Phonetics as a linguistic science. Branches of phonetics. Phonetics and phonology
PHONETICS is a linguistic science that studies segmental sounds (vowels, consonants), the way they are organized into the system of units and prosodic phenomena (pitch, stress, tempo, rhythm). Being a science in its own right, it's at the same time closely connected with other linguistic sciences - grammar, lexicology, stylistics and the history of the language.
4 main branches of phonetics:
1. ARTICULATORY/PHYSIOLOGICAL - concerned with the study of sounds as the result of the activities of the speech organs; it deals with our voice-producing mechanism and the way we produce sounds.
2. PERCEPTUAL/AUDITORY - study of man's perception of segmental sounds, pitch variation, loudness and duration.
3. ACOUSTIC/PHYSICAL - acoustic aspect of speech sounds (pitch, spectrum, timber, loudness, length).
4. FUNCTIONAL/LINGUISTIC/PHONOLOGY - purely linguistic branch of phonetics. It deals with the functional aspect of sound phenomena. Phonology sets out to discover those segmental and prosodic features that have a differential value in a language, and it established the system of phonemes.
Articulatory classification of vowels.
VOWEL - a voiced sound in forming of which the air needs no obstruction and no narrowing that would cause audible friction. All the other sounds are called CONSONANTS.
CLASSIFICATION OF VOWELS:
1. according to the horizontal movement of the tongue:
- front (i:, e, æ)
- front-retracted (i)
- mixed (з:, schwa-vowel)
- back-advanced (u, /\, o)
- back (u:, o:)
2. according to the vertical movement of the tongue:
- close/high (i:, i, u:, u)
- mid (e, schwa-vowel, з:)
- open/low (æ, a:, /\, o:, o)
3. according to the position of lips:
- rounded/labialized (o, o:, u, u:)
- unrounded/unlabialized (all the rest)
4. according to the degree of muscular tension:
- tense (all long vowels)
- lax (all short vowels)
5. according to the force of articulation at the end of the vowel:
- free - weakens at the end (long monophthongs, diphthongs, unstressed short vowels)
- checked - no weakening, are pronounced abruptly, are followed by a consonant (stressed short vowels)
6. according to the stability of articulation:
- monophthongs
- diphthongs
- triphthongs
- diphthongized (i:, u:)
7. according to the length/duration:
- long
- short
Articulatory classification of consonants.
1. according to the type of obstruction and the manner of production of noise:
- occlusives (stops/plosives - p, b, k, g, t, d; nasal sonorants - m, n, nasal n)
- constrictives (fricatives - f, v, s, z, ш, ж, dental; oral sonorants - l, j, r, w)
- occlusive-constrictives/affricates (дж, ч)
2. according to the active speech organ which causes an obstruction:
- labial (bilabial - b, p, m, w; labio-dental - f, v)
- lingual (backlingual - k, g, nasal n; mediolingual - j; forelingual - t, d, s, z, n, dental, r)
- pharyngeal/glottal (h)
3. according to the place of obstruction:
- dental
- alveolar (t, d, n, s, z, l)
- post-alveolar (r)
- palatal (j)
- palato-alveolar (ш, ж, ч, дж)
- velar (nasal n)
4. according to the presence/absence of voice:
- voiced
- voiceless
5. according to the force of articulation:
- fortis (all voiceless)
- lenis (all voiced)
6. according to the position of the soft palate:
- oral
- nasal
Methods of the identification of phonemes in a language
The 1st problem of phonological analysis is to establish the number and system of phonemes in the language. There are 2 methods of analysis:
1. DISTRIBUTIONAL METHOD - states that the sounds can be groups of phonemes (allophones of 1 phoneme occur only in different context because they can't perform distinctive function). It is purely formal method of identifying the phonemes of a language.
2. SEMANTIC METHOD - is based on the phonological rule that a phoneme can distinguish words (the meaning or the form) when it is opposed to another phoneme in identical phonetic contexts (so-called minimal pairs).
Speech tempo and pausation
TEMPO
The tempo of speech is the rate at which utterances and their smaller units are pronounced. On the acoustic level tempo is generally measured by the number of syllables per second.
Tempo of speech may be determined by different factors. It may vary depending on the size of audience, the acoustic qualities of the room, the individuality of the speaker and other extralinguistic factors. But most significant for the linguistic study is how variations in tempo correlate with changes in meaning.
It is common knowledge that by slowing down the tempo of speech we can make an utterance or part of it more prominent, thus underlining the semantic importance of it.
On the contrary, by increasing the speed of utterance we diminish prominence and, as a result the actual semantic importance of what we say.
Tempo can also be used to express the speaker's attitude or emotion. For example, fast tempo may express excitement, joy, anger, etc. Slow tempo shows relaxation or calmness, reserved and phlegmatic attitude on the part of the speaker.
Everybody's speech has some norm of tempo, deviations from which affect meaning. Phoneticians generally distinguish normal tempo and two departures from the norm: fast and slow.
PAUSES
The speech continuum is divided into units of different length and hierarchy by means of pauses. It is the main function of a pause to segment connected speech into utterances and intonation groups to delimit one utterance or intonation group from another. Pauses are closely related with tempo: the number and length of pauses affect the general tempo of speech.
Phoneticians distinguish 3 main types of pauses: silent pauses, pauses of perception and voiced (or filled} pauses.
A silent pause is a stop in the phonation (a stop of the work of the vocal cords, which results in the cessation of sound).
Pauses of perception are not a stop in phonation, as there is no period of silence. The effect of a pause is produced by a sharp change of pitch direction, or by variations in duration, or both.
Pauses of perception are generally marked by a wavy line which is used at the junction of intonation groups.
Voiced pauses have usually the quality of the central vowel [ 3: (Э) ] with or without nasalization [ э (m) ]. They are used to signal hesitation or doubt and are therefore called hesitation pauses.
Pauses are very important constituents of intonation. Besides their segmentative and delimitative functions they also perform a unifying function showing the relations between utterances or intonation groups.
Phonetics as a linguistic science. Branches of phonetics. Phonetics and phonology
PHONETICS is a linguistic science that studies segmental sounds (vowels, consonants), the way they are organized into the system of units and prosodic phenomena (pitch, stress, tempo, rhythm). Being a science in its own right, it's at the same time closely connected with other linguistic sciences - grammar, lexicology, stylistics and the history of the language.
4 main branches of phonetics:
1. ARTICULATORY/PHYSIOLOGICAL - concerned with the study of sounds as the result of the activities of the speech organs; it deals with our voice-producing mechanism and the way we produce sounds.
2. PERCEPTUAL/AUDITORY - study of man's perception of segmental sounds, pitch variation, loudness and duration.
3. ACOUSTIC/PHYSICAL - acoustic aspect of speech sounds (pitch, spectrum, timber, loudness, length).
4. FUNCTIONAL/LINGUISTIC/PHONOLOGY - purely linguistic branch of phonetics. It deals with the functional aspect of sound phenomena. Phonology sets out to discover those segmental and prosodic features that have a differential value in a language, and it established the system of phonemes.
Дата: 2018-12-28, просмотров: 316.