Phonetics

Phonetics, the study of the physical properties of speech sounds, looks at human speech from three distinct but interdependent viewpoints:

  • Articulatory phonetics
    studies how speech sounds are produced.

  • Auditory phonetics
    studies the way in which humans perceive sounds.

  • Acoustic phonetics
    studies the physical properties of speech sounds.

The model in the illustration is referred to as the Speech Chain. It illustrates how the speech signal is transmitted from the speaker to the listener.