PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

Claudia Yuliana Ramírez

B. A Modern languages as a foreign language

March 14th, 2014

PHONETICS

Phonetics is a scientific description of what

speech sounds exist in a language. It

represents how they are produced and

perceived and what acoustic properties they

have.

Phonetics essentially seeks to trace the

processes physiologically involved in sound

production. It describes the ways the sounds

are produced and the points at which they

are articulated.

(Daniel, 2005, p.1)

PHONOLOGY

Phonology is concerned with the regularities that

govern the phonetic realisations of sounds in

words of a language. It looks at and tries to

establish a system of sound distinctions

relevant to a particular language.

It then seeks to determine how the elements of

this abstract system behave in actual

speech. Phonology actually delineates the

functioning of sounds in particular

contexts.

(Daniel, 2005, p.1)

I

Image 1

Forget letters we are talking sounds

“…it is important to bear in mind,…, that we are

interested in the sounds which make up words,

not the letters with which they are spelled.

The word fought, for example has 6 letters, but

only three sounds: the /f/, followed by a single

vowel sound (written with 2 letters ou, in this

word), and the final /t/. The gh is of course,

“silent”… (Kirchner, no year, p.2)

CONSONANTS: INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC

ALPHABET (IPA)

IPA

Symbo

l

Example wordsIPA

SymbolExample words

p Pat, hippy, trip ʃ Ship, pressure, rash

t Top, return, pat ʒ Jacques, measure, rouge

k Cat, biker, stick m Mice, lemon, him

b Bat, rubber, snob n Nick, funny, gain

d Day, adore, bad ŋ Singer, bang, bank

g Guts, baggy, rig l Light, yellow, feel

f Photo, coffee, laugh r Rice, arrive, very

v Voice, river, live w Winter, away

θ Think, author, teeth j Yell, onion

ð This, weather, teethe h Hill, ahead

s Sit, receive, bass tʃ Chop, nature, itch

z Zoom, fuzzy, maze dʒ Judge, region, age

(kirchner, no year,p.3)

CONSONANTS

Consonants are often classified by being given so-

called VPM-label.

V= Voicing

P= Place

M= Manner

(Forel & Puskás, 2005, p.6).

VOICING

This term refers to the vibration of the vocal

folds. (Roach, 2009, p.98)

Eg. Dance (voiceless)

Television (voiced)

Voiced consonants: b, d, g, v, ð, z, ʒ, l, r, j, w,

dʒ, m, n, ŋ

Voiceless consonants: p, t, k, f, θ, s, ʃ, h, tʃ

(Forel & Puskás, 2005, p.7).

PLACES OF ARTICULATION

Consonants are made by producing an

obstruction to the flow of air at some point in the

vocal tract, and when we classify consonants one

of the most important things to establish is the

place where this obstruction is made. (Roach,

2009, p.66)

BILABIAL

A sound is made with both (Forel & Puskás,

2005, p.8).

Eg: /p/ =put

/b/ =best

/m/ =many

Image 2

LABIODENTAL

Sounds are made when the lower lip is raised

towards the upper fron teeth (Forel & Puskás,

2005, p.8).

Eg. /f/= far

/v/= vest

Image 3

DENTAL

Sounds are produced by touching the upper

teeth with the tip of the tongue (Forel & Puskás,

2005, p.8).

Eg. /θ/= thanks

/ð/= other

Image 4

ALVEOLAR

Sounds are made by raising the tip of the tongue

towards the ridge that is just behind the upper

front teeth (Forel & Puskás, 2005, p.9).

Eg: /t/= ten /s/= say

/d/ =dice /z/= zipper /n/= never /l/= lazy /r/=ring

Image 5

PALATOALVEOLAR

Sounds are made by raising the blade of the

tongue towards the part of the palate just behind

the alveolar ridge (Forel & Puskás, 2005, p.9).

Eg. /ʃ/= she /tʃ/=cheese

/ʒ/= vision /dʒ/= jump

Image 6

PALATAL

Sounds are very similar to palato alveolar ones,

they are just produced further back towards the

velum (Forel & Puskás, 2005, p.9).

Eg: /j/ yesterday, newlyweds

Image 7

VELAR

Sounds are made by raising the back of the

tongue towards the soft palate , called the velum

(Forel & Puskás, 2005, p.9).

Eg: /k/ =kick

/g/= mug /ŋ/= song

Image 8

GLOTTAL

Sounds are produced when the air passes

through the glottis as it is narrowed (Forel &

Puskás, 2005, p.9).

Eg: /h/= huge

Image 9

MANNER OF ARTICULATION

One of the most important things that we need to

know about a speech sound is what a sort of

obstruction it makes to the flow of air (Roach,

2009, p. 53).

PLOSIVES

Sounds in which there is a complete closure in

the mouth, so the air is blocked for fraction of a

second and then released with a small burst of

sound (Forel & Puskás, 2005, p.10 ).

Eg. bilabial /b/=Brain /p/=Power

Alveolar /t/=Train /d/=Dead

Velar /k/= Kill /g/=Gag

FRICATIVES

Have a closure which is not quite complete. This

means that the air is not blocked at any point,

and therefore there is no plosion. On the other

hand the obstruction is big enough for the air to

make a noise when it passes through it (Forel &

Puskás, 2005, p.10 ).

Eg: labiodental /f/ = Fine /v/=Vine

Dental /θ/=Thistle /ð/=This

Alveolar /s/= Sue /z/=Zoo

palato alveolar /ʃ/=Shore /ʒ/=Azure

Glottal /h/=Hot

AFFRICATES

Are a combination of plosive and fricative.they

begin like a plosive, with a complete closure, but

instead of a plosion, they have a very slow

release, moving backwards to a place where a

friction can be heard (Forel & Puskás, 2005,

p.11).

Eg. /tʃ/= chew, cello

/dʒ/= edge

NASALS

Resemble plosives, except that there is a

complete closure in the mouth, but as the velum

is lowered the air can escape through the nasal

cavity (Forel & Puskás, 2005, p.11 ).

Eg: bilabial /m/= meat

Alveolar /n/= knit, run

Velar /ŋ/=bring

LATERALS

Are sounds where the air escapes around the

sides of the tongue (Forel & Puskás, 2005, p. 11).

Eg: alveolar /l/= full, light

APPROXIMANTS

Are sounds where the tongue only approaches the

roof of the mouth, so that there is not enough

obstruction to create any friction (Forel &

Puskás, 2005, p.12 ).

Eg: alveolar /r/=red

Palatal /j/= year

Velar /w/= we

TABLE OF CONSONANTS

Bilabial Labiodent

al

Dental Alveolar Palato

alveolar

Palatal velar Glottal

Plosive p b t d k g

Fricative f v ð θ s z ʃ ʒ h

Affricate tʃ dʒ

Nasal m n ŋ

Lateral l

Approximant w r j

(Forel & Puskás, 2005, p. 12 ).

REFERENCES

Daniel, I. O. (2005). Introductory Phonetics and Phonology of English, Ibadan: Safmos Publishers.

Forel, C. & Puskás, G. 2005. Phonetics and Phonology. Geneva: University of Oldenburg.

Kirchner, R. (unknown). Phonetics and phonology: understanding the sounds of speech. University of Alberta.

Raoch, P. (2009). English phonetics and phonology: Glossary. Retrieved from http://www.cambridge.org/servlet/file/EPP_PED_Glossary.pdf?ITEM_ENT_ID=2491706&ITEM_VERSION=1&COLLSPEC_ENT_ID=7 on September 5, 2013

IMAGES

Image 1

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/73497916/THE-

ORGANS-OF-SPEECH

Image 2

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bilabial.s

vg

Image 3

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Labiodental.pn

g

Image 4

http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/hurley/Ling102

web/mod3_speaking/3mod3.5.2_place.htm

Image 5

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alveolar.

png

Image 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retroflex_consonant

Image

7http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/

courses/122/Language/sound_chart.html

Image 8

http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/co

urses/122/Language/sound_chart.html

Image 9

http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/co

urses/122/Language/sound_chart.html