Longman Dictionary of

PE2379 ch05.qxd 24/1/02 16:06 Page 398
phonics
lips and the tongue, how far open the mouth is, whether or not the
VOCAL CORDs are vibrating, etc.
2 Acoustic phonetics deals with the transmission of speech sounds
through the air. When a speech sound is produced it causes minor air
disturbances (SOUND WAVEs). Various instruments are used to measure
the characteristics of these sound waves.
3 Auditory phonetics deals with how speech sounds are perceived by the
listener.
For example, a listener may perceive:
a differences ASPIRATION e.g. between the aspirated /p/ of [p≠∂t] pit and the
unaspirated /p/ of [t∂p] tip.
b other differences in sound quality, e.g. between the “clear” /I/ of [la∂t]
light and the “dark” /I/ of [h∂ł] hill.
see also PHONEMICS, PHONOLOGY
phonics n
also phonetic method
a method of teaching children to read. It is commonly used in teaching
reading in the mother tongue.
Children are taught to recognize the relationship between letters and
sounds. They are taught the sounds which the letters of the alphabet represent,
and then try to build up the sound of a new or unfamiliar word by
saying it one sound at a time.
see also ALPHABETIC METHOD
phonological component n
see GENERATIVE THEORY
phonological rule n
see GENERATIVE PHONOLOGY
phonology n phonological adj
1 another term for PHONEMICS.
2 (for some linguists) a cover term for both PHONETICS and PHONEMICS.
3 the establishment and description of the distinctive sound units of a
language (PHONEMEs) by means of DISTINCTIVE FEATUREs.
Each phoneme is considered as consisting of a group of these features and
differing in at least one feature from the other phonemes, e.g.
/iN/ /uN/
high high
low low
back back
round round
398