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PRESENTATION BY: DR BULBUL GUPTA DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

M.A. SEMESTER III PAPER IX (G - 3 0 1 2 N ) – ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND What do you mean by MANNER OF ARTICULATION ?

Think about the following sets of consonants. First of all, label them according to their voicing and . Secondly, decide if the consonants in each set sound is the same or different.

 a) /d/ /n/ /l/  b) /ʒ/ /dʒ/ //  ) /ɡ/ /ŋ/  d) /b/ /m/

You should have labeled all the consonants as voiced. In set (a) they are all alveolar; in set (b) they are all postalveolar; in set (c) they are both velar; and in set (d) they are bilabial. You will also have realized that the sounds in each set do not sound the same. Because the consonants in each set share the same voicing and POA, but sound different, this indicates that there must be at least one more feature of consonants that distinguishes these sounds. This third important feature of consonants is manner of articulation. This feature i.e. manner of articulation refers to how the air flows in the vocal tract. As we know, different sounds are produced by moving different articulators. Place of articulation (POA) refers to the place in the vocal tract where there is the greatest constriction to airflow. However, the degree to which the air is constricted is not the same for all consonants. So POA refers to the place of maximum constriction, but that maximum constriction may be more or less, depending on the in question. Manner of articulation is, in part therefore, concerned with the degree of stricture in the vocal tract, which refers to how close the articulators get when a sound is formed. For example, the articulators may touch and form a firm seal, or approach each other with a small gap for air to escape. MANNER OF ARTICULATION

According to the manner of articulation, consonants can be classified as follows:

➢ – A plosive is produced in three stages. ✓ In the first stage, there is the stricture of complete closure. The complete closure occurs when the active and passive articulators come in contact with each other thereby preventing the air to pass through the mouth. The soft palate is raised that blocks the nasal passage. ✓ The complete closure of oral passage is followed by hold stage in which the air behind the oral closure is compressed. ✓ The hold stage is followed by release stage. In this stage the active articulator is removed suddenly from the contact with the passive articulator causing the air to release with an explosion through the oral cavity. Examples- /p/ as in puff, /b/ as in bus, /t/ as in tin, /d/ as in dusk, /k/ as in keep, /g/ as in gap. The three stages of articulation of the plosive /p/ as in puff ➢ – are produced in three stages like the are. o There is complete closure stage and hold stage. But in case of release stage, the release of articulators is not sudden but slow. o When the articulators separate slowly, due to the narrow gap between them, the air releases with friction. Thus the term affricates which denotes that the closure is that of plosives but release is that of . Examples – /tʃ/ as in chin, /dʒ/ as in jam First stage of articulation of affricate /tʃ/ as in chin ➢ - A fricative is produced with a stricture of close approximation. The gap between the active articulator and passive articulator is so narrow that the air passes through them with friction or a ‘hissing’ sound, hence the term ‘fricative’. The soft palate remains in raised position. Examples - /f/ as in fit, /v/ as in van, /ө/ as in thrust, /ð/ as in this, /s/ as in sit, /z/ as in zip, /ʃ/ as in shut, /ʒ/ as in measure, /h/ as in hat Articulation of fricative /s/ as in sit ➢ Frictionless – A frictionless continuant is produced with a stricture of open approximation so that the air passes through the oral cavity without any audible friction. The soft palate remains in raised position. Examples – /r/ as in red Articulation of frictionless continuant /r/ as in red ➢ Nasal – A nasal is produced when there is a complete oral closure at some point in the oral cavity. o The closure can be at the lip region (bilabial), at the alveolar region (alveolar), or when the back of tongue touches the soft palate or velum (velar). The air is trapped behind one of these regions. o At the same time, the nasal cavity remains open as the soft palate is in the lowered position. Thus the air passes through the nasal cavity only, hence the term nasals for the sounds produced in this manner. Examples – /m/ as in mat, /n/ as in net, /ŋ/ as in ring. Articulation of bilabial nasal /m/ as in mug ➢ Lateral – A lateral sound is produced when the oral cavity is blocked at the as the tip and blade of the tongue makes contact with alveolar ridge. But the sides of the tongue are lowered which causes the air to pass through freely. The soft palate remains in raised position thereby blocking the nasal passage of air. It is to be remembered that the closure here is partial closure as it is only the central portion of the oral cavity that is obstructed while the air flows out freely through one or both sides of the tongue. Example – /l/ as in leaf Articulation of lateral /l/ as in leaf ➢ Trill – Also known as roll, a trill sound is produced when the active articulator taps against the passive articulator several times. Example – in words such as rye, raw. ➢ Tap – A tap sound which is also known as flap is produced when the active articulator taps against the passive articulator only once. Example – Taps occur in the middle of the words such as pity in various forms of American English. SUMMARY

✓ Manner of articulation refers to how the air flows in the vocal tract. It is the degree of stricture in the vocal tract which refers to how close the articulators get when a sound is formed. ✓ According to the manner of articulation, consonants can be classified as: ❖ Plosive ❖ Affricate ❖ Fricative ❖ Frictionless Continuant ❖ Nasal ❖ Lateral ❖ Trill ❖ Tap ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… References: Ladefoged, Peter, and Keith Johnson. A Course in Phonetics. United Kingdom: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011 Anne Knight, Rachael. Phonetics: A Course book. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2012 Roach, Peter. English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009 Sethi, J., and P.V. Dhamija. A Course in Phonetics and Spoken English. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India Private Limited, 2006