Introduction to Phonetics

Phonetics—basics

Definition: the study of human speech

sounds
In phonetics we refer to individual
sounds as phones or sounds; Never
letters
All phonetic transcription is done
within phonetic brackets: [si]
Fields of Phonetics

Articulatory phonetics
How sounds are produced
Acoustic phonetics
Physical properties of sounds
Auditory phonetics
How sounds are perceived
Transcription Vs. Spelling
We want, as much as possible, to create a
system of one-to-one sound-symbol
correspondence.
This is not necessarily the case with
spelling.
Examples: ice vs.police; tine vs. machine.
Also: catch, cough, phlegm, bought, trick,
knight, leisure, queen, this, threw, Xerox,
psychology, design.
International Phonetic Alphabet
All the world’s languages can be
transcribed using the IPA
In this class, we’ll be using a
simplified, US English version of the
IPA (many of the IPA sounds are not
used in English, e.g. Retroflex
Chinese, and Welsh ‘ll’)
In IPA transcription, one phone (IPA
symbol) usually equals one sound
Benefits of Phonetic Transcription

We can use IPA transcription across

languages, there is one symbol for
EVERY possible human sound
There is a 1-1 correspondence of
sound to symbol
Brackets show the pronunciation of
the word, which may change from
time to time, even if it’s the same
word
How Are Sounds Produced?

Most sounds are produced by an air

stream from lungs through one or
more speech organs.
Where and how obstructions are in
the air stream determine the identity
of the sound produced.
Speech Production Mechanism
VOCAL TRACT
Nasal cavity
Oral cavity
(shapes
Pharynx
sounds)
LARYNX
Vocal folds
Glottis (voicing)

LUNGS Energy source

(see figure 10.1, Clark p.120)

Transcription Practice

Transcribe:
Your name
Linguistics, hiccup, teeth, teethe, delay,
should, sign, sane, phonetics, yellow
For Wednesday:

Read file 3.2

Consonants

Pinker, p.165-168