Midterm - International Phonetic Alphabet - ENG 103

International Phonetic Alphabet

-an alphabet of sound or phonemes developed through the cooperative efforts of some of the world's leading linguistic scholars.
-almost universally used today in serious works on pronunciation, in speech courses and in pronouncing dictionaries.

Importance of IPA

-it has a set of symbols by means of which the important sound of English can be represented. There is a symbol for every sound and no more than one symbol for any sound.
-relatively smaller number of vowel symbols, one for each of the fundamental English

Imitation

-the fundamental method by which one learns to speak English
-to be a successful imitator, one has to depend largely on the sharpness of his ear and his ability to imitate correctly

Producing sounds correctly

-eye is more analytical than the ear
-the reason for transcriptions
-ability to imitate - acquire good accent
-knowledge and the number and identity of the English sounds, symbol used to represent them in phonetic writing, the way in which they are produc

Phoneme

-sound
-show contrast

Morpheme

-words

Grapheme

-letters

Phonetics

-analyzing or describing how the sound is produced
-analysis of the sound
-came before phonology
-the early linguists were just studying sounds and not the contrast of sounds

/p/

-stop-plosives
BILABIAL - point of articulation
STOP - manner of articulation
VOICELESS - voicing
(upper lip and lower lip)

/b/

-stop-plosives
BILABIAL - point of articulation
STOP - manner of articulation
VOICED - voicing

Phonology

-came into being as a science in the 1930's
-it started as a science but leaned heavily on the findings of phonetics which is why phonology goes side by side with phonetics
-study of the sound contrast/distinctive sound contracts

VOCOIDS

/�/
/o/
/?/

CONTOIDS

/p/
/f/
/k/

MINIMAL PAIRS

Time-Lime
(T-L are phonemes)
-only one sound that shows contrast
-environment is the same
-minimal pairs determine phoneme or not

Distinction/Distribution of Phonemes

Initial position
Middle position
Final position

Initial position
(Distinction/Distribution of Phonemes)

cat
pat

Middle position
(Distinction/Distribution of Phonemes)

meat
mate

Final position
(Distinction/Distribution of Phonemes)

kit
kill

Two Structures of Language Operation

Structure of Expression
Structure of Content

Expression
(Structure of Language Operation)

-sounds you hear which are highly organized, systematized, arranged, in hierarchical order and understandable to the members of a particular speech community.

Content
(Structure of Language Operation)

-meaning of the expression

Three Major Dimensions of Classifying Consonants

Place of Articulation
Manner of Articulation
Voicing

Place of Articulation
(Dimensions of Classifying Consonants)

-a dimension which specifies where in the vocal tract the constriction is.

Manner of Articulation
(Dimensions of Classifying Consonants)

-how narrow constriction is.
-whether air is flowing through nose
-whether tongue is dropped down on one side.

Voicing
(Dimensions of Classifying Consonants)

-a parameter which specifies whether the vocal folds are vibrating

Points of Articulation

Bilabial
Labiodental
Dental
Alveolar
Post Alveolar
Retroflex
Palatal
Velar
Glottal

Bilabial
(Points of Articulation)

-lower and upper lips approach each other
Ex. /p/, /b/, /m/
/w/ - lip rounding and approaching each other

Labiodental
(Points of Articulation)

-lower lip approaches or touches the upper teeth
Ex. /f/ and /v/

Dental
(Points of Articulation)

-the tip or blade of the blade of the tongue approaches or touches the upper teeth
Ex. /?/, /?/

Alveolar
(Points of Articulation)

-tongue tip approaches or touches the alveolar ridge (immediately behind upper teeth)
Ex. /t/, /d/, /n/ - stops
/s/, /z/, /l/ - fricatives

Post Alveolar
(Points of Articulation)

-construction is made immediately behind the alveolar ridge
-tip/blade of toungue
Ex. /S/, /?/ - fricatives
/tS/, /d?/ - affricates

Retroflex
(Points of Articulation)

-tongue tip is curled backward in the mouth
Ex. /r/

Palatal
(Points of Articulation)

-body of the tongue approaches or touches the ahrd palate
Ex. /j/

Velar
(Points of Articulation)

-body of tongue approaches or touches the hard palate
Ex. /k/, /g/, /?/
Sound of x = /?ks/, /?gs/

Glottal
(Points of Articulation)

-opening between vocal folds
-opening becomes narrow forming the sound /h/, create turbulence in the airstream flowing past the vocal folds
Ex. /h/ - glottal fricative

Manner of Articulation

Stops
Fricatives
Approximants
Affricates
Laterals

Stops
(Manner of Articulation)

-stop consonant, cuts off airflow through mouth
Ex. /t/, /d/
-forming contoid /n/, air flows through nose but no through mouth

Types of Stops

Nasal Stops
Oral Stops

Nasal Stops
(Types of Stops)

-also called NASALS
-like /n/, which involves airflow in the nose

Oral Stops
(Types of Stops)

-also called PLOSIVES
-like /t/, /d/, which do not involve airflow in the nose

Fricatives
(Manner of Articulation)

-tongue tip approaches the alveolar ridge, but doesn't quite touch it
-articulators involved in the constriction approach get close enough to each to create a turbulent airstream (hissing sounds)
Ex. /f/, /v/, /?/, /?/, /s/, /z/, /S/, /?/

Approximants
(Manner of Articulation)

-articulators involved in the constriction are further apart
-not even close enough to cause the air passing between them to become turbulent
Ex. /w/, /j/, /r/, /l/

Affricates
(Manner of Articulation)

-single sound composed of a stop portion and a fricative portion
-airflow is first interrupted by a stop similar to /t/
Ex. /tS/, /S/, /d?/

Laterals
(Manner of Articulation)

-single sound composed of a stop portion and a fricative portion
-airflow is first interrupted by a stop similar to /t/
Ex. /l/