Linguistics Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology the Articulatory Process: Consonants: Manners of Articulation Principal Investigator Prof

Home , Affricate, Plosive, Pulmonic consonant, Tap and flap consonants

Linguistics Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology The Articulatory Process: Consonants: Manners of Articulation Principal Investigator Prof. Pramod Pandey Centre for Linguistics, SLL&CS, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067 Paper Coordinator Prof. Pramod Pandey Module ID & Name Lings_P2_M6 The Articulatory Process: Consonants: Manners of Articulation Content Writer Pramod Pandey

Email id [email protected] Phone 011-26704226; 011-26741258, -9810979446

Contents: 6.1 Introduction: The Articulatory Process 6.2 Articulation of Consonants: Manners of articulation: Plosive; Nasal; Fricative; Affricate; Tap, Trill and Flap; Approximant 6.3 Summary

6.1 Introduction: The Articulatory Process The fourth among the speech processes is the Articulatory Process. The articulatory process determines the phonetic property of a speech sounds in terms of the modifications effected by the articulators when the air-stream passes through the vocal tract. The modifications are created in two ways- the degree of constriction and the place of constriction. In discussing the functional anatomy of speech organs in Module 5, we were briefly introduced to the places of constriction in the

production of consonants. We will return to this topic in the following module in greater detail. A consideration of the Articulatory Process of speech shows that we must distinguish between two types of sounds, vowels and consonants. Both types of sounds must be assumed to be on a cline of degrees of constriction, as shown below with examples from English. 6/1

Degree of Constriction Speech sounds in English 1. Complete closure [b] as in book, [ɡ] as in guide, [m] as in make 2. Close approximation [f] as in foot, s as in say 3. Partial closure [l] as in look 4. Intermittent closure [r] as in river pronounced in Scottish English or Indian English 5. Open approximation [w] as in wet, [j] as in yes 6. Opener transition [i] as in Italy, [æ] as in act, etc.

Of the six degrees of constriction given above, vowels come last. They are produced by the air-stream passing through the articulators that are held so far apart that there is no apparent constriction caused in their production. As we will see in Module 8, however, it is not that the articulators are not involved in their production at all. Rather the involvement of the articulators is not easily amenable to physical verification in many cases. In the case of some vowels, such as [i] or [a], we can see the difference in the positions of the jaw in producing them, but not the subtle differences in the positions of the tongue. We can see the positions of the tongue in MRI videos or in x-ray pictures, as in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTOhDqhCKQs

In terms of speech production, we have to be trained to be able to feel the differences in the positions of the tongue. The basic difference in the production of consonants and vowels thus lies in the presence versus absence of obstruction in the passage of air-stream in the vocal apparatus in the area above the larynx, called supralaryngeal area. The processes involving various degrees and modes of obstruction in the production of consonants created by the articulators in making a contact or holding it or releasing it or all of these together is generally known as the Manners of Articulation. Exercise Take a look at the IPA chart and find out how many Manners of Articulation are included in the chart for pulmonic consonants. Is Affricate also included in the chart? If not, where do you find it mentioned? What is the reason for keeping it separate from the manners of articulation for the pulmonic sounds?

6.2 Manners of Articulation

The following are the main Manners of Articulation: Plosives Nasals Fricatives Affricates Trills/ Taps/ Flaps Laterals Approximants

The above manners of articulation are based on articulatory terms. They can broadly be classified into two types- Obstruents and Sonorants. If you look at the IPA pulmonic consonant chart, you will notice that only plosives and fricatives are shown to have both voiceless and voiced counterparts in a given slot. All the other

manners are shown to be voiced. Plosives, fricatives and affricates constitute the class of consonants known as Obstruents. In their production, the air-pressure inside the point of contact and outside are different, as they are produced with considerable obstruction. In the production of sonorants, the air-pressure inside the mouth before the point of contact and after it is the same, as the air passes out freely and without any friction. What other speech sounds can be called sonorants? The answer is: vowels. Vowels and consonants are both sonorants. Although obstruents tend to be both voiceless and voiced, and sonorants tend to be generally voiced, it should not be assumed that sonorants are never voiced. Many sonorants are voiceless in some languages as we shall see below.

Plosive In the production of plosives, there are three stages; Contact, Hold and Release. The articulators come into a contact of complete closure. They are held together in that position, with the air pressure building up in the oral cavity, so that when they are suddenly released, there is audible plosion. All plosives are produced with the velum raised. Familiar examples of plosives are /p b pʰ bʱ t̪ d̪ t̪ʰ d̪ʱ t d tʰ dʱ ʈ ɖ ʈʰ ɖʱ k ɡ kʰ ɡʱ q ɢ Ɂ/. Illustrations of the production of some of the plosives are given in Figures 6-1 and 6-2.

Figure 6-1: Production of the plosives [t d] and [k ɡ]

Source: http://www.indiana.edu/~hlw/PhonUnits/d.gif

Figure 6-2: Production of the retroflex plosives [ʈ ɖ]

Source: http://www.indiana.edu/~hlw/PhonUnits/d.gif

Of the three stages in the production of a plosive, the hold stage is obligatory for all plosives when they occur alone word-initially as in bit or between two vowels as in copy. When they occur at the end of words they are generally not released, as in stop or lab, or as the first consonant in a cluster of consonants, such as [ɡ] in rugby. The diacritic [˺ ] is used to indicate the lack of audible release. The words with unreleased plosives are transcribed thus: [stɔp˺], [læb˺], [rɐg˺bi]. When they occur as the second member in a cluster with the same place of articulation, as, for example, in mp, nd or ld in jumpy, aunty and builder, they do not have the first stage, namely, the contact stage, since the articulators are already in contact. There is no diacritic used for the lack of the contact phase in the production of a consonant. Plosives can also have different manners of release, mainly nasal release, e.g. [ dn] and lateral release, e.g. [dˡ].

All places up to the Velar CAN have plosives with four states of the glottis, also known as laryngeal types- voiceless unaspirated, voiced unaspirated, voiceless aspirated and voiced aspirated. (Notice the difference in the superscripts for voiceless and voiced aspirated sounds-[ ʰ] and [ ʱ]. They go with voiceless and voiced plosives, respectively, e.g. [pʰ bʱ].)The uvular plosive is found with only two laryngeal types in world languages- unaspirated voiceless and unaspirated voiced, while the Glottal has only one laryngeal type- voiceless unaspirated, also known as

the Glottal Stop [Ɂ]. The following figure illustrates the production of plosives of three laryngeal types- voiceless unaspirated, voiced unaspirated, voiceless aspirated.

Figure 6/2: Different hold and release stages for voiceless unaspirated, voiced unaspirated and voiceless aspirated plosives

Source: http://www.indiana.edu/~hlw/PhonUnits/d.gif

Languages differ with regard to the laryngeal types of plosive in them. Indic languages are rich in the inventory of plosive sounds. Taking the bilabial plosives as example, they are illustrated below:

Four laryngeal type [ p pʰ b bʱ]: Assamese, Bengali, Hindi and Marathi Three laryngeal type a. [ p pʰ b]: Angami, Ladakhi and Monpa b. [p b bʱ]: Didayi Two laryngeal type: a. [ p b]: Toda, Apatani and Bodo b. [ p pʰ]: Khampti, Tamang c. [b bʱ]: Rawang One laryngeal type [p]: Ao-Naga, Car-Nicobarese, Nancowry

The four laryngeal types are commonly found in Indo-Aryan languages, such as Assamese, Bengali, Hindi and Marathi, as well as in Austro-Asiatic languages, such as Mundari and Karia. A few Dravidian languages such as Malayalam and Kannada and Tibeto-Burman languages such as Meitei and Spiti too have the four laryngeal types. Some languages have three laryngeal type plosives, e.g. [ p pʰ b], such as the Tibeto- Burman languages, Angami, Ladakhi and Monpa, Some have two laryngeal types, as a majority of the Dravidian languages and many Tibeto-Burman languages, such as Apatani and Bodo. We also have examples of languages that have only one laryngeal type- voiceless unaspirated [p t k] etc., such as the T-B language Ao-Naga and the Austro-Asiatic languages Nancowry and Car-Nicobarese. Exercise: Find out the laryngeal types for plosives in your language, and give examples with glosses.

Nasal A nasal is produced like a plosive with one difference- the velum is lowered to block the oral cavity, leading to sudden nasal release. The sound thus produced is called a nasal stop.

Figure 6/3: Articulation of the nasal [m] Source: http://www.indiana.edu/~hlw/PhonUnits/d.gif

Nasal stops are usually voiced in most languages. That is the reason why the IPA chart lists only voiced nasals (on the right in a slot). In English, there are three nasal stops- [m n ŋ], as the final consonants in seem, seen and sing. Malayalam is exceptional in having six nasal stops- [m n n ɳ ɲ ŋ]. These are bilabial, dental, alveolar, retroflex, palatal and velar, respectively. In some languages, nasals can also be voiceless, e.g. [n̥ ], as in the T-B languages Mao-Naga and Lepcha. Some languages also have aspirated nasals, both voiceless aspirated , e.g. [n̥ʰ ], as in the T-B languages Angami and Mizo, and voiced aspirated, e.g. [nʱ], as in the T-B languages Khezha, Lotha and RaNPo.

Fricative In the production of a fricative consonant, the articulators come into a contact of close approximation, that is, very close to each other, just before the stage of complete closure. As a result of the slight opening between the articulators, the air passes out freely, but because of the narrow constriction, there is audible friction. See Figure 6-3 for an illustration of the production of labio-dental and dental fricatives.

Figure 6-3: Articulation of labiodentals and dental fricatives. Sources: http://clas.mq.edu.au/speech/phonetics/phonetics/consonants/images/labiodental_fricati ve.gif

Languages have fricatives of only two laryngeal types: voiced and voiceless. Some languages have only voiceless fricatives, e.g. Khasi. In rare cases, we also find languages withonly voiced fricatives, e.g. Hmar. Some of the fricatives, [s z ʃ ʒ], have greater friction than others, /f v θ ð x ɣ h/. The former are said to be strident compared to the latter. These are also generally known as sibilants. Fricatives occur at the largest number of Places of articulation and can be voiceless and voiced at all Places. A type of fricative known as Lateral Fricative is also found among world languages. In the production of a lateral fricative, the central passage of airflow is blocked to allow the air to pass with friction from around the blockage. Among Indic languages, the T-B language Monpa is found to have voiced lateral fricative [ɮ].

Affricate The production of an Affricate involves two manners of articulation- plosive and fricative. It begins like a plosive and shares the first two stages, contact and hold, with the plosive. But at the release stage it is like a fricative, with the articulators

separating gradually and allowing for delayed oral release, instead of sudden oral release. The terms Plosive and Affricate are together called Stop, even though sometimes the term ‘stop’ is used to refer to plosives only. You are all familiar with the palatal English affricates [ʧ ʤ] in change and just, respectively. Indic languages have affricates at other places of articulation, too. For instance, [pf bv] or [p͜f bv͜ ] in Angami and Lotha and [ts dz͡ ] or [t͜s d͜z] in Angami, Lotha, Kashmiri, Nepali and Toda. Notice that the use of a superscript or underscript ligature is used for affricates to denote that the two symbols stand for a single sound, not two. The two symbols however are alternatively joined together by a reduced space between them and are often available as a single glyph as an IPA font: [ʦʣ ʧ ʤ]. In your own transcriptions it is safer to use the ligature for affricates to avoid any ambiguity. The articulation of an affricate is shown below for the hold and the release stages.

Figure 6-4: Production of the affricates [ʧ ʤ] in the hold and release stages

Source: http://dc95.4shared.com/doc/fNpOkvLr/preview_html_2c3f357.png

Tap, Trill and Flap The three Manners of articulation have one feature in common: they are different types of rhotic, variants of /r/. A Tap is produced with a single momentary contact between the tip of the tongue with the alveolar ridge. In the production of a Tap, [ɾ], like a plosive, there is complete contact between the articulators, but unlike the plosive there is no Hold stage. A Trill, e.g. [r], is like a Tap, but is produced as a series of trills. In the production of a Flap the tip and the blade of the tongue are

curled back to touch the hard palate and immediately brought back to the rest position. A Flap is produced at the retroflex Place. All these are oral sounds. However, in some Indic languages, especially the Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi, Haryanvi and the Rajasthani dialects, there is also a Nasal Flap [ɽ̃]. The Nasal flap does not find mention in the IPA chart, but it a frequently occurring sound among Indic languages.

Approximant

An Approximant is a consonant that is produced with a contact of open approximation, that is, in its production the articulators approach each other but are held so open that there is no friction when the air-stream passes out through them. In terms of the degree of contact between articulatiors, approximants are more like vowels than like consonants. That is why they are also called Semi-vowels. Approximants are distinguished between Central Approximants and Lateral Approximants. Central Approximants, or called simply Approximants are produced with the articulators approaching each other in such a way that the air escapes through the central region of the vocal tract. The best known central approximants are the bilabial and palatal approximants [w j]. Many Indic languages have the labiodental [ʋ] in place of a bilabial [w]. English has another central approximant, the post-alveolar [ɹ]. Lateral Approximants are produced with the articulators making a contact of partial complete closure in the central region of the vocal tract, allowing the air to pass through one or both sides of the contact. There is sufficient opening on the sides of the contact so that there is no friction in the production of lateral approximants. The following figures illustrate the production of central and lateral approximants.

Figure 6-5: Production of central and lateral approximants Source: http://clas.mq.edu.au/speech/phonetics/phonetics/consonants/images/alveolar_approxim ant.gif

When there is friction, the sound produced is a Lateral fricative, as explained above. The most common Lateral approximant is [l]. Retroflex and palatal Lateral approximants [ɭ] and [ʎ] are also found in world languages. The retroflex lateral is commonly found in Indic languages as an areal feature of western and southern India.

Given below is the link to a real-time MRI of the production of an English sentence Welcome to the science gallery of the Max-Planck Society by a German male. The

sentence contains most of the Manners of Articulation we have discussed above. The moving vocal tract shows the dynamics of the articulation of speech involving the supralaryngeal area.

Figure: Real-time MRI of a spoken English sentence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJhTU2BrwiY We now understand the working of the articulators much better because of the new MRI techniques. Watch the following video that shows the neuromuscular movements in real-time in the production of a stretch of three English sentences: “When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5wcEu8OjpE

6.3 Summary In this module, we introduced the Articulatory Process, with special reference to consonants. Two main aspects of the articulatory process in the production of consonants have been traditionally considered to be important, namely, Manners of Articulation and Places of Articulation. In the present module, the focus was on

manners of articulation. Seven manners were discussed- Plosive, Nasal, Fricative, Affricate, Trill/ Taps/ Flaps, Laterals and Approximants. Some terms generally used in the phonetics literature were also introduced, such as obstruents, sonorants and sibilants. Special care should be taken to practice the sounds with the help of the exercise materials on the web links given. ###