Part Two:

Positions of
lips and tongue

Consonants vs.
Vowels

Place and
manner of
articulation

Lip positions:

1.close

(as in Spanish [v]) – sufficiently close together

for friction to occur in between

2.spread

– enough far apart, no friction; yet being

quite close and spread (see)

3.neutral

– relaxed, lowering of the lower jaw

4.open position

– held wide apart without any

marked rounding (as in card)

5.close rounded

- tightly pursed, as in French doux

6.open rounded

– wide apart but rounded with a

slight projection (as in got)

Tongue:

1.the most flexible of all organs

2.described when at rest:

a.part lying behind upper teeth – tip
b.part lying opposite hard palate – front
c.part lying opposite soft palate – back

3.tongue moves: front is the highest part in see

back is the highest part in who
tongue lying low and flat for ah

Various parts of the tongue may articulate

with:

1.tip, blade, rims may articulate with teeth as for
[voiced or voiceless th]

2.or with the alveolar ridge [t, d, s, z, n]

3.the front may articulate against or near the hard
palate: palatalization [sh, zh]

4.the back of the tongue may form an obstruction [k,
g,ng]

Articulatory description of sounds:

1. The nature of airstream (pulmonic / non-pulmonic;
egressive / ingressive).

2. The action of the vocal cords (voiced / voiceless).

3. The position of the soft palate (nasal, oral, nasalized
[not in English]).

4. The position of the movable organs of the mouth.

Vowel / consonant difference:

Consonants – edges of syllables, vowels – centres of syllables
Vowels – no closure in the mouth, no friction
Vowels are: median – air escapes over the middle of the
tongue

oral – not nasal
continuant – excluding plosives or stops [p, b,

t, d, k]

voiced (always) – the vocal folds vibrate

(consonants

may be either voiced

or voiceless).

But there are the so-called semivowels:
[j] and [r] and [w] are consonants from a phonological
perspective (occur at the edges of syllables) but phonetically
are like vowels (no friction, median, oral, continuant]

Consonants – how they can be described:

1. nature of airstream (pulmonic / non-pulmonic)
2. egressive/ingressive
3. voiced/voicless
4. position of the soft palate (oral / nasal?)
5. where is the friction / point of contact? – place of articulation
6. what is the nature of the friction/point of contact – manner of

articulation

Thus [z]: pulmonic, egressive, voiced, oral, alveolar, fricative

[b]: pulmonic, egressive, voiced, oral, bilabial, plosive
[f]: pulmonic, egressive, voiceless, oral, labio-dental, fricative

Schematic presentation of where English consonants are

pronounced

– places of articulation.

Places of articulation (consonants only):

1.bilabial

:

/p/ /b/ /m/

2.labiodental

:

/f/ /v/

3.dental

:

/

3/

[voiceless] and

/

T/

[voiced]

4.alveolar

:

/t/ /d/ /s/ /z/ /n/ /l/

5.post-alveolar

: tip (and rims) articulate with the rear part of the

alveolar ridge as in

English /r/

in red

6.retroflex

: tip of the tongue is curled backwards and articulates

with the hard palate immediately after the alveolar ridge, as in

American English /r/

in red

7.palato-alveolar

: the blade or the tip and blade of the tongue

articulate with the alveolar ridge and there is also a raising of the
front of the tongue towards the hard palate:

/S/ /Z/ /tS/ /dZ/

8.palatal

: front of the tongue articulates with the hard palate, like

the

/j/

in

que

ue or the advanced

/g/

in the French pronunciation of

gui

de

9.velar

: back of the tongue articulates with the soft palate

/k/

/

g/

/

N/

10.uvular

: back of the tongue articulates with uvula as in French

/r/

in

r

ouge

11.glottal

: obstruction or narrowing causing friction but not

vibration between the vocal folds

/h/

or the glottal stop

/

?/

Manners of articulation of English consonants:

Place (horizontal) and manner (vertical) of articulation of English

consonants.

Manner of Articulation (consonants only):

Complete closure

1.

PLOSIVE

consonants – complete closure, air pressure builds up, can be

released explosively.

/p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/ /?/

2.

AFFRICATE

consonants

– complete closure at some point in the mouth, air

pressure builds up, but the release (separation of the organs of speech) is slow.

/tS/ /dZ/

3.

NASAL

consonants – complete closure in the mouth, soft palate is

lowered, air released through the nose.

/m/ /n/ /

N/

Intermittent

(przerywane)

closure

1.

TRILL

consonant – series of rapid, intermittent closures made by the

tongue on a firm surface (hard palate), as in Polish

/r/

2.

FLAP

consonant – single tap made by the tongue on a firm surface, as

in AmE be

tt

er.

/â/

Partial closure

•

LATERAL

consonant – partial closure made at some point in the

mouth, air escapes on one or both sides of the point of contact.

/l/

Narrowing

1.

FRICATIVE

consonants – two organs of speech are close enough for

the air to be released with audible friction.

/f/ /v/ /s/ /z/ /

S/ /Z/ /3/

/

T/

/

h/

SEMIVOWELS

– the narrowing is present, but not close enough to

produce friction.

/w/ /j/ /r/

Vowel / consonant difference (once more –

revision):

Consonants – edges of syllables, vowels – centres of syllables
Vowels – no closure in the mouth, no friction
Vowels are: median – air escapes over the middle of the
tongue

oral – not nasal
continuant – excluding plosives or stops [p, b,

t, d, k]

voiced (always) – the vocal folds vibrate

(consonants

may be either voiced

or voiceless).

But there are the so-called semivowels:
[j] and [r] and [w] are consonants from a phonological
perspective (occur at the edges of syllables) but phonetically
are like vowels (no friction, median, oral, continuant]

The reference points against which all vowels can be described
(positioned).

(Cardinal) Vowel Scale

Diphtongs against the Cardinal Vowel Scale

– the glides of vowels