1.6 What is linguistics?

1.6 What is linguistics? Having discussed about the design features and functions of language , the object of linguistics ,we now come to the business itselfa brief discussion of what is linguistic and its status as a science .Linguistics is usually defined as the science of language or, alternatively as the scientific study of language .Linguistics is a rich and exciting field.

However, there have been arguments about whether linguistics is a science, especially when it was just coming into being. But now the arguments die away and linguistics has firmly established its place as a major branch of social science .As a recognized academic subject, it is an area with immense research potential , and a scholarly industry which produces a large amount of books , dissertations and papers every year; its preoccupations are expressed in such specialize journals as Language , Journal of linguistic ,lingua, Applied linguistics etc., and at regular conferences.(You may find many useful web sites about linguistics, for example, http:// www.linguist.org; http:// www. logos. it/language-today.)

The justification for all these booming ventures should be obvious from our previous discussion .Language is so valuable to the individual , so critical to the efficient functioning of human societies , and in itself so impressively intricate and profound in structure , that it is bound to attract a great amount of intellectual attention . And since this must produce studies which have practical importance (e.g. in speech therapy, education, techniques of translation and many more applied concerns), linguistics is bound to be an academically and economically favored pursuit. It is also a subject of theoretical importance, for one thing, structuralism originating from Saussures views has influenced many other related social sciences such as literary studies and social studies .In China, the study of language has a long history but modern linguistics still has a long to go to enjoy a boom.

As a science, linguistics now has a set of established theories, methods and sub-branches. As for its data, now the argument over intuition or corpus also fade as people realize the advantage of both and as corpus linguistics develops rapidly with the advent of computer technology .Lyons predicted in the seventies by pointing out that linguistics is empirical, rather than speculative or intuitive: it operates with publicly variable data obtained by means of observation or experiment (Lyons, 1982:38).1.7 Main branches of linguistics It is generally agreed that linguistics should include at least five parameters, namely, phonologic, morphologic, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic. The following are these main branches of linguistics 1.7.1 Phonetics PHONETICS studies speech sounds , including the production of speech ,that is how speech sounds are actually made , transmitted and received ,the sounds of speech ,the description and classification of speech sounds ,words and connected speech ,etc. Once we decide to begin an analysis of speech, ewe can approach on various levels .At one level, speech is s mater of anatomy and physiology. We can study organs such as tongue and larynx and their function in the production of speech. At another level, we can focus on the speech sounds produced by these organs by identifying and classifying the individual sounds .This is the domain of articulatory phonetics. We can also investigate the properties of the sound waveacoustic phonetics .As speech is intended to be heard or perceived ,it is therefore possible to focus on the way in which a listener analyses or process a sound waveauditory phonetics 1.7.2 Phonology PHONOLOGY studies the rules governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of speech sounds and the shape of syllables.It deals with the sounds systems of a language by treating phoneme as the point of departure .A phoneme is the smallest linguistic unit of sound that can signal difference in meaning . English has approximately forty-five phonemes. If you repeat the /p/ sound ten times, each production will vary slightly for some physiological reasons. In addition, the /p/ sound differs from that in poor or soup because each is influence by the surrounding sounds. Even so, each /p/ is similar enough so as not to be confused with another phoneme. Phonetics is the study of speech sounds that the human voice is capable of creating whereas phonology is the study of a subset of those sounds that constitute language b and meaning .The first focuses on chaos while the second focus on order . 1.7.3 Morphology MORPHOLOGY is concerned with the internal organization of words.It studies the minimal units of meaning ----morphemes and word-formation process. Although many people think of words as the basic meaningful elements of a language, many words can be broken down into still smallest units, called morphemes. Morphemes serve different purposes. Some derive new words by changing the meaning or the part of the speech, others only refine and give extra grammatical information about the already existing meaning of a word with meaning, there are many complexities involved. Language differ in their degrees of dependence on the morphological components .In Latin ,for example, meaning is changing through the use of many morphological endings .In contrast ,in English words order is used more than morphological addition to convey much of the meaning of the utterance .For instance ,The dog sees the rabbit. If we change the order of the words and get the rabbit sees the dog , the sentence meaning changes .But in Latin and in Russian , dog and rabbit take on some morphological endings depending on whether they are subject of the sentences, and can therefore change places without affecting the meaning of the sentence. 1.7.4 Syntax SYNTAX is about principles of forming and understanding correct English sentences .The form or structure of a sentence is governed by the rules of syntax .These rules specify word order ,sentence organization, and the relationships between words ,word classes and other sentence elements .We know that words are organized into structures more than just word order .For example: 1.7.5 Semantics SEMANTICS examines how meaning is encoded in a language. It is not only concerned with meanings of words as lexical items ,but also with levels of language below the word and above it ,e.g. meaning of morphemes and sentences ,The following are what the key concepts look like :semantics components, denotation of words ,sense relation between such as antonymy and synonymy ,sense relation between sentences such as entailment and presupposition. 1.7.6 Pragmatics PRAGMATICS is the study of meaning in context .It deals with particular utterances in particular situations and is especially concerned with the various ways in which the many social contexts of language performances can influence interpretation .In other words, pragmatics is concerned with the way language is used to communicate rather than with the way language is structured. It regards speech performance as primary a social act ruled by various social conventions. Some key concepts such as reference , force , effect, and cooperative principles may appear commonsensical ,yet pragmatics is just about one of the most promising fields of linguistic studies .Take conversation for example ,since language is transmitted primarily via the speech mode ,pragmatics rules govern a number of conversational interactions , such as sequential organization, repair of errors role and speech acts . Organization of conversations includes taking turns, opening, maintaining and closing a conversation, establishing and maintaining a topic etc.1.8 Macrolinguistics Linguistics is not the only field concerned with language. Other disciplines such as psychology , sociology ,ethnography ,the science of law and artificial intelligence etc. are also pre occupied with language .On the other hand ,although saussures goal was to establish the autonomy of linguistics , giving it a well-defined object and freeing it from reliance on other disciplines ,with its coming of age linguistics is developing interactive links with other science .The central goal of describing the underlying system remains; this is the province of general , descriptive linguistics .But since language has both individual and social aspects ,it is naturally of interest to psychologists among other (Hartley,1982:16).It is not surprising there fore we have some branches of MACROLINGUISTICS that show an interdisciplinary nature from the very names : 1.8.1 Psycholinguistics PSYCHOLINGUISTICS investigates the interrelation of language and mind, in processing and producing utterances and in language acquisition . For example,there is the psycholinguistics study of grammar .The psycholinguistics constraints on the form of grammar are studied. It also studied language development in the child, such as the theories of language acquisition; biological foundations of language; and a big topic ---the relationship between language and cognition. (Slobin, 1979) 1.8.2 Sociolinguistics SOCIOLIGUISTICS is an umbrella term which covers a variety of different interests in language and society, including the social functions of language and the social characteristics of its user .Sociolinguistics is the study of the characteristics of language varieties, the characteristics of their functions, and the characteristics of their speakers as these three constantly interact and change within a speech community. It seeks to discover the societal rules and norms that explain and constrain language behavior and the behavior towards language in speech communities. It also seeks to determine e the symbolic value of language varieties for their speakers .That language varieties come to have symbolic symptomatic value, in and themselves, is inevitable consequence of their functional differentiation. 1.8.3 Anthropological As a science, the study of language is somewhat older than anthropology .The two disciplines became closely associated in the early days of anthropological fieldwork when anthropologist enlisted the help of linguist to study unwritten language .In contrast with the linguists ,then ,anthropological linguists are interested primarily in the history and structure of formerly unwritten languages. They are concerned with the emergence of language and also with the divergence of language over thousands of years .Because an unwritten language must be heard in order to studied, it dose not leave any traces once its speakers die off. Anthropological linguists must begin in the present ,with comparisons of contemporary languages. Then they may draw inference about the kinds of the changes in language that may have occurred in the past ,and that may account for similarities and differences observed in the present. They typically ask such questions as: Did two or more contemporary language diverge from a common ancestral language ?If they are related ,how far back in time did they begin to differ? 1.8.4 Computational linguistics COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS is an interdisciplinary field which centers around the use of computer to process or produces human language (also known as natural language ,to distinguish it from computer languages). To this field ,linguistics contributes an understanding of the special properties of language data , and provides theories and descriptions of language structure and use .Computer science contributes theories and techniques for designing and implementence computer systems. Some current application areas include translating from one language to anther (Machine translation ),finding relevant document in large collections of text (Information retrieved), and answering question about a subject area (expert system with natural language interfaces).1.9 Important distinction in linguistics 1.9.1 Descriptive vs. prescriptive Consider the following : Ex.1-6 Do/Dont say X. People do/ dont say X. The first are PRESCRIPTIVE commands .The second are DESCRIPTIVE statements. The distinction lies in prescribing how things ought to be and describing how things are . To say that linguistics is a descriptive (i.e. non-normative )science is to say that the linguist tries to discover and record the rules to which the members of a language community actually conform and does not seek to impose upon them other (i.e. extraneous )rules ,or norms , of correctness.(Lyons,1982:47) The reason why present day linguist are so insistent about the distinction between the two types of rules is simply that traditional grammar was very strongly normative in character , e.g. You should never use a double negative ;You should not split the infinitive ;etc. In the18th century ,all the European languages were studied prescriptively .The grammarians then tried to lay down rules for the correct use of language and settle the disputes over usage once and for all. Some usages were prescribed to be learned by heart ,followed accurately or avoided altogether .It was a matter of black or white, right or wrong. These attitudes are still with us ,though people realize nowadays the facts of usage count more than the authority-made standards. We can neither to logic nor to Latin grammar when it comes to deciding whether something is or is not correct in English .It dose not mean that there is no place at all for establishment and prescription of norms of usage .There are obvious administrative and education advantages ,in modern world , standardizing the principle dialect that is employed within a particular country or region (Lyons ,1982:53). But the nature of linguistics as a science determines its preoccupation instead of prescription. 1.9.2 Synchronic vs. diachronic A SYNCHRONIC description takes a fixed instant (usually ,but not necessarily ,the present ), as its points of observation .Most grammars are of this kind .If you take something called A Grammar of Modern Greek from the library shelves, it will usually claim to be a synchronic grammar ;likewise The Structure of Shakespeare s English claims to be a synchronic description of a single ,past ,state of the language .But of course synchronic is a fiction , for language changes as the minutes pass and grammar-writing is a lengthy enterprise .However ,the fiction of synchronic description is essential to linguistics (Fowler ,1974:34). Saussures DIACHRONIC linguistics is the study of a language through the course of its history .Historical linguistics was a pervasive interest of the Darwinist in the nineteenth century; in the course of their historical researches into the development of the Indo-European tongues ,the philologist instituted a firm tradition which had led to the production of much diachronic information about most of the culturally prominent , lettered languages of Europe. 1.9.3 Langue &parole Saussure distinguished the linguistic competence of the speaker and the actual phenomena or data of linguistics (utterances ) as LANGUE and PAROLE. While parole constitutes the immediately accessible data ,the linguists proper object is the langue of each community , the lexicon ,grammar ,and phonology implanted in each individual by his upbringing in society and on the basis of which he speakers and understands his language . If we could embrace the sum of word images stored in the minds of all individuals, we could identify the social bond that constitutes language (langue ).It is a store house filled by the members of a given community through their active use of speaking (parole ). A grammatical system that has a potential existence in each brain , or , more specifically , in the brains of a group pf individuals. For language (langue ) is not complete in any speaker ;it exists perfectly only within a collectivity . In separating language (langue ) from speaking (parole ) we are at the same time separating (1) what is social from what is individual; and (2) what is essential from what is accessory and more or less accidental .[Saussure ;Course in General Linguistics p.13-14 in Widdowson, p.90] 1.9.4 Competence and performance This fundamental distinction is discussed by Chomsky in his Aspect of the Theory of Syntax. A language users underlying knowledge about the system of rules to the actual use of language in concrete situations(Chomsky ,1965:3)As a language user we all have intuitive grasp of the rules of the language ,and though we may not be able to state the rules explicitly ,our performance demonstrates our adherence to them .If you have ever listened to an exited argument and tried to transcribe it , you will find that speaker do not always observed the linguistic rule . Instead there can be numerous false stars , deviation ,and ungrammatical expressions even in the mature speaker.Even pre-school children know virtually all the rules of language except for some subtleties .They learn the rules by actually using the language .A child demonstrate by the way he uses word that he knows what a noun is long before he can define the term .We can also observe the discrepancy between and performances in normal language users .According to Chomsky ,the task of a linguist is to determine from the data of performance the underlying system of rules that has been mastered by the language user .Not all linguists agree with Chomsky in that linguistic theory is concerned primarily with an ideal speaker listener ,in a completely homogeneous speech-community ,who knows its language perfectly (1965,p.3).Dell Hymes approaches language from a socio-cultural viewpoint with the aim of studying the varieties of ways of speaking on the part of the individual and the community .It is found speakers vary their performance not at random but in a regular way .Thus it is possible to extend the notion of competence ,restricted by Chomsky to a knowledge of grammar ,to incorporate the pragmatic ability for language use .This extend idea of competence can be called communicative competence . And the concept ,though still not so clarified ,has become very popular in EFL(English as foreign language )teaching in China in the Chins iin the past two decades.1.9.5 Etic vs. Emic The two term originate from the American linguist Pikes distinction of phonetics and phonemics .It is not sufficient for the investigators ,no matter how much experience he has had with the verbal behavior of a particular speech community , merely to devise as detailed a listing of speech acts and events as he can .Such a list runs the risk of being ETIC rather than EMIC, i.e. of making far too many ,as well as behaviorally inconsequential differentiations, just as was often the case with phonetic vs. phonemic analysis in linguistics proper .An emic set of speech acts and events must be one that is validated as meaningful via final resource to the native members of a speech community rather than via appeal to the investigators ingenuity or intuition alone . Human beings are capable of making all kinds of sounds, but only some of these sounds have become units in the language system. Language is first and foremost a "system of vocal symbols", as we have seen in the discussion of language. Speech sounds had existed long before writing was invented, and even today, in some parts of the world, there are still languages that have no writing systems. Therefore, the study of speech sounds is a major part of linguistics.In this chapter, we will look at ways of studying speech sounds and the patterns in which they are used. We will begin with the study of sounds, which is called "PHONETICS'', and then go on to the study of sound patterns, "PHONOLOGY"2.1 Speech production and perception Human beings are capable of making all kinds of sounds, but only some of these sounds have become units in the language system. Language is first and foremost a "system of vocal symbols", as we have seen in the discussion of language. Speech sounds had existed long before writing was invented, and even today, in some parts of the world, there are still languages that have no writing systems. Therefore, the study of speech sounds is a major part of linguistics and, in this chapter, we will look at ways of studying speech sounds and the patterns in which they are used. We will begin with the study of sounds, which is called "PHONETICS'', and then go on to the study of sound patterns, "PHONOLOGY". As we can imagine easily, the speech sound is articulated by a Speaker A. It is then transmitted to and received by Speaker B. Consequently, a speech sound goes through a three-step process. Naturally, the study of sounds is divided into three main. areas, each dealing with one part of the process. ARTICULATORY PHONETICS is the study of the production of speech sounds. ACOUSTIC PHONETICS is the study of the physical properties of sounds produced in speech. A UDITORY PHONETICS is concerned with the perception speech sounds. For the purpose of this book, we will concentrate only on Articulatory Phonetics, which deals with how sounds are produced and ignore the other areas of study. SPEECH ORGANS, as shown in figure, are also know as VOCAL ORGANS. They are those parts of the human body involve in the production of speech. The organs, however, are not used for speech alone, as their primary function is to fulfill the basic biological needs of breathing and eating. In spite of this, there seems to have been considerable evolutionary justification for them to fulfill the special task of speech as they have been formed in such a way that they can function efficiently for the act of speech. It is striking to see how much of the human body is involved in the production of speech: the LUNGS, the TRACHEA (or wind-pipe), the THROAT, the NOSE, and the MOUTH. Inside the mouth, we need to distinguish the TONGUE and various parts of the PALATE while, inside the throat, we have to distinguish PHARYNX, the upper part, from LARYNX, the lower part containing the VOCAL FOLDS (or VOCAL CORDS). The pharynx, mouth, and nose form the three cavities of the VOCAL TRACT. The mouth and the

nose are often referred to, respectively, as the ORAL CAVITY and the NASAL CAVITY.Speech sounds are produced with an AIRSTREAM as their sources of energy. In most circumstances, the airstream comes from the lungs. It is forced out of the lungs and then passes through the BRONCHIOLES and BRONCHI, a series of branching tubes, into the trachea. Sounds that are produced in this way are called PULMONIC' sounds. The larynx opens into a muscular tube, the PHARYNX, part of which can be seen in a mirror. The upper part of the pharynx connects to the oral and nasal cavities. The contents of the mouth are very important for speech production. Starting from the front, the upper part of the mouth includes the UPPER LIP, the UPPER TEETH, the ALVEOLAR RIDGE, the HARD PALATE, the SOFT PALATE (or the VELUM), and the UVULA. The soft palate can be lowered to allow air to pass through the nasal cavity. When the oral cavity is at the same time blocked, a Nasal sound is produced. In English, [m, n, ] are all nasals, with the oral cavity blocked at the lips, alveolar ridge and the velum respectively. The bottom part of the mouth contains the LOWER LIP, the LOWER TEETH, the TONGUE, and the MANDIBLE fi. e. the lower jaw): In phonetics, the tongue is divided into five parts: the TIP, the BLADE, the FRONT, the BACK and the ROOT. (In some analyses the major part of the tongue is often referred to as the TONGUE BODY or the DORSUM. ) Some languages contain speech sounds that are produced without airstreams from the lungs. These .sounds include EJECTIVES, IMPLOSIVES and CLICKS. Such .sounds are labeled 'NON-PUL-MONIC' sounds. As these sounds do not appear it English or Chinese, we will not go into details with the description of such sounds.2.3 Segments, divergences, and phonetic transcription 2.3.1 Segments and divergences We all know that the English spelling does not represent its pronunciation. In the production of the word above, for example, although the spelling suggests Five sounds, there are in fact four. When the word is said slowly, we recognize the four sound SEGMENTS that are comparable to the "a", "b", "o" and "v" of the spelling. In this case, the "e" is silent- George Bernard Shaw (1856--1950)highlighted the lack of precision in English orthography by spelling the word fish as ghoti, as gh is pronounced as fl] in enough, o as [I] in women, and ti as []in nation. The reason for this divergence between sound and symbol may seem to be simple: as there are more sounds in English than its letters can represent, each letter must represent more than one sound. In fact, it is much more complicated than this. In old English, the relation between sound and symbol was much more regular. Some of the sounds, especially the vowels, have undergone changes in the history of English. Additionally, many English words have been borrowed from other languages throughout history and the irregularity of its spelling is made worse because of such borrowings. 2.3.2 Phonetic transcription The divergence between spelling and pronunciation becomes greater when we consider the many accents of English used by people from different regions. In addition, there are still many languages in the world that do not have a writing system of their own and we need; to rely on a set of symbols to record the sounds they make too. Because of these reasons, it is necessary to devise sets of symbols that can be used for transcribing sounds in language. Several such systems are in use and, in this book, we will introduce and use the notation system of the INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET(IPA). In 1886, the INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ASSOCIATION was inaugurated by a small group of language teachers in France who had found the practice of phonetics useful in their teaching and wished to popularize their methods. It was first known as the Phonetic Teachers' Association and was changed to its present title in 1897. One of the first activities of the Association was to produce a journal in which the contents were printed entirely in PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION. The idea of establishing a phonetic alphabet was first proposed By the Danish grammarian Otto Jespersen (1860 - 1943) in 1886, and the first version of the IPA was published in August 1888.Its main principles were that there should be a separate letter for each distinctive sound, and that the same symbol should be used for that sound in any language in which it appears. The alphabet was to consist of as many Roman alphabet letters as possible, using new letters and diacritics only when absolutely necessary. These principles continue to be followed today. The [PA has been revised and corrected several times and is now widely used in dictionaries and textbooks throughout the world. The present system of the IPA derives mainly from one developed in the1920s by the British phonetician, Daniel Jones (1881--1967), and his colleagues at University of London. Some of its special letters have even been accepted as part of the new orthographies devised for previously unwritten languages.2.4 Consonants Consonants and vowels The sound segments are, grouped into CONSONANTS and VOWELS. Consonants are produced by constricting or obstructing the vocal1tract at some place to divert, impede, or completely shut off the flow of air in the oral cavity. By contrast, a vowel is produced without such obstruction so no turbulence or a total stopping of the air can be perceived. Theoretically, as far as phoneticians are concerned, any segment must be either a vowel or a consonant. If a segment is not a vowel, it is a consonant. The problematic area is that the initial round in hot gives little turbulence, depending on how forcefully it is said, and in yet and wet the initial segments are obviously vowels. To get out of this problem, the usual solution is to say that these segments arc neither vowels nor consonants but midway between the two categories. For this purpose, the terms "SEMI-VOWEL" or "SEMI-CONSONANT'' are often used. Other suggestions have been made but as these affect only a small number of segments, the distinction between vowels and consonants will be retained for our purposes in this book. Consonants In the production of consonants at least two articulators are involved. For example, the initial sound in bad involves both lips and its final segment involves the blade (or the tip) of the tongue and the alveolar ridge. The categories of consonant, therefore, are established on the basis of several factors. The most important of these factors are: (a) the actual relationship between the articulators and thus the way in which the air passes through certain parts of the vocal tract and (b) where in the vocal tract there is approximation, narrowing, or the obstruction of air.The former is known as the MANNERS OF ARTICULATION and the latter as the PLACES OF ARTICULATION. 2.4.1 Manners of articulation There are several basic ways in which articulation can be accomplished: the articulators may close off the oral tract for an instant or a relatively long period; they may narrow the space considerably; or they may simply modify the shape of the tract by approaching each other. (1) STOP (or PLOSIVE): complete closure of the articulators involved so that the airstream cannot escape through the mouth. It is essential to separate three phases in the production of a stop: (a) the closing phase, in which the articulators come together; (b) the hold or compression phase, during which air is compressed behind the closure; (c) the release phase, during which the articulators forming the obstruction come rapidly apart and the air is suddenly released. Technically this third phase is called "plosion", hence the name "plosive", but because of the closure involved in the production of plosives, the alternative name "stop" is frequently used to refer to this category of sounds. If the air is stopped in the oral cavity but the soft palate is clown so that it can go out through the nasal cavity, the sound produced is a NASAL STOP. Otherwise it is an ORAL. STOP. Although both types of sounds are stops, phoneticians have retained the term STOP to indicate an oral stop and used the term NASAL to indicate a nasal stop. In English, [p, b, t, d, k, g] are stops and [m, n, N] are nasals. (2) FRICATIVE: close approximation of two articulators se that the airstream is partially obstructed and turbulent airflow is produced. The audible friction defines this class of sounds and thus explains the label "fricative". [f, v, W, T, s, z, F, V,h] are fricatives in English. (3) (MEDIAN) APPROXIMANT: an articulation in which one articulator is close to another, but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced. The gap between the articulators is therefore larger than for a fricative and no turbulence. It is important point to note that this category overlaps with that of vowel. (4) LATERAL (APPROXIMANT): obstruction of the airstream at a point along the center of the oral tract with incomplete closebetween one or both sides of the tongue and the roof of the mouth. As the lateral passage forms a stricture of open approximation and no noise of friction is produced, it can come under the umbrella of" approximants'. [ l ] is the only one lateral in English. Other consonantal articulations include TRILL, TAP or FLAP, and AFFRICATE. A trill (sometimes called ROLL) is produced when an articulator is set vibrating by the airstream. A major trill sound is [r], as in red and rye in some forms of Scottish English. The Spanish "rr" in perro (dog) is a trill [r]. If only one vibration is produced, i.e. the tongue makes a single tap against the alveolar ridge, the sound is called a tap or a flap. 2.4.2 Places of articulation Consonants may be produced at practically any place between the lips and the vocal folds. Eleven places of articulation are distinguished on the IPA chart. (1) BILABIAL: made with the two lips. In English, bilabial sounds include [p, h, m], as in pet, bet and met. [w], as in we and wet, involves an approximation of the two lips but is produced slightly differently: the tongue body is raised towards the velum at the same time and in the IPA chart it is treated as a labial-velar approximant, outside the consonant chart. However, as far as English is concerned, most linguists today have placed it under the label "bilabial". (2) LABIODENTAL: made with the lower lip and the upper front teeth. [f, v],' as in fire and via, are produced by raising the lower lip until it nearly touches the upper front teeth. (3) DENTAL: made by the tongue tip or blade (depending on the accent or language) and the upper front teeth. Only fricatives ([T, W]) are found to be strictly dental. Some speakers have the tip of the tongue protruding between the upper and lower front teeth whereas others have it close behind the upper front teeth. Both are normal in English, and both may be called dental. The term INTERDENTAL is sometimes used to describe the first kind in order to make a distinction. (4)ALVEOLAR: made with the tongue tip or blade and the alveolar ridge. Sounds produced at this place include [t, d, n; s, z, a, I] for English, which is a large group of sounds.

(5)~POSTALVEOLAR: made with the tongue tip and the back of the alveolar ridge. Such sounds include [F, V] as in ship and genre. In some systems, this place is also~ known as palato-alveolar. (6) RETROFLEX: made with the tongue tip or blade curled back (retroflexed ) so that the underside of the tongue tip or blade forms a stricture with the back of the alveolar ridge or the hard palate. .For English, the use of retroflex sounds, e.g. the "r" of red, depends on accent and many speakers do not use such sounds at all. (7)PALATAI: made with the front of the tongue and the hard palate. The only English sound made here is [j], as in yes and yet, but many speakers do use a palatal fricative [] for the "h" in he or Hugh. (8)VELAR: made with the back of the tongue and the soft palate. In making such sounds, the back of the tongue is raised to touch the velum. Examples in English are velar stops [k, gl, as in cat and get, and velar nasal IN], as in sing. The pronunciation of the Scots word loch contains a velar fricative [x] after the vowel. The initial consonant in the Chinese word "" is also the velar fricative Ix]. (9) UVULAR: made with the back of the tongue and the uvula, the short projection of soft tissue and muscle at the posterior end of the velum. Such sounds are not found in standard English but uvular fricatives [x] are occasionally heard in certain rural Northern accents of English as realizations of the "r" in try and dry. The sounds are, however, standard in, some other languages. (10) PHARYNGEAL: made with the root of the tongue and the walls of the pharynx. There are few sounds at this place Because of physiological difficulty. Arabic is a language which contains pharyngeal fricatives. (11) GLOTTAL: made with the two pieces of vocal folds pushed towards each other. The [hi in hat and hold is often described as a glottal fricative, although some people hold it may be more realistic to interpret it as a type of vowel. The glottal stop [?] is formed by bringing together the vocal folds, building up pressure behind them as for a stop and then releasing the airstream suddenly. Because of such a gesture, it is more of the lack of sound than a sound. A glottal stop is often perceived in words like fat [fA?t] and pack [pA?k], and many speakers of English have it for the "t" in words like button [bQ?n], beaten[bQ?n], and fatten [fA?n]. 2.4.5 The consonants of English As we have noticed, in many cases the pronunciation of English depends on individual speaker's accent and personal preference. There are different accents even within Great Britain, let alone outside it. Although no standard had been established on the way English should be pronounced, one form of English pronunciation is the most common model accent in the teaching of English as a foreign language. It is referred to as RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION (RP), and many people also call it BBC English or Oxford English. RP originates historically in the southeast of England and is spoken by the upper-middle and upper classes throughout England. It is widely used in the private sector of the education system and spoken by most newsreaders of the BBC network. Table 2.1 is a chart of English consonants as used by RP speakers.Table 2.1 A chat of English consonantsManner of Articulation Place of Articulation

Bilabial Labio- dental Dental Alveolar Post- alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Stop p b t d k g

Nasal m n

Fricative f v s z F V h

Approximant w r j

Lateral

Affricate tF dV

In many cases there are two sounds that share the same place and manner of articulation. These pairs of consonants are distinguished by voicing (see Section 2.2), the one appearing on the left is voiceless and the one on the right is voiced. Now the consonants of English can be described in the following way: [p] voiceless bilabial stop [b] voiced bilabial stop [s ] voiceless alveolar fricative [z] voiced alveolar fricative When no distinction is made in voicing, only two features will be necessary. Therefore, [m] is a "bilabial nasal", [j] a "palatal approximant", and lb] a "glottal fricative". [l] may be called an "alveolar lateral" or simply a "lateral".