Phonetics and phonology: Speech Sounds and Their

SystemsAdapted from: Wu Heping

http://wuhpnet.googlepages.com/linguisticshttp://groups.google.com/group/linguistics_nwnu

natural sounds

speech sounds

no systematic meaning

a code system.

Definition of Phonetics

Phonetics is the science of speech sounds, which aims to provide the set of features or properties that can be used to describe and distinguish all the sounds used in human language.

Three stages in speech chain

The production of the messageThe transmission of the messageThe reception of the message

Articulatory phonetics Acoustic phonetics Auditory phonetics

The principal cavities or resonators:

-the pharyngeal cavity

-the oral cavity -the nasal cavity (-the labial cavity)

The vocal tract: - the long tubular

structure formed by the first three cavities.

The Speech Organs

PharynxOral CavityNasal CavityUvulaTongue

(tip/blade/front/ middle/back/root)

Hard PalateSoft Palate (Velum)Alveolar Ridge (teeth-

ridge)Teeth (upper &lower)Lips (upper &lower)Epiglottis

Diagram of the speech organs

The process of producing speech

The air breathed in → lungs → the air pressed out →

mouth cavity ↗windpipe (trachea) → larynx → pharynx →

↘

nasal cavity

Read the following twister

I take it you already knowOf tough and bough and cough and dough?Others may stumble but not youOn hiccough, thorough, lough and through.Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,To learn of less familiar traps?

I take it you already knowOf tough and bough and cough and dough?Others may stumble but not youOn hiccough, thorough, lough and through.Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,To learn of less familiar traps?

I take it you already knowOf tough and bough and cough and dough? [tΛf] [bau] [kɔf] [dəʊ]Others may stumble but not youOn hiccough, thorough, lough and through. ['hɪkΛp] ['ѲΛrə] [lɔk] [Ѳru:]Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,To learn of less familiar traps?

Definition of Consonants &Vowels

Consonants: the sounds in the production of which there is an obstruction of the air-stream at some point of the vocal tract .

Vowels: the sounds in the production of which no articulators come very close together and the air-stream passes through the vocal tract without obstruction.

THE PLACE OF ARTICULATION THE MANNER OF ARTICULATION.

Consonants

(2)Place of Articulation

When describing the place of articulation, what we usually consider is the place within the vocal tract where the articulators form a stricture.

The place of articulation

Bilabial e.g. [p], [m]. Labio-dental e.g. [f]. Dental e.g.[ð] Alveolar e.g. [t] Palatal e.g..[j]. Palato-alveolar e.g. [ʃ] Velar e.g. [k]. Glottal e.g. [h] Retroflex Uvular Pharyngeal

The manner of articulation.

Plosive e.g. [p],[d]. It belongs to a broader category called “stop”

Nasal e.g. [m]. Affricate e.g. [tʃ]. Liquid e.g. [l], [r]. [l] Fricative e.g. [f], [z]. （ Some fricatives

are also called sibilants e.g. [s], [ʃ] ） Glide e.g. [h], [w].

Give the IPA symbol for each of the consonants described below

1) voiced bilabial plosive

2) voiceless alveolar plosive3) voiceless dental fricative4) voiced bilabial nasal5) voiceless labio-

dental fricative

b t

Ѳ

m f

Vowels

A Diagram of English Vowels

monophthong e.g. [u]

diphthong e.g. [au] [uə]

triphthong e.g. [auə]

suprasegmentals

stresspitchtone intonation

They relate to aspects of pronunciation that go beyond the production of individual segments.

Stress and pitch

[,u:nI'vɜ:sətI ]

Read it!

The story in Pinyin:shíshì shīshì shīshì, shì shī, shì shí shí

shī 。 shì shíshí shì shì shì shī 。 shíshí, shì shí shī shì shì 。 shìshí, shì shīshì shì shì 。

shì shì shì shí shī, shì shí shí shĭ shì, shĭ shì shí shī shìshì 。 shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì 。 shíshì shī, shì shĭ shì shì shíshì 。 shíshì shì, shì shĭ shì shí shí shī shī 。 shí shí, shĭ shí shì shí shī shī shí shí shí shī shī 。 shì shì shì shì 。

Read again

The story in Chinese characters:石室诗士施氏，嗜狮，誓食十狮。氏时时适市视狮。

十时，适十狮适市。是时，适施氏适市。氏视是十狮，恃十石矢势，使是十狮逝世。氏拾是十狮尸，适石室。石室湿，氏使侍拭石室。石室拭，氏始试食十狮尸。食时，始识是十狮尸实十石狮尸。试释是事。

A translation from internet(revised)

(Once upon a time,) there was a poetic scholar whose name is Mr. Shi, who took delight in lion. He vowed to eat 10 lions. He frequently traveled to towns to see whether there were lions. One day, at 10 o'clock, 10 lions happened to travel to the town. At the same moment, Mr. Shi arrived at the town too. Mr. Shi saw these 10 lions and killed them by casting ten stones. He then picked up those dead bodies, and transported them back to the stone house. When he arrived at home, he found that his house was wet. He ordered his servants to wipe the stone house. after the stone house was wiped, he tried to eat the lions, only to find out that those lions were actually made of stones. This is my attempt to explain this weird story.

From phonetics to phonology

Phones and phonemesFeature theorySyllabification Phonological processes and phonological

rules

Phones and phoneme

pot, spot, slip We pronounce them differently but we know they are the

same sound. How do we know two sounds are the same or different? Phoneme:

a class of sounds which are identified by a native speaker as the same sound.

The form we ‘think of ‘ sounds and store them in memory Marked as /p/

Allophones: the members of these classes The actual phonetic segments produced by a native

speaker Marked as [ph], [po]

How are the phonemes are identified? Minimal pairs and complementary distribution

Major class features

[consonantal]: produced with major obstruction in the oral cavity

[vocalic]: vowels and syllabic liquids. [sonorant]: all and only the singables:

vowels, glides, liquids, and nasals

obstruents vowels glides liquids nasals

[consonental]

+ - - + +

[Vocalic] - + - - -

[sonarant] - + + + +

examples [p b z θ] [i a] [j w] [l r] [m n]

Laryngeal features

These features represent laryngeal states [voice] [spread glottis] This feature distinguishes unaspirated

from aspirated consonants.

Place features

[labial][rounded][coronal]: any sound articulated with the

tongue tip or blade raised[anterior]: any sound articulated in front

of the alveopalatal region[strident]: the noisy fricatives and

affricates

labials Dentals/

alveolars

alveopalatals Palatals/velars

[anterior] + + - -

[coronal] - + - -

examples [p b m] [t d s z n l r ] [∫, t∫] [k g ]

Dorsal features

Features represent placement of the body of the tongue [high] [low] [back] [tense]: The tense-lax distinction

Manner features [+/- continuant] Free or nearly free airflow through the oral cavity:

Vowels Fricatives Glides liquids.

[+/- nasal]: any sound made with the velum lowered.

[+/- lateral] All and only varieties of [l] are [+lateral].

[+/- delayed release] This feature distinguishes stops from affricates. Affricate are designated [+dr].

Psychological reality of features

Evidence that features is not only required by the way sounds are conveniently described but also enters directly into the knowledge that speakers have of their language English plural suffix

[s] lips, lists, maniacs, telegraphs [z] clubs, herds, colleagues, holes, gears [iz] places, porches, cabbages,

The choice of suffix is governed by the last sound in the word. [iz] if noun eds with [s z sh ch etc], otherwise [s] if ends with [p t k f etc], otherwise [z]

Members of each group share features that distinguish the group from all other sounds in the language. Translated into fature notation, the rule for the English plural suffix reads as follows: [iz] if noun eds with [+coronal, +strident], otherwise [s] if ends with [+stiff vocal cords, -voice], otherwise [z]

Dissimilation

Rules in which a segment becomes less similar to another segment. Sixth—sikst fifth--fift