English Phonetics and Phonology 1

1. PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

1.1. PHONETICS AND PHONOL OGY

WHAT IS A PHONEME?
A phoneme is one of the units of sound that distinguish one word from another in a language. For
example, in most dialects of English, the sound patterns /θʌm/ (thumb) and /dʌm/ (dumb) are two separate
words distinguished by the substitution of one phoneme, /θ/, for another phoneme, /d/. (Two words like this
that differ in meaning through a contrast of a single phoneme form what is called a minimal pair). In many
other languages these would be interpreted as the same set of phonemes (i.e. /θ/ and /d/ would be considered
the same). In linguistics, phonemes (usually established using minimal pairs, such as kill vs kiss or pat vs bat) are
written between slashes, e.g. /p/. To show pronunciation more precisely linguists use square brackets, for
example [pʰ] (indicating an aspirated p).

WHAT IS A PHONE?
The term phoneme has become very widely used for a contrastive unit of sound in language: however,
a term is also needed for a unit at the phonetic level, since there is not always a one-to-one correspondence
between units at the two levels. For example, the word ‘can’t’ is phonemically kɑːnt (four phonemic units), but
may be pronounced kɑ̃t with the nasal consonant phoneme absorbed into the preceding vowel as nasalisation
(three phonetic units). The term phone has been used for a unit at the phonetic level, but it must be said that the
term (though useful) has not become widely used; this must be at least partly because the word is already used
for a much more familiar object.

Allophones are part of the phone family and are such, they are transcribed between square brackets. Therefore,
we could have cases like:
 /p/ (phoneme)
 [ph] as in put (aspirated)
 [p˺] as in tap (unreleased)
 [pº] as in apt (unexploded)
 [p] as in happy (unaspirated)

DEFINING PHONETICS
Phonetics is the scientific study of speech. It has a long history, going back certainly to well over two
thousand years ago. The central concerns in phonetics are the discovery of how speech sounds are produced,
how they are used in spoken language, how we can record speech sounds with written symbols and how we
hear and recognise different sounds. In the first of these areas, when we study the production of speech sounds
we can observe what speakers do (articulatory observation) and we can try to feel what is going on inside our
vocal tract (kinaesthetic observation). The second area is where phonetics overlaps with phonology: usually in
phonetics we are only interested in sounds that are used in meaningful speech, and phoneticians are interested
in discovering the range and variety of sounds used in this way in all the known languages of the world. This is
sometimes known as linguistic phonetics. Thirdly, there has always been a need for agreed conventions for
using phonetic symbols that represent speech sounds; the International Phonetic Association has played a
very important role in this. Finally, the auditory aspect of speech is very important: the ear can make fine
discrimination between different sounds, and sometimes it is not possible to define in articulatory terms
precisely what the difference is. A good example of this is in vowel classification: while it is important to know
the position and shape of the tongue and lips, it is often very important to have been trained in an agreed set
of standard auditory qualities that vowels can be reliably related to. (See cardinal vowel; other important
branches of phonetics are experimental, instrumental and acoustic.)

AREAS OF STUDY

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Class Notes 2

ARTICULATORY PHONETICS
Yule1 states Articulatory Phonetics is the study of how speech sounds are made or articulated. It is
also known as the physiological mechanisms of speech production by human beings 2. It concerns with the
sounds of speech produced by the organs of speech and how the vocal folds adjust the flow of air while it is
passing through them for producing different sounds 3.

ACOUSTIC PHONETICS
An important part of phonetics is the study of the physics of the speech signal: when sound travels
through the air from the speaker’s mouth to the hearer’s ear it does so in the form of vibrations in the air. It is
possible to measure and analyse these vibrations by mathematical techniques, usually by using specially-
developed computer software to produce spectrograms. Acoustic phonetics also studies the relationship
between activity in the speaker’s vocal tract and the resulting sounds. Analysis of speech by acoustic phonetics
is claimed to be more objective and scientific than the traditional auditory method which depends on the
reliability of the trained human ear.

AUDITORY PHONETICS
Auditory phonetics is a branch of phonetics concerned with the hearing of speech sounds and
with speech perception. Our recognition of linguistic units (such as syllables, words and clauses) depends on
several factors, including the acoustic structure of the speech signal itself, the context, our familiarity with the
speaker and our expectations as listeners. There is substantial evidence that much of our understanding of
speech involves a component of 'top down' linguistic processing which draws on our knowledge and does
not demand segment-by-segment processing of the acoustic signal to establish the phonological structure and
arrive at its meaning.4

DEFINING PHONOLOGY
The most basic activity in phonology is phonemic analysis, in which the objective is to establish
what the phonemes are and arrive at the phonemic inventory of the language. Very few phonologists have ever
believed that this would be an adequate analysis of the sound system of a language: it is necessary to go beyond
this. One can look at suprasegmental phonology – the study of stress, rhythm and intonation, which has led
in recent years to new approaches to phonology such as metrical and autosegmental theory; one can go beyond
the phoneme and investigate the detailed characteristics of each unit in terms of distinctive features; the way in
which sounds can combine in a language is studied in phonotactics and in the analysis of syllable structure. For
some phonologists the most important area is the relationships between the different phonemes – how they
form groups, the nature of the oppositions between them and how those oppositions may be neutralised.

Until the second half of the twentieth century most phonology had been treated as a separate “level” that had
little to do with other “higher” areas of language such as morphology and grammar. Since the 1960s the subject
has been greatly influenced by generative phonology, in which phonology becomes inextricably bound up with
these other areas; this has made contemporary phonology much harder to understand, but it has the advantage
that it no longer appears to be an isolated and self-contained field.

Ladefoged and Johnson5 define it as the description of the systems and patterns of sounds that occur in a
language. It involves studying a language to determine its distinctive sounds, that is, those sounds that convey
a difference in meaning.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PHONETICS AND PHONOL OGY

1 Yule, G. (2010). The study of Language. New York: Cambridge University Press.
2 Brinton, L., & Brinton, D. (2010). The Linguistic Structure of Modern English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins
Publishing Company.
3 Zhu, X. (2015). Phonetics Articulatory. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 65-74.
4 Clark, John; & Yallop, Colin. (1995). An introduction to phonetics and phonology (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
5 Ladefoged, Peter; & Johnson, Keith. (2011). A Course in Phonetics (6th ed.). Boston: Wadsworth

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English Phonetics and Phonology 3

Phonetics and phonology are two important intra-disciplinary branches of linguistics. Though
closely interlinked and serving the same purpose, i.e. dedicated to the study of human speech sounds and sound
structures, phonetics and phonology differ from each other to an extent that each has been given a separate
disciplinary status. Some of the most prominent differences between phonetics and phonology can be
elaborated as follows:

 Descriptive vs. Theoretical: Phonetics is a subfield of descriptive linguistics while phonology is an area
of theoretical linguistics.

 Major Field vs. Sub-discipline: Linguists often consider phonology a major field of linguistics. While,
on the other hand, phonetics is regarded as a subfield placed under phonology.

 Phonological Analysis vs. Further Studies: Phonetics is the basis for phonological analysis. On the
other hand, phonology is the basis for further work in morphology, syntax, discourse, and orthography
design.

 General Speech Sounds vs. Specific Sound Pattern Analysis: Phonetics (the study of the physical
aspects of sound) analyses the production of all human speech sounds, regardless of any language it is
dealing with. While, phonology analyses the sound patterns of a language by determining which phonetic
sounds are significant and explaining how these sounds are interpreted by the native speaker.

 Concrete vs. Abstract: Phonetics discusses the physical characteristics of speech sounds or signs,
especially, their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory perception and neurophysiological
status. Phonology is primarily concerned with the abstract, grammatical characterization of systems of
sounds or signs.

 Audible Sounds vs. Their Meanings: Phonetics is strictly about audible sounds and the things that
happen in our mouth, throat, nasal and sinus cavities, and the lungs to make these sounds. It has nothing
to do with meaning. It is only description. Phonology, on the other hand, is both physical as well as
meaningful. It explores the differences between the sounds in a language that change the meaning of an
utterance.

 Limited vs. Wide Scope: Phonetics only asks, “Does this sound go here or not?” Phonology asks, “Does
the meaning change if this sound is put here instead of that one?”

 Form vs. Function: Phonetics is concerned with the form, i.e. the physical properties of sounds.
Phonology, on the other hand, is concerned with the function, i.e. the differences and similarities of sounds.

 Parole vs. Langue: The linguistic term ‘parole’ is the concern of phoneticians while ‘langue’ is studied
by phonologists.

 Universal vs. Language Specific: Phonetics deals with the universal phenomenon of human speech
sounds. Phonology, on the other hand, is language specific.

 Phone vs. Phoneme: In phonetics, the smallest structural unit is a phone. In phonology, on the other
hand, the minimal meaningful unit is called a phoneme.

 Phone vs. Allophone: Every language consists of speech sounds called phones. Phonetics is concerned
with phones in general. Phonology, on the other hand, describes phones as allophones of phonemes.

 Phonetic vs. Phonemic Transcription: Phonetics deals with the phonetic transcription of speech
sounds. Phonology, on the other hand, deals with the phonemic transcription of speech sounds.

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 Square Brackets vs. Slanted Brackets: In phonetic transcription, square brackets […] are used to
enclose transcribed symbols. In phonemic transcription, on the other hand, slashes /…/ are used for the
same purpose.

 Speech Act vs. Language System: Phonetics is concerned with the speech act. Phonology, on the other
hand, is concerned with the language system.

 Continuous vs. Discrete Entity: Phonetics is the domain of the continuous, while phonology is the
domain of discrete entity.

 Gradient vs. Categorical: Phonetics is gradient while phonology is categorical.

 Phonetics in Phonology vs. Phonology in Phonetics: During their interaction, when phonetics affects
phonology, the phonetics effects and constraints are reflected in the phonology. This is referred to as
naturalness. On the other hand, when phonology affects phonetics, it results in the mapping between the
units of phonology and their physical realization.

 Individuality vs. Interrelationship of Sounds: Phonetic transcription depends simply on the

pronunciation of each individual sound regardless of its function in the sound system of the given language,
whereas phonemic transcription depends upon the interrelationship of sounds in each language.

 Identification vs. Interpretation of Sounds: Phonetics studies ‘which sounds are present in a language’.
Phonology, on the other hand, studies how these sounds combine and how they change in combination, as
well as which sounds can contrast to produce differences in meaning.

 Phonetic vs. Phonemic Features: Phonetic features whose presence or absence can alter meaning are
called phonemic features. On the other hand, adding or subtracting a phonemic feature normally results in
a change of meaning as well as in a change in pronunciation.

 Predictability vs. Unpredictability of Features: The occurrence of certain phonetic features is entirely
predictable in phonetic environment, called redundant phonetic features, as is the case in English with
voicing or sonorants, nasality of vowels, or length in vowels. On the other hand, the presence of a phonemic
feature is not predictable according to phonetic context.

 Phonetic Symbols vs. Phonemic Symbols: The symbols of phonetic alphabet are universal. On the
other hand, phonemic symbols are a type of phonetic shorthand with specific value for a sound in a
language.

 Marking vs. Ignoring Phonetic Detail: Phonetic transcription, enclosed in square brackets, attempts
to express as much phonetic detail as possible, redundant or otherwise; phonemic transcription does not
mark redundant features, but rather is intended to represent only those phonetic details of a given language
that are distinctive.

 “One for One” vs. “One for Several”: In phonetics, a phonetic symbol stands for one and the same
sound regardless of language, but a phonemic symbol often stands for any one of the several actual sounds.

 Examples: Let us take an example of the word “bed”. Phonetics is concerned with its physical
production, acoustic properties, and its physiological status. On the other hand, phonologists take the word
“bed” differently. They say the word “bet” is very similar to the word “bed” in terms of the physical
manifestation of sounds. The only difference is that at the end of “bet,” the vocal chords stop vibrating so
that sound is a result only of the placement of the tongue behind the teeth and the flow of air. However,

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English Phonetics and Phonology 5

the meanings of the two words are not related in the least. This is the biggest distinction between phonetics
and phonology, although phonologists analyse a lot more than just the obvious differences.6

To sum up, the differences can be plotted as follows:

Phonetics
Definition Phonetics can be considered as a branch of
linguistics as it deals with the study of the
sounds of human speech. It also considers
the function production and auditory
qualities of human speeches.
Phonology
Phonology is another branch of linguistics
which focuses on the organization of sounds
by studying speech patterns. The key words
for describing Phonology are distribution
and patterning related to speech.

Described as Physics of sound. Psychology of sound.

Focus Theories of speech production and
perception.
Branches  Acoustic phonetics – related to the
study of physical attributes of sound
produced by the vocal tract.
 Auditory phonetics deals with
understanding that how hum ear
perceives sound and how the brain
recognizes different speech units.
 Articulatory phonetics deals with
studying the making of single sounds by
the vocal tract.
Table 1 - Comparison between Phonetics and Phonology. Source: http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-
phonetics-and-phonology
Rules or constraints to find out about the
combinations of sounds of a language.
 Segmental Phonology – based on the
segmentation of language into individual
speech sounds derived from phonetics.
 Suprasegmental Phonology – deals
with attributes (like rhythm, stress, etc.)
of pronunciation which cannot be
segmented.

A speech chain that can explain what each area studies could be:

Speaker’s brain Phonology

Speaker’s mouth Articulatory phonetics

Transmission of sound through air Acoustic phonetics

Listener’s ear Auditory phonetics

Listener’s brain Phonology

WHY ARE PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY USEFUL?

 To improve your pronunciation.
 To improve your own listening skills

6 Source: https://www.academia.edu/10165716/Difference_between_Phonetics_and_Phonology

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Class Notes 6

 To be able to describe how something is pronounced and spelt in a systematic way, which is a must for
English teachers and researchers.
 To distinguish accents and get “information” about that person.

1.2. ARTICULATORY PHONETICS: THE ORGANS OF SPEECH

The term organs of speech refers to all those

parts of the human body which are concerned in various
ways with the production of speech. Most of them are
only secondarily concerned with speech production -
their primary functions are to do with eating, chewing
and swallowing food, and respiration. Figure l shows a
section through the body indicating the major organs
which contribute to the speech process.

The organs of speech shown in figure 1, namely the

lungs, trachea, larynx, the pharyngeal and oral cavities
with their component parts, and the nasal passages,
constitute as a group what is termed the vocal tract. For
functional and descriptive purposes, the tract is normally
divided into two basic parts, one above the larynx, the
other below it. Within the larynx itself are the vocal folds:
the aperture between the folds is known as the glottis, Figure 1 - The organs of speech
and the tract above the glottis is therefore called the
supraglottal vocal tract, that below it the subglottal vocal tract. The choice of this point of division is based
on a functional distinction. The respiratory system below the glottis provides the major energy source for
producing speech sounds, while the tract above the glottis determines, in general, the phonetic quality of speech
sounds. Most phonetic descriptions of speech sounds are primarily concerned with supraglottal activity.

1.3. THE VOCAL ORGANS

a. The pharynx is a tube which begins

just above the larynx. It is about 7 cm
long in women and about 8 cm in men,
and at its top end it is divided into two,
one part being the back of the oral
cavity and the other being the
beginning of the way through the nasal
cavity. If you look in your mirror with
your mouth open, you can see the back
of the pharynx.
b. The soft palate or velum is seen in the
diagram in a position that allows air to
pass through the nose and through the
mouth. Yours is probably in that
position now, but often in speech it is
raised so that air cannot escape through
Figure 2 - The articulators
the nose.
c. The hard palate is often called the
“roof of the mouth”. You can feel its smooth curved surface with your tongue.
d. The alveolar ridge is between the top front teeth and the hard palate. You can feel its shape with your
tongue. Its surface is much rougher than it feels and is covered with little ridges. You can only see these if
you have a mirror small enough to go inside your mouth, such as those used by dentists.
e. The tongue is a very important articulator and it can be moved into many different places and different
shapes. It is usual to divide the tongue into different parts, though there are no clear dividing lines within

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English Phonetics and Phonology 7

its structure. Fig. 3 shows the tongue on a larger scale with these parts shown: tip, blade, front, back and
root. (This use of the word “front” often seems rather strange at first.)
f. The teeth (upper and lower) are usually shown in diagrams like Fig. 2 only at the front of the mouth,
immediately behind the lips. This is for the sake of a simple diagram, and you should remember that most
speakers have teeth to the sides of their mouths, back almost to the soft palate. The tongue is in contact
with the upper side teeth for most speech sounds.
g. The lips are important in speech. They can be pressed together (when we produce the sounds p, b),
brought into contact with the teeth (as in f, v), or rounded to produce the lip-shape for vowels like u:.

Figure 3 - Subdivisions of the tongue

The seven articulators described above are the main ones used in speech, but there are a few other things to
remember. Firstly, the larynx could also be described as an articulator - a very complex and independent one.
Secondly, the jaws are sometimes called articulators; certainly, we move the lower jaw a lot in speaking. But
the jaws are not articulators in the same way as the others, because they cannot themselves contact other
articulators. Finally, although there is practically nothing active that we can do with the nose and the nasal
cavity when speaking, they are a very important part of our equipment for making sounds (which is sometimes
called our vocal apparatus), particularly nasal consonants such as m, n. Again, we cannot really describe the
nose and the nasal cavity as articulators in the same sense as (a) to (g) above.

1.4. PLACES OF ARTICULATI ON

Carr7 refers to the points at which the flow of air can be

modified as places of articulation. He also identifies the vocal folds
as a place of articulation; since the space between the vocal cords is
referred to as the glottis, he refers to sounds produced at this place of
articulation as glottal sounds.

Firstly, sounds in which the airflow is modified by forming a

constriction between the lower lip and the upper lip are referred to as
bilabial sounds (Fig. 4). An example is the first sound in pit.
Secondly, sounds in which there is a constriction between the lower
lip and the upper teeth are referred to as labiodental sounds (Fig. 5).
An example is the first sound in fit.
Figure 4 – Bilabial sounds

7 Carr, Philip. (2013) English Phonetics and Phonology: An Introduction, (2nd Ed.) Oxford: Blackwell-Wiley

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Thirdly, sounds in which there is a constriction between the tip of

the tongue and the upper teeth are referred to as dental sounds
(Fig. 6). An example is the first sound in thin.

For the remaining places of articulation, let us distinguish between

the tip, the blade of the tongue, the front of the tongue and the
back of the tongue (as in fig. 2). Let us also distinguish various
points along the upper part of the mouth. We will identify four
different areas: the alveolar ridge (the hard, bony ridge behind the
teeth; see fig. 2), the hard palate (the hard, bony part of the roof
of the mouth; see fig. 1), the palato-alveolar (or post-alveolar)
Figure 5 - Labiodental sounds region 8 (the area in between the alveolar ridge and the hard
palate), and the velum (the soft part at the back of the roof of the mouth, also known as the soft palate; see
fig. 2).

Sounds in which there is a constriction between the blade or tip of the

tongue and the alveolar ridge are called alveolar sounds (Fig. 7). An
example is the first sound in sin.

Sounds in which there is a constriction between the blade of the tongue

and the palato-alveolar (or post-alveolar) region are called palato-
alveolar sounds (Fig. 8). An
example is the first sound in
ship.

Sounds in which there is a Figure 6 - Dental sounds

constriction between the front of the tongue and the hard palate are
called palatal sounds (Fig. 9). An example is the first sound in yes
(although this may be less obvious to you; we will return to this
sound below).

Sounds in which there is a constriction between the back of the

tongue and the velum are called velar sounds (Fig. 10). An example
Figure 7 - Alveolar sounds
is the first sound in cool.

Figure 8 - Palato-alveolar sounds Figure 9 - Palatal sounds Figure 10 - Velar sounds

8 Many phonologists and phoneticians use the term ‘palato-alveolar’, but the chart of symbols used by the
International Phonetics Association uses the term ‘post-alveolar’. It will suffice for our purposes if the student
takes the two terms to be interchangeable. There are no rigid physiological divisions between the alveolar ridge
and the hard palate; the transition from one to the other is a continuum. And the range of articulations which
can be made in between the two is relatively varied, leading some phoneticians to distinguish alveo-palatal from
palato-alveolar articulations. We will simplify by ignoring these details.

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English Phonetics and Phonology 9

Clark and Yallop9 summarise the places of articulation for consonants in the following table:

Name of place Articulators used

Bilabial Upper a lower lips (English p, b, m)
Labio-dental Lower lip and edges of upper incisors (English f, v)
Apico-dental Tongue tip and edges or backs of upper incisors (Spanish t, d, English th in
thin)
Lamino-dental Tongue blade and edges or backs o upper incisors (th in Australian aboriginal
languages)
Apico-alveolar Tongue tip and alveolar region (English t, d)
Lamino-alveolar Tongue blade and alveolar region
Apico-postalveolar Tongue tip and postalveolar region (Southern British English r in trip, drip)
Lamino-postalveolar Tongue blade and postalveolar region (English sh as in ship may be apico-
alveolar or lamino-postalveolar depending on the speaker)
Sublamino-postalveolar Tongue undersurface and postalveolar region (as in ‘retroflex’ sounds of
Hindi or Urdu)
Apico-palatal Tongue tip and palatal region
Lamino-palatal Tongue blade and palatal region (English y)
Velar Tongue body and soft palate (English k)
Uvular Tongue body and uvula/soft palate (r in some varieties of French and
German)
Pharyngeal Pharynx walls
Glottal Glottis (vocal folds)
1.5. MANNERS OF ARTICULATION

To identify the way a sound is articulated, we will identify three different degrees of constriction
(complete closure, close approximation and open approximation), and thus three different categories of
consonant: stops, fricatives and approximants.

STOPS
The articulators in question may form a stricture of complete closure; this is what happens when
one produces the first sound in pit. Here the lower and upper lips completely block the flow of air from the
lungs; that closure may then be released, as it is in pit, and may then produce a sudden outflow of air. Sounds
which are produced with complete closure are referred to as stops (or plosives).

 We may describe the first sound in pit as a voiceless bilabial stop (transcribed as [p]) and we will henceforth
identify all consonants with three-term labels of this sort. The consonant in abbey is also a bilabial stop but
differs from that in pit: it is voiced. This consonant (transcribed as [b]) is a voiced bilabial stop.
 The first sound in tin is a voiceless alveolar stop; it is transcribed as [t]. Its voiced counterpart is the
consonant in ado. This sound, the voiced alveolar stop, is transcribed as [d].
 The first sound in cool is a voiceless velar stop; it is transcribed as [k]. Its voiced counterpart, the voiced
velar stop, is transcribed as [g]; an example is the consonant in ago.

We have now identified bilabial, alveolar and velar stops; stops may be made at many other places of
articulation, but we will ignore those, as they are not relevant to the study of English. There is one further stop
which we must mention, however, as it is very common in the speech of most speakers of English. This is the
glottal stop (transcribed as [ʔ]). It is made by forming a constriction of complete closure between the vocal
folds. This is the sound made instead of [t] in many Scottish and Cockney pronunciations of, for example, the
word butter. We will see that it is present in the speech of almost every speaker of English, no matter what the
accent. There is no question of describing the glottal stop as voiced or voiceless, since it is articulated in the
glottis itself.

9 Clark, John & Yallop, Colin (1990). An introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Oxford: Blackwell

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Ladefoged and Johnson10 classify the stops as oral stops and nasal stops. If, in addition to the articulatory
closure in the mouth, the soft palate is raised so that the nasal tract is blocked off, then the airstream will be
completely obstructed. Pressure in the mouth will build up and an oral stop will be formed. When the
articulators come apart, the airstream will be released in a small burst of sound. This kind of sound occurs in
the consonants in the words pie, buy (bilabial closure), tie, dye (alveolar closure), and key, guy (velar closure). If
the air is stopped in the oral cavity, but the soft palate is down so that air can go out through the nose, the
sound produced is a nasal stop. Sounds of this kind occur at the beginning of the words my (bilabial closure)
and nigh (alveolar closure), and at the end of the word sang (velar closure). Apart from the presence of a velic
opening, there is no difference between this stop and the one in buy. Although both the nasal sounds and the
oral sounds can be classified as stops, the term stop by itself is almost always used by phoneticians to indicate
an oral stop, and the term nasal to indicate a nasal stop. Thus, the consonants at the beginnings of the words
day and neigh would be called an alveolar stop and an alveolar nasal, respectively. Although the term stop may
be defined so that it applies only to the prevention of air escaping through the mouth, it is commonly used to
imply a complete stoppage of the airflow through both the nose and the mouth.

FRICATIVES
Let us now distinguish between complete closure and another, less extreme, degree of constriction:
close approximation. Sounds which are produced with this kind of constriction entail a bringing together of
the two articulators to the point where the airflow is not quite fully blocked: enough of a gap remains for air to
escape, but the articulators are so close together that friction is created as the air escapes. Sounds of this sort
are referred to as fricatives.

 The first sound in fin is created by bringing the lower lip close to the upper teeth in a constriction of close
approximation. This sound is a voiceless labio-dental fricative (transcribed as [f]). Its voiced counterpart
(the voiced labiodental fricative, transcribed as [v]) is the consonant in Eva.
 The first sound in thin is created by bringing the tip of the tongue into a constriction of close approximation
with the upper teeth. This sound is a voiceless dental fricative, transcribed as [ɵ]. Its voiced counterpart,
the voiced dental fricative (transcribed as [ð]) is, for some speakers, the first sound in the word that.
 The first sound in sin is created by bringing the tip or blade of the tongue into a constriction of close
approximation with the alveolar ridge. This sound, transcribed as [s], is a voiceless alveolar fricative. Its
voiced counterpart, the voiced alveolar fricative (transcribed as [z]) is the consonant in zoo.
 The first sound in ship is created by bringing the blade of the tongue into a constriction of close
approximation with the palato-alveolar region. This sound, transcribed as [ʃ], is a voiceless palato-alveolar
fricative. Its voiced counterpart, transcribed as [ʒ], is the second consonant in seizure.

Fricatives may be articulated at any point of articulation, but many of those sounds are irrelevant to the study
of English. However, we will mention three.

 One is the voiceless velar fricative [x], found in the speech of many Scots, in words such as loch. Another
is the voiceless fricative [ʍ], again found in the speech of many Scots, as in words like whale (as opposed
to wail) and which (as opposed to witch); its place of articulation is labial-velar.
 A third is the glottal fricative [h], as in the first sound in hit. This sound is produced by bringing the vocal
cords into a constriction of close approximation, so that friction is produced. As the vocal cords are not
vibrating, we will take it that this is a voiceless sound.

APPROXIMANTS
The least radical degree of constriction occurs when the articulators come close together, but not
sufficiently close together to create friction. This kind of stricture is called open approximation. Consonants
produced in this way are called approximants.

10 Ladefoged, Peter; & Johnson, Keith. (2011). A Course in Phonetics (6th ed.). Boston: Wadsworth

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English Phonetics and Phonology 11

The first sound in yes is an approximant. It is produced by bringing the front of the tongue close to the hard
palate. Although the sides of the tongue are in a constriction of complete closure with the upper gums, the air
escapes along a central groove in which the front of the tongue is not close enough to the hard palate to create
friction. This sound, transcribed as [j], is a voiced palatal approximant. Approximants are normally voiced,
so we will not discuss any voiceless counterparts for these sounds.

The first sound in many English speakers’ pronunciation of rip, rope, rat, etc. is an approximant. It is produced
by bringing the blade of the tongue into a constriction of open approximation with the alveolar ridge. This
approximant, transcribed as [ɹ], is referred to as an alveolar approximant. As with [j], the sides of the tongue
form a constriction of complete closure with the gums at the sides of the mouth, but the air escapes along a
central groove without creating friction. For most speakers (and in varying degrees, depending on the accent),
the tongue body is somewhat retracted when [ɹ] is uttered; it is therefore often referred to as a post-alveolar
approximant, but ‘alveolar approximant’ will suffice for our purposes.

Let us identify one further such sound, the sound at the beginning of wet. In producing this sound, the lips
form a constriction of open approximation: there is no friction produced. But its articulation is more
complicated than that of [j], the palatal approximant, since it also involves another articulation, between the
back of the tongue and the velum (i.e. a velar articulation). We will therefore refer to it as a voiced labial-velar
approximant; it is transcribed as [w].

Ladefoged and Johnson 11 also identify another type of approximant called lateral. It is formed by an
obstruction of the airstream at a point along the centre of the oral tract, with incomplete closure between one
or both sides of the tongue and the roof of the mouth. Say the word lie and note how the tongue touches near
the centre of the alveolar ridge. Prolong the initial consonant and note how, despite the closure formed by the
tongue, air flows out freely, over the side of the tongue. Because there is no stoppage of the air, and not even
any fricative noises, these sounds are classified as approximants. The consonants in words such as lie, laugh are
alveolar lateral approximants, but they are usually called just alveolar laterals, their approximant status being
assumed. You may be able to find out which side of the tongue is not in contact with the roof of the mouth by
holding the consonant position while you breathe inward. The tongue will feel colder on the side that is not in
contact with the roof of the mouth.

1.6. THE ARTICULATION OF THE VOWEL SOUNDS

In the production of vowel sounds, the

articulators do not come very close together, and the
passage of the airstream is relatively unobstructed. We can
describe vowel sounds roughly in terms of the position of
the highest point of the tongue and the position of the
lips. Fig. 11 shows the articulatory position for the vowels
in heed, hid, head, had, father, good, food. Of course, in saying
these words, the tongue and lips are in continuous motion
throughout the vowels. The positions shown in the figure
are best considered as the targets of the gestures for the
vowels.

As you can see, in all these vowel gestures, the tongue tip
is down behind the lower front teeth, and the body of the
tongue is domed upward. Check that this is so in your own
pronunciation. You will notice that you can prolong the
Figure 11 -The positions of the vocal organs for the
[h] sound and that there is no mouth movement between vowels in the words 1 heed, 2 hid, 3 head, 4 had, 5 father,
the [h] and the following vowel; the [h] is like a voiceless 6 good, 7 food. The lip positions for vowels 2, 3, and 4 are
version of the vowel that comes after it. In the first four between those shown for 1 and 5. The lip position for
vowels, the highest point of the tongue is in the front of vowel 6 is between those shown for 1 and 7

11 Ladefoged, Peter; & Johnson, Keith. (2011). A Course in Phonetics (6th ed.). Boston: Wadsworth

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Class Notes 12

the mouth. Accordingly, these vowels are called front vowels. The tongue is close to the roof of the mouth for
the vowel in heed (you can feel that this is so by breathing inward while holding the target position for this
vowel), slightly less close for the vowel in hid (for this and most other vowels it is difficult to localize the position
by breathing inward; the articulators are too far apart), and lower still for the vowels in head and had. If you look
in a mirror while saying the vowels in these four words, you will find that the mouth becomes progressively
more open while the tongue remains in the front of the mouth. The vowel in heed is classified as a high front
vowel, and the vowel in had as a low front vowel. The height of the tongue for the vowels in the other words
is between these two extremes, and they are therefore called mid-front vowels. The vowel in hid is a mid-high
vowel, and the vowel in head is a mid-low vowel.

Now try saying the vowels in father, good, food. Fig. 4 also shows the articulatory targets for these vowels. In all
three, the tongue is close to the back surface of the vocal tract. These vowels are classified as back vowels.
The body of the tongue is highest in the vowel in food (which is therefore called a high back vowel) and lowest in
the first vowel in father (which is therefore called a low back vowel). The vowel in good is a mid-high back vowel.
The tongue may be near enough to the roof of the mouth for you to be able to feel the rush of cold air when
you breathe inward while holding the position for the vowel in food.

Lip gestures vary considerably in different vowels. They are generally closer together in the mid-high and high
back vowels (as in good, food), though in some forms of American English this is not so. Look at the position of
your lips in a mirror while you say just the vowels in heed, hid, head, had, father, good, food. You will probably find
that in the last two words, there is a movement of the lips in addition to the movement that occurs because of
the lowering and raising of the jaw. This movement is called lip rounding. It is usually most noticeable in the
inward movement of the corners of the lips. Vowels may be rounded (as in who’d) or unrounded (as in heed).

In summary, the targets for vowel gestures can be described in terms of three factors: (1) the height of the body
of the tongue; (2) the front–back position of the tongue; and (3) the degree of lip rounding. The relative
positions of the highest points of the tongue are given in Figure 1.13. Say just the vowels in the words given in
the figure caption and check that your tongue moves in the pattern described by the points. It is very difficult
to become aware of the position of the tongue in vowels, but you can probably get some impression of tongue
height by observing the position of your jaw while saying just the vowels in the four words heed, hid, head, had.
You should also be able to feel the difference between front and back vowels by contrasting words such as he
and who. Say these words silently and concentrate on the sensations involved. You should feel the tongue going
from front to back as you say he, who. You can also feel your lips becoming more rounded.

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