Phonetics

Phonetics is the study of the sounds of the languages of the world. The primary goal of the course is to learn how speech sounds are produced, so that the student can describe them in articulatory terms, write them out in a standard notational system, and produce them accurately. Other topics include a basic introduction to the acoustics of speech and the use of personal computers to display, analyze, and synthesize human speech. The course should prove useful to students desiring a deeper understanding of one of the fundamental underpinnings of linguistics, but also has practical applications in such fields as foreign language learning and the appreciation and acquisition of new dialects and accents. Prerequisite: Ling 170D.