Consonant Dimensions

factors influencing consonants (speech sounds that are articulated with a complete or partial closure of the vocal tract)

manner of articulation

airstream mechanism

pulmonic	pulmonic egressive; the air is pushed out of the lungs by the ribs and diaphragm
ejective	glottalic egressive; the air column is compressed as the glottis moves upward
implosive	glottalic ingressive; the air column is rarefied as the glottis moves downward
click	lingual ingressive; the air in the mouth is rarefied by a downward and sometimes rearward movement of the tongue
percussive	without any airstream mechanism; the sound is generated by one organ striking another

combinations (the airstream changes between the front (click) and rear (non-click) release)
linguo-pulmonic	click released into a pulmonic
linguo-glottalic	click released into a ejective stop/fricative

stricture

sonority hierarchy (sonority scale)
obstruent: with substantial obstruction of the airflow (the flow of air through the mouth is blocked)	nonapproximant	nonsyllabic	oral stop (oral plosive)		produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract
			affricate		produced by first stopping the airflow entirely, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence
			fricative		produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence
resonant: without substantial obstruction of the airflow (do not significantly restrict the escape of air)			nasal stop (nasal plosive)		air is exclusively allowed to escape through the nose
	approximant: with only slight turbulence		flap (tap)		produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that the tongue makes very brief contact
			trill		produced by directing air over an articulator so that it vibrates
			approximant		produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream	(without a corresponding vowel)
			approximant	glide (semivowel)		is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable
		syllabic	close vowel (high vowel)
			near-close vowel (near-high vowel)
			close-mid vowel (high-mid vowel)
			mid vowel
			open-mid vowel (low-mid vowel)
			near-open vowel (near-low vowel)
			open vowel (low vowel)

sibilancy (of
fricatives)

sibilant	is of higher amplitude and pitch, made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the teeth
non-sibilant	is lower in pitch

vibrant

flap (tap)	momentary closure of the oral cavity
trill	the articulator (usually the tip of the tongue) is held in place, and the airstream causes it to vibrate

nasality

oral	air escapes through the mouth
nasal	air escapes (through the nose but) not through the mouth

laterality

median (central)	air escapes through the middle of the mouth
lateral	air escapes through the sides of the tongue

Plosives are never lateral, but they may have lateral release.

place of articulation

length

		active articulator
		labial: lower lip	laminal: tongue blade	apical: tongue tip	underside of tongue: subapical	tongue body: dorsal	tongue root: radical	larynx: laryngeal
passive articulator	labial: upper lip	bilabial	linguolabial (apicolabial)
	upper teeth: dental	labiodental	interdental	dental
	upper teeth/alveolar ridge: denti-alveolar		denti-alveolar (apico-dental)
	alveolar ridge: alveolar		laminal alveolar	apico-alveolar
	back of the alveolar ridge: postalveolar (post-alveolar)		palato-alveolar (alveopalatal, alveo-palatal) (weakly palatalized)	apical retroflex (unpalatalized)		alveolo-palatal (alveolopalatal) (strongly palatalized)
	prepalatal
	hard palate: palatal				retroflex	palatal
	pre-velar (post-palatal, palato-velar)
	soft palate: velar				subapical velar	velar
	post-velar (pre-uvular)
	uvula: uvular					uvular
	pharynx: pharyngeal						pharyngeal	epiglotto-pharyngeal
	epiglottis: epiglottal							(ary-)epiglottal
	glottis: glottal							glottal

width

median (central)	the airstream is directed down the center of the tongue
lateral	the airstream is deflected off to one side

secondary articulation
labialization	rounding the lips while producing the obstruction
palatalization	raising the body of the tongue toward the hard palate while producing the obstruction
velarization	raising the back of the tongue toward the soft palate (velum)
pharyngealization	constriction of the throat (pharynx)

coarticulation
labial-velar
labial-(post)alveolar
uvular-epiglottal

voicing

intensity (phonation)

glottal states (from closed to open) (tension and closure of the vocal cords)
ballistic
glottalization	the vocal cords block the airstream, producing stop sounds such as the glottal stop code point name ʔ U+0294 Latin Letter Glottal Stop ◌͡◌ U+0361 Combining Double Inverted Breve ʔ U+0294 Latin Letter Glottal Stop
creaky voice (laryngealized voice, laryngealisation, pulse phonation, vocal fry, glottal fry)	vocal cords vibrating anteriorly, but with the arytenoid cartilages pressed together; lower airflow than in modal voice code point name ◌̰ U+0330 Combining Tilde Below
stiff voice	vocal cords vibrating but more stiffly than in modal voice code point name ◌̬ U+032C Combining Caron Below
modal voice	regular vibrations of the vocal cords
slack voice (lax voice)	vocal cords vibrating but more loosely than in modal voice code point name ◌̥ U+0325 Combining Ring Below
breathy voice (murmured voice, whispery voice, soughing, susurration)	vocal cords vibrating but without appreciable contact; arytenoid cartilages further apart than in modal voice code point name ◌̤ U+0324 Combining Diaeresis Below ɦ U+0266 Latin Small Letter H with Hook
breath (voiceless)	the vocal cords are completely relaxed, with the arytenoid cartilages apart for maximum airflow, the cords do not vibrate. lack of vibration of the vocal cords; arytenoid cartilages usually apart code point name h U+0068 Latin Small Letter H
aspirated	having greater airflow than in modal voice before or after a stricture; arytenoid cartilages may be further apart than in voiceless

duration (voice
onset time)

length

single
geminate
...

Vowel Dimensions

factors influencing vowels (speech sounds pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract)

quality

tongue height
(vertical dimension)

close (high)	the tongue is positioned close to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant
near-close (near-high)	the tongue is not quite so constricted as a close vowel (high vowel)
close-mid (high-mid)	the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel (a high vowel) and a mid vowel
mid	the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel and an open vowel
open-mid (low-mid)	the tongue is positioned halfway between an open vowel (a low vowel) and a mid vowel
near-open (near-low)	the tongue is positioned similarly to an open vowel, but is slightly more constricted
open (low)	the tongue is positioned far from the roof of the mouth

tongue backness
(horizontal dimension)

front	the tongue is positioned forward in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant
near-front
(front-central)
central	the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel
(back-central)
near-back
back	the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant

roundedness
(lip articulation)

rounded	protruded (endolabial)	the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed
rounded	compressed (exolabial)	the margins of the lips are tense and drawn together in such a way that the inner surfaces are not exposed
unrounded	neutral (relaxed)
unrounded	spread

velum position
(nasality)

nasal
oral

type of vocal fold
vibration (phonation)

voiced
devoiced

tongue root
position

pharyngealization


pharyngealized (epiglottalized, strident, sphincteric)

rhoticity

non-rhotic
rhotic (rhotacized)

(when voiced) prosodic variation

pitch (fundamental
frequency)

tone: use of pitch
intonation: variation in pitch

loudness
(intensity)


stress (accent): increased loudness

length
(duration)

short
long

Pulmonic Consonants

place of articulation: length

bilabial

labiodental

linguolabial

interdental

dental

denti-alveolar

alveolar

apico-alveolar

laminal alveolar

postalveolar

apical retroflex

palato-alveolar

alveolo-palatal

retroflex

subapical velar

palatal

pre-velar (post-palatal, palato-velar)

velar

post-velar (pre-uvular)

uvular

pharyngeal/
epiglottal

upper-pharyngeal

lower-pharyngeal

glottal

manner of articulation: stricture

oral stop

affricate

sibilant

non-sibilant

fricative

sibilant

non-sibilant

nasal stop

flap

trill

approximant

???

Vowels

tongue backness (horizontal dimension)

front

near-front

(front-central)

central

(back-central)

near-back

back

tongue height (vertical dimension)

close (high)

near-close (near-high)

close-mid (high-mid)

mid

open-mid (low-mid)

near-open (near-low)

open (low)