Articulation vs Pronunciation
As articulation and pronunciation are two terms that are of significance when speaking of languages and speech, it is valuable to know the difference between articulation and pronunciation. Articulation refers to the usage of speech organs such as tongue, jaws, lips, etc. in order to produce sounds while pronunciation refers to the way words need to be sounded when speaking. In this sense it can be stated that the main difference between articulation and pronunciation lies in the fact that articulation is more individualistic where it concentrates on the individual making sounds whereas pronunciation is more about how syllables of a word need to be said focusing on rhythm, stress and intonation. The aim of this article is to present a general idea about the two terms and emphasize the difference between articulation and pronunciation.
What is Articulation?
Articulation can loosely be defined as making sounds through the movement of speech organs. This means an individual can change the speech sounds that he makes by moving his teeth, lips and tongue. In phonology, much emphasis is laid on articulation. It talks about the manner in which sound is produced with the assistance of speech organs and the air flow. It also pays attention to how consonants and vowels are sounded in a very systematic manner. However, overall articulation is very much related to producing sound through speech organs. Now, let us look at pronunciation.
Places of Articulation
What is Pronunciation?
Pronunciation refers to the manner in which we make speech sounds. We use stress, intonation and rhythm in order to change the sound of the word. The control of the flow of air and the shape of the mouth are the keys to clear pronunciation. When we speak about pronunciation, there are some important parts to it. They are stress, linking and intonation. Stress can be word stress or sentence stress. These refer to the emphasis laid on certain syllables when pronouncing a word or the emphasis laid on certain words that result in clearer pronunciation. Also, when a person speaks there is a way that helps to convey the meaning for others. This is very much connected to linking. Linking is when a person joins certain words together which creates a flow in the language. Intonation, on the other hand, refers to the rise and fall of the voice.
Other than these for clear, effective pronunciation a person needs to use his muscles in the mouth to make the proper sound of consonants and vowels. When we are learning a foreign language in most occasions, it is difficult to pronounce certain words. This is because our speech organs are accustomed to make a particular sort of speech sounds. When we are learning a foreign language, the muscles take time to get used to the new muscle movements.
What is the difference between Articulation and Pronunciation?
• To sum up articulation is using speech organs to make sounds. Pronunciation is the manner a word needs to be sounded when speaking.
• So this highlights that the main difference between the two is that in pronunciation, the emphasis is laid on the word and the way it should be said.
• In articulation, it does not pay so much attention to the manner in which a word needs to sound but deals more with the individual production of sound.