PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

1. Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies the phonic systems of languages, it refers to the physical articulation of language.

   • Every time a word is emitted, it is not done in the same way, because each emission depends on the other sounds that surround it. The sounds acquire different values according to the function they occupy in a given context, however there are some features that do not vary and that allow them to be recognized without confusion in any position.
     • Phonetic systems
       • The phonological system of a language is made up of an inventory of phonemes and a set of rules that give pronunciation to words. This system can support multiple representations with rules, or an inventory with fewer rules.

2. Phonetics and phonology are different disciplines, but complementary. Phonetics studies, from different points of view, the sounds of speech in general (phones), of any language, in its physical character.

3. Phonetics: Acoustic phonetics studies the physical properties of sound waves generated by the organs of phonation and propagated through the air. Articulatory phonetics, which we are going to deal with, classifies speech sounds based on the way they are produced by the vocal apparatus. Most of the sounds of language are produced by the passage of a column of air that comes from the lungs and crosses the resonators: the pharynx, the oral cavity, the nostrils. The presence or absence of obstacles on the passage of the air column modifies the nature of the sounds produced.

4. Phonetics and phonology in the English language

   • The features of pronunciation in English called CommonCore (common core), is the distinction between long and short vowels. When an English consonant does not exist in the student's native language, the sound is substituted with something similar to that of the native language (Bryan Jenner, 1999).
     • In the English language, it is important to know the correct way of pronouncing the words for better communication and that the people with whom you are communicating can understand you when you speak, so it is important to have knowledge of phonetics and phonology in that language.

5. Identification of phonemes and graphemes

   • English is a language in which there is no direct correlation between phonemes and graphemes. This means that the words are not literally written as they are pronounced. This creates a big problem since students are used to the fact that in their mother tongue there is a direct relationship between phonemes and graphemes.
     • Therefore, it is quite interesting that from the first contact with the foreign language the student becomes familiar with this characteristic of the language and begins by analyzing the main phonetic characteristics of the foreign language, exposing them from the first day to real productions in the second language.
   • Another problem posed by the lack of correlation between phonemes and graphemes is that words are not read literally but are pronounced differently than they are written.
     • In conclusion, knowing the different sounds and sound systems through phonetics and phonology will allow the student to know the different types of pronunciation of vowels and consonants in learning the English language.
       • With this, the student improves his pronunciation because he not only assimilates the pronunciation of phonemes but also learns to identify the accent of a word, the rhythm in the speech or the intonation that each production in English requires.