Phonetics, part III: Suprasegmentals - Basesproduced.com

Another Basic Distinction • Consonants and vowels together make up the class ofsegments in phonetics.• Each segment is a configuration of articulations…• ordered in time in an utterance.• Languages also have phonetic features which can spanacross multiple segments.• = suprasegmental features• supra = “above” the segment.• One basic example:• Languages organize strings of segments intosyllables.

Syllabicity • Syllables are hard to define phonetically…• But native speakers have an intuitive sense of whatdoes and does not constitute a syllable.• Normally, syllables will have:• consonants (optionally) at beginning and end;• a vowel in the middle.• = the syllabic “peak”• However, in English, nasals (/m/, /n/) and liquids (/l/, /r/)can form the peak of a syllable.• = syllabic consonants.

Syllabic Examples • Syllabic consonants are transcribed with a small verticaldash underneath them.• Examples:‘chasm’‘ribbon’‘eagle’‘feature’• The book wants you to believe that there are vowels inthese syllables: [əәr], [əәl], etc.• …but don’t believe it!

Suprasegmentals • Other suprasegmental features include:1. Stress2. Length3. Tone4. Intonation• These suprasegmental features are always defined in arelative manner.• Some segments are longer than others,• Some syllables are more stressed than others,• etc.

1. Stress • Stress makes a syllable sound more prominent.• (due to increased articulatory effort)• Stress may be denoted by an accent over the vowel inthe stressed syllable.• Examples of stress contrasts:• “contrast”• (N)• (V)• “insult”• (N)• (V)

Ibibio Tones • Ibibio is a register tone language spoken in southernNigeria

Mandarin Tone • Mandarin (Chinese) is a classic example of a contourtone language.ma1: motherma2: hempma3: horsema4: to scold

Mandarin Sentences ma1-ma0 ma4 ma3.“Mother scolds the horse.”ma3 ma4 ma1-ma0.“The horse scolds mother.”