1. The articulation behind the acoustics
Version WS
Speech Science VIII
The articulation behind the acoustics

2. Topics How do we create the resonating cavities?
Anatomy physiology of articulation
Systematic categorization of (German) sounds.
Reading: BHR, Chap. 5 or 6 (artic. Parts) Kent, Chap. 5, especially pp P.-M. 1.4, pp

3. Vowels vs. consonants
Vowels have to form the vocal tract into a tube with one ([],[a, ]) or two (most other vowels) main cavities.
For this the tongue dorsum (which comprises the mass of the tongue) is moved up and down, backwards & forwards,
Consonants have to form an obstruction to the airflow.
For this any constrictable part of the vocal tract is used: the lips, tongue tip & blade, tongue dorsum, tongue root, vocal folds
The tongue tip is the most flexible and quickest part of the tongue. That makes it most suitable for the consonantal gestures between vowels. It is therefore not surprising that, in many languages, the dental and alveolar sounds (which make use of the tongue tip as articulator) are the most common sounds.
(Check whether that is true for German – on a later slide – and for your native language if it isn't German).
The sloweer-moving tongue dorsum is the main articulator for vowels (though of course it can be used for consonants formed in the middle and back of the mouth. It is of course much better than the tongue tip and blade for changing the shape of the resonating cavities in a major way, by flattening itself and pushing back into the pharynx, or by bulging up in the front, middle or the back of the mouth.

4. Tongue shapes for vowels (a reminder)
Traditional description
Acoustically important
N.B., the tongue tip never protrudes – and you can feel that it is behind the bottom incisors
Here we see how the tongue dorsum can move around in the mouth.
Note that the tongue tip is always pulled down behind the front bottom teeth.
When we concentrate on the tongue position, the first thing we feel is where the tip is. That is because there is a high concentration of sensors in the tip and blade. Unfortunately that distracts from our attention to the tongue dorsum. We are not very aware of what the tongue dorsum is doing (though it is possible to build up a feeling for it) because there are less sensor nerves..
We are even less aware of the position and movement of the tongue root. That is why early phoneticians characterized the vowels by reference to the highest point of the tongue. They were unaware that the low flat tongue pushed the mass back into the pharynx.

5. How does the tongue change shape?
Längsmuskel
Kinn-Zungenmuskel
The tongue consists of muscle fibres. Tensed muscles get shorter and thicker.
These muscles change the Form of the tongue. PARTS of the muscles can be tensed too.
Senkrechtmuskel
These artist's pictures of tongue sections show that the tongue is almost completely made up of muscles.
We also see that muscles are arrqanged so as to allow contraction of the tongue in all three dimensions – vertically, laterally and lengthways.
Quermuskel

6. How the tongue changes position
Schädelbasis-Zungenmuskel
Gaumen-Zungen-M.
Oberer Längs-M (Shape and position)
Unterer Längs-M.
Kinn-Zungen-M (Shape and position)
There are also muscles from outside the tongue which insert into the tongue and move it backwards and forwards as well as downwards.
These muscles are called the extrinsic muscles, and their main function is to change the position of the tongue (in doing this they also contribute to a change in the tongue shape because any shortened muscle becomes fatter).
This is particularly the case for the biggest of the extrinsic muscles – the genioglossus muscle (Kinn-Zungenmuskel) – because it inserts into the tongue in a fan-like manner, reaching back to the root and into the blade and tip of the tongue. So it can pull the back of the tongue forward, but that also thickesn the tongue and pushes the surface of the tongue upwards. If it pulls the tonge tip into the body of the tongue it also pushes the surface upwards.
In this schematic diagram we see that the longitudinal muscle (which can shorten the tongue in the front-back dimesnion) has a lower and an upper part.
These parts can be contracted separately, making the tongue curve upwards (if the upper longitudinal is contracted without the lower one) or downwards (if the lower longitudinal is contracted without the upper one).
Zungenbein-Zungen-M.
Unterkiefer

7. Important muscles for corner vowels 1 [i]
The back part of the genioglossus contracts to pulls the mass of the tongue forward.
Probably, the inferior longitu dinal muscle and possibly the front part of the genioglossus pulls the tip back, allowing the front part of the dorsum to bulge upwards (to form the convex shape typical for vowels).
Here we see an example of the important role of the genioglossus, mentioned in the previous slide.
Contraction of the back part pulls the tongue forward, while the tongue tip is pulled in by contracting the front part. This foces the mass of the tongue upwards in the front of the mouth …. for the close front vowel [i].
Of course the lower longitudinal could be contracted (but not the upper longitudinal) because that would help to form the upward bulging shape.

8. Important muscles for corner vowels 2 [A]
The hyoglossus pulls the mass of the tongue down to the floor of the mouth..
Both longitudinal muscles and the back part of the genioglossus need to be relaxed to allow the mass of the tongue body to bulge backwards into the pharynx. Possibly the verticalis muscle helps to keep the dorsum flat in the mouth.
Here we see the extrinsic hyoglossus (from the hyoid bone into the tongue) working together with the (relaxed) longitudinal muscles, and probably also with the vertical muscles to pull the tongue down flat into the floor of the mouth.. Naturally, the back part of the genioglossus must also be relaxed to allow the tongue to bulge into the pharynx (as needed for an open vowel).

9. Important muscles for corner vowels 3 [u]
The styloglossus pulls the mass of the tongue upwards and backwards
Possibly the palatoglossus muscle helps to raise the back part of the dorsum
towards the velum.
The front part of the
genioglossus muscle
and possibly also the
longitudinalishelp to
pull the tongue tip back
The styloglossus (from the "stylus" at the base of the skull into the sides of the tongue) pulls the tongue body backwards when it contracts. This is an important feature of the [u] and [o] vowels (apart from their lip-rounding of course). The front of the tongue needs to be pulled back too (probably by the front part of the genioglossus and the lower longitudinal muscle, both making the body bulge upwards (as for [i]).

10. But the lips also determine the acoustics
The “O.O.” muscle is responsible for lip-rounding
Lifting muscles
We have mentioned the lips (accompanying the tongue articulation for [u, o].
These have to be shaped by muscles too. The most important muscle is the orbicularis oris, which is a sphincter muscle (a cirular muscle). When it contracts it makes the lip aperture round and smaller, automatically causing it to be pushed forward (unless other muscles are tensed to prevent it happening)
„round the mouth“ muscle
Lowering muscles

11. Some more detail?
This schema is just to give an impression of how complicated even the lips are.

12. German vowel qualities and symbols
pure vowels
diphthongs i y u Y I U I U o e O  aI aU I
(E) E  
The quality of vowels in a particular language are naturally independent of the qualities defined for the „universal descriptive framework“ (Cardinal Vowels).
The choice of symbols is normally determined by the proximity of the quality to the Cardinal Vowel quality.
That means that the same symbols may be used in different languages with different vowel qualities.
This underlines the need to listen for and learn the particular quality of the vowels, NOT just to learn the symbol that is used to represent it.
When you have become accustomed to the standard vowel qualities of a language, you will notice that there are countless regional (and idiosyncratic) variants. 
a/a

13. Now for the consonants
Where and what are the “obstructions” to the airflow?
They can occur throughout the vocal tract.
They can be of very different kinds
The tongue and lips are important (see vowels) but the velum also plays an imprtant role

14. Articulators & places of articulation
The places of articulation are at the top and the articulators (movable) are at the bottom
The most frequent terms for places of articulation are marked. The articulators are not often specified (except for “labio-”)
The articulators (lower) and the places of articulation (upper) can be described at different levels of detail.
The names circled in red are the usual terms used in phonetic descriptions.
Because the default articulator is the part of the tongue opposite the place of articulation, it would often be redundant to give the articulator as well as the place of articulation. However, if you wish to distinguish between an alveolar sound produced by the blade of the tongue (lamino-alveolar) and one produced by the tip of the tongue (apico-alveolar) you would need to be more specific.
Often in phonology, the description is even less specific. So the feature [labial] could be "bilabial" or "labio-dental". The important property is the lack of tongue-tip/blade involvement.

15. A mid-sagittal cross-section
Places of articulation
Articulators
blade tip
front back
Here we have as comprehensive a breakdown of the organs of speech, the articulators and the places of articulation as you will need for understanding and describing the consonantal speech sounds.

16. Articulators & consonants
To form the constrictions for consonants, articulators have to be raised to a place of articulation:
The jaw is (surprisingly) NOT the main factor which determines the proximity of the articulators (observe jaw during the [b] closure for [bi] and [ba]
Consider what muscles move ....
the lips together
the tongue tip to the alveolar ridge
the tongue dorsum to the palate
To move the lips together from an [a] position, the jaw must be raised. But in the raised position the lips can be moved apart by means of the levator and depressor labii (and the mentalis muscle).
To bring the tongue tip up to the alveolar ridge the surface has to be made concave. This requires the differential use of the two longitudinal muscles (lower one relaxed, upper one tensed).
The tongue dorsum's movement to the palate has been described in the vowel section. Go back and look if you can't remember.

17. Controlling the velum (Palate lifter) (uvula muscle) (Palate tensor)
(palate-tongue muscle)
(palate-pharynx muscle)
We don't think of the velum as being particularly mobile, but it can be raised, lowered, tensed and relaxed.
Lowering and relaaxing, raising and tensing do naturally together.
Notice that the palatoglossus (a palate-tongue muscle; I.e., an extrinsic tongue muscle) is one of the muscles used to lower the velum (for nasality).
You may immediately see what effect open vowels (lowered tongue) may have. A lowered tongue pulls on the palatoglossus which, in turn, pulls on the velum. some nasality may therefore accompany [a] production, particularly if the levator and tensor palatini are not particularly active. Different degrees of activity from person to person means that some people tend to be more nasal than others.

18. The pharynx complex Gaumenspannung Gaumenheber Gaumensenker
m. uvulae
levator palatini
tensor palatini
Gaumensenker
palatoglossus
palatopharyngeus
This figure show something of the complexity in the velar/pharyngeal region.

19. Oral and nasal sounds raised velum lowered velum [n] (nasal) airstream
These two figure show the relationship between [d and [n]].
[d]
(oral)

20. Constriction plosive complete narrow fricative approximant slight
Here we see the situation in the mouth for three manners of articulation.
complete closure,
no acoustic energy
turbulent airflow
no turbulence
affricate = sequence of plosive+fricative
trill: vibrating articulator

21. Place of articulation (German)
Articulator
place-name
IPA symbol
passive
active
p b m pƒf
bilabial
upper and lower lip
f v  
labiodental
upper incisors
lower lip
t d s z n l r tƒs
alveolar
alveolar ridge
tongue tip (apical)
S Z tS dZ
post-alveolar
posterior part of alv. ridge
tongue blade
(laminal)
j C
palatal
hard palate
front tongue dorsum
Table adapted from Harrington (when he was at IPDS, Kiel University)
Symbols in red a primary sounds in German (roughly speaking phonemic).
Symbols in black occur as variants or contextually determined..
k g N x 
velar
velum
back tongue dorsum
X  
uvular
uvula
h  ?
glottal
vocal folds

22. Manner of articulation (German)
Laterality
Nasality
Constriction
Manner of articulation
IPA-Symbols
Sound category
del. rel.
narrow constr.
approximant
closure
trill
p t k b d g
plosive
pƒf tƒs
affricate
oral
central
lateral
nasal
f v s z S C x X h
fricative j
approximant or vowel glide
This schema shows the articulatory properties that underlie the phonological features used to categorize the consonants of German.
r oder R
trill
closure
m n N
nasal
approximant l
lateral

23. Summary
We have seen how our articulators shape the articulatory configurations required for different sounds
We have categorized the sounds (of German) according to place of articulation and according to manner of articulation
We have seen the IPA symbols that are used to represent the sounds.