What Are Phonetics?

Why We Should Learn Phonetics?

In today’s world communication influences an important part in every area like teaching, corporates, education, and much more, Important are how properly we communicate, how is our accent, and whether are we sure enough. Here are some reasons to learn phonetics.

• Learning phonetics makes you a genius -It will boost you in analyzing words and pronouncing it correctly.
  It decreases mumbling and fumbling and supports in strengthening your confidence.
• Improves your fluency and accent – It will gives you a skill of analyzing a word and recognizing it with the sound which with practice improves the fluency and the accent.
• Helps to generate reading habit – If anyone tries to read properly, it gives enthusiasm and automatically
  one is moved into that way.

Types Of Phonetics

Phonetics has three main branches. They are :

•  Articulatory phonetics – Study of the production of speech sounds by the human vocal tract.
• Auditory phonetics – Study of the perception of speech sounds by the human perceptual system.
• Acoustic phonetics – Study of the physical properties of speech sounds.

Articulatory Phonetics (Production)

It is the study of the organs of speech. This type focuses majorly on the production of sound. In this, one studies the use of different speech organs lungs, larynx, soft palate, tongue, teeth, and lips in producing all types of speech sounds by the speaker. The knowledge of the organs of speech, their relation to each other, and the way in which they are used while speaking provide a sound basis for the classification of sounds of human languages. The shape of the speech organs(vocal track) is a very important part in the production of speech. The parts of the speech organs that can be used to form sound are called articulators. The sound produced when the local cords are vibrating is said to be voiced and when local cords are apart is said to be voiceless. The difference between voiced and voiceless sounds is often important in distinguishing sounds. For example fan and van, fail and veil, etc.

Example:  Use of your tongue and lips in producing the words like moon, stars, flower, pen, etc.

Acoustic Phonetics (Transmission)

It focuses on the study of the transmission of sounds from the speaker to the listener. when the speaker says something, how the sound waves passes from the speaker’s speech organs to the hearer’s ears. Here we can notice how sound waves are transmitted. Acoustics phoneticians analyze the speech waves with the help of instruments; they try to describe the physical properties of the wave of sound that starts from the mouth of the speaker.

Example:

• Human voices
• Whale sounds
• Wind
• Violin
• Door slamming
• Whistle
• Trumpet
• Xylophone

Auditory Phonetics (Perception)

It covers the most important aspect, perception. After the speaker conveys the information and the listener hears it, her/his brain functions to process the information. In simple words, auditory phonetics focuses on how hearers understand and process the information shared with them. It studies different auditory impressions of the quality, pitch, and loudness of sounds.

Example :

• Human communication
• Listening based test
• Horn
• RIC, RITE, BTE, CIC, etc. (hearing aid)

when the speech signals with above attributes as pitch and loudness as pitch and loudness reach the hearer’s eardrum, the process of comprehension begins with the assistance of listener’s knowledge of the speech sounds of a language and the knowledge of the grammar of the language.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

A group of phoneticians from France, Germany, Britain, and Denmark made a discussion in 1886 to adopt a universal system of pronunciation. The IPA based on an alphabet written by Henry Sweet a British Phonetician represents the first successful effort for the pronunciation of speech sounds across most languages systematically.

The IPA helps us with three important areas:

• Place of articulation
• Manner of articulation
• Voicing

In order to make sounds, we need to manipulate the structure of our mouth, tongue, teeth, and throat to various places to induce some type of obstruction in the airflow. The various obstructions help produce various sounds.

The IPA provides the user with a universally accepted symbol for each of the speech sounds. The IPA is phonetic, and nonphonemic in design. That means a particular symbol is used to represent the pronunciation of a speech sound, not to describe a change in meaning. In its present form the IPA provides detailed information on vowels, consonants, other additional symbols, diacritics and suprasegmentals.

IPA Sounds In Everyday Speech

Short Vowels

Long Vowels

Diphthong Vowels

     

 

Consonants Sounds: Fricatives

 

Consonants Sounds: Plosives

 

Consonants Sounds: Affricates

Consonants Sounds: Nasals