Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert
Universität Tübingen Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft
Phonetics k Phonology Articulatory Phonetics
(Hall, Kapitel 1.1 – 1.5; Clark & Yallop, Chapter 2 & 3, 4.1; Ladefoged, Chapter 9)
Christian Ebert [email protected] Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels
vowels are produced without forming any particular obstruction in the oral tract they hence are closer to clean sounds/tones than to noises (as consonants are) instead of building a constriction, the shape of the resonating cavities (in particular: the oral cavity) and hence the resulting sound's character is changed the tongue is the most important organ in shaping the oral cavity further importance have the lips, which can be rounded or unrounded hence vowels must be classified differently from consonants Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels cardinal vowels
to describe the position of the tongue within the oral cavity one takes the highest point of the dorsum as a point of reference
the tongue's position can hence be described along two dimensions
the horizontal dimension tells us whether the reference point is in the front or in the back of the oral cavity
the vertical dimension (tongue height) tells us whether the reference point is high or in the low Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels cardinal vowels
the extreme positions of the tongue are those where further movement would lead to a constriction (ð high consonantal sound) low these positions are the reference points w.r.t. which all other vowels need to be front back described
aus: Karl-Heinz Wagner, Skript zur Phonetik und Phonologie Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels cardinal vowels
schematically the extreme positions yield the following diagram of the vowel space (ger. Vokaltrapez)
hence the highest point of the tongue can be located somewhere within this space during vowel production the british phonetician Daniel Jones (1881-1967) had the idea to create an abstract set of vowels located within such a vowel space that could be regarded as reference points the abstract set of vowels are called cardinal vowels Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels cardinal vowels the eight primary cardinal vowels are defined by introducing four additional positions, two at the back and two at the front, at two new height levels equidistant from the extreme points front central back high (close)
mid-high (half-close)
mid-low (half-open)
low (open) depending on the tongue position the corresponding vowel is called a front/central/back and high (closed)/mid-high (half-closed)/ mid-low (half-closed)/low (open) vowel Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels cardinal vowels the corresponding IPA symbols are i u as follows the vowels [u o O] are e o rounded (i.e. they are produced E O with rounded lips) a A the vowels [i e E a A] are unrounded (i.e. they are produced with unrounded lips) beat ger. gut the following sounds from English and German ger. See ger. Lot come close to the bet hawk cardinal vowels ger. Ball hard Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels cardinal vowels the missing counterparts of the i y M u primary cardinal vowels are the secondary cardinal vowels e 2 7 o E 9 V O this exhausts all possible combinations of four heights, two horizontalpositions a & A Q and two ways of lip rounding for instance, [M] is a unrounded high (closed) back vowel, while [9] is a rounded mid-low (half-closed) front vowel examples: Englisch: [V] luck [Q] rod German: [y:] müde [2:] Möbel [9] möchte Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels further vowels four tongue height levels are not enough to adequately describe the vowel sounds of the worlds languages therefore, three further levels have been introduced for the following vowels: [I Y U] (ger. mit, müssen, muss) between high and mid-high [I Y] are front vowels, [U] is a back vowel, [I] is a rounded vowel, [Y U] are unrounded vowels [{ 6] (man, ger. Mutter [mUt6]) between low and mid-low [{] is a unrounded front vowel, [6] a unrounded central vowel [@] (the so-called schwa) is an unrounded central vowel between mid-high and mid-low Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels further vowels the schwa [@] is produced with the tongue in completely neutral position (hence the other German name Neutralvokal) occurs in German and English as follows:
Bitte, lieben, geheim about, China, simpler [BE]
in German the sound [6] is called vokalisiertes 'R' since it constitutes and alternative way of articulating a consonantal rhotic, e.g. at the end of a syllable after a vowel [6] [R] weiter – weitere Tor – Tore leer – leeren Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels further vowels the completed vowel diagram looks as follows front central back closed i y M u high I Y U half-closed (close-mid) e 2 7 o mid-high @ half-open E 9 V O mid-low (open-mid) { 6 open a & A Q low at each position marked with there is a further pair of vowels (see IPA table for details). Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels IPA table Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels
reminder: the cardinal vowels and the vowels in the IPA diagram are abstract reference points not derived from a particular language for comparison: the chart on the right shows some English vowels as articulated in the British Received Pronunciation
from Clark & Yallop (1995), p. 28 Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels advanced tongue root
the two dimensions of tongue position + the aspect of lip rounding is not enough to describe all vowel sounds of the world's languages
in Akan (spoken in Ghana) for instance, vowels differ in the size of the pharynx
if the root of the tongue is drawn forward and the larynx is lowered, the vowel is called an advanced tongue root (or +ATR) vowel, otherwise it is a -ATR vowel
the IPA provides two diacritical symbols to deal with ±ATR: advanced tongue root retracted tongue root Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels advanced tongue root 3 2 2
. p
, ) 6 0 0 2 (
d e g o f e d a L
m o r f Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels nasal vowels
all vowels that have so far been looked at are articulated with the velum raised (i.e. the passage to the nasal cavity closed)
vowels might also be nasalized, i.e. produced with a lowered velum yielding nasal vowels
nasalization is indicated by the diacritical symbol ~ in the IPA
there are quite some nasal vowels in French that can also be found in the German loanwords
[E~] bassin (Bassin) [O~] balcon (Balkon) [9~] parfum (Parfüm)
Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels semivowels
reminder: semivowels (or glides) are consonantal sounds (more precisely: approximants) with vocalic quality
vowels (usually) form the peak of a syllable (more on this in the session on the phonology of the syllable); they are syllabic
seg.ment
consonants (usually) don't form the peak of a syllable, but rather the periphery; they are non-syllabic
(exceptions are e.g. [l] and [n] as in shuttle [S.tl] the syllabic status of a consonant is indicated by the diacritic ) Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels semivowels semivowels can hence be regarded as non-syllabic vocalic sounds since they also do not serve as peak of syllables syllabic non-syllabic
ls e ls w e o w v vocalic sounds o i- v m se
ts n a n so non-vocalic sounds n co some semivowels and their corresponding vowels: [j] (as in you; [i]) [w] (as in water; [u]) [] (as in french lui; [y]) [] (in Japanese; []) Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels length
vowels also differ w.r.t. their length
long vowels are marked by a diacritical : in the IPA
[i:] ihn – vital [i] [e:] Mehl – Mechanik [e] [o:] oben – Moral [o] [E:] Mädchen – Bett [E] [a:] Kahn – kann [a]
in German some vowels only occur in their short form
[I] Pille [Y] Küsse [U] uns [O] normal Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels length and tenseness/laxness
there is a correspondence between the length of a vowel and its tenseness/laxness
a vowel is called tense if the muscles of the tongue are relatively contracted during articulation, otherwise it's called lax
the tense vowels thus include [i y e 2 u o], while the lax vowels comprise [I Y E 9 a U O @ 6]
across the languages of the world there seems to be a close relationship of the form tense ó long resp. lax ó short
this is only an observation that seems to hold in general and there are exceptions Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels length and tenseness/laxness in German, tense vowels are long in general
— f bieten — bitten [i:] [I] 2 3
. S
Hüte — Hütte [y:] — [Y] , e i g o l
Beet — Bett [e:] — [E] o n o h P Höhle — Hölle —
[2:] [9] e i d
n i spuken — spucken [u:] — [U] g n u r
Schoten — Schotten [o:] — [O] h ü f n i E
: s
in particular, stressed tense vowels are always long r e m a R
before the position bearing the main stress of the word, tense . H - . K
vowels may be short: s u a
e Idée — ideál [e:] — [e] l e i p s i
Physík — physikálisch [i:] — [i] e B Barón — Baronésse [o:] — [o] Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels length and tenseness/laxness
after the position bearing the main stress of the word also unstressed tense vowels can occur as long vowels
Álmosen [o:] Hérzog [o:]
in German all lax vowels are short, except [E:] und [a:]
Hähne — Henne [E:] — [E] stählen — stellen [E:] — [E] Bahn — Bann [a:] — [a]
if [a:] is analysed as [A:], this case is no longer exceptional since [A] is a tense vowel Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels diphthongs
a diphthong is a sequence of two vowels pertaining to one syllable where articulation proceeds continuosly from one to the other
a single vowel sound is thus called monophthong
example for diphthongs are
Meise, Ei, Kaiser, Mais [aI] high, bite, buy Haus, tausend, Clown [aU] loud, about heute, neu, Läuse, Säule, Konvoi [OI] boy, noise „Ey, Mann, ey!“ [eI] laser, bait [I@] hear, feared, beer [OU] boat, dough [E@] fared, bare, bear Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Vowels diphthongs
sometimes diphthongs are notes as vowel + glide: [aI] à [aj] [aU] à [aw] [OI] à [Oj] the movement of a tongue from one vowel to the other in a diphthong can be depicted in the vowel diagram
the end position can vary [I@] considerably (between speakers, dialects, etc.) and is thus only indicated by an arrow [OI] depending on the direction of movement closing and centering diphthongs are distinguished [aI] [aU] Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert e l l e b a T - A P I
e i D Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation aspiration
for plosives there is one further aspect of articulation concerning the exact timing of release of the closure and the voice onset example: articulation of German
(1) fully voiced: [o:] [b] [a:] closure articulator distance
vocal folds distance
vocal folds vibration Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation aspiration
(2) partially voiced: [o:] [b] [a:] closure articulator distance
vocal folds distance
vocal folds vibration
(3) voiceless unaspirated: [o:] [p] [a:] closure articulator distance
vocal folds distance
vocal folds vibration Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation aspiration
(4) aspiriated: [o:] [p] [a:] closure articulator distance
vocal folds distance
vocal folds vibration
if the voice onset happens after release of aspiration the closure, an aspirated sound can be heard until voice onset ð the plosive is aspiriated in German, aspirated plosives can be found before stressed vowels und word-finally; in Burmese also fricatives occur aspirated, e.g. [s] the diacritic is used in the IPA to indicate aspiration Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation complex articulation
most consonants looked at so far could be characterized by one place of articulation
however, there are cases of complex articulation, where two distinct places are involved. The following distinction can be made:
double articulation simultaneous occurence of two equally important constrictions at two distinct places
secondary articulation a further (secondary) constriction in addition to the primary constriction of the consonant Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation double articulation
double articulation is indicated by a sequence of two segements with an overarching þ in case there is no separate IPA symbol (cf. to affricates) plosives common in west-african Niger-Congo languages [kþp] [gþb] (voiceless/voiced velar-bilabial) [tþp] [dþb] (voiceless/voiced alvelar-bilabial) [µþp] (voiceless retroflex-bilabial)
the first sound can be heard on the formation of the closure, the second on its release Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation double articulation nasals very rare, occuring in some African languages
[Nþm] (voiced labial-velar)
fricatives occur more often than other types ð distinct IPA symbols
[W] corresponds to [þx] (voiceless bilabial-velar)
[] corresponds to [Sþx] (voiceless postalveolar-velar)
[] and [¿] correspond to [sþC] and [zþ], respectively (voiceless/voiced alveolar-palatal) Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation double articulation
approximants semivowels (glides) can also be analysed as cases of double articulation
[H] corresponds to [Bþj ] (voiced bilabial-palatal)
(e.g. in French
[w] corresponds to [Bþ¦] (voiced bilabial-velar) Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation secondary articulation
a secondary articulation is a gesture with a lesser degree of closure occuring at the same time as another, primary gesture
for secondary articulations the IPA provides diacritical symbols
four main types of secondary articulation
labialization palatalization velarization pharyngealization Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation secondary articulation
labialization rounding of the lips in addition to primary articulation
indicated by the diacritical ½ in the IPA
example: Bura (spoken in Nigeria) [k½aæraæ] („donkey“)
palatalization raising of the front of the tongue (the tongue blade) roughly to the position of the palatal approximant [j]
indicated by the diacritical ' in the IPA
example: Russian [n'os] („he carried“) Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation secondary articulation
velarization raising of the back of the tongue to a [u] like tongue position
indicated by a diacritical ¼ in the IPA; for the velarized [l] the symbol [5] is used
examples: Irish [f¼i]
velarized „l“ („dark l“) in English
pharyngealization superimposition of the narrowing of the pharynx by retraction of tongue root towards pharynx wall, roughly to the position of an [A]
indicated by a diacritical  in the IPA
examples: Arabic: [dal:at] („she pointed“) [dÂalÂ:at] („sie stayed“)
for the pharyngalized „l“ the same symbol [5] as for the velarized variant is used Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Further Aspects of Articulation coarticulation
if a secondary articulation is caused by the phonetic context we speak of coarticulation
coarticulation occurs because the speech organs need to make continuous transitions from one gesture to another such that there might be a gestural overlap
aspects of the subsequent gesture may be anticipated (ð anticipatory coarticulation) or aspects of the preceeding gesture might be preserved (ð perseverative coarticulation)
example: labialization:
nasal release before a homorganic nasal, the compressed air in the oral cavity of a plosive might escape through the nasal cavity as soon as the velum is lowered (and not by release of the oral closure)
the diacritical ¨ indicates nasal release in the IPA
examples:
ger.
laterale release before a lateral, the compressed air in the oral cavity might escape via the lateral constriction
the diacritical indicates lateral release in the IPA
examples:
the most important parameters for classification are tongue position and lip rounding
the cardinal vowels serve as reference points in the vowel space for a language specific characterisation of vowel sounds
further aspects of vowel articulation include nasalization (articulation with a lowered velum), ±ATR (articulation with an advanced tongue root), length and tenseness/laxness
a diphthong is a continuously articulated sequence of two vowels, regarded as one sound; it may be closing or centering
semivowels are the non-syllabic counterparts of certain vowels Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Summary further aspects of articulation an obstruent is aspirated if the voice onset of a subsequent voiced sound happens after the release of the closure/constriction in cases of complex articulations two distinct places of articulation are involved in the case of double articulation these are equally important, in the case of secondary articulation a gesture with a lesser degree of closure occurs at the same time as another, primary gesture the four main types of secondary articulation are labialization, palatalization, velarization und pharyngealization coarticulation is a special instance where secondary articulation is caused by the context in which a sound occurs for plosives four types of release can be distinguished: normal, no release, nasal release and lateral release Introduction to General Linguistics - Phonetics & Phonology winter term 2010/2011 Christian Ebert Exercise
(1) Visit the website of the Interactive IPA Chart http://web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/ipa-lab.htm and listen to the vowel sounds
(2) Note the IPA symbol for the following sounds: (a) the long closed rounded back vowel (b) all short lax unrounded front vowels (c) the long rounded front vowel at height between close and close-mid (d) the nasalized unrounded open-mid front vowel
(3) Give an exact description of the following sounds: (a) [W] (b) [DÂ] (c) [g] (d) [o:] (e) [O~] (f) [{]