Lecture 1 - Questions For Revision and Discussion

QUESTIONS FOR REVISION AND DISCUSSION
SPEECH AND SPEECH SOUNDS
1. Phonetics and phonology

a. What is phonetics?
Phonetics is “the science which studies the characteristics of human sound-

making, especially those sounds used
in speech, and provides methods for their description, classification and
transcription
b. What are the main branches of phonetics?
The three main branches of phonetics are:

▪ Articulatory phonetics: focuses on how speech sounds are produced by
articulators;
▪ Acoustic phonetics: focuses on how speech sounds are transmitted;
▪ Auditory phonetics: focuses on how the ear translates sound waves into
electrical impulses to the brain and how the brain perceives these as speech
sounds.
c. What is phonology?
Phonology is the study of “the sound systems of languages”
d. What is the difference between segmental phonology and suprasegmental

phonology?
Segmental phonology deals with individual sounds (segments) and linear

strings of sounds
suprasegmental phonology analyses features that extend over more than one
segment
e. What is the relationship between phonetics and phonology?

Phonology is often defined as the cognitive aspects of sound structures and
sound patterns
phonetics is understood to be the physical implementation of these structures

and patterns.
Phonology uses the methods of social science to study speech sounds as

cognitive or psychological entities, which are abstract
symbols that are discrete and categorical
Phonetics uses the methods of natural science to study speech sounds as

physical entities, which are concrete and thus exist in actual space and time that
are gradient and continuous.
f. Find some information about the applications of phonetics and phonology on

the Internet.
Neurology can use information about the processing of phonology and phonetics
in the brain for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with brain lesions.
Phonetics are the foundation for treating the whole range of speech problems,
ranging from children with speech impediments or slow acquisition of sounds to
aphasia patients (such as stroke victims) and people with speaking problems due
to hearing impairments
2. The human speech production system

a. Name the three subsystems of the human speech production system.
The human speech production system can be divided into three

subsystems:
▪ The subglottal vocal tract (the respiratory system)
▪ The larynx (the phonatory system)
▪ The supra-laryngeal vocal tract (the articulatory system)
b. Name the major speech organs in each subsystem.

-The subglottal vocal tract consists of the lungs, the bronchial tubes, and the
trachea (windpipe).
-The larynx: vocal folds
- The supra-laryngeal (or supra-glottal) vocal tract is above the larynx and
consists of three resonating cavities:
▪ The nasal cavity (the nose)
▪ The oral cavity (the mouth)
▪ The pharyngeal cavity (the pharynx)
c. What is pulmonic egressive airstream?
All English sounds are produced with a pulmonic egressive airstream. This
movement describes an outgoing airstream produced by the lungs and is
regarded as the only airstream mechanism that uses lung air.
d. Briefly describe six modes of phonation. Which ones are used linguistically;
which ones are used paralinguistically/extralinguistically in English?
-Voiced: The vocal folds are brought lightly together and vibrate as the air
passes over them.
-Voiceless: The glottis is wide open for the air to escape.
-Whisper: The vocal folds are brought close enough together to make the
continuous airflow through them turbulent, either through a gap left at the back
or through a narrowed glottis.
-Creaky voice: The front part of the glottis vibrates, at a much lower frequency
than in normal voicing, while the back part is pressed more tightly together
-Breathy voice: A combination of whisper and voiced mechanisms
-Glottal stop/closure: The vocal folds make a complete obstruction to the
airstream.
e. What is the difference between active articulators and passive articulators?

▪ Active articulators: lower lip, tongue front, tongue body, and tongue root;
▪ Passive articulators: upper lip, upper teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, soft
palate, uvula,and pharyngeal wall
f. Draw a mid-sagittal cross-section of the head with labels for speech organs.
3. Transcribing sounds
a. What are the problems of the modern English spelling system?
• One letter can represent more than one sound;

E.g. <c> represents [k] (cat, cut, etc.) or [s] (city, cell, etc.)
• One sound can be represented by more than one letter;
E.g. [ʌ] is represented by <o> (son, mom, month, etc.) or <u> (cut, shut, tub,
etc.)
• There are a lot of silent letters.
E.g. knight, name, doubt, debt, psychology, etc
b. What are the principles on which the IPA is based?
▪ The symbols are universal;

▪ The symbols are unambiguous
c. How is phonemic transcription different from phonetic transcription?
Phonemic transcription represents the abstract sound system of a language,

while phonetic transcription represents the actual pronunciation
E.g. Phonemic transcription: /kæt/, /kɪt/, /kɒt/, etc.

Phonetic transcription: [kæt], [kʰætʰ], [kʰæˀt̚ ], [kʰæʔ], etc
d. How is broad transcription different from narrow transcription?

Broad transcription uses the simplest possible set of symbols, while narrow
transcription provides more phonetic details.
E.g. /hiːt/ is narrower than /hit/; [kʰæˀt̚ ] is narrower than [kæt]
4. The phoneme and the allophone

a. Briefly explain these concepts: phoneme, allophone, and phone.
b. What is a minimal pair? Give examples.
A minimal pair is a pair of words that differ in only a single sound in the same
position
E.g: [pɒt] and [dɒt] are a minimal pair
→ [p] and [d] are contrastive and occur in overlapping distribution
c. Provide examples of contrastive and non-contrastive sounds in English.

d. How is overlapping distribution different from complementary distribution?
Give examples.
e. What is free variation? Give examples.
f. What is positional neutralization? Give examples.

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QUESTIONS FOR REVISION AND DISCUSSION

SPEECH AND SPEECH SOUNDS

1. Phonetics and phonology

Phonetics is “the science which studies the characteristics of human sound-

b. What are the main branches of phonetics?

The three main branches of phonetics are:

Phonology is the study of “the sound systems of languages”

d. What is the difference between segmental phonology and suprasegmental

Segmental phonology deals with individual sounds (segments) and linear

e. What is the relationship between phonetics and phonology?

phonetics is understood to be the physical implementation of these structures

Phonology uses the methods of social science to study speech sounds as

symbols that are discrete and categorical

Phonetics uses the methods of natural science to study speech sounds as

f. Find some information about the applications of phonetics and phonology on

2. The human speech production system

The human speech production system can be divided into three

b. Name the major speech organs in each subsystem.

-The larynx: vocal folds

c. What is pulmonic egressive airstream?

e. What is the difference between active articulators and passive articulators?

• One letter can represent more than one sound;

b. What are the principles on which the IPA is based?

▪ The symbols are universal;

c. How is phonemic transcription different from phonetic transcription?

Phonemic transcription represents the abstract sound system of a language,

E.g. Phonemic transcription: /kæt/, /kɪt/, /kɒt/, etc.

d. How is broad transcription different from narrow transcription?

4. The phoneme and the allophone

b. What is a minimal pair? Give examples.

E.g: [pɒt] and [dɒt] are a minimal pair

→ [p] and [d] are contrastive and occur in overlapping distribution

c. Provide examples of contrastive and non-contrastive sounds in English.

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