Chapter 3

Phonetics: Describing Sounds

Phonetics

• -study of speech sounds• Sounds and symbols--use a system of written symbols--one sound represents one symbol--each symbol represents only a single sound--English spelling system is full of inconsistencies

e.g bagz and pusht (more examples on pg. 69-70)-- learn IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)

Phonemes

• --distinctive sounds in language-- they differ from language to languageEnglish has about 40 distinctive phonemes--Sounds represented in / / to distinguish them

from letters of the alphabet-- Piraha spoken in Brazil has about 10

consonant sounds, and !u spoken in southern Africa, has 141

Phonemes

• The most common consonant sounds across languages are /p,t,k/, but not all languages have them.

• Hawaian doesn’t have /t/, and Mohawk doesn’t have /p/. Hupa, a nearly extinct language of California lacks both /p/ and /k/

Phonemes

• What is the difference between consonants and vowels of the English alphabets?

• It is in how we produce them—with the restriction in the airflow.

• A vowel sound is produced in such a way that the air stream can pass through the vocal tract without a noticeable obstruction.

• A consonant sound has some degree of air restriction.

Consonants

• There are only 24 consonant phonemes of English– the sounds that make a difference in the meanings of words to English speakers.

• For example, in English the sounds /b/ and /p/ are distinctive, which means we hear the difference between them.

• The word bit and pit have different meanings• Bit and Pit are a minimal pair—two words that

differ by only a single phoneme in the same position.

Consonants

• When we write words using the IPA, we are doing phonemic transcription.

• With the phonemic transcription, there’s always a one-to-one correspondence between sounds and symbols.

• These symbols are not the same as letters, and they represent the sounds of language and not the letters of the writing system.

Consonants

• 3 ways to describe consonants-- voicing– controlling the vibration of the vocal cords as

air passes through to make speech sounds--place of articulation: the places in the oral cavity where

airflow is modified to make speech sounds-- manner of articulation: the way we move and position

our lips, tongue and teeth to make speech soundsLook at Tables 3.1, 3.2 (pg 72) for examples of natural

class of sounds—sounds that share some set of phonetic features

Voiced and Voiceless Consonants

• All consonants are either voiced or voiceless.• The airflow coming out of the lungs can meet

resistance at the larynx, or voice box.• Vocal cords or vocal folds—two muscular bands of

tissue that stretch from front to back in the larynx behind the Adam’s apple.

• Voicing– vibrations in the vocal cords or vocal folds (e.g. [s] vs [z])

• Various parts of the mouth and throat used to make speech sounds are called the articuators

Places of Articulation

• Bilabial– two lips brought together or almost together. Examples /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/,/ /

• Labiodental– lip and teeth, lower lip against upper front teeth. Examples /f/, /v/

• Interdental—between and tooth, tip of tongue between the front teeth. E.g. / / theta or eth/ / both are written with th.

• Alveolar– with the tongue tip at or near the alveolar ridge. E.g. /t/,/d/,/s/,/z/,/n/,/l/,/r/

Place of Articulation

• Palatal—tongue near your palate. E.g. /s//z//c//j//y/

• Velar—tongue near velum, the soft part of the roof of your mouth behind the palate. E.g. /k/, /g/, /n/

• Glottal– made at glottis, e.g /h/ glottal fricative

Manner of articulation

• --how the sound is made with respect to airflow

• Stops—obstruction in the airflow completely. E.g. /p/,/b/,/t/,/d/,/k/,/g/

• Fricative– nearly complete stoppage of the airstream. E.g. /f/,/v/,//,//,/s/,/z/,/s/,/z/

• Affricates– stopping the airstream completely and then releasing the articulators slightly so that friction is produced. E.g. /c/, /j/

Manner of articulation

• Nasals– lowering the velum and letting the airstream pass primarily through the nasal cavity. E.g. /m/, /n/, /n/

• Glides– slight closure of the articulators./y/,/w/,//,/h/• Liquids– an obstruction is formed by the

articulators but is not narrow enough to stop the airflow or to cause friction. E.g. /l/ lateral, /r/ bunched.

Distinctions

• Refer to pg. 81 for symbol and words.• Labials include bilabials and labiodentals• Sonorants include nasals, liquids and glides• Obstruents include stops, affricates and

fricatives• Refer to table 3.3 pg. 81

Vowels

• Most languages of 3 and 7 vowels. English has between 14 and 22 vowels depending on dialect. Refer to tables 3.4 and 3.5 (pg.83)

• Say beet, bet, bat• Tense vowels– more muscular constriction: /i/

as on beet, /e/ as in bait, /u/ as in boot and /o/ as in boat. The rest is lax vowels

Diphthongs

• --two part vowel sounds consisting of a vowel and a glide in one syllable. Japanese pronounce ice cream with /a/-/i/-/su/, English combines /a/ and /i/ to make the diphthong /ay/

• Common diphthongs in American English are:• -- /ay/ as in wide and sky• --/aw/ as in loud and cow• --/oy/ as in toy and foil• Some tense vowels are pronounced more s diphthongs in

English, e.g beat /iy/, boot /uw/, bait /ey/ and boat /ow/

Syllabic consonants

• -- the liquids /l/ and /r/ and the nasals /m/ and /n/

• Considered consonants but can fill the vowels slot in a syllable when no vowel is present

• Small mark under the consonant

Other vowel distinctions

• Length—actual duration of the sound• In English, a vowel preceding a voiced consonant is

longer than the same vowel before a voiceless consonant

• E.g. bit and bid, beat and bead• However they are not distinctive, variation of length

of vowel does not change the meaning of the word.• In Finnish and Japanese, length of vowels in a

distinctive feature e.g. pg. 86 and 87

Other vowel distinctions

• Tone– variation in pitch that makes a difference in the meaning of words. E.g Chinese dialects, Vietnamese, some African languages and some South American Indian languages

• Mandrin Chinese have 4 tones• Stress– relative emphasis given to syllables in a

word• Nasalization-air passes through the nasal cavity,

e.g. Navajo, French.

Vowel Shifts

• The Great Vowel Shift– during the Middle English period the seven tense vowels of the predominant dialect in the language underwent a shift.

• Gradual process that began in Chaucer’s time (14th century) through Shakespeare time (early 17th century) Refer to table 3.6 pg. 89

• This explained the mismatch of vowels in spelling and pronunciation.

Phonemes and Allophones

• The /p/ sound, pat and spat.• The /p/ sound in pat is aspirated• Aspiration- making a puff of air• Aspiration does not matter in English• Allophones—two variations of the way phoneme /p/ is

pronounced in English.• Examples pg. 92• /p/ becomes aspirated when it occurs at the beginning of a

stressed syllable, otherwise it is unaspirated (phonological rule)

• Also in /p/,/t/ and /k/