Phonetics and Phonology Flashcards
The system of Language sounds, the phoneme, phone, allophones
((English phonology versus English Phonetics – two fields of study))
phonology
- the abstract study of sounds and rules how to combine them
- phonemes - the mental representation - CAT
- the smallest unit that distinquishes meaning = bit x bet
- the study of sounds of a particular language
- stands in opposition as all signs
phonetics
- the physical properties of sounds
- phones - real sounds produced (k-ae-t)
- allophones - different possible pronunciations of a word - (clear l: leek, dark l: fool)
- study of speech sounds, the acoustic properties of sounds
Phonology X Phonetics – IPA
TRANSCRIPTION:
phonology: narrow = captures only enough information about words to show how they differ
- ignores many details
- dictionary transcription
phonetics: broad = contains more information about the quality of the sounds
- concere, very specific (unusual symbols)
- additional information - aspiration, nasalization, glottal stops
IPA: international phonetics association/alphabet
Received pronunciation, other pronunciation variants of English
RP: received pronunciation (the BBC english) - the most formal, neutral version of english
- used in media, broadcasting, required specific proffesions (free of accents, dialects)
- usually recommended for foreign language learners
other variants of english:
accent: way of pronouncing a language, especially one associated with a particular country, area, or social class. COCKNEY
dialect: variety in not only pronunciation but also grammar, syntax… american, canadian, australian, welsh, irish
English vowels, diphthongs, triphthongs
vowels (12)
- produced without signifact articulatory restrictions as the airstream passes from larynx to the lips
- modified by tongue
- shaped by rounding the lips and different openings of the jaw
- the movement of the tongue modifies the sound (highxlow, frontxback)
diphthongs (8)
- complex vowel sounds consisting of 2 vowels, but pronounced as one
- CLOSING - gliding towards the central vowel
- CENTRING - gliding towards the close vowel, from open to close sound
triphthongs (5)
- combination of three vowels
- rather difficult to pronounce and very difficult to recognize - player, royal, fire, hour
English consonants, place and manner of articulation
consonants
- produced with an obstruction of the airflow, that passes from the larynx to the lips
manner of articulation
- plosives, nasals, affricates, fricatives, liquid/lateral, approximants
place of articulation:
- bilabial, dental, alveolar, post-alveolar, palatal, velar, glottal
lenis x fortis - voiced x voiceless
lenis - prolongs the vowel
fortis - shortens/cuts the vowel
voiced - makes your vocal cords vibrate (open) BAD
voiceless - does not vibrate your vocal cords (closed) BAT
Voicing and devoicing of consonants
Voicing: Refers to whether the vocal cords are vibrating during the production of a sound. For example, in English, the /b/ sound in “bat” is voiced because the vocal cords vibrate, while the /p/ sound in “pat” is voiceless.
Devoicing: Occurs when a sound that is typically voiced becomes voiceless. For example, in certain languages or in certain phonetic environments, voiced consonants may undergo devoicing.
CATS (s) vs DOGS (z)
Phonotactics, the structure of English syllables
Phonotactics
- deals with the structure of the syllable and the phonemes combinations within a syllable
1) really existing combinations of phonemes
2) possible but non-existing combinations of phonemes in words
3) impossible combinations of phonemes in words
the structure of English syllables
ONSET-PEAK-CODA
- only peak is obligatory, can have zero onset or coda
- peak can consist of syllable, diphtong or thriptong
- onset/coda consists of consonant or consonant cluster
- 2-3 clusters in initial, up to 4-5 in final positions
STRaights, THRough — aNGSTS, thouGHTS
Stress in English words. Stressed-timed language versus syllable-timed language
stress:
marked by:
- primary ‘
- , secondary
- unstressed (unmarked)
english: free stress position
STRESS TIMED LANGUAGE
= depends on word structure and historica development of that word
- stress placement process - whether the word is simple or complex, it’s grammatical category, number of syllables, ONLY STRONG SYLLABLES ARE STRESSED
Examples:
noun+noun - stress on the first syllable (‘tea-cup)
in other examples, on the second syllable, such as adjective+ed (bad-,tempered), 1st component is number (second-,class), compounds functioning as adverbs north-,west), compounds functioning as verbs (ill-,treat)
czech: bound stress position
SYLLABLE TIMED LANGUAGE
stress is fixed to the first syllable
Intonation, functions of Intonation, tones, tone-unit
Intonation
- the sound changes by the rise and fall of the voice when speaking
- It plays a crucial role in conveying meaning, expressing emotions, and signaling grammatical information.
functions:
- attitudal: express feelings
- accentual: underline words
- grammatical: distinquishes sentence types
pitch = overall behaviour of tone: high x low
tone = perceptible frequency variations of the vibration of speakers voice
- manner in which you speak to someone, not just your words.
simple:
falling: impression of finality (statements, who questions)
rising: usually questions (yes/no)
complex:
falling-rising: limited agreement, response with limitation
rising-falling: strong feeling of approval/disapproval/surprise
tone-unit = - PRE-HEAD, HEAD’, NUCLEUS’’ (tonic syllable), TAIL
= Identifying the nucleus or tonic syllable in a written sentence can be challenging
The special character of connected speech and its features - ((rhytm))
Rhythm
= the change of stressed and unstressed syllables, the notion of rhytm includes stress in speech and music
- STRESS vs. SYLLABLE timed languages
STRESS timed language (english)
- relatively regular interval between the stressed and unstressed syllables.
‘Run to the / ‘edge of the / ‘rock by the / ‘ocean. => FOOT beggins with the first stressed syllable and ends before another.
SYLLABLE timed language (czech)
= every syllable has the same duration
The special character of connected speech and its features - ((assimilation, elision, linking))
connected speech
= quick, rapid, native-like speech
- by adding, ommiting or changing the sounds, to make it easier to pronounce
Assimilation
= changing the sound (the sounds become more similar) regressive-backward x progressive-forward
- changing certain sound at the end of one word to make it easier to pronounce the first sound of the next word.
- in Barcelona = im Barcelona
both M and B sounds are bilabial, which makes it more natural to shift from one sound to the other
Elision
= omitting the sound
- ommiting a sound that (gets in the way) would make the following sound hard to pronounce.
- I don’t know = I don~(k)now DUNNO
the sounds that we ommit are T, P, K (all of them are plosives, btw)
Linking
= adding a sound (approximants - j, r, w)
- I am => ajem
- adding a certain sound between two words to make it easier to pronounce them fluently / pronouncing the words as one.
- or linking the words together (pronouncing them as one word):
- four eggs = foureggs
