Articulation 7 -- Classification of Speech Sounds
As regards the classifications below, the definitions are clear-cut, some sounds are obviously
borderline cases.
1 Traditional classification
It is based on tradition. There is no universally accepted definition for either class.
Vowels (In traditional sense, vowels are the same as determined in Hungarian phonetics. They
are the most musical sounds having no noise segment. The word vowel comes from the Latin
word vocalis, which in its turn derives from vox, vocis, meaning ‘word’, ‘voice’. In other
words, we always perceive vowels as sounds intimately related to the feature of voicedness: a
vowel is a sound that must be articulated with the vibration of the vocal folds. They are
sounds of which in the articulation there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from
the larynx to the lips. In modern sense, they form the nucleus or peak of syllables.)
Consonants (In traditional sense, some noise/voice is heard when such sounds are
pronounced. The word consonant suggests, on an etymological basis, that the respective
sound does not have an articulatory autonomy, or, in other words, that it has to sound together
(Latin consonans, present participle of consonare see also Latin consona) or be pronounced in
association with other sounds. In modern sense, they form the marginal parts (the onset and
the coda) of syllables. It does not hold true for e. g. /l/ or nasals)
2 Functional classification
It is based on the role a speech sound takes in language.
Phonemes (They are distributed contrastively. They have three functions: i) They make up
the body of a word. ii) Words can be distinguished on the basis of phonemes that can be
contrasted. iii) They form minimal pairs constituted by two words of distinct meaning which
exhibit different segments at one point but identical segments at all other points.) iv) A
phoneme is a unified mental image (abstraction) that has its physical/phonetic representations,
i.e. allophones.
Allophones (They are distributed complementarily. These are variants of phonemes
determined by the context encircling the given sound.)
Free variants (They are used parallelly.)
3 Classification based on the obstacle put in the way of exhaled air
Obstruents: plosives, fricatives, affricates. (Their articulation involves an
obstruction/constriction in the vocal tract at least radical enough to produce friction noise.)
Sonorants: vowels, nasals, approximants. (There is no obstacle because either the oral tract is
open enough or the air is exhaled freely through the nasal cavity.)
4 Classification based on c entrality (manner and degree)
There are two premisses: firstly, the central channel in the oral cavity is either free or blocked;
secondly, audible friction either is or is not heard.
Vocoids (resonants): all vowels, /j/, /r/, /w/. (They are sounds made with an open central
channel in the oral cavity and there is little or no audible friction in the oral cavity.)
Contoids (strictures): all consonants, except for the ones above. (As regards /l/, the central
channel in the oral cavity is blocked so the exhaled air passes by the rims of the tongue.)