1 Sounds: the building blocks of language CA461 Speech Processing 1 Lecture 2

2 Building Blocks I Think of a word Write it down and read the word aloud Without looking at the word, write down how many consonants and vowels are in the word Do the same with the following words: –Do, doo, red, read Do you notice anything?

3 Building Blocks II Now take all the words you have just considered, say them aloud but don’t look at their written forms, simply close your eyes and concentrate on listening to the words. Say them a number of times, slowly if you like. How many distinct sounds make up the words, do and doo? Our next aim is to describe these sounds

4 Phonetics: The Description of Speech Sounds Articulatory Perceptual Symbols Acoustic Will focus on acoustic description (next lecture), but it useful to be familiar with articulatory descriptions, symbols and phonetic alphabets…

5 Articulatory Components 1.Vocal tract (filter) –Oral, pharyngeal, nasal cavities 2.Glottis (glottal source) –Space between vocals folds (cords) –Located in larynx (voicebox) –Anterior (front) of larynx is your Adam’s apple

6 Vocal tract filter Mid-sagittal view Stylised

7 Nasal Cavity Oral Cavity Pharyngeal Cavity

8 Larynx/Glottis

9 Consonant Classification Voicing/Phonation type Place of Articulation Manner of Production -- Degree of Stricture Velic Position Passage of airflow thru oral cavity

10 Voicing/Phonation type Voiced –Glottis opens and closes rapidly –Male ~100 Hz –Female: ~200 Hz Voiceless/Unvoiced/Devoiced –Glottis remains open Can you find voiced/voiceless pairs? –Hint: Start with a voiced sound, e.g. [z]

11 Place of Articulation Main cavities for airflow Passive articulators Active articulators –Primarily the tongue

12 Lips Teeth Alveolar Ridge Alveopalatal Palatal Velum Uvula Epiglottis

13 Manner of Production (Degree of Stricture) Stop/Plosive: complete closure Fricative: close approximation Approximant: open approximation Trill Affricate

14 Other Velic Position –Nasal Passage of airflow thru oral cavity –Central –Lateral

15 3­term labels For Example: 1.[ s ] Voiceless alveolar fricative 2.[ ʃ ] Voiceless alveopalatal fricative 3.[ m ] Voiced bilabial nasal stop 4.[ ŋ ] Voiced velar nasal stop 5.[ l ] Voiced lateral alveolar approximant Notice the use of symbols –Not all correspond to orthography

16 Vowel quality Shape of vocal tract tube Resonant frequencies -- formants –Standing waves –Tend to vary considerably –Acoustics…next lecture Easier to use tongue and lip positions

17 Vowel Classification by Tongue Position Tongue height Tongue backness Locate highest point of normally convex surface Use vertical and horizontal dimensions tongue

18 Vertical: Tongue Height 3 or 4 degrees: –close/high –close­mid –open­mid –open/low Puzzle: Order the vowels in the following words in descending tongue height –Bed –Bayed –Bead –Bad

19 Horizontal: Tongue Backness 2 or 3 degrees: –front –back –Central Puzzle: For each of the following pairs of words which vowel is front/back? –Head, hod –Hood, hid

20 Vowel Classification contd... Lip Position –Rounded –Unrounded Puzzle: For the following pair of words which vowel is Rounded/Unrounded? –Reed, rude Finer distictions (eg. Swedish)

21 3­term labels: Vowels For Example: [ i ] close front unrounded [ ε ]open­mid front unrounded [ u ] close back rounded

22 Other ‘Dimensions’ for Classification Voiceless Nasality Retroflexion: r­colouring / rhotacisation Tense vs. Lax Length Breathy vs.Creaky

23 Monophthongs vs. Diphthongs Monophthong –Pure vowel Diphthong: –rising/closing –centring –falling/opening Triphthong?

24 Cardinal vowels Primary cardinal vowels Secondary cardinal vowels

25 Phonetic Alphabets IPA Arpabet Sampa Worldbet Exercise: –Choose any word with more than 3 or more syllables –Phonetically transcribe it in IPA and one other phonetic alphabet

26 Broad vs. Narrow Transcription PhoneEnvironmentExampleIPA [ tʰ ] Syllable initial tʰaɪ [ t ]After [ s ] or in reduced syllables stɑrfɪʃ [ ʔ ] Various kʰɪʔn̩ [ ɾ ] Between vowels bʌɾɚ [ t ̚ ] Before consonants or word finally frut ̚kʰeɪk [ t̪ ] Before dental consonants eɪt̪θ [ ]Word finally? pʰæs

27 Next Acoustic phonetics Puzzle for later (after next 2 lectures): –How does vowel height and backness relate to the first two formants?