Methods of phonetic analysis

All methods of phonetic analysis may be divided into two groups – phonetic and phonological analysis. Within the phonetic methods we distinguish between subjective, introspective methods of phonetic investigation and objective methods.

The oldest, simplest and most readily available method is the method of direct observation. This method consists in observing the movements and positions of one’s own or other people’s organs of speech in pronouncing various speech sounds, as well as in analyzing one’s own kinaesthetic sensations during the articulation of speech sound in comparing them with auditory impressions.

Objective methods involve the use of various instrumental techniques (palatography, laryngoscopy, photography, cinematography, X-ray photography and cinematography and electromyography). This type of investigation together with direct observation is widely used in experimental phonetics. The objective methods and the subjective ones are complementary and not opposite to one another. Nowadays we may use the up-to-date complex set to fix the articulatory parameters of speech – so called articulograph.

Acoustic phonetics comes close to studying physics and the tools used in this field enable the investigator to measure and analyze the movement of the air in the terms of acoustics. This generally means introducing a microphone into the speech chain, converting the air movement into corresponding electrical activity and analysing the result in terms of frequency of vibration and the amplitude of vibration in relation to time. The spectra of speech sounds are investigated by means of the apparatus called the sound spectrograph. Pitch as a component of intonation can be investigated by intonograph.

The acoustic aspect of speech sounds is investigated not only with the help of sound-analyzing techniques, but also by means of speech-synthesizing devices.

Phonology has its own methods on investigation. There exist two groups: methods of opposition and methods of distribution.

Semantic method is based on a phonemic rule that phonemes can distinguish words and morphemes when opposed to one another. It consists in systematic substitution of one sound for another in order to find out in which cases where the phonetic context remains the same such replacing leads to a change of meaning. This procedure is called the commutation test. It consists in finding minimal pairs of words and their grammatical forms. Minimal pairs are useful for establishing the phonemes of the language.

The next method is mainly used by descriptivists. They consider it possible to discover the phonemes of a language by the rigid application of distributional method. It means to group all the sounds pronounced by native speakers into phoneme according to the rules of phonemic and allophonic distribution.

Lecture 2

Variation of English pronunciation

Outline

Types of variation

British and American pronunciation models

Most distinctive features of American English pronunciation

Styles of pronunciation

Types of variation

Speaking about the outer form of language we should distinguish between spoken and written language.

Speaking and writing are different in both origin and practice. Our ability to use language is as old as humankind. It reflects the biological and cognitive modification that has occurred during the evolution of our species. Writing is the symbolic representation of language using graphic signs. It is a comparatively recent cultural development. Spoken language is acquired without specific formal instruction, whereas writing must be taught and learned through deliberate effort. The origins of the written language lie in the spoken language, not the other way round.

The written form of language is usually a generally accepted standard and is the same throughout the country. But there is an enormous amount of variation in how a language is pronounced, and we will look briefly at some of the types of variation.

Temporal variation. Time affects a language, both in the long term and short term, giving rise to several highly distinctive processes and varieties. Historical phonetics deals with long term processes while theoretical phonetics is concerned with short term variation.

Regional variation. Geography affects language, both within a country and between countries, giving rise to regional accents and dialects.

It is usual to make a distinction between the study of dialect (which looks not only at pronunciation but also vocabulary and grammar) and accent (which is purely a matter of pronunciation). Local accents may have many features of pronunciation in common and are grouped into territorial or area accents. People traditionally think of dialects as a purely intranational matter – local to the community to which they belong. Historically, the language was restricted to a single geographical area – the British Isles. Radio, television, and cinema links, coupled with a vast increase in traveling mobility and the arrival of the Internet, have brought a universal awareness that English dialects operate on a world stage. The study of local dialects has thus come to be supplemented by an international approach to dialectology.

The spread of English around the world may be visualized as three concentric circles, representing different ways in which the language has been acquired and is currently used. The inner circle (320-380 million) refers to the traditional bases of English, where it is the primary language: the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The outer circle (300-500 million) refers to earlier phases of the spread of English in non-native settings, where the language has become part of a country’s chief institutions, and plays an important ‘second language’ role in a multilingual setting (Singapore, India, Malawi, and over 50 other countries). The expanding circle involves those nations which recognize the importance of English as an international language but it doesn’t have any special status. It includes China, Japan, Greece, Israel, and a steadily increasing number of other states. In these areas, English is taught as a foreign language.

Social variation. Society affects a language, in the sense that any important aspect of social structure and function is likely to have a distinctive linguistic counterpart. We can broadly distinguish between three different kinds of variation. One is related to social class: in some societies people have a pronunciation which identifies them as a member of some social class, or as being at some point on a scale from low to high social class. A good example is ‘h-dropping’: a study in Bradford showed that speakers were more likely to pronounce the [h] sound in words like house, hat if they were of higher social class, and more likely to omit it if they were of lower class.

A second type of social factor is speakers’ tendency to use different pronunciations in different social situations. Many people can and do speak something like the standard accent in their professional life, but switch to a different accent when they are with family and friends.

Finally, there are social divisions in society other than class ones. Many languages show differences between the speech of men and women; different professional groups (for example, teachers or members of the armed forces) often have some distinctive accent or speaking style.

Style variation. We are all capable of changing the way we speak when this is necessary for successful communication. Everyone can vary between speaking rapidly or slowly, or between quietly and loudly in a way that is appropriate to the communication situation. Phonetic descriptions of languages have tended to be made on the basis of a slow, careful speaking style, and this creates major problems when one comes to study more natural speech and discovers that it does not fit many of the ‘facts’ stated in textbook descriptions.

Age and variation. Everyone knows that young people speak differently from older people. It is not likely that this is due to physical causes. It is likely that a major factor is the wish of young people to speak in a different way from their parents, and in the present day this is strengthened by broadcasting aimed specially at young people. For example, word one. British English, 1998 poll panel preference: wʌn 70%, wɒn 30%; the second variant: 20% older speakers, 45 % younger speakers.

Personal variation. People affect a language, in the sense that an individual’s conscious or unconscious choices and preferences can result in a distinctive or even unique style.