With the question "What is phonetics?" sooner or later, any educated modern person faces . Why? Well, firstly, such sciences as phonetics and phonology are superficially studied in secondary schools (in-depth - in specialized), because it is in the walls of educational institutions that students begin to learn the correct pronunciation of sounds.
Secondly, the question is often “What is phonetics in general?” we ask teachers, having barely signed up for today's popular foreign language courses.
I will try to answer this question in great detail, but at the same time in a simple and understandable manner. For convenience, the article will be divided into several parts.
1. Phonetics and phonology - sections of modern linguistics
In modern linguistics, the sound side of the language is considered to be considered in two main aspects: acoustic-articular (in terms of phonetics) and functional (in terms of phonology). The unit of phonetics is sound, phonology is a phoneme.
The phonetic aspect involves the study of sounds from an articulatory-acoustic position, i.e. answers the question of how exactly sounds are formed and how the speech organs interact in the process of speaking.
Speech sounds are defined by linguists as the minimum units of the speech chain that are the result of complex human articulatory activity. They are also characterized by certain acoustic and perceptual (associated with the perception of speech) properties. The phonological aspect studies the linguistic side of the phoneme itself and determines what function it performs in the communication process.
2. What is phonetics? The main sections of science
Phonetics is a science that studies the sound side of a language. But this is not just a doctrine of sounds, as is commonly believed. Phonetics also considers intonation, stress, syllables and pauses. But the main subject of research is still the sounds made by a person, the methods of their formation and acoustic properties, the laws of sound changes, as well as the role of sounds in language as a means of communication.
The basic units of phonetics, singled out from sounding speech, are called linear (segmented). These include:
- sound;
- syllable;
- tact;
- phonetic word;
- phrase.
But there are also super-segmented ones: stress, pause, intonation. They make out an already sounding speech, helping to make it more expressive.
3. Phonetics and orthoepy
Orthoepy should be understood as the doctrine of the norms of oral speech, of special rules that apply when pronouncing not only individual sounds, but also their combinations. Science also touches on patterns in staging stress.
The orthoepic norm is called the pronunciation variant, which is the only possible in this word. It corresponds to both the pronunciation system and the basic laws of development of a particular language.
Orthoepic norms include the phonetic system of the language, namely the composition of phonemes distinguished in the modern language, their quality and changes that occur in certain phonetic positions. Orthoepy also encompasses pronunciation of individual grammatical forms.
It should be noted that this science does not cover, for example, such an important aspect of sounding speech as diction. Many believe that, say, stuttering and burr are also separate branches of linguistics. It's a delusion. Problems of diction are considered by medicine. Why? Because theoretically, a person can have perfect diction, but at the same time have absolutely no literary pronunciation.
I think I was able to answer the question posed at the very beginning of the article, what is phonetics, but at the same time I managed to explain and prove to readers that a person cannot exist without knowledge of the language. Without it, any development of society, art, technology and science would certainly stop. The ability to express thoughts figuratively, accurately and clearly is not given by nature, it is an acquired skill that has to be studied for a long time, patiently and persistently. Learning a language helps those who want to write and speak better, because in order to express thoughts, it is important to be able to choose the most necessary and accurate words in time.