LIN228H1 Lecture Notes - Voiceless Alveolar Fricative, Bilabial Nasal, Dental And Alveolar Flaps
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LIN228H1F 2012 – Week 2 Kochetov-1
English Consonants
English consonant phonemes: An overview
Table 1. English consonant phonemes
place
manner
bi
labial
labio
dental
dental
alveolar
retro
flex
post-
alveolar
palatal
velar
glottal
stops
vls.
/p/
/t/
/k/
vcd
/b/
/d/
/ɡ/
tap
vcd
fricatives
vls
/f/
/θ/
/s/
/ʃ/
/h/
vcd
/v/
/ð/
/z/
/ʒ/
affricates
vls
/ʧ/
vcd
/ʤ/
nasal
/m/
/n/
/ŋ/
liquids
/l/
/ɹ/
glides
/w/*
/j/
/w/*
*/w/ is labial-velar (double articulation)
Vls. = voiceless, vd. = voiced.
Phonemes are sounds that are contrastive in a given language, can create a difference in
meaning.
• The following words illustrate the contrastive consonants of English:
pie tie/tight kite
bye die guy
fie thigh sigh shy high
vie thy/then Zen/ruse rouge
my nigh/win wing
lie rye
wet yet
Consonants are characterized according to voicing, place, and manner.
Some additional terms (manner):
• Obstruents: consonants which involve a high degree of constriction; this includes stops,
fricatives, and affricates
• Sonorants: include nasals and approximants
• Approximants: include liquids and glides
• Sibilants: obstruents that produce a hissing sound ([s], [z], [ʃ], [ʒ], [ʧ], [ʤ])
• Laterals: sounds produced with air moving around the sides of the tongue ([l] and [ɫ])
velum is lowered so air is coming out through the nasal cavity
high intensity noise
L-like sounds
wider opening in vocal tract than fricatives; sides of tongue are lowered
"batch"
"badge"
Allophones: sounds that do not produce any meaning
approximate constriction
sonorants are voiced in English
(plosives)
expulsion
of air
voiceless sounds are longer than voiced sounds
LIN228H1F 2012 – Week 2 Kochetov-2
• Rhotics: r-like sounds (/ɹ/ in English)
• Liquids: cover term for both laterals and rhotics.
Some additional terms (place):
• Labial: bilabial and labiodental consonants
• Coronal: dental, alveolar, post-alveolar, retroflex consonants
• Dorsal: palatal and velar consonants.
Basic naming of consonants: voicing, place, manner, e.g.
• voiceless alveolar fricative _____
• (voiced) alveolar lateral approximant _____
• (voiced) bilabial nasal (stop) _____
Line drawings allow one to visualize activities in the vocal tract (see pp. 25-27, 35).
dorsal
•Oral supra-laryngeal channels:
no constriction (wide), an
approximant-like constriction
(slightly narrowed), a fricative-like
constriction (narrow), complete
closure (single line)
•Velic supra-laryngeal channel:
no constriction (wide –nasal
sounds), complete closure (oral
sounds)
•Laryngeal (glottal) channel:
voiced (jagged line), voiceless
(straight line)
Denoting specific articulations:
• dent = dental
• p-a = post-alveolar
• lat = lateral
• ret = retroflex
Phonotactics
There are restrictions on where some consonants can occur. For example,
• [ŋ] can only occur at the end of a syllable or before a velar as in fling [flɪŋ] or sink [sɪŋk];
• [h] occurs only at the beginning of a syllable as in ham
[hæm].
dorsal
p-a
labiodental: lower lip, teeth
dental: teeth; alveolar: apex of tongue touches
area alveolar ridge; post-alveolar: blade of the
tongue moves back to make constriction on
area; retroflex: curling of tongue tip
palatal (similar to vowel "e") or velar constriction
lips
front portion of tongue
back portion of tongue
Glottal stands on its own
velum is raised
[s]
[l]
[m]
vocal folds always vibrating for
vowels
raised or open/lowered
"junk"
voicing
"blasted"
alveolar left unmarked