The Book of

Phonetics

assembled by :
 Phonetics Syllabus

I. Introduction.
1. Definition of Phonetics.
2. Phonetics VS Linguistics.
3. Branches of Phonetics.
II. Mechanism and speech organs.
III. The sounds of English.
1. English Vowels (symbols, description, and transcription).
1.1 English pure vowels.
1.2 Diphthongs.
1.3 Triphthongs.
2. English consonants (symbols, description, and transcription).
IV. Phonology VS Phonetics.
V. Phoneme VS Allophone.
VI. Some general rules.
1. Aspiration of the English voiceless plosives.
2. devacing the English voiced consonants.
3. Shortening of vowels, nasals, and lateral.
VII. Phonetic Transcription VS Phonemic.
 I. Introduction.

1. Définition.
Phonetics is a scientific study of the speech sounds. It deals with how speech
sounds are articulated/ produced, transmitted, and perceived.
In the past, phonetics was considered as a branch of linguistics, nowadays, it is
considered science on its own, i.e, an independent science.
phonetics studies the speech sound as precisely as possible.
2. Phonetics VS Linguistics.
Phonetics is scientific study concerned with the description of the way the
speech sounds are produced, including organs and speech mechanism. That is to
say, the description of the movement speech organs involved and the articulation
after given speech sound.
In addition, it deals with how to speech sound moves through the air as
waveform (transmission) and how is processed by the listner’s brain.
Contrary to Phonetics, Linguistics is a scientific study of language. it deals with
all aspects of language, from how sounds are made in the vocal tract (this
definition given by the schools that consider Phonetics as a branch of Linguistics),
to how sentences formed, to how language is used in a sociaty.
3. Branches of Phonetics.
a. Articulatory phonetics :
is the older branch of this subject, which investigate the way in which the sounds
are made. Here, the phonetician is trained to recognize, produce, and analyze
speech sound. During the 20th century, Phonetics has developed as a laboratory
subject in which instruments are used to study the production of speech in the
vocal tract, for example: by monitoring the position and movement of organs, or
the breath flow and air pressure.
 b. Acoustic phonetics :
it is concerned with study with speech as heard, that is, its waveform.
For the study of vowels and consonants, the voice form is presented as
"spectrogram" on which sounds appear as recognizable vision patterns.
For the study of intonation and pitch, the fundamental frequency is extracted and
displayed.

Spectrogram

c. Experimental (auditory) phonetics :

it involves the manipulation of the waveform and makes psycho-acoustic tests to
identify which aspects of sounds are essential for understanding, and for the
recognition of the Linguistic categories.
Major applications of phonetics had been made in such areas as language
teaching, speech therapy, and automatic speech synthesis and recognition.
 Articulatory phonetic

Speech mechanism Speech organs

organs involved in the

breath flow and air pressure
production of speech sound.

II. Speech Mechanism and speech organs.

It is important to understand the mechanism of speech production and what
takes place inside our bodies during the act of speech production.
The air that we exhale is the energy source for speech production a sound
which comes from our mouth and nose are the result of the air stream moving
from the lung through trachea, larynx, pharynx, oral cavity, and nasal cavity.
The speech produced passes through 3 stages.
1. Resperation stage :
The exhaled air is our energy source for speech. The organs involved in this
stage are trachea, rib cage, thorax, abdomen, diaphragm, and lungs. In this stage,
our lungs expand to make air available for speaking, then they deflate and our rib
cage contracts forcing the air out up into our trachea.
2. Resonation stage :
In this stage, the vibration takes place (sounds making). The organs involved
are the larynx and vocal cords/folds. The vocal cords are part of the larynx ; they
are the organ responsible for sounds when we talk. The vocal cords open and
close rapidly, air travels up to the larynx causing pressure to build up which
causes the vocal cords to be pushed apart. a reduction of pressure causing the
vocal cords to be pulled together. This vibration (pushing/pulling of the vocal
cords) is what is responsible for making sounds. The larynx also acts as a gate
between the lungs and the mouth. it opens and closes to control the flow of air
from the lungs. The larynx closes so that food or liquid do not entre the trachea.
3. Articulation stage :
This stage is producing speech sounds. The act of joining speech organs
together for the production of speech is called Articulation. The organs involved in
this stage are the lips, teeth, tongue, alveolar, ridge, soft palate (velum), hard
palate and jaw. moving and shaking these articulators produce different speech
sounds.

Lungs Vocal cords Articulators

provide energy for transform the noise into

convert the energy into
speech production (air detectable speech
an audible noise.
flow). sounds.

The organs of speech.

The larynx :

It is a box in the neck, made

with two large cartilages
attached to the top of the
trachea. The front of the
larynx is called "Adam's
apple"
Vocal cords :

Traditionally called "Vocal folds".

They lay inside the larynx (a pair of
muscles that lay in the larynx

The pharynx :

it is a tube that begins just above the

larynx. at the top, the pharynx is
divided into two parts ; one leads to
the oral cavity, and the other leads to
the nasal cavity.

The velum :

it is a movable organ which allows air to

escape through the nose and mouth.
when it is raised the air escapes
through the mouth. The sounds we
make are /k.g/. When its lower side is in
contact with the tongue, the air escapes
through the nasal cavity. The sound we
make is /ŋ /. The sounds articulated
with the velum are called "velar
consonants"
The hard palate :

it is smooth with a curved surface that

we can feel with our tongue. it is also
called "The roof of the mouth". The
consonant articulated at this level is /j /
and is called "palatal"

The alveolar ridge :

it is between the upper teeth and the

hard palate. its surface is covered with
little ridges. The sounds made when
the tongue touching the alveolar ridge
are / t, d, n, s, z, I/. They are called
"alveolar consonants"

The tongue :

is a flexible articulator. in other words,

it can be moved into many places and
different shapes. Although there are
no clear dividing lines within the
tongue, Phoneticians tried to divide it
into different parts (The tip ; lapex, the
blade, the front, the back ; body, and
the root)
The teeth :

sounds we make with the tongue

touching the teeth are : / θ, ð/

The lips :

sounds articulated with the lips

pressed against each other are :
/ p, b, m, w/. They are called : ‘bilabial’
The one produced with a lower lip
touching the upper teeth are /f, v/ ;
they are called 'labiodental'

Speech organs
III. The sounds of English.
3-1) English vowels.
vowels are sounds in which there are no obstructions to the flow of air, as it
passes from the larynx to the mouth (lips). They are studied in term of :
a) Part of the tongue :
The Vowels made with the front of the tongue raised, they are called "front
vowels". For instance /i:/ and /æ/. Those which are produced with the back of
the tongue raised are called "back vowels". For instance /ɑ:/ and /u:/.
b) height of the tongue :
it has to do with the distance between the surface of the tongue and the hard
palate. The vowels that we produce when the tongue is held up close to the
hard palate are called "close vowels", as /i: / and /u: /. whereas, those
produced when the distance between the tongue and the hard palate is much
greater are called "open vowels" as /æ/ and /ɑ: /. So, the difference between
/i: / and /æ/ is a difference on a tongue height.
c) Lips position :
although the lips can have many different shapes and positions at this stage
we consider only three (3) possibilities that are mentioned belong.
c-1) Spread lips : The corners of the lips moved away from each other as for
smile. This can be seen in the vowel /i:/.
c-2) Rounded lips : here, the corners of the lips are braught towards each
other, and the lips pushed forward. This is most clearly seen in /u: /.
c-3) neutral position : The lips are neither rounded not spread. This can be
seen in the vowel /ɑ:/.
3-2) RP English vowels.
English vowels are classified as follows.
3-2-1) Pure vowels :
a. Short vowels : / ɪ, e, æ, ʌ, ə, ɒ, ʊ/
b. Long vowels : /i:, 3:, ɑ:, ɔ:, u:/
3-2-2) Diphthongs :
/eɪ, ea, ɪə, aɪ, ɔɪ, əʊ, ʊə, aʊ/
3-2-3) Triphthongs :
/eɪə, ɔɪə, aɪə, əʊə, aʊə/

Description of the English vowels.

Introduction : English vowels are described referring to them with "cardinal
vowels".
the letters are vowels human being can articulate; they are the extreme
positions that our tongue can reach.
 Vowel/Example location description

/ɪ/
This vowel is neared to
fit, hit, bit central than to front.
articulated between close
and half (mid) close position
with slightly spread lips.

/e/
front vowel, articulated
between half close and half
set, get, let open with slightly spread
lips.

/æ/
it is a front vowel, articulated
just above open position with
cat, said, jam slightly spread lips.

/ʌ/
it is a central vowel,
articulated below half open
cut, gun, bud position with neutral lips
shape.
 /ɒ/
it is a back vowel, articulated
god, lot, cross between open and half open
position slightly rounded lips.

/ʊ/
it is neared to central than to
back, articulated between
put, book, pull
half close and close position
with rounded lips.

/ə/
is a central vowel, articulated
ago, sister, between half close and half
famous open position with neutral
lips shape.
 Exercises.

Ex01 :
/ɪ/ /e/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɒ/ /ʊ/
bit /bɪt/ bet /bet/ bat /bæt/ cut /cʌt/ pot /pɒt/ put /pʊt/
bid /bɪd/ bed /bed/ bad /bæd/ bud /bʌd/ cod /cɒd/ word /wʊd/
him /hɪm/ hem /hem/ ham /hæm/ bun /bʌn/ tom /tɒm/ pull /pʊl/
miss /mɪs/ mess /mes/ mass /mæs/ buss /bʌs/ loss /lɒs/ push /pʊʃ/

Ex02 : write the symbol of the vowel you hear in each word.

ban >>> æ >>>> /bæn/ put >>> ʊ >>>> /pʊt/

hub >>> ʌ >>>> /hʌb/ come >>> ʌ >>>> /kʌm/
fill >>> ɪ >>>> /fɪl/ mid >>> ɪ >>>> /mɪd/
mass >>> ɒ >>>> /mɒs/ bomb >>> ɒ >>>> /bɒm/
lead >>> e >>>> /led/ sell >>> e >>>> /sel/

English long vowels :

Vowel/Example location description

/i:/
it is a close front vowel,
feet, meat, eat articulated with spread lips.
 /3:/
it is a central vowel,
articulated between half
bird, burn, close and half open with
heard neutral lips.

/ɑ:/
it is a back open vowel,
articulated with neutral lips.
heart, guard,
past

/ɔ:/
it is back vowel, articulated
between mid close and mid
lord, draw, open with quite strong lips
talk rounding.

/u:/
it is a back close vowel,
shoe, lose, articulated with rounded lips.
rule