Prof Francisco Zabala - 2016 CLASSIFICATION OF SOUNDS IN DETAIL A thorough description of a speech sound needs more than three epithets (i.e voicing, place and manner of articulation) The following guide focuses on the decisive and salient choices that constitute a consonantal sound: What organs are used to set the airstream in motion? In normal speech, all English and Spanish sounds are PULMONIC It is the diaphragm that compresses the lungs so that the air contained in them is pushed out What direction does the airstream take? In English and Spanish, the airstream is pushed outwards, so the sounds are EGRESSIVE How the vocal folds work? a The vocal folds may be set in motion by the airstream that passes through them The air-pressure is built up behind the closed vocal folds till it forces them to open; when the pressure is released, the flaps come together again This process, which is repeated hundreds of times per second, is called PHONATION or VOICING b The glottis may be held wide open (i.e the vocal folds are not in contact) so that the airstream passes freely through them without vibration There is no phonation, so this is the position the vocal folds take for the production of VOICELESS sounds c The vocal folds may be held firmly together so that the air coming from the lungs is held below them This is the position the vocal folds take for the production of the GLOTTAL STOP Z>\ What position does the velum take? a If the velum is raised, then the nasal resonator is shut off The airstream is forced to escape through the mouth These sounds are ORAL b If the velum is lowered, then the nasal resonator is open If there is a complete obstruction to the airstream in the mouth, the air will escape through the nose These sounds are NASAL c If the velum is lowered, then the nasal resonator is open If the airstream can escape through the mouth and nose at the same time, the resulting sounds are NASALIZED 2 Prof Francisco Zabala - 2016 What articulators are at play? The articulators that intervene the most in the production of a sound determine its PLACE OF ARTICULATION The articulators that are movable are considered to be ACTIVE, while the ones that cannot move are called PASSIVE Label Passive articulator Active articulator Bilabial both lips Labiodental upper front teeth lower lip Dental upper front teeth tongue tip Alveolar alveolar ridge Postalveolar Palatoalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal rear of the alveolar ridge front of the hard palate hard palate soft palate/velum Examples o+
a+
l+
v .e+
u .S+
C tongue tip s+
c+
m+
k+
r+
y tongue tip blade/front of the tongue front of the tongue back of the tongue vocal folds q .R+
Y+
sR+
cY .i .j+
f+
M+
v .g Z>\ Prof Francisco Zabala - 2016 How the articulators interact? The behaviour of the articulators determines the MANNER OF ARTICULATION a A PLOSIVE consonant shows an articulation of complete oral closure It’s made up of three stages: (1) a closing stage, where the active articulator approaches a passive articulator (or where both active articulators move towards each other), thus blocking the air passage; (2) a compression stage, where the airstream coming from the lungs builds up pressure behind the oral closure; and (3) the release stage, in which the abrupt separation of the articulators lets the pent up air escape with a burst noise called plosion Articulator airstream Articulator Closing stage Compression stage Abrupt release stage b A FRICATIVE consonant consists of an articulation of narrow stricture that produces turbulence as the air coming from the lungs fights its way out of the oral cavity The active articulator comes close to the passive articulator and forms a narrow channel Articulator airstream Articulator c An AFFRICATE consonant is a unit that made up of two elements: an initial plosive element and a fricative second element It consists of three stages: (1) a closing stage, (2) a compression stage, and (3) a slow fricative release stage It’s this last one that differentiates an affricate from a plosive The release is not abrupt this time: the organs separate so as to let the compressed air out, but they are quite close to each other so that this narrow passage forces the airstream to cause friction Articulator airstream Articulator Closing stage Compression stage Slow fricative release stage d An APPROXIMANT sound consists of the two articulators coming towards each other, but they are not close enough to produce friction The air escapes freely through this wide stricture Articulator airstream Articulator e For the production of a nasal consonant the velum is lowered so that the passage to the nasal cavity is open Two articulators come in contact in the oral cavity and block it so that the air that can’t escape through the mouth is forced out through the nasal cavity