International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
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International Phonetic Association developed International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
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All the sounds which can be possible in any language has a specific symbol.
• One to one correspondence between the sound and the symbol
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Based on articulation each sound can be described.
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Importance of IPA
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Mismatch between grapheme and phoneme.
○ One letter used to represent more than one sound
■ apple, air, art
○ One sound is represented by more than one letter
■ food, photo, enough
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26 letters in the English language but approximately 44 unique sounds, also known as
phonemes which help to distinguish one word or from another.
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IPA is used for proper representation of the sounds.
• /i/ and /i:/
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Human Sounds
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Sounds which can be used in the language (not sounds of sneezing, hiccups etc.) is
divided into two major groups.
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Our linguistic knowledge allows us to ignore non-linguistic differences in speech
(rates of speed, coughs)
Human
Sounds
Vowel
Consonant
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• The larynx, commonly called the voice box or glottis, is the passageway for air
between the pharynx above and the trachea below.
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Speech Sounds
Oral
Nasal
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Oral sounds are those produced with the velum (soft palate) raised to prevent air
from escaping out the nose, e.g. p, d, t, f, l.
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Nasal sounds are those produced with the velum lowered
escape out the nose, e.g. m, n, ɑ̃, ĩ.
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to allow air to
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Human Sounds
Vowels
Vowel sounds:
no obstruction of airflow.
E.g. e, a, o, i, u
Consonants
Consonantal sounds:
obstruction of airflow in
the vocal tract.
E.g. p, t, k, s
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Vowels: Five descriptive parameters
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Rounded/unrounded
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Close/open
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High/Mid/Low
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Front/Central/Back
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Length
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Lip Rounding
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Areas of Tongue
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•Close/open
•High/Mid/Low
•Front/Central/Back
High, middle, and low vowels are also
classified according to a front-to-back
dimension.
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Vowel Length
Time taken to articulate a vowel.
Contrast between short and long vowels is when otherwise the vowels are of same quality
but duration is more in one than the other.
Duration of length bringing change in the meaning of a word.
seen - si:n
sheep
bean
sin - sin
ship
bin
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Consonants: Three descriptive parameters
place of articulation
manner of articulation
voicing
The place in the oral cavity where the airflow is
blocked. Place of the Speech Organs involved.
Manner in which airflow is released after
blocking it.
Vibration of the vocal cords.
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Windpipe
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Voiced sounds : b, d, g, z
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Voiceless sounds: p, t, k, s
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Devoicing : Some sounds are taken as voiced like nasal sounds,
vowels etc.
Dot under the alphabet [.] is used (a diacritic) indicating
voicelessness or devoicing, [m̥].
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Active Articulators
Passive Articulators
Lips
Teeth
Tongue
Alveolar ridge
Velum
Palate
Velum
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Places of Articulation:
1. bilabial
2. labiodental
3. dental
4. alveolar
5. postalveolar
6. retroflex
7. palatal
8. velar
9. uvular
10. pharyngeal
11. glottal
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Places of articulation
(Katamba 1989, pp. 5)
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Manner of Articulation
Plosive/Stop : The articulators come together and completely cut off the flow of air
momentarily, then they separate abruptly, e.g. /p/, /b/, /k/, /g/ etc.
Nasals: Not Plosive but Stops. Air is stopped in the oral cavity but comes out of the nasal
cavity, e.g. /m/, /n/ etc.
Trills: The tip of the tongue hits the position behind the teeth-ridge so that it bangs
repeatedly against it to produce a trill effect. The expelled air has to be of the right rate to
produce the trilling effect.
E.g.: /r/, /R/
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Taps (sometimes called flaps): The tip of the tongue hits against the teeth, alveolar ridge or
front of the palate by a rapid gesture. E.g.: /ɾ/, /ɽ/
Fricatives: The articulators come close to block the airflow but there is a narrow passage
from where the air comes out before the real release of the air. E.g.: /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/
Approximant: The articulators are brought near each other but a large enough gap is left
between them for air to escape without causing turbulence. E.g.: /j/, /ɹ/
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Lateral: The tongue obstructs the air at the centre of the mouth but the sides of the tongue
are left low so that air is allowed to escape over one or both sides of the tongue. E.g.: /l/, /ɭ/
There are two types of lateral:
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Lateral Approximants: The distance between the sides of the tongue and the side teeth
is enough to allow the air to pass freely.
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Lateral Fricatives: The other type has lesser distance between the tongue and the teeth
for the closer, but not complete contact with the teeth.
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