Pronunciation

Narendra Kumar
Asst. Prof.
TEQIP-III, MHRD, GOI
BIET Jhansi
 Introduction
• Language:
“The method of human communication, either
spoken or written, consisting of the use of words
in a structured and conventional way.”
(Oxford Dictionary)
– The smallest unit of a language – sound / phone
– Phoneme:
“distinct units of sound in a specified language that
distinguish one word from another” (Ox. Dic.)
e.g. In English /p/, /b/, /s/, /t/ etc.
In Hindi /pʰ/, /bʰ/, /tʰ/, /ʂ/ etc.

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 Phonetics
• Phonetics: the scientific study of speech sounds.
• IPA : International Phonetic Alphabets
– represents qualities of all possible speech sounds
– are decided by International Phonetic Association
established in 1897.
– 107 letters represent consonants and vowels,
31 diacritics are used to modify these, and 19
additional signs indicate suprasegmental qualities
such as length, tone, stress, and intonation.
– IPA chart 2015

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 Phonetics
• Articulatory Phonetics
– It deals with the production of speech sound and
the physiological structure involved in it.
• Acoustic Phonetics
– It deals with the transmission of sound and the
characteristics of speech sound.
• Auditory Phonetics
– It deals with the reception of speech sounds by the
listener.
– It is known as hearing mechanism.

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 Articulatory Phonetics
• Organs of speech : The human organs involved
in the production of speech sounds.

http://phoneticsa2015.blogspot.in/
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 Articulation mechanism
• There are three main parts of speech production:
http://www.netanimations.net/Heart-beating-lungs-
breathing-body-organ-animations.htm

Lungs pump Vocal folds / cords Vocal tract

the air cause the air to modify the air
vibrate stream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4xQ16pHKsA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3TwTb-T044

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 Articulation mechanism

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 Functions of organs of speech
• Lungs: Pumps the air out
• Trachea (windpipe):
Transmits the air from lungs
to vocal tract
• Vocal-cords / folds :
Vibrates the air
– Glottis: opening between the
two vocal folds

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 Functions of organs of speech
• Epiglottis: A flap of tissue
whose primary function is to
protect the wind-pipe and
prevent food from entering
in it and reach in lungs
accidently.
• O/Esophagus: food-pipe
• Tongue:
– The most flexible organ.
– It makes obstruction at the
different places of our
mouth to produce oral
sounds.
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 Functions of organs of speech
• Palate : It creates
obstruction with the help
of tongue
– It is divided into three
parts: Alveolar Ridge,
Hard-palate, soft-palate
(velum)
• Uvula : It plays a vital
role in distinguishing oral
and nasal sounds
– It lowers down to create
nasal sound
– It raises up to create oral
sound.

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 Vowel Sounds
• Vowels : Sounds produced without any
obstruction in the way of air-stream in the vocal
tract.

Audio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_vowel_chart_with_audio
Image: IPA Chart 2015 https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/sites/default/files/IPA_Kiel_2015.pdf
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 English Vowels
• English (British RP) has 20 vowel Sounds
– 12 pure vowels
– 8 diphthongs (two vowel sounds pronounced with
glide)
Front Central Back Front Central Back
Close

Mid-
Close

Mid-
open

Open
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 English Vowels (Pure) - features
S. No. Phoneme Examples Features (position of tongue, height of
tongue, rounding of lips )
1 iː (ई) Feet, sheep front, close, unrounded
2 ɪ (इ) Bid, kit near-central, mid-close, unrounded
3 e (ए) Bed, head front, near mid-open, unrounded
4 æ (ऐ) lap, trap front, near open, unrounded
5 ɑː (आ) Hard, start Back, open, unrounded
6 ə (अ) The, that central, near mid-open, unrounded
7 ɜː (अर̖) learn, nurse central, near mid-open, unrounded
8 ʌ (अ̖) mud, love central, near open, unrounded
9 uː (ऊ) goose, blue back, close, rounded
10 ʊ (उ) good, put back, near close, rounded
11 ɔː (ऑ) law, war back, near mid-close, rounded
12 2/6/2019ɒ (ओ) Lot, odd back,
Narendra Kumar, Asst. Prof.near open,
BIET Jhansi (TEQIP-III rounded
MHRD, GOI)
 English Vowels (Diphthongs) -
features
S. No. Phoneme Examples
1 eɪ (एइ) Face, day, break
2 aɪ (आइ) Price, high, try
3 ɔɪ (ऑइ) Choice, noise, boy
4 eə (एअ) Fair, pair, square
5 ʊə (उअ) Poor, tour, pure
6 ɪə (इअ) Ear, hear, near
7 aʊ (आउ) Loud, couch, clown
8 əʊ (अउ) Boat, show, know

2/6/2019 Narendra Kumar, Asst. Prof. BIET Jhansi (TEQIP-III MHRD, GOI)
 English Vowels (triphthongs) -
features
S. Phoneme Examples
No.
1 eɪə (एइअ) Layer, payer, player
2 aɪə (आइअ) Liar, hire, tyre
3 ɔɪə (ऑइअ) Loyal, royal, employer
4 aʊə (आउअ) Power, hour, tower
5 əʊə (अउअ) Mower, lower, widower

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 Consonant Sounds
• Consonants : Produced as a result of
obstruction in the way of air-stream in the vocal
tract.

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 English Consonant sounds

Sounds which appear in the pair, the left are voiceless and the right are voiced.
Source: T. Balasubramanian (2008) A Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian Students. Macmillan India, PP. 88
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 Place of articulation
• Bilabial : Lower lip + Upper lip /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/
• Labio-dental : Lower lip + Upper teeth /f/, /v/
• Dental : Tip of the tongue + Upper teeth /θ/, /ð/
• Alveolar : Tip of the tongue + teeth ridge
/n/, /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /l/
• Post-alveolar: Tip of the tongue +immediately
behind teeth ridge /r/
• Palato-alveolar: Blade of the tongue + front
of the hard palate /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/,
• Retroflex: Tongue curled reversed + palate
• Palatal : Middle of the tongue + palate /j/
• Velar : Back of the tongue + Soft palate /k/, /ɡ/, /ŋ/
• Uvular : the rear part of the back of the tongue + Uvula
• Pharyngeal : Root of the tongue + mid to
upper pharynx https://www.emaze.com/@AWTFWZIQ/Paralanguage

• Glottal : In glottis /h/

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 Manner of Articulation
• Plosive : Release of air with a burst after complete
closure. /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /ɡ/
• Nasal : Allowing air to pass freely through nose.
/m/, /n/, /ŋ/
• Trill : Vibration between active and passive articulators.
• Tap / Flap : single sudden flip of the tongue against
upper part of mouth
• Fricative : Release of air with a friction between the
articulators. /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/
• Affricate ː begins as a stop sound but the air is released
with a friction. /tʃ/, /dʒ/
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 Manner of Articulation
• Lateral Fricative : Release of air with a friction
through the sides of tongue and air is blocked in
the middle of the mouth. /l/
• Approximant : Bringing one articulator close to
the another without causing audible friction,
seems like a vowel. /r/, /j/, /w/
• Lateral Approximant : Approximant sounds
with air release through the sides of tongue.

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 Other features
• Voiceless sound ː sounds which are produced without
vibration in larynx.
• Voiced sound ː sounds which are produced with
vibration in larynx.
• Obstruent ː sounds which are produced by creating
obstruction in the air-stream in vocal tract.
• Sonorant ː sounds which are produced with continuous
airflow without any obstruction in the air-stream in
vocal tract.
• Liquid ː lateral (/l/) and rhotic (/r/)sounds
• Strident / sibilant ː fricative and affricate sounds
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 Consonant features
S. No. Phoneme Examples Features (place, manner, voicinɡ)
1 m (म) map, amber, calm bilabial, nasal, voiced
2 p (प) pin, apple, ape bilabial, plosive, voiceless
3 b (ब) bin, obese, curb bilabial, plosive, voiced
4 w (व) war, powder, cow bilabial, approximant, voiced
5 f (फ) fan, afford, calf labio-dental, fricative, voiceless
6 v (व) van, lovely, love labio-dental, fricative, voiced
7 θ (थ) thin, cathode, bath dental, fricative, voiceless
8 ð (द) they, lather, father dental, fricative, voiced
9 n (न) nib, manner, tin alveolar, nasal, voiced
10 t (ट) toy, cattle, hat alveolar, plosive, voiceless
11 d (ड) day, cuddle, curd alveolar, plosive, voiced
12 2/6/2019s (स) sin, pistol, toss alveolar, fricative, voiceless 22
Narendra Kumar, Asst. Prof. BIET Jhansi (TEQIP-III MHRD, GOI)
S. Phon Examples Features
No. eme
13 z (ज) zip, razor, ɡraze alveolar, fricative, voiced
14 l (ल) lap, blank, ball alveolar, lateral, voiced
15 r (र) rat, scrap post-alveolar, approximants, voiced
16 tʃ (च) chair, teacher, match palato-alveolar, affricate, voiceless
17 dʒ (ज) joke, lunɡe, lodɡer palato-alveolar, affricate, voiced
18 ʃ (श) ship, nation, fish palato-alveolar, fricative, voiceless
19 ʒ (ज़) vision, beiɡe palato-alveolar, fricative, voiced
20 j (य) yak, huge, pray(eɪ) palatal, approximants, voiced
21 ŋ (ड०) lonɡer, wronɡ velar, nasal, voiced
22 k (क) kit, scale, take velar, plosive, voiceless
23 ɡ (ग) ɡift, ruɡby, buɡ velar, plosive, voiced
24 h (ह) hope, behindNarendra Kumar, Asst.ɡlottal,
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Prof. BIET Jhansi (TEQIP-III MHRD,voiced
GOI) 23