Articulatory aspect of speech sounds

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

The theme “Articulatory Aspect of Speech Sounds”

Articulatory phonetics deals with the categorization and classification of the production features of speech sounds. A thorough knowledge of how vowels and consonants are generated remains essential for successful assessment and remediation of articulatory and phonological disorders . Articulation refers to the production of the speech sounds. Accurate articulation involves precise movement of the articulators including the tongue, lips, alveolar ridge, velum, and jaw coordinated with correct airflow and voicing. Speech sounds are commonly divided into

two groups: vowels and consonants. Speech sound is a wave of air that originates from complex actions of the human body, supported by three functional units: generation of air pressure, regulation of vibration, and control of resonators. The components of speech production are: the lungs, the larynx ("voice box") containing the vocal folds and the glottis, the vocal tract with the nasal and oral cavities. The lung air pressure for speech results from functions of the respiratory system during a prolonged phase of expiration after a short inhalation. Vibrations of air for voiced sounds are introduced by the vocal folds in the larynx; they are controlled by a set of laryngeal muscles and airflow from the lungs. The oscillation of the vocal folds converts the expiratory air into intermittent airflow pulses that result in a buzzing sound. The narrow constrictions of the airway along the tract above the larynx also generate transient source sounds; their pressure gives rise to an airstream with turbulence or burst sounds. The resonators are formed in the upper respiratory tract by the pharyngeal, oral, and nasal cavities. These cavities act as resonance chambers to transform the laryngeal buzz or turbulence sounds into the sounds with special linguistic functions. The main articulators are the tongue, lower jaw, lips, and velum. They generate patterned movements to alter the resonance characteristics of the supra-laryngeal airway. To produce a speech, sound the outward moving airstream must be modified by manipulation of the larynx and articulators in the oral and nasal cavities.

The larynx ("voice box") containing the vocal folds and the glottis

The larynx, more commonly known as the voice box or the Adam's apple, is crucial in the production and differentiation of speech sounds. The larynx is located at exactly the point where the throat divides between the trachea (the windpipe), which leads to the lungs, and the esophagus (the tube that carries food or drink to the stomach). Over the larynx is a flap called the epiglottis that closes off the trachea when we swallow. This prevents the passage of food into the lungs. When the epiglottis is folded back out of the way, the parts of the larynx that are involved in speech production can be seen.

The Vocal Folds

There are two thin sheets of tissue that stretch in a V-shaped fashion from the front to the back of the larynx. These are called the vocal folds. The space between the vocal folds is known as the glottis. The vocal folds can be positioned in different ways to create speech sounds. Air passes through the vocal folds. If the vocal folds are open and air passes unobstructed, the vocal folds do not vibrate. Sounds produced this way are called voiceless. But if the vocal folds are held together and tense and air doesn't pass unobstructed, the sounds produced this way are call voiced.

Vowels are voiced sounds produced without any obstruction in the supra-glottal cavities and consequently have no noise component. In the articulation of consonants a kind of noise producing obstruction is formed in the supra-glottal cavities. Such sounds may be pronounced with or without vocal cords vibration. Consonants are made with air stream that meets an obstruction in the mouth or nasal cavities. That is why in the production of consonant sounds there is a certain degree of noise. From the articulatory point of view the difference is due to the work of speech organs. In case of vowels no obstruction is made, so on the perception level their integral characteristic is tone, not noise. In case of consonants various obstructions are made. So consonants are characterized by a complete, partial or intermittent blockage of the air passage. The closure is formed in such a way that the air stream is blocked or hindered or otherwise gives rise to audible friction.

Vowels are produced with a relatively open vocal tract; no significant constriction of the oral (and pharyngeal) cavities exists. The airstream from the vocal folds to the lips is relatively unimpeded. Therefore, vowels are considered to be open sounds. In contrast, consonants are produced with a significant constriction in the oral and/or pharyngeal cavities during their production. For consonants, the airstream from the vocal folds to the lips and nostrils encounters some type of articulatory obstacle along the way. Therefore, consonants are considered to be constricted sounds. For most consonants this constriction occurs along the sagittal midline of the vocal tract. This constriction for consonants can be exemplified by the first sound in top, [t], or soap, [s]. For [t] the contact of the front of the tongue with the alveolar ridge occurs along this midline while the characteristic s-quality is made by air flowing along this median plane as the tongue approximates the alveolar ridge.

On the articulatory level the consonants change:

1. In the degree of noise;

2. In the manner of articulation;

3. In the place of articulation.

I. According to the degree of noise consonants are divided into two big classes: noise consonants and sonorants. In the production of noise consonants there is a noise component characteristic. Noise consonant sounds vary:

(1) in the work of the vocal cords;

(2) in the degree of force of articulation.

A. 1. According to the work of the vocal cords they may be voiceless and voiced.

When the vocal cords are brought together and vibrate, we hear voice.

Voiced consonants are: [b, d, g, v, р, z, ?, ?].

If the vocal cords are apart and do not vibrate we hear only noise and the consonants are voiceless. Voiceless consonants are: [p, t, k, f, и, s, ?, ?, h].

Voiced consonants are not fully voiced in all word positions, in word final position, for example, they are partly devoiced.

A. 2. The degree of noise may vary because of the force of articulation. Strong noise consonants are produced with more muscular energy and stronger breath effort. Weak noise consonants are produced with a relatively weak breath effort. English phoneticians call the weak consonants lenis and the strong noise consonants fortis.

B. Sonorants (or sonorous consonants) are made with tone prevailing over noise because of a rather wide air passage. They are: [m, n, ?, w, l, r, j].

II. The manner of articulation of consonants is determined by the type of obstruction. The obstructions may be complete and incomplete. When the obstruction is complete the organs of speech are in contact and the air stream meets a closure in the mouth or nasal cavities as in the production of [ p, b, t, d, k, g, ?, ?, m, n, ? ].

In case of an incomplete obstruction the active organ of speech moves towards the point of articulation and the air stream goes through the narrowing between them as in the production of [ f, v, s, z, и, р, ?, ?, h, w, l, r, j ].

According to the manner of articulation consonants may be of three groups:

1. occlusive;

2. constrictive;

3. occlusive-constrictive (affricates).

II. 1. Occlusive consonants are sounds in the production of which the air stream meets a complete obstruction in the mouth. Occlusive noise consonants are called stops because the breath is completely stopped at some point of articulation and then it is released with a slight explosion, that is why, they are also called plosives. Occlusive noise consonants comprise three pairs: [ p, b; t, d; k, g ].

The particular quality of a sonorant depends on the position of the soft palate. Occlusive sonorants are also made with a complete obstruction but the soft palate is lowered and the air stream escapes through the nose, so they are nasals. The occlusive nasal sonorants: [ m, n, ? ].

II. 2. Constrictive consonants are those in the production of which the air stream meets an incomplete obstruction in the resonator, so the air passage is constricted. Both noise consonants and sonorants may be constrictive.

Constrictive noise consonants are called fricatives, i. e. the consonant sounds in the articulation of which the air passage is constricted and the air escapes through the narrowing with friction. The English fricatives: [ f, v, s, z, и, р, ?, ?, h ].

Constrictive sonorants are also made with an incomplete obstruction but with a rather wide air passage; so tone prevails over noise. The English constrictive sonorants: [ w, l, r, j ]. They are all oral, because in their production the soft palate is raised.

II. 3. Occlusive-constrictive consonants or affricates are noise consonant sounds produced with a complete obstruction which is slowly released and the air escapes from the mouth with some friction. There are only two occlusive-constrictives in English: [ ?, ? ]. Affricates are oral according to the position of the soft palate.

The place of articulation is determined by the active organ of speech against the point of articulation. There may be one place of articulation or focus, or two places of articulation or foci when active organs of speech contact with two points of articulation. In the first case consonants are called unicentral, in the second they are bicentral. The English fricatives [ ?, ? ] and affricates [ ?, ? ] are bicentral, being articulated with the front part of the tongue raised towards the hard palate. This secondary focus is front (the primary focus is formed by the tip of the tongue against the teeth ridge).

The English bicentral sonorants [ w ] and the dark [ l ] have the back secondary focus because the back part of the tongue is slightly raised towards the soft palate.

According to the position of the active organ of speech against the point of articulation i. e. ( the place of articulation) consonants may be:

1. labial;

2. lingual;

3. glottal.

III. 1. Labial consonants are made by the lips. They may be bilabial and labio-dental. Bilabial consonants are produced when both lips are active. They are: [ p, b, m, w ]. Labio-dental consonants are articulated with the lower lip against the edge of the upper teeth. They are: [ f, v ].

III. 2. Lingual consonants are classified into

1. forelingual;

2. mediolingual;

3. backlingual.

III. 2. 1. Forelingual consonants are articulated with the tip or the blade of the tongue. They differ in the position of the tip of the tongue. According to its work they may be: apical, if the tip of the tongue is active as in the case of [ t, d, s, z, ?, ?, и, р, ?, ?, n, l ]; dorsal, if the blade of the tongue takes part in the articulation, in English there are no dorsal consonants; cacuminal, if the tip of the tongue is at the back part of the teeth ridge, but a depression is formed in the blade of the tongue as in the case of [ r ].

According to the place of obstruction forelinguoal consonants may be:

interdental, dental, alveolar, post-alveolar, palato-alveolar.

Interdental consonants or interdentals are made with the tip of the tongue projected articulatory phonetic vowel consonant

between the teeth: [ и, р ].

Dental consonants or dentals are produced with the blade of the tongue against the upper teeth.

Alveolar consonants or alveolars are articulated with the tip against the upper teeth ridge:[ t, d, s, z, n, l ].

Post-alveolar consonants or post-alveolars are made when the tip or the blade of the tongue is against the back part of the teeth ridge or just behind it: [ r ].

Palato-alveolar consonants or palato-alveolars are made with the tip or the blade of the tongue against the teeth ridge and the front part of the tongue raised towards the hard palate, thus having two places of articulation or foci (front secondary focus); both narrowings are flat: [ ?, ?, ?, ? ].

III. 2. 2. Mediolingual consonants are produced with the front part of the tongue. They are always palatal. Palatal consonants or palatals are made with the front part of the tongue raised high to the hard palate: [ j ].

III. 2. 3. Backtingual consonants are also called velar, because they are produced with the back part of the tongue raised towards the soft palate (Lat. velum). They are: [ k, g, ? ].

III. 3. The glottal consonant [h] is articulated in the glottis.

Speech is impossible without the following four mechanisms:

(1) the power mechanism,

(2) the vibrator mechanism,

(3) the resonator mechanism,

(4) the obstructor mechanism.

The power mechanism consists of the diaphragm , the lungs, the bronchi, the windpipe (or trachea), the glottis , the larynx , the mouth cavity , and the nasal cavity .

The vibrator mechanism (the voice producing mechanism) consists of the vocal cords, they are in the larynx, or voice box. The vocal cords are two horizontal folds" off elastic tissue. They may be opened or closed (completely or incompletely). The pitch of the voice is controlled mostly by the vocal cords. Voice produced by the vocal cords vibration is modified by the shape and volume of the air passage.

The resonator mechanism consists of the pharynx , the larynx , the mouth cavity , and the nasal cavity .

The obstructer mechanism consists of the tongue, the lips , the teeth , the soft palate with the uvula , the hard palate , the alveolar ridge. Articulatory differences between vowels, consonants and sonorants depend on the three articulatory criteria.

The differences in the articulation bases between the two languages are "in the general tendencies their native speakers have, in the-way they move and hold their lips and the tongue both in speech and in silence, in the way they coordinate the work of the obstructor and¹ vibrator mechanisms (lenis and fortis articulations), in the way they effect CV, VC and CC transitions (close and loose transitions)."

The peculiarities of the articulation bases which give rise to the-differences in the system of consonants in English and in Russian are the following:

(1) The English forelingual consonants are articulated with the'

apico-alveolar position of the tip of the tongue. The Russian forelin

gual consonants are mainly dorsal: in their articulation the tip of the-

tongue is passive and lowered, the blade is placed against the upper

teeth. The Russian forelingual dorsal consonants are: /т, т', д, д\

н, н', с, с', з, з\ ч\ ц/. The Russian forelingual apical consonants-

are only: /л, л', ш, ш', ж/.

(2) In the production of the Russian consonants the bulk of the-

tongue is mainly in the front-mid part of the mouth resonator. When

Russian soft forelinguals are produced the muscular tension is concen

trated in the "bunched up" front-mid part of the tongue; when the soft

backlingual consonants are produced the muscular tension is concen

trated in the middle part of the tongue. In the production of the English forelingual consonants the tip of the tongue and the front edges are very tense. It results in the depression in the front part of the tongue, which enlarges the size of the front resonator and lowers the tone of the apical consonants. The English "soft" consonants are pronounced with the front secondary focus. They are /J\ 3, dfc, tf/ and the "soft" /1/. The English /J\ 5/ are short, the similar Russian consonants /ш':, ж':/ are long. The front secondary focus is formed by the middle part of the tongue which produces "secondary" articulation simultaneously with the primary focus, or primary articulation.

The Russian /п\ б', м', н', ф\ в', т\ д\ с', з', л', ч, р', к', г are also pronounced with the front secondary focus, but the middle of the tongue in their production is raised higher to the hard palate, than during the secondary articulation in the production of the English soft consonants.

Russian students often use the hard /ш, ж/ phonemes instead of the soft English/J, 5/. Palatalization is a phonemes feature in Russian .

(3) The English /w/ and U] are pronounced with the back secon

dary focus, formed by the back part of the tongue, which is raised to

the soft palate simultaneously with the formation of the primary

iocus. In the articulation of /w/ the primary focus is formed by the

lips, which are rounded but not protruded, as it happens when the

Russian /y/ is pronounced. The bilabial /w/ which is pronounced

with a round narrowing is very often mispronounced by the Russian

learners. They use the labio-dental /в/ or /v/ which are pronounced

with a flat narrowing instead of the English /w/.

The primary focus in the articulation of "dark" [I] is formed by the tip of the tongue pressed against the teethridge.

English voiceless plosives /p, k/ are aspirated, when followed by a stressed vowel and not preceded by /s/.

(4) The English voiceless /p, t, k, f, s, J", tf/ are pronounced

more energetically than similar Russian consonants.

The English voiced consonants /b, d, g, v, 3, z, 5, d§/ are not replaced by the corresponding voiceless sounds in word-final positions and before voiceless consonants, e.g. /'big ^eibl/.

(5) Consonant phonemes in English which have no counterparts

an Russian are the following:

1. the bilabial, constrictive median sonorant /w/,

2. the dental (interdental) fricative consonants /Э, Ц/,

3. the voiced bicentral affricate /«13/,

4. the post-alveolar constrictive median sonorant /r/,

5. the backlingual, nasal sonorant /ri/,

6. the glottal fricative /h/.

Consonant phonemes in Russian which have no counterparts in English are the following:

1. the palatalized consonants /п', б', т*, д', к¹, г¹, м\ н', ф', в',

С, з', р7,

2. the voiceless unicentral affricate /ц/,

3. the rolled post alveolar sonorant /p/,

4. the backlingual fricative voiceless /x/.

The most common mistakes that may result from the differences in the articulation bases of the English and Russian languages are the following:

-- dorsal articulation of the English forelingual apical /t, d/,

the use of the Russian rolled /p/ instead of the English post-

alveolar constrictive hi,

-- the use of the Russian /x/ instead of the English glottal,

fricative /h/,

-- mispronunciation of the English interdental /0, 5/: the use

of /s, f/ for /e/ and /d, z/ for /Ц/,

-- the use of the forelingual /n/ instead of the backlingual velar /n/,

-- the use of the labio-dental /v, b/ instead of the bilabial /w/,

-- absence of aspiration in /p, t, k/ when they occur initially,

-- weak pronunciation of voiceless fortis /p, t_F k, f, s, J", tf/,

-- devoicing of voiced /b, d, g, v, 3, z, g, djj/ in the terminal

position.

The list of the used literature

Websites:

1. http://youreng.narod.ru/teorph.html

2. http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/obo/9780199772810-0053

3. https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Theoretical_linguistics.html

Размещено на Allbest.ru