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II. Branches of Phonetics

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«Ïðåäìåò ôîíåòèêè è ôîíåòè÷åñêèé îáúåêò»

 

The Subject of Phonetics

I. Phonetics as a Branch of Linguistics

The word “phonetics” is derived from the Greek, it is translated as “sound and is used in two different meanings:

1) to some authors, usually non-phoneticians, phonetics is that part of grammar which deals with speech sounds;

2) to phoneticians, however, phonetics is an independent branch of linguistics which is concerned with the phonetic structure of a language and in its turn, develops branches of its own.

Phonetics, being a branch of linguistics, occupies a peculiar position. On the one hand, it is quite independent, and develops according to its own laws. Today the sphere of phonetics is wider and deeper than ever before: phonemes and their distribution in words, stress, syllable formation, intonation, the relation between oral and written speech and a number of other problems have now become objects of phonetic investigation.

On the other hand, phonetics is closely connected with a number of other sciences, such as physics, biology, physiology and others. The more phonetics develops, the more various branches of science become involved in the field of phonetics investigation.

Phonetics is an essential part of language because it gives language a definite form, the vocabulary and grammar of a language can function only when the language has phonetic form.

Grammar and vocabulary depend on phonetics, they cannot exist outside of phonetics, because all lexical and grammatical phenomena are expressed phonetically.

 

II. Branches of Phonetics

Phonetics is not a new science. It was known to the ancient Greeks and to the ancient Hindus. The scientists of that time were concerned with speech sounds only.

Nevertheless, phonetics, as an independent science, began to develop in western Europe and in Russia only in the 19th century. Within the last half century especially, new concepts have sprung up, new theories and new schools have come into existence, new methods of investigation have been developed, several new branches of phonetics have also appeared. The most important of them are special phonetics and general phonetics.

Special phonetics may be subdivided into:

1) descriptive phonetics( which is concerned with the study of the phonetic structure of one language only, in its static form, at a particular period);

2) historical phonetics ( which is concerned with the study of the phonetic structure of a language in its historical development).

General phonetics is based on other sciences, such as physics, biology, psychology and provides valuable theoretical material which enables us to understand clearly and to interpret correctly the different phonetic phenomena of concrete language.

Phonetics has a wide sphere of application:

1) it is used in teaching children to read and write their mother tongue;

2) a knowledge of phonetics is necessary for teaching and learning foreign languages, the modern method of teaching foreign languages is based on phonetics;



3) phonetics is also used in teaching deaf-mutes to speak, and in correcting speech defects;

4) phonetics is also used in broadcasting, in training actors, teachers, singers.

 


Date: 2016-01-03; view: 1500


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