Lecture 1

Introduction into
Theoretical
Phonetics
Dr.Kenshinbay Temirbolat, Candidate of
Philological Sciences, Department of
foreign languages and translation
 Plan

1. Language and Speech

2. The Phonetic system of a Language
3. Aspects of Sound Phenomena
4. Phonetics as a Science
5. Branches of Phonetics
6. Methods of Phonetic Analysis
 List of Terms
 the phonetic system
 the segmental level of the phonetic system
 the prosodic level of the phonetic system
 articulatory aspect of sound phenomena
 acoustic aspect of sound phenomena
 auditory aspect of sound phenomena
 linguistic aspect of sound phenomena
 constitutive function of sound phenomena
 distinctive function of sound phenomena
 identificatory function of sound phenomena
 phonetics
 phonology
Language –
an abstract system of signs, a set of rules which
is the base for everything which is spoken out
or
written down

Speech –
the manifestation of a language or its practical
use by various speakers and writers of a given
language
 The Phonetic System of a Language
(a set of phonetic units arranged in an orderly way to
replace each other in a given framework)
The segmental level The prosodic
(suprasegmental) level
a specially organized level a specially organized level
of the phonetic system with of the phonetic system with
a certain number of its a certain number of its units:
units: sounds of speech syllables, rhythmic groups,
(vowels and consonants) intonation groups,
which form the vocalic and utterances which form the
consonantal subsystems subsystems of pitch, rhythm,
stress, tempo, pauses
 Human speech is the result of a highly
complicated series of events, which may be
diagrammed in a simplified form like this

Speaker's Speaker's  Transmission Listener's ear Listener's

brain vocal of sounds brain
tract through air

1 2 3 4 5
linguistic articulato acoustic auditory linguistic
ry
 A sound phenomenon has
4 different aspects
the articulatory aspect
(presupposes that speech sounds are
products of human organs of speech)
According to the main sound-producing
functions,
the speech organs can be divided into the
following four groups:

(1) the power mechanism

(2) the vibrator mechanism
(3) the resonator mechanism
(4) the obstructor mechanism
 nasal cavity
hard palate

soft palate
teeth
tip tongue pharynx
blade tongue
epiglottis
front tongue
glottis
back tongue
vocal cords
larynx

trachea bronchi
diaphragm
lungs
the acoustic aspect
(presupposes that sounds exist in the form
of sound waves and have the following
physical properties: intensity, frequency,
duration, spectrum)

the auditory (perceptive) aspect

(analyses speech sounds from the point of
view of perception)
 the linguistic (functional) aspect
(segmental sounds and prosodic units
are
linguistic phenomena because they

constitute meaningful units

and perform 3 main linguistic
functions:
constitutive, distinctive, identificatory)
 Functions of phonetic units
 Constitutive function of phonetic units: they
constitute units of the upper levels of a language:
morphemes, words, word-forms, utterances

 Distinctive function of phonetic units: phonetic units

when opposed to each other differentiate lexical and
grammatical meanings of other language units
(ex. ask – asks, man-men, eat-each, a name-an aim)

 Identificatory function of phonetic units: the sound

phenomena enable the listener to identify them as
concrete words, word – forms or utterances
The relations between the articulatory, acoustic,
auditory and linguistic aspects of speech sounds
can be presented roughly in the following way :
Articulatory Acoustic Auditory Linguistic
characteristics properties (perceptible) phenomena
qualities
vibration of the fundamental pitch prosody (melody,
vocal cords frequency stress)
different positions formant quality phoneme, prosody
and movements of frequency (timbre) (stress)
speech organs
the amplitude of intensity loudness prosody (stress)
vibrations
the quantity of time duration length prosody
during which the (tempo, rhythm)
sound is
pronounced
 Phonetics
is a branch of Linguistics that studies:

 sounds in the broad sense, comprising

segmental sounds (vowels and
consonants) and prosodic units

 ways in which sounds are

organized into a system of units
 variation of the units in all types and
styles of a spoken language

 acoustic properties of sounds

 physiological basis of sound

production (taking into account
individual peculiarities of a speaker)
 Branches of Phonetics

 Articulatory Phonetics
 Acoustic Phonetics

 Auditory Phonetics

 Functional Phonetics (Phonology)

 Additional Branches of Phonetics

 General Phonetics
 Special (Descriptive) Phonetics

 Theoretical Phonetics

 Practical Phonetics

 Comparative Phonetics

 Historical Phonetics
 Links with Other Branches of
Linguistics
 Grammar (e.g. glass-glasses, wife-wives)
 Lexicology (e.g. `bluestone – 'blue `stone)
 History of a Language (e.g. hasty-nasty)
 Stylistics
 Links with Non-Linguistic Sciences

 Physiology
 Biology
 Physics
 Psychology
 History
 Statistics
 Methods of Phonetic Analysis

 Subjective (introspective)
 Objective
 List of Literature
 Борисова, Л.В. Теоретическая фонетика английского
языка: учеб. пособ. для ин-тов и фак. иностр. яз. / Л.В.
Борисова, А.А. Метлюк; под ред. Л.В. Борисовой. –
Минск: Выш. шк., 1980. – 144 с.
 Леонтьева, С.Ф. Теоретическая фонетика современного
английского языка: учеб. для студентов педагогических
вузов и университетов / С.Ф. Соколова. – М.:
Издательство «Менеджер», 2004. – 336 с.
 Summing-up
Choose among the alternatives

1. Elementary sounds, vowels and

consonants, are ... .
a) segmental units
b) suprasegmental units
c) prosodic units
2. The phonetic system of a language
comprises the following levels: ... .

a) segmental, suprasegmental, prosodic

b) segmental, prosodic
c) suprasegmental, prosodic
3. Phonetic units perform the following

functions: ... .

a) constitutive, prosodic, identificatory

b) constitutive, segmental, identificatory
c) constitutive, distinctive, identificatory
4. Functional phonetics is called in other

words ... .

a) prosody
b) general phonetics
c) phonology
 5. In oral speech the substance is … .

a) phonic
b) sounds
c) graphic
Insert the necessary word

1. The units of the _____ level of a

language do not have any lexical or
grammatical meaning.
2. The articulatory aspect of sounds
includes three components: respiration,
____ , articulation.
3. Phonetic units can differentiate lexical
and grammatical meanings of the other
language units. Thus, phonetic units
perform the _____ function.
4. _____ is a purely linguistic branch of
phonetics that deals with the functional
aspect of sound phenomena.
Insert the necessary terms or give definitions
of the terms in the following text

The phonetic system of a language is (1)

_____. It consists of 2 levels. The units of
the (2) _____ level are (3) _____, the
units of the prosodic level are (4) _____.
None of the phonetic units are (5) _____.
They fulfill 3 main functions (6) _____
and have 4 main aspects (7) _____.
The articulatory aspect is (8) _____ and has
3 components (9) _____, the auditory
aspect is (10) _____, the acoustic aspect
(11) _____ and the linguistic aspect that is
also called (12) ______. Phonetics is (13)
_____ and studies (14) _____. Its main
branches are (15) _____.