IJNIT -1- AN INTRODUCTION

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TO PHONETICS
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Structure

Objectives
Introduction
The Production of Speech
A Phonetic Description of Speech Sounds
1 $3.1 Vowels and Consonants
1.3.2 Description of Vowels
1.3.3 Description of Consonants
1.3.4 Broader Classification of Sounds
The Use of Phonetic Symbols
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers

1.0 OBJECTIVES

In this unit we shall introduce you to the terms 'phonetics' and 'phonology'
and show you how we can give a phonetic description of speech sounds.

Recording

An audio recording accompanies this unit and is available at the study centers
I of the university.

I 1.1 INTRODUCTION

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds. Every language uses a limited

number of speech sounds and makes its own selection out of the large number
of difrerent sounds the human vocal orsans can produce. Phonetics is
concerned with the description and classification of these sounds on the basis
of how they are produced by our vocal organs (articulatory phonetics), how
, they are perceived by our hearing mechanism (auditory phonetics), and how
they are transmitted in the air (acoustic phonetics).

Phorrology is concerned with hon a particular language organises its sounds

~ntodistinctke units (called phonemes), ho\v the phonemes are combined into
.sq'llnhles. and how the prosottic features of lengtlz, stress and pitch are
organised into patterns.

The use of spoken language involves a complicated series of operations. The

concept in the speaker's brain is given a linguistic form which is
communicated by the nerves to the speech organs. As a result of the
Phonetics and movements of these organs, disturbances are set up in the air in the form of
Phonology- 1 sound waves, and these sound waves are received by the listener's ears. 'T'he
nerves carry the sensation to the brain, where the sounds are perceived and
their meaning is interpreted.

// Natal Cavity

Fig:1 The Organs 01 Speech

For the production of speech we need a source of energy: fbr thc sounds of'
English and most Indian languages, the air-stream coming out of the lungs
provides this energy.

Figure I shows the various organs of speech. The windpipe carrying the air-
stream from the lungs is known as the trachea. At the top of the trachea is llie
larynx, which contains the vocal cords. l'he vocal cords call be brought
together to close the air passage completely. This is what wc d o when uc
cough, for example; the air from the lungs is first held up and the11suddenl!
released by separating the vocal cords. When we breath out, the vocal cords
are wide apart, the opening between them being called the glottis. If the vocal
cords are held together rather loosely, they vibrate when the air from the lungs
passes between them. This vibration, that is, the closing and opening of the
glottis at a fast rate, produces a musical note called voice. Speech sounds can
be either voiced, when they are loosely held together and vibrate or voiceless.
when they are far apart and do not vibrate. You can fccl t h e differcncc b!
touching the neck near the larynx, while saying Is1 and li.1 alternatel!
/sssszzzzssss./ (We shall use phonetic symbols to represent sounds and pldcc
them between oblique bars.)
 he shape o f the mouth cavity depends on the position o f the tongue and the An Introduction to
lips. Phonetics

The rool'of the mouth i s divided into three parts: the teeth ridge, just behind
the upper teeth, the hard palate. and the soft palate.

The soft palate i s normally raised, so that the passage through the nose i s
blocked and the air from the lungs comes out through the mouth (oral
sounds). The soft palate can be lowered so that the air from the lungs can
come out through the nose (nasal consonants). 'The soft palate can also be kept
in a neutral position so that the air from the lungs comes out through both the
oral and the nasal cavities (nasalized sounds).

/ The lips can assume various positions, from being rounded to neutral to
unrounded.

'I'he tongue can be said to have three sections - the part opposite the teeth
ridge i s called the blade and its end i s called the tip. The part opposite the hard
palate i s called the front and that opposite the soft palate is called the back.
'fhe part at the base o f the tongue i s called the root. Various parts o f the
tongue can be raised towards the roof o f the mouth to produce different
sounds.

1.3.1 Vowels and Consonants

We can divide all speech sounds into two broad categories - vowels and
consonants. When we produce a vowel sound, the air from the lungs comes
out freely through the mouth and the vocal cords vibrate to produce voice.
There i s no closure o f the air passage and no narrowing that would cause
I audible friction. A l l other sounds are called consonants.
! 1.3.2 Description of Vowels

i She quality o f vowel depends on the shape o f the mouth cavity, and that
depends on the positions o f the tongue, the lips and the lower jaw. Vowels can
, therefore be described on the basis o f tongue positions and lip positions.

' i) For most vowels either the front, or the back, or the center o f the
tongue i s raised to a certain height. Depending on which part o f the
tongue i s the highest, we can classify vowels as front vowels, back
vowels and central vowels.

Examples
Front vowels: the vowels in the English words sheep, ship,bed, bad.
Back vowels: the vowels in the English words calm, pot, caught, put, boot.
Central vowels: the vowels in the English words cut, bird and father (second
syllable).

ii) Depending on the height to which the tongue i s raised, we can classiq
vowels as close (that is, as near the roof o f the mouth as possible), or
open (that is, as low as possible), or as belonging to one o f the two
intermediate categories - half-close and half-open.
Phonetics and Example
Phonology- 1
Close voweb: the vowels in the English words sheep ur~dboor.
Open vowels: the vowels in the English words caltn undpot.
iii) The lips can assume various positions for the production ol'difTercnt
vowels. They can be spread as for the vowel in tlie English word keep,
neutral as for the vowel in bed, open as for the vnwd in calm. open
rounded ad for the vowel in pot, or close roundeci as for the vowcl in
boot.

1.3.3 Descriptiun of Consonants

When we describe a consonant, we have to indicate.

.1

i) whether the sound is voiced or voiceless, that is. whethcr thc vocal
cords vibrate or not.
Examples
voiced /bd g v z m 1 r l
voiceless: Ip t k f s hl
ii) whether the soft palate is raised or lowered. that is, whcther the air-
stream passes through the mouth only (as for oral sounds like Ip b t d
k g f v s 21 or through the nose only (as for n~asalsounds like /m nl);
iii) the place of articulation, that is, where in the tnouth the closure or
narrowing takes place; and
iv) the manner of articulation, that is, the degree or kind of closure or
narrowing that is assumed in producing the solrnd.

Place of Articulation

We can classify consonants according to the place of articulation as follows:

Bilabial: the closure or narrowing is between the two lips, as for

Ip b m..
Labio-dental: the narrowing is between the lower lip and the upper
teeth, as for If vl.
Dental: the closure or narrowing is between the tip of the
tongue and the upper teeth, as in the English sounds 10.
61 at the beginning of the words thing and ti~c,(hen.
Alveolar: the closure or narrowing is between the blade of the
tongue and the teeth-ridge, as for I t d s z n 11.
Palato-alveolar: the closure or narrowing is between the blade of the
tongue and the teeth-ridge, with the front of the tongue
also raised towards the hard plate, as for ltf, d ~f/. at the
beginning of the English words cheer, jump and short.
Velar: the closure or narrowing is between the back of the
tongue and the soft palate, as for /kg/.
Glottal: the narrowing is between the vocal cords, as tor /h/.
 Manner of Articulation: An Introduction to
Phonetics
We can also classiQ consonants according to the manner of articulation as
I
follows:
! Plosive: There is a complete closure of the air passage. The air is
held up and then released with an explosion, as in /p b
t dkgl.
I Affricate: There is complete closure of the air-passage and then
I
I
I the air is released slowly with friction, as for /t[, da/ at
, the beginning of the English words cheer and jump.
I Nasal : There is a complete closure of the air-passage in the
mouth, but the soft palate is lowered to let the air come
out through the nose. Examples: /m nl.
Lateral: There is a closure in the middle but the air is free to
come out along the sides, as for /I/.
Fricative: There is a narrow passage for the air to pass through; so
there is audible friction, as for If v s z h/.
Approximant: There is less narrow opening between articulators, so
that the sounds can pass relatively freely without any
friction, as for example, Iw j/.

1.3.4 Broader classification of sounds

Speech sounds are classified across the vowel-consonant distinction on
account of shared phonetic properties.

Obstruent: In the production of certain consonants involving a narrowing

or closing of the air passage in the oral cavity, the air pressure
before the closure is higher than the air pressure outside the
closure. The manners of articulation involved in the production
of such sounds are plosive, fricative and affricate. These
sounds are called obstruents.
Sonorant: In the production of sounds produced with opener transitions or
with closure in one cavity but free release through another
cavity, the air pressure inside and outside the mouth is the
same. Such sounds are called sonorants. All the vowels and
the remaining classes of consonants, namely, nasals, laterals
and approximants are sonorant sounds.

1.4 THE USE OF PHONETIC SYMBOLS

We shall use the phonetic symbols suggested by the International Phonetic

Association to represent the sound of speech.

Check Your Progress

1. What is phonetics?
Phonetics and What is phonology?
Phonology-l

Give the names of the important organs of speech.

What is the source of energy for most speech sounds?

Distinguish between voiced and voiceless sounds, giving examples.

What is the phonetic difference between vowels and consonants?

How do we classify vowels?

8. Distinguish between oral and nasal sounds, giving examples. An Introduction to
Phonetics

9. How will you describe the consonants in the following English words?
spoken

In/ .................................................................................
aimed
/m/ .................................................................................
/dl .................................................................................
be/ief
/b/ .................................................................................
/I/ ..................................................................................
If/ .................................................................................

10. Give examples from English o f

i) a lateral consonant

ii) a nasal consonant

iii) a voiced alveolar plosive consonant

iv) a voiceless velar plosive consonant

v) a voiced labio-dental fricative consonant

1.5 LETUSSUMLIP

In this unit we have introduced you to the terms 'phonetics' and 'phonology',
and shown you how we can give a phonetic description o f speech sounds -
vowels and consonants.
Phonetics and -- --- .--- - -- -- .. - . ..
Phonologv- I 1.6 KEY WORDS .

The mark ( ' ) indicates that the following syllable is stressed.

'affricate: a consonant sound consisting of plosive followed by a
fricative in the same part of the mouth. Example: /tj/in
church.
'alveolar: a consonant like It1 and /dl made bj pi~ttillgthc tonguc
on or near the teeth-ridge.
bi'labial: a consonant produced with both lips. Examples: /p. b/.
'dental: a sound formed with the tip of the tongue against the
upper front teeth. Example: /8/ in tttink.
'fricative: a consonant made by forcing air out through a narrow
opening. Examples: If, v, s, z/.
'glottis: the space between the vocal cords.
'larynx: the hollow, box-like part at the. upper erid of tlie
windpipe in which 'voice' is produced by the vocal
cords.
'nasal: a speech sound made though the nose, c.g. /m/atid In:.
'obstruent: Plosives, fricatives and affricates.
'palate: the roof of the mouth.
pho'neme: the smallest distinctive unit in a language used to make
a word different from another. Example: /p/ in pcJt and
/b/ in bet represent different phonemes.
pho'netics: the science of speech sounds.
pho'oology: the system of speech sounds in a particular language.
pitch: the degree of highness or lowness of the tnusical note of
the voice.
'plosive: a consonant sound made by stopping tlie air completely
and then letting it out quickly out of thc mouth.
Example:/b/ in bat.
'sonorants: vowels, nasals, laterals, and approximants.
stress: the degree of force put on a part of the word making it
seem stronger than other parts. Example: The second
syllable has the stress in phonetics.
'syllable: a word or part of word which contains a vowel sound or
a consonant acting as a vowel. Example: 'The word
nasal has two syllables.
tra'chea: the windpipe
'velar: a sound made with the back of the tongue touching or
coming near the soft palate. Example: /k, g/.
voice: the musical note produced by the vibration of the vocal
cords.

------.
1.7 SOME USEFUL BOOKS

Bansal R.K. and J.B. Harrison 1983: Spoken English .for India. Second
Edition, Chennai: Orient Longman.
Longman Dictionary of ContemporaryEnglish.
 An Introduction to
Ladefoged Peter. 1 974. A Course in Phonetics. New York: '~arcourt,Brace
Phonetics
and Jovanovic.
Oxford Advanced Learner S Dictionary of Current English, Third Edition,
revised.
Sethi, J. and P.V.Dhamija 1999. A Course in Phonetics and Spoken English,
2ndedition, New Delhi, Prentice Hall o f India.

1.8 ANSWERS
Check Your Progress
1. Phonetics is the study o f the sounds o f human speech.
2. Phonology is the study o f the sound system o f a particular language.
We also know how the sounds are organized into distinctive units
called phonemes, how the phonemes are combined into syllables, and
how the features o f length, stress and pitch are organized into patterns.
3. Lungs, trachea, larynx vocal cords, teeth, teeth-ridge, hard palate, soft
palate, nasal cavity, tongue, lips.
4. The air-stream coming out o f the lungs.
5. Sounds in the production o f which the vocal cords vibrate and produce
a musical note are called voiced sounds. Examples: all vowels, the
consonants /b, d, g, v, z, m, n, I/. Sounds in the production o f which the
vocal cords are held apart are voiceless sounds. Examples: the
consonants /p t k f st.
6. In the production o f vowels sounds the air from the lungs comes out in
a continuous stream through the mouth, and the vocal cords vibrate to
produce voice. There i s no closure o f the air-passage in the mouth; nor
any narrowing that would cause audible friction. A l l other sounds are
consonants.

Example: the word sit has a vowel sound in the middle, and two
consonants, one in the beginning and one at the end.
7. (i) According to the part o f the tongue raised
front vowels
back vowels
central vowels
(ii) According to the height to which the tongue i s raised
close
half-close
ha1f-open
open
(iii) According to lip positions
lips spread
lips neutral
lips open
lips open rounded
lips close rounded.
8. Oral sounds are produced with the soft palate raised to shut o f f the
nasal passage.
Examples: / p b t d k g f v s z 11.
Soft palate to let the air pass though the nose. Examples: Im nl.
9. /s/ voiceless, alveolar, fricative
/p/ voiceless, bilabial, plosive
Phonetics and /kJ voiceless, velar, plosive
Phondogy- 1 In/voiced, alveolar, nasal
/mlvoiced, bilabial, nasal
/dl voiced, alveolar, plosive
/b/voiced, bilabial, plosive
111voiced, alveolar, lateral
/E/ voiced, labiodental, fricative
10. i) 111 in lamp, ii) /m/in map, iii) Id/ in day,iv) in cat?v) /v/in very.