Phonetics and Phonology: Understanding Speech Sounds
Phonetics and Phonology: Key Concepts
1. What is Phonetics?
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies the sounds of human speech.
2. What is Phonology?
Phonology is a branch of linguistics that studies the sound system of a particular language.
3. Which Organs Participate in Human Speech and How?
Three different organ systems participate in human speech:
- Respiratory organs
- The larynx (voice box)
- Articulatory organs
Air from the lungs passes through the trachea to the larynx, where the vocal cords (vocal folds) vibrate to produce sounds. The vocal cords change their length, becoming thicker for low notes and thinner for high notes. The air then travels to the mouth or nose, where it may be modified by the articulatory organs.
4. What are Articulatory Organs? List them.
Articulatory organs are the speech organs that produce the sounds of language. There are two types:
- Passive Articulators (remain static): upper lip, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, soft palate (velum), uvula, and pharynx wall.
- Active Articulators (move towards passive articulators): The tongue (the most important active articulator) and the lower lip. The glottis is *not* considered an active articulator, as it is the space between the vocal folds.
5. What are Phonemes? What are Allophones?
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can change meaning. An allophone is a phonetic variant of a phoneme. For example, [p] and [pʰ] are allophones of the phoneme /p/ in the words “pin” [pʰɪn] (aspirated) and “spin” [spɪn] (unaspirated). Similarly, the /t/ in “tell” [tʰɛl] is aspirated, but in “eat” [it] it is unaspirated.
6. What is a Vowel? What is a Consonant?
A vowel is a sound produced without any closure in the mouth or throat; there is no obstruction in the oral cavity. A consonant is a sound produced with some obstruction of airflow during vocalization.
7. What are the Places of Articulation of English Consonants?
The place of articulation of a consonant is where the obstruction occurs in the vocal tract. It’s the point of contact between an active articulator (usually part of the tongue) and a passive articulator (usually part of the roof of the mouth). The places of articulation are:
- Bilabial: Articulated with both lips.
- Labiodental: Articulated with the lower lip and upper front teeth.
- Dental: Articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue and the upper front teeth.
- Alveolar: Articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue and the alveolar ridge.
- Post-alveolar: Articulated with the blade of the tongue and the back of the alveolar ridge.
- Palatal: Articulated with the front of the tongue and the hard palate.
- Velar: Articulated with the back of the tongue and the soft palate (velum).
- Glottal: Articulated in the glottis (the space between the vocal folds).
8. Which Vowel Sounds are Particularly Problematic for Spanish Speakers? Why?
Vowels are often challenging for Spanish speakers because Spanish has only five vowel sounds, while English has approximately 19 (depending on the dialect), formed from around 11 mouth positions. Spanish speakers often use a single vowel sound where an English speaker would use two or three distinct sounds. For instance, differentiating between /ɪ/ (as in “ship”) and /iː/ (as in “sheep”) is difficult because Spanish has only one high front vowel, [i].