PHONOLOGY

Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies the patterning of speech sounds in languages.

Phoneme is defined as the smallest meaning distinguishing sound unit.

ALLOPHONES • are a kind of phoneme that changes its sound based on how a word is spelled.

PHONOTACTICS • is the study of the ways in which phonemes are allowed to combine in a particular
language.

PHONOTACTIC CONSTRAINT refers to any specific restrictions.

The Organs of Speech

1.Tongue 6.Soft Palate

2.Lips 7. Pharynx

3.Teeth 8.Larynx

4.Alveolar Ridge 9. Uvula

5.Hard Palate 10.Glottis

The Organs of Speech Definition

The various organs of our mouth we use to produce speech sounds.

1.Speech organs or articulators, produce the sounds of language.

2.Organs used for speech include the lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate,velum(soft
palate),uvula,glottis and varoius parts of tongue.

They can be divided into two types

1.Passive Articulators

2.Active Articulators
Lips
The two lips serve for creating two different sounds –

1.Labial

2.Bilabial

Tongue
-the most important articulator in the speech organs.It moves in different ways in different shapes to
produce speech sounds.

Tongue is divided into Five Parts:

1.Tip

2.Blade

3.Front

4.Back

5.Root

Alveolar Ridge
The alveolar ridge includes the area between the upper front teeth and the hard palate. To produce
alveolar consonant sounds such as / t d l n s z /

Hard Palate
A thin horizontal bony plate of the skull located in the root 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/.

Soft Palate or Velum

It should have holes forming that function during speech to separate the oral cavity(mouth)vfrom the
nose in order to produce the oral speech sounds.
Pharynx
The pharynx is like a tube beginning just above the larynx and ending two parts.

The structure that holds and manipulates the vocal cords

Larynx
is part of your respiratory system. It's a hollow tube that lets air pass from your throat (pharynx) to
your trachea on the way to your lungs. It also contains your vocal cords and is essential to human
speech, so it's often called the voice box.

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.

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 voioce or voicing or pronunciation. Sound
production involving only the glottis is called glottal.

Speech Articulation 
 
 
 
What is speech articulation? 
 
Before we answer that, let us know first what is speech?  
 
When we say speech, it is the human vocal communication using language. Speech is the expression of
or the ability to express thoughts and feeling by articulate word.  
 
On the other hand, when we say articulation it is refers to making sounds. The production of sounds
involves the coordinated movements of the lips, tongue,teeth, palate(top of the mouth) and respiratory
system (lungs). There are also many different nerves and muscle used for speech. 
 
 
 
The different part of articulator.  
 
Production of speech sounds. 
 
Articulators above the larynx 
 
All the sounds we make when we speak are the result of muscles contracting. The muscles in the chest
that we use for breathing produce the flow of air that is needed for almost all speech sounds; muscles in
the larynx produce many different modifications in the flow of air from the chest to the mouth. After
passing through the larynx, the air goes through what we call the vocal tract, which ends at the mouth
and nostrils. Here the air from the lungs escapes into the atmosphere. We have a large and complex set
of muscles that can produce changes in the shape of the vocal tract, and in order to learn how the
sounds of speech are produced it is necessary to become familiar with the different parts of the vocal
tract. These different parts are called articulators, and the study of them is called articulatory
phonetics.  
 
Fig. 1 The articulators i) The pharynx is a tube which begins just above the larynx. It is about 7 cm long in
women and about 8 cm in men, and at its top end it is divided into two, one part being the back of the
mouth and the other being the beginning of the way through the nasal cavity. If you look in your mirror
with your mouth open, you can see the back of the pharynx. Ii) The velum or soft palate is seen in the
diagram in a position that allows air to pass through the nose and through the mouth. Yours is probably
in that position now, but often in speech it is raised so that air cannot escape through the nose. The
other important thing about the velum is that it is one of the articulators that can be touched by the
tongue. When we make the sounds kand g the tongue is in contact with the lower side of the velum, and
we call these velar 
 
Consonants. 
 
iii) The hard palate is often called the “roof of the mouth”. You can feel its smooth curved 
 
surface with your tongue. 
 
iv) The alveolar ridge is between the top front teeth and the hard palate. You can feel its shape 
 
with your tongue. Its surface is really much rougher than it feels, and is covered with little ridges. 
 
You can only see these if you have a mirror small enough to go inside your mouth (such as those 
 
Used by dentists). Sounds made with the tongue touching here (such as t and d ) are called 
 
Alveolar. 
 
v) The tongue is, of course, a very important articulator and it can be moved into many different 
 
places and different shapes. It is usual to divide the tongue into different parts, though there are 
 
no clear dividing lines within the tongue. Fig. 2 shows the tongue on a larger scale with these 
 
parts shown: tip, blade, front, back and root. (This use of the word “front” often seems rather 
 
strange at first.) 
 
Fig. 2 Sub-divisions of the tongue 
 
vi) The teeth (upper and lower) are usually shown in diagrams like Fig. 1 only at the front of the 
 
mouth, immediately behind the lips. This is for the sake of a simple diagram, and you should 
 
remember that most speakers have teeth to the sides of their mouths, back almost to the soft 
 
palate. The tongue is in contact with the upper side teeth for many speech sounds. Sounds made 
 
with the tongue touching the front teeth are called dental. 
 
vii) The lips are important in speech. They can be pressed together (when we produce the 
 
sounds p , b ), brought into contact with the teeth (as in f , v), or rounded to produce the lip- 
 
shape for vowels like uù. Sounds in which the lips are in contact with each other are called 
 
bilabial, while those with lip-to-teeth contact are called labiodental. 
 
The seven articulators described above are the main ones used in speech, but there are three other
things 
 
To remember. Firstly, the larynx could also be described as an articulator – a very complex and 
 
Independent one. Secondly, the jaws are sometimes called articulators; certainly we move the lower jaw
a lot in speaking. But the jaws are not articulators in the same way as the others, because they cannot
themselves make contact with other articulators. Finally, although there is practically nothing that we
can do with the nose and the nasal cavity, they are a very important part of our equipment for making
sounds (what is sometimes called our vocal apparatus), particularly nasal consonants such as m , n .
Again, we cannot really describe the nose and the nasal cavity as articulators in the same sense as (i) to
(vii) above. 

IPA AND THE SOUNDS OF ENGLISH (PHONETICS AND IPA)

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
-an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script

-a pronunciation alphabet in which every speech sound is represented by a symbol

-special range of letters or symbols that are based on phonetics

 -contains a totality of 163 symbols

-the concept of the IPA was first broached by Otto Jespersen in a letter to Paul Passy of the
International Phonetic Association and was developed by A.J. Ellis, Henry Sweet, Daniel Jones, and Passy
in the late 19th century

-first published in 1888 and was revised several times in the 20th and 21st centuries

Why do we need to use or learn the IPA?

-Gets words right instantly

-Speak with correct pronunciation

-Gain a deeper understanding of phonetics

Phonetics
-a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign
languages, the equivalent aspect of sign

-this helps in improving English pronunciation and feeling more confident speaking in English, whether
you learn English on your own or with a specialist teacher in an individual English accent training class

-the science of phonetics aims to describe all the sounds of all the world's language

Phonetician
-linguists who specialize in studying phonetics, the physical properties of speech

Phoneme
-smallest unit of sound

3 Branches of Phonetic
 Acoustic phonetics

-focuses on the physical properties of the sounds of language

 Auditory phonetics

-focuses on how listeners perceive the sounds of language

 Articulatory phonetics

-focuses on how the vocal tract produces the sounds of language

 Most speech sounds are produced by pushing air through the vocal cords

*Glottis- the opening between the vocal cords

*Larynx - voice box
*Pharynx - tubular part of the throat above the larynx
*Oral Cavity- mouth
*Nasal Cavity - nose and the passages connecting it to the throat and sinuses

Phonetic Alphabet
*Some problems with ordinary spelling:

1. The same sound may be represented by many letters or combination of letters

2. The same letter may represent a variety of sounds

3. A combination of letters may represent a single sound

4. A single letter may represent a combination of sounds

5. Some letters in a word may not be pronounced at all

6. There may be no letter to represent a sound that occurs in a word

-Using IPA symbols, we can now represent the pronunciation of words

 Major Phonetic Classes
 Noncontinuants- the airstream is totally obstructed in oral cavity

-stops and affricates

 Continuants- the airstream flows continuously out of the mouth

-all other consonants and vowels

 Obstruents- the airstream has partial or full obstruction

- non-nasal stops, fricatives and affricates

 Sonorants- air resonates in the nasal or oral cavities

- vowels, nasal stops, liquids and glides

 Syllabic Sounds- sounds that can function as the core of syllable

-vowels, liquids, nasals

 Consonantal- there is some restriction of the airflow during
articulation
 -all consonants except glides

Consonantal sounds can be further subdivided:

*Labials- articulated with the lips
*Coronals- articulated by raising the tongue blade

Consonantal Categories
*Anteriors- produced in the front part of the mouth
*Sibilants- produced with a lot of friction that causes a hissing sound,
which is a mixture of high- frequency sounds

IPA Vowels ( front, back, and central vowels and diphthongs)

"Vowel and diphthongs"

Vowel
-is a speech sound produced by human when the breath flows
out through the mouth without being blocked by the teeth, tongue, or
lips".
The vowels are described by the IPA using the three dimension of:
1. Closeness/ Height
2. Frontness
3. Rounding

1. "Closeness/ Height"
- The closeness category refers to the position of the mandible
( open or close); While the height of a vowel refers to the vertical
position of the tongue towards the palatal area (low or high).

"Based on the closeness there are five variations use to define

vowels, such as:
*Open
- The vowel use a depressed position of the mandible with a low
position of the tongue.
Try to pronounce
[ɑ:], [ɒ]
*Open-mid
 - Open-mid vowels use a partially depressed position of the
mandible with the tongue position being located halfway between
the palatal area and the floor of the mouth.
Try to pronounce
[e], [ʌ], [ɔ:], [ɜ:]
*Mid
- Mid vowel is use a middle position of the mandible with the
tongue being located in central position of the palatal area and the
floor of the mouth.
Try to pronounce
[ə]
*Close-Mid
- closed-mid vowels use a close mandible position with a tongue
position that is located halfway between the palatal area and the
floor of the mouth.
Try to pronounce
[eɪ], [əʊ]
*Close
- Close vowel use a close mandible position and a high tongue
position. The tongue actually resting on the alveolar ridge.
Try to pronounce
[ɪ:], [ɪ], [u:]
2. "Frontness"
 - refers to the horizontal position of the tongue in relation to
the front or back of the mouth.
Three variation of frontness
*Front
- are produced by the placement of the tongue tip in various
position from the upper ancisors (front cutting teeth) to the lower
ones.
Try to pronounce
[ɪ:], [ɪ], [e], [æ]
*Central
- the central vowel is produced when the tongue is resting in a
neutral position in the oral activity.
Try to pronounce
[ə], [ɜ:]
*Back
- back vowels are produced when the back part of the tongue is
moved up or down in the velar area.
Try to pronounce
[ʌ], [ɑ:], [ɒ], [ɔ:], [u:]

3. Rounding
-refers to the position of the lips during the production of the
vowel.
"The two lip position"
*Rounded
-produced in the rounded position require the lips to be open and
protruded to some degree.
Try to pronounce
[ɒ], [ɔ:], [u:], [ʊ]
*Unrounded
-produced in the unrounded position require the lips to be
spread and the corners of the mouth retracted to varying degrees.
Try to pronounce
[ɪ:], [ɪ], [I], [æ], [e], [ɑ:], [ʌ], [ɜ:], [ə]

Diphthongs
-is a vowel sounds in which the tongue changes position to
produce sound of two vowels
 Chart of English diphthongs

* It is to note that the close combination of the two vowels courses

each of the vowel to lose its pure quality
* In phonological pattern, diphthongs are labeled using a sing "V" (not
"VV" ) because they act as one sound.
* Because diphthongs are composed vowels, they are also described
using parameters of closeness (height), frontness, and rounding.
IPA Consonants (Plosives, Nasals, Fricatives, Sibilants, Affricates,
Approximants, Laterals)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet  
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based
primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late
19th century as a standardized representation of speech sounds in written form.[1] The IPA is
used by lexicographers, foreign language students and teachers, linguists, speech–language
pathologists, singers, actors, constructed language creators, and translators. 
 
 
1. Stop or Plosive 
 
We build pressure of air and then release it. This is a sudden burst of air. Examples of stops include:
/p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/ 
 
Take a look at stops in these words. 
 
Initial Sounds 
 
/p/ – pig 
 
/b/ – bag 
 
/t/ – tall 
 
/d/ – dad 
 
/k/ kick 
 
/g/ – girl 
 
2. Fricative 
 
We stop part of the air so it can’t come through everywhere. It is a stream of air. Imagine a river of
water flowing. Then imagine putting a large rock in the center of the river. The flow of the water would
change because of the large rock, but the water would still flow around it. This is a strong description of
what a fricative sound is formed. There is a flowing river of air, and you partially block it with your
tongue, teeth, or lips. 
 
Sounds include: /f/ /v/ /s/ /z/ /h/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /ð/ /θ/ 
 
Take a look at fricatives in these words. 
 
Initial Sounds 
 
/f/ – four 
 
/v/ – van 
 
/s/ – sun 
 
/z/ – zip 
 
/h/ – hello 
 
/ʃ/ – ship 
 
/ʒ/ – This sound does not occur at the beginning of words in English. It usually occurs in the
middle of English words.  
 
/ð/ – these 
 
/θ/ – thin 
 
Final Sounds 
 
/f/ – half 
 
/v/ – have 
 
/s/ – pass 
 
/z/ – has 
 
/h/ – This sound does not occur at the end of words in English. It occurs in the beginning or middle of
English words.  
 
/ʃ/ – wash 
 
/ʒ/ – rouge – This sound at the final position is rare. It usually occurs in the middle of English
words.  
 
/ð/ – bathe 
 
/θ/ – bath 
 
3. Affricate 
 
We combine stops and fricatives to form affricates. Examples include: /tʃ/ and /dʒ/. Affricates start with
a stop and then transitions into a fricative. 
 
Initial Sounds 
 
/tʃ/ – chip 
 
/dʒ/ – just 
 
Final Sounds 
 
/tʃ/ – catch 
 
/dʒ/ – badge 
 
4. Nasal 
 
We close our palate and let air stream through the nose. Examples include: /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ 
 
Initial Sounds 
 
/m/ – moon 
 
/n/ – nap 
 
/ŋ/ – This sound does not occur at the beginning of words in English.   
 
5. Liquid/lateral 
 
We let air stream on the sides of our tongue. ExFinal Sounds  /ɹ/ – dear  /l/ – fill  6) Glide  We move our
mouth constantly from a articulation to a vowel sound. Examples include: /w/ and /j/  Initial Sounds  /w/
– win  /y/ – yellow  Final Sounds  /w/ – This sound does not usually occur at the end of a word in English.
When you see a w at the end of a word, it usually means you bring your lips together in a small circle
near the end of the vowel sound that comes before it, but the /w/ sound is not produced.   /y/ – This
sound does not usually occur at the end of a word in English.ples include: /ɹ/ /l/ 
 
Initial Sounds 
 
/ɹ/ – red 
 
/l/ – light 
 
Final Sounds 
 
/ɹ/ – dear 
 
/l/ – fill 
 
6. Glide/Approximants 
 
We move our mouth constantly from a articulation to a vowel sound. Examples include: /w/ and /j/ 
 
Initial Sounds 
 
/w/ – win 
 
/y/ – yellow 
 
Final Sounds 
 
/w/ – This sound does not usually occur at the end of a word in English. When you see a w at the end of
a word, it usually means you bring your lips together in a small circle near the end of the vowel sound
that comes before it, but the /w/ sound is not produced.  
 
/y/ – This sound does not usually occur at the end of a word in English. 
 
https://www.studywithandrea.com/learn-english/english-lesson-manner-of-articulation-and-place-of-
articulation/ 
 
 
 
 
Sibilants 
 
Sibilant, in phonetics, a fricative consonant sound, in which the tip, or blade, of
the tongue is brought near the roof of the mouth and air is pushed past the
tongue to make a hissing sound. In English s, z, sh, and zh (the sound of the s in
“pleasure”) are sibilants. Sometimes the affricates ch and j are also considered as
sibilants. 
 
https://www.britannica.com/topic/sibilant 
https://youtu.be/hsn4Dznqg4g  
 
VOICE CHARACTERISTICS (Pitch, Intensity, Quality)

PITCH

-refers to the highness and lowness of the voice.

-it is closely tied to the emotion of a message.

•Types- high, medium, low

•Range- variations possibke for the speaker

•Inflection- rising and falling of pitch

-conveys your mood, expresses your concern for the audience, and signals your overall commitment
to the occassion.

-your pitch expresses your emotional state, for instance, it can communicate anger or annoyance,
patience or tolerance.

e.g :

repeat the word "really" with pain, with anger, with excitement, boredom and so on.

think of this like music:

singers hit high otess, depending on the lyrics. Suppose you are speaking to a bunch of women at the
senior citizen's home about life insurance. This would probably not be a good time to use high pitch.

when you get inside the club

A LOW PITCH tells the audience you are speaking about something serious.

A HIGH PITCH should be research for somethibf more upbeat and exciting.

MONOTONE- speaking on one level.

Just like when somebody barely changes their pitch, their voice is described as monotone.
INTENSITY

Intensity- is perceived as the loudness of the sound.

Loudness- refers to how loud or soft a voice seems to a listener.

Sound Amplitude- causes a sound's loudness and intensity.

The frequency of vibration of the vocal folds is perceived as the pitch of the voice.

In contrast, it is the amplitude of the vibrations (i.e the size of the oscillation of vocal folds) that affect
the loudness.

The greater the amplitude of the vibrations, the greater the amount of energy is carried by thw wave,
and more intense the sound will be.

Now, intensity is percieved as the loudness of the sound, e.i:

-the greater the intensity, the louder we perceive the sound to be.

-the lower the intensity, the quieter we perceive the sound to be.

WHAT IS QUALITY?

Quality- refers to the basic sound of the voice and is largely influenced by how sound moves througg the
vocal folds.
 -the individual sound of your particular voice.

-age and emotions will change the voice quality.

e.g:

How do old people sound?

What about really amotional people?

What happens to the quality of their voice?

A character might talk with a breathy vocal quality when more air is let through the vocal folds, or with a
creaky quality if they reduce the amount of air. These changes in sound can tell audience information
about a character's circumstances, such as age and health.
 PROSODY   

   There are different branches of linguistics that deal with sounds and all of their unique aspects. One
branch in particular, known as prosody, is the study of bigger speech sound units and syllables. In
linguistics prosody helps you to better understand subjects such as intonation, rhythm, stress and
pauses.

What is Prosody?

In linguistics:

Prosody- also known as prosodic or suprasegmental phonology

              -is concerned with the way connected speech sounds. Because of this, some people refer to
prosody as the ‘music’ of language.

Some of the main prosodic features are:

  intonation
 stress
 rhythm 
 pauses

These are an important part of speech as they can help structure the things we say and affect meaning.

Consider the following utterance, 'oh, how romantic!'

We can determine whether the speaker actually thinks something is romantic, or if they are being
sarcastic, based on the use of certain prosodic features, such as intonation and stress.

Prosody of speech

Prosodic features are the suprasegmental elements of speech - this means they accompany consonant
and vowel sounds and are extended across whole words or sentences rather than being limited to single
sounds. Prosodic features typically appear in connected speech and often occur naturally.

For example, when we say just one or two words, we’re far less likely to hear prosody than when we
speak for an extended period of time.

Prosodic features are comprised of different prosodic variables, such as tone, length of sounds, voice
pitch, duration of sounds, and volume.

Prosody examples - Prosodic features

Intonation

Intonation usually refers to the rise and fall of our voices. However, there’s a little more to it than that,
and our intonation is based on a few different factors. These are:

 Dividing speech into units.

  Changes in pitch (high or low)
 Changing the length of syllables or words.

Stress

Stress refers to the emphasis we place on certain words or syllables. Stress can be added to a word by

 Increasing the length

 Increasing the volume
 Changing the pitch (speaking in a higher or lower pitch)

Rhythm

Rhythm is less of a prosodic feature itself and more the result of the combination of other prosodic
features and variables. Rhythm refers to the ‘movement’ and flow of speech determined by the stress,
length, and number of syllables.

Pauses

Pauses can help add structure to our speech and often functions in the same way a full stop does in
written text.

Pauses can also signal that we are hesitant about what we’re about to say or can be used for emphasis
and dramatic effect.

Functions of prosody in reading.

Prosody is an important part of speech and has many functions, namely showing what the speaker
actually means in comparison to what they are saying. Let's look at some of the main functions of
prosody.

To add meaning

Prosody is another way of adding meaning to the things we say. This is because the way in which we say
things can change their intended meaning. Prosodic features have no meaning on their own – instead
we must consider the use and context of prosody in relation to the utterance (units of speech).

Look at the following sentence ‘I didn’t take the letter.’

Read the sentence out loud, each time adding stress to a different word. See how it can change the
meaning?

E.g.

When we say ‘I didn’t take the letter’ (stress on ‘I’) it suggests that perhaps someone else took the
letter.

When we say ‘I didn’t take the letter’ (stress on ‘letter’) it suggests we perhaps took something else.

Another good example of prosody being used to add meaning is the use of sarcasm and irony.
When people are being sarcastic or ironic, there is usually a contradiction between what they say and
what they actually mean. We can interpret the intended meaning by placing the utterance into context
and paying attention to the prosodic features.

You do a terrible job parking your car and your friend says ‘nice one’. Perhaps they have lengthened the
words, raised their pitch, or said it louder than usual. Any of these changes in prosody can indicate the
use of sarcasm.

There is no specific way to sound sarcastic. You can usually tell someone is being sarcastic based on the
context and the change in their prosody.

To express emotion

The prosodic features we use can say a lot about how we’re feeling. We can often tell whether someone
is feeling sad, happy, scared, excited etc. based on the way their voice sounds.

A friend might tell you they’re ‘fine’, but they say it quickly and quietly when they're usually quite a loud
person.

Quite often the prosodic features that give away our emotions happen involuntarily; however, we can
also adjust our prosody on purpose to indicate to others how we really feel.

For clarity and structure

The use of prosodic features can also help add structure and remove ambiguity from our speech.

EXAMPLE:

The sentence ‘They met Anna and Luke and Izzy didn’t show up.’ might be a little confusing if spoken
without any prosodic features. Using pauses and intonation would make the meaning of this sentence
much clearer! E.g. Leaving a pause after the word Anna would it make it clearer that both Luke and Izzy
didn't show up.

References:

https://www.studysmarter.us/explanations/english/prosody/https://www.studysmarter.us/
explanations/english/prosody/