This course is an introduction to the general principles and concepts of linguistic phonetics. You will learn about the articulatory and acoustic properties of speech sounds from languages around the world, through audiovisual materials and hands-on projects.
Topics covered
- Basic acoustics for speech analysis
- How are sound waves produced, and what are their general properties?
- What are formants, and how are their frequencies determined?
- The use of speech analysis software for investigating
the acoustic properties of speech sounds
- What are the acoustic properties of different kinds of sounds?
- Which acoustic properties are linguistically relevant?
- The articulation of speech sounds, including the
anatomy of the vocal tract and the physiology
of speech production
- How, physically, are speech sounds produced?
- Which articulatory properties are linguistically relevant?
- How does articulation relate to acoustics?
- The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as a system for transcribing speech sounds
Required textbooks
Available at the campus bookstore at the beginning of the Fall 2008 semester
- Johnson (2003), Acoustic & Articulatory Phonetics (2nd edition only)
- Ladefoged (2005), Vowels and Consonants (2nd edition preferred, but 1st edition also acceptable)