George Yule's "The Study of Language"
Chapter 3: The Sounds of Language
Introduction to Phonetics: This chapter delves into phonetics, which is the study of speech sounds.
It provides an overview of how sounds are produced and classified.
Voiced and Voiceless Sounds: Sounds are categorized as voiced (produced with vocal cord
vibration) or voiceless (produced without vocal cord vibration). For example, /b/ is voiced, while /p/
is voiceless.
Place of Articulation: This refers to where in the mouth the sound is made.
Common places include:
Bilabial: Sounds made with both lips, such as /p/ and /b/.
Labiodental: Sounds made with the lower lip and upper teeth, such as /v/ and /f/.
Dental: Sounds made with the tongue against the upper teeth, such as /θ/ (th in "this").
Alveolar: Sounds made with the tongue against the alveolar ridge, such as /t/ and /d/.
Palatal: Sounds made with the tongue against the hard palate, such as /j/ (y in "yes").
Velar: Sounds made with the tongue against the soft palate, such as /k/ and /g/.
Glottal: Sounds made at the glottis (the space between the vocal cords), such as /h/.
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Manner of Articulation: This describes how the sound is made:
Stops: Sounds where airflow is completely blocked, such as /p/ and /t/.
Fricatives: Sounds where airflow is partially blocked, creating friction, such as /s/ and /z/.
Affricates: Sounds that start as stops but release as fricatives, such as /t͡ ʃ/ (ch in "church").
Nasals: Sounds where airflow passes through the nasal cavity, such as /m/ and /n/.
Liquids: Sounds that are not stops or fricatives, such as /l/ and /r/.
Glides: Sounds that move toward a vowel sound, such as /w/ and /j/.
Glottal Stops and Flaps: Special sounds like the glottal stop (often represented by /ʔ/) and the alveolar
flap (often represented by /ɾ/).
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Vowels and Diphthongs: Vowels are sounds made without blocking the airflow, and diphthongs are
combinations of two vowel sounds pronounced in a single syllable. For example, the "oy" in "boy" is
a diphthong.
Subtle Individual Variation: The chapter notes that individuals can vary subtly in how they pronounce
sounds, influenced by factors like regional accent or personal speech habits.
Study Questions, Tasks, and Further Reading: The chapter concludes with study questions to reinforce
understanding, tasks for practical application, and further reading suggestions for deeper exploration.
Chapter 4: The Sound Patterns of Language
Introduction to Phonology: This chapter focuses on phonology, which is the study of sound patterns
in language. It explores how sounds function within a language to convey meaning.
Phonemes and Allophones: Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that distinguish meaning,
while allophones are variations of phonemes that do not change meaning. For example, the /p/ sound
in "pat" and "spat" is a phoneme, but the aspiration (breath) that accompanies it in "pat" is an
allophone.
Minimal Pairs and Sets: These are used to identify phonemes by showing how a change in one
sound can change the meaning of a word. For example, "pat" and "bat" form a minimal pair because
changing the /p/ to /b/ changes the word's meaning.
Phonotactics: This refers to the rules governing which sounds can appear together in a language. For
instance, in English, /ŋ/ (ng) cannot start a word.
Syllables and Consonant Clusters:
Syllables are units of sound containing a vowel, and consonant clusters are groups of consonants that
appear together. For example, "black" contains the consonant cluster /bl/.
Coarticulation Effects, Assimilation, Elision: These are processes that affect how sounds are
pronounced in combination:
Coarticulation: When one sound influences another, such as pronouncing "k" with a more forward
tongue position before the vowel "i".
Assimilation: When sounds become more similar to each other, such as pronouncing "hand bag" as
"ham bag".
Elision: When sounds are omitted, such as pronouncing "going to" as "gonna".
Normal Speech: The chapter discusses how these sound patterns function in everyday speech, often
leading to variations in pronunciation that do not affect meaning.
