PHONETI

CS

natural
sounds

no systematic meaning

a code system.

speech
sounds

OVERVIEW
To know a language, one must know the sounds of
the language. The study of phonetics concerns itself
with the physical properties and sounds of speech.
Mainly, it is discusses how sounds are made and how
these sounds are formed to create a coherent thought
or message in a chosen language, which then will be
passed onto listeners through the process of oral
communication. Before one may speak in a language,
he must know how words are said and which words to
combine to make these words.

OVERVIEW
Phones are unit of sounds which are then combined
to form syllables. These syllables are then combined
to make words. However, each syllable or phone,
especially when combined, has a unique sound
attached to them. This is where consonants and
vowels enter the picture. They are then used to
translate these syllables and phones into something
a hearer may understand. How then should these
elements be combined or used?

ROLE OF SPEECH SOUNDS

The basic knowledge a speaker should learn before
he learns a language is to recognize what the
language he aims to learn sounds like. It is only then
that he would be able to distinguish it's differences
and even its common traits with others from various
groups or families of language.
This point merely proves that to know a language
also means to know the sounds of a language .

PHONETICS
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that aims to study

and describe the sounds and forms of both spoken and

sign language respectively.
They could also be referred to as sound differences.

From this information, it could be surmised that

phonetics is mainly concerned with the production,
description and differentiation of speech sounds.

PHONETICS
To the beginner, phonetics and phonology might be
confused to be the same discipline or study. However, upon
closer study, it should be noted that phonology concerns itself
with phonemes, abstract cognitive units of speech and signs
of language. Phonetics, on the other hand, concerns itself with
speech sounds, phones, syllables, consonants and vowels. It
also places utmost importance in the movement of the vocal
tract as speech sounds are produced. .

THE SPEECH TRAIN

Idea or concept is formulated within the brain of
the speaker. It will then be encoded into a common
language which he and the hearer both understand.
From the brain, the message is sent to the vocal
apparatus, which can also be associated with the
organs that compose the vocal tract. The muscles
and organs involved will then begin to position
themselves in order to produce the appropriate
speech sounds.

THE SPEECH TRAIN

The speech sounds travel through air until they
reach the ears of the hearer.
After hearing the speech sounds, (4) the brain of
the hearer starts to decode them until they arrive at
a thought which would prompt their own response.

THREE BRANCHES OF PHONETICS

Articulatory Phonetics pertains to the production of
speech sounds. It studies how the vocal tract reacts and
begins the procedure of generating the sounds of a language.
Auditory linguistics pertains to interpretation of speech
sounds within context.
Acoustic Phonetics concerned with the physical
properties of sounds (how the word is pronounced through
the speech sounds made)

Besides a brain (and the knowledge

of the language), what do you need
to use the spoken language?
These are the speech organs.

Speech organs that belong to

the articulatory system:

Lips
- they

serve for creating different

sounds - mainly the labial, bilabial
(e.g. /p/, /b/, /m/, /hw/, and /w/) and
labio-dental consonant sounds (e.
g. /f/ and /v/ - and thus create an
important part of the speech
apparatus.

Upper Lip

Lower Lip

teeth
small whitish structures found in
jaws
responsible for creating sounds
mainly the labio-dental (e.g. /f/
and /v/and lingua-dental (e.g. //and
//)

Teeth

tongue
- with its wide variety of possible
movements, it assists in forming the
sounds of speech.

TONGUE

Back
Middle(Dorsu
m)

Front(Blad
e)
Tip(Apex
)

Alveolar ridge
- hard ridge behind the upper front
teeth. It is between the roof of the
mouth and the upper teeth.

 For

the sound /s/, air from the lungs

passes continuously through the
mouth, but the tongue is raised
sufficiently close to the alveolar ridge
(the section of the upper jaw
containing the tooth sockets) to
cause friction as it partially blocks
the air that passes.

Alveolar
Ridge

Hard palate
a

thin horizontal bony plate of the

skull, located in the roof of the
mouth.
the interaction between the tongue
and the hard palate is essential in
the formation of certain speech
sounds, notably /t/, /d/, and /j/.

Hard
Palate

Velum (soft palate)

- it should have holes forming

that
function during speech to separate
the oral cavity (mouth) from the
nose, in order to produce the oral
speech sounds. If this separation is
incomplete, air escapes through the
nose during speech and the speech
is perceived as hyper nasal.

Velum or Soft
Palate

Uvula
it functions in tandem with the back
of the throat, the palate, and air
coming up from the lungs to create a
number of guttural and other sounds.
In many languages, it closes to
prevent air escaping through the
nose when making some sounds.

Uvula

Glottis
combination

of vocal folds and space

in between the folds
as the vocal folds vibrate, the
resulting vibration produces a
buzzing quality to the speech
called voice or voicing or
pronunciation.
sound production involving only the
glottis is called glottal. Example is
the sound /h/.

Glottis

SPEECH ORGANS
Alveolar ridge

Hard Palate

Soft Palate
Upper lip
Lower lip
Teeth

Uvula
Back
Middle(Dorsum)
Front(Blade)
Tip (Apex)
Glottis

Classification of
Consonants by Place of
Articulation
Bilabial: both lips come
together (p, b, m, w)
Labiodental: lower lip and
upper teeth make contact (f,
v)
Dental: the tongue makes
contact with the upper teeth
(-th)
Alveolar: the tip of the
tongue makes contact with the
alveolar ridge (t, d, s, z, n, l)
Palatal: the tongue
approaches the palate (j, r,
-sh)
Velar: back of the tongue
contacts the velum (k, g, -ng)
Glottal: this is really an
unvoiced vowel (h)

Image from:

Various Manners of Articulation

In Phonetics, articulation may be divided
into two large classes, obstruents and
sonorants. The following slides will
describe these and other various manners
of articulation. Again, manner of
articulation refers to how the sound is
produced. There are many manners of
articulation.

Obstruents
Obstruents consonants are characterized
by an obstructed vocal tract, either
complete or partial. All of the consonants
except the sonorants are obstruents. To
understand obstruent sounds better,
compare the labial /b/ and /w/. The /b/
sound is a sound that completely blocks
the vocal tract while the /w/ sound does
not. (Edwards, 2003)

Sonorants
When a sonorant sound is produced, the
channels through which air passes are
relatively open.
The sonorant sounds are:
/m/, /n/, /l/, /r/, /w/, and /j/
Sonorant sounds are produced without
much extra effort on the part of the
speaker.
(Edwards, 2003)

Nasals, Stridents, and Stops

Nasal sounds are produced when sonorant
sounds are made as the passageway into the
nasal cavity is opened by the lowering of the soft
palate. Examples would be /m/ and /n/.
Strident sounds are made by directing the
airflow against a surface such as the teeth,
producing considerable friction. Examples would
be /f/, /v/, and /s/.
Stops are obstruent sounds made by the
complete stoppage of airflow through the vocal
tract. Examples would be /b/, /t/, and /g/.
(Edwards, 2003)

Approximants
Approximants are termed much the same way
sonorants are.
With approximants, the articulators approach
each other, but not to the extent that turbulence
is produced.
If the articulators are required to be completely
closed, then the sound (such as the nasal
sounds), are not approximants. Even though
they are resonated through the nose.
The approximant sounds are: /l/, /r/, /w/, and /j/.
(Edwards, 2003)

Fricatives and Affricatives

Fricatives are obstruent sounds produced from
a partial blockage of the breath stream. This
partial blockage results in friction or turbulence
during the sound production. Examples of
fricative sounds are: /h/, /s/, and /z/.
Affricatives are sounds that begin as a stop,
then are released as a fricative. When this
happens, the sound released is termed an
affricative. (Edwards, 2003)

Sibilants
Sibilants are often referred to as the
hushing or hissing sounds. The are
characterized by relatively high frequency
noise.
Examples of sibilant sounds are: /s/,
and /z/.

Laterals and Liquids

LATERALS: In American
English, there exists a
sole lateral consonant
produced with lateral
airflow around one or
both sides of the tongue.
The /l/ is also
characterized as a lateral
approximant.
(Edwards, 2003)

LIQUIDS: These sounds

are produced with little to
no friction. Laterals and
liquids share many
commonalities. Often
they are treated as the
same class of sound
production. In American
English, the sounds /r/,
and /l/ are considered
liquid sounds.

Glides
When a consonant is rapidly transitioned
to a following vowel, the sound is a glide.
When the sound is produced from a
transition between a consonant and a
preceding vowel, it is termed an off glide.
The common glides for American English
are: /l/ and /r/.
(Edwards, 2003)

Acoustic Phonetics

-Is a subfield
ofphoneticswhich deals
withacousticaspects
ofspeechsounds.

Auditory Phonetics

Is a subfield of

phonetics concerned
with the hearing of
speech sounds.

Phonetic Transcription
-It is the visual representation
of speech sounds. The most
common type of phonetic
transcription uses a phonetic
alphabet is the International
Phonetic Alphabet

IPA Vowels

IPA Diphtongs

IPA Consonants

k ju: !!!

References
Manner of articulation. (2006). Retrieved February 20, 2007, from Answers.com
http://www.answers.com/topic/manner-of-articulation
Russell, K. (2006). Phonetics-English Consonants. Retrieved February 19, 2007 from
http://www.umanitoba.ca/linguistics/russels/phonetics/index.html
Voiceproblem.org. (2004). Understanding How Voice is Produced. Retrieved February 19,
2007 from http://www.voiceproblem.org/anatomy/understanding.asp
Edwards, H. T. (2003). Applied phonetics: The sounds of American English. Clifton Park,
New York: Delmar Learning.
Voice foundation. (2006). Retrieved February 20, 2007, from The Voice Foundation Web
site: http://www.voicefoundation.org