1. Phonetics & Phonology
Saturday: 12-15
Room: 44
Course Facilitator: Dr Salama Embark
Salamaembark@yahoo.co.uk
salamaembark@zu.edu.ly

2. Course Description
• Reading Books
Main Reference: English Phonetics & Phonology by Peter
Roach 3rd edition ( 1983-2000)
Extra Readings
• A course in Phonetics by Peter Ladefoged. 3rd edition (1975-1993)
• Perfecting your English Pronunciation by Susan Cameron (2012).
• Phonology Theory and Analysis by Larry M. Hyman (1975)

3. Course Outline
• Lecture 1: Introducing the course the Production of Speech Sounds
• Lecture 2: consonants & Vowels
• Lecture 3: voicing & Consonants
• Lecture 4: The Phoneme
• Lecture 5: Fricatives & Affricates
• Lecture 6: the Syllable
• Lecture 7: Mid-Term Exam
• Lecture 8: strong & Weak Syllables
• Lecture 9: stress in simple and complex words
• Lecture 10: weak Forms
• Lecture 11: aspects of connected speech
(phythm, Assimilation, Elisions & Linking
• Lecture 13: Intonation
• Lecture 14: Final Exam

4. Definition of Phonetics
• Phonetics is the science of speech sounds, which
aims to provide the set of features or
properties that can be used to describe and
distinguish all the sounds used in human
language (Peter Roach, 2000).
• The branch of linguistics concerned with the study of
speech sounds with reference to their distribution and
patterning
• The system of sounds of a particular language.
• sourceThe American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin

5. Types of Phonetics
• Articulatory phonetics: the study of the production of speech sounds by
the articulatory and vocal tract by the speaker
• Acoustic phonetics: the study of the physical transmission of speech
sounds from the speaker to the listener
• Auditory phonetics: the study of the reception and perception of speech
sounds by the listener

6. Definition: Phonology
• Phonology is the study of the properties of sound
systems, the principles that govern the ways in which
speakers of different languages organize speech sounds
to express meanings.
• Phonology is the study of the way sounds function in
languages, including phonemes, syllable structure, stress,
accent, intonation, and which sounds are distinctive units
within a language; The way sounds function within a
given language.
• Source:Phonology - Critical Concepts in Linguistics by Charles W. Kreidler

7. Branches of Phonology
1. Segmental phonology :- It analyses speech into discrete
segments, such as phonemes.
2. Supra- segmental phonology :- It analyses those features
which extend over more than one segment such as
intonation , stress.
3. Diachonic phonology :- It studies the patterns of sound
system through the history of language.
4. Synchronic phonology :- It studies the patterns of sound
regardless of the process of historical change.

8. Phonetics & phonology
• Phonetics is the study of sound in speech; phonology is the study (and use) of
sound patterns to create meaning.
• Phonetics focuses on how speech is physically created and received, including
study of the human vocal and auditory tracts, acoustics, and neurology.
• Phonology relies on phonetic information for its practice, but focuses on how
patterns in both speech and non-verbal communication create meaning, and how
such patterns are interpreted.
• Phonology includes comparative linguistic studies of how cognates, sounds, and
meaning are transmitted among and between human communities and languages.
• Source;http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/definitions/phonetics-and-
phonology-51

9. More…..
Phonology is concerned with the
functional properties of speech sounds
Phonetics is concerned with the
physical aspects of speech sounds

10. Three stages in speech chain
• The production of the message
• The transmission of the message
• The reception of the message
– Articulatory phonetics
– Acoustic phonetics
– Auditory phonetics

11. The Speech Organs
• Pharynx
• Oral Cavity
• Nasal Cavity
• Uvula
• Tongue (tip/blade/front/
middle/back/root)
• Hard Palate
• Soft Palate (Velum)
• Alveolar Ridge (teeth-ridge)
• Teeth (upper &lower)
• Lips (upper &lower)
• Epiglottis

13. Process of Producing Speech
The air breathed in → lungs → the
air pressed out →
mouth cavity
windpipe (trachea) → larynx →
pharynx →
↘ nasal cavity

14. Voice Production
•organs of speech - in the mouth and throat.
• air pushed out from the lungs through the larynx and epiglottis vibrates the
vocal cords-
• producing a continuous tone whose pitch can be changed by varying the
shape of the larynx.
• Consonants - modified by the tongue and lips, are formed when air is
emitted suddenly or when it is cut off firmly.
• Voice production occurs in the larynx
•During breathing the vocal cords are held apart, but as speech commences,
the cartilages of the larynx are drawn together by the action of muscles and a
"chink" is created.
• The tension of the vibrating cords, changed by the tilting of the cartilages,
alters the pitch of the spoken sound. High notes are produced by the vibration
of tight vocal cords and low notes are produced by vibrating loose cords.

15. Definition of Consonants
&Vowels
Consonants: the sounds in the production of
which there is an obstruction of the air- stream
at some point of the vocal tract .
Vowels: the sounds in the production of which
no articulators come very close together and
the air-stream passes through the vocal tract
without obstruction.

16. Place of Articulation
• When describing the place of articulation,
what we usually consider is the place within
the vocal tract where the articulators form a
stricture

17. The place of articulation
Bilabial e.g. [p], [m].
Labio-dental e.g. [f].
Dental e.g.[ð]
Alveolar e.g. [t]
Palatal e.g..[j].
Palato-alveolar e.g. [ʃ]
Velar e.g. [k].
Glottal e.g. [h]
Retroflex .
Uvular,
Pharyngeal

18. Consonant Articulation
 Places Manners
– lips (labial) stop/plosive
– teeth (dental) fricative
– alveolar ridge (alveolar) nasal
– hard palate (palatal) lateral
– soft palate (velar) glide/approximant
– uvula (uvular) trill
– pharynx (pharngeal) tap/flap
– larynx/glottis (glottal)

19. Give the IPA symbol for each of the consonants
described below
• 1) voiced bilabial plosive b
• 2) voiceless alveolar plosive t
• 3) voiceless dental fricative Ѳ
• 4) voiced bilabial nasal m
• 5) voiceless labio-dental f
fricative

20. A Diagram of English Vowels

21. Types of Vowels
monophthong e.g. [u]
diphthong e.g. [au] [uə]
triphthong e.g. [auə]

22. PHONEMIC CHART