Phonetics vs.

Phonology

English Phonetics and Phonology I Universitat de Barcelona - 2011

Phonetics
! Empirical science (not a branch of LINGUISTICS) that

studies human speech sounds

! It deals with: ! How sounds are produced PRODUCTION / description of articulatory & acoustic features of sounds ! How humans are capable of producing sounds ! Examination of the whole range of possible speech sounds ! APPLICATIONS:
! Teaching of foreign languages ! Acquisition of good diction ! Speech Therapy for people with speech impediments ! Sound transmission

Phonetics: 3 branches
! ARTICULATORY PH: ! How sounds are produced/modified in the vocal tract physiology ! It deals with NATURE / LIMIT of human ability ! Static classification of sounds description of sounds bearing in mind the organs and the anatomical processes inolved ! ACOUSTIC PH: ! Physical properties of speech sounds sound waves produced when speaking SPEACTOGRAMS [SPECTOGRAPHY] ! Transmission SPEAKER hearer ! AUDITORY PH: ! Perception of speech general knowledge required ! How sounds are interpreted in the brain through audition

Phonetics
SPEAKER MESSAGE HEARER

PRODUCTION

TRANSMISSION

AUDITION

ARTICULATORY PHONETICS

ACOUSTIC PHONETICS

AUDITORY PHONETICS

Phonetics
! Phonetic ALPHABET International Phonetic Association

(IPA)
! Meta-language to represent all the sounds used in all the

worlds language CONSISTENT

! CAVEAT! Not all dictionaries use their own alphabets!!!

Phonology
! Branch of Linguistics / Scientific Theory that studies how the

sounds of a language are systematically structured

! It deals with the rules that govern the use of allophones ! It deals with:
! How speakers perceive sounds so as to see the knowledge

speakers of a language have COMPETENCE

! It is the concrete FRAMEWORK of language
! How sounds are produced and received ! How they are stored

Phonology
! Within
!

each language, CONTRASTS

SOUNDS

form

system

of

CONTRASTIVE or DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

! PHONES units (sound) ! PHONEMES

! Abstract units basic units of phonology ! Semantic value / phonemic opposition (Trubetzkoy School of

Prague) // Feature (minimal unit that forms the phoneme)

! Idealisation that comprises all the allophones of a particular sound

in a particular language

Phonology
! PHONEMES and their OPPOSITION

Taxonomy depending on the features involved:

! PRIVATIVE: 1 phoneme is determined by a particular

feature / the other phoneme is not.

! Voiced vs. Unvoiced

! GRADUAL: degree of a particular feature ! Openness in vowels ! EQUIPOLLENT: a feature is determined by a set of

possible features

! Articulatory features

Phonology
! Yet, not all the different sounds in a language are contrastive

! ALLOPHONES ! Non-contrastive (non-distinctive) sounds [similar] ! No semantic value / no phonemic opposition ! Concrete unit the actual sound ! Contextually-dependent ! SPANISH & ENGLISH / ENGLISH & RUSSIAN [Examples]

Transcription - Types
! PHONEMIC / BROAD
! Distinctive ! /pen/

! ALLOPHONIC / NARROW
! Symbols & diacritics ! How a sound is produced in a particular environment ! [phen]

Phonemes
! MINIMAL PAIRS 2 phonetically similar sounds occur in the

same environment
! Commutation test Vowels & Consonants ! seat/sheet // sheet/shit // sheet/cheat

! NEAR MINIMAL PAIRS When MP cannot be found

(uncommon sounds /defective distribution)

! vision / mission

Allophones

(also phonemes)

Allophones, in order to belong to the same phoneme, must have COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION or FREE VARIATION

! COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION
! 2 allophones do not occupy the same positions in words ! 2 sounds are said to be in CD they are 2 allophones of the

same phoneme (they are phonetically similar) they are 2 contextually determined realisations of the same phoneme ! Distribution of allophones may be expressed by means of PHONOLOGICAL RULES ! Spanish [Example]
! Not all sounds in CD are allophones of the same phoneme

they belong to different phonemes, because they are not phonetically similar

Allophones
! FREE VARIATION / PARALLEL DISTRIBUTION
! When the allophones occupy the same position ! They are interchangeable in the same position ! They are 2 optional or free variants of the same phoneme

! NEUTRALIZATION
! Loss of a phonological opposition in a given context ! Example: flapping in AmE

Phonotactics
! Statements of permissible strings of phonemes ! Combinations of sounds <st-> English & Spanish ! Sounds may be restricted as to their positions in syllables &

words

! Foreign language ! One can make a guess at what language a text is written ! Internalisation of the language - guessword

Phonotactics
! Number of consonants that can be grouped together

varies depending on the language:

! English 3 or 4 consonants together (glimpsed) ! Eng C0-3VC0-4 structure ! Japanese CV structure

Read Chapter 1