Basic Concepts in Phonetics

What is phonetics?

• Phonetics is a
branch of linguistics
that comprises the
study of the sounds
of human speech. It
is concerned with
the physical
properties of speech
sounds: their
physiological
production, acoustic
properties, auditory
perception, and
neurophysiological
status.
 Branches

• Phonetics is divided into three branches:

• Articulatory phonetics
• The study of how speech sounds are produced by the human
vocal apparatus.
• Acoustic phonetics
• The study of the sound waves made by the human vocal organs
for communication.
• Auditory phonetics
• The study of how speech sounds are perceived by the ear,
auditory nerve, and brain.
 What is Phonology?
• Phonology is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural
languages.
• Discussion
• The phonological system of a language includes
• • an inventory of sounds and their features, and
• • rules which specify how sounds interact with each other.
• Phonology is just one of several aspects of language. It is related to other
aspects such as phonetics, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics.
• Here is an illustration that shows the place of phonology in an interacting
hierarchy of levels in linguistics:
 What is the difference between
phonology and phonetics?

• Phonetics and phonology are the two fields

dedicated to the study of human speech
sounds and sound structures. The
difference between phonetics and
phonology is that phonetics deals with the
physical production of these sounds while
phonology is the study of sound patterns
and their meanings both within and across
languages.
Comparison: Phonology and phonetics

Phonetics … Phonology …
Is the basis for further
Is the basis for work in morphology,
phonological analysis. syntax, discourse, and
orthography design.

Analyzes the sound

patterns of a particular
language by

Analyzes the production of  determining which

all human speech sounds, phonetic sounds are
regardless of language. significant, and

 explaining how these

sounds are interpreted
by the native speaker.
 What is a phoneme?
Definition
• A phoneme is the smallest contrastive unit in the sound system
of a language.

Discussion
• Phonologists have differing views of the phoneme. Following are
the two major views considered here:
• In the American structuralist tradition, a phoneme is defined
according to its allophones and environments.
• In the generative tradition, a phoneme is defined as a set of
distinctive features.
 What is an allophone?
• Definition
An allophone is a phonetic variant of a phoneme in a particular
language.

Examples (English)
[p] and [pH] are allophones of the phoneme /p/.
[t] and [tH] are allophones of the phoneme /t/.

Examples (Spanish)
[b] and [B] are allophones of the phoneme /b/.
[d] and [D] are allophones of the phoneme /d/.
Here is a chart that compares phones and phonemes:

A phone is … A phoneme is …

One of many possible sounds in the A contrastive unit in the sound system
languages of the world. of a particular language.

The smallest identifiable unit found in a A minimal unit that serves to

stream of speech. distinguish between meanings of
words.

Pronounced in a defined way. Pronounced in one or more ways,

depending on the number of
allophones.

Represented between brackets by Represented between slashes by

convention. convention.

Example: /b/, /j/, /o/ Example: [b], [j], [o]

• Examples (English): Minimal pair
• Here are examples of the phonemes /r/ and /l/ occurring in a
minimal pair:

• • rip
• • lip

• The phones [r] and [l] contrast in identical environments and are
considered to be separate phonemes. The phonemes /r/ and /l/
serve to distinguish the word rip from the word lip.
 What is a grapheme?
• Linguistics one of a set of orthographic symbols
(letters or combinations of letters) in a given
language that serve to distinguish one word from
another and usually correspond to or represent
phonemes, e.g.

the f in fun, the ph in phantom, and the gh in laugh

[from Greek graphēma a letter]
• Examples (English): Distinctive features

Here are examples of the English phonemes /p/ and /i/ specified as sets of
distinctive features:
/p/ /i/

-syllabic +consonantal -sonorant +anterior -coronal -voice -continuant -

nasal+syllabic -consonantal +sonorant +high -low -back -round +ATR –nasal

Refer to the English most distinctive features chart provided by the teacher.