Phonetics

1. How do we identify our speech sounds since we have different physical features? (pp. 215-216)

2. Can you read English correctly by simply look at the spellings? (pp. 217-221) Try to read the following words:

Many fathers called their dads in the village.

He believes that only people can seize the key to the machine.

3. Introducing the basic knowledge of articulatory phonetics (pp. 222-240)

3.1. What is “airstream mechanisms”? (p. 223)

3.2. Places of articulation of English and Mandarin consonants (pp. 223-225)

3.3. Manners of articulation in English (pp. 225-234)

See Table 6.4 (p. 233)

3.4. The tongue position of different vowels (compare the tongue positions of English and Mandarin vowels) (pp. 234-238)

What are tense and lax vowels?

3.5. What are the major classes of sounds that are important in the patterning of sounds in the world’s languages? (pp. 239-240)

(1) noncontinuants and continuants

p, b, m, t, d, n, k, g, f, v, s, z, l, w, h

(2) obstruents and sonorants

p, b, t, d, k, g, f, v, s, z, m, n, l, r, j, w, h

(3) consonants and vowels

(4) syllabic sounds

m, n, l, r

4. What are tone and intonation languages? (pp. 240-241)

5. Explain Tables 6.6 on pages 244-245.