Phonetics studies how speech sounds are articulated, produced, and heard. It provides a framework that allows us to perform all kinds of useful tasks that would otherwise be difficult to tackle effectively.
Below is a list of 8 reasons why phonetics matters, and after that, I've included 16 examples of phonetics already popping up in your daily life, to highlight how it's actually everywhere!
It makes learning new languages a lot easier
When you know phonetics you can quickly decode the sounds of any language, even the ones that are brand new to us.
For example, the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), is a system of symbols that represents the sounds of any language. They are all mapped out, so unknown sounds to you won't be a mystery anymore because you will know where and how they are articulated, and you'll be able to check its differences and similarities with sounds of languages you already know.
Apart from decoding unfamiliar sounds, phonetics can also help you understand spelling patterns, improve listening comprehension, and build confidence as you learn a new language.
It's what technologies like Siri or Alexa use to catch what you're saying
Voice assistants use phonetics to recognise what we say to them. They do it by breaking down spoken audio into individual phonemes (the smallest units of speech sounds), and analysing their features.
Once the assessment is complete, they match the input against a pronunciation dictionary. This step allows the assistant to recognise words even if your accent, speed, or intonation varies, effectively translating raw audio into text it can understand and work with.
It can improve your communication skills
Improving the way you articulate sounds means a clearer and easier to understand speech. This is particularly useful when giving a presentation, speaking on the phone, teaching, or when trying to communicate in busy and noisy environments.
Phonetics can also help you understand sounds better, for example when you hear different accents of the same language.
Say you hear someone pronounce 'bath' with /æ/ as in American English, and someone else pronounce it with /ɑː/, like in British English. The more knowledge of phonetics you have, the easier it'll be to catch the difference and map it out to the pronunciation patterns of each accent.
It helps people with speech challenges
Think of a child who has trouble pronouncing 'rabbit', and who says something closer to 'wabbit' instead. A therapist who is trained in phonetics knows where and how sounds are produced, so they could help the child raise their tongue correctly to produce an 'r' sound instead of a 'w' one.
Another example could be saying 'bat' instead of 'pat'. In this case our fictional child is confusing voiced and voiceless sounds, referring to vocal folds vibrating versus not vibrating.
A therapist could recommend the child to put his hand on his throat to feel the vibrations and thus differentiate between voiced /b/ and voiceless /p/.
It's used to modify accents when required
There are times when people might attempt to modify their accent. For example, imagine an American actor who has accepted to play the role of a British man. To make it believable, they will have to learn an accent different from their own.
This can be achieved with phonetics. When you understand the physical and acoustic properties of sounds, you can identify which aspects of your pronunciation differ from the accent you're trying to replicate, such as where your tongue is placed, your vowel quality, or speech rhythm. In this way, you'd also know how to reduce those differences.
Additionally, phonetics can also sharpen your listening skills, helping speakers perceive subtle contrasts that are characteristic of each accent.
It makes reading easier
The knowledge of phonetics helps us find the links between written symbols and the sound they represent. When we understand this connection, we can infer the pronunciation of unfamiliar words in a more accurate way, and develop more robust spelling-sound awareness.
For instance, if we didn't have any intrinsic phonetic understanding, reading would be a process of memorisation rather than a process of decoding sounds, which would slow progress and reduce fluency.
It can save dying languages
Phonetics can save dying languages because it can accurately document how words are pronounced, including sounds that may not even exist in other languages.
After the recording and analysis of these sounds, phoneticians can preserve the true pronunciation and rhythm of endangered languages for future generations to come.
It can solve crimes
Phonetics is a very valuable tool in forensic investigations. Experts in forensic phonetics can help identify speakers by analysing their voices, verify recordings, or discover subtle details about where someone is from or has lived.
This shows how phonetics is not only fascinating, but it also can have an impact that changes lives and influences the real world.
Bonus: 16 examples of when phonetics shows up in your daily life
- When you ask Siri or Alexa a question
- When you mishear lyrics
- When you read the subtitles because you didn't quite catch what the character said
- When actors switch accents for a film
- When you get corrected on your pronunciation of a word in a foreign language
- When you hear your name pronounced differently abroad
- When you teach a child to sound out a word
- When you enjoy the rhythm of poetry or rap
- When you recognise a friend's voice in a crowded place
- When you say a tongue twister
- When you notice that your voice sounds different when recorded
- When an automated phone menu mishears you
- When you mimic a friend's way of saying a phrase
- When you adjust your intonation as you talk to a baby
- When you carefully pronounce words while leaving a voicemail
- When you reveal where you're from through your accent
Final thoughts
If you take just one thing from this blog post, let it be this: Phonetics matters because it connects all of us through the foundation of human speech.
Aside from differences in language or accent, everyone uses the same basic articulatory mechanisms to communicate, which lets us create a universal understanding of how speech works.
So next time you listen to and understand a foreign accent or enjoy the rhythm of the latest rap song, remember that this is possible because of the shared human ability to turn sounds into meaning, which is what phonetics is all about.
