Lesson 8.

2: ARTICULATORY PHONETICS - CONSONANTS

Before we devote some time to the articulation of English speech sounds, we need to
solve the problem of not having a good way to represent phonetic symbols on web pages
yet. So here is what we will do instead. You have a list of all the phonetic symbols for the
speech sounds of English on pp. 35 and 36 (File 3.1) of the textbook. Take a pencil and
number them starting with [p] = 1. Go down to the bottom of the page to the voiceless 'w'
= 27. On the next page continue with syllabic 'm' = 28 and finish with [oy] = 46. What I
will do instead of using the actual symbols is refer to the respective number for the
symbol of a speech sound. So the ch in church will be [17] and the schwa in among [43].
This approach is perhaps a bit cumbersome, but it has worked well in the past. In cases
where a regular letter is used as a phonetic symbol, I will use that letter. Remember that
phonetic symbols appear in square brackets.
Now let's move on to articulatory phonetics as the field that is most immediately useful
for ESL teachers. The book gives a detailed description of the speech organs available to
humans, and I have nothing to add. When humans speak we alter what is called a
pulmonic egressive airstream. This is an airstream that originates in the lungs
(=pulmonic), and it comes out rather than goes in (=egressive). The degree to which we
obstruct this airstream determines whether we consider a sound a consonant or a vowel.
In consonants we obstruct the airstream so much that these sounds cannot become the
"center" or nucleus of a syllable. The nucleus of a syllable must be capable of carrying
stress, but the airstream in consonants is too constricted to carry stress. Vowels on the
other hand can become the nucleus of a syllable because the airstream is not constricted
much and therefore can carry stress. We will start our discussion of articulatory phonetics
by looking at the properties for describing consonants first.
Consonants can be described by making use of three properties: state of the glottis, place
of articulation, and manner of articulation. State of the glottis refers to the distinction
between voiced and voiceless sounds. Here is how you can distinguish the two from each
other. When you pronounce a voiced sound and plug your ears with the tips of your index
fingers, you should be able to hear and feel the vibration of your vocal folds inside your
head. Alternately, you can put the tip of one of your hands on your larynx (or voice box)
to feel the vibration. Try either of these while alternating several times between slowly
and loudly saying the words Sue and zoo or bus and buzz. You should be able to feel the
difference between voiced s in zoo/buzz and voiceless s in sue/bus. The book on p. 38
gives you a list of word pairs where the only difference between the sounds in the two
words is voicing of one of the consonants. Listen to sample 14 for a demonstration of
these word pairs.
To practice the voiced/voiceless distinction, make up 3 sentences in which alternate
words start with a voiced or voiceless consonant from the pairs on p. 38. For example,
The [11] thick [10] zipper [z] slipped [s] contains examples from two voiced/voiceless
consonant pairs. After each word in your sentences, write the phonetic symbol (or
number for it) contained in the word as I did in the example. Post your three sentences in

your group folder (Phonetics 1-5) in FirstClass, check each others' sentences, and discuss
issues. The group assignments are as follows: Phonetics 1: Carol, Pam, Judy, Suzy, Sarah;
Phonetics 2: Kim, Darcy, Nan, Kala, Delores; Phonetics 3: Amy, Catalina, Robyn, Beth,
Marie; Phonetics 4: Sue, Nancy, Kathy, Audrey, Deb; Phonetics 5: Antoinette, Lisa,
Tamara, Sonja.
Besides voicing, place of articulation is another property that must be considered in
describing how sounds are produced. We said earlier that consonants are characterized by
a stronger constriction of the airstream than vowels. It makes sense therefore that we
need to describe where the air is constricted on its way from the lungs to the outside
(called the vocal tract). The places of articulation are derived from the anatomical labels
for the body parts where the constriction occurs. It is not important for you to memorize
all these labels, but you should be able to recognize them so that you can look up what
they mean. I will give brief paraphrases for each label but will not repeat the examples of
sounds for each because you have them in the book (pp. 39 and 40). Please listen to these
examples in sample 15 of the tape. The labels are, starting at the front of the mouth,
going towards its back, and then down into the throat:

bilabial - meaning that both lips are used to form the constriction
labiodental - involving both the bottom lip and top teeth
interdental - placing the tip of the tongue between the front teeth
alveolar - putting the tip of the tongue on or close to the alveolar ridge behind the
upper front teeth
palatal - making a sound near the hard roof of the mouth, called palate
velar - making a sound near the soft back portion of the roof of the mouth, called
velum
glottal - using the gap between the vocal folds, called glottis, to make a sound

To practice place of articulation distinctions, we can do the following. For each of the
seven distinctions, make up a sentence in which each word starts with one of the
consonants for a respective place of articulation. For example, a sentence for labiodentals
would be Valerie [v] faltered [f] or Fred [f] fled [f] from [f] Venice [v]. After each word,
write the phonetic symbol (or number) for the sound contained in the word as I did in the
example. Two symbols, [15] and [21], do not occur at the beginning of words. In the
words using these two sounds, the sounds may obviously occur somewhere other than at
the beginning. In addition, the glottal stop, [7], is too tricky for now. Don't worry about
finding an example for it. Post your 7 sentences in your FirstClass group folders
(Phonetics 1-5), check each others' examples, and discuss issues.
Finally, we need to pay attention to the way in which we change the airstream in the
vocal tract when we produce a sound. So, manner of articulation is the last property used
in describing how sounds are made. The manners of articulation are named according to
how much the airstream is constricted while it passes through the vocal tract. Again, it is
not important for you to memorize all these labels, but you should be able to recognize
them so that you can look up what they mean. Like before, I will give brief paraphrases
for each label but won't repeat the examples from the book (pp. 41 and 42). Listen to

sample 16 for the pronunciation of the sounds in the examples. The labels below are,
going from the highest to the lowest degree of constriction:

stops - meaning that the airflow is completely interrupted momentarily and then
released.
fricatives - almost completely interrupting the airflow so that the little bit of air
getting through creates friction
affricates - involving complete interruption of the airstream followed by a slight
opening that creates friction.
nasals - entailing complete blockage of the mouth while the air passes through
the nose
liquids - hindering the airstream enough to produce a distinct sound but not
enough to stop the air or to cause friction
glides - hindering the airstream even less than for liquids but still enough not to
allow stress (as in vowels)

To practice manner of articulation distinctions, we can conduct another exercise similar to

the ones above. For each of the six distinctions of constriction, make up a sentence in
which each word starts with one of the consonants from that distinction. For example, a
sentence for affricates would be Joke [18] cheerfully [17] (sorry, this was the best
sentence I could think of!). After each word, write the phonetic symbol (or number) for
the sound contained in the word as I did in the example. Remember that the two symbols
[15] and [21] do not occur at the beginning of words. In the words for these two sounds,
the sounds may obviously occur somewhere other than at the beginning. Also, don't
worry about the glottal stop, [7]. Post your six sentences in your group folders (Phonetics
1-5) in FirstClass, check each others' sample sentences, and discuss issues.
When we describe consonants, we need to use a combination of all three properties. To
fully describe the two initial affricate sounds in my sentence Joke cheerfully one needs to
add the two additional properties for place of articulation and state of the glottis
respectively. Again, it is not important that you memorize all the distinctions within each
property. I'd rather you know where your resources are. To completely describe sounds
[18], represented by j,and [17], represented by ch,we can consult the chart in Figure 4 on
page 42. Across the top you will find the places of articulation. Down the left side there
are the manners of articulation. One half of each column is shaded in indicating that this
area contains voiced consonants. For a description of our two consonants, go down the
left side of the figure; in the third row, we find Affricate. Moving across the row to where
it shows symbols [18] and [17], we find that this is where the Affricate row intersects
with the Palatal column. That tells us that our two sounds are palatal affricates, with [18]
being voiced (=shaded) and [17] being voiceless. Our example The [11] thick [10] zipper
[z] slipped [s] gives us a voiced interdental fricative, a voiceless interdental fricative, a
voiced alveolar fricative, and a voiceless alveolar fricative respectively. Why don't you
take the example Valerie [v] faltered [f] and determine the three-way description of the
two initial consonants. Go to FirstClass and post and discuss these consonant descriptions
in your group folders (Phonetics 1-5).

Lesson 8.3: ARTICULATORY PHONETICS - VOWELS

As we stated earlier, vowels are produced with a relatively open vocal tract. They can
therefore become the nucleus of a syllable by virtue of being able to carry stress. We will
now look at the properties for describing the articulation of vowels.
Vowels are produced by changing the shape of the space through which the air moves on
its way from the lungs to the outside. Since there is little constriction, vowels are
described by different properties than consonants. They can be described by making use
of the following four properties: tongue height, tongue advancement, lip rounding, and
tenseness of articulators. All four properties are demonstrated on the companion tape in
sample 17.
Tongue Height, as the name says, refers to the position of the tongue inside the mouth. It
might be helpful to understand tongue position if you think of the mouth as a threedimensional space. In this space, we move the tongue around to form different vowels.
For tongue height, we make a three-way distinction between high, mid and low
depending on the "up- or downness" of the tongue in the 3D space of the mouth. The
most obvious example for demonstrating tongue height is a visit to the doctor when we
have a sore throat. When the doctor wants to see the back of your throat she asks us to
make the [a] sound, not the [i] sound. The reason is simple. When you make an [a], your
tongue is low, and the doctor can look past it. When you make an [i], your tongue is high,
and your throat is not visible. Try this out for yourself in front of a mirror (but watch that
no one else is present - students have reported getting funny looks when they practiced
phonetics while in the company of others). You can also pronounce the words in the
book. The book describes an exercise using [i, 35, 36] in the words seat, set, sat to
demonstrate the tongue positions high, mid, low. You should be able to see or feel your
jaw drop lower successively with each word.
To practice tongue height distinctions, we can conduct another exercise similar to the
ones we conducted for consonants. Make up a sentence with short words, in which each
word contains one of the high, mid, and low vowels in this order. For example, a sentence
might be Beat [i] (high) Fred [35] (mid) bad [36] (low)! (for example, in chess). After
each word, write the phonetic symbol (or number) for the sound contained in the word as
I did in the example. Post your sentence in your group folder (Phonetics 1-5) in
FirstClass, check each others' examples, and discuss issues.
Tongue Advancement addresses position of the tongue in terms of front and back in the
three-dimensional space inside the mouth. We have just described up-down movement
(tongue height). Now we are looking at movement in the front-back dimension. The three
distinctions are front, central, and back. I can tell the difference between front and back
vowels the best if I say the vowels (and only the vowels ) in beat [i] and boot [u] in fast
succession. [i] is front and [u] is back. Saying them fast several times in a row makes me
aware of how my tongue moves from front to back and from back to front, and so on.
Give it a try, and see if you can feel the front-back movement.

To practice tongue advancement, let's also conduct an exercise. Make up a sentence with
short words, in which each word contains one of the front, central, and back vowels in
this order. For example, a sentence might be See [35] (front) Chuck's [42] (central) Ford
[40] (back)? After each word, write the phonetic symbol (or number) for the sound
contained in the word as I did in the example. Post your sentence in your FirstClass group
folders (Phonetics 1-5), check each others' sentences, and discuss issues.
The next property for describing vowels is Lip Rounding. When we produce rounded
vowels, we pucker our lips, almost as if we are going to whistle (not quite as much as for
whistling). The two distinctions here are rounded and unrounded. You should be able to
feel the rounding-unrounding movement again by making round-nonround vowels
quickly in a row. Try saying the words two (rounded) tees (unrounded) five times in a
row. Can you tell?
To practice lip rounding, again let's conduct an exercise. Make up a sentence with short
words, in which each word alternately contains rounded and unrounded vowels. For
example, a sentence might be Tour [u] these [i] two [u] streets [i]. After each word, write
the phonetic symbol (or number for it) contained in the word as I did in the example. Post
your sentence in your FirstClass group folder (Phonetics 1-5), check each other's
sentences, and discuss issues.
Finally, vowels are described using the property of Tenseness, which relates to the
amount of effort required for the articulation of a vowel. Tense vowels require greater
effort to produce than lax vowels. This effort can go towards positioning of any of the
articulators, such as the tongue or the lips. There are two distinctions to consider here:
tense and lax. Remember how we viewed the mouth as a three-dimensional space? Tense
vowels are located closer to the outside edges of this space than lax vowels. This is true
both for the height and advancement dimension. So tense [i] in beat is higher and more
front than lax [I] in bit; tense [u] in food is higher and more back than lax [U] in foot.
When you pronounce a pair of tense and lax vowels, such as [i, I], in fast succession
several times, can you tell how your tongue strains to reach [i] and relaxes for the [I]?
To practice tenseness, let's conduct yet another exercise. Make up a sentence with short
words, in which each word alternately contains tense and lax vowels. For example, a
sentence might be He [i] (tense) did [I] (lax) eat [i] (tense) the [43] (lax) cake [e] (tense).
After each word, write the phonetic symbol (or number) for the sound contained in the
word as I did in the example. Post your sentence in your FirstClass group folder
(Phonetics 1-5), check each other's examples, and discuss issues.
As with consonants earlier, we need to use a combination of all properties when we
describe vowels. To fully describe the vowels in my sample sentence He did eat the cake
one needs to add three more properties to tenseness: tongue height, tongue advancement,
and lip rounding respectively. Again, it is not important that you memorize all the
distinctions within each property. I'd rather you know where and what your resources are.
To finish describing these vowels, we can consult the schematic of the mouth in Figure 1
on page 43. Across the top you will find the dimension of tongue advancement. Down the

left side are the labels for tongue height. Vowels with lip rounding are shown inside the
dashed area. And tense vowels are outside the shaded, grey area. The sound [i], found in
the top left corner of Figure 1, must be described as high, front, unrounded, and tense; [I]
is high, front, unrounded, and lax; schwa, [43], is mid, central, unrounded, and lax; and
[e] is mid, front, unrounded, and tense. Why don't you take the example Get Chuck's
Ford and determine the four-way descriptions for each of the three vowels. Go to the
Center and post, check, and discuss your consonant descriptions in your group folder
(Phonetics 1-5).
Besides simple vowels, English has 3 diphthongs or two-sound vowels; because of their
two-sound property, diphthongs are represented by two symbols of the IPA. The second
parts of diphthongs are always glides, i.e., they are consonants. Figure 2 in the book
demonstrates the movement of the tongue when we produce the three English diphthongs
[ay, aw, 46]. This information may help you understand the rule of monophthongization
that some of you were struggling with in the AAVE homework. This rule means that the
glides in these three diphthongs are removed, leaving the vowel part of the diphthong
intact and converting it into a monophthong (or single sound). This concludes our
discussion of phonetics.
For your homework, I would like you to practice recognizing phonetic symbols.
Therefore, I am giving you a short dialog written in IPA symbols. Decipher the symbols
and write the text using the Roman alphabet we usually employ when writing in English.
Note: some of the symbols represent informal pronunciation; this should be reflected in
your regular English version)! Also, you need to remember back to the part of the course
in which we discussed geographic dialects. The homework text only makes sense if you
recognize the dialectal variation in one word contained in the text. To get to the
homework page, please click here. The page is actually a digital photo of a sheet of paper
and may take a while to download depending on the speed of your internet connection.
For the other part of your homework listed in Lesson 8.0, please click here. You will find
further instructions on your final paper on this web p

Lesson 8.4: THREE FEATURES FOR LANGUAGE LESSON PROPOSAL

Identify three linguistic features or closely related sets of features that you would have to
teach to non-native speakers when you teach your content topic. The reason you would
have to teach these features is that they seem difficult or unusual compared to other
language you use. They may be more frequent in your language sample (a short text if it
is written or a transcript if it is spoken) or may only be used in the context of your sample
so that they may be "new" to a non-native speaker. If you don't teach non-native speakers
or don't plan to teach right away, I still want you to be able to identify language features
that are particular to a text for the above reasons. That is part of linguistic training, the
purpose of the course.
When I refer to language features I mean "language characteristics" of the kind that we
have encountered throughout the course already. For example, any of the rules in the
AAVE homework describe "linguistic features" (monophthongization, final consonant
cluster reduction, -s deletion, multiple negation, invariant be). Or the linguistic variables
in Labov's case studies (r-lessness in NYC or centralization on Martha's Vineyard) are
linguistics features. Likewise, all of the linguistic ir/regularities in your short text you
identified for the first homework qualify as linguistic features. More examples are in the
homework samples I provided last lesson. Also, a colleague mentioned comparisons in
scientific texts: the heat from the first experiment was greater than that from the second.
You could pick a recipe, which came up on-campus when someone requested the recipe
for cookies she brought to class. Recipes (like directions in the sample paper) have
peculiar language, e.g. no articles before nouns (syntax, pragmatics), command forms of
verbs (syntax, pragmatics), abbreviations for measures (morphology). You could tape the
news (pragmatic use of language features to introduce new topics) or a talk show
(discourse analysis of turn-taking). The linguistic features/sets of features must be from
three different areas of linguistics, such as pronunciation (phonetics, phonology), words
(lexicon, morphology), sentence structure (syntax), meaning (semantics), pragmatics
(meaning in context, discourse structure, etc.), language variation (dialects, language and
gender, language and ethnicity etc.). I hope this gives you a few ideas of where to start
looking.
Post your language sample and a general, non-linguistic description of the three features
you picked. Discuss these features in your online discussion groups; the point of the
discussion is to help each other to get focussed on your features. Make sure in your group
discussions that everybody concentrates on linguistic features, not a teaching method.
The folders for this exercise are called ThreeFeatures1 through 5 and the group member
assignments are the same as for the Phonetics discussion exercise. Good luck with this
important step towards become a language teachers (and hobby linguist)!
This is the end of lesson 8. You will find lesson 9 next week by going to the list of lessons
on the home page
(http://web.hamline.edu/personal/aschramm/linguistics2001/index.html) and clicking on
"Lesson 9".