In this section, we learn the difference between phonetics and phonology. This acted mostly as a refresher for me because of my previous experience with linguistics but it was nevertheless interesting. Most people don't realize just how many sounds exist in the English language. Most people feel that [a] [e] and [i] are pronounced the way that we see them. However, if we take the word "begin" and compare it with "the", the pronunciation of [e] in both cases varies considerably. It is also important to note that no two languages have the same tones. Another interesting finding that crystal makes is just how important stress is. For example, the word hot dog. Place stress on 'hot' and we're talking about something you eat, but place stress on 'dog' and we're talking about a dog that is literally hot.
I think that learning about about phonetics, phonology, stress, tone etc helps me to understand how and why certain languages develop. It also allows me to appreciate the complexity of language much more. I find phonology particularly interesting because a person who has no experience with Hindi, for example, can, through phonological tests (like minimal pairs testing), find out which language units are phonemes and how certain sounds are organized in the Hindi language.
I think it is important to know how language develops in a baby but this section was pretty bland. The one question I would ask Crystal is: What babies did he study or what studies did he draw on for his research? Where they English babies? American babies? What about how a Chinese or Indian baby develops its vocal tracts? Do they [ga] and [gu] when it reaches the babbling stage or do they make different sounds? The one thing that I thought was interesting from this section was that if you try and talk to a baby in the way that it talks to you, it won't understand you e.g. the "fis phenomenon." Perhaps when I have kids, and I hope that day does not come soon, I will open up this book and and browse through this section so I can know what to expect.
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