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77PHONETICS

SPEECH

One of the main characteristics of a human being is his ability to communicate to his fellows
complicated messages about every aspect of his activity.
Early in his life a child learns to respond to sounds and tunes, which his elders habitually use in
talking to him, and after some time he imitates those patterns of sound and starts producing oral
language. However, a number of years will pass by before he acquires the sound system used by
his community. And if we think in terms of vocabulary or syntax, the time he needs is even longer.

WRITING is “the visual representation of speech”.

LANGUAGE

A language is a system of conventional signs used for communication by a whole

community.

A complete description of the present state of a language has to provide information on

various interrelated levels:

PHONOLOGY: It deals with the concrete phonetic characteristics (articulatory, auditory, and
acoustic) of the sounds used in a language, the combinatory possibilities of the phonemes and
characteristics such as pitch, stress, accent and intonation.

MORPHOLOGY: The study of the structure and form of words in a language, including inflection,
derivation, and the formation of compounds. - LEXIS: It is the total number of word forms that exist
in a language (words are formed by phonemes - level 1).

SYNTAX: the study of the rules that govern the ways in which words combine to
form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Syntax is one of the major components of grammar.
GRAMMAR: The systematic study and description of a language; a set of rules and examples
dealing with the syntax and word structures of a language. (It is a system of rules governing the
structure of phrases, clauses and sentences consisting of the words of the lexicon {level 2}).

SEMANTICS: It deals with the analysis of meaning in language.

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SPEECH

THE PRODUCTION OF SPEECH: THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECT

Every time we make use of language by means of speech, it is the result of a very
complicated series of events.

Stage 1: The formulation of a concept takes place at a linguistic level, in the brain. Therefore, the
first stage is psychological.

Stage 2: The nervous system transmits this message to the so-called ‘organs of speech’. These
behave in a certain way to make the oral production possible. Then, the second stage is
physiological.

Stage 3: The movement of our organs of speech creates disturbances in the air. These
disturbances may be studied from an acoustic or physical level.

This process goes the other way round on the listener.

Stage 1: He perceives the vibrations at an acoustic level.

Stage 2: These vibrations are perceived through his auditory system, which carries the message
to the brain. The second stage is physiological.

Stage 3: The brain decodes the information. Then, this stage is psychological.

THE SPEECH MECHANISM

When we speak, we make use of the so-called ‘organs of speech’, which we ‘borrow’
from the digestive and respiratory tracts.

The most usual source of energy for our vocal activity is provided by an air stream
expelled from the lungs. The air stream provided by the lungs undergoes important modifications
in upper stages of the respiratory tract.

From the lungs it passes through the trachea and the larynx till it reaches the mouth or
nasal cavity. The larynx is a casing situated in the upper part of the trachea. The vocal folds, two
folds of ligament, are inside the trachea and they may get close or separate from each other. The
opening between them is known as the glottis.

The vocal folds may take 3 different positions:

 They may be kept tightly closed with the lung air pent up below them (as for the glottal
stop, e.g. “can’t go” /kɑ:n? gǝʊ/).

 They may be held open so that when the air stream passes through them, there is NO
vibration (as for voiceless sounds).
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 They may be kept sufficiently closed together (very near) so that they vibrate when the
air stream expelled by the lungs passes through them (as for voiced sounds).

Having passed through the larynx, the air stream expelled by the lungs is subject to further
modifications, as it passes through the pharynx, the mouth and according to whether the nasal
cavity is brought into use or not.

The escape of air from the pharynx may be affected in one of these ways, depending on
the position of the soft palate

 The soft palate may be raised so that the air escapes only through the mouth. All normal
English sounds, except for /m/n/ŋ/ have oral escape. ORAL SOUNDS

 The soft palate may be lowered as in normal breath, in which case the air may escape
through the nose and through the mouth. (e.g. French vowels) NASALISED SOUNDS

 The soft palate may be lowered and there is a complete obstruction at some point in
the mouth, so that NO ORAL ESCAPE is possible. The air stream is expelled only
through the nose. /m/n/ŋ/ NASAL SOUNDS

However, it is the shape of the mouth, which determines finally the quality of the majority of
the speech sounds.

POSITION OF THE LIPS:

The lips may:

 form a complete obstruction, the air stream may be either momentarily prevented from
escaping (as in the initial sounds /p/b/) or may escape through the nose (as for /m/).
 be kept apart, and have different positions:
 the lower lip may be in contact with the upper teeth, so that
when the air stream passes through them, there is friction (fricative
labio-dental sounds: /f/ - /v/)

 they may be kept sufficiently far apart, so that when the air
stream passes through them, there is NO friction
 spread lip position e.g. /i:/ - /ɪ/ - /e/ - /ɜ:/
 neutrally open e.g. /æ/ - /Λ/ - / ɑ:/
 rounded /ɒ/ - /ɔ:/ - /ʊ/ - / u:/

As it can be noticed, the position of the lips is extremely important in the articulation of
vowels. As regards consonants, their position is important in the production of /m/p/b/w/ and
/f/v/. For the other consonants, they assume the position of the adjacent vowel.
 4

THE PHONEME

It is an abstract linguistic unit. It is the smallest contrastive unit, which may cause a
change of meaning.

It is possible to establish the phonemes of a language by means of the discovery of

minimal pairs, i.e. pairs of words which are different in respect of only one phoneme or sound
segment. e.g. /li:v/ /lɪv/
/ i:/ /ɪ/
These contrastive units are called phonemes.

There are 24 consonantal phonemes. Most of these consonantal phonemes occur in three
positions in the word:

initial position mid position final position

/m/ men /men/ among /əmΛŋ/ come /kΛm/
/t/ ten /ten/ attic / ᴂtɪk/ pet /pet/

Phonemes of restricted occurrence

A phoneme of restricted occurrence does not occur in the three positions.
initial position mid position final position
/Ʒ/ ------ leisure /leƷə/ (Br E) rouge /ru:Ʒ/
/h/ heat /hi:t/ ahead /əhed/ ------
red /red/ carry /kᴂrɪ/ I have a car. /kɑ:/
The car broke down. /kɑ:/ Br E
My car is blue. /kɑ:r/
/r/
red /red/ carry /kᴂrɪ/ I have a car. /kɑ:r/
The car broke down. /kɑ:r/ Am E
My car is blue. /kɑ:r/
/ŋ/ ------ singer /sɪŋə/ sing /sɪŋ/
/j/ yes /jes/ beyond /bɪjɒnd/ ------
new /nju:/ semi-
/w/ went /went/ award /əwɔ:d/ ------ vowels
queen /kwi:n/

There are 20 vocalic phonemes. These are the following vowels and vowel glides:
Vowels proper: /ı:/ - /ɪ/ - /e/ - /ᴂ/ - /Λ/ - /ɑ:/ - /ɒ/ - /ɔ:/ - /ʊ/ - /u:/ - /ɜ:/ - /ə/
Diphthongs (diphthongal glides): /eɪ/ - /aɪ/ - /ɔɪ/ - /ɑʊ/ - /əʊ/ - /eə/ - /ɪə/ - /ʊə/
 5

DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION OF SPEECH SOUNDS

CONSONANTS AND VOWELS

From the grammatical point of view From the phonological point of view they
they have been defined as follows: have been defined as follows:

VOWEL It has typically a central syllabic A sound in which there is no contact

function (mid position in the syllable) between the organs, in its articulation
there isn’t any closure or narrowing. It is
most easily described in auditory
terms.
CONSONANT It has typically a marginal syllabic A sound in which there is contact
function (initial or final position in the between the organs. The sounds need a
syllable) closure or a narrowing which involves
friction. It is most easily described in
articulatory terms, since we can feel
the organs move.

SEMI-CONSONANTS: /r/ - /l/

SEMIVOWELS: /j/ - /w/

THE VOWEL TYPE

A vowel is mainly described in auditory terms. There is NO closure or narrowing in the

production of a vowel (characteristic of consonants).

A description of a vowel includes:

 The position of the soft palate: If it is raised, they are oral sounds; if it is lowered, they
are nasalised sounds. In English, all vowels and diphthongs are oral.
 The kind of aperture formed by the lips, i.e. the degree of spreading or rounding.
 The part of the tongue which is raised, and the degree of raising.

THE CONSONANTAL TYPE

A consonant must be described in terms of: In other words, you must answer these
 the nature of the air stream (from the questions:
lungs/pulmonic)  Where does the air stream come
 vibration of the vocal folds from?
(voiced/voiceless)  Do the vocal folds vibrate?
 position of the soft palate
(oral/nasal/nasalised)  Is the soft palate lowered or raised?
 place of articulation: where the  Where do the organs meet?
organs meet
 manner of articulation: what kind of  Do the organs form a closure or a
closure or narrowing the articulators narrowing?
form.
PLACE OF ARTICULATION
 BILABIAL: The two lips are the primary articulators. // Both lips are joined. /m/ - /p/ - /b/
 LABIO-DENTAL: The lower lip articulates with the upper teeth. /f/- /v/
 DENTAL: The tip and blade of the tongue articulate with the upper teeth. /θ/ - /ð/
 ALVEOLAR: The tip and blade of the tongue articulate with the alveolar ridge. /s/ - /z/ - /t/
- /d/ - /l/ - /n/
 POST-ALVEOLAR: The tip and blade of the tongue articulate with the last part of the
alveolar ridge. /r/
 PALATO-ALVEOLAR: The tip and blade of the tongue articulate with the alveolar ridge and
at the same time the front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate. /ʧ/ - /ʤ/ - /ʃ/ - /Ʒ/
 VELAR: The back of the tongue articulates with the soft palate. /k/ - /g/ - /ŋ/
 GLOTTAL: An obstruction or a narrowing causes friction but no vibration between the vocal
folds. /h/ - /?/

MANNER OF THE ARTICULATION

The obstruction made by the organs may be total, intermittent, partial, or may merely constitute a
narrowing sufficient enough to cause friction.
PLOSIVES /p/ - /b/ - /t/
- /d/ - /k/ - /g/
There is a complete closure at
- /?/
some point in the vocal tract.
Behind it, the air stream is pent up.
The organs forming the closure
separate abruptly so that the air
stream is released explosively (with
COMPLETE CLOSURE:

plosion).
AFFRICATES /ʧ/ - /ʤ/
CLOSURE
There is a complete closure at
(classification
some point in the vocal tract, but
according to the
the separation of the organs
degree of closure)
forming the obstruction is slow
compared with that of plosives; so
that friction is a characteristic of the
second element of the sound.
NASALS /m/ - /n/ - /ŋ/
There is a complete obstruction at
some point in the mouth, the soft
palate is lowered, and the air
escapes through the nose.
 ROLL /r/

INTERMITTENT CLOSURE:
There is a series of rapid
intermittent closures or taps, made
by a flexible organ on a firmer
surface.
FLAP /ɾ/
It is produced with a single tap
made by a flexible organ on a firmer
surface. /ɾ/ for which the tip of the
tongue taps only once against the
teeth ridge.
LATERAL /l/
CLOSURE:
PARTIAL

A partial closure is made at some

point in the mouth, and the air
escapes through one or both sides
of the contact
NARROWING FRICATIVES /f/ - /v/ - /θ/
- /ð/ -
Two organs approximate to such an extent that
the air stream passes through them causing /s/ - /z/ - /ʃ/
friction - /Ʒ/ - /h/

THE POST-ALVEOLAR FRICTIONLESS CONTINUANT

It is regularly spelt:
r-red and also: wr-write
rr-carry rh-rhythm

The tip and blade of the tongue are near, but NOT touching the last part of the alveolar ridge
(that’s why it is called post-alveolar). The backside rims touch the upper side molars. The
central part of the tongue is lowered. The air stream escapes over the central part of the tongue
without causing friction.
It is sometimes treated as a semi-consonant since it is frictionless and it often has a central
syllabic function; e.g. price, gray.
In intervocalic positions (between two vowels), both a FLAP or a ROLL can be heard (See
Manner of Articulation) e.g. very, carry, sorry.

 THE LINKING / r /
It is used when a word ending in spelling -r or -re is followed immediately by a vowel
sound, e.g. a car and a house /ə kɑ:r ənd ə hɑʊs/.

 THE INTRUSIVE / r /
By analogy, some careless speakers use a /r/ sound to join two words when the first one
ends in a vowel sound and the second one starts with a vowel sound; e.g. Russia and China /rΛʃ ər
ən ʧaɪnə/. This must be avoided.
 THE ENGLISH CONSONANTS
All the English consonants are PULMONIC.
consonant voicing escape place manner
/m/ voiced nasal bilabial nasal
/p/ voiceless oral bilabial plosive
/b/ voiced oral bilabial plosive
/f/ voiceless oral labio-dental fricative
/v/ voiced oral labio-dental fricative
/θ/ voiceless oral dental fricative
/ð/ voiced oral dental fricative
/l/ voiced oral alveolar lateral
/n/ voiced nasal alveolar nasal
/t/ voiceless oral alveolar plosive
/d/ voiced oral alveolar plosive
/s/ voiceless oral alveolar fricative
/z/ voiced oral alveolar fricative
/r/ voiced oral post-alveolar intermittent-roll
/ʃ/ voiceless oral palato-alveolar fricative
/Ʒ/ voiced oral palato-alveolar fricative
/ʧ/ voiceless oral palato-alveolar affricate
/ʤ/ voiced oral palato-alveolar affricate
/k/ voiceless oral velar plosive
/g/ voiced oral velar plosive
/ŋ/ voiced nasal velar nasal
/h/ voiceless oral glottal fricative

CONSONANTS: SPELLING

/m/
Usually: m-meet
mm-summer
Sometimes: mb-comb
mn-autumn

/p/
Usually: p-part
NOTE: silent in: pneumonia, psalm, ptarmigan, receipt, cupboard.

/b/
Always: b-bone
NOTE: silent in: limb, thumb, comb, climb, debt, subtle, doubt, plumber

/f/
f-fast
ff-off
ph-physics
gh-laugh

/v/
Usually: v-vast
Sometimes: ph-nephew
f-of

/θ/
Always: th-thick, thin

/ð/
Always: th-they, then

/n/
Usually: n-now
nn-funny
Sometimes: kn-know
gn-sign
pn-pneumonia

/l/
l-lip
ll-silly
NOTE: frequently silent: talk, should, half, calm, folk.

/t/
Usually: t-time
tt-pretty
Sometimes: th-Thames, Thomas
-ed (in the past and past participle forms of regular verbs with the infinitive ending in
a voiceless sound) e.g. looked.
Note: silent in: castle, Christmas.

/d/
d-date
dd-ladder
-ed (in the past and past participle forms of regular verbs with the infinitive ending in a
voiced sound) e.g. loved

/s/
s-so, some
ss-dress
c-place
sc-science
x-ax /æks/

/z/
s-please
ss-scissors (not very frequent; usually with /s/)
z-zoo
zz-dizzy
x-exact / ɪgzækt/

/r/
r-red
rr-carry
and also wr-write rh-rhythm

/ʧ/
ch-cheap
tch-match
t+ure-nature
s+t+ion-question

/ʤ/
Usually: j-jam
g-germs
dg-judge
Sometimes: gg-suggest
dj-adjacent
de-grandeur
di-soldier
ch-Norwich (very rare, usually pronounced /ʧ/)

/ʃ/
sh-shoe
ch-machine (ch-usually pronounced /ʧ/)
sch-schedule
su-sure
ssu-assure
ti-nation
consonant-si: mansion
ssi-mission
sci-conscience
ci-special
ce-ocean
NOTE: -x- in luxury /lΛkʃərɪ/, anxious

/Ʒ/
vowel+si: vision, explosion
s-measure
zu-seizure
French words ending in –ge: beige, rouge, etc.

/ŋ/
ng-sing
n + velar sound: pink, anxious, uncle, tongue

/k/
k-kind
c/cc + a-o-u: cake, accord, cure
qu-queue
ch-chemist (ch-usually pronounced /ʧ/)
NOTE: silent in: muscle, knew, knit, etc.

/g/
Usually: g-bag
gg-egg
Sometimes: gh-ghost
gu-figure
NOTE: silent in: gnaw, gnat, diaphragm, sign, reign, etc.

/h/
It is NOT pronounced:
Initially: hour, heir, heiress, honour, honest
Medially: exhaust, exhilarate, exhibit, vehicle, vehement
Final suffixes: -ham: Clapham, Durham; -herd: shepherd
 THE ENGLISH SEMIVOWELS

A semivowel is a rapid vocalic glide onto a syllabic sound of greater steady duration.
In English there are two semivowels /j/ - /w/.

/j/ glides from the position of approximately /i:/ with spread or neutral lips.
/w/ glides from the position of approximately /u:/ with rounded lips.

In phonetic terms they are generally vocalic (they behave as a vowel), but from the grammatical
point of view their function is consonantal rather than vowel-like.
(They have a marginal situation rather than a central situation in the syllable). (Although they may
have central position: twin)
Furthermore, the articles have their preconsonantal form when followed by /j/ or /w/. e.g. the yatch,
the west, a year, a wasp.

NOTE:
Pre-consonantal form of the a /ə/ the /ðə/
article: a pen /ə pen/ the pen /ðə pen/
Pre-vocalic form of the article: an /ən/ the /ðɪ/ or /ði:/
an egg /ən eg/ the egg /ðɪ eg/
the Indians /ði: ɪndɪənz/

SUMMARY:
They are like consonants because ... They are like vowels because ...
The article before a semi-vowel takes the pre- /j/ has a place of articulation similar to that of /i:/
consonantal form. /w/ has a place of articulation similar to that of /u:/
a year /ə jɪə/ the year /ðə jɪə/
a wheel /ə wi:l/ the wheel /ðə wi:l/
They usually have marginal syllabic function They form a glide with the vowel or diphthong that
(like consonants). Yet, they occur in initial follows them.
position, but never in final position. /jes/
/jɪə/ /jes/ /wi:l/ /went/ /jɪə/
Sometimes, they occur in mid position (like /wel/
vowels). /waɪl/
/nju:/ /kwi:n/

/j/ THE UNROUNDED PALATAL SEMIVOWEL

Spelling: y-yes
 i-spaniel
u-music
ew-new
eu-feud
eau-beauty
ui-suit

Examples of word initial /j/: yield, yes, yard, yatch, yawn, union, young, year, Europe.
The tongue assumes the position for a front half close vowel (depending on the degree of openness
of the following sound) and moves away immediately to the position of the following sound.
The lips are generally neutral or spread, but may anticipate the lip rounding of the following vowel
(e.g. you /ju:/ - /yawn /jɔ:n/).

NOTE: In many cases of R.P. /j/+/u:/ there is an alternative pronunciation without /j/. This alternative
pronunciation is extended further in Am. E. (American English). (e.g. suit /sju:t/ /su:t/

absolute /æbsəlju:t/ /æbsəlu:t/

The prefix super- /sju:pə/ /su:pə/, etc.

COALESCENCE
Two phonemes may be reduced to only one phoneme. This is a new phoneme; it is not one of the
original first two phonemes.

/t/+/j/ /ʧ/
/d/+/j/ /ʤ/
may be coalesced into
/s/+/j/ /ʃ/
/z/+/j/ /Ʒ/

Coalescence may occur within a word or at word boundaries.

coalescence within a word at word boundaries

/t/+/j/ > /ʧ/ statue /stætju:/ /stæʧu:/ not yet /nɒt jet/ /nɒʧet/
haven’t you
/hævnt ju:/ /hævnʧu:/
don’t you
/dəʊnt ju:/ /dəʊnʧu:/
what you /wɒt jʊ/ /wɒʧʊ/
/d/+/j/ > /ʤ/ residue /resɪdju:/ /resɪʤu:/ would you /wʊdʤu:/
/wʊd ju:/
/s/+/j/ > /ʃ/ issue /ɪsju:/ /ɪʃu:/ this year /ðɪs jɪə/ /ðɪʃɪə/
/z/+/j/ > /Ʒ/ seizure /si:zjə/ /si:Ʒə/

The first forms are characteristic of careful and slow speech.

The coalesced forms may also occur at word boundaries in rapid familiar speech.
 _____________________

NOTE:
/ɪə/ as a rising diphthong can become /jə/
e.g. Australia /ɒstreɪIɪə/ /ɒstreɪIjə/

But when the second element of the rising diphthong /ɪə/ (i.e. schwa) is the result of the addition
of the suffix ‘-er’, /ɪə/ NEVER becomes /jə/:

e.g. earlier /ɜ:lɪə/ (only one pronunciation)

_____________________

ADVICE: The starting point shouldn’t be so close as to produce friction in those situations where /j/
should be purely vocalic.

"hielo"

_____________________

/w/ THE LABIO-VELAR SEMIVOWEL

Spelling: w-west
wh-what
qu-quick
gu-language

NOTE: one /wΛn/ - once / wΛns/ - choir /kwaɪə/ - suite /swi:t/

The tongue assumes a position of a back half close vowel (depending on the degree of openness of
the following sound. The lips are rounded.

POSSIBLE OPPOSITION

witch /wɪʧ/ which /hwɪʧ/

weather /weðə/ whether /hweðə/
wine /waɪn/ whine /hwaɪn/
Wales /weIlz/ whales /hweIlz/
wear /weə/ where /hweə/

VARIANTS
Among careful R.P. speakers and regularly in several regional types of speech esp. in Scottish
English, words such as WHEN are pronounced with initial /hw/.

ADVICE
There is NO contact between the lower lip and the upper teeth /v/ (like in German). Foreign
speakers, in particular Spanish speakers, must be very careful so as to avoid /g/ before /w/. This is
avoided with lip rounding.
 MANNER OF ARTICULATION

NARROWING CLOSURE

PARTIAL INTERMITTENT CLOSURE COMPLETE CLOSURE

FRICATIVES CLOSURE
LATERAL FLAP ROLL NASALS AFFRICATES PLOSIVES

BILABIAL
LABIO-
DENTAL
DENTAL
ALVEOLAR
POST-
ALVEOLAR
PLACE OF ARTICULATION

PALATO-
ALVEOLAR
VELAR
GLOTTAL
 PLACE OF ARTICULATION

LABIO- POST- PALATO-

BILABIAL DENTAL ALVEOLAR VELAR GLOTTAL
DENTAL ALVEOLAR ALVEOLAR
PLOSIVES

/p/ - /b/ /t/ - /d/ /k/ - /g/ /?/

COMPLETE CLOSURE

AFFRICATES

/ʧ/ - /ʤ/
NASALS

/m/ /n/ /ŋ/

CLOSURE
MANNER OF ARTICULATION

INTERMITTENT CLOSURE

/r/
ROLL

/ɾ/
FLAP
CLOSURE
PARTIAL

LATERAL

/l/
NARROWING

FRICATIVES

/f/ - /v/ /θ/ - /ð/ /s/ - /z/ /ʃ/ - /Ʒ/ /h/