Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

In this course, we will study the encoding and decoding of speech from articulatory, acoustic, and cognitive perspectives. At the most basic level, this will involve learning what sounds are used in human languages. You will learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a transcription system designed to capture distinctions among various sounds and you will practice using this system to describe sounds that you have never heard before. As we discuss regularities and patterns among the sounds that languages tend to use, we will begin to address the deeper question of why human languages sound the way they do. To do this, we will draw on insights from the physiology of speech articulation, from the acoustic characteristics of speech, and from the nature of humans’ capacity to recognize patterns and perceive subtle distinctions in speech sounds. Building on this foundation, we will then extend the scope of our inquiry beyond individual speech sounds to examine common linguistic patterns involving words, morphemes, accents, etc. within and across languages and dialects.