Introduction to Language

Phonetics

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• Explore the relationship between sound and spelling

• Become familiar with International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA )

• Understand the nature of consonants and vowels

• Learn where particular sounds occur (physical aspects of the human vocal tract)

• How sounds change when different sounds surround them

• Yule: Chapter 3, The Sounds of Language2

Objectives:

SEAGH

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CHEF?

sure dead laugh

Imagine a word spelled as

But pronounced as

How would one come to this spelling?

• The sounds of spoken English often do not match up with the letters of written English.

• One solution to describe the sounds of a language is to produce a separate alphabet with symbols that represent sound phonetic alphabet

• These symbols represent both the consonant and vowel sounds of language

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Describing Language Sounds

Acoustic phonetics – the physical properties of speech as sound waves in the air (sound waves)

Auditory phonetics – the study of the perception of speech sounds, via the ear (perception)

Articulatory phonetics – the study of how speech sounds are made, or ‘articulated’ (production) 5

Phonetics the general study of the characteristics of speech sounds

The English alphabet has 26 letters but there are over 40 different speech sounds:

5 vowel and 21 consonant letters of the alphabet

About 20 vowel sounds and 24 consonant sounds (depending on dialect)

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The English Alphabet

Same sound spelled using different letters: sea, see, scene, receive, thief, amoeba, machine

Same letters can stand for different sounds: - sign, pleasure, resign

- dough, through, rough, cough, fought, drought

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A “Good” Phonetic Alphabet: Not English

Single sound spelled by a combination of letters: lock, that, book

Single letter represents a combination of sounds: exit, use

Sometimes letters stand for no sound at all: know, doubt, though

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A “Good” Phonetic Alphabet: Not English

the conversion of spoken words into written words

the process of matching the sounds of human speech to special written symbols

using a set of exact rules, so that these sounds can be reproduced later.

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Transcription

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The Organs of Speech (Yule, page 27)

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English Sounds

• All English words are made from combinations of consonants and vowels

• Every English segment can be uniquely described in three or four words• [p] is the voiceless (bi-)labial (oral) stop• [e] is the upper-mid front vowel• [n] is the alveolar nasal (stop)

Inside the larynx are the vocal cordsOne position: voiceless

Vocal cords are open, the air from the lungs passes between them unimpeded. e.g. /s/

Another position: voicedWhen the vocal cords are drawn together, the

air from the lungs repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through, creating a vibration effect. e.g. /z/

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Voiced and Voiceless Sounds

• Consonants are generally produced with greater constriction within the vocal tract.

• Description of consonants– Voicing: describes the state of the larynx– Place of Articulation: describes the

location of the obstruction or constriction – Manner of Articulation: describes the

type of constriction and the passage of airflow

– e.g. /s/ voiceless alveolar fricative

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Consonants

• Place Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Palatals Velar Glottal(Yule pgs. 28-31)

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English Sounds: Consonants• Manner

Stop Fricative Affricate Nasals Liquids Glides Glottal stops and

flaps(Yule pgs. 31-33)

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IPA Consonants

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English ConsonantsYule, pg. 30

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English Sounds: Vowels• Exercise: Hold your jaw lightly, now say he,

who, and ha. Did your jaw move for ha?

• Vowels don’t have a consonant-like point of articulation or manner of articulation. The three standard descriptors for consonants (place, manner, voicing) aren’t helpful when we want to describe vowels.

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English Sounds: Vowels• There are 4 main ways in which speakers can change the

shape of the vocal tract and thus change vowel quality. Raising of lowering the body of the tongue Advancing or retracting the body of the tongue Rounding or not rounding the lips A tense or lax gesture of the tongue body

• Manner: all vowels are articulated in the same way, with the tongue raising or lowering to the target position

• All vowels (in English) are voiced

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Monophthongs of English

seat

set

sat

You will find that you open your mouth a little wider as you change from [i] to [Ɛ] to [æ]

These varying degrees of openness correspond to different degrees of tongue height

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Monophthongs of EnglishMade with the front of the mouth less open because the

tongue body is raised, or high

Produced with an

intermediate tongue

height

Pronounced with the

front of the mouth

open and the

tongue lowered.

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Monophthongs of English

beat boot

Beat: the body of the tongue is raised and pushed forward so it’s just under the hard palate.

Boot: made by raising the body of the tongue in the back of the mouth, toward the velum

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Monophthongs of English

Front: tongue is moved forward or advanced for all front monophthongs

Back: tongue is retracted or pulled back for the back monophthongs

Vowel quality also depends on lip position

[u] in two lips are rounded

[i] in tea lips are unrounded

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Lip Rounding

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Diphthongs: Complex vowel sounds because they are two-part vowel sounds, consisting of a transition from one vowel to the other in the same syllable

Try saying eye very slowly. How do you make this vowel sound?

1. Your tongue starts out in the low back position for [α]

2. Then your tongue moves toward the front position for [I]

Diphthongs of English

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Examples:buybaybowoh

Diphthongs of English

Do Study Questions Chapter 3; Read Chapter 4.

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Homework

Yule, 2010Fromkin, et. al., 2009

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References

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