Cardinal Vowels

      

Alphabet systems

• An alphabet is a system of sound representation in writing which is based on the principle of sound-symbol equivalence, hence the letter a in Latin corresponded to the sound /a/. This principle may be disturbed by later developments in a language, e.g. c in Classical Latin was /k/ but later developed into /ts/ and then in Italian (before front vowels) into the affricate as found in English church. Furthermore, languages vary in the choice of symbols for sounds. Thus in English j stands for an affricate as in judge but for /j/ in German. One symbol can also stand for more than one sound, e.g. c in English is /k/ before back vowels, e.g. in call, but /s/ before front ones, e.g. in cease.

• A different principle is used in languages which use characters (such as Chinese). In these cases a symbol stands for an entire word or at least for a syllable. Such languages have a very large number of symbols, as in principle there is one per word, though by means of repetition and combination the number required can be reduced.

• Alphabet systems are the most economical and can do with sets of symbols consisting of about 30 (26 letters in English, for instance). Alphabet systems are a development from older pictographic systems in which stylised abstractions were used in writing, e.g. a circle for the sun, a vertical stroke for a man, etc.

• The letters of an alphabet may have their own names as with the Runic alphabet (early Germanic system in the first centuries after Christ). The forms of letters may vary with no effect on their sound values, e.g. letters may appear in italics or bold or UPPERCASE.

Phonetics – the study of the sounds that form human language – can be divided into two categories. The first type of phonetics, articulatory phonetics, examines the speech organs and processes by which humans produce sounds; the focus is on the speaker of language. The second type of phonetics, acoustic phonetics, focuses on the sound that is produced when a person speaks; the aim of acoustic phonetics is to understand the acoustic properties of speech, and how that speech is perceived by the listener’s ears.

Articulatory Phonetics

The first type of phonetics, articulatory phonetics, examines the sounds of human language at the source of their production. It looks at how a person forms his words. Particular parts of the human body, referred to as “organs of speech,” are used to articulate words. The organs of speech include the voice box, the lungs, the oral cavity, the nasal cavity, the pharyngeal cavity, the tongue, the teeth, the glottis, the lips and the inner surfaces of the mouth. The airflow needed to produce sound comes from the lungs, and is passed through the mouth and or nose, with the glottis, tongue, and teeth being used to alter the airflow to create different sounds.

Place of Articulation and Voicing

In articulatory phonetics, linguists look at the place of articulation of various sounds; the place of articulation refers to where the expelled air blocked, thus creating particular sounds. For example, the teeth are a place of articulation; when a person places his tongue against his teeth to make a particular consonant sound, this is referred to as a “dental stop.” Articulatory phonetics also refers to voicing; sounds that do not use the vocal chords are voiceless, while sounds that use the vocal chords are voiced. For example, when a person forms a “t,” he is not using his vocal chords, so this is referred to as a “voiceless dental stop.” But when he uses his vocal chords to make noise while forming a “d,” this is called a “voiced dental stop.”
Related Articles

The Parts of Human Speech Organs & Their Definitions

Types of Linguistics

How to Learn Technical English

The Importance of Semantics

Acoustic Phonetics

While articulatory phonetics focuses on the speech organs used to produce the sounds of human language, acoustic phonetics focuses on the sound properties of human speech. Acoustic phonetics also looks at audio perception of speech, examining how different sounds are perceived by listeners. In the study of acoustic phonetics, a phonetician looks at the frequency that a sound produces, the amplitude spectrum of the sound, and the duration of the sound. These factors are used to describe the sound acoustically.

Phonetic Representation

Most linguistics use the International Phonetic Alphabet to represent all the sounds of human language. The IPA has a particular written symbol to represent every sound, and every variation of sound, that occurs in languages across the globe. The IPA is a useful tool for linguists and students of language, because a linguist who knows the IPA can read the transcription of any language and be able to reproduce the words correctly, even if they are from a language he has never learned or heard before.