Phonetics

From Yule, Ch. 3

OrthographyOrthography, or alphabetic spelling, does not represent the sounds of a language in a consistent way.

I take it you already know Of 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?Beware of heard, a dreadful word,That looks like beard and sounds like bird.And dead: its said like bed, not bead For goodness sake dont call it deed!Watch out for meat and great and threat(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt). T. S.W. quoted in Mackay (1970)

from Finegan

from Finegan

PhoneticsThe general study of the characteristics of speech sounds is called phonetics.

International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA)

Articulatory Ponetics

Acoustic Phonetics

Auditory Phonetics

Phonetic studies: examples

spectogramMagnetic Resonanc Image (MRI)

http://www.phon.ox.ac.uk/files/docs/answered-a-door.swf

Vowels and consonantsConsonants: there is some restriction or closure in the vocal tract that impedes the flow of air from the lungs

Vowels: vowels are produced with little restriction of the airflow from the lungs out the mouth and/or the nose.

Consonant sounds are classified according to these 3 criteria:

Voicing

Place of articulation

Manner of articulation

VoicingVoiced sounds: If the vocal cords are together, the airstream forces its way through and causes them to vibrate (all vowel sounds are voiced)

Voiceless sounds: when the vocal cords are apart so that air flows freely through the glottis into the oral cavity (some consonant sounds are voiced and some are voiceless)

Place of articulationBilabials: /p/ /b/ /m/ /w/Labiodentals: /f/ /v/Dentals: // //Alveolars: /t/ /d/ /n/ /s/ /z/ /l/ /r/Palatal: // // /t/ /d/ /j/Velars: /k/ /g/ //Glottals: /h/

Manner of articulationStops: /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ //Fricatives: /f/ /v/ // // /s/ /z/ // //Affricates: // //Nasals: /m/ /n/ and //Liquids: /l/ /r/Glides: /w/ /j/

Vowel soundsTo describe vowel sounds we consider the way in which the tongue influences the shape through which the airflow must pass.

Vowel sounds are voiced

DiphthongsIn addition to single vowel sounds, we regularly create sounds that consist of a combination of two vowel sounds, known as diphthongs. When we produce diphthongs, our vocal organs move from one vocalic position [a] to another [] as we produce the sound [a], as in Hi or Bye. The movement in this diphthong is from low towards high front. Alternatively, we can use movement from low towards high back, combining [a] and [] to produce the sound [a], which is the diphthong repeated in the traditional speech training exercise [ha na bran ka].

SchwaIn fact, in casual speech, we all use schwa more than any other single sound.

[]

Unstressed vowels can be pronounced as schwa.