Tongue part for vowels

[waikchow]

I have another question. When I produce the vowel sounds in English, I tend to use the blade of my tongue, whereas the consonants with the tip of my tongue. Is it normal to native speakers too?

 

[5jj]

Please don't ask separate questions in one thread. I have moved this question to a new thread.

If you are using the tip of the tongue to produce all your consonants, then you are not making natural English sounds.

 

[waikchow]

Yes, I understand that, for like /g/, the velar stop, is produced with the back of the tongue. Maybe I should rephrase my question to in the production of the sounds involved with the front of the tongue, is it normal to use the tip of my tongue for the consonants, and the blade of my tongue for the vowel sounds.

 

[5jj]

You answered the first part of the question yourself - "Yes, I understand that, for like /g/, the velar stop, is produced with the back of the tongue." Clearly you do not use the tip of the tongue for all consonants. In fact, the tongue is not involved at all in the production of /b/, /p/, /m/, /f/ or /v/. The blade of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge for /t/ and /d/, the tip, blade and rims touch the alveolar ridge and side teeth for /ʧ/ and ʤ/, etc.

 

[waikchow]

Thank you!! Now I understand that using the blade of the tongue isn't a problem. Does the same apply to vowels too?
For example, /I/ in bit, and /e/ in bed.

 

[5jj]

In the production of the vowels, parts of the tongue are raised or lowered, For /ɪ/, a close vowel, that part of the tongue nearer to the centre than the front is raised slightly above the half-close position; for /e/, a mid vowel, the front of the tongue is raised to a position between half-open and half-close positions..

 

[waikchow]

Yes, I understand that. But I was hoping to know if these two sounds were both achieved with the blade of the tongue or the tip of the tongue?

 

[5jj]

i told you which parts of the tongue were moved.

Do you know exactly what we mean by the names of the parts of the tongue?

When the tongue is at rest, with its tip lying behind the lower teeth, that part which lies opposite the hard palate is called the FRONT and that which faces the soft palate is called the BACK, with the region where the front and back meet known as the CENTRE (adjective: CENTRAL). [...] The tapering section facing the teeth ridge is called the blade (adjective: LAMINAL), and its extremity the tip (adjective: APICAL). The edges of the tongue are known as the rims.

Generally, in the articulation of vowels, the tongue tip remains low behind the lower teeth.

Cruttenden, Alan (2001) Gimson's Pronunciation of English, London: Arnold.

 

[waikchow]

Oh, sorry about that. I probably have misunderstood you there. Thanks a lot for giving me such detailed explanation. It's a relief to know that my tongue is working fine. I was a bit worried because I only use the tip of my tongue for /l/,/r/,voiced and voiceless 'th'.
Once again, thank you very much.

 

[raindoctor]

Some Chinese dialects have what you call as blade vowels. Laver calls them double articulations (dorsal + apical/laminal) cf. 'zi', 'ci' and 'si' Ladefoged describes them differently: syllabic fricatives.

All English vowels are dorsal, if you are bent on where they are articulated.

 

[5jj]

Laver calls them double articulations (dorsal + apical/laminal) cf. 'zi', 'ci' and 'si' Ladefoged describes them differently: syllabic fricatives.

It would be helpful if you gave the titles of books when you mention writers. Thank you.

 

[raindoctor]

John laver's principles of phonetics. The relevant part is readable: Principles of Phonetics - John Laver - Google Books

Ladefoged: The Sounds of the World's Languages

 

[raindoctor]

Yes, I understand that, for like /g/, the velar stop, is produced with the back of the tongue. Maybe I should rephrase my question to in the production of the sounds involved with the front of the tongue, is it normal to use the tip of my tongue for the consonants, and the blade of my tongue for the vowel sounds.

There is another point I want to add. Most vocoids are dorsal. Velar consonants are also called dorsal. So, what is the difference between dorsal consonants and vocoids? The difference has to do with the distance between mouth roof and the dorsum.

At the velum:

vowel < approximant < fricative < stop

Unrounded high back vowel /ɯ/ < velar approximant /ɰ/ < voiced velar fricative /ɣ/ < voiced velar stop /g/