2 PHONETICS.docx

2 PHONETICS.docx

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2PHONETICS

2.PHONETICS

2.1Scopeofphonetics

PHONETICSisthesciencewhichstudiesthecharacteristicsofhumansound-making,especiallythosesoundsusedinspeech,andprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,classificationandtranscription.

SPEECHSOUNDSmaybestudiedfromdifferentangles,threebranchesofphonetics,articulatoryphonetics,auditoryphoneticsandacousticphonetics.

2.1.1Articulatoryphonetics

Speechsoundsmaybestudiedfromthepointofviewofthespeaker,thatis,wemayexaminethewayinwhichaspeechsoundisproducedtodiscoverwhichvocalorgansareinvolvedandhowtheycoordinateintheprocess.ThisaspectofphoneticsiscalledARTICULATORYPHONETICS.

2.1.2Auditoryphonetics

Ameaningfulactofspeechhasanotherend–thereceptionend.Thesoundsproducedbythespeakerwillbereceivedbythehearer.Speechsoundsthereforemayalsobestudiedfromthehearer’spointofview.Wemaylookintotheimpressionaspeechsoundmakesonthehearerasmediatedbytheear,theauditorynerveandthebrain.ThisareaofresearchisknownasAUDITORYPHONETICS.

2.1.3Acousticphonetics

TomakeaspeechsoundvisiblesothatwecanmeasureitscomponentsobjectivelywemustthengointothedomainofACOUSTICPHONETICS,whichstudiesthephysicalpropertiesofspeechsounds,astransmittedbetweenmouthandear.Instruments,suchastheoscillographandthesoundspectrograph,havebeenusedtotranslateasoundintoavisualrepresentationofitscomponentsintermsoffrequencyandintensity.Thesoundspectrographwill,inaddition,showtheformantsofvowels.

2.2TheVocalOrgans

Thevocalorgans（seeFig.1）,orthespeechorgans,areorgansofthehumanbodywhosesecondaryuseisintheproductionofspeechsounds.Thevocalorgansmaybeviewedasconsistingofthreeparts,theinitiatoroftheair-stream,theproducerofvoiceandtheresonatingcavities.

2.2.1Theinitiatoroftheair-stream

Thefirstrequisitefortheproductionofaspeechsoundisthatthereisanair-stream.

2.2.2Thevocalcords

Theair-streamprovidedbythelungshastoundergoanuntoerofmodificationstoacquirethequalityofaspeechsound.Thefirstpointwhereitispossibletomodifytheair-streamisatthetopofthewindpipe,whichendsinabonystructurecalledtheLARYNX.

InsidethelarynxaretheVOCALCORDS.

Theyareinfacttwofoldsofmembrane（hencealsothenamevocalfolds）,whicharefixedtogetheratthefrontbuthorizontallymoveableattheback.

ThespacebetweenthevocalcordsistermedtheGLOTTIS.

Inspeechthevocalcordshavethreemainfunctions.

（1）Thevocalcordsmaybeclosedtightlysothattheairstreamfromthelungsisblockedandtheairpressurebehindthembuildsup.ThisphenomenoniscalledtheGLOTTALSTOPandsymbolizedas[?

].Thusthesoundisinaudible,butithasitseffectonsurroundingsegments.

InEnglish,itoftenoccursinitiallytopronounceawordlike‘idiot’whichbeginswithavowel.

（2）Ifthevocalcordsarebroughttogethertotheextentthatthereisonlyanarrowpassagebetweenthem,thepressureoftheairstreamwillsettheminvibration.

Theresultisasound.

Thesoundhasaregularwaveformandthenumberofvibrationsinasecondisfixed,sothatwecanperceiveitspitch.Inphonetics,thissoundiscalledVOICE,andsoundsproducedwhilethevocalcordsarevibratingarecalledVOICEDSOUNDS.ConsonantslikeEnglish[b,m,z]arevoiced.Vowelsareusuallyvoiced,too.

ThePITCHofasounddependsontherateofvibrationofthevocalcords,whichinturnisdeterminedbythelengthofthevocalcords.

Whenthevocalcordsarenotvibratingatthetimeofitsproduction,theresultantsoundiscalledaVOICELESSSOUND.Consonantslike[f,s,p]arevoicelesssounds.

2.2.3Theresonatingcavities

Inthehumanspeechmechanism,therearethreeresonatingcavities:

thePHARYNS,theNASALCAVITYandtheORALCAVITY.

2.2.3.1Thepharynx

ThePHARYNXstretchesfromthetopofthelarynxuptothebackofthenasalcavityandservesasthecontainerofavoiumeofairwhichcanbesetintovibrationinharmonywithvibrationscomingfromthevocalcords.

2.2.3.2Thenasalcavity

TheNASALCAVITYisoffixeddimensionsandshape,anditscontributiontospeechisentirelyamatterofresonance.

2.2.3.3Theoralcavity

TheORALCAVITYisbyfarthemostimportantofthethreecavities;itisherethatmostofthedistinctionsofarticulatespeecharefashioned.

Theoralcavityisboundedatthetopbyadome–shapedstructure–thePALATE.Thefrontpartofthepalateisbonyandfixed,hencethetermHARDPALATE;itsbackpart,theSPFTPALATE,ismuscularandmoveable.ThesoftfleshytipofthesoftpalatehangingdownatthebackofthemouthiscalledtheUVULA.

Onthehardpalatejustbehindtheteethonecanfeelaprominentridge.Thiscoverstherootsoftheteethandiscalledtheteethridgeor,morelearnedly,theALVEOLARRIDGE.Movingfurtheroutwards,wecometotheteeth,andtheoutmostarethelipsformingthefrontexitoftheoralcavity.

Atthebottomoftheoralcavityliesacomplexmuscularstructure–theTONGUE.

Whenthetongueisatrest,withitstiplyingbehindthelowerteeth,thepartwhichliesoppositethehardpalateiscalledtheFRONTandthatwhichfacesthesoftpalateiscalledtheBACK.ThetaperingsectionfacingtheteethridgeiscalledtheBLADEanditsextremitytheTIP.

ThesystemofvocalorgansisalsotermedtheVOCALTRACT.Thepartwhichisabovethelarynxiscalledthesupraglottaltractandthepartbelowthelarynxthesubglottaltract.ThesupraglottalisfurtherdividedintotheORALTRACTandtheNASALTRACT,thedividinglinebeingthesoftpalateinitsraisedposition.ThevocalorgansintheoraltractaretechnicallyknownasARTICULATORS,thosewhicharemoveableareactivearticulatorsandthosenotmoveablearepassivearticulators.

2.3Consonants

Speechsoundsmaybeclassifiedintotwomajortypesintermsoftheirarticulatorycharacteristics.ThesoundsintheproductionofwhichthereisanobstructionoftheairstreamatsomepointofthevocaltractarecalledCONSONANTS.Thesoundsintheproductionofwhichnoarticulatorscomeveryclosetogetherandtheair-streampassesthroughthevocaltractwithoutobstructionarecalledVOWELS.

2.3.1Placesofarticulation

（1）BILABIAL---theobstructionoftheairstreamiscausedbythetwolips,suchasintheproductionof[p,b,m]oftheEnglishwords“pie,buy,my”.

（2）LABIODENTAL---theobstructionoftheairstreamiscausedbythelowerlipandtheupperfrontteeth,suchasintheproductionof[f,v]oftheEnglishwords“fie,vie”.

（3）DENTAL---theobstructionoftheairstreamiscausedbythetonguetiporbladeandtheupperfrontteeth,suchasintheproductionof[]oftheEnglishwords“thigh,thy”.

（4）ALVEOLAR---theobstructionoftheairstreamiscausedbythetonguetiporbladeandthealveolarridge,suchasintheproductionof[t,d,1,n,s,z]oftheEnglishwords“tie,die,lie,nigh,sigh,zyme”.

（5）RETROFLEX---theobstructionoftheairstreamiscausedbytheundersideofthetonguetipandthebackofthealveolarridge.

Thetipofthetonguecurledupandback.InthestandardpronunciationofSouthernBritishEnglish,knownasRECEIVEDPRONUNCIATION（RP）,retroflexsoundsarenotusuallyused.

Aretroflexr-soundistypicalofmanyAmericanspeakers.

（6）PALATO-ALVEOLAR---theobstructionoftheair-streamiscausedbythetonguebladeandthebackofthealveolarridge,suchasintheproductionof[∫,3]oftheEnglishword“shy”andtheFrenchword“genre”.

（7）PALATAL---thefrontofthetongueisraisedtowardsthehardpalatetoobstructtheair-stream,suchasintheproductionof[j]oftheEnglishwords“yes,you”.

（8）VELAR---thebackofthetongueisraisedsothatittouchesthesoftpalatetoobstructtheair-stream,suchasintheproductionof[k,g,η]oftheEnglishwords“sick,zig,sing”.

（9）UVULAR---theobstructionoftheairstreamiscausedbythebackofthetongueandtheuvular,suchasintheproductionof[R]or[R]oftheFrenchwords“rouge,rose”.

（10）GLOTTAL---theobstructionoftheairstreamiscausedbythevocalcords,suchasintheproductionof[?

],theglottalstopmentionedbefore.

Somesoundsinvolvethesimultaneoususeoftwoplacesofarticulation.Forexample,theEnglish[w]hasbothanapproximationofthetwolipsandthatofthebackofthetongueandthesoftpalate,andmaybetermedLABIAL-VELAR.

2.3.2Mannersofarticulation

（1）PLOSIVE---intheproductionofaplosive,theair-streamisobstructedcompletelvbothintheoralandnasaltracts,sothatwhentheclosureintheoraltractissuddenlyreleased,thecompressedairrushesoutandproducesanexplosivesound.Accordingtotheplaceoftheoralclosure,plosivesmaybebilabial[p,b],alveolar[t,d],velar[k,g],glottal[?

],etcAplosivecanalsobecalledanORALSTOP.

（2）NASAL---intheproductionofanasal,theair-streamiscompletelyobstructedintheoraltractbutnotinthenasaltract,sothattheairpassesthroughthenosefreely.

e.g.bilabial[m],alveolar[n],velar[ŋ],etc.AnasalcanalsobecalledaNASALSTOP.

（3）TRILL---intheproductionofatrilltheobstructionoftheair-streamiscausedbyairpressurewhenaflexibleorgantouchesandleavesafirmersurfaceinveryquickmovementsrepeatedly.

（4）LATERAL---intheproductionofalateraltheair-streamisobstructedalongthecentreoftheoraltract,butoneorbothsidesofthetongueareawayfromtheroofofthemouth,sothattheaircangothroughthemouthlaterally.

Forinstance,[1]oftheEnglishwords“lie,low”isnormallyproducedwithoutaudible