Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!newsfeed.pitt.edu!newsflash.concordia.ca!news.nstn.ca!ott.istar!istar.net!van.istar!west.istar!n1van.istar!van-bc!news.mindlink.net!uniserve!news.sol.net!newspump.sol.net!homer.alpha.net!uwm.edu!news-res.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!news.mathworks.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.sprintlink.net!news-stk-200.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!news-pen-14.sprintlink.net!GRAYLADY!dmn1-51.usa1.com!user
From: rdd@usa1.com (Aaron J. Dinkin)
Subject: Re: The phonemic transcription problem
Message-ID: <rdd-3007961124560001@dmn1-51.usa1.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 11:24:56 -0500
References: <4tac7o$r22@thighmaster.admin.lsa.umich.edu> <DvAsBt.4ow@tigadmin.ml.com> <31fdf844.109561698@nntp.ix.netcom.com>
Lines: 46

In the post I'm replying to, Bob Cunningham expounded at length upon the
perceived impossibility of understanding what sounds phonetic
transcriptions refer to without audiorecording.

This is not true. The conventional way of defining the sounds represented
by phonetic spelling is in terms of articulation. Any human with normal
vocal apparatus can, for example, rest the front teeth on the lower lip
and exhale through the spaces between the teeth, and the sound produced
will be [f]. We difine [f] as being the consonant sound produced that way,
or, more succinctly, as an unvoiced labiodental fricative. Similarly - and
vowels were the main point of Bob's post - vowels can be defined in terms
of such things as the shape of the lips and the location in the mouth of
the blade of the tongue. For example, when we say [u], we raise the blade
of the tongue near the roof of the mouth and pull it back until it's below
the back of the hard palate. Then we round our lips and exhale while
vibrating our vocal chords. That is the sound defined as [u] - a high back
rounded vowel.

He says:

>      As for "sod", "father", and "bought", I would represent the "o",
> "a", and "ou" by the same symbol because to me they are not only the
> same phoneme, but the same allophone.  I could transcribe them as
> /sAd/, /'fA D@r/, and /bAt/, but there's no way I can tell you what I
> mean by /A/.

Of course there is. Pronounce the vowel you use in "sod", "father", and
"bought", and feel where the blade - that is, the middle - of your tongue
is, in terms of how close it is to the roof of your mouth, and how far
forward or back it is. (It's a front vowel if, when you close your mouth,
the blade of your tongue hits the alveolar ridge behind your teeth; it's a
central vowel if it hits the front of the hard palate; it's a back vowel
if it hits the back of the hard palate.) Then check whether your lips are
rounded or not. When you say, for example, the sound you describe as /i/,
you'll be, in all likelihood, elevating the blade of your tongue to right
below the alveolar ridge and not rounding your lips, and that's [i].

> No written description of sounds can have any meaning for me unless it is 
> anchored somehow in experienced audio renditions.

How about experienced physical articulations? If you want to know what
phone Peter Jennings uses in "sore" and "bought", imitate his
pronunciation and feel where your tongue is.

-Aaron J. Dinkin
Dr. Whom

