General Phonetics Essay Example

General Phonetics Essay Example General Phonetics Paper General Phonetics Paper Introduction 1Phonetics as branch of linguistics . The word phonetics is derived from the Greek word phone such means sound and is used in two different meanings: a. to some authors usually non phoneticians phonetics is that part of grammar which deals with special sounds. b. To phoneticians however phonetics is an independent branch of linguistics which is concerned with the phonetic structure of language. On the one hand phonetics is quite independent and develops according to its own laws. Today the sphere of phonetics is wilder and deeper than ever before phonemes and their distribution in words their nutrial adaptation sprees syllable intonation the relation between oral and written speech and number of other problems have now become objects of phonetics investigation, on the other hand phonetics is closely connected with a number of other sciences such as physics †¦or rather acoustics, biology, physiology and others. Phonetics is an essential part of language a definite form. The vocabulary and grammar of a language can function only when the language has phonetic form. 2 Branches of phonetics. Phonetics is an independent branch of linguistics that has in its turn developed branches of its own. The most important of these are special phonetics and general phonetics. Special phonetics may be subdivided into describing phonetics and is historical phonetics. Special phonetics is concerned with subsection 1 with the study of the phonetic structure of one language only in its static form at particular period synchronically which is describtic phonetics which is describtic phonetics. Subsection with the study of phonetic structure of a language in its historical developments the diachronically which is historical phonetics. : General phonetics is based on the extensive material which the special phonetics of a great number of languages provides. It is also based on other sciences such as physics, psychology etc. as a result of the fact that it diverses its factual material from special phonetics, general phonetics has been able to make a number of general conclusions concerting the complex nature of speech sounds it has been able to analyze speech sound from different points of view and to formulate a number of important theories the phoneme theory, the theory of syllable formation stress ,intonation etc. On the one hand general phonetics is based on the date of special phonetics. On the other hand general phonetics provides valuable theoretical material which enables to understand clearly and to interprete correctly the different phonetic phenomena of concrete languages. Experimental phonetics and comparative phonetics are frequently considered to be branches as methods of investigation. 3Methods of investigation. Methods of investigations used in phonetics vary but there are 3 principle methods. The direct observation methods, the linguistic method,the experimental method . a. The direct observation method comprises three important modes of analyses . By ear,by sight and by muscular sensation. Investigation by means of these methods can be effective only if the persons it has been specially trained to observe the minutest movements of their own and other people’s speech organs and to distinguish the slightest variations in sound quality. b. The aim of the linguistic method of investigation of any concrete phonetic phenomena such as sound, stress, intonation or any other feature is to determine in what way all of these phonetic features are used in a language to convey a certain meaning. c. The experimental method is based as a rule upon the use of special apparatus or instruments such as the disk player ,the spectrograph etc. So by means of the 3 methods mentioned above we are able to detect the different features and aspects of speech sounds. 4. 3 Speech sounds Speech sounds are of a complex nature and have 3 different aspects – acoustic, Biological and linguistic a . Sounds can be analyze from the acoustic point of view. Been an acoustic phenomena they share their properties with other acoustic phenomena. This like any other sounds speech sounds are communicated to the air in the form of a sound wave. Speech sounds of pitch ,intensity,tember likewise musical tones and noises may be distinguished among them. b. Speech sounds may also be considered from the biological point of view as phenomena resulting from the activities of the speech organs. . It is clear from the above that speech sounds are acoustic as well as biological phenomena. However it is their third aspect the linguistic aspect that made them the subject of linguistic investigation. One or another acoustic or biological characteristic of speech sounds can arouse the interest of linguists in proportion to its linguistic significant in other words it is not enough to be ab le to detect by means of experiment and observation the minutest sound features. One should be able to determine in what way speech sounds can function as significant sound limits or phonemes. 5. The phoneme theory. a. The phoneme is a set of phonetically similar ,but slightly different sounds in of language that are heard as the same sound the native speaker and are representative in phonetic transcription by the same symbol as in English the phonetically differentiated sounds represented by `p` in pin,spin and tip . So there are variants of `p` which have different phonetic values in different contexts. Few Englishmen are †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. f these differences although they will never make a mistake in applying them and will immediately feel something wrong with the pronunciation of anyone who does not apply them correctly or to put it another way native speakers do not preserve as distings sounds all variants of the phoneme `p` in pin,spin and tip these variants of the phoneme are called allophones. 6. Pronunciation standard of British English Towards the ends of the epoch of Feudalism due to varies causes political, cultural, commercial , economic , one of the local dialects existing at that time took precedence over all the others. That outstanding dialect became the foundation of the national language of the state. The national language of England developed on the bases of the London dialect, because London expanded rapidly into an important centre of commerce, industry and learning as early as 14th century. This process was accelerated by the spread of learning and literature. The pronunciation of literally English is termed Received Pronunciation. Since all speakers of British English considered this type of pronunciation to be correct and good Received Pronunciation has been accepted everywhere as standard for the teaching of English foreigners. The American Pronunciation standard should not be chosen for teaching purposes for a number of very varied reasons . The APS is not quite so definite as the British norm. The APS is comparatively new and has no long tradition to back it. Besides it is less uniform than British RP and some phonetic phenomena have not yet become stabilized, because of the lack of uniformity of the American population. Speech organs : nazel ,lips,teeth,vocal cords ,tongue Tip,roth,blade,frout,centre,back Pharynx Uvula Soft palate Hard palate Alveolar ridge Consonants 1 Fricative They are sounds that involve a near clogged with