Phonetics: The Sounds of Language

the sounds of that language (b, s, u) how to combine those sounds into

words (bus, sub)

How speech sounds are produced, and how they may be classified

Sound Segments Key Pout A napron > an apron grade A gray day I scream Ice cream

Segmenting the continuous sounds How to segment sentences into

words, and words into sounds

Identity of Speech Sounds to ignore nonlinguistic differences in

speech tsk: Xhosa, Zulu, Sosotho, Khoikhoi th: not in French the inventory of speech sounds acoustic/auditory/articulatory pho-

netics

The Phonetic Alphabet Orthography Did he believe that Caesar could

see the people seize the seas? /i/ The silly amoeba stole the key to

the machine. /i/

/u:/too oo threw ewto o lieu ieuclue ue shoe oethrough ough

Ø or 2 Sounds mnemonic, psychology, resign, ghost, is-

land, whole, debt, exit, cute

Table 6.1

Articulatory Phonetics

Sound Production

Figure 6.1

NasalCavity

OralCavity

Tongue

Palate

Velum

Vocal foldsLips, teeth etc.

Vocal cords: thin bands of mem-brane

Glottis: opening between the vocal cords

Larynx: the voice box Pharynx: tubular part Oral cavity: the mouth Nasal cavity Vocal tract: all of the vocal cavities

consonants vs vowels Consonants: with restriction or clo-

sure

Vowels: no restriction

Describing Speech Sounds 1) Are the vocal folds vibrating?

voiced vs. voiceless 2) Is the air-flow restricted?

vowel vs. consonant 3) How is the air-flow restricted?

nasal/oral, stop, fricative, liquid etc. 4) Where is the air-flow restricted?

labial, alveolar, palatal, velar etc.

Places of Articulation Bilabials Labiodentals Interdentals Alveolars Palatals Velars Glottals

Manner of Articulation 1 Voiced and Voiceless Sounds Aspirated/unaspirated Nasal and Oral Sounds Phonetic features

Manner of Articulation 2 Stops Fricatives Affricates Liquids Glides Approximants flaps

Phonetic Symbols for American English Consonants

Table 6.4 Table 6.5

Phonetic Symbols for American English Vowels

Tongue Position Lip Rounding Diphthongs Nasalization of Vowels Tense and Lax vowels Different strokes for different folks

Major Phonetic Classes Consonants or vowels Voiced or unvoiced Noncontinuants and Continuants Obstruents and Sonorants Consonantal: Labials, Coronals, An-

teriors, Sibilants Syllabic Sounds

Prosodic Features suprasegmental features Length: tense vowels > lax vowels Pitch: the faster the vocal cords vi-

brate, the higher the pitch Stress: louder, slightly higher in

pitch

Intonation May affect the meaning of whole

sentences John is here: statement or question

Phonetic Symbols and Spelling Correspondences

Table 6.6

Tongue againstvelum

Block the air stream at the velum. Where does it go through?

˜

Now raise the velumto block the air....

Where does the airgo through?

gkWhere does the air

go through?

bilabial

labiodental

interdental

alveolar

palatal

velar