Introduction

Phonetics (Part 1)

Articulatory phonetics:

• how speech sounds are produced in mouth
• basis of phonology

Acoustic phonetics:

• study of acoustic signals
• spectrograms

Auditory phonetics:

• studying of hearing and perception
• ear and brain

Phonology (Part 2)

How languages organize sounds into different patterns

Goal is to understand the rules of sound patterns (grammar)

• Organizing sounds

Articulatory Phonetics

Vocal tract:

• Sub-laryngeal (sub-glottal) = Below the larynx at throat
• larynx = Throat
• supra-larygeal = Above, many organs

The whole vocal tract is secondarily adapted for speech (because they serve other biological functions, and they are found in other species)

Visualiztion

• Dissection
• Imaging (X-ray, ultrasound, magnetic resonance)
  • X-ray not common: Dangerous, teeth are hard tissue and in the way, soft tissue pass through
  • Ultrasound: Cheaper, easier, safer
  • MRI: Clearest but most expensive

Airstream Mechanisms

• Pulmmonic (lung) Egressive (outward) airstream mechanism
  • Inhaling: Diaphragm flatterns –> Lungs expand –> Vol up –> pressure decrease –> draw air in.
  • Exhaling: Opposite
• There are other tyeps of airstream mechanisms!

State of Larynx

Larynx: Pitch and voicing

• Vocal folds
  • Vocalis muscle
  • Glottis (is it open/closed)
    • Space between the vocal folds
    • Glottal stop (Holding breath): When pulled together vocal cords tightly, traps air below the vocal folds
  • Vocal ligament

When no vocal folds are moving, any sounds created are voiceless sounds {fundamental frequency, F0}

Rate of vibration of vocal folds determines pitch

• No vibration = no pitch.
• Faster vibration, higher pitch
• Larger vocal folds = Vibrate more slowly = Lower pitch
• More stretched out = More tense = Higher pitch (Pulling vocal folds very tight)

Active and Passive Articulators

Shaping of the air is in the supra-larygeal vocal tract.

• Active articulators (lower lip, tongue) move during speech
  • technically larynx but it is not supra-laryngeal and doesn’t move towards a passive articulator
• Passive articulators (everything else)
  • Velum aka soft palate can be moved but it is a passive articulator cos tongue moves towards it
  • Velum is typically used for controlling between nasal/vocal

Why are we the only speakers?

Hypothesis 1: Anatomical changes

• Larynx is lower than our closest relatives
  • Chimpanzees and bonobos
  • Comparison with the position of the hyoid bone
  • Our larynx has descennded at some point
• Descended larynx = stretches out pharynx
  • Bigger pharyngeal space at the bac of the mouth to produce bigger variety of speech sounds

Babies cannot talk

• Babies can start babbling (first speech sounds) after the larynx descends
• Speech seems to only start to develop after larynx descends??

BUT some animals have permanently descended larynx too, and some mammals can temporarily lower larynx

Hypothesis 2: Behavioural changes

• Development of language and speech
  • Caused humans to permanently adopt that lowered position

Archeological records:

• Paleontology: Homo erectus/sapiens (500k – 200k years ago) already had requisite anatomy for speech
• Some form of language must have existed for dispersion from Africa (>50k years ago)
• Earliest form of written language (5k years ago)

Disadvantage of lowered larynx

• Increased risk of choking (food entering windpipe)
  • In humans, epiglottis and velum never touch
  • In primates, epiglottis and velum actually overlap
    • And when swallowing, velum lifts to block the windpipe