Topic 2: Introduction to Phonology

Phonology
We have first to get the meaning of the word Phonology which is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages, as I remember it includes phonetics and phonemics. Pretty easy right! Well, phonology is so big, that it usually needs to be taken in bite-sized portions in order to be approached at all. One of the bigger pieces that people take out of the phonology pie in order to cut up even further is one called "phonetics." Before you read about phonetics though, stop to think about all the movements your whole body goes through in order to create the sounds you use in a sentence. Feel your diaphragm undulate, your tongue move and swell, your lips twitch, your lungs fill and empty themselves, your larynx vibrate, even your nose hold sounds for tiny moments. If you put all of that together, you get a glimpse at what phonology is about. Understanding how speech sound are made helps linguists figure out where languages came from and where they are going; it helps scientists program computers to comprehend and mimic human speech; and it might even help you learn a new language.

Phonetics
Phonetics is primarily used to describe the way sounds are written and how written words are perceived as sounds. If you look at the definition, you can see how there's overlap with that of "phonology." That overlap in definition can be a source of confusion for some, but there's no reason to let it ruin your day. For most people the only reason they will ever need phonetics to use the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is really only usable to a select few. It's a way of standardizing the pronunciation of words from any language so that, theoretically, anyone reading any word in any language can at least pronounce it properly. Phonetics has three main branches:

Articulatory phonetics: is concerned with the positions and movements of the speech organs such as the lips and the tongue in producing sound.
Acoustic phonetics: is concerned with the physical properties of the sound waves.
Auditory phonetics: is concerned with the perception of the speech sounds or the effect on the ear.

Speech organs picture 1 above.








Pronunciation chart picture 2 above.

Read more -

Readmore...

Topic 1: Language and Communication

Topic 1: Language and Communication

In this topic, i learned about language and communication. For my own perspective, language is one system for human to communicate with each other by speech and writing so that human can represent their ideas and thoughts through the sounds or letters. Language in some countries or races is different from each others. Each word of language is symbol which has a particular meaning. For example, a cat can be called ‘kucing’ in Malay but Ibanez called it ‘mayau’.

I made my effort to learn some language or word from my friend from Kenya and compare it to my own languages which is Iban. For example:

Kenya Language:
Nakupenda
Hakuna Matata
Una fanya nini sahi?
Mambo?

Iban Language:
Aku sayau ke nuan
Anang irau
Nama pengawa nuan?
Nama berita?

English Language:
I love you
Don’t worry
What are you doing?
How are you?

I fully understand that linguistic symbols have their own function and form. Normally the structure including the subject, verb and object for English language. For example:

I play football.
Subject verb object

For Iban language, it’s the same with English language. For example:

Aku main bul
Subject verb object

Linguistic also consist of units by rules. In order to make sentences, we should know the spelling and grammatical rules. If we put the word at the different place in sentence, it will bring the different meaning to the sentence. For example:

The red carpet is under the table.
The carpet is under the red table.

Linguistic is specifically human. Human uses language to communicate with each other. Plus, using language, we can be creative. For example, in order to make a song lyric, we will combine the words together to get the best lyric.

Bujang Semanggang, song by Joyce Menti(Iban singer)
Belala asai begulai enggau nuan bujang,
Betanda semalam-malam,
Maya pengerami mangkung tiang,
Tegepang telentang,
Meda penyigat nadai endur mantah,
Ku nanya dini menua nuan,
Nuan madah diri urang semanggang.

Language use is constrained by culture. We use language for some function and the structure is different for some function. For example, when having birthday party, we use the non-formal language but for some formal function like meeting and making a speech, we should know what to say and not say.

Communication happened when there are 2 parties which is the sender and the receiver having the 2 way process. The sender will give the message by speaking or writing (encoding) to the receiver. The receiver will listen or read (decoding) the message. Communication between these 2 parties can be divided into 2 types, non-vocal and vocal.

Non-verbal communication is how we send the message to the receiver with no voice involved. We can visualize, tactile, olfactory and kinetic. For visualize, we stare, wink and blink to do the non-verbal communication. In tactile, we pat people shoulder in order to comfort them. In olfactory, normally we twitched the nose and our eyes. Then, for the kinetic or physical communication, we use body language to hug and withdrawing.

Non-speech communication, it’s referring to the use of vocal cords but with no speech. It’s including the physiological reflexes. We yawn and cough on purpose. There are emotion markers to show feeling such as sighs and sobs. Besides, we will raised voice or whisper for the voice-quality differences. We also do the paralinguistic effect to show appreciation, joy, happiness or sadness. For example, we will belch, laugh and hum.

Read more - Topic 1: Language and Communication

Readmore...