Spoken language phonetics: Consonant articulation and transcription LING 200 Spring 2003

Phonetic transcription 1. ‘driftwood’ 2. ‘cane’ 3. ‘footwear’ 4. ‘grease’ 5. ‘straight up’ 6. ‘your collarbone’ a mystery language

Articulatory phonetics Description of speech sounds –place of articulation –manner of articulation (degree of occlusion) –laryngeal setting –other parameters Transcription of speech sounds Sound inventories

Vocal tract structures relevant for speech nasal cavity oral cavity pharynx

Vocal tract structures relevant for speech Upper articulator Lower articulator

Major structures structure (noun)adjectival descriptor lipslabial teethdental alveolar ridgealveolar hard palatepalatal soft palate = velumvelar nasal cavitynasal larynxlaryngeal glottisglottal

Place of articulation upper articulator lower articulator some places of articulation

Some places of articulation in English lower articulator upper articulator example (bi-)labialbill (apico-)alveolardill (dorso-)velargill

Manner of articulation (degree of occlusion) How close are lower and upper articulator? –Relatively close, narrowed or constricted (‘occluded’) airflow: consonants –Relatively far apart, unconstricted airflow: vowels

Manner of articulation Consonant subclasses –Stops: complete occlusion of airflow –bill, dill, gill –Fricatives: air pressure build-up behind occlusion; turbulent airflow –Liquids and glides: no pressure build-up

English fricatives Fricative: produced with turbulent airflow, pressure build-up behind occlusion place of articulationexample labiodentalfin interdentalthin alveolarsin palatalshin laryngealhinder

Affricates = stop released into fricative of ‘same’ place of articulation in English placeexample palatal (palato-alveolar)chin

= Approximants: No pressure build- up, non-turbulent airflow placeexample alveolarlip (alveolar)rip palatalyip labialwhip Liquids and glides

Place x manner of articulation (English) labiallabio- dental inter- dental alveolarpalatalvelarglottal stop bindinagain fricative Vinnie thenzing vision him approx- imant winLynnyen

State of the glottis (laryngeal setting)

The larynx

The vocal cords rear of body

States of the glottis in English voiced: vocal cords close, vibrate when air passes through glottis voiceless: vocal cords apart, do not vibrate Some voiced and voiceless fricatives voicelessvoiced labio-dentalfixvixen inter-dentalthinthen alveolarsipzip palatalAleutianillusion

Other consonant parameters: oral vs. nasal

Oral vs. nasal Velum raised –Air flows into oral cavity only  oral sound Velum lowered (resting position) –Air flows into oral and nasal cavities  nasal sound

English oral vs. nasal stops Stop: produced with complete occlusion in oral cavity (oral) stopnasal (stop) bilabialpin binKim alveolartin dinkin velarkin againking

Other consonant parameters: lateral What part of the tongue (lower articulator) approaches the upper articulator? Only tip: air flows around side(s) of tongue (‘lateral’) Air flows over all tongue surface (‘central’) English: lip (lateral) vs. rip

Phonetic description Consonants –State of glottisvoiceless –Place of articulationbilabial –Manner of articulation stop

Phonetic transcription Alphabetic and other symbols which abbreviate phonetic descriptions –E.g. voiceless bilabial stop = [p] Different systems of phonetic transcription –International Phonetic Association –‘Americanist’/U.S.

Phonetic transcription A more consistent way of representing sound than most writing systems –e.g. English : [k] [kræbi] [s] [p  nsl  ] A universal framework for the description of languages Many languages lack writing systems

Consonant charts Place of articulation Manner of articulation (state of the glottis)

Consonant charts labiallabio- dental inter- dental alveolpalatalvelarglottal stopsp bt dk g affricates t  d  fricativesf v    s z    h nasalsmn  apx w (  ) rj apx- lateral l English

Witsuwit’en Athabaskan family apx. 180 speakers

Some Witsuwit’en speakers Mabel Forsythe Lillian Morris, Peter John

Some Witsuwit’en sounds Ejective stops and affricates

[nt’  q] ‘your collarbone’ [nt  q] ‘up’ [p  ts  q] ‘his outer ear’ [p  ts’  q]‘his little finger’

Uvular place of articulation [q h  ]‘footwear’ [nt  q]‘straight up’ [qis]‘Chinook salmon’ [q’  ] ‘backwards’ [  ]‘grease’

Voiceless lateral fricative, lateral affricates [  t] ‘smoke’ [  ] ‘dam’ [s  t  et] ‘it’s licking me’ [s  t  ’et] ‘he farted’

Witsuwit’en consonant chart labalvpal lab-vel uvuglot stopsp p’t t h t’c c h c’k w k wh k w ’q q h q’  affts ts h ts’ aff-lat t th t’t th t’ frics zçxwxw  h fric-lat  nasalsmn apxjw  apx-latl

Summary Describing consonants –place of articulation –manner of articulation (degree of occlusion) –state of glottis –other parameters: nasal/oral, lateral/central Phonetic transcription Consonant charts