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/ and /d
/ in English.
6) Approximants
Approximants are consonants with approximant stricture, although some
approximants also commonly display resonant stricture. It is very easy to become confused
about the terminology used in the literature when referring to this class of consonants. Very
often approximants are divided into the following two sub-classes:-
1. liquids (e.g. English, [] and [l])
2. semi-vowels (e.g. English, [w] and [j]) - also known as "glides"
When this system is used, liquids are effectively those approximants that are not
classified as semi-vowels. Semi-vowels are those consonants that are most like vowels in their
acoustic and articulatory characteristics and the semi-vowels often exhibit resonant stricture.
Very often semi-vowels are only distinguishable from vowels using phonological criteria (see
the topic "Distinction Between Consonants and Vowels" for details on the phonological
distinction between vowels and consonants).
The division of approximants into liquids and semi-vowels is of particular
relevance in this course to the topic "Distinctive Features", where the feature set for is
different for liquids and semi-vowels.
7) Rhotics
Sometimes this further class of consonants is defined, but it is not strictly a
manner of articulation. The rhotic sounds are the so-called r-like sounds and include the
alveolar and retroflex approximants and the alveolar and uvular trills. In this course the term
"rhotic" is used when dealing with the consonants of Australian Aboriginal languages (see the
topic "The Phonetics and Phonology of Australian Aboriginal Languages"). In many
Australian languages there are two consonants in the rhotic class, the alveolar trill [r] and the
alveolar or post-alveolar approximant[]. Also, the term "rhotic" is also used when referring to
the "rhotic" (eg. American) and "non-rhotic" (eg. Australian) dialects of English (see the topic
"The vowel systems of four English dialects : Centring Diphthongs and Non-rhotic Dialects
of English" for more information).
8) Obstruents versus Sonorants
Sometimes you will see consonants classified as "obstruents" or "sonorants".
Obstruents include the oral stops, the affricates and the fricatives. Sonorants include the nasal
stops, approximants and the vowels. For more information on these classes of consonants see
the topic "Distinctive Features".
DEFINING MANNER OF ARTICULATION IN TERMS OF LATERALITY,
NASALITY AND STRICTURE
Manner of articulation can be described in terms
of Laterality, Nasality and Stricture. The following diagram shows how the various
manners of articulation can be defined in terms of their laterality, nasality and stricture
features.
Relationship between Manner of Articulation and laterality, nasality and stricture.
Note that there can be no lateral (oral or nasal) stops; lateral requires the air to be
directed around the sides of the tongue, stop requires the air to be totally obstructed in the
mouth. The features are therefore incompatible.
Place of articulation is defined in terms of the the articulators involved in the
speech gesture. It is common to refer to a speech gesture in terms of an active articulator and a
passive articulator.
ACTIVE ARTICULATORS
An active articulator is the articulator that does all or most of the moving during a
speech gesture. The active articulator is usually the lower lip or some part of the tongue.
These active articulators are attached to the jaw which is relatively free to move when
compared to parts of the vocal tract connected directly to the greater mass of the skull.
PASSIVE ARTICULATORS
A passive articulator is the articulator that makes little or no movement during a
speech gesture. The active articulator moves towards the relatively immobile passive
articulator. Passive articulators are often directly connected to the skull. Passive articulators
include the upper lip, the upper teeth, the various parts of the upper surface of the oral cavity,
and the back wall of the pharynx.
NAMING PLACE OF ARTICULATION
The place of articulation of a consonant is generally named for
the passive articulator. Sometimes the active articulator is also explicitly included in the name
of a place of articulation by use of the prefixes "apico-" and "lamino-".
ILLUSTRATIONS OF PLACE OF ARTICULATION IN ENGLISH
The following links lead to diagrams that illustrate place of articulation in
English. These diagrams are applicable to most dialects of English. The possible exception is
the diagram for /r/ which may be articulated differently in some dialects of English.
1. Oral Stop Articulation
2. Nasal Stop Articulation
3. Fricative Articulation
4. Approximant Articulation
TABLE OF POSSIBLE AND IMPOSSIBLE ARTICULATIONS
The following table makes a distinction between articulations that are actually
used contrastively in the world's languages, articulations that are not used but are possible,
and articulations that are impossible. In some cases, articulations marked with "***" are
actually physically impossible and in some cases "***" marks articulations that are too
difficult to be considered serious possibilities for linguistic use.
Passive
Articulator
Active Articulator
L
Lower
Lip
T
Tongue
Tip
T
Tongue
Blade
F
ront of
Tongue
B
ack of
Tongue
R
oot of
Tongue
V
ocal
Folds
Upper
Lip
b
ilabial
-
--
-
--
*
**
*
**
*
**
*
**
Upper Front
Teeth
l
abio-
dental
(
apico-)
dental
(
lamino-)
dental
-
--
*
**
*
**
*
**
Alveolar
Ridge
-
--
(
apico-)
alveolar
(
lamino-)
alveolar
-
--
*
**
*
**
*
**
Hard
Palate
*
**
r
etroflex
p
alato-
alveolar
p
alatal
*
**
*
**
*
**
Soft
Palate
*
**
*
**
*
**
-
--
v
elar
*
**
*
**
Uvula
*
**
*
**
*
**
*
**
u
vular
*
**
*
**
Pharynx
Wall
*
**
*
**
*
**
*
**
*
**
p
haryngeal
*
**
Vocal
Folds
*
**
*
**
*
**
*
**
*
**
*
**
g
lottal
In the above table:
*** means not a possible articulation
--- means not found in any language (so far)
From the above table, it can be seen that places of articulation are completely
specified by both the active and the passive articulator. Some common articulatory
distinctions are not completely captured by specification of the passive articulator alone.
For example:-
Labiodental articulations cannot be fully specified by just the passive articulator (front
upper teeth) as this would fail to distinguish such articulations from dentals.
Dentals can be either apico-dentals or lamino-dentals (and in some languages these
can contrast). It is essential that the active articulator is specified to separate them.
Note that, with the exception of the lower lip and the vocal folds, the majority of
active articulators are different parts of the tongue. Refer to this figure from lecture 1 for the
location of these different parts of the tongue.