Link to glossary

 

 

 

English Structures

Phonetics

Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Moodle TESL 551: Crowley   Houts-Smith
 

 

 

 

 

Review and Introduction

Until this point, we have largely focused on language as a whole entity and looked at how it relates to other aspects of the human condition. We have developed a working definition of langauge, and we have considered how it is that humans have evolved to develop the ability for linguistic communication when other animals have not. We have looked at how human communication differs from animal communication systems, and we have looked briefly at how the human brain produces and processes language information. We have also looked at how individuals acquire the language of the environment they are in.

In studying language issues, we have used English as our prime example of a language system. When looking at the English language, we have seen that it has changed over time, and three distinct periods of English have existed. The three periods of English show major differences in a variety of aspects of the language, and we can continue to see differences in the language today based on differences between various users of the language. Different speakers use English differently based on the region in which they live, the age they are, the socioeconimc status they have, and their gender. Focus on these variations of a langauge based on social aspects is called sociolinguistics.

In order to fully understand the ways languages differ, both as historical varieties and as contemporary varieties, we must look at the details of language, or at the subdivisions of linguistics. This lesson will begin a series of lessons on the six subdivisions of language systems. All language syestems contain details that belong to each of these six categories. Understanding the details helps us compare and contrast not only variations within one langauge system (e.g. the differences between varieties of English), but also help us to understand differences between different languages.

The Subdivisions of Linguistic Communication

There are three major types of communication. The extralinguistic communication system includes the nonvocal signals of haptics (touching), proxemics (physical space and closeness), kinesics (gestures and body movement), and facial expressions. The paralinguistic communication system consists of nonlangauge vocalizations such as laughing and crying. The linguistic communication system is the human language communication system.

There are six major subdivisions to linguistic communication:

  • Phonetics
  • Phonology
  • Morphology
  • Syntax
  • Semantics
  • Pragmatics

We can visualize the subdivisions in relationship to the type of communication called linguistics and to the other two types of communication, paralinguistic and extralinguistic communications, by mapping the divisions and subdivisions on a table.

Communication
Linguistic
Paralinguistic
Extralinguistic
Phonetics
Laughing
Haptics
Phonology
Crying
Proxemics
Morphology
Sighing
Kinesics
Syntax
Pausing

Facial Expressions

Semantics
Pragmatics

Phonetics: The Study of Speech Sounds

The first subdivision of linguistics that we will look more closely at is phonetics, or the study of speech sounds. When looking at the phonetics of a language, a linguist can focus on one of three different perspectives towards the sounds:

  • Articulatory Phonetics: The study of the production of speech sounds.
  • Auditory Phonetics: The study of how sound is perceived by the ear.
  • Acoustic Phonetics: The study of the physical properties of speech sounds.
For the purposes of this class, we will look at only the first of these--the study of the production of speech sounds.
Air Stream Mechanisms

Earlier in the course we learned that humans' ability to produce speech is related to their physical form. Specifically, we learned that the ability to walk upright freed the respiratory system from the movements for locomotion. The freedom allows humans to control breathing and use the airstream passing through the vocal tract to produce speech sounds.

It makes sense, then, to consider the source of air and its movement through the human vocal tract as a beginning point in understanding speech sound production.

The Pulmonic Airstreams

The most common way to produce speech is to take a breath of air into the lungs and then push it out through the vocal tract. It is possible, but rare, for a person to speak while inhaling as opposed to exhaling the air. We have less control over air as it is coming in than as it is going out. We can use our diaphram muscle in the abdomen to control the rate of exhalation from the lungs much more easily than we can control it on inhalation.

The technical term for pushing air out is Egressive Air. The technical term for referring to the lungs is Pulmonic, so when we use air that we push out from our lungs to produce speech sounds, we are using an egressive pulmonic airstream. This is by far the most common way to create an airstream for use in the production of speech sounds. In rare cases, some languages use an ingressive airstream. No language uses only ingressive air, and the languages that do use it sometimes usually don't use ingressive pulmonic air, but rather air that is held in other smaller pockets in spaces in the vocal tract. They may use ingressive glottalic air or ingressive velaric air.

The Nonpulmonic Airstreams

There are two pockets in our vocal tract that can hold air:

  • The pharyngeal cavity at the back of the throat can make a glottalic air stream
  • And the oral cavity in the mouth can create a velaric air stream

Activity: Observing Airstream Mechanisms

The first step to really understanding the airstream mechanisms is to become familiar with the parts of the vocal tract. Click here to see a diagram of the human head and neck region with each section of the vocal tract marked.

The second step is to learn to feel the air in your own vocal tract. Begin by observing a diagram of egressive pulmonic air at the University of Arizona web site for the Physics and Physiology of Speech 1.

Now try to feel it in your own vocal tract. First take a deep breath and feel the air move into your lungs. Next, exhale slowly through your mouth and feel the air come out. Now take another breath and exhale it through your nose. Try to be aware of your chest and lungs as well as aware of your moyth and nose as you inhale and exhale.

Now try to feel the difference between speaking with egressive air and speaking with ingressive air. Think of a sentence to say out loud (e.g., "Cecil Jacobs is a big wet hen" cf. To Kill a Mockingbird). Say this sentence two times. the first time, take a breath and say it while exhaling. Say it the second time while inhaling. How did the two feel compared to each other?

Next learn the other airstream mechanisms. First make the sound in English that you usually make when you read the letter t, as in the word to. Make this individual sound over and over several times. Next, make the sound that Americans often make to call a horse to come. Or make the sound that Americans sometimes make to tell someone for shame. This sound is sometimes written in novels as tsk. These sounds use an ingressive velaric air stream. When you make these sounds, you are pulling air into your mouth, but not all the way into your lungs. In fact, you can make these sounds even if you empty all the air out of your lungs because you aren't using pulmonic air at all. Try it; make these sounds while holding your breath in your lungs. How did it feel?

Finally, play with sounds and make a t sound as if you are spitting at the same time. This is an egressive sound, but you aren't using pulmonic air, you are using velaric air again. Next make a b sound beginning with no air in your lungs and with your lips closed. Now try to do it again but this time suck air into your mouth.


Part 2

 

American Sign Language The sign language used by the deaf community in the United States.
Test of English for International Communication. A standardized exam for Educational Testing Services that is intended to determine the general capability of an NNSE to use English to conduct business. It is used by some businesses, predominantly in Asia, in hiring.
Test of English as a Foreign Language. A standardized exam from Educational Testing Services that is intended to determine the general capability of an NNSE to use English as the language of insruction .It is used as an admissions requirement by most US universities and colleges for international students.
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. A term that encompasses both TEFL and TESL. It is the name of the professional organization to which many teachers belong. TESOL the organization has many regional affiliates both in the US and abroad.
Teaching English as Second Language. Refers to the activity of teaching the English language as a tool necessary for some daily task like instruction, shopping, or interpersonal interactions.
Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Refers to the activity of teaching the English language as an intellectual, academic pursuit to non-native speakers of English.
Native Speaker of English. Refers to a person who acquired English in infancy and young childhood as a first language.
Native Speaker. Refers to a person whose relationship to a language is that it was encountered in infancy and young childhood as the dominant language of the environment.
Non-Native Speaker of English. Refers to a person who didn't acquire English as a first language, but came to it after another language was established.
Non-Native Speaker. Refers to a person whose relationship to a particular language is that he/she didn't encounter it while initially acquiring language, but came to it after another language was established.
Limited English Proficient. An adjectival phrase used to refer to the same students as ELL refers to. LEP is falling into disuse as it focuses attention on student deficiency rather than on the positive attribute of learning. Is being replaced by ELL.
Second Language. Refers to any language gained subsequent to the first or native language. It is acquired or learned secondarily to the native language. Doesn't refer to the ordinal numbering of languages, only to the relationship of a particular language to a persons native language.
First Language. Refers to the language that an individual encounters as an infant and young child; a persons native language.
English for Specific Purposes. Refers to the goal of learning English to use it for highly focused activity, such as for business or for aviation communication.
English as a Second Language Program. refers to a school program that is purposefully structured to provide instruction on the English language to NNSEs. An ESL program does not typically include instruction in any other subjects than English. An ESL program may be a component of a larger ELL program at a school.
English as a Second Language. Refers to the subject matter of the English language and the methodology for teaching the English language to non-native speakers. ESL makes no reference to the subjects other than English, but it is not methodology alone either, it refers to teaching the English language as content area. Typically, ESL refers to the study of English in a country where it is used for at least one daily task, such as instruction, interpersonal relations, or shopping.
English Langauge Learner Program. Refers to a school program that is purposly structured to provide instruction on the English language and instruction in other content areas to English Language Learners.
English Language Learner. Refers to students who are in the process of learning English, whether they are in ESL classes exclusively or a combination of ESL classes and other subject area classes.
English as a Foreign Langauge. Refers to the study of English as an intellectual, academic pursuit, not a a language whose use is necessary or desirable for daily life, although it may be used as a research tool. Typically, EFL is the study of English in a country where English is not a language of instruction or daily interactions, such as in Italy or in Saudi Arabia.
English for Academic Purposes. Refers to the goal of learning English to use it as the language of instruction for other subject areas.
Refers to a school program that is purposely structured so that students will use two languages on a daily basis.
Refers to the use of two languages in any capacity on a daily basis. A bilingual person uses two languages on a daily basis--for work and at home, perhaps, or for different subjects at school. Can also refer to the ability to use two languages, even if not used daily.