Place of Articulation

January 29, 2014

The Agenda

Due at 5 pm tonight: backwards name exercise!
For Friday, there will be a transcription exercise on place
of articulation.
Hungarian and Bengali
For Monday: provide both narrow + broad transcriptions
of either American or British English sentences.
Your choice!
This is a graded homework exercise.

Moving On

Hitherto: rapidly running through the vocal tract
for English only
From here on out:
go back through the whole process in slow motion
building up our understanding of how speech sounds
are made in the process
for all the languages of the world.
Goal: get from what we know about articulation to acoustics
i.e., how speech sounds are transmitted through the air

Just So You Know

This (and most future lectures) will include sound
samples from many different languages from around the
world.
Sound files may be found at:
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/index/sounds.html
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/contents.html
And also on the Course in Phonetics CD

Consonant Dimensions:
Summary

[t]

[j]

1. Airstream Mechanism pulmonic egressive p.e.

2. Phonation Type

voiceless

voiced

3. Place of Articulation

alveolar

palatal

4. Aperture

stop

approx.

5. Retroflexion

non-retroflex

non-retro

6. Nasality

oral

oral

7. Laterality

central

central

Manner of Articulation

Phoneticians usually combine dimensions 4-7 under the
rubric of manner of articulation.
Example manners of articulation:
[t] = (oral) stop
[n] = nasal stop
[v] = fricative
[w] = approximant
[l] = lateral approximant

= retroflex approximant
= affricate

Notes

Consonant sounds are generally assumed to be:
pulmonic egressive
oral
central
unless stated otherwise
Big picture thought:
Through combinatorics, language makes a large
number of distinctions out of a minimal number of
articulatory gestures.

English Consonant Chart

Back to the Big Picture

Through combinatorics
languages can make a large number of distinctions out
of a small number of articulatory dimensions

However--consider the gaps in the IPA chart
Not all combinations of gestures are possible
Not all combinations of gestures are likely
Why?
The dimensions interact
Theyre based on physical realities
i.e., they are not abstract

Another Perspective

Note: all speech sounds involve the flow of air.
Articulation and acoustics are linked through
aerodynamics
= the study of the flow of air (in speech sounds)
Aerodynamics can also limit the combinatorial possibilities
of speech.

An Aerodynamic Exception

Stops
Stop the flow of air through the articulatory tract
How is this done?
By making an airtight seal between articulators
Are there some places in the articulatory tract where this is
easier than others?
Try the tongue experiment.
An easy place: between the lips
A difficult (impossible?) place: between the teeth and lips

IPA Chart:Stops

You are already familiar with Bilabial, Alveolar, Velar
= the 3 most common places of articulation for stops
UPSID Database (in Maddiesons Patterns of Sounds,
1984)
surveys 317 languages
314 have bilabial stops (Wichita, Hupa, Aleut)
316 have alveolar/dental stops (Hawaiian)
315 have velar stops (Hupa, Kirghiz)

Bilabials-Alveolars-Velars

Palatals

Palatal Stops

Peter says:

59 languages in UPSID database have palatal stops

Palatals vs. Velars in Ngwo (spoken in Cameroon)

Also: Palatal Nasals

symbol:
not to be
confused with the
velar nasal:
PL:
Examples from
Hungarian

Uvulars

Uvular Stops

Peter says:

47 languages in UPSID database have uvular stops

Uvular nasal:

Peter, again:
Japanese:

Japan

Quechua Contrasts

Quechua is spoken primarily in Bolivia and Peru.

Pharyngeals

Epiglottals, Glottals

There are no pharyngeal stops.

However, there is an epiglottal stop:
Peter says:
Check out Stefans epiglottis
There are also glottal stops:
As in English: uh-oh, bottle, kitten
More on these later

Epiglottals in Agul

Agul is spoken in Dagestan, near the Caspian Sea, in
Russia

Note: no nasal pharyngeals, epiglottals, or glottals.

Why?

Back to the Coronals

Back to the Coronals

Two parameters to consider here:

The active articulator

1. The tongue tip (apical)
2. The tongue blade (laminal)

The passive articulator or target

1. The upper lip (linguo-labial)
2. Between the teeth (interdental)
3. The upper teeth (dental)
4. The alveolar ridge (alveolar)
5. Behind the alveolar ridge (post-alveolar)

Coronal Basics

Coronal stops are usually dental or alveolar.
Dental stops are usually laminal
produced with the blade of the tongue
as is typical in, e.g., French, Spanish
Alveolar stops are usually apical
pronounced with the tip of the tongue
as is typical in English
Dental ~ Alveolar contrasts are rare, but they do exist.

Laminal Dentals

check out
the labiodental flap
file

Apical Alveolars

Yanyuwa Coronal Contrast

Yanyuwa is spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia

UPSID data-Languages with the following number of stop place
contrasts:
2 -- 2

3 -- 171

4 -- 103

5 -- 35

6 -- 6 <-- 5 of these languages are from

Australia!

Yanyuwa has 7 stop place contrasts!

Retroflex Stops

Retroflex stops are produced in the post-alveolar region,
by curling the tip of the tongue back.
Common in south Asian languages.

Peter says:

Sindhi place contrasts

Malayalam Place Contrasts

Palatography
+
Linguography

Yanyuwa, again