phonetics and phonology

phonetics

the study of linguistic speech sounds, how they are produced (articulatory phonetics), how they are perceived (auditory or perceptual phonetics) and their physical aspects (acoustic phonetics).

phonology

The sound system of a language,; the component of a grammar that include the inventory of sounds (phonetic and phonemic units) ad rules for their combination and pronunciation; the study of the sound systems of all all languages

consonants

we classify these according to where in the vocal tract the airflow restriction occurs called the place of articulation

Phonotactic

defines what sound combinations may and may not occur in a language

glottis

the opening between the vocal cords

larynx

voice box

pharynx

the tubular part of the throat above the larynx

oral cavity

the mouth

nasal cavity

the nose and the plumbing that connects it to the troat

tongue and lips

capable of rapid movement and shape changing

bilabials

[p] [b] [m] articulated by bringing both lips together

labiodentals

[f] [v] we also use our lips to form--articulate these sounds by touching the bottom lip to the upper teeth

interdentals

[ð] [θ] These sounds, both spelled "th", are pronounced by inserting the tip of the tongue between the teeth. However, for some speakers the tongue merely touches behind the teeth, making a sound more correctly called "dental"

alveolars

[t] [d] [n] [s] [z] [l] [r] all seven of these sounds are pronounced with the tongue raised in various ways to the alveolar ridge
--> [t] [d] [n]- the tongue tip is raised and touches the ridge, or slightly in front of it
--> [s] [z]- the sides of the front of the tongue are raised, but the tip is lowered so that air escapes over it
--> [l] the tongue tip is raised while the rest of the tongue rains down, permitting air to escape over its sides = LATERAL SOUND
--> [r] most English speakers curl the tip of the tongue back behind the alveolar ridge, or bunch up the top of the tongue behind the ridge-- air escapes through the central part f the mouth = CENTRAL LIQUID

palatals

the constriction occurs by raising the front part of the tongue to the palate

velars

[k] [g] [ŋ] Class of sounds is produced by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate or velum. The initial and final sounds of the words kick [kɪk] and gig [gɪg]

voiceless

[ʍ] when the vocal cords are apart so that the air flows freely through the glottis into the oral cavity such as the [p] and [s] in super [supər]

voiced

[w] if the vocal cords are together, the airstream forces its way through and causes them to vibrate such as [b] and [z] in buzz [bʌz]

aspirated

a brief puff of air escapes before the glottis closes-- p in "pit"

unaspirated

the vocal cord starts vibrating as soon as the lips open--p in "spit"

stops

consonants in which the airstream is completely blocked in the oral cavity for a short period of time
[p] [b] [m]- bilabial stops
[t] [d] [n]- alveolar stops
[k] [g] [ŋ]- velar stops
[t͡ʃ ] [d͡ʒ]- palatal affricates
[ʔ]- glottal stop


For example pop

fricatives

continuants where the airflow is so severely obstructed that it causes friction
[f] [v]- labiodental fricatives
[ð] [θ]- interdental fricatives
[s] [z]- alveolar fricatives
[ʃ] [ʒ]- palatal fricatives --> mission and mesure
[x] [ɣ]- velar fricatives--> loch or Bach
[h]- glottal fricative


Bach, thin

affricates

sounds are produced by a stop closure followed immediately by a gradual release of the closure that produces an effect characteristic of a fricative. The palatal sounds that begin and end the words "church" and "judge" are voiceless and voiced affricates. Affricates are NOT CONTINUANTS because of the initial stop closure

Judge

liquids

in the production of the sounds [l] and [r] there is some obstruction of the airstream in the mouth, but not enough to cause any real constriction or friction

Rattle

glides

the sounds [j] and [w], the initials sounds of you [ju] and we [wi] are produced with little obstruction of the airstream

Way

approximates

[w] [j] [r] [l] may also be caused approximates becauese the articulators approximate a frictional closeness, but no actual friction occurs

Like

continuant

Airstream is allowed to move through the oral cavity (fricatives, liquids, glides)

sonorant

a speech sound, usually voiced, produced with an air flow that is neither interrupted nor turbulent. Sonorants in English include the vowels (a, e, i, o, u), the glides (w, y), the liquids (l, r), and the nasals (m, n, and the ng sound as in singer).

obstruent

stops, fricatives, and affricates which have blocked or restricted airflow, have aperiodic sound sources in the upper vocal tracts, and can be voiced or voiceless.

assimilation

a common phonological process by which one sound becomes more like a nearby sound. This can occur either within a word or between words. In rapid speech, for example, "handbag" is often pronounced [ˈhæmbæɡ].

dissimilation

a feature changing rule where certain segments become less similar to other segments

metathesis

the transposition of phonemes in a word due to a speech error, dialectal variation, or speech disorder.
For example ask pronounced aks

sound segment addition

epenthesis- the process of inserting a consonant or vowel. (Athlete/"athalete") Adding schwa between silibants when adding the English plural ending

silibant

Hissing sound

sound segment deletion

truncation- dropping a whole segment
random: picture--> pronounced picher
systematic: bomb pronounced bomm

consonant cluster reduction

is the deletion of one or more consonants from a two or three
consonant cluster.
Ex: "spot" /spat/ is pronounced "pot" /pat/; "clown" /klaυn/ is pronounced "cown"
/kaυn/

nonrhotic

relating to or denoting a dialect of English in which r is pronounced in prevocalic position only, common in eastern New England, New York City, and Britain.

phonological rules for the past tense morpheme in English verbs

past tense marker -ed in English has three pronunciations.
(1)
walk [t]

drag [d]

pad [ød]


slip [t]

flub[d]

pat [ød]

(a) [t] = Past Tense
(b) [d] = Past Tense
(c) [ød] = Past Tense

Because there is a phonetic similarity and a single meaning we want to show that there is a single morpheme here. However, if we posit that there is only one morpheme here, we must explain the variation in pronunciation by rule.

If we can prove that the variation of form is independent of the definition of the morpheme, and that it is caused by environmental conditions rather than by differences in morphemes, we may conclude that example (1) shows three variations of the same morpheme.