What does it mean phonetics?

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics, it is a scientific study of the way and manner speech sounds are made by vocal tract (different articulators) organs of speech.

How many kinds of communication are there in phonetics and what are they?

1- Animals communication => doesn’t go beyond the instinct (it is instinctive).

2- Human communication => man speaks because he needs to have relation with others, he ****s in society, he is social.

note: human language can be divided in small unites which can form a lot of words. It is called “double articulation or duality”

What is phonetics?

Phonetics is the scientific study of human speech sounds. It is the study and the description of pronunciation; it is concerned with what we pronounce and how we pronounce, it provides means of describing and classifying virtually all the sounds that can be produced by human vocal tract. Phonetics is concerned with the human noises by which the message is actualized or given audible shape, the nature of these noises, their combinations and their functions in relation to the message.

Over a century ago, the great English philologist, linguist and phonetician HENRY SWEET describe phonetics as: “… the indispensable foundation of all study of language – whether that study purely theoretical, or practical as well …”. Phonetics looks at the speech sounds from three distinct, but independent view points:

1-Articulatory phonetics: it studies the speech process from the production side, it mean how speech sounds are produced (articulated).

2- Acoustic phonetics: it studies the sound waves as they are transmitted through the air from the mouth of the speaker to the ear of the hearer (it is purely physical)

3- Auditory phonetics: it studies the way in which human beings perceive sounds.

The speech chain (the phases of speech):

When someone speak to someone, the sequence of events is outlined as follows:

In response to the need to communicate about some event. The speaker conceptualize the event in a particular way and then encodes that conceptualization in from laid down by the grammar of his language. the linguistically encoded utterance is externalized and apprehended by the header through the agency of a series of events that we term the phases of speech. Any manifestation of language by means of speech is the result of highly complicated series of events, the communication in sound of such a simple concept as it’s raring involves a number of activities on the part of the speaker. In the first place, the information of the concept will take place at a linguistics level. I.e. in the brain; the first stage may, therefore, be said to be psychological. The nervous system transmits this message to the so-called ‘organ of speech’ and these in turn behave in a conventional manner, which, as we have learned by experience, will have the effect of producing a particular pattern of sound; the second important stage for our purpose may thus be said to be Articulatory or physiological. The movement of our organs of speech will create disturbances on air, or whatever the medium may be through which we are talking; these varying air pressures may be investigated and they constitute the third stage in our chain, the physical or acoustic. Since communication generally requires a listener as a speaker, these stages will be reserved at the listening end; the reception of the sound waves by the hearing apparatus (physiological) and the transmission of the information along the nervous system to the brain, where the linguistic interpretation of the message take place (psychological).

The language is acquired, it means we not born with language, it is not innate, But we have born with the organ of speak.

We have born with the highly skilled capacity (metally) of acquiring a language speaking.

Example: a baby doesn’t speak at first time although he has speak organs of speech.

A primary function of the so-called organs of speak is breathing and eating, not speaking. This is purely biological function.

Speech is only a secondary function (because man has spoken incidently).

Speech Chain (The Phases Of Speech)

Speaker


MSG


Hearer

ü Conceptualization

ü The Linguistic Level: organization of the word according to the grammar of the language you want to speak => Encode Msg

ü The Neurophysiological Level: the brain gives instructions through the motor nerve to the organs of speech to move according to the sounds to be produced => sounds are produced







Acoustic Level







ü The Neurophysiological Level: Sounds are transmitted through the sensory nerve to the brain

ü The Linguistic Level: The brain decode the Msg

ü The Linguistic Level:

ü Conceptualization

Organs Of Speech

Like animals, man has the ability to produce sounds by using certain of his body’s mechanisms.

The human being deferent from other animals in that, he has been able to organize the range of sounds which he can emit into a highly efficient system of communication.

Animals do not progress beyond intimate, they only produces sounds as a reflex to certain sentiments like: fear, hunger, illness…

Like other animals, man uses organs whose primary function is purely biological.

To communicate, he fellows:

I. Aerodynamics Of Speech:
There are 3 sources of air:

a. Pulmonic: comes from lungs. There is an exhalation of CO2 , so the flux of air is sent out by the windpipe. The pulmonic is proper to all.

b. Velaric: the air is compressed between the back of the tongue and soft palate.

c. Glottalic: air is compressed between the oral clauser and the glottis.

Air follows out when the sound is released, we used the glottalic air in case of ejections.

II. Direction Of Air:
there are two directions:

a. ..ressive air: is outgoing air

b. ingressive air: it means ingoing air, most human language uses egressive air.




The Air

The air is very important for speaking. If there were no air, speaking would never exist, this is the reason that we pause when we speak, so that refill our lungs with air, the stream provided by the lungs under goes important modification in the upper stages of the respiratory before it acquires the sound first of all. The air from the lungs goes to the larynx layer …..ter. The larynx is casing formed of the cartilage and the muscle.

The larynx is situated in the upper cord of the trachea, formed Adams Apple. The larynx contain two vocal cords vibrate, one is a compression of air, beneath them or forcing them to open and shut. When the series of the open and close of glottis, it is called “vibration of the ………………… elastic tissue.

The vocal cords can be brought together or they can be ………. Biologically.

The vocal cords as lid, which prevent any ……….. body to go in the wind pipe, so as to prevent..




Exercise :

ü Describe the direction of the air .
- ingressive: when the air come in
- Digressive: when the air come out
What’s the glottis open? It is breathing

ü Describe the 3 types of air direction.
- Palmonic: out going of CO2
- velaric: compressed air
- glotaric:

ü The vocal cords vibrate because there is a compression of air breath them = under them.

ü Why we call the organs of speech so-called organs of speech?
- we call them so-called organs of speech because the primary function of these so-called organs of speech is just eating and breathing (biological function), and the speak is just a secondary function because the man speak by accident or by suddenly. Teeth are just for chewing.

ü What’s the passive articulator? It means that is fixed or immobile.

ü What’s the active articulator? It means that is moving or mobile.

ü What’s meant by supra laryngeal (حنجرة) cavity (larynx nasal cavity)
it mean the space limited by larynx and nasal cavity

- when the soft palate is closed, the air goes from nasal cavity (فتحة الأنف)

- when the soft palate is opened, the air goes from oral closers

- the physics sounds is the domain of acoustic phonetics

- larynx situate in the upper stage of trachea (الرغامي)

Exercise :

Circle the words which contain “n” sound:
night, knight (فارس), needed, knowledge, pneumatic (غازي)

Circle the words which contain “Sh” sound:
Spanish, rash (جازف), , nation, malicious (حاقد), church

Circle the words which contain “f” sound:
Thought, rough (خشونة), through, tough (قوة), trafic, nough, daughter,
cleft,(شق), laugh, drought (جفاف),ought (واجب).

Circle the words which contain “l” sound:
call, walk, could, slunk, world, chalk

Circle the words which contain “b” sound:
belfry, tomb, tube, comb, bruise, nobody, thumb

Say whether the plural form of the following words sound “s”, “z”, “iz”

S


Z


IZ

Books
Coats
Clothes


Machines
Bags
flowers
Kids


Watches
Houses

“b” is not pronounced if it preceded by “m”

“gh” is not pronounced if it followed by “t”

“gh” is not pronounced if it preceded by “th”

“L” is not pronounced if it followed by “d” or “k”

The Vowels

A vowel may be defined in terms of both Phonetics & Phonology.

Phonetically, Vowels are sounds produced without a complete closure n the mouth or a degree of narrowing which would produce audible friction, the air is escapes freely (there is no obstruction) over the center of the tongue. If air escapes through the mouth, the vowels are said to be oral. If some air is simultaneously released through the nose cavity, they are said to be nasal.

From a Phonological point of view, vowels are units which function at the center of syllables.

In French, we have nasal vowels and oral vowels, but in English all vowels are oral.

The Description Of Vowels

To measure vowels, we have two conditions: the quantity & the quality.

1- The quantity:
short è 7 vowels { I , ℓ , æ , 9 , a , υ , K }
long: è 5 vowels {ί: , B: , r: , 1: , μ:}
Fully long: when final or when followed by voiced sounds
Reduced : when followed by voiceless sounds

2- The quality: we have 7 criteria
a. The first thing to say is the tongue raised (front, center, back)
b. Is the height of the tongue
c. The shape of the lips (very important)
d. The state of the tongue (leans or lax)
e. The position of rims of the tongue
f. The state of the velum (soft palate)
g. The position of the vocal cords.







































/ ί: /

The vowel / ί: / is generally spelt as:

ee


e


ea


ie


ey


i

Tree


Be


Reason


Piece


Key


machine

- It is an RP long vowel

- It is pronounced with the front of the tongue raised slightly below and behind the close position that is below cardinal vowel n° 1.

- The lips are spread

- The tongue is tense so both rims are touching the upper molars

- The velum is raised and the vocal cords vibrate.

- Long / ί: / is fully long when it is final or when it is followed by a voiced sound
e.g.: <the / ί: / sound is underlined>



Be


Reason


Seize


Key


machine


Canteen

Season


Quay


Sea


See


Fee


free

- Long / ί: / is reduced when it is followed by a voiceless sound

Leaf


Brief


Complete


Piece


Suite

/ I /

- It is an RP short vowel

- It is pronounced with a part of the tongue nea…ts center show to front

- The lips are loosely spread

- The tongue is lax compared with the tension for / ί: /

- The rims of the tongue are in slight contact with the upper molars.

- The velum is raised and the vocal cords vibrate.

/ I / sound is spelt as

I


Sit


Rich


City


Bit


Fit


Big

Y


City


Pretty


Twenty


Heavy




e


Pretty


England








ie


Ladies










a


Village










o


Women










u


business










/ e /

- It is an RP short vowel

- The front of the tongue is raised between half close and half open position

- The lips are slightly spread

- The tongue may be tenses then in the case of the vowel / I /

- The rims make a slight contact with the upper molars.

- The velum is raised and the vocal cords vibrate.

/ e / sound is generally spelt as

e


Set


men


bed


set


went

ea


Head


Dead


Beath


Death


a


Many


Thames


ate







u


Buny








ai


Said








eo


Geoffrey








ei


Leicebter


friend






/ æ /

- It is an RP short vowel though it is not realy short

- The mouth is slightly more open than for /e/

- The front of the tongue is raised just below the half open position

- The tongue is tenses then in the case of the vowel / e /

- The rims make a very slight contact with the back upper molars.

- The lips are neutrally open

- The velum is raised and the vocal cords vibrate.

/ æ / sound is generally spelt as

a


Sat


Sad


Hand


Lamp


Pack



Bag


Back


Cab


Mass


Cap



Badge


Man


Jam


Fat


Balcony




Dad


Fat


han


Bat




ai


plait








/ 9 /

- It is an RP short vowel

- The center of the tongue is raised just above the fully open position

- The lips are neutrally open

- The tongue is tenses then in the case of the vowel / e /

- The jaws being considerably open so there is no contact between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars.

- The tongue is lax

- The velum is raised and the vocal cords vibrate.

/ 9 / sound is generally spelt as

u


Sum


Mum


Much


Cut


cluck


Luck

o


Some


Done


Colon


one


Mouth


Mother

ou


Country


Tough


Enough






oo


Blood


Flood








oe


does










/ a: /

- It is an RP long vowel

- It is articulated with the back of the tongue in the fully open position

- The lips are neutrally open

- The tongue is lax

- There is no contact between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars.

- The velum is raised and the vocal cords vibrate.

/ a: / is generally spelt as

ar


Part


Car


March


Charles


Bar


Farm

ear


Heart


Hearth








er


Derby


Sergeant


Clerk










al


Half


Calm


Palm






au


Laugh


aunt








/a:/ it is fully long when it is final or when it is followed by a voiced sound
e.g.

Car


Card


Vase

/a:/ it is reduced when it is followed by a voicedless sound
e.g

Pass


Cart


march



/ Y /

- It is an RP short vowel

- It is articulated with the back of the tongue in the fully open position

- The lips are open rounded

- the jaws are wide open so there is no contact between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars.

- The velum is raised and the vocal cords vibrate.

/ Y: / is generally spelt as

o


Dock


Gone


Song


Long


Often


Lodge

a


Was


What


Want


Swan


Watch


ou


Cough
















ow


Knowledge










au


Because


Cauliflower


Austria


Australia









/ 1: /

- It is an RP long vowel

- It is articulated with the back of the tongue raised between ½ close and ½ open position.

- It is articulated with mid lip rounding

- There is no contact between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars.

- It never occurs before / /

- The velum is raised and the vocal cords vibrate.

/ 1: / is generally spelt as

or


cord


sword


horse


for


stork


Born

aw


jaw


Dawn








ou


bought


ought








a


All


Ball


Called


Salt


Water


ore


Before


More








oor


Door


Floor








our


Four


Court








oar


Board










/ 1:/ it is fully long when it is final or when it is followed by a voiced sound

e.g.




Cord


Door


Tall


Saw




/ 1:/ it is reduced when it is followed by a voicedless sound

e.g.




Talk


Horse


Bought


daughter






TIP: when it is final / 1:/ is diphthongised
e.g. more [n1:] à [n1K] four [f1:] à [f1K]



/ U /

- It is an RP short vowel

- It is pronounced with part of the tongue nearer to the center than to back

- The tongue is raised just above the half close position

- It has symmetrical back relationship with the front vowel / I /

- The tongue is laxer than it is for the vowel / u: /

- The lips are closely but loosely rounded

- The velum is raised and the vocal cords vibrate.

/ U / is spelt as

u


Put


Full


Sugar


Cushion


Butcher

o


Wolf


Women






oo


Good


Wood


Wool


Book


ou


Could


Courier


Should


Would




/ u: /

- It is an RP long vowel

- It is a back close vowel but not as back and as close as cardinal vowel n° 8

- The tongue is tense is no firm contact between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars.

- The lips are closely rounded

- The velum is raised and the vocal cords vibrate.

/ u: / is spelt as

oo


Food


Boot


Balloon


Platoon


Buffoon




Saloon


School


Pool


Loop




ou


Soup


Group


Wound


Through


You

o


Do













u


Rude


Deluge


Rule


Susan


June

ew


Chew








ue


Blue








ui


Juice


Suit










oe


Shoe















Types of Vowels (TD)

In RP, English contain 44 sounds (24 consonant & 20 vowels).

è What is the difference between “consonant” & “vowel”?

Definition:

Vowels: are a class of sounds produced with no obstruction to the flow air as it pass from lungs to the side, the air is sent out more or less freely over the center of the tongue.

Consonants: are sounds produced with either a complete obstruction to the flow of air or moving.

è How to describe the vowels?

We need 2 conditions: we describe vowels in terms of quantity and quality.

1. The quantity: short vowels (7) and long vowels (5).

2. The quality: we have:

a. Height of the tongue (close, open)

b. Part of the tongue (front, center, back)

c. The shape of the lips (spread, sound, neutral)

d. The state of the tongue

e. The state of the rims of the tongue

f. The state of the velum (raised = oral, lowered = nasal)

g. The state of the vocal cords (vibrating V+, non vibrating V-)



The Vowels: Voiced & Voiceless

When a long vowel is followed by a voiced sound consonant or final the word, this long vowel is fully long
e.g. car /ka:/

When a long vowel is followed by a voiceless consonant, this vowel is reduced.
e.g. cart /ka: t/

All English vowels are voiced, that mean the vocal cords vibrate.

Activity: Listen & Repeat:

I


bit


bid


miss

bIt


bId


mIs

æ


bat


bad


man

bæt


bæd


mæn

ʌ


cut


bud


bus

cʌt


bʌd


bʌs

a


pat


cod


tam

Pat


cad


tam

υ


Put


Wood


Push

Pυt


Wυd


Pυs

ι:


Beat


Bead


Bί:t


Bί:d




a:


Heart


Hard


Ha:t


Ha:d




ɔ:


Caught


Cord


Cɔ:t


Cɔ:d

thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks