2. The place of articulation

2.Another principle is the place of articulation. Consonants are classed into 1) labial, 2) lingual, 3) glottal. The first class is subdivided into a) bilabial [p]; b) labio- dental [v]; the second class is subdivided into: a) fore lingual or apical, articulated with the tip of the tongue [l, t, n, d], b) mediolingual [j], c)back lingual [k, g,], d) pharingal [h].

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.

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: the English [p, b, m,w);

Labio-dental consonants are articulated with the lower lip against the edge of the

upper teeth. They are the English [f, v]

2. Lingual consonants are classified into forelingual, mediolingual and backlingual.

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 the English [t, d, s, z, ∫, Ɨ, θ, d, t∫, dƗ, n, 1].

• dorsal, 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 the English [r]

According to the place of obstruction forelingual consonants may be:

o Interdental.

o Dental.

o Alveolar.

o Post-alveolar.

o Palato-alveolar.

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.

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.

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: the English [j];

Backlingual 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: the English [k, g, n];

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

3.The next principle is the presence or absence of voice which depends on the work of the vocal cords. All voiced consonants are weak (lenis) and all voiceless c. are strong (fortis).

3. The degree of noise

According to the degree of noise English and Russian consonants are divided into

two big classes: Class A - Noise consonants; Class B - Sonorants.

Class A. Noise consonants.

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.

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.

Main Principles of Classification of Consonants

According to the Degree of Noise

Class A. Noise Consonants Class B. Sonorants

Vary: Vary:

1 . In the manner of articulation. 1. In the manner of articulation.

2. In the place of articulation. 2. In the place of articulation.

3. In the work of the vocal cords. 3. In the position of the soft palate.

4. In the force of articulation. 4. In the direction of the air stream.

Voiced consonants are: the English [b, d, g, v, d, z, Ɨ, dƗ];

If the vocal cords are apart and do not vibrate we hear only noise and the consonants are voiceless.

Voiceless consonants are: the English [p, t, k, f, θ, s, ∫, t∫, h];

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.

Strong noise consonants (fortis) are: the English [p, t, k, f, θ, s, ∫, t∫, h].

Weak noise consonants (lenis) are: the English [b, d, g, v, d, z, Ɨ, dƗ].

Class B. Sonorants (or sonorous consonants) are made with tone prevailing over noise because of a rather wide air passage. They are: the English [m, n, ŋ, w, 1, r, j];

4. The next principle is the position of the soft palate. According to this, E. consonants can be oral and nasal.(m,n,n).

3. speak on the speech mechanism responsible for the production of vowel sounds. Give 4 principles of vowel classification.

In any language people speak (if they have no physical defects) using their organs of speech.

To analyze a speech sound physiologically and articulatorily some data on the articulatorily mechanism and its work should be introduced. Speech is impossible without the following 4 mechanisms:

1. The power mech.

2. The vibrator mech.

3. The resonator mech.

4. The obstructor mech.

The power mechanism : regulates the air-stream exhaled from the lungs. consists of the diaphragm (1), the lungs (2), the bronchi (3), the windpipe (or trachea) (4), the glottis (5), the larynx (6), the mouth cavity (7), and the nasal cavity (8).

The vibrator mechanism (the voice producing mechanism) consists of the vocal cords, they are jn, 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 ten&on of the vocal cords. Voice produced by the vocal cords ^vibration is modified by the shape and volume of the air passage.'

H. A. Gleasori mentions three sounds in the English language that are produced by the vocal cords /h, f[, ?/. /h/ is the glottal voiceless fricative and /fj/ is its voiced allophone. He states that "during the pronunciation of /h, fy ?/ the mouth may be in position for almost any sound."³

When both parts of the glottis are firmly closed, the sound pro­duced at separating the glottal stop position, is called the glottal stop /?/. It sounds like a soft cough.

Thorough acoustic investigations show that besides the vocal cords there are two more sources that participate in the production of speech sounds: (a) the turbulent noise, which results from some constriction in the flow of air and (b) the impulse wave, which is formed when the complete ob­struction to the flow of air in the mouth cavity is suddenly broken. These sources of speech sounds may work separately or simulta­neously. For example: (1) the vocal cords produce vibrations in the articulation of vowel sounds, (2) the turbulent noise helps to produce voiceless constrictive consonants, such as /f, s, J7, (3) the impulse source helps to pro­duce voiceless plosiye consonants „ such as /p, t, k/.

The two sources—vocal and turbulent participate in the pro­duction of voiced constrictive consonants, such as /v, z, 5/, the vocal and impulse sources partici­pate in the production of voiced plosive consonants, such as /b, d, g/.

The obstructor mechanism : The task of this mechanism is to make obstructions to the air-stream thus producing different speech sounds: consists of the tongue (1: a —i- blade with the tip, b—-P^nil.R_~Z ^{back or dorsu}m); the lips '(2), the teeth (3), the soft pal­ate with the uvula (4), the hard palate (5), the alveolar ridge (6). In the articulation of vowel sounds no obstruction is made.

The resonator mechanism. This mechanism works as a resonator. To the resonator mechanism belong: the pharynx, the oral cavity and the nasal cavity. All the 3 resonance cavities (or resonators) have boundaries or walls. By changing the position of the movable boundaries we may modify the shape and size of the resonators. The nasal cavity is fixed, while the pharynx and the oral cavity are modifiable. This mechanism is responsible for the production of vowel sounds. This mechanism also consists both active and passive organs. The most flexible organs is tongue. For this reason to main principle of vowel classification is based on the position and movements of the tongue.

The classification of English vowels.

Movements of the tongue in different directions provide a basis for classification of vowels according to two important principles: (soviet scientists)