Phonology

A. Some basic concept

   1. Phonology

            The term phonology can be used in the wide sense of the word. When with what used in this way, phonology covers phonetics and phonemics. This is accord Francis (1958:30-31) says that phonology is a cover term embracing phonetics and phonemics.

2. Phonetics.

            According to Crystal (1980:267) phonetics is the science which studies the characteristic of human sound-making, especially those sound in speech, and provided methods for their description, classification and transcription. Three branches of the subject are generally recognized :

a. Articulator  phonetics : the study of the way speech sounds are made (articulated) by the vocal organs.

b. Acoustic phonetics          : Studies the physical properties of speech sounds as transmitted between mouth and ear.

c. Auditory phonetics          : studies the perceptual response to speech sounds, as mediated by ear, auditory nerve and brain.

3. Phonemics

            According to Pike (1968:246) phonemics is the study of the structural arrangement of sound segments in relation to units of sound in particular language, procedures for the finding of the phonemes of a language, the theoretical problems concerned with the setting upon phonemic postulates.

4. Phone, Phoneme, Allophone.

            According to Crystal (1980:265) state that phone is a term used in phonetics to refer to the smallest perceptible discrete segment of sound in a stream of speech, and phoneme is the minimal unit in the sound system of a language.

            According to Francis (1958:589-594) allophone is a class of identical speech sound which is one of a group making up a phoneme.

B. The Production of Sounds.

            The production of sound is possible because of the cooperation of four aspects. Those four aspects are :

a. The Air –Stream Mechanism.

            An air-stream is the basis of the whole of the human speech sounds. An air stream is produced by an air-stream mechanism. There are three main types of air-stream mechanisms in human sound-producing system, namely :

(1) Pulmonic air stream mechanism.

(2) Glottalic air-stream mechanism.

(3) Velaric air-stream mechanism.

            Among these three air stream mechanism, only the pulmonic air stream mechanism that plays an important role in the production of speech sounds; the other two also play a role in the production of sounds, but most of them are not linguistic.

            The pulmonic air stream mechanism consist of the lungs and the respiratory muscles. The respiratory muscles move the lungs, so that air is either drawn into the lungs or pushed out of them. The air stream drawn into the lungs is called the ingressive air stream, and the air stream pushed out of the lungs is called egressive air stream. The air stream which plays a very important role in the production of linguistic sounds is the egressive air stream.

b. The speech organs or articulators.

            The articulators also play a very important role in the production of speech sounds. These articulators lie in the head, particularly in the mouth. These articulators are commonly divided into :

(1) Active articulators

            The active articulators are the articulators that can move toward the passive articulators and include  the lower lip, the lower teeth, the tip of the tongue, the blade of the tongue, the body or front of the tongue , and the back of the tongue and the velum.

(2) Passive articulators

            The passive articulators are the articulators that cannot move and lie in the upper part of the mouth. They include the upper lip, the upper teeth, the teeth ridge, the hard palate, and the front part of the soft palate.

b. The Glottis.

            The pulmonic air stream on its way into or out from the lungs has to pass the wind pipe or trachea lying at the top of the larinx. The larinx also plays an important role in the production of speech sounds. The most important part of the larynx is the vocal cords. The space between the vocal cords is called the glottis.

There are three primary states of the glottis, namely :

(1)          Open glottis

(2)          Glottis in vibration

(3)          Closed glottis.

            When the vocal cords are pulled apart, the air stream passes directly through the glottis. Sounds produced with the vocal cords in this state is said to be Voiceless sounds, namely, sounds produced without the vibration of tge vocal cords.

            When the vocal cords are brought close together, but not tightly closed, the air stream passing between them causes them to vibrate, producing the so-called voiced sounds.

            The vocal cords can also be brought together tightly, and this is the state for producing glottal stop.  

c. The Velum.

C.  The Classification Of Sounds.

            The most basic classification among sounds is into two main classes, namely :

1. Consonant.

            All consonant can be classified on the basis of  (1) the place of articulation, (2) the manner of articulation, (3) the voicing or voiceless ness. The manner of articulation is the modification of the lips, tongue, glottis, and velum in different types of sounds.

            Based on the place of articulation, consonant are classified into :

a. Billabial consonants.

            Bilabial consonants are consonants articulated with closure or near closer of the lips. The bilabial consonant in English are : p, b, m, and w.

b. Labiodental consonants.

            Labiodental consonants are consonants articulated by the lower lip and the upper teeth. The labiodental consonants in English are : f, and v.

c. Dental consonants

            Dental consonants are consonants articulated by putting the tip of the tongue between the upper teeth and the lower teeth. The dental consonants in English are :

d. Alveolar consonants.

            Alveolar consonants are consonants articulated by raising the tip of the tongue against the teeth-ridge. The alveolar consonants in English are : t, d, s, z, n, l, and r.

e. Alveopalatal consonants.

            Alveopalatal consonants are consonants articulated by raising the blade of the tongue against the alveopalatal area just the behind the alveolar ridge. The alveopalatal consonants in English are : c, j, s, and z.                                                        

f. Palatal consonant.                                                          

            Palatal consonant is a consonant articulated by raising the body of the tongue against the hard palate. There is only one palatal consonant in English, that is, y.

g. Velar consonants.

            Velar consonants are consonants articulated by raising the back of the tongue against the soft palate. The velar consonants in English are : k, g, and n.

h. Glottal Consonant.

            Glottal consonant is a consonant articulated by adjusting the glottal opening to state other than voicing or voicelessness. There is only one glottal consonant in English, that is, h.

Based on the manner of articulation, consonants are classified as follows :

a.  Stops or plosives. In the world’s language, stops are found at billabial, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar, and glottal points of articulation. The stops in English are : p, b, t, d, k, and g.

b. Fricatives. The fricatives form a special class of continuants; during the their production , they are accompanied by a continuous audible noise. The air-stream passes through a very narrow opening, resulting in turbulence, which causes the noise. The fricatives in English are : f, v, o, o, s, z, s, z, and h.

c.  Affricates. When a stop is released, the tongue moves rapidly away from the point of articulation. Some non-continuant consonants show a slow release of the closure, these sounds are called affricates. English has only two affricates, both of which are alveopalatals. They are heard initially in church and jump, and are transcribed as/ c / and / j / respectively. 

d. Liquids. Among the sounds commonly found in the world’s language are l and r and their numerous variants. They form a special class of consonants known as liquids. The liquids in English are : l and r.

e. Glides. A type of sound that shows properties of both consonants and vowels is called glide. Glides may be thought of as rapidly articulated vowels; that is the auditory impression they produce. Glides are produces with an articulation like that of a vowel. Howefer, they move quickly to another articulation, as do the initial glides in yes or wet or quickly terminate, as do the word-final glides in boy and now. Even though they are vowel-like in articulation, glides function as consonants

Based on the voicing or voicelessness, consonants are classified into two groups, namely :

a. Voiced consonants. Voiced consonants are consonants produced with the vibration of the vocal cords.The voiced consonants in English are : b, d, g, j, v, o, z, z, m, n, n, l, r, w, and y.

b. Voiceless consonants. Voiceless consonants are consonants produced without the vibration of the vocal cords. The voiceless consonants in English are : p, t, k, c, f, o, s, s, and h.

1. Vowels.

English vowels are devided into two main types, namely :

a. Simple vowels. Simple vowels do not exhibit a change in quality. Simple vowels can be further classified on the basis of :

(1) The parts of the mouth where they are produced.

            Based on the part of the mouth where vowels are produced, vowels are classified as follows :

(2) The height of the tongue in the mouth.

(3) The shaping of the lips.

b. Diphthongs. Diphthongs are vowels that show a change in quality within a single syllable.

D. Description And Naming Of Sounds.

1. Description and Naming of consonants.

            In the naming of consonant, three criteria or parameters are used, namely :

a. The place of articulation.

b. The manner of articulation.

c. Whether the consonant is voiced or voiceless.

Example :

[p] : voiceless bilabial stop.

[d] : voiced alveolar stop.

2. Description and Naming of Vowels.

Vowels are described and named by using three parameters, namely :

a.The part of the mouth where they are produced.

b.The height of the tongue in the mouth.

c.Whether the lips are rounded or not rounded.

Example :

[i:] : unround high front vowel.                             

[u:] : round high back vowel.