Communication and Language

• Phonetics test notes from April 22 cover communication and language.
• Addresses the differences between communication and language.

Communication

• Defined as a universal phenomenon involving interaction and information transmission through different systems.

Language

• It’s a system employing arbitrary vocal symbols for social group cooperation.

Properties of Language

• Language allows generating infinite sentences/ideas from a finite set of rules/words.
• Consists of distinct units like sounds/words combinable to create meaning.
• Speakers and listeners can interchange roles freely during communication.
• Ability to create/understand novel utterances combining existing linguistic elements.
• Lacks inherent connection between a word's form/sound and meaning.
• Allows communication about non-present things, like past events or future scenarios.
• Language can refer to and describe itself, analyzing rules, structures, and meanings.

General Human Language Features

• Human language is primarily transmitted via speech & received by hearing.
• Speech sounds radiate, allowing nearby individuals to hear.
• Humans can identify a sound's origin, locating the speaker.
• Speakers can listen to and monitor their own speech for self-correction.

Associated Disciplines

• Phonetics: Studies speech's physical sounds (production/perception), e.g., "bat" vs. "pat."
• Phonology: Studies how sounds function in a language, e.g., "ng" doesn't start English words.
• Morphology: Studies word structure/formation from morphemes, e.g., "unhappiness" = un- + happy + -ness.
• Syntax: Studies sentence structure/grammar, e.g., "The cat sat on the mat" vs. "Sat the cat mat on."
• Semantics: Studies meaning in language; "bachelor" means unmarried man.
• Pragmatics: Studies how context affects language use/interpretation, e.g., "Can you pass the salt?" is a request.

The Role of Phonetics in Linguistics

• Phonetics studies the physical sounds of speech.
• Articulation: How speech sounds are produced by the vocal apparatus.
• Acoustics: The transmission of sound waves.
• Auditory perception: How the brain processes sound.
• Phonology studies sounds’ organization/use in a linguistic system, including interactions/patterns/rules.

Phonetics and Phonology

• Phonetics studies speech sounds' physical properties (production, transmission, perception).
• Phonology studies sounds’ function, organization, and governing rules within a language.
• Phonetics focuses on the physical aspect of sounds.
• Phonology focuses on the rules/patterns of sounds in a language.

Mechanism of Sound Production

• Articulation: Distinguishing speech sounds in the mouth.
• Resonance: Air passes through the larynx into the oral/nasal cavity.
• Phonation: Air passes through the larynx, with vocal cords creating phonation.
• Airstream: How the speech sound begins.

Speech Chain

• Begins with a thought transformed into linguistic expressions in the brain.
• Expressions are articulated via the vocal apparatus and transmitted as sound waves.
• The listener's ear detects these sounds, processed and understood by the brain.

Vowel Sounds

• Produced with an open vocal tract.
• Characterized by tongue height (high, mid, low), tongue position (front, central, back), and lip rounding (rounded/unrounded).
• Vowel sounds can be identified based on tongue height, tongue position, and lip rounding descriptions.
• A high front vowel corresponds to the /i/ sound (as in "see").
• A low back vowel corresponds to the /a/ sound (as in "father").
• Phonetic symbols represent specific sounds.
• /i/ represents the sound in "see."
• /æ/ represents the sound in "cat."
• // represents the sound in "dog" (in certain accents).