1. Course: Linguistics Lecturer: Phoenix Xu
Chapter 2 Speech Sounds
Course: Linguistics
Lecturer: Phoenix Xu

2. Table of Contents 2.1 Speech production and perception
2.2 Speech organs
2.3 Segments, divergences, and phonetic transcription
2.4 Consonants
2.5 Vowels
2.6 Coarticulation and phonetic transcription

3. 2.7 Phonological analysis
2.8 Phonemes and allophones
2.9 Phonological processes
2.10 Distinctive features
2.11 Syllables
2.12 Stress

4. 2.1 Speech production and perception
Speech Production Speech Perception
(Speaker A) (Speech B)

5. ARTICULATORY PHONETICS: the study of the production of speech sounds
ACOUSTIC PHNETICS: the study of physical properties of sounds produced in speech
AUDITORY PHONETIC: the study of perception of speech sounds

6. 2.2 Speech organs
SPEECH ORGANS (or VOCAL ORGANS): parts of the human body involved in the production of speech

7. Lung
Trachea(or windpipe)
Throat: pharynx, larynx
Nose
Mouth: tongue, parts of palate

8. LARYNX
Vocal folds, and ventricular folds
Positions of vocal folds
Apart: e.g. [p, s, t]
Close together, e.g. [b, z, d]
Totally together, e.g.glottal stop

9. PHARYNX : the larynx opens into a muscular tube

10. MOUTH
Upper lip, upper teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, soft palate (velum), uvula
Lower lip, lower teeth, tongue, mandible (lower jaw)

11. TONGUE:
Tip, blade, front, back, root

12. 2.3 Segments, divergences, and phonetic transcription
2.3.1 Segments and divergences
SEGMENT: the sound unit in a sequence which may be isolated from the rest of the sequence

13. 2.3.2 Phonetic transcription
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA):
a system of symbols for representing the pronunciation of words in any language according to the principles of the International Association

14. 2.4 Consonants 2.4.1 Consonants and vowels
CONSONATNS are produced by constricting or obstructing the vocal tract at some place to divert, impede, or completely shut off the flow or air in the oral cavity.
VOWELS are produced without such obstruction so no turbulence or a total stopping of the air can be perceived.
SEMI-VOWEL/SEMI-CONSONATNT

15. 2.4.2 Consonants
MANNERS OF ARTICULATION
PLACES OF ARTICULATION

16. 2.4.3 Manners of articulation
STOP/POSITIVE
NASAL STOP (or NASAL): e.g. [m, n]
ORAL STOP (or STOP): e.g. [p, b, t, d, k, g]

17. (2) FRICATIVE
E.g. [f, v, h]

18. (3) (MEDIAN) APPROXIMANT

19. (4) LATERAL (APPROXIMANT)
E.g. [l]

20. (5) Others
AFFRICATIVE
E.g. “ch-” in “church”

21. 2.4.4 Places of articulation
(1) BILABIAL: [w]
(2) LABIODENTAL: [f, v] in fire and via.
(3) DENTAL

22. (4) ALVEOLAR
(5) POSTALVEOLAR
(6) RETROFLEX: “r” of red.
(7) PALATAL

23. (8) VERLAR
E.g. velar stop [k, g] in cat and get
(9) UVULAR
E.g. rural Northern accent, “r” in try.
(10) PHARYNGEAL
(11) GLOTTAL
E.g. [h] in hat

24. 2.4.5 The consonants of English
Received pronunciation

25. [p] voiceless bilabial stop
[b] voiced bilabial stop
[s] voiceless alveolar fricative
[h] glottal fricative
[l] (alveolar) lateral

26. 2.5 Vowels 2.5.1 The criteria of vowel description
The part of the tongue that is raised
The extent to which the tongue rises in the direction of the palate
The position of the soft palate

27. 2.5.2 The theory of cardinal vowels
CARDIANL VOWELS

28. Cardinal vowel diagram

29. SCHWA : the tongue position for the neutral vowel [ә] is neither high nor low and neither front nor back

30. 2.5.3 Vowel glides PURE VOWELS (or MONOPHTHONGS ): VOWEL GLIDES
Diphthongs
Triphthongs

31. 2.5.4 The vowels of RP
General agreement on vowels despite minute difference

32. 2.6 Coarticulation and phonetic transcription
QUESTION: why does [a] in map has a somewhat nasal quality?

33. COARTICULATION
Anticipatory coarticulation: lamp
Perseverative coarticulation: map

34. 2.6.2 Broad and narrow transcriptions
DIACRITICS
E.g. [ã]

35. BROAD TRANSCRIPTIONS
NARROW TRANSCRIPTIONS

36. 2.7 Phonological analysis
PHONOLOGICAL STRUCTURE:

37. 2.8 Phonemes and allophones
2.8.1 Minimal pairs
MIMIMAL PAIRS: two words in a language which differ from each other by only one distinctive sound and which also differ in meaning

38. PHONEME: the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish two words
E.g. /p/, /t/, /e/

39. 2.8.2 The phoneme theory
NOTE: Languages differ in the selection of contrastive sounds.
English: peak [ph], speak [p=]
Chinese: 拼/ ph in/, 宾/p=in/

40. 2.8.3 Allophones Phonemic transcription: / /
Phonetic transcription: [ ]

41. PHONE :
E.g. [p=], [ph] are two different phones and variants of the phoneme /p/
ALLOPHONES

42. COMPLMENTARY DISTRIBUTION (1) /p/ [p=] / [s] __________
[ph] elsewhere

43. ALLOPHONY / ALLOPHONIC VARIATION

44. PHONETIC SIMILARITY:
E.g. [l, ł]

45. 2.9 Phonological processes
2.9.1 Assimilation
Ex.
a. cap [kap] can [kãn]
b. tap [tap] tan [tãn]

46. ASSIMILATION (C.f. coarticulation)
REGRESSIVE ASSIMILIATION
PROGRESSIVE ASSIMLIATON

47. DEVOCING
Ex. five past [faIvpa:st] [faIfpa:st]

48. 2.9.2 Phonological processes and phonological rules
a TARGET or AFFECTED SEGMENT undergoes a structural change in certain ENVIRONMENTS or CONTEXTS

49. PHONOLOGICAL RULE
“/” : to specify the environment in which the change takes place
Focus bar
E.g. Nasalization rule
[- nasal] [+ nasal]/ _________ [+ nasal]

50. EPENTHESIS
Ø [n] / [ә] __________ V

51. 2.9.3 Rule ordering
SIBILANTS

52. For the pluaral forms:
The /s/ appears after voiceless sounds.
The /z/ appears after voiced sounds. (All vowels are voiced.)
The /әz/ appears after sibilants.

53. UNDERLYING FORM / UNDERLYING REPRESENTATION (UR)
SURFACE FORM / SURFACE REPRESENTATION (SR)

54. a. //si:t + z// b. //bεd + z// c. //keIs + z//
s N/A *s Devoicing
N/A N/A N/A Epenthesis
si:ts bεdz keIss Output
a. //si:t + z// b. //bεd + z// c. //keIs + z//
N/A N/A ә Devoicing
s N/A N/A Epenthesis
si:ts bεdz keIsәz Output

55. Conclusion:
Epenthesis is applied before devocing.

56. 2.10 Distinctive features DISTINCTIVE FEATURES BINARY FEATURES
E.g. voiced obstruent [+voiced], voiceless obstruent [-voiced]

57. 2.11 Syllables SUPRASEGMENTAL FEATURES LINEAR approach of phonology
NON-LINEAR approach / MULTI-LEVEL PHONOLOGY

58. 2.11.1 The syllable structure
c.f. Chinese and English syllable structure
Chinese syllable structure: CV
English: MONOSYLLABIC or POLYSYLLABIC

59. NUCLEUS/PEAK
E.g. table [teibl]:[tei], [bl]
RHYME (or RIME) , ONSET
NUCLEUS
CODA

60. σ
O(nset) R(hyme)
N(cleus) Co(da)
k l a s p

61. 2.11.2 Sonority scale Sonority scale: Most sonorous 5 Vowels
4 Approximants
3 Nasals
2 Fricatives
1 Stops

62. * * 3 *
1 * *
k l a s p

63. 2.11.3 Syllabification and the maximal onset principle
QUESITION: How to separate polysyllables?

64. MAXIMAL ONSET PRINCIPLE: when there is a choice as to where to place a consonant, it is put into the onset rather than the coda

65. 2.12 Stress
STRESS refers to the degree of force used in producing a syllable.

66. normal: inTEGral, forMIDable
conservative: INtegral, FORmidable
PR: laBORatory, DEBris, GARage,
GA: LABoratory, deBRIS, gaRAGE

67. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!