Singuistics?

The excerpt from Gussenhoven describes the anatomy of the mechanical and vocal processes that render possible the phonetic intricacies and complications Kenstowicz brings up. From the overwhelming list of variable mechanisms that Gussenhoven details, it becomes clear the reasons for the existence of so many nuances in different languages addressed in Kenstowicz’s piece and validates the ultimate question of how one goes about representing and assigning a universal, cohesive notation system.

In his general overview of language production, Gussenhoven enumerates the intricacies involved in vowel production, the different types of phonation, how pitch becomes a distinguishing factor and the role of stress on meaning. He describes the anatomical vocabulary of procedures for producing differing phonemes, categorizes and provides examples for plosives, fricatives, sonorants, etc., and includes how devoicing and aspiration play a role in production of sounds.

Kenstowicz narrows in on this idea of a phoneme and suggests that the variation among different languages makes it difficult to standardize representations. Additionally, he mentions that individual letters in words might be perceived as a certain sound, but are actually not being produced at all, giving the example of “tents” vs. “tends” in which the listener wants to perceive five sounds, but in reality only four are being produced.

As a singer, what I found to be interesting was Kenstowicz’s indication that the voicing of a final consonant only differs because of a nuance in the length of the preceding vowel, that in “rib” versus “rip,” the difference comes not from the final consonant, but from the length of production of the vowel (fascinating!). This made me consider the implications in music, for often, understanding a word that is sustained on a long note is dependent on how clear the final consonant is. Perhaps, with this knowledge, a lyricist might decide that some words more conducive to long notes while the vowel of others should remain shorter for the purpose of lyrical comprehension.