LING2002 Lecture 7: PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION AND VARIATION
Monday, 20 March 2017
LECTURE 7
PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION
-Transcription
•Phonetic description draws on a range of parameters to describe the phonetic properties of a phone
or sequence of phones
-Articulatory: place and manner of articulation, voicing
-Auditory (similarity) to reference vowels
-Acoustic measurements: duration in ms or formant frequency
•Phonetic transcription involves the use of a conventional set of symbols to represent the phonetic
properties of part or all of an utterance, including a phone in isolation
-A phonetic transcription can provide a record of an utterance
•Including an ‘average’ pronunciation representing a range of similar utterances
-An utterance is an instance of speech; they are different depending on time, speaker, etc
-Selecting a symbol
•Thus, phonetic symbols like the IPA can be thought of as a type of shorthand for phonetic
descriptions
-Place, manner, phonation, etc
•A basic principle is that the IPA system provides a set of reference phones and symbols for
transcription of vowels, consonants, etc
•The general strategy is to first work out what the phonetic properties of the phone are by:
-Direct observation of articulation
-Auditory and acoustic comparison to reference phones
•From which the likely articulation can be inferred
•The symbol closest to the phone or area of the ‘phonetic space’ in
question is used to represent that space
-Ex/ The vowel in AusEng ‘beat’ is typically a bit lower and further
back than reference [i] but it is the ‘closest’ symbol
-The process
•The general process is to first work out where in the phonetic range the
specific phone is,
!1
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Monday, 20 March 2017
-By comparing it to the sound of the known reference sounds in the IPA system,
-And refining this as much as required for the purpose of transcription
•This is a specialist skill which can be developed
-Using reference points
•Transcription describes the phonetic properties of a phone in relation to established reference points,
to varying precision
•A comparison is with with describing the location of something to varying degrees of precision using
reference points
-Zooming in
•Phonetic description and transcription is about narrowing down the
possibilities
-So it’s not just a matter of choosing the correct symbol
•But choosing one that best captures the phonetic properties we
think the sound has
•This process is how we get our current Australian English vowels
-Their location in the vowel space
-The choice of symbols
-Precision: narrow(er) vs broad(er)
•The IPA provides enough symbols to divide the phonetic space into relatively small divisions, but
even these limit the degree of accuracy possible
-Diacritics permit finer specification if the purpose requires it:
•Advanced, retracted, raised, lowered, etc
-A broad(er) transcription means less precise or less detailed:
•[bætɹi] for ‘battery’
-A narrow(er) transcription means more precise or more detailed:
•[b̥æ
̝tɹɪi] for ‘battery’
-Partially voiced [b], vowel slightly higher than reference point [æ], slightly diphthongised [ɪi]
-Broad transcription
•For a broader characterisation of the phonetic quality, we use the symbol
!2
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Document Summary
Transcription: phonetic description draws on a range of parameters to describe the phonetic properties of a phone or sequence of phones. Articulatory: place and manner of articulation, voicing. Acoustic measurements: duration in ms or formant frequency: phonetic transcription involves the use of a conventional set of symbols to represent the phonetic properties of part or all of an utterance, including a phone in isolation. A phonetic transcription can provide a record of an utterance: including an average" pronunciation representing a range of similar utterances. An utterance is an instance of speech; they are different depending on time, speaker, etc. Selecting a symbol: thus, phonetic symbols like the ipa can be thought of as a type of shorthand for phonetic descriptions. Auditory and acoustic comparison to reference phones: from which the likely articulation can be inferred, the symbol closest to the phone or area of the phonetic space" in question is used to represent that space.
