Basic Guide to Phonetics and Phonology
and Glossary
All sounds humans are capable of making are a result of breathing out (there are a couple of sounds made while inhaling, but not in Spanish or English, really) through the vocal cords, throat and mouth (or mouth/nose). Usually, sounds are produced in different ways when some part of the lower articulators (generally the tongue) approached some part of the upper articulators (usually the top of the mouth).
Consonants:
All consonants are either voiced (sonoro) or unvoiced (sordo). This means that when you breathe out either your vocal cords are slack and no noise is made or they are taut and a buzzing noise is made. To see the difference between these put your hands over your ears, or a finger on your throat and say ssssssssssssssssssssszzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The ‘sss’ bit is unvoiced and the ‘zzzzzzzz’ voiced.
Most consonants are produced in the mouth. The point at which the sound is made is what makes the main difference.
Bilabial: when the air is stopped or modified by your lips coming together.
Labiodental: when the air is stopped or modified by your top teeth and bottom lip coming together.
Interdental: when the air is stopped or modified by your tongue coming between your teeth,
Dental: when the air is stopped or modified by your tongue touching or approaching your upper teeth
Alveolar: when the air is stopped or modified by your tongue touching or approaching your alvevolar ridge (the ridge above the teeth where you pronounce ‘d’ in English.
Alveo-palatal (or pre-palatal): when the air is stopped or modified by your tongue touching or approaching a spot between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. English ‘ch’ for example.
Palatal: when the air is stopped or modified by your tongue touching or approaching your hard palate
Velar: when the air is stopped or modified by your tongue touching or approaching your velum (the soft palate at the back of your mouth)
The air can be modified in various ways at all of these place:
Stop/plosive: the air is stopped an released (‘b’ is a voiced bilabial stop)
Fricative: the articulators don’t touch but come close enough to each other to cause friction: ‘s’ in English is a voiceless alveolar fricative.
Affricate: the air is stopped and released slowly. ‘ch’ in English is a voiceless alveopalatal affricate. The ‘j’ in ‘June’ is a voiced alveopalatal affricate.
Nasal: the air is stopped in the mouth and released through the nose: ‘m’ is a voiced bilabial nasal. Try to say that with your fingers pinching your nose. But not for too long…
Lateral: The tongue touches the roof of the mouth but the air is allowed to pass around the side. ‘l’ in English is a voiced alveolar lateral.
Tap: the tongue taps the roof of the mouth: the Spanish ‘r’.
Trill: the tongue repeatedly taps the roof of the mouth: the Spanish ‘rr’.
The IPA is a system of transcription, and it works on the basis that each symbol can only have one sound. If you look at the interactive IPA (Link at you will see the relationship between symbols and sounds. Voiced consonants are on the right of each box, unvoiced on the left. Sounds represented this way appear either in slashes // or braces [].
Thus: a voiced bilablial stop is /b/ but a voiceless bilabial stop /p/, a voiceless interdental fricative (the Spanish zeta) is /Ɵ/, the jota is a voiceless velar fricative /x/ and a voiceless alveo[alatal affricate is /ʧ/
Vowels:
All vowels are voiced, and all vowels are pronounced in the middle of the mouth, so the tongue doesn’t come near the top of the mouth. Vowels can be open, like the Spanish /a/, half-closed as in ‘tomé’ /o/ and /e/ or closed as in ‘lucho’ [luʧo] or ‘vivo’ [biβo] This is the chart of vowels. You only really need the 5 I mentioned. Again, try the interactive IPA if you want to hear them.