Phonetics and Phonology

1. Phonetics and Phonology Some Definitions: Phonetics: It is the study of human speech sounds. Phonology: It is a scientific study of human speech sounds and how these sounds are used in language. Vowels: A vowel is a speech sound made without audible stopping of the breath by he tongue, lips, etc. Diphthongs: A diphthong is a glide from one vowel sound to another within one syllable. Consonants: A consonant is a speech sound in which the air is completely or partially obstructed at one part or other of the mouth. Accent: Language is pronounced differently by people from different geographical places, different social classes of different ages and different educational background. Dialect: It refers to a variety of a language which is different from others not just in pronunciation but also, in other areas of language, grammar, vocabulary and word order.

2. English Sound System The English sound system contains 44 sounds. 12 of them are pure vowels, 8 diphthongs and 24 consonants. Vowels: In the pronunciation of the vowel sounds, air flows freely out of the mouth with nothing standing in its way. Vowels are the core or peak of the syllable. Vowels are sounds in which there is continual vibration of vocal cords and the air stream is allowed to escape from mouth in an unobstructed manner. Long vowels: There are five long vowels. Vowel Keyword 1./ i:/ eat / i:t / 2./ a: / aunt / a:nt/ 3./ ᴐ:/ born / bᴐ:n/ 4./ u:/ whom / hu:m/ 5./ Ʒ:/ first / fƷ:st/

3. Short vowels: There are seven short vowels in English. Vowel keyword 1./ i / busy /bizi/. 2./ e / many /meni/. 3./ æ / ant /ænt/. 4./ᴐ / cough /kᴐf/. 5./ u / book /buk/. 6./ᴧ / son /sᴧn/. 7./ ә / above /әbʌv/.

4. English diphthongs: A diphthong is a glide from one vowel sound to another within one syllable Diphthong keyword 1./ei/ came /keim/ 2./әu/ over /әuvә/ 3./ai/ night /nait/ 4./au/ plough /plau/ 5./ᴐi/ joy /dƷᴐi/ 6./iә/ near /niә/ 7/eә/ chair /t∫eә/ 8./uә/ pure /pjuә/

5. English Consonants: English has 24 consonants, some of them are pronounced with the vocal cords vibration (voiced consonants: b, d, g, v, ð, z, Ʒ, dƷ, m, n, ŋ, l, w, r, j ), the others are pronounced without vibration of the vocal cords (voiceless consonants: p, t, k, f, Ɵ, s, ∫, t∫, h). The vocal cords are two lines of muscles connected from both ends of the walls of the larynx. Consonant keyword 1./p/ people /pi:pl/ 2./b/ bee /bi:/ 3./t/ title /taitl/ 4./d/ did /did/ 5./k/ cake /keik/ 6./g/ giggle /gigl/ 7./t∫/ chair /t∫eә/ 8./ʤ/ change /t∫einʤ/

6. 9./f/ fife /faif/ 10./v/ very /veri/ 11./Ɵ/ through /Ɵru:/ 12./ð/ those /ðәuz/ 13./s/ sister /sistә/ 14./z/ zoo /zu:/ 15./∫/ shop /∫ᴐp/ 16./Ʒ/ vision /viƷn/ 17./h/ horse /hᴐ:s/ 18./m/ mine /main/ 19./n/ none /nᴧn/ 20./ŋ/ sing /siŋ/ 21./l/ little /litl/ 22./r/ road /rәud/ 23./j/ use /ju:z/ 24./w/ white /wait/

7. Exercises: Write the following words in transcription form: 1.Peace 2.key 3.eat 4.sister 5.busy 6.many 7.cough 8.born 9. boot 10. book 11. son 12. cake 13. came 14. near 15. pure 16. chair 17. first 18.little 19. like 20. sing 21. people 22. calf 23. lady 24. gone 25. church 26. thought 27.fast 28. feel 29. few 30. view 31. suffer 32. cover 33. leaf 34. life 35. leave

8. Production of speech sounds Organs of speech (Articulators): All the sounds we made when we speak are the result of muscles contracting. The muscles in chest that we use for breathing produce the flow of air that is needed for all speech sounds, muscles in the larynx produce many different modifications in the flow of air from the chest to the mouth. After passing through larynx the air goes through what we call the vocal tract which ends at the mouth and nostrils. Here the air from the larynx escapes into the atmosphere. We have a large and complex set of muscles that can produce changes in the shape of vocal tract, and in order to learn how the sound of speech are produced it is necessary to become familiar with the different parts of the vocal tract. These parts are called articulators ( organs of speech).

9. 1.The pharynx: It is a tube which begins just above the larynx. It is about 7cm long in women and 8cm in men, and the top end divided into two, one part being the back of the mouth and the other being the beginning of the nasal cavity. 2.The soft palate(velum):It begins where the hard palate ends. It can take two positions either be raised to stop the passage of the air through the nose (nasal cavity) or lowered to stop the passage of air through the mouth(oral cavity). When it is raised all the air is allowed to pass through mouth and(oral sounds) are produced. For example /p, b, t, d, k, g/, the velum is raised. When it is lowered, the air is allowed to pass through the nose and (nasal sounds) are produced. For example, /m, n, ŋ/.

10. 3The hard palate: It is often called the roof the mouth. You can feel its smooth curved surface with your tongue. 4. The alveolar ridge: It is between the top front teeth and the hard palate. You can feel its shape with your tongue. Sounds made with the tongue touching here (t and d) are called alveolar. 5. The tongue: It’s a very important articulator and it can be moved into many different places and different situations. It is usually divided into different positions, though there are no clear dividing line within the tongue. The parts are tip, blade, front and back. 6. The teeth(upper and lower): Only at the front of the mouth. Immediately behind the lips. The tongue is in contact with the upper side teeth for many speech sounds. Sounds made with the tongue touching the front teeth are called dental. (Ɵ, ð). 7. The lips: They are important in speech. They can be pressed together, or brought into contact with the teeth, or rounded. Sounds in which the lips are in contact are called bilabial, while those with lip to teeth contact are called labiodental.

11. Production and classification of consonants Consonants are sounds that are produced when the air passage is obstructed. English consonant phonemes are described and classified in terms of three main variables: A. Voicing. B. Place of articulation. C. Manner of articulation. A. Voicing: Refers to whether a given sound is voiced or voiceless. Voiceless consonants are those that are pronounced without vibration like: /p, t, k, f, Ɵ, s, ∫, ʧ, h/. Voiced consonants are those that are produced with vibration like: / b, d, g, v, ð, Ʒ, z, ʤ, m, n, ŋ, l, r, w, j /. Note: All English vowel sounds are voiced. B. Place of articulation: Refers to the place at which the articulation is formed. English consonants are classified into the following types: 1. Bilabial consonants: They are articulated by the closure of the lower lip against the upper lips. /b, p, m, w /.

12. 2.Labio-dental consonants: They are articulated by the lower lip against the upper teeth. /f, v /. 3. Dental consonants: They are articulated by the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth. /Ɵ, ð /. 4. Alveolar consonants: They are articulated by the tip of the tongue against alveolar ridge. /t, d/. 5. Palato- alveolar: They are articulated by the blade of the tongue touching alveolar ridge. /∫, Ʒ, ʤ, ʧ /. 6. Velar consonants: They are articulated by the raising the back of the tongue to make contact with the velum. /k, g, ŋ /. 7. Palatal consonants: They are articulated by the blade of the tongue. / j /. 8. Glottal consonants: They are articulated in the glottis, there is only English glottal consonants. /h/.

13. C. Manner of Articulation: It means the manner in which the air passes through the vocal tract. That is by showing the way or how sounds are produced. According to this variable, English consonants are classified into following categories: 1. Stops or plosives: They are produced by a complete closure of the air passage. Such complete closure can take place anywhere between the glottis and the lips. English has six stop phonemes: /p, b, t, d, k, g/. 2. Fricatives: They are formed by narrowing the air passage, so that the emerging air produces continuous friction. /f, v, Ɵ, ð, s, z, ∫, Ʒ, h/. 3. Affricates: They are produced in a way that similar to stops, but instead of suddenly releasing the air, the speech organs are slowly separated, thus giving the sound of fricative ending which is a mixture of a stop and fricative sound. English has two affricates. /ʧ, ʤ /.

14. 4. Nasals: in producing a nasal sound the air doesn’t escape through the lips, but through the nose. English has three nasal consonants. /m, n, ŋ/. 5. Laterals: They are formed by partially blocking the centre of the air passage and by letting air pass on the both sides of the tongue, which is raised towards the middle of the mouth. English has only lateral phoneme./l/. 6. Semi vowels: English has three approximants. /w, j, r/. They are called so since they have the characteristics of vowels, but they look like consonants, because the mouth is not quite open.

15. Full description of the consonants 1. /p/ voiceless, bilabial, stop. e.g. pin, people. 2. /b/ voiced, bilabial, stop. e.g. by, bin, bleed. 3. /t/ voiceless, alveolar, stop. e.g. table, ten, dot. 4. /d/ voiced, alveolar, stop. e..g. down, do, drip. 5. /k/ voiceless, velar, stop. e.g. class, coat, clue. 6. /voiced, velar, stop. e.g. glass, goat, glue. 7. /f/ voiceless, labio-dental, fricative. e.g. lie, safe. 8. /v/ voiced, labio-dental, fricative. e.g. five, view. 9. /Ɵ/ voiceless, dental, fricative. e.g. thin, earth. 10. /ð/ voiced, dental, fricative. e.g. this, they. 11. /s/ voiceless, alveolar, fricative. e.g. sick, sort. 12. /z/ voiced, alveolar, fricative. e.g. close, zoon. 13. /∫/ voiceless, palate-alveolar, fricative. e.g. she, sheet.

16. 14. /Ʒ/ voiced, palate-alveolar, fricative. e.g. vision. 15. /h/ voiceless, glottal, fricative. e.g. hat, how. 16. /ʧ/ voiceless, palate-alveolar, affricate. e.g. church, chair. 17. /ʤ/ voiced, palate-alveolar, affricate. e.g. Jane, job. 18. /m/ voiced, bilabial, nasal. e.g. milk, summer. 19. /n/ voiced, alveolar, nasal. e.g. now, nine. 20. /ŋ/ voiced, velar, nasal. e.g. thing, rang. 21. /l/ voiced, alveolar, lateral. e.g. leave, little. 22. /r/ voiced, alveolar, semi vowel. e.g. true, write. 23. /j/ voiced, palate-alveolar, semi vowel. e.g. yet. 24. /w/ voiced, bilabial, semi vowel. e.g. wait, white.

17. English consonants classification chart

18. Classification of English vowel sounds 1. /i:/ close, front, long, unrounded. It occurs initially, medially and finally. The lips are spread. e.g. eat, clean, key. 2. /i/ front, above half close, short. It occurs initially and finally. The lips are slightly spread. e.g. it, ladies. 3. /e/ front, between half close half open, short. The lips are unrounded. It occurs initially and medially. e.g. egg, heaven. 4. /æ/ front, between half – open and open, short, unrounded. It occurs initially and medially. e.g. add, cat. 5. /a:/ low back, fully open, long. It occurs initially, medially and finally. e.g. half, car, ask. 6. /Ɔ/ back, between open and half open, short, rounded. It occurs initially and medially. e.g. one, gone. 7. /Ɔ:/ back, long, between half close and half open, rounded. It occurs initially, medially, finally. e.g. all, salt, saw. 8. /u/ back, near to half-close, short. It occurs initially and finally. e.g. put, do, should.

19. 9. /u:/ back, close, long, rounded. It occurs initially, medially and finally. e.g. ooze, fruit, view. 10. /ʌ/ mid-central, unrounded, short. It occurs in stressed syllable initially and medially. e.g. up, flood. 11. /ᴣ:/ mid-central, unrounded, long. It occurs initially, medially, finally. e.g. earth, bird, were. 12. /ә/ mid-central, unrounded, short. It is known as schwa. It occurs in unstressed syllables and called weak vowel. e.g. above, famous, doctor.

20. English Vowels Distribution Close front central back Half-close Half-open Open

21. English diphthongs distribution Close front central back Half-close half-open open

22. References English Phonetics and Phonology A practical Course Peter Roach

23. English Phonetics and Phonology 328Level FourPrepared by: Dr. Ahmed Benyo