Discussion Post #4

[Raymond Luo]

In the article, I learned more about the phonology of languages. Also, the article mentions more about the biological or physiological side of languages, which is about how to make vocal sounds and articulate phones. Phones are segments of sentences and speeches and are represented by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). However, IPA is not comprehensive since many languages have their unique phones that are totally different than any other language. Take my target language, Korean, as an example. In total, the Korean language has 26 initial consonants, 7 final consonants, and 16 vowel sounds of which the entire language is based upon. When comparing Korean with English, I found that Korean doesn't include some phonemes that English has based on the information I acquired.The most significant of these are the /θ/ and /ð/ sounds in words such as then, and thirteen. Differences in syllable structure between the two languages may lead to the addition of a short vowel sound to the end of English words that terminate with a consonant or within words containing consonant clusters. What's more, Korean does not have voiced obstruents. All stops, fricatives, and affricates are voiceless. In conclusion, it is essential to be able to differentiate different segments in speech because without understanding them, I cannot understand what other people mean. And mispronounce words or sounds could make a huge difference to the meaning of sentences. Therefore, the alphabet must be read carefully and the pronunciation of consonants and vowels must be well memorized, which is the foundation of spelling and speaking. Also, I need to listen to more Korean and try to communicate with Koreans without afraid of making mistakes to practice and build more confidence about speaking Korean.