Phonetics & Phonology

Language
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group communicates.

Phonetics
The study of how sounds are produced, perceived and classified is known as phonetics.
The study of speech processes including anatomy (articulation), neurology (classification) and pathology (perception) of speech sounds is called phonetics.
Three branches of the subject are generally recognized:
1) Articulatory Phonetics
The study of the way speech sounds are articulated by the vocal organs.
2) Acoustic Phonetics
It studies the physical properties (frequency, pitch, tone etc.) of speech sounds as transmitted between mouth and ear.
3) Auditory Phonetics
It studies the perceptual response to speech sounds, as mediated by ear, auditory nerve and brain.

Phonology
The study of sound and sound combination in a particular language is known as phonology.
Two branches of the subject are generally recognized:
1) Segmental Phonology
It analyses speech into discrete segments, such as Phonemes.
2) Suprasegmental Phonology
It analyses those features which extend over more than one segment, such as loudness, intonation, stress, speed of utterance etc.

Phoneme
The minimal unit (/p/, /b/, /k/ etc) in the sound system of a language is regarded as phoneme. English language has 44 phonemes.
ArticulatorsThe Organs of Speech
Articulators

Sounds cannot occur without air. The air required for most sounds comes from the lungs and is thus egressive. Air from the lungs goes up the windpipe (the trachea) and to the larynx, at which point it must pass between two small muscular folds, known as vocal cords. If the vocal cords are apart, as they are normally when breathing out, the air from the lungs will have a relatively free passage into the pharynx and the mouth. But if the vocal cords are adjusted so that there is only a narrow passage between them, the pressure of the air stream will cause them to vibrate. Sounds produced when the vocal cords are vibrating are said to be voiced and those, in which the vocal cords are apart, are said to be voiceless.
The parts of vocal tract that are used to form sound are called articulators. The lips, the tongue and the teeth are familiar. Others are as numerated:

1) The area at the top of the throat that contains the vocal cords (voice box) is called larynx.
2) The pharynx is a tube, which begins just above the larynx. It is about 7 cm long in women and about 8 cm in men. At its top end it is divided into two, one part being the back of the mouth and the other being the beginning of the way through the nasal cavity.
3) The soft palate or velum is at the back of the mouth. It is a muscular flap that can be raised to press against the back wall of the pharynx and shut off the nasal cavity, preventing the air from going out through the nose.
4) At the end of the soft palate, is a small appendage hanging down that is known as the uvula
5) The front part of the roof of the mouth is formed by a bony structure and is called the hard palate.
6) Just behind the upper teeth is a small protuberance that can be felt with the tip of the tongue and is called the alveolar ridge.
7) The tongue is, of course, a very important articulator. It can be moved into many different places and different shapes. Usually it is divided into different parts, though there are no clear dividing lines with in the tongue. These parts are tip, blade, front, back, and root.
8) The epiglottis is attached to the lower part of the root of the tongue. It prevents the food or drink from entering the lungs.





Articulators
Phonetic symbols for English
This is the standard set of phonemic symbols for English (RP and similar accents).
Consonants
p
pen, copy, happen
b
back, baby, job
t
tea, tight, button
d
day, ladder, odd
k
key, clock, school
g
get, giggle, ghost
tʃ
church, match, nature
dʒ
judge, age, soldier
f
fat, coffee, rough, photo
v
view, heavy, move
θ
thing, author, path
ð
this, other, smooth
s
soon, cease, sister
z
zero, music, roses, buzz
ʃ
ship, sure, national
ʒ
pleasure, vision
h
hot, whole, ahead
m
more, hammer, sum
n
nice, know, funny, sun
ŋ
ring, anger, thanks, sung
l
light, valley, feel
r
right, wrong, sorry, arrange
j
yet, use, beauty, few
w
wet, one, when, queen
Vowels

Short Vowels
ɪ
pit, bid, hymn, minute
e
pet, dress, head, many
æ
pat, trap, bad
ʌ
putt, mud, love, blood
ɒ
pot, odd, wash
ʊ
put, foot, good
ə
about, common, standard

Long Vowels
iː
bean, sea, machine
ɔː
born, law, north, war
ɑː
barn, start, father
uː
boon, two, blue, group
ɜː
Burn, nurse, stir, ref

Diphthongs
aɪ
buy, price, high,
ɔɪ
boy, choice
eɪ
bay, face, break
ɪə
pear, here, weary
eə
Pear, fair, various
ʊə
poor, jury, cure
əʊ
goat, show, no
aʊ
mouth, now
ˈ
(stress mark)
Classification of Consonants.
In order to form consonants, the air stream through the vocal tract must be obstructed in some way. Consonantal sounds can therefore be classified on the basis of
i) Voicing
ii) Places of articulation
iii) Manner of articulation
Places of Articulation
1) Bilabial
Where the lips come together as in the sounds /p,b,m/.
2) Labiodental
Where the lower lip and the upper teeth come together as for the sounds /f,v/.
3) Dental
Where the tip or the blade of the tongue comes in contact with the upper teeth, as for the sounds /T,D/.
4) Alveolar
Where the tip or blade of tongue touches the alveolar ridge, which is directly behind the upper teeth. Sounds /t,d,s,z,n,l/ are made in alveolar region.
5) Palato-alveolar
Where the tip of the tongue is close to the alveolar ridge while the front of the tongue is concave to the roof of the mouth, as for the sounds /tS, dZ, Z, S/.
6) Palatal
The front of the tongue approximates to the hard palate as in the sound /j/.
7) Velar
The back of the tongue approximates to the soft palate. As with other points of contact, several types of sounds can be made here. In English there are four consonants /k,g,w,N/ made in the velar region.
8) Retroflex
Where the tip of tongue touches the back of the alveolar ridge. It is also known as post-alveolar sound. Many speakers of English do not use retroflex sounds at all, as in the sound /r/.