Summary Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology
Learning to Transcribe: Why?
The relationship of sound and spelling in English:
- Often a certain letter/ combination of letters is pronouncned differently
o Example: words spelled with an <a> (<>= spelling, not sound)
o Dad / æ /, Father /ɑ: /, Call /ɔ: /, Village /ɪ /, Many /e /
- Often a certain sound is represented differnetly in spelling
o Example: words with long i-sound /i:/
o Field, sea, see, we, seize, people, key, machine, amoeba
- Sometimes a combination of letters represents a single sound
o Clean, shoot
- Sometimes one letter represents two sounds
o <x> /ks/ , e.g. fix
- Sometimes a letter is not pronounced at all
o Climb, psychology, sword, knght, wrong
-> often highly complicated relationship sound – spelling
- Homographs (exact same spelling, different sounds)
o Lead (führen) – lead (Blei)
o /liːd / - /led /
- Homophones (exact same sounds but different spelling)
o Night – knight
o /naɪt / - /naɪt /
Prescriptivism vs. Desriptivism
- Descriptivism: observing and analyzing language without to much judgement without attempting to modify
their use of language
- Prescriptivism: attempting to set rules for correct use of language
Standard accents:
- variety: form of the language (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary) used by a specific group of speakers
- dialect: grammar and vocabulary used by a specific group of speakers
- accent: pronunciation used by a specific group of speakers
- the most prestigious variety/ dialect/ accent is referred to as standard
Standard accent of BE
- RP = Received Pronunciation
o „received“ = socially accepted
o Non-regional, social accent
o Spoken by about 2-5% of the population
o More recent trends: modern non-regional pronunciation (near-RP)
- GA = General American
o Network Standard
o In origin of the accent of educateed speakers of the Midwest
o Spoken by majority of Americans
Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary
- Describes „modernised“ RP and GP
- Largely, but not purely descriptive
Phonetics and Phonology
- Phonetics: the study of speech sounds (and their concrete characteritics)
- Phonology: the study of the sound system of a particular language
Phonetics
- Phone: derived from Greek word for ‚sound’ and ‚voice‘
- Science of speech sounds
, - Different types of phonetics
o articulatory phonetics (describes how speech sounds are produced)
o accoustic phonetics (describes the physical properties of the speech signal)
o auditory phonetics (studies the perception of speech sounds by the listener)
Articulatory Phonetics
- How are speech sounds produced?
- How can speech sounds be described and classified?
How are speech sounds produced?
- Egressive airstream (moving out from the lungs)
- Airstream passes through windpipe/ trachea (Luftröhre) and larynx (Kehlkopf)
- Movements in vocal tract to modify airstream -> speech sounds
Phonetics: The Larynx (Kehlkopf)
- Vocal folds: stimmlippen
- Glottis: Stimmlippenapparat
- Glottis wide open = voiceless sounds
- Glottis closed, vocal folds in vibration = voiced sounds
- Glottis closed, vocal folds not in vibraton = glottal stop
Phonetics: The Vocal Tract
1. Nasal cavity = Nasenhöhle
2. Oral cavity = Mundhöhle
3. Pharyngeal cavity = Rachenhöhle
4. Lips
5. Teeth
6. Alveolar ridge = Alveolarkamm (just behind upper front teeth)
7. Hard palate = harter Gaumen
8. Soft palate = weicher Gaumen
9. Uvula = Gaumenzipfel
10. – 14. = tongue
15. vocal folds = stimmlippen
16. trachea = Luftröhre
Active vs. Passive Articulators
- Active articulators: organ that moves an is actively involved in producing sounds (typically: lower lips,
tongue)
- Passive articulator: target of articulation, either through direct contact or approximation
Classification of speech sounds:
1. Manner of articulation: obstruction (Behinderung) of airstream in the vocal tract -> consonants, no
obstruction -> vowels
2. Place of articulation: consonants: place of contact or maximal approximation, vowels: highest point of
tounge arch
3. Intensity of articulation: fortis: high muscular tension, strong breath force, lenis: little muscular tension,
weak breath force
4. Voicedness vs. Voicelessness: voiceless sounds: vocal folds open, voiced sounds: vocal folds vibrating
Consonants classified according to manner of articulation:
- Plosives/ stops
- Fricatives
- Affricates
- Laterals/ lateral approximants
- Nasals
- Trills
- Taps/ flaps
Learning to Transcribe: Why?
The relationship of sound and spelling in English:
- Often a certain letter/ combination of letters is pronouncned differently
o Example: words spelled with an <a> (<>= spelling, not sound)
o Dad / æ /, Father /ɑ: /, Call /ɔ: /, Village /ɪ /, Many /e /
- Often a certain sound is represented differnetly in spelling
o Example: words with long i-sound /i:/
o Field, sea, see, we, seize, people, key, machine, amoeba
- Sometimes a combination of letters represents a single sound
o Clean, shoot
- Sometimes one letter represents two sounds
o <x> /ks/ , e.g. fix
- Sometimes a letter is not pronounced at all
o Climb, psychology, sword, knght, wrong
-> often highly complicated relationship sound – spelling
- Homographs (exact same spelling, different sounds)
o Lead (führen) – lead (Blei)
o /liːd / - /led /
- Homophones (exact same sounds but different spelling)
o Night – knight
o /naɪt / - /naɪt /
Prescriptivism vs. Desriptivism
- Descriptivism: observing and analyzing language without to much judgement without attempting to modify
their use of language
- Prescriptivism: attempting to set rules for correct use of language
Standard accents:
- variety: form of the language (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary) used by a specific group of speakers
- dialect: grammar and vocabulary used by a specific group of speakers
- accent: pronunciation used by a specific group of speakers
- the most prestigious variety/ dialect/ accent is referred to as standard
Standard accent of BE
- RP = Received Pronunciation
o „received“ = socially accepted
o Non-regional, social accent
o Spoken by about 2-5% of the population
o More recent trends: modern non-regional pronunciation (near-RP)
- GA = General American
o Network Standard
o In origin of the accent of educateed speakers of the Midwest
o Spoken by majority of Americans
Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary
- Describes „modernised“ RP and GP
- Largely, but not purely descriptive
Phonetics and Phonology
- Phonetics: the study of speech sounds (and their concrete characteritics)
- Phonology: the study of the sound system of a particular language
Phonetics
- Phone: derived from Greek word for ‚sound’ and ‚voice‘
- Science of speech sounds
, - Different types of phonetics
o articulatory phonetics (describes how speech sounds are produced)
o accoustic phonetics (describes the physical properties of the speech signal)
o auditory phonetics (studies the perception of speech sounds by the listener)
Articulatory Phonetics
- How are speech sounds produced?
- How can speech sounds be described and classified?
How are speech sounds produced?
- Egressive airstream (moving out from the lungs)
- Airstream passes through windpipe/ trachea (Luftröhre) and larynx (Kehlkopf)
- Movements in vocal tract to modify airstream -> speech sounds
Phonetics: The Larynx (Kehlkopf)
- Vocal folds: stimmlippen
- Glottis: Stimmlippenapparat
- Glottis wide open = voiceless sounds
- Glottis closed, vocal folds in vibration = voiced sounds
- Glottis closed, vocal folds not in vibraton = glottal stop
Phonetics: The Vocal Tract
1. Nasal cavity = Nasenhöhle
2. Oral cavity = Mundhöhle
3. Pharyngeal cavity = Rachenhöhle
4. Lips
5. Teeth
6. Alveolar ridge = Alveolarkamm (just behind upper front teeth)
7. Hard palate = harter Gaumen
8. Soft palate = weicher Gaumen
9. Uvula = Gaumenzipfel
10. – 14. = tongue
15. vocal folds = stimmlippen
16. trachea = Luftröhre
Active vs. Passive Articulators
- Active articulators: organ that moves an is actively involved in producing sounds (typically: lower lips,
tongue)
- Passive articulator: target of articulation, either through direct contact or approximation
Classification of speech sounds:
1. Manner of articulation: obstruction (Behinderung) of airstream in the vocal tract -> consonants, no
obstruction -> vowels
2. Place of articulation: consonants: place of contact or maximal approximation, vowels: highest point of
tounge arch
3. Intensity of articulation: fortis: high muscular tension, strong breath force, lenis: little muscular tension,
weak breath force
4. Voicedness vs. Voicelessness: voiceless sounds: vocal folds open, voiced sounds: vocal folds vibrating
Consonants classified according to manner of articulation:
- Plosives/ stops
- Fricatives
- Affricates
- Laterals/ lateral approximants
- Nasals
- Trills
- Taps/ flaps
