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Phonetics
1. Unit Outcome

After the course you can

- Identify some aspects of language

- Interpret some phonetics terms

- Distinguish some phonetics features of English sounds

2. What is Phonetics?

- The general study of the characteristics of speech sounds (Yule, G., 2017)

- The science of speech sounds (Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N., 2010)
2. What is Phonetics?

Speech sound: any of the set of distinctive sounds of a given language; any audible,
elemental, acoustic event occurring in speech.

“GO” = “G” + “O”

sound segments

grade A vs. gray day

I scream vs. ice cream
2. What is Phonetics?

Spelling and speech

Alphabet spelling represents the pronounciations of words. Orthography DOES NOT

present the sounds of the words in a language systematically.

khôn khéo, cẩn thận: [k]

to too two through threw clue shoe [u]

dame [eɪ] dad [æ] father [ɑː] call [ɔː] village [ɪ] many [e]
2. What is Phonetics?

The study of phonetics

generally composed of three fields:

1. articulatory phonetics (nghiên cứu cách phát âm)

2. acoustic phonetics (nghiên cứu đặc điểm âm thanh)

3. auditory phonetics (cách (người nghe) thu nhận âm thanh)

3. The organs of speech
4. Consonants

a. Voiced and Voiceless Sounds

b. Place of Articulation

c. Manner of Articulation
a. Voiced and Voiceless Sounds

vocal cords vibrating vocal cords not vibrating

a. Voiced and Voiceless Sounds

 What are voiced sounds?

Sounds with vocal cord vibration

 What are voiceless sounds?

Sounds without vocal cord vibration

Voiceless: [p] [t] [k] [f] [θ] [s] [∫] [t∫] [h]

Voiced: [b] [d] [ɡ] [v] [ð] [z] [ʒ] [dʒ] [m] [n] [ŋ] [l] [r] [w] [j]
a. Voiced and Voiceless Sounds

Put the following sounds into the correct columns

[ʒ] [w] [f] [n] [m] [∫] [t∫] [r] [d] [p] [θ] [v] [k] [ð] [z] [l]
Voiced Voiceless
b. Place of Articulation
b. Place of Articulation

Bilabial: sounds formed by bringing your two lips together [p], [b], [m]

Labiodental: sounds formed by touching the bottom lip (the lower lip) to the upper
teeth [f], [v]

Dental (interdental): sounds formed with the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth or
formed by inserting the tip of the tongue between the teeth [θ], [ð]

Alveolar: sounds are produced with the tongue raised in various ways to the alveolar
ridge [t], [d], [n], [s], [z], [l], [r]
b. Place of Articulation

Palatal: sounds produced with the tongue and the palate [ʃ], [ʒ], [t̬ ʃ], [dʒ], [j]

Velars: sounds produced with the back of the tongue against the velum [k], [g], [η]

Glottals: One sound is produced without the active use of the tongue and the mouth [h],
[ʔ]
b. Place of Articulation

Put the following sounds into the correct categories

1. Bilabial
[h] [f] [m] [n] [ʃ] [ʒ] [g]
2. Labiodental [t̬ ʃ] [dʒ] [v] [t] [r] [l] [ð]
3. Dental
[s] [b] [k] [j] [d] [θ] [η]
[p] [z]
4. Alveolar

5. Palatal

6. Velars

7. Glottals
c. Manner of articulation

Stops (âm tắc): are consonants in which the airstream is completely blocked in the oral
cavity for a short period. (compare continuants)

[p], [b], and [m] are bilabial stops, with the airstream stopped at the mouth by the
complete closure of the lips.

[t], [d], and [n] are alveolar stops; the airstream is stopped by the tongue, making a
complete closure at the alveolar ridge.

[k], [g], and [ŋ] are velar stops, with the complete closure at the velum.

[ʔ] is a glottal stop; the air is completely stopped at the glottis.

* Plosive: Oral, or non-nasal, stop consonants

c. Manner of articulation

Fricatives (âm xát): sounds that are produced with a narrow constriction through which
air escapes with a continuous noise. All fricatives are continuants.

[f] and [v] are labiodental fricatives; the friction is created at the lips and teeth,
where a narrow passage permits the air to escape.

[θ] and [ð] are interdental fricatives, represented by th in thin and then. The friction
occurs at the opening between the tongue and teeth.

[s] and [z] are alveolar fricatives, with the friction created at the alveolar ridge.
c. Manner of articulation

Fricatives (âm xát):

[ʃ] and [ʒ] are palatal fricatives. They are produced with friction created as the air
passes between the tongue and the part of the palate behind the alveolar ridge

[h] is a glottal fricative. Its relatively weak sound comes from air passing through
the open glottis and pharynx.
c. Manner of articulation

 Affricates (âm tắc xát) [tʃ] [dʒ]: sounds are produced by a stop closure followed
immediately by a gradual release of the closure that produces an effect characteristic of
a fricative.

 Liquids (âm nước) [l], [r]: are produced some obstruction of the airstream in the
mouth, but not enough to cause any real construction of friction.

 Glides (âm lướt) [w], [j]: are produced with little obstruction of the airstream. They are
always followed directly by a vowel and do not occur at the end of words.

* [w] is a labio-velar glide produced by both rounding the lips and simultaneously
raising the back of the tongue toward the velum.
c. Manner of articulation

 Approximants (âm rung, âm tiếp cận) [w], [j], [r], [l] are alternatively called
approximants because the articulators approximate a frictional closeness, but no actual
friction occurs.

 Nasals (âm mũi) [m], [n],[η]: are produced by lowering the velum to force the air
through the nose.
 Bilabial Labiodental Interdental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop (oral)
voiceless p pie t tie k kite ʔ uh
voiced b buy d die g guy
Nasal (voiced) m my n night ŋ sing
Fricative
voiceless f five θ thigh s sue ʃ shoe h high
voiced v vine ð thy z zoo ʒ measure
Affricate
voiceless tʃ cheese
voiced dʒ jump
Glide
voiceless ʍ which ʍ which
voiced w wipe j you w wipe
Liquid (voiced)
(central) r rye
(lateral) l lye

Some Phonetic Symbols for American English Consonants

c. Manner of articulation

Put the following sounds into the correct categories

Stop:
[h] [f] [m] [n] [ʃ] [ʒ] [g]
Nasal: [t̬ ʃ] [dʒ] [v] [t] [r] [l] [ð]
Fricative:
[s] [b] [k] [j] [d] [θ] [η]
[p] [z]
Affricate:

Glide:

Liquid:
5. Vowels

Vowels (nguyên âm): sounds produced with little restriction of the airflow from the
lungs out the mouth and/or the nose. They are all voiced.

To describe vowels, we consider the way vowels differ from each other. We classify
vowels according to three questions

a. How high or low in the mouth is the tongue?

b. How forward or backward in the mouth is the tongue?

c. Are the lips rounded (pursed) or spread?

5. Vowels

The position of the tongue

Position of the tongue in

producing the vowels in he, who
and hah.
A classification of American English vowels
Vowels of RP (Received Pronunciation)
5. Vowels

Nasalization of Vowels

Vowels can be produced with a raised velum that prevents the air from escaping through
the nose, or with a lowered velum that permits air to pass through the nasal passage. In
English, nasal vowels occur for the most part before nasal consonants in the same syllable,
and oral vowels occur in all other places.

To show the nasalization of a vowel in a narrow phonetic transcription, a tilde (~) is placed
over the vowel bin [bĩn] and bone [bõn].
5. Vowels

Tense (căng) and Lax (lỏng) Vowels: Some vowels are generally produced with
greater tension of the tongue muscles than the orther, and they are often a little longer in
duration.

Tense [i] beat [e] bait [u] boot [o] boat [a] hah [aɪ] high [aʊ] how

Lax [ɪ] bit [ɛ] bet [ʊ] put [ɔ] bore [ɔɪ] boy [æ] hat [ʌ] hut [ə] about

Vowel Description:

[heightness] [frontness] [lip-shape] [tense/lax]

[ʌ]: mid central unrounded lax vowel

5. Diphthongs

Diphthongs (nhị trùng âm): sounds that consist of a combination of two vowels
sounds.

[aɪ]: right [aʊ]: cow

[ɔɪ]: soil [eɪ]: hay

[əʊ]: smoke [ɪə]: here

[eə]: dare [ʊə]: tour

6. Triphthongs

Triphthongs (tam trùng âm): sounds that consist of a combination of three vowels
sounds.

[eɪə]: mayor

[ɑɪə]: fire

[ɔiə]: soya

[əʊə]: mower

[ɑʊə]: hour
Helpful link

Scan me
https://tfcs.baruch.cuny.edu/consonants-vowels/
7. Major Phonetic Classes

Noncontinuants and Continuants: Stops and affricates belong to the class of

noncontinuants. There is a total obstruction of the airstream in the oral cavity.

Obstruents and Sonorants

- Obstruents (Âm ồn) include the non-nasal stops, the fricatives, and the
affricates. The airstream may be fully obstructed, as in non-nasal stops and
affricates, or nearly fully obstructed, as in the production of fricatives.

- Sonorants (Âm vang) consists of vowels, nasal stops, liquids, and glides. They
are produced with much less obstruction to the flow of air than the obstruents,
which permits the air to resonate.
7. Major Phonetic Classes

Consonantal: Obstruents, nasal stops, liquids, are all consonantal. Glides, referred to as
“semivowels” or “semi-consonants”, are excluded from this subclass.

Labials (Âm môi): Labial sounds are those articulated with the involvement of the lips.
They include the class of bilabial sounds [p] [b] and [m], the labiodentals [f] and [v],
and the labiovelars [w] and [ʍ].

Coronals (Âm lưỡi trước): Coronal sounds are articulated by raising the tongue blade.
They include the interdentals [θ] [ð], the alveolars [t] [d] [n] [s] [z], the palatals [ʃ] [ʒ],
the affricates [tʃ] [dʒ], and the liquids [l] [r].
7. Major Phonetic Classes

Anteriors (Âm trước): Anterior sounds are consonants produced in the front part of the
mouth, that is, from the alveolar area forward. They include the labials [p], [b], [m], [f],
[v], the interdentals [θ], [ð], and the alveolars [t], [d], [n], [s], [z].

Sibilants (Âm xát) [s], [z], [ʃ], [ʒ], [tʃ], [dʒ]: Sibilants are sounds created with a hissing
sound, which is a mixture of high-frequency sounds.

Syllabics (Âm tiết phụ âm): Sounds that may function as the core of a syllable possess
the feature syllabic. All vowels are syllabic. But liquids and nasals can also be syllabic
dazzle [dӕzl]̩, faker [fekr]̩, rhythm [rɪðm] and button [bʌtn]
Practice

Write the phonetic symbol for the FIRST sound in each of the following words
according to the way you pronounce it. Examples: ooze [u] psycho [s]

a. judge [dʒ] f. thought [θ]

b. Thomas [θ] g. contact [k]

c. though [ð] h. phone [f]

d. easy [i] i. civic [s]

e. pneumonia [n] j. usual [j]

Practice

Write the phonetic symbol for the LAST sound in each of the following words
according to the way you pronounce it. Examples: ooze [z] psycho [əʊ]

a. judge [dʒ] f. thought [t]

b. Thomas [s] g. contact [t]

c. though [əʊ] h. phone [n]

d. easy [i] i. civic [k]

e. pneumonia [ə] j. usual [l]

Practice

Write the phonetic symbol for the FIRST sound in each of the following words
according to the way you pronounce it. Examples: ooze [u] psycho [s]

a. fleece f. cow

b. neigh g. rough

c. long h. cheese

d. health i. bleached

e. watch j. rags
Practice

Write the phonetic symbol for the LAST sound in each of the following words
according to the way you pronounce it. Examples: ooze [z] psycho [əʊ]

a. fleece f. cow

b. neigh g. rough

c. long h. cheese

d. health i. bleached

e. watch j. rags
Practice

Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following phonetic descriptions

- Low front vowel - Lateral liquid

- Velar nasal - Palatal glide

- Voiced interdental fricative - High back tense vowel

- Mid front lax vowel - Voiceless alveolar stop

- Voiceless bilabial stop - Voiceless affricate

Practice

For each group of sounds listed, state the phonetic feature(s) they all share

Example: [p] [b] [m] Features: bilabial, stop, consonant

a. [g] [p] [t] [d] [k] [b]

b. [u] [ʊ] [o] [ɔ]

c. [i] [ɪ] [e] [ɛ] [æ]

d. [t] [s] [ʃ] [p] [k] [tʃ] [f] [h]

e. [v] [z] [ʒ] [dʒ] [n] [g] [d] [b] [l] [r] [w] [j]

f. [t] [d] [s] [ʃ] [n] [tʃ] [dʒ]

Practice

What phonetic property or feature distinguishes the sets of sounds in column A

from those in column B?

A B

a. [i] [ɪ] [front][u] [ʊ] [back]

b. [p] [t] [k] [s] [f] [b] [d] [g] [z] [v]

c. [p] [b] [m] [t] [d] [n] [k] [g] [ŋ]

d. [i] [ɪ] [u] [ʊ] [e] [ɛ] [o] [ɔ] [æ] [a]

e. [f] [v] [s] [z] [ʃ] [ʒ] [tʃ] [dʒ]

f. [i] [ɪ] [e] [ə] [ɛ] [æ] [u] [ʊ] [o] [ɔ] [a]