Non-English Speech Sounds
French
Vowels
Front
Rounded Vowels
The only rounded vowels in English are the back vowels [u], [U], [o], and [O].
[t
u]
[v
u]
[n
o]
[f
o]
Back
tu (you)
vu (seen)
noed (knot)
feut (fire)
[tu]
[vu]
[no]
[fo]
tous (all )
vous (you)
nos (our )
faut (false)
But German and French both have front rounded vowels which are written
[
u] and [
o].
German
The high front rounded vowel [u] is pronounced with a tongue position very
similar to that for [i], but instead of spread lips, the vowel is pronounced
with rounded lips.
Linguistics 201, May 9, 2002
Kordula De Kuthy
Front
[b
un@]
[d
uz@]
[s
on]
[b
og@n]
Back
Bühne (stage)
Düse (nozzle)
schön (beautiful )
Bögen (curves)
[bun@]
[duz@l]
[son]
[bog@n]
Buhne (dam)
Dusel (stupor )
schon (already)
Bogen (curve)
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Nasalized Vowels
Consonants
Vowels are usually produced orally, that is, the velum is raised and hence
with the nasal passage closed.
Fricatives
But nasalized vowels can also be produced. A nasalized vowel is in nearly
every respect identical to its oral vowel counterpart - the only exception is
that the nasal passage is open.
In the fricative row of the English consonant chart in File 3.2. there are five
empty cells - bilabial voiceless and voiced, velar voiceless and voiced, and
glottal voiced.
A nasalized mid front vowel is written [e] and a nasalized mid back rounded
vowel is written [o].
All five of these possible sounds occur in other languages.
Oral
French
[mE]
[sas]
[mo]
[lE]
Nasal
mais (but)
chasse (hunt)
mot (word )
lait (milk )
[mE]
[s
as]
[mo]
[lE]
main (hand )
chance (luck )
mon (my)
line (linen)
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voiceless bilabial fricative
voiced bilabial fricative
voiceless velar fricative
voiced velar fricative
voiced glottal fricative
[F]
[B]
[x]
[G]
[H]
Spanish pronunciation of Cuba
German pronunciation of Bach
as in Spanish ‘digno’ (worthy)
sound between vowel (ahead )
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Affricates
Places of Articulation not used in English
English has only palatal affricates.
voiceless alveolar affricate
voiceless labial affricate
[ts]
[pf]
Many languages use consonants that are made at places of articulation that
we don’t find in English.
as in German ‘Zug’ (train)
as in German ‘Pfennig’ (penny)
Farsi (Persian)
Stops
voiceless palatal stop
voiced platal nasal stop
[c]
[
n]
A voiceless uvular stop [q] is used in Farsi. The uvula is at the very back of
the roof of the mouth - that thing hangs down in your throat. Uvular stops
are produced by making a stop closure between the back of the tongue and
the uvula.
as in Greek [ceri] (candle)
as in Spanish [kana] (pipe)
True palatal fricatives
voiceless palatal fricative
[ç]
Maltese
German ‘ich’ (I )
A voiceless pharyngal fricative [è] is used in Maltese. The pharyngal place
of articulation is even further back and lower in the vocal tract than the
uvula.
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Manners of Articulation not used in English
Voiced alveolar trill
Most languages that have an [r] sound have a tongue-tip trilled [r]. Spanish,
for example, uses this voiced alveolar trill [r], as in [pero] (perro, dog).
Secondary Articulation
In the Russian word for no, [nyEt], the palatalized “n” is used, indicated by
the superscript small [y]. The sound [ny] almost sounds like the sequence
[ny], but the tongue body position for the glide [y] is simultaneous with the
tongue tip position for [n].
This means that the Russian palatalized [ny] involves a secondary
articulation [y] which is simultaneously with the primary constriction [n].
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