Linguistics 314: Introduction to Phonetics

Fall 2007

• Prerequisite: LING 201 (current enrollment OK)
• Time and room: Tuesday, Thursday 12:30 – 1:45, Harvill 313
• Prof: Ying Lin [?i&N li&n]
• Email: yinglin@u.arizona.edu
• Phone: 626-0678
• Office: Douglass 305
• Office hour: Tuesday, Thursday 2:00 – 3:00 (by appt)

 

• TA: Amy Lacross [eImi l´k®As]
• Email: lacross@u.arizona.edu
• Office: Douglass 318b
• Office hour: Friday, 11:00-12:00 (by appt)

 

• Course webpage: D2L (http://d2l.arizona.edu, login required) will be used for announcements, lecture notes, discussions, additional materials and grades. Please check it regularly.

 

• Email protocol: you may email the professor for administrative issues. Do not use the D2L email since I do not check it regularly. For class-related questions, the D2L discussion board is the preferred method of communication.

 

• Texts (available in the bookstore and library reserve):
• (Required) Ladefoged, Peter. 2006. A Course in Phonetics, 5^th ed. (older versions can also be used)
• (Optional) Ladefoged, Peter. 1996. Elements of Acoustic Phonetics, 2^nd ed.

 

• Learning Objectives Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to do the following:
• Describe consonants and vowels with the correct phonetic terminology.
• Identify and name the main articulators used in speech production.
• Produce novel words written in the International Phonetic Alphabet (including the tone symbols).
• Use the IPA to conduct both broad and narrow transcriptions of English and other languages.
• Use the notion of phonemes and allophones to describe the basic sound patterns of any language.
• Carry out phonetic transcription with the assistance of computer software.
• Use computer software to measure basic acoustic parameters of speech sounds: voice onset time, pitch, formants, etc.
• Read and interpret the basic information contained in a spectrogram.
• Apply the knowledge of phonetics to evaluate the effectiveness of speech technology.

 

• Grading and Assignments (see course schedule for due dates):
• There will be no written exams for this course.
• Preliminary report on your term project, 2% of the final grade.
• Script used for your recording, 3% of the final grade.
• Term paper: 30% of the final grade.
• 5 homework assignments, 4% each.
• 5 mini-quizzes, 4% each.
• A phonetic transcription exam, 10% of the final grade.
• An individual production exam, 15% of the final grade.

 

• Term project: An important requirement for this course (35% of the grade) is a description of the basic phonetic facts of a language that you choose and work on independently. The description must be based on the actual speech of a native speaker-consultant.
• Goal: This project is designed to give you an opportunity to practice your skills of listening to and transcribing the speech sounds of a language other than English. You will also get experience working with phonemes and allophones, and in doing library research. It is also an opportunity to learn about a language that interests you.

 

• Basic idea: You find a speaker to work with; you do research on the sounds of that language and find out how your speaker pronounces those sounds; you make a list of words that illustrate the sounds; you make a tape recording of your speaker saying those words; you transcribe your recording and write about your findings. You turn in your recording and transcription as well as your paper.

 

• First step: Select a language and speaker. Choose a language that sounds interesting to you and for which you can find a speaker (NOT yourself). The speaker should be someone who is willing to help you (that is, will meet with you for several hours over the quarter), will still be around between the 10^th week and the end of the semester, and is a true native speaker who still speaks the language fluently. The speaker can speak any dialect of the language. Extra consideration will be given for projects on more difficult languages (e.g. languages with many consonants or vowels, tone languages; languages with little prior documentation). Try to think of speakers of possible languages: friends, relatives, fellow students, neighbors, co-workers. Two students in this class may not work with the same speaker. You may not use yourself as the speaker. It is easier if both you and the consultant can read the orthography of the language, but not absolutely necessary. In case you cannot think of anyone, the Center for English as a Second Language (CESL) on campus offers a language exchange program in which you can be paired with a foreign student. You can call their office for more details.

 

• Preliminary project reports: The first of these states the language and speaker-consultant to be studied, and lists one or more reference sources on the language. The second of these is a preliminary draft of the word list to be recorded for the project. Specific instructions for these reports will be given out later. These reports should be within 1 page each.

 

• Recording: You may use a digital device, such as a laptop or an audio player, to make your recording. If you have your own decent recording equipment, you could also record the speaker yourself at a more convenient location -- AS LONG AS IT IS QUIET.

 

• Final paper: The main task is transcribing your recording, using the International Phonetic Alphabet symbols. The transcription will be graded by listening to the recording. Acoustic analysis, when appropriate, can aso be added to the final paper. The paper should not exceed 15 pages, double-spaced.

 

• Rules and regulations:
• Academic integrity is a must. It’s OK to work together, but you should write up your homework separately and indicate the person(s) whom you collaborated with.
• Special accommodations for students with disabilities: please let me know.
• Credit will be taken off for late work, unless a good reason is given in advance. Homework that is late for more than one week will not be accepted.
• If you have to miss a quiz (because of illness, etc), call me at 626-0678 before class, or give me 24-hour advance notice in order to qualify for a makeup quiz. Makeup quizzes will be given during the TA’s office hour.

 

• Labs:
• Lab work is planned after the 10^th week. The actual dates and location of the lab will be announced in class and in D2L.
• List of topics
• General phonetics (approx 9 weeks)
• Phonology, broad and narrow transcription
• Airstream mechanisms and laryngeal control
• Place and Manner of articulation
• Vowels and vowel-like articulations
• Tones and supra-segmental features
• English phonetics (approx 1 week)
• Acoustic phonetics (approx 5 weeks)
• Basic acoustics
• Periodic and aperiodic sounds
• Pitch and formant
• Spectrogram reading
• Phonetics and technology

 

• References: (on reserve in the library)
• Ladefoged, P. (2001) A Course in Phonetics (4^th edition)
• Ladefoged, P. (1996) Elements of Acoustic Phonetics (2nd edition)
• Johnson, K. (2003) Acoustic and Auditory Phonetics
• Catford, J. C. (1988) A Practical Introduction to Phonetics
  -- helpful on making sounds
• Grimes, B.F. (ed.) (1988) Ethnologue
  -- also available on the web
• Crystal, D. (ed.) An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Language and Languages
  -- basic information on the world's languages
• Comrie, B. (1990) The World's Major Languages
• Maddieson, I. (1984) Patterns of Sounds
  -- gives phonemes and references for 317 languages
• International Phonetic Association (1999) Handbook of the IPA (optional text in bookstore; on reserve in Powell)
  -- gives brief phonetic descriptions of about 25 languages; also good examples of “mini”-term papers.
• Pullum, G. & W. Ladusaw (1996) Phonetic Symbol Guide, 2^nd edition.
  -- useful for interpreting sources written outside the IPA tradition.

 

• Tentative course schedule (subject to change. Check D2L for updates)

 

Week	Dates	Topic	Reading	Assignments due / Tests
1	8/21 – 8/23	overview of course; exploring the vocal tract	Ch. 1
2	8/28 – 8/30	sounds of English; Phonology; broad and narrow transcriptions	Ch. 2	Find language and speaker
3	9/4 – 9/6	Airstream mechanisms; state of the glottis; aspiration; Voice Onset Time	Ch. 6	Quiz 1 9/4 straw demo
4	9/11 – 9/13	Place and manner of articulation	Ch. 7	Quiz 2 9/11 palatography
5	9/18 – 9/20	Place and manner of articulation	Ch. 7	Preliminary report
6	9/25 – 9/27	Vowels; secondary articulation	Ch. 9	Quiz 3 9/25: ultrasound demo
7	10/2 – 10/4	Level tone; pitch accent; contour tones	Ch. 10	Quiz 4
8	10/9 – 10/11	Stress, length, intonation; language demos	Ch. 10	Homework 1 due 10/11: Dutch
9	10/16 – 10/18	English consonants and vowels; more language demos	Ch. 3, 4	Quiz 5 10/16: Georgian 10/18: Finnish
10	10/23 – 10/25	Summary and practice; Transcription exam	Ch. 11	10/23: Mandarin Production exam on 10/25 and 10/26
11	10/30 – 11/1	Sound wave, loudness, frequency, pitch;	*Ch.1,2	Recording script
12	11/6 – 11/8	Complex wave; wave analysis; spectrum and spectrogram	*Ch.3,4	Homework 2 due
13	11/13 – 11/15	Resonance, formants; source-filter theory of speech;	*Ch. 5	Start recording
14	11/20	Aperiodic sounds; acoustics of consonants;	Ch. 8	Homework 3 due
15	11/27 – 11/29	Coarticulation, spectrogram reading	Ch. 8
16	12/4	Phonetics and technology		Homework 4 due
Exam	12/11	Term paper due at 5pm		Homework 5 due

            * Chapters from the optional textbook.