PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

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PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

• INTRODUCTION

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REVISION

• PHONETICS
• The study of articulation, transmission and
  perception of speech sounds
• Articulatory phonetics
• Acoustic phonetics
• Auditory phonetics

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Articulatory phonetics

• is the study of the way the vocal organs are used
  to produce speech sounds
• The number of vocal organs varies with languages
  there are speech sounds that do not use an
  air-stream from the lungs (non-pulmonic sounds,
  e.g. clicks tut tut or tsk tsk)

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Acoustic phonetics

• is the study of the physical properties of speech
  sounds and how they are transmitted
• Sound energy is a pressure wave consisting of
  vibrations of molecules in an elastic medium a
  gas, a liquid, a solid in this case, air air
  particles are disturbed through the movements and
  vibrations of the vocal organs, especially the
  vocal folds. The process continues as a chain
  reaction for as long as the energy lasts.
• Air particles move in the form of a wave they
  are characterized by oscillation , frequency
  (hertz), amplitude and intensity (decibels).

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Waveforms of the vowel /a/ and the consonant /s/
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Spectrograph

• Speech spectrograph (a machine) is used to
  display sounds acoustically time (duration) of a
  sound is displayed horizontally, acoustic
  frequency of a sound is displayed vertically, and
  intensity is shown by the relative darkness of
  the marks.

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Types of spectrogram
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Spectrogram

• Vowels and vowel-like sounds are darkest and
  different vowel qualities can be seen in the
  changing pattern of black bands (formants) which
  represent varying concentrations of acoustic
  energy in the vocal tract.

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Auditory phonetics

• is the study of the way people perceive speech
  sounds the study of speech perception.
• 1st step when sound waves arrive at the ear
• 2nd step transmission of sound along the
  auditory nerve to the brain

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• PHONOLOGY
• The application of phonetics to a particular
  language or languages
• In most languages fewer than 50 distinct sound
  units
• It is concerned with establishing what units of
  sound a language uses and how it makes use of
  them
• Examines the relationship between sounds in a
  given language and takes account of the theory of
  sound systems in general

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Phonology

• By contrast with phonetics, which studies all
  possible sounds that the human vocal apparatus
  can make, phonology studies only those contrasts
  in sound (the phonemes) which make differences of
  meaning within language.

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Phonology

• When considering the sound system of English, we
  are referring to the number of phonemes which are
  used in the language, and to how they are
  organized. To say there are 20 phonemes in a
  particular accent means that there are 20 units
  which can differentiate word meanings e.g. /e/
  is different from /i/, for example, because
  there are pairs of words (such as set and seat)
  which can be distinguished only by replacing one
  of these vowels by the other.

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Purpose of the course

• How English is pronounced in the accent chosen as
  the Standard
• (advanced level)
• the above mentioned information in the context
  of a general theory of speech sounds and their
  use in a particular language
• Phonetics and phonology the theoretical context

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The necessity of the theoretical background

• Working with the language at an advanced level
  requires deeper understanding of grammar and
  related areas of linguistics

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The basic ideas of phonetics and phonology

• Phonemes, e.g. pin pen
• pet bet
• Pronunciation also makes things difficult
• enough vs. inept vs. stuff
• Same sounds have different spelling,
• therefore can be recognized as same only when
  transcribed

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Course development

• Identifying and describing phonemes in English,
  either vowels or consonants
• Phonemes and the use of symbols
• Larger units of speech,e.g. syllable, and
  further
• stress (relative strength of a syllable)
• and
• intonation (use of the pitch of the voice to
  convey meaning)

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Using ROACH

• Bold type introduction of technical terms
• Single quotes (...) words used as examples in
  spelling form
• Double quotes (...) normal use of quote marks

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ACCENTS AND DIALECTS

• Same languages pronounced differently by people
  from different geographical areas, social
  classes, ages, educational backgrounds, etc. are
  said to have different accents
• ACCENT ? DIALECT
• Varieties of a language different from others not
  just in pronunciation but also in vocabulary,
  grammar, word order are called dialects

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RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION (RP) BBC PRONUNCIATION

• The model of English most often recommended for
  foreign learners studying British English
• Used by most announcers and newsreaders on BBC
  showing consistency in the broadcast speech

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D. Jones (1909)

• Good speech may be defined as a way of
  speaking which is clearly intelligible to all
  ordinary people.
• Bad speech is a way of talking which is
  difficult for most people to understand. ...
• use of different sounds ? unintelligibility

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However, do not doubt!

• Concentrate on
• STANDARD !
• VARIETIES
• will be considered
• later !

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THANK YOU!