PHO106 - Basic Segments of Speech (Consonants)

This E-Lecture describes the fundamental parameters of consonantal articulation: place, manner, and voicing and exemplifies all respective consonants by means of animations and live video recordings.

[@imadboles3431]

Probably the best teacher in Linguistics. Thank you very much.

[@EnglishwithTanveerAhmed]

Agree

[@Schizosepsis]

Can't remotely grasp why 20 people would notice an absolutely brilliant linguistics lecture and decide to downvote it...class session!

[@oer-vlc]

That's the social media: you have the options to like and dislike without giving any reasons.

[@sativadva]

this is one of the most helpful videos when it comes to learning a new language. i'm learning polish and it has loads of distinct pronunciations, some sound the same but are actually not due to the differentiation of dental/alveolar/palatal placement. this helped me visualize it all. brilliant. nothing else like this on youtube. thank you, sir :)

[@rogertabougua1719]

It is really a treat. Unfortunately, I have tried to register in vain. I will stick here while hoping to eventually solve this problem.

[@thatstits14s]

Best teacher ever.

[@oer-vlc]

Just google "The Virtual Linguistics Campus", then create your free account and then login and use the VLC Toolbox. (We will also explain this in the Questions of the month (February 2013) video). Good Luck!

[@RR-yg3mr]

I am learning English for communication purposes and this class and the former about vowels have been very helpful for me. As I do not have anyone to correct my pronunciation, I decided to learn basic phonetics to correct myself.

[@HiteshKumar-uo2qm]

just watch some english content if your ears are being continously exposed to same langauge it will automatically learns just how i learned japanese from anime and also i disliked this video because of the stupid college subject i have to study

[@nesrinsabah3180]

Thank you so much sir May I ask you question if you don't mind,the word (church )how many segments it has?

[@oer-vlc]

RP: 3 /ʧɜ:ʧ /; AmE (IPA) 3: /ʧɚʧ/; AmE(NAE) 4: /ʧehrʧ/

[@dimaandbarbieadf7045]

God bless you.. You are a wonderful teacher 😍

[@WimmerJurgen]

thank's for this comprehensive lecture.

[@gernotgurke]

there is no differenz between [x] velar and uvular... is this allready discussed?

[@oer-vlc]

I think we are both right. There is disagreement in the literature about the role of the uvula. In Hardcastle, one of the articulatory phonetics pioneers for example, we can read in "The Physiology of Speech Production": "the uvula's role is probably not so important in speech production except perhaps as an active articulator in the trilled uvular [ʀ] and as a passive articulator during post-velar consonants, such as [χ]." We decided to opt for the "trill interpretation."

[@oer-vlc]

You're absolutely right, this is a mistake that has t be corrected (see video: questions of the month March 2013). The lower lip is involved in labiodentals.

[@fnaufel]

Thank you for the videolectures. They are well planned and well presented. In this video, at 2:55, you say the *lower* teeth are involved in the production of [f] and [v]. Wouldn't that be the *upper* teeth? This made me wonder: why aren't there alveolar and labiodental consonants involving (only) the *lower* teeth? Hmm. For the hypothetical lower-teeth alveolars, there is no obstruction: they sound more like vowels. And the lower-teeth labiodentals sound like the normal ones. Never mind...

[@irfanjarwar6758]

Fabulous Dear Sir!

[@dlmirandacoll]

I have seen that you use a different way of producing consonants than American English, because I have seen that in American English only use nasals, stops, fricatives, affricates, liquid glides and laterals. What classification do you use? From where?

[@Poeta3131]

EXCELENT!! GRACIAS!! De paso que aprendo Inglés...

[@elinguiuriel]

#cousera «Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics » brought me here

[@oer-vlc]

Pascal Uriel ELINGUI Thanks, please let all MOOC üparticipants know about this site that exhibits more than 350 videos on language and linguistics.

[@AlloysiuskikiMaefai]

I like the presentation method with diagrams for clarity

[@chriswarner404]

This is great. Thanks!

[@maryknighttttttttttttttttt]

It is true that the reason why labio-alveolar sounds are not used as contrastive sounds is that labio-alveolars are not possible to make?

[@soft2smooth2000]

Hi the VLC lectures shared on here are so useful I can't thank you enough! Could you please tell me how to get to the interactive IPA on the website? I've tried but it's so confusing... ! :) unless the terms have changed and I need to register after all? Thanks SO much for sharing your content, it's much appreciated!

[@oer-vlc]

Just register on the VLC, then, after login, you will find the "VLC Toolbox", and in it the link: "Consonants", there you are ... JH

[@oer-vlc]

Thanks a lot. JH

[@masudparveez6287]

The Virtual Linguistics Campus hi

[@wilsonhamon1]

Hello there. I am from Colombia and I am studying my BA in TEFL and I am reading a big book on linguistics, one day I checked out youtube to see if there was a video on linguistics and that's how I got started with your videos. I have watched many of them and they are all EXCELLENT. Gongratulations to the speaker and his outstanding presentations, they are up-to-date and very simple to follow. Billion thanks

[@RR-yg3mr]

I am also from Colombia, in my case I am learning English for communication purposes and this class and the former about vowels have been very helpful for me. As I do not have anyone to correct my pronunciation, I decided to learn basic phonetics to correct myself.

[@Digital-Intelligence]

you were talented with teaching

[@oer-vlc]

I hope I still am.

[@regan4000]

Fascinating! I love the smart board you use. Very informative and you are a terrific teacher.

[@TheAwesomeGingerGuy]

(0:02) This unit introduces the phonetic machinery for the classification of consonants. Consonants are speech sounds that involve some sort of obstruction to the airstream in the vocal tract. (0:16) Using this criterion, we can set up two distinct articulatory parameters for consonants. For example, the place of articulation - that is, where does the obstruction occur; we can use the manner of articulation - that is, what type of obstruction is involved; and the third parameter is binary, it concerns the state of the glottis - that is, do the vocal folds vibrate or not? A further criterion concerns the type of airstream involved - yet, in this unit we will concentrate on those consonants that are produced with a pulmonic airstream, represented over here. We will not look at consonants produced with a glottalic, or with a velaric airstream: these types of air streams will be discussed separately. (1:35) To understand the main articulatory parameters, we have to deal with some anatomical details about the vocal tract first. Consonants can be articulated at any point along the upper surface of the oral cavity - so along this line, here. The point of this upper surface involved in the articulation of the consonant is referred to as the passive articulator. A passive articulator is a position in the vocal tract which is involved in the production of speech sounds but [which] does not move. Starting at the front of the vocal tract, the following passive articulators can be classified. For example, the lower and upper teeth. Now, the upper teeth are locations where the tongue makes contact to produce several different consonants, such as [θa] or [ða]. The lower teeth are positions where the lips make contact to produce consonants, such as [fa] and [va]. Another passive articulator is the alveolar ridge, over here. Now, the alveolar ridge is an area for the articulation of many consonants. It is situated just behind the teeth. Typical consonants are [ta], [sa], or [ra]. The palate, or sometimes called [the] hard palate, is an area for a large number of consonants. It is often referred to as the roof of the mouth. A consonant would be something like [ça]. And then we have the soft palate, or velum. Now, this is a broad band of muscular tissue in the upper region of the mouth. Typical consonants are [ka] or [ga]. Another area, which is not really a passive articulator but an area, is the pharynx, over here. Now, the pharynx is used as a contact area for the production of some consonants such as [ħa]. And then we have further areas which are not really articulators. For example, the nasal cavity, which is the main non-oral resonance chamber. Consonants that involve the nasal cavity are typically consonants like [ma] or [na]. In the back of the mouth we find the food pipe, or oesophagus. The trachea, or windpipe, is used for breathing and for the airstream. And finally, we have the epiglottis, over here, which is attached to the anterior part of the thyroid cartilage, and it functions as a closure to the entrance to the larynx during swallowing. (5:12) Let us now look at the active articulators. Now, the organ which is moved towards a passive articulator in producing speech sounds is called the active articulator. An active articulator is actively involved in the production of speech sounds. Starting at the front of the vocal tract the first active articulator is of course the lower lip, or the lips. Now, the lips are actively involved in: the production of labial consonants, such as [ba] or [pa]; and the application of lip rounding (or not) [for] vowels - so, vowels such as [i], which involves spread lips, and [y], which involves rounded lips. Further active articulators are of course, here, the tongue. Now, of all mobile organs, the tongue is the most versatile. It is capable of adopting more shapes than any other vocal organ. It is involved in the production of all vowels and most consonants. Here we have the uvula, another active articulator. Now, the most noticeable feature of the velum is the uvula - that is, an appendage that hangs down, and is easily visible if you open your mouth and look into a mirror: [ha], at the very end. And then we have the glottis. Now, the glottis is part of the larynx, and it is the source of phonation. (7:00) The position where the contact between an active and the passive articulator is produced is referred to as the place of articulation. I will now produce one consonant. I will choose a fricative consonant - that is, a consonant which produces a turbulent airflow per place of articulation. And I will do it between two vowels for reasons of better audibility. Let's start with bilabial consonants. Now, here we can observe a constriction between the lips, and the result would be something like [afa], [afa]. The next place of articulation is the labiodental place of articulation, where we can observe a constriction between the lower lip and the upper teeth. A typical consonant would be [afa], [afa]. Dental - Latin dents, dentis, ‘the tooth’. Now, the dental area involves a constriction between the tongue and the upper teeth. Here is a consonant: [ata], [ata]. The next place of articulation is the alveolar place, that is the alveolar ridge, and it involves, of course, a constriction between the tongue and the alveolar ridge. Here is a consonant: [asa], [asa]. The post-alveolar area is just a little bit further back. Now here we have a constriction again between the tongue and this post-alveolar area. An example of a consonant is: [aʃa], [aʃa]. The retroflex place of articulation is a little bit different because it is still the same place of articulation (post alveolar), but the tip of the tongue is slightly curled back, and the result would be something like: [aʂa], [aʂa]. If we have a narrowing in the roof of the mouth - that is, in the palatal region, we get something like, [aça], [aça]. And then, the velar place of articulation involves a constriction between the velum and the tongue. A result would be: [axa], [axa]. And if we move further back and use the uvula as a region, as a place of articulation, as a passive articulator, with the tongue and the uvula creating some sort of constriction, we get: [aχa], [aχa]. And even further back in the pharynx we have the pharyngeal place of articulation. A result would be [aħa], [aħa]. And finally, if the narrowing occurs in the glottis, we get something like [aha], [aha].

[@TheAwesomeGingerGuy]

(10:35) Let's now look at the manner of articulation. Now, there are several ways, or manners, in which articulation can be accomplished. The articulators may completely close off the oral cavity for [either] an instant, or a relatively long period. They may narrow the space considerably. Or the articulators may simply modify the shape of the vocal tract by approaching each other. The following manners of articulation can be distinguished and, again, I will produce one consonant per manner. In fact, in each case I will produce an alveolar consonant. Let's start with the plosive manner of articulation. Now, plosive consonants involve three phases: a closure, a compression behind it, and then release. A result would be [ata], [ata]. In nasal consonants, we have an oral closure too, but this time we have a velar opening, allowing the airstream to escape through the nose. And the result would be [ana], [ana]. Trills involve rapid closures and openings. Here is the result: [ara], [ara]. Similarly, flaps also involve openings and closures, however this time we only have one, single, rapid opening and closure. The result would be: [aɾa], [aɾa]. The fricative manner of articulation involves some sort of constriction or narrowing between two articulators. The result is a turbulent airflow. The result would be something like: [asa], [asa]. If the airstream escapes at the sides - that is, laterally - we can produce a lateral fricative consonant. Just like with fricatives, it involves a turbulent airflow: [aɬa], [aɬa]. Now, approximants are a little bit problematic. They involve an almost free air passage and are almost like vowels - some people even call them semivowels. So, an approximant would be something like: [aɹa], [aɹa]. And finally, if the airstream in an approximant escapes at the sides - that is, laterally again - with an almost free air passage, we get something like: [ala], [ala]. (13:53) Having defined the central parameters (place and manner of articulation), we can now turn our attention to the state of the glottis. Now, most speech sounds are produced with the pulmonic airstream. That is, with an airstream that comes from the lungs - so, here are the lungs, and this is where the pulmonic airstream emerges. The airstream goes up to the trachea (here is the trachea) and eventually reaches the larynx where it passes to small muscular folds, called the vocal cords. Now, here are the vocal cords seen from top. If the vocal cords are apart, the airstream will have a relatively free passage (like this one here) into the pharynx and into the mouth. If the vocal cords however are adjusted so that there is only a narrow passage between them, and if they are, at the same time, sufficiently relaxed, [then] the pressure of the air stream will cause them to vibrate, as we see over here. Now, speech sounds, or consonants, that are produced with the vocal cords vibrating, are referred to as voiced. And speech sounds that are produced with the vocal folds that are apart, are referred to as voiceless. Now, with these three parameters, we can now classify the consonants of the languages of the world. Now, here is the consonantal chart, and as you can see we have our two main parameters: the place of articulation, represented horizontally (this is the place of articulation); and the manner of articulation, represented vertically (so, here we have the manner of articulation). The distinction between voiceless and voiced is drawn on the basis of the position of pairs such as [p] and [b] in the cells. If you have a black and white print out of the consonantal, chart the voiceless one is always the one on the left (so here represented in blue we have voiceless consonants, and so on), and the one on the right is the voiced one (so, here we have voiced consonants). And if there’s only one consonant in a cell, then it is necessarily voiced by means of its default value. (17:06) Now, I cannot produce all the consonants in this e-lecture. I recommend you to use our interactive continental chart on the virtual linguistics campus - it’s in the free section, [so] you can all use it even, without creating your VLC account. The big advantage of this consonantal chart is that you can not only see the consonants and see a description of the respective articulation, [but] you can also listen to them ([aɾa], [aɾa]), and you can see the animation [as] seen from the side. In addition to this, we have numerous exercises on the VLC, so this time I am not preparing or presenting you a summary of this e-lecture, but I will recommend you to use the numerous tools available on the Virtual Linguistics Campus: interactive consonantal and vocalic charts; animations; additional exercises such as listening tasks, transcription tasks; and so on. To learn more about the phonetic alphabet - that is, the symbols by means of which we refer to all these speech sounds - I recommend you to take a look at the e-lectures Phonetic Transcription One & Two.

[@thebrotherhoodipa4360]

We Love this lecture! We hope that one day we could have teachers like you in Uruguay! Cheers!!

[@urluvemia7050]

CAN I ASK WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH?

[@saratatoom4115]

what's the difference between the plosive glottal and the fricative one ?

[@Jimpozcan]

+sara tatoom With a plosive the air flow gets totally stopped whereas with a fricative it is just restricted. We have the voiceless glottal fricative, [h], in English words such as _have_, _hat_, etc., it's spelt with an . In some dialects of English, e.g. Cockney, the glottal stop, [ʔ], is an allophone of /t/, e.g. in "butter" (sounding like "bu'a"). You can also hear it in expressions like "uh-oh".

[@saratatoom4115]

+jimpozcaner Thank you.

[@Jimpozcan]

sara tatoom No worries.

[@alexandrefrota727]

What is this app? I need glottal fricatives

[@Ramzi_Zouaghi]

Wait a second! Lower teeth are not involved in the production of /f/ and /v/. I'm sure it was an honest mistake and great video nonetheless

[@plabitasarmah6]

Im unable to register can sm1 hlp me

[@memo-mv9rf]

Nice Detailed Explanation 👍

[@solangerosas64]

What do you mean by segments?

[@thatbloodygirl]

this is wonderful! thank you :)

[@zahraerrami9025]

thinks much شكرا لك

[@adarshs8378]

Good class sir, could you please give me the consonant animation chart please. Its very helpful.

[@dapohlleon]

Thank you very much for your video! In university we were taught of liquid and glide sounds. Are these the same as lateral fricatives/approximants?

[@oer-vlc]

Glides: yes = Approximants; liquids: no; Our terminology is the most commonly used one.

[@oer-vlc]

Create your (free) account on oer-vlc.de and become a member of the Virtual Linguistics Campus where you have free access to all courses, to the largest language data collection and huge multimedial glossaries. See you there!

[@PabloStafforini]

A most valuable series of lectures on phonology. Congratulations to the lecturer and to Marburg Universität for making this material available online.

[@parthiancapitalist2733]

Ejectives and implosives? Aspiration, creaky voice, nasalization, tones?

[@joabbfab8634]

Hello, Thank you for your very informational and very simplified e-lectures, they helped me a lot figuring out what's linguistics and all. However, for this e-lecture, i couldn't help not noticing that you mentioned that Uvula is an active articulator, which in my textbooks and some of other linguistics books refer to Uvula as a Passive articulator instead, so i know it is not that important, but what is it??

[@ahmedaldarwish9102]

Hello @LinguisticsMarburg I'm an English language student in a distant-learning program. I'm self-studying a book called The Study of Language by George Yule 'Fourth Edition" and this book has a slightly different classification of the speech sounds of both Manner and Place of Articulation like the Retro-flex isn't in my book. There are even sounds I didn't see in the book I'm studying. I'm studying the subject "Introduction to Linguistics" in advance, I'm in summer vacation.

[@katrinsved9769]

great course

[@oer-vlc]

The (free) course where this video is used is VLC102 - Speech Science on oer-vlc.de

[@katrinsved9769]

@@oer-vlc Thanks a lot!:)

[@littlehungrysquirrel]

Thank you very much for this lecture - it covers all I need to know and is really well and clearly presented. Right now I am studying for my midterm from Phonetics, so you just made my life much easier.

[@esterhs6197]

Excellent video, very useful. Thank you!

[@NasirKhan-zj3hy]

Sir, This video is really impressive and I earned lots of knowledge.

[@ricardoseif830]

Thank you so much. Very clear explanation!

[@Mareek94]

Thank you very much !! It`s very helpful :)

[@constanceanon4063]

The best and most detailed explanation ever! I am much appreciated!

[@erasmusso]

Hi, thank you very much for this lecture, where can I find the interactive consonantal chart you showed in this video? Can you put a link in the description, please?

[@wezzuh2482]

θæŋk ju

[@alyafadhilla4507]

I always enjoy learn linguistics with your videos

[@diegomoreno5927]

The same linguistic principles apply to every language?

[@jess_ejire1692]

what is the glottis

[@josecesaraquinogarcia9502]

How did you get access to the VLC toolbox?

[@mohammedzaheerkhan8191]

Quite good and helpful lecture for all. Thanks a lot for your efforts. Good luck, with warm regards.

[@oer-vlc]

Details on oer-vlc.de

[@beguilingfire]

I'm pretty sure they're pronounced /trakia/ and /osofΩgΩs/ (apologies for the slightly incorrect symbols, I hope they are understandable!)

[@beguilingfire]

I mean: /trækiæ/

[@politure]

10:16 not a bad Alan Partridge impression!

[@plamatamang3987]

Linguistics is very difficult subject.........

[@imtiyazdar5314]

The most best teacher of linguistics

[@China_Discovering]

Handy. 👍👍👍

[@sighisoaraa]

10:09 That's not the intended symbol.

[@kailashadhikari2323]

Good

[@jaSama02]

I'm so grateful for this course!

[@LucisPictor]

Tolle Videos. Aber vielleicht könnt ihr mal an den Weißabgleich denken. ;)

[@unnikrishnanspokenkk2596]

Sir it's very helpful.

[@cassiimira]

This is amazing, thanks a lot!

[@jamesthejaws]

Great teacher! Easy to follow, highly informative

[@mediatapwater]

What languages have trills? I find it v difficult to do this sound!

[@oer-vlc]

mediatapwater My mother tongue, German, has. The uvular trill, as an allophone of /r/, in words such as "Regen" (engl. rain) or "Karre" (engl. cart), or the alveolar trill, again as an allophone of /r/ more often used in the South, in the same words.

[@alirezamohamadi3906]

Access Denied That's what I get when trying to access free materials with my free account. Anyway video tutorial was awesome

[@oer-vlc]

Where was that? When you register on the VLC you have free access to 6 MOOCs.

[@alirezamohamadi3906]

Thanks for quick response. I just log in and get redirected to My VLC page, where there are options like: The VLC Toolbox available. I click on this link then click on "Consonants" section, then get redirected to welcome.php page with the message: "Access Denied". It happens even when I try to access my profile in the "view your profile" section. Seems weird. Anyway, I noticed that this problem only occurs when using Google Chrome, means now using Firefox I can access free content. Many thanks

[@곤약무침-u4p]

Thank you so much.

[@rena8550]

I checked the vlc toolbox through my account and I did not find the explanatory videos of consonants and vowels . Could anyone here help me please ?

[@oer-vlc]

The VLC Toolbox should not be used for such a search. Just search in this KZbin channel.

[@rena8550]

I searched but I did not find them because they were not part of the E lecture but rather more info. In addition, Dr. Handke said in this vlc youtube channel, that we can find the place and manner of articulation for each sound seperately and in more details in the Vlc web page and more specifically in its toolbox. Would you please provide me with the right link.

[@oer-vlc]

I know what you mean: Use the VLC-Toolbox (you get it after having created your free account). Then click on consonants, and you'll find everything in the left-hand-side menu.

[@rena8550]

Sorry. I was using the phone that's why it did not open. Thank you so much and sorry again.

[@lodingfrancissisto3673]

Good presentation

[@wolfie6727]

Are the soft palate and velum one organ or are they separate?

[@hairrehserdna]

Wolfie the velum is the technical term for the soft palate.

[@wolfie6727]

Andre Sherriah Thanks man.

[@hairrehserdna]

You are welcome :)

[@f.jafari689]

Billion thanks

[@yousefhesham6773]

GREAT

[@pallavik18]

helpfull

[@sangmuan3264]

Can you make it even for simple for dummies like me.. With better diagrams please

[@RealnEffortless]

Why the people study this stuff? This guy has an accent, the students don't care the phonetics, my students speak like native speakers. We no need phonetic sounds, they are obsolete and boring.

[@OurBrainHurtsALot]

I doubt your students speak like native speakers if they make the same grammar mistakes that you do. Yes, he has an accent but guess what?, we all do. The problem is not having an accent, the problem is mispronouncing phonemes and he executes English phonemes clearly. The reason why people study phonetics is to study all the sounds that human beings are capable of doing in speech and register them in a way that can be understood and reproduced universally. If you know phonetics you could pronounce any word in any language and also transcribe it. That's how powerful it is.