Relativity of Vocalizations

The Gussenhoven article gave an overview of various sounds and articulations, and the biological mechanisms behind such articulations. In particular, I found it interesting how languages use different articulations, and how difficult it is to understand these vocal distinctions through only text. For example, in 1.5, Gussenhoven discusses different articulations in German, Dutch, English, and Hindi. It's incredible that we subconsciously learn these articulations as we learn language, especially because I am unable to envision these sounds based off descriptions of the articulations. I don't think studying the biological way of producing a sound would necessarily lead me to being able to produce it myself. Full language learning seems both complex and beyond our conscious learning abilities in a way. The complexity of sounds humans make without conscious awareness - from plosives to nasals - is incredible. I was also surprising at the underlying complexity of our biology behind making a variety of sounds. While our organs may have "primary biological functions" relating to eating food and breathing, our organs are still able to produce a huge variety of vocalizations.

While the Gussenhoven article focused on differences between languages, the Kenstowicz article started off with a universality between every language: namely that every language contrasts vowels and consonants. An interesting reason given for the beginning of phonology is that native speakers have an implicit understanding and ability to judge sounds to be identical that are not phonetically identical. This ties into my point above that it seems as though language learning is far beyond our conscious awareness. The description on page 71 of how the vocal length of 'rider' cannot be predicted like 'writer' without accounting for a 'flap' shows the complexity of language beyond generalizations and the seeming need for a second level of representation. Kenstowicz ends by asking how these complex 'flap' assignments are made, as they vary between language - in the same way that articulations vary between languages in the Gussenhoven article.