English sounds /w, j, l, r, h/ are called semi-vowels or approximants, also termed as “liquids” /l, r/ and “glides” /w, j/ in American phonetics. In their articulation one articulator is close to another, the vocal tract is narrowed but not to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced. They are more like vowels in the quality of the sound but phonologically approximants behave like consonants: they cannot be syllabic as they do not appear in the centre of the syllable (“nucleus”), most of the time being marginal in the syllable (they occur either in the initial position called “onset” or in the final position called “coda”). /w/ and /h/ appear only in the initial position before a vowel, as in water, hay; /r/ has been vocalized in the final position after a vowel in southern British English, as in a car, father, and /l/ is also being vocalized in tell, belt, in present-day Southern British English. However there is one position which makes it possible for /l, r/ to become syllabic and central in the syllable: after a consonant, like in table, little, where /l/ forms a syllable.
When /r/ is produced, the tip of the tongue is curled behind the back slope of the teethridge (post-alveolar position). The air passes out of the mouth cavity through the median line: along the lowered front and the bunched-up back of the tongue, then through the narrowing formed by the tip and the back slope of the teethridge. This passage is rather wide so voice prevails over noise and the sound produced is sonorant. The body of the tongue has lateral bunching: the sides of the tongue are in close contact with the back teeth and the palate
In the articulation of /j/ the front part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate but not so high as to produce much friction. The tip of the tongue is lowered. The air passes out of the mouth cavity along the central part of the tongue, the sides of the tongue are raised.
When /w/ is pronounced, the lips are protruded and rounded. The back part of the tongue is raised to the soft palate. The flow of air passes out of the mouth cavity without any friction along the medium line of the tongue, it’s sides being raised, and through the round narrowing formed by the protruded lips. The vocal cords vibrate.
In the articulation of /l/ the tip with the blade of the tongue is pressed against the teethridge to form an obstruction. The air escapes rather freely along the sides of the tongue, which are lowered. (lateral articulation)
4. SONORITY AS A SYLLABIC QUALITY AND A VOCALIC FEATURE.
Q.4.
Sonorants are /m, l, n, N/
They have more noise in them than semi-vowels, though there's more tone. Sonorants are the same as semi-vowels in articulation, but professor Vasiljev says for sonorants there's an additional outlet for the air stream: /m, l/ - sides of the tongue /n, N/ - nasal cavity (as another resonator)
The articulatory boundary between vowels and consonants is not well marked. There exist speech sounds that occupy an intermediate position between vowels and consonants and have common features with both the vowels and consonants. These are sonorants /m, n, N, j, l, w, r/. There is an obstruction in their articulation and the muscular tension is concentrated at the place of obstruction as in the production of consonants, like vowels they are largely based on voice. The air passage in their production is rather wide and the force of the air is weak as in the case of vowels. The wide passage for the air stream in the articulation of sonorants means that the oral and nasal cavities are active. It results in greater audibility (sonority, carrying power, or perceptibility) of the sounds - a feature characteristic of vowels. Because of their strong vocalic characteristics sonorants /w, j, r/ are often referred to as semi-vowels. Due to their great sonority some sonorants can be syllabic in some particular positions (table, garden). But generally sonorants do not perform the function of syllable formation. That is why they are attributed to consonants.
From the acoustic point of view sonorants are predominantly sounds of tone with an admixture of noise.
The auditory effect is tone, not noise. The peculiarity of articulation makes sonorants sound more like vowels than consonants.
Sonority - is a quality, belonging to the sound, which has tone. It's characterized by sound's ability to form a syllable. There's a sonority theory of syllable division (Jesperssen, Jones), which states that there are as many syllables in a word as there are peaks of prominence or sonority.
Speech sounds are pronounced with uniform force, length and pitch, differ in inherent prominence or sonority. For example, when the Russian vowels /а, о, э, у, и/ are pronounced on one and the same level, their acoustic intensity, or sonority is different: the strongest is /а/, then go /о, э, у, и/.
O.Jesperson established the scale of sonority of sounds, that is, the scale of their inherent prominence. According to this scale the most sonorous are back vowels (low, mid, high), then go semi-vowels and sonorants, then - voiced and voiceless consonants.
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