Speech Sound Terms can be confusing for those who are not familiar with them. Since it is important for parents to understand what we are working on in speech and what their child is struggling with, a list can be found below with some terms used when working with students who have articulation delays or disorders.
- Affricates – an affricate is a consonant which begins as a stop (plosive), characterized by a complete obstruction of the outgoing airstream by the articulators, a build up of air pressure in the mouth, and finally releases as a fricative, a sound produced by forcing air through a constricted space, which produces turbulence when the air is forced trough a smaller opening. Depending on which parts of the vocal tract are used to constrict the airflow, that turbulence causes the sound produced to have a specific character (compare pita with pizza, the only difference is the release in /t/ and /ts/). There are two types of affricate in English. For an interactive example of each sound (including descriptive animation and video), click this link, then in the window that opens, click affricate, and select the appropriate sound./ts/ /dz/ lingua-alveolar affricates lingua-alveolar (from lingua tongue and alveola the ridge just behind the front upper teeth) affricate is a sound which the flow of air out of the body is initially interrupted in the same manner as a lingua-alveolar stop /t/ or /d/, then immediately released in the same manner as a lingua-alveolar fricative /s/ or /z/, constricted by touching the tongue to the alveolar ridge — the part of the roof of the mouth, just behind the upper front teeth, creating a narrow opening through which the air passes. English has two lingua-alveolar affricates — voiceless /ts/ as in pizza and its,and /dz/ which is voiced as in ads and adze.
- /t∫/ /dʒ/ postalveolar affricates postalveolar (from post- after and alveola the ridge just behind the front upper teeth) affricate is a sound which is a combination of a lingua-alveolar stop /t/ or /d/ and a lingua-palatal fricative /∫/ or /ʒ/. Because a postalveolar afficate is a combination of two sounds with different points of articulation (in this case, the spot where the tip of the tongue contacts the top of the mouth), its point of articulation falls between that of its two component sounds. In a lingua-alveolar stop, the tongue interrupts the flow of air by pressing against the alveolar ridge — the part of the roof of the mouth, just behind the upper front teeth. In a lingua-palatal fricative, the flow of air out of the body is constricted by very nearly touching the tongue to the hard palate — the part of the roof of the mouth, just behind the alveolar ridge, creating a narrow opening through which the air passes. In a postalveolar affricate, the point of articulation for both the stop and fricative release occurs between these two positions, just behind the alveolar ridge but not quite on the hard palate. English has two postalveolar affricates — voiceless /t∫/ as in cheese, catch, andligature, and /dʒ/ which is voiced as in judge, magic, and jam.
- Alveolar refers to the alveolar ridge, which is flat area just behind the front upper teeth but before the edge of the roof of the mouth. When pronouncing these sounds the tongue touches (/t/, /d/, /n/), or nearly touches (/s/, /z/) the alveolar ridge.
- Dental refers to the teeth, particularly the front upper teeth. The tongue touches these teeth when producing the sounds (/θ/as in three, and /ð/ as in there). These teeth touch the bottom lip when producing /f/ as in fair and /v/ as in very.
- Fricatives – a fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a constricted space. In other words, in producing these sounds, turbulence is caused when the air is forced trough a smaller opening. Depending on which parts of the vocal tract are used to constrict the airflow, that turbulence causes the sound produced to have a specific character (say have very slowly and stretch out the /v/; pay attention to what happens to the air when the teeth touch the bottom lip for the /v/). There are five types of fricative in English. For an interactive example of each sound (including descriptive animation and video), click this link, then in the window that opens, click fricative, and select the appropriate sound./f/ /v/ labiodental fricatives:
- A labiodental (from labia lip and dental teeth) fricative is a sound in which the flow of air out of the body is constricted by upper teeth to the lower lip, creating turbulence for the air, but not stopping its passage out of the mouth. English has two labiodental fricatives — /f/ in which the vocal chords are not used (voiceless) as in fireand laughter, and /v/ in which they are used as in very and of.
- /θ/ /ð/ linguadental fricativesA linguadental (from lingua tongue and dental teeth) fricative is a sound in which the flow of air out of the body is constricted by touching the tongue to the bottom edge of the front upper teeth, creating a narrow opening through which the air passes. English has two linguadental fricatives — voiceless /θ/ as in think and math, and /ð/ which is voiced as in this and father.
- /s/ /z/ lingua-alveolar fricativesA lingua-alveolar (from lingua tongue and alveola the ridge just behind the front upper teeth) fricative is a sound in which the flow of air out of the body is constricted by touching the tongue to the alveolar ridge — the part of the roof of the mouth, just behind the upper front teeth, creating a narrow opening through which the air passes. English has two lingua-alveolar fricatives — voiceless /s/ as in say and class, and /z/ which is voiced as in zebra and is.
- /∫/ /ʒ/ lingua-palatal fricativesA lingua-palatal (from lingua tongue and palate the top of the mouth) fricative is a sound in which the flow of air out of the body is constricted by touching the tongue to the hard palate — the part of the roof of the mouth, just behind the alveolar ridge (see above), creating a narrow opening through which the air passes. English has two lingua-palatal fricatives — voiceless /∫/ as in shoe, pressure, and machine, and /ʒ/ which is voiced as in azure,pleasure, and rouge.
- /h/ /ɦ/ glottal fricativesA glottal (from glottis the area of the windpipe behind the tongue) fricative is a sound in which the flow of air out of the body is constricted by tightening the glottis — the part of the windpipe behind (below) the tongue which contains the vocal cords, creating a narrow opening through which the air passes before entering the mouth. English has two types of glottal fricative — voiceless /h/ as in happy and hello, and /ɦ/ which actually represent an entire class of voiced glottal fricatives — vowels (more on this here).
- Glides – a glide, like a liquid, is a consonant produced when the tongue approaches a point of articulation within the mouth but does not come close enough to obstruct or constrict the flow of air enough to create turbulence. Unlike nasals, the flow of air is not redirected into the nose. Instead, as with liquids, the air is still allowed to escape via the mouth, but its direction of flow is altered by having it glide over the tongue before exiting the lips. The unique sound of each glide is affected by the point at which the tongue is brought closest to the point of articulation. The primary difference between liquids and glides is that with a liquid, the tip of the tongue is used, whereas with glides, body of the tongue and not the tip is raised. This provides a wide narrow space over which air passes before exiting the mouth. There are two primary types of glide in English — labiovelar and palatal. Each type derives its name from points of articulation toward which the tongue is positioned. Like nasals and liquids, glides occur in sets of very similar sounds and in Old English there were a variety of these sounds, but Modern English possesses only one of each type in most dialects. For an interactive example of each sound (including descriptive animation and video), click this link, then in the window that opens, click glide, and select the appropriate sound /w/ /?/ labiovelar glide labiovelar (from Latin labia lip and velar the velum or soft palate) glide is a sound in which the flow of air out of the body is altered by first the shape of the tongue, with the main body of the tongue (not the tip) being raised toward the velum — the soft part of the roof of the mouth farthest from the front teeth; it’s about as far back in the mouth as can be reached with the tip of the tongue. This creates a wide but shallow space with the air flowing over the tongue resonating near the roof of the mouth (but not toward the sides of the mouth). The unique characteristic of labiovelar glides is that production of the sound begins with the pursed together forming a narrow circular opening. The lips are then relaxed and the jaw dropped, opening the mouth. This sound, as described is the syllable-initial (in this case more aptly described as the pre-vocalic form because it also appears after other consonants, but always before the vowel within a syllable) form /w/ as in will, why, and quick and flower. The symbol /?/ has been used to reference the possibility of other related sounds. In Old English there existed at least two w-sounds with words currently spelled wh- representing words which initially began with this other sound. We unfortunately no longer have record of what this sound was or how it was pronounced, but it is likely similar to /w/. In Modern English there exists a second version of /w/ which occurs after the vowel (post-vocalic). This sound is not yet recognized by the IPA and thus does not have a symbol (represented with strikethrough herein). As with syllable-initial and syllable-final pairs, the post-vocalic /w/ is produced in reverse order of pre-vocalic /w/ with production of the sound beginning with the mouth opened and the lips relaxed, and ending with the lips pursed together forming a narrow round opening. Contrast the beginning and ending jaw and lip positions of /w/ as in weed or wow with those of /w/ inchew and wow. There is a third w-sound in Modern English which is rare but still present in modern phonology. That sound /ʍ/ known as a voiceless labiovelar is the version of /w/ in which the vocal cords are not used; compare voiced /w/ in water with voiceless /ʍ/ in the interjection whew! It is likely that the w-sound represented by wh- spellings was originally one of these two latter versions of labiovelar glide.
- /j/ palatal glide palatal (from palate the top of the mouth) glide is a sound in which the flow of air out of the body is altered by the shape of the tongue, with the main body of the tongue (not the tip) being raised toward the hard palate — the part of the roof of the mouth, just behind the alveolar ridge and forward of the velum (for many speakers, the lateral edges of the midsection of the tongue can be felt pressing up against the molar teeth). This creates a wide and fairly shallow space with the air flowing over the tongue resonating near the roof of the mouth (but not toward the sides of the mouth) and then passing between the alveolar ridge and the downward slope of the tongue and finally out of the mouth. Modern English has only one palatal glide represented by the symbol /j/ as in you, cube, and onion.
- Glottal refers to sounds in which the airway is constricted by tightening the airway in the back of the throat. The primary glottal sounds in English are /h/ as in happy, and the vowels.
- Labial refers to the lips. Sounds produced with the lips include /f/as in fair and /v/as in very, in which the bottom lip touches the upper front teeth; /b/ as in boy and /p/ as in pop, in which both lips are pressed together to interrupt the airflow; and /m/ as in my, in which the lips come together to fully blow the airflow, directing it instead out through the nose.
- Lingual refers to the tongue. Most consonants are produced by touching the tongue to another part of the mouth. Vowels are formed by changing the shape of the tongue within the mouth (it’s really a big muscle).
- Liquids – a liquid is a consonant produced when the tongue approaches a point of articulation within the mouth but does not come close enough to obstruct or constrict the flow of air enough to create turbulence (as with fricatives). Unlike nasals, the flow of air is not redirected into the nose. Instead, with liquids the air is still allowed to escape via the mouth, but its direction of flow is altered by the tongue sending it in different directions within the mouth before exiting the lips. The unique sound of each liquid is affected by the position of the tongue and the way in which the exhaling air is directed around it. There are two primary types of liquids — laterals in which the air is directed toward the sides of the mouth, and non-laterals in which the flow of air is altered but still directed forward. The individual sounds of each type derive their names from points of articulation toward which the tongue is positioned. Like nasals, liquids occur in sets of very similar sounds — syllable initial, syllable-final, and in the case of non-laterals a third form, the trill. For an interactive example of each sound (including descriptive animation and video), click this link, then in the window that opens, click nasal, and select the appropriate sound (only syllable-final sounds are represented)./ l / / ɫ / lateral liquids lateral (from Latin laterus to the side) liquid is a sound in which the flow of air out of the body is redirected around the tongue and toward the sides of the mouth before exiting through the lips. English has two lateral liquids. the alveolar lateral approximate /l/ in which the tongue is brought near (approximate) the alveolar ridge, forcing the air around the tongue toward the sides (lateral) of the mouth before being allowed to exit. /l/ occurs in syllable-initial position for example like, melon, and hello. The syllable-final sound /ɫ/ is referred to as a velarized alveolar lateral approximate, meaning that in addition to the tip of the tongue being brought near the alveolar ridge, the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum as well. /ɫ/ occurs in syllable-final position for example full, little, and belfry. As with nasals, the order of articulation is reversed between syllable-initial and syllable-final laterals.
- / ɹ / / ɻ / / r / non-lateral liquids non–lateral (from Latin non not and laterus to the side) liquid is a sound in which the flow of air out of the body is altered by the shape of the tongue, usually flowing over the tongue resonating near the roof of the mouth (but not toward the sides of the mouth) before exiting through the lips. English has three non-lateral liquids, with most dialects having two (rhotic), some having a third (trill), and some having only one (R-dropping). In syllable-initial / ɹ / as in rabbit, run, and borrow, referred to as a retroflex approximate, the tongue is brought forward the curled backward toward the roof of the mouth (retroflexion). It comes near (approximate) the roof of the mouth but does not touch it. The sound is released by lowering the jaw and drawing the tongue back to neutral position. This is the most common r-sound in English. Common in most dialects, syllable-final / ɻ / is similar to the syllable initial form. Depending on the accent of the speaker, this sound may be either an alveolar approximate or a retroflex approximate (some speakers place the tongue closer to the alveolar ridge, others put it in the same position as syllable-initial / ɹ /. The primary difference between syllable-initial and syllable-final forms is that the syllable-final sound begins and ends with the tongue and jaw in the approximate position. This differs from syllable-initial position which ends with the jaw lowering and the tongue returning resting position. Compare movement within the mouth between / ɹ / in red and Robert, and / ɻ / in car, better, and urgent. Finally, some dialects possess a third non-lateral approximate /r/ known as a trill (and in lesser form a flap). These sounds are often referred to as rolled-r. In producing this sound the tongue is quickly and lightly (and in longer trills, repeatedly) brought into contact with the alveolar ridge. Otherwise the /r/ is produced in the same manner as syllable-initial / ɹ / or syllable-final / ɻ /depending on position. The sound /r/ is a primary characteristic of many Scottish accents and is also found in certain Spanish loanwords in North American English including burrito and perro.
- Nasal refers to the nose. Three sounds /m/ as in mom, /n/ as in nice, and /ŋ/ as in ring are nasal, meaning that the flow of air out of the body passes through the nose rather than through the mouth.
- Palatal refers to the roof of the mouth behind the alveolar ridge but in front of the velum (see below). The tongue touches the palate in producing the sounds /∫/ as in shoe, /ʒ/ as in pleasure, /t∫/ as in church, /dʒ/ as in jelly. It almost touches the palate in /r/ as in read and /ɝ/ as in dinner.
- Velar refers to the velum which is the soft portion of the roof of the mouth at the very rear of the mouth. It is generally the farthest point the tongue can reach by curling backward. Velar sounds are produced when the rear portion of the tongue is brought near the velum (/w/ as in wait), or contacts the velum (/k/ as in cat and /g/ as in good).
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