The study of Language - George Yule (samenvatting)

The study of Language – George Yule
Linguistics, ‘the sounds of language‘, chapter 3.
International Phonetic Alphabet  Analytic framework for the study of speech segments -> alphabet with symbols
Phonetics  General study of the characteristics of speech sounds;
Articulary phonetics  Main focus, how speech sounds are made or articulated.
Acoustic phonetics  Deals with the physical properties of speech as sound waves in the air
Auditory phonetics  (perceptual phonetics) deals with perception, via the ear, of speech sounds.
Consonant  When describing articulation of consonant, we focus on 3 features
- Voiced/voiceless distinction
- Place of articulation
- Manner of articulation
1. To make a consonant sound: we start with air pushed out by the lungs up through the trachea
Vocal folds to the larynx, to the vocal folds.
 Vocal folds/vocal cords can take up 2 positions:
Voiceless sounds - When spread apart air from lungs passes between them with no obstruction: voiceless
sounds.
- When drawn together, air from lungs repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through, with
Voiced sounds a vibration effect, producing voiced sounds.
  distinction can be felt physically (hands on ears or on larynx)
2. Once air passed through larynx, it enters the vocal tract and comes up via the pharynx.
then pushed out through mouth/oral tract and/or nose. (nasal tract)
- We typically produce speech as we breathe out. Consonants are produced by using tongue
and other parts of mouth to constrict the shape of the oral tract through which the air is
passing.
Place of articulation - Location inside the mouth at which the constriction takes place
- Square brackets [] for IPA specific sounds, we start at front of mouth and back and keep track
of voiced/voiceless.
 Familiar symbols
Bilabial - Bilabial: consonants made with both lips. -> [m] in mom, [w] in wet. [p] in pop.
Labiodentals - Labiodentals: formed using the upper front teeth and lower lip. -> [f] in fat, [v] in vat.
Alveolar - Alveolar: sounds made with raising the front of the tongue to the alveolar ridge. -> [t] in tot,
[d] in dad, [s] and [z] in size.
 Unfamiliar symbols
- Dentals: teeth are involved in creating sounds
- Interdentals: sounds are made with tongue tip in between the teeth.
- ‘th’ sound in English. ‘Theta’ [ ] voiceless version as in thin, wrath, and ‘eth’ [ ] for the
voiced version as in thus, then, feather.
 Special symbols for sounds made in middle of mouth: (involving tongue and palate)
- [ ] for ‘sh’ sound in shout shoe, brush. -> voiceless
- [ ] for ‘ch’ sound in church, child -> voiceless
Palatals - [ ] for the sound in treasure and rouge -> palatals (alveolar ridge meets palate)
- [ ] for sound in judge and George -> palatal
- [ ] for y, as yoyo and lawyer -> palatal
Velars - [ k ] for kick (voiceless) -> velars (sounds produced toward back of the mouth, involving
velum)
- [ g ] for gag (voiced) -> velars
- [ ] ‘angma’ in thong, ringing.
Glottal - [ h] in have, hold, who, whose. -> voiceless. (one consonant sound produced without the
active use of the tongue. Glottis is space between vocal folds in larynx. When glottis is open,
there is no manipulation of the air passing out of the mouth.
 See 32, table 3.1




 Some letters not even pronounced, or different sounds differently pronounced that you’d see.
3. Articulation for consonants can be similar in the fact that [t] and [s] are both voiceless
alveolars, but clearly different sounds. Difference is how they’re pronounced, manner of
Stop articulation.
Plosive - [t] is a stop consonant. We produce stops by blocking the airflow briefly, then letting it go
Fricative abruptly. [p] too. Also a plosive, seen as a little explosion.
- Fricative: [s] consonant. Produced by blocking airflow, then letting air escape through narrow
gap, creating friction.