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GST 111 Phonetics and Phonology

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GST 111 Phonetics and Phonology

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GST 111

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY


Phonetics is the study of the production of sounds as produced by the organs of
speech. It deals with the analysis of the sounds of languages in terms of
articulation, transmission and perception. Phonetics seeks to identify sounds that
constitute speech units which are distinct from all other possible human sounds.

ANATOMY OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE


(Mihalic̆ ek 2011:40)

TYPES OF PHONETICS
There are three major branches in the study of phonetics, namely acoustic
phonetics, articulatory phonetics, and auditory phonetics.
ARTICULATORY PHONETICS
Articulatory phonetics refers to the approach to the phonetic medium that seeks to
explain and classify speech sounds in terms of the variations in the production of
the speech sounds. It sees speech as an activity of the speaker and concentrates
attention on the human speech organs and how these organs function singly and in
combination with each other to modify exhaled air from the lungs into speech
sounds. In articulatory phonetics speech sounds are described in terms of the
organs which produce them and how these organs behave during their production.
(Crystal, 1991).

AUDITORY PHONETICS
This branch of phonetics sees speech mainly as an activity of the hearer: how the
hearer perceives and interprets speech sounds. It deals with such properties of
sounds as pitch, accentuation and loudness – non-segmental issues which affect
sound perception. The hearer does not listen to a sound for its own sake; he listens
in order to get meaning. This means he listens for sounds in association with other
sounds. (Adetugbo, 1993).

ACOUSTIC PHONETICS
This branch of phonetics studies the physical properties of the sound waves
generated when the speech organs go into activity and how sound is transmitted
through the air from the speaker to the hearer. It utilizes machines to measure
sound waves particularly the frequency and the amplitude of sound wave.
Engineers, builders and construction experts frequently make use of acoustic
information. (Halliday et al., 1970).
PHONOLOGY
SOUND PATTERNING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
According to Akmajian (2008) Phonology is the subfield of linguistics that studies
the structure and systematic patterning of sounds in human language. The term
phonology is used in two ways. It refers to the distribution of sounds of the
particular language and rules governing them. A phoneme is the smallest
phonological unit that brings about a change in meaning. Gibson (1998) cited by
Osisanwo (2009) stated that it is ‘an abstract linguistic unit which can bring about
a change in meaning’.

Phonology is essentially the description of the systems and patterns of speech


sounds in a language. It is concerned with the abstract or mental aspect of the
sounds in language rather than with the actual physical articulation of speech
sounds. Phonology is about the underlying design, the blueprint of each sound
type, which serves as the constant basis of all the variations in different physical
articulations of that sound type in different contexts (Kreidler, 1989). According to
Akmajian (2008), Phonology is the subfield of linguistics that studies the structure
and systematic patterning of sounds in human language.

Phonology can be largely classified into two levels: segmental and suprasegmental
phonology Segmental phonology is the study of the sound segments and how they
come together to form meaningful utterances. Roach (2000) said: ‘it is sometimes
helpful to think of the phonemic system as similar to… set of pieces used in a
chess… in a similar way, we have a more or less fixed set of pieces (phonemes)
with which to play the game of speaking English’. This implies that the segmental
aspect has to do with a set of speech sounds units. English language has forty-four
speech sound units.
They are divided into twenty four (24) consonant sounds and twenty (20) vowel
sounds. The vowel sounds are further divided into twelve (12) pure vowels and
eight (8) diphthong sounds.

DESCRIPTION OF ENGLISH VOWELS AND CONSONANTS

ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS


Ee34Roach (2000) defined vowels as sounds produced without obstruction to the
flow
of air.’ There are five long vowel sounds and seven short vowel sounds in English
language. They are: /ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, u, ʌ, ə, i: a:, ɔ:, u:, з:/ they can be represented in the
chart below in their various positions:

ENGLISH VOWEL CHART (Mihalic̆ ek 2011:759)


]9

The vowel sounds are illustrated in following words.

EXAMPLES
THE MONOPHTHONG SOUNDS

SHORT VOWELS
1. /ɪ/ as in /fɪl/ fill
2. /e/ as in /bet/ bet
3. /æ/ as in / pæt/ pat
4. /ɒ/ as in /pɒt/ pot
5. /u/ as in /ful/ full
6. /ʌ/ as in /sʌn / son
7. /ə/ as in /əgəu/ ago

LONG VOWELS
1. /з:/ as in /bз:θ/ birth
2. /a:/ as in /pa:t/ part
3. /ɔ:/ as in /pɔ:t/ port
4. /u:/ as in /fu:l/ fool
5. /i:/ as in /fi:l/ feel

DIPHTHONG SOUNDS
Diphthong vowel sounds are sounds produced with a glide quality. That is, in the
production of a diphthong sound there is a movement from one vowel sound to
another. The length of diphthongs are like the long vowel sounds. Diphthong
sounds consist of two short pure vowel sounds. The first part is stronger than the
second part. They are divided into central and closing diphthongs. Central
diphthongs are:/ɪə, εə, uə/ and the decentral or closing diphthongs are: /eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ, au,
əu/ (Roach, 2000).

The diphthong vowel sounds are shown as used in the following words:
1. /ɪə/ as in /bɪə/ beer
2. /εə/ as in /fεə/ fair
3. /uə/ as in /suə/ sure
4. /aɪ/ as in / taɪ/ tie
5. /ɔɪ/ as in /kɔɪn/ coin
6. /au/ as in /kau/ cow
7. /əu/ as in /gəu/ go
8. /eɪ/ as in /peɪ/ pay

ENGLISH CONSONANT SOUNDS


Consonant sounds are sounds produced when there is obstruction in the vocal tract.
It may be total or partial obstruction. Osisanwo (2009) said: ‘Consonant sounds are
speech sounds produced by blocking the out flow of air through contact with some
speech organs’. Consonant sounds can be classified by place of articulation,
manner of articulation and state of glottis. There are twenty-four consonant sounds
in English Language. They are: /p, b, f, v, t, d, k, g, θ, ŋ, s, z, t∫, ∫, l, ʤ, ჳ, m, n, ð, r,
h, w, j/. The classification of consonant sounds is being represented in the chart
below.

ENGLISH CONSONANT CHART


(Mihalic̆ ek 2011:759)
The consonant sounds are illustrated in the following words:
ENGLISH CONSONANTS
1. /p/ as in /peɪn/ pain
2. /b/ as in /bɒks/ box
3. /t/ as in /teɪl/ tail
4. /d / as in /daɪ/ die
5. /k/ as in / kaɪt/ kite
6. /g/ as in /gaut/ gout
7. /f/ as in /feɪm/ fame
8. /v/ as in /væn/ van
9. /s/ as in /sæt/ sat
10. /z/ as in /zɪp/ zip
11. /∫/ as in /∫ɒp/ shop
12. /ჳ/ as in /mεჳə/ measure
13. /h/ as in /hɒt/ hot
14. /m/ as in /mæn/ man
15. /n/ as in /nəuz/ nose
16. /s/ as in /sɒn/ song
17. /l/ as in /leg/ leg
18. /r/ as in /rʌn/ run
19. /w/ as in /waɪf/ wife
20. /j/ as in /jes/ yes
21. /θ/ as in / θi:m/ theme
22. /ð/ as in /ðeɪ/ they
23. /t∫/ as in /t∫einʤ/ change
24. /ʤ/ as in /ʤʌʤ / judge
25. /ŋ/ as in /sɪŋ/

EXERCISE
1. Give two examples each of English vowel sounds.
2. Highlight two examples each of English consonant sounds.

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