Experiencing Obstruents in Language

Module Five , Experiencing Obstruents in Language , builds on the previous module’s approach to exploring obstruents by going into more granular detail. All the types of obstruction are defined, both pulmonic and non-pulmonic, as they are by the International Phonetic Association. A river is used as a metaphor for the flow from the lungs in pulmonic obstruents; each type of obstruction in the vocal tract is loosely analogous to the ways in which the flow of a river might be obstructed. Locations of obstructions in the vocal tract are also further defined, from bilabial to glottal. The module culminates in an obstruent mapping exercise in which a group of participants model the various points of articulation, the articulators, and the actions of obstruents in the vocal tract.