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Phonetics and Phonology are closely related fields. Without the basic sounds-phonetics-phonology would just be a theoretical field. Whereas phonetics deals more with the place and manner of sounds that humans produce, the focus in phonology is on how those sounds or productions of sounds may interract with one another. Phonology is a little like physics, particularly acoustics, the study of sound, in this case sound in the human vocal tract. We'll look here at core concepts in phonetics and phonological rules in phonology.
Important terms: Vocal tract, phonemes, vowels, consonants, diphthongs, fricatives, affricates, International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
1. Nasal cavity 2. Alveolar ridge 3. Hard palate 4. Soft palate (Velum) 5. Teeth 6. Uvula 7. Lips (Labia) 8. Pharynx 9. Tip of tongue 10. Epiglottis 11. Blade of tongue 12. Vocal cords 13. Front of tongue 14. Glottis 15. Back of tongue 16. Wind pipe (Trachea) 17. Larynx
Image:Vocal Tract with numbers, Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VocalTract_withNumbers.svg
Tavin, CC BY 3.0
The smallest unit of sound that a human can produce is what we call a phoneme. Phonemes are then divided into different classes depending on the type of sound they carry, so we have vowels, consonants, various diphthongs (composed of two vowel sounds in quick succession), fricatives, and affricates (composed of two consonant sounds in combination).
The International Phonetic Alphabet or IPA is a convenient way to transcribe various languages. The IPA is frequently updated as new discoveries are made-new languages, sound changes, etc. An interactive IPA chart is a helpful way to familiarize yourself with the sounds of human speech. You can click on the letters and hear a sound recording. See if you can spell your name or simple words in IPA. IPA Interactive Chart
Image:Extended IPA Chart, Wikimedia Commons:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Extended_IPA_chart_2005.png
Kwamikagami (talk) 21:28, 2 October 2008 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0
Here is how I would say my name in IPA spelling: mɑɪ neɪm ɪz mæt
.Here is a sound file of the same, so maybe you can better follow along between the audio and the IPA spelling:
In standard orthography: My name is Matt.
Sounds on the IPA chart are carefully organized according to place and manner of articulation/production. As you move from left to right across the chart, the sounds originate from further back in the vocal tract.
IPA transcription and type website helps you copy and paste or type IPA symbols. It also has the Full, English, and IPA charts for other languages.Check it out Here. For the purposes of this short introduction, we'll use the Full and/or English IPA.
Transcribe the following words and sentences. Check your answers. Answers may vary slightly for dialectical reasons and variations in accents or what we percieve in hearing. I've provided alternate answers where possible.
Click Here for the answers. Answers will appear in a separate window.
Phonological rules, the "grammar" of sounds
Some languages exhibit an interesting phonological phenomenon known as vowel harmony. It's a type of "agreement" in sounds. If you have a particular vowel in one part of the word, it follows that vowels of similar quality will appear or "need" to appear in the same vicinity. This will also apply to affixes that attach to the word. English doesn't necessarily have vowel harmony, but there are several languages that do; Mongolian, Hungarian, and Finnish are some I am most familiar with. Follwoing are some examples of vowel harmony in Finnish and Hungarian. These languages have sharp distinction between front and back vowels. Audio files are provided to better assist you in conecting what you read and what you hear, hopefully to hear the harmony between the vowels in the root word and the suffix.
Finnish examples using front vowels in standard Finnish spelling and IPA
metsä (forest) - metsässä (in the forest) - metsästä (out from the forest)
mɛtsæ - mɛtsæs:æ - mɛtsæstæ
Finnish example with a back vowels 'o' and 'a'
talo (house) - talossa (in the house) - talosta (from/out of the house)
talo - talos:ɑ - talostɑ
Hungarian example with front vowel 'e' which has to have agreement with a similar sounding suffix.
Budapest - Budapestben - Budapestre
budapɛʃt - budapɛʃtbɛn - budapɛʃtrɛ
In Finnish, -ssä/-ssa and -sta/-stä are variants depending on vowels in the root word. Likewise in Hungarian, ban/-ben are variants of the same suffix that means 'in' or 'inside' a place; -re and -ra are varians that mean 'to' a place, but which appears depends on the preceding vowel in the word to which it is attached. Although it may seem complex and certainly very different, with practice it is almost a natural phenomenon based on phonetics and acoustics. Essentially, it is physically easier (especially in normal and faster speech) in sound articulation to keep vowels closer together when possible.
Do you think you could say 'in Boise' in Hungarian? Which suffix would you use? How about 'to Boise'?Now that we've covered some basics in phonetics and phonology, we'll move on to word forms. Click the Morphology button on the menu bar to continue.
