Language Lab (Introduction to Phonetics)

 

Language Lab for B.Tech. First Year

Introduction to Phonetics

Our Speech Organs

Our speech organs consists of the lungs, trachea (windpipe), larynx (organ of voice production), pharyngeal cavity (throat), oral or vocal cavity (mouth), and nasal cavity (nose) as shown in the figure below:-



Speech Organs and their Mechanism


All the above speech organs may be divided into three categories: -

  1. Respiratory Organs.
  2. Phonatory Organs
  3. Articulatory Organs

Respiratory Organs.

The lungs, the rib cage, the chest muscles and the wind pipe are termed as the Respiratory Organs.




The chest muscles of the chest with the help of rib cage apply pressure on the lung bladders which generate an air stream which travels through the wind pipe.

Phonatory Organs







The air stream generated by the lungs passes through larynx the seat of vocal chords which start vibrating and producing sound.

Articulatory Organs

The organs lying above the larynx are termed as articulatory organs.



The sound produced by vocal cords is further modified by these organs and converted into intelligible speech by the pharynx, the lips, the teeth, the alveolar ridge, the hard palate, the soft palate, the uvula and the tongue. All the above organs make complex movements and create obstruction in the vibration passing through the oral cavity and thus produce a variety of speech sounds.

Speech Production Mechanism

The speech production mechanism consists of the lungs, trachea (windpipe), larynx (organ of voice production), pharyngeal cavity (throat), oral or vocal cavity (mouth), and nasal cavity (nose).





This mechanism may be compared to the above diagram where lungs function like air pressure pump which generate air pressure that passes through the vocal cords creating vibration (sound) in them.

The air stream then passes through oral and/or nasal cavity and various organs in the oral cavity like soft palate, hard palate, tongue, teeth and lips further modify the sound quality before it goes into the atmosphere.

The muscles of the chest compress the bladder like lungs filled with air generating air pressure, which passes through the tensed vocal cords  causing vibration.


     

The air flow then passes through the pharyngeal cavity, the oral cavity, and possibly nasal cavity. Depending on the positions of the various articulators (i.e., velum, tongue, lips, mouth, and jaw), different sounds are produced.

The velum (a trapdoor-like mechanism situated at the back of the oral cavity) may be lowered, raised or neutral leading to the production of nasal, oral or nasalized sounds.

Classification
and
Description of Speech Sounds

Before we proceed to describe the speech sounds, I must make it clear that the sounds that we take up here are pulmonic and egressive. Nonpulmonic and inegressive sounds are out of question,

Speech sounds are generally described under two categories: -

Vowels and Consonants

Vowels

Vowels are the sounds which are voiced and in the production of which there is no stricture or narrowing anywhere in the vocal tract.

These sounds include short vowels, long vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs.

  1. Short Vowels

Short vowels have the shortest duration of voicing e.g.

The vowel sounds of the following words

Sit, set, sat, shut, shot, good, another

  1. Long Vowels

Long vowels have the longest duration of voicing e.g.

The vowel sounds of the following words

Seat, arm, boot, call, shirt,

  1. Diphthongs

A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds spoken one after another gliding from one vowel sound to another e.g.

The vowel sounds of the following words

Buy, boy, cow, date, boat, poor, dear, there

  1. Triphthongs

A triphthong is a combination of three vowel sounds spoken one after another gliding from one vowel sound to the other two e.g.

The vowel sounds of the following words: -

Biology, layer, liar, power, mower

However, the above description is limited to the English Language only. For a complete description which is universal in nature and which is applicable to all the language, we depend upon the Cardinal Vowel Scale invented by AC Gimson as described below:-

 


Consonants

Consonant are the sounds which may be voiced or voiceless and which are produced by obstruction in the vibration passing through the vocal cavity.

Description and Classification of Consonant Sounds

The description and classification of consonant sound is based on the following: -

Place of articulation: -

Which organ (place) in the oral /nasal cavity is involved in the production of a consonant?

The following places are involved in the production of consonant and they are named as per their places of articulation.

          1.      Bilabial-both the lips

2.      Labio-dental-upper teeth and lower lip

3.      Dental- back the upper front teeth and tip of the tongue

4.      Alveolar-alveolar ridge and tip of the tongue

5.      Post-alveolar- alveolar ridge and blade of the tongue

6.      Retroflex-hard palate and back of the tongue

7.      Palato-alveolar- Rear part Of the teeth ridge and tip of the tongue

8.      Palatal-The front of the tongue and the hard palate

9.      Velar-The soft palate and the back of the tongue

10.  Uvular-The uvula and the back of the tongue

11.  Glottal-The two vocal cards, no closure

Manner of articulation: -

       What activity is performed at that place?

1. Plosive- It involves a stricture of complete closure at any point of vocal tract with an air pressure built up behind it and then sudden release of air with a plosive sound. For example, initial sounds of the following words: - pit, bit, tell, deal, kit, gain, etc.

 2.Affricate- It involves a stricture of complete closure followed by gradual release. For example, initial sounds of the following words: - chair and jug.

3. Nasal- It involves a stricture of complete closure at the oral passage only. The soft palate is lowered and the nasal passage remains open. For example, the final sounds of the following words. - ram, ran, and rang.

4. Roll (Trill)- It involves a stricture of intermittent closure. The tip of the tongue taps against the alveolar ridge. For example, the initial sound of ‘rat’ and ‘red’

5. Tap - The tip of the tongue makes a momentary contact with the hard palate and immediately withdraws to its position of rest. For example, the realization of ‘t’ and ‘d’ in ‘matter’ and ‘madder’ (BE) and in ‘a lot of’, ‘letter’ and ‘ladder’ (AE)

6. Flap- The tip of the tongue makes a momentary contact with the hard palate and immediately withdraws to a different position. For example, the realization of ‘d’ in ‘road’, ‘hard’ and ‘board’

 7. Lateral-   It involves a stricture of complete closure at any point in the mouth. For example, the air passes from the both sides or one side of the contact. For example, initial sound of ‘let’

8. Fricative- It involves a stricture of close approximation, no closure only narrowing. The air passes through narrow gap causing audible friction. For example, initial sounds of ‘fail, very, think, that, see, zoo, shine, and hat’

9. Friction less continuants- It involves a stricture of close approximation of lesser degree than that of fricative resulting in no audible friction. For example, initial sounds of ‘rat, rim,’

10. Semivowels- Very short approximants. For example, initial sounds of ‘watch, and yes’

***

  

Location: Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India

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