INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - STRESS, RHYTHM AND INTONATION IN CONNECTED SPEECH

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - STRESS, RHYTHM AND INTONATION IN CONNECTED SPEECH

We change the direction, pressure, and volume of air in our vocal tracts to make letter and word sounds. Stress is the amount of energy or effort that we use to make these changes. American English is a stress language. More stress, or more energy, is used to pronounce words that are more important in a sentence. Spoken language also has rhythm like music or dance. The rhythm of spoken words and sentences change as the amount of energy used to pronounce them changes. Then, we change the pitch, or music, of our voice, to put emotion and meaning into our words and sentences. The intonation or pitch of our voice can go up or down or stay flat. Often, we change the intonation of our voice before (intonation goes up) and after (intonation goes down) we pronounce stressed words. More pronunciation energy is used when intonation is going up and less is used when intonation is going down. We can add a pause, or a moment of silence, between words to add meaning and emotion to what we say Pause No pronunciation energy There is a relationship; there is a connection, between stress, rhythm, intonation, and pause. Basic prosody is the study of these relationships and how they are used to add emotion and meaning to words and sentences.

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - STRESS, RHYTHM AND INTONATION IN CONNECTED SPEECH

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - PHONEME, SYLLABLE AND WORD ACCENT

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - PHONEME, SYLLABLE AND WORD ACCENT

Points: By and large, language-systems are independent of the medium in which they are manifest. 

The natural or primary medium of human language is sound. 

Therefore, the study of sound is more important in linguistics than any other language-medium. 

But this does not mean that we study all the sounds that humans are capable of producing. The linguist is interested in only those sounds produced by human speech-organs which have a role in language. 

***By this time, you are already familiar with the various levels of linguistic analysis - phonetic phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. You know that phonology deals with the pattern in of speech sounds in a language?

 

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - PHONEME, SYLLABLE AND WORD ACCENT

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS: ENGLISH VOWELS

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS: ENGLISH VOWELS

To conclude in the words of-Peter MacCarthy (English Pronunciation) "A pure vowel is one for which the organs of speech remain in a given position for an appreciable period of time. A diphthong is a vowel sound consisting of a deliberate, ie. intentional glide, the organs of speech starting in the position of one vowel and immediately moving in the direction of another vowel. A diphthong, moreover, consists of a single syllabic -that is, the vowel-glide most be performed with a single impulse of the breath; if there is more than one impulse of breath, the ear perceives two separate syllables..."

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS: ENGLISH VOWELS

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS: ENGLISH CONSONANTS

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS: ENGLISH CONSONANTS 

**** Consonant is a speech sound produced by completely or partly stopping the air being breathed out through the mouth. (Homby: Oxford Advanced Learner's A Dictionary) 

**** Consonant is a speech sound which is pronounced by stopping the air from flowing easily through the mouth, especially by closing the lips or touching the teeth with the tongue. (Cambridge University Press. : Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary). 

**** English consonants are described by the IPA (International Phonetics Alphabets) based on: A. Voicing: B. Place of articulation; and C. Manner of articulation. 

*** Voicing: The aspects of voicing are: voiced consonants (those created by the vibration of the vocal cords during production); and voiceless consonants (those created by the absence of vibration of the vocal cords during production) 

***In phonetic chart of the English consonants, where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant Place of Articulation: Place of articulation refers to the places where the air stream from the lungs or the sound stream from the larynx is constricted (limited) by the articulators &Manner of Articulation: Manner of articulation refers to how the air stream from the lungs is directed to the mouth and modified by the various structures to produce a consonant phoneme. The Description of Manner of Articulation: Plosive Produced by the obstruction of air stream from the lungs followed by a release of the air stream. Such as: [p, b, t, d, k, g] Nasal Produced by the release of the air through the nasal cavity, Such as: [m Fricative Produced by the release of a friction like noise" created by the [f. air stream escaping through a variant of narrow gaps in the mouth Such as: v,0,0, s,z.J.3.h] Lateral Approximate Produced by the obstruction of the air stream at a point along the center of the oral track, with incomplete closure between one or both sides of the tongue and the roof of the tongue. Such as (1) 

Approximate Produced by proximity (closeness) of two articulation without turbulence (hard movement and friction like noise).Such as: [w, I (r), j] 

Affricate Produced by involving more than one of those manners of articulation. Firstly, produce the sounds in the alveolar ridge, then followed by or combined with fricative sounds. Such as: [tf, d3] 

Thus the description of a consonant will include five kinds of information: 

(1) the nature of the air-stream mechanism; 

(2) the state of the glottis; 

(3) the position of soft palate (velum): 

(4) the articulators involved; and 

(5) the nature of the stricture.

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS: ENGLISH CONSONANTS

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - MECHANISM OF SPEECH PRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - MECHANISM OF SPEECH PRODUCTION

Speech mechanism is a complex process unique to humans. It involves the brain, the neural network, the respiratory organs, the larynx, the oral cavity, the nasal cavity and the organs in the mouth. Through speech production humans engage in verbal communication Since earliest times efforts have been made to comprehend the mechanism of speech In 1791 Wolfgang von Kempelen made the first speech synthesizer. In the first few decades of the twentieth century scientific inventions such as x-ray, spectrograph, and voice recorders provided new tools for the study of speech mechanism. In the later part of the twentieth century electronic innovations were followed by the digital revolution in technology. These developments have made new revelations and have given new direction to the knowledge of human speech mechanism In the digital world an understanding of speech mechanism has led to new applications in speech synthesis. Speech mechanism studies in present times are divided into areas of super specialization which focus intensively on any specialized attribute of speech mechanism.

   

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS - MECHANISM OF SPEECH PRODUCTION