Context of The Study: A bounded embedded case

Possible answers include

• Orthographic s becoming / z /

• Orthographic d becoming / t /

• Denasalization of nasal vowel 4.0.CONCLUSION

In this unit, we have been discussing liaison and elision as special combinatory phenomena in French. We started by defining liaison as the pronunciation of a latent word-final consonant immediately before a following vowel sound. In

the course of our discussion, we also mentioned the 3 types of liaison-induced phonetic changes, namely orthographic s becoming /z/, orthographic d becoming /t/ and denasalization of a nasal vowel. We gave you examples for each of those cases. We went on to define elision as the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or whole syllable) in a word or phrase to make for easier pronunciation by the speaker. We went further to mention orthographic and phonetic elision as the two possible types of elision.

We actually distinguished between these two types of elision. As a matter of fact, we concentrated our attention on phonetic elision and we gave examples of phonetic elision.

SUMMARY

Now that we have come to the end of our discussion in Unit 10, we shall briefly go over what you have been able to achieve. This unit discussed liaison and elision as special combinatory phenomena in French. Based on the discussion in this unit, you can now define liaison as a combinatory phenomenon in French. You can now mention 3 types of liaison-induced changes. You can also give examples of phonetic elision.

There is no doubt that what you have learnt in this unit will be of immense benefit to you for the rest of the units in this course.

TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENTS

1. Define liaison.

2. Define phonetic elision.

3. Distinguish between orthographic elision and phonetic elision.

4. Mention 3 examples of liaison-induced changes.

5. Give 2 examples of phonetic elision.

REFERENCES AND OTHER RESOURCES

Price, Glanville (1991). An Introduction to French Pronunciation. Oxford:

Blackwell Publishers.

Roach, Peter (1992). Introducing Phonetics. David Crystal (Ed.), London:

Penguin Group.

WIKIPEDIA

OTHER WEBSITES.

UNIT 11

THE IMPORTANCE OF PHONETICS IN LANGUAGE STUDY

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0. Introduction 2.0. Objectives

3.0. The importance of phonetics in language study 3.1. Defining language study

3.1.1. The scope of language study 3.1.2. The concept of language study

3.1.3. The concept of language study in a broad sense 3.2. The scope of language study in a broad sense 3.3. Language study in a restricted sense

3.3.1. Applied linguistics and language study 3.3.1.1. Applied linguistics and language analysis

3.3.1.2. Definition of language study in a restricted sense 3.4. The scope of language study in a restricted perspective 3.5. Reasons to justify the primacy of phonetics in language

study

3.5.1. Phonetics belongs to the oral domain

3.5.2. Phonetics is the starting point in language acquisition

3.5.3. Phonetics as the preferred starting point in second language learning

3.6. Self assessment exercise 4.0. Conclusion

5.0. Summary

6.0. Tutor-marked assignment 7.0. References and other resources 1.0. INTRODUCTION

Whao! You are welcome to Unit 11. This is going to be an important unit in this course. We want you to realise that this unit will mark a transition point between the first ten units of this course and the second half of the course. You will recall that the last ten units have been introductory in nature. Did we say introductory? With all the technical terminologies that have been used so far?

O yes! Obviously you have not forgotten that this course is Advanced Phonetics! So all we have said so far is preparatory to advanced reflections in the area of phonetics.

Now, back to what we have done so far. In Unit 1, we treated the concepts of phonetics. In Unit 2, we discussed the scientific nature of phonetics. Later in Unit 3, we discussed the scope of phonetics and we highlighted its major branches in Unit 4. You do recall that Units 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 afforded us the

opportunity to discuss in detail the major branches of descriptive phonetics, focusing on their specific tools of description. You will remember that articulatory phonetics alone engaged our discussion in Units 5 and 6. You do recall that w discussed the speech organs at length and that we also treated the articulatory classification of speech sounds. Do you recall that the auditory system was fully discussed in Unit 7? Remember we told you that it functions as a feedback mechanism interpreting the sensations that travel through the air from the speaker’s vocal tract to the hearer’s ear. You will recall as well that in Unit 8 we discussed yet another system of feedback, precisely acoustic phonetics. Finally, in the last two units, Units 9 and 10, if you will recall, we created a special opportunity to harness information on an aspect of phonetics - Combinatory Phonetics – that does not feature independently in the literature of phonetics as an exclusive discipline. That area of phonetics, you should have realized, is an interface between articulatory phonetics, experimental phonetics and phonology. In Unit 9, we introduced the concept of combinatory phonetics.

Remember in that unit we discussed some phonetically induced changes that do occur in the value of sounds in contact. Mention was made of combinatory phenomena like assimilation, co-articulation, liaison and articulation. While assimilation and co-articulation were treated in detail in Unit 9, effort was made in Unit 10 to discuss liaison and elision. You remember the different types of liaison-induced phonetic changes like orthographic s becoming /z/, orthographic d becoming /t/ and denasalization of the vowel. Remember we also discussed phonetic elision as being an instance of phonetic economy in rapid informal speech.

With what has been said so far on different aspects of phonetics, wouldn’t it be proper, at this point in time, to clearly define the place of phonetics in language study? That is exactly what we intend to do in this unit. The present unit will therefore introduce you to the importance of phonetics in language study. In this unit, you will learn about the concept of language study. You will also learn about the scope of language study. Again, you will learn about second language learning as an aspect of language study. You will learn to situate phonetics in the area of 2^nd language acquisition. You will also learn to identify phonetic activities in language study. You will eventually learn to justify the primacy of phonetics in language study. Happy reading!

2.0. OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:- 1. Define language study in a broad sense.

2. Mention the scope of language study in a broad sense.

3. Define language study with respect to L2 acquisition.

4. Mention the scope of language study in a restricted sense.

3.0. THE IMPORTANCE OF PHONETICS IN LANGUAGE STUDY