English I - Lesson1
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Transcript of English I - Lesson1
INGLESE I
� Module Title: The Structure of Modern English;
� II Semester: Monday-Thursday 18:15-20.00;
� Prof. Stefano Mochi;
� E-mail: [email protected];
Office Hours: Monday 17:15-18:15;� Office Hours: Monday 17:15-18:15;
� Bibliography:
� Jeffries, L. (2006) Discovering Language, New York,
Palgrave;
� Cruse, D.A., Croft, W. (2003) Cognitive Linguistics.
London, Cambridge University Press.
� Further material to be decided during the course. 1
PHONETICS
� Phonetics: the study of the sounds that human
beings use to communicate. It is mostly
concerned with individual speech sounds:
� [mɒp]: how many sounds?
� There are three subfields of phonetics:� There are three subfields of phonetics:
� Acoustic phonetics: how sounds are transmitted
through the air:
� Auditory phonetics: how hearers receive and
interpret sounds:
� Articulatory phonetics: how speakers create
sounds;
2
PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION
� What is the difference between the two
conventions below?
� [Khæt] vs /kæt/
� [ðæ?] vs /ðæt/
What transcription are square brackets used� What transcription are square brackets used
for?
� What transcription are slashes used for?
� Received Pronunciation (RP): the prestigious
accent of the British upper classes. It doesn’t
mean, however, that it is a better accent;
3
PHONETIC SYMBOLS
4
THE VOCAL APPARATUS
� The process through which human beings
produce speech is called egressive pulmonary
airstream mechanism;
� Sounds are produced when we breathe out;
5
THE VOCAL APPARATUS
� The lungs take in air release oxygen into the
bloodstream expel what is left (carbon dioxide);
� The expelling process is the egressive pulmonary
airstream;
� Before the expelled gases leave the body through the mouth
and the nose they pass through the larynx;and the nose they pass through the larynx;
� The larynx contains two folds of flesh known as the vocal
folds (or ligaments);
� The vocal folds are attached in the rear of the larynx by
muscles through the arytenoid cartilage;
� The arytenoid cartilage can pull the vocal cords
together or keep them apart;
� Also, the vocal cords are responsible for various functions:
intonation, pitch, voicing;6
THE VOCAL APPARATUS
7
THE VOCAL APPARATUS
� At the top of the trachea there is a flap of
cartilage called epiglottis which sends food
down the oesophagus and into the intestine;
8
THE ORAL AND THE NASAL CAVITIES
� Above the larynx there is a muscular tube called
pharynx;
� The pharynx is able to contract thus causing a set of
sounds that are called pharyngeals (e.g. as in Arabic);
� After passing the pharynx, the egressive airstream can
take two directions:
9
take two directions:
� either escape through the mouth;
� or escape through the nasal cavity;
� When the sounds to be produced are not nasal, the velum
(or soft palate) is pulled back to make contact with the
back of the pharynx thus isolating the nasal cavity.
THE ORAL AND THE NASAL CAVITIES
� The nasal cavity also functions as a large
resonating chamber;
� If the velum prevents the air from escaping
through the nasal cavity, the air leaves through
the mouth;
10
the mouth;
� The uvulum is a fleshy protuberance hanging
back from the velum (notice: there are no uvular
sounds in English, while there are in French);
� The velum can be either raised or lowered so as
to let the air flow or not flow through the nasal
cavity:
THE ORAL AND THE NASAL CAVITIES
� When the velum is lowered it is responsible for
the production of nasal sounds like /m/ (man) and
/n/ (nose) in English;
� In front of the velum there is the hard palate.
When the body of the tongue presses it, the When the body of the tongue presses it, the
airflow is constricted;
� The hard palate is responsible for important
sounds in English, like /ʃ/ (ship) or /j/ (yacht);
� The alveolar ridge is the place where the blade
of the tongue makes many of the most common
sounds in English like /t/ (tent), /d/ (doctor), /s/
(song) and /z/ (zebra); 11
THE ORAL AND THE NASAL CAVITIES
� When the tip of the tongue is protruded between
the teeth, it produces interdental sounds: /ð/
(‘this’, ‘thigh’);
� Other sounds like the retroflex ones are not
used in English;used in English;
� The blade of the tongue can be raised to meet
the alveolar ridge and produce many English
consonants: /t/ (tattoo), /d/ (dental), /z/ (zone);
12
TO SUM UP
13
SEGMENTS OF SOUNDS
� Consonants: they squeeze and constrict the
airflow to the point of even stopping it
completely:
� Vowels: unlike consonants allow the free
passage of air through the mouth and the nose, passage of air through the mouth and the nose,
with a variable shaped cavity, which makes the
sound resonate differently and causing different
vowel sounds;
� The boundary between vowels and consonants is
not absolutely clear. Semivowels like /w/, /r/, /j/,
involve movement of the articulators but not to
the extent to constrict the airflow significantly; 14
SEGMENTS OF SOUNDS
� There is also a set of vowels known as
diphthongs (or gliding vowels) which, unlike
pure vowels, require movement from one
position to the other, thus making the sound
resemble a consonant one;resemble a consonant one;
�Diphthongs vs Pure vowels:
� 1.[fɛəʳ]; 2.[fɑːʳ]; 3.[f3ːʳ]; 4.[faɪəʳ]
� Do the transcriptions above reveal a rothic or a
non-rothic accent?15
SEGMENTS OF SOUNDS
� The way in which consonants are described in
phonetic terms is based on:
� wheter the vocal folds vibrate (voice);
� where they take place;
� how they are articulated (manner);� how they are articulated (manner);
� Such a way of describing consonants is called
VPM;
� The transcription of phonetic symbols was
developed in the 1880s by English and French
language teachers who were members of the
International Phonetic Association (IPA);16
PLACE OF ARTICULATION
� Place of Articulation: consonants are articulated
between the lips and the larynx, the area of the mouth
where a significant obstruction of the airflow takes place.
� The tongue, lips, teeth, and various regions of the mouth
constitute places of articulation in the oral cavity. This
means that air coming from the lungs is constricted means that air coming from the lungs is constricted
somehow to create consonant sounds.
� In Place of Articulation, three stages are recognized: (a)
onset (b) hold and (release). In the first, vocal folds assume
the position of sound. In the second, full control is taken
and there is readiness for articulation and in the third,
organs produce sounds, leave the release stage and get
back to onset for more sounds.
17
CONSONANTS: PLACE OF ARTICULATION
� Bilabial: are pronounced with the lips together:
/p/ (pat); /m/ (mat); /w/ (weird);
� Labiodental: are produced by raising the lower
lip to the upper teeth: /f/ (fine), /v/ (vine);
� Interdental: are produced with the tongue � Interdental: are produced with the tongue
between the teeth or just behind the upper teeth
(also called "dental"): /θ/ (think); /ð/ (though);
� Alveolar: are produced by raising the tip of the
tongue to the alveolar ridge, which lies right
behind the teeth: /t/ (tin), /d/ (day), /s/ (stone), /z/
(zest), /l/ (lane), /r/ (root), /n/ (nose);18
CONSONANTS: PLACE OF ARTICULATION
� Post-alveolar: are produced halfway between the alveolar
ridge and the hard palate. The body of the tongue is raised
towards the front of the palate: /ʃ/ (sure), /ʒ/ (pleasure);
� Palatal: the front or the body of the tongue is raised to the
palatal region or the domed area at the roof of the mouth:
/j/ (yacht);/j/ (yacht);
� Velar: are produced by raising the back of the tongue to
the soft palate (velum), the area right behind the palate: /ŋ/
(sing), /k/ (cat), /ɡ/ (get);
� Glottal: are produced by pivoting and closing the vocal
folds at the larynx (the glottis is the space between the
vocal folds): /t/(departmen?), /h/(house);
19
MANNER OF ARTICULATION
� Manner of articulation: describes the degree of
narrowing in the oral tract (the degree of stricture).
� Manner also specifies the escape channel, the initiating
source of the airflow involved and certain acoustic or
perceptual characteristics.
The escape channel is either oral or nasal (or both –� The escape channel is either oral or nasal (or both –
nasalized segments), and when it is oral it can be central or
lateral.
� The airstream mechanism used for most speech
articulations is pulmonic. When the sounds are not
created by the lungs they are called non-pulmonic;
� The degree of stricture can be complete thus producing
stop and nasal sounds; 20
MANNER OF ARTICULATION
� Plosives (or Stops): This type of consonant sounds result
from a brief blocking effect on the airstream and then let it
go abruptly: /p/(pen), /b/ (back), /t/ (tea) /d/ (day), /k/ (key),
/g/ (get);
� Nasals: consonant sounds produced when the velum is
lowered and the airstream is allowed to flow out through lowered and the airstream is allowed to flow out through
the nose: /m/ (more), /n/ (nice), /ŋ/ (ring);
� Fricatives: are produced by almost blocking the
airstream and having the air push through the very narrow
opening, thus causing a friction: /f/ (fat), /v/ (view), /θ/
(path), /ð/ (other), /s/ (soon), /z/ (zero), /ʃ/ (ship), /ʒ/ (vision),
/h/ (also glottal: ahead);
21
MANNER OF ARTICULATION
� Affricates: they are produced by combining a brief
stopping of the airstream with an obstructed release which
causes some friction: /tʃ/ (church) and /dʒ/ (soldier);
� Liquids: they are formed by letting the airstream flow
around the sides of the tongue as they make contact with
the middle of the alveolar ridge: /r/ (red), /l/ (love);the middle of the alveolar ridge: /r/ (red), /l/ (love);
� Approximants (or semivowels): they are produced by
narrowing but not blocking the vocal tract and placing an
articulator such as the tongue near another part of the
vocal tract: /j/ (yes), /w/ (war)
22
VOICED AND VOICELES SOUNDS
� Voiced consonants: when the vocal folds
vibrate in the production of sounds. Put your
fingers on you throat while producing the sounds
below: What happens?
� /b/, /d/, /th/ (as in that), /v/, /l/, /r/, /z/, /j/ (as in � /b/, /d/, /th/ (as in that), /v/, /l/, /r/, /z/, /j/ (as in
Jane);
� Voiceless consonants: the vocal folds do not
vibrate. Again, put your finger on your throat
while producing the sounds below. What
happens?
� /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/, /sh/, /ch/, /th/ (as in thin);23
SUMMARY OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS
24
INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET
25
THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC
ALPHABET (REVISED TO 1993)
26
INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET
27
SUPRASEGMENTAL AND TONE
28
HTTP://WEB.UVIC.CA/LING/RESOURCES/IPA/
CHARTS/IPALAB/IPALAB.HTM
� Narrow transcription: a very detailed
transcription that makes use of the full range of
diacritics;
� Broad transcription: which reflects only
meaningful differences in pronunciation and is meaningful differences in pronunciation and is
therefore closer to a phonological, rather than to
a phonetic, record of the sounds that are
articulated.
29