1 Linguistics week 4 Phonetics 2

2 Phones: sound segments u When we know a language, we can segment an utterance into phones u We can do this even though there is no break between phones – Cat has 3 phones – But we don’t say k—a—t u If we don’t know the language, we can’t do this segmentation – It just sounds like one continuous stream of sound u Actually all language is one continuous stream of sound – The tongue (and other moving parts) move gradually – They don’t jump between positions

3 How many phones? Say them to your neighbor. u Dog? u Rabbit? u Phone u Knot u Comb u China

4 Two kinds of segment: consonants and vowels u Consonants: air flow from lungs is obstructed in some way (p242) u Vowels: the air flows freely – This is why doctors ask for “aaaahhh” u Vowels are often represented in English spelling by a e i o u – But spelling  pronunciation (p236) u Chinese: – The consonants are ㄅㄆㄇㄈ … – The vowels are ㄚㄛㄜㄝ … (but not always)

5 Problems with consonant-vowel distinction u Glides (or semivowels) /j/ and /w/ don’t seem to involve much obstruction – but most linguists think of them as consonants (check page 250, Glides) u ㄦ causes an obstruction, and is thought of as a consonant by linguists u Some of the ㄅㄆㄇ symbols often represent two phones, one consonant and one vowel – Can you say which?

6 How many vowels? How many consonants? u dog? u rabbit? u phone u knot u comb u China u I u π u pine u long u 餓 u 他 u 龍 u 他們

7 How many words, morphemes, syllables, consonants and vowels in the following? Count semivowels as consonants. 1. Greenhouse 2. Red houses 3. Women 4. 我們 5. Those sheep 6. 老鼠 7. 老太太 8. 玻璃 9. John drinks coffee 10. 他不喝咖啡

8 Reading for next week u Pages ; and u Compare KK 音標 – s/vowel.htm s/vowel.htm u with the US system used in our book – (table 6.1 on page 239) – write the differences you find in pencil in your book, if you want to

9 Three transcription systems! u KK – Only really useful for American English u IPA (A=association OR alphabet – Capable of representing sounds of all known languages – An international standard u US system – same as IPA, but simplifies some symbols representing English phonemes – used in our book!

10 Articulatory phonetics u What does that mean? u What are the other two phases of signal transmission, please? u Classification of sounds in articulatory phonetics – First, we’ll look at consonants

11 Describing (characterizing) consonants u First, airstream: – For all sounds in English and Mandarin, this is pulmonic egressive u Second, place of articulation – Listed in Table 6.2 u How would you describe the difference between [f], [θ] and [s]? u How about [p], [t] and [k]? (groups?)

12 Check table 6.2, p243

13 Third, voicing u Voiced and voiceless consonants – [f] and [v] are both bilabial – So what’s the difference? u [v] is voiced – The vocal folds open and close rapidly – (They vibrate) u [f] is voiceless – No vibration

14 Voiced vs voiceless u Of course [v] does not exist in Mandarin – It does in Shanghai ( 因為 pronounced yinvei!) – Say both, and put your fingers on your larynx u [b] and [p] are voiced and voiceless respectively – [b] doesn’t exist in Mandarin either – In fact, there are very few voiced consonants in Mandarin u Are you sure, Simon? Then what is the difference between ㄅ and ㄆ ?? – Well… can we talk about that in the Phonology lesson? – ㄅ and the /b/ of English are not the same thing.

15 Aspiration u Aspirated and unaspirated consonants – ㄅ is unaspirated [p] – ㄆ is aspirated [p h ] (puff of air) u English: spit vs pit (aspiration difference) – Compare pit vs bit – That is a voicing difference u Aspiration is much less important in English than in Chinese – Can you explain why?

16 Manner of articulation u Now, consider the difference between – [t] and [s] (these exist in Mandarin) – [d] and [z] (these don’t) u How about [p] and [m] – or [d] and [n]?

17 Parameters for describing consonants u So far (this is not complete yet) we have – Airstream (usually the same for all consonants) – Place of articulation – Voicing – Manner of articulation u So, [p] is … – egressive pulmonic – bilabial – voiceless – plosive

18 Homework: consonants u For all the plosives, nasals and fricatives that exist in English – Learn the IPA and Fromkin phonetic symbols – Learn how to describe each one in terms of the four parameters, like we just did for [p]

19 Mandarin sounds (not yet) u PA_NPA_4.htm PA_NPA_4.htm

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