School curriculum· 25 min· 20 questions
Phonetics studies the sound side of a language, while graphics studies which letters are used to write those sounds. Every word is first of all a chain of sounds: tol and tor differ by a single sound yet name completely different things. Exam tasks in this area ask you to classify sounds, count letters and sounds, find sounds that distinguish meaning and answer questions on the history of the alphabet. Without phonetics you cannot understand syllables, spelling or sound changes, so you must keep the notions of “sound” and “letter” clearly apart.
A sound is the smallest unit of speech, produced by the speech organs (lungs, vocal cords, tongue, lips, teeth, palate) and perceived by the ear. A letter is the written symbol for a sound.
We hear and pronounce sounds; we see and write letters
Sounds and letters do not always match:
A sound that serves to distinguish meaning is called a phoneme. If two words differ by one sound and that changes the meaning, those sounds are separate phonemes: tol — tor — tosh, kul — ko‘l, qo‘l — ko‘l, bor — bo‘r, ot — o‘t.
At different periods the ancestors of the Uzbeks used different scripts:
The modern Uzbek alphabet: 29 letters (including the digraphs sh, ch, ng) plus the tutuq sign ’
Letters specific to Uzbek: o‘, g‘, sh, ch, ng. The sign ‘ (turned comma) in o‘ and g‘ and the tutuq sign ’ are different signs; mixing them up is a spelling mistake.
When vowels are produced, air meets no obstruction in the mouth; vowels consist of voice alone and form syllables. Standard Uzbek has 6 vowels: a, o, u, o‘, e, i.
Vowels are classified by three features:
Each vowel is fully described by its three features: for example, u is a back, high, rounded vowel
The classification helps explain differences in meaning: kul and ko‘l differ only in vowel height (u is high, o‘ is mid).
How many vowels does O‘zbekiston contain and how are they classified?
When consonants are produced, air meets an obstruction in the mouth; consonants consist of voice and noise or of noise alone. Uzbek has far more consonants than vowels.
By voice and noise:
Voiced and voiceless consonants often form pairs: b–p, d–t, g–k, z–s, v–f. These are the pairs that alternate at the end of a word in speech: people say [kitop] but write kitob.
By place of articulation:
Among the tongue consonants, q, g‘, x are made with the very back of the tongue, which is why q and k, g‘ and g distinguish meaning: qo‘l — ko‘l, qul — kul.
By manner of articulation there are plosives (b, p, d, t, k, g, q), fricatives (v, f, z, s, sh, x, g‘, h), affricates (ch, the j of jo‘ja), nasals (m, n, ng), a lateral (l) and a trill (r).
Give a full description of the consonant b.
The most frequent exam task is to find the number of letters and sounds in a word. Work like this:
There can be more letters than sounds: shahar has 6 letters and 5 sounds (sh-a-h-a-r)
With several digraphs the gap grows: choyshab has 8 letters and 6 sounds (ch-o-y-sh-a-b).
How many letters and sounds are there in tong?
Uzbek spelling rests mainly on the phonetic principle: a word is usually written as it sounds. Yet there are differences between speech and writing, and the norms of correct pronunciation are studied by orthoepy:
Even when pronunciation changes, the original form of the word is kept in writing — this is the morphological principle
That is why phonetics is the foundation of spelling: a learner who hears the sound correctly and knows the rule writes the word correctly.