A Description of American English Phonology: Phonetics and Speech Mechanism

Basic Terminology and Concepts

Phonetics, Phonology and the Speech Mechanism

Language has different levels, that are interconnected: . Phonetics and phonology · Syntax/grammar . Semantics · Lexicon · Morphology . Pragmatics + textual level

Phonetics and phonology are the two primary fields dedicated to the scientific study of language sounds.

Phonetics is the study of the phonemes (the minimum units of sound; an abstract unit of speech sound that can distinguish words: changing a phoneme in a word can produce another word, like CAT vs. CUT vs. COT) and explores the physical characteristics of human speech sounds, regardless of the language being spoken. It delves into the anatomy and physiology of speech, examining all the mechanisms involved in producing and receiving sounds. Phonetics is divided into 3 areas:

• Articulatory phonetics: focuses on the speaker and how speech sounds are physically made, the articulators we use
• Acoustic phonetics: examines what happens between the speaker and listener, investigating the physical properties of speech sounds as sound waves, the sound-waves we make
• Auditory phonetics: relates to the listener, dealing with how the brain perceives and processes speech, the way the hearer perceives the sounds

Phonology, on the other hand, is the study of the sound system (the study of sounds/segments when they are no longer in isolation but grouped together in syllables and words; how phonemes can combine in a particular language, and the restrictions there are on these combinations). It investigates how native speakers organize and store their knowledge of language sounds, allowing them to use these sounds correctly in different situations. It looks at the sound patterns within a specific language and how sounds create differences in meaning.

Both phonetics and phonology are crucial for understanding the same linguistic reality from two complementary angles: phonetics studies the actual production of sounds, while phonology focuses on the more abstract system of sounds within a language. Since speech is a complex phenomenon involving both physical and cognitive elements, both fields are essential for describing pronunciation, such as that of American English (AmE).

Stages of Communication Processes

Stages of the communication processes between the speaker and the hearer, called "speech mechanism":

• Production: speech sounds are created by the speaker's vocal organs.
• Transmission: the acoustic signal travels through the air.
• Reception: the listener's brain receives and interprets the speech sounds.

The brain orchestrates these stages, acting as the origin point for speech. After forming a message mentally, including its words, grammatical structure, and sound sequence, the brain sends precise commands to the speech organs to produce the desired sounds. Speech production relies on 3 main systems and their associated processes:

1. Respiratory system: responsible for respiration (breathing).
2. Phonatory system: responsible for phonation (voice production).
3. Articulatory system: responsible for articulation (shaping sounds).

Ladefoged (1971) also identified a fourth process, oro-nasal, which depends on whether the velum (soft palate) is open or closed, influencing airflow through the mouth or nose.

The organs involved in producing speech work through a series of interconnected systems and processes: 1Respiration: to create sounds, we need a flow of air, which happens due to differences in air pressure. This airstream can move in 2 ways:

• Ingressive airflow occurs when air flows into the vocal tract, meaning the air pressure inside is lower than outside. This is usually involuntary and common when we are sobbing or out of breath.
• Egressive airflow happens when air flows out of the vocal tract, indicating the air pressure inside is higher than outside.

Respiration, the act of inhaling and exhaling, is controlled by muscles in rib cage, abdomen, and diaphragm. When we inhale, these muscles tighten, expanding the chest. This creates low pressure in our lungs, drawing air in. When we exhale, the muscles relax, the chest contracts, and high pressure in our lungs pushes air out. Nearly all speech uses egressive airflow. The power for speech comes mainly from the air leaving the lungs as we exhale, traveling through our windpipe and then into our mouth and nasal cavities.

Phonation and Vocal Cords

Phonation is the process by which the larynx (or voice box) uses the vocal cords to produce voice. This highly specialized organ, located around the windpipe, is made of cartilage and muscle and contains the vocal cords/ folds.

The larynx has 3 main parts: the thyroid cartilage (often called the Adam's apple, more prominent in men), the arytenoid cartilages, and the vocal folds themselves. The arytenoid cartilages, generally thicker in men, control the movement of the vocal cords. These cords, which are typically longer in men, can be positioned in various ways relative to each other and to the gap between them, known as the glottis.

The vocal cords can assume 6 main positions:

1. Closed glottis (glottal stop): the vocal cords are tightly shut, completely blocking airflow. This creates a brief interruption of sound, often heard between vowels.
2. Open glottis (voiceless): the vocal cords are wide apart, allowing air to flow freely through the glottis, producing voiceless sounds (like 's' in "sit").
3. Vibrating (voiced): the vocal cords are held loosely together. Air pushes them apart, briefly equalizing pressure. Then, muscular tension and pressure drop, causing the cords to snap back together. This rapid opening and closing creates vibration, producing voiced sounds (like 'z' in "zip").
4. Whisper: the vocal cords are brought together but don't vibrate. The arytenoid cartilages remain slightly apart, allowing air to escape without vocal cord vibration.
5. Murmur (breathy voice): the vocal cords are held slightly apart, closer than for voiceless sounds, resulting in a different type of vibration than regular voicing.
6. Creak (creaky voice): this sounds like a series of rapid glottal stops. The arytenoids are pressed together while the front parts of the vocal folds vibrate slowly. When combined with regular vocal cord vibration, it's called creaky voice. This is common in both British and American English, and often heard in people with colds or smokers due to mucus or tar on the cords making proper operation difficult.

Articulation and the Vocal Tract

Articulation involves the organs that form the articulatory system and constitute the vocal tract, the parts of the speech anatomy located above the larynx. The vocal tract has 3 main sections:

1. Pharyngeal cavity: this is the space directly above the larynx. The pharynx (throat) is the primary organ here; we can change its shape by contracting surrounding muscles and moving our tongue backward, altering sound quality.
2. Nasal cavity: this is the space inside the nose. Air can flow through it when the velum (soft palate) is open.
3. Oral cavity: this is the space inside the mouth, comprising: . The tongue (divided into tip, blade, front, back, and root) . The upper and lower lips . The upper and lower teeth. . The roof of the mouth (including the alveolar ridge, hard palate, and velum) · The jaw

The organs of speech can be grouped according to their specialization and role:

• The respiratory system (lungs, bronchial tubes, rib muscles, part of the windpipe in the chest) is responsible for breathing.
• The phonatory system (the larynx in the throat) is responsible for voice production.
• The articulatory system (nose, lips, teeth, tongue, roof of the mouth, jaw, and uvula, all located in the head within the vocal tract) is responsible for shaping sounds.

2. The tongue, lips, and roof of the mouth are particularly important due to their intricate sub-parts, which play a significant role in creating specific sound types. The tongue is a flexible muscle with five main zones (tip, blade, front, back, root). Different combinations of these parts with other areas of the oral cavity produce a wide range of sounds.

The upper and lower lips are elastic and can assume three main positions through muscle movement:

• Neutral: relaxed
• Rounded: lips form a circle (e.g., when whistling or saying "oo" as in "moon")
• Spread/unrounded: lips are spread wide (e.g., when saying "ee" as in "see")

The roof of the mouth includes:

• The alveolar ridge: the bumpy area right behind the front teeth
• The hard palate: the bony arch forming the front part of the roof of the mouth
• The soft palate (velum): the fleshy, movable back part of the roof of your mouth
• The uvula: the small, fleshy projection hanging at the back of the soft palate

The difference between vowels and consonants sounds is that in vowels sounds there is no obstruction to airstream; in consonant sounds there is some kind of obstruction (partial or total).

The International Phonetic Association and the International Phonetic Alphabet

In 1886, a group of European phoneticians, led by Paul Passy, established the International Phonetic Association (IPA) to advance the study of phonetics. Originally called L'Association Phonetique des Professeurs d'Anglais (FTA), the idea for an international alphabet, rather than separate alphabets for each language, came from Danish phonetician Otto Jespersen. However, this proposal initially didn't gain enough support, and the association continued as a forum for language teachers interested in phonetic script, rather than a group of academic phoneticians. Three years later, in 1889, the association's name changed to L'Association Phonetique des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes (AP). By 1897, it became L'Association Phonetique Internationale (API), known in English as the International Phonetic Association (IPA).

The Association's first journal, simply called FT, was launched in 1886. In 1889, when French became the official language of the Association, the journal was renamed Le Maître Phonétique (mf) and became central to the Association's activities. In 1971, English was reinstated as the official language, and the journal became the Journal of the International Phonetic Association (JIPA). Initially, the journal was primarily published using phonetic script. However, starting with the JIPA in 1971, traditional spelling began to replace phonetic script. Since 1988, the journal has included supplements and inserts. A crucial early supplement was "The Principles of the International Phonetic Association," published in French (1900), English (1904), German (1928), Italian (1933), and Spanish (1944). This supplement, a predecessor to the current "Handbook of the International Phonetic Association," famously featured the "North Wind and the Sun" fable transcribed into about 50 languages.

The first IPA alphabet was a modified version of Pitman and Ellis's 1847 alphabet. The IPA has undergone continuous critical review and revisions, with the most recent update occurring in 2005. While other phonetic alphabets have emerged, the IPA remains the most widely used system for transcribing speech sounds.

The core principle behind the IPA is that each distinct sound in a language should have its own unique symbol. Although some symbols for individual sounds might consist of two characters, they still represent only one sound. The complete set of IPA symbols forms a comprehensive phonetic alphabet for any language. While some symbols match letters of the English alphabet, many new ones were invented to capture the full range of human speech sounds, particularly for vowels, as the 5 traditional vowel letters are insufficient to represent the world's diverse vowel system.

When transcribing sounds using the IPA, the level of detail can vary based on the transcriber's goals and expertise. The 2 main types of transcription are:

1. Phonetic transcription (narrow or allophonic*): this method captures as many phonetic details as possible. It describes sounds based on their physical production and perception, without focusing on their function in a specific language. Symbols in phonetic transcription are enclosed in square brackets [ ].
2. Phonemic transcription (broad): this method provides fewer details, focusing only on sounds (phonemes) that differentiate meaning within a language. Symbols in phonemic transcription are enclosed in oblique lines / /. 3