Phonetics: The Sound of American English (2)

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Phonetis: The Sound of American English

Vowels

Monophthongs

Monophthongs are a sound of a single vowel

1. Monophthongs - front vowels
A front vowel is produced with a forward shift of the tongue from its neutral or rest position:
/i:/ & /ɪ/, as in eat & pin.
/eɪ/ & /ɛ/, as in eight & extra;
/æ/         , as in at.

2. Monophthongs - central vowels
A central vowel is produced with the tongue in its neutral or rest position:
/ʌ/ & /ə/, as in under & asleep;
/ˈɚ/ & /ɚ/, as in earth & farmer *.

* /ˈɚ/ (in stressed syllable) is the same that /ˈʌr/, and /ɚ/ (in unstressed syllable) is the same that /ər/.

3. Monophthongs - back vowels
A back vowel is produced with a backward shift of the tongue from its neutral or rest position:
/u:/ & /ʊ/, as in drew & foot;
/oʊ/ & /ɔ/, as in over & all (BrE) *;
/ɑ:/         , as in clock or in all (AmE).

* The sound /ɔ/ is short in British English (BrE). In the same words in American English (AmE), the sound /ɔ/ is a long sound colored as /ɑ:/.

Diphthongs

Diphthongs are two vowels produced consecutively in the same syllable by moving the articulators smoothly from the position of one to the other:
/aɪ/ & /aʊ/;
/oɪ/.

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Consonants

Manner

Manner of articulation refers to how the sound is produced and the way in which the airstream is modified as it passes through the vocal tract.

1. Manner - stop
A stop is a consonant characterized by:
(1) complete obstruction of the outgoing aurstream by the articulation,
(2) a build of intraoral air pressure, and
(3) a release.

Stops - voiceless & voiced
/p/ & /b/ (bilabial)
/t/ & /d/ (linguaalveolar)
/k/ & /g/ (linguavelar)

2. Manner - fricative
A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing the breath stream through a constriction formed by articulation in the vocal tract.

Fricatives - voiceless & voiced
/f/ & /v/ (labiodental)
/θ/ & /ð/ (linguadental)
/s/ & /z/ (linguaalveolar)
/ʃ/ & /ʒ/ (linguapalatal)
/h/ & none (glottal)

3. Manner - affricate
An affricate is a consonant characterized as having both a fricative and a stop manner of production.

affricate - voiceless & voiced
/tʃ/ & /dʒ/ (linguaalveolar)

4. Manner - nasal
Nasal refers to a consonant produced with complete closure in the oral cavity along with a lowered velum to allow airflow through the nasal cavity.

Nasal - voiceless & voiced
          /m/ (nilabial)
          /n/ (linguaalveolar)
          /ŋ/ (linguavelar)

5. Manner - liquids
Liquid is a generic label used to classify two English approximant consonants, /r/ and /l/.

Liquids - voiceless & voiced
          /l/ (Linguaalveolar)
          /r/ (linguapalatal)

6. Manner - glide
A glide is a consonant characterized by a continue, gliding motion of the articulators into the following vowel; also referred to as a semi-vowel, e.g., /j/ and /w/.

Glides - voiceless & voiced
none & /w/ (bilabial)
none & /j/ (linguapalatal)

Place

Place of articulation refers to which articulators are involved in the production of a particular sound.

1. Place - bilabial
Bilabial refers to a speech sound, such as /b/ produced by contact of the upper and lower lips.

Bilabial - voiceless & voiced
/p/ & /b/ (stop)
none & /m/ (nasal)
none & /w/ (glide)

2. Place - labio-dental
A labiodental consonant is one that is produced by the lower lip contacting the upper front teeth.

Labio-dental - voiceless & voiced
/f/ & /v/ (fricative)

3. Place - lingua-dental
A linguadental consonant is produced with the tongue contacting the teeth.

Lingua-dental - voiceless & voiced
/θ/ & /ð/ (fricative)

4. Place - lingua-alveolar
Linguaalveolar refers to a consonant produced with the tongue contacting the upper alveolar ridge.

Lingua-alveolar - voiceless & voiced
/t/ & /d/ (stop)
/s/ & /z/ (fricative)
/tʃ/ & /dʒ/ (affricate)
none & /n/ (nasal)
none & /l/ (liquid)

5. Place - lingua-palatal
A linguapalatal consonant is produced with the tongue contacting the hard palate.

Lingua-palatal - voiceless & voiced
/ʃ/ & /ʒ/ (fricative)
none & /r/ (liquid)
none & /j/ (glide)

6. Place - lingua-velar
Linguavelar refers to a consonant produced with the tongue contacting the velum.

Lingua-velar - voiceless & voiced
/k/ & /g/ (stop)
          /ŋ/ (nasal)

7. Place - glotal
Glotal is a place of articulation referring to a consonant that is produced by completely or partially constricting the glottis.

Glottal - voiceless & voiced
none & /h/ (fricative)

Voice

Voicing refers to whether the vocal folds are vibrating during a production of a particular consonant.

1. Voice - voiced
A voiced sound is produced with vibration of the adducted vocal folds in the larynx.
/b/ & /d/ (stop)
/g/
/v/ & /ð/ (fricative)
/z/ & /ʒ/
/dʒ/         (affricate)
/m/ & /n/ & /ŋ/ (nasal)
/l/ & /r/ (liquid)
/w/ &/j/ (glide)

2. Voice - voiceless
A voiceless sounds are consonants produced without vibration of the vocal folds.
/p/ & /t/ (stop)
/k/
/f/ & /θ/ (fricative)
/s/ & /ʃ/
/h/
/tʃ/         (affricate)

Phonetics: The Sound of American English (1)
Phonetics: The Sound of American English (2)
Phonetics: The Sound of American English (3)

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