1. Phonetics as a scientific study of speech
Today we will speak about phonetics as a scientific /'saın'tıfık/ study of speech.
We will have a general overview of issues which occur in phonetic studies.

2. Outline (1) The objectives of phonetics
Speech communication – encoding and decoding the message
Areas of phonetic studies
Information conveyed in speech
Types of communication (vocal, non-vocal, verbal, non-verbal)

3. Outline (2)
The semiotic framework (Laver, Principles of Phonetics, 1994): linguistic code and signs
Pattern (form) and variability (substance)
Phonetics vs. Phonology
Communicative and informative behavior
Linguistic, paralinguistic and extralinguistic communication

4. The objective of phonetics
Investigation of speech communication by recording, describing and interpreting articulated utterances:
speech communication (SC) – a code
spoken utterances – signs of this coded system
SC – effective only between people skilled in the production and interpretation of the relevant signs
SC has many layers which carry different types of information
Utterances - /’aterensys/
Semiotic - /'semjo'tık/

5. Speech communication (1)
Manipulation of the speech signal
Pattern, linguistic form
message
listener
(receiver)
speaker
(sender)
encoding
The speaker manipulates her speech signal in such a way as to produce an appropriate pattern or linguistic form which encodes the intended message.

6. Speech communication (2)
Decoding:
Linguistic form
Pattern
Features of the signal
Information:
Semantic
Evidential
Regulative
listener
(receiver)
message
The message reaches the listener. The listener decodes the linguistic form of the message and receives information about the speaker (physical, psychological and social features).
Semantic - the direct meaning of a spoken utterance
Regulative - /'regju'leıtIf/
Regulative information identifies the speaker’s desire to retain or to yield the role of the speaker during the conversation

7. Three areas of phonetic study
Articulatory Phonetics
construction and function of the speech organs (larynx, vocal cords, tongue, lips, etc.)
the use of the speech apparatus to produce the speech sounds
Acoustic Phonetics
the acoustic structure of speech - frequencies, intensities, spectra, etc.
high-precision measuring and recording instruments
Auditory Phonetics
construction and function of the hearing organs
mechanisms by which the signs are perceived by the speaker using the auditory channel
proceed - /pre'sid/
Articulatory - /a:'tıkju'leıtrı/
Auditory - /o:'dıtrı/

8. Information conveyed in speech (1)
Semantic information
direct meaning of a spoken utterance (the propositional content of the communicative acts of conversation)
the more complex the proposition the more likely it is going to be communicated by spoken words e.g. “come here” can be signaled solely by a hand movement (only visual channel)

9. Information conveyed in speech (2)
Evidential information - carried by signs which act as attributive markers on the basis of which the listeners attributes personal features to the speaker:
Physical markers (e.g. sex, age, state of health) conveyed by voice quality
Social markers (e.g. regional affiliation, educational and social status, occupation) signaled by accent, vocabulary, dialect
Psychological markers (personality, affective state, mood) conveyed by the tone of voice
Convey - /kon'veı/

10. Information conveyed in speech (3)
Regulative information
speaker’s desire to retain or to yield the role of the speaker during the conversation
to control the time-sharing of the interaction
taking and giving turns in a conversation
controlled by special mechanisms
specific to a given language community
signaled by prosody (intonation, timing) and by non- vocal and non-verbal behavior (e.g. eye contact, head movement)
The skill of taking and giving turns in a conversation is specific to a given language community and has to be learned when speaking a foreign language. (turn-taking and turn giving signaled by prosody and signals from the visual channel: eye contact, head movement)

11. How do we communicate information? (1)
Vocal behavior
audible
imparts semantic, evidential and regulative information
Non-vocal behavior
visual
imparts evidential and regulative information
uses gesture, posture, head and body movements, facial expression, gaze, eye contact (coded system of communication)
except for the facial expression (a universal aspect), the other aspects of the non-vocal behavior are particular to the culture of the speaker.
the non-vocal aspects lie outside the scope of the phonetic studies
Impart – przekazywać, nadawać

12. How do we communicate information? (2)
Verbally – using verbal elements
include vowels, consonants and word stress
identification of individual words as units of spoken language
verbal elements are linguistic
Non-verbally – by means of non-verbal elements
serve function other than that of the verbal identification
include intonation and stress (for emphasis)
non-verbal elements are linguistic or non-linguistic
Facial expression, gesture, posture – non-vocal and non- verbal
Verbally – by means of verbal elements which can be defined as aspects of communicative behavior that serve to identify individual words as units of spoken language. Verbal elements include vowels and consonants and word stress. VE are linguistic.
Non-verbally – by means of non-verbal elements that serve function other than that of the verbal identification. Non-verbal elements include intonation and stress used for the purpose of emphasis.
N-VE are linguistic and non-linguistic.
Facial expression, gesture, posture – non-vocal and non-verbal

13. Linguistic code and signs (1)
we communicate using a linguistic code that consists of signs such as words
words are arbitrary signs
referent
culturally determined link
tree
sign

14. Linguistic code and signs (2)
Vowels and consonants are also arbitrary signs
a many-to-one relationship:
speech sounds
/a/
vowel

15. Linguistic code and signs (3)
Non-arbitrary signs
sign
referent
direct link
Higher pitch -> small vocal folds (female speaker or a child)
Higher overall pitch -> small vocal folds (female speaker, child)
Lower overall pitch -> large vocal folds (male speaker)

16. The dual structure of the linguistic code
Linguistic messages (utterances) are created at two levels
Grammatical – abstract grammatical elements such as words, phrases, clauses and sentences
made up of combination of phonological units,
represent the entities in the external semantic world
Phonological – abstract phonological elements
they act as building blocks for the construction of the higher-level grammatical units
segmental elements such as vowels and consonants (speech-sounds) and suprasegmental units such as syllables, rhythmic units and units of intonation and tone
The objective of phonetics is to describe the speech-sounds and to explore and explain their relationship with the phonological level of the linguistic structure.

17. Pattern and variability
variability is the feature of pronunciation
the perceiver is able to discern the distinctive patterns in speech sounds that identify the phonological units
phonological and grammatical knowledge – reconstitution of the intended message from partial clues
We already spoke about patterns – they are defined as representatives of linguistic units. Pattern is an abstract concept, like e.g. vowel /a/, it needs to be realized or manifested to exist in the real world.
Variability /'verja'bıltı/ is an inherent characteristic of pronunciation both within and between speakers. However, despite the variability the perceiver is able to discern the distinctive patterns in speech sounds that identify the phonological units involved. Even in real, spontaneous speech which very often lacks full patterns the human perception is capable of reconstituting the intended message from partial clues -they rely on their phonological and grammatical knowledge.
Reduced utterance: She sh---d --v- giv-n --im the package.
Full utterance: She should have given him the package.

18. Form and substance Form = pattern
represents a linguistic unit
needs to be realized or manifested to exist in the real world
Substance – realization of the pattern
Gruszka – pear /pe(r)/
substance
form
Ja lubię jabłka, a oni lubią gruszki.

19. Phonetics and phonology
both concern themselves with the form and the substance, but vary in their primary focus
phonetics – substance
realization of formal symbolic patters and features conveying evidential and regulative information
phonology – form

20. Communicative and informative behavior
Information in speech can be conveyed by:
Communicative signals – intended by the sender to make the receiver aware of something of which he was not previously aware.
Informative signals – make the receiver aware of something of which he was not previously aware regardless of the intention of the sender.
Informative signals – evidential information e.g. physical characteristics of the speaker

21. Linguistic, paralinguistic and extralinguistic communication (1)
the dual-level code of the spoken language (phonological and grammatical units)
vocal, verbal, communicative and informative
Paralinguistic communication
tone of voice, non-vocal behavior
information about the attitudinal, affective or emotional state
regulation of the time-sharing of the conversation
vocal, non-vocal, verbal, non-verbal, communicative and informative
Linguistic behavior in the commonest form it consists in using the dual-level code of the spoken language made up of the phonological and grammatical units.
Paralinguistic behavior includes communication by the tone of voice.
Unlike in the linguistic communication in the PC non-vocal elements play a very large part.
It has two objectives: to carry the information about the attitudinal, affective or emotional state and to regulate the time-sharing of the conversation.

22. Linguistic, paralinguistic and extralinguistic communication (2)
Paralinguistic communication:
Similarity to the linguistic communication: the meaning of the coded paralinguistic communication is arbitrary e.g. falsetto in English (mocking, effeminacy) and Tzeltal (showing great respect)
Difference from the linguistic communication: the sequential structure plays no role and sequential relationships are important only in the judgments about the relative degree of the manifestation of the feature e.g. estimating the change in the speaking rate
Similarity to the linguistic c. – paralinguistic signs form a coded type of communication whose meaning is arbitrary (and thus specific to a given community or culture) e.g. falsetto in English can be used to mock somebody or to express one’s accusation of effeminacy /ı'femınsı/ (when mimicking), but in a Mayan language Tzeltal it indicates a great respect when greeting somebody.
Unlike the linguistic communication, the paralinguistic communication is not sequential (the paralinguistic signal can be used at any moment in the course of the utterance) and sequential relationships are important only in the judgments about the relative degree of the manifestation of the feature e.g. the listener can notice that the speaker started to speak at a slower pace only if he had a chance to assess the speaker’s earlier rate of articulation.

23. Linguistic, paralinguistic and extralinguistic communication (3)
features of the speech signal that are not involved in the realization of the linguistic or paralinguistic communication
e.g. voice quality - information about speaker’s state of health (smoker), age etc.
non-coded, non-communicative and informative
evidential information
Extralinguistic communication is realized by the features of the speech signal that are not involved in the realization of the linguistic and paralinguistic communication.
Tracheotomy - /'trækı‘otomı/
This type of behavior is non-coded, non-communicative and informative and conveys evidential information.
Most often social, psychological and physical characteristics are related to the linguistic, paralinguistic and extralinguistic information. However, there is no direct correspondence between types of information conveyed in speech and the three types of communication. For example a loud resonant voice (paralinguistic feature) can be associated with an authoritative personality (psychological marker), but it can be the outcome of a large and powerful physique (physical marker).

24. Summary – the objectives of phonetics
description of speech sounds and speech communication (linguistic code)
investigation and description of the production, perception and physics of speech sounds
speech sounds - arbitrary signs
physical markers of spoken communicate - non-arbitrary signs
investigation and explanation of the relationship between speech sounds and the phonological level of the linguistic structure
vocal behavior including verbal and non-verbal communication
aspects of linguistic, paralinguistic and extralinguistic communication

25. Thank you for your attention 