Chapter2:BasicsofAr2cula2on

“Don’tspeakofle:erswhenyoumeansounds.LanguagesaremadeupofSOUNDS.”DanielJones,TheSechuanaReader,1916,p.xxxvi

Proper2esofSpeech

•  Humanlanguage(includingphonology)isdiscrete,combinatorial,andunbounded

•  Recursive•  Vowelsandconsonantsaremadeupofcombina2onsofvocaltractmovements(ar2culatorygestures)

•  Duringspeech,allvocalorgansareinconstant,con2nuousmo2on

Speechsoundsas“danceofthear2culators”

•  Inasimilarmannertodancesteps,theproduc2onofaspeechsoundshasspecifiedconfigura2onsforeachar2culator

•  Airstreammechanism•  Stateofthelarynx•  Stateofvelarport•  Combina2onofac2veandpassivear2culators(placeofar2cula2on)

•  Mannerofar2culator

Howcanwewritedownthesemovements?

Phone2cTranscrip2on

•  Soundscanbesymbolizedwithaphone2calphabet

•  Thisiscalledphone2ctranscrip2on•  Thereareseveraldifferenttradi2onsofphone2ctranscrip2on,theonewewilluseistheIPA(Interna2onalPhone2cAlphabet)

•  Whataresomeadvantagesofphone2ctranscrip2on?

BriefHistory

•  In1887,membersoftheInterna2onalPhone2cAssocia2onmettofigureouthowtomakeasystemfortranscribingspeechofunfamiliarlanguages

•  TwoPrinciples:– Thealphabetwouldbeuniversal– Thealphabetwouldbeunambiguous

•  Therehavebeenseveralrevisions•  ManysymbolsarethesameastranscribedinEnglish

Englishexamples

Englishexamples

Englishexamples

Broadvs.NarrowTranscrip2on

•  Broadtranscrip2ononlyincludesthedetailsnecessarytotranscribecontras2veelementsofspeech

•  Narrowtranscrip2onincludesalldetails,includingthosethatarenotcontras2ve

•  Comparison‘whenatravelercamealong’–  Broad: [wɛnəˈtɹævlɚˌkeməˈlɔŋ]–  Narrow:[wɛnəˈthɹ̥ævlɚˌkheməˈlɔŋ]

•  Whichstyleisdeterminedbythespecificlanguage?Whichstyleisindependentofthespecificlanguage?

Decomposingspeech

•  Speechsoundsareproducedbysetconfigura2onsoftheairstream,larynx,andvelum

•  Themostcommonconfigura2onispulmonicegressive

•  Thismeansthatairexitsthelungsandpassesthroughtheoralcavity

•  Pulmonicegressiveisthedefault/unmarkedstate.Whatdoesthismean?

Voiceandaspira2on

•  Welearnedaboutvoicinginthelastclass.Cananyonereminduswhatvoicingrefersto?

•  Aspira2onoccurs(extrapuffofair)whenthevocalcordsareheldapartandstretchedlongerthantypicalvoicelessness

•  Aspira2onoccursatthebeginningofwords“word-ini2ally”inEnglish–  Ex.[phɪn]‘pin,[thu]‘too’

•  Aspira2onisnottranscribedinbroadtranscrip2onofEnglish.Why?WhataboutChinese?

LaryngealDis2nc2ons

•  Refertotheconfigura2onsmadebythear2culatorsfrombetweenthelungsandtheoralcavity(insideandoutsideofthemouth)

•  Wehavediscussedvoicingandaspira2on•  Closureatthevocalcordscreatesaglo:alstop[ʔ]

•  Nasalityisproducedbyopeningthevelum•  Letuscomparewithbilabialsounds(producedbyclosingthelips)

Compare:Openmouth,noclosures

Voicelessbilabialstop[p]

Voicedbilabialstop[b]

Bilabialnasalstop

Voicelessbilabialstop[p]

Spreadvocalcords

Voicedbilabialstop[b]

Tensevocalcords

Bilabialnasalstop

Openvelum

Mannersofar2cula2on

•  Isdefinedbythekindordegreeofconstric2onmadeinthevocaltract

•  Obstruent(obstruc2oninvocaltract)•  Sonorant(openinginvocaltract,allowingforresonance)

Obstruents

•  Stops•  Frica2ves•  Affricates

Sonorants

•  Vowels/Glides•  Approximants•  Nasals

PlaceofAr2cula2on(Consonants)•  Ac2veandpassivear2culators•  Whichmovestomakeaconstric2on,whichistheloca2ontowhichthear2culatormoves?

Ac#veAr#culator PassiveAr#culator PlaceofAr#cula#on

lowerlip(labial)

upperlip bilabial

upperteeth labio-dental

tonguefront(coronal)

upperteeth dental

alveolarridge alveolar

post-alveolarregion retroflex(2p)

post-alveolarregion post-alveolar(blade)

tonguebody(dorsal)

hardpalate palatal

sotpalate velar

larynx laryngeal

Describingvowels

Vowelsareproducedwithanopenoraltract,anddis2nguishedbytongueposi2onandliprounding

UsefulResources

•  h:p://smu-facweb.smu.ca/~s0949176/sammy/

•  h:p://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/ipa/index.html

•  h:ps://dood.al/pinktrombone/