Student’s name: Đặng Huỳnh Giao

Student’s code: DC25V1K505

MIDTERM EXAM
* Essay question: Explain the opinion: Phonetics is different from phonology;
however, thanks to them, we can master the English speech.
The given opinion is completely correct because although phonetics and phonology are
different in their focus, they are both essential partners that allow learners to master
English speech with both accuracy and fluency.
Phonetics is the study of physical properties of speech sounds. It examines the
articulatory phonetics (how speech sounds are produced), acoustic phonetics (how speech
sounds are transmitted), and auditory phonetics (how speech sounds are received).
Phonetics is studied by language learners to improve their pronunciation. For those
learning English, the goal is to master accurate word pronunciation. To achieve exact
sounds, learners need to focus on three essential things in phonetics: (1) organs of speech,
(2) sound production, and (3) transcription.
1. The organs of speech are only parts of the digestive and respiratory system. The organs
include the lungs, the larynx, the pharynx, the oral cavity, and the nasal cavity. Learning
about these organs is to know where sounds come from and how the body creates them.
2. The production of speech sounds is accomplished through the simultaneous activities
of a number of different anatomical organs, no one of which is exclusively designed for
speech production. The sound production includes two ways to describe sounds: First,
based on the airstream mechanism. Second, based on the function of the organs of
speech. Learning sound production is to know how to position speech organs to make
correct sounds.
[Link] transcription may be considered as the ways in which learners use a special system
of symbols to replace the sounds that can be produced. This system is special because of
the one-to-one relationship between the symbols and the sounds (one symbol, one sound
with no exception). There are two main ways to transcribe speech sounds: phonological
transcription (transcribe the general abstract sounds in the system by using slashes or
slanted lines / /, and phonetic transcription ( transcribe the sounds with diacritics that
can really be produced in square brackets [ ]. The purpose of transcription is to help
learners look at symbols to pronounce words correctly and identify the exact sounds.
Speech sounds can be divided into two groups: (1) segmentals and (2) supra-segmentals.
1. A segmental sound is any linguistic unit in a sequence which may be isolated from the
rest of the sequence. A sound segment is a sound in an utterance which can be segmented
on a linear axis. For example, in the word "cat" /kæt/, each individual sound, /k/, /æ/, or
/t/, is a segmental sound. From a practical point of view, it is convenient to distinguish
two types of speech sounds: vowels or non-vowels. Vowels are produced without any
clear obstruction to the airstream and can stand in isolation. All vowels are voiced
sounds. Non-vowels are divided into semi-vowels/glides and consonants. Consonants are
produced with a clear obstruction to the airstream. They can be voiced or voiceless
sounds, but they cannot stand alone; there must be a vowel before or after them. Semi-
vowels/glides are groups of sounds which act like both consonants and vowels. They are
like consonants because they cannot stand alone, but they are like vowels because they
can be produced without any clear obstruction to the airstream.
2. The supra-segmental sound features are those that cannot be segmented on a linear
axis. They can be stress, length, and pitch, etc. For example, the word "table" has the
stress on the first syllable. It cannot be cut or isolated into a separate letter or segment on
a linear axis.
While phonetics focuses on physical properties of speech sounds, phonology deals with
the abstract sound system of a language. It investigates the organisation of speech sounds
in a particular language. This is the study of the ways in which speech sounds form
systems and patterns. Phonology is studied by people who need to master the sound
systems of a language and to achieve fluency in speech language. To achieve this, three
essential things to learn in phonology will be (1) phonemes, (2) phonological rules, and
(3) the factors leading to fluency.
1. A phoneme can be understood in two ways: Phoneme is the smallest contrastive
language unit, which exists in the speech of all people belonging to the same language
community in the form of speech sounds and may bring about a change in meaning. At
the same time, a phoneme can be viewed as the representative of a class of sounds which
are phonetically similar and are either in complementary distribution or in free variation.
Learning phonemes helps learners master the abstract system of a language and avoid
misunderstanding between similar words.
2. Phonological rules are the description of a relationship between a phoneme and its
allophones and the condition environment in which the allophones appear. Phonological
rules make sequences of sounds easier to pronounce, and make sounds easier to perceive.
Some phonological rules include aspiration, assimilation, dissimilation,...
3. The factors leading to fluency involve stress, rhythm, and intonation, pitches, to name
a few. All of these factors aim to make learners' speech flow smoothly and sound more
like a native speaker.
In conclusion, phonetics and phonology are two related but distinct areas of linguistics
that deal with the sounds of human language. While phonetics focuses on the physical
properties of speech sounds, such as how they are produced, transmitted, and received,
phonology studies the abstract sound system of a language, including the phonemes,
phonological rules, and the factors leading to fluency. Phonetics ensures that learners
pronounce every single word correctly, whereas phonology ensures that their entire
speech flows naturally and meaningfully. By studying both phonetics and phonology,
language learners can gain a deeper understanding of the sounds of language, which can
help them pronounce words accurately and achieve fluency.
1. The organs of speech are the organs in human bodies that are used to produce speech
sounds. In fact, what we call the organs of speech are only parts of the digestive and
respiratory systems. The organs include the lungs, the larynx, the pharynx, the oral cavity,
and the nasal cavity.
1.1 The lungs are two sack-like respiratory organs located in the thorax. They furnish the
airstream that is necessary to produce sounds. The sounds made from the airstream from
the lungs are called pulmonic egressing sounds. If you don't take in air from the lungs,
you can't produce speech sounds. For example, you cannot even say a simple letter like
"a" or "b" when you hold your breath.
1.2 The larynx, usually called the voice box, contains the vocal cords, where sounds are
produced. The vocal cords are a pair of elastic bands attached to the wall of the larynx
just behind the Adam's apple. The opening between the vocal cords is called the glottis.
The most important quality of the vocal cords is their elasticity. When the vocal cords are
half-open, they vibrate, producing voiced sounds. When they are open, they do not
vibrate, producing voiceless sounds. For instance, when we produce voiceless sounds like
/s/ or /f/, the vocal cords are open and do not vibrate; conversely, when we produce
voiced sounds like /z/ or /v/, they are half-open and vibrate.
1.3 The pharynx is the cavity located in the throat immediately behind the mouth. This is
where we can find the uvula. The uvula can be raised to form oral sounds, or lowered to
form nasal sounds. For example, ưhen the uvula is raised, it blocks the nasal cavity to
produce oral sounds like /b/ or /d/; conversely, when it is lowered, it opens the nasal path
to produce nasal sounds like /m/, /n/, or /ŋ/.
1.4
11/P32: Describe the existence (appearance) of the phonetic alphabet.
The creation of phonetic transcription basically comes from the fact that spelling and
pronunciation in many languages don't really match. In linguistics, standard alphabet
letters can have two types of relationships with speech sounds, which are orthography
and non-orthography. Orthography means consistency, where there is a direct one-to-one
connection between letters and sounds, while non-orthography means inconsistency,
meaning that letters and sounds do not match at all. For instance, Vietnamese is a highly
orthographic language because the letter "a" is always pronounced as /a/. On the other
hand, English is very non-orthographic because a single letter like "a" can turn into
completely different sounds in words like cat /æ/, baby /eɪ/, car /ɑː/, and about /ə/. Also, it
goes the other way around too, like the single sound /f/ can be written in many different
ways like fan, phone, or laugh. Because English spelling is so messy and chaotic, the
normal alphabet cannot show us how to pronounce words accurately. To fix this big
problem, linguists invented the Phonetic Alphabet. This system is special because of one-
to-one relationship between the symbols and the sounds (one symbol – one sound with no
exception), which completely helps get rid of the confusion of traditional spelling.