phonetics (n.)

The science which studies the characteristics of human sound-making, especially those sounds used in speech, and provides methods for their DESCRIPTION, CLASSIFICATION and TRANSCRIPTION. Three branches of the subject are generally recognized: (a) articulatory phonetics is the study of the way speech sounds are made (‘articulated’) by the vocal organs; (b) acoustic phonetics studies the physical properties of speech sound, as transmitted between mouth and ear; (c) auditory phonetics studies the perceptual response to speech sounds, as mediated by ear, auditory nerve and brain. The term instrumental phonetics is used for the study of any of these aspects of the subject using physical apparatus, such as devices for measuring airflow, or for analyzing sound waves. People engaged in the study of phonetics are known as phoneticians.

Phonetic categories are generally defined using terms which have their origins in other subjects, such as anatomy, physiology and acoustics. CONSONANT sounds, for example, are described with reference to anatomical place of articulation (as in DENTAL, PALATAL, etc.), or to their physical structure (the FREQUENCY and AMPLITUDE characteristics of the sound waves). Because these methods of analysis are equally valid for all human speech sounds, regardless of the LANGUAGE or speaker, the subject is often referred to as general phonetics. This term also reflects the aim of the phonetician to discover universal principles governing the nature and use of speech sounds. Experimental phonetics is another term which reflects the general nature of this ‘pure’ scientific endeavour.

Work in phonetics can, accordingly, be classified into two broad types: (a) general studies of the articulation, acoustics or perception of speech, and (b) studies of the phonetic properties of specific languages. In this latter sense, it is evident that a further dimension will be required, in order to study how the sounds are used within the pronunciation SYSTEM of a language. This ‘functional’ approach to phonetics is usually carried on under the heading of PHONOLOGY. However, in so far as phoneticians have a specific interest in the study of individual (groups of) languages or DIALECTS, it might then be argued that phonetics is a branch of LINGUISTICS.

It is this twofold character of phonetic enquiry which gives rise to a difficulty: is phonetics an autonomous subject, or is it to be seen as a branch of linguistics? In terms of methods, it is certainly very different, and phonetic research of type (a) above often has little to do with the aims of linguistic analysis. But phonetic research of type (b) is plainly part of linguistic enquiry – some would say, an indispensable foundation. Depending on their traditions, emphases and aims, then, some university departments have been called ‘Departments of Linguistics’, some have been called ‘Departments of Linguistics and Phonetics’ – a distinction which should not be taken to mean that phonetics is not taught in the former! One compromise has been to talk of the ‘linguistic sciences’ – that is, linguistics and phonetics.