PHONETICS

Study of the physical properties of speech-

sounds
– how they are made
– how they are heard
– how they are transmitted
PHONOLOGY
Study of the linguistic properties of
speech-sounds
– the “sound system” of language
– the sound systems of individual
languages
 PHONETICS
Study of the physical properties of
speech-sounds

Articulatory Phonetics
– how they are made
Auditory Phonetics
– how they are heard
Acoustic Phonetics
– how they are transmitted
 PHONETICS
Study of the physical properties of speech-
sounds
– how they are made
– how they are heard
– how they are transmitted
PHONOLOGY
Study of the linguistic properties of
speech-sounds
– the “sound system” of language
– the sound systems of individual
languages
 PHONETICS
Universal: the study of the sounds
produced in human speech

PHONOLOGY
Local: the study of the sound system of
one single language or variety of language
The Talking
White Male
Head

(Ladefoged p.2)
5
Daniel Jones, 1918,
An Outline of
English Phonetics
Frontispiece from
the 9th edition,
1972

6
7
CLOSE (HIGH)

BACK
OPEN (LOW) 8
Phonetic symbols are shown in
square brackets:

[e]
Phonological symbols are shown
in slashes:

/e/
 phones
phonemes
allophones
 phones
phonemes
allophones
 phones
sounds of
language
 Segments
• How fine can you slice language?
• sentence
• phrase
• word
• syllable
• letter ... ?
Letters ?
cat rat
cat cot
cat cap
Letters ?
cat rat
cat cot
cat cap
 Letters ?
cat coat caught
kVt
code keyed
kVd
right write rite
rVt
 Segments
• How thin can you slice language?
• sentence
• phrase
• word
• syllable
• phone.......
letter
 cat rat
significant difference cat cot
- different word
cat cap

non-significant top stop

different lip milk
- change impossible code cold
significant cat rat
meaning cat cot
non-predictable cat cap

non-significant top stop

structure lip milk
predictable code cold
PHONEMES
cat rat
cat cot
cat cap

ALLOPHONES top stop

lip milk
code cold
phones are either:

• phonemes
significant sound differences
meaning-based choice
• allophones
non-significant sound differences
fixed choice
How can we tell whether a sound
is a phoneme or an allophone?

Minimal pairs
kæt
cat ræt
rat
kæt
cat kot
cot
kæt
cat kæp
cap
 Minimal pairs
cat rat kæt ræt
tight tide tait taid
core score kO(r) skO(r)
nose knows n0uz n0uz
Korea career k01ri0 k01ri0
k01ri0 k01rir
service surface
 Minimal pairs
service surface 1sEvis 1sEfis
1sErvis 1sErfis
1sEv0s 1sEf0s
show sew S0u s0u
make maid meik meid
ghost toast g0ust t0ust
wail whale weil weil
weil Weil
 Minimal contexts
pressure measure 1preS0 1meG0
fission vision 1fiS0n 1viG0n
 Allophones
top stop top stop
pie spy pai spai
care scare ke0 ske0
ker sker
 Allophones
top stop tHop stop
pie spy pHai spai
care scare kHe0 ske0
kHer sker
No free choice between p and pH.
Complementary distribution
Compementary angles:
phoneme
/ /
allophone
[ ][ ]
phoneme

allophone
from http://www.hi.is/~peturk/KENNSLA/02/TOP/phonemes.html

Usually, of course, the different ALLOPHONES of

the same PHONEME are all similar to each other -
they form a FAMILY of sounds. But we mustn't
fall into the trap of thinking that ALLOPHONIC
difference is small while PHONEMIC difference is
large. There is actually no real difference between
these differences! We can see this by the fact that
the same difference can be allophonic in one
language, and phonemic in another.
 seat sheet
massive machine
basic nation
She is fine as morn in May,
mild, divine and clever.
Like a shining summer’s day
she is mine for ever.

Sr. Sigurður Norland í Hindisvík

Mitsubishi

Subaru
phoneme

allophone

Subaru Mitsubishi
this theatre
think this thought
þ ð þ
þessi þýðing
þessi þýðing
 The lateral - l
lip
yellow
mill
miller
milk
people
 l l

http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html
phoneme

allophone
The phoneme /l/ is light before a
vowel, otherwise dark
 The lateral - l
lip
yellow
mill
miller
milk
people
trouble follows the blameless
milkman like a wealthy lawyer

trÆbl fol0uz ð0 bleimlis

milkm0n laik 0 welþ^ lOj0
 lay
play
splay
clay
exclaim
(from week 6):
 Does it follow k or p
in a stressed syllable?

Is it followed
by a vowel?

clay lay mill

play yellow milk