An IntroductiOn to English phonetics and phonology - Essay
Section 1
An IntroductiOn to English phonetics and phonology
1.1. Speech mechanism
1.1.1. Speech chain
Speech as the main means of communication is the result of a complicated series of events, which involves the speaker and the listener.
On the part of the speaker, speech activities involve the following stages.
1.1.1.1. Psychological stage: this is the process during which the concept is formed in the speaker’s brain. Then, through the nervous system this message (concept) is transmitted to the so-called "organs of speech", where the articulators work to utter what has been chosen in the mind of the speaker.
1.1.1.2. Physiological stage: The organs of speech produce sounds.
1.1.1.3. Physical or acoustic stage: The movements of our organs of speech create disturbances in the air and these varying air pressures may be investigated.
On the part of the listener the speech chain looks as follows.
• The listener receives the sound waves by the hearing apparatus (reception/ physiological).
• The information is transmitted along the nervous system to the brain (transmission/ psychological).
• The message is interpreted or analyzed (interpretation/ psychological).
1.2. Speech Airstream mechanism
1.2.1 Airstream mechanisms
Communication by means of speech is impossible without air.
* The source of energy for our vocal activity is provided by an air-stream expelled from the lungs.
* The air-stream undergoes important modifications in the upper stages of the respiratory tract before it acquires the quality of a speech sound.
There are different types of air-stream (AS):
• Pulmonic AS is the air pushed out from the lungs. This kind of AS is called Pulmonic Egressive AS mechanism (PEASM). The majority of sounds used in languages of the world, including all the sounds in English, are produced by PEASM.
• Ingressive AS mechanism (IASM): It is the air-stream from the outside moving into the mouth, through the throat into the lungs. We cannot
An IntroductiOn to English phonetics and phonology
1.1. Speech mechanism
1.1.1. Speech chain
Speech as the main means of communication is the result of a complicated series of events, which involves the speaker and the listener.
On the part of the speaker, speech activities involve the following stages.
1.1.1.1. Psychological stage: this is the process during which the concept is formed in the speaker’s brain. Then, through the nervous system this message (concept) is transmitted to the so-called "organs of speech", where the articulators work to utter what has been chosen in the mind of the speaker.
1.1.1.2. Physiological stage: The organs of speech produce sounds.
1.1.1.3. Physical or acoustic stage: The movements of our organs of speech create disturbances in the air and these varying air pressures may be investigated.
On the part of the listener the speech chain looks as follows.
• The listener receives the sound waves by the hearing apparatus (reception/ physiological).
• The information is transmitted along the nervous system to the brain (transmission/ psychological).
• The message is interpreted or analyzed (interpretation/ psychological).
1.2. Speech Airstream mechanism
1.2.1 Airstream mechanisms
Communication by means of speech is impossible without air.
* The source of energy for our vocal activity is provided by an air-stream expelled from the lungs.
* The air-stream undergoes important modifications in the upper stages of the respiratory tract before it acquires the quality of a speech sound.
There are different types of air-stream (AS):
• Pulmonic AS is the air pushed out from the lungs. This kind of AS is called Pulmonic Egressive AS mechanism (PEASM). The majority of sounds used in languages of the world, including all the sounds in English, are produced by PEASM.
• Ingressive AS mechanism (IASM): It is the air-stream from the outside moving into the mouth, through the throat into the lungs. We cannot