SPEECH ORGANS
PHONETICS is a subject of linguistics that studies speech sounds.
Therefore deals with the ability of human beings to produce sound and analyzes the range of possible speech sounds.
Phonetics is the study of how sounds are received and decoded by the brain.
Phonetics deals with speech sounds as physical things, the way sounds are produced and methods of their classification.
It includes an analysis of the physical properties of speech sounds such as: physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory perception and neurophysiological status
Phonetics is further divided into many branches.
1. Articulatory phonetics:
it studies how the air is modified by the structures of the respiratory systems to produce sounds. These structures are called organs of speech and are: trachea, larynx, vocal cords, glottis, epiglottis, pharyngeal-throat, nasal- nose, and oral - mouth - cavities.
For instance If a person wants to deliver the word "meet", firstly he or she need to put the lips together, then air is taken out from your lungs to the articulators, therefore the vibration began and produce noise. The process results in the production of the "m".
Look the diagram below
2. Acoustic phonetics:
it studies the acoustic and physical properties of speech
sounds and how that speech is perceived by the listener's ears. It deals with amplitude during sound transmission from speaker to hearer, from mouth of the speaker to the ear of the receiver.
3. Auditory phonetics:
it focuses on the active listener but not the producer of speech. Therefore, auditory Phonetics is the studies of how sounds are decoded by the brain after they are transmitted to the ear.
VOWELS
These are those units of sounds which are produced when air stream from the lungs is interrupted.
English Language has 12 vowel sounds, it has seven short vowel and five long vowels.
The Short Vowels
1. /ae/ as in bat, cat, man.
2. /e/ as in bet, tell.
3. /in/ in bit, fill. It is produced with the front part of the tongue.
4. /o/ as in pot, not, rod.
5. /a/ as in mud, bud, hut.
6. /U/ as in full, pull, look.
It is produced in the back part of the tongue and is close to the mouth and the lips are rounded.
7. /2/ as in mother. It is produced with the central part of the tongue, being mid-way between the floor and the root of the mouth.
LONG VOWELS
In the transcription, the symbol /:/ indicate that the vowel is long.
1. /a:/ as in card, dark, park, at the back of the tong.
2. /i:/ as in beat, feel, and been.
3. /j:/ as in port, cord and word at back part of the tongue.
4. /u:/ as in fool , pool, food back part of the tongue.
5. /3:/ as in burn, bird, ward central part of the tongue.
