The Sound of Language

                        THE SOUND OF LANGUAGE

I. Phonetics:

 Phonetics is the study of speech sounds. We will study to know how speech sound are made or articulated (articulatory phonetics), physical properties of speech when travel in air as a sound waves (acoustic phonetics), and understanding through ears or speech sounds (perceptual phonetics).

II. Consonants:

 Consonants is characterized with a closure or narrowing of vocal tract that block completely or partial of the flow of air. When study consonant, we focus on three features: the voiced/ voiceless distinction, the place and the manner of articulation.

III. Voiced and Voiceless Sounds:

 1. When the flow of air from lungs go through opened vocal folds with no obstruction, it produce voiceless sounds

 2. When the flow of air from lungs go through  closed vocal folds, the air touch the vocal folds when they move, creating vibration effect and producing voiced sounds.

IV. Place of Articulation:

 When producing sounds, the air will go from the lungs to the laryxn and then arrive at oral tract after go through the laryxn a tube shape about 13cm long. The air then get pushed out through the mouth and/ or the nose.

                                            

 V. Familiar symbols:

 Many symbols use in phonetics to describe consonant sounds are familiar. For example, [p] for the voiceless consonant pop, [b] in Bob, ...These are bilabial consonant, made with both lips. [f] and [v] for the labidentals, which are formed  using upper front teeths and lower lip. Finally is alveolar sounds formed by raising the front of the tongue to touch the alveolar ridge, include [t], [d] (voiceless) and [d], [z], [r], [l], [n] (voiced).

 VI. Unfamiliar symbols:

 Some symbol might be different from the consonant sounds. For example, dental, the sound is created invole teeths include [θ] (voiceless) and [ð] (voiced), Palatal created when alveolar ridge meet palate area include consonants like [ʃ] "sh" sound, [tʃ] "ch" sound (Voiceless) and [ʒ], [dʒ] (voiced). Next is the velar, this sound involve using the velum and producing sound toward back of the mouth include consonants [k], as in kick, [g] in gag. Finally there is one consonants produced without using the tongue, it is glottal that include consonant [h] (voiceless).

  VII. Manner of Articulation:

  Manner of articulation is the metod we pronoun a word using the vocal parts. There are total six manner of articulation. Stops (Plosive), Fricatives, Affricatives, Nasals, Liquids (Lateral Approximant), Glides (Approximant)

                               

 VIII. A Consonant Chart:

                                      

 It include place of articulation and -V (voiceless) and +V (voiced) on the horizontal column and manner of artivulation on the vertical column.

 IX. Vowels:

 Vowels sounds are produced with a relatively free flow of air, most of them are voiced. To describe vowel sounds we heavily rely on the tongue which shape airflow pass through the oral tract. About the place of articulation we consider every parts of the tongue from front to back and the height from high to low.

                                       

 X. Diphthongs:

 Diphthlongs are vowels that consist of a combination of two vowel sounds. When pronoun a diphthlongs the vocal organs move from a vocalic position to another.