Andrew Radford - Linguistics An Introduction [Second Edition]

A place of articulation usually involves two types of articulator. One is a passive structure such as the alveolar ridge or the teeth; the other is the active articulator which is moved. For the alveolar, dental and velar sounds described above, the active articulator is part of the tongue. For bilabial sounds, we have an odd situation in which both lips can be regarded as simultaneously the active and passive articulators.

So far, in our discussion of place of articulation, we have mentioned only

plosives. Turning now to fricatives, [s z] have the same place of articulation as

[t d]; thus, [s] is an alveolar fricative, whereas [t] is an alveolar plosive. The sounds

[θ ð] are made by bringing the blade of the tongue against the upper teeth or even between the teeth (so that the tongue tip protrudes slightly). These sounds are therefore dentals, although they are sometimes also called interdentals (figure 8).

As already noted, the production of [f] (and [v]) involves moving the lower lip into close proximity with the upper teeth. These are therefore known as labiodental sounds (figure 9).

Before considering [ʃ ʒ], let’s briefly look at [j], one of the sounds in the group we set aside above. The production of this sound involves raising the tongue blade towards the roof of the mouth (although not far enough to produce friction, see below). The roof of the mouth is called the palate (sometimes hard palate), and for this reason [j] is called a palatal sound (figure 10). Now, for [ʃ ʒ], we bring the tongue blade forward from the palate but not as far forward as for an alveolar sound. The place of articulation for [ʃ ʒ] is midway between the places of

articulation for palatals and alveolars, and for this reason [ʃ ʒ] are referred to as

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sounds

Figure 8 Cross-section of the vocal tract, illustrating the articulation of

interdental sounds

Figure 9 Cross-section of the vocal tract, illustrating the articulation of

labiodental sounds

Figure 10 Cross-section of the vocal tract, illustrating the articulation of [j]

palato-alveolar or alveopalatal fricatives. The affricates [ʧ ʤ] are made in the same place (figure 11).

There is one English fricative with which we have not yet dealt, [h]. Formation of this sound does not involve the tongue or lips; rather, it is made simply by

Sounds and suprasegmentals

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Figure 11 Cross-section of the vocal tract, illustrating the articulation of palato-alveolar sounds

passing air through the vocal cords. The part of the larynx containing the vocal cords is called the glottis, so we often refer to [h] as a glottal fricative. Equally, since it is made in the larynx, we may call it a laryngeal fricative.

We can now return to [l ɹ w j]. Above, we have noted that while [j] is palatal, its articulation does not involve moving the blade of the tongue sufficiently close to the hard palate to produce friction. Therefore, it is not a fricative, and it is necessary to recognise another manner of articulation. For each of the sounds in the set [l ɹ w j], the distance between the active and passive articulators is insufficient to cause friction, and such sounds are referred to as approximants.

Thus, we can refer to [j] as a palatal approximant. Next, consider [w]. Production of this sound involves bringing the lips together, but again not close enough to cause complete closure or friction; it is a bilabial approximant. With the two remaining sounds, there are additional factors to take into account, although it remains convenient to continue to refer to them as approximants. Take [l] first.

This is produced by placing the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge. However, unlike in the case of [t d], we do not create a complete obstruction; rather, we give the air an escape hatch by allowing it to pass around one side of the tongue. For this reason, [l] is called a lateral sound. The [ɹ] sound is produced by curling the tip of the tongue towards the alveolar ridge (or sometimes as far back as the hard palate), but again without getting close enough to cause an obstruction or create a frictional airflow. Sounds made by curling the tongue tip in this way are called retroflex. In fact, there is considerable variation in the way that ‘r’ type sounds are pronounced in English (as in many other languages). Thus, in many dialects we have a trilled ‘r’ [r], in which the tongue tip is brought near to the alveolar ridge and is caused to flap rapidly against it several times by air passing through the centre of the mouth. Traditionally, the sounds [l ɹ] are often referred to as liquids with [w j] being called glides. We will see an interesting connection between glides and vowels presently.

There is one final distinction we need before our description of English consonants is complete. We need to understand what distinguishes [p] from [b], [t]

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sounds

from [d], [s] from [z], [θ] from [ð], etc. Taking [p] and [b], we have seen that both of these are bilabial plosives, but they are different sounds. So, what is the nature of the difference between them? The answer to this question is most easily grasped for a pair of fricatives such as [s z]. Try saying these sounds one after the other and you will notice that the difference between them is that for [s] the vocal cords are not vibrating (the effect is stronger if you put your fingers in your ears). In other words, [s] doesn’t seem to require any sound source. This may seem rather odd, until we realise that, as a fricative, [s] produces its own frictional noise. To produce

[z], however, vocal cord vibration is also necessary. This gives rise to a difference in voicing, with sounds such as [b v ð z] being voiced while [p f θ s] are unvoiced.

All the English nasals and approximants are normally voiced.

The three attributes of voicing, place of articulation and manner of articulation provide a convenient three-term description for many sounds. Thus, [ʤ] is a

voiced palato-alveolar affricate, [f] is a voiceless labiodental fricative, [ŋ] is a voiced velar nasal and so on. However, for [l ɹ], we need a slightly more detailed description:

[l] is a voiced alveolar lateral approximant and [ɹ] is a voiced alveolar non-lateral or retroflex approximant. All these sounds and a number of others are shown in the IPA ch art r eproduced in appendix 1. It is also convenient to use more g eneral t erms for some groupings of sounds. Thus, the bilabial and labiodental sounds all involve the lips, so these are called labials. The dentals, alveolars, palato-alveolars and palatals all involve the tip or the blade of the tongue (i.e. the front part of the tongue, which excludes the dorsum). These sounds are all coronals, while the sounds

that involve the dorsum are dorsals. In addition, it is useful to distinguish the plosives, affricates and fricatives, which usually come in voiced/voiceless pairs, from the nasals and approximants, which are intrinsically voiced. The former are called obstruents (because their production obstructs the airflow) and the latter are called sonorants (because they involve a greater degree of resonance).

While the sounds in table 1 are standardly regarded as the English consonants, there are a number of other consonantal sounds that are important in understanding the way English is pronounced. Consider the final sound of cat when the word is spoken in a relaxed and unemphatic manner. In many dialects, this is pronounced without any intervention of the tongue, and comes out as a ‘catch’ in the larynx. This is formed by bringing together the vocal cords, building up pressure behind them as for a plosive and then releasing the vocal cords. The result is, in fact, a plosive but one produced at the glottis, hence its name glottal plosive (or, more commonly, glottal stop) [ʔ]. This sound is a very common replacement for certain occurrences of [t] in many British dialects, most famously in London Cockney, where cat and butter would be pronounced [kaʔ] and [bʌʔə] – we shall come to the vowel sounds appearing here shortly.