Linguistics Encyclopedia.pdf

A-Z 57
the present discussion, but the major findings which have been obtained by means of
such techniques and procedures will be presented.
The fundamentals of auditory phonetics can best be understood by first viewing the
role of the major physiological mechanisms involved in hearing with reference to the
peripheral auditory system, including the ear and the auditory nerve, and the central
nervous system, including certain areas of the brain. The combined role of these systems
is to receive, transduce, encode, transmit, and process an acoustic signal. Although a
detailed discussion of the acoustic properties of a signal would deal with, at least,
frequency, intensity, duration, and phase, the focus of the
Figure 1 If the outer ear were depicted,
it would appear at the far right of the
figure. It would be the anterior portion
of the ear, i.e. as it appears when
viewed from the front. Note that,
although the cochlea appears to be a
discrete object, it is actually a coiled
passage located within the bone of the
skull. Ligaments of the ossicles are not
shown.
present discussion will be on frequency—perhaps the most thoroughly studied parameter
and the one most relevant to a discussion of auditory phonetics.
The ear is divided into three anatomically distinct components, namely the outer,
middle, and inner ear, as represented in Figure 1.