1. PHONETICS
woensdag 23 april 2025 15:40
• Terminology & basic notions
Phonetics:
- parole/language use
- sounds as such, human communication, concrete
- 3 branches:
1. sound production => articulatory phonetics => articulators & speech organs (movable/active & immovable/passive)
2. sound transmission => IPA notation => phones
3. (sound perception => acoustic phonetics)
Phones:
- smallest segmentable unit of sound
- ex. <lip> [l], [i], [p]
=> consonants:
- classification:
○ vocal fold action (voiced/voiceless)
○ place of articulation
○ manner of articulation
1. Obstruants
= airflow obstructed, voiced/voiceless, majority of consonants
A. plosives: completely blocked airflow, "explosive sound"
B. fricatives: pressed air, friction
C. affricates: obstruction & slow release
2. Sonorants
= always voiced, acoustic energy
A. nasals: ≈ plosives, completely blocked airflow, escape through nose
B. liquids: obstruction & escape
▫ laterals: escape along sides tongue ex. [l]
▫ rolls/trills: ex. special [r]
C. semivowels: vowels behaving like consonants, transitional zone ex. [w] & [j]
=> vowels:
- classification:
○ vowel height: closed (high)/half-closed (mid)/half-open (mid)/open (low) => roof of mouth
○ vowel backness: front/central/back => back of mouth
○ vowel length: long/short
▪ rounding
▪ nasalization
○ muscle tension:
▪ tense vowels: long vowels & diphthongs, stressed syllables
▪ lax vowels: short vowels
○ 8 cardinal vowels (do not occur in any language)
1. monophthongs: pure vowels, stable tongue
2. diphthongs: gliding vowels, gliding tongue from spot A to B
3. triphthongs: 2 position changes of tongue (more in BrEng), combination of diphthong + schwa
=> bracketing:
ETKI Page 1
, • The phonetics of English
Orthography:
- unreliable
- discrepancy between pronunciation & orthography
○ different spellings for same sounds
○ same spelling for different sounds
○ silent letters
○ missing letters
Inventory:
- Consonants:
- Vowels (BrEng)
ETKI Page 2
woensdag 23 april 2025 15:40
• Terminology & basic notions
Phonetics:
- parole/language use
- sounds as such, human communication, concrete
- 3 branches:
1. sound production => articulatory phonetics => articulators & speech organs (movable/active & immovable/passive)
2. sound transmission => IPA notation => phones
3. (sound perception => acoustic phonetics)
Phones:
- smallest segmentable unit of sound
- ex. <lip> [l], [i], [p]
=> consonants:
- classification:
○ vocal fold action (voiced/voiceless)
○ place of articulation
○ manner of articulation
1. Obstruants
= airflow obstructed, voiced/voiceless, majority of consonants
A. plosives: completely blocked airflow, "explosive sound"
B. fricatives: pressed air, friction
C. affricates: obstruction & slow release
2. Sonorants
= always voiced, acoustic energy
A. nasals: ≈ plosives, completely blocked airflow, escape through nose
B. liquids: obstruction & escape
▫ laterals: escape along sides tongue ex. [l]
▫ rolls/trills: ex. special [r]
C. semivowels: vowels behaving like consonants, transitional zone ex. [w] & [j]
=> vowels:
- classification:
○ vowel height: closed (high)/half-closed (mid)/half-open (mid)/open (low) => roof of mouth
○ vowel backness: front/central/back => back of mouth
○ vowel length: long/short
▪ rounding
▪ nasalization
○ muscle tension:
▪ tense vowels: long vowels & diphthongs, stressed syllables
▪ lax vowels: short vowels
○ 8 cardinal vowels (do not occur in any language)
1. monophthongs: pure vowels, stable tongue
2. diphthongs: gliding vowels, gliding tongue from spot A to B
3. triphthongs: 2 position changes of tongue (more in BrEng), combination of diphthong + schwa
=> bracketing:
ETKI Page 1
, • The phonetics of English
Orthography:
- unreliable
- discrepancy between pronunciation & orthography
○ different spellings for same sounds
○ same spelling for different sounds
○ silent letters
○ missing letters
Inventory:
- Consonants:
- Vowels (BrEng)
ETKI Page 2
