Teacher: Douglas López A.

Phonetics has been defined as the science that deals with the

description of speech sounds: it tells us how the sounds of language

are made and what their acoustic properties are. It studies the

composition of sounds. A phonetic study of language provides an

inventory and description of all the occurring phonetic segments.

PHONETICS II

Phonology is the description of the systems and

patterns of sounds that occur in the language. It has

been defined as the study of sound systems, in other

words, the study of how speech sounds function in the

language. Phonology involves studying a language to

determine its distinctive sounds, that is, those sounds

that can be used to distinguish different meanings.

These distinctive sounds are called PHONEMES.

PHONETICS II

A phoneme can be defined as a class (group or family) of sounds whose

phonetics differences are incapable of distinguishing one meaning from

another. A phoneme is an abstract unit. It has a differential function; it

signals a difference in meaning without having a meaning of its own.

What do we mean when we say that a phoneme is a class of sounds?Let’s consider English /p/.

/p/

/p/ aspirated______” pool”

/p/ unaspirated ____ “spool”

/p/ unreleased______”loop”

PHONETICS II

They are changes that occur when we produce and combine

sounds into words or in larger linguistic forms in the chain

of speech.

The most common phonological processes are:

PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES

Linking Elision Haplology

Metathesis Assimilation

PHONETICS II

A process by which groups of words are connected together within the same

phrase or sentence in connected speech.

LINKING

•LINKING CONSONANTS TO VOWELS

Types of linking:

Stop it Back out

Pass out Fool around

PHONETICS II

•LINKING STOP CONSONANTS / p, t, k, b, d, g / TO CONSONANTS / t, d, z, s, l /

Stop trying Let down Ripe plum

•LINKING IDENTICAL CONSONANTS

If Fredd Black cat

good day

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•LINKING TENSE VOWELS TO SEMI-VOWELS

•LINKING VOWELS TO VOWELS

Be on time Pay up Blue angel

grow up

Be yourself Say yes

Blue water Go west

PHONETICS II

A process by which sounds within or between words are simplified in

connected speech. This simplification depends on the following sound and

on the nature of the cluster. If the following word begins with a vowel,

then the final consonant of the cluster will be linked to that following

vowel and, therefore cannot be deleted as the examples below show:

ELISION

Cluster Example Pronunciation

Nd kindness / kynn∂s/

Ft softness /sfnss/

St postman /powsm∂n/

St textbook /tksbuk/

PHONETICS II

HAPLOLOGY A process by which 1 of 2 more or less similar sequence of segments is dropped in a word.

Example Pronunciation

Morphophonemic /m∂rfo fonimiks/

Similarly /similι/

Library /libri/

February /f∂bri/

PHONETICS II

Also, it is defined as the name given to the change in which

a repeated sequence of sounds is simplified to a single

occurrence. For example, if the word haplology were to

undergo haplology (were to be haplologized), it would

reduce the sequence lolo to lo,haplology > haplogy. Some

real examples are:

(1) Some varieties of English reduce library to 'libry' [laibri]

and probably to 'probly' [prɔbli].

(2) pacifism pacificism (contrast

with mysticism mysticism, where the repeated sequence is

not reduced and does not end up as mystism).

METATHESIS A process by which neighboring speech sounds change places in the

chain of speech. Also defined as the transposition within a word of

letters, sounds, or syllables.

Examples:Aks instead of ask

Disintregation instead of disintegration

Whipser instead of whisper

PHONETICS II

"Wasp used to be waps; bird used to

be bridand horse used to be hros.

Remember this when the next time you

hear someone complaining about aks for

ask or nucular for nuclear, or

even perscription. It's calledmetathesis,

and it's a very common, perfectly natural

process.“ Shariatmadari (2014)

A process by which the phonetic features of one sound are transferred to a

neighboring sound. This term refers to the influence exercised by one sound

segment upon the articulation of another, so that they become more alike or

identical. The general effect of assimilation is to make pronunciation easier.

ASSIMILATION

Examples: Assimilation Transference

Good man /gubmn/ /d//b/ before /m/

Good boy /gubbכi/ /d//b/ before /b/

That cup /t kkAp/ /t/ /p/ before /b/

PHONETICS II

KEEP PRACTICING!!

THANK YOU FOR COMING!

PHONETICS II