Phonetics

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics which studies speech sounds. Since in English and some other languages there is a considerable discrepancy between spelling and sound, phonetic alphabets have been created in which one letter corresponds to one sound. The best-known and most widely used one is the International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA).

Phonetics Subfield

Consonant Sounds

A consonant sound is a speech sound that is produced by a complete or partial obstruction of the airstream in the vocal tract. The consonant sounds of English are classified according to:

• Manners of Articulation: it is how the airstream is obstructed. It can be: stop, fricatives, affricates, nasals, liquids, and glides.
• Places of Articulation: it is where the obstruction of the airstream occurs. The places are: 

• Bilabial: both lips are together.
• Labiodental: upper teeth and lower lip come together.
• Dental: the tip of the tong is between the upper and lower teeth.
• Alveolar: the tip of the tongue toward the alveolar ridge.
• Alveopalatal: the front part of the tongue making firm contact with the alveolar ridge and the hard palate.
• Palatal: the front part of the tongue to the hard palate.
• Velar: raise the back part of the tongue to the soft palate (velum).
• Glottal: it occurs when the glottis acquires a closed position.

• Voicing: it is the state of the vocal cords. If the vocal cords are together is Voiced, but if they are separated is Voiceless.

In the following table, you can see the consonants sounds according to their classification:

Vowel Sounds

A vowel sound is a little or no modification of the airstream coming from the lungs. The vowel sounds of English are classified according to:

1. Backness or Frontness: it is the part of the tongue (front, central, and back).
2. Highness: it is the position of the tongue in the mouth (high, mid, and low).
3. Tenseness: it indicates if the sound of a vowel is short or long (lax and tense respectively).
4. Roundness: it is the form of the mouth (round or unround).

The vowel sounds are also classified into Simple vowels (monophthongs) and diphthongs.