A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON ENGLISH AND MANDARIN CHINESE SPEECH SOUNDS
A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON ENGLISH AND MANDARIN CHINESE SPEECH SOUNDS AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
APRILIANA BETA ULINA
Student Number: 044214060
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009
A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON ENGLISH AND
MANDARIN CHINESE SPEECH SOUNDS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
APRILIANA BETA ULINA
Student Number: 044214060
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009
This Thesis is dedicated to: My lovely parents, brothers and sister, and also all my friends wherever they are…
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude and praise to the
Almighty Jesus Christ for His endless love, blessing and guidance during the process of
completing my thesis. I always believe that there is nothing impossible in Him.My great gratitude is for my beloved parents, S. Sembiring Brahmana and S.
Sebayang , and also my two brothers, Firdaus Sembiring and Rio Mustika Sembiring,
and my only sister, Nindy Rizki Octaviani for their prayer, love, support, and encouragement which help me very much. I would also thank my big family in Medan, especially my grandmother, Iting, and my aunt, Salimah for their prayer.
My deepest gratitude is also addressed to Dra. Bernadine Ria Lestari, M.S., as my advisor, for her guidance and ideas in this thesis. I thank her patience in helping me to accomplish this thesis and spending much time and energy to read, criticize, and correct this thesis. I would also like to thank Anna Fitriati, S. Pd, M. Hum who has been so kind to be my co-advisor of this thesis, and has given some suggestions for the completion of this thesis.
I am also particularly grateful for all lecturers in English Letters Department who have spent their invaluable time in teaching me in the years of my study. I should also like to thank my Mandarin Lecturers; Anita Xi
ăojie and Rusli Lăoshī for borrowing me their books.
I also thank my 65 X friends; Mba Sari, Dhita “Nenek”, Yeni “Emak”, Wella,
Putri “Iput” , Bona, and Della for being such good friends. I also thank my Karate
friends; Sempai Agus, Sempai Yohanes, Sensi, Nency, Dhita, Adi, Eric, Resy, Onel,
Ayub , Nila, Umar, Andri, Donny, and Agus for being me confidence, and always
optimism. I would also love to thank my old best friends in Batulicin, South
Kalimantan ; Abidin “Julak”, Rita, Samsul Alam, Bambang, and Yadin for the time,
guidance and support.I would also express my gratitude to all members of English Letters especially
Pita , Dhita, Atik, Angga, Desy, Caty, John ‘02 and not to forget to my partners in work;
Rini (PBI) , Nia, Rita, Bekti, Irma, mba Tya (Happy Bear), Tiwi, and mba Dewi
(Lingua International) for their support. I also thank everyone who supports me, but I
can not mention them one by one in this page.Apriliana Beta Ulina
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………… i
APPROVAL PAGE .......................................................................................... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE .................................................................................... iii
DEDICATION PAGE ………………………………………………………. iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………… v TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………… viiABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………. viii
ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………………... ix23 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……………………………………….. 33 A. Object of the Study ………………………………………………..
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ……………………………………………… 78 BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………….
The Problems which Cause the Difficulties ………………………. 70
35 B.
33 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………………………………………………… 35 A. The Similarities and Differences …………………………………..
33 C. Method of the Study ……………………………………………….
33 B. Approach of the Study …………………………………………….
6 C. The Classification of Mandarin Chinese Phonetics ……………….
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………….. 1 A. Background of the Study …………………………………………..
5 B. The Classification of English Phonetics …………………………..
4 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ………………………………. 5 A. Definition of Phonetics …………………………………………...
3 E. Definition of Terms ………………………………………………..
3 D. Benefits of the Study ………………………………………………
3 C. Objectives of the Study ……………………………………………
1 B. Problem Formulation ………………………………………………
80
ABSTRACT
APRILIANA BETA ULINA. A Comparative Study on English and Mandarin
Chinese Speech Sounds . Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters,
Sanata Dharma University, 2009.Language is a part of communication system. Everybody uses language in their communication with other people to convey their ideas, wants, emotions, and also their intentions. One way to master a language is learning the sound system because the sounds of a language have a system in combining them into a certain form, so that they have a special meaning. To know about the sounds of language deeply, learners have to learn the science of the speech sounds that are utilized by all human language to represent meanings which is called as Phonetics.
Each language has its uniqueness which differs from other languages, for example, English and Mandarin Chinese. Both languages have some similarities and differences on the speech sounds. Because of that, this thesis has the objective. The objective is identifying and comparing English and Mandarin Chinese speech sounds. It is done to find out the similarities and differences between English and Mandarin Chinese speech sounds.
The methodology used in this study is Library research. The data were from English and Mandarin Chinese phonetics books and all the references about English and Mandarin Chinese speech sounds. The first step the writer did was collecting data and references from library. Then, the writer read those English and Mandarin Chinese phonetics books and all the references to get better understanding. Then, the writer analyzed the data by comparing English and Mandarin Chinese speech sounds. After that, the writer found and analyzed some problems that cause difficulties in pronouncing the English words for Chinese people.
The result of the study shows that there are some differences and similarities in English and Mandarin Chinese speech sounds. One of the similarities is about the concept of phonetics that it is as the study of speech sounds. Besides that, English and Mandarin Chinese are similar on the total of speech sounds. Moreover, most of the consonant sounds of English and Mandarin Chinese can be placed in the initial and final position.
The differences of those two languages can be seen from the distribution. For example, all English vowel can be placed in the initial, medial, and final position, while in Mandarin Chinese, there is only initial position that vowel can be placed or before consonant sound.
ABSTRAK
APRILIANA BETA ULINA. A Comparative Study on English and Mandarin
Chinese Speech Sounds Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,
.Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2009.
Bahasa merupakan bagian dari sistem komunikasi. Setiap orang menggunakan bahasa untuk mengungkapkan ide, hasrat, perasaan, dan maksud mereka terhadap orang lain melalui komunikasi. Cara untuk menguasai suatu bahasa yakni dengan mempelajari sistem bunyi karena bunyi bahasa memiliki sistem dalam mengkombinasikan bunyi tersebut kedalam suatu bentuk, sehingga menghasilkan makna. Untuk memahami bunyi bahasa lebih dalam, para siswa harus mempelajari ilmu tentang bunyi bahasa yang digunakan oleh semua bahasa manusia yang disebut dengan Phonetics.
Setiap bahasa memiliki keunikan yang berbeda dengan bahasa lainnya, sebagai contoh, bahasa Inggris dan Mandarin. Kedua bahasa tersebut memiliki beberapa persamaan dan perbedaan bunyi bahasa. Karena itu, skripsi ini memiliki tujuan, yakni untuk menemukan persamaan dan perbedaan bunyi bahasa antara bahasa Inggris dan bahasa Mandarin.
Metode yang diterapkan dalam penelitian ini yakni penelitian pustaka. Data-data berasal dari buku-buku dan referensi bahasa Inggris dan Mandarin. Tahap pertama yang dilakukan penulis yakni mengumpulkan data-data dan referensi dari perpustakaan. Kemudian, membacanya untuk memahami lebih dalam. Setelah itu, penulis menganalisis data-data tersebut dengan cara membandingkan bunyi bahasa antara bahasa Inggris dan Mandarin. Kemudian, penulis mencari dan meneliti masalah-masalah yang menyebabkan kesulitan bagi siswa Cina untuk melafalkan kata-kata dalam bahasa Inggris.
Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ada beberapa perbedaan dan persamaan bunyi bahasa antara bahasa Inggris dengan bahasa Mandarin. Salah satu persamaan antara bahasa Inggris dengan bahasa Mandarin adalah mengenai konsep phonetics, yakni sebagai ilmu yang mempelajari bunyi bahasa. Selain itu, kedua bahasa tersebut memiliki persamaan jumlah bunyi bahasa. Ditambah lagi semua bunyi konsonan dapat terletak pada awal dan akhir kata. Perbedaan dari kedua bahasa tersebut dapat dilihat dari distribusinya. Sebagai contoh, semua bunyi vokal dalam bahasa Inggris dapat berada di depan, tengah, dan akhir kata, sedangkan dalam bahasa Mandarin, bunyi vowel hanya dapat terletak didepan kata atau sebelum bunyi konsonan.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study The importance of language is naturally very great. Language is a part of
communication system. People can use it in their communication with other people to convey their ideas, wants, emotions, and also their intentions. The greatest part of learning a language is, therefore, learning the sound system. The sounds of a language are not just like series of sounds produced by animals but they have a system in combining them into a certain form so that they have a special meaning. The science dealing with the sounds of language is called phonetics.
In order to know the understanding of phonetics better, we need to know what speech sound is. Speech sounds are certain acoustic effects voluntarily produced by the organ of speech; they are the result of definite actions performed by organs of speech. The sounds of speech are all around us. We use them, we hear them, we enjoy them, and suffer from them, but in general we know remarkably little about them (Daniel Sahaluta, 1998).
Most linguists agree on the basic characteristics of language, namely a means of communication for human beings either in a written or spoken form. This basic communicative function can be included as expression, information, exploration, persuasion, and entertainment (Michael Swan, 1995: 51).
2 Since the writer believes that the greatest part of mastering a language is mastering the sound system, the writer tries to find some problems that cause the difficulties for Chinese people learning the English sounds, especially pronouncing the English words.
The consideration for comparing English with Mandarin Chinese is that English is the most important language in the world, because it functions as an International language. However after many years of study, many students in different countries are still not capable of following the English system. English is different from other languages especially Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is a unique language which has different characteristics from English. For example, Mandarin Chinese is well known as a tonal language. In Mandarin Chinese, a different tone of a sound will refer to a different word with a totally different meaning.
The employing of the four tones to denote different characters in Mandarin Chinese is the most important difference between English and Mandarin Chinese pronunciation.
In English, sound variation for different words is affected by varying the vowel or consonant sounds. These fundamental differences make the difficulties for the Chinese student to master the English sounds. Moreover, Mandarin is the second language in the world. It can be shown by so many people who speak Mandarin Chinese in the world. Besides that, nowadays, there are so many companies and products which are from China, so we also have to master Mandarin Chinese to compete in the job fields.
3
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the difficulties in understanding the English and Mandarin Chinese Speech sounds by the Chinese students, the problems that come up can be formulated as follows :
1. What are the similarities and differences between English and Mandarin Chinese Speech Sounds?
2. What problems cause the difficulties in pronouncing the English words for Chinese people?
C. Objectives of the Study
This study aims at identifying English and Mandarin Chinese Speech Sounds, comparing them in order to find out their similarities and differences, and finding some problems that cause difficulties in pronouncing them. In order to find the similarities and differences, the writer will compare the English and Mandarin Chinese Speech sounds in terms of meaning and distribution.
D. Benefits of the Study
This study hopefully will give us insights that English Speech sounds and Mandarin Chinese Speech sounds have some similarities and differences.
By understanding those similarities and differences between English and Chinese Speech sounds which are revealed by the comparative analysis, we will be able to apply English and Chinese Speech sounds correctly.
4 Finally, the writer hopes that this research will also contribute something useful to anyone who is interested in conducting further study, and to the existing discussions on the field alike.
E. Definitions of Terms
The definition of terms is given in the following to narrow down and to lead the writer to conduct this study :
1. Comparative Study
It may roughly be defined as a sub discipline of linguistics concerning with the comparison of two or more languages or subsystems of languages in order to determine both the differences and similarities between them (Jacek Fisiak, 1987).
2. Phonetics
Phonetics is the study of the speech sounds that are utilized by all human language to represent meanings (Daniel Sahaluta, 1998).
普通话 Mandarin Chinese is the standard language spoken by Chinese officials, most of whom came from Beijing. Standard Mandarin is a formal. Chinese people usually use Standard Mandarin when they speak to a person who does not understand the local dialect. The local dialect (be it non standard Mandarin) is generally used among close family members and friends and in everyday conversation within the local area (http://www.chineselanguage.org.html).
3. Mandarin Chinese/P ŭtōnghuà
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter discusses related theories upon which the study is undertaken,
namely theories of English and Mandarin Chinese Phonetics. The writer assumes that by providing the theories of Phonetics, it will be easier for learners to grasp the core of English Phonetics. In addition, the writer will also present some theories on Mandarin Chinese Phonetics. Those theories about Phonetics are taken from some English and Chinese phonetic books.
A. Definition of Phonetics
Daniel Sahaluta defined Phonetics as the study of the speech sounds that are utilized by all human language to represent meaning (1998).
nd
According to Peter Ladefoged in his 2 edition book A Course in Phonetics, Phonetics is concerned with describing the speech sounds that occur in the languages of the world (1982: 55).
David Crystal defined Phonetics as the study of the production, transmission, and reception of speech sounds, which consists of three main branches: articulatory, acoustic and auditory. Articulatory phonetics is the study of how the vocal tract produces the sounds of language. Articulatory phonetics tries to understand the nature of language by understanding the nature of the sounds produced by the upper respiratory tract and how they are produced. Acoustic phonetics is the study of the
6 physical properties of the sounds themselves, while Auditory phonetics is the study of how speech sounds are heard (1987: 131-132).
B. The Classification of English Phonetics
1. Speech Production
Speech production is the process of planning and executing the act of speech which deals with the propagation of sound through the air . Crystal stated that the air particles are disturbed through the movements and vibrations of the vocal organs, especially vocal folds (Crystal, 1987: 132). Vibration plays an important role in the production of speech.
a. The Air stream Mechanism
It is a method by which airflow is created in the vocal tract (the airway which is used in the production of speech, especially the passage above the larynx, including the pharynx, mouth, and nasal).
Clark and Yallop stated that the air stream mechanisms provide the sources of energy for generating speech sounds, using airflow and pressure in the vocal tract (1990: 56).
2. Articulation
According to John Ohala and Simpson in the Encyclopedia of Language and , the Articulation phase is the final shaping rise to a sound of a quite
Linguistics. Vol.7
7 specific type of manner. Movements of the speech articulators produce slow pressure changes inside the airways of the vocal tract (lungs, pharynx, oral and nasal cavities) and when released, these pressure differentials create audible sound (1994: 3058).
a. Organs of Speech
Clark and Yallop defined organs of speech as all parts of human body which are concerned in various ways with the production of speech (1990: 14).
There are some organs of speech; i. The lips are anterior termination of the oral cavity and the vocal tract. ii. The mouth provides considerable plasticity and mobility to show the vocal tract configurations possible in the articulation of speech (1990: 50). The movements can be opening and closure, rising and lowering, rounding and spreading the upper and the lower lips. iii. Hard Palate is the roof of the mouth directly behind the upper gumridge (the rough upper ridge gum located directly above and behind the upper front teeth). iv. Soft Palate is the portion of the roof of the mouth directly behind the hard palate.
It ends at the back portion of the mouth in a small bulb called uvula (Gordon & Wong, 1961: 9). v. Tongue Blade is the flat surface of the tongue just behind the tip. vi. Tongue body/dorsum is the main part of the tongue, lying below the hard and soft palate. The body, specifically the back part of the body moves to make vowels and many consonants. vii.Tongue root is the lowest part of the tongue in the throat
8 viii. Pharynx is the cavity situated in the throat immediately behind the mouth. ix. Larynx forms the upper part of the windpipe passage leading to the lungs. x. Epiglottis is a sort of the tongue situated just above the larynx. xi. Vocal cords or folds are the muscles in the larynx (adam’s apple) which vibrate when one exhales breath from the lungs. xii. Glottis is the area between the vocal cords.
Figure 1.1. Diagram of Speech Organs taken from Shen (1962: 9)b. Speech Cavity
There are two kinds of cavity where the sound is produced. Those two cavities are oral and nasal cavities.
9
i. Oral Cavity
The oral cavity is the single most important part of the vocal tract in determining the phonetic qualities of the speech sounds. Its importance rests on the ability to control the geometry and volume of the cavity by shaping and positioning the tongue and by moving the lips, jaw and the soft palate.
ii. Nasal Cavity
The passage above the larynx-the part that is behind the velum or the soft palate, and the cavity in the nose is known as the nasal passage (Shen, 1962: 10). The sounds are produced when the velum is lowered, the air escapes through the nose as well as the mouth (Fromkin and Rodman, 1988: 37).
3. The Classification of Sounds
Every speech sound belongs to one or other of the two main classes known as vowels and consonants (Jones, 1978: 23).
a. Articulation and Description of Vowels
In the Outline of English phonetics, Daniel Jones defined a vowel as “a voiced sound in forming which the air comes out in a continuous stream through the pharynx and mouth without obstruction and no narrowing that would cause audible friction.” (1978: 23).
John Ohala stated that in English, the vowel sounds can be divided into two, namely monopthongs/simple vowel and dipthongs (1994: 3055).
10
i. Monopthong/Simple Vowel
There are 12 Simple Vowels in English, they are: 1 i:-tea 7 :-are
2 I -sit 8 -up
Λ
3 e-pen 9 u:-school 4 æ-sad 10 -foot
5 з:bird 11 -war 6 -not
ə-ago 12 Figure 1.2; Table of English Monopthong taken from John Ohala (1994: 3056)
1) Types of Monopthong
The individual vowels/monopthongs can be classified into four criteria;
a) Tongue Height ( the openness of the mouth) There are three kinds of tongue height in producing vowel sounds, high, mid, and low. High vowels/close vowels are made with the front of the mouth less open
I,
because the tongue body is raised or high. The high vowels of English are [i, u, ] as in the words leap, loop, lip, look.
Mid vowels are produced with an intermediate tongue height; in English, these mid vowels include [
e, ε, , ə, Λ, o ] as in bait, bet, about, caught, but, boat.
Carolyn Mc. Manis, Deborah Stollenwerk and Zhang Zheng Sheng in the book titled “Materials for an Introduction to Language” stated that Low vowels or open vowels are pronounced with the front of the mouth open and lowered. The English low vowels are [æ, a] as in had and hard (1987: 55).
11 b) Tongue Advancement ( the position of the tongue in the mouth) The tongue can be pushed forward or pulled backward within the oral cavity.
There are also three kinds of tongue advancement; front, central, and back. Front vowels are produced when the body of the tongue is pushed forward just under the
I
hard palate. They include [i, , e, ε, æ] (1987: 55).
Central vowels require neither fronting nor retraction of the tongue. They are Λ . ə and
Back vowels are produced when the body of the tongue is in the back of the mouth toward the velum. They are [ u, , , a, o ].
c) Lip Rounding ( the shape of the lips) Vowel quality also depends on lip position. There are two types, rounded and unrounded. In English, there are four rounded vowels [u, , , o].
Unrounded or spread vowels include the front, mid/central vowels, and [a], the only back vowel.
d) Tenseness ( the length of the vowels) Based on the degrees of muscular tension, vowels are distinguished into two classes, tense vowels and lax vowels. Tense vowels production requires considerable muscular tension on the part of the tongue (Jones, 1988: 39).
Lax vowels are produced when the tongue is supposed to be held loosely. They do not describe accurately the action of the tongue in differentiating certain vowels (Jones, 1988: 39).
12
ii. Diphthong/Gliding Vowels
Diphthong is a compound vowel sound made by pronouncing two vowels
rd
quickly one after the other (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 3 edition with New Words Supplement, 2001).
There are 11 diphthongs in English, those diphthongs are:
1
9 O
5 I- boil [b I l]
- note [no t] ə - tour [t ə(r)]
Ʊ Ʊ Ʊ Ʊ
I I 2 a І - buy [ba І ] 6 ə - ear [ - down [da n]
ə(r)] 10 a Ʊ Ʊ
I 3 e І - bait [be t] 7 e
- coat [k t] ə ə - care [keə(r)] 11 ə Ʊ Ʊ 4 u 8 i ə - actual ə- peculiar [pIkju:liə] [ækt ∫uəl]
Figure 1.3; Table of English Diphthong from
John Ohala (1994) Diphthong consists of one syllable. Its duration depends on the process whether it is performed slowly or quickly.
) Types of Diphthong
1 There are two kinds of diphthong; offgliding and ongliding diphthongs.
Ongliding diphthongs occur when the glides come before the nucleus vowels such as in the word mute [mju:t]. Prator said that the glides involve in English are either [
I ] or [u]. The semivowels [y] and [w] are often pronounced as onglides (1960: 31).
Offgliding diphthongs are produced when the glides occur after the nucleus vowels. Based on the tongue movement, offgliding diphthong can be divided into three types; fronting, backing, and centering diphthongs. Fronting diphthongs occur when the glide goes into one of the front vowels, usually [i] or [
I ], but sometimes [e]
13 or [
ε], the nucleus vowels may be one of the variety of non-front vowels, including [ ], [a], [ ]. They are [ aI], [eI], [ I], for example in the word “bike”
Ʊ ə], [o], [ ] and [Λ
[ba
I k] (Prator, 1960: 31). Traditionally in English phonetics, they are produced with a
tongue movement from a mid or low to a high position. They are known as closing diphthongs i.e. moving to a closer tongue position (Clark & Yallop, 1990: 74).
Backing diphthongs move to the range of [u], [ ], or [o]. There are some
Ʊ
varieties in the combinations that are actually used in English dialects like [a], [æ], [ Λ ], [ ], [o]. Their sounds are [a ], [o ], for example in the word “out” [a t] (Prator,
Ʊ Ʊ Ʊ 1960: 31).
Centering diphthongs occur when the glide goes to a central vowel such as schwa. They are [ εə], [ ə], such as in the word “bare” [bεə] (Prator, 1960: 31-32).
They are produced with a tongue movement from a peripheral to a central position (Clark & Yallop, 1990: 74).
b. Articulation and Description of Consonants
A consonant is a speech sound which is articulated with constriction or closure at some points in the mouth.
14 There are 25 consonants in English, namely :
h
I I
1. p-pen /p en/ 11. n/ 21. d-dip /d p/ θ-thin /θ
h
2. t-top /t op/ 12.
I s/ 22. b-book /b k/
ð-this /ð Ʊ
h
3. k-cat /k æt/ 13. m-man /m æn/ 23. j-yet /jet/
4. f-fine /fa n/ 14. n-now /na / 24. t (r) /
I I
Ʊ ∫-cheer /t∫ ə D
5. v-very /veri/ 15.
I 25. x-loch /l x/
ŋ-sing /s ŋ/
I
6. s-sea /si:/ 16. g-girl /g rl/
I I
7. z-zero /z ərəυ/ 17. l-like /la k/ 8. 18. r-right /ra
I t/
∫-she /∫i/ 9. -measure / me 19. d -judge / Λ d /
ʒ ʤ ʒ ʒ ʒə(r)/
I
10. w-wait /we t/ 20. h-harm /h :m/
ɑ
Figure 1.4; The list of English Consonant from Longman Dictionary of
rd Contemporary English 3 edition with New Words Supplement , Essex: Longman Group.UK.Ltd., 2001.
i. Classification of Consonants
Consonants can be classified into four ways;
1) Manner of Articulation
Manner of Articulation can be defined as the method that the consonant is articulated.
In terms of manner of articulation, the English consonants can be classified into some types, they are: a) Plosive (Stop): This is a sound which is formed by a complete closure of the air passage, behind which the air pressure builds up and can be released suddenly or explosively. e.g. p, t, k, b, d, g.
15 b) Affricate: It is a sound which is formed by a complete closure at some points in the mouth, behind which the air pressure builds up, and the separation of the speech organs is relatively slow so that friction is heard as the second element of the sound. e.g. t
∫ and
ʤ .
c) Nasal: It is a sound which is formed by a complete closure at some points in the mouth, with the soft palate being lowered so that the air is free to pass out through the nose. e.g. m, n, ŋ.
d) Liquids: It is a sound which is formed by some obstruction of the airstream in the mouth, but not enough to cause any real constriction or friction. There are two liquid sounds, the lateral liquid [l] and the retroflex liquid [r].
e) Fricative: It is a sound which is formed by narrowing the air passage to such an extent that the air in escaping produces audible friction. e.g. f, v, ∫, ʒ, s, z, θ, ð, h.
f) Glides/Semi vowel: It is a voiced gliding sound in which the speech organs start at or near a close vowel and immediately move away to some other vowel. e.g. w, j
2) Place of Articulation
Place of Articulation is the place of obstruction of air at some points in the vocal cords. In terms of place of articulation, the English consonants can be classified into 9 types, they are; a) Bilabial: It is a sound which is articulated by the two lips e.g. b, p, m, w.
b) Labio-Dental: It is a sound which is articulated by the lower lip against the upper teeth e.g. f and v.
16 c) Dental: It is a sound which is articulated by the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth. e.g.
θ and ð.
d) Alveolar: It is a sound which is articulated by the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. e.g. t, d, l, n, s, z, r.
e) Palatal: It is a sound which is articulated by the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge with a rising of the main body of the tongue toward the palate. e.g.
∫ , ʒ, t∫ , ʤ, j.
f) Velar: It is a sound which is articulated by the back part of the tongue against the soft-palate. e.g. k, g, ŋ.
g) Glottal: It is a sound which is articulated in the glottis e.g. h.
Figure 1.4.; Diagram of Place of Articulation
3) Vibration of the Vocal Cords
In terms of vibration of the vocal cords, the consonants can be divided into:
17 a) Voiceless
A sound is described as Voiceless when the vocal cords do not vibrate during its articulation. The vocal cords vibrate when they are closed to obstruct the airflow through the glottis. The consonant sounds which belong to Voiceless are; p, t, k, f, s, , , t ∫ ∫ θ, h.
b) Voiced A sound is described as Voiced when the vocal cords (folds of muscle located at the level of the glottis) do vibrate. The consonant sounds which belong to Voiced are the rest of Voiceless sounds.
4) The Puff of Air
In terms of the puff of air, English consonant can be classified into “aspirated” and “unaspirated”.
a) Aspirated The explosion of air during the time that elapse between release of the articulation and the beginning of vocal band vibration of the following segment.
In English, there are three sounds which belong to aspirated sound, they are [p, t, k]. These sounds are aspirated when they occur at the beginning of words or stressed syllables. e.g. Pin, Tin, Kill, etc.
18 b) Unaspirated
When we pronounce a sound, the vocal cords start vibrating as soon as the lips are opened. Usually the unaspirated sounds occur in unstressed syllables. e.g.
Skill, Spit, Skin , etc.
4. Phonetic Transcription
Phonetic Transcription has often been defined as a kind of alphabetic writing in which each letter represents one sound. e.g. keep [ki:p], cook [kuk], etc. The function of phonetic transcription is necessary to distinguish between the orthography, or spelling, of words, and their pronunciation. The most popular Phonetic transcription is IPA (The International Phonetic Alphabet), which includes modified Roman letters and diacritics by means of which the sounds of all human languages can be represented.
Daniel Jones says that Linguists use a phonetic alphabet for the purpose of recording speech sounds in written or printed form. The alphabet of the International Phonetic Association (IPA) consists of a large number of symbols which may be employed to represent the sound of all languages, with modifying marks which are useful for showing several kinds of differences in articulation of sounds in the speech of persons speaking in variety of dialects (1888: 18).
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a. The Classification of English Phonetic Transcription
There are 2 classifications of English phonetic transcription; i. Broad Transcription
It means that one letter symbol represents one sound. For instance, the symbol [l] is used for the [1] in words like leaf [li:f], feel [fi:l], children [' ildr
ən] and health [hel ө]. ii. Narrow Transcription
It means that diacritics are added to the one letter symbol to show the differences between sounds. For example, the sound [l] in the above mentioned words differ slightly. The [1] in leaf [li:f] occurring before a vowel is called a clear [1] and the [1] in feel [fi:l] occurring at the end of a word or before another consonant is called dark [1]. In narrow transcription, the diacritic [~] is used to indicate that the sound [l] is a dark . Then in the sound combination [hel
ө] the sound is called a dental [l] because it is followed by dental [ ө].
b. English Phonetic Alphabet
An alphabet is a standardized set of letters. The term alphabet refers to a writing system that has characters for representing both consonant and vowel sounds.
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is one of the most popular and well- known phonetic alphabets.
The symbol from the International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA), as used in phonetic transcription can be seen in the below table
20 Consonant Vowel
I
I
hit, sit i: see, heat
Ɗ hot, rock ɔ
: call, four u put, could
ʊ
: blue, food ə
five, eye ə
ɜ:
ʊ
now, out о
ʊ
go, home e ə where, air e
I
say, eight
I ə
turn, learn
ə away, cinema
IPA Words
check, church θ think, both
IPA Words Figure 1.5: Table of English Phonetic Alphabet From Peter Ladefoged (1982: 27).
Symbols representing sounds are put into square brackets. e.g. [b] as in “bird”; [d] as in “dog”. Other symbols are variations of alphabet letters: e.g. [
ŋ] as in “sang”; [∫] as in “dish” or symbols from Greek alphabet. e.g. [ 2] as in “this”. b bad, lab d did, lady f find, if g give, flag h how, hello j yes, yellow k cat, back l leg, little m man, lemon n no, ten
ŋ sing, finger p pet, map r red, try s sun, miss
ʃ
she, crash t tea, getting
ʧ
ð this, mother v voice, five w wet, window z zoo, lazy
: arm, father æ cat, black e met, bed
ʒ
pleasure, vision
ʤ
just, large
Λ
cup, luck
ɑ
near, here u ə pure, tourist
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5. Supra-segmental Features
“Supra-segmental” comes from the word “supra” which means parts that up in the segment. Supra-segmental feature deals with something larger than individual segments. e.g. syllables or vowels, words, phrases.
There are three elements of Supra-segmental Features, they are:
a. Tone
A tone language is a language that uses the pitch of individual syllable to contrast meanings. So, differences in pitch usually will cause differences in meaning.
In other words, differences in word meaning are signaled by differences in pitch. An example of a tone language is Mandarin Language.
English is not a tone language because in English differences in pitch do not cause differences in meaning.
b. Intonation
In linguistics, intonation is the variation of pitch when speaking. Intonation and stress are two main elements of linguistics prosody.
Intonation has a function to indicate sentence meaning and signal the attitude of a speaker. Many languages use pitch syntactically, for instance to change a statement to a question. Such languages are called intonation languages.
For example, - That red car is expensive, isn’t ` it?
- That red car is expensive, isn’t ´it?
22 The first sentence means agreement that the red car is really expensive, while the second sentence means doubtful that the expensive thing is that red car not other car.
English is an intonation language because the pitch is used syntactically to change a sentence from a statement to question. Besides that, in English it is the pitch contour of the phrase or sentence that is important. For example, rising and falling. The differences between rising and falling is its function. “Rising” is used for question, while “Falling” is used for statement.
c. Stress
Stress is used to produce a syllable with relatively greater length, loudness, and/or higher pitch in which extra respiratory energy is needed. In languages such as English, stress may cause difference in syntactic category such as noun or verb. Here are some examples:
- Word Verb Noun object - ob'ject - 'object subject - sub'ject - 'subject record - re'cord - 'record digest - di'gest - 'digest abstract - ab'stract - 'abstract segment - seg'ment - 'segment
- survey sur'vey 'survey In English, stress is important because stress is phonemic (can determine the meaning of lexical category). For example the word “Import”. If the stress is in the
23 medial position such as im
′port, it means verb, while if the stress is in the initial position such as ′import, it means noun.
In English, one or more syllables in each content word except for little word like to, the, a, of are stressed. The most highly stress is indicated by an active accent or primary stress ( ′), the other stress vowels marked by secondary stress (`). e.g. re`signátion, phònétic, etc.
C. The Classification of Mandarin Chinese Phonetics
Mandarin Chinese Phonetics can be classified according to the same principles as used to classify English Phonetics.
Cheung Yuk Man defined Phonetics as the branch of linguistics which deals with how the different sounds of language are produced. The most important things in Mandarin Chinese Phonetics are the classification of sounds (Vowel and Consonant), Supra segmental feature especially tones, and Mandarin phonetic transcription systems (2001: 18).
There are some forms of Mandarin Chinese Phonetics:
1. Speech Production Basically, the speech production of Mandarin Chinese is the same as English.
It also contains articulation and speech organs to produce the sounds.
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2. Articulation
a. Speech Organs
The articulation of sounds and the speech organ in Mandarin Chinese is also the same as English speech organ.
3. The Classification of Sounds
Mandarin Chinese has two classifications of sounds, they are:
a. Vowels
In Mandarin Chinese, Vowels are usually in the final and medial position because the former is a consonant. There are 18 vowels which are divided into; 7 simple vowels or Monopthong, 9 Dipthongs, 2 Tripthongs (Vowels which are followed by the consonant, except “m”), and 14 nasal vowels in Mandarin Chinese.
i. Monopthong/Simple Vowels
The Seven Monopthong/Simple Vowels in Mandarin Chinese are; 1.
- m
一 (one)
Ò
墨 (ink)
5. u-liù 六 (six)
6. i-nü 奴 (female; person)
7. a-n ăr 哪 (where)
3. І -y ī
ə-chē 车 (vehicle)
ā 妈妈 (mother) 2.
Λ
4. o-m
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a-ji ā