Phonetics and Phonology Lecture Notes

Phonetics

• The study of PHONEMES (the minimum units of sound).
• ARTICULATORY PHONETICS: the articulators we use.
• ACOUSTIC PHONETICS: the sound-waves we make.
• AUDITORY PHONETICS: the way the hearer perceives the sounds.

Phonology

• The study of the SOUND SYSTEM.
  • The study of sounds/segments when they are no longer in isolation but grouped together in syllables and words.
  • How phonemes can combine in a particular language, and the restrictions there are on these combinations.
• SEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY
• SUPRASEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY

English Consonants

• Plosives: p b, t d, c k g q G ?
• Nasals: m, m, n, n, n N
• Trill: B, r, R
• Tap or Flap: V, r
• Fricatives: þ ß f v 0 ð s z ∫ З s z ç j x ɣ × K h ɦ ћ ʁ
• Lateral fricative
• Approximant
• Lateral approximant: 1, ɫ, ʎ, L, ƚ, ɬ, ʪ
• Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless.
• Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.

Other Symbols

• M: Voiceless labial-velar fricative
• W: Voiced labial-velar approximant
• CZ: Alveolo-palatal fricatives
• I: Voiced alveolar lateral flap
• PALATO-ALVEOLAR -AFFRICATES: /t∫/, /dЗ/
• Ч: Voiced labial-palatal approximant H Simultaneous and X
• H: Voiceless epiglottal fricative
• £: Voiced epiglottal fricative
• 7: Epiglottal plosive
• Affricates and double articulations can be represented by two symbols joined by a tie bar if necessary.

Organs of Speech

• Articulatory Phonetics: the articulators we use.
• "The sounds of languages are constrained by what we can do with our organs of speech"

How Speech Sounds are Made

1. Lungs provide the energy source – RESPIRATION
2. Vocal folds convert the energy into audible sound – PHONATION
3. Articulators transform the sound into intelligible speech – ARTICULATION

Respiration

• LUNGS provide the ENERGY SOURCE.
• Expand Rib Cage (raise ribs) and Lower Diaphragm: Expands thoracic cavity, Increases lung volume, air inhaled, chest expands, Decreases air pressure in lungs, Air is drawn into lungs to equalise pressure with outside air, diaphragm contracts.
• Contract Rib Cage (lower ribs) and Raise Diaphragm: Contract thoracic cavity, Decreases lung volume, air exhaled, chest contracts, Increases air pressure in lungs, Air is expelled from lungs to equalise pressure with outside air, diaphragm relaxes.

Phonation

• VOCAL FOLDS convert the energy into AUDIBLE SOUND.
• Oral cavity, Nasal Cavity, Nasopharynx Pharynx, Oropharynx, Voice Box, Larynx, Hypopharynx.
• Adam, Inc. Larynx, Trachea, air inhaled, air exhaled, chest expands, chest contracts, lung, ribcage, diaphragm, diaphragm relaxes, diaphragm contracts.
• LARYNX (= a continuation of the TRACHEA).
• The cartilage structures (the thyroid, cricoid and arytenoid) of the larynx are highly specialized: they variously rotate and tilt to affect changes in the VOCAL FOLDS (or VOCAL CORDS).
• The vocal folds stretch across the larynx and when closed they separate the pharynx from the trachea.
• When the vocal folds are open, BREATHING is permitted. The opening between the vocal folds is known as the GLOTTIS.
• When AIR PRESSURE below closed vocal folds (sub-glottal pressure) is high enough, the vocal folds are forced open, the vocal folds then spring back closed under both elastic and aerodynamic forces, pressure builds up again, the vocal folds open again, … and so on for as along as the vocal folds remain closed and a sufficient sub-glottal pressure can be maintained.
• Crycoid Cartilage Superior horn of Corniculate Cartilage the thyroid cartilage Glottis Cricoid Cartilage Thyroid Cartilage The Larynx: viewed from above Arytenoid Cartilage Vocal Ligament

Articulation

• Articulators transform the sound into intelligible speech.
• By altering the shape of the vocal tract above the LARYNX.
• By opening or closing the VELUM.
• By moving the TONGUE.
• By moving the LIPS and the JAW.
• The major vocal tract articulators:
  • epiglottis
  • nasal cavity
  • oral cavity
  • pharynx
  • oesophagus
  • trachea
  • vocal folds
  • to stomach
  • to lungs
  • uvula
  • soft palate
  • ROOF OF MOUTH AND UPPER LIP
  • hard palate
  • alveolar ridge
  • upper lip
  • upper front teeth
  • THE TONGUE
    • back front lower blade lip root tip

Vowel vs. Consonant Sounds

• VOWEL sounds: no obstruction to airstream
• CONSONANT sounds: some kind of OBSTRUCTION (partial or total)

Language, Race, and Culture

• Language is the most significant and colossal work that the human spirit has evolved-nothing short of a finished form of expression for all communicable experience. This form may be endlessly varied by the individual without thereby losing its distinctive contours; and it is constantly reshaping itself as is all art. Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations.

The IPA

• The International Phonetic Alphabet

Why IPA?

• The ROMAN ALPHABET with five vowels – a, e, i, o, u – does not adequately represent all the vowel sounds in English. > A in cat, came, calm, any, call, was… !
• The English spelling system does not correspond to the sounds of the English language. The same combination of letters has many different pronunciations.

History of IPA

• Toward the end of the 19th century, scholars felt the need for some kind of system in which one symbol equalled one sound.
• 1886 - the International Phonetic Association (founded in France)
• 1888 - the International Phonetic Alphabet (published) = the standard transcription language. Basic principle: a different symbol for every distinguishable sound

IPA Information

• The IPA is the major as well as the oldest representative organisation for phoneticians. It was established in 1886 in Paris. 2016 marked the 130th anniversary of the founding of the IPA, and 2018 marked the 130th anniversary of the first publication of the International Phonetic Alphabet and the formulation of the principles. The aim of the IPA is to promote the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. In furtherance of this aim, the IPA provides the academic community world-wide with a notational standard for the phonetic representation of all languages - the International Phonetic Alphabet (also IPA). The latest version of the IPA Alphabet was published in 2015, and IPA charts are re-issued annually.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (revised to 2020)

Consonants (Pulmonic)

• Bilabial, Labiodental, Dental, Alveolar, Postalveolar, Retroflex, Palatal, Velar, Uvular, Pharyngeal, Glottal
• Plosive: p b, t d, t d, c f, k g, q G, ?
• Nasal: m, m, n, n, ŋ, N
• Trill: B, r, R
• Tap or Flap: V, f
• Fricative: ф ß, f v, θ ð, s z, ∫ З, ɕ ʑ, ç j, x ɣ, x ʁ, h ɦ, ћ ʁ
• Lateral fricative: ɬ ɮ
• Approximant: ʋ, j
• Lateral approximant: ɪ, ɫ, ʎ , L
• Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.

Consonants (Non-Pulmonic)

• Clicks
  • Bilabial
  • Dental
  • (Post)alveolar
  • Palatoalveolar
  • Alveolar lateral
• Voiced implosives
  • ɓ Bilabial
  • ɗ Dental/alveolar
  • ʄ Palatal
  • ɠ Velar
  • G Uvular
• Ejectives
  • p' Bilabial
  • t' Dental/alveolar
  • k' Velar
  • s' Alveolar fricative

Vowels

• Front, Central, Back
• Close: i y, ɨ ʉ, ɯ u
• Close-mid: e ø, ɘ ɵ, ɤ o
• Open-mid: ɛ œ, ə, ʌ ɔ
• Open: æ, a ɶ, ɑ ɒ
• Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel.

Other Symbols

• M Voiceless labial-velar fricative
• W Voiced labial-velar approximant
• CZ Alveolo-palatal fricatives
• I Voiced alveolar lateral flap
• Ч Voiced labial-palatal approximant
• H Simultaneous and X
• H Voiceless epiglottal fricative
• Voiced epiglottal fricative
• Epiglottal plosive
• Affricates and double articulations can be represented by two symbols joined by a tie bar if necessary. examples include: t͡s k͡p

Suprasegmentals

• ˈ Primary stress: ˌfəʊnəˈtɪʃən
• ˌ Secondary stress
• ː Long: eː
• ˑ Half-long: eˑ
• ̆ Extra-short: ĕ
• | Minor (foot) group
• ‖ Major (intonation) group
• . Syllable break: ʤi.ækt
• ‿ Linking (absence of a break)

Tones and Word Accents

Level

• Extra high: ë
• High: é
• Mid: ē
• Low: è
• Extra low: ề

Contour

• Rising: ě
• Falling: ê
• High rising: ě 1
• Low rising: ě
• Rising-falling: ě ʌ
• Downstep: ↓
• Upstep: ↑

Diacritics

• ̊ Voiceless: s θ
• ʰ Aspirated: tʰ dʰ
• ʱ Breathy voiced: bʱ a
• ̰ Creaky voiced: b̰ a
• Dental: t̪ d̪
• Apical: t ̺ d ̺
• Linguolabial: t ̼ d ̼
• Laminal: t ̻ d ̻
• More rounded: ɔ
• Less rounded: ʊ
• Palatalized: tʲ dʲ
• Velarized: tˠ dˠ
• Pharyngealized: tˤ dˤ
• Nasalized: ã
• Nasal release: dⁿ
• Lateral release: dˡ
• No audible release: d̚
• Advanced: u̟
• Retracted: e̠
• Centralized: ë
• Mid-centralized: ẽ
• Syllabic: n̩
• Non-syllabic: e̯
• Velarized or pharyngealized: ~.
• Raised: ẹ = voiced alveolar fricative
• Lowered: e ʙ = voiced bilabial approximant
• Advanced Tongue Root
• Retracted Tongue Root
• Global rise
• Global fall
• Rhoticity: əʳ aʳ
• Some diacritics may be placed above a symbol with a descender, e.g.

Languages and Sounds

• There are about 7,000 languages in the world.
• There are about 200 different vowels and more than 600 different consonants!

Transcription

Narrow Transcription / Phonetic / Allophonic

• Captures as many details as possible and ignores as few details as possible.
• Using the diacritics provided in the IPA, it is possible to make very subtle distinctions between sounds.

Broad Transcription / Phonemic

• Ignores as many details as possible, capturing only enough aspects of a pronunciation to show how that word differs from other words in the language.

Transcription Types

• Little /ˈlɪtəl/ - BROAD Transcription between slashes /ˈlɪtəl/
• [ˈlɪtɫ] - NARROW Transcription between square parentheses [ˈlɪtɫ̩]. It also indicates that the final /l/ is dark: [ɫ]

Phonetics vs. Phonology

• ARTICULATORY PHONETICS (the articulators we use): of the physical production.
• ACOUSTIC PHONETICS (the sound-waves we make): of the acoustic transmission.
• AUDITORY PHONETICS (the way the hearer perceives the sounds): of the perception of the sounds of speech
• PHONETICS = THE STUDY OF SOUNDS (PHONEMES)
• PHONOLOGY = THE STUDY OF THE SOUND SYSTEM: the way sounds (PHONEMES) function within a given language or across languages to encode meaning

Phoneme

• The smallest/minimum unit of sound.
• cat > /kæt/ - 3 graphemes and 3 phonemes
• Love > /lʌv/ - 4 graphemes and 3 phonemes
• A PHONEME is an abstract unit of speech sound that can distinguish words
  * changing a phoneme in a word can produce another word: CAT vs. CUT vs. COT = MINIMAL PAIRS
  * a phoneme is a distinctive sound
  * sin /sɪn/ vs. sing /sɪŋ/
  * RANA vs. LANA

Allophone

• A variation of the same phoneme/sound.
• The same phoneme may have different allophones!
• EXAMPLE: clear L (as in lip) and dark L (as in milk)
• An ALLOPHONE is not distinctive, but rather a variant of a phoneme
  * changing the allophone won't change the meaning of a word, but the result may sound non-native, or be unintelligible
  * Béne vs. Bène
  * AmE love vs. BrE love vs. Italian love

Summary

• The organs of speech
• The IPA
  • NARROW TRANSCRIPTION
  • BROAD TRANSCRIPTION
• NOTES:
  • Phonetics vs. Phonology
  • PHONEME
  • ALLOPHONE
  • MINIMAL PAIRS