This is an introduction to phonetics. It looks at the definitions of phonetics as well as the branches of phonetics.

1. JANUARY 15, 2013
MISS MCLEARY

2.  Introduction
 Class rules
 Register
 Overview of course
 assessment

3.  Phonetics is the study of speech sounds; how
they are produced in the vocal tract
(articulatory phonetics), their physical
properties (acoustic phonetics), and how they
are perceived (auditory phonetics). Language
files
 Phonetics is the study of the production,
perception and analysis of speech sounds.
(Kuiper and Scott Allan 1996)

4.  Acoustic Phonetics – is the study of the
transmission of the physical properties of
speech sounds (such as intensity, frequency
and duration)
 It has to rely heavily on the use of
sophisticated instruments that perform
analyses of sound vibration.
 A spectrograph is used.

5.  Auditory phonetics is the study of the
perception of speech sounds.
 Articulatory phonetics is the study of the
production of speech sounds.
 It involves the study of how phones are
produced by speakers and the description
and classification of those sounds according
to their properties.

6.  How many sounds have each of the following
English words?
 fill feel
 tree bitter
 thesis sing
 drunk single
 marry Mary
 jungle meander

7.  Articulatory Phonetics
 The voice is articulated by the lips and
the tongue....man speaks by means of
the air which he inhales into his entire
body cavities. When the air is expelled
through the empty space it produces a
sound, because of the resonances in
the skull.

8. The tongue articulates by its strokes;
it gathers the air in the throat and
pushes it against the palate and the
teeth, thereby giving the sound a
definite shape. If the tongue would
not articulate each time, by means of
its strokes, man would not speak
clearly and would only be able to
produce a few sounds. HIPPOCRATES
(460-377 B.C.E.)

10.  The production of any speech sound involves
the movement of air. Most speech sounds
are produced by pushing lung air through the
vocal cords – thin bands of membrane – up
the throat, and into the mouth or nose, and
finally out the body. A brief anatomy lesson is
in order.

11.  There are three basic components of the
human anatomy that that are involved in
the production of speech. See handout. One
is the larynx, which contains the vocal folds
and the glottis; another is the vocal tract
above the larynx, which is composed of the
oral and nasal cavities. The third is the
subglottal system, which is the part of the
respiratory system located below the larynx.

14.  The production of speech sounds involves
many articulators.
 Upper and lower lips. These are used in the
production of labial sounds.
 Upper and lower teeth

15.  The roof of the mouth: if you run the tip of
your tongue backwards from your upper front
teeth you should feel:
 The alveolar ridge: a hump directly behind
the teeth.
 The hard palate: running your tongue tip
back from the alveolar ridge you should feel a
bony structure, which may rise up quite
steeply before it levels out. This is the hard
palate.

16.  The soft palate or velum, and uvula: as you
continue to run your tongue tip along the
hard palate you should detect a change from
the bony hard palate to the soft velum which
ends in the uvula.
 The velum is the muscle which can be raised
against the back wall of the pharynx to create
an airtight seal between oral and nasal
cavities.

17.  When the velum is closed air from the lungs
is directed out through the oral cavity.
 During normal breathing the velum is in the
lowered position and with the lips forming a
seal, air is forced through the nasal cavity.

18.  This is a complex muscle, whose flexibility
allows it to be moved into a number of
different positions and shapes.
 Tip or point
 Blade – this lies below the alveolar ridge.
 Front – this is the middle section which lies
below the hard palate.

19.  Back – this section lies opposites the velum
and the uvula.
 Root – a relatively vertical section which faces
backwards towards the back of the pharynx.
 The epiglottis is the organ primarily
responsible for preventing foreign bodies
(solids and liquids) from entering the lungs
when we swallow.

20.  The upper and lower jaws: these bones
contain the teeth.
 The larynx and the vocal cords – the larynx is
positioned at the top of trachea (windpipe).
 It is a box-like construction consisting of
cartilage.
 The protuberance known as the Adam’s apple
is at the top of the larynx. (voicebox)

21.  The vocal cords are located inside the larynx
just below the Adam’s apple.
 The pharynx – this is the part of the oral tract
above the larynx behind the uvula. It is
commonly known as the throat.
 The glottis – this is the space between the
vocal folds.