View
195
Download
2
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
Segmental Phonetics & English Pronunciation
Phonetics lecture
Review exercise
Segmental phonetics and English pronunciation
PhoneticsWhat is ‘Phonetics’?
Phonetics = the study of speech sounds
Acoustics = the study of sound
Pronunciation = How to move tongue, jaw and lips in order to produce speech sounds
PhoneticsRhythm = sound pattern in speech caused by changing stress, length and pitch of speech sounds
Stress/Accent = increased energy in pronunciation (pitch + loudness)
Intonation = the song of speech; rise and fall of the voice while speaking (primarily pitch)
Segmental“Segment” = individual speech sound
Example: cat
[k] [æ] [t] — 3 segments
Example: tough
[t] [ʌ] [f] — 3 segments
Segments ≠ Letters
Phonetics Segmental PhoneticsSegments ≠ Letters
Speaking ≠ Writing
Pronunciation ≠ SpellingHomophones
peace [piːs](平和) ~ piece [piːs] (一切れ)
Homographslead: [liːd](導く)~ lead: [lɛd](鉛)
Alphabetic spellingalphabet = a set of symbols used to represent spoken segments in written form
‘alphabet’ ⬅ α ‘alpha’ + β ‘beta’
Greek alphabet: α, β, γ, δ, ε, ϛ, ϝ, ζ, η, θ,...
Cyrillic alphabet: а, б, в, г, д, е, ё, ж, з, и, к,...Roman alphabet: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l,...
(used for English, French, Italian, and most other European languages)
English spellingLetters ≠ Segments
‘cat’ (3 letters; 3 segments) ‘tough’ (5 letters; 3 segments)
Two letters > One segment
tough [f], think [θ], shell [ʃ]
One letter < Two segments
tax [ks], cute, music [ju]
English spellingLetters ≠ Segments
circus gorgeous
lab lamb
English spellingSymbol—Sound correspondence
Many-to-one: v, f > [v] love, of
One-to-many: g < [g] gift, [ʤ] George
English spellingSymbol—Sound correspondence
Many-to-many:" c < [s] circle; [k] car" " " " " " s < [s] say; [z] does
Digraphs: two symbols > one sound
sh: [ ʃ ] ship, shark, shyck: [k] black, neckth: [θ] think, bathth: [ð] this, bathe
oo: [ʊ] book, footau: [ɔ] launchea: [ɛ] bread, deadie: [ɛ] friend
English spellingone symbol < two sounds
x:" [ks] saxophone, oxygen, Mexico
" [gz] exam, exist, executive
‘Silent’ lettersknowpsychologylambnight
lateyachtislanddoubt
English spelling“Regularly” spelled words
bag, go, apartment, printer
“Irregularly” spelled words
photograph, psychology, women
island, yacht, doubt
tough, cough, though, thought, through
English spellingUnreliable for pronunciation
Problem: Segment-to-Symbol mapping
one-to-many
many-to-one
many-to-many
How can these problems be avoided?
Phonetic transcription
One-to-one Segment–Symbol mappings
IPA = International Phonetic Alphabet
International spelling
with [θ]
this [ð]
family [f]photo [f]
SegmentalAll the segments in a language
Different languages have different segmental inventories
English includes: [θ], [ð], [ɹ]
French includes: [y] ([ü]), [ø] ([ö])
Japanese includes: [ɾʲ] (留学, 旅行)
inventory SegmentalVowels (e.g., [a],[e],[o])
Glides (e.g., [j],[w],[ɹ])
Liquids (e.g., [l],[ɹ])
Nasals (e.g., [m],[n],[ŋ])
Obstruents (e.g., [b],[tʃ],[ð])
classes Segmental classesOpen vowels (e.g., [æ] in ‘sad’)
Airflow in speech is free; path through mouth made wide by lowered tongue
Close vowels (e.g., [u] in ‘food’; [i] in ‘see’)
Airflow in speech is free; path through mouth made narrow by raised tongue
Segmental classesGlides ([w] in ‘winter’; [j] in ‘yes’; [ɹ] in ‘red’)
Airflow in speech is free; path through mouth made narrow by raised tongue(Close vowel tongue position)
MOVEMENT of tongue or lips
FROM narrow path for airflow
TO narrow path for airflow
Segmental classesLiquids ([l] in ‘library’; [ɹ] in ‘red’)
Airflow passes fluidly around the tip of the tongue
Nasals ([m] in ‘mister’; [ŋ] in ‘sing’)
Airflow through the mouth is stopped;
Airflow passes freely through the nose
Segmental classesObstruents
Airflow through mouth is obstructed:
lipsteethtongue
Obstruction may be:complete — stop the airflowpartial — airflow causes noisy friction
Pronunciationpronounce = “to make speech sounds”
Learn phonetics in order to understand pronunciation
Pronunciation is an action that requires PRACTICE
PronunciationEnglish segments
Some segments are the same in both English and Japanese
Some segments are similar, but slightly different, in English and Japanese
Some segments are quite different
PronunciationEnglish ‘L’ [l] and ‘R’ [ɹ]
Why are these segments difficult?
both similar to the same Japanese segment [ɾ] (ら,り,る,れ,ろ)
ローマ字 spellingら= ra, り=ri, る=ru, れ=re, ろ=ro
[l] • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • [ɹ]
Pronunciation [ə] Pronunciation [l] Pronunciation [ɹ]
Vowel Practicehigh central (r-colored) vowels = [ɝ] and [ɚ]
Spelling(written English)
-ir--er--ur--or--ear-
bird [bɝd]certain [sɝtn̩]curtain [kɝtn̩]worm [wɝm]learn [lɝn]
shirt, first
service, alert
turn, burdenword, work
search, yearn
digraphs
trigraph
Approximants[ɹ] [l]
bellyaliveelectglassclimbfleeclowncloud
1. bury2. arrive3. erect4. grass5. crime6. free7. crown8. crowd
(Liquids + Glides)
rayrageracedrateriprentrightred
1. way2. wage3. waste4. weight5. whip6. went7. white8. wed
Approximants[w] [ɹ]
(Liquids + Glides)
1. raid2. rate3. ray4. red5. rot6. rye7. ride8. right
weighedwaitwaywedwhatwhywidewhite
laidlatelayledlotlieliedlight
Approximants (Liquids + Glides) SummaryPhonetics = The study of speech sounds
Pronunciation = Movements made to produce speech sounds
Segments = Individual speech sounds
Segment ≠ Letters
Spoken language ≠ Written language
SummaryEnglish spelling unreliable for pronunciation
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
Segment classes: V,G,L,N,O
Differ based on ”sonority”(voice + airflow)
Recommended