第二章语言学教程

SpeechsoundsUnit2Speechandwritingaretwomediaforlanguage.Speechispriortowriting,sospeechismorebasicthanwriting.Speechsounds:areproducedonlybyhumans,meaningfulinhumancommunicationandwithwhichlinguistsareconcerned.Ashumanbeingswearecapableofmakingallkindsofsounds,butonlysomeofthesesoundshavebecomeunitsinthelanguagesystem.Wecananalyzespeechsoundsfromvariousperspectivesandthetwomajorareasofstudyarephoneticsandphonology.PhoneticsanditsbranchesPhonetics:Phoneticsisthesciencewhichstudiesthecharacteristicsofhumansound-making,especiallythosesoundsusedinspeechandprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,classificationandtranscription.Phoneticsstudieshowspeechsoundsareproduced,transmitted,andperceived.ArticulatoryPhoneticsisthestudyoftheproductionofspeechsounds.AcousticPhoneticsisthestudyofthephysicalpropertiesofthesoundsproducedinspeech.AuditoryPhoneticsisconcernedwiththeperceptionofspeechsounds.PhonologyPhonologyisthestudyofthesoundpatternsandsoundsystemsoflanguages.Itaimsto‘discovertheprinciplesthatgovernthewaysoundsareorganizedinlanguages,andtoexplainthevariationsthatoccur’.TheprocedureofthestudyofphonologyInphonologywenormallybeginbyanalyzinganindividuallanguage,sayEnglish,inordertodetermineitsphonologicalstructure,i.e.whichsoundunitsareusedandhowtheyareputtogether.首先从一门具体语言（如英语）的音系结构着手进行，看看使用了哪些语音单位以及这些单位是如何进行组合的。Thenwecomparethepropertiesofsoundsystemsindifferentlanguagesinordertomakehypothesesabouttherulesthatunderlietheuseofsoundsinthem然后把不太语言语音系统的特征进行比较，以便得出对于某些语言群体语音使用潜在规律的假设。ultimatelyweaimtodiscovertherulesthatunderliethesoundpatternsofalllanguages.最后得出有关所有语言语音规律的假设。HowspeechsoundsaremadeSpeechorgansPositionofthevocalfolds:voicelessPositionofthevocalfolds:voicing(initial&thewidestaperture)Positionofthevocalfolds:glottalstopCanyoureadthis？toughandboughandcoughanddough?hiccough,thorough,loughandthrough.GeorgeBernardShawsuggestedthatghotiwasonewaytospellfish:roughfwomeninationshWritingthingsthewaytheysoundThestandardsystemusedtowritealanguageiscalleditsorthography(fromGreekstems:ortho-'correct',graphy'writing').Evenforlanguageswhosewritingsystemsarebasedonalphabets,thestandardcorrectspellingsoftenhavelittletodowithhowthewordsarepronounced.Phoneticalphabetsaredesigned(andnecessary)forwritingdownutterancesinawaythatrecordshowtheysounded.Ideally,someonewhoneverheardtheoriginalutteranceshouldbeabletorecreateitsimplybyreadingthewrittentranscriptionoutloud.ReasonsforthedivergenceTherearemoresoundsinEnglishthanitsletterscanrepresent.SomeofthesoundshaveundergonechangesinthehistoryofEnglish.ManyEnglishwordshavebeenborrowedformotherlanguages.TranscriptionPhonetictranscriptionisamethodofwritingdownspeechsoundsinasystematicandconsistentway.Inphoneticstudyitcanserveasanaidtothedescriptionofspeechsounds,andbringspellingandpronunciationintoconformity.Broadtranscription:letter-symbolsonly,usedindictionariesandtextbooksforgeneralpurposes.Narrowtranscription:letter-symbolswithdiacritics,representingmorefinedetails,usedbyphoneticians.1.2TheIPAIn1886,thePhoneticTeachers’AssociationwasinauguratedbyasmallgroupoflanguageteachersinFrancewhohadfoundthepracticeofphoneticsusefulintheirteachingandwishedtopopularizetheirmethods.ItwaschangedtoitspresenttitleoftheInternationalPhoneticAssociation(IPA)in1897.OneofthefirstactivitiesoftheAssociationwastoproduceajournalinwhichthecontentswereprintedentirelyinphonetictranscription.TheideaofestablishingaphoneticalphabetwasfirstproposedbytheDanishgrammarianandphoneticianOttoJespersen(1860-1943)in1886,andthefirstversionoftheInternationalPhoneticAlphabet(theIPAchart)waspublishedinAugust1888.Itsmainprincipleswerethatthereshouldbeaseparateletterforeachdistinctivesound,andthatthesamesymbolshouldbeusedforthatsoundinanylanguageinwhichitappears.ThealphabetwastoconsistofasmanyRomanalphabetlettersaspossible,usingnewlettersanddiacriticsonlywhenabsolutelynecessary.Theseprinciplescontinuetobefollowedtoday.TheInternationalPhoneticAlphabet(Revisedin2005)ConsonantsandvowelsConsonantsareproduced‘byaclosureinthevocaltract,orbyanarrowingwhichissomarkedthataircannotescapewithoutproducingaudiblefriction’.Bycontrast,avowelisproducedwithoutsuch‘stricture’sothat‘airescapesinarelativelyunimpededwaythroughthemouthornose’.Thedistinctionbetweenvowelsandconsonantsliesintheobstructionofairstream.Asthereisnoobstructionofairintheproductionofvowels,thedescriptionoftheconsonantsandvowelscannotbedonealongthesamelines.2.1ConsonantsIntheproductionofconsonantsatleasttwoarticulatorsareinvolved.Forexample,theinitialsoundinbadinvolvesbothlipsanditsfinalsegmentinvolvestheblade(orthetip)ofthetongueandthealveolarridge.Thecategoriesofconsonant,therefore,areestablishedonthebasisofseveralfactors.a.theactualrelationshipbetweenthearticulatorsandthusthewayinwhichtheairpassesthroughcertainpartsofthevocaltract;(themannersofarticulation)b.whereinthevocaltractthereisapproximation,narrowing,ortheobstructionofair.(theplacesofarticulation)Themannerofarticulationreferstowaysinwhicharticulationcanbeaccomplished:thearti