For educational Purposes only

1. PHONETICS
THE SOUNDS OF LANGUAGE
MODULE 2: LESSON 1
Prepared by: LENLY P. MOYA
Instructor

2. PHONETICS
• It is the study classification of speech sounds.
• broadly deals with two aspects of human
speech: production—the way humans make
sounds—and perception—the way speech is
understood.
• We are able to segment a continuous stream of
speech into distinct parts and recognize the
parts in other words
• Everyone who knows a language knows how to
PART 1 October 6, 2023

3. Identity of Speech Sounds
• Our linguistic knowledge allows us to
ignore nonlinguistic differences in
speech (such as individual pitch levels,
rates of speed, coughs)
• We are capable of making sounds that
are not speech sounds in English but
are in other languages
– The click tsk that signals disapproval in English is a speech sound in
languages such as Xhosa and Zulu where it is combined with other sounds just like t or
k is in English.

4. Identity of Speech Sounds
The science of phonetics aims to describe all the sounds of all
the world’s languages
Modern phonetics has three main branches:
– Acoustic phonetics: focuses on the physical properties of
the sounds of language
– Auditory phonetics: focuses on how listeners perceive the
sounds of language
– Articulatory phonetics: focuses on how the vocal tract
produces the sounds of language

5. The Phonetic Alphabet
Spelling, or orthography, does not consistently represent
the sounds of language.
• Some problems with ordinary spelling:
– 1. The same sound may be represented by many letters or
combination of letters:
he people key believe seize
Machine Caesar seas see amoeba
– 2. The same letter may represent a variety of sounds:
Father village badly made many

6. The Phonetic Alphabet
– 3. A combination of letters may represent a single sound:
shoot character Thomas
either physics rough
coat deal
– 4. A single letter may represent a combination of sounds:
xerox

7. – 4. Some letters in a word may not be pronounced at
all:
autumn sword resign
pterodactyl lamb
psychology write knot
– 5. There may be no letter to represent a sound that
occurs in a word:
cute
use
The Phonetic Alphabet

8. The Phonetic Alphabet
• In 1888 the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
was invented in order to have a system in which
there was a one-to-one correspondence between
each sound in language and each phonetic
symbol.
• IPA symbols are useful for learning pronunciation. The symbols on this chart
represent the 44 sounds used in British English speech
• Someone who knows the IPA knows how to
pronounce any word in any language.

9. WHAT IS A PHONEMIC CHART?
• It is a set of symbols that represent all the sounds in spoken English.
• This version of the phonemic chart is based on the familiar Adrian Underhill
layout.
MONOPHTHONGS AND DIPHTHONGS
 monophthong comes from the Greek “mono”, which means
“one”, and “-phthong”, which means “tone” or “sound”. So
monophthong means “one sound” or “single sound”.
 diphthong is a sound formed by combining two vowels in a
single syllable.

11. • The symbol from the International
Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as used in
phonetic transcriptions in modern
dictionaries for English learners
• The chart represents British and
American phonemes with one symbol.
One symbol can mean two different
phonemes in American and British
English.

12. SPECIAL SYMBOLS
IPA WHAT IT MEANS
• The vertical line (ˈ) is used to show word stress. It is
placed before the stressed syllable in a word. For
example, /ˈkɒntrækt/ is pronounced like this, and
/kənˈtrækt/ like that. Word stress is explained in our
article about phonetic transcription.
• r –means that r is always pronounced in American
English, but not in British English. For example, if we
write that FAR is pronounced /fɑ:ʳ/, we mean that it is
pronounced /fɑ:r/ in American English, and /fɑ:/ in

13. • However, in BrE, r will be heard if ʳ is followed by a
vowel. For example, FAR GONE is pronounced /ˈfɑ:
ˈgɒn/ in BrE, but FAR OUT is pronounced /ˈfɑ: ˈraʊt/.
• i is usually pronounced like a shorter version of i:,
but sometimes (especially in an old-fashioned British
accent) it can sound like ɪ.
Examples: VERY /ˈveri/, CREATE /kriˈeɪt/, PREVIOUS
/ˈpri:viəs/, ABILITY /əˈbɪlɪti/.

14. • l represents either a syllabic l or, less commonly, əl.
Syllabic l is an l which acts as a vowel and forms a
syllable, as in LITTLE /ˈlɪtəl/, UNCLE /ˈʌŋkəl/.
Instead of əl, some dictionaries use a regular l, as
in /ˈlɪtl/.
• n represents either a syllabic n or, less commonly,
ən. Syllabic n is an n which acts as a vowel and
forms a syllable, as in WRITTEN /ˈrɪtən/, LISTEN
/ˈlɪsən/.
• Instead of ən, some dictionaries use a regular n, as

15. The Phonetic Alphabet
 Dialectal and individual differences affect pronunciation, but
the sounds of English

16. The Phonetic Alphabet
• Using IPA symbols, we can now
represent the pronunciation of words.
Example:

17. Drill
Directions: Write the phonetic transcription of the
words below.
Example:
book- [ bƱk ]
1.page 8. tap 15. buy
2.Ship 9. cry
3.Thin 10. rod
4.took 11. beef
5.pet 12. top
6.Toy 13. deed
7. pie 14. back

18. Place of Articulation
PART 2 October 13, 2023

19. Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson students are
expected to:
1. Identify the place of articulation;
2. Distinguish between English
consonants;
3. Demonstrate a tongue twister using
the different places of articulation.

20. Place
of
Articulation

21. Articulatory Phonetics
Most speech sounds are produced by pushing air
through the vocal cords:
Glottis = the opening between the vocal cords
Larynx = ‘voice box’
Pharynx = tubular part of the throat above the
larynx
Oral cavity = mouth
Nasal cavity = nose and the passages
connecting it to the throat and sinuses

22. Place of Articulation
In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation or
point of articulation of a consonant – is the point
contact where obstruction occurs in the vocal tract
between articulatory gesture.

23. There are two Place of Articulation:
1. Passive place of articulation- is the place on the more
stationary part of the vocal tract where the articulation
occurs and can be anywhere from the lips, upper
teeth, gums or roof of the mouth to the back of the
throat.
2. Active place articulation- the articulatory gesture
involves the more mobile part of the tract, typically
some part of the tongue or lips.

24. Consonants: Place of Articulation
• Consonants are sounds produced with some
restriction or closure in the vocal tract
• Consonants are classified based in part on
where in the vocal tract the airflow is being
restricted (the place of articulation)
• The major places of articulation are: bilabial,
labiodental, interdental, alveolar, palatal, velar,
uvular, and glottal

25. Consonants: Place of Articulation
1. Bilabials: [p] [b] [m]
–are consonant sounds produced by using both lips
together.
Read this word
out loud and notice
how you're using
both lips to pronounce
the letters
in bold: bump.

26. Consonants: Place of Articulation
2. Labiodentals: [f] [v]
– Produced by touching the bottom lip to the upper
teeth.
Pronounce the
word favor and
notice the
point of
articulation.

27. Consonants: Place of Articulation
3. Interdentals: [θ] [ð]
– Produced by putting the tip of then tongue between
the teeth
Examples: [θ] thin, think, thought
[ð] that, though, them

28. Consonants: Place of Articulation
4. Alveolars: [t] [d] [n] [s] [z] [l] [r]
– All of these are produced by raising the tongue to
the alveolar ridge in some way.
• [t, d, n]: produced by the tip of the tongue touching the
alveolar ridge (or just in front of it)
• [s, z]: produced with the sides of the front of the
tongue raised but the tip lowered to allow air to escape

29. Consonants: Place of Articulation
4. Alveolars:
[l]: the tongue tip is raised while the rest of the tongue
remains down so air can escape over the sides of the
tongue (thus [l] is a lateral sound)
• [r]: air escapes through the central part of the mouth;
either the tip of the tongue is curled back behind the
alveolar ridge or the top of the tongue is bunched up behind
the alveolar ridge

30. Consonants: Place of Articulation
5. Palatals: [ʃ] [ʒ] [ʧ] [ʤ] [ʝ]
–Produced by raising the front part of the
tongue to the palate
6. Velars: [k] [g] [ŋ]
– Produced by raising the back of the tongue
to the soft palate or velum

31. Consonants: Place of Articulation
7. Uvulars: [ʀ] [q] [ɢ]
– Produced by raising the back of the tongue to
the uvula.
8. Glottals: [h] [Ɂ]
– Produced by restricting the airflow through the
open glottis ([h]) or by stopping the air completely
at the glottis (a glottal stop: [Ɂ])

32. Consonants: Place of Articulation
Linguolabials- are articulated by using both
the tongue and the upper lip.