Linguistic Structure:
Whether it is spoken, written or signed every language has its structure, it is governed by two things:
rules and principles. Rules govern the pronunciation of sounds; the way how words are put together;
the manner in which phrases, clauses, and sentences are structured; and ultimately, the ways the
meaning is created. They are studied under the rubric of grammar. Principles, however, governs how
the structure the rules create should be used; which forms will be polite in which contexts, which forms
will not. They are studied under the province of pragmatics. Consider why a child came crying to his
father uttering “I broked my toy” instead of saying breaked, it is necessary to investigate the linguistic
rules that the child used to create this structure. Linguistic rules or descriptive rules are different from
prescriptive rules (the unconscious knowledge that people possess). linguists would describe the rules of
a language (descriptive), and pedagogues would use those descriptions to make textbooks to teach
language learners what is so-called standard English (prescriptive). Even though the sentence the child
uttered does not conform to the standard English; the past tense of break is broke, not broked, it
provides evidence that the child is aware of the rules of grammar for past tenses, which is usually adding
-ed to the end of the verb, but he has not reached a stage of acquisition where he is able to recognize
the difference between regular and irregular verbs.
Letters and sounds:
Letters are written, and sounds are spoken. It is important that these functions
are not confused. When we write in normal spelling, we are using letters to
convey sounds. In English this relationship is only ever a rough guide to
pronunciation, and it is certainly not reliable. In our alphabet, we have only five
vowel letters: A, E, I, O, and U, this can be very inconvenient when we want to
discuss sounds. The ideal solution could be to adopt a method of spelling that
is completely consistent, where a reader would know that a certain symbol would
always refer to the same sound. We will keep our use of technical symbols to a
minimum. However, in cases where our alphabet is inadequate (as with the two
the sounds, as in thin and then, or the sound at the end of sing) we will need to
use phonemic symbols. Linguists have devised systems such as
the International Phonetic Association’s Alphabet (IPA) to assign a unique and
unambiguous symbol to each attested sound, either consonant or vowel.
Consonants and vowels:
Consonants: as opposed to vowels, in articulatory phonetics, a consonant is
a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal
tract. Examples are /p/, pronounced with the lips; /t/, pronounced with the front
of the tongue; /k/, pronounced with the back of the tongue; /h/, pronounced in
the throat; /f/ and /s/, pronounced by forcing air through a narrow channel
(fricatives); and /m/ and /n/, which have air flowing through the nose (nasals).
Since the number of possible sounds in all of the world's languages is much
greater than the number of letters in any one alphabet, linguists have devised
systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to assign a unique
and unambiguous symbol to each attested consonant. Vowels: etymologically,
the word vowel derives from the Latin word vocalis, meaning "vocal"; relating to
the voice. As opposed to consonants, in articulatory phonetics, a vowel is a
sound produced with no constriction in the vocal tract. In the phonetic definition,
a vowel is a sound, such as the English "ah" /ɑː/ or "oh" /oʊ/, produced with an
open vocal tract; it is median (the air escapes along the middle of the tongue),
oral (at least some of the airflow must escape through the
mouth), frictionless and continuant. There is no significant build-up of air
pressure at any point above the glottis. We can further describe the words in
terms of CVC pattern, in which “C” stands for consonant and “V” for vowel. For
example: the word “cat” its pattern is CVC. Another feature of a language like
English is that some pronunciations correspond to multiple spellings. In
homophones, which derives from the Greek “homo” the same and “phone”
sound, means that words look different but are pronounced the same. Such as
the words passed and past. In homographs, which is opposed to homophones,
which means that the words look the same, but have different pronunciations.
Such as the word minute and minute, they are spelled the same, but they have
two different pronunciations.
Place of Articulation: in articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation of
a consonant is the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal
tract between an articulatory gesture, an active articulator (typically some part
of the tongue), and a passive location (typically some part of the roof of the
mouth). Along with the manner of articulation and the phonation, it gives the
consonant its distinctive sound. The way in which air is modulated in the mouth
is by putting together an active and a passive articulator. For example, the tip of
the tongue can be put against the alveolar ridge to produce sounds that are
labeled alveolar.