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Phonetics is the study of sounds produced in human speech, how they are related to the phonology of a language, and how they are produced and realized acoustically. There are many disciplines that incorporate phonetics into the academic curricula, for example, linguistics, cultural anthropology, and acoustic engineering. Speech-Language Pathologists use the knowledge and tools they acquire in phonetics to describe the sound production of people who are suspected of having a communication disorder. Use of a phonetic alphabet, such as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), provides Speech-Language Pathologists with a symbol system that can denote every sound produced during an utterance (the standard alphabet uses symbols that represent different sounds in varying contexts). Such a detailed delineation of speech production yields information on many different levels in addition to a simple correct/incorrect judgment for speech production. By examining a phonetic transcript of production, one can determine the nature of the differences in the speaker's sounds. Based on knowledge of linguistic phonetics, the examiner can then determine whether the speaker's production is in error or, rather, a dialectical variation. If the judgment is for error, knowledge of acoustic phonetics and analysis of the error transcriptions can aid in decisions regarding the nature of the error. For example, is there an error pattern that indicates development of a deviant phonology, that is, a different, but consistent production in place or manner of speech production? Do the errors indicate a difficulty with motor aspects of speech production such as restriction in articulatory range of motion resulting in neutralization of placement targets or lateralization of airflow during fricative productions? Are the error productions the result of the speaker's compensation for a structural deviation, such as use of glottal stop or pharyngeal fricative production by a person with velopharyngeal insufficiency? The Speech-Language Pathologist also uses knowledge of phonetics in deriving a plan of treatment for speech production errors, whether the diagnosis refers to phonological processes, developmental delay or deviation, or motor speech difficulty. Treatment goals are based on the clinician's knowledge of appropriate speech production and the acoustic and linguistic distance of a speaker's errors from that production. The steps in therapy would be accomplished in a series of successive approximations toward the goal, using phonetic features of place and manner. Therapy materials would incorporate stimuli with phonetic features designed to facilitate appropriate production. In this section, you will find information and questions about both the articulatory and acoustic aspects of the study of speech sounds. (Additional information can be found in the Speech Science section of this website.) Some hyperlinks to other websites containing tutorials and demonstration of principles of phonetics are also included in this section. NOTE: Phonetic symbols in this section were produced using the SILManuscript IPA93 font available for download from SIL International (Summer Institute of Linguistics, Dallas TX) at http://www.sil.org/computing/fonts.
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