boy

[bɪɡ bɔɪ]

great joke [ɡreɪt dʒəʊk]

big chin

[bɪɡ tʃɪn]

 nasal release

- when a plosive is followed by the homorganic (= made at the same

place of articulation) nasal consonant, the release of air is normally

effected not by a removal of the oral closure, which is retained, but by

the escape of the compressed air through the nasal passage, opened by

the lowering of the soft palate for the nasal consonant, e.g.

topmost

[ˈtɒpmməʊst]

madness

[ˈmædnnəs]

cotton

[ˈkɒtnn ]

sudden

[ˈsʌdnn ]

cheap meat [tʃiːpm miːt]

red nose

[redn nəʊz]

- when a plosive is followed by a nasal consonant which is not

homorganic – the plosive closure is not normally released until the

articulatory movements for the nasal consonant, i.e. the second oral

closure and the lowering of the soft palate, have been accomplished, e.g.

black magic, cheap nuts, bad man, big nose, nutmeg

 lateral release

- /t, d/ + /l/ - /t, d/ are normally released laterally (one or both sides of

the tongue are lowered to allow the air to escape, the tongue-tip contact

remaining) = homorganic lateral release, e.g.

little

[ˈlɪtll

medal

[ˈmedll ]

atlas

[ˈætlləs]

at last

[ətl lɑːst]

regardless [rɪˈɡɑːdlləs]

bad light

[ ædl laɪt]

- /p, b, k, g/ + /l/ - the partial alveolar contact for /l/ is made before or at

the time of the release of the plosive and, in this sense, the escape of air

is lateral, e.g. apple, bubble, tackle, big lad

B. optional modifications

 no audible release in final position

in word-final position, the closure stage may be maintained, the air

compression becoming weak and the release being achieved by a gentle,

delayed, and relatively inaudible opening of the oral closure, e.g.

map

[mæp ]
mat

[mæt ]

mac

[mæk ]

robe

[rəʊ ]

road

[rəʊ ]

rogue

[rəʊɡ ]

 glottal reinforcement of final /p, t, k/

oral closure reinforced by glottal closure [ʔ], e.g.

shop

[ʃɒpʔ]

shot

[ʃɒtʔ]

shock

[ʃɒkʔ]

 affrication of plosives

if the release of plosive closure is not made rapidly, a fricative sound,

articulated in the same area of articulation as the plosive, will be heard;

plosives made with this slow, fricative release are said to be affricated

(especially /t, d/), e.g.

time

[tsaɪm]

day

[dzeɪ]

waiting

ˈweɪtsɪŋ

riding

ˈr ɪdzɪŋ
9

II. Other issues

1. The influence of fortis obstruents on the length of preceding sounds

A. vowels (pre-fortis clipping)

all vowels and diphthongs are shortened by the following fortis

obstruents, e.g. rope vs. robe, hurt vs. heard, leak vs. league, belief vs.

believe, ice vs. eyes

B. sonorants (laterals and nasals)

sonorants are shortened by the following fortis obstruents, e.g. kilt vs.

killed, want vs. wand, pence vs. pens

2. The glottal fricative /h/

 occurs only in syllable-initial, pre-vocalic positions

 strong, voiceless onset of the following vowel

 the air is expelled from the lungs with considerable pressure, causing

some friction throughout the vocal tract

 sometimes voiced (medially between voiced sounds, e.g. behind,

anyhow, perhaps, ahead)

3. The articulation and functions of the glottal stop Ɂ in RP

A. articulation

the obstruction to the airstream is formed by the closure of the vocal

folds; the air pressure below the glottis is released by the sudden

separation of the vocal folds; the compression stage consists of silence,

its presence being perceived auditorily by the sudden cessation of the

preceding sound or by the sudden onset of the following sound

10

B. functions

 a syllable boundary marker when the initial sound of the second syllable

is a vowel; in careful speech, the hiatus of vowels belonging to different

syll les m y e sep r te y Ɂ inste of eing joine y voc lic

glide, e.g. co-operate [kəʊˈɁɒpəreɪt], geometry [ʤiːˈɁɒmətrɪ]

 glottal reinforcement of /p, t, k/ in syllable-final position before a

consonant or a pause, e.g. reap, help, apt, beat, at last, beak, back down

 glottal replacement of syllable-final /p, t, k/ when a consonant follows

(especially of /t/; /p, k/ only when the following consonant is

homorganic), e.g. get down, not now, soap powder, back gardenSONORANTS
(PART 1)

NASALS AND THE LATERAL

1. Obstruents vs. sonorants

2. Voicing

3. Place of articulation and its contextual modifications

4. Manner of articulation

5. Dark [ɫ] vs. clear [l]

6. Syllabicity

7. Shortening

1. Obstruents vs. sonorants

 sonorants include nasals /m, n, ŋ/, the lateral /l/, the frictionless continuant

(approximant) /r/ and semi-vowels (glides) /j, w/

obstruents

sonorants

manner of articulation obstruction to the airflow

(total closure / narrowing

causing friction)

continuous and uninterrupted

oral or nasal escape of air

(no friction)

voicing

voiceless vs. voiced

voiced

force of articulation

fortis vs. lenis

-

syllabicity

nasals and /l/ may be syllabic

2. Voicing (the general rules below apply to all sonorants)

 sonorants are fully voiced in most contexts

 devoicing takes place only when the preceding sound is a voiceless obstruent

sonorants are completely devoiced when the preceding voiceless obstruent is a

plosive initial in a stressed syllable (NOTE: nasals never occur in this context)

play

[pl̥eɪ]

pride

[pr̥aɪd]

pure

[pj̊ʊə]

*[pw]

*[tl]

tree

[tr̥iː]

tune

[tj̊uːn]

twist

[tw̥ɪst]

clean

[kl̥iːn]

cry

[kr̥aɪ]

cure

[kj̊ʊə]
quick

[kw̥ɪk]

/j/ is completely devoiced when the preceding voiceless obstruent is /h/ (NOTE:

other sonorants never occur in this context), e.g. huge [hj̊uːdʒ], humour
[ˈhj̊uːmə]

- sonorants are partially devoiced when the preceding voiceless obstruent is

NOT

a plosive initial in a stressed syllable (e.g. a voiceless plosive initial in an

unstressed syllable, a voiceless affricate or a voiceless fricative)

shipment [ˈʃɪpm̥ənt]

smile

[sm̥aɪɫ]

witness

[ˈwɪtn̥əs]

snow

[sn̥əʊ]

butler

[ˈbʌtl̥ə]

fly

[fl̥aɪ]

slim

[sl̥ɪm]

earthly

[ˈɜːθl̥i]

split

[spl̥ɪt]

culprit

[ˈkhʌɫpr̥ɪt]

street

[str̥iːt]
screen

[skr̥iːn]

fry

[fr̥aɪ]

thrive

[θr̥aɪv]

shrink

[ʃr̥ɪŋk]

opulent

[ˈɒpj̊ʊlənt]

stew

[stj̊uː]

skew

[skj̊uː]

few

[fj̊uː]

sue

[sj̊uː]

upward

[ˈʌpw̥əd]

swim

[sw̥ɪm]

square

[skw̥eə]

network [ˈnetw̥ɜːk]

3. Place of articulation and its contextual modifications

 the places of articulation of English nasals correspond to the places of

articulation

of English plosives, i.e. bilabial /m/ - /p, b/, alveolar /n/ - /t, d/, velar /ŋ/ - /k, g/

 the place of articulation of English /l/ is alveolar

A. modification of bilabial /m/

/m/ becomes labio-dental [ɱ] when /f/ or /v/ follows, e.g.

comfort

[ˈkʌɱfət]

emphasis

[ˈeɱfəsɪs]

nymph

[nɪɱf]

triumph

[ˈtraɪʌɱf]

come first

[kʌɱ fɜːst]

warm vest

[wɔːɱ vest]

B. modification of alveolar /n/ and /l/

/n/ becomes labio-dental [ɱ] when /f/ or /v/ follows, e.g.

info

[ˈɪɱfəʊ]

convent

[ˈkɒɱvənt]

canvass

[ˈkæɱvəs]

infant

[ˈɪɱfənt]

on fire

[ɒɱ faɪə]

in vain

[ɪɱ veɪn]

/n/ and /l/ become post-alveolar [n̠] and [l̠] when /r/ follows, e.g.

Henry

[ˈhen̠ri]
sunrise

[ˈsʌn̠raɪz]

unrest

[ʌn̠ˈrest]

already

[ɔːl̠ˈredi]

all right

[ɔːl̠ ˈraɪt]

rivalry

[ˈraɪvəl̠ri]

/n/ and /l/ become dental [n̪] and [l̪] when /θ/ or /ð/ follows, e.g.

month

[mʌn̪θ]

anthem

[ˈæn̪θəm]

when they

[wen̪ ðeɪ]

filth

[fɪl̪θ]

wealth

[wel̪θ]

will they

[wɪl̪ ðeɪ]

C. modification of velar /ŋ/

 place of contact between the back of the tongue and the soft palate for the
velar

nasal depends on the preceding vowel

advanced – when the preceding vowel is front (/ɪ, e, æ/), e.g.

sing

[sɪŋ]

thing
[θɪŋ]

length

[leŋθ]

bank

[bæŋk]

retracted – when the preceding vowel is back (/ɒ/), e.g.

song

[sɒŋ]

long

[lɒŋ]

important facts about /ŋ/

 limited distribution: 1. never initially in a word or morpheme 2. only in post-

vocalic position (i.e. after a vowel) 3. only following short vowels /ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʌ/

 word-final [g] was lost after [ŋ] around 1700 → [ŋ] gained phonemic status
with

minimal pairs such as sin [sɪn] vs. sing [sɪŋ] ([k] has not been lost following [ŋ])

 [ŋg] retained in the north-west Midlands

4. Manner of articulation

nasal

nasal consonants resemble oral plosives in that a total closure is made within
the

mouth; they differ from such plosives in that the soft palate is in its lowered

position, allowing an escape of air through the nasal cavity

lateral

partial closure, on one or both sides of which the air-stream is able to escape

through the mouth

5. Dark [ɫ] vs. clear [l]

 clear [l] – before vowels or /j/ – the front of the tongue is raised in the
direction
of the hard palate, e.g.

feeling

[ˈfiːlɪŋ]

silly

[ˈsɪli]

alive

[əˈlaɪv]

loud

[laʊd]

will you [wɪl juː]

feel it

[fiːl ɪt]

 dark [ɫ] – before consonants (except for /j/) or word-finally – the back of the

tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate, e.g.

milk

[mɪɫk]

silk

[sɪɫk]

felt

[feɫt]

tall

[tɔːɫ]

hell

[heɫ]

candle

[ˈkændɫ̩ ]

6. Syllabicity

nasals and /l/ may become syllabic (i.e. perform the syllabic function of vowels)

when they follow a consonant in an unstressed syllable, e.g.

rhythm [ˈrɪðm̩]
sudden [ˈsʌdn̩]

thicken [ˈθɪkŋ̍]

reason

[ˈriːzn̩]

often

[ˈɒfn̩]

listen

[ˈlɪsn̩]

mission [ˈmɪʃn̩]

vision

[ˈvɪʒn̩]

settle

[ˈsetl̩]

middle

[ˈmɪdl̩]

bottle

[ˈbɒtl̩]

little

[ˈlɪtl̩]

couple

[ˈkʌpl̩]

uncle

[ˈʌŋkl̩]

final

[ˈfaɪnl̩]

camel

[ˈkæml̩]

7. Shortening

nasals and /l/ are shortened when a fortis obstruent follows, e.g.

no shortening
shortening

bend

[bend]

bent

[bent]

send

[send]

sent

[sent]

cold

[kəʊld]

colt

[kəʊlt] SONORANTS (PART 2)

THE RHOTIC AND SEMI-VOWELS (GLIDES)

1. Variants of English /r/

2. Rhotic vs. non-rhotic accents of English. Linking /r/ and intrusive /r/.

3. English semi-vowels (glides)

1. Variants of English /r/

A. post-alveolar frictionless continuant (approximant)

 articulation: velic closure (i.e. the soft palate is raised); the tip of the tongue
is

held in a position near to, but not touching, the rear part of the alveolar ridge;
the

tip of the tongue is curled back (retroflex)

 this variant occurs in all contexts, except the contexts listed in B. and C.
below

red

[red]

road

[rəʊd]

royal
[ˈrɔɪəl]

brief

[briːf]

grey

[ɡreɪ]

agree

[əˈɡriː]

spray

[spreɪ]

cockroach

[ˈkɒkrəʊtʃ]

screen

[skriːn]

street

[striːt]

newsreader [ˈnjuːzriːdə]

far away

[fɑːr əˈweɪ]

B. post-alveolar fricative

 fully voiced post-alveolar fricative after [d], e.g.

drive

[draɪv]

dry

[draɪ]

drown

[draʊn]

address

[əˈdres]

 completely devoiced post-alveolar fricative after [p, t, k] initial in a stressed

syllable, e.g.
pray

[pr̥eɪ]

try

[tr̥aɪ]

cry

[kr̥aɪ]

price

[pr̥aɪs]

trust

[tr̥ʌst]

cream

[kr̥iːm]

attract

[əˈtr̥ækt]

across

[əˈkr̥ɒs]

C. alveolar tap (voicing depends on the preceding sound)

 between vowels (fully voiced), e.g.

very

[ˈveɾi]

sorry

[ˈsɒɾi]

marry

[ˈmæɾi]

forever

[fəˈɾevə]

 following interdental fricatives [θ] (partially devoiced) and [ð] (fully voiced),
e.g.

three

[θɾ̥ iː]

thrust
[θɾ̥ ʌst]

throne

[θɾ̥ əʊn]

with respect [wɪð ɾɪˈspekt]

2. Rhotic vs. non-rhotic accents of English. Linking /r/ and intrusive /r/.

 non-rhotic accents of English – accents in which [r] occurs only preceding

vowels

(e.g. Received Pronunciation, most accents of England)

 rhotic accents of English – accents in which [r] occurs preceding vowels as

well

as preceding consonants and word-finally (e.g. most varieties of American

English, Scottish English, Irish English)

non-rhotic (RP)

rhotic (GA)

red

[red]

[red]

start

[stɑːt]

[stɑːrt]

car

[kɑː]

[kɑːr]

A. linking /r/

 words historically ending in /r/ (as evidenced by <r> in the spelling) are

pronounced with [r] when they are followed by another word beginning with a

vowel sound, e.g.

four eggs

[fɔːr eɡz]

here are
[hɪər ɑː]

far off

[fɑːr ɒf]

answer it

[ˈɑːnsər ɪt]

wear out

[weər aʊt]

for example [fɔːr ɪgˈzɑːmpl̩]

 linking /r/ is obligatory

B. intrusive /r/

 when a word which ends in /ǝ, ɑː, ɔː/ is followed by another word beginning in
a

vowel sound, [r] may be inserted between them, even when no final /r/ was

historically present, e.g.

Russia and China

[ˈrʌʃə(r) ənd ˈtʃaɪnə]

drama and music

[ˈdrɑːmə(r) ənd ˈmjuːzɪk]

idea of

[aɪˈdɪə(r) əv]

Shah of Iran

[ʃɑː(r) əv ɪˈrɑːn]

law and order

[lɔː(r) ənd ˈɔːdə]

awe-inspiring

[ˈɔː(r) ɪnspaɪrɪŋ]

 intrusive /r/ is optional

3. English semi-vowels (glides)

 the palatal glide /j/ – velic closure; the tongue assumes the position for a high

front vowel /i/ and moves immediately towards the following sound; the lips are
generally neutral or anticipating the following vowel

 the labio-velar glide /w/ – velic closure; the tongue assumes the position for a

high back vowel /u/ and glides immediately to the position of the following

sound; the lips are rounded

 when /j/ and /w/ are completely devoiced, they are pronounced as fricatives1

VOWELS

1. Articulation of vowels

- pulmonic, egressive & voiced air-stream

- no closure or narrowing in the speech tract which would prevent the escape of
air-

stream through the mouth or which would produce audible friction

- the air-stream escapes freely over the centre line of the tongue

- glottal tone modified by the actions of the upper resonators of the mouth,
pharyngeal

and nasal cavities

2. Factors relevant in the description of vowels

(a) length (short vs. long)

- intrinsic

 7 English short vowels /ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʊ, ʌ, ǝ/

 5 English long vowels /iː, uː, ɑː, ɔː, ɜː/ + 8 diphthongs

- context-dependent

 shortened by following fortis obstruents e.g. cart, beat, height

 not shortened before lenis obstruents, sonorants and word-finally, e.g. car,
card,

bee, bean, high

(b) tenseness (tense vs. lax)

- short vowels /ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʊ, ʌ, ǝ/ are articulated with less muscular tension – lax

- long vowels /iː, uː, ɑː, ɔː, ɜː/ are articulated with more muscular tension – tense

(c) complexity (monophthongs vs. diphthongs)

- monophthongs – relatively pure vowels; unchanging, constant quality (12

English

monophthongs /ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʊ, ʌ, ǝ, iː, uː, ɑː, ɔː, ɜː/)

- diphthongs – vowels with complex vocalic nuclei; their articulation involves
the

movement of the tongue → their quality changes (gliding vowels) (8 English

diphthongs /eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ, ǝʊ, aʊ, ɪǝ, eǝ, ʊǝ/)

(d) the position of the soft palate (oral vs. nasal)

- soft palate is raised for oral vowels

- soft palate is lowered for nasal/nasalized vowels

- no nasal vowel phonemes in English – only contextual nasalization of vowels

before

nasal consonants (e.g. ten, hand)

(e) the position of the tongue (height & advancement)

- the part of the tongue which is raised (front, central, back)

 front /ɪ, iː, e, æ/

 central /ʌ, ǝ, ɜː/

 back /ɒ, ʊ, uː, ɑː, ɔː/

- the degree of raising (high, mid, low; close, half-close/close-mid,

half-open/open-

mid, open)

 high /iː, ɪ, uː, ʊ/

 mid /e, ɜː, ǝ, ɔː/

 low /æ, ʌ, ɑː, ɒ/

(f) the shape of the lips (rounded, spread, neutral)

- rounded /ɒ, ɔː, ʊ, uː/

- spread /iː, ɪ, e/

- neutral /æ, ʌ, ɑː, ɜː, ǝ/

3. Primary and Secondary Cardinal Vowels – definitions and functions

- devised by Daniel Jones

- a set of vowels that serve as reference points to which other vowels could be
related

to; not vowels of any particular language, but extreme vowels in the close-
open,
front-back dimensions as well as four intermediate vowels

- extreme points: 1. [i] – the front of the tongue raised as close as possible to
the palate

without friction being produced & 5. [ɑ] – the tongue as low as possible in the

mouth, with very slight raising at the extreme back

- starting with 1. [i] – gradual lowering of the front of the tongue (lips spread or

neutrally open)

- starting with 5. [ɑ] – gradual raising of the back of the tongue (lips from wide
open

for [ɑ] to rounded for the remaining three vowels)

- the Secondary Cardinal Vowels can be obtained by reversing the lip position of
the

primary series, e.g. vowel 1 (primary) is close, front, unrounded, so vowel 9

(secondary) is close front, rounded

4. General characteristics of English vowels.

VOWEL

LENGTH

TENSENESS

BACKNESS

HEIGHT

LIPS

iː

long

tense

front

high

close

spread
ɪ
short

lax

front centralized

high

half-close

spread

short

lax

front

mid

half-open - half-close

spread

short

lax

front

low

open - half-open

neutral

ʌ
short

lax

central

low

open - half-open

neutral

ɑː
long

tense
back

low

open

neutral

ɒ
short

lax

back

low

open

rounded

ɔː

long

tense

back

mid

half-open - half-close

rounded

ʊ
short

lax

back centralized

high

half-close

rounded

uː

long

tense

back

high

close
rounded

short

lax

central

mid

half-open - half-close

neutral

ɜː
long

tense

central

mid

half-open - half-close

neutrally spread

5. English monophthongs

(a) contextual modifications of monophthongs

- length – all monophthongs are shortened by following fortis obstruents, e.g.

bark

- diphthongisation – /iː/ and /uː/ are frequently diphthongized to [iːj] and [uːw],

especially in final positions, e.g. key, shoe

- retraction - front vowels and schwa [ə] are retracted when followed by dark
[ɫ], e.g.

feel, fill, fell, canal

- nasalization – all English vowels are nasalized before nasal consonants, e.g.
ten, ban

(b) contextual variants of schwa

the vowel /ǝ/ has three major variants differing in height:

a) between half-open and half-close in non-final positions, e.g. in alone, fatigue

b) half-close and more retracted when it is adjacent to velars, e.g. long ago
c) half-open in final position, e.g. mother, doctor, over

(c) Vowel Reduction

- vowels in unaccented syllables show a tendency to obscuration towards [ǝ, ɪ,

ʊ] and

sometimes are deleted, particularly in most common words, e.g. been [biːn] vs.
[bɪn],

must [mʌst] vs. [mǝst], do [duː] vs. [dʊ], [dǝ] or [d]

(d) morphological alternations involving vowels

five types of morphological alternations involving vowels are common:

a) /aɪ/ – /ɪ/, e.g. divine – divinity, wise – wisdom, five – fifty, type – typical

b) /iː/ – /e/, e.g. serene – serenity, sheep – shepherd, supreme – supremacy

c) /eɪ/ – /æ/, e.g. sane – sanity, profane – profanity, grateful – gratitude

d) /ǝʊ/ – /ɒ/, e.g. neurosis – neurotic, mode – modular, diagnose – diagnostic

e) /aʊ/ – /ʌ/, e.g. pronounce – pronunciation, found – fundamental, south –

southern

(e) restrictions on the occurrence of vowels

- /iː, uː, ɑː, ɔː, ɜː, ʊ/ - do not occur before /ŋ/

- /æ, ʌ, e, ɒ/ - do not occur in final position

- /ʊ/ - does not occur in word-initial position and occurs word-finally only in the

unaccented form of to [tʊ] 1

DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS

1. Definition of a diphthong

- diphthongs are vocalic sounds which differ from monophthongs in that they
contain a

glide from one vowel quality to another one; they constitute sequences of two
vocalic

elements which form a glide within one syllable

2. Factors relevant in the description of diphthongs

- the starting point (the first element) & the point in the direction of which the
glide is

made (the second element)

3. English diphthongs

(a) general characterization

 falling nature

- English diphthongs are falling because most of the length and stress is
associated with

the first element and the second element is only lightly sounded (see 3b for

exceptions)

 length (inherent and context-dependent)

- inherent – in terms of length diphthongs are like long vowels

- context-dependent – diphthongs are shortened by the following fortis

obstruents, as in

bite, ghost, place

 modification before dark [ɫ]

- /eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ/ – the [ɪ] element is often obscured or realized as a short glide of [ǝ]
or [ʊ]

quality, as in sail, tile, oil

 monophthongization

- the diphthong /ʊǝ/ is more and more frequently monophthongized to [ɔː],

particularly

in frequently used monosyllabic words, such as sure, pure, poor

- the diphthong /eǝ/ is more and more frequently monophthongized to [ɛː], as in

care,

there, share

(b) classification of diphthongs

 the direction of glide (closing vs. centring) – articulatory classification

- closing – with the upward direction of the glide; gliding from a more open to a
closer

position - /eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ, aʊ, ǝʊ/

 narrow – articulated with a slight movement of the tongue – /eɪ, ǝʊ/

 wide – articulated with an extensive movement of the tongue – /aɪ, ɔɪ, aʊ/

- centring – gliding towards the central area - /ɪǝ, eǝ, ʊǝ/

 the relative prominence of the two vocalic elements (rising vs. falling) –
auditory

classification
- falling (the first element is more prominent) - /eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ, ǝʊ, aʊ, ɪǝ, eǝ, ʊǝ/

- rising (the second element is more prominent) – some variants of /ɪǝ, ʊǝ/; in

unaccented syllables the first element of diphthongs gliding to /ǝ/ may be

weaker and

the second element is thus more prominent, e.g. windier, period, influence,
vacuum

(c) characterization of individual diphthongs

 /eɪ/

a narrow closing diphthong

starts as a fully front vowel with the tongue between the half-close and half-
open

position and moves in the direction of /ɪ/

spread lips for both elements

 /aɪ/

a wide closing diphthong

starts as a retracted front open vowel and moves in the direction of /ɪ/

the lips are neutral for the first element and slightly spread for the second
element

 /ɔɪ/

a wide closing diphthong

starts as a back half-open vowel and moves in the direction of /ɪ/

the lips are slightly rounded for the first element and neutral for the second
element
3

 /ǝʊ/

a narrow closing diphthong

starts as a central mid (between half-close and half-open position) vowel and
moves

in the direction of /ʊ/

the lips are neutral for the first element and slightly rounded for the second
element

 /aʊ/

a wide closing diphthong

starts as a central open vowel and moves in the direction of /ʊ/

the lips are neutral for the first element and slightly rounded for the second
element

 /ɪǝ/

a centring diphthong

starts as a front centralized half-close vowel and moves in the direction of /ǝ/

the lips are slightly spread for the first element and neutral for the second
element

 /eǝ/

a centring diphthong

starts as a front half-open vowel and moves in the direction of /ǝ/

-
the lips are neutral for both elements

 /ʊǝ/

a centring diphthong

starts as a back centralized half-close vowel and moves in the direction of /ǝ/

the lips are slightly rounded for the first element and neutral for the second
element

4. Triphthongs

(a) definition of a triphthong

- triphthong = closing diphthong + schwa

(b) possible pronunciations of triphthongs (smoothing)

- smoothing = simplification of triphthongs in rapid and advanced RP (two

stages:

a. deletion of the second element and compensatory lengthening of the first

vowel

b. schwa deletion)

[eɪǝ] >

[eːǝ]

>

[eː]

prayer, layer, player

[aɪǝ] >

[aːǝ]

>

[aː]

higher, fire, choir

[ɔɪǝ] >

[ɔːǝ]
>

[ɔː]

employer, joyous

[ǝʊǝ] >

[ǝː]

mower, slower

[aʊǝ] >

[aːǝ]

>

[aː]

flower, our, sour