Overview

How do you make a “P” sound? You close your lips, build up air pressure, and release it. Phonetics is the physics and biology of speech.

Core Idea

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA): A system where one symbol = one sound. English spelling is a mess (“tough”, “though”, “thought”), but IPA is consistent.

  • “Cat” = /kæt/
  • “Fish” = /fɪʃ/

Formal Definition (if applicable)

Articulatory Phonetics: How the vocal tract (tongue, lips, teeth) makes sounds.

  • Place of Articulation: Where the obstruction is (Bilabial = Lips).
  • Manner of Articulation: How the air is stopped (Stop, Fricative, Nasal).
  • Voicing: Are the vocal cords vibrating? (S vs. Z).

Intuition

Put your hand on your throat. Say “Ssssss.” Now say “Zzzzzz.” You feel a buzz for Z. That’s voicing. Your mouth is in the exact same shape for both.

Examples

  • Vowels: Made with an open mouth. Defined by tongue height (High/Low) and frontness (Front/Back).
  • Consonants: Made by blocking air.
  • Clicks: Sounds used in some African languages (Xhosa) but not English.

Common Misconceptions

  • “Letters are sounds.” (No, “Th” is two letters but one sound /θ/ or /ð/).
  • “Accents are wrong.” (Every dialect has a consistent phonetic system).
  • Acoustic Phonetics: Analyzing sound waves (Spectrograms).
  • Auditory Phonetics: How the ear and brain hear sound.

Applications

  • Speech Therapy: Helping people pronounce words correctly.
  • Forensics: Voice identification.
  • Acting: Learning accents.

Criticism / Limitations

It treats sounds in isolation, but in real speech, sounds blur together (Coarticulation).

Further Reading

  • Ladefoged, A Course in Phonetics
  • International Phonetic Association, Handbook of the IPA