Major Components of Language: Sounds and Letters, Speech and Writing

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INTRODUCTION

A study of the major components of language may be approached through a consideration of the following: (i) levels of language such as phonology, phonetics, syntax, semantics; (ii) sounds and letters; (iii) speech and writing.

In order to have a balanced discussion, it is also important to consider overlaps between speech and writing. We refer to this here as mixed medium. A consideration of levels is important here also, but only two levels are discussed – phonetics and phonology being the key levels in this course.

3.1 Major Components: Sounds and Letters

One simple way to explain the term speech sound is to see it as a unit of speech which is produced by the human speech organs. In a way, it is the most important component of language being the most frequently used in all languages including unwritten ones. Sound is usually heard. Here we can compare speech sound to noise which is also usually heard but whereas noise is a distraction and is also often meaningless, speech sound is an organised realisation from a natural language. The International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA) comprises the symbols that are used to represent speech sounds (see charts in Module ).

For example, the symbol /i:/ represents the vowel sounds in the following words bee /bi:/ tea /ti:/, and theme /θi:m/. So, while the point remains that speech sounds are normally heard, it is equally true that they can be represented in writing. The number of speech sounds that exist in a language is determined by the difference the sounds make in meaning. For instance, the English vowels /ɔ, ε, υ, ɔ: / make a difference in meaning in the following words: /pɔt/ /pεt/, /pυt/, and /pɔ:t/.

Sometimes the word ‘sound’ is confused with the word ‘syllable’. Such confusion

should be avoided. A syllable is made of up of speech sounds and is considered to be the minimum speech unit. A syllable, as we shall see below, is sometimes the size of a word or the size of a speech sound. For instance, the word bat /bæt/ has one syllable

which is one word; our /aD）/ has one syllable which is pronounced as one (speech) sound (especially, if viewed as a triphthong; otherwise, it consists of two syllables made up of /aD + ）/) and Dav- /deiv-/ in the word David is one syllable (with three speech sounds- d ei v). We have gone into these explanations and illustrations to

ensure that you understand the use of the word ‘sound’ or speech sound.

Ordinarily, however, when we write in a language, we make use of letters of the alphabet. Letters are normally seen while, in comparison, (speech) sounds are normally heard. However, sounds and letters are related in that letters are the symbols with which speech sounds are represented on paper. Despite the above distinction, it is interesting to note that sounds and letters sometimes are of equal value. This happens in languages which are spoken the way the words are written. The majority of African and Nigerian languages are of this group. Can you cite examples from your language? For the English language, one to one sound-letter correspondence is an exception rather than the rule. For example, while the alphabets ‘k, g, p, b, m, n, t,’ etc correspond to the sounds they represent in words like

king [kiŋ]

go [gυə] əυ

pot [pot] D

bomb [bom] D

man [mæn]

name [neim] eI

type [taip] aɪ

but, the letter alphabet ‘a’ is used to represent different vowel sounds in English:

late [ei] [leit]

farther [a:] [fa:ð ə]

man [æ] [mæn]

again [）] [）gein]

Similarly, the consonant sound /f/ is represented by the different letter alphabets:

f as in fine [fain]

ff as in off [ɔ :f]

fe as in life [laif]

ph as in physics [foziks]

gh as in cough [kof]

The letter ‘c’ of the English alphabet is pronounced as [s] in the words: city and cite, [soto] [sItI] and [sait] [saIt] while the same sound is [k] in the words cup and cow:

[kop] [kDp] and [kaD].

USE EXACT/CORRECT PHONEME SYMBOLS AS SHOWN

Self-Assessment Exercise 1

Briefly distinguish between speech sounds and letters in natural language.

3.2 Major Components: Speech and Writing

Spoken and written language display many important differences. The most obvious of the differences is that speech uses the medium of phonic units produced by movements of the vocal organs while writing uses the medium of graphic units, with symbols.

Apart from these physical differences there are other differences:

1. In speech, the focus is on clarity; therefore we tend to use simple words. This saves the listener the trouble of having to look up meanings of words from a dictionary. In writing emphasis is on appropriateness of usage. Even when an appropriate difficult or technical word is used in writing, the reader has every opportunity to confirm its meaning and usage from a dictionary.

2. In speech, there seems to be always a greater degree of repetition and the use of softeners such as ‘you see, you know, what I mean is….’ than in writing. This is because in speech, one does not have an enormous amount of time to think

out new facts or illustrations especially if the speech is impromptu (delivered without previous preparation). In writing, the writer has the opportunity to

choose between alternatives, thereby avoiding repetition.

3. Speech is made of sounds and is produced for the ears. Writing is made up of symbols and is produced for the eyes.

4. Speech is time-bound and dynamic. It is often in a situation of interaction between the speaker and his audience. Writing is space-bound and static. Your audience may be separated from you in space and in time.

5. Meaning in speech can be made clear through such extra linguistic cues like facial expression, gestures or applauding. Writing does not easily lend itself to these or other extra linguistic cues. In writing therefore, there is need to clearly state what you mean very graphically to make your communication intentions self-evident

Self-Assessment Exercise 2

Briefly distinguish between speech and writing. Which of these is of greater concern for you in this course?

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit, we can conclude that speech sounds and letters as well as speech and writing are very important components of natural language. However, we have also seen that there are illustrative cases in which both sounds and letters have the same linguistic value and that speech and writing sometimes overlap.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit, we learned about the nature of (speech) sounds as well as letters as components of natural languages. We also learned about the differences between them as well as the exceptions to the general occurrences.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Discuss in detail the view that sounds and letters as well as speech and writing are not always different in natural languages.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Abercrombie, D. (1975). Elements of General Phonetics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Akpan, E. (1987). “Expressive Communication as a Responsive Behaviour” . In: Unoh, S. O. (ed), Topical Issues in Communication Arts, Vol. 1. Uyo: Modern Business Press Limited, pp. 294-308.

Crystal, D. (2001). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Edinburgh: Cambridge University Press, pp. 290-297.

Eka, D. & Udofot, I. (1996). Aspects of Spoken Language. Calabar: BON Universal Ltd.