ON THE PLACES OF ARTICULATION AND OBSTRUCTION IN ARTICULATORY PHONETICS WITH REFERENCE TO SOME NORTHERN SOTHO CONSONANTS

By way of introduction an evaluation is made of the current interpretation of the places of articulation and obstruction. This is followed by a critical application of these principles to a few consonants in Northern Sotho. The conclusion is drawn that the place of occlusion should not necessarily be regarded as the place of articulation, and that the larynx should be included in the vocal tract. With reference to the place of obstruction, it is concluded that a clear distinction should be made between occlusion and narrowing. Consonants should also be divided into monorganic, bi-organic and compound consonants depending on the number of places of obstruction involved in the articulation of a consonant. The articulatory processes and systems are reclassified as the airstream system, comprising the pulmonic, the glottalic and the lingual processes, and the articulatory system, comprising the phonation, the oro-nasal and the labiolingual processes. It is finally concluded that the place (or places) in the articulatory system where the speech sound is actually made audible, should be referred to as the place of articulation.