Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

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jonm
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Re: Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Postby jonm » Wed Sep 30, 2020 6:46 am

galaxyrocker wrote:Yep, pretty certain it's a [k'], with the glottis closed. At least, everyone I've ever asked also seems to think so too. As for the other word-finals, I tend to drop syllable-final /t/ (and /d/ sometimes too), but /p/ might sometimes be realized as [p'], though not regularly as it is with [k']. That said, I'm also weird in that I realize /ɪŋ/ as [ɪŋg] in single-syllable cases (so 'sing', for instance, is [sɪŋg]), though this doesn't happen with multiple syllable cases, where /ɪŋ/ is [ɪn]

Thanks for the details, all very interesting! It's really cool that you're so aware of your own idiolect. (As I say, I think I've pronounced word-final /k/ as [k'] on occasion—I'm thinking of one specific instance when it came at the very end of what I was saying—but I never noticed until you described doing it.)

tangleweeds wrote: :lol: :lol: :lol: Hahahahahaha!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
I was following the instructions in the other thread about using the internal gesture of singing very high then low to move the larynx, and was feeling happy that the right thing seemed to be happening in there. So I reached up with my hand to feel my larynx moving, and it moved so much so fast that I recoiled, yanking my hand away as though I'd accidentally grabbed a toad, then caught myself sorta panting in horror. "Agh, it moved!"
:lol: :lol: :lol: Hahahahahaha!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

So, progress! I can do it now, even though I had no idea what was even possible there! :lol:

Congratulations, tangleweeds, that's wonderful! And thanks for sharing this great success story! Both the triumph and the detail about accidentally grabbing a toad really make me smile. :D
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Re: Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Postby jonm » Sat Oct 03, 2020 5:46 am

Hey everyone, how is your reading and experimenting going? Any questions or thoughts on these first two chapters?

I'm mostly posting just to invite open discussion, but here are just a few things in these initial chapters that I thought I'd call attention to...

1.2.

We can think of speech as consisting of different phases, and phonetics is mainly concerned with three of them: the organic phase, the aerodynamic phase, and the acoustic phase. We shape or configure the vocal tract in a certain way (organic phase). The shape or configuration of the vocal tract affects the air flowing through it (aerodynamic phase). And the airflow produces sound waves (acoustic phase).

And actually, phonetics does go further than that, investigating the listener's perception of the sounds of speech. But in this book the emphasis is on the organic and aerodynamic phases: How are we configuring the organs of the vocal tract, and how does that configuration affect the airflow?

No need to memorize any of these terms! It's just good to understand that what we do with the organs of the vocal tract changes the "course" that the air flows through, and that changes the airflow itself and the sound that's produced.

1.3

Figure 1 (p. 8) shows how the vocal tract can be represented as a "pneumatic device—a device consisting of a bellows and various tubes and valves and chambers whose function is to set air in motion and to control its flow" (p. 7). No need to memorize anything in this illustration, but it might be helpful to refer back to it every now and again.

As Catford says on p. 7: "The student of practical phonetics does not require a very detailed knowledge of the vocal tract and vocal organs." We don't need to learn anatomy the way a medical student would. Instead, we can think of the organs in terms of simple, "mechanical" functions: expanding and contracting, opening and closing, moving up and down, etc.

For example, in chapter 2 we experiment with different ways of initiating airflow. There are basically three ways, but then each of those can move air in or out, for a total of six. It might be helpful to look at the pneumatic device in figure 1 and think about what parts of the device can move to initiate airflow.

1. Pulmonic initiation: The lungs can expand or contract like a bellows, pushing air out or pulling it in.

2. Glottalic initiation: The glottis (the opening between the vocal folds) can close like a valve and the larynx (the "housing" for the vocal folds) can move up or down like a piston. If the vocal tract is also closed off further on (for example, if the lips are closed and if the passage to the nasal chamber is closed), there will be a pocket of trapped air. With the glottis closed, moving the larynx up will increase pressure in that pocket, and moving it down will decrease pressure and produce suction.

3. Velaric initiation (with this one the idea of a pneumatic device may be less helpful): A closure can be made between the back of the tongue and the velum or soft palate (the soft rear part of the roof of the mouth where you make a [k]), and another closure can be made with the front of the tongue, or with the lips. This also creates a pocket of air. The tongue can then be moved to increase or decrease pressure in that pocket.

1.4.

Along with initiation, the other essential component of speech is articulation, which is introduced in chapter 2 and explored in much more detail in chapters 4 and 5. And then a third component of speech, involved in many but not all sounds, is phonation—basically, what the vocal folds are doing—and that'll be the subject of chapter 3.

2.1.

Here we experiment with [f] and [s]. Those are IPA symbols that conveniently represent the same sounds that they most often do in English.

Some people might be wondering what the difference is between an IPA symbol in square brackets [f] and one in slashes /f/. An IPA symbol in square brackets such as [f] simply represents a sound of speech, whereas an IPA symbol in slashes such as /f/ represents a phoneme, a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. Happy to answer questions about this, or we can hold off, since we won't really deal with phonemes until chapter 10.

And then the main thing we discover in the six experiments in section 2.1 is that it takes both initiation and articulation to produce a specific sound of speech. Remove initiation and you get silent articulation. Remove articulation from pulmonic sounds and you get the non-specific sound of the breath.

2.2.

Here we learn that [f] and [s] have different places of articulation but the same manner of articulation: They're both fricatives, or sounds produced by airflow passing quickly through a narrow channel and becoming turbulent.

And we also experiment with another manner of articulation: [p], [t], and [k] are all stops, produced by air building up behind a complete closure and then bursting forth when the closure is released.

I mostly say no need to memorize terminology, but I do think it's worth remembering those terms fricative and stop.

2.3.

Here we see what happens when we make the same articulations as before but inhale instead of exhale. And we discover that [f] sounds pretty much the same whether inhaled or exhaled, but [s] sounds quite different when inhaled.

In any fricative sound, the air passes quickly through a narrow channel and shoots out in a turbulent jet which then hits relatively inert air. That's what happens with [f] and with inhaled [s]. But with normal exhaled [s], the turbulent jet hits an obstacle, namely the back of the teeth, and this produces additional turbulence (swirling "wake turbulence" beyond the obstacle) that adds a high-frequency component to the hissing sound. Probably not essential to know, but some folks might be interested. :)

2.4.

Here we experiment with making ejectives. If you've never made these sounds before, this might be challenging. The main thing I would suggest if your ejectives aren't coming together in experiment 13 is to practice closing your glottis (experiment 11) and moving your larynx up and down (experiment 12). Successfully making ejectives depends on being able to do both those things at once.

Here again is the link to our recent thread on ejectives with good tips and resources, and happy to troubleshoot if anyone is finding this part challenging.

As I said in an earlier post, if you're not planning to learn a language with ejectives, it's not absolutely essential to master this, but it's still well worth trying the exercises, since it will give you a fuller sense of the various ways that you can configure the vocal tract. And tangleweeds's success story above shows how satisfying it can be to figure out how to make unfamiliar sounds. :D

OK, can't think of much to say at the moment about the remaining sections.

Very interested to hear how all of your experiences with the book are going. Looking forward to discussing!
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Re: Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Postby Deinonysus » Sat Oct 03, 2020 7:32 pm

I just remembered this really awesome video of a dialect coach talking about actors speaking conlangs in movies, and at around 12:20 he gives some interesting examples of when ejectives might be used in English.

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Re: Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Postby jonm » Sun Oct 04, 2020 1:18 am

Deinonysus wrote:I just remembered this really awesome video of a dialect coach talking about actors speaking conlangs in movies, and at around 12:20 he gives some interesting examples of when ejectives might be used in English.

Erik Singer's videos are the best! How many times have I heard Hans Gruber say "earning twenty percent" without noticing that it ends in an ejective? Or realizing that ejectives are the key to polished villainy... :lol:
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Re: Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Postby blackcoffee » Sun Oct 11, 2020 11:47 pm

Hi all,

jonm, thanks for the overview.

I read chapter 1 shortly after my book arrived maybe two weeks ago, but didn't start chap 2 until today. I've still only read section 2.1 so far.

I have to say that I found the discussion of the experiments and jonm's comments very helpful. I would not have been able to describe the articulation from just the experiments alone. I also noticed that it was surprisingly hard to do the initiation and articulation separately. Fifty years of muscle memory will do that, I guess.

It may take me until the end of the year to finish the book, but I'm still planning on it.
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Re: Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Postby jonm » Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:57 pm

blackcoffee wrote:Hi all,

jonm, thanks for the overview.

I read chapter 1 shortly after my book arrived maybe two weeks ago, but didn't start chap 2 until today. I've still only read section 2.1 so far.

I have to say that I found the discussion of the experiments and jonm's comments very helpful. I would not have been able to describe the articulation from just the experiments alone. I also noticed that it was surprisingly hard to do the initiation and articulation separately. Fifty years of muscle memory will do that, I guess.

It may take me until the end of the year to finish the book, but I'm still planning on it.

Hi blackcoffee, great to hear how your reading is going, and I'm glad the comments were helpful. Would be very happy to discuss anything that comes up as you go along.

I think you're absolutely right about muscle memory. Ever since we learned how to talk in our native language, we've been making certain audible gestures over and over and over. Reconfiguring the organs of speech to make unfamiliar gestures or to break down familiar gestures into their components can feel really strange at first.

I think one of the biggest rewards of studying phonetics, especially in this practical way, is that to some extent, you acquire new muscle memory as you go along, expanding the "repertoire" of audible gestures you've experienced making. But yeah, getting comfortable with those new configurations can be awkward and challenging at first (and hopefully sometimes fun and interesting too).



For the whole group, does it sound good to keep the pacing pretty flexible? That seems to be working well so far. People could feel free to share thoughts as they come up, at any point in the book. I know some people who expressed interest in the thread may not have the book yet. Meanwhile, as folks finish chapter 2, they could continue on if they like. Please also feel free to take breaks. And I'll plan to post some notes on chapter 3 in a couple weeks if that sounds good?
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Re: Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Postby tangleweeds » Mon Oct 19, 2020 12:27 am

I thought I'd (re)post this excellent deal here (it came up in another thread) in case anyone is interested but hasn't purchased the book yet: only $20 from Blackwell's (shipped! UK -> US, at least)
https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9780199246359
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Re: Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Postby PfifltriggPi » Tue Oct 27, 2020 9:15 pm

tangleweeds wrote:I thought I'd (re)post this excellent deal here (it came up in another thread) in case anyone is interested but hasn't purchased the book yet: only $20 from Blackwell's (shipped! UK -> US, at least)
https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9780199246359


Thank you for bringing this to our attention. My copy just arrived today, in fact. It seems interesting.
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Re: Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Postby tangleweeds » Wed Oct 28, 2020 12:50 am

OK, time for somebody to please post fascinating observations on our chapters. 8-)
I need to be nudged back into this particular book. :? :roll:
I'm perpetually guilty of trying to juggle way too many books at once. :? :oops: :twisted:
Alas, I'm not that person who finishes every book they start. :o :|
But at least I'm easily reinspired. :mrgreen:
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Re: Reading Catford's A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Postby jonm » Mon Nov 02, 2020 6:33 am

Hey everyone, I'm sorry I haven't posted much recently. The stressful personal situation I mentioned dragged on longer than I'd hoped, but I'm happy to say it's a lot more resolved now.

Of course events in the world remain, uh, eventful. And on a positive note, I know from following your logs that folks participating here also have other exciting projects going on.

But I did get back into the book, picking up at the beginning of chapter 3, all about phonation...

Chapter 3 starts with a nice little recap of the two basic components of speech that we've experimented with so far: initiation and articulation. To make a specific sound, we start air flowing (initiation), and somewhere further along in the vocal tract we do something to "shape" the airflow (articulation).

If the airflow passes between the vocal folds (in other words, through the glottis, the space between the vocal folds), the way the vocal folds are set modulates the airflow. If the vocal folds are held lightly together, they vibrate open and closed as the air passes through in rapid pulses, producing voice. If the vocal folds are apart, then no voice is produced.

And there are other possibilities such as whisper, breathy voice, and creaky voice. We experiment with those toward the end of the chapter.

All of these are types of phonation, the third basic component of speech.

Probably unimportant technical point #1: Unlike initiation and articulation, phonation is not a necessary component of speech, because we saw (back in section 2.5) that velaric sounds such as clicks don't involve air passing through the glottis.

Probably unimportant technical point #2: When the vocal folds are involved in initiation (as in ejectives) or articulation (as in the glottal stop), that doesn't count as phonation (according to the technical definitions on p. 53 and p. 206).

3.1.

The experiments in section 3.1 involve pairs of sounds like [f] and [v] or [s] and [z] in which both sounds have the same initiation (pulmonic) and articulation, but the first sound is voiceless and the second is voiced.

Notice that when you go from [f] to [v] or from [s] to [z], the position of the lips or tongue doesn't change at all. The only change is bringing the vocal folds lightly together so that they vibrate as air passes through.

Also notice that the hissing sound of voiceless [f] or [s] doesn't go away when you add voice to make [v] or [z]. You just add a buzzing sound.

We also experiment with voiceless and voiced fricatives at two new places of articulation: first [ʃ] and [ʒ], then [x] and [ɣ]. English has the first pair in words like mesh and measure. [x] and [ɣ] are articulated at the same place as [k] and [ɡ], but with a narrowing instead of a complete closure. Please let me know if you find that tricky at all.

I'll try to post notes on the following sections soon. For now, if anyone would like to see what the opening and closing of the glottis looks like in action, here's a short "Glottal Opera." You'll see that the vocal folds are brought together for voiced sounds (the vibrations are too fast to see) and pulled apart for voiceless sounds (like the [s] at the end of "kiss" at 1m24s) and for taking breaths.

Of course please don't watch if looking down singers' throats sounds gross! :)

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