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Phonetics vs. Phonology
• There are three main areas of Phonetics
a. Articulatory phonetics: is the study of how speech sounds
are produced using the articulators - the parts of the body
involved in producing speech sounds.
b. Acoustic phonetics, which is also considered a branch of
physics, involves the study of the speech signals (the
sound waves produced when a speaker speaks). In other
words, it deals with the transmission of speech sounds
through the air.
c. Auditory phonetics, which is also considered a branch of
physiology, is the study of how speech signal is sensed in
the auditory canal and interpreted by the relevant parts of
the brain. In other words, it deals with how speech sounds
are perceived by the listener.
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Phonetics vs. Phonology
2. Phonology is the study or description of the distinctive
sound units (phonemes) of a language and their
relationship to one another. It involves studying a
language to determine its distinctive sounds and to
establish a set of rules that describe the set of changes
that take place in these sounds when they occur in
different relationships with other sounds. The subject of
phonology includes the following areas:
a. Study of the phonemic system.
b. Phoneme sequences and syllable structure.
c. Suprasegmental phonology (stress, intonation).
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Articulatory Phonetics
The speech organs / articulators
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Articulatory Phonetics
The speech organs / articulators
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How are speech sounds produced?
• When we are making sounds, the air from the lungs
comes up through the wind-pipe and arrives first at
the larynx. Then it goes through the vocal cords into
the pharynx and up the pharynx to the uvula. At this
point, it may go in either way. It may go into the oral
cavity (if the soft palate is raised) and go out of the
mouth. Or it may go into the nasal tract (if the soft
palate is lowered) and get out through the nostrils.
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How are speech sounds produced?
1. How are oral sounds produced?
In the process of making sounds, at the uvula if the soft
palate is raised, blocking off the nasal tract, the airstream
can only go into the oral tract and go out of the mouth,
then we have oral sounds.
e.g. /g/, /s/, /†/
2. How are nasal sounds produced?
In the process of making sounds, if the air-stream is
blocked somewhere in the oral cavity but the soft palate is
lowered so that the air-stream can get into the nasal tract
and get out through the nostrils, then we have nasal
sounds.
e.g. /m/, /n/, /˜/ 8
How are speech sounds produced?
3. How are consonant sounds produced?
When we are making sounds, if two articulators come
together, obstructing the air-stream and the air-stream
cannot get out freely, we have consonant sounds
e.g. /k/, /f/, /b/, /m/
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Places Articulators Examples
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Movement of Articulators Examples
Oral Complete closure
Stop
Complete closure in the mouth, air
escapes through nose
Nasal
Fricative Narrowing, resulting in audible friction
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Fortis and lenis
• A voiced/voiceless pair such as /s/ and /z/ are distinguished
not only by the presence or absence of voice but also by the
degree of breath and muscular effort involved in the
articulation. It is generally said that those English
consonants which are usually voiced tend to be articulated
with relatively weak energy, whereas those which are
always voiceless are relatively strong. Thus, the voiceless
consonants are sometimes called ‘fortis’ meaning ‘strong’,
and the voiceless consonants in opposition are then called
‘lenis’ meaning ‘weak’.
• Fortis consonants have the effect of shortening a preceding
vowel. The effect is most noticeable in the case of long
vowels and diphthong, though it does also affect short
vowels.
• E.g. See seed seat 22
Describing English consonants
• The description includes the following information:
a. Voicing
b. Place of articulation
c. Manner of articulation
e.g. /s/: voiceless alveolar fricative
/n/: voiced alveolar nasal
/f/:
/t/:
/†/:
/j/:
/g/: 23
Identifying English consonants
• A description is given and you have to identify which
sound is being described.
e.g.Voiced velar nasal: /˜/
voiceless palato-alveolar fricative: /ß/