语言学笔记 Lecture2
语言学笔记陈银2014/3/8Lecture 2Pretest•Define the following terms:• 1. design features• 2. arbitrariness• 3. duality• 4. creativity• 5. displacement• 6. languageAnswers• 1. design features:the distinctive features of human language that essentially make human language distinguishable from languages of animals.(从本质上将人类语言与动物语言区分开的人类语言的区别性特点。
)• 2. arbitrariness：the absence of any physical correspondence between linguistic signals and the entities to which they refer.(语言符号和这些符号所指的实体间不存在任何物质的联系。
)• 3. duality：the structural organization of language into two abstract levels: meaningful units (eg. words) and meaningless segments (e.g. sounds, letters) 语言的结构组织可分为两个抽象的层面：有意义的单元（如词语）和无意义的片段（如语音.字母）• 4.creativity：also called productivity, refers to the ability to construct and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in one’s native language, including those which he has never heard before, but which are appropriate to the speaking situation.(亦称“能产性，指人们可以说出（或构造）也可以懂得无穷多的语句，哪怕是从未听说过的句子（只要语境条件充分）。
”)• 5.displacement: the ability of language to refer to contexts removed from the speakers immediate situation. (语言能够指称说话人即时情景以外的语境。
) • nguage:Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.(语言是人类用于交际的有声符号系统。
)What’s the property of language?•Systematic---- rule-governed, elements in it are arranged according to certain rules; can’t be combined at will. e.g. *bkli, *I apple eat•Arbitrary---- no intrinsic connection between the word and the thing it denotes, e.g.“pen” by any other name is the thing we use to write with.•Symbolic---- words are associated with objects, actions ideas by convention. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”----Shakespeare•V ocal---- the primary medium is sound for all languages; writing system came much later than spoken form.•Human-specific---- different from the communication systems other forms of life possess,e.g. bird songs, bee dance, animal cries.1.4 Origin of LanguageHow did language come into being?(1) The Divine Theory endowed by God (Adam’s naming; The Tower of Babel)(2)The Invention Theory(3)The Evolutionary Theory(1). The Divine TheoryAdam’s naming•And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.•耶和华神用土造成野地各样走兽和空中各样飞鸟,并把它们都带到亚当面前，看他叫把它们叫什么。
亚当怎样叫这些它们，它们就叫什么名字。
•And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.•那人便给一切牲畜和空中飞鸟，野地走兽都起了名。
只是那人没有遇见配偶帮助他。
（2）. The Invention TheoryThe Bow-wow theory（咆哮说/拟声说）imitative of animal calls (mew【猫叫声】, hiss【嘶嘶声】)The Pooh-pooh theory （啵啵说/感叹说）instinctive cries out of emotions (interjections)The “Yo-he-ho”theory（吆嘿嗬说/喘息说）rhythmic grunts when working (heave【举，投】, haul【拉】)The Ding-dong theory natural resonance：(ding-dong, bang)（3）. The Evolutionary TheoryThere is certain relationship between the development of language and the evolutionary development of thehuman species.• 1. Children are born with both thought and language.• 2. The development of the physical apparatus for speech.• 3. It is labor that created the necessity for language.1.5 Functions of LanguageLinguists talk about the FUNCTIONS of language in an abstract sense. They summarize practical functions and attempt some broad classifications.☞Jakobson (1960): referential (context), emotive (addresser), poetic (message), conative (addressee), phatic (contact), meta-lingual (code)☞Halliday early: instrumental, regulatory, representational, interactional, personal, heuristic and imaginative.☞Halliday (1994): ideational (logical), interpersonal (social) and textual (relevant)M.A.K Halliday: Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday (often M.A.K. Halliday) (born 1925) is a British linguist who developed an internationally influential grammar model, the systemic functional grammar [SFL].1.5 Functions of LanguageIdeational (informative): to express the speaker’sexperience of the external and internal worldInterpersonal: to establish and maintain social rules1,Performative: to perform actions (directive)2,Emotive (expressive) : overlapped with expression of the inner experience3,Phatic: purely social/interpersonalTextual (Metalingual): to describe language itself历年专八语言学真题•The ______ function refers to the fact that language can be used for establishing a favorable atmosphere or maintaining social contact rather than for exchanging information or ideas.A. phaticB. directiveC. evocativeD. performative1.5. Functions of language•Linguists talk about the functions of language in an abstract sense, that is, not in terms of using language to chat, to think, to buy and sell, to read and write, to greet, praise and condemn people, etc.•They summarize these practical functions and attempt some broad classifications of the basic functions of language.•For Jakobson, language is above all for communication.•While for many people, the purpose of communication is referential, for him (and the Prague school structuralists), reference is not the only, not even theprimary goal of communication.•In his famous article, Linguistics and Poetics, he defined six primary factors of any speech event, namely:•speaker, addressee, context, message, code, contact.•In conjunction with these, Jakobson established a well-known framework of language functions based on the six key elements of communication, namely: •referential 所指(to convey message and information),•poetic 诗学(to indulge in language for its own sake),•emotive 情感(to express attitudes, feelings and emotions),•conative 意动(to persuade and influence others through commands and requests), •phatic 寒暄(to establish communion with others)•metalingual 元语言(to clear up intentions and meanings).•They correspond to such communication elements as context, message, addresser, addressee, contact and code respectively.•Jakobson's views of the functions of language are still of great importance.•Halliday proposes a theory of metafunctions of language, that is, language has ideational（概念）, interpersonal（人际）and textual（语篇）functions.•1) ideational function is to organize the speaker’s or the writer’s experience of thereal or imaginary world, i. e. language refers to real or imagined persons, things actions, events, states, etc.•概念功能指组织说话者或作者现实或虚构世界的体验，即语言指称实际或虚构的人、物、动作、事件、状态等。
英语语言学笔记纲要（2）
Chapter 2 Phoneticsl What is phonetics?n Phonetics is termed as the study of speech sounds.n Sub-branches of phoneticsu Articulatory phonetics – the production of speech soundsu Acoustic phonetics – the physical properties of speech soundsu Auditory phonetics – the perceptive mechanism of speech soundsl The speech organsn Where does the air stream come from?u From the lungn What is the function of vocal cords?u Controlling the air streamn What are the cavities?u Oral cavityu Pharyngeal cavityu Nasal cavityl Transcription of speech soundsn Units of representationu Segments (the individual sounds)n Phonetic symbolsu The widely used symbols for phonetic transcription of speech sounds is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).u The IPA attempts to represent each sound of human speech with a single symbol and the symbols are enclosed in brackets [ ] to distinguish phonetic transcriptions from the spelling system of a language.u In more detailed transcription (narrow transcription) a sound may be transcribed with a symbol to which a smaller is added in order to mark the finer distinctions.l Description of speech soundsn Description of English consonantsu General feature: obstructionu Criteria of consonant descriptionl Places of articulationl Manners of articulationl Voicing of articulationu Places of articulationl This refers to each point at which the air stream can be modified to produce a sound.n Bilabial: [p] [b] [m] [w]n Labiodental: [f] [v]n Interdental: [W] [T]n Alveolar: [t] [d] [s] [z] [l] [n] [r]n Palatal: [F] [V] [tF] [dV] [j]n Velar: [k] [g] [N]n Glottal: [h]u Manners of articulationl This refers to how the air stream is modified, whether it is completely blocked or partially obstructed. n Stops: [p] [b] [t] [d] [k] [g]n Fricatives: [s] [z] [F] [V] [f] [v] [W] [T] [h]n Affricates: [tF] [dV]n Liquids: [l] [r]n Glides: [w] [j]n Nasals: [m] [n] [N]u Voicing of articulationl This refers to the vibrating of the vocal cords when sounds are produced.n Voiced soundsn Voiceless soundsn Description of English vowelsu General feature: without obstructionu Criteria of vowel descriptionl Part of the tongue that is raisedn Frontn Centraln Backl Extent to which the tongue rises in the direction of the palaten Highn Midn Lowl Kind of opening made at the lipsl Position of the soft palateu Single vowels (monophthongs) and diphthongsl Phonetic features and natural classesn Classes of sounds that share a feature or features are called natural classes.n Major class features can specify segments across the consonant-vowel boundary.n Classification of segments by features is the basis on which variations of sounds can be analyzed.。
语言学课件Lecture 2 - Phonology
1. The pharyngeal cavity lungs windpipe pharynx (声门) glottis vocal cords: voicing / voiceless epiglottis (会厌)
2. The oral cavity Lips (labia唇) Teeth (dentes齿) Tooth-ridge (alveoli齿龈) Hard palate ( 硬腭) Soft palate (velum软腭) Uvula （小舌) Tip of tongue （舌尖） Blade of tongue (舌面) Front of tongue (舌前部) Back of tongue (舌后部) Tongue root (舌根) The most flexible part here in this cavity is the tongue, which is responsible for more varieties of articulation than any other. So, there is no surprise that the word “language’ itself derives from the Latin word “lingua”, meaning the “tongue”.
LECTURE TWO PHONOLOGY
Su Zhanghai
2.1 The phonic medium of language
Speech is prior to writing for several reasons Phonic medium of language and speech sounds The limited-numbered sounds produced by humans through their speech organs which are meaningful in human communication constitute the Phonic Medium of Language; and the individual sounds within this range are the Speech Soe used to record the sound waves for specific research.
语言学胡壮麟第三版第二章笔记
Chapter 2 Speech Sounds The definition of phonetics & phonology Phonetics studies how speech sounds are produced, transmitted, and perceived. Phonology is the study of the sound patterns and sound systems languages. Distinction: The first focuses on chaos while the second focuses on order. Ⅰ How speech sounds are made? A. Speech organs 1. 3 cavities pharynx oral cavity nasal cavity 2. vocal folds apart: voiceless Close: voiced Close tightly: glottal stop 3. uvula B. The IPA The The first first first version version version of of of the the the International International International Phonetic Phonetic Phonetic Alphabet Alphabet （the the IP A IP A chart chart ）was was published published published in in August,1888. Ⅱ Consonants and vowels 1. Definition Consonants Consonants are are are produced produced produced ““by by a a a closure closure closure in in in the the the vocal vocal vocal tract, tract, tract, or or or by by by a a a narrowing narrowing narrowing which which which is is is so so marked that air cannot escape without producing audible friction ”. A vowel is produced without such “stricture stricture”” so that “air escapes in a relatively unimpeded way through the mouth or nose ”. The distinction between vowels and consonants lies in the obstruction of airstream. 2. Three factors to describe the features of consonants 1) V oicing: voiced & voiceless 2) Manner of articulation: It refers to ways in which articulation can be accomplished: (a) the articulators may close off the oral tract for an instant or a relatively long period; (b) they may narrow the space considerably; (c) they may simply modify the shape of the tract by approaching each other. Classification according to manners of articulation stop/ plosive fricative lateral tap/ flap nasal approximant trill affricate3) place place of of of articulation: articulation: articulation: It It It refers refers refers to to to the the the point point point where where where a a a consonant consonant consonant is is is made. made. made. Practically Practically consonants may be produced at any place between the lips and the vocal fold. Classification according to place of articulation bilabial dental post alveolar palatal uvular glottal labiodental alveolar retroflex velar pharyngea3. V owels 1) cardinal vowel: The cardinal vowels, as exhibited by the vowel diagram in the IPA chart, are are a a a set set set of of of vowel vowel vowel qualities qualities qualities arbitrarily arbitrarily arbitrarily defined, defined, defined, fixed fixed fixed and and and unchanging, unchanging, unchanging, intended intended intended to to provide provide a a a frame frame frame of of of reference reference reference for for for the the the description description description of of of the the the actual actual actual vowels vowels vowels of of of existing existing languages. 2) Classification of vowels the height of tongue raising (high, mid, low) the position of the highest part of the tongue (front, central, back) the length or tenseness of the vowel (tense Vs. lax or long Vs. short) lip-rounding (rounded Vs. unrounded) Ⅲ From phonetics to phonology1. Coarticulation: Coarticulation: When When When simultaneous simultaneous simultaneous or or or overlapping overlapping overlapping articulations articulations articulations are are are involved, involved, involved, we we we call call call the the process coarticulation. Two types of coarticulation 1) Anticipatory coarticulation If If the the the sound sound sound becomes becomes becomes more more more like like like the the the following following following sound, sound, sound, it it it is is is known known known as as as anticipatory anticipatory coarticulation. 2) Perseverative coarticulation If the sound shows the influence of the preceding sound, it is perseverative coarticulation. 2. Phone: The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are phones. Phoneme: It ’s a unit of explicit sound contrast. If two sounds in a language make a contrast between two different words, they are said to be different phnemes. Minimal pair: When two different forms are identical in every way except for one segment that occurs in the same place in the string, the two words are called minimal pair. Allophone: Variants of the same phonemes. If two or more phonetically different sounds do not make a contrast in meaning, they are said to be allophones of the same phoneme. Ⅳ Phonological Process, Phonological Rules and Distinctive Features1. Assimilation: It is a process by which one sound takes on some or all the characteristic of a neighboring sound. Two possibilities of assimilation 1) regressive assimilation: if a following sound is influencing a preceding sound, we call it regressive assimilation. 2) Progressive Progressive assimilation: assimilation: assimilation: It It It is is is the the the converse converse converse process process process in in in which which which a a a preceding preceding preceding sound sound sound is is influencing a following sound. 2. Distinctive Features The idea of distinctive features was first developed b Roman Jacobson in the 1940s. Ⅴ SuprasegmentalsSuprasegmental features are those aspects of speech that involve more than single sound segments. The principle suprasegmentals are syllable, stress, tone and intonation. 1. Syllable onset rhyme nucleus coda 2. MOP(maximal onset principle) When there is a choice also where to place a consonant, it is put into the onset rather than the coda. 3. Stress It refers to the degree of force used in producing a syllable. 4. Intonation Intonation involves the occurrence of recurring fall-rise patterns, each of which is used with a set of relatively consistent meanings, either on single words or on groups of words of varying length. 5. Tone: a set of fall-rise patterns affecting the meanings of individual words Supplement articulatory phonetics: is the study of the production of speech sounds. acoustic phonetics: is the study of the physical properties of speech sounds. auditory phonetics: is concerned with the perception of speech sounds. 。
英语语言学lecture two
Take language as a tool for access to some other fields rather than study it as a subject Language distinguishes us from animals because it is far more sophisticated than any animal communication system.What is language?It is very difficult to give a satisfactory definition. We may say “Language is a tool for human communication”. But that does not say anything about its defining properties, only about its function. There are many other systems (secret codes, traffic signals) performing the same function.We may say “Language is a set of rules.”; again that says nothing about its function, and there are other systems containing sets of rules.A tentative definition is given like the following: Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.Language must be a system, since elements in it are arranged according to certain rules. And they can not be combined at will.Language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between the word pen and the thing we use to write with. That fact that different languages have different words for it speaks for the arbitrary nature of language.We say language is vocal because the primary medium is sound for all language, no matter how well developed are their writing systems. All evidence shows that writing systems came much later than the spoken forms. The fact that children acquire spoken language first before they can read or write also indicates that language is primarily vocal.The term “human” in the definition is meant to specify that language is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess (such as bird songs and animal cries.)Step1. Design features of languageWhat makes our language advantageous over animal “languages”/ distinctive from languages used by other species/ complicated and flexible?1.Arbitrarinessbear no natural relationship to their meaning and objects. We can not explain why a book is called a /buk/ in English but a 书in Chinese.@What is the link between a linguistic sign and its meaning? It is a matter of convention.@There is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. However, language is not entirely arbitrary How about onomatopoeia, words that sound like the sounds they describe.; there are cases where there seems to be some association between sounds and meaning.The onomatopoeic words are certain words in every language which imitate natural sounds, such as bang, crash in English or putong, dingdang in Chinese. But in different languages, totally different words are used to describe the sound. For example, the dog barks wow wow in English but wangwang in Chinese.Some compound words are not entirely arbitrary; there is a certain connection between their sounds and meaning. For example, the machine we type our papers on is called “typewriter”.@There are different levels of arbitrariness. That is to say, syntax is less arbitrary than words. As we know, the order of elements in a sentence follows certain rules, and there is a certain degree of correspondence between the sequence of clauses and the real happenings.(a)He came in and sat down.(b)He sat down and came in.(c)He sat down after he came in.Arbitrary relationship between the sound of a morpheme and its meaning“It is only when you know the meaning that you infer that the form is appropriate.” (Widdowson, 1996).@The arbitrary nature of language is a sign of sophistication and this makes it possible for language to have unlimited sources of expression.2.Duality@“By duality is meant the property of having two levels of structures, such the primary level are composed of elements of the secondary level and each of the tow levels has its own principles of organization.”(Lyons, 1982)The property of duality then only exists in such a system, namely, with both elements and units. Many animals communicate with special calls, which have corresponding meanings. That is, the primary units have meanings but cannot be further divided into elements.@Language is hierarchical. The lowest level consists of dozens of bits of meaningless sounds. The sounds occur in chumps to form syllable which is the smallest unit. (etc. monosyllabic like cat, dog and polysyllabic like transplant,) Scores of syllables becomes the carriers of hundreds of meaningful segments of words that are called morphemes, such as the prefix trans-. Morphemes compose thousands of word. Out of the huge number of words, there can be endless number of sentences, which in turn can form unlimited number of texts and discourses.Stratification----this organization of levels on levels----is the physical manifestation of the “infinite use of finite means”, the trait that most distinguishes human communication from animal.3.Creativity@Language is a far more complicated entity than traffic lights is that we can use it to create new meanings. Words can be used in new ways to mean new things and can be understood by people who have never come across that word before.@Birds can only convey a limited range of messages. As Bertrand Russell once observed: “No matter how eloquently a dog may mark, he cannot tell you that his parents were poor but honest.”@Because of duality the speaker is able to combine the basic linguistic units to form an infinite set of sentences. (dictionary)4.Displacement (the movement from initial position to subsequent position)移位@Displacement means that human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of communication.Language can be used to refer to things which are not present: real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future or in faraway places. In other words, language can refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker.@Some animals are under “immediate stimulus control”. Calls or cries are produced in contact of food, in presence of danger or in pain. Once the danger or pain is over, calls are stopped. Human language is stimulus free.@The intellectual benefits of displacement to us is that it makes it possible for us to talk and think in abstract terms.Step2. Origin of languageSo far there are only fruitless search for the origin of languages. The action reflects people‟s concern with the origin of humanity and may come up with enlightening findings in future. And one thing we can say for certain is that language evolves within specific historical, social and cultural contexts.Step3. Functions of languageA brief explanation to Jakobson’s classification of functions of languge P 91 Informative function (ideational function/ referential function)Language serves an informative function when it is used to tell what the speaker believes, to give information about facts, or to reason things out. Language serves for the expression of content. This function is characterized by the use of declarative sentencesFor most people the informative function is predominantly the major role of language. Language is the instrument of thought and people often feel need to speak their thoughts. The use of language to record the facts is a prerequisite of social development.2. Interpersonal function 人际功能By far the most important sociological use of language is the interpersonal function, by which people establish and maintain their status in a society. For example, the ways in which people address others and refer to themselves ( e.g. Dear Sir, Dear Professor, yours, your obedient servant) indicate the various grades of interpersonal relations.Language marks people‟s identity. For example, the chanting of a crowd at a football match, the shouting of names or slogans at public meetings, the stage-managed audience reactions to TV games shows all signal who we are and where we belong.Performative function 言语行为功能The performative function of language is primarily to change the social status of persons. The kind of language employed in performative verbal acts is usually quite formal and even ritualized. Language is also used to “do things”., to perform actions. This is called the performative function. On certain occasions, the uttering of the appropriate words is the central component in the performance of the act. At a meeting, for example, as soon as the chairman says “I declare the meeting open”, the meeting has started”. If the president says “I declare war…”, war exists between the two countries. In all these cases, the act cannot be performed without the sentences being uttered. The kind of language employed in performative verbal acts is usually quite formal and even ritualized.Emotive function (expressive function)@According to some investigations, though the conveying of information occurs in most uses of language, it probably represents not more than 20 percent of what takes place in verbal communication. The emotive function of language is one of the most powerful uses of langue.It is a means of getting rid of our nervous energy when we are under stress.@A man may say ouch! After striking a fingernail with a hammer, or he may mutter damn when realizing that he has forgotten an appointment. Exclamations such as Man! Oh, boy! And hurrah! are usually uttered without any purpose of communicating to others, but as essentially a verbalresponse to a person‟s own feelings.@ The emotive function is the use of language to reveal something about the feelings and attitudes of the speaker. While in the informative function language is used to pass judgement on the truth or falsehood of statement, in emotive function, language is used to evaluate, appraise and assert the speaker‟s attitudes.Phatic communionWe all use such small, seemingly meaningless expressions to maintain a comfortable relationship between people without involving any factual content. Ritual exchanges about health or weather such as Good morning, God bless you, Nice day often state the obvious.And different cultures have different topics of phatic communion.Broadly speaking, it is function refers to expressions that help define and maintain interpersonal relations, such as slangs, jokes, jargons etc. 我靠Recreational function (close to Jakobson’s poetic function)The use of language for the sheer joy of using it, such as a baby‟s babblingThe sheer joy of playing on languageFill in the ancient given rhythm and rhyme scheme in poetry with the current content对联couplet上：指数函数，对数函数，三角函数，数数含辛茹苦；下：平行直线，交叉直线，异面直线，线线意切情深。
Lecture 2 定点数的表示
或
Sf S1S2 … Sn
数 符 数值部分 小数点位置
定点机 原码 补码
小数定点机 –(1 – 2-n) ~ +(1 – 2-n) – 1 ~ +(1 – 2-n)
整数定点机 –(2n – 1) ~ +( 2n – 1) – 2n ~ +( 2n – 1)
反码
–(1 – 2-n) ~ +(1 – 2-n)
1111 1110
0000
0001 0010
1101
1100 1011
0011
0100 0101 0110 1001 1000
1010 0111
定点数－补码
补码定义－整数
0，x
[x]补 =
x 为真值
2n ＞ x ≥ 0
0 ＞x ≥
n 为整数的位数
2n+1 + x
2n（mod 2n+1）
如
x = +1010 [x]补 = 0,1010
[x] 移对应的 十进制整数
-100000 - 11111 - 11110 … … + 11110 + 11111
0 1 2 …
用移码表示浮点数的阶码1 1 - 00001 1 1 1 1 ，能方便地判断浮点数阶码大小 011111 31
±
…
00000 + 00001 + 00010
n+1
移码在数轴上的表示
–2
n
–1 [x]移码
0
2 –1
n
真值
如
x = 10100
[x]移 = 25 + 10100 = 1,10100 x = –10100 [x]移 = 25 – 10100 = 0,01100
语言学胡壮麟第三版第二章笔记
Chapter 2 Speech SoundsThe definition of phonetics & phonologyPhonetics studies how speech sounds are produced, transmitted, and perceived.Phonology is the study of the sound patterns and sound systems languages.Distinction: The first focuses on chaos while the second focuses on order.ⅠHow speech sounds are made?A.Speech organs1. 3 cavities pharynxoral cavitynasal cavity2. vocal folds apart: voicelessClose: voicedClose tightly: glottal stop3. uvulaB.The IPAThe first version of the International Phonetic Alphabet（the IPA chart）was published in August,1888.ⅡConsonants and vowels1.DefinitionConsonants are produced “by a closure in the vocal tract, or by a narrowing which is so marked that air cannot escape without producing audible friction”.A vowel is produced without such “stricture” so that “air escapes in a relatively unimpededway through the mouth or nose”.The distinction between vowels and consonants lies in the obstruction of airstream.2.Three factors to describe the features of consonants1)Voicing: voiced & voiceless2)Manner of articulation: It refers to ways in which articulation can be accomplished: (a)the articulators may close off the oral tract for an instant or a relatively long period; (b)they may narrow the space considerably; (c) they may simply modify the shape of thetract by approaching each other.Classification according to manners of articulationstop/ plosive fricative lateraltap/ flap nasal approximant trill affricate3)place of articulation: It refers to the point where a consonant is made. Practicallyconsonants may be produced at any place between the lips and the vocal fold.Classification according to place of articulationbilabial dentalpost alveolar palatal uvular glottal labiodental alveolar retroflex velar pharyngea3.V owels1)cardinal vowel: The cardinal vowels, as exhibited by the vowel diagram in the IPA chart,are a set of vowel qualities arbitrarily defined, fixed and unchanging, intended toprovide a frame of reference for the description of the actual vowels of existinglanguages.2)Classification of vowelsthe height of tongue raising (high, mid, low)the position of the highest part of the tongue (front, central, back)the length or tenseness of the vowel (tense Vs. lax or long Vs. short)lip-rounding (rounded Vs. unrounded)ⅢFrom phonetics to phonology1.Coarticulation: When simultaneous or overlapping articulations are involved, we call theprocess coarticulation.Two types of coarticulation1)Anticipatory coarticulationIf the sound becomes more like the following sound, it is known as anticipatory coarticulation.2)Perseverative coarticulationIf the sound shows the influence of the preceding sound, it is perseverative coarticulation.2.Phone: The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are phones.Phoneme: It’s a unit of explicit sound contrast. If two sounds in a language make a contrast between two different words, they are said to be different phnemes.Minimal pair: When two different forms are identical in every way except for one segment that occurs in the same place in the string, the two words are called minimal pair.Allophone: Variants of the same phonemes. If two or more phonetically different sounds do not make a contrast in meaning, they are said to be allophones of the same phoneme.ⅣPhonological Process, Phonological Rules and Distinctive Features1.Assimilation: It is a process by which one sound takes on some or all the characteristic of aneighboring sound.Two possibilities of assimilation1)regressive assimilation: if a following sound is influencing a preceding sound, we call itregressive assimilation.2)Progressive assimilation: It is the converse process in which a preceding sound isinfluencing a following sound.2.Distinctive FeaturesThe idea of distinctive features was first developed b Roman Jacobson in the 1940s.ⅤSuprasegmentalsSuprasegmental features are those aspects of speech that involve more than single sound segments. The principle suprasegmentals are syllable, stress, tone and intonation.1.Syllable onsetrhyme nucleuscoda2.MOP(maximal onset principle)When there is a choice also where to place a consonant, it is put into the onset rather than the coda.3.StressIt refers to the degree of force used in producing a syllable.4.IntonationIntonation involves the occurrence of recurring fall-rise patterns, each of which is used with a set of relatively consistent meanings, either on single words or on groups of words of varying length.5.Tone: a set of fall-rise patterns affecting the meanings of individual wordsSupplementarticulatory phonetics: is the study of the production of speech sounds.acoustic phonetics: is the study of the physical properties of speech sounds.auditory phonetics: is concerned with the perception of speech sounds.。
英语语言学 Lecture 2 - speech sounds
A New Seaghsounds of spoken English≠letters of written English↓InternationalPhonetic Alphabet →IPAIPA is a standardized and internally accepted system of phonetic transcription.Its basic principle is using a different letter for each distinguishable speech sounds. With minor modification it is now still used by phoneticians and linguists.The International Phonetic Alphabet (Revised to 2005)only some of the sounds →units in the language system.study from various perspectives ↓PhoneticsPhonologyPhonetics -studies how speech sounds are produced, transmitted, and perceived.Articulatory Phonetics- the study of the production of speech sounds.Acoustic Phonetics- the study of the physical properties of speech sounds. Perceptual or Auditory Phonetics - concerned with the perception of speech sounds.- the study of the sound patterns and sound systems of languages. Aim- discover the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in languages, and to explain the variations that occur.1- analyze an individual language, say English, in order to determine itsphonological structure, i.e. whichsound units are used and how they are put together.2- compare the properties of sound systems in different languages in order to make hypotheses about the rulesthat underlie the use of sounds inthem, and3- ultimately discover the rules that underlie the sound patterns of alllanguages.nasal cavityoral cavitypharyngealcavityThe three resonating cavitiesSpeech Organs 1.lips 2.teeth 3.teeth ridge (alveolar) 4.hard palate 5.soft palate (velum) 6.uvula 7.tip of the tongue 8.blade of the tongue 9.front of the tongue 10.back of the tongue11.vocal cords1 2 1 234 567 8 910 11MouthConsonants are produced ‘by a closure in the vocal tract, or by a narrowing which is so marked that air cannot escape without producing audible friction’.By contrast, a vowel is produced without such ‘stricture’ so that ‘air escapes in a relatively unimpeded way through the mouth or nose’.The distinction between vowels and consonants lies in the obstruction of airstream.As there is no obstruction of air in the production of vowels, the description of the consonants and vowels cannot be done along the same lines.The place of articulation refers to the point where a consonant is made.Consonants - any place between the lips and the vocal folds.Bilabial双唇音*[w] tongue body raises to velum →labia-velar[f], [v]Upper teeth & Lower lip 唇齿音[ð], [θ]Tongue tip/blade & teeth 齿音[t], [d], [s], [z], [n], [l] , [ ]tongue tip/blade&alveolar ridge齿龈音[ſ],[3],([tſ],[d3])tongue tip&back of the alveolar ridge 后齿龈音[j][k], [g], [η], [w] [h] Palatal 硬腭音Velars 软腭音Glottal 声门音[ ] - 书[ u] [ ][ ] [ ] Retroflex 卷舌音Uvular 小舌音Pharyngeal喉音Place of Articulation Bilabial [p], [b], [m], [w] Labiodental [f], [v]Dental [ð], [θ]Alveolar [t], [d], [s], [z], [n], [l], Post-alveolar [ſ], [3],Palatal [j]Velar [k], [g], [η], [w] Glottal [h]RetroflexUvularPharyngealComplete closure(articulators)→ airstreamcannot escapethrough themouth.1.Closing phasepression3.release [p], [b], [k], [g], [t], [d]爆破音（plosive）Most sounds are produced orally, with the velum raised, preventing air flow from entering the nasal cavity. However, when the velum is lowered and the airstream is allowed to flow out through the nose to produce sounds -nasals. [m][n][η]鼻音air stream partially obstructed and turbulent airflow is produced [f], [v] [ð], [θ] [s], [z] [ſ], [3] [h]摩擦音one articulator is close to another, but without the vocal tract being narrowed for turbulent air stream[w][j]无摩擦延续音（半元音）obstruction in the incomplete closure between one or both sides of the tongue and the roof of the mouth [l]边音塞擦音a stop followedimmediately by africativean articulator is set vibrating by the airstream [r] ( )颤音only one vibration is produced [ ]触音/闪音[p] [b] [f] [v] [m] Voiceless bilabial stopVoiced bilabial stopVoiceless labiodental fricative Voiced labiodental fricative Bilabial nasal。
英语语言学笔记第二章
言语产生和言语感知人类可以发出各种声音，但只有其中一部分成为语言系统的单位。
正如我们从前面对语言的讨论中所看到的，语言首先是一个"语音符号系统"，语音远远早于文字而存在，并且，即使是今天，在世界的某些角落，还有些语言是没有文字系统的。
因此，语音的研究是语言学的一个主要组成部分。
在这一章中，我们将考察语音研究的方法以及使用的模式。
我们将从语音研究，即"语音学"开始，然后进入语音模式，即"音系学"的研究。
可以想象，语音被说话者A发出，然后，它被传递并被说话者B接收，语音如图2.1所示经历了3个阶段。
言语产生言语感知（说话者A）→（说话者B）图2.1 言语产生和言语感知过程语音研究自然地分成三个主要领域，一个领域就是一个步骤。
●发音语音学研究语音的产生。
●声学语音学研究语音的物理特征。
●听觉语音学和语音感知有关。
在本书中，我们只集中讨论发音语音学，不涉及其他的研究领域。
语言学教程2.2 言语器官言语器官，如图2.2所示，也经常被称作发音器官。
它们是人体中参与制造言语的部分。
这些器官，并非仅仅用在言语中，它们的主要功能其实是满足呼吸和进食等基本生理需要。
虽然如此，这些器官看起来是经历了长期的进化以适应言语的各种特定的需要。
因为它们的形成保证了其能有效地在言语行为中发挥作用。
如果去考察人体有多少部分参与了言语行为，你会大吃一惊，它们是：肺，气管，喉，鼻和口。
在口里，我们需要辨别舌及腭的不同部分。
在喉里，我们还要辨别咽（喉的上部）和喉头（喉的下部，包括声带）。
咽、口和鼻组成了声道的三大腔，口和鼻常被分别称为口腔和鼻腔。
图2.2 言语器官（略）发音以气流作为其能量来源。
大多数情况下，气流来自于肺部，它从肺里被挤出，然后通过细支气管和支气管（通往气管的一些管道分支）。
以这种方式产生的语音叫做"肺闭塞音"。
气管的顶端是喉头，喉头的前端是喉结。
胡壮麟语言学笔记第二章
胡壮麟语言学笔记第二章Chapter 2 Speech Sounds2.1 Speech production and perceptionPhonetics is the study of speech sounds. It includes three main areas:1. Articulatory phonetics –the study of the production of speech sounds2. Acoustic phonetics –the study of the physical properties of the sounds produced inspeech3. Auditory phonetics –the study of perception of speech soundsMost phoneticians are interested in articulatory phonetics.2.2 Speech organsSpeech organs are those parts of the human body involved in the production of speech. The speech organs can be considered as consisting of three parts: the initiator of the air stream, the producer of voice and the resonating cavities.2.3 Segments, divergences, and phonetic transcription2.3.1 Segments and divergencesAs there are more sounds in English than its letters, each letter must represent more than one sound.2.3.2 Phonetic transcriptionInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA): the system of symbols for representing the pronunciation of words in any language according to the principles of the InternationalPhonetic Association. The symbols consists of letters and diacritics. Some letters aretaken from the Roman alphabet, some are special symbols.2.4 Consonants2.4.1 Consonants and vowelsA consonant is produced by constricting or obstructing the vocal tract at someplaces to divert, impede, or completely shut off the flow of air in the oral cavity.A vowel is produced without obstruction so no turbulence or a total stopping of theair can be perceived.2.4.2 ConsonantsThe categories of consonant are established on the basis of several factors. The most important of these factors are:1. the actual relationship between the articulators and thus the way in which theair passes through certain parts of the vocal tract (manner of articulation);2. where in the vocal tract there is approximation, narrowing, or the obstructionof the air (place of articulation).2.4.3 Manners of articulation1. Stop/plosive: A speech sound which is produced by stopping the air streamfrom the lungs and then suddenly releasing it. In English,[?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?] are stops and [?? ?? ?]are nasal stops.2. Fricative: A speech sound which is produced by allowing the air stream fromthe lungs to escape with friction. This is caused by bringing the twoarticulators, e.g. the upper teeth and the lower lip, closetogether but notcloses enough to stop the airstreams completely. In English, [?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?] are fricatives.3. (Median) approximant: An articulation in which one articulator is close toanother, but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that aturbulent airstream is produced. In English this class of sounds includes[?? ?? ?].4. Lateral (approximant): A speech sound which is produced by partiallyblocking the airstream from the lungs, usually by the tongue, but letting itescape at one or both sides of the blockage. [●] is the only lateral in English.Other consonantal articulations include trill, tap or flap, and affricate.2.4.4 Places of articulation1. Bilabial: A speech sound which is made with the two lips.2. Labiodental: A speech sound which is made with the lower lip and the upperfront teeth.3. Dental: A speech sound which is made by the tongue tip or blade and theupper front teeth.4. Alveolar: A speech sound which is made with the tongue tip or blade and thealveolar ridge.5. Postalveolar: A speech sound which is made with thetongue tip and the backof the alveolar ridge.6. Retroflex: A speech sound which is made with the tongue tip or blade curledback so that the underside of the tongue tip or blade forms a stricture with theback of the alveolar ridge or the hard palate.7. Palatal: A speech sound which is made with the front of the tongue and thehard palate.8. Velar: A speech sound which is made with the back of the tongue and the softpalate.9. Uvular: A speech sound which is made with the back of the tongue and theuvula, the short projection of the soft tissue and muscle at the posterior end ofthe velum.10. Pharyngeal: A speech sound which is made with the root of the tongue and thewalls of the pharynx.11. Glottal: A speech sound which is made with the two pieces of vocal foldspushed towards each other.2.4.5 The consonants of EnglishReceived Pronunciation (RP): The type of British Standard English pronunciation which has been regarded as the prestige variety and which shows no regional variation.It has often been popularly referred to as “BBC English” or “Oxford English” because itis widely used in the private sector of the education system and spoken by mostnewsreaders of the BBC network.articulation. These pairs of consonants are distinguished by voicing, the one appearingon the left is voiceless and the one on the right is voiced.Therefore, the consonants of English can be described in the following way:[p] voiceless bilabial stop[b] voiced bilabial stop[s] voiceless alveolar fricative[z] voiced alveolar fricative[m] bilabial nasal[n] alveolar nasal[l] alveolar lateral[j] palatal approximant[h] glottal fricative[r] alveolar approximant2.5 Vowels2.5.1 The criteria of vowel description1. The part of the tongue that is raised – front, center, or back.2. The extent to which the tongue rises in the direction of the palate. Normally,three or four degrees are recognized: high, mid (often divided into mid-highand mid-low) and low.3. The kind of opening made at the lips –various degrees of lip rounding orspreading.4. The position of the soft palate –raised for oral vowels, and lowered forvowels which have been nasalized.2.5.2 The theory of cardinal vowels[Icywarmtea doesn’t quite understand this theory.]Cardinal vowels are a set of vowel qualities arbitrarily defined, fixed and unchanging, intending to provide a frame of reference for the description of the actualvowels of existing languages.By convention, the eight primary cardinal vowels are numbered from one to eight as follows: CV1[?], CV2[?], CV3[?], CV4[?], CV5[ ], CV6[ ], CV7[?],CV8[◆].A set of secondary cardinal vowels is obtained by reversing the lip-rounding for agive position: CV9 – CV16. [I am sorry I cannot type out many of these. If you want toknow, you may consult the textbook p. 47. – icywarmtea]2.5.3 Vowel glidesPure (monophthong) vowels: vowels which are produced without any noticeable change in vowel quality.V owel glides: V owels where there is an audible change of quality.Diphthong: A vowel which is usually considered as onedistinctive vowel of a particular language but really involves two vowels, with one vowel gliding to the other.2.5.4 The vowels of RP[??] high front tense unrounded vowel[◆] high back lax rounded vowel[?] central lax unrounded vowel[ ] low back lax rounded vowel2.6 Coarticulation and phonetic transcription2.6.1 CoarticulationCoarticulation: The simultaneous or overlapping articulation of two successive phonological units.Anticipatory coarticulation: If the sound becomes more like the following sound, as in the case of lamp, it is known as anticipatory coarticulation.Perseverative coarticulation: If the sound displays the influence of the preceding sound, as in the case of map, it is perseverative coarticulation.Nasalization: Change or process by which vowels or consonants become nasal.Diacritics: Any mark in writing additional to a letter or other basic elements.2.6.2 Broad and narrow transcriptionsThe use of a simple set of symbols in our transcription is called a broadtranscription. The use of more specific symbols to show more phonetic detail is referredto as a narrow transcription. The former was meant to indicate only these soundscapable of distinguishing one word from another in a given language while the latterwas meant to symbolize all the possible speech sounds, including even the minutestshades of pronunciation.2.7 Phonological analysisPhonetics is the study of speech sounds. It includes three main areas: articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics, and auditory phonetics. On the other hand, phonology studies the rules governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of speech sounds and the shape of syllables. There is a fair degree of overlap in what concerns the two subjects, so sometimes it is hard to draw the boundary between them. Phonetics is the study of all possible speech sounds while phonology studies the way in which speakers of a language systematically use a selection of these sounds in order to express meaning. That is to say, phonology is concerned with the linguistic patterning of sounds in human languages, with its primary aim being to discover the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in languages, and to explain the variations that occur. 2.8 Phonemes and allophones2.8.1 Minimal pairsMinimal pairs are two words in a language which differ from each other by only one distinctive sound and which also differ in meaning. E.g. the English words tie anddie are minimal pairs as they differ in meaning and in their initial phonemes /t/ and /d/.By identifying the minimal pairs of a language, a phonologist can find out which soundsubstitutions cause differences of meaning.2.8.2 The phoneme theory2.8.3 AllophonesA phoneme is the smallest linguistic unit of sound that can signal a difference inmeaning. Any of the different forms of a phoneme is called its allophones. E.g. inEnglish, when the phoneme /?/ occurs at the beginning of the word like peak//, it is said with a little puff of air, it is aspirated. But when /?/ occurs in theword like speak //, it is said without the puff of the air, it is unaspirated. Boththe aspirated [??] in peak and the unaspirated [?=] in speak have the same phonemicfunction, i.e. they are both heard and identified as /?/ and not as /?/; they are bothallophones of the phoneme /?/.2.9 Phonological processes2.9.1 AssimilationAssimilation: A process by which one sound takes on some or all the characteristics of a neighboring sound.Regressive assimilation: If a following sound is influencing a preceding sound, we call it regressive assimilation.Progressive assimilation: If a preceding sound is influencing a following sound, wecall it progressive assimilation.Devoicing: A process by which voiced sounds become voiceless. Devoicing of voiced consonants often occurs in English when they are at the end of a word.2.9.2 Phonological processes and phonological rulesThe changes in assimilation, nasalization, dentalization, and velarization are all phonological processes in which a target oraffected segment undergoes a structuralchange in certain environments or contexts. In each process the change is conditioned ortriggered by a following sound or, in the case of progressive assimilation, a precedingsound. Consequently, we can say that any phonological process must have three aspectsto it: a set of sounds to undergo the process; a set of sounds produced by the process; aset of situations in which the process applies.We can represent the process by mans of an arrow: voiced fricative →voiceless / __________ voiceless. This i s a phonological rule. The slash (/) specifies theenvironment in which the change takes place. The bar (called the focus bar) indicatesthe position of the target segment. So the rule reads: a voiced fricative is transformedinto the corresponding voiceless sound when it appears before a voiceless sound.2.9.3 Rule ordering[No much to say, so omitted – icywarmtea]2.10 Distinctive featuresDistinctive feature: A particular characteristic which distinguishes one distinctive sound unit of a language from another or one group of sounds from another group.Binary feature: A property of a phoneme or a word which can be used to describe the phoneme or word. A binary feature is either present or absent. Binary features are also used to describe the semantic properties of words.2.11 SyllablesSuprasegmental features: Suprasegmental features are those aspects of speech that involve more than single sound segments. The principal suprasegmental features are syllables, stress, tone, and intonation.Syllable: A unit in speech which is often longer than one sound and smaller than a whole word.Open syllable: A syllable which ends in a vowel.Closed syllable: A syllable which ends in a consonant.Maximal onset principle: The principle which states that when there is a choice as to where to place a consonant, it is put into the onset rather than the coda. E.g. The correct syllabification of the word country should be / /. It shouldn’t be / / or / / according to this principle.2.12 StressStress refers to the degree of force used in producing a syllable. In transcription, a raised vertical line [ ] is used just before the syllable it relates to.。
语言学chapter2
语言学chapter2Chapter 2 phonology1,what are the two major media of communication? Of the two, which one is primary and why?The two major media of communication are speech and writing. Speech is more basic than writing. Because the writing system of any language is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the need arises, and in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed, speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to school.2.What is voicing and how is it caused?Vibration of the vocal cords results in a quality of speech sounds that is called voicing. It is caused by vocal cords which may also be held together tightly so that the air stream vibrates hem at different speeds .3.Explain with examples how broad transcription and narrow transcription differ.Broad transcription is the transcription with letter-symbols only. Narrow transcription is the transcription with letter-symbols together with the diacritics,which are added to the letter-symbols to bring out the finer distinctions than the letters alone can possible do. For example, in broad transcription, the symbol[l]is used for the sound[l]in the four words leaf[li:f],feel[fi:l], build[bild],and health[helθ]. As a matter of fact, the sound [l]in all these four sound combination differ slightly. The [l]in[li:f], occurring before a vowel, is called clear[l], and no diacritic is need to indicate it; the [l]in[fi:l]and[bild]occurring at the end of a word or before another consonant, is pronounced differently from the clear [1] as in “leaf”. It is called dark [?] and innarr ow transcription the diacritic [?] is used to indicate it. Then in the sound combination [helθ], the sou nd [l] is followed by the English dental sound [θ], its pronunciation is somewhat affected by the dental sound that follows it. It is thus called a dental [l], and in narrow transcription the diacritic [、] is used to indicate it. It is transcribed as [helθ]. Another example is the consonant [p]. In the word pit, the sound [p] is pronounced with a strong puff of air, but in spit the puff of air is withheld to some extent. In the case of pit, the [p] sound is said to be aspirated and in the case of spit, the [p] sound is unaspirated. This difference is not shown in broadtranscription, but i n narrow transcription, a small raised “h” is used to show aspiratio n, thus pit is transcribed as [ph?t] and spit is transcribed as [sp?t].4.How are the English consonants classified?English consonants can be classified in two ways: one is in terms of manner of articulation and the other is in terms of place of articulation. In terms of manner of articulation the English consonants can be classified into the following types: stops, fricatives, affricates, liquids, nasals and glides. In terms of place of articulation, it can be classified into following types: bilabial, labiodental, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar and glottal.5.What criteria are used to classify the English vowels?Vowel sounds are differentiated by a number of factors: the position of the tongue in the mouth , the openness of the mouth, the shape of the lips, and the length of the vowels. According to which part of the tongue is held highest, vowels may bedistinguished as front, central, and back. And according to the openness of the mouth, vowels can be classified into close vowels, semi-close vowels , semi-open vowels and open vowels. According to the shape of the lips, all the front vowels and the central vowels are unrounded vowels, and all the back vowels, with the exception of[a:],are rounded vowels. According to the length of the sound, vowels can be classified into tense and lax vowels.6. Give the phonetic symbol fro each of the following sound descriptions:(1)voiced palatal affricate:[?] (2)voiceless labiodental fricative:[f](3)voiced alveolar stop: [d] (4)front, close, short: [i](5)back, semi-open, long: [?:] (6)voiceless, bilabial stop: [p]Give the phonetic features of each of the following sounds:(1)[d]: voiced alveolar stop (2)[l]: voiced alveolar liquids(3)[?]: voiceless palatal affricate (4) [w]: voiced bilabial glides(5) [?]: back, close, short (6) [?]: front, open, short7. How do phonetics and phonology differ in their focus of study? Who do you think will be more interested in the difference between, say, [l] and [?], [ph] and [p], a phonetician or a phonologist? Why?Phonetics is of a general nature, it is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages. Phonology aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication.The difference between these sounds is what the phonetician are interested in. Because phonology is concerned with the sound system of a particular language, but phonetician isinterested in how they are produced, how they differ from each other, what phonetic features they possess.8. What is a phone? How is it different from a phoneme? How are allophones related to a phoneme?A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones. A phoneme is a phonological unit, it is a unit that is of distinctive value. It is an abstract unit. It is not particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. Allophones are the different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments.9. Explain with examples the sequential rule, the assimilation rule, and the deletion rule.Sequential rules refer to the ways the phonemes can be combined. Sequential rules regulate which phonemes can begin a word, end a word, and follow each other. They are rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language.For example, if a word begins with a [l] or a [r], then the next sound must be a vowel. That is why [lbik] [lkbi] are impossible combinations in English. They have violated the restrictions on the sequencing of phonemes.The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones similar.For example, the [i:] sound is nasalized in words like bean, green, team, and scream. This is because in all these sound combinations the [i:] sound is followed by a nasal [n] or [m].Deletion rule is when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented.In the pronunciation of such wordsas sign, design, and paradigm, there is no [g] sound although it is represented in spelling by the letter[g]. But in their corresponding forms signature, designation, and paradigmatic, the [g] represented bythe letter g is pronounced. The rule can be stated as: Deletea [g] when it occurs before a final nasal consonant.10. What are suprasegmental features? How do the major suprasegmental features of English function in conveying meaning?Suprasegmental features refer to the phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments.The main suprasegmental features include stress, tone, and intonation.There are two kinds of stress: word stress and sentence stress. The location of stress in English distinguishes meaning. For example, a shift of stress may change the part of speech of a word from a noun to a verb although its spelling remains unchanged.Tones are pitch variations which can distinguish meaning just like phonemes.When pitch, stress and sound length are tied to the sentence rather than the word in isolation, they are collectively known as intonation. English has four basic types of intonation: the falling tone, the rising tone, the fall-rise tone, and the rise-fall tone When spoken in different tones, the same sequence of words may have different meanings.。