Phonetics: Syllables, Consonants, and Pronunciation

Posted on Jan 11, 2025 in Archaeology

Syllables

A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. A syllable is made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). The parts are onset and rhyme; within the rhyme, we find the peak (normally a vowel) and coda (any consonants following the peak). Not all syllables have all parts. The smallest possible syllable contains a nucleus only. A syllable may or may not have an onset and a coda.

Onset: Any consonant preceding the vowel.
Rhyme: All phonemes from the vowel to the end of the syllable.

Consonants

Consonant sounds involve an obstruction of the oral tract so that the air cannot flow out of the mouth freely. From an articulatory point of view, the difference is that in the production of vowels, the air passes freely through the oral tract, whereas in the production of consonants the passing of the air is impeded, there is an obstruction. From a phonological point of view, vowels can be peaks of syllables and consonants cannot (except: syllabic consonants > a consonant (normally /l/ or /n/) becomes the peak of the syllable if the previous vowel disappears).

Classification of Consonants

Area of Articulation

The area of articulation is where the obstruction takes place. These are the 8 areas of articulation:

Bilabial: The lower lip gets in contact with the upper lip /p, b, m/.
Labiodental: The lower lip gets in contact with the upper teeth /f, v, m/.
Dental: The tip of the tongue articulates with the upper teeth /θ, δ/.
Alveolar: The tip and blade of the tongue articulate with the alveolar ridge /t, d, s, z, l, n/.
Post-alveolar: The tip and blade of the tongue articulate with an area behind the alveolar ridge /r/.
Palatoalveolar: The blade and front of the tongue articulate with an area behind the alveolar ridge and the beginning of the hard palate /∫, ʒ, t∫, dʒ/.
Palatal: The front (central part) articulates with the hard palate /j/.
Velar: The back part of the tongue articulates with the soft palate /k, g, w/.
Glottal: The air escapes through the glottis /h/. Another glottal consonant is the glottal stop.

Manner of Articulation

Degree and kind of constriction in the vocal tract. In this sense, consonants are divided into:

Plosive: A complete closing of the air passage is made, followed by a release of the closure, producing an explosion /p, b, t, d, k, g/.
Fricative: An active organ approximates a passive one leaving a space for the air to produce a hissing sound when passing through /f, v, θ, δ, s, z, ∫, ʒ, h/.
Affricates: A mixture between a plosive and a fricative. After having produced an obstruction, the separation of the organs becomes a slower process, giving some time for the air to produce a frication when passing through /t∫, dʒ/.
Lateral /l/ sound: Produced by placing the tip of the tongue on the alveolar ridge and by leaving at the same time both sides of the mouth unblocked so that the air can escape freely.
Nasals: The soft palate (uvula) must be separated from the back wall of the pharynx and an obstruction must be made forcing the air to escape through the nose /m, n, ŋ/.
Approximants: They can be termed glides, that is, transitions from an articulatory position to another articulatory position. There is no obstruction or narrowing involved in their production. They can’t be peaks of syllables /r, j, w/.

Voiced and Unvoiced Consonants

Voiced /b, d, g, v, δ, z, ʒ/ (television), dʒ/ (June), l, m, n, ŋ/ (sing), r, j/ (yes), w/.
Unvoiced /p, t, k, f, θ, s, h, ∫, t∫/ (cheese).

Fortis and Lenis

This distinction applies only to the obstruents (plosives, affricates, and fricatives). The sonorants (nasals and approximants) don’t have this distinction. This classification is related to the force associated with consonants, unvoiced being fortis and voiced being lenis (articulated in a softer way). Not all voiced consonants are lenis, there are cases where voiced consonants suffer a process of devoicing (they lose their voice partially or totally. Example: the final fricative in was is articulated as a lenis).

Other Classifications

Obstruents (when an oral obstruction occurs): Stops (plosives, affricates) and fricatives.
Sonorants (when the vocal tract is more open with freer airflow): Nasals and approximants (lateral and central).
Sibilants /s, z, ∫, ʒ/.
Liquids (laterals and any type of /r/ sound).

Aspiration

It’s a puff of air which accompanies unvoiced plosives /p, t, k/ when initial of accented syllables. If the plosive is followed by another consonant, no aspiration. The release of /b, d, g/ is followed by a weak plosion. It’s aspiration, not voicing, which distinguishes /p, t, k/ from /b, d, g/. In Spanish, we don’t have aspirated consonants. If this feature is not properly realized by Spanish speakers, native speakers will hear “bin” and “ben” for “pin” and “pen”.

Role of the Velum

It’s a part of the palate which stops the air so that it cannot escape through the nose. It’s a mobile organ located at the end of the soft palate. Velar consonants are /k/ and /g/.

Received Pronunciation (RP)

Where English is taught and learned in a Spanish environment, students must be given an appropriate command of the sounds of English so that they can communicate with English speakers irrespective of their varieties of English. For that reason, the model of pronunciation chosen is RP, which has the following characteristics:

It’s widely used.
It’s understood by the greatest number of speakers.
There are adequate descriptions and plenty of material resources available.
It’s free of regional, social, economic, and educational prejudices.

Smoothing or Leveling

This is a process that affects longer vowel sequences or triphthongs, which consist of a diphthong + /ə/. The second element of the sequence disappears and the first vowel becomes qualitatively long.

/əʊə/ – slower – /ɜːə/
/aʊə/ – our – /ɑːə/
/eɪə/ – player – /ɜːə/
/aɪə/ – fire – /ɑːə/
/ɔɪə/ – joyous – /ɔːə/

In colloquial speech, the reduction can be bigger, making /ə/ disappear.

Different Pronunciations of ‘t’

Stop ‘t’: Example: “not for me”. The next word begins with a consonant. We stop the air but we don’t release it. The stop ‘t’ relates to the true ‘t’, but we simply skip the release in American English.
Flap ‘t’: This flap sound is produced when the ‘t’ comes between two vowels or diphthongs or after an /r/ and before a vowel or diphthong. We simply let the front part of the tongue bounce against the roof of the mouth without stopping the flow of the air. If the ‘t’ starts a stressed syllable, then it’s a true ‘t’. Natalie has a flap ‘t’, while Matilda has a true ‘t’. Why? Because a true ‘t’ is stressed whereas a flap ‘t’ is unstressed.
Dropped ‘t’: It occurs after an /n/ or between two consonants. For example, many Americans say “center” instead of “center”.

Rules for ‘-ed’

Use [-ɪd] after [t] and [d]: sprinted /’sprɪntɪd/.
Use [-t] after all other unvoiced consonants, i.e. [p, k, f, ɵ, s, ʃ, ʧ]: kicked /kɪkt/.
Use [-d] after all other voiced consonants, i.e. [b, g, v, ð, z, ʒ, ʤ, m, n, ŋ, l] and all vowels (including diphthongs): massaged /’mæsɑːʒd/, pinned /pɪnd/.

Rules for ‘-es’

/ɪz/ after /ʧ, ʃ, s, z, ʤ, ʒ/: watched – /wɒʧɪz/, kisses – /kɪsɪz/.
/s/ after the rest of the unvoiced sounds (/p, t, k, f, ɵ/): maths – /mæɵs/, books – /bʊks/.
/z/ after the rest of the voiced sounds, including vowels (/b, d, g, v, ð, m, n, ŋ, l, r, w, j/ + vowels): plays – /pleɪz/, dogs – /dɒgz/.

“L” Sounds

English phoneme /l/ is similar to the Spanish /l/ when preceding a vowel – this type of lateral is known as clear /l/. However, when before a consonant, before a pause, and when syllabic, the lateral changes to what is known as dark /l/ or velarized /l/.

H-Dropping

Disappearance of the sound /h/ in connected speech /’tel ɜː/.

Assimilation

A phoneme is realized differently as a result of being near some other phoneme belonging to a neighboring word. Assimilation tends to be more frequent in:

Unstressed rather than stressed syllables.
Rapid rather than slow tempo.
Informal rather than formal registers.

Allophones

Different speech sounds that are realizations of the same phoneme. Example: pin/spin.

Minimal Pairs

Pairs of words that only differ in one phonemic element. Example: bin/pin.

Phoneme

The smallest unit in the sound system of a language. It’s combined with others to form meaningful units such as words.

Morphology

The structure of words, in particular their inflection.

Syntax

Description of the categories like noun and verb and the system of rules governing the structure of phrases, clauses, sentences.

Lexicon

The words of the language.

Pragmatics

The influence of situation on the interpretation of utterances.

Branches of Phonetics

Acoustic phonetics: The study of the relationship between articulation and sound. It studies the characteristics and nature of sound waves: amplitude of vibration, frequency of vibration, duration, and intensity.
Articulatory phonetics: Studies speech production, that is, how we produce sounds. It deals with the neural controlling of muscular activity, the organs we use when producing sounds, and the movements they make.
Auditory phonetics: It studies speech perception.

Stages of the Speech Chain

Initiation: Use of airstream mechanism, usually involving the lungs to initiate the production of sound.
Phonation: Use of the larynx to produce sound that will be modified by the speech organs above it.
Articulation: Use of the organs in the supralaryngeal cavities.

Devoicing

Voiced consonants (lenis) tend to get devoiced (they lose their voice partially or even completely) in 3 specific contexts: initial after a pause, final before a pause, or in contact with a fortis consonant. Example: the final fricative in was is articulated as a lenis.