Introduction to phonetics and phonology

Aims

At the end of this module:

You will be familiar with the basic symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet, including all those symbols needed to describe English
You will know the terminology appropriate to the description of consonants and vowels, including the parameters of description on the IPA chart
You will understand something of the relationship between the sounds of speech and the abstract linguistic system that underlies them, as well as the relationship of phonetics and phonology to the wider linguistic system
You will understand the basic structure of sound systems across languages, and the ways in which this is established analytically
You will know some of the types of unit that are commonly used in phonology, such as phonemes and features
You will be familiar with some common phonological phenomena and formal accounts of them, including a range of notational devices such as rules and hierarchical representation

At the end of this module:

You will be able to recognise many of the sounds of the IPA chart and the parameters along which sounds can vary, and describe them using appropriate terminology and symbolisation
You will be able to establish phonological categories on the basis of contrast
You will be able to produce simple phonetic descriptions and broad phonetic transcriptions of short stretches of speech
You will be able to provide appropriate structural descriptions of syllables using appropriate phonological notation
You will be able to compare competing analyses of simple phenomena and evaluate their relative succes

Term	Weeks	Topic
1	2-3	The anatomy of speech
	4-5	Transcribing speech
	6	Reading week (no lecture)
	7-8	Vowels
	9-10	Consonants
2	1	in-class test
	2-3	The ‘units’ of speech
	4-5	Explaining phonological inventories
	6	Reading week (no lecture)
	7-8	Explaining phonological patterns
	9-10	Syllables
3	1-4	Revision lectures
	5-7	exam