01:615:201
Introduction to Linguistic
Theory
Adam Szczegielniak
Phonetics:
The Sounds of Language
Copyright in part : Cengage learning
Sound Segments
Knowing a language includes knowing the sounds of that
language
Phonetics is the study of speech sounds
We are able to segment a continuous stream of speech
into distinct parts and recognize the parts in other words
Everyone who knows a language knows how to segment
sentences into words and words into sounds
Identity of Speech Sounds
Our linguistic knowledge allows us to ignore
nonlinguistic differences in speech (such as
individual pitch levels, rates of speed, coughs)
We are capable of making sounds that are not
speech sounds in English but are in other
languages
The click tsk that signals disapproval in English is a
speech sound in languages such as Xhosa and Zulu
where it is combined with other sounds just like t or k
is in English
Identity of Speech Sounds
The science of phonetics aims to describe all the
sounds of all the worlds languages
Acoustic phonetics: focuses on the physical
properties of the sounds of language
Auditory phonetics: focuses on how listeners
perceive the sounds of language
Articulatory phonetics: focuses on how the vocal
tract produces the sounds of language
The Phonetic Alphabet
Spelling, or orthography, does not consistently represent the
sounds of language
Some problems with ordinary spelling:
1. The same sound may be represented by many letters or combination
of letters:
he
people
key
believe
seize
machine
Caesar
seas
see
amoeba
2. The same letter may represent a variety of sounds:
father
badly
many
village
made
The Phonetic Alphabet
3. A combination of letters may represent a
single sound
shoot
either
coat
character Thomas
physics
rough
deal
4. A single letter may represent a combination
of sounds
xerox
The Phonetic Alphabet
4. Some letters in a word may not be
pronounced at all
autumn
sword
resign
pterodactyl
lamb
corps
psychology
write
knot
5. There may be no letter to represent a
sound that occurs in a word
cute
use
The Phonetic Alphabet
In 1888 the International Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA) was invented in order to
have a system in which there was a oneto-one correspondence between each
sound in language and each phonetic
symbol
Someone who knows the IPA knows how
to pronounce any word in any language
The Phonetic Alphabet
Dialectal and individual differences affect
pronunciation, but the sounds of English
are:
The Phonetic Alphabet
Using IPA symbols, we can now represent
the pronunciation of words
unambiguously:
Articulatory Phonetics
Most speech sounds are produced by pushing air
through the vocal cords
Glottis = the opening between the vocal cords
Larynx = voice box
Pharynx = tubular part of the throat above the larynx
Oral cavity = mouth
Nasal cavity = nose and the passages connecting it to the throat
and sinuses
Consonants: Place of Articulation
Consonants are sounds produced with some
restriction or closure in the vocal tract
Consonants are classified based in part on
where in the vocal tract the airflow is being
restricted (the place of articulation)
The major places of articulation are:
bilabial, labiodental, interdental, alveolar, palatal,
velar, uvular, and glottal
Cengage Learning
Consonants: Place of Articulation
Consonants:
Place
of
Ar0cula0on
Bilabials:
[p]
[b]
[m]
Produced
by
bringing
both
lips
together
Labiodentals:
[f]
[v]
Produced
by
touching
the
bo=om
lip
to
the
upper
teeth
Interdentals
[]
[]
Produced
by
pu@ng
the
0p
of
the
tongue
between
the
teeth
Consonants: Place of Articulation
Alveolars: [t] [d] [n] [s] [z] [l] [r]
All of these are produced by raising the tongue to the alveolar
ridge in some way
[t, d, n]: produced by the tip of the tongue touching the alveolar
ridge (or just in front of it)
[s, z]: produced with the sides of the front of the tongue raised but
the tip lowered to allow air to escape
[l]: the tongue tip is raised while the rest of the tongue remains down
so air can escape over the sides of the tongue (thus [l] is a lateral
sound)
[r]: air escapes through the central part of the mouth; either the tip
of the tongue is curled back behind the alveolar ridge or the top of
the tongue is bunched up behind the alveolar ridge
Consonants:
Place
of
Ar0cula0on
Palatals:
[]
[]
[]
[][]
Produced
by
raising
the
front
part
of
the
tongue
to
the
palate
Velars:
[k]
[g]
[]
Produced
by
raising
the
back
of
the
tongue
to
the
soI
palate
or
velum
Uvulars:
[]
[q]
[]
Produced
by
raising
the
back
of
the
tongue
to
the
uvula
Glo5als:
[h]
[]
Produced
by
restric0ng
the
airow
through
the
open
glo@s
([h])
or
by
stopping
the
air
completely
at
the
glo@s
(a
glo5al
stop:
[])
Consonants: Manner of Articulation
The manner of articulation is the way the
airstream is affected as it flows from the lungs
and out of the mouth and nose
Voiceless sounds are those produced with the
vocal cords apart so the air flows freely through
the glottis
Voiced sounds are those produced when the
vocal cords are together and vibrate as air
passes through
Consonants:
Manner
of
Ar0cula0on
The
voiced/voiceless
dis0nc0on
is
important
in
English
because
it
helps
us
dis0nguish
words
like:
rope/robe
ne/vine
seal/zeal
[rop]/[rob]
[fan]/[van]
[sil]/[zil]
But
some
voiceless
sounds
can
be
further
dis0nguished
as
aspirated
or
unaspirated
aspirated
unaspirated
pool
[phul]
spool
[spul]
tale
[thel]
stale
[stel]
kale
[khel]
scale
[skel]
Consonants: Manner of Articulation
Oral sounds are those produced with the velum raised
to prevent air from escaping out the nose
Nasal sounds are those produced with the velum
lowered to allow air to escape out the nose
So far we have three ways of classifying sounds based
on phonetic features: by voicing, by place of
articulation, and by nasalization
[p] is a voiceless, bilabial, oral sound
[n] is a voiced, alveolar, nasal sound
Consonants:
Manner
of
Ar0cula0on
Stops:
[p]
[b]
[m]
[t]
[d]
[n]
[k]
[g]
[]
[][]
[]
Produced
by
completely
stopping
the
air
ow
in
the
oral
cavity
for
a
frac0on
of
a
second
All
other
sounds
are
con;nuants,
meaning
that
the
airow
is
con0nuous
through
the
oral
cavity
Frica;ves:
[f]
[v]
[]
[]
[s]
[z]
[]
[]
[x]
[]
[h]
Produced
by
severely
obstruc0ng
the
airow
so
as
to
cause
fric0on
Consonants:
Manner
of
Ar0cula0on
Aricates:
[]
[]
Produced
by
a
stop
closure
that
is
released
with
a
lot
of
fric0on
Liquids:
[l]
[r]
Produced
by
causing
some
obstruc0on
of
the
airstream
in
the
mouth,
but
not
enough
to
cause
any
real
fric0on
Glides:
[j]
[w]
Produced
with
very
li=le
obstruc0on
of
the
airstream
and
are
always
followed
by
a
vowel
Consonants:
Manner
of
Ar0cula0on
Approximants:
[w]
[j]
[r]
[l]
Some0mes
liquids
and
glides
are
put
together
into
one
category
because
the
ar0culators
approximate
a
fric0onal
closeness
but
do
not
actually
cause
fric0on
Trills
and
aps:
[r]*
[]
Trills
are
produced
by
rapidly
vibra0ng
an
ar0culator
Flaps
are
produced
by
a
ick
of
the
tongue
against
the
alveolar
ridge
Clicks:
Produced
by
moving
air
in
the
mouth
between
various
ar0culators
The
disapproving
sound
tsk
in
English
is
a
consonant
in
Zulu
and
some
other
southern
African
languages
The
lateral
click
used
to
encourage
a
horse
in
English
is
a
consonant
in
Xhosa
*The textbook uses [r] to represent the central liquid as in the word ready rather than as
a trill
Vowels
Vowels
are
classied
by
how
high
or
low
the
tongue
is,
if
the
tongue
is
in
the
front
or
back
of
the
mouth,
and
whether
or
not
the
lips
are
rounded
High
vowels:
[i] [] [u] []
Mid
vowels:
[e]
[]
[o]
[]
[]
[]
Low
vowels:
[]
[a]
Front
vowels:
[i]
[]
[e]
[]
[]
Central
vowels:
[]
[]
Back
vowels:
[u]
[]
[o]
[]
[a]
Cengage Learning
Vowels
Vowels
Round
vowels:
[u]
[]
[o]
[]
Produced
by
rounding
the
lips
English
has
only
back
round
vowels,
but
other
languages
such
as
French
and
Swedish
have
front
round
vowels
Diphthongs:
[a]
[a]
[]
A
sequence
of
two
vowel
sounds
(as
opposed
to
the
monophthongs
we
have
looked
at
so
far)
Nasaliza;on:
Vowels
can
also
be
pronounced
with
a
lowered
velum,
allowing
air
to
pass
through
the
nose
In
English,
speakers
nasalize
vowels
before
a
nasal
sound,
such
as
in
the
words
beam,
bean,
and
bingo
The
nasaliza0on
is
represented
by
a
diacri0c,
an
extra
mark
placed
with
the
symbol:
Vowels
Tense vowels:
Are produced with
greater tension in the
tongue
May occur at the end of
words
Lax vowels:
Are produced with less
tongue tension
May not occur at the end
of words
Vowels
Major Phonetic Classes
Noncontinuants: the airstream is totally obstructed in
the oral cavity
Stops and affricates
Continuants: the airstream flows continuously out of the
mouth
All other consonants and vowels
Obstruents: the airstream has partial or full obstruction
Non-nasal stops, fricatives, and affricates
Sonorants: air resonates in the nasal or oral cavities
Vowels, nasal stops, liquids, and glides
Major
Phone0c
Classes:
Consonantal
Consonantal:
there
is
some
restric0on
of
the
airow
during
ar0cula0on
All
consonants
except
glides
Consonantal
sounds
can
be
further
subdivided:
Labials:
[p]
[b]
[m]
[f]
[v]
[w]
[]
Ar0culated
with
the
lips
Coronals:
[]
[]
[t]
[d]
[n]
[s]
[z]
[]
[]
[][]
[l]
[r]
Ar0culated
by
raising
the
tongue
blade
Major
Phone0c
Classes
Consonantal
categories
cont.:
Anteriors:
[p]
[b]
[m]
[f]
[v]
[]
[]
[t]
[d]
[n]
[s]
[z]
Produced
in
the
front
part
of
the
mouth
(from
the
alveolar
area
forward)
Sibilants:
[s]
[z]
]
[]
[]
[][]
Produced
with
a
lot
of
fric0on
that
causes
a
hissing
sound,
which
is
a
mixture
of
high-frequency
sounds
Syllabic
Sounds:
sounds
that
can
func0on
as
the
core
of
a
syllable
Vowels,
liquids,
and
nasals
Prosodic
Features
Prosodic,
or
suprasegmental
features
of
sounds,
such
as
length,
stress
and
pitch,
are
features
above
the
segmental
values
such
as
place
and
manner
of
ar0cula0on
Length:
in
some
languages,
such
as
Japanese,
the
length
of
a
consonant
or
a
vowel
can
change
the
meaning
of
a
word:
biru
[biru]
building
biiru
[biru]
beer
saki
[saki]
ahead
sakki
[saki]
before
Prosodic Features
Stress: stressed syllables are louder, slightly
higher in pitch, and somewhat longer than
unstressed syllables
The noun digest has the stress on the first syllable
The verb digest has the stress on the second syllable
English is a stress-timed language, meaning that at
least one syllable is stressed in an English word
French functions differently, so when English speakers learn
French they put stress on certain syllables which contributes
to their foreign accent
Tone
and
Intona0on
Tone
languages
are
languages
that
use
pitch
to
contrast
the
meaning
of
words
For
example,
in
Thai,
the
string
of
sounds
[na]
can
be
said
with
5
dierent
pitches
and
can
thus
have
5
dierent
meanings:
Tone and Intonation
Intonation languages (like English) have
varied pitch contour across an utterance,
but pitch is not used to distinguish words
However, intonation may affect the meaning of a
whole sentence:
John is here said with falling intonation is a statement
John is here said with rising intonation is a question
Phonetics of Signed Languages
Signs can be broken down into segmental
features similar to the phonetic features of
speech sounds (such as place and manner of
articulation)
And just like spoken languages, signed languages of
the world vary in these features
Signs are formed by three major features:
1. The configuration of the hand (handshape)
2. The movement of the hand and arm towards or away from
the body
3. The location of the hand in signing space
Phonetics of Signed Languages
The configuration of the hand (handshape)
The movement of the hand and arm
The location of the hand in signing space
