outline of Chapter 2.docx

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Chapter2Phonology

1.Thephonicmediumoflanguage

Speechandwritingarethetwomediaorsubstancesusedbynaturallanguagesasvehiclesforcommunication.

Qfthetwomediaoflanguage,speechismorebasicthanwriting.Inlinguisticevolution,speechispriortowriting.Thewritingsystemofanylanguageisthelaterinventionof itsuserstorecordspeech.Ineverydaycommunication,speechplaysagreaterrolethanwritingintermsoftheamountofinformationconveyed.Andalsospeechisalwaysthewayinwhicheverynativespeakeracquireshismothertongue. 

2.Phonetics

2.1Whatisphonetics?

Phoneticsisdefinedasthestudyofthephonicmediumoflanguage;itisconcernedwithallthesoundsthatoccurintheworld'slanguages.

Phoneticsincludesarticulatoryphonetics,auditoryphonetics,andacousticphonetics. Articulatoryphoneticsstudiesthesoundsfromthespeaker'spointofview.Itisconcernedwithhowaspeakeruseshisspeechorganstoarticulatethesounds.Auditoryphoneticslooksatthesoundsfromthehearer'spointofview.It studieshowthesoundsareperceivedbythehearer.Acousticphoneticsstudiesthewaysoundstravelandthephysicalmeansbywhichsoundsaretransmitted.Bystudyingthesound-wavesorphysicalpropertiesofsoundsrecorded,linguistshavecometosomeimportantconclusions.Forexample,therepetitionsofwhatmightbeheardasthesameutterancearephysicallyidenticalonlybycoincidence.Whatsoundstobeidenticaltoourearisactuallynotso.Therefore,phoneticidentityisatheoreticalideal.

2.2Organsofspeech

Thearticulatoryapparatusofahumanbeing,arecontainedinthreeimportantareasorcavities:

thepharyngealcavity---thethroat,theoralcavity---themouth,andthenasalcavity---thenose.

 Thepharyngealcavity

 Aircomingfromthelungsandthroughthewindpipepassesthroughtheglottis,apartofthelaryax,whichisabonystructureattheendofthewindpipe.Lyingacrosstheglottisarethevocalcords.Vibrationofthevocalcordsresultsinaqualityofspeechsoundscalledvoicing,whichisafeatureofallvowelsandsomeconsonants.suchas[b],[z],and[m].Thespeedofthevibrationdeterminesthepitchofthesounds.Whenthevocalcordsaredrawnwideapart,lettingairgothroughwithoutcausingvibration,thesoundsproducedinsuchaconditionarevoiceless,suchas[t],[s],and[f]inEnglish.

Theoralcavity

1.lips  2.teeth  3.teethridge（alveolus）4.hardpalate5.softpalate（velum）6.uvula7.tipoftongue     8.bladeoftongue9.backoftongue       10.vocalcords 11. pharyngealcavity    12.nasalcavity

Oralcavityistheplacewherethegreatestsourceofmodificationoftheairstreamisfound.Themainplacesinvolvedaretheback,thefront,andthebladeofthetongue,andalsoitsextremefront---thetip,theuvula,thesoftpalate（thevelum）,thehardpalate,theteethridge（thealveolus）,theteethandthelips.Ofallthese,thetongueisthemostflexible,andisresponsibleformorevarietiesofarticulationthananyother. 

Thenasalcavity                     

Thenasalcavityisconnectedwiththeoralcavity.Thesoftpartoftheroofofthemouth,thevelum,canbedrawnbacktoclosethepassagesothatallairexitingfromthelungscanonlygothroughthemouth.Thesoundsproducedinthisconditionarenotnasalized.Thepassagecanalsobeleftopentoallowairtoexitthroughthenose.Inthiscase,thesoundspronouncedarenasalized.

2.3Orthographicrepresentationofspeechsounds---broadandnarrowtranscriptions

InternationalPhoneticAlphabet（IPA）isastandardizedandinternationallyacceptedsystemofphonetictranscription.ThebasicprincipleoftheIPAisusingadifferentletterforeachdistinguishablespeechsound.Thetranscriptionsaredividedintobroadtranscriptionandnarrowtranscription.Thetranscriptionwithletter-symbolsonlyisbroadtranscription,whilethetranscriptionwithletter-symbolstogetherwiththediacriticstomakefinerdistinctionsisnarrowtranscription.

Herearesomeexamplestoshowhowthetwotranscriptionsdiffer.

Inbroadtranscription,thesymbol“t”isusedforthesound[t]inwordslikestar[sta:

]andtar[ta:

].Innarrowtranscription,weuse[sta:

]andtar[tha:

]tomakefinerdistinctions.

2.4ClassificationofEnglishspeechsounds

ThespeechsoundsintheEnglishlanguagecanbedividedintovowelsandconsonants.Thebasicdifferencebetweenavowelandaconsonantisthatinthepronunciationoftheformertheairthatcomesfromthelungsmeetswithnoobstructionofanykindinthethroat,thenose,orthemouth,whileinthatofthelatteritisobstructedinonewayoranother.

2.4.1ClassificationofEnglishconsonants

Englishconsonantscanbeclassifiedeitherintermsofmannerofarticulationorintermsofplaceofarticulation.

Intermsofmannerofarticulation:

stops:

 Whentheobstructioncreatedbythespeechorgansistotalorcomplete,thespeechsoundproducedwiththeobstructionaudiblyreleasedandtheairpassingoutagainiscalledastoporaplosive.TheEnglishstopsfallintothreepairs:

[p][b],[t][d],and[k][g],

fricatives:

 Whentheobstructionispartialandtheairisforcedthroughanarrowpassageinthemouthsoastocausedefinitelocalfrictionatthepoint,thespeechsoundthusproducedisafricative.ThefricativesinEnglishare[f][v][s][z][W][T][F][V][h].

Affricates:

Whentheobstruction,completeatfirst,isreleasedslowlywiththefrictionresultingfrompartialobstruction（asinfricatives）,thesoundsthusproducedareaffricates.InEnglishtherearetwoaffricates[tF]and[dV].

Liquids:

Whentheairflowisobstructedbutisallowedtoescapethroughthepassagebetweenpartorpartsofthetongue（thetiporthesides）andtheroofofthemouth,thesoundsthusproducedarecalledliquids.TheEnglishliquidsare[1]and[r].[1]iscalledalateralsoundbecauseintheproductionofitthesurfaceofthetongue,insteadofbeingmoreorlessflat,ismadeslightlyconvexandcausesstoppageinthecentreoftheroofofthemouthwhileallowingairtopassatthesides.Intheproductionoftheotherliquid[r],thetipofthetongueiscurledbackandtheairpassesoverit.Itisalsocalled"retroflex."

Nasals:

Whenthenasalpassageisopenedbyloweringthesoftpalateatthebackofthemouthandairisallowedtopassthroughit,thesoundsthusproducedarecallednasals.TherearethreenasalsinEnglish[m][n]and[N].

Glides,sometimescalled"semivowels,"arearathermarginalcategory.TheEnglishglidesare[w]and[j],bothvoiced.Theyareformedinthesamemannerasthevowels[u]and[i],withanarrowerpassagebetweenthelipsorbetweenthetongueandthehardpalatetocausesomeslightnoisefromthelocalobstruction.

Intermsofplaceofarticulation:

bilabial:

 Intheproductionofthesesounds,theupperandthelowerlipsarebroughttogethertocreateobstruction.TheEnglishbilabialsare[p][b][m][w].

labiodental:

 Intheproductionofthesesounds,thelowerlipisbroughtintocontactwiththeupperteeth,thuscreatingtheobstruction.ThelabiodentalsoundsinEnglishare[f]and[v].

dental:

Theobstructioniscreatedbetweenthetipofthetongueandtheupperteeth.TherearetwodentalsoundsinEnglish;theyare[W]and[T].

alveolar:

 Thetipofthetongueisbroughtintocontactwiththeupperteeth-ridgetocreatetheobstruction.Thealveolarsoundsare[t][d][s][z][n][1][r]

palatal:

 Theobstructionisbetweenthebackofthetongueandthehardpalate.Thepalatalsoundsare[F][V][tF][dV][j].

velar:

Thebackofthetongueisbroughtintocontactwiththevelum,orthesoftpalate.ThesoundsthusproducedinEnglishare[k][g]and[N].

glottal:

 Thevocalcordsarebroughtmomentarilytogethertocreatetheobstruction.ThereisonlyoneglottalsoundinEnglish,i.e.,[h].

2.4.2ClassificationofEnglishvowels

Vowelsoundsareclassifiedaccordingto:

thepositionofthetongueinthemouth,theopennessofthemouth,theshapeofthelips,andthelengthofthevowels.

1）thepositionofthetongueinthemouth

Frontvowelsaretheonesintheproductionofwhichthefrontpartofthetongueisraisedthehighestsuchas[i:

][i][e][A][a].

Whenthecentralpartofthetonguemaintainsitshighestposition,thevowelsthusproducedarecentralvowelssuchas [3:

][E]and[Q].

Ifthebackofthetongueisheldthehighest,thevowelsthusproducedare backvowelssuchas[u:

][u][C:

][R]and[B:

].

2）theopennessofthemouth

closevowels:

[i:

][i][u:

]and[u];

semi-closevowels:

[e]and[3;]

semi-openvowels:

[E]and[R:

]

openvowels:

[A][a][Q][C]and[B:

].

3）theshapeofthelips

 roundedvowels:

AllthebackvowelsinEnglishareroundedexcept[ɑ:

].

 unroundedvowels:

AllthefrontvowelsandcentralvowelsinEnglishareunrounded.

4）thelengthofvowels

 longvowels:

Theyareusuallymarkedwithacolonsuchas[i:

][\:

][C:

][u:

][ɑ:

]

 shortvowels:

Except[i:

][\:

][C:

][u:

][ɑ:

],othervowelsinEnglishareshortvowels.

5）thestateoftension

 tensevowels:

Thelongvowelsarealltensevowels.

 loosevowels:

Theshortvowelsarelaxvowels.

Withthesecriteria,wecaneasilydescribeEnglishvowels.Forexample,thevowel[e]canbedescribedasfront,semi-close,andunrounded.

Sofarwehavebeenclassifyingtheindividualvowels,alsoknownasmonophthongs.InEnglishtherearealsoanumberofdiphthongs,whichareproducedbymovingfromonevowelpositiontoanotherthroughinterveningpositions.Thediphthongsinclude[ei][ai][Eu][au][Ci][iE][eE][uE].