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Phonetics Tips and Practice #3
1. Vowel Space
If you’re having trouble associating positions in vowel space with actual vowels, there is a quick and dirty way. Memorize the words below and
where their initial vowel sounds appear on the vertical (tongue height/jaw opening and tenseness/laxness and horizontal (front – central – back)
axes.
Then when you’re in doubt, do a ‘sounds like’ test. The vowel in rude sounds most like the vowel in fool, so it has to be high back tense rounded.
The initial vowel in ready sounds most like the vowel in led, so it has to be front mid lax unrounded.
Hudson’s Terms
for tongue Height
heed fool
hid full
layed boat
love
led bought
fall
lad
Another clue: In English, when you round your lips, you know you’re dealing with a high or mid back vowel.
Points of articulation:
If you’re having trouble visualizing the difference between, say, an alveolar and a velar consonant, try this site:
http://chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html
2. Tense vs. Lax Vowels.
Close your lips. Put a thumb on your lower lip and the index finger of the same hand on your upper lip. Keep these fingers at precisely the same
point on your lips as you say a tense vowel like the one in feel. Then say a lax vowel, like the one in fill. It may be very, very slight, but you will feel
your fingers moving apart when you hit the lax vowel.
In English, tense vowels are usually pronounced with longer duration than their lax counterparts. If you say heed slowly and with emphasis, it takes
longer than hid with the same degree of emphasis.
3. Nasals
If you’re trying to figure out whether a given consonant sound is nasal, say it while you pinch your nose, thereby plugging up both your nostrils. If
it’s difficult to say the sound because of pressure building up underneath your fingers, you’re probably dealing with a nasal sound. If not, it’s most
likely a non‐nasal sound.
4. Voicing
If feeling up your throat doesn’t help you distinguish voiced from voiceless sounds, plug your ears instead. That routes much of the energy from
your vibrating vocal chords back into your eardrum and blocks much of the acoustic signal from voiceless sounds, so it’s much easier to hear the
difference.
5. Affricates vs. Fricatives
The word affricate has two f’s, much like the two sounds – a stop and a fricative – duking in out when we pronounce an affricate. The word fricative
has only one such letter, a lovely little fricative [f] all by itself.
Consonants: Voicing, Place of Articulation, Manner of Articulation
Voicing Place of articulation Manner of Articulation
Specify the features
Post‐Alveolar/
Approximant
that best describe
Alveopalatal
Labiodental
the sound
Affricate
Fricative
Alveolar
Voicelss
Voiced
suggested by the
Dental
Labial
Nasal
Velar
Stop
bolded letters
below.
1. thatched
2. thatched
3. thatched
4. design
5. design
6. design
7. bashed
8. bashed
9. bashed
10. landings
11. landings
12. landings
13. landings
14. landings
15. hanky
16. enough
17. spanked
18. spanked
19. spanked
20. spanked
Consonants: Voicing, Place of Articulation, Manner of Articulation
Voicing Place of articulation Manner of Articulation
Specify the features
Post‐Alveolar/
Approximant
that best describe
Alveopalatal
Labiodental
IPA Symbol
the sound
Affricate
Fricative
Alveolar
Voicelss
Voiced
suggested by the
Dental
Labial
Nasal
Velar
Stop
bolded letters
below.
21. thatched X X X [θ]
22. thatched X X X [tʃ]
23. thatched X X X [t]
24. design X X X [d]
25. design X X X [z]
26. design G O T C H A !
27. bashed X X X [b]
28. bashed X X X [ʃ]
29. bashed X X X [t]
30. landings X X [l]
31. landings X X X [n]
32. landings X X X [d]
33. landings X X X [ŋ]
34. landings X X X [z]
35. hanky X X [h]
36. enough X X X [f]
37. spanked X X X [s]
38. spanked X X X [p]
39. spanked X X X [ŋ]
40. spanked X X X [d]
PRACTICE: Specify the features that best describe the FIRST vowel sound in each of the words below
Vertical Axis: Tongue Height Horizontal Axis: Front‐ Lips
Central‐Back
Close‐Mid /
Open‐Mid /
Unrounded
High‐Tense
Close‐Lax /
Mid‐Tense
Rounded
High‐Lax
Mid‐Lax
Open /
Close /
Central
Front
Back
Low
1. spleen
2. clean
3. ready
4. say
5. ridden
6. splat
7. who
8. doom
9. pun
10. lewd
11. pie
12. scoffed
13. cone
14. tour
15. call
16. skate
17. afraid
18. fiend
19. sped
20. paw
Vertical Axis: Tongue Height Horizontal Axis: Front‐ Lips
Central‐Back
Close‐Mid /
Open‐Mid /
Unrounded
High‐Tense
Close‐Lax /
Mid‐Tense
Rounded
High‐Lax
Mid‐Lax
Open /
Close /
Central
Front
Back
Low
1. spleen X X X
2. clean X X X
3. ready X X X
4. say X X X
5. ridden X X X
6. splat X X X
7. who X X X
8. doom X X X
9. pun (x) X X X
10. lewd X X X
11. pie X X
12. scoffed (X)2 X1 X X1 (X)2
13. cone X X X
1 2 1
14. tour X (X) X X (X)2
15. call X X X
16. skate X (X) X X
17. afraid (X) X X X
18. fiend X X X
19. sped X X X
20. paw (X)2 X1 X X1 (X)2