Chapter ⅡPhonetics&Phonology———the study of speech sounds●As human beings we are capable of making all kinds of sounds, but only someof these sounds have become units in the language system.●We can analyze speech sounds from various perspectives and the two majorareas of study are phonetics and phonology.2.1 The phonic medium of language●Sounds which are meaningful in human communication constitute the phonicmedium of language2.2Phonetics● 2.2.1 Phonetics●Phonetics is the study of the phonic medium of language; it is concerned withall the sounds that occur in the world’s languages.●Phonetics studies how speech sounds●are produced, transmitted, and perceived.Three branches of phonetics●Articulatory phonetics----from the speakers’point of view, “how speakersuses his speech organs to articulate / produce speech sounds”（发音语音学）●Auditory phonetics----from the hearers’point of view, “how sounds areperceived”（听觉语音学）●Acoustic phonetics----from the physical way or means by which sounds aretransmitted from one to another，“how sounds are transmitted”（声学语音学）2.2.2 Organs of speechSpeech organs(vocal organs)(言语器官)------those part of the human body involved in the production of speech.the lungs（肺），the trachea(气管),the throat（咽喉）, the nose andthe mouthThe vocal tract(声道):Pharyngeal cavityThroatArticulatory apparatusNasal cavitynoseThe oral cavitymouthThe diagram of speech organs●Lips●Teeth●Teeth ridge (alveolar)●Hard palate●Soft palate (velum)●Uvula●Tip of tongue●Blade of tongue●Back of tongue●Vocal cords●Pharyngeal cavity●Nasal cavityVocal cords●Vocal cords are located in the pharyngeal cavity●The vocal folds are either (a) apart, (b) close together, or (c) totally closed.●Voiceless(清音): the vocal folds are apart, the air can pass easily [p,s,t]●Voiced(浊音): the vocal folds are close together, the airstream causes them tovibrate against each other [b,z,d]●Glottal stop(喉塞音): the vocal folds are totally closed, no air can pass betweenthem●Vibration of the vocal cords results in a quality of speech sounds called voiced,which is a feature of all vowels and some consonants in English.●When the vocal cords are drawn wide apart, letting air go through withoutcausing vibration, the sounds produced in such a condition are voiceless. Position of the vocal folds:Voiceless: the vocal folds are apart.Position of the vocal folds: voicing (initial & the widest aperture)Position of the vocal folds:(glottal stop)The nasal cavity●The nasal cavity is connected with the oral cavity.●The soft part of the roof of the mouth, the velum(the soft palate) , can be drawnback to close the passage so that all air exiting from the lungs can only gothrough the mouth. The sounds produced in this condition are not nasalized.●If the passage is left open to allow air to exit through the nose, the soundsproduced are nasalized sounds.2.2.3 Orthographic representation of speech soundsThe IPAThe International Phonetic Association (IPA)(标音法) 1897The International Phonetic Alphabet (the IPA chart) 1888—first versionThe latest version was revised in 1993 and updated twice in 1996 and 2005.Broad transcription& Narrow transcription● A broad transcription is one that only takes account of the sound differencesthat are important to distinguish words from each other in a language. Abroad transcription is the transcription with letter-symbols only. e.g. pit/pit/ spit/spit/● A narrow transcription attempts to represent more or less accurately the way inwhich a particular speaker pronounces his words. A narrow transcription is a transcription with letter symbols together with diacritics. e.g. pit[phit] (aspired) spit[spit](unaspired)By convention, phonemic transcriptions are placed between slant lines (//), while phonetic transcriptions are placed between square brackets ([ ]).In phonetic terms, phonemic transcriptions represent the “broad”transcription Diacritics------Symbols added to the letter-symbols to specify or bring out the finer distinctions than the letters alone may possibly do●The distinction between / ph / and /p/ does not make a difference betweenwords in English. If we substitute /p/ for /ph/ in /phin/ we produce a peculiar pronunciation of pin but not a new word;●But the substitution of /p/ for /t/does make a difference of word: pin/pin/ andtin/tin/ are different words in English.2.2.4 Classification of English speech soundsThe sound segments are grouped into consonants and vowels.Consonants are produced by a closure in the vocal tract, or by a narrowing which is so marked that air cannot escape without producing audible friction.A vowel is produced without obstruction of the air so that air escapes in a relatively unimpeded way through the mouth or nose.●The distinction between vowels and consonants lies in the obstruction ofairstream. In the pronunciation of the former the air that comes from the lungs meets with no obstruction of any kind in the throat, the nose, or the mouth, while in that of the latter it is obstructed in one way or another.The description of the consonants and vowels●The description of the consonants---- English consonants may be classified according to three dimensions:The manner of articulation (ways in which articulation can be accomplished)The place of articulation (the point where a consonant is made)Voicing(wether the vocal cords vibirate or not)●The description of the vowels------1) the position of the highest part of the tongue (front, central, back)2) the openness of the mouth (close, semi-close,semi-open,open)3) lip-rounding (rounded vs. unrounded)consonants●In terms of manner of articulation:●1)Stop(plosive)(塞音，爆破音): complete closure of the articulators involved[p,b,t,d,k,g]●2)Fricative(磨擦音):●the obstruction is partial and the air is forced through a narrow passage inthe mouth so as to cause definite local friction at the point [f,v, θ, ð ,s, z,∫, ʒ,h]●3)Affricates (破擦音): When the obstruction, complete at first, is released slowlywith the friction resulting from partial obstruction (as in fricatives), the sounds thus produced are affricates. [ʧ,ʤ]●4)Liquids: When the airflow is obstructed but is allowed to escape through thepassage between part or parts of the tongue (the tip or the sides ) and the roof of the mouth, the sounds thus produced are called liquids. [l,r]●5)Nasals: When the nasal passage is opened by lowering the soft palate at theback of the mouth and air is allowed to pass through it, the sounds thusproduced are called nasals.[ m , n, ŋ]●6)Glides: sometimes called " semivowels," are a rather marginal category. TheEnglish glides are [w] and [j], both voiced. They are formed in the same manner as the vowels [u] and [i], with a narrower passage between the lips or between the tongue and the hard palate to cause some slight noise from the localobstruction.consonants●In terms of place of articulation:●1) Bilabial (双唇音): made with the two lips [p,b,m,w]2) Labiodental (唇齿音): made with the lower lip and the upper front teeth [f,v]3) Dental (齿音): made by the tongue tip or blade and the upper front teeth[θ, ð ]4)Alveolar (齿龈音): made with the tongue tip or blade and the alveolar ridge[t,d,s,z,n,l,r]5) Palatal(腭音):made with the front of the tongue and the hard palate [∫, ʒ, ʧ,ʤ, j ]6)Velar(软腭音):made with the back of the tongue and the soft palate [k,g, ŋ]7) Glottal (喉音): : The vocal cords are brought momentarily together to create the obstruction. [h]Describe the underlined consonants according to three dimensions:vd/vl place manner LetterBrotherSunnyHopperItchingLodgerCallingSingingRobbereitherJones: An Outline of English Phonetics (1918)Vowels（monophthongs）closeSemi-closeSemi-openopenBlack: IPARed: English幻灯片29Vowels（diphthongs）●[ei, ai, au, əu, ɔi, iə, ɛə, uə]Underline the words that contain thesound as required:● A central vowel:●mad lot but boot word● A front vowel:●reed pad load fate bit bed cook● A rounded vowel:●who he bus her hit true boss bar walk● A back vowel:●paid reap fool top good fatherPhonology●Phonology is the study of the sound patterns and sound systems of languages.●It aims to ‘discover the principles that govern the way sounds areorganized in languages, and to explain the variations that occur’.●In phonology we normally begin by analyzing an individual language, sayEnglish, in order to determine its phonological structure, i.e. which soundunits are used and how they are put together.●Then we compare the properties of sound systems in different languagesin order to make hypotheses about the rules that underlie the use ofsounds in them, and ultimately we aim to discover the rules that underliethe sound patterns of all languages.Phonetics & phonology●Both are concerned with the same aspect of language----the speech sounds.But they differ in their approach and focus.●Phonetics is of general nature; it is interested in all the speech sounds used inall human languages; it aims to answer questions like: how they are produced, how they differ from each other, what phonetic features they have, how they can be classified, etc.●Phonology aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patternsand how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguisticcommunication.Phone, phoneme, allophonePhone（音素）● A phone---- a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear andproduce during linguistic communication are all phones. Phones do notnecessarily distinguish meaning, some do, some don’t, e.g. [ bI:t ] & [ bIt ], [spIt] & [spIt].Phoneme（音位）● A phoneme---- is a phonological unit; it is a unit of distinctive value; an abstractunit, not a particular sound, but it is represented by a certain phone in certain phonetic context, e.g. the phoneme /p/ can be represented differently in [pIt], [tIp] and [spIt].Allophone(音位变体)●Allophones ---- the phones that can represent a phoneme in different phoneticenvironments.●[p, ph] are two different phones and are variants of the phoneme /p/. Suchvariants of a phoneme are called allophones of the same phoneme.Free variants（自由变体）●Phonetic similarity: the allophones of a phoneme must bear some phoneticresemblance.●Free variants and free variation:●Apart from complementary distribution, a phoneme may sometimes havefree variants.For example, the final consonant of cup may not be released by some speakers so there is no audible sound at the end of this word. In this case, it is the same word pronounced in two different ways. The difference may be caused by dialect, habit, or individual preference, instead of any distribution rule.●Free variation is also seen in regional differences. Either, directionPhonemic contrast, complementary distribution and minimal pairPhonemic contrast（音位对立）●Phonemic contrast----different or distinctive phonemes are in phonemiccontrast, e.g.●/b/ and /p/ in [ bIt ] and [pIt].Complementary distribution●Complementary distribution----allophones of the same phoneme are incomplementary distribution. They do not distinguish meaning. They occur in different phonetic contexts.Allophones are said to be in complementarydistribution because they never occur in the same context: e.g.●dark [l] & clear [l], aspirated [p] & unaspirated [p].●[p] occurs after [s] while [ph] occurs in other places.●/p/ [p] / [s] _____●[ph] elsewhere腭音化幻灯片41Minimal pair●Minimal pair----when two different forms are identical (the same) in every wayexcept for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the strings, the two sound combinations are said to form a minimal pair. That is to say two words in a language which differ from each other by only one distinctive sound (one phoneme) and which also differ in meaning.●For example, the English words bear and pear are a minimal pair as they differin meaning and in their initial phoneme /b/and/p/. While other phoneme areidentical in the same place, e.g.●beat, bit, bet, bat, boot, but, bait, bite, boat●Phonological analysis relies on the principle that certain sounds causechanges in the meaning of a word.● e.g. [t] and [d]: tin/din, tie/die●[i:] and [i]: beat/bit, bead/bid●These important units are called phonemesSome rules of phonology●Sequential rules●Assimilation rule●Deletion ruleSequential rules●Sequential rules ---- the rules that govern the combination of sounds in aparticular language, e.g. in English, “k b i I”might possibly form blik, klib, bilk, kilb.●If a word begins with a [l] or a [r], then the next sound must be a vowel. Sequential rules●If three consonants should cluster together at the beginning of a word, thecombination should obey the following three rules, e.g. spring, strict, square, splendid, scream.●a) the first phoneme must be /s/,●b) the second phoneme must be /p/ or /t/ or /k/,●c) the third phoneme must be /l/ or /r/ or /w/.●* [ N ] never occurs in initial position in English and standard Chinese,but itdoes occur in some dialects, e.g. in Cantonese: “牛肉，我，俄语……”Assimilation rule●Assimilation rule----assimilates one sound to another by “copying”a featureof a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones similar, e.g. the prefix in is pronounced differently when in different phonetic contexts:●indiscreet alveolar stop●inconceivable velar nasal●input bilabialNasalization, dentalization, and velarization are all instances of assimilation, a process by which one sound takes on some or all the characteristics of a neighboring sound.●If a following sound is influencing a preceding sound, we call it regressiveassimilation.●The converse process, in which a preceding sound is influencing afollowing sound, is known as progressive assimilation.Nasalization, dentalization, and velarization●/v/ [f] /z/ [s] etc.●voiced fricative voiceless / ____ voiceless●Nasalization rule:●[-nasal] [+nasal] / ____ [+nasal]●Dentalization rule:●[-dental] [+dental] / ____ [+dental]●Velarization rule:●[-velar] [+velar] / ____ [+velar]English Fricative DevoicingAssimilation in Mandarin●好啊hao wa●海啊hai ya●看啊kan na●跳啊tiao wa●……Deletion rule●Deletion rule---- it tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it isorthographically represented, e.g. design, paradigm, there is no [g] sound; but the [g] sound is pronounced in their corresponding forms signature,designation, paradigmatic.Suprasegmental features●Suprasegmental features----the phonemic features that occur above the level ofthe segments ( larger than phoneme):●stress●tone●intonationSyllable (what is syllable?)●Ancient Greek: a unit of speech sound consisting of a vowel or a vowel withone or more than one consonant.●Dictionary: word or part of a word which contains a vowel sound or consonantacting as a vowel.●The syllable consists of three parts: the ONSET, the PEAK, the CODA, e.g.[mAn].●The peak is the essential part. It is usually formed by a vowel. But [l], [n] and [m]might also function as peaks as in “apple, hidden, communism”.The syllable structureσOnset Rhyme(Peak)Nucleus Codak r æk t●Open syllable: bar, tie●Closed syllable: bard, tied●English Syllable: (((C)C)C)V((((C)C)C)C)●Chinese syllable: (C)V(C)●Maximal Onset Principle (MOP)●When there is a choice as to where to place a consonant, it is put into theonset rather than the coda.Stress●Stress refers to the degree of force used in producing a syllable. Intranscription, a raised vertical line [│] is often used just before the syllable it relates to.● A basic distinction is made between stressed and unstressed syllables, theformer being more prominent than the latter, which means that stress is arelative notion.Stress●At the word level, it only applies to words with at least two syllables.●At the sentence level, a monosyllabic word may be said to be stressed relativeto other words in the sentence.●Word stress●Sentence stressWord stress●The location of stress in English distinguishes meaning, e.g. a shift in stress inEnglish may change the part of speech of a word:●●Noun●CONvict●INsult●PROduce●REbel●Verb●conVICT●inSULT●proDUCE●reBELCompound vs. Phrase●Similar alteration of stress also occurs between a compound noun and aphrase consisting of the same elements:●Compound Phrase●BLACKboard●BLACKbird●black BOARD●black BIRDWord stress●The meaning-distinctive role played by word stress is also manifested in thecombinations of -ing forms and nouns:●modifier: 5dining-room; 5readingroom; 5sleepingbag…●doer: sleeping 5baby; swimming 5fish; flying 5plane…●●BLACKboard●BLACKbirdPrimary vs. Secondary Stress●epiphenomenal●unsatisfactory●discrimination●standardization●communication●industrializationSentence stress●Sentence stress----the relative force given to the components of a sentence.Generally, nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs, numerals and demonstrative pronouns are stressed. Other categories like articles, person pronouns, auxiliary verbs prepositions and conjunctions are usually not stressed.●Note: for pragmatic reason, this rule is not always right, e.g. we may stress anypart in the following sentences.●He is driving my car.●My mother bought me a new skirt yesterday.●John bought a red car.●JOHN bought a red car.●John BOUGHT a red car.●John bought a RED car.●John bought a red CAR.Tone●Tones are pitch variations,which are caused by the differing rates of vibrationof the vocal cords.●English is not a tone language, but Chinese is.●ma 妈(level)●ma 麻(the second rise)●ma 马(the third rise)●ma 骂(the fourth fall)●TonePutonghua [pa]Chinese character Pinyin TonesymbolTonenumberTonedescriptionGloss八bā55 High level ‘eight’拔bá35 High rising ‘pull out’靶bă214 Low fallingrising‘target’坝bà51 High falling ‘dam’Intonation●When pitch, stress and length variations are tied to the sentence rather than to theword, they are collectively known as intonation.●English has three types of intonation that are most frequently used:●falling tone (matter of fact statement)●rising tone (doubts or question)●the fall-rise tone (implied message)●For instance, “That’s not the book he wants.”●Grammatical functions of intonations----Intonation plays an important role in the conveyance of meaning in almost every language, esp. in English.a) It may indicate different sentence types by pitch direction.b) It may impose different structures on the sentence by dividing it into different intonation units, e.g. “John didn’t come because of Marry”Within one intonation unit, it means: John came, but it had nothing to do with Marry.With two intonation units, it means: Marry was the reason why John didn’t come.Exercises: Think of the utterance in different intonations:“Those who bought quickly made a profit.”Grammatical functions of intonations●c) It can make a certain part of a sentence especially prominent by placing nucleus onit, e.g.●Jack came yesterday by train.●d) Its attitudinal functions.●Falling tone ---- matter-of-fact statement,●downright assertion, commands.●Rising tone ----politeness, encouragement,●pleading.●Note: these can only be very general indications. The specific attitudinal meaningof an intonation pattern must be interpreted within a context.。
