Introduction to Phonetics & PhonologyIntroduction to Phonetics & Phonology

Dr R. Oenbring

Lin 220

What is phonetics?

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds.

What is phonetics?

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds.

a) how they’re produced (articulatory phonetics)

What is phonetics?

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds.

a) how they’re produced (articulatory phonetics)

b) their physical characteristics (acoustic phonetics)

Sound/symbol correspondence

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough thought

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough thought bough

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough thought bough

think

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough thought bough

think those

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough thought bough

think those thistle

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough thought bough

think those thistle thong

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough thought bough

think those thistle thong

church

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough thought bough

think those thistle thong

church chemistry

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough thought bough

think those thistle thong

church chemistry loch

Sound/symbol correspondence The need for a transcription system

Consider written English

enough through thorough thought bough

think those thistle thong

church chemistry loch Cheryl

International Phonetic AlphabetIPA

Devised in the 19th Century to help describe the sounds of languages independently of a language’s orthography (= writing system).

Under continuous revision.

Last major revision was in 1993.

Sound/symbol correspondence

enough through thorough thought bough [ʌf] [u:] [ə] [ɔ:] [aʊ]

think those thistle thong [θ] [ð] [θ] [θ]

church chemistry loch Cheryl [tʃ] [k] [x] [ʃ]

Key Terms

Phoneme - a unit of sound significant in a specific language (E.g., /s/ is a phoneme in English while the German ch sound /x/ is not)

Grapheme - The symbols (letters) used in a writing system such as our alphabet

Digraph - A single sound represented by two letters (e.g., th, sh, ea)

Phonetic Alphabet - a collection of symbols used for writing words phonetically

More Terms

Allophone - a variant of a phoneme; often not noticed by native speakers (e.g, spin, pin)

Minimal Pair - Two words that are pronounced the same except for one sound (e.g., Sue, zoo)

Voiced Sound - A sound produced with the vocal folds (cords) vibrating (e.g. voiced /z/ as opposed to voiceless /s/)

Diphthong - “a double vowel sound” - two vowels appearing together as the nucleus of a syllable

The Consonants of English

The Vowels of English

Allomorphs Based on Phonology

The plural morpheme – [s] after a voiceless consonant [z] after a voiced consonant [\z] after a sibilant (s, z, sh, ch, or j)

The past tense morpheme [d] after a voiced sound, [t] after a voiceless sound [\d] after a [t] or [d]