1 Linguistics week 9 Phonetics 2

2 Morphological exercise (for students) u students: optional u You will be assigned one of Yule chapter 7 exercise C, D or II (i, ii and v only) u You must hand it on Monday 26th u You are recommended to do it before the midterm exam (it will be good practice) u For help: look at page 68, and study question 5

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4 Describing (characterizing) consonants u First, airstream: – For all sounds in English and Mandarin, this is pulmonic egressive u Second, place of articulation – Listed in Yule chapter 5 u How would you describe the difference between [f], [θ] and [s]? u How about [p], [t] and [k]? (groups?)

5 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

6 Features (characteristics) for describing consonants u So, – Airstream (usually the same for all consonants) – Place of articulation – Voicing – Manner of articulation u So, [p] is … – egressive pulmonic – bilabial – voiceless – plosive

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8 Phonology 1: Minimal pairs (show b/v, then Yule 46&50) u Each pair has the same number of phones 1. betpet 2. betbed 3. betbat u Each pair differs by only one phone – They are called minimal pairs – These minimal pairs prove that »/b/ and /p/ »/t/ and /d/ »/e/ and /a/ – make a difference of meaning, in English – those six sounds are Phonemes of English u Altogether, there are about 42 phonemes