Phonetics: the sounds of languageSpeech perception: units of sound and their coarticulation.Vocal tract anatomyBasic sounds: buzz, hiss, and popLaryngeal buzzThe phonetic alphabetHistorical backgroundThe IPAVowelsTranscribing EnglishSophia MalamudIntro to LinguisticsLectures on PhoneticsLast time: differences between pidgins (like LSN) and creoles (like ISN), Broca’s aphasia.Basic similarty: lack of a rule system for putting together discrete units of speech into meaningful sentences.Pidgin: “sentence structure” does not tell us who did what to whom: LSN: “Mary pushed John” could also mean “John pushed Mary”. ISN: “Mary pushed John” differs from “John pushed Mary” in the way the verb “push” is signed.Broca’s aphasia patient recounting Cinderella: keywords. A few short two- and three-word “sentences” in the correct English order, but missing most of the “grammatical” words: articles (a, the) , prepositions (at, of, on, in, etc.), subject pronouns (they in they married).Language is a creative combinatorial system, combining discrete pieces into new combinations.The set of rules for combining these discrete pieces is called a grammar.So, in a very important sense, a pidgin is not a language – since it lacks a grammar for putting together words into meaningful sentences. Grammar units: how languages are put togetherSound structure of human language - two fields that are dedicated to its study: • phonetics: the physical manifestation of language in sound waves; how these sounds are articulated and perceived. This subfield examines the pieces of speech sound. • phonology: the mental representation of sounds as part of a symbolic cognitive system; how abstract sound categories are manipulated in the processing of language This subfield examines the rules for putting the pieces of sound togetherThe sound structure of language encompasses quite a lot of topics, including• the anatomy, physiology, and acoustics of the human vocal tract; • the nomenclature for the vocal articulations and sounds used in speech, as represented by the International Phonetic Alphabet; 1• hypotheses about the nature of phonological features and their organization into segments, syllables and words; • the often-extreme changes in the sound of morphemes in different contexts; • the way that knowledge of language sound structure unfolds as children learn to speak; • the variation in sound structure across dialects and across time. Goal 1: to put language sound structure in context.Why do human languages have a sound structure about which we need to say anything more than that vocal communication is based on noises made with the eating and breathing apparatus? What are the apparent "design requirements" for this system, and how are they fulfilled?Goal 2: to give you a concrete sense of what the sound systems of languages are like. Phonetics: the sounds of languageSpeech perception: units of sound and their coarticulation.Characteristics of speech perception: • automatic, effortless, very effective in processing even noisy/variable inputCharacteristics of speech:• Perceived as a sequence of segmentsSynthesizing speech: “rip, mix, and burn”? 1950s: Franklin Cooper, Alvin Liberman and colleagues at Haskins Laboratories: Consonants and vowels cannot be “ripped” out of speech stream!• Produced as continuous co-articulated streamCategorical perception - “warping” of similarity space: differences are compressed within categories and expanded between categories.Mechanics of talking: • lungs generate air stream• air stream passes through vocal tract: throat, tongue, teeth, lips, nose• vocal tract shapes the air stream, making it into different sounds◦ consonants: some constriction in the tract; with or without vibration of vocal cords◦ vowels: no air constriction, always use vocal cords, varying shape of vocal tract leads to different sounds• coarticulation: “bee” vs “boo” – vocal tract anticipates the vowel(get ready to say “bee”, but don’t say it) (now do the same thing for “boo”)2Why it makes sense to coarticulate: English averages 5 phonemes per word, 150 words per minute – so, 12.5 sounds per second.But how do listeners keep up? - unconscious compensation for coarticulation?Problems that coarticulation poses for perception:Segmentation – no clear boundary, e.g. 1st portion of “shoe” carries info on both “sh” and “oo”Invariance – no single acoustic property that corresponds to a single phonetic unitVocal tract anatomyVocal tract: oral cavity (the mouth), the nasal cavity (inside the nose), and the pharyngeal cavity (in the throat, behind the tongue). For most speech sounds, the airstream that passes through this tract is generated by the lungs.Organs with other functions, “recruited” for speech:Organ Survival function Speech function – FILL INLungs exhange oxygen and carbon dioxideVocal cordsprevent food and liquids from entering the lungsTongue move food within the mouthTeeth break up foodLips seal oral cavityOrgans that evolved specifically to serve language independent (and even contrary to) the original function: The vocal cords in humans are more muscular and less fatty than in other primates => greater control over their precise configuration. The lowering of the larynx => permits a greater variety of articulations with the tongue, BUT The resulting longer vocal tract (seen behind the tongue in the human) separates the soft palate and epiglottis, so that airflow between the larnyx and the nose cannot avoid passing through the oral cavity. This is why humans choke more easily than other primates. Selective advantage of increased articulatory ability wins despite the increase in the likelihood of choking. We'll be referring to the places in the vocal tract when describing the way various sounds are produced.3Basic sounds: buzz, hiss, and popLaryngeal buzzThe larynx (behind “adam’s apple”): little structure sitting on top of the trachea (windpipe). The original role of the larynx is to seal off the airway.Part of the airway-sealing system in larynx: a pair of muscular flaps, the vocal folds (cords) - can be brought together to form a seal, or moved apart to permit free motion of air.Aerodynamics: when any elastic seal is not strong enough to resist the pressurized air, the result is an erratic release of the pressure through the seal, creating a sound. Examples: the raspberry