Phonetics: realising sounds

Phonetics: The world of speech sounds


The three component sign model gives an introduction to the content:

         

- if you see an apple-pie in the real world you have an actual example, model and   
  definition of this delicious pastry

-  if someone is talking of an  /ˈa-pəl-ˈpī/ he uses speech to let you think of this
  delicious pastry
   Phonology→phonetics
 
-  if you read the word 'apple-pie' you'll have the image of this delicious pastry in your 
   mind as well
   Orthography→graphemes

                                           

Speech
Production, transmission, reception

There are three phonetic domains :

-Production: Articulatory domain: production of sounds (phones) by using your mouth.

  read out loud:
  Example:           A tiger and a mouse were walking in a field....
  
  By different positions of your tongue in your mouth, your lungs and your vocal cords in the     
  larynx you are able to produce sounds.
  From the IPA chart you can get the phonetic transcription which gives you detailed speech  
  pronounciation.
                                   Click here to see a PDF copy of the Chart.

- Transmission: Acoustic domain: By reading out loud the example sentence you produce
   speech waves which can be measured in amplitude and time. These information of 
   amplitude and time can be converted into a spectral transform.

   How is this done?
   One software which converts speech waves into spectral transform is called Praat (dutch
   for talk) 

                                             PRAAT

  

- Reception: Auditory domain: the ear receives sound waves (compare to a microphone) 
                                                      → outer ear

                                                      sound waves are converted (compare to an amplifier)
                                                      → middle ear

                                                      we receive the information 
                                                      → inner ear



                              microphone                  amplifier               spectral transform
               



Homework:

 Take a look at the model on the Interactive Sagittal Sectionwebsite and

practice with it to get used to the different combinatons of active and passive articulators

pronounce all the sounds you form with the website, observing the movements of your articulatory organs Download the Praat software on to your computer:

– install it

– read an audio file

– experiment with the software

● Take a look at models of the ear: summarise the functions of the outer ear, the middle ear, the inner ear