Chapter 1 phonetics

1. Phonetics:
the sound
of Language
Chapter 1

2. Linguistics
Phonetics
Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics
Pragmatics
Sound Structure Meaning

3. Phonology: the study of sounds in a particular language
Phonetics: The study of the characteristics
of speech sounds across languages
Phonemes: the smallest unit of
sound in a language that makes
a difference in meaning
Terms related to Linguistics: the study of language
k g t d
good
/prəˈnaʊns/

4. The part of linguistics that is concerned with the structure of language is
divided into a number of subfields:
▪ Phonetics - the study of production and properties of speech sounds
▪ Phonology - the study of how speech sounds are organised and how
they function in language
▪ Morphology - refer to the study of the internal structure of words and
many of which are made of smaller meaning-bearing units.
▪ Syntax - deals with the way words are put together to form phrases and
sentences
▪ Semantics the study of meaning in sentences
▪ Pragmatics - the study of language use

5. IPA Chart International Phonetics alphabet

6. Phonetics studies the sounds that are used in the world's languages; it aims to
examine each individual sound, its properties and differences from the other
sounds. The study is divided into three branches. Acoustic phonetics is
concerned with the nature of the sound waves produced when we speak.
Auditory phonetics examines the way listeners perceive the sounds.
Articulatory phonetics, the principal branch of the study and also the main
concern of the chapter, focuses on how the sounds are produced and how they
can be described in terms of their articulation in the vocal tract.

7. In order to study speech sounds, we must have a way to write down the
sounds. Linguists have invented a phonetic alphabet, a system for writing
speech sounds, so that there is a specific and concrete way to refer to each
individual sound. Writing down speech sounds by using a phonetic alphabet is
called phonetic transcription.
The Phonetic Alphabet

8. A spelling system cannot be used as a tool for phonetic
transcription. This is because orthography, or alphabetical spelling, does
not consistently and unambiguously represent speech sounds. Consider
the English spelling system. It is not a good phonetic alphabet, and
hence not an adequate tool for the phonetic transcription, because of the
following discrepancies between letters and sounds.

9. 1. A The same sound is represented variously using different letters,
such as the [i] sound in we, machine, silly, bee, tea, key, seize,
belief, and amoeba.
2. The same letter can represent different sounds, such as the letter a in
hard, want, about, many, and ant.
3. A single sound is represented by a combination of letters, such as
theme, shirt, photo, sock, root, and boat.

10. 4. A single letter represents more than one sound,
such as box and excite.
5. A letter does not represent any sound (the so-called silent letters),
such as knight, write, debt, gnaw, though, and rose.
6. There is no letter to represent sounds that occur,
such as the vowel-preceding [y] in use and fume.