The Phonetics and Phonology Podcast

speaker1

Welcome to The Phonetics and Phonology Podcast, where we dive deep into the sounds that make up our languages! I'm your host, and today we're joined by the incredibly insightful co-host. Today, we're going to explore the fascinating world of phonetics and phonology. So, let's get started!

speaker2

Hi, I'm so excited to be here! Phonetics and phonology sound like a wild and wonderful journey. Can you start by explaining what phonemes are and how they relate to minimal pairs?

speaker1

Absolutely! A phoneme is a contrastive sound in a given language. For example, in English, the sounds /b/, /v/, and /p/ are different phonemes. If you change one of these sounds in a word, the meaning changes. This is why 'ban' /bæn/ and 'van' /væn/ are different words. Minimal pairs are pairs of words that differ by just one phoneme, like 'ban' and 'van'. Teachers often use minimal pairs to help students distinguish and produce different speech sounds.

speaker2

That makes a lot of sense! Can you give me more examples of minimal pairs, maybe in Spanish?

speaker1

Sure! In Spanish, minimal pairs can be quite interesting. For example, 'guerra' /ˈɡwe.rra/ (war) and 'perra' /ˈpe.rra/ (female dog) differ by the phoneme /ɡ/ and /p/. Another example is 'tasa' /ˈta.sa/ (cup) and 'casa' /ˈka.sa/ (house), which differ by the phoneme /t/ and /k/. These minimal pairs help illustrate how a single sound can change the meaning of a word.

speaker2

Fascinating! So, what about allophones? How do they differ from phonemes?

speaker1

Allophones are variants of a phoneme. They are different ways a phoneme can be pronounced in different contexts without changing the meaning of the word. For example, in English, the phoneme /l/ has two allophones: the clear /l/ [l] and the dark /l/ [ɫ]. The clear /l/ is used before vowel sounds, like in 'leaf' /liːf/, while the dark /l/ is used before consonants, like in 'ball' /bɔːl/. In Spanish, the phoneme /d/ has two allophones: [d] and [ð]. The first 'd' in 'soldado' is the alveolar occlusive [d], and the second 'd' is the dental approximant [ð].

speaker2

Wow, that's really detailed! Can you explain the difference between broad and narrow transcription, and how they relate to allophones?

speaker1

Certainly! In broad transcription, we use phonemes and slant bars / / to represent the sounds of a language. For example, the word 'dog' would be transcribed as /dɒɡ/ in broad transcription. In narrow transcription, we use allophones and square brackets [ ] to add more details about the sounds. For example, the word 'dog' in narrow transcription might be [dɒɡ], but if we want to be more precise about the pronunciation, we might write it as [dɒɡ̊] to indicate an unaspirated /ɡ/. Narrow transcription helps us capture the subtle variations in pronunciation.

speaker2

That's really helpful! So, what about phonemic orthography? How does it differ between Spanish and English?

speaker1

Phonemic orthography refers to a language where the letters represent the sounds in a consistent way. Spanish is highly phonemic, meaning that most letters represent only one phoneme. For example, the letter 'p' is always pronounced as /p/. However, there are some exceptions, like the letters 's' and 'z' being pronounced as /s/ in Latin America. In contrast, English is non-phonemic. The letter 'z' can be pronounced as /s/ in words like 'nose' or /z/ in words like 'nosey'. This makes English more challenging to learn for non-native speakers.

speaker2

Interesting! So, what about linking and intrusive R? How do they work in English?

speaker1

Linking R and intrusive R are phenomena that occur in non-rhotic accents of English, like Received Pronunciation (RP). In these accents, the letter 'r' is only pronounced when it is followed by a vowel sound. For example, in 'bar and pub', the 'r' in 'bar' can be pronounced as /bɑːr ənd pʌb/ because it's followed by a vowel. However, if 'bar' is followed by a consonant, the 'r' is not pronounced, as in 'bar and car' /bɑː ənd kɑː/. Intrusive R is when an 'r' sound is added between words that end in a vowel and are followed by another vowel, even though it's not spelled. For example, 'law and order' might be pronounced as /lɔːr ənd ɔːdər/ in some non-rhotic accents.

speaker2

That's really cool! So, what about syllabic consonants? How do they form in English?

speaker1

Syllabic consonants occur when a sequence of /ə/ plus a consonant like /n/ or /l/ merges to form a single syllable. For example, in the word 'listen', the /ə/ and /n/ can merge to form a syllabic /n/, so the word can be pronounced as /ˈlɪsn/. This process is known as syllabic consonant formation (SCF). It happens under specific conditions, such as when the sequence is preceded by a plosive, fricative, or affricate, and when the sequence is not followed by a stressed syllable. For example, in 'golden' /ˈɡəʊl.dn/ and 'London' /ˈlʌn.dn/, the /ə/ and /n/ merge to form a syllabic /n/.

speaker2

That's really detailed! So, what about elision in connected speech? How does it work in English?

speaker1

Elision is a process where sounds are omitted in connected speech to make the flow of speech smoother. For example, the schwa /ə/ in words like 'history' /ˈhɪstəri/ can be elided to form /ˈhɪstri/. Another common type of elision is the omission of alveolar plosives like /t/ and /d/ in certain contexts. For example, in 'last night' /ˈlɑːst ˈnaɪt/, the /t/ in 'last' can be elided to form /ˈlɑːs ˈnaɪt/. This type of elision often affects the regular past tense suffix, so the tense is often indicated by context.

speaker2

That's really interesting! So, what about assimilation? How does it work in English?

speaker1

Assimilation is a process where sounds become more similar to each other. For example, in the phrase 'that man' /ðæt mæn/, the /t/ in 'that' can assimilate to the /m/ in 'man' to form /ðæm mæn/. This is called regressive assimilation because the /t/ takes on the characteristics of the following /m/. Another example is in 'is she' /ɪz ʃiː/, where the /z/ in 'is' can assimilate to the /ʃ/ in 'she' to form /ɪʒ ʃiː/. Assimilation can also affect alveolar fricatives like /s/ and /z/, which can become post-alveolar fricatives /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ respectively.

speaker2

That's really detailed! So, what about glottaling and alveolar sounds? How do they work?

speaker1

Glottaling is a process where a sound is replaced by a glottal stop /?/. This is common with the alveolar plosive /t/, especially in certain dialects of English. For example, in 'not now' /nɒ? naʊ/, the /t/ in 'not' is replaced by a glottal stop. Glottaling is more frequent in words like 'water' /ˈwɔː?/ and 'butter' /ˈbʌ?/ in dialects like Cockney. However, in Received Pronunciation (RP), glottaling is less common and is usually restricted to certain contexts, such as when /t/ is followed by a consonant other than /h/ and preceded by a sonorant sound.

speaker2

That's really interesting! So, what about voicing and voiceless sounds? How do they differ in English?

speaker1

Voicing is the vibration of the vocal folds during the production of a sound. In English, voiced consonants like /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, and /r/ are produced with vocal fold vibration. Voiceless consonants like /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /θ/, /s/, /ʃ/, /h/, and /tʃ/ are produced without vocal fold vibration. For example, in the word 'bag' /bæɡ/, the /b/ and /ɡ/ are voiced, while in 'pack' /pæk/, the /p/ and /k/ are voiceless. Voicing can also affect the pronunciation of words in connected speech, such as in 'have to' /hæv tuː/ where the /v/ can assimilate to the /t/ to form /hæf tuː/.

speaker2

That's really detailed! So, what about vowel classification? How do we classify vowels in English?

speaker1

Vowels in English are classified based on three criteria: the height of the tongue, the position of the tongue, and the position of the lips. The height of the tongue determines whether a vowel is high (close), mid, or low (open). The position of the tongue determines whether a vowel is front, central, or back. The position of the lips determines whether a vowel is rounded or unrounded. For example, the vowel in 'beat' /iː/ is high and front, while the vowel in 'boot' /uː/ is high and back. Understanding these classifications helps in the accurate pronunciation of vowels and in distinguishing between similar-sounding words.

speaker2

Thank you so much for explaining all of this! It's been a fantastic journey through the world of phonetics and phonology. I can't wait to dive deeper into these topics!

speaker1

It's been a pleasure! We hope you've enjoyed this episode. Join us next time as we continue to explore the fascinating world of language. Until then, keep listening and learning!