Introduction to

Phonetics/Phonology
Wintersemester
2003-2004
Potsdam
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Course Topics
I
II
III
IV
V

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Articulatory Phonetics
Segments, Features, Feature Geometry
The Syllable and Other Prosodic
Constituents
Segmental Alternations
Phonological Theories

General Issues
Assignments (to be corrected two weeks later
in class)
Final exam
Slides are on my homepage
(http://www.ling.uni-potsdam.de/~fery/)

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Part I
Articulatory Phonetics

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Production of a Sound
! Airstream Process (initiation)

Phonation Process (vibration of the vocal

cords)
Oral-Nasal Process: The velum either
closes off the nasal cavity or opens it.
Articulation Process

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Components of Articulation
! The subglottal components (lungs and

respiratory tract), which produce the airstream.

Sounds are usually pulmonal egressive

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Components of Articulation

The larynx, which converts the regular stream

of air into a series of periodic bursts of air
(source of acoustic energy).

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Components of Articulation
! The supralaryngeal vocal tract (also

(supraglottal) vocal tract) consists of the

pharynx, the oral cavity and the nasal cavity.
The pharynx runs from the larynx to the tongue
root. From the pharynx the air can escape
through either the nasal cavity or the oral cavity.
The supralaryngeal vocal tract functions as an
acoustic filter.
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English Noun

Adjective

Latin Noun

Glottis
Larynx
Pharynx
Epiglottis
Tongue back/dorsum
Corona
Tongue tip/apex
Tongue blade/lamina
Alveolar ridge
Hard palate
Soft palate/velum
Uvula
Lungs
Teeth
Lips
Nasal cavity

glottal
laryngeal
pharyngeal
epiglottal
dorsal
coronal
apical
laminal
alveolar
palatal
velar
uvular
pulmonal
dental
labial
nasal

glottis
larynx
pharynx
epiglottis
dorsum
corona
apex
lamina
alveolae
palatum
velum
uvula
pulmo
dentes
labia
cavum nasi

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Articulators
! labial [b, p, f, m] (cover term for bilabial and
labiodental): At least one lip is involved in the
articulation.
coronal [t, d, l, n] : The tip or blade of the tongue is
involved in the articulation.
dorsal [k, g, N, X]: The back of the tongue is involved
in the articulation.
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Places of Articulation
bilabial [p, b, m]: Complete closure by both lips.
labiodental [f, v]: Closure or constriction between
the lower lip and upper teeth.
!

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Places of Articulation
dental [t, d] : The front part of the tongue forms
a constriction with the upper teeth.
alveolar [t, d, l, n, s, z]: A constriction is formed
at the alveolar ridge with the tip or blade of the
tongue; the articulation is then apical (when the
tongue tip forms the constriction) or laminal
(the tongue blade is involved).

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Places of Articulation
Retroflex: The tongue tip is bent back and up
behind the alveolar ridge.
palatoalveolar (or postalveolar) [,Z]: The tongue
blade forms a constriction behind the alveolar
ridge and/or at the hard palate.
palatal [, j]: The back of the tongue forms a
constriction or a closure with the hard palate.

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Places of Articulation
velar [k, g, N]: The back of the tongue forms a
constriction or a closure with the soft palate
(velum).
Uvular [X]: The back of the tongue and the
uvula form a constriction or a closure.

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Places of Articulation
pharyngeal [, ]: A constriction is formed in the
pharynx.
glottal/laryngeal [h, ?]: Closure of the glottis
causes a glottal stop. An /h/ is produced with
an open glottis.

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bilabial
labiodental
alveolar

Place of
Articulator
Sound
Articulation (movable organ) (German)
upper lip
lower lip
p, b, m
upper teeth lower lip
f, v
alveolar
tongue
t, d,
ridge
blade
s, z, l, n
, Z
, j

palatoalveolar
palatal

palate
palate

tongue blade
back of tongue

velar
uvular

palate
uvula

back of tongue k, g, x, N
back of tongue
, X

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Manners of Articulation
Manner of the narrowing or constriction

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Manners of Articulation

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Plosive (also stop or occlusive)

[p]: Voiceless, bilabial plosive. Very common
sound. The glottis is wide open.
[b]: Voiced counterpart, articulated
approximately the same.

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Plosives
[t, d]: articulated by the tongue tip or blade. Fr.
tout doux: soft. In German d and t are
alveolar.
[k, g]:The place of articulation is the velum,
sometimes the hard palate, occasionally the
uvula, depending on the environmental
context: Kuh vs. Khe, Kiel [k]. In Arabic [k]
and uvular [q] form two contrastive sounds.
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Plosives
[c, ]: Palatal articulation of the dorsal plosives.
These plosives are found in many West
African languages, e.g., Akan.
[q, G]: Uvular articulation of the dorsal
plosives. These sounds can be found in, e.g.,
Quechua.
[?]:
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Glottal stop.
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Voice Onset Timing (VOT)

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Fricatives
[,]: Bilabial voiceless or voiced fricatives.
Japanese: Fujiyama. In some African
languages such as Ewe these sounds are
phonemic ( he polished vs. f he
froze).
[f, v]: Labiodental fricatives, very common.
The upper teeth form a constriction with the
lower lip.

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Fricatives
[, d]: There are two different articulations of
this pair of sounds. In English [] thigh and
[d] thy are two phonemes.
[s, z]: can be apical or laminal.
[,]: an apical and a laminal (predorsal)
articulation. The lips are often somewhat
rounded, sometimes even protruding.
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Fricatives
[]:

Palatal fricative (ich-sound)

[]:

Voiced counterpart of [].

[x]:

Velar fricative (ach-sound).

[]:

Voiced counterpart of [x].

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Fricatives
[X, ]:[X] is a fricative which is formed at the
uvula; auditorily it differs little from [x]; in
Swiss German, e.g., they are variants of the
same sound, as in Kchenkasten [XuXiXat\].
The [] is a variant of/r/.
[,]: pharyngeal fricatives.
[H, ]: epiglottal fricatives.

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Fricatives
[h, ]: A glottal fricative formed by constriction
of the vocal folds. In German the constriction
is not very narrow; the breathing position is
retained.

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Affricates
An affricate is a plosive followed by a
homorganic, i.e., articulated with the same
articulators, fricative. Examples are [ts], [t]
and [pf].

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Nasals
With the nasal sounds (consonants, vowels, pre- or
postnasalized sounds) the velum is lowered, and
the majority of the air flows out through the nose.
Nasals are usually voiced, but in Icelandic, for
example, there is also a voiceless n [n], written hn.

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Nasals
[m]: The bilabial nasal is very common.
[n]: The coronal nasal occurs in almost every
language.
[]: Often a position-dependent variant of [n]
before [k, g]. In English and German [g]
has often even disappeared, so that only
[] remains: lang, long (cf. lungo in
Italian).

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Nasals
[]: The labiodental nasal is commonly only
an articulation-dependent variant of m.
[]: The palatal nasal is rarer. It occurs, e.g.,
in French (agneau lamb, gagner to win)
and in Spanish (caon).
[N]: The uvular nasal is articulated even
further back in the mouth than the velar
nasal [].

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Nasals
Consonants can also be partially nasalized, like the
prenasalized plosives (md, nd, g).

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Laterals
For [l] the tip of the tongue is placed at the alveolar
ridge and impedes the airstream in the middle of
the mouth. On the sides the tongue is not placed
against the molars, as with [t], but is lower, so that
the air can escape at the sides.

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Laterals
[l]: Clear and dark l in Russian differ in the form
of the tongue. With clear l the surface is fairly flat,
slightly concave and the contact is apical; with
dark l, in contrast, the tongue is further in front
and the blade of the tongue is raised towards the
velum. The contact is laminal. This produces an ucolor. In German and French the l is light; in
English it varies depending on the environment:
cf. little

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Laterals
[, ]: In Welsh there is a voiceless fricative
lateral, [] or also sometimes [l], written ll
(Lloyd). The voiced counterpart is transcribed
[].
[, L]: palatal and velar lateral approximants.

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r-Sounds (Vibrants, Trills,

Rhotics)
[B]:

Bilabial vibrant.

[r]: Prototypical r-sound. It is a front trill

(tongue tip-r); in Spanish perro dog. In
German, this sound is only used in a few
dialects.

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r-Sounds
[]: Front fricative or approximant, as in
English after t and d.
[]: Back trill (uvular-R), as in Dutch or in the
Scandinavian languages.

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r-Sounds
[]: Back Engelaut or approximant, as in
German and in French. The air passes around
the uvula on the sides. Very similar to [],
which is the voiceless variant.
In Arabic [r] and [] are two different phonemes.
Rhotacism is the conversion of [z] into [r]:
Etrusci/Etruria, was/were.
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Flaps and Taps

Flaps (sudden short closure plus glide) or Taps
(sudden short closure) are plosives of very short
duration produced with a single muscle
contraction.
English: marry or very, in
American: instead of an intervocalic [t] matter, pity.

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Approximants (Glides)
[w]: The approximants are always voiced. [w]
or [] is a bilabial sound.
[j]: In German the palatal glide is sometimes
articulated as a fricative [] (voiced
counterpart of []).

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Approximants (Glides)
[]: The sound which is realized, e.g., in the
French words huit eight and puis
afterwards.
[]: Velar vibrant.

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Retroflexes
[, , , , , , ], also sometimes transcribed with
dots under the letters.
These sounds are special forms of many of the
consonants which are articulated at the alveolar
ridge or at the adjoining part of the hard palate.

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Retroflexes
The tongue tip is bent back so that the closure (or
constriction) is formed with the underside of the
tongue blade.
Common in Sanskrit, in Arabic, in the Dravidian
languages of India (Malayalam), in Swedish and in
Norwegian. The English r is retroflex.
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Secondary Articulation
Labialization: a consonant is articulated with rounded
lips. This can also occur with labial sounds, as
when both articulations are realized with the lips.
Examples from Kwakwala (Ladefoged &
Maddieson 1996:356-7) and from Arrernte:

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Secondary Articulation
Labialization in Kwakwala
kasa beat soft
kwesa
gisgas incest
gwesu

splashing
pig

Labialization in Arrernte
pwape
whirlwind

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Secondary Articulation
Palatalization: Raising of the front part of the tongue
in the direction of an i-articulation. Russian
contrasts palatalized vs. nonpalatalized
articulation in many consonants, e.g.: pjotr Peter
with pjot drinks and pot sweat.

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Secondary Articulation
Velarization: Raising of the back part of the tongue.
According to Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), the
English l in little, for example, is velarized.

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Secondary Articulation
Pharyngealization: A constriction is formed in the
pharynx. Some dialects of Arabic contrast
emphatic vs. normal coronals: s vs. s.

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Vowels
1) Height or vertical tongue movement
2) Front-back-dimension or horizontal tongue
movement
3) Lip rounding

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Cardinal Vowels

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Vowels
IPA

Lips

Example

[i]

unrounded

Fr. si, Eng. beat

[e]

unrounded

Ger. See, Fr. chez

[]

unrounded

Ger. Bett, Eng. bet

[]

unrounded

Eng. cat

[a]

unrounded

Ger. kann, Fr. la

[]

unrounded

Dt. dam

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Vowels
IPA

Lips

Examples

[]

rounded

Fr. sotte, Eng. hawk

[o]

rounded

Ger. Stroh, Fr. beau

[u]

rounded

Ger. gut, Fr. cou

[y]

rounded

Ger. Tr, Fr. bu

10

[]

rounded

Ger. Goethe, Fr. eux

11

[]

rounded

Ger. Gtter, Fr. beurre

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Vowels
IPA

Lips

Examples

12

[]

rounded

Ger. Hlle

13

[]

rounded

Eng. hock, Dt. dom

14

[]

unrounded

Eng. but, luck

15

[{]

unrounded

Vietnamese

16

[}]

unrounded

Japanese u

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Vowels
IPA

Lips

Example

[\]

unrounded

Ger.: be-,Fr. le

[]

unrounded

Ger.: ver-

(from Clark & Yallop 1990:67)

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Vokale
i
e

a
Italian

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u
o

a
Spanish

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German Vowels
i

u high

mid

front

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central

back

low

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Vowels
Nasal vowels in French
[%]~ as in bain bath
[] as in monde world
[] as in enfant child
[~] as in un one

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German v owels
Long, tense vowels:
Miete, Huhn, wohnen, Dne, Hhle

Short, lax vowels:

Mitte, Hunne, Wonne, dnne, Hlle

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Diphthongs
Three German Diphthongs
/ai/ (Hai)
shark
/au/ (Bau)
building
/y/ (neu) new

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