What is Phonetics?

(1st half of EPP)

/ˈwelkəm tə ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ fəˈnetɪks ən fəˈnɒlədʒi/

preface: i just skimmed this year’s material/textbooks and i’m so sorry they’re
very boring so i’ll try my best to make things easier to understand in this recap
ok —much love, nadya

I. What is Phonetics and Phonology?

• Phonetics [phone = sound] = study of speech sounds produced and heard by

humans (Clark & Yallop 1990, Roach 2001)
• Phonology = A branch of linguistics concerned with the systematic
organization of sounds in languages. (but this is post-midterm, think about
this later)

Branches of Phonetics

• How people create (articulate) sounds with their speech organs (i.e
mouths). This is the part we’ll focus on the most —> Articulatory
Phonetics
• Studying how speech translates into physical properties, such as sound
waves, using a tool called spectrograph/sonograph, that creates
spectrographs —> Acoustic Phonetics
• How the human brain and ears perceive speech. this leans more towards
the study of anatomy and physiology— is a relatively young branch with
limited knowledge —> Auditory Phonetics

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Benefits of Studying Phonetics & Phonology (and where to apply it)

- Language teaching
- Writing dictionaries (they’re called lexicographers), pronunciation dictionaries/
guides.
- Study dialects in dialectology
- Artificial intelligence and voices (Siri, Alexa, Text-to-Speech, Hatsune Miku)
- Speech therapy or speech pathology (with the help of doctors)
- Forensic phonetics/linguistics (solve crime with your knowledge of sounds)
- Make your own conlangs (constructed languages) like Tolkien.
- Be a speech/dialect coach and work with actors/performers/singers
- biː ˈeɪbəl tə riːd ðə aɪ piː ˈeɪ in ˈsentənsəs laɪk θis

Segments and Suprasegmental Features

A segment is a way to refer to individual speech sounds that make up syllables.

This includes vowels and consonants.

Suprasegmental features (also called prosodic feature) [supra = “over, above”,

suprasegments = features that go on top of segments] include stress, tone, and
intonation.

I!. Airstream Mechanism: Types o’ Airstreams

Pulmonic (lungs), Glottalic (larynx), Velaric (oral cavity [the mouth])

Lungs are mostly used for most of our (indonesian/english) speech

Larynx is mostly used for ejective and implosive sounds
Mouth is used for clicks (mostly shows up in African languages)

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Speech Organs

I’m very sorry to inform you that this is hafalan. I’m sorry

(I will explain this later)

Members of the vocal tract:

The pharynx, the cavity between the uvula and the larynx.
The oral tract, mouth.
The nasal tract, nose.

Active articulators move, this includes your bottom lip, tongue, epiglottis, velum,
and larynx

Passive articulators cannot move. this includes your top lip, teeth, alveolar ridge,
hard palate, soft palate (velum), uvula, and the pharnyx wall.

Important parts:
⁃ Lips, top and bottom. (labial sounds [labia = lips])
⁃ Teeth/Incisors (dental/interdental sounds [dental = teeth. c’mon you
should know this already])
⁃ Tongue. broken down to tip, blade, front, back. (this will be important when
you learn about vowels)
⁃ Alveolar ridge, the soft flesh right behind your front teeth. (for alveolar
sounds) [ try to feel around your mouth. it’s alright. stick your hand in your
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 mouth now. nobody’s looking.
go ahead] this will make sense
later i promise
⁃ Palate, the hard part of your
top mouth, see picture (for
palatal sounds)
⁃ Velum (for velar sounds) [don’t
get it twisted with the uvula]
⁃ Uvula (for uvular sounds) [“that
little dangly thing that swing in
the back of your throat”]
⁃ Pharynx (pharyngeal sounds)
[this is where your Adam’s apple is]

Process of Speech Production

In the textbook this is explained in a way that goes ‘round circles so here’ me
simplifying it. There are 4 steps.

a. Initiation process. Lungs: produce air (egressive sounds) or inhale air

(ingressive sounds)? Most speech uses egressive sounds, because we exhale
while we talk.

b. Phonation process. [The process of voicing] Airstream goes through your

throat/larynx. It has to go through your glottis. A glottis can do 3 things.

- Open glottis —> Voiceless sounds

- Narrowed glottis —> Voiced sounds
- Closed glottis —> Glottal stop

[This will make sense when we get to the IPA chart PLEASE stay with me here
my friends]

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c. Oro-nasal process [oro = oral = mouth / nasal = nose. oro-nasal means mouth-
nose process]. Airstream either goes through your oral cavity (mouth) or your
nasal cavity (nose).

You have this small switch called a “velum” (see picture)

—> if raised, air goes through your mouth (oral)
—> If lowered, air goes through your nose (nasal)

“What’s the difference?”

Try holding/saying “nnnnnnnnn” with your nose pinched shut. You can’t. The /n/
sound is a nasal, it goes through your nose because your velum is lowered. No
nasal, no /n/.

d. Articulation process. Now mount has to make weird shapes to create the
sound! This will be the part we’ll be most concerned about.

This articulation process has to do with your tongue, teeth, lips, and so on. Stick
around for more!!

Mid-Session FAQ and commercial break

Q. kenapa materinya banyak banget sih

A. i’m sorry emang dari sananya kayak banyak tapi habis EPP kelar banyak dari
sisi teknisnya jarang muncul lagi

Q. aku pusing gatau apa yang aku gatau :(

A. yeah aku ngerti kok

Q. nanti peminatan linguistik pusing gini terus ya kak :( ??

A. Mau peminatan apapun bakal pusing terus

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III. The Production of English Consonants (with some additional information
from Nadya)

Difference between consonants and vowels: consonants involve some audible

obstruction to the airstream. Vowels do not do this. There will also be “edge
cases” alias consonants that are also??? Kinda like vowels???

Listen to audio of the symbols (site), related video

Types of Consonants (according to my module)

Airflow can be
- Blocked —> Stop consonants
- Impeded —> Fricatives involve major constrictions to airflow, Approximants
involve minor constrictions)
- Diverted to nasal passage —> Nasal consonants
And vocal folds (glottis) may or not be vibrating

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Consonants based on voicing
Go read your textbooks and memorise this part, pal. There’s no going ‘round it. I
will give you a short hack though.

How to tell if a sound is voiced or not

- Produce the sound, hold it, press your hand on your throat/Adam’s apple. If
you feel vibrations, it’s a voiced sound. If it doesn’t, it’s unvoiced.
- Nasal sounds are voiced
- Vowels are automatically voiced, and by extension so are approximants (they
are considered semi-vowels, find out more later)

IPA chart for English Consonants (simplified)

Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Plosive p, b t, d k, g ʔ

Nasal m n ŋ

Fricative f, v θ, ð s, z ʃ, ʒ h

(Central
ɹ j w
Approximant)

Lateral
l
Approximant

Bonus:
tʃ͡ , dʒ͡
Affricates

Consonants based on the place of articulation

Read your textbook for formal explanations of these, this is a lot to cover and if I
put all of that here I will bore you to death. But I will be using our handy dandy
simplified IPA chart

- Bilabial —> [Bi = two, labia = lips] Sounds that uses your lips —> /p/, /b/, /m/
- Labiodental —> [Labio = lips, dental = teeth] Sounds where your teeth
touches your lip —> /f/, /v/

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- Dental —> Sounds where your tongue and teeth touch —> “th” /θ/, /ð/. (this is a
rare sound found in few languages)
- Alveolar —> [Soft part right behind your teeth] Where tongue (tip/blade)
meets the alveolar ridge —> A LOT, LIKE /d/, /t/, /n/, /s/, /z/, /ɹ/ (you need to
memorise these for now, but as you get the hang of things with practice, you
will know this instinctively)
- Post-alveolar —> [post = after] Just a bit behind Alveolar sounds —> Only two
(or 4 depending on the book) in English, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/
- Palatal —> Tongue arches, reaching (kind of) the hard palate —> /j/ tapi ini
dibaca kayak “y” jangan ketuker
- Velar —> When the back of your tongue meets that hard bit at the back of
your mouth’s roof —> /k/, /g/
- Glottal —> You cannot touch this body part of yours unless something has
gone VERY wrong. It’s like down at your throat —> /ʔ/. The glottal stop is when
you say, “maaf” (sorry), you’re not saying /maf/, you’re saying ma’af > /maʔaf/.
This needs a demonstration.

Some areas English doesn’t cover. Enggak begitu penting, bisa di skip, tapi w
mau bahas bentar oke

- Retroflex —> Kalian tau aksen medhok kan? “d”nya lebih nendang gimana
gitu? Iya, itu karena suara /d/ diucap dengan lidahnya jauh lebih kebelakang,
jadi /ɖ/. Aksen India dan Amerika Selatan (Southern) juga punya apa namanya
“retroflexing”. Jadi kalo ada yang nanya kenapa /d/ bisa suaranya medhok, itu
karena itu retroflex!
- Uvular —> That thing that swings at the back of your throat —> QOLQOLAH
masih inget enggak pelajaran ngaji? eniwei, (‫ ق‬qa, /q/) itu termasuk uvular. /ʁ/

(huruf r kapital) termasuk uvular fricative, ini adalah “r”nya Bahasa perancis, di
tenggorokan gitu mirip kumur kumur.
- Pharyngeal —> Ada di Bahasa arab (‫ ع‬ain = /ʕ/) (‫ ح‬ha - /ħ/). Aku Udah lama
enggak ngaji so don’t ask me about this, these sounds don’t show up much.

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Manner of articulation
Ini axis Y di tabel IPA. Mohon baca textbook kalian jika ingin tau lebih spesifik
- Oral Stop —> Or plosive sounds, airstream blocked for a bit and then release
—> pbtdkɡʔ (no slashes to save time and space and eye strain)
- Nasal Stop —> Only 3 in english, /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/ (ng), Indonesian has the
palatal /ɲ/ (ny)
- Fricative —> The air goes through a narrow constriction, it’s not completely
blocked off like the stops —> fvθðszʃʒh (it’s a lot I know)
- Approximant —> No friction, technically, called semi-vowels because little
obstruction to airflow. Cannot stand on own —> lrwj [the way I remember is
“lawry”]
* Central approximants —> airflow go in middle —> /j/, /w/, /r/
* Lateral approximant —> airflow go sideway —> /r/
• Glides —> glide from 1 position to other —> /w/ & /j/
• Liquids —> lack harshness whatever that means —> l & r
- Affricate —> They happen when 2 phones are produced at the same time, a
fricative and a stop —> There’s only 2 in english, /tʃ͡ / and /d͡ ʒ/, the curve on top

is optional. /tʃ/ or “c” is in “cheek” and “cantik”, while /dʒ/ is what you’d call a “j”
or “soft g”, first sound in “judge” and “jika”

Other schemes of classification aka this is very boring but has SOME use to it in
phonology, I guess
- Sonorant —> Lack increase in air pressure behind constriction —> Nasals,
vowels, approximants
- Obstruent —> An increase of air pressure inside the vocal tract —> Stops,
fricatives, affricates

Articulatory Description of Consonants

“VPM” —> Voicing, Place, Manner
/b/ = voiced bilabial stop
/ŋ/ = voiced velar nasal (stop)
/s/ = unvoiced alveolar fricative

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/ʔ/ = unvoiced glottal stop
And so on… This will require a lot of practice

IV. Accents, Rhoticity (Optional, you can skip this)

RP: Received pronunciation —> “Posh” British English. Only spoken by the
elite/politicians/rich people who went to private school/the monarchs
SAE: Standard American English —> North American (+Midwest, West,
Canada) Accent
GA: General American

Word Rhotic/High Non-rhotic/Low rhoticity

rhoticity (SAE) (RP)

Car /kɑːr/ /kɑː/

Run /rʌn/ /rʌn/
Order /ˈɔːrdər/ /ˈɔːdə/

Farm /fɑːrm/ /fɑːm/

Phrase No linking /r/ Without Linking /r/ (RP) With Linking /r/ (RP)
(SAE)

War and [wɔːr ən piːs] [wɔː ən piːs] [wɔːrənpiːs]

Peace
Father-In- [ˈfɑːðər ɪn lɒː] [ˈfɑːðə ɪn lɔː] [ˈfɑːðərɪnlɔː]
Law
No Intrusive /r/ Without intrusive /r/ (RP) Intrusive /r/
Drawing /ˈdrɒːɪŋ/ /ˈdrɔːɪŋ/ [drɔriŋ] “draw’rin”
Law and [lɒː ən ˈɔːrdər] [lɔː ən ˈɔːrdər] [lɔrənˈɔːdə]
Order “lawrenorder”

I literally spent so much time (half an hour) on this I’m going to cry PLEASE
appreciate the love and effort I put into this.

Non-rhotic: /r/ after vowel is not pronounced

Rhotic: All Rs are pronounced

Linking /r/: requires non-high vowel before another vowel (ɔ + ə = ɔrə)

Intrusive /r/: shows up between a non-high vowel and another vowel (ɔːɪ -> ɔri)
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V. Vowels (In English)
I am bad at vowels. I’m sorry this is just how it be.
Disclaimer: Vowels are bastards that do not
care about consistency. There is a lot of
variety In the vowels. Your module/dictionary/
dialect/accent may vary from what these
transcriptions say. If a question comes up and
you need to transcribe a vowel my advice is to
pick a God and pray.

How linguists categorise vowels:

- Height of tongue position
- Frontness of tongue position
- Roundness/Lip rounding position

Height
[High— High-Mid—Low-Mid—Low OR Close—Close-Mid—Open-Mid—Open]
High vowels: [i] beat [ɪ] bit [u] shoe
Mid Vowels: [e] bet [ɛ] bait [o] coat

Low vowels: [a] bat [ɔ] caught [ɒ] coat

Frontness
[Front—Central—Back]
Front Vowels: [i] beat [ɪ] bit [e] bet [ɛ] bait [a] bat

Back Vowels: [u] shoe [o] coat [ɔ] caught [ɒ] cot

Roundness
[Rounded—Unrounded]
Rounded vowels: [u] shoe [o] coat [ɔ] caught

Unrounded vowels: [i] beat [ɪ]bit [e] bet [ɛ] beit [a] bat

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 Simplified IPA Vowel Chart

Other schemes of classification

Long and Short Vowels
Long vowel: [i]
Short vowel: [ɪ]

Central Vowel, or the schwa

The vowel I can put up with the most, [ə]. It is neither high nor low, neither front
nor back. It is the vowel that takes the least effort to produce. It is everywhere,
especially in unstressed syllables in English. [the asterisk ‘ indicates stress]

About —> /əˈbaʊt/

Petition —> /pəˈtɪʃən/

Definite —>  /ˈdefənət/
Potato —> /pəˈteɪtəʊ/

Support —> /səˈpɔːrt/ 

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 Schwa reduction: Unstressed syllables often reduce their vowel sounds to
the schwa. Besides that, In fast spoken speech many vowels become “reduced”
into schwa. Sometimes even, schwa sounds are further reduced and are simply
dropped —> Camera: /ˈkæmərə/ becomes /ˈkæmrə/ (without the schwa)
In Indonesian we have 2 “e” sounds, the /ɛ/ in “bebek” and the /ə/ in “beban”.
Schwa-deletion is prevalent in song lyrics when the singer drops the /e/ in words
like “selalu”, becoming “s’lalu”.

Tense and Lax Vowels

Tense vowels —> More tension, stronger and longer, can end a syllable or
squished between them
Lax vowels —> Only show up between 2 consonant sounds, or closed syllables.
Relatively shorter than tense vowels

[u] —> tense —> do /du/, shooed /ʃuːd/, (shows up In two positions/
[i] —> tense —> beat /biːt/, bee /biː/
[ɪ] —> lax —> ship /ʃɪp/, sip /sɪp/, (can only exist between 2 consonants)

[ɛ] —> lax —> bait /beɪt/, dress /drɛs/

Monophthongs and Diphthongs

Monophthong —> pronounced with the same quality all through / vowel of
constant unchanging quality
Diphthong —> complex vowel, non-steady quality, 2 phases. e.g “lie” /aɪ/, lay /eɪ/
*Is a diphthong 1 or 2 phonemes? I am unsure.

Articulatory Description of Vowels

HFR —> height, frontness, roundness
[a] in “bat” /bat/ —> low front unrounded tense vowel
[ɪ] in “bit” /bɪt/ —> high front unrounded lax vowel

Cardinal vowels: *See previous chart and this video: https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=6UIAe4p2I74

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VI. Phonetic Transcription
Transcriptions can be done phonetically, phonologically, and orthographically.
Phonetic —> using brackets [*], uses the IPA symbols
Phonologically —> uses slashes /*/ , also uses the IPA symbols
Orthographical —> using the writing conventions of a particular language

EXAMPLES

“ニャー” in Japanese, means “meow”

[ɲã] —> Phonetic, uses brackets, more specific and narrow

/ɲa/ —> Phonologic, uses slashes, broader, uses diacritics.
Nya —> Latin alphabet, or usually called “Romanization”, like in lyric videos

“안녕” In Korean, means “Hi”

[a̠nɲjʌ̹ŋ] —> Phonetic, narrow (thank u wiktionary)

/anɲjʌŋ/ or /aɲʌŋ/ (I can’t read Hangul nor speak Korean) —> Phonologic, broad.
Annyeong —> Romanized

Types of Phonetic Transcriptions

Narrow (close) —> detailed, with dialectical details, diacritics and additional
marks. For very detailed analyses, so very specific and does not represent all
speakers
Broad (open) —> disregards all allophonic difference, dictionaries usually use
this. Can be applied to more diverse language communities.

Words Broad Narrow (Different Accents)

Put /pʊt/ [pʰʊt] [pʰʊt̚ ] [pʰʊʔ]

Seat /siːt/ [siːt] [siːt̚ ] [siːʔ]

give it to them (standard) —> /ɡɪv ɪt tuː ðəm/ (broad transciption)

giv' it to 'em (fast spoken) —> ['ɡɪvɪtuə̃m] (my accent)

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(halaman lampiran)

BONUS 6th chapter that is not in the syllabus but is in the module. I cannot say
whether this will show up in your exams or not :)

VII. Suprasegmentals

- Frequency and Pitch

- Pitch variation is important to languages with lexical tone (word-level tone)
like in Cantonese, but neither English nor Indonesian has this feature, so we’ll
skip this category.

Stress
Stress is important in determining meaning in English words, this is called
word-level stress (lexical stress). “SUSpect” (noun) and “susPECT” (verb) are
examples of this. Indonesian on the other hand does not have this feature,
therefore it may be quite difficult for Indonesian learners to distinguish English
stress patterns.

A Stressed Syllable —> more prominent, more audible, produced with greater
physical effort, usually longer

For longer words, stress may be applicable to more than 1 syllable. So stress is
broken down to 3 categories, Primary stress, Secondary stress, and Unstressed.

e.g /ˌnevəðəˈles/

Primary stress —> [ˈ] (raised vertical tick before the syllable)
Secondary stress —> [ˌ] (lowered tick before syllable)
Unstressed —> Syllables that aren’t marked with previous ticks

Stress on compound words (you will stress about this in 4th semester)

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Greenhouse (rumah kaca) —> GREENhouse —> stress falls on 1st word
Green House (rumah hijau) —> green HOUSE —> stress falls on 2nd word

This is the nature of compound words.

Intonation
— Distinctive pitch patterns that stretch over more than a single word
— Intonation marks sentence types like statement/questions/commands, etc
— Intonation can also carry non-linguistic information, such as indication of
boredom, impatience, or politeness.

The “Intonation Contour”

• Falling pitch = declarative sentence
• Raising pitch = yes/no questions


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