ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute OBJECTIVES You will understand: 1. How each of the phonemes in English is articulated 2. The differences between consonants and vowels 3. Different ways of classifying consonants and vowels You will be able to: 1. Integrate the knowledge of speech articulation into your teaching of pronunciation

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute ARTICULATORY PHONETICS In the previous lesson we defined phonetics as the study of speech sounds. This module deals primarily with articulatory phonetics, the branch of phonetics that looks at the actions of the speech organs to make sound. Sound is produced when air passes through the vocal production system. The air supply comes from the lungs and the sound comes from the larynx, where the vocal fold (vocal cord) musculature is located. The pharynx, the oral cavity and the nasal cavity act as filters for the air. These air passages are collectively known as the vocal tract. Speech sounds are made as the air passes through the vocal tract by way of jaw movement, lip shape and tongue placement.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute The challenge with articulatory phonetics is the same as with any study of the sound system of a language; there are different dialects of each language and therefore the same phonemes are made differently in different dialects. For the purposes of this module we will consider the articulatory phonetics of standard American English, with some references to British and Canadian standards. To hear the phonemes of English pronounced at any time, as you work through this module, visit the website

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute VOICED AND VOICELESS SOUNDS All phonemes are categorized as either voiced or voiceless. This is called ‘voicing’ or ‘glottal state’. Voiceless sounds are produced when the vocal folds are pulled apart and the air passes directly over the glottis. To confirm that a sound is voiceless place your fingers over your larynx as you produce it. You will not feel any vibration. Pronounce /f/, /s/ and /h/. Voiced sounds are produced when the vocal folds are close together, but not tightly closed. The air passes between the vocal folds and causes vibration, which you can feel if you touch your larynx while you produce a sound. Pronounce /z/, /v/ or any vowel.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute CONSONANTS AND VOWELS Phonemes can be divided into consonants and vowels. Consonants are produced with a narrow or complete closure in the vocal tract and can be voiced or voiceless. This partial or complete closure blocks the air flow momentarily or restricts it so that noise is produced as air flows past the constriction. Vowels are produced with little vocal tract obstruction and are generally voiced. Vowels are more sonorous than consonants, our perception is that vowels sound louder and last longer than consonants.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute CONSONANT ARTICULATION The tongue is the primary organ of articulation. The tongue can be raised, lowered, pushed forward, pulled backward and rolled back to make consonant sounds. The sides of the tongue can also be raised and lowered. The tongue is described by making reference to its five main areas. They are: the tip, the blade (immediately behind the tip), the body (the main part of the tongue), the back, and the root (contained in the upper throat).

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute CONSONANT ARTICULATION The tongue is the primary organ of articulation. The tongue can be raised, lowered, pushed forward, pulled backward and rolled back to make consonant sounds. The sides of the tongue can also be raised and lowered. The tongue is described by making reference to its five main areas. They are: the tip, the blade (immediately behind the tip), the body (the main part of the tongue), the back, and the root (contained in the upper throat).

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute

PLACE OF ARTICULATION When we look at the articulation of consonants, we have to consider two aspects, the place of articulation and the manner of articulation. The place tells us what parts of the vocal tract are used; the manner tells us how those parts are used. Wherever the airstream can be modified to generate sounds is considered a place of articulation. Places of articulation are at the lips, in the oral cavity, in the pharynx and way at the back at the glottis.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Sounds made by closing the lips nearly or completely are labial. Sounds made by using both lips are bilabial as in the phoneme /b/ in ‘bin’. Sounds made by using the lower lip and upper teeth are labiodentals as in the phoneme /v/ in ‘vow’. Dental sounds are made by placing the tongue near or against the teeth. If the tongue is placed in between the teeth, the sound is called interdental as in the words ‘this’ and ‘thing’.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute The alveolar ridge is a small ridge which protrudes from behind the upper front teeth. Sounds produced while the tongue is near or touching the ridge are alveolar. The initial sounds in ‘top’, ‘deer’ and ‘soap’ are some examples of alveolar sounds. Behind the alveolar ridge the roof of the mouth rises. This area is the alveopalatal area. The highest part of the roof of the mouth is the palate and the sounds produced with the tongue near or at the palate are called alevopalatals or palatals. The words ‘show’ and ‘measure’ demonstrate alveopalatal consonants. The soft area at the rear of the roof of the mouth is called the velum. Sounds produced by placing the tongue near or touching this area are called velars. The initial sounds of the words ‘call’ and ‘guy’ are velars.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute The uvula is the small flap of tissue which hangs down from the velum. Sounds produced with the tongue touching or near this area are uvulars. The English language has no uvulars, but you may be familiar with /r/ sound found in European French. The area between the uvula and the larynx is called the pharynx. Sounds made by modifying the airflow in the pharynx are called pharyngeals. Pharyngeals are produced by retracting the tongue and constricting the pharynx. These sounds do not exist in English, but they can be found in many Arabic dialects. Glottal sounds are produced mainly by the vocal folds. The words ‘heave’ and ‘hog’ begin with glottals.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute MANNER OF ARTICULATION The manner of articulation tells us how the air moves through the vocal tract to make the phoneme. When the velum is raised, it cuts off airflow to the nasal passages. This has the effect of producing oral sounds. If the velum is lowered, air passes through the nasal passages, producing nasal sounds. Consonants and vowels can be nasal. Nasals are generally voiced. The word ‘sum’ contains a final position nasal. The vowel sound in the word ‘bank’ is also nasal for some speakers.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Stops are made by completely and momentarily stopping the airflow through the vocal tract. Stops can be made at various places of articulation. Consider /p/, /t/ and /k/. Fricatives are consonants produced with a continuous airflow through the mouth which creates an audible noise as it passes through the narrow opening. Some English fricatives are /f/, /z/, /θ/ and / ʃ /. /f/ is a voiceless labiodental fricative, /z/ is a voiceed alveolar fricative, /θ/ is a voiceless interdental fricative and / ʃ / is a voiceless alveopalatal fricative.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute When a stop is released, the tongue rapidly moves away form the place of articulation. This release and change of position produces sounds referred to as affricates. English has two affricates. Both of the English affricates are alveopalatal. They are heard in the initial sounds of the words church and jump. The English alveopalatal affricates are transcribed as / ʧ / and / ʤ /. Some sounds are louder than others. The noisier fricatives and affricates are called stridents or sibilants. Some English stridents are /s/, / ʃ / and / ʒ /. Following some voiceless stops you can sometimes hear a brief delay before the voicing of the following vowel. This lag is accompanied by an audible release of air referred to as aspiration. Aspiration occurs after certain voiceless stops in English and it is transcribed as / h / after the aspirated consonant. /p h / in the word pat is aspirated, whereas /p/ in the word spat is not.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Liquids are all variations of the /l/ and /r/ phonemes. /l/ varieties are called laterals. During the production of laterals, air escapes through the mouth via the lowered sides of the tongue. /r/ varieties are often categorized as glides or approximants (see below). Canadian and American English speakers produce /r/ by curling the tongue tip back or by bunching the tongue up and back. This /r/ is known as the retroflex and is sometimes transcribed as / ɹ /. Another /r/sound is known as the flap which is transcribed as //. The flap is produced when the tongue hits the alveolar ridge as it passes by. The flap is heard in North American English in the pronunciation of ‘bitter’ or ‘butter’.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Glides or approximants are unique sounds because they present both consonant and vowel properties. They are produced like vowels but they move to another articulation quickly as in ‘yet’ or ‘wet’. Or they terminate quickly as in ‘boy’ and ‘now’. Glides are articulated like vowels, but they are patterned as consonants because they can never be the nucleus of a syllable.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute ENGLISH CONSONANT PHONEME CHART

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute VOWELS English vowels are divided into two types, simple or single vowels and dipthongs. Simple vowels do not show a change in quality. Simple vowels are visible in the words ‘pit’, ‘set’, ‘cat’, ‘dog’, ‘but’ and ‘put’. In contrast, dipthongs exhibit a change in quality within a single syllable. This change is due to tongue movement away from the primary vowel articulation towards a glide position. Dipthongs are present in the words ‘say’, ‘buy’, ‘cow’, ‘ice’, ‘go’ and ‘boy’.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Vowel sounds are described by the tongue position required to produce them. Vowel articulations are more difficult to feel than consonant articulations. Try pronouncing the word ‘he’ then the word ‘haw’. You should notice that your tongue moves from a high frontal position to a low back position. Vowel sounds are also classified according to roundness. Say the words ‘he’ and ‘who’. In addition to tongue movement, you should also notice that your lips round to pronounce the word ‘who’. Finally, you will notice that some vowel sounds are long while others are short. Vowels, then are described in terms of height, backness, rounding and length.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute

A. Decide if the first sound of these words are voiced or voiceless: though silkjudge thought panbuns form boatghetto view hugewinced zoom choose

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute B. For each of the following pairs of sounds, state whether they have the same place of articulation or not. Then identify the place of articulation for each sound. /k/: /ŋ/ /p/: /g/ /l/: /r/ / ʤ / : / ʃ / /f/ : /h/ /w/ : /j/ / ʧ / : / ʤ / / ɵ / : /t/

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute C. For each of the following pairs of sounds, state whether they have the same manner of articulation or not. Then identify the manner of articulation for each sound. /s/ : / ɵ / /k/ : /g/ /w/ : /j/ /f/ : / ʃ / /l/ : /t/ // : /v/ / ʧ / : /s/ /m/ : /ŋ/

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Complete Question 3 in your Task Journal. Task Journals can be submitted via to (preferred) or printed and handed in.