INSTITUTO NEUQUINO DEL PROFESORADO EN INGLES
Fundación "Cristina Gallo de Morales"
PROFESORADO EN INGLÉS – TRADUCTORADO EN INGLÉS
PHONETICS I
Unit 1
Curso: Primer Año
Profesora: Laura Andrea Estevez
Ciclo lectivo: 2016
I.N.P.I.
Phonetics I
Phonetics and English phonology
General introduction
Phonetics is the study of sounds, especially speech sounds. It studies those speech
sounds used by human beings in oral communication. It is a branch of the linguistic sciences
and, like linguistics, mathematics and physics, is a universal science.
Phonetics studies all speech sounds and is not language specific. It is not possible to
use the term English phonetics just as it is not possible to say English linguistics or Catalan
mathematics or Russian physics.
The scientific tenants of Phonetics can be applied to the sounds of specific languages,
that is, the production and perception of the sounds of any language come within the science
of Phonetics.
Phonology on the other hand is the study of the usage made of speech sounds by
members of a single language community. It is the study of systems of speech sounds.
Phonology is language specific and the terms English phonology and Catalan phonology.
Phonology studies how members of a language community manipulate the structures of strings
of speech sounds in order to communicate with one another.
Phonetics
There are three main types of phonetic research:
1. Articulatory phonetics (speech production)
Articulatory phonetics is the study of how, after receiving a signal from the brain, the
human vocal tract is manipulated into a configuration which generates a speech sound
wave form.
Articulatory phonetics describes sounds in terms of the movement of the organs in the
vocal tract.
2. Auditory phonetics (speech perception)
Auditory phonetics studies how the human ear receives the speech sound wave form,
processes the wave form and converts it into a signal for interpretation by the hearer's
brain.
Auditory phonetics is the study of the perception of sounds by a hearer or hearers.
3. Acoustic phonetics
Acoustic phonetics, also called experimental phonetics, studies the physical qualities of the
sound wave form which is emitted by the speaker and perceived by the hearer.
Acoustic phonetics examines the frequency, amplitude and duration of the sound wave
passing between the speaker(s) and hearer(s).
Taken from “English Phonetics and Phonology”
Peter Roach
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Phonetics I
Phonetics and Phonology
The study of pronunciation consists of two fields, namely phonetics and phonology.
Phonetics refers to the study of speech sounds. A phonetician usually works in one or
more of the following areas:
 the anatomical, neurological and physiological bases of speech (collectively known
as physiological phonetics)
 the actions and movements of the speech organs in producing sounds (articulatory
phonetics)
 the nature and acoustics of the sound waves which transmit speech (acoustic
phonetics)
 how speech is received by the ears (auditory phonetics)
 how speech is perceived by the brain (perceptual phonetics)
Phonetics is a wide-ranging field, and it does not necessarily have a direct connection
with the study of language itself. While the phonetic disciplines listed above can be
studied independently of one another, they are clearly connected: speech organs
move to produce sounds, which travel in sound waves, which are received by the ears
and transmitted to the brain.
If phonetics deals with the physical reality of speech sounds, then phonology, on the
other hand, is primarily concerned with how we interpret and systematize sounds.
Phonology deals with the system and pattern of the sounds which exist within
particular languages. The study of the phonology of English looks at the vowels,
consonants and suprasegmental features of the language. Within the discipline of
phonology, when we talk about vowels and consonants we are referring to the different
sounds we make when speaking, and not the vowel and consonant letters we refer to
when talking about spelling. It would be wrong to assume that phonology is always
monolingual. Much work in phonological study deals with generalizations concerning
the organization and interpretation of sounds that might apply across different
languages.
Taken from “How to teach pronunciation”
Gerard Kelly
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Phonetics I
The Speech chain
Language can be transmitted by means of two different kinds of substance. The
simplest and most common of the two is the spoken one and the manifestation of this form of
language is "speech".
The speech communication process is a complex series of events which take place at
different levels and stages. It is a chain between the speaker's brain and the listener's brain.
The whole process begins when a speaker has a message to transmit to a listener. This
means activity in the speaker's brain, i.e. activity at a psychological level which allows him to
arrange his thoughts into linguistic form. He does this by choosing from the correct words and
sentences in accordance with the grammatical rules and the correct sounds in accordance with
the phonological rules of the language. Thus the message is encoded.
The next type of activity occurs at a physiological level which implies the action of
nerves and muscles. The motor nerves that link the speaker's brain with his speech
mechanism activate the corresponding muscles. The movements of the tongue, lips, vocal
folds, etc., constitute the articulatory stage of the chain, and the area of Phonetics that deals
with it is articulatory phonetics. The movement of the articulators produces disturbances in
their pressure called sound waves, which are physical manifestations. This is the acoustic stage
of the chain, during which the sound waves travel towards the listener's ear. The study of
speech sound waves corresponds to acoustic phonetics.
The first kind of activity on the listener's part occurs at a physiological level. The sound
waves activate the listener's ear-drum, and his sensory nerves carry the message, in the form
of nerve impulses, to the brain. The hearing process is the domain of auditory phonetics. The
last stage of the chain is again a linguistic one, during which the hearer's brain decodes in
order to make it recognizable, which means a psychological activity.
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Phonetics I
The Speech Mechanism
Man possesses, in common with many other animals, the ability to produce sounds by
using certain of his body's mechanisms. The human being differs 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. Non-human animals rarely progress beyond the stage of using the sounds
they produce as are flex of certain basic stimuli to signal fear, hunger, sexual excitement, and
the like. Nevertheless, like other animals, man when he speaks makes use of organs whose
primary physiological function is unconnected with vocal communication; in particular, those
situated in the respiratory tract.
This figure shows a midsection image of the head. In this figure, you can see the positions of the nasal cavity,
oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx. Look to see where the vocal folds and glottis are located. The vocal folds (also
known as the vocal cords) are located in the larynx. You can find the larynx in the figure at the upper part of the
air passage.
I.N.P.I.
Phonetics I
The lungs, have the consistency of two large sponges which are made to expand to
take air (inhalation), and contract to let it out (exhalation). Below the lungs, and separating
them from the stomach, is a flat muscle called diaphragm. The function of the lungs is that of
a motor or activator that sets the passage of air into the movements of inhalation and
exhalation. When we speak, exhaling is controlled. The most usual source of energy for our
vocal activity is provided by the air expelled by the lungs.
The larynx, a cartilaginous structure sometimes called the voice box, is the part of the
body responsible for making all voiced sounds. The larynx is a series of cartilages held
together by various ligaments and membranes, and also inter-woven by a series of muscles.
The most important muscles are the vocal folds two muscular flaps that control the miraculous
process of voicing. You can easily find your own larynx. Lightly place your thumb and
forefinger on the front of your throat and hold out a vowel. You should feel a buzzing. If you
have correctly done it, you're pressing down over the thyroid cartilage to sense the vibration
of the vocal folds while you phonate. If you're male, finding your vocal folds is even more
obvious because of your Adam's apple (more technically called the laryngeal prominence),
which is more pronounced in men than women.
Meanwhile, the glottis is the empty space between the two vocal folds when they're
held open for breathing or for speech. That is, it's basically an empty hole. Your glottis is
probably the most important open space in your body because it regulates air coming in and
out of the lungs. Even if you're otherwise able to breathe just fine, if your glottis is clamped
shut, air can't enter the lungs.
Clamping your glottis shut is a dangerous situation, so don't try it for long.
Nevertheless, it's fun and instructive to try something called the glottal stop, a temporary
closing (also called an abduction) of the vocal folds that occurs commonly during speech.
Parts of the body filter sound by creating airway shapes above the larynx. Air flowing
through differently shaped vessels produces changing speech sounds. Imagine blowing into
variously shaped bottles; they don't all sound the same. Or consider all the different sizes and
shapes of instruments in an orchestra; different shapes lead to different sounds. For this
reason, it's important to understand how the movement of your body can shape the air
passages in your throat, mouth, and nasal passages in order to produce understandable
speech.
Air passages are shaped by the speech organs, also known as articulators.
Phoneticians classify articulators as movable (such as the tongue, lips, jaw, and velum)
and fixed (such as the teeth, alveolar ridge, and hard palate), according to their role in
producing sound.
The movable articulators are as follows. Here you can find some helpful information
to understand how each one works:
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Phonetics I

Tongue: The tongue is the most important articulator, similar in structure to
an elephant's trunk. The tongue is a muscular hydrostat, which means it's a muscle
with a constant volume. (This characteristic is important in the science of making
sound because muscular hydrostats are physiologically complex, requiring muscles
to work antagonistically, against each other, in order to stretch or bend. Such
complexity appears necessary for the motor tasks of speech.) The tongue elongates
when it extends and bunches up when it contracts. You never directly see the main
part of the tongue (the body and root). You can only view the thinner sections
(tip/blade/dorsum) when it's extended for viewing. However, scientists can use
imaging technologies such as ultrasound, videoflouroscopy, and magnetic
resonance imaging to know what these tongue parts look like and how they
behave.

Jaw: Although classified as a movable speech articulator, the jaw isn't as
important as the tongue. The jaw basically serves as a platform to position the tongue.

Lips: The lips are used mostly to lower vowel sounds through extension. The lip
extension is also known as protrusion or rounding. The lips protrude approximately a
quarter inch when rounded. English has two rounded vowels, as in "boot", and as in
"book". Other languages have more rounded sounds, such as Swedish, French, and
German. These languages require more precise lip rounding than English. Lips can also
flare and spread (widen). This acts like the bell of a brass instrument to brighten up
certain sounds (like in "bead").

Velum: The velum, also known as the soft palate, is fleshy, moveable, and made
of muscle. The velum regulates the nasality of speech sounds (for example, /d/ versus
[u], as in the words "dice" and "nice"). The velum makes up the rear third of the roof
of the mouth and ends with a hanging body called the uvula, which means "bundle of
grapes," just in front of the throat.
Some parts of the body are more passive or static during sound production. These socalled fixed articulators are as follows:

Teeth: Your teeth are used to produce the "th" sounds in English, including the
voiced consonant /ð/ (as in "those") and the voiceless consonant /θ/ (as in "thick").
The consonants made here are called dental. Your teeth are helpful in making
fricatives, hissy sounds in which air is forced through a narrow groove, especially /s/,
/z/, /f/, and /v/ like in the words "so," "zip", "feel," and "vote".

Alveolar ridge: this is a pronounced body ridge located about a quarter of an
inch behind your top teeth. Consonants made here are called alveolar. You can easily
feel the alveolar ridge with your tongue. Say "na-na" or "da-da," and feel where your
tongue touches on the roof of your mouth. The alveolar ridge is particularly important
for producing consonants, including /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/ and /l/, and [i], as in the
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Phonetics I
words "time," "dime," "sick," "zoo," "nice”, and "lice". Many scientists think an
exaggerated alveolar ridge has evolved in modern humans to support speech.

Hard palate: It continues just behind the ridge and makes up the first two-thirds
of the roof of your mouth. It's fixed and immovable because it's backed by bone.
Consonants made here are called palatal. The English consonant /j/ (as in "yellow") is
produced at the hard palate.