新编语言学教程02 The Sounds of Language

02TheSoundsofLanguage1.Whatisphonetics?Phonetics—thestudyofspeechsoundsthatoccurinallhumanlanguages.Itisabranchoflinguisticswhichstudieshumanspeechsoundsandprovidesmethodsforthedescription,classificationandtranscriptionofthesesounds.Threebranchesofphonetics(p.26):1)articulatoryphonetics—thestudyofhowspeechsoundsareproducedorthestudyofthewayinwhichspeechsoundsareproducedbyourvocalorgans.2)acousticphonetics—thestudyofthetransmissionofspeechsoundsthroughtheairorthestudyofthephysicalpropertiesofspeechsoundsastheyaretransmittedbetweenmouthandear.3)auditoryphonetics—dealingwithhowspeechsoundsareperceivedbythelistenerorbythehumanear.1.1PhoneticfeaturesSpeechsoundscanbeclassifiedintofourtypes:voicedandvoiceless,nasalandoral.(p.31)1)Voicedandvoicelesssounds(pp.29-30)Voicedsounds—soundsproducedinthewaythattheairstreamforcesitswaythroughandcausesvocalcordstovibrate.Voicelesssounds—soundsproducedinthewaythattheairstreamisnotobstructedattheplacebetweenvocalcords.2)Nasalandoralsounds(p.31)Nasalsounds—soundsproducedinthewaythatairescapesthroughthenoseaswellasthemouth.Oralsounds—soundsproducedinthewaythatairescapesonlythroughthemouth.1.2ConsonantsandVowels1)ConsonantsConsonants—speechsoundsintheproductionofwhichthereisonekindoranotherobstructioninthethroat,noseormouth,whentheairstreamcomesfromthelungs.ConsonantsinEnglishcanbeclassifiedintwoways:themannerofarticulationandtheplaceofarticulation.Whatisthemannerofarticulation?(p.32)Whatistheplaceofarticulation?(p.32)e.g.theconsonant[t]canbedescribedasplosive,alveolarandvoiceless.2)VowelsVowels—speechsoundsintheproductionofwhichtheairstreamfromthelungsisnotblockedinanywayinthemouthornose,andthevocalcordsareusuallyvibrated.a.Whichpartofthetongueisraised?frontvowels—centralvowels—backvowelsb.Whatistheshapeofthelips?roundedvowels—unroundedvowelsc.Whetheristhemouthopen?openvowel—closedvowel;semi-openvowels—semi-closedvowelsd.Whatisthelengthofthevowels?longvowels—shortvowelse.g.thevowel[i:]canbedescribedasfront,unrounded,closedandlong.1.3Variationsofsounds1)liaison(linking)—thelinkingofwordsinspeech,inparticularwhenthesecondwordbeginwithavowel.Andthesewordsbelongtothesamesense-group.e.g.standup,aboveall,lookatit,firstofall,anumberof,hereisit,Whereisit?2)elision—theleavingoutofasoundorsoundsinspeech.e.g.kindness[kaindnis]—[kainnis],sitdown,mostprobably,don’tknow,withthat,somemoretea,我们[uomen]—[uomn]/[uom],豆腐[toufu]—[touf]3)assimilation—theprocessofsubstitutingonephonemebyanother,orturningtwoneighbouringphonemesintoanewone,undertheinfluenceofthesurroundingsounds.e.g.news/nju:z/,newspaper/nju:speip/,five/faiv/,fivepence/faifpans/,used/juzd/,usedto/ju:sttu/,inbed[inbed]—[imbed],难免[nanmian]—[nammian],电报[tianpao]—[tiampao],关门[kuanmen]—[guammen]2.WhatisPhonology?Phonology—thestudyordescriptionofthedistinctivesoundunitsofalanguageandtheirrelationship.Thedifferences:1)phonetics—general,descriptiveandclassificatory;phonology—particularandfunctional2)phonetics—actualphysicalarticulationsofspeechsounds;phonology—theabstractaspectofthesoundsinalanguage3)phonetics—themeansfordescribingspeechsounds;phonology—thewayinwhichspeechsoundsarecombined,organized,andconveymeaninginparticularlanguagesphoneticsphonologysoundsoflanguagefunctioningofsoundsaspartofalanguageuniversallanguage-specificconcreteabstractparolelanguagesystemphone:[]phoneme://2.1Phone,Phoneme,andAllophone1)phone—aphoneticunit,whichdoesnotnecessarilydistinguishmeaning.e.g.pitspit(fivephones)2)phoneme—aphonologicalunit,itisthesmallestunitofsoundinalanguagethatcandistinguishtwowords/meanings.e.g.panban/p//b/betbit/e//i/betbed/t//d/Somepointstobenoticed:a.thenumberofphonemesvariesfromonelanguagetoanother.b.aphonemaybeaphonemeinonelanguagebutmaynotinanotherlanguage.InEnglishthetwophones[s],[]aretwophonemes“sin—thin”/s/,//.ButinChinesethephone[s]isaphoneme,but[]isnotaphoneme.AlsoinEnglishaspiratedandunaspiratedphonesarenottwophonemesbutone,eachoccurringinadifferentpositione.g.peak—speak.ButinChinesetheyaretwodifferentphonemes:铺—部,突—都,inChinese卷舌—不卷舌aretwophonemesbuttheyarenotinEnglish.司长—师长,交代—招待,study—shtudy3)allophones—phoneswhicharephoneticallysimilarbutnotthesameandwhicharetreatedasthesameinlinguisticcommunication;orthesoundswhicharephoneticallydifferentbutdonotmakeoneworddifferentfromanotherinmeaning.e.g.lip—play—feellip—ismadebyraisingthefrontofthetonguetothehardpalate,whilethevocalcordsarevibrating;play—ismadewiththesametonguepositionbutthevocalcordsarenotvibrating;feel—ismadebyraisingnotonlythefrontbutalsothebackofthetonguewhilethevocalcordsarevibrating.sad(long)—pat(short)—can(nasalized)phonemeandallophone:Aphonemeisanabstractunit,notanyparticularsound.Itmayberealizedbyacertainphoneinacertainphoneticcontext.Andthedifferentphonesthatrepresentthesamephonemeareitsallophones.e.g.,thephoneme/p/canberealizedbythefollowingphonesindifferentphoneticcontext:[p]—articulatedwithaspirationwhenfollowedbyastressedvowelasin“put”[p]—articulatedwithlittleaspirationwhenfollowedbyanunstressedvowelasin“paper”[p]—articulatedwithnoaspirationwhenthe[s]