The Sounds of

Language
Presenter:
Nadeem Anjum
(M.A. English, 2nd Semester, Roll#1)

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 Phonetics
Scientific study of production,
transmission & reception of
human speech sounds

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 Branches of Phonetics

Articulatory Phonetics (Production)

Acoustic Phonetics (Transmission)
Auditory Phonetics (Reception)

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 Consonant Sounds
Consonant sounds can be classified
according to three dimensions:
1. Voicing (voiceless or voiced)
2. The Place of Articulation (where
the sound is made)
3. The Manner of Articulation (how
the sound is made)

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 Voicing
A sound is voiced if the
vocal cords vibrate.
A sound is voiceless if the
vocal cords are not
vibrating.

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 Place of Articulation
1. Bilabial- two lips touching each
other
2. Labio dental- lower lip touches the
upper teeth
3. Dental- tip of the tongue and the
inner edge of the upper teeth
4. Alveolar- tip of the tongue and hard
palate

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5. Palatal- the tongue
and hard palate
6. Velar- dorsal tongue
and soft palate
7. Glottal- throat passage

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Manner of Articulation
1. Stops/Plosives- These are the sounds
produced when the air stream is blocked
completely before it is abruptly released.
2. Fricatives- These are the sounds
produced when the air stream is
compressed and passes through a small
opening creating friction. The sounds

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3.Affricates- These are the
sounds produced when a plosive is
followed by a fricative.
4. Nasals- These are the sounds
produced when the oral cavity is
blocked, and so the air passes
through the nose.

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5. Lateral- Sounds are
produced when air stream moves
around the tongue in an
obstructed manner.
6. Approximant- Sounds that
are close to vowel sounds.

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 What You Need to Know for
Vowels
FRONT/CENTRAL/BACK: These three refers
to the position of the tongue from front to
back of the mouth during the production of
the sound.
HIGH/MID/LOW: This designation refers to
whether the lips are rounded (O shape) or
spread (no rounding) when the sound is
being made.

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 Diphthongs
Two vowel sounds join to form one speech
sound

/a/ /a/ // /e/

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Activity

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Consonant IPA Voicing Place of Manner of
sound Articulation Articulation
s
sh
th
th
ch
zh
j
ng
y
t
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Consonant IPA Voicing Place of Manner of
sound Articulation Articulation
s s Voiceless Alveolar Fricative
sh Voiceless Palatal Fricative
th Voiceless Dental Fricative
th Voiced Dental Fricative
ch t Voiceless Palatal affricative
zh Voiced Palatal Fricative
j d Voiced Palatal Affricative
ng Voiced Velar Nasal
y j Voiced Palatal Glides
t t Voiceless Alveolar Stops
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