Phonetics The study of productive sounds within a language 2 Basic types of sounds in English: Consonants (C): restriction on airflow Vowels (V): no restriction on airflow

Consonants C's are identified by two types of descriptors Manner of Articulation Airflow Use of vocal chords Place of Articulation Location in oral cavity where sound is produced

Vowels V's are described by four descriptors Height: how high the tongue is Frontness: location on the tongue Tenseness: how tense the tongue Rounding: whether lips are rounded or not Two exceptions Diphthongs: low-front, low-back, mid-back Schwa

Representing Sounds Phonemes are the meaningful sounds in a language Phonetic descriptors are the scientific description of these sounds Graphemes are symbols used to represent sounds Phonetic alphabet is a writing system where one symbol represents a single sound IPA is the alphabet used by linguists to represent phonemes

Phonology Phonology examines the rules for using the productive sounds in a language No sound in a language works in isolation There is a difference between the underlying rules of the language and the actual utterances that we produce [ ] vs / /

Phonemes vs Allophones Phonemes sounds with meaningful distinction; treated as two unique sounds can occur in minimal pairs appear in any place as long as it doesn't violate sound sequence rules Allophones sounds w/out meaningful distinction; treated as two performances of same sound occur in complimentary distribution or free variation appear in predictable places

Sound Sequence Rules The rules that govern how sounds can be assembled within a language A syllable is the smallest sound cluster in a word In English it must contain a vowel or sonorant Sequence constrains determine what sounds can be put together to make meaningful words

Suprasegmentals Sound distinctions that affect our understanding but are not represented by phonetics Stress redneck/red neck; blackbird/black bird Juncture stuffy nose/stuff he knows