Chapter 9

Language structure consists of the fundamental components that govern human communication. This chapter explores phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax—the building blocks of language.

Syntax

Syntax is the branch of linguistics concerned with the structure and organization of sentences in a language. It examines how words are combined to form phrases and sentences, as well as the rules governing their arrangement. Syntax deals with the order of words, the relationships between them, and the ways in which they convey meaning within a sentence. For example, in English, the basic word order is typically subject-verb-object (SVO) as in "The cat chased the mouse." However, a deviation from this order, such as "Chased cat mouse the," would be syntactically incorrect and would not convey the intended meaning clearly. Syntax plays a crucial role in understanding how language is structured and how meaning is conveyed through sentence formation.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a standardized system for representing the sounds of human language. It provides a set of symbols that correspond to specific speech sounds, allowing linguists to transcribe and analyze the pronunciation of words across different languages. In the examples below, characters in brackets are referring to the sounds, not the actual letters.

Consonants

Places of Articulation

When producing sounds, there are various parts of the body that we use. Lungs push air through the vocal folds, also known as the vocal cords, and out the mouth. The path from the lungs to outside our mouth and nose is called the vocal tract. There are various places of articulation, including the lips, front of mouth, back of mouth, and nose. Consider the following:

• Bilabial: Uses both lips.

  • Examples: [p], [b], [m].

• Labiodental: Involves pressing the bottom lip against the top teeth.

  • Examples: [f], [v].

• Dental: Involves the tongue pressing against or near the teeth.

  • Examples: [θ] (as in "think"), [ð] (as in "this").

• Alveolar: Presses the tongue against the hard ridge behind the upper teeth (the alveolar ridge).

  • Examples: [t], [d], [s], [z], [n], [l].

• Postalveolar: Involves the tongue being raised towards the area just behind the alveolar ridge, but without making direct contact with it.

  • Examples: [ʃ] (as in "shoe"), [ʒ] (as in "measure"), [tʃ] (as in "church"), [dʒ] (as in "judge").

• Palatal: Involves raising the middle part of the tongue towards the hard palate. 

  • Examples: [j] (as in "yes"), [ʎ] (as in "million").

• Velar: Presses the back part of the tongue against the soft part at the back of the mouth (the soft palate or velum).

  • Examples: [k], [g], [ŋ] (as in "sing").

• Glottal: Involves the action of the glottis, the space between the vocal cords.

  • Examples: [h], [ʔ] (glottal stop- less common in English).

Phonation

Phonation refers to the process of sound production in the larynx, specifically the vibration or lack of vibration of the vocal cords during the production of speech sounds. Voiced sounds involve vibration of the vocal cords, while voiceless sounds do not.

Compare the s sound with the m sound.

• Imagine the s sound in the word "sister". Imagine the s sound all by itself. If you can, make the s sound.

• Now imagine the m sound in "mother". Imagine the m sound all by itself. If you can, make the m sound.

• Go back and forth between the s sound and the m sound. Notice the feeling in the back of your mouth and throat when you make the m sound. That sound is considered voice.

• The s sound doesn't use our voice, and the m sound does.

• Thus, the s sound is voiceless, and the m sound is voiced.

Manners of Articulation

• Plosive: Complete closure of the vocal tract followed by a sudden release of air.

  • [p] (voiceless bilabial plosive): Example: "pat", "spin", "top"

  • [b] (voiced bilabial plosive): Example: "bat", "rib", "web"

  • [t] (voiceless alveolar plosive): Example: "top", "cat", "bat"

  • [d] (voiced alveolar plosive): Example: "dog", "mad", "red"

  • [k] (voiceless velar plosive): Example: "cat", "back", "pick"

  • [g] (voiced velar plosive): Example: "go", "big", "bag"

• Nasal: Airflow through the nose instead of the mouth.

  • Examples: [m], [n], [ŋ] (as in "sing").

• Fricative: Airflow through a narrow channel causing friction.

  • [s] (voiceless alveolar fricative): Example: "sea", "bus", "pass"

  • [f] (voiceless labiodental fricative): Example: "fish", "coffee", "roof"

  • [ʃ] (voiceless postalveolar fricative): Example: "shoe", "shore", "fish"

• Affricate: Begins as a plosive and releases as a fricative.

  • Examples: [tʃ] (as in "church"), [dʒ] (as in "judge").

• Approximant: Slight constriction of the airflow.

  • Examples: [ɹ] (as in "red"), [j] (as in "yes"), [w] (as in "wet").

• Trill: Rapid vibration of an articulator against another.

  • Example: [r] (as in Spanish "perro").

• Lateral: Airflow along the sides of the tongue.

  • Example: [l] (as in "light").

Articulatory Features

Generally, we use three articulatory features to make vowel sounds:

• Height of the tongue: Refers to how high or low the tongue is positioned in the mouth when producing a vowel sound.

  • High: [i] as in "see"

  • Mid: [ɛ] as in "bed"

  • Low: [ɑ] as in "father"

• Frontness/backness of the tongue: Refers to whether the tongue is positioned towards the front or back of the mouth when producing a vowel sound.

  • Front: [i] as in "see"

  • Central: [ə] as in "about"

  • Back: [u] as in "blue"

• Roundedness of the lips: Refers to whether or not the lips are rounded when producing a vowel sound.

  • Rounded: [u] as in "blue"

  • Unrounded: [i] as in "see"

Distinctions

• Length: Refers to the duration of vowel sounds.

  • Short: "bit" (/ɪ/)

  • Long: "beat" (/iː/)

• Nasalization: Involves the addition of nasal airflow to vowel sounds.

  • Not Nasally: "man" (/mæn/)

  • Nasally: "manned" (/mænd/)

• Tone: Involves pitch variation in vowel sounds to convey lexical or grammatical meaning, particularly in tonal languages.

  • Example: Mandarin Chinese distinguishes:

    • "mā" (mother) with a high level tone,

    • "má" (hemp) with a rising tone,

    • "mǎ" (horse) with a falling-rising tone,

    • "mà" (to scold) with a falling tone.

Vowel Type

Vowel types categorize the various sounds produced by the vocal tract based on their articulatory qualities.

• Monophthongs: Vowel sounds characterized by a single, stable articulatory quality throughout their duration.

  • [æ] as in "cat"

  • [iː] as in "see"

  • [ɔ] as in "thought"

• Diphthongs: Vowel sounds characterized by a glide or transition from one vowel quality to another within the same syllable.

  • [eɪ] as in "day"

  • [aʊ] as in "now"

  • [ɔɪ] as in "boy"

• Triphthongs: Vowel sounds characterized by a glide or transition through three vowel qualities within the same syllable.

  • [aɪə] as in "fire"

  • [eɪə] as in "layer"

  • [aʊə] as in "power"

If you're able, practice saying the words above. Notice how the same sound is consistent for monophthongs. Try saying the diphthongs and triphthongs slowly. Notice how the vowels make two and three separate sounds, respectively.

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