INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE

TOPIC : PHONETICS

Misheck Banda
 TOPIC : PHONETICS
• The study of the speech sounds utilized by all
human languages to represent meaning
• Square brackets [ ] are used to represent
sounds in phonetics e.g. [g]
• All sounds of the world’s languages appear on
the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
 Types of phonetics

i) Acoustic phonetics
This is the study of the physical properties of
speech sounds. It is also called the physics
of sounds. In mapping different sounds
from different languages, experts of
acoustic phonetics use a very sophisticated
piece of equipment called the spectogram.
E.g. +/- vibrations, +/-pitch
 ii) Articulatory phonetics
• This is the study and description of the shape
of the vocal tract which produces the different
sounds.
• The study of how vocal organs are used to
produce speech sounds.
 ii) Auditory phonetics
• Also known as ‘Perceptual Phonetics’
• The study of the way people perceive speech
sounds. i.e. tone, intonation and stress.
 The airstream mechanism
• The production of any speech sound involves the
movement of an air stream. We use lung air which
is breathed out of the body through the nose.
• Since lung air is used, these sounds are called
pulmonic sounds and since air is pushed out, they
are called egressives.
• When mouth air is sucked instead of flowing out,
ingressive sounds are produced. Clicks as in Zulu
‘Qoto’ are examples of ingressives.
 Voiced and Voiceless Sounds
TASK
• Put the tips of your fore fingers into your ears and
say the following sounds:
[p] [t] [k] [s]

and then
 
[b] [d] [g] [z]

What do you notice?

 Result
• Normally, when you pronounce the second set
of sounds, you feel vibrations in your ears
unlike when you say the first set of sounds.
These vibrations are a result of the shaking of
what are called vocal cords or vocal fords
 Note:
• Notice that the different symbols used here
are inserted in square brackets; this is because
these are not letters but sounds. In phonetics
we deal with spoken language hence the use
of sounds. For example [ z ] is a sound and not
the letter z. We therefore pronounce [ z ] as z-
z-z and the letter z as [ zed ]. In the same way,
we pronounce [ s ] as s-s-s and the letter s as
[es]
• So, sounds like [ p ] [ t ∫ ] [ k ] [ s ] [ f ] [ θ ] are
voiceless sounds (- voice) while sounds [ b ] [d]
[ g ] [ z ] [t ] are voiced sounds. (+ voice).
• [ θ ] is the sound in the word thigh.
• [t∫] or [ č ] is the sound in the word church.
 what exactly happens in the production of voiced and voiceless
sounds?

• Airstream from Lungs moves up through the

trachea or windpipe and through the glottis
which is at the larynx (Refer Yule chapter on
phonetics for figures).
• If the vocal cords are apart, the airstream is not
obstructed at the glottis and passes freely. The
sounds produced in this way are called voiceless
 Places of articulation
• Once the air has passed the larynx or voice
box, it comes up and out through the mouth
and/or the nose.
• Most consonant sounds are produced by using
the tongue and other parts of the mouth to
constrict, in some way, the shape of the oral
cavity through which the air is passing.
• . If the vocal cords are together the air forces
its way through causing them to vibrate.
Sounds produced in this are what we call
voiced
• The terms used to describe many sounds are
those which denote the place of articulation
of the sound that is the location, inside the
mouth, at which constriction takes place.
• The following are the places of articulation of
different consonantal sounds:
 i) Bilabials

• When we produce sounds [ p ] [ b ] and [m],

we articulate by bringing the two lips together.

• Sounds produced in this way are called

bilabials.
 ii) Labiodentals
• Sounds formed using the upper teeth and
lower lip.
• In producing sound [ f ]and [ v ]We also use
our lips. Specifically, we articulate these
sounds by touching the bottom lip to upper
teeth hence being labiodentals
• Examples of words containing these sounds
are fine and vine.
 iii) Dentals
• Sounds formed with the tongue tip behind the
upper front teeth
• sounds [ θ ] as in thin and [ð] as in them are
called dental sounds.
• The term ‘Interdentals’ is sometimes used
when these sounds are produced with the
tongue tip between the lower and upper teeth
 iv) Alveolars

• Alveolar sounds are produced by raising the

front part of the tongue to the alveolar ridge
e.g. [ t ] [ d ] [ n ] [ s ] [ z] [ l ] [ r ]
• Be careful of misleading spellings such as knot
and raise during phonetic transcriptions
 v) Palatals

• To produce these sounds, the front part of the

tongue is raised to a point on the hard palate
just behind the alveolar ridge.
• Examples of words containing these sounds
include:
Mesh [ ∫ ] measure, [ȝ]
Church [ʧ], judge [ ǰ ] or [ʤ]
 vi) Velars

• These sounds are produced by raising the back

of the tongue to the soft palate or velum.
 
• Examples of words containing these sounds:

• Kick [ k ]
• Gig [g]
• bang [ ŋ]
 vii) Uvulars

• These sounds are produced by raising the back

of the tongue to the uvula.
• English has no uvular sounds but the ‘ r ’ in
French is uvular symbolized by [R].
• Arabic also uses uvular sounds, q.
 viii) Glottal
• Here the glottis is open, no other modification of
the airstream mechanism occurs in the mouth. 
• Examples include House [h] who [h] and hair [ h ].
• If the air is stopped completely at the glottis by
tightly closed vocal cords, the sound produced is a
glottal stop. Examples of words containing glottal
stops are button [ʔ] and Britain [ʔ]. i.e Received
Pronunciation
 Manners of articulation

• Apart from describing the sounds in terms of

where they are articulated, (i.e. place of
articulation) we can also describe the same
sounds in terms of how they are articulated
i.e. Manner of articulation.
• Such a description is necessary if we wish to
be able to differentiate between some sounds,
which in the preceding discussion have been
placed in the same category.
• The following are the manners of articulating
consonant sounds:
 i) Stops

• Stops are produced when air from the lungs is

completely stopped in the oral cavity for a
brief period.  

Examples:
[t] [d] [p] [b] [n] [m] [k]
 ii)Fricatives

• These are consonant sounds produced by almost

blocking the airstream and having the air push
through the very narrow opening

• As the air is pushed through, a type of friction is

produced and the resulting sounds are called
fricatives.
• Examples:
[ z ] [ θ ] [ ð ] [ f ] [ v ] [∫] [h]
 iii) Affricates

• These are sounds that are produced when you

combine a brief stopping of the air stream with an
obstructed release which causes some friction
(sounds produced using a combination of a plosive -
sound produced from opening a previously closed
oral passage - and a fricative).
• English has only two affricates [t∫] and [dȝ] as in
church and jump respectively
• NB: [t∫] and [dȝ] are often transcribed as [č] and [ǰ]
respectively as in catch and jury.
 iv) Approximants or glides
• These are sounds typically produced when the
tongue is in motion (gliding) to or from a
position of a vowel
• Sometimes also called semi-vowels
• The two English glides are [w] as in we, and [j]
as in yes
 5. Liquids
• The sounds [l] and [r] form a special class of
consonants called liquids.
• These two sounds are mostly voiced
 5. Nasal sounds
• A basic distinction in manner of articulation is
between oral and nasal sounds.

• If the velum is raised, cutting of the air flow

through the nasal cavity, oral sounds are produced
• However if the velum is lowered, allowing air to
pass through the nasal passage, nasal sounds are
produced e.g. [m] [n] and [ŋ] as in sum sun and
sung respectively.
 TOPIC: PHONOLOGY
• As pointed out earlier on, phonology is the
study of the description of the systems and
patterns of speech sounds in a language and
how these have a bearing on meaning.
 Example
• The sound [t] in the words tar and start may be
represented in the same way in English. However,
in actual speech, these sounds are different.
• The [t] that occurs at the beginning of word as in
‘tar’ is pronounced with a strong puff of air called
aspiration, and it is represented as [t har], while [t]
that occurs in the middle of a word as in ‘star’ is
not aspirated. These articulation differences result
into meaningful consequences of the sounds.
 Minimal pairs

• Minimal pairs are pairs of words that differ in

meaning because of one sound segment
occurring in the same place e.g. jar and tar
• Where more than two words are involved, it is
called a minimal set
 Phonemes

• A Phoneme by definition is a meaning-

distinguishing sound in language. Consider
the following set of words:
 
pill till kill
bill dill gill
• If we remove the first sound in each of these
words we remain with the word ‘ill’.
• We can therefore conclude that it is the first
sound that is bringing the difference in
meaning of those words.
• We can now make a final conclusion:
Sounds [ p ] [ t ] [ k ] [ b ] [ d ] and [ g ] are
phonemes because they are differentiating
the meaning in these words.
 Phones and allophones
• The phoneme has many versions regularly
produced in actual speech. The different
versions of a phoneme are described as
phones of that phoneme.
 Example:

• We pointed out earlier on that a [ t ] that occurs at the

beginning of a word is aspirated while a [t] that occurs
in the middle of a word is not aspirated as represented
in the following words: tar [ t h ] star [ t ]
• Thus, what we have is the phoneme class of the sound
[ t ] which occurs in slashes: / t /
• Then, we have two versions of this phoneme
represented as [ t ] and [ t h ].
• Each of these versions of phoneme / t / is called a
phone of that phoneme.
• When we have a set of phones all of which are
versions of the same phoneme, we refer to
them as allophones of that phoneme.
• In other words, a group of phones are
together referred to as allophones of that
phoneme.
 Example:

• We have the unaspirated [ t ], the aspirated

[ th ],the glottal stop ‘t’ sound in button [ʔ],
the unreleased ‘t’ in sit [ t ̚ ] all of which are
regarded as phones of phoneme / t /.
• These phones are together called allophones
of phoneme / t /.
 Thus:
/t/

[t] [ʔ] [ t ̚] [ th ],
 7
• Slashes / / are used to indicate a phoneme
class
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CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF VOWELS