Phonetics & Phonology Flashcards
Linguistic
The scientific study of language and its structure
what are the two categories included in the linguistic of “grammar”
Morphology and syntax
How many occurences of /i/ is there in “This pig is big”?
What’s interesting about it?
4, we perceive the “same” sounds. Yet, the sounds vary.
What are called sounds that we perceive as different?
distinctive
/i/ vs. /a/
a distinctive feature
is the most basic unit of phonological structure that distinguishes one sound from another within a language.
The level of phonology
The level of sounds.
Understanding that no matter how a phoneme is pronounced, what one perceives is the same mental reality => the level of phonology
The level of phonetic
The sounds as they are pronounced are different and can be measured (allophones) = phonetic level
allophones
what happens to a phoneme in a particular environment
multiple possible sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme
e.g. [p] and [ph] are allophones of /p/
Phonetics
The science which studies the characteristics of human soundmaking, especially those sounds used in speech, and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription.
What are the three branches of phonetics
- articulatory phonetics: how sounds are made by the vocal organs = PRODUCTION
- acoustic phonetics: properties of speech sound, as transmitted between mouth and ear= PHYSICS
- auditory phonetics: the perceptual response to speech sounds, as mediated by ear, auditory nerve and brain = PERCEPTION
Give an exemple of a difference between the level of phonology and the level of phonetic
phonology = /p/
phonetic = [pʰ]
Phonation
the production of vocal sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. e.g. /z/
Phonetic and phonology, which one belongs to what mental level?
Phoneme, phonological level ⇒ deep level
Allophone, phonetic level ⇒ surface level
devoicing
when a voiced consonant becomes voiceless immediately after a voiceless obstruent
e.g. tree, cream, queue, twin…
How do we know which sounds are allophones?
Allophones are predictable and can be defined by allophonic rules
What is the allophonic rule about voiceless plosive?
if /p,t,k/ is at the beginning of a stressed syllable, they come with a puff of air: [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ]
They are unaspirated after /s/ or in unstressed position.
[pʰiːtə] mais [spaɪdə]
Explain the allophones of /l/
Two allophones of /l/ in RP:
- [l] ( clear /l/) is used in front of a
vowel
- [ɫ] (dark /l/) : on other environment, velarized
secondary articulation
What is the allophonic rule of devoicing of approximants
The approximants /r,j,w/ are devoiced following a voiceless plosive in initial stressed position.
symbol = circle under the approximant ; e.g. kɹ̥ɪs
Complementary distribution
= allophones of a phoneme never occur in the same environment (there is no exception)
e.g. clear l and dark l are in complementary distribution
Free variation
the possibility of substituting one sound in a word for another without changing the meaning
e.g. either
do allophones of the same phoneme distinguish meaning?
no, they are noncontrastive
butter vs. bu’er
what are the different transcription?
- Phonemic / Phonological / Broad transcription = only use the symbols of the phonemes of the language, extra symbols are excluded.
- Phonetic / Allophonic / Narrow transcription = the full range of phonetic symbols may be used
What transcription is used in dictionnaries?
Phonological, but some allophonic variations are included
e.g. neutralised vowel
Phonology
the branch of linguistics which studies the sound systems of languages. Those sounds are organised into a system of contrasts, which are analysed in terms of phonological units (phonemes)
