Phone

7 Key excerpts on "Phone"

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  eBook - ePub

  A Concise Introduction to Linguistics

  • Bruce M. Rowe, Diane P. Levine(Authors)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language, that is, what sounds are in a language and what the rules are for combining those sounds into larger units. Phonology can also refer to the study of the sound systems of all languages, including universal rules of sound.

  The Phoneme and the concept of significant differences in sounds

  Any sound used in speech can be called a Phone or Phonetic unit or segment. A Phone is a unit of sound that can be mentally distinguished from other sounds in what is actually the continuous flow of sound that makes up speech. A Phone can be described based on its articulatory, auditory, and acoustic characteristics. For example, [ph ] is a Phone that can be said to be a bilabial, a stop, and a consonant, and it is oral and aspirated. A somewhat different type of unit, called a Phoneme, is the major unit of phonology.

  A Phone or Phonetic unit or segment is an actual speech sound produced by the vocal tract that is perceived as an individual and unique sound, different from other such sounds.

  The Phoneme is a more abstract unit than the Phone. The Phoneme is a mental construct rather than a physical unit. For instance, we have seen that the p sound can be unaspirated [p] or aspirated [ph ]. The [p] and [ph ] are physically two different sounds (Phones) that are produced in different ways. We can tell this because a thin piece of paper held in front of the lips moves when the aspirated p sound is made as in [p h ɪt] but does not move for the unaspirated p as in [spɪt]. Yet even if we aspirated the p in spit or did not aspirate the p in pit, we would still recognize the same words. The words might sound a little different than expected, but the meaning of each word would not change. In English, there is a grammatical rule that subconsciously directs a native speaker to aspirate the p sound when it is the first sound in a word or begins a stressed syllable and not to aspirate when it is not the first sound or the beginning of a stressed syllable. In other words, which p sound a native speaker of English uses is predictable because there is a rule governing its use; [p] and [ph

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  eBook - ePub

  Experimental Psycholinguistics (PLE: Psycholinguistics)

  An Introduction

  • Sam Glucksberg, Joseph H. Danks(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  spin, it sounds very much like a Russian speaker speaking English. In English, words are not differentiated by the presence or absence of aspiration on the Phoneme /p/, so whether we pronounce that /p/ sound with or without aspiration makes no difference in our interpretation of the word. In some other languages, such as Hindi, aspiration does yield meaningful differences.

  These examples show that a Phoneme is not a single speech sound, but a category of sounds that are treated as functionally identical. The single, individual sounds of a language are called PhoneS . Any given Phoneme consists of a set of Phones that are treated as identical, and often even heard as identical. For example, the English Phoneme /k/ is a category of sounds that includes, among others, the two Phones [k] and [q].2 The English Phoneme /p/ is a category of sounds that includes both the aspirated and unaspirated [p] Phones. The set of Phones categorized as a single Phoneme are called ALLOPhoneS of that Phoneme. The Phones [k] and [q] are two alloPhones of the English Phoneme /k/. This categorization becomes so automatic that we may never really hear the differences among the alloPhones.

  This automatic categorization is one of the reasons why we often find it difficult to learn a foreign language. If you were learning Arabic, one of the things you would have to learn is to hear the difference between [k] and [q]. You would also have to learn when to pronounce one and not the other, since, if you get them mixed up, you would not be saying the word you meant to say. A set of phonological problems is inherent in each language for speakers of other languages because each language has its own unique sound system. What is the nature of this sound system?

  English Phones and Phonemes

  The Phones and Phonemes of a language can be organized into a reasonably coherent system in at least two ways. One basis for defining and organizing sounds is the ACOUSTIC properties of the sounds themselves, where the acoustic properties refer to the measurable properties of the sound waves involved. A second basis for dealing with speech sounds is their ARTICULATORY

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  eBook - PDF

  Linguistics For Dummies

  • Rose-Marie Dechaine, Strang Burton, Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • For Dummies

    (Publisher)

  We indicate the Phonetic transcription of a sound with square brackets around the letters. So the Phonetic transcription for the first sound in big is [b]. Defining Phonetics Phonetics is the study of making and hearing speech sounds, and the linguists who work on Phonetics are called Phoneticians . The word Phonetics is from the ancient Greek word pho ˉne ˉ, which means ‘sound’ or ‘to speak’. Individual speech sounds, like [b] or [k], are called Phones . The linguistic term Phone is only distantly related to telePhones, so please don’t ask a Phonetician to fix your cell Phone! 36 Part II: The Building Blocks of Language Phoneticians study speech sounds by looking at ✓ Speech production: Articulatory Phonetics looks at how you make (articulate) speech sounds using your mouth, tongue, lips, and throat. ✓ Sound waves: Acoustic Phonetics looks at the acoustic structure of the sound waves that travel between a speaker and a hearer. ✓ Speech perception: Perceptual acoustics looks at what you do to speech sounds when they reach your ears. Whichever side of the problem Phoneticians study, they have their work cut out for them. The production and perception of spoken language are perhaps the most complex skills humans have. The problems Phoneticians encounter include the following: ✓ Speech sounds don’t come neatly packaged. Acoustic analysis of speech is tricky. When you speak, you produce sound in a continuous Why Phonetics matters Researchers from many disciplines use the tools of Phonetic analysis: ✓ Engineers use basic research in Phonetics to develop natural-sounding speech synthesis, reliable automatic speech recognition, and automated translation systems. For example, those automated question-and-answer systems you run into on the telePhone may be irritating when all you want to do is talk to a human. But, thanks to Phonetic coding, their recognition and synthesis systems work pretty well.

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  eBook - PDF

  Phonology in Context

  • M. Pennington(Author)
  • 2006(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  1 the context of phonology martha c. pennington what is phonology? Many different answers can be given to the question, “What is phonology?” The classical definition differentiates phonology from Phonetics, as in the following passage from Catford (2001): The study of the physiological, aerodynamic, and acoustic characteris- tics of speech-sounds is the central concern of Phonetics [all emphases as in the original]. The study of how sounds are organized into systems and utilized in languages is the central concern of phonology. Neither of these two linguistic disciplines is independent of the other. A knowledge of what features of sound are most utilized in languages determines what aspects of sound production are most worth studying in depth. Thus Phonetics depends to some extent upon phonology to indicate areas of linguistic relevance and importance. Phonology, on the other hand, is heavily dependent on Phonetics, since it is Phonetics that provides the insights that enable one to discover what sound features are linguistically utilized, and it is Phonetics again, that supplies the terminology for the description and classification of the linguistically relevant features of sounds. (p. 177) As this traditional delimitation of phonology and Phonetics suggests, these two areas of linguistics have long been understood to be interrelated. In many approaches to phonology, the interconnection is captured in terms of levels of language or levels of analysis of language, as, for example, in Giegerich’s (1992) characterization of the practice of phonology: 1 2 phonology in context [A] phonological analysis entails two levels of representation – a concrete (Phonetic) one and an abstract (underlying) one – as well as statements on how the units on one level are connected with corresponding units on the other level. These statements have the form of realisation rules….

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  Available until 3 Feb |Learn more

  Language, Culture, and Society

  An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology

  • James Stanlaw, Nobuko Adachi, Zdenek Salzmann(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  For example, each vowel is characterized by several resonance bands, referred to as formants, which represent the overtone structure of a vowel produced by the shape of the vocal tract. Because the position of the tongue changes with the production of different vowels, the formants vary correspondingly. Finally, auditory Phonetics is the study of how speech sounds are perceived and interpreted by the various organs of the human body (ear, auditory nerves, and brain). We will focus on articulatory Phonetics here, leaving the other two areas to physicists, neurologists, speech therapists, and other specialists. FROM PhoneS TO PhoneMES Phones: The Smallest Unit of Sound The smallest perceptible discrete segment of speech is a Phone, a speech sound considered a physical event. A succession of Phones in a particular language makes up a stretch of speech, or an utterance. Each utterance is unique, occurring if not under different circumstances at least at a different time. Yet people do not respond to each instance of speech as though it were different from all others. Such utterances as “Where have you been?” or “I have no time just now” are treated as if they were much the same every time they are said, regardless of whether the voice belongs to a woman, man, or child, or happens to be clear or hoarse. Because there is so much likeness in what is objectively different, it is possible to represent speech sounds—Phones—through the written symbols of a suitable Phonetic alphabet. Linguistic anthropologists make Phonetic transcriptions of words or utterances whenever they wish to obtain a sample of speech for subsequent analysis. Table 3.4 CHART OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MANNERS OF ARTICULATION (VERTICAL AXIS) AND POINTS OF ARTICULATION (HORIZONTAL AXIS) OF SELECTED CONSONANTS Note: white cells = Phonemes used in English; dark gray cells = sounds common in English but not Phonemic; light gray cells = not in English TABLE 3.5 THE CONSONANT PhoneMES IN AMERICAN

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  eBook - PDF

  The Essence of Anthropology

  • William Haviland, Harald Prins, Walrath, Bunny McBride, William Haviland, Harald PrinsWalrath, Bunny McBride(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  The systematic identification and description of the distinctive sounds in a language is known as Phonetics . Rooted in the Greek word Phone (meaning “sound”), Phonetics is basic to phonology , the study of language sounds. Some of the sounds used in other languages may seem very much like those of researchers’ own speech pattern, but others may be unfamiliar. For example, the th sound common in English does not exist in the German language and is difficult for most German speakers to pronounce, just as the r sound used in numerous languages is tough for Chinese speakers. And the unique “click” sounds used Phonetics The systematic identification and description of distinctive speech sounds in a language. phonology The study of language sounds. Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 184 C H A P T E R 9 L A N G U A G E A N D C O M M U N I C A T I O N in Bushmen languages in southern Africa are difficult for speakers of just about every other language. While collecting speech sounds, linguists work to iso-late the Phonemes —the smallest units of sound that make a difference in meaning. Linguists carry out this isolation and analysis through a process called the minimal-pair test . They try to find two short words that appear to be exactly alike except for one sound, such as bit and pit in English. If the substitution of b for p in this minimal pair makes a difference in meaning, as it does in English, then those two sounds have been identified as distinct Phonemes of the language and will require two different symbols to record.

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  eBook - ePub

  Linguistics for Translators

  • Ali Almanna, Juliane House(Authors)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  2 Phonetics and phonology

  DOI: 10.4324/9781003228028-3

  This chapter is an introduction to Phonetics, phonology, and the main differences between them. It also familiarizes you with the main branches of Phonetics, such as ‘articulatory Phonetics’, ‘acoustic Phonetics’, and ‘auditory Phonetics’. Further, the main stages of sound production, such as ‘respiration’, ‘phonation’, ‘oro-nasal process’, and ‘articulation’ are explained in this chapter. Added to this, phonological features are discussed in a direct link to translation.

  After studying this chapter, you should be able to (1) define Phones, Phonemes, and alloPhones; (2) identify vowel and consonant sounds in English; (3) identify the place of articulation and manner of articulation; (4) describe voiced and voiceless consonants; (5) distinguish simple vowels from diphthongs; and (6) assess the phonological features that should be reflected while translating between languages.

  What is the difference between ‘Phonetics’ and ‘phonology’?

  Phonetics and phonology (from the word ‘Phone’, meaning ‘sound’) are the branches of linguistics that study sounds but from different perspectives (for more details, see Ladefoged and Johnson 2010 ). While phonology focuses on how sounds function in relation to each other in a certain language, Phonetics concentrates on how sounds are produced by speakers’ vocal apparatus, transmitted by atmospheric air, and perceived by listeners’ auditory system. It thus provides “methods for their description, classification, and transcription” (Crystal 1980/2008

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