Dr. Fidel Fajardo-Acosta's

World Literature Website

 

Phonology

• Phonology
  
  
  • Phonology is the study of the sounds of language
    
    
  • phone: a vocal sound
    
    
  • phoneme: a minimal sound unit recognized as a distinct value by the speakers of a language (e.g. [p], [b], [a]); the smallest sound that can distinguish one word from another (e.g.[f]at/[v]at, stri[f]e, stri[v]e)
    
    
  • allophones are variants of a phoneme which the speakers of the language don't perceive as different from that phoneme (e.g. compare the different sounds of the "t" in "cat," "satin," "cater"-- they sound very different but, to speakers of American English, they are all just t's!)
    
    
  • there are about 100-150 human sounds (see International Phonetic Alphabet)
    
    
  • Modern English has about 35 main phonemes, though English speakers use about 35-45 different sounds
    
    
  • the sounds of language are produced by the passage of air through the vocal tract
    
    
  • diagram of the human vocal tract (see number key below for identification of the different parts):

Illustration © 2002 Emily J. Fajardo

• 1 Lips
• 2 Teeth
• 3 Alveolar Region
• 4 Tongue
• 5 Palate
• 6 Velum
• 7 Uvula
• 8 Pharynx
• 9 Nasal Cavity
• 10 Epiglottis
• 11 Esophagus
• 12 Glottis
• 13 Vocal Cords
• 14 Trachea
• 15 Larynx

• Vowels: sounds involving the unrestricted flow of air through the mouth
  
  
  • vowel sounds are always voiced (i.e. they involve vibration of the vocal cords)
    
    
  • vowels differ depending on the degree of openness of the mouth and height of the tongue (the lower the tongue the more open the mouth) (high, mid, low)
    
    
  • also important in vowel articulation is the position in the mouth of the highest part of the tongue (front, central, back)
    
    
  • main vowel phonemes in English:
    
    



• diphthongs are sounds involving two vowels (e.g. [ai], [au], [oi], in words like "buy," "bough," and "boy" respectively )
  
  
• in English unstressed vowels tend to be pronounced as the mid-central vowel
  
  
  
• Consonants: phonemes that involve stoppage of flow of air in vocal tract
  
  
  • voiced consonants: involve vibration of the vocal cords
    
    
• voiceless consonanst: no vibration of the vocal cords
  
• place of articulation:
  • labial : involving the lips
  • dental: involving the teeth
  • alveolar: involving the area behind the teeth
  • palatal: involving the hard palate
  • velar: involving the velum or soft palate
    
    
• manner of articulation
  • stops (plosives): involve the stoppage and sudden release of air
  • fricatives (spirants): involve the constricted flow of air producing a kind of hissing sound
  • affricates: a combination of stop + fricative
  • nasals: flow of air channeled through the nose, always voiced
  • lateral: flow of air channeled through the sides of the tongue, also voiced
  • retroflex: similar to the lateral but involving a backward curving of the tip of the tongue, also voiced
  • semivowels (glides): similar to vowels in that the stoppage of the flow of air is very minimal
    
    
• chart of consonant phonemes in English:

 

References & Links:

• International Phonetic Alphabet

 

© 2000-2008 by Fidel Fajardo-Acosta, all rights reserved

Last updated: 09/26/2008