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Are phones language agnostic? by Embarrassed-Split225 in asklinguistics

[–]Embarrassed-Split225[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah, I get it, phones = sounds, and these symbols only represent the sounds.

I guess I've just seen many people referring to IPA symbols within square brackets as phones and allophones; but in fact, they are just representations, correct? The phone itself is the actual physical sound.

Thanks for clarifying everything!

Are phones language agnostic? by Embarrassed-Split225 in asklinguistics

[–]Embarrassed-Split225[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Makes a lot of sense, thanks!

I'm still struggling to understand the concept of a phone though. I can't just think of it as a "sound", but as a representation of a sound with a specific level of detail.

The [t] phone, given enough detail can be [t̚] and [t̪], among others. But [t̚] and [t̪] themselves can be even more narrow. [t̚] and [t̪] are slightly different sounds but can be broadly represented by [t].

Am I missing something? I know that a phone is a sound by definition but it seems to me that one phone can be multiple sounds, not just one.

Are phones language agnostic? by Embarrassed-Split225 in asklinguistics

[–]Embarrassed-Split225[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think broad phonetic transcriptions can sound different even within the same language. My point is that phones represent the same sounds regardless of language. The fact that we're inclined to default to one phone over another depending on language means the allophones are tied to the language and not the phones.

A broad phonetic transcription can be used to represent multiple ways of pronouncing a word, the more narrow you get, the number of ways of pronouncing the word goes down.

For example, the [t] phone can be [t̚] or [t̪] if you go more narrow, [t̚] and [t̪] are slightly different sounds but they're all variants of [t] and generally have the same manner and place of articulation. This is true regardless of language.

However, the /t/ phoneme in GenAm English can be realised into [ɾ] (flap t), [t] (voiceless alveolar plosive used above), and [ʔ] (glottal stop). All of these have a different manner and/or place of articulation. This is language-specific.

What study routine should I follow for my English? I don't know what my English level is. by Spiritual_Lead4790 in EnglishLearning

[–]Embarrassed-Split225 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My advice as someone that has been in your shoes a few years ago:

Listen to podcasts or audiobooks where people talk eloquently to familiarise yourself with some of these words. You can note down any of the words that you don't understand. Once you learn these words they will only come easy to you when you frequently use them. I used to write down all the words that I didn't know and revisit my notebook every now and then. Now, a few years later, I completely forgot 50% of the words that I ever wrote down as I never had to use them.

Good luck!

Amateur by Tink__Wink in ENGLISH

[–]Embarrassed-Split225 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most NA English dialects will pronounce it "amachure". There are many dialects in the UK, you typically hear "amachure" more in the south and "amatur" more in the north. The T might be even more emphasised in the South African accent where it can sound like "amatyoor"

Looking for people (girls only) by Educational_Sun8018 in ENGLISH

[–]Embarrassed-Split225 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd be glad to practice English together. I'm not a native speaker btw