Phonetics

• Sound Inventory: the sounds a language uses -different for every language e. g. 'th', 'i'

  ↳ languages use only a subset of all possible speech sounds

  ↳ sounds coincide with movement: learning a new language with a different sound inventory means

  Learning new movements
• Phonetics -description with characteristics of speech sounds

  -> what types of speech sounds do we find in languages? How can we describe these sounds?

  -> which criteria can we use to distinguish different sounds?

  ↳ How do we create speech sounds? => Articulatory phonetics

  ↳ Which physical properties are characteristic of particular sounds? => Acoustic phonetics

  ↳ How are speech sounds perceived and processed by the listener? => Auditory phonetics
• Spelling vs. Pronounciation

  · Letters/orthographic symbols sometimes Unlike sounds: spelling doesn't reflect sound structure of words

  · the same sound can be represented by different letters

  · different sounds can be represented by the same letter
• IPA: International Phonetic Alphabet = transcription system with separate symbols for each sound

  RP: Received Pronounciation = all sounds that occur in standard accent of British English

  General American: same as RP but for American English (some consonants deviate from BE)
• speaking by pushing air out of the lungs (most common)

  Egressive pulmonic airstream mechanism
• system in which vibrations are formed

  vocal tract
• Larynx Vocal folds/glottis (the vocal folds are a pair of membranes stretched across the larynx
• provide resonating space


  nasal and oral cavity
• speech production

  ↳ active articulations can be moved (i. e. tongue, lips, lower jaw

  ↳ passive articulations (upper teeth, hard palate, ... )
• What parts of the body are involved in speaking?

  · air is pushed out of the lungs

  · air passes through the vocal and exits either through the mouth or the nose

  · the tongue and/or lips move to specific places in the mouth

  · vocal chords vibrate for some sounds

  · airstream may be obstructed for some sounds

  · airstream is modified in different ways to produce different sounds
• are characterised by a constriction at the lips (e. g. [b])-> involving both lips

  bilabial sounds
• are characterised by an obstruction at the alveolar ridge (eg. [d])


  alveolar sounds
• involve the lower lip and upper teeth (eg. [f])


  Labio-dentals
• are produced with the tongue immediately behind the upper front teeth

  dental sounds
• are produced with the tongue protruding between upper& lower front teeth

  inter-dental sounds
• place constriction between hard palate and alveolar ridge

  palato-alveolar sounds
• are produced by raising the tongue towards the hard palate

  palatal sounds
• are an obstruction at the velum (e. g. [k])

  velar sounds
• are created by obstructing the airstream at the glottis

  glottal sounds
• sounds that are produced by stopping the airflow and releasing it again in an 'explosive manner'

  stops/plosives
• sounds that are produced by obstructing the airflow without stopping it

  fricatives
• sounds characterised by stopping of airflow followed by a prolonged release with audible friction

  affricates
• approximants: sounds that are produced by the articulators approaching each other without

  a strong constriction in the vocal tract

  -> Liquids [l, r], semi-vowels [w, j]

  -> lateral approximant [l]: air escapes at the sides of the tongue

  -> central approximants [r, w, j]: air escapes down the centre of the mouth
• sounds that are produced by lowering the velum -> open passage between oral& nasal cavity ([m, n])

  nasals
• Place of articulation: point of closest constriction in the vocal tract

  Manner of articulation: various production methods of consonants
• voiceless sounds: vocal chords are apart -> no vibration

  voiced sound: vocal chords are closed and forced to vibrate by airflow
• Classification of Speech Sounds -Vowels

  · no obstruction of airstream, only modulation
• tongue position:

  vowel frontness: position of tongue at front/center/back of oral cavity

  vowel height: position of the tongue at top/mid(dle)/bottom of oral cavity

  vowel chart/quadrilateral illustrates the movement of the tongue
• Length:

  difference in length isn't noted in vowel chart

  ↳ long rowel indicated by colon

  tense vowels need a lot of muscular activity to be produced

  Lax vowels are produced by little muscular tension
• Lip rounding

  rounded vowels: sounds that are produced by rounding the lips

  unrounded vowels: sounds that are produced by spreading the lips
• diphthongs: two-part vowels with a change in auditory quality within a single syllable -> tongue changes position

  monophthongs: Simple single-vowels without a change in quality

  note: symbols used in diphthongs sometimes differ from similar symbols in monophthongs

  -> vowel chart of diphthongs indicate direction of tongue

  -> centering diphthongs end in [schwa](only in RP)

  closing diphthongs end in [I. U]