Language and Memory

The Gussenhoven chapter gives an overview of some of the basic mechanics of speech production. It talks about the role of the organs of speech and the lungs. It lays out the difference between voiced and devoiced consonants, the different types of phonation, the dimensions of vowels, the differences between obstruent and sonorants, and it talks about other important components of speech.

Gussenhoven’s layout is important for grasping the message of the Kenstowicz article, which constantly references technical linguistic terms but doesn’t go into detailed explanations on what these words mean. For instance, the feature rules listed in section 2.4 talk about fricatives, sonorants and voiced consonants – terms that Gussenhoven does take the time to explain in detail. Actually, Gussenhoven not only distinguishes between obstruents and sonorants but explains that one type of obstruents are fricatives, thus allowing the reader to understand how these terms are hierarchically related in the Kentsowicz article.

Unlike Gussenhoven, Kentsowicz focuses more on speech comprehension and perception. This is evident when Kentsowicz talks about how native speakers have unconsciously internalized certain rules of speech. As a non-native speaker, I often find myself emphasizing the ‘t’ sound in words like ‘button’ and I have noticed that many of my native speaker friends are able to point this out.   

Kensowicz’s focus on speech comprehension and perception is further demonstrated when he talks about the different pronunciations of the letter ‘t’. He explains that there are different ways of pronouncing the letter ‘t’ but that many native speakers can’t differentiate between these “clearly distinct” sounds. I believe this effect takes place not because individuals are incapable of distinguishing between these sounds, but because there are no letters to represent them. We have been habituated to disregard the different variations of the letter ‘t’ because we have a letter that simultaneously addresses all of these pronunciations. This is similar to the concept of memory. People tend to think of memory simply as the ability to remember past events, but there are different types of memory – such as short-term memory, long-term memory, procedural memory, episodic memory – that all fall under the same term, even though they are often processed in different parts of the brain. Should memory even be thought of as a single, all-encompassing term? In the same way, I wonder if there should have been more letters to clearly differentiate between different sounds and what the benefits would be of having a system like this.