English Phonetics

Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics: This branch of linguistics studies the physical properties of speech sounds. It's all about the sounds themselves – how they are produced (articulatory phonetics), how they are transmitted (acoustic phonetics), and how they are perceived (auditory phonetics). Phoneticians might analyze the precise movements of the tongue and lips to create a specific sound, or the sound waves produced by that sound.

Phonology: This is the study of how sounds are organized and used in a language. It's about the sound system of a language – the patterns and rules that govern how sounds combine to form words and how those words are pronounced. It's the "how" and "why" of sounds within a specific language. Phonologists might study the different ways that sounds can change depending on their position in a word (like how the 't' in 'butter' is often pronounced differently than the 't' in 'top'), or how sounds are grouped together into meaningful units (phonemes).

Places of articulation

Places of articulation refer to the points in your vocal tract where your articulators (tongue, lips, teeth, etc.) come together to produce different speech sounds. The sounds we make are created by shaping the airflow from your lungs as it passes through your mouth and nose. The place where this shaping happens is the place of articulation.

Here are some key places of articulation:

Bilabial: Sounds produced with both lips. Think of the /p/ in "pen" or the /b/ in "ball".
Labiodental: Sounds made by touching your lower lip to your upper teeth. The /f/ in "fish" and the /v/ in "van" are examples.
Dental: Sounds produced with the tongue touching your upper teeth. The /θ/ in "thin" and the /ð/ in "this" are examples (these are the "th" sounds).
Alveolar: Sounds made with the tongue touching the alveolar ridge (the bumpy part behind your upper teeth). The /t/ in "top", the /d/ in "dog", the /n/ in "no", the /s/ in "sun", and the /z/ in "zoo" are all alveolar sounds.
Palatal: Sounds produced with the tongue touching the hard palate (the roof of your mouth). The /ʃ/ in "ship" and the /ʒ/ in "measure" are examples (the "sh" and the "s" in "treasure" sounds).
Velar: Sounds made with the back of your tongue touching the soft palate (velum). The /k/ in "cat", the /g/ in "go", and the /ŋ/ in "sing" (the "ng" sound) are velar sounds.
Glottal: Sounds produced in the glottis (the space between your vocal cords). The /h/ in "hat" is a glottal sound.

Articulators involved in sound production

Articulators are the parts of your body that you use to produce speech sounds. The main ones are:

Lips: Important for bilabial sounds like /p/, /b/, /m/ and for labiodental sounds like /f/ and /v/.

Teeth: Participate in the production of dental sounds like /θ/ (as in "thin") and /ð/ (as in "this"), and also influence alveolar sounds.

Tongue: The most mobile and versatile articulator. Its position and shape determine many sounds. We distinguish the tip, apex, dorsum, and root of the tongue, each with specific functions.

Alveolar ridge: The ridge behind the upper teeth. Crucial for alveolar sounds like /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/.

Hard palate: The roof of the mouth, behind the alveolar ridge. Influences palatal sounds like /j/ (as in "yes") and /ɲ/ (as in the Spanish "año").

Soft palate (velum): The back part of the roof of the mouth. Its movement controls the airflow to the nose or mouth, determining whether a sound is nasal or not.

Uvula: The final part of the soft palate. Participates in the production of some guttural sounds.

Pharynx: The back of the throat. Influences the resonance of some sounds.

Larynx: Contains the vocal cords, which vibrate to produce voiced sounds.

Voiced and Unvoiced sounds

Voiced Sounds: These sounds are produced when your vocal cords vibrate. Think of most vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and many consonants like 'b', 'd', 'g', 'v', 'z', 'm', 'n', 'l', 'r'. The vibration of your vocal cords creates the "voiced" sound.

Unvoiced Sounds: These sounds are produced when your vocal cords do not vibrate. The sound is created by the obstruction or friction of air in your vocal tract. Examples include consonants like 'p', 't', 'k', 'f', 's', 'sh', 'ch', 'th' (as in "thin"). These sounds are "voiceless" or "unvoiced".

Exersice: try pronouncing a 'b' and then a 'p'. Feel the vibration in your throat for the 'b' (voiced sound) and the lack of vibration for the 'p' (unvoiced sound).

Content Words

Content words are words that have independent lexical meanings. They name things, actions, qualities, or states of being. They carry the main meaning of a sentence. Examples include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

Examples:

1. Noun: "The cat sat on the mat." (cat names a thing)

2. Verb: "The dog ran quickly." (ran describes an action)

Function word

Function words are words that don't have an independent lexical meaning; they don't name things, actions, or qualities. Instead, their role is to connect and organize content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.) within a sentence. They show the grammatical relationships between words and give structure to the sentence. Examples include prepositions, conjunctions, articles, pronouns, and auxiliary verbs.

Examples:

1. Preposition: "The book is *on* the table." (on shows the location of the book)

2. Conjunction: "I bought apples *and* pears." (and joins two elements of the sentence)

Falling intonation

Falling intonation is an intonation pattern where the pitch of your voice falls at the end of a sentence. It typically indicates a statement, a command, or a declarative sentence.

Examples:

1. The cat sat on the mat.

2. Close the door.

The following image shows a clear example

Raising intonation

Raising intonation is an intonation pattern where the pitch of your voice rises at the end of a sentence. It usually indicates a question, uncertainty, or a confirmation request.

Examples:

1. Are you going to the movies tonight?

2. Are you sure that's correct?