Concept of Articulation in Phonetics - Essay Example

Harris Kamran Linguistics Discussion Paper 23 August Concept of Articulation in Phonetics The study of language and linguistics involves terminologies and concepts that are often overlapping in their nature and usage. This is especially true of the use of similar meaning words when used informally or lightly in fields such as language teaching, and language criticism. A case in point is the substituting use of the terms pronunciation and articulation in language classes. Although these terms may seem to have similar meanings and connotations, they are inherently different in their context and usage, especially as they apply to phonetics. This paper purports to highlight the distinct characteristics of the two terminologies with regard to their usage in phonetics, and to present a detailed discussion of the term articulation with respect to phonetics. Phonetics is basically the study of the sounds of human language as they relate to their acoustic and articulatory properties (Mendoza-Denton, Hendricks, & Kennedy 2001). The field o f phonetics is concerned with the study of the physiology and mechanics of the production of sound in the form of speech (Mendoza-Denton, Hendricks, & Kennedy 2001), the differences in the articulatory and acoustic processes and properties of the consonants and vowels (Mendoza-Denton, Hendricks, & Kennedy 2001), and the differences in these variables according to the geographical and cultural variations (Mendoza-Denton, Hendricks, & Kennedy 2001). The word pronunciation is described in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2011) as the act of employing the organs of speech to produce verbally the components of spoken language. This means that pronunciation is essentially the practice of speaking the language, any language, correctly. The pronunciation of words, therefore, would mean the uttering of such sounds as are appropriate for the verbal production of the said words. The act of pronunciation applies both to the individual words, and to the speech over all (SABES 2009), so that its components include the ‘segmental or individual sounds’ (SABES 2009) of the words, and the over all ‘intonation, stress, and rhythm’ (SABES 2009) of speech. The term articulation is defined in Dictionary (2011) as ‘the adjustments and movements of speech organs involved in pronouncing a particular sound, taken as a whole’. It is quite obvious from the definition that this term could easily be mistaken and substituted for the term pronunciation if not being careful. In many instances, such a substitution is valid; however, strictly speaking, pronunciation refers to the proper sounds of words as are important to impart their proper meaning (Merriam-Webster 2011), and articulation refers to the act of using our organs of speech in a manner that those sounds as a whole could be produced (Dictionary 2011). To further clarify the context of the term of articulation, we will now discuss the meaning of the pertinent term with respect to phonetics, and the components of this term in the field of phonetics. The term articulation is more commonly used in phonetics than pronunciation, as both articulation and phonetics deal with the usage of speech organs so that verbal sounds could be uttered; the former being the act of such sound production, and the latter being the study of those sounds, the manner in which they are produced, and the differences thereof. There are several components of articulation with regard to phonetics, such as stop articulation, resonant articulations, multiple articulations, intersegmental coordination between articulations, segmental duration, pitch and loudness, stress and weight, and continuity and rate (Laver 1994). The following is a brief discussion of these components, one by one. Stop articulations are used when the speech or the sentence is to be terminated (Laver 1994: 205). To achieve this, all air flow from the mouth and nose are blocked so that no further articulation can be achieved (Laver 1994: 205). In cases where nasal flow is stopped but oral flow is maintained, nasal articulations are achieved (Laver 1994: 205). The other forms are oral articulations including occlusive and plosive articulations (Laver 1994: 205). The movement of the organs of speech and the vocal tract produces resonances that are termed formants (Laver 1994: 269). These resonances are originally weak so that whispers are produced (Laver 1994: 269). In articulation, such whispers are enhanced so tat strong sounds can be produced as are suitable for the pronunciation of particular words (Laver 1994: 269). This is called resonant articulation. The process of generating more than one articulation at the same time in the vocal tract through the generation of strictures is known as multiple articulations (Laver 1994: 314). If both the articulations are the same in intensity, they are termed double articulations (Laver 1994: 314). If one weaker than the other in intensity, the weaker articulation is known as secondary articulation (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2011). Intersegmental coordination in articulations refers to the coordinations among the production of sounds of different words (Laver 1994: 339), segmental articulation being related to the articulation of one word (SABES 2009). Similarly, segmental duration refers to the period of articulation that is designated to each word so that the over all sentence could be produced with its proper intonations (Laver 1994: 431). Different words require a select range of pitch and loudness so that their proper intonation and articulation could be achieved (Laver 1994: 450). This adjustment can be brought about by the process of resonant articulation (Laver 1994: 269). The stress and weight that needs to be placed on each segmental articulation (SABES 2009) is determined by each word in order to produce a suitable articulation for that word (Laver 1994: 511). This stress and weight then determines the over all connotations of the spoken sentence (Laver 1994: 511). The continuity and rate of articulation is determined by the diction (Laver 1994: 534), so that different words are chosen to determine the over all continuity of the sentence, determining its intonation and subsequent connotation (Laver 1994: 534). Naturally, some words are spoken more often than others in general, and sometimes in particular to produce a certain effect to the speech (Laver 1994: 534). All these components apprise the manner of articulation, which is the over all process of generating constrictions and strictures in the vocal tract to produce certain sounds (Laver 1994) . It includes the place of articulation, which refers to the exact spot in the vocal tract where the required constriction is produced in order to generate the articulation according to the general manner of articulation (Laver 1994). Bibliography 2009. Instructional Foundations: Introduction to Pronunciation Strategies (NE). [Online]. SABES. Available: http://calendar.sabes.org/northeast/sabesevent.2009-09-21.3771749262/?searchterm=None. [23 August 2011]. 2011. Articulation. [Online]. Dictionary. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/articulation. [23 August 2011]. 2011. Phonetics. [Online]. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/457255/phonetics/69023/Secondary-articulations. [23 August 2011]. 2011. Pronounce. [Online]. Merriam-Webster. Available: http://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/pronounce?show=0&t=1314085671. [23August 2011]. Laver, J. 1994. Principles of Phonetics. Illustrated edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mendoza-Denton, N., Hendricks, S. & Kennedy, R. 2001. Phonetics. [Online]. Language Samples Project. Available: http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lsp/Phonetics.html. [23August 2011]. Read More