Speech Science

The subject provides practical and theoretical tools for describing and analyzing spoken language.

In contrast to written language, spoken language is fleeting and variable. It is often necessary to listen to the pronunciation of a word or a longer utterance several times to get all the important details. This applies to an even greater extent when the speaker has pronunciation difficulties. Therefore, the subject provides an introduction to how to make high-quality audio recordings.

It is also important to be able to give a theoretically based description of the sounds that you perceive. The course provides an introduction to basic phonological knowledge and how to use the phonetic classification of sounds into consonants and vowels using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). In addition, phenomena in coherent speech and variation are addressed, especially when it comes to dialect variation. Theoretical concepts will be elucidated through practical exercises and with examination of audio recordings using the computer program Praat.

Knowledge

After completing the course, the participant will have:

- an understanding about the function and realization of speech sounds as well as about basic prosodic concepts

- basic knowledge about the production of connected speech

- insight into pronunciation variation between speakers

Skills

After completing the course, the participant will be able to:

- use the computer program Praat for recording and examining spoken language

- transcribe spoken language using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

General competence

After completing the course, the participant will be able to:

- analyze and describe typical phenomena in spoken language

Lectures and plenary discussions. The course has mandatory requirements. It is assumed that all students regularly use the current learning platform.