Topic-115: Explaining Acoustic Phonetics Acoustics is a branch of phonetics which studies the physical properties of speech sound as transmitted between the mouth of a speaker and the ear of a listener. It is mainly devoted to the principles of physics involving the latest technology such as computer and software (e.g., Praat). It is the scientific study of speech sounds wholly dependent on the use of instrumental (lab based) techniques of investigation. It particularly involves electronics and some grounding in physics however, mathematics is a prerequisite for the advanced study of the subject. In this course, we are going to learn mainly about the basic features of speech sounds (both consonants and vowels. Starting from the very beginning, we will particularly seethe fundamental experiments of acoustics (such as recording of speech and annotating and ultimately distinguishing among various forms and features of speech sounds. This course will also introduce you to the mostly used software in acoustic phonetics (i.e., Praat) and its application in the phonetic analysis of human speech. Based on these introductory level experiments during this course, it is expected that the learners would be able to plan advanced level applications and experiments of acoustics.
