Phonetics

Phonetics (pronounced /fntks/, from the Greek:

, phn, 'sound, voice') is a branch of linguistics
that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech,
orin the case of sign languagesthe equivalent aspects
of sign.[1] It is concerned with the physical properties
of speech sounds or signs (phones): their physiological
production, acoustic properties, auditory perception, and
neurophysiological status. Phonology, on the other hand,
is concerned with the abstract, grammatical characterization of systems of sounds or signs.

Using an Edison phonograph, Ludimar Hermann investigated the spectral properties of vowels and consonants. It
was in these papers that the term formant was rst introduced. Hermann also played vowel recordings made with
the Edison phonograph at dierent speeds in order to test
Willis, and Wheatstones theories of vowel production.

2 Relation to phonology

The eld of phonetics is a multilayered subject of

In contrast to phonetics, phonology is the study of how
linguistics that focuses on speech. In the case of oral lansounds and gestures pattern in and across languages, reguages there are three basic areas of study:
lating such concerns with other levels and aspects of language. Phonetics deals with the articulatory and acoustic
Articulatory phonetics: the study of the production properties of speech sounds, how they are produced, and
of speech sounds by the articulatory and vocal tract how they are perceived. As part of this investigation, phoby the speaker.
neticians may concern themselves with the physical properties of meaningful sound contrasts or the social mean Acoustic phonetics: the study of the physical transing encoded in the speech signal (socio-phonetics) (e.g.
mission of speech sounds from the speaker to the
gender, sexuality, ethnicity, etc.). However, a substantial
listener.
portion of research in phonetics is not concerned with the
Auditory phonetics: the study of the reception and meaningful elements in the speech signal.
perception of speech sounds by the listener.
While it is widely agreed that phonology is grounded in
phonetics, phonology is a distinct branch of linguistics,
These areas are inter-connected through the common concerned with sounds and gestures as abstract units (e.g.,
mechanism of sound, such as wavelength (pitch), ampli- distinctive features, phonemes, mora, syllables, etc.) and
tude, and harmonics.
their conditioned variation (via, e.g., allophonic rules,
constraints, or derivational rules).[4] Phonology relates
to phonetics via the set of distinctive features, which
map the abstract representations of speech units to ar1 History
ticulatory gestures, acoustic signals, and/or perceptual
representations.[5][6][7]
Phonetics was studied as early as the 3rd century BC
in the Indian subcontinent, with Pini's account of the
place and manner of articulation of consonants in his treatise on Sanskrit. The major Indic alphabets today order 3 Subelds
their consonants according to Pinis classication.
Modern phonetics begins with attemptssuch as those Phonetics as a research discipline has three main
of Joshua Steele (in Prosodia Rationalis, 1779) and branches:
Alexander Melville Bell (in Visible Speech, 1867)
to introduce systems of precise notation for speech
Articulatory phonetics is concerned with the articsounds.[2][3]
ulation of speech: The position, shape, and moveThe study of phonetics grew quickly in the late 19th cenment of articulators or speech organs, such as the
tury partly due to the invention of phonograph, which
lips, tongue, and vocal folds.
allowed the speech signal to be recorded. Phoneticians
Acoustic phonetics is concerned with acoustics of
were able to replay the speech signal several times and
speech: The spectro-temporal properties of the
apply acoustic lters to the signal. In doing so, one was
sound waves produced by speech, such as their
able to more carefully deduce the acoustic nature of the
frequency, amplitude, and harmonic structure.
speech signal.
1

8 NOTES
Auditory phonetics is concerned with speech
perception: the perception, categorization, and
recognition of speech sounds and the role of the
auditory system and the brain in the same.

Transcription

Main article: Phonetic transcription

Phonetic transcription is a system for transcribing sounds
that occur in a language, whether oral or sign. The
most widely known system of phonetic transcription, the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), provides a standardized set of symbols for oral phones.[8][9] The standardized nature of the IPA enables its users to transcribe
accurately and consistently the phones of dierent languages, dialects, and idiolects.[8][10][11] The IPA is a useful tool not only for the study of phonetics, but also
for language teaching, professional acting, and speech
pathology.[10]

Applications

Applications of phonetics include:

Forensic phonetics: the use of phonetics (the science
of speech) for forensic (legal) purposes.
Speech recognition: the analysis and transcription
of recorded speech by a computer system.

Practical phonetic training

Biometric word list

Phonetics departments at universities
X-SAMPA
ICAO spelling alphabet
Buckeye Corpus
SaypU (Spell As You Pronounce Universally)

8 Notes
[1] O'Grady (2005) p.15
[2] T.V.F. Brogan: English Versication, 15701980. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981. E394.
[3] Alexander Melville Bell 1819-1905 . University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
[4] Kingston, John. 2007. The Phonetics-Phonology Interface, in The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology (ed.
Paul DeLacy), Cambridge University Press.
[5] Halle, Morris. 1983. On Distinctive Features and their articulatory implementation, Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, p. 91 - 105
[6] Jakobson, Roman, Gunnar Fant, and Morris Halle. 1976.
Preliminaries to Speech Analysis: The Distinctive Features and their Correlates, MIT Press.
[7] Hall, T. Allen. 2001. Phonological representations and
phonetic implementation of distinctive features, Mouton
de Gruyter.
[8] O'Grady (2005) p.17
[9] International Phonetic Association (1999) Handbook of
the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge University Press.

Studying phonetics involves not only learning theoretical material but also undergoing training in the production and perception of speech sounds.[12] The latter is
[10] Ladefoged, Peter (1975) A Course in Phonetics. Orlando:
often known as ear-training. Students must learn conHarcourt Brace. 5th ed. Boston: Thomson/Wadsworth
trol of articulatory variables and develop their ability to
2006.
recognize ne dierences between dierent vowels and
consonants.[13][14] As part of the training, they must be- [11] Ladefoged, Peter & Ian Maddieson (1996) The Sounds of
the Worlds Languages. Oxford: Blackwell.
come expert in using phonetic symbols, usually those of
the International Phonetic Alphabet.[15]

See also
Experimental phonetics
Index of phonetics articles
International Phonetic Alphabet
Speech processing
Acoustics

[12] Jones, Daniel (1948). The London school of phonetics.

Zeitschrift fur Phonetik 11 (3/4): 127-135. (reprinted in
W.E.Jones and J. Laver Phonetics in Linguistics, Longman, 1973, pp. 180-6)
[13] J.C.Catford A Practical Introduction to Phonetics (2001),
Oxford University Press, 2nd Ed., p. 1, ISBN 9780199246359
[14] Abercrombie, D. (1967). Elements of General Phonetics.
Edinburgh. p. 155
[15] Peter
Roach
http://www.peterroach.net/
practical-phonetic-training.html

References
O'Grady, William et al. (2005). Contemporary
Linguistics: An Introduction (5th ed.). Bedford/St.
Martins. ISBN 0-312-41936-8.
Stearns, Peter; Adas, Michael; Schwartz, Stuart;
Gilbert, Marc Jason (2001). World Civilizations (3rd
ed.). New York: Longman. ISBN 9780321044792.

10

External links

the Web Site of the Phonetic Sciences Laboratory

of the Universit de Montral.
The International Society of Phonetic Sciences
(ISPhS)
A little encyclopedia of phonetics, Peter Roach.
(pdf)
The sounds and sound patterns of language U Penn
IPA handbook
Real-time MRI video of the articulation of speech
sounds, from the USC Speech Articulation and
kNowledge (SPAN) Group
Extensive collection of phonetics resources on the
Web (University of North Carolina)
Phonetics and Phonology (University of Osnabrck)
UCLA Phonetics Laboratory Archive Audio recordings illustrating phonetic structures from over 200
languages with phonetic transcriptions, with scans
of original eld notes where relevant
A note on practical phonetic training

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