Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics and Phonology

1. Definition of Phonetics

   • Phonetics is a scientific description of what speech sounds exist in a language. It represents how they are produced and perceived and what acoustic properties they have. Phonetics essentially seeks to trace the processes physiologically involved in sound production.
   • Articulatory features
     • The nature of the air stream
       • Whether it is from the lungs or not i.e. whether it is pulmonic, glottalic or velaric. And the direction of this air stream i.e. whether it is coming in or going out: ingressive or egressive.
         • Example: So for a sound like /d/, the answers will be: 1. pulmonic
     • The action of the vocal folds
       • Whether they are closed, wide apart or vibrating.
         • Labio-dental – The lower lip normally comes in contact with the upper front teeth to articulate the sounds. Examples are /f, v/.
     • The position of the soft palate.
       • If it is lowered or raised so as to decide if the sound has nasal or oral resonance or both.
         • Example: For a sound like /m/, the answers will be 3. Nasal.
     • The disposition of various movable organs of the mouth.
       • The shape of the lips, the tongue and the contact points of the tongue at the roof of the mouth.
         • Bilabial – The two lips usually come together to articulate this sort of sounds. Examples are /p, b, m/

2. Definition of Phonology

   • Phonology is concerned with the regularities that govern the phonetic realizations of sounds in words of a language. It looks at and tries to establish a system of sound distinctions relevant to a particular language. Phonology actually delineates the functioning of sounds in particular contexts.
   • Suprasegmental features
     • There are several options for arraging sounds in groups of tones. We usually recognize these options as rhythm, intonation, and stress: actually intonation contains a large number of more detailed features
       • Example: /I/: this is the "i" short and used in words like: biññ, it, hit, live, among others. /e/: this sounds just like our "e". For example: end, test, friend, bed.

3. The difference between phonetics and Phonology.

   • Adeyanju (2003) Essentially then, it could safely say that phonetics describes the production process involved in physical sounds while phonology describes the environmental factors that shape these sounds in particular points of occurrence.

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