Chapter 2 Phonetics

1. Chapter 2 Phonetics English Linguistics: An Introduction

2. Chapter 2 Phonetics 0. Warm-up Questions 1. Introduction 2. Phonetic Production 3. Phonetic Transcription 4. Phonetic Classification & Description

3. 0. Warm-up Questions • Can you name any of the speech organs? • Do you know how different sounds are produced? • What distinguishes the articulation of vowels and consonants? • How can a phonetician identify the number of distinctive sounds in a language? • What are ways of classifying vowels or consonants?

4. 1. Introduction 1.1 Definition • The study of speech sounds as they are, namely their production, transmission and perception. • The study of speech sounds as they are, namely their production, transmission and perception. 1.2 Branches Speech production Speech perception Transmission Figure 1 The process of speech transmission Thus the study falls into three main areas: articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics and auditory phonetics.

5. 2. Phonetic Production Lips, teeth, tongue (tip, blade, front, back, root) teeth ridge (alveolus), hard palate, soft palate (velum), uvula, pharynx, larynx, vocal folds (cords/bands), trachea (windpipe), lung. 1 上唇； 2 上齿； 3 上齿背； 4 上齿龈； 5 硬腭；6 软腭； 7 悬雍垂； 8 鼻腔； 9 咽部； 10 声带；11 下唇； 12 舌尖； 13 舌前； 14 口腔； 15 舌中； 16 舌后。 （此图参照了David Crystal，The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language，p157，外语教学与研究出版社，2002）

6. 3. Phonetic Transcription 3.1 Divergence • Examples: fish spelt as ghoti (enough + women + nation), bee read as /bi:/ • Reasons: more sounds than symbols, changes of sounds, borrowed words 3.2 International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) • History and development: The idea proposed (1886), the first version published (1888), International Phonetic Association known (1897), rudimental system of IPA (1920s), the latest version revised (1993), updated twice (1996, 2005).

7. 3. Phonetic Transcription 3.2 International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) • Main principles: There should be a separate letter for each distinctive sound, and the same symbol should be used for that sound in any language in which it appears. • The Chart of IPA (see p28 in the textbook) 3.3 Coarticulation and Phonetic Transcription • Coarticulation: The process involving simultaneous and overlapping articulations as a result of the influence on a sound by its neighbors e.g. thin /θin/ think /θiηk/ (anticipatory) books /buks/ beds /bedz/ (perseverative)

8. 3. Phonetic Transcription 3.3 Coarticulation and Phonetic Transcription • Broad / narrow transcriptions: without or with diacritics Diacritics (p29): symbols used for transcription of the minute difference between variations of the same sound e.g. peak /pi:k/ (broad/phonemic) peak [phi:k] (narrow/phonetic) In the case, an aspirated sound is transcribed with a raised “h” after the symbol.

9. 4. Classification and Description 4.1 The First Distinction • Vowels / consonants: with(out) airstream obstruction • Semi-vowels or semi-consonants /w/ and /j/ 4.2 Classification of English consonants

10. 4. Classification and Description 4.3 Classification of English Vowels • Monophthongs (pure/cardinal vowels) and diphthongs (vowel glides) • Pure vowels: Tongue rising, Raised part, Tenseness (length), Lip rounding

11. 4. Classification and Description 4.4 Phonetic Description • Description of consonants [p] voiceless bilabial stop [z] voiced alveolar fricative • Description of vowels [u] high back lax rounded [æ] low front lax unrounded