Linguistics - Phonetics

English linguistics

PHONETICS

[fəˈnɛtɪks] 

[PHONETICS] 

The systematic study of speech sounds, which are physically and directly observable.

 

INTRODUCTION TO PHONETICS

Linguistics is the formal study of language. Its main subdisciplines are:  sociolinguistics, the study of language in its social context; semantics, the study of meaning;  syntax, the study of sentence structure; pragmatics, the study of meaning in context; morphology, the study of word structure; sociolinguistics, the study of language in its social context; phonology, the study of sound systems; and phonetics, the study of the sounds of speech Phonetics is sometimes seen as not properly linguistic, because it is the outward, physical manifestation of the main object of linguistic research, which is language (not speech), and language is abstract. 

- PHONETICS is Systematic study of the sounds of speech, which is physical and directly observable. PHONETICS deals with the physical principles underlying the production of sounds, namely vocal tract resonances, and the muscles and other articulatory structures used to produce those resonances. However, Phonetics is sometimes seen as not properly linguistic, because it is the outward, physical manifestation of the main object of linguistic research, which is language (not speech), and language is abstract.

INTRODUCTION TO PHONETICS: BRANCHES  

SPEECH is produced by the controlled movement of air through the throat, mouth and nose (more technically known as the vocal tract). Speech can be studied in a number of different ways: 

▪ Articulatory phonetics studies how speech sounds are made.  Acoustic phonetics studies the physical properties of the sound waves that are made.

▪ Auditory phonetics studies the perception of speech sounds by the human perceptual system.

          Auditory Phonetics                            Acoustic Phonetics                      Articulatory Phonetics

            [fəˈnɛtɪks]                                                /fəˈnɑləˌʤi/                                       #mɔrˈfɑləʤi # 

INTRODUCTION TO ARTICULATORY PHONETICS 

PHONETICS: CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATIONS

Before we can go any further into studying how speech sounds are made, it is crucial to consider three main discrepancies/mismatches that characterize phonetics in general and Articulatory Phonetics in particular. 

-  The first discrepancy: Letters vs. Sounds 

-  The second discrepancy: Discrete vs. Continuous 

-  The Third discrepancy: Identical vs. different

1. Sound and Spelling Inconsistencies?

 How many vowel sounds does English have? 

Typically, the answer will be something like ‘five; A, E, I, O and U’. 

Consider the words: 

 hat  : [hæt]

 hate : [heɪt]

 hart : [hɑːt]

When people answer the English language has five vowels, and thinking of English SPELLING, not totally SOUNDS of English.  In fact, most kinds of English have between 16 and 20 different vowel sounds, but most speakers are completely unaware of this, despite constantly using them.

A. The same letters does not forever appear the same sound. 

B. The same sound is not always represented by the same letter. 

C. Some letters are not uttered at all.

Same Letter Different Sounds

  The letter A is pronounced:

➢ /æ/ as in sat hand, match 

➢ /a:/ as in ask, balm, part, laugh, clerk 

➢ /ɒ/ as in was, want, wash, because 

➢ /ɔ:/ as in tall, all, walk 

➢ /e/ as in any, many 

➢ /ɪ/ as in village, private, baggage

Same Sound Different Letters 

The sound /k/ has different spelling forms as: 

➢ k keen, speaker, peak, keg 

➢ c cut, cap, act, cattle 
➢ cc occasion, according, occur, occupy 
➢ ch chemist, stomach 
➢ ck pack, back, black

Some letters are not pronounced

 ➢ limb, thumb, debt, doubt 
➢ muscle, scene, science, 
➢ width, handsome, Wednesday, 
➢ sign, reign, thing, feign,

According to George Bernard Shaw the word ‘GHOTI’ should be pronounced just like the word ‘fish’

- Can you Explain why and how? touGH; wOmen; and naTIOn

- DO YOU KNOW THAT… “GHOTI” SHOULD BE PRONOUNCED JUST LIKE…?

Given the Sound and Spelling Inconsistencies, we need PHONETIC SYMBOLS to represent pronunciation regardless of orthography. Paul Édouard Passy was a French linguist, founder of the International Phonetic Association in 1886. He took part in the elaboration of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) International Phonetic Alphabet IPA 

SOUNDS, PHONEMES, LETTERS, WORDS

➢ Sounds will be writing enclosed in square brackets, such as [k], [a], [t] or [kat]. 

➢ Phonemes, where we refer to them, will be enclosed in slash brackets such as /k/, /a/, /t/. 

➢ And letters will from now on be enclosed between angled brackets like this: 

➢ but when referring to words, the convention will be: ‘cat’. 

2. Are speech sounds Discrete or Continuous?

➢ How many SOUNDS are in the spoken word ‘pat’? Let us hope that your answer is THREE 

▪ However, X-ray films show that speech sounds are not produced as a series of discrete segments but rather that sounds merge and blend into one another. 

▪ This leads to an interesting paradox: Although a speech signal may be physically continuous, we seem to perceive it as a sequence of discrete entities. 

❑ It is very difficult to conceive of any phonological or phonetic description/analysis without postulating discrete units. 

❑ Do we really have the RIGHT to claim that speech is segment able if the articulatory and acoustic phonetics suggest the opposite? Is the discrete nature of speech an ARTIFACT of analysis, something invested by the linguist in order to describe language?

3. Are speech sounds Identical or Different?

❑ If two persons say ‘tea for two’= there are individual anatomical differences in the vocal tracts (lip rounding vary) that will cause acoustic records to differ. 

❑ X-rays show not only that speech is physically continuous but also that no two utterances are exactly identical.

 

• Even the same individual will not articulate the same thing the same way each time. 

• In spite of the acoustic differences we still perceive the various occurrences of ‘tea for two’ as being the same utterance. 

• This is another case where what we perceive does not corollate with what is physically so