Phonetics and Phonology: Understanding Speech Sounds

Posted on Jan 3, 2025 in Geology

Phonetics and Phonology

The human language is externalized through sounds, which in written language are translated into symbols or letters. These sounds are studied at two phonetic levels:

Phonetics

Phonetics deals with the study of speech sounds. It is not concerned with how these sounds relate to the linguistic system. The phonetic unit is the sound.

Phonology

Phonology studies the phoneme, focusing on how it differentiates meaning within a system. The phoneme is the phonological unit.

Example: The sounds in ‘pump’ and ‘loved’ are different. Phonetics studies these sounds and their types, which may not be present in Spanish and differentiate meaning.

Example: Phonology studies how ‘b’ and ‘p’ create meaning differences, establishing oppositions like in ‘bullet’, ‘bad’, ‘shovel’, and ‘lounge’.

Sound Qualities of Phonemes and Sounds

Phoneme

A phoneme is the smallest unit of language that can distinguish meaning. It is the minimum significant element that cannot be divided into smaller units. The phoneme is what we intend to pronounce, while the sound is what we actually pronounce. Different variations of the same phoneme are called allophones.

Sound

A sound is the concrete realization or pronunciation of a phoneme. It is studied by phonetics and belongs to speech. The sound varies depending on the individual speaker. Sounds are represented with phonetic symbols in brackets.

Qualities of Sound

  1. Pitch: The degree of highness or lowness of a voice. It can be grave or acute.
  2. Timbre: The unique quality of a voice that distinguishes different people. Even in the same speaker, the timbre can change with emotional state.
  3. Intensity: The force with which a sound is emitted, related to articulatory energy.
  4. Quantity: The duration of a sound.

Phonation

Phonation is the act of producing speech sounds through physiological mechanisms involving the respiratory organs, the phonation organs, and the articulators.

Acoustic and Articulatory Phonetics

Phonetics is divided into two fundamental branches:

Articulatory or Physiological Phonetics

This branch studies the description of the human vocal tract and the positions that different organs take to produce different speech sounds.

Acoustic or Auditory Phonetics

This branch studies the sound waves and their perception. Both branches are involved in the communication process.

Opposition and Neutralization. Pertinent Features

Example: ‘Take’ and ‘tame’ differ by the feature of voiceless/voiced. If this feature creates a change in meaning, the sounds are in opposition.

Two sounds are opposed when they can be interchanged, and the meaning of the word changes. Each phoneme is opposed to all others. The phonological opposition system in Spanish is fundamental for distinguishing vowels and consonants.

Example: ‘mesa’ and ‘terse’ and ‘mass’ or ‘boat’.

Besides opposition, another important concept in phonology is neutralization. This occurs when the pertinent features of two opposing sounds are neutralized. This gives rise to an archiphoneme. The archiphoneme is the result of neutralization: ‘envy’ /enbidia/, ‘acquire’ /adkirir/.

In neutralization, the pertinent or distinctive feature ceases to function. Thus, in neutralization, two or more phonemes that differentiate meaning stop being opposed.

Pertinent Feature

A pertinent feature is a phonetic element that is phonologically distinctive. The feature of voicing is one such feature.

Example: ‘quota’: voiceless bilabial, ‘cube’: voiced bilabial.

Pertinent features are specific characteristics of a given phoneme. The feature that differentiates one phoneme from another is a pertinent feature. Common features include occlusive, bilabial, and oral, which are not distinctive. However, the features voiceless/voiced differentiate /p/ from /b/ and are distinctive.

The Syllable. Constitution

Phonemes are grouped into superior units. If these units have a significant value, they are called morphemes. A syllable is a sound or set of sounds pronounced in a single breath. It can be composed of one or more phonemes. Syllable formation involves three phases:

  1. Initial or Explosive Phase: The articulators move from a closed position to an open position.
  2. Central or Culminant Phase: Also known as the syllabic nucleus, where maximum opening, sonority, and intensity occur. If more than one vowel exists in a syllable, the most open one becomes the nucleus. Other vowels become semiconsonants or semivowels, usually located before or after the syllabic nucleus.
  3. Final or Implosive Phase: The articulators move from an open position to a closed position.

Phonemes after the nucleus are in an implosive or post-nuclear position. Phonemes before the nucleus are in an explosive or pre-nuclear position.

Syllables can be free or bound. Free syllables end in a vowel, while bound syllables end in a consonant.

In Spanish, every syllable must contain at least one vowel. Spanish tends to favor free syllables.

Diphthong and Triphthong

A diphthong is the union of two vowels in the same syllable. A diphthong is formed by:

  • The union of a closed vowel (i, u) and a mid vowel (e, o) or an open vowel (a).
  • The union of two different closed vowels: iu, ui.
  1. When two vowels belong to different syllables, it is called a hiatus.
  2. Decreasing diphthongs: vowel + closed vowel: ai, au, ei, eu, oi, ou.
  3. Increasing diphthongs: closed vowel + open or mid vowel: ia, ie, io, ua, ue, uo.
  4. Two closed vowels can be considered a diphthong, although they are often included as increasing diphthongs.

A triphthong is the union of three vowels in the same syllable. From an orthographic point of view, a triphthong is the union of two closed unstressed vowels and another open or mid vowel. The mid or open vowel must be between the two closed vowels.

The Accent

The accent is the prominence given to one sound within a group of sounds. The Spanish accentual system has great mobility. It is a differentiating trait, as it causes significant changes depending on the syllable where it is located.

  • Words with more than one syllable have a stressed syllable.
  • Words have unstressed syllables.
  • The phonological accent is the stressed syllable.
  • The written accent is represented with a tilde.

Function of the Accent

  1. Differential: The accent gives rise to significant changes in words with identical segments. The location of the accent in different syllables results in different meanings.
  2. Emphatic: Sometimes, in conversation, a speaker emphasizes a certain word to highlight it. This emphatic accent marks words that are normally unstressed.

Intonation

Intonation is the melodic line we describe when speaking. When we speak, we produce sounds with corresponding tones. The succession of these musical tones produces a line, which is the intonation. It is the most important of the phonic features of a phrase. It covers the entire phrase, expressing psychological states, feelings, and influencing the meaning of the message.

Intonation is of major importance in communication, as identical sequences of linguistic signs can be given different meanings with different intonation.

Toneme

The most important part of the melodic line is the final curve, called the toneme. It is the authentic differentiator. It has three levels:

  1. Descending: The curve descends from the last stressed syllable. It has two variants: cadence and semicadence. Cadence is used in declarative sentences.
  2. Ascending: The curve ascends from the last stressed syllable. It has two variants: anticadence and semianticadence. Anticadence is used in total interrogative sentences. If the question is biased, the curve usually ends with a circumflex character, terminating in cadence or semicadence. Exclamatory sentences offer a diverse range of moods in the speaker and are generally characterized by a rapid ascent followed by a sharp decline.
  3. Horizontal: The curve continues to the end without rising or falling. It is typical of unfinished sentences.