Chapter 2 part 2(2[一].3-2.5)__ 53P.pptVIP

Chapter 2 Speech soundspart 2 phonetics VS phonology Both of them are concerned with the same aspect of language---the speech sounds. But they differ in their approach and focus. Phonetics is interested in all speech sounds used in all human languages, how they are produced, how they differ from each other, what phonetic features they possess, how they can be classified, etc. Phonology aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication. phonetics VS phonology As we know, the [l] sound in the two English words “leap” and “peel” is pronounced differently. The first one is what we call a clear [l] and the second one is a dark [l]. The difference between these two sounds is what the phoneticians are interested in. But phonologically these sounds are regarded to be two versions of the same one basic entity. From the phonological point of view, these two sounds are fundamentally the same, since they have one and the same function in communication, in distinguishing between words and meanings despite their difference in pronunciation. If someone should pronounce the dark [l] in the word “peel” incorrectly as a clear [l], an English speaker would not for this reason fail to understand him, he would still understand what action he is talking about but would only find his pronunciation a little bit strange. The phonologists have found that the various versions of the [l] sound do not occur at random in English, their distribution follows a nicely complementary pattern: we use clear [l] before a vowel, such as “loaf”, and dark [l] at the end of a word after a vowel or before a consonant, such as “tell” “guilt”. 2.3 From phonetics to phonology Speech is a continuous process, so the vocal organs do not move from one sound segment to the next in a series of separate steps. Rather, sounds continually show the influence of their neighbors. For example, map, lamb. When such simultaneous o