Child Language Acquisition - Phonology - How are sounds made?

Phonology

- Sounds in English are produced as a result of air from the lungs coming up through the vocal cords and being manipulated in various ways.

- There are various different places where consonants are formed:

Balabial - Two lips

Labio-Dental - Top teeth against bottom lip

Dental - Tongue against teeth

Alveolar - Tongue against the alveolar ridge

Palatal - Part of the tongue against hard palate

Velar - Part of the tongue against soft palate

Glottal - Using glottis

- There are various different phonemes:

-          Plosives (p(pip), b(bib), t(ten), d(den), k(cat), g(get))

o       Plosives are explosions which are created by obstructing the flow of air by bringing parts of the mouth together, then letting go suddenly.

o       English plosives are differentiated from each other in two ways: they are made in different places in the mouth and use different amounts of voices.

o      p and b are bilabial

o      t and d are alveolar

o      k and g are velar

-          Fricatives (f(fish), v(van), θ(thigh), ð(thy), s(set), z(zen), ʃ(ship), ʒ(pleasure), h(hen)

o       Fricatives involve a lesser obstruction of airflow, as air is forced through in a steady stream, resulting in friction rather than explosions.

o       Plosives cannot be kept going in the way fricatives can.

o       Fricatives, like plosives, are distinguished from each other by their place of articulation, and by voice.

o       f and v are labio-dental

o       θ and ð are dental

o       s and z are alveolar

o       h is glottal

o       ʃ and ʒ are palatal

-          Affricates (t ʃ(church) and d ʒ(judge))

o       These two consonant sounds have double symbols to represent the fact that each one is a plosive followed by a fricative. Both affricates are palatal.      

-          Nasals (m(man), n(man) and ŋ(sing))

o       These phonemes are produced in a particular manner: the air-stream comes out through the nose rather than the mouth.

o       They differ from each other in being made in different places /m/ is bilabial, /n/ is alveolar and /ŋ/ is velar.

o       When you have a cold and air cannot escape from the nose, nasals become plosives.

-          Laterals (l(let))

o       Sometimes referred to as a ‘liquid’ sound, and is made by placing the tip of the tongue on the teeth ridge and sending air down the sides of the mouth. The sound is alveolar.

-          Approximants (r(ride), w(wet) and j(yet)

o       These share the property of being mid-way between consonants and vowels; sometimes called semi-vowels.

o       They all involve less contact between the organs of speech than many of the other consonants.

o      w is bilabial and r and j are palatal

-          Glottal (ʔ)

o       Glottals don’t represent a sound as such – they are the closure of the vocal cords, resulting in shutting off the air-stream, and it is sometimes produced as an alternative to certain plosive sounds.

o       The glottal stop is a strong feature of some regional accents, e.g. “li’l” instead of “little” and “bo’l” instead of “bottle.”