Welcome to All S

Course Code: EL 120 Course Name English Phonetics and Linguistics Lecture 1 Introducing the Course (p.2-8) Unit 1: Introducing Phonetics and Linguistics (p. 9-20)

EL 120 is an introductory course which aims at improving your understanding of English sounds and giving you practice in recognizing and producing them. The course introduces you to phonetics, the study of speech sounds, and linguistics, the scientific study of language. The course book is divided into 6 major blocks reflecting levels of linguistic description BlockUnitTheme/Topic Details I2-4Phonetics Study of production of sounds II5-6Phonology Study and identification of significant sounds III7-8Morphology Study of word structure IV9-11Syntax Study of sentence structure V12Semantics Study of meaning VI13Discourse Study of utterances beyond sentence boundary

The first part of the course, the phonetic component, which deals with English sounds, is practical in nature. It equips you with necessary skills that will enable you to: - identify and recognize English sounds - listen to English sounds produced by native speakers - look up the pronunciation of words in pronouncing dictionaries - use phonetic symbols to transcribe English words and texts - mark stress on syllables The linguistic component aims to introduce you to the study of human language. It highlights current trends in linguistics and introduces you to various language components -word structure -sentence structure -meaning -utterances beyond sentence boundary (discourse/text)

Apart from the EL 120: Course Book and EL 120: Course Guide, there are certain online resources for your help 1.BBC Learning English 2. Cambridge Dictionaries Online 3. English Pronouncing Dictionary 4. English Language Pronunciation Practice 5. Phonetics: The Sounds of Spoken Language 6. Speech Internet Dictionary (SID) 7. Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Unit I: Introducing Phonetics and Linguistics Linguistics It is the scientific study of language Language can be either human language or specific language Linguists employ scientific methods and principles in their descriptions and analyses Main characteristics of the scientific approach are - it must be objective (not subjective) - it must be consistent (same methodology throughout) - it must be explicit (clear) - it must be comprehensive (complete) -it should be based on concrete evidence Online Resources on linguistics a.Cambridge Dictionaries Online b.Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Two broad approaches are often recognized in the field of linguistics i. General or theoretical Linguistics ii. Applied Linguistics I. General Linguistics The language system is made up of different levels that reflect the different components of human language. i)Sounds/phonemes combine together to produce smallest units of meaning [m+a+n]. These units are called morphemes ii)Morphemes combine together to produce words For eg. Class+room=Classroom iii) Words combine to form phrases and sentences. For eg. Tom+likes+Susan= Tom likes Susan or viceversa Phonetics The study of the physical properties of speech production and perception by human beings Phonology The study of sounds as units contributing to meaning

Morphology The study of internal structures of words and how they can be modified. -how minimal units of meaning combine each other to form words, eg. class+room=classroom - how minimal units of meaning combine with prefixes and suffixes eg. Un+kind+ness=unkindness -what combinations are possible and which are not. Eg. un+kind=unkind (right) un+polite = unpolite (wrong) Syntax The study of how words combine to form acceptable and grammatical sentences At the syntactic level, linguists show -how words are arranged in phrases (book+new+a=a new book) -how phrases combine together to produce sentences, eg. My sister+ has bought+ a new book=My sister has bought a new book. - which sentences are possible/acceptable and which are not. eg. ‘My sister has bought a new book’ is both grammatical and acceptable.

Semantics The study of the meanings of words (lexical meanings) and how these combine to form the meanings of sentences. Discourse The study of units beyond the sentence boundary II. Descriptive Linguistics It studies how language is spoken by a group of people in a speech community. The studies that fall within the framework of Descriptive Linguistics are phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and discourse. Other branches/divisions of linguistics 1.Anthropological linguistics: study of the relations between language and culture. 2.Applied linguistics: study of the applications of linguistic knowledge to areas such as foreign language teaching, speech therapy, dictionary making and translation. 3.Comparative linguistics (comparative philology), branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages in order to establish that they are historically related.

4. Corpus linguistics: study of language as expressed in samples (corpora) or ‘real world’ texts 5. Historical linguistics (diachronic linguistics): study of language change 6. Psycholinguistics or Psychology of language: study of the psychological factors that enable humans to acquire (learn), use and understand language. 7. Sociolinguistics: study of language use in society. Speech pathology: study of disorders that affect a person’s speech, language, voice disorders, as well as the corrective treatment of these disorders. Example of speech disorders are lisping and stuttering. What is Phonetics? -fundamental branch of Linguistics, is the study of sounds made by the human voice in speech. Three main branches of phonetics are i) Articulatory phonetics: describes how speech sounds are produced or “articulated” in various parts of the mouth and throat. ii) Acoustic phonetics: investigates how speech sounds are transmitted as vibrations in the air. iii) Auditory phonetics: studies how speech sounds are perceived or received by the hearer

Variation in English Pronunciation Spoken English has wide variation in its pronunciation, i.e, not all native speakers pronounce English sounds and words in exacty the same way. This is because English is spoken in almost all continents Although there are many dialects of English, the following are used as standard accents #Received Pronunciation (RP) [for Britain] # General American [for the United States] # General Australian [for Australia]

What is Language? Language is a human faculty/mental ability that distinguishes human beings from animals. All normal human beings have at least one language which they use to communicate with people in their community. By the age of 5 or 6, all normal children will acquire a human language if they are exposed to it. Human languages are similar because children can learn them in a natural way. No one teaches a child to learn his first language. Characteristics of all human languages All human languages are similarly structured All human languages are used for communication

Thank You Dr. Veena Vijaya