PHONETICS MANUAL.indd - HumBox

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In some languages, the rear wall of pharynx serves as a passive articulator. The root of the tongue is pulled back towards it, causing a constriction used for certain characteristically “guttural” sounds in Arabic or Hebrew (see 4.06). Remember the difference: the larynx is a cartilaginous box immediately above the trachea; the pharynx is the cavity or “crossroads” above the larynx. 2.09 Pronunciation: an Acquired Skill Two points by way of conclusion. Firstly, the structures described above are universal in humans: whatever the race or speech-community, the speech organs are the same. There are of course differences in the size and even precise shape of particular parts of the vocal tract, but differences between individuals in a given speech-community are greater than the average differences between one community and another. It follows from this that the pronunciation difficulties experienced by people learning a foreign language are due to psychological factors, not to anatomical ones. After the age of 10 or so, most people find it difficult to break away from their native sound system. So someone who finds French r, German ü or Spanish j troublesome doesn’t have anything wrong with their uvula, tongue or velum (or at least this is highly unlikely): it’s just that their brain is finding it hard to adapt to new articulatory habits. A person’s knowledge of his or her mother tongue is in no way congenital. Had you been kidnapped at the age of six months and brought up in France, Germany or Spain — or China or the Amazon Basin for that matter — you’d be speaking the local language in a totally “native-like” manner ... and no doubt having problems with English. Exercises 5. Show where the following are situated on this diagram of the upper vocal tract: 1. blade of tongue, 2. front of tongue, 3. velum, 4. pharynx, 5. larynx, 6. uvula, 7. alveolum, 8. root of tongue. 12 The Vocal Tract
6. Identify these close-ups of sections of the upper vocal tract. (a) (b) (c) (d) 7. Which of the following parts of the vocal tract are moveable? lips, tongue, alveolum, pharynx, velum, uvula, nasal cavity. 8. Say whether the following are TRUE or FALSE. If false, say what the correct statement should be. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) The pharynx is a cartilaginous structure attached to the trachea. The alveolum serves to open and close the entrance to the nasal cavity. The lower front teeth are not involved in speech. The uvula is the extreme tip of the soft palate. Larynx is an alternative name for the teethridge. 9. Give the technical names for the following: wind-pipe, voice-box, space between the vocal cords, food-pipe, soft palate, teethridge, cavity at the back of the throat. 10. Distinguish (when appropriate) between the following: the vocal tract the upper vocal tract the supra-glottal tract the oral tract the nasal tract. 11. Draw from memory a labelled diagram of the upper vocal tract. The Vocal Tract 13
Page 1 and 2: Introduction to Phonetics for Stude
Page 3: CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1 1.01 Wha
Page 6 and 7: You will be introduced to the IPA a
Page 8 and 9: the vocal tract [2] 2.01 Speaking a
Page 10 and 11: A third possibility is shown in Fig
Page 12 and 13: to be produced by positioning the _
Page 14 and 15: . THE UPPER FRONT TEETH. These are
Page 18 and 19: Vowels [3] The story so far: Speech
Page 20 and 21: Having seen these diagrams, you sho
Page 22 and 23: 13. Again without looking at the te
Page 24 and 25: So in between the highest and lowes
Page 26 and 27: c. The cardinal vowel chart is impo
Page 28 and 29: 22. Characterize the following vowe
Page 30 and 31: As Spanish and Italian don’t have
Page 32 and 33: 27. Which of the following language
Page 34 and 35: The symbol is referred to as “sma
Page 36 and 37: A foot (Scotland) [ ], fast (N. Eng
Page 38 and 39: that learners of English as a forei
Page 40 and 41: Changing the height, fronting, or r
Page 42 and 43: ise. Some people, quite wrongly, st
Page 44 and 45: consonants [4] The story so far: Vo
Page 46 and 47: There’s a slight but significant
Page 48 and 49: The answer is that different kinds
Page 50 and 51: It follows from the difference betw
Page 52 and 53: (4) lower lip + upper teeth (5) fro
Page 54 and 55: [h] (read as “aitch” — it’s
Page 56 and 57: 66. With reference to as many as po
Page 58 and 59: [tS] and [dZ] are the two commonest
Page 60 and 61: Fig. 35 [m] [p, b] If the oral clos
Page 62 and 63: (1) the velum is raised (as it is f
Page 64 and 65: Germany. And it’s found in many r
Page 66 and 67:
To resume the complexities of r: En
Page 68 and 69:
phonetic transcription and general
Page 70 and 71:
differences which do have an effect
Page 72 and 73:
5.03 Transcribing French, German an
Page 74 and 75:
la peninsula ibeica: baiedad kuja g
Page 76 and 77:
h. Affricates are an intermediate c
Page 78 and 79:
(c) the tip of the tongue, closing
Page 80 and 81:
24. foule, lune, bouder, fumer, vou
Page 82 and 83:
45. good (shorter), food (longer) c
Page 84 and 85:
65. Uvula is a noun; uvular is an a
Page 86 and 87:
86. The r and l sounds. 87. Places:
Page 88 and 89:
German: (1) The aspiration of voice
Page 90:
further reading [7] The following t
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