Chapter 2The Sounds of

Language

Introduction to Linguistics

Instructor: Wang Ying

School of Foreign Languages, Southwest University

Overview of Chapter 2

1. Phonetics 1.1 Scopes of phonetics 1.2 Important articulators 1.3 Classification of English speech

sounds 2. Phonology 2.1 Phonology vs. phonetics 2.2 Phone, phoneme and allophone 2.3 Minimal pair and sets 2.4 Distinctive features 2.5 Suprasegmental features

Warming-up Discussions for Part 1

How do you classify English speech sounds? And what are your criteria?

When you are producing the word coach, what speech organs do you think are involved?

Scope of phonetics

1.1 Defining phonetics Phonetics is the branch of

linguistics which studies the characteristics of speech sounds and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription.

Scope of phonetics1.2 The three branches of phonetics (P31-32) Articulatory phonetics（发音语音学） studies

the human speech organs, and the way in which the speech sounds are produced.

Acoustic phonetics ( 声学语音学 ) deals with the physical properties of the speech sounds; it studies the sound waves through the use of such machines as a spectrograph.

Auditory phonetics （听觉语音学） is the study of the perception of sounds by the human ear.

Among the three branches, only articulatory phonetics is dealt with in our course.

Important articulatorsArticulators, also called speech organs,

refer to those parts of human body involved in the production of speech sound.

2.1 The lungs and the trachea ([ treiki] windpipe)

pulmonic sounds (肺闭塞音 )2.2 The resonating cavities (共鸣腔 ) The resonating cavities is where the

airstream coming from the lungs is modified in various ways, resulting in the production of various sounds. Three resonating cavities are identified. You are expected to look at the diagram on Page 33 in our textbook.

Important articulatorsThe pharyngeal cavity/pharynx (咽腔 ): between

the top of the larynx ( 喉 ) and the soft palate) The throat (larynx) contains vocal

cords/folds, ventricular folds （膨胀带） and glottis (the opening between the vocal cords), the movement of which determines the quality of voicing (voiced & voiceless( 浊 / 清音 )) and pitch(音高 ).

The nasal cavity (鼻腔 ): the nose Nasal resonance(共鸣 ) can be produced due

to the lowering the soft palate (velum), resulting the production of nasals.

The oral cavity(口腔 ): the mouth It contains the lips, teeth, teeth (alveolar)

ridge ( 齿 龈 / 槽 ) tip of tongue, blade of tongue, hard palate, front of tongue, back of tongue, soft palate (velum), uvula, epiglottis ( 会厌软骨 ).

Important articulators

Important articulators

Phonetic transcription

3.1 (The) IPA IPA is the abbreviated form of the

International Phonetic Association or the International Phonetic Alphabet (P36-38).

International Phonetic Association is an organization founded in 1886 by a group of European phoneticians to promote the study of phonetics. In 1888, it published the first version of International Phonetic Alphabet, which, in modified and expanded form, is today the most widely used system for transcribing the sounds of a language.

Phonetic transcription 3.2 Narrow and broad transcription (P53) The principle of the International Phonetic Alphabet is

to use a separate letter to represent a distinctive sound. As some sounds differ only slightly, symbols called diacritics1( 变 音 符 ) are used to show detailed articulatory features of sounds. The phonetic transcription with diacritics is called narrow2 transcription. Otherwise it is a broad transcription, which is used generally in dictionaries and language textbooks. The following examples illustrate the two transcriptions of the same words:

words: pit spring broad transcription: /pit/ /spri / narrow transcription: [phit] [sp=ri ] Notes: 1 Diacritic, in linguistics, refers to a mark added to a

symbol to alter its value, e.g. the sign of aspiration [h], and the sign [=], indicating unaspiratedness.

2 According to a widely recognized convention, square brackets are used to indicate narrow transcription, and obliques broad transcription.

Classification of English speech sounds

4.1 Consonants and vowels The basic difference between these two

classes is that in the production of the former the airstream meets with no obstruction of any kind in the throat, the nose, or the mouth, while in that of the latter it is somehow obstructed.

4.2 Consonants4.2.1 Manners of articulation Manners of articulation refer to the ways of

articulation which result in different degrees of obstruction against the airstream, such as complete, partial, or a mere narrowing of the oral tract. According to their manners of articulation, English consonants can be classified into the following groups:

Classification of English speech sounds

plosives (stops)----/ , , , , , / (oral); / , , / (nasal)

fricatives----/, , , , , , , , /affricates----/ , /median approximants (glides)(中央无摩擦延续音或滑音 )----/, , /

Note: As // and // are pronounced exactly like // and // respectively, they are also called semivowels. Remember, the two semivowels are not vowels, because they typically represent the pronunciations of the consonantal letters of w and j respectively in certain syllables. Nevertheless, it is an important point to note that this category overlaps with that of vowel.

lateral (approximants) ( 边 ( 无摩擦延续 ) 音 ) (also called liquids 流音 )----//

(altogether 24)

Classification of English speech sounds

4.2.2 Places of articulation Places of articulation refer to the different parts of

the vocal organs, which are involved in causing the obstruction of the airstream in the production of consonants. According to their places of articulation, English consonants can be classified into the following categories:

bilabials----/ , , , / labiodentals----/, /

postalveolars----/, , , /** palatal----// alveolars----/ , , , , , , / detals----/, / velars----/ , , / glottal----// Note: Some other scholars treat /, , , , /

altogether as palatals.

Classification of English speech sounds

Vowels 4.3.1 The criteria of vowel description 4.3.2 Classification of English vowels Generally, according to their

componential elements, English vowels can be classified into three categories: single vowels, diphthongs, and triphthongs.

4.3.3.1 Single vowels Single vowels contain a single element.

They can be further classified according to different factors.

According to the position of the highest part of tongue in producing the sound, there are:

Classification of English speech sounds

front vowels----/ i:, i, e/ε, æ /a /1 central vowels----/ə:, ə, /2 back vowels—/u:, u, :,,a: / According to the degree of lip rounding, there are:unrounded vowels----/i:, i, e, æ, ə:, ə, a:, / rounded vowels----/u:, u, :, / According to the tension of muscles, or the length of

sounds, there are: tense vowels ----/ i:, ə:, u:, :, a:/ (long) lax vowels ----/ i, e, æ, ə, u, , / (short) Notes: 1. In different phonetic systems, the use of /e/or // for

words like bed is simply a matter of habit and preference. The same is true with using // or /a/, /ai/ or/i/, and /u/ or /ou/, etc.

2. Some scholars treat // as a back vowel

Classification of English speech sounds

4.3.3.2 Diphthongs Diphthongs contain two elements. They are

produced with the tongue moving from one vowel position to the other. In English, there are 8 diphthongs: /ei, ai, au, əu, i, iə, Wə, uə /.

4.3.3.3 Triphthongs Triphthongs are composed of three

elements. In their production, two movements of the tongue are involved. There are 3 triphthongs in English: /aiə, auə, iə /. Here, it should be pointed out that many scholars do not take triphthongs as members of basic English speech sounds. In their opinion, triphthongs are nothing but diphthongs followed by the sound /ə/.

Phonology

Warming-up activity:Pronounce the word “spring”, first with

the aspirated /p/, then with the non-aspirated /p/

pride vs. bride

PhonologyPhonetics and phonologyBoth phonetics and phonology are concerned with the same aspect of language, the speech sounds. But they approach the subject from two different points of view.Phonetics studies the production and characteristics of all possible speech sounds, and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription. It is general, descriptive and classificatory. Phonology is the study of sound systems of languages, which is concerned with the linguistic patterning of sounds in human languages, with its primary aim being to discover the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in languages, and to explain the variations that occur. It studies the way in which speakers of a language systematically use a selection of these sounds in order to express meaning.

Phone, phoneme and allophone

2.1 Phone（音素）Phone is a term used in phonetics to refer to the smallest perceptible discrete segment of sound in a stream of speech. Phones do not necessarily distinguish words from each other. For example, while the phones [i:] and [i] do as in [bi:t] and [bit], [ph] and [p=] obviously don’t as in [sphit] and [sp=it].2.2 Phoneme (音位 )A phoneme is the minimal unit in the sound system of a language, according to traditional phonological theories; it is a unit that is of distinctive value, i.e. it can distinguish words. A phoneme is an abstract unit. It is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. For example, the phoneme /p/ is represented differently in [phit] and [sp=it]. The notion of the phoneme allowed linguists to group together sets of phonetically similar phones as variants or members of the same underlying unit. (To follow the convention, square brackets are used to indicate phones, and obliques phonemes.)

Phone, phoneme and allophone

2.3 Allophones （音位变体 ) The phones that can represent a phoneme in certain phonetic context are called its allophones. So the phones [ph] and [p=] are the allophones of the same phoneme /p/.

The phenomenon of variation in the pronunciation of phonemes in different positions is called allophony or allophonic variation.

Minimal pair, phonemic contrast, and complementary distribution

3 3.1 Minimal pair(最小对立体 )When two different words are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the strings, the two words are said to have formed a minimal pair, like pill-bill, pill-till, and kill-bill. All the words that are identical in form except for one sound segment occurring in the same place in the strings together constitute a minimal set.

The minimal pairs test is one of the early discovery procedures used in phonology to identify phonemes, sound units that are of distinctive value.3.2 Phonemic contrast If two sounds sharing phonetic similarities are two distinctive phonemes, i. e. if they distinguish words, they are said to form a phonemic contrast, like /p/ and /b/, which are in contrastive distribution.

Minimal pair, phonemic contrast, and complementary distribution

3.3 Complementary distribution The allophones of a phoneme do not distinguish meaning or words, but complement each other in distribution, i.e. they occur in different phonetic environments. So they are said to be in complementary distribution.

Distinctive featuresA distinctive feature is a phonetic

property which can distinguish one phoneme from another or one group of phonemes from another group. For example, voicing is a distinctive feature for English obstruents ( 阻塞音 ), including stops, fricatives and affricates.

Phonological processesA phonological process is a process by which one sound

(the target or affected segment) undergoes a structural change under the influence of a neighboring sound.

i.e. Assimilation (P60) Assimilation is a type of phonological process by

which one sound takes on some or all the characteristics of a neighboring sound. Assimilation is often used synonymously with coarticulation (P52, P60).

There are:Regressive assimilation ( 逆同化 )refers to the process

where a following sound influences a preceding sound.

Progressive assimilation ( 顺同化 ) refers to the process in which a preceding sound influences a following sound.

Suprasegmental phonology It refers to the study of phonological properties of units

larger than the segment, phoneme, such as syllables, words and sentences.

6.1 Syllables6.1.1 The syllable structure: Typically, a Syllable is made up of an Onset (节首辅音 )

and a Rhyme (韵脚 ), while a Rhyme can be further divided into an Nucleus/Peak (音节核 ) and a Coda (节尾辅音 ). That can be clearly shown by the following formula: A syllable = (Onset +) Nucleus (+ Coda).

All syllables must have a nucleus but not all syllables contain an onset and a coda. In English, the onset position may be empty or filled by a cluster of as many as three consonants, while the coda position may be empty or filled by a cluster of as many as four consonants. For this matter, the English syllable may be represented as (((c) c) c) v ((((c) c) c) c), where the brackets indicate that the content in them may be absent. For example, the syllabic structure of sixths may be represented as cvcccc (/siksθs/).

Suprasegmental phonology6.1.2 Types of syllables (P69) Open syllables are those syllables that have no coda. Closed syllables are those syllables that have a

coda.6.1.3 Additional Information: Sequential rules Apart from identifying the phonemes of a language,

phonologists also have to find out in what way the phonemes can be combined to form syllables.

The rules governing the combination of sounds in a particular language are called sequential rules. In English, for example, if three consonants should cluster together at the beginning of a word, the combination should obey the following three rules:

1) the first phoneme must be /s/; 2) the second phoneme must be /p/ or /t/or /k/; and 3) the third phoneme must be /l/ or /r/ or /w/.

Suprasegmental phonology6.2 Stress6.3 Additional Information : Pitch, tone and intonationPitch---- the attribute of auditory sensation in terms of

which a sound may be ordered on a scale from ‘low’ to ‘high’. It is an auditory phonetic feature, corresponding to some degree with the acoustic feature of frequency ( measured in hertz (Hz)).

Tone---- a term used in phonology to refer to the distinctive pitch level of a syllable. In many languages, the tone carried by a word is an essential feature of the meaning of that word (lexical tone). Such languages, where tones contribute to distinguish between different words, are called tone languages, such as Chinese and many languages of South-East Asia and Africa.

Intonation is a term used in the study of suprasegmental phonology, referring to the distinctive use of patterns of pitch that are tied to the sentence rather than to the word. Intonation patterns can be seen as a sequence of pitch levels, or ‘tones’, but this use of ‘tone’ is different from that encountered in the phrase TONE LANGUAGE.

Summary

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