MY NOTES; email: research_78@yahoo.
fr
Phonetics edition
LECTURE ONE/ PHONETICS IN GENERAL
Q: what is the etymology of the word ‘phonetics’ ? and define it ?
R: phonetics comes from the greek word ‘phone’ which stands for sound or voice and it
refers to the branch of linguistics that deals with the sounds of speech and their
production, combination, description and representation by written symbols
Q: what is the representation by written symbols referred to?
R: this representation is usually referred to as the phonetic transcription in which
systems of phonetic writing are provided and aim at the accurate representation of any
sequence of speech sounds
Q: what do these systems do? And whats the most well-known system?
R: these systems also attempt to facilitate the process of language learning, especially the
foreign one where human speech sounds are represented by specific symbols; and this
system is known as IPA (international phonetic alphabet), phoneticians also refers to the
system of sounds as a particular language
Q: what’s the ultimate concern of phonetics?
R: the ultimate concern is the sound
Q: what’s the role of a phonetician?
R: his role is to handle the concrete outworking of the objective physical of speech
Q: what are the 3 phonetics main sub-disciplines?
R: they are:
1- Articulatory phonetics: investigates and classifies speech sounds, and the way they are
produced by speech organs
2-acoustic phonetics: is concerned with the perception of the sound waves created by the
articulation of speech organs
3- Auditory phonetics: Is concerned with the perception of speech sounds by the ear and
the brain
And all phonetics are interrelate
Q: who developed phonetics?
R: the Indians and the medieval Arabs are the ones who developed phonetics until the
16th century where the modern tradition begun and in the 19th and 20th centuries where
modern phonetics actually created through visible speech by the scholar Alexander
Melville bell
Q: what is the etymology for phonology? And define it?
R: the term phonology came from the two Greek words “phone” which stands for
‘sound/voice’ and “logos” which means ‘word/speech’; it refers to the study of speech
sounds in languages and the system of the sound
Q: whats the difference between phonetics and phonology functions? Give an example.
R: phonetics deals with the nature of sounds whereas phonology describes the way
sound function within given language
For example the combination ‘KT’ at the beginning of a word would be impossible in
some languages but very common in Greek
Q: what is the relation between phonetics, phonology and linguistics?
R:
Linguistques to phonology: dependent
Phonology to phonetics: dependent
Phonetics to linguistics: independent
Linguistics
(the scientific study of language )
Phonology Phonetics
(the study of sound behavior in (the study of physical nature of
language) speech sounds)
Q: whats the importance of learning phonetics and phonology?
R: it is important to learn the English phonetics mainly because there is not always a
correspondence between the English spoken form and the written form
Q: give example of one sound (phoneme) that has many graphical representations
R: for example the English vowel /i:/ can be written: ‘ea’ , ‘ee’ , ‘ie’ , ‘ei’ in read, sleep,
believe, and receive
Q: give example of one sound (phoneme) represented by many letters
R: for example the sound /f/ may be represented by : ‘f’ in frame or ‘ph’ in photograph
or ‘gh’ in enough
Q: give example of one graphical representation that is refered to many sounds
R: for example the vowel ‘a’ can be pronounced: /ei:/ as in shape or /ae:/ as in cat or /a:/
as in last or /i:/ as in shortage
Q: how many speech sounds are in the English language?
R: there are 49 speech sounds in English, 24 consonants and 25 vowels
Q: whats the difference between vowels and consonants ?
R:
1. In the production of vowels, the organs of speech are approximately stationary; but,
in the production of consonants, the organs of speech are in constant movement.
2. In the production of vowels, the air escapes freely; but, in the production of
consonants, the air is either completely or partially blocked in other words
If there IS an obstruction ---- it is a consonant
Id there is NO obstruction ----- it is a vowel
This rule works for 46 sounds of speech in English
The exceptions are : /h/ (huuuh) , /j/ (yu) , /w/ (woo)
These 3 sounds are called semi-vowels
Q: the rule considering these exceptions:
Phoneticly : they are considered semi-vowels
Phonologicly : they are considered consonants
In general : they are considered consonants because we count them in the consonants
Q: draw a diagram
R:
Vertical distance
tongue Front
back
Close i:
u:
open
ae:
a:
LECTURE TWO/ VOWELS
Q: define a vowel?
R: vowels are sounds in which there is NO obstruction of the flow of air in other words
air passes without any complete closure of narrowing between speech organs
Q: how are the vowels classified ?
R: they are classified either by their length (eithr a short or a long vowel) or according
to the part of the tongue involved in the articulation; there are three sets of vowels when
using this method of categorization
1- front vowels :
or sounds in which the main raising is made by the front of the tongue toward the hard palate
2-central vowel:
or sounds in which the main raising is made by the centre of the tongue toward the hard
palate.
3-back vowels :
or sounds in which the main raising is made by the back of the tongue toward the soft palate.
Q: how many long vowels are there? Give examples
R: there are 05 long vowels
/ɜ:/ bird, certain, herb, burn, early, learn, fur
/ i: / deed, read, receive, believe
/a:/ start, park, far, car, palm, past, fast
/ u: / moon, move, group, juice, June, flute, clue, fruit, include
/ ɔ: / more, door, talk, saw, bought, four, board, fall.
Q: how many short vowels are there? Give examples
R: there are 07 short vowels
/ ɪ / sin, money, lucky. (in the close front area/ between the center and front)
/e/ best, head, said
/ ə / believe, element, famous, labour, data, ahead, father.
/æ/ have, fact, act.
/ ʌ / shut, cut, some.
/ ʊ / put, full, cook, good, look, should, wolf.
/|)/ got, was, what, because.
Q: where are the vowels sound located?
R: they are located between the palatal and velar
Q: what is the description or criteria of vowel-like sounds?
R:
1-the tongue height or closeness/openness
2-the part of the tongue or frontness/backness
3-the shape of the lips
Q: draw the Quadrilateral vowel diagram (the cardinal vowels system) and pin pin point
in it all the vowels ?
R:
Check pdf
Note : inside the diagram : vowels (secondary cardinal vowels)
Outside the diagram : consonants (primary cardinal vowels)
Q: whats the distance between the roof of the mouth and the surface of the tongue ?
R:
/i:/ = 2mm
/ae/ = 5mm
/u:/ = 2mm
/a:/=5mm
Q: whats the shape of the lips?
R:
/i:/ = the lips are spread
/u:/ = the lips are round
/a:/= the lips are neutral
+ the diphthongs and triphthongs lectures (2 pages)
