Dr. Cecilia Osyanju
BASIC PHONETICS COURSE
Introduction
to Phonetics
Phonetics is the scientific study of sounds used in language, including how they are
produced, transferred from the speaker to the hearer, and perceived. It is essential for
understanding the sounds of English and improving pronunciation.
Phonetics is the study of human speech sounds and their production. It involves the
configurations of the vocal tract used to produce speech sounds (articulatory phonetics),
the acoustic properties of speech sounds (acoustic phonetics), and the manner of
combining sounds to make syllables, words, and sentences (linguistic phonetics).
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Introduction to Phonetics
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For spoken languages, the
tongue, mouth and rest of the
vocal tract are the
articulators, the parts of the
body that move to make
language.
BASIC PHONETICS COURSE
The study of speech sounds
is called phonetics, and the
writing system that linguists
use to write pronunciation
very precisely is called the
International Phonetic
Alphabet.
The study of speech sounds is called phonetics, and the writing system that linguists use
to write pronunciation very precisely is called the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
As we move on, I shall be taking you through the IPA chart so that you familiarise yourself
with the consonant and vowel sounds.
Speech sounds don’t include coughing, sneezing, or belching. They’re the sounds that
spoken languages combine with each other to make words. While there are a finite
number of speech sounds, we can use them to make an infinite number of words.
To understand speech sounds, we first need to understand how the human body produces
them.
We start with the lungs, which push air up through the vocal folds. Also known as vocal
cords, your vocal folds are thin membranes that sit across your throat and vibrate to
make sound. This path, which moves from lungs to lips, is known as the vocal tract.
We can change the shape of any part of the vocal tract to make, or articulate, different
sounds. It’s like a wind instrument--when air goes through it, it makes a sound. You’re like
a squishy, wet, meat clarinet that can articulate sounds. I’m sure that’s an image you’ll
never forget.
For spoken languages, the tongue, mouth and rest of the vocal tract are the articulators,
the parts of the body that move to make language. For signed languages, the articulators
are the hands, face and other visible parts of the body.
Introduction to Phonetics
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Introduction to Phonetics
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Improve pronounciation
Identify Sound Patterns in
poems
Build Vocabulary
Distinguish Between Sounds
Enhancing Memorability
Conveying Meaning and
Emotion
BASIC PHONETICS COURSE
Why study Phonetics
1. Improve Pronunciation: Phonetics and phonology help learners to understand how to
produce speech sounds correctly, which is crucial for effective communication.
2. Identifying Sound Patterns: Analyzing the distribution, prominence, and attention
allocation of speech sounds (phonemes) in a poem can reveal meaningful patterns that
contribute to the poem's meaning and emotional impact. This includes examining features
like alliteration, assonance, consonance, and the use of specific sound classes (e.g.,
fricatives, plosives).
3. Distinguish Between Sounds**: Phonology helps learners to distinguish between
different sounds in a language, which is vital for understanding and using the language
correctly.
4. Enhancing Memorability: The search results suggest that certain phonetic patterns and
repetitions can help fix a poem in the reader's mind, even without conscious effort to
memorize it. This indicates that the sound structure of a poem plays a key role in its
memorability and impact.
5. Enhancing Memorability: certain phonetic patterns and repetitions can help fix a poem
in the reader's mind, even without conscious effort to memorize it. This indicates that the
sound structure of a poem plays a key role in its memorability and impact.
6. Conveying Meaning and Emotion: Phonetic and phonological analysis can help identify
how the sounds of a poem are used iconically to embody its themes and evoke certain
moods or feelings. For example, the continuous voicing in a poem about rivers can reflect
the idea of flow and continu ity.
Introduction to Phonetics
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Introduction to Phonetics
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IPA and Symbols
Basic
Intensive
Program
Establish a solid groundwork
in grammar, vocabulary, and
conversational abilities.
Description and
Classification of Sounds
Word Stress in
Phonetics
Weak and Strong Forms
Assimilation and Elission in
phonetics
Intonation in Phonetics
textual analysis in poetry
with focus on rhyme, meter,
literary devices
In this Basic yet intensive program we shall cover the following
* IPA and symbols
* Description and classifiation of sounds
* Word stress in phonetics
* Weak and Strong forms
* Assimilation and Elission in phonetics
* Intonation in phonetics
* Textual analysis in poetry with focus on rhyme, meter and literary devices
Introduction to Phonetics
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The
International
Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA)
Mouth Position
Rounded and
Unrounded Sounds
and symbols
IPA Symbols
Each symbol corresponds
to a specific mouth position
and sound.
Diphthongs
Phonetic Map
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and Symbols
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) uses a unique set of symbols to represent the
sounds of spoken languages. Each symbol corresponds to a specific mouth position and
sound. Here are some key points about how the IPA represents mouth positions:
In this lesson we will gain insights into:
1. Mouth Position - The IPA represents mouth positions using various symbols.
2. What are Rounded and Unrounded Sounds?
3.What are the IPA Symbols?: Each IPA symbol represents a specific sound or mouth
position.
4. What are Diphthongs?: Diphthongs are combinations of two vowels that form a single
sound. In the IPA, these are represented by a combination of symbols.
5. We shall also examine A phonetic map of the human mouth shows where each sound
originates, from the lips to the throat. This helps visualize the mouth positions and sounds
represented by the IPA symbols.
By understanding these representations, you can better use the IPA to improve your
pronunciation and comprehension of spoken languages.
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As you can see there is alot to cover....so lets get started.
Introduction to Phonetics
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The
International
Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA)
Mouth Position
Rounded and
Unrounded Sounds
and symbols
IPA Symbols
Each symbol corresponds
to a specific mouth position
and sound.
Diphthongs
Phonetic Map
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and Symbols
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) uses a unique set of symbols to represent the
sounds of spoken languages. Each symbol corresponds to a specific mouth position and
sound. Here are some key points about how the IPA represents mouth positions:
In this lesson we will gain insights into:
1. Mouth Position: The IPA represents mouth positions using various symbols. These
positions inc lude:
- Close: Sounds made with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth.
- Open: Sounds made with the tongue far from the roof of the mouth.
- Mid: Sounds made with the tongue in the middle of the mouth.
- Front: Sounds made with the tongue in the front of the mouth.
- Central: Sounds made with the tongue in the center of the mouth.
- Back: Sounds made with the tongue at the back of the mouth.
2. Rounded and Unrounded Sounds: When two sounds intersect, the left sound is
unrounded and the right sound is rounded. This helps distinguish between similar sounds.
3. IPA Symbols: Each IPA symbol represents a specific sound or mouth position. For
example:
- /i/: The sound of the letter "i" in "hit".
- /e/: The sound of the letter "e" in "pet".
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- /a/: The sound of the letter "a" in "father".
- /o/: The sound of the letter "o" in "hot".
- /u/: The sound of the letter "u" in "put".
4. Diphthongs: Diphthongs are combinations of two vowels that form a single sound. In the
IPA, these are represented by a combination of symbols. For example:
- /aɪ/: The sound of the letters "ai" in "sky".
- /oʊ/: The sound of the letters "o" in "over".
5. Phonetic Map: A phonetic map of the human mouth shows where each sound originates,
from the lips to the throat. This helps visualize the mouth positions and sounds
represented by the IPA symbols.
By understanding these representations, you can better use the IPA to improve your
pronunciation and comprehension of spoken languages.
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In-class instruction
Real-world role-play
scenarios + Games
Advanced grammar
and writing
Advanced
Intensive
Program
Enhance your abilities in
speaking, writing, and
critical reasoning.
We shall be encountering the following vocabulary in our phonetics class and it is
important that you know the meaning upfront
These terms are essential for understanding the basics of phonetics and phonology, which
are crucial for effective communication and language comprehension.
Lets briefly have a look at each of them.
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Phoneme
Here are some key vocabularies used in phonetics and phonology:
1. Phoneme: The smallest unit of sound in a language that distinguishes one word from
another. Phonemes are the basic units of sound that change the meaning of a word.
Phoneme
Phonemes are like the secret agents of the language world! They may not look like much,
but they're the tiny sounds that hold the power to change the meaning of a word. Think of
them like a code that only the smartest linguists know how to crack. Imagine you're trying
to figure out what your friend is saying over the phone, but you can't quite make out the
words. That's because you're trying to understand the phones, the actual physical sounds.
But when you figure out the phonemes, suddenly everything becomes clear; phonemes
can be inferred from the pattern of phones used in a language.
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Allophone
2. Allophone: A variation of a phoneme that is specific to certain phonetic contexts. For
example, the /p/ sound in "pat" and "spin" are allophones of the phoneme /p/.
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Articulatory
Phonetics
3. Articulatory Phonetics: The study of how speech sounds are produced by the
articulation of the vocal organs, such as the lips, tongue, and vocal cords
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Phonetic
Symbols
Phonetic Symbols: Written characters that represent the different sounds used to form
words. These symbols are used to transcribe phonemes and are based on the
International Phonetic Alphabet
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Phonetic
Transcription
1. Phonetic Transcription: A transcription that includes additional details about how to
pronounce the actual sounds, using diacritics and other symbols
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Phonological
Rules
4. Phonological Rules: The rules that govern how phonemes are used in a language to
distinguish words from each other
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Syllable
Syllable: A unit of speech that contains a vowel sound or element, often surrounded by
consonants. Syllables are used to organize speech sounds
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Intonation
6. Intonation: The rise and fall of pitch in speech, which can convey emotions, attitudes, or
sentence types.
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Stress
7. Stress: The emphasis placed on certain syllables within a word or on specific words
within a sentence
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Weak Forms
8. Weak Forms: Reduced, unstressed versions of certain words in connected speech
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Assimilation
Assimilation
Assimilation is the process where a sound changes to become more similar to a
neighboring sound. This can occur in various ways, such as:
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Elision
Elision is the process of omitting or deleting certain sounds or syllables in connected
speech.
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Intonation
Intonation refers to the melodic pattern of speech that conveys emotions, attitudes, and
sentence types. It involves altering the loudness, pitch, and duration of stressed syllables
to create a contrast with unstressed ones.
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Consonant
Clusters
- Consonant Clusters: Difficult sounds like "Bl" in "Blend" and "sh" in "Splash".
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Homophones
-Homophones: Words pronounced the same but with different spellings, like "too" and
"two".
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Heteronyms
Heteronyms: Words with the same spelling but different pronunciations, like "Excuse" the
verb and "Excuse" the noun.
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Phonetics and Pronunciation
Phonetics is the study of the actual
sounds that make up words in a
language.
English Phonetics (IPA)
English uses about 44 different
sounds, but only 26 letters in the
alphabet.
Phonetic Chart
The International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) chart helps to write words as
they are pronounced.
Physical Production of
Sounds
Key Points
The key to good pronunciation is to
understand that making sounds is a
physical thing.
Common Pronunciation
Problems
Minimal Pairs, Consonant Clusters,
Homophones, Heteronyms
Lets quicky summarise the key pointKey Points:
1. Phonetics and Pronunciation:
- Phonetics is the study of the actual sounds that make up words in a language.
- Pronunciation is the way of producing a spoken word, especially so that it is accepted
or generally understood.
2. English Phonetics:
- English uses about 44 different sounds, but only 26 letters in the alphabet.
- The same letters can be pronounced differently in different words, making it difficult to
know how to pronounce a word from its spelling.
3. Phonetic Chart:
- The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) chart helps to write words as they are
pronounced.
- The chart has three sections: single vowel sounds in green, diphthongs in red, and
consonant pairs and single consonants in blue.
4. Physical Production of Sounds:
- The key to good pronunciation is to understand that making sounds is a physical thing.
- Consider where each sound comes from, usewhether the jaw is open or closed, the
shape of the mouth, and whether air comes out when saying the sound.
5.Common Pronunciation Problems:
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- Minimal Pairs: Confusing sounds like /l/ and /r/.
- Consonant Clusters: Difficult sounds like "Bl" in "Blend" and "sh" in "Splash".
- Homophones: Words pronounced the same but with different spellings, like "too" and
"two".
- Heteronyms: Words with the same spelling but different pronunciations, like "Excuse"
the verb and "Excuse" the noun.
Understanding phonetics is crucial for improving pronunciation in English. By studying
phonetics, learners can better comprehend the sounds of the language and overcome
common pronunciation challenges.
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Introduction to Phonetics
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