In chapter 5, Fromkin et al. (189) discuss phonetics and define them as "language sounds." Phonetics is the study of how people from various languages use or mix sounds to form words. That is the science behind speech sounds. The writers contend that people who speak different languages mix sounds in different ways to form sentences. People all over the world use different properties to describe and discern sounds in their languages. The International Phonetic Alphabet (the adapted Roman letters as well as diacritics) is the main phonetic alphabet used by people in all languages to represent sounds. Every speech sound in English is produced by moving the lung air by the vocal tract. There are two forms of sounds of human speech depending on their phonetic properties. They include vowels and consonants. Irrespective of their differences in production, pronunciation and articulation, the tone or pitch of a syllable in a sound differentiates the language. It means that one word may have different meanings when used in different tones either low or high.
Reflection
I think the discussion of phonetics by Fromkin et al., is a tool that helps people understand their identity. Phonetics allows different ways of pronouncing sounds using the same letters or syllables. People coming from various countries will pronounce each sound differently as per their language and how they have learned. Since they use similar syllables, they have a way of accepting each others' way of pronouncing sounds. I think that phonetics is a way of allowing people to accept diversity in language and communication. Even though people will pronounce a sound differently, it is phonetics that brings them together. Through phonetics, individuals tend to accept and value each other as equal and understand one another's differences in language. For example, the reading describes that there are phonetics for both normal and signed language people. Signed language people can use phonetic features that are analogous to the spoken language. Therefore, I think phonetics, other than being a science of speech sounds, is also a tool for advancing equality among individuals.
