What is Phonetics?

Phonetics is the study of the speech sounds that occur in all languages

Two aspects of Phonetics that we will discuss: The physiology of sound production: The human vocal mechanism and the speech sound production

Description of the sounds of English: Consonants: Place of articulation Manner of articulation Voicing

Description of Vowels: Tongue Height Tongue Advancement (frontness) Lip Rounding

Phonemes: Speech sounds that distinguish one word from the other: Bat vs. mat Back vs. bad

Our knowledge of phonetics tends to be tacit or unconscious Mispronounce foreign words adjust their pronunciation according to the native inventory of sounds Decide if certain sequences of sounds are permissible in one’s language. Tip, pit, *itp, *tpi

Phonetic Transcription: sound and not writing. speech is primary manifestation of language writing is secondary.

The misfit between sound and spelling in English spelling bees, spelling lists

Spelling inconsistencies are of three types: Fewer or more sounds in a word than the spelling would suggest gnome, comb, light, night

A single sound represented by a variety of spellings rough, roof, floor, photo

A letter representing several different sounds cat, city, bus, busy

The Phonetic Alphabet: Example: International Phonetic Alphabet

The Phonetic Alphabets share three characteristics: Each symbol = one and only one speech sound Each sound = one and only one symbol The number of sounds = the number of symbols. Car[kar]keep [kip] Gnome [nom]knee [ni]

When words are written in phonetic symbols, they are said to be transcribed phonetically. bat [bæt]boat [bot]keep [kip] pail [pel]soot [sut]knight [najt]

Larynx Two sheets of elastic tissue (vocal cords) Two positions of the vocal cords: relaxed and spread relatively far apart— voiceless sounds tensed and drawn close together—voiced sounds The space between the vocal cords--the glottis

Let’s try to produce voiced and voiceless sounds Initial sounds of pairs of words listed below pinbin fanvan thinthen tenden gapcap suezoo mathat

bilabial pat bat mat

Labio-dental: few and view

Interdental: thin, that

Alveolar: ton, dawn, net, sea, zeal, leaf, reef

Alveo-Palatal: shoes, leisure, chair, judge, you

Velar: king, king, we, gum

Glottal: him

Manner of Articulation Stop: pit, bit, tip, dip, keep, gum

Nasal stop: met, net, king

Fricative: few, view, sea, zeal, shoes, leisure, this, that

Affricate: chair, judge

Glide: you, we, house

Liquid: leaf, reef

Vowels a class of unobstructed speech sounds. essential part of a syllable. described in terms of : Tongue height: High, Mid, or Low Tongue advancement: Front, Central, or Back Lip rounding: Rounded or Unrounded (Spread) Tense or lax

Syllabic Consonants Liquids and nasals that can constitute separate syllable Examples: Rhythm, button, prism, bottle

Sonorants Liquids, glides, nasals, and vowels

Obstruents nonnasal stops, fricatives, and affricates

Suprasegmental features Inherent properties part of all sounds regardless of their place or manner of articulation Three main suprasegmental features are: Pitch Length Stress

Pitch Depends on the vibration of the vocal cords Faster vibration of the cords—high pitch Women and children—smaller larynx and shorter vocal cords vibrate faster High-pitched voice than men

Two types of languages based on pitch Tone languages: Differences in word meanings are signaled by differences in pitch Mandarin Chinese: ma (falling pitch) means ‘scold’ ma ( high rising pitch) means ‘mother’ ma (fall and rise pitch) ‘horse’ ma (mid rising pitch) ‘hemp’

Intonation: Pitch movement not related to differences in word meaning. English—car (with a rising pitch) has no meaning contrast from car (with a lower pitch)

Falling pitch at the end of a statement – complete John parked the car

Rising pitch at the end of a statement— incomplete (question) John is here. We have an exam today.

WH-questions do not end in rising intonation Margo? Is that you? Counting numbers A: John is stupid Intonation for disagreeing

Gradually falling pitch Rising pitch Abruptly falling pitch Rising and falling pitch You know (basic, question, assertion, insistence)

Length: The articulation of certain vowels and consonants are longer relative to other consonants and vowels Length is indicated by a colon Italian, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Finnish and Cree

Japanese [i]‘stomach’[i:] ‘good’ [kuki]‘stem’[ku:ki] ‘air’

Stress Associated with vowels the intensity or the loudness of the airstream Three levels of stress primary stress [´] (acute accent mark) secondary stress [`] (grave accent mark) No stress (no mark)

Stress patterns: canopy atomic disappoint elevate