Place of Articulation September 30, 2015

The Agenda Due right now: phonetic features + diagrams homework! For Friday, there will be a transcription exercise on place of articulation. Hungarian and Bengali Due at 5 pm on Monday: backwards name exercise! For next Wednesday: provide both narrow + broad transcriptions of either American or British English sentences. Your choice! This is a graded homework exercise.

Moving On Hitherto: rapidly running through the vocal tract for English only From here on out: go back through the whole process in slow motion building up our understanding of how speech sounds are made in the process… for all the languages of the world. Goal: get from what we know about articulation to acoustics i.e., how speech sounds are transmitted through the air

Just So You Know This (and most future lectures) will include sound samples from many different languages from around the world. Sound files may be found at: And also on the Course in Phonetics CD

Back to the Big Picture Through combinatorics… languages can make a large number of distinctions out of a small number of articulatory dimensions However--consider the gaps in the IPA chart Not all combinations of gestures are possible Not all combinations of gestures are likely Why? The dimensions interact They’re based on physical realities i.e., they are not abstract

Another Perspective Note: all speech sounds involve the flow of air. Articulation and acoustics are linked through aerodynamics = the study of the flow of air (in speech sounds) Aerodynamics can also limit the combinatorial possibilities of speech.

An Aerodynamic Exception Stops Stop the flow of air through the articulatory tract How is this done? By making an airtight seal between articulators Are there some places in the articulatory tract where this is easier than others? Try the tongue experiment. An easy place: between the lips A difficult (impossible?) place: between the teeth and lips

IPA Chart:Stops You are already familiar with Bilabial, Alveolar, Velar = the 3 most common places of articulation for stops UPSID Database (in Maddieson’s Patterns of Sounds, 1984) surveys 317 languages 314 have bilabial stops (Wichita, Hupa, Aleut) 316 have alveolar/dental stops (Hawaiian) 315 have velar stops (Hupa, Kirghiz)

Bilabials-Alveolars-Velars

Palatals

Palatal Stops Peter says: 59 languages in UPSID database have palatal stops Palatals vs. Velars in Ngwo (spoken in Cameroon)

Also: Palatal Nasals symbol: not to be confused with the velar nasal: PL: Examples from Hungarian 

Uvulars

Uvular Stops Peter says: 47 languages in UPSID database have uvular stops Uvular nasal: Peter, again: Japanese: ‘Japan’

Quechua Contrasts Quechua is spoken primarily in Bolivia and Peru.

Pharyngeals

Epiglottals, Glottals There are no pharyngeal stops. However, there is an epiglottal stop: Peter says: Check out Stefan’s epiglottis There are also glottal stops: As in English: “uh-oh”, “bottle”, “kitten” More on these later

Epiglottals in Agul Agul is spoken in Dagestan, near the Caspian Sea, in Russia Note: no nasal pharyngeals, epiglottals, or glottals. Why?

Back to the Coronals

Two parameters to consider here: The active articulator 1.The tongue tip (apical) 2.The tongue blade (laminal) The passive articulator or target 1.The upper lip (linguo-labial) 2.Between the teeth (interdental) 3.The upper teeth (dental) 4.The alveolar ridge (alveolar) 5.Behind the alveolar ridge (post-alveolar)

Coronal Basics Coronal stops are usually dental or alveolar. Dental stops are usually laminal produced with the blade of the tongue as is typical in, e.g., French, Spanish Alveolar stops are usually apical pronounced with the tip of the tongue as is typical in English Dental ~ Alveolar contrasts are rare, but they do exist.

Laminal Dentals check out the labio- dental flap file

Apical Alveolars

Yanyuwa Coronal Contrast Yanyuwa is spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia UPSID data-- Languages with the following number of stop place contrasts: <-- 5 of these languages are from Australia! Yanyuwa has 7 stop place contrasts!

Retroflex Stops Retroflex stops are produced in the post-alveolar region, by curling the tip of the tongue back. Common in south Asian languages. Peter says:

Sindhi place contrasts

Malayalam Place Contrasts

Palatography + Linguography

Yanyuwa, again

Two Places at Once Labial-velar stops are not uncommon, especially in African languages. Examples from Idoma (spoken in Nigeria):

Linguolabials Linguolabials are formed by touching the blade of the tongue to the upper lip. Examples from V’enen Taut, a language spoken in Vanuatu (the South Pacific):

Place Contrast Round-up Most languages have three stop places: bilabial dental/alveolar velar If a language has a fourth stop place, it is usually palatal or uvular If a language has a fifth stop place, it is usually retroflex sometimes labial-velar