Contrastive Analysis Cantonese Definition of Terms

18 study that deals with human speech sounds has a broad range of attempts to describe all of the sounds known as human language world wide, a specification has to be made. According to Dobrovolsky and Katamba 1996, there are two approaches to phonetics, articulatory phonetics and acoustic phonetics. Articulatory phonetics according to Dobrovolsky and Katamba studies “the physiological mechanism of speech production”. Whereas acoustic phonetics studies the measurement and analysis of the physical properties of the produced speech sounds. They emphasize that “both approaches are indispensable to an understanding of speech p. 16.” Using another term, Collins and Mees 2003 describe phonetics a s “the science of speech sound”. They explain that mastering the science of speech sound is both prerequisite and beneficial in language learning. Studying phonetics is going to help one to “discover much” about the sounds of the studied language in terms of how the should be perceived and produced. It will also help one improving his or her “pronunciation and listening abilities” p. 2. Jones 1975 defines phonetics in a more technical manner as compared to Collins and Mees 2003. He defines phonetics as “the study on the acoustic effects voluntarily performed by human being organs of speech”. Thus, he implies that phonetics deal with “spoken language” in which it consists of “successions of phones emitted by the organs of speech, to gether with certain prosodies” p. 1. 19 2.1.2 Theories on the Definition of Speech Production Dobrovolsky and Katamba 1996 explain that “sound is produced when air is set in motion.” The term set in motion here refers to the understanding that the air supply, being provided by the lungs, is being manipulated throughout the whole vocal tract by various organs so that this air supply can be recognized as speech sounds. The source of sound, according to them, is in the larynx, where the air is processed by the vocal cords. The air, which has been processed, passes the pharynx, and then the oral cavity, and the nasal cavity p. 19. Thus is the explanation of the sound-producing system according to Dobrovolsky and Katamba 1996. Based on their explanation, it can be said that speech-sounds are products of the moving air that goes through the vocal tract. In a positive agreement, Indriani 2005 elucidates that “the air-stream provided by the lungs undergoes important modifications in the upper stages of t he respiratory tract … p. 1” This is what differentiate hum an sound with those of animals‟, that the sound produced by people “undergoes important modifications” so that “it acquires the quality of a speech sound ” p. 1. So, it can be implied that in order to be properly produced, a speech sound needs to undergo the right modification through modification occurring in the trachea, up to the upper cavities; the oral and the nasal cavities.