1.Phonetics as a linguistic discipline
1.1 History of phonetics
There are several different approaches to the study of phonetics. One is the approach used in this book that focuses on the articulation aspects such as the anatomy of the speech mechanism and the manner in which the airflow is modified, placement of the articulators, and whether or not sounds are voiced or unvoiced. This approach is referred to as articulation phonetics or articulatory phonetics. Another approach that has gained popularity because of the advancement of available instrumentation is referred to as acoustic phonetics. As a beginning student in the study of phonetics , you may be asking yourself, “What exactly is phonetics?” . “It is the study of the transcription of spoken human sounds into written symbols that are designated to each different sound.” For example, there are actually two different sounds for the th letter combination: the voiced /th/[ð] in the word the and the unvoiced /th/ [θ] in the word thin. The teachers of foreign language are definitely aware of the existence of phonetics. They are always being told, that it is essential that they should be skillful phoneticians. The reaction may be different . Some teachers meet it with understanding. Some protest that it is not in their power, for various reasons, to become phoneticians, others deny that it is really necessary.
What do we mean by phonetics as a science ? 'Phonetics' is the study of pronunciation. Other designations for this field of inquiry include 'speech science' or the 'phonetic sciences' (the plural is important) and 'phonology.' Some prefer to reserve the term 'phonology' for the study of the more abstract, the more functional, or the more psychological aspects of the underpinnings of speech and apply 'phonetics' only to the physical, including physiological, aspects of speech. In fact, the boundaries are blurred and some would insist that the assignment of labels to different domains of study is less important than seeking answers to questions.
Phonetics attempts to provide answers to such questions as: What is the physical nature and structure of speech? How is speech produced and perceived? How can one best learn to pronounce the sounds of another language? How do children first learn the sounds of their mother tongue? How can one find the cause and the therapy for defects of speech and hearing? How and why do speech sounds vary— in different styles of speaking, in different phonetic contexts, over time, over geographical regions? How can one design optimal mechanical systems to code, transmit, synthesize, and recognize speech? What is the character and the explanation for the universal constraints on the structure of speech sound inventories and speech sound sequences? Answers to these and related questions may be sought anywhere in the 'speech chain,' i.e., the path between the phonological encoding of the linguistic message by the speaker and its decoding by the listener.
The speech chain is conceived to start with the phonological encoding of the targeted message, conceivably into a string of units like the phoneme although there need be no firm commitment on the nature of the units. These units are translated into an orchestrated set of motor commands which control the movements of the separate organs involved in speech. Movements of the speech articulators produce slow pressure changes inside the airways of the vocal tract (lungs, pharynx, oral and nasal cavities) and when released these pressure differentials create audible sound. The sound resonates inside the continuously changing vocal tract and radiates to the outside air through the mouth and nostrils. At the receiving end of the speech chain, i.e., the acoustic speech signal is detected by the ears of the listener and transformed and encoded into a sensory signal that can be interpreted by the brain. Although often viewed as an encoding process that involves simple uni-directional translation or transduction of speech from one form into another (e.g., from movements of the vocal organs into sound, from sound into an auditory representation), it is well established that feedback loops exist at many stages. Thus what the speaker does may be continuously modulated by feedback obtained from tactile and kinesthetic sensation as well as from the acoustic signal via auditory decoding of his speech.
In addition to the speech chain itself, which is the domain where speech is implemented, some of the above questions in phonetics require an examination of the environment in which speech is produced, that is, the social situation and the functional or task constraints, e.g., that it may have evolved out of other forms of behavior, that it must be capable of conveying messages in the presence of noise, and that its information is often integrated with signals conveyed by other channels.
The endpoints of the speech chain in the brains of the speaker (transmitter) and the listener (receiver) are effectively hidden and very little is known about what goes on there. For practical reasons, then, most research is done on the more accessible links in the chain: neuromuscular, aerodynamic, articulatory, and acoustic. The articulatory phase of speech is perhaps most immediately accessible to examination by direct visual inspection and (to the speaker himself) via tactile and kinesthetic sensation. Thus it is at this level that speech was first studied—supplemented by less precise auditory analysis—in several ancient scientific traditions.
According to Shcherba’s definition of the phoneme. He described phoneme as a dialectical unity of its three aspects:
1.a phoneme is material, real and objective.
2. a phoneme is abstractional.
3. a phoneme is functional.
They can be separated only for analysis.
1. The phoneme is material as it exists in a number of articulatory and acoustically definite speech sounds. It is a linguistic reality because phonemes exist in actual speech. It is objective because they are independent of the will of an individual speaker.
2. The phoneme is an abstraction; it is an abstract linguistic unit (it refers to the language). Abstraction takes place unconsciously, and it is the most difficult object to grasp (түсіну). Any native speaker pronounces speech sounds correctly but unconsciously, thanks to much practice. Every time he/she pronounces different allophones but for him it is one phoneme.
3. The phoneme is functional, since it is capable of differentiating words morphemes, sentences. Eg. Teach-teacher/ teach-beach. It is cold/ it is bold. He badly heard/ He was badly hurt. Not all speech sounds function to differentiate the words.
The term “phonetics” is derived from the Greek language. Phonetics is often defined as a branch of linguistics dealing with the phonetic structure of a language. It means that phonetics studies:
1) the sounds, their classification and distribution;
2) the syllabic structure of words, i.e. syllable formation and syllable division;
3) the accentual structure of words, its nature , place and degree;
4) the intonational structure of sentences.
Phonetics is concerned with the study of all the above mentioned components from different points of view, the most important of them being the functional one.
The origin of the word is a Greek “phona” – a sound, a voice. As a science syntax is about sentence formation, and semantics about sentence interpretation, phonetics and phonology cover the field of sentence utterance. Phonetics is concerned with how sounds are produced, transmitted and perceived. What does mean phonetics as a science? According to phonetician Sokolova phonetics is concerned with the human noises by which the thought is actualised or given audible shape: the nature of these noises, their combinations, and sound system of the language, that is segmental phonemes, word stress, syllabic structure and intonation .
We study only those sounds that bring organized information, i.e. meaningful sounds. They are the objects of the specific interest.
Analysis:
the nature |
the function | of a sound
the combination |
The following information is provided to give us a sense the usefulness of the discipline of phonetic science. The broad nature of phonetic science can be demonstrated through a series of practical questions:
· What is the relationship between speaking, reading, and writing and each activity’s associated auditory and visual disabilities? With the current emphasis on literacy, the sound/ spelling/ pronunciation relationship of phonetics to speaking, reading, and writing is very significant.
· What characterizes regional varieties of a sound system of a language? The phonetic sound/ symbol notion system provides a means whereby specific sounds can be identified and recorded for analyses.
· What is involved in accent reduction or acquisition? Elements of phonetic science are involved in the identification of the accent characteristics of speakers. It provides a system to record and analyze the characteristics of accented sounds and words and to modify them when desirable, either it reduce or increase the accent such as in the case of actors. My Fair Lady, the musical based on the book Pygmalion about how a flower girl in London takes speech lessons from a phonetics professor to pass in high society, is a classic example of this!
· How can voice qualities be objectified and systematically analyzed for voice identification for forensics purposes? This is a relatively new area of development. As technology becomes more valid and reliable in its ability to discriminate speech sounds, application of some of the principles of phonetic science will prove useful.
· How can speech sound disorders be corrected though application of phonetic theory? Phonetic science includes how speech sounds are made correctly. This information provides the framework to assist in the correction of speech sound errors.
· What is the relationship between speech production and speech perception, and how do they affect the deaf and hard – of – hearing populations? Speech sounds have acoustic features that distinguish them from one another. Some sounds are voiced such as the [v] sound. Others, such as the [p] sound, are voiceless no vibration of the vocal folds. Such phonetic knowledge assists the deaf and hard – of – hearing populations in the development of their sound system.
· What effect does the way one speaks have on interpersonal communication? Aspects of phonetic science include the identification and analyses of different styles of speaking known as the sociolinguistic or pragmatic use of language. For example, you may speak in a more formal manner of precise articulation in one setting: “ I got you,” and in a less formal manner in a different setting: “I gat cha.” Or, if you moved away from your hometown and adapted to a new dialect, on arriving back home you discover that you begin to automatically use the mannerisms and dialect of your roots.
· What are the implications for the use of computerized voices and speech production in business, commerce, government, entertainment, education, medicine, and other fields? The physics of sounds and how to replicate them through digital processing involve phonetic science.
As an independent discipline has been known since the 19-th century. Most investigation was done in the 20-th century. Phonetics used to be a part of grammar.
Phonetics occupies itself with the study of the ways in which the sounds are organized into a system of units and the variation of the units in all types and styles of spoken language. It also studies the acoustic properties of sounds, the physiological basis of sound production and the sound phenomena that reveal the individual peculiarities of the speaker.
Phonetics has a long history. It was known to the ancient Greeks and Hindus where the theory of public speech and phonetic delivery were important. But as a science in its own right it began to develop in Russia and in Western Europe only in the second half of the 19th century. As an independent discipline has been known since the 19-th century. Most investigation was done in the 20-th century. Phonetics used to be a part of grammar. In the 20-th century phonetics has become very important.
Being created by the speaker, the sound medium indicates the speaker`s personality (sex, age, individual features) and it reveals his physiological and emotional state, geographical origin, education, social status and so on.
History of phonetics objects, drawings, and written documents show that voice and speech always fascinated men. Written documents and evidences from ancient civilizations point to an awareness of speech, its origin and abnormalities a long time ago. In India more than 2000 years ago there flourished a science of phonetics more advanced than any that has since been known until very recent times.
The 1886 International Phonetic Association (IPA) was founded. IPA started publications of a special phonetic magazine "Le Mattre Phonetique". It stated phonetic symbols for sounds of many existing languages. The association promotes the study of the science of phonetics and the application of what science. The membership is worldwide and consists of phoneticians who collaborate on research and issues related to the identification of the human sounds used throughout the world.The most widely known aspect of its work has been the development and revision of the International Phonetic Association. The (IPA) consists of unique symbols assigned to each of the sounds identified by the association.
At present phonetics is treated in two principal ways:)the narrow point of view: the phonetic system of any language, which includes a definite number of phonemes, a system of accent, the syllabic structure, intonation and its components;)the broad point of view: as a branch of linguistics dealing with a process of sound formation, the interaction of speech sounds, the formation of accents, the tones and their functions. Significance of phonetics is connected with teaching foreign languages.
Phonetics gave rise to the development of a number of new directions of the phonetic research:
- General Phonetics.
- Special Phonetics.
- Historical Phonetics.
- Comparative Phonetics.
- Descriptive Phonetics.
- Phonology.
Phonostylistics. Phonetics studies the sound matter of all existing languages, irrespective of the differences between them and deals mainly with acoustics, articulation and physiology of speech and aspects of phonology. It can be both synchronical and diachronical. The sounds matter is studied diachronically that means all its features are studied in the process of the language development, and it is concern of Historical Phonetics, which stands on the borderline between Phonetics and the History of Language. Phonetics implies comparing the sound matter of two or more languages at a certain period of their development. The sound matter of a given language is studied synchronically it means that the phonetic aspects of this or that language are studied at a certain period of time and may present interest for Comparative Phonetics, Descriptive Phonetics, Phonology and Phonostylistics. Sets out to discover segmental and super-segmental features that have a differential value in the language and distinguishes the system of phonemes. Studies various pronunciation styles and analyses the ways different human beings express themselves.
1.2 Divisions and branches of phonetics
Traditionally phonetics is divided into general phonetics which studies the complex nature of phonetic laws and principles and special phonetics which is concerned with the phonetic structure of a particular language. Admittedly, phonetic theories worked out by general phonetics are based on the data provided by special phonetics while special phonetics relies on the ideas of general phonetics to interpret phonetic phenomena of a particular language.
Special phonetics can be subdivided into descriptive and historical. Special descriptive phonetics studies the phonetic structure of the language synchronically, while historical phonetics looks at it in its historical development, diachronically. Historical phonetics is part of the history of the language. The study of the historical development of the phonetics system of language helps to understand its present and predict its future.
Another important division of phonetics is into segmental phonetics, which is concerned with individual sounds and suprasegmental phonetics whose domain is the larger units of connected speech: syllables, words, phrases and text.
phonetics
segmental phonetics suprasegmental phonetics
Before analysing the linguistic function of phonetic units we need to know how the vocal mechanism acts in producing oral speech and what methods are applied in investigating the material from of the language, in other words its substance.
Thus, phonetics as a science , has developed a number of its own branches: physiological or articulatory phonetics, which treats of the articulation and perception , physical or acoustic phonetics, which studies the physical nature of sounds and phonology, which is concerned with the study of functions of different phonetic phenomena. As a branch of linguistics phonetics occupies a peculiar position. Though it is an independent science and develops according to its own laws, it is connected with a number of other linguistic and non-linguistic sciences.
The linguistic sciences study the language from different viewpoints. Lexicology treats of the vocabulary of a language, of its origin, meaning and word-building. Grammar studies the structure of a language and the rules governing the combination of words into sentences. Stylistics means the study of style. The history of the language traces its historical development. Phonetics is connected with them because lexical, grammatical and other phenomena are expressed phonetically. They cannot exist outside phonetics.
Human speech is the result of a highly complicated series of events. The formation of the concept takes place at a linguistic level, that is in the brain of the speaker ; this stage maybe called psychological. The message formed within the brain is transmitted along is nervous system to the speech organs. Therefore we may say that the human brain controls the behavior of the articulating organs which effects in producing a particular pattern of speech sounds. This second stage may be called physiological. The movements of the speech apparatus disturb the air stream thus producing sound waves. Consequently the third stage may be called physical or acoustic. Further, any communication requires a listener, as well as a speaker. So the last stages are the reception of the sound waves by the listener’s hearing physiological apparatus, the transmission of the spoken message through the nervous system to the brain and the linguistic interpretation of the information conveyed.
Although not a single one of the organs involved in the speech mechanism is used only for speaking we can for practical purpose use the term “organs of speech”, meaning the organs which are active, directly or indirectly, in the process of speech sound production.
In accordance with their linguistic function the organs of speech may be grouped as follows:
The respiratory or power mechanism furnishes the flow of air which is the first requisite for production of speech sounds. This mechanism is formed by the lungs, the wind-pipe and the bronchi. The air-stream expelled from the lungs provides the most usual source of energy which is regulated by the power mechanism. Regulating the force of the air-wave the lungs produce variations in the intensity of speech sounds. Syllabic pluses and dynamic stress, both typical of English, are directly related to the behaviour of the muscles which activate this mechanism.
From the lungs thought the wind-pipe the air stream passes to the larynx containing the vocal cards. The opening between the vocal cords is known as the glottis. The function of the vocal cards consist in their role as a vibrator set in motion by the air-stream sent by lungs. The most important speech function of the vocal cards is their role in the production of voice. The effect of voice is achieved when the vocal cords are brought together and vibrate when subjected to the pressure of air passing from the lung. The vibration is caused by compressed air forcing an opening of the glottis and the following reduced air-pressure permitting the vocal cords to come together.
The height of the speaking voice depends on the frequency of the vibrations. The more frequently the vocal cards vibrate the higher the pitch is. The typical speaking voice of women is higher than that of a man because the vocal cords of a woman vibrate more frequently. We are able to vary the rate of the vibration thus producing modifications of the pitch component of intonation. More than that. We are able to modify the size of the puff of air which escapes at the vibration of the vocal cords, i.e. we can alter the amplitude of the vibration which causes changes of the loudness of the sound heard by the listener.
From the larynx the air-stream passes to passes to supraglottal cavities, i.e. to the pharynx, the mouth and the nasal cavities. The shapes of these cavities modify the note produced in the larynx thus giving rise to particular speech sounds.
There are three branches of phonetics each corresponding to a different stage in the communication process described above. Each of these brunches uses a special set of methods.
The brunch of phonetics that studies the way in which the air is set in motion , the movements of the speech organs and the coordination of these movements in the production of single sounds and trains of sounds is called articulatory phonetics. Articulatory phonetics is concerned with the way speech sounds are produced by the organs of speech, in other words the mechanisms of speech production.
Acoustic phonetics studies the way in which the air vibrates between the speaker’s mouth and the listener’s ear, in other words, the sound wave. Acoustic phonetics is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds and uses special technologies to measure speech signals
The brunch of phonetics investigating the perception process is known as a auditory phonetics. Its interests lie more in the sensation of hearing which is brain activity, than in the physiological working of the ear or the nervous activity between the ear and the brain. The means by which we discriminate sounds-quality, sensation of pitch, loudness, length, are relevant here.
As it mentioned above, phoneticians cannot act only as describers and classifiers of the material from of phonetic units. They are also interested in the way in which sounds phenomena function in a particular language and what part they play in manifesting the meaningful distinctions of the language. The brunch of phonetics that studies the linguistic function of consonant and vowel sounds, word accent and prosodic features , such as pitch, loudness and tempo is called phonology.
1.3 Connection with other sciences
Our further point will be made in connection with the relationship of phonetics and other disciplines. Linguistics has a great number of links both with the other branches of linguistics and other branches of science. Formulates the rules of pronunciation for separate sounds and sound combinations. The rules of reading are based on the relation of sounds to orthography. Through the system of rules of reading phonetics is connected with grammar and helps to pronounce correctly singular and plural forms of nouns, the past tense forms and past participles of English regular verbs. Phonetics is also connected with grammar through its intonation component. Example, it connected with grammar (morphology) in cases: to sink - sank - sunk; grammar (syntax): When I eat, I scream, I love it; When I eat ice-cream, I love it; while pronouncing complex and compound sentences.is also connected with lexicology while treating homophones (e.g., sight :: site :: cite or flower :: flour, hair :: hare); homographs (e.g., bow; row; lead); homoforms (e.g., knows :: nose, made :: maid) .
It is only due to the-presence of stress, or accent, in the right place, that we can distinguish certain nouns from verbs. Is also connected with stylistics; first of all through intonation and its components: speech melody, utterance stress, rhythm, pausation and voice tamber which serve to express emotions, to distinguish between different attitudes on the part of the author and speaker.
Phonetics is also connected with stylistics through repetition of words, phrases and sounds. Repetition of this kind serves the basis of rhythm, rhyme and alliteration. Study of phonetic phenomena from the stylistic point of view is phonostylistics. It is connected with a number of linguistic and non-linguistic disciplines, such as: paralinguistics, psychology, psy-cholinguistics, sociology, sociolinguistics, dialectology, literary criticism, aesthetics, information theory, etc. Is also closely connected with word building (e.g., import - to import, black board - black-board; with Biology while analysing physiology of speech; with Mathematics while analysing the linguistic data; with Medicine while dealing with the voice-producing mechanism and the manner of noise production; with Methods of teaching while teaching people a foreign language; with Politics while creating new alphabets; with Geography while studying language contacts and language unions.
Special attention should be given to the relations of phonetics and social sciences. Language is not an isolated phenomenon; it is part of society, a part of ourselves. The functioning of phonetics units in society is studied by sociophonetics. It should be mentioned here that over the last decades there appeared a number of distinct interdisciplinary subjects, such as sociolinguistic (and sociophonetics correspondingly), psycholinguistics, mathematic linguistics and others. These, as their titles suggest, refer to aspects of language which can be studied from to points of view, which requires awareness and development of concepts and the techniques derived from both disciplines.
Sociophonetics studies the ways in which pronunciation interacts with society. In other words, it is the study of the way in which phonetics structure change in response to different social functions. Society here is used in its broadest sense, to cover a spectrum of phenomena such as nationality, regional and social groups, and specific interactions of individuals within them. There are innumerable facts to be discovered and considered. Even about a languages as well investigated as English, concerning, for instance the nature the different situations – when we are to equals, superiors or subordinates; when we are “on the job”, when we are old or young; male of female; when we are trying to persuade, inform, agree or dis agree and so on. Needless to say sociophonetic information is of crucial importance for language teachers an languages learners in the context of cross-cultural communication.
One more example of interdisciplinary overlap is the relation of linguistics to psychology. Psycholinguistics as a distinct area of interest developed in the sexties, and in its early form covered the psychological implications of an extremely broad area, from acoustic phonetics to language pathology. Nowadays no one would want to deny the existence of strong mutual bonds between linguistics, phonetics in our case and psychology. Here are some of the problems covered by psycholinguistics: the acquisition of language by children, the extent to which language meditates or structures thinking; the extent to which language is influenced and itself influences such things as memory, attention, perception; the problems of speech production and speech perception; speech pathology.
There is one more area phonetics is closely connected with. It is the study of non – verbal means of communication.
How do people communicate? Too often there is a difference between what we say and what we think we have said, though we use appropriate grammatical structures, words and intonation. It may even cause a break in communication.
It may happen because we speak with our oral organs, but we converse with our entire bodies. Conversation consists of much more than a simple interchange of spoken words. All of us communicate with one another word non – verbally.it means that we communicate without using words and involving movements of different parts of the body.
It is believed that 7% of communication is conveyed by words, 38% by sounds and intonation and 55% - by non – verbal means. They are: facial expression, gestures and posture.
D. Crystal insists that the meaning of particular nuclear tones depends on the combination with particular facial expression.
Non-verbal elements express very efficiently the emotional or the modal side of the message.
The study of non – verbal means of communication is called kinesics. The analysis of spoken discourse often includes references both to the phonetic and non – verbal aspects of speech communication. So we can say that phonetics overlaps with kinesics. The field of phonetics is thus becoming wider and tends to extend over the limits originally set by its purely linguistic applications. On the other hand, the growing interest in phonetics is partly due to increasing recognition of the central position of language in every line of social activity. It is important, however, that the phonetician should remain a linguist and look upon phonetics as a study of the spoken form of language. It is its application to linguistic phenomena that makes phonetics a social science in the proper sense of the word.
Phonetics is connected with grammar as it helps to pronounce correctly singular and plural forms of nouns, the past indefinite and the past participle forms of verbs and other endings, as in: pens, books, classes, asks – asked, lives – lived, Nick’s, teacher’s, etc.
It is connected with grammar also through sound interchange, as in: wife – wives, path – paths, house – houses, man – men, mouse – mice, tooth – teeth, etc.
One and the same sentence may have different meanings when pronounced with different terminal tones.
e.g. Isn’t it wonderful? (general question)
Isn’t it wonderful! (exclamation)
Mary is right. (statement)
Mary is right? (general question)
Phonetics is connected with lexicology through the accentual structure of English words in which verbs are formed from nouns by conversion.
e. g. subject – to subject
import – to import
record – to record
Phonetics is connected with stylistics through intonation which serves to express different emotions and to distinguish between different attitudes on the part of the speaker or reader.
Phonetics is connected with physics because speech like any other sounds in nature are acoustic phenomena and may be studied from the point of view of their physical properties.
The articulation of sounds and their perception are connected with anatomy and psychology.
Historical phonetics is connected with general history and the history of the people whose language is studied.
The study of intonation is impossible without a good knowledge of logic.
Phonology is connected with communication theory and statistics.
Language is often defined as the most important means of human intercourse. Language can perform this function only as a language of science because spoken words in all languages consist of speech sounds, and speech without words is impossible. Letters only represent spoken words in writing.
Phonetics is connected with the study of all the above mentioned components from the different point of view, the most important of them being the functional one. As a branch of linguistics phonetics occupies a peculiar position. Though it is an independent science and develops according to its own laws, it is connected with a number of other linguistic and non-linguistic sciences. One the one hand , phonetics is connected with grammar, lexicology, stylistics and the history of the language. On the other hand, it is connected with physics, biology, phonology, anatomy and other sciences.
Each of these branches of phonetics has its own methods of investigation and its own terminology.
Phonetics may be also practical and theoretical. Practical phonetics has a wide sphere of application: 1/ It is used in teaching foreign language and mother tongues to children and adults; 2/ Phonetics deals with studying speech defects and ways of curing them; 3/ Phonetics is also used in training teachers, actors and singers etc.