Language Sound Systems: Phonetics, Phonology, and Syntax
Phonetics: The Study of Language Sounds
Phonetics is the linguistic discipline that studies language sounds analyzed by their physical characteristics. There are three main domains within phonetics:
- Articulatory Phonetics: Addresses how language sounds are produced in the speech apparatus.
- Acoustic Phonetics: Studies how sounds spread through the air.
- Auditory Phonetics: Studies how sounds are perceived by hearing.
Phonology, on the other hand, studies the abstract mental aspects of language sounds.
Phonemes and Distinctive Features
Phonemes are minimal units of sound that, while lacking inherent meaning, differentiate meanings. They are defined by their distinctive features, which are the characteristic features that differentiate them. These features determine the phonetic qualities of sounds.
- Vowel Phonemes: Defined by two features: opening/closing (vowel height) and anterior/posterior (vowel backness).
- Consonant Phonemes: Defined by the place and manner of articulation, and the behavior of the vocal cords.
Suprasegmental Features: Accent and Intonation
Intonation and stress are simultaneous features that extend over more than one segment (phoneme). These are called suprasegmental features.
Accent (or stress) serves as a distinctive element between words. It highlights a syllable within a word, making its duration greater. The syllable on which the accent falls in a word is called the tonic syllable; the rest are marked as unstressed.
Word Classification by Stress
The position of stress determines an initial classification. Words can be classified as:
- Acute (Oxytone): Stress on the last syllable.
- Flat (Paroxytone): Stress on the second-to-last syllable.
- Antipenultimate (Proparoxytone): Stress on the third-to-last syllable.
Accented and Unaccented Words
- Accented Words: These words typically have only one accent, with the exception of adverbs ending in ‘-mente’ (e.g., ‘rápidamente’), which retain the accent of the original adjective and gain another on the suffix.
- Unaccented Words: These include articles, possessive pronouns, prepositions, and certain clitic personal pronouns and conjunctions.
Intonation
Intonation is also a linguistic sign: its signifier is a melodic curve, and its meaning is the mode assigned to the statement. The intonation of an utterance is a series of rising and falling tones produced around accented syllables and at the end of phonetic groups. Each segment between pauses is called a phonetic group. From the last accented syllable, a significant final inflection occurs, called the Toneme, which can be ascending or descending.
Types of Tonemes
- Interrogative Statements: Only interrogative statements typically have ascending tonemes; partial questions may have descending tonemes.
- Assertive Statements: The phonetic group formed by the Toneme typically presents a descending pattern. If an utterance is composed of two phonetic groups, the first often conveys known information (ascending) and the second new information (descending).
- Parenthetical/Explanatory Structures: Appositions, explanatory adjective structures, and phrases enclosed between commas, parentheses, or dashes often end in an upward inflection.
- Coordination: Cases of asyndeton (lack of conjunctions) and polysyndeton (excessive use of conjunctions) should be differentiated.
Syntactic Arguments
Syntactic arguments are elements required by the verb due to its significance and are not expendable. Key types include:
- Direct Object (DO): This is a syntactic function that materializes the subject or patient and designates the animate or inanimate object upon which the action alluded to by the verb falls.
- Complement of Regime (CR): Also known as a prepositional object, this designates the object upon which the verbal action falls, but it is always characterized by being preceded by a preposition required by the verb. To identify it, the preposition remains, and the term is replaced by a tonic pronoun.
- Indirect Object (IO): This is the corresponding syntactic function for the experimenter or beneficiary. It is recognized by commutation with the pronouns ‘le’ or ‘les’ (in Spanish), even when they are not explicitly present in the sentence.