Unit 1-4 UP

Basic Concepts
of Phonetics and
Phonology

Key Topics

Phonetics
Phonology
Transcription

2

“When you know a language
you know the sounds of that

language, and you know
how to combine those
sounds into words”

(Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2007)

Introduction

༝ We live in a world of sound  sound of language.
༝ phonemic awareness since being the baby
༝ the study of sounds and its patterns :

Phonetics – Phonology (profoundly different)

༝ Phonetics – about the production of speech sound
༝ P○○honeEo.nlgog.gl‘iynshg–’hanbaesovupetrhtobhneegopilnoagtatiecwranlosrrduolfessounds

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Phonetics and
Phonology

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Phonetics

- In studying phonetics ༝ Articulatory
we can focus on the phonetics
production, the
transmission, and the ༝ Acoustic phonetics
reception of the human
speech sounds. ༝ Auditory phonetics

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Phonology

- concerned with the - binary value (+/-)
systematic
organization of - distinctive features
sounds in languages of consonants and
vowels
- systems of phonemes

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Phonetics vs. Phonology

Phonetics Phonology

= the study of the = the study of how
sounds of human speech sounds in a
speech and focuses on certain language are
the physical aspect of organized and
sounds and their audible systemized and how
characteristics such patterns are
interpreted.

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We analyze human speech sound by means of

determining phonemes.

Phonemes ༝ Each language has its own
= the smallest units
of sounds in a particular phonemic system.
language
○ English has some speech
e.g. ‘can’/kæn/
= /k/ + /æ/ + /n/ sounds or phonemes
that do not exist in
other languages.

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a minimal pair (can help us find phonemes)

= a pair of sound that can change the
meaning of a word

e.g. ‘cop’ /kap/ ༝ BUT, if those sounds
‘top’ /tap/ cannot change the
meaning = allophones
‘let’ /lɛt/
‘lit’ /lɪt/ ༝ e.g. paper

༝ [p] and [pʰ] =
allophones of the
same phoneme /p/

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“another example… C
AB kill [khɪl]
pill [phɪl] till [thɪl] skill [skɪl]
spill [spɪl] still [stɪl]

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phonemes “
allophones
/p/ /t/ /k/
[ph] [th] [kh]
[p] [t] [k]

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Transcription

1. Phonemic transcription
2. Phonetic transcription

Significances of Phonetics

- listeners are - those who want - we are capable of
likely to their spoken making sounds that
comprehend the English to be we know are not
meaning of a understood need to speech sounds in
message by pay particular our language.
accentuating the attention to
individual standard
components of pronunciation as
spoken languages. well.

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- Students are capable to achieve accuracy in English
pronunciation if they have proper understanding of
phonetics.

e.g. “Do you like Thai food?” (not foot)

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Exercises

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1. Choose the word which has the different
underlined sound to others.

2. Decide whether a pair of words is a
minimal pair or not. If so, identify their
phonemes.*

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Airstream
mechanism and
speech organs

“The voice is articulate by the lips
and the tongue…. Man speaks by
means of the air which he inhales
into his entire body and particularly
into the body cavities…. If the tongue
would not articulate each time, by
means of its strokes, man would not
speak clearly and would only be able
to produce a few simple sounds”

Hippocrates, 460-377
B.C.E.

MartensJseonns

Speech Organs Introduction

Articulatory Phonetics

► Study the way human beings make the
sound of language

► Through speech organs or vocal organs
► E.g. lungs, vocal cords, hard palate, soft

palate, teeth, lips, etc.

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Air-stream
mechanisms

Air-stream mechanisms

MANDATORY FOR HUMAN SPEECH SOUND PRODUCTION

► 3 MAIN INITIATORS

■ DIAPHRAMGM (+RIBS + LUNGS)
■ GLOTTIS
■ TONGUE

► EGRESSIVE VS INGRESSIVE AIRSTREAM
► ALMOST EVERY LANGUAGE

= PULMONIC EGRESSIVE AIRSTREAM
► PASSAGE OF AIR (AS IT IS RELEASED) IS

MODIFIED, CONTROLLED, MODULATED IN A
VARIETY OF WAYS OR PLACES

■ AIR MOVES IN
■ AIR MOVES OUT

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Air-stream mechanisms

► AIR CAN BE CHANGED IN 4 MAIN AREAS

■ LARYNX
■ PHARYNX (BUT not for English)
■ NASAL CAVITY
■ ORAL CAVITY

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The Larynx

THE LARYNX

Or the voice box

► 2 parts to modify air stream

■ Vocal cords (folds)
■ glottis

► Vocal cords  can be still or vibrate
► The small gap happened = glottis
► Glottis can identify the phonation process of

larynx and voicing quality
► Vibrate  voiced sounds
► Without vibration  voiceless sounds
► e.g. /s/ - /z/
► Bee bumbling in the head

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Normal Larynx Voice Box Video

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The Oral Cavity

THE ORAL CAVITY

Make largest number of changes in the air stream

► Articulators/organs in the vocal tract
modify the shape and character of air
stream

■ Active articulators – move
■ Passive articulators – inactive/ don’t move

► Active = tongue, lower lip
(attached to the jaw  freely move)

► Passive = upper lip, upper teeth, upper
surface of oral cavity, back wall of the
pharynx
(connected to the skull  little or no
movement)

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THE ORAL CAVITY

Tongue

► Highly flexible + numerous muscles
► Stop / slow down the air stream
► 5 diff. parts

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THE ORAL CAVITY

Alveolar ridge/tooth ridge

► Rougher + little ridges
► E.g.

/t/-/d/
/s/-/z/
► Alveolar sounds

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THE ORAL CAVITY

Teeth

► Dental sounds e.g. /θ/-/ð/
► Labio-dental sounds e.g. /f/-/v/

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THE ORAL CAVITY

Lips

► Bilabial sounds e.g. /p/-/b/
► Labio-dental sounds e.g. /f/-/v/

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THE ORAL CAVITY

► Some cases –
2 articulators are active

► Some cases –
1 active + 1 passive

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The Nasal
Cavity

The air-flow in oral and nasal cavity

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https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=D8PBv1m4uB8

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Exercise

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Thank
You

Consonant
Sounds of

English

“

“The quantity of consonants in the English language is
constant. If omitted in one place, they turn up in

another. When a Bostonian ‘pahks his cah’, the lost r
migrates southwest, causing a Texan to ‘warsh his car’

and invest in ‘erl wells’.”
(Anonymous)

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Consonants ▹ sounds of all lang. fall into 2 classes;
consonants & vowels

▹ Consonants = sounds made with closed
or nearly closed articulations

▹ classified on the basis of 3
characteristics: places of articulation,
manners of articulation, and voicing
quality

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Places of Articulation

Manners of Bilabial Labio Inter Alveolar Post Palatal Velar Glottal

Articulation dental dental alveolar

Plosive/Stops p t kʔ
Nasals b* d* g*
n* ŋ*
m*
ɾ* h
Tap or flap
fθ s ∫ w*
Fricatives v* ð* z* ʒ*

Affricates t∫
dʒ*
Approximants ɹ* j*

Lateral l*
Approximants
American English consonant sounds
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Places of
Articulation

Starting from the front of the mouth
and moving back

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Places of articulation
(Adapted from Gimson, 1989)

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8 possible Bilabials Labiodentals Interdentals
/p/, /b/, /f/, /v/ /θ/, /ð/
places of /m/, /w/
articulation Postalveolars Palatal
Alveolars /∫/, /ʒ/, /t∫/, /dʒ/ /j/
in English /t/, /d/, /n/,
/ɹ/, /l/, /s/, /z/ Glottals
/h/, /ʔ/
Velars
/k/, /g/, /ŋ/

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2

Manner of
Articulation

• outgoing air stream is stopped or delayed
• blocked or partially blocked

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7 manners of Plosives / Stops Nasal Trill
/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ /r/
articulation
in English /k/, /g/ Fricatives Affricates
/f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /t∫/, /dʒ/
Tap (flap) /s/, /z/, /∫/, /ʒ/, /h/
/ɾ/
Lateral
Approximants approximants
/w/, /j/, /ɹ/
/l/

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Can you guess
what manner it is?

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3

Voicing quality

Whether vocal folds vibrate
(more or less)

during the consonant constriction

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Voiced Voiceless Vocal cords Fall into 2 Examples
vs Voiced apart classes :
aspirated vs rope --- robe
Voiceless + air flow freely unaspirated fate --- fade
through glottis pit - spit wreath---wreathe
& oral cavity
-
Vocal cords
together

+ airstream
forces them to

vibrate

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