Go Higher Language

Week 5
Speech Sounds: Vowels
Mary E. Clinton
School of English
 Learning Outcomes
• After this unit you will be able to
ØDiscuss how speech sounds
are made in humans
ØDescribe sounds using
linguistic terminology
ØClassify vowels using
linguistic criteria
 Speech
• Speech is an overlaid function: it
depends on breathing. In normal
quiet breathing 40% of the time is
spent inhaling and 60% exhaling;
but, in speaking only 20% of the
time is spent inhaling.
 Miller, G. (1991) The Science of Words,
Freeman: New York, Scientific American
Library.
How do listeners categorize
the utterances they hear?
 George Miller (1991)
 nut, not, neat, and newt.
 "The nut's not neat, Newt” "The nut's
nut nut, nut.“
•
• A phoneme is the smallest unit of
sound that allows us to distingush
between two words.
How many sounds are there in
English?
• What do we mean by English?
• speech sounds in English varies from dialect
to dialect
• International Phonetic Alphabet,
denotes 24 consonants and 23 vowels
used in Received Pronunciation, plus
two additional consonants and four
additional vowels used in foreign words
only.
• American English (AmE) can have either 25
consonants and 19 vowels (General
American Dictionary) or 25 consonants
and 18 vowels (American Heritage
 Vowels vs consonants?
• The major division in speech sounds
is between the way in which vowels
and consonants are produced. In
forming the vowels the flow of air is
not stopped anywhere along its
path by the tongue, lips, etc.; in
forming consonant sounds the
smooth air flow through the mouth
is obstructed in some way.
•
 VPM
We describe consonants using


the VPM order where :-

vV = Voiced (or
unvoiced
vP = Place (of
articulation)
vM = Manner (of
V =
Voice
As you vocalize a
stream of air is
forced through a
series of
chambers: the
throat, various
parts of the
mouth, and
sometimes the nose
act as resonators.
The size, and thus
the resonant
properties, of the
various chambers
are altered by the
movements of the
tongue, lips and
teeth. etc
 b

folds are apart and we say that the glottis is open ( figure a ).
When the edges of the vocal
folds touch each other , air passing through the glottis will usual
This opening and closing is repeated regularly and gives what is

Voicing. (Roach 1983:23,25)

 ce/encouraging_healthy_voice_children.html
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ether ,apart
pread the ,air
thefrom
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unimpeded
y are described as voiceless .
 P
=
Place
of Articulation )
The Organs of Articulation

places of articulation.(Roach 1983:8)

 Bilabial
• Bilabial sounds are
produced when
the lips are
brought together.
•
• Examples are [p],
which is voiceless,
as in pay or [b] and
[m] which are
voiced, as in bay,
may.
• We can also describe
the [w] sound found
at the beginning of
(Roach 1983:8) way, walk and world
as a bilabial.
 Labiodental
• Labiodental
sounds are
made when
the lower lip
is raised
towards the
upper front
teeth.
• Examples are [f]
(Roach 1983)
safe (voiceless)
and [v]
Dental • Dental sounds are
produced by touching
the upper front teeth
with the tip of the
tongue.
• Words like the, there, then
and thus are [ð],
usually called “eth”and
is voiceless. It is also
the middle consonant
sound in feather and the
final sound of bathe.

•
• The initial sound of thin
and the final sound of
bath are both voiced
dentals. The symbol
used for this sound is
[θ], usually referred to
as “theta.” It is the
[θ ð] symbol you would use
for the first and last
(Roach 1983:8) sounds in the phrase
three teeth.
 Alveolar
• Alveolar sounds are
made by raising the
tip of the tongue
towards the rough,
bony ridge
immediately behind
and above the
upper teeth, called
the alveolar ridge.
•
• Examples are [ t,s ]
too,sue, both
voiceless,
(Roach 1983) • and [d,z,n,l,r ] do, zoo,
nook, look, rook, all
voiced.
 Question ?

•bus
•buzz
•raise [ s ] or [ z ]
•
 • Palatals
• Palatals, (or Palatoalveolar
or alveo-palatals) sounds
are made by raising the
blade of the tongue
towards the part of the
palate just behind the
alveolar ridge.
• Examples of palatals are the
initial sounds in the words
shout and child, which are
both voiceless. The “sh”
(Roach 1983 sound is represented as [ʃ]
and the “ch” sound is
represented as [ʧ]. So, the
word shoebrush begins and
 Other Palatals
• One of the voiced
palatals, represented
by the symbol [ʒ], can
be found as the middle
consonant sound in
words like treasure and
pleasure, or the final
sound in rouge.
• The other voiced palatal
is [ʤ], which is the
initial sound in words
(Roach 1983) like joke and gem. The
word judge and the
name George both
begin and end with the
 [j]

• One other voiced

palatal is the [j] and
is just produced
further back
towards the velum.
Some phonologists
consider it to be the
only TRUE palatal in
English.
• Examples are sound
used at the
(Roach 1983) beginning of words
like you and yet. In
the middle of
 Velar
• Velar sounds are
made by raising the
back of the tongue
towards the soft
palate, called the
velum.
• Examples [k] back, and
despite the variety in
spelling, this [k] sound
is both the initial and
final sound in the
words cook, kick and
coke. voiceless, and
[g, ŋ] both voiced as
in bag, bang.
(Roach 1983)
• [w] is a velar which is
Glottals
• There is one sound that is
produced without the
active use of the tongue
and other parts of the
mouth. It is the sound [h]
which occurs at the
beginning of have and
house and, for most
speakers, as the first
sound in who and whose.
• This sound is usually
described as a voiceless
glottal. The “glottis” is the
space between the vocal
folds in the larynx. When
the glottis is open, as in
the production of other
voiceless sounds, and
there is no manipulation
of the air passing out of
−V(=voiceless)
+V (=voiced)

Yule (2010, 30)

M
=

Manner
( of
A r t i cu lat ion
)
 Stops (AKA Plosives)
• Plosives are sounds in which
there is a complete closure in
the mouth, so that the air is
blocked for a fraction of a
second and then released with
a small burst of sound, called a
plosion.
•
•
 Fricatives
F rica tiv e s h a v e a clo su re w h ich is n o t q u ite co m p le te .
T h is m e a n s th a t th e a ir is n o t b lo ck e d a t a n y p o in t,
a n d th e re fo re th e re is n o p lo sio n .
O n th e o th e r h a n d th e o b stru ctio n is b ig e n o u g h fo r
th e a ir to m a k e a n o ise w h e n it p a sse s th ro u g h it,
b e ca u se o f th e frictio n .
T h is e ffe ct is sim ila r to th e w in d w h istlin g a ro u n d th e
co rn e r o f a h o u se
• Affricates are a combination of a
plosive and a fricative (sometimes they
are called "affricated plosives").
• If you combine a brief stopping of the air stream with
an obstructed release which causes some friction,
you will be able to produce the sounds [ʧ] and [ʤ].
• These are called affricates and occur at the beginning
of the words cheap and jeep. In the first of these,
there is a voiceless affricate [ʧ], and in the second,
a voiced affricate [ʤ].
Nasals
• Most sounds are
produced orally, with
the velum raised,
preventing airflow
from entering the
nasal cavity.
However, when the
velum is lowered and
the air stream is
allowed to flow out
through the nose to
produce [m], [n] and
[ŋ], the sounds are
described as nasals.
• These three sounds are
 Liquids
• The initial sounds in led and red are
described as liquids. They are both
voiced. The [l] sound is called a
lateral liquid and is formed by
letting the air stream flow around
the sides of the tongue as the tip of
the tongue makes contact with the
middle of the alveolar ridge. The [r]
sound at the beginning of red is
formed with the tongue tip raised
and curled back near the alveolar
 Glides
• The sounds [w] and [j] are described as
glides. They are both voiced and
occur at the beginning of we, wet, you
and yes.
• These sounds are typically produced
with the tongue in motion (or
“gliding”) to or from the position of a
vowel and are sometimes called semi-
vowels.
• In some approaches, the liquids [l], [r]
and glides [w], [j] are combined in
one category called “approximants.”
 Review
• Air is pushed from the lungs,
through the larynx and out of the
mouth/nose
• The larynx can be open or closed but
its movements produce sound
• Consonants are stopped sounds
• They can be classified as to whether
they are :
– Voiced or Unvoiced (V)
– Place of Articulate (P)
– Manner of Articulation (M)
 Resources
• Miller, G. (1991) The Science of Words,
Freeman, New York: Scientific American
Library
• Cook, V. (1997) Inside Language, New York:
St. Martin's Press
• Crystal, D. (1997) The Cambridge
Encyclopaedia of Language, 2nd edition,
Cambridge, C.U.P.
• Roach, P. (1983) English Phoneticsand
Phonology: A Practical Course,
Cambridge: C.U.P.
• Trask, R.L. (1995) Language: The Basics,
New York: Routledge
• Yule, G. (2010) The Study of Language, 4th