ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with phonetics, that is, how speech sounds are made, classified, described and transcribed. It considers phonetics and linguistics to be branches of one science or to be two independent sciences. Both phonetics and linguistics are referred to as Linguistic Sciences. It is of fundamental importance that if we are to study linguistics we must know about the sounds of speech. Nevertheless, it is useful to know something of the versatility of the speech organs and the chapter describes the various types of sounds which the organs can produce irrespective of whether or not they occur in English. Speech sounds are made by interfering in one way or another with the airstream as it passes between the lungs and the outside world. Interference with the airstream to produce a particular sound is called articulation. In some languages, particularly African languages, other airstream mechanisms may be used to initiate speech sounds.
