Element of Spoken Language (Phonetics)
The field of phonetics is a multiple layered subject
of linguistics that focuses on speech. In the case of oral
languages there are three basic areas of study:
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Articulatory phonetics: the study of the production of
speech sounds by the articulatory and vocal tract by the
speaker
Acoustic phonetics: the study of the physical
transmission of speech sounds from the speaker to the
listener
Auditory phonetics: the study of the reception and
perception of speech sounds by the listener
Vocal Folds
 The vocal folds, also known commonly as vocal
cords, are composed of twin infoldings of mucous
membrane stretched horizontally across the larynx.
They vibrate, modulating the flow of air being
expelled from the lungs during phonation.[1][2][3]
 Open during inhalation, closed when holding one's
breath, and vibrating
for speech or singing (oscillating 440 times per
second when singing A above middle C), the folds
are controlled via the vagus nerve. They are white
because of scant blood circulation.
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Vocal folds are located within the larynx at the top of
the trachea. They are attached posteriorly to
the arytenoid cartilages, and anteriorly to the thyroid
cartilage. Their outer edges (as shown in the
illustration) are attached to muscle in the larynx
while their inner edges, or margins are free (the hole).
They are constructed from epithelium, but they have
a few muscle fibres in them, namely the vocalis
muscle which tightens the front part of the ligament
near to the thyroid cartilage. They are flat triangular
bands and are pearly white in color. Above both sides
of the vocal folds (the hole and the ligament itself)
are the vestibular folds or false vocal folds which
have a small sac between the two folds (not
illustrated).
Situated above the larynx, the epiglottis acts as a flap
which closes off the trachea during the act of
swallowing to direct food into a separate tube behind
the trachea called theesophagus. If food or liquid
does enter the trachea and contacts the vocal folds
because of a failure of this safeguard ("going down
the wrong pipe"), it causes a cough reflex to expel the
matter in order to prevent choking.
Articulators
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is used as
the basis for the phonetic transcription of speech. It is
based on the Latin alphabet and is able to transcribe most
features of speech such as consonants, vowels, and
suprasegmental features. Every documented phoneme
available within the known languages in the world is
assigned its own corresponding symbol.
Word-stress
The important point to remember is that Icelandic
words always have their stress on the FIRST syllable,
while English words can be stressed on any syllable.
So Icelanders speaking English often stress the FIRST
syllable of words
Minimal Pairs
Minimal pairs are words that vary by only a single sound,
usually meaning sounds that students often get confused
by, like the "th" and "t" in "thin" and "tin".
Vowel Sounds
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Minimal Pairs /ɪ/ and /i:/ (sit and seat)
Minimal Pairs /e/ and /eɪ/ (wet and wait)
Minimal Pairs /æ/ and /ʌ/ (bat and but)
Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ and /ɔ:/ (so and saw)
Minimal Pairs /æ/ and /e/ (bad and bed)
Minimal Pairs /ɑ:/ and /ɜ:/ (fast and first)
Consonant Sounds
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Minimal Pairs /b/ and /v/ (berry and very)
Minimal Pairs /b/ and /p/ (buy and pie)
Minimal Pairs /n/ and /ŋ/ (thin and thing)
Minimal Pairs /l/ and /r/ (alive and arrive)
Minimal Pairs /ʧ/ and /t/ (catch and cat)
Minimal Pairs /s/ and /ʃ/ (sea and she)
Minimal Pairs /f/ and /v/ (fan and van)
Minimal Pairs /f/ and /h/ (fat and hat)
Minimal Pairs /s/ and /θ/ (sing and thing)
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Minimal Pairs /ð/ and /z/ (with and whizz)
Minimal Pairs /ʤ/ and /z/ (page and pays)
Minimal Pairs /d/ and /ʤ/ (bad and badge)
Initial Consonant Sounds
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Minimal Pairs initial /f/ and /p/ (fast and past)
Final Consonant Sounds
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Minimal Pairs final /m/ and /n/ (am and an)
Minimal Pairs final /t/ and /d/ (hat and had)
Stress and unstress
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All words of more than one syllable have what is
called word stress. This means that at least one of the
syllables is
l o n g e r and louder
than the other syllables.
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In many cases, word stress must simply be learned as
new volcabulary is acquired. However, there are
several rules for word stress which can make it easier
to deal with.
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1.Compound Nouns
Ex.
blackboard
notebook
bookstore
toothbrush
keyboard
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II. Noun+Noun Compounds (2-word compound
nouns)
Listen to the following noun+noun compounds. Can
you hear which part of the compound gets more
stress?
Similar to the rule for compound nouns, the first part
of the compound--here, the first word--gets the
stress. (Note: If the "unstressed" part of the
noun+noun compound is more than one syllable, it
will have some word stress. However, the first part
of the compound will get even more stress.)
III. Phrasal Verbs versus Compound Nouns derived
from phrasals
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Phrasal verbs (a.k.a. two-word or two-part verbs) are
generally made up of a verb and preposition. For
many of these, correct word stress is especially
important as they have compound noun counterparts.
In the following examples, the words on the left are
phrasal verbs. The words on the right are nouns.
In phrasal verbs, the preposition gets the word
stress. If they have a noun counterpart, however, it
gets the stress on the first part.
IV. Homographs
Homographs are words which are written the same
way but which have different pronunciation. In
English, there are many words which have the same
spelling, but whose part of speech changes with the
word stress. If you listen carefully, you will hear that
the vowel sounds change depending on whether they
are stressed or unstressed
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Rules of Word Stress in English
There are two very simple rules about word stress:
One word has only one stress. (One word cannot
have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear
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two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is
true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some
words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than
the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long
words.)
We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
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Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that
can help you understand where to put the stress. But
do not rely on them too much, because there are
many exceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the music
of the language and to add the stress naturally.
1 Stress on first syllable
rule
example
Most 2-syllable nouns
PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble
Most 2-syllable
adjectives
PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer,
HAPpy
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2 Stress on last syllable
rule
example
Most 2-syllable
to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE,
verbs
to beGIN
Intonation
Pitch is raising and lowering the voice while speaking.
The use of pitch is called intonation. The most well
known use for English intonation is to communicate
basic grammar, such as the use of a falling pitch on the
sentence, "You're coming." compared to a rising pitch at
the end of the question form, "You're coming?"
Statement intonation
Question intonation
Beyond that simple example, intonation is a complex
world of personal choice and context-driven options.
Understanding English intonation patterns will increase
not only your spoken English pronunciation competence,
but your English listening comprehension as well.
The terms "intonation" and "pitch" are often used
interchangeably when talking about the "highness" or
"lowness" of our voice when we speak. The difference
between the terms is not very significant; in short,
intonation is the use of pitch, just as mathematics is the
use of numbers, or photography is the use of light and
color. Intonation is a broader term than pitch. Being able
to perceive pitch (the highness of lowness of our voice)
leads to the use of correct intonation.
Instead of studying the use and pronunciation of
American English pitch only in sentence-sized units, this
website separates pitch into three categories in order to
study each aspect of intonation individually. It is
important to realize that no category of intonation acts
alone, and all three categories of intonation affect the
others.
The three categories of intonation are:
1. pitch words
2. pitch boundary
3. starting pitch
Pitch words are individual words that speakers choose to
set apart by raising or lowering their voice on that word.
Pitch words convey which word of the sentence is most
important, and how to interpret the importance of that
particular word. Related Lesson: Introduction to pitch
words.
A pitch boundary happens at the end of an intonation
unit, and tells the listener what kind of interaction the
speaker is planning or expecting to happen next. Related
Lesson: Coming Soon!
A starting pitch occurs at the beginning of an intonation
unit and helps the listener know how what the speaker
will say is going to tie in with what was already said.