English Consonants - how can we classify them? Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 7: English consonants in detail KAMIYAMA, Takeki takeki.kamiyama@univ-paris8.fr Three main properties: VOICE PLACE of articulation MANNER of articulation 2 English Consonants - how can we classify them? 1. Voiced and voiceless plosives 3 Kelly (2000) Introducion to spectrogram reading Observe the consonant at the beginning of the /pæk/ Then compare them with the consonant at the /pak/ («Pâque») /bak/ («bac») Demonstration: /pæk/ (in French) /pak/ («Pâque») /bak/ («bac») 5 6
/pæk/ /bæk/ /pæk/ /bæk/ aspiration 7 aspiration upper lip lower lip vocal fold vibration initiation (airstream) upper lip lower lip vocal fold vibration initiation (airstream) 8 Aspiration /pæk/ : phonemic transcription [pʰæk] : narrow (detailed) transcription Devoicing: (partial) absence of voicing [b æk] (unstressed syllable) Observe the consonant at the beginning of the /pəˈræmɪtə/ /bɪˈliːf/ 9 10 Word-medial position Word-medial position Observe the voiced bilabial plosive /p/ in the /ˈpʌblɪk/ /rɪˈpʌblɪk/ Observe the voiced bilabial plosive /p/ in the /peɪs/ /speɪs/ /ˈpeɪpə/ 11 12
/peɪs/ /speɪs/ after /s/ Aspiration /peɪs/ [pʰeɪs] No aspiration after /s/ /speɪs/ [speɪs] aspiration no aspiration 13 14 Word-medial position Word-initial/medial position Observe the voiced bilabial plosive /b/ in the /beɪt/ /dɪˈbeɪt/ /biː/ /ˈæbi/ In English, voiceless plosives /p t k/ are aspirated [pʰ tʰ kʰ], especially in word-initial position before a stressed vowel (/pæk/ [pʰæk]). But it is not the case before or after /s/ (/speɪs/ [speɪs], /fɪks/ [fɪks]), or immediately after another plosive (/ˈæktə/ [ˈæktə]). 15 16 Word-initial/medial position In English, voiced plosives /b d g/ are totally or [b d g g ] in wordinitial position. Word-medially they can be. In any case, they are not aspirated. Observe the consonant at the end of the /bæg/ Then compare them with the consonant at the /bak/ («bac») /bag/ («bague») 17 18
/bæk/ /bæg/ Clipping: shortening of the preceding vowel [bæ k] Devoicing (no clipping) /bæg/ [bæg g ] clipping (preceding vowel shortened ) 19 20 In English, a vowel is clipped (shortened) when followed by a voiceless plosive (/p t k/) in the same syllable: /bæk/ [bæ k]. In English, voiced plosives /b d g/ are devoiced totally or partially in word-final position (especially in utterance-final position) [b d g g ], as in /bæg/ [bæg g ]. But the explosion noise tends to be smaller than that of voiceless ones (/p t k/) in the same position. The preceding vowel is not clipped. 21 22 N.B. Clipping and long/short vowels /biːd/ /biːt/ /bɪd/ /bɪt/ What happens to the following words? /biːd/ /biːt/ /bɪd/ /bɪt/ 23 clipping (preceding vowel shortened) 24
2. Voiced and voiceless fricatives Observe the consonant at the end of the /feɪs/ /feɪz/ Then compare them with the consonant at the /fas/ («face») /faz/ («phase») 26 /feɪs/ /feɪz/ Clipping: shortening of the preceding vowel /feɪs/ [feɪ s] Devoicing (no clipping) /feɪz/ [feɪz ] clipping (preceding vowel shortened ) 27 28 In English, a vowel is clipped (shortened) when followed by a voiceless fricative (/f θ s ʃ/) in the same syllable: /feɪs/ [feɪ s]. In English, voiced plosives /v ð z ʒ/ are devoiced totally or partially in word-final position (especially in utterance-final position) [v ð z ʒ (or ʒ )], as in /feɪz/ [feɪz ]. But they tend to be shorter, and the friction noise tends to be smaller than that of voiceless counterparts (/f θ s ʃ/) in the same position. The preceding vowel is not clipped. 29 30
3. Voiced and voiceless affricates Observe the consonant at the beginning of the /tʃeɪn/ /dʒeɪn/ 32 /tʃeɪn/ /dʒeɪn/ Aspiration /tʃeɪn/ [tʃʰeɪn] Devoicing: (partial) absence of voicing /dʒeɪn/ [d ʒ ʒ eɪn] aspiration (long hissing noise) 33 34 Word-initial/medial position As in plosives, the voiceless affricate /tʃ/ is aspirated [tʃʰ], (/tʃeɪn/ [tʃʰeɪn]). The voiced affricate /dʒ/ is totally or partially devoiced [d ʒ ʒ ] in word-initial position. Observe the consonant at the end of the /eɪtʃ/ /eɪdʒ/ 35 36
/eɪtʃ/ /eɪdʒ/ Clipping: shortening of the preceding vowel /eɪtʃ/ [eɪ tʃ] Devoicing (no clipping) /eɪdʒ/ [eɪd ʒ ʒ ] clipping (preceding vowel shortened ) 37 38 As in plosives and fricatives, a vowel is clipped (shortened) when followed by a voiceless affricate /tʃ/ in the same syllable: /eɪtʃ/ [eɪ tʃ]. As in plosives and fricatives, the voiced affricate /dʒ/ is devoiced totally or partially in word-final position (especially in utterance-final position) [d ʒ ʒ ], as in /eɪdʒ/ [eid ʒ ʒ ]. But the friction noise tends to be smaller than that of the voiceless counterpart /tʃ/ in the same position. The preceding vowel is not clipped. 39 40 4. Approximants Approximants: After a word-initial plosive Observe the palato-alveolar (post-alveolar) approximant in the /kræb/ /græb/ Then compare them with the consonants at the /kʁab/ («crabe») /gʁa/ («gras») 42
/krræb/ /grræb/ /krræb/ /grræb/ voiced 43 (soft) palate (soft) palate tongue tongue vocal fold vibration vocal fold vibration 44 /kllɑːs/ Approximants: After a word-initial plosive voiced /gllɑːs/ Observe the lateral approximant in the /kllɑːs/ /gllɑːs/ Then compare them with the consonants at the /kllas/ («classe») /glas/ («glace») 45 /kjjuːt/ Approximants: After a word-initial plosive voiced 46 /tw wɪn/ Observe the approximants in the following words: /kjjuːt/ /tw wɪn/ 47 48
Approximants: After a voiceless plosive In English, approximants /l r j w/ are often after a voiceless plosive, especially in a word-initial stressed syllable: [l r j w ], as in /klɑˑs/ [kl ɑˑs], /kræb/ [kr æb ], /kjuːt/ [kj uˑt], /twɪn/ [tw ɪn]. 49 /p t k tʃ/ voiceless plosives and affricate /b d g dʒ/ voiced plosives and affricate /f! s ʃ/ voiceless fricatives /v " z ʒ/ voiced fricatives /l r j w/ approximants preceded by a plosive Summary before /s/, after a plosive after /s/ no aspiration wordinitial other stressed contexts wordfinal strongly (prec. V) aspirated aspirated clipping can be devoicing devoiced devoiced no clipping voiceless voiced (prec. V) clipping devoicing no clipping 50