Phonetics: the Sounds of Language

1
Phonetics the Sounds of Language

• Lecture 3

2
What is Phonetics?

• Phonetics is the study of the sounds of
  language.
• A phonetician asks questions like
• How many sounds are there?
• What is the best way to describe these sounds?

3
Phonetics

• Phonemes
• Smallest discrete units of sound
• Represented by transcription, not a spelling
  system /k/

What are some of the sounds (phonemes) of English?
4
Phonetics

• Phonetic Transcription
• allows us to clearly, unambiguously describe the
  details of a sound system
• International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) the most
  widely used system
• International Phonetic Alphabet
• one symbol per sound
• one sound per symbol
• contains over 100 symbols
• can describe the sounds of all languages

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Transcription Hints

• Transcription clues
• Dont transcribe silent letters or double
  letters!
• Dont be influenced by English spelling.
• Remember that sometimes one English letter must
  be written using two IPA symbols and vice versa.

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Articulatory Phonetics

• Parts of the Vocal Tract
• alveolar ridgebony area behind teeth
• hard palateroof of mouth
• velum (soft palate)soft area at back of throat

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Place of Articulation

• Bilabialtwo lips (/p/, /b/, /m/)
• pat, bat, mat
• Labio-dentallower lip to upper teeth (/f/, /v/)
• fat, vat
• Interdentaltongue tip to upper teeth (/?/, /ð/)
• thin, that

8
Place of Articulation

• Alveolartongue to alveolar ridge (/t/, /d/, /n/,
  /s/, /z/, /l/, /r/)
• tin, din, nine, sign, zip, lip, rip
• Palataltongue body to hard palate (/c/, /j/,
  //, //)
• cheep, jeep, sheep, azure
• Velartongue root to velum (/k/, /g/, /?/)
• came, game, sing

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Manner of Articulation

• Stopsairstream completely blocked (/p/, /b/,
  /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/)
• pat, bat, tag, dog, cake, gate
• Fricativesairstream only partially blocked (/f/,
  /v/, /?/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, //, //)
• face, vase, thin, those, sip, zip, shin, azure
• Affricatescombination stop/fricative (/c/, /j/)
  
• chip, gem

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Manner of Articulation

• Nasalsvelum lowered to allow airflow through the
  nasal passage (/m/, /n/, /?/)
• mine, nine, sing
• Liquidsairstream partially blocked, but without
  friction (/l/, /r/)
• lip, rip
• Glideshalfway between vowels and consonants
  (/w/, /y/)
• west, yes

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Voicing

• Voicelessvocal folds are still (/p/, /f/, /?/,
  /t/, /s/, //, /c/, /k/)
• Voicedvocal folds vibrate (/b/, /v/, / ð/, /d/,
  /z/, //, /j/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /?/)
• pay/bay, face/vase, thin/these, tin/din,
  sip/zip, hash/azure, chin/gin, cap/gap