Phonetics as a branch of linguistics кратко
Обновлено: 04.07.2024
“Phonetics” is of Greek origin. It’s a subject matter dealing with voice and sounds (roughly speaking).
Phonetics came into existence long ago. It’s a part of Linguistics standing side by side with Lexicology and Grammar. Phonetics is a basis of all the other disciplines. Why is it of great importance? Because, first of all, we must pronounce the words to convey any message. It’s concerned with human noises by which the thought is actualized. Phonetics studies the sound system of the language. The Phonetic structure of the language consists of the components:
The sound sequence
Phonetics is the most fundamental branch of Linguistics. Neither Linguistic theory nor Linguistic practice can do without Phonetics. That’s why Phonetics is an independent branch of Linguistics like Lexicology, Grammar or Stylistics. And thus it claims to be of equal importance with them.
As is known Phonetics is connected with non-linguistic sciences as well – physiology, psychology, logic.
The connection with Grammar, Lexicology and Stylistics is exercised (проявляется) through orthography (орфография), which in its' turn is very closely connected with Phonetics.
Phonetics formulates the rules of pronunciation of separate sounds and sound groups, for example:
Daughter - d:tə
“au” - :
“ght” - t
“er” - ə
So through the system of reading rules Phonetics is connected with Grammar and helps to pronounce correctly
Singular and plural forms of nouns:
The plural suffix
s z iz
shops a) bags, trains boxes, foxes, noses
books dolls, dogs, hands strawberries
looks b) bees, plays, flowers
after voiceless a) after voiced consonants after “x”
consonants b) after vowels
Past tense forms of regular verbs:
t d id
wished begged, cleaned needed, travelled
after voiceless after voiced consonants after “t/d”
One of the most important Phonetics phenomena (sound interchange) is another manifestation of the connection of Phonetics with Grammar.
Again this connection can be observed in the category of number, for example:
Leaf – leaves
calf – calves
house – houses
s - z
Connection with Lexicology
It’s only due to the presence of stress in the right place, that we can distinguish certain nouns from verbs. Serves to differentiate parts of speech.
object – to object
increase – to increase
insult – to insult
transfer – to transfer
conduct – to conduct
abstract – to abstract
Due to the position of word stress we can distinguish between homonymous (омонимы) words and word groups. Phonetics is also connected with Stylistics mainly through intonation.
blackbird - дрозд
black bird – чёрная птица
Two courses of Phonetics in the institutes are introduced:
Practical Phonetics, which studies the material form of Phonetics phenomena
Theoretical Phonetics, which is supposed to discuss those problems of modern Phonetic science which are concerned with teaching of English language.
Phonetics itself is divided into 2 major levels:
Segmental Phonetics, which is concerned with individual sounds or segments of speech.
Supersegmental Phonetics, which deals with larger units of connected speech (связная речь) (syllables, words, phrases and texts)
Special Phonetics, the aim of which to study the sounds of one language at a particular period of time
General Phonetics, which studies the sound systems of several languages. It’s also a part of General Linguistics.
Comparative Phonetics, which compares the sound systems of 2 languages
Experimental Phonetics, which deals with research work
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Phonetics is an independent branch of linguistics like lexicology or grammar. These linguistic sciences study language from three different points of view. Lexicology deals with the vocabulary of language, with the origin and development of words, with their meaning and word building. Grammar defines the rules governing the modification of words and the combination of words into sentences. Phonetics studies the outer form of language; its sound matter. The phonetician investigates the phonemes and their allophones, the syllabic structure the distribution of stress, and intonation. He is interested in the sounds that are produced by the human speech-organs insofar as these sounds have a role in language. Let us refer to this limited range of sounds asthe phonic medium and to individual sounds within that range as speech-sounds. We may now define phonetics as the study of the phonic medium. Phonetics is the study of the way humans make, transmit, and receive speech sounds. Phonetics occupies itself with the study of the ways in which the sounds are organized into a system of units and the variation of the units in all types and styles of spoken language.
Phonetics is a basic branch of linguistics. Neither linguistic theory nor linguistic practice can do without phonetics. No kind of linguistic study can be made without constant consideration of the material on the expression level.
We know that the phonic medium can be studied from four points of view: the articulatory, the acoustic, the auditory, and the functional.
We may consider the branches of phonetics according to these aspects. Articulatory phonetics is the study of the way the vocal organs are used to produce speech sounds. Acoustic phonetics is the study of the physical properties of speech sounds. Auditory phonetics is the study of the way people perceive speech sounds. Of these three branches of phonetics, the longest established, and until recently the most highly developed, is articulatory phonetics. For this reason, most of terms used by linguists to refer to speech-sounds are articulatory in origin.
Phoneticians are also interested in the way in which sound phenomena function in a particular language. In other words, they study the abstract side of the sounds of language. The branch of phonetics concerned with the study of the functional (linguistic) aspect of speech sounds is called phonology. By contrast with phonetics, which studies all possible sounds that the human vocal apparatus can make, phonology studies only those contrasts in sound which make differences of meaning within language.
Besides the four branches of phonetics described above, there are other divisions of the science. We may speak of general phonetics and the phonetics of a particular language (special or descriptive phonetics). General phonetics studies all the sound-producing possibilities of the human speech apparatus and the ways they are used for purpose of communication. The phonetics of a particular language studies the contemporary phonetic system of the particular language, i.e. the system of its pronunciation, and gives a description of all the phonetic units of the language. Descriptive phonetics is based on general phonetics.
Linguists distinguish also historical phonetics whose aim is to trace and establish the successive changes in the phonetic system of a given language (or a language family) at different stages of its development. Historical phonetics is a part of the history of language.
Closely connected with historical phonetics is comparative phonetics whose aims are to study the correlation between the phonetic systems of two or more languages and find out the correspondences between the speech sounds of kindred languages.
Phonetics can also be theoretical and practical. At the faculties of Foreign Languages in this country, two courses are introduced:
1. Practical, or normative, phonetics that studies the substance, the material form of phonetic phenomena in relation to meaning.
2. Theoretical phonetics, which is mainly concerned with the functioning of phonetic units in language.
This dichotomy is that which holds between theoretical and applied linguists. Briefly, theoretical linguistics studies language with a view to constructing theory of its structure and functions and without regard to any practical applications that the investigation of language might have. Applied linguistics has as its concerns the application of the concepts and findings of linguistics to a variety of practical tasks, including language teaching.
All the branches of phonetics are closely connected not only with one another but also with other branches of linguistics. This connection is determined by the fact that language is a system whose components are inseparably connected with one another.
Phonetics is also connected with many other sciences. Acoustic phonetics is connected with physics and mathematics. Articulatory phonetics is connected with physiology, anatomy, and anthropology. Historical phonetics is connected with general history of the people whose language is studied; it is also connected with archaeology. Phonology is connected with communication (information) theory, mathematics, and statistics.
Phonetics is an independent branch of linguistics like lexicology, grammar and stylistics. It studies the sound matter, its aspects and functions. Phonetics is connected with linguistic and non-linguistic sciences: acoustics, physiology, psychology, logic etc. Practical phonetics studies the substance, the material form of phonetic phenomena in relation to meaning. Theoretical phonetics is mainly concerned with the functioning of phonetic units in the language. It regards phonetic phenomena synchronically without any special attention paid to the historical development of the English language, but in terms of English language teaching.
Trough the system of rules of reading phonetics is connected with grammar and helps to pronounce correctly singular and plural forms of nouns, the past tense forms and past participles of English regular verbs:
e.g. /d/ is pronounced after voiced consonants: beg – begged;
/t/ is pronounced after voiceless consonants: look – looked;
/ ɪ d / is pronounced after /t/ and /d/: want p – wanted, intend – intended.
Some adjectives have a form with / ɪ d/:
e.g. crooked [ ˈ kr ʊ k ɪ d], naked [ ˈ ne ɪ k ɪ d], ragged [ ˈ ræg ɪ d].
Another manifestation of connection of phonetics with grammar is sound interchange . It is one of the most important phonetic phenomena. This connection can be observed in the category of number:
– the interchange of /f-v/, /s-z/, / Ɵ -ð/ helps to differentiate singular and plural forms of nouns: calf – calves, leaf – leaves, house – houses;
– vowel interchange helps to distinguish singular and plural of such words as:
man – men, foot – feet, mouse – mice, crisis – crises;
– vowel interchange is connected with the tense forms of irregular verbs:
sing – sang – sung, write – wrote – written;
vowel interchange can also help to distinguish between:
a) nouns and verbs e.g. bath – bathe [b ɑ : Ɵ ] – [be ɪ ð]
b) adjectives and nouns e.g. hot – heat [h ɒ t] – [hi:t]
c) verbs and adjectives e.g. moderate – moderate [ ˈ m ɒ d ǝ re ɪ t] – [ ˈ m ɒ d ǝ r ɪ t]
d) nouns and nouns e.g. shade – shadow [ ʃ e ɪ d] – [ ˈʃ æd ǝʊ ]
e) nouns and adjectives e.g. type – typical [ta ɪ p] – [ ˈ t ɪ p ɪ kl].
Consonants can interchange in different parts of speech, for example in nouns and verbs:
e.g. extent – to extend [t] –[d],
mouth – to mouse [ Ɵ ] – [ð],
relief – to relieve [f] – [v].
Phonetics is also connected with grammar through its intonation component. Sometimes it is intonation alone can serve to single out the logical predicate of the sentence:
e.g. ˈ He came home. (Not Mary or John).
He ˈ came home. (So you can see him now).
He came ˈ home. (But you said he was going to the party).
Pausation may also perform a differentiatory function. If we compare two similar sentences with different places of the pause, we will see that their meaning is different:
e.g. There was no love lost between them. (They loved each other).
There was no love ∣ lost between them. (They did not love each other).
Phonetics is also connected with lexicology. It is only due to the presence of stress in the right place that we can distinguish certain nouns from verbs:
e.g. abstract ( реферат ) – to abstract ( добувати, здобувати ),
object ( предмет ) – to object ( заперечувати, не схвалювати ),
transfer ( перенос, переведення) – to transfer ( переносити, переводити ).
Homographs can be differentiated only due to pronunciation because they are identical in spelling:
e.g. bow [ba ʊ ] лук – bow [b ǝʊ ] уклін ,
row [ra ʊ ] ряд – row [r ǝʊ ] шум ,
tear [te ǝ ] розрив – tear [et ɪǝ ] сльоза ,
wind [w ɪ nd] вітер – wind [wa ɪ nd] виток .
Due to the position of word stress we can distinguish between homonymous words and word groups:
e.g. ˈ blackboard ( дрізд ) – ˈ black ˌ bird (чорний птах),
ˈ blue - nose (сорт картоплі) – ˈ blue ˌ nose (синій ніс).
Phonetics is also connected with stylistics. First of all, trough intonation and its components: speech melody, utterance stress, rhythm, pausation, voice tamber. They serve to express emotions, to distinguish between different attitudes on the part of the author and the speaker. Very often the writer helps the reader to interpret his ideas through special words and remarks:
e.g. There was a short pause .
He said bitterly .
Betty touched him gently.
His tone was hostile .
Phonetics is also connected with stylistics trough repetition of words, phrases and sounds. Repetition of identical or similar sounds is called alliteration . It helps to impart a melodic effect to the utterance and to express certain emotions. Thus, the repetition of the sound /m/ in the lines of the ballad helps to produce the effect of merriment:
e.g. There are twelve months in all the year,
As I hear many men say,
But the merriest month in all the year
Is the merry month of May.
e.g. chatter, clatter, babble; crash, bang; clink, ting, chink.
The study of phonetic phenomena from the stylistic point of view is termed phonostylistics. It is connected with a number of linguistic and non-linguistic disciplines, such as paralinguistics, psychology, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, dialectology, information theory etc.
There are three branches of phonetics each corresponding to a different stage in the communication process. Each of these branches uses quite special sets of methods.
The branch of phonetics that studies the way in which the air is et in motion, the movements of the speech organs and the coordination of these movements in the production of single sounds and trains of sounds is called articulatory phonetics.
Acoustic phonetics studies the way in which the air vibrates between the speaker’s mouth and the listener’s ear. Until recently articulatory phonetics has been the dominating branch, and most descriptive work has been done in articulatory terms for the purpose of teaching and because of special interest for research work and applied linguistics.
The branch of phonetics investigating the hearing process is known as auditory phonetics . Its interests lie more in the sensation of hearing, which is brain activity, than in the physiological working of the ear or the nervous activity between the ear and the brain. The means by which sounds are discriminated – quality, sensations of pitch, loudness, length, are relevant here. This branch of phonetics is of great interest to anyone who teaches or studies pronunciation.
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Вопросы к зачету 2 ВО
Question 1 (Theory)
1. Phonetics as a branch of linguistics. Applications of phonetics. International Phonetic Alphabet.
2. The articulatory classification of English vowels.
3. The articulatory classification of English consonants.
4. Phonemes vs allophones. Distinctive and irrelevant features of the phoneme.
5. The system of vowel phonemes in English. Problem of diphthongs.
6. The system of consonant phonemes in English. Problem of affricates.
7. Modifications of English consonants in connected speech. Assimilation. Elision.
8. Modifications of English consonants in connected speech. Assimilation. Accommodation.
9. Modifications of vowels in connected speech. Reduction. Accommodation.
10. Linking patterns.
11. National and regional pronunciation variants of English.
12. British and American pronunciation models. Most distinctive features of BBC English and Network English.
13. Word stress in English. Its nature and function. The degrees and the position of word stress.
14. What factors create the effect of stress in a word? What type of word stress do you think English accentual structure belongs to?
15. Intonation patterns.
Question 2 (Give opinion)
1. Which consonants are most likely to pose a challenge to Russian learners of English? Why?
Do you know how English stops are correctly pronounced in English?
2. What do you consider to be the greatest challenges in teaching vowels? Are there typical difficulties for native speakers of your language?
3. Words commonly mispronounced by Russian learners of English: Hotel, effort, country, onion, worry. Contribute to “Words commonly mispronounced by Russian learners of English”. Does it influence understanding? Is there internationally or scientifically recognized cure for mispronounciation? How would you treat it?
4. What strategies and techniques do you use to improve production of English sounds? What top priorities would you select to help Russian learners of English to gain control of consonant / vowel production?
5. Do you think certain consonant / vowel difficulties cause a greater breakdown in communication than others? Are there any vowel or consonant distinctions you have difficulty making? May lack of awareness of the English discourse linking rules bring about misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, frustration in ELL (English Language Learning)?
6. What, in your opinion, contributes more to a learners language proficiency: sound articulation accuracy or command of phonetic modifications in discourse? How would you rate mispronouncing as the cause of misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication?
7. What difficulties with word stress in English do you encounter? Do you find differences in degrees of word stress between English and Russian significant? What strategies and techniques do you use to cure misstressing of English words? Does misstressing contribute to misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication, low learners self-esteem, lack of confidence and frustration in ELL?
8. Many ESL/EFL teachers think that prosody is a more important part of pronunciation than consonants and vowels. What do you think? What difficulties with Intonation in English do you encounter?
9. Compare English and Russian word-stress conventions. What do they share? Where do they differ? What function of stress helps listening comprehension? Give evidence.
10. How do you distinguish between the intonation of isolated sentences and the intonation of segments in extended discourse? Is punctuation a reliable guide to intonation? What can you say about the communicative value of intonation in English? How do you understand fluency?
Question 3. Practical task.
Phonetic Modifications of Sounds in Discourse. Give examples.
1.1. The linking [r].
1.2 The intrusive [r].
2. Modifications of Consonants in Connected Speech:
2.3 Elision. Can you differentiate historical elision from contemporary elision?
3. Modifications of Vowels in Connected Speech:
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