Definition: Discussion:: 1 - CHAPTER 1: What Is Phonology? [PDF]

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Page|1 CHAPTER 1: What is phonology? Definition:  Phonology is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages. Discussion:  The phonological system of a language includes  

an inventory of sounds and their features, and rules which specify how sounds interact with each other.

Phonology is just one of several aspects of language. It is related to other aspects such as phonetics, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics. Here is an illustration that shows the place of phonology in an interacting hierarchy of levels in linguistics:

Comparison:  (Phonology and phonetics) Phonetics … Phonology … Is the basis for phonological Is the basis for further work analysis. in morphology, syntax, discourse, and orthography design. Analyzes the production of Analyzes the sound patterns all human speech sounds, of a particular language by regardless of language.  determining which phonetic sounds are significant, and  explaining how these sounds are interpreted by the native speaker.

Topics in phonology: 1) Phonemes and allophones 2) Minimal pairs 3) Allophonic variations 4) Phonemic and allophonic transcription 5) Syllable structure 6) Assimilation 7) Stress 8) Intonation 9) Distinctive features

Page|2 English phonemes bilabial labiodental dental alveolar postalveolar palatal velar uvular pharyngeal glottal

plosive

pb

t d

kɡ

m

n

ŋ

nasal Fricative

f

v

ɵ ð

s z

Affricate lateral approximant

l ɹ

w

ʃ

ʒ

ʧ

ʤ

h

j

Table: consonants of English Chapter 2: Phonemes and Allophones Phoneme Gimson (1984) defines a phoneme as the smallest contrastive linguistic unit that may bring about change of meaning.’ From the Gimson’s definition above, we may elicit that a particular sound is a phoneme if it causes change in meaning, i.e. distinctive. For example, the Arabic sound /b/ is a phoneme as it changes the meaning when put in the same position of the sound /t/ in the following minimal pairs: (1)

/ba:b/ /ta:b/

“door” “repent (past)

Thus, the first two sounds in the above minimal pair are phonemes because they bring about two different meanings. Similarly, minimal pairs in English show that /p/ and /b/ are two different phonemes. (2)

/pit/ /rip/

vs vs

/bit/ /rib/

Allophones On the other hand, if we listen carefully to the [k] of key and compare it with the [k] of car, we can hear that the two sounds are not the same; the [k ] of key is more ‘fronted’ (‘palatalized’) in its articulation and has a higher pitch, while the [k] of car is articulated further back and has a lower pitch. Yet we can say that fronted [k] and retracted [k] are both variants of the same phoneme /k/. In this case, we call these two variants allophones of the same phoneme. Thus, allophones are different realizations of the phonemes. To make the distinction quite clear in writing, allophones are enclosed in square brackets [ ], and phonemes in slants, / /. Using this notation we can now write [k̟] (fronted k) and [k̠] (retracted k) as allophones of /k/. Further examples of phonemes / allophones are readily available. The [n] of tenth differs from the [n] of ten; in tenth the sound is dental, [n], while in ten it is ‘ordinary’ English alveolar [n].

Page|3 The [l] of lip differs, in many accents, from the [l] of pill, the [l] is accompanied by a raising of the back of the tongue: it is velarized. This sound is known as ‘dark [ l ]’ Allophones of the English phonemes 1) Allophones of the voiceless plosives /p/, /t/ & /k/ 1. Aspirated [pʰ], [tʰ] & [kʰ]. . /p/, /t/ & /k/ are aspirated when they occur initially in an accented syllable as in pot, pull, apart, apply, play, prove, pure, tin, tear, obtain, attire, try, twice, tune, king, cat, account, clay, cry, queue, quite. In all such cases, the vowel or consonant that immediately follows /p, t, or k/ becomes devoiced. 2. Unaspirated [p], [t], & [k]. /p/, /t/ & /k/ are unaspirated when (a) they occur in unaccented syllable as in prevent, leper, taper; today, filter, later; contain, basking, bouquet, marker; (b) thay are preceded by /s/ as spot, spool, spy, sporadic; stain, stray, stupendous; sky, school, square and they occur medially in a syllable as in apt, lapse, helped; hats, bits; act, checked, packs. 3. Inaudibly released (or unexploded) [p̚]. /p, t, k/ are released inaudibly without an explosion when (a) it occurs finally, i.e. before silence, as in cup, sleep, type; hot, wet, late lack, cheque, take; (b) it occurs before plosive or affricate as in wept, captain, stop cheating; hotbed, white dog, fat child, that jug backed, back door, blackboard, deckchairs. 4. Nasally released [pn ]. /p, t/ are released through the nose when it is followed by /m/ or /n/ as in happen, help me, cheap meal. button, mutton, cotton. 5. Laterally released [t‫]׀‬. / t/ is released laterally when it is followed by / l / as in settle, metal, cattle. 6. Dental [t̪ ] /t/ becomes dental plosive if it is followed by the dental fricatives /ð/ and /Ɵ/ as in eighth, sit three. 7. Post-alveolar [tʃ]. / t / is realized as a post-alveolar plosive if it is followed by / r / as in trick, true, betray. 8. Advanced variety of /k/. [k̟] is articulated nearer the palate if it is followed by a front vowel as in keen, kit, cat. 9. Retracted variety of /k/. [k̠] is articulated further back in the mouth if it is followed by a back vowel as in cool, caught, cart. 2) Allophones of the voiced plosives /b, d, ɡ / 1. Partially devoiced. [b̥ d̥ ɡ̥] are partially devoiced when they occur initially in a word as in boy, boat, blade, bring. dig, do, dry dew. girl, gate, good The vocal vibration in such words may start only during the release stage of the articulation. 2. Voiceless [b̥ d̥ ɡ̥] are voiceless when they occur finally in a word as in club, mob, robe bid, said, shoved, roused bag, smog, tug. 3. Fully voiced. [b d ɡ] are voiced through all the three stages of its articulation when they occur only intervocalically, or between voiced sounds, as in about, rebound, labour, husband, ambush. ado, render, model, roadway. ago, against, begin, tiger.

Page|4 4. Inaudibly released (or unexploded). [b̚ d̚ ɡ̚] are released without an explosion when they occur finally, i.e. before silence as in rob, tub; head, road, pleased tag, drug, fog, and they are followed by another plosive or affricate as in rubbed, subcontinent, subject, object. bad times, good day, good judge. bagpipe, eggcup, big chin, big jacket. 5. Nasally released. [bⁿ , dⁿ] are released through the nose when thet is followed by /m/ or /n/ as in submarine, submit, ribbon. sadden, bad name, good night. 6. Laterally released [dˡ ]. /d/ is released laterally when it is followed by /l/ as in saddle, middle, bad light. 7. Dental [d̪]. [d] becomes dental plosive if it is followed by the dental fricatives /ð/ and /Ɵ/ as in sad thought, add this. 8. Post-alveolar /dʃ/. /d/ is realized as a post-alveolar plosive if it is followed by /r/ as in dry, 9. Advanced variety of /ɡ/. [ɡ̟] is articulated nearer the palate if it is followed by a front vowel as in get, geese, gander. 10. Retracted variety of /ɡ̠/. [ɡ̠] is articulated further back in the mouth if it is followed by a back vowel as in goose, good, gone

Pronunciation of the past tense marker –d or –ed The past tense marker –d or –ed is pronounced in three different ways: 1. It is pronounced /t/ after voiceless consonants other than /t/. EXAMPLES: heaped /hi:pt/ passed /pa:st/ looked /lukt/ rushed /rʌʃt/ laughed /la:ft/ reached /ri:ʃt/ 2. It is pronounced / d / after voiced sounds other than /d/. (Voiced sounds mean all vowels and voiced consonants.) EXAMPLES: clubbed /klʌbd/ hinged /hɪnʤ/ tagged /tægd/ prayed /preId/ lived /lɪvd/ tried /traɪd/ praised /preIzd/ sued /su:d/ bowed /baud/ (3) It is pronounced /ɪd/ after / t, d /. EXAMPLES: hated /heɪtId/ headed /hedɪd/ batted /bætɪd/ raided /reɪdId/ 3) Allophones of /m, n, l/ 1. Syllabic /ֽm, ֽn & ˌl/ becomes syllabic in words such as prism and rhythm prison and button bottle, kettle, settle, shackle if the vowel /ə/ ordinarily occurring in their second syllables is dropped.

Page|5

4) Allophones of /n/ 1. Dental /n/. When followed by / ð, Ɵ/, [n] is realized as a dental nasal as in month, tenth, on them.

5. Allophones of /l/ Two chief allophones of /l/ are the clear [l] and the dark [ł ] 1. clear [l] is realized when the lateral is followed by a vowel or the semi-vowel / j / as in lean, let, lose, flute, ply, billion, lure. 2. Dark [ł ] is used whenever the lateral is not followed by a vowel, i.e. word-finally as in heal, hell, call, and before consonants other than / j / as in health, helm, milk, called. 3. Dental [ l ̪ ], /l/ is realized as a dental alveolar when it is followed by the dental fricative /Ɵ/ as in health, wealthy, stealth.

Criteria for allophones: In grouping phones together into phonemes, three criteria are used by the phonologists: complementary distribution, phonetic similarity and free variation.

a. Complementary distribution This criterion states that if two phones occur in non-identical environments, then they may be members of the same phoneme. Two phones in complementary distribution are allophones of the same phoneme, i.e., if they can never appear in the same environment, they obviously can’t contrast; the prime situation for contrast is parallel situation, e.g., the initials of cat, tat, pat. Thus [k] and [kʰ] are allophones of the same phoneme, as they can’t contrast and they can’t appear in parallel situation. b. Phonetic similarity But [h] and [ŋ] appear in complementary distribution in English: [h] only before a vowel and [ŋ] only after a vowel as in hang. Do we say then that [h] and [ŋ] are allophones of the same phoneme? Thus, we introduce a further criterion: to qualify as allophones of one phoneme, two phones must be not only in complementary distribution, they must be phonetically similar i.e. the two phones should belong to the same phonological unit.

Page|6 c. Free variation This criterion states that if two phones occur in the same environment, but without changing the word in which they occur, then they may belong to the same phoneme. Thus, the word bid is sometimes articulated with a fully voiced final alveolar consonant [d] and sometimes with devoiced (voiceless) [d]. But whichever phone is used, the word remains the same. These two phones are in free variation i.e. whichever is used by speakers the word meaning does not change. PHONOLOGICAL RULES FOR ENGLISH ALLOPHONES (A SELECTION) : The phonological rule

Examples: pit [pʰit], tie [tʰaɪ], come [kʰʌm];

Lack of aspiration after /s/ Devoicing of voiced consonants

[–voiced]  [+asp] _________ ˈσ [+stop] [–voiced]  [– asp] /s/ ________ ˈσ [+stop] [+ voiced]  [-voiced] [+asp, +stop] _______. [+ cons.]

Devoicing of consonants

[+voiced]  partially voiced σ ________ except [+obstruent] when preceded by a voiced sound

Devoicing of consonants

[+voiced]  voiceless when ________ σ except [+obstruent] when preceded by a voiced sound

Aspiration of stops

Syllabicity of nasals & [+nasal]  [+syllabic] [+obstruent] ________. Laterals

spit [spɪt], sty [staɪ], scum [skʌm]); pray [pʰr̥eɪ], play [pʰl̥ eɪ], crew [kʰr̥u:], clue [kʰl̥ u:], try [tʰr̥aɪ], twig [tʰw̥ɪg], tune [tʰj̥u:n] buy, die, guy, zoo, veal, they rib, rid, rig, rise, drive, writhe leaden [ledn̦], chasm [kæsm̦] kiln [kɪln], film [fɪlm], bottle [bɒtl]

Chapter 3: Transcription Unlike English, in Arabic there is almost one to one correspondence between what is written and what is spoken. In English, what is written can be completely different from what is spoken. This is what makes George Bernard Shaw mock at and ridicule the English spelling when he wrote in Pygmalion that the word ghoti in English can be read as fish. He meant that the gh = f as in tough and rough, o = ɪ as in women, and ti = ʃ as in nation and patient. So, learning the transcription (the phonetic symbols of sounds) is essential for language learners. Broad or Phonemic Transcription Broad or phonemic transcription of speech does not attempt to record the extremely large number of idiosyncratic or contextual variations in pronunciation that occur in normal speech nor does it attempt to describe the individual variations that occur between speakers of a language or dialect. Such a detailed transcription is a narrow transcription and is partially dealt with in the topic on narrow transcription. The goal of a broad transcription is to record the phonemes that a speaker uses rather than theactual spoken variants of those phonemes that are produced when a speaker utters a word. A phoneme is an abstract linguistic entity that exists entirely in the brain of a speech producer or a speech perceiver. Each phoneme is not a sound, but it is realised in the outside world as a class (or group) of sounds that are actually uttered. Such spoken variants of each phoneme are known as its allophones. See the topic on Phoneme and Allophone for further information.

Page|7 What symbols should we use for a phonemic transcription? Since phonemes are not sounds but rather exist as abstract linguistic entities in the brain, they could be represented by any arbitrary system of symbols. It is convenient, however, to use a standard system of symbols so that other people can understand what we are writing. The most widely accepted system of symbols is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). This alphabet is used to represent both phonemes and allophones in normal practice even though it is defined in terms of actual speech sounds. The diacritics used in the IPA chart will be used for the allophonic variations of the phonemes. When linguists develop a phonemic description of a language or dialect they most often select the most common or widely distributed allophone of each phoneme as the typical allophone of that phoneme and use its phonetic symbol to represent the phoneme as a whole. When a symbol is used to represent an actual sound (allophone) it has an entirely different meaning from the same symbol when used to represent a phoneme. For this reason we always enclose transcriptions in /.../ when we are indicating phonemes and in [...] when we are indicating the actually produced sounds. For example, /k/ might represent a particular English phoneme, which in this case can be realised in actual speech as an aspirated, unaspirated or unreleased velar stop, as a more fronted palatal stop, as a more retracted uvular stop, as a stop produced in some intermediate position between these extremes and also as fricative variants of these stop sounds. The true identity of /k/ is possibly better described by a system of phonological features along with diacritics to indicate the abovementioned variations of /k/. [k] on the other hand represents a sound that is an unaspirated velar oral stop, [kʰ] represents a sound that aspirated velar oral stop etc, for example.

Phonetic (Narrow) Transcription The transcriptions we have been considering so far are phonemic transcriptions, also known as broad transcriptions because they contain the minimum amount of phonetic detail needed in order to be able to distinguish between words. A narrow transcription contains phonetic detail which can often be predicted by rule. Some of the main "rules" for converting a broad to a narrow transcription have already been discussed in 2.3. Remember that any narrow, i.e. phonetic transcription must be enclosed in [ ] brackets. Some more examples for the sake of clarification are given below: Aspiration and release of oral stops 1. Aspiration Voiceless oral stops are aspirated before stressed vowels/diphthongs in the same syllable. Phonemic allophonic /peɪ/ [pʰeɪ] pay /ti:/ [tʰi:] tea /kʌm/ [kʰʌm] come 2. When /l/, /r/, /w/ or /j/ follow the voiceless stop in the same context, they are made voiceless by the aspiration. The following should therefore be transcribed with voiceless approximant consonants /pleɪ/ [pʰl̥ eɪ] play /pr i:st/ [pʰɹ̥ i:st] priest /pjuː/ [pʰJ ̯uː] pew /trɑɪ/ [tʰɹ̥ ɑɪ] try

Page|8 /twaɪs/ [tʰw̥aɪs] twice /tjuːn/ [tʰjuːn] tune /kliːn/ [kʰl̥ iːn] clean /kraɪ/ [kʰɹ̥ aɪ] cry /kjuːt/ [kʰjuːt] cute The aspiration rule does not apply when voiceless oral stops follow /s/ (in the same syllable). The following words therefore have unaspirated stops: /spɪn/ [spɪn] spin /skɑː/ [skɑː] scar /stænd/ [stænd] stand /sprɪŋ/ [spɹɪŋ] spring /skwiːk/ [skwiːk] squeak Aspiration also occurs in secondary stressed syllables (e.g. [kʰɑ:bəneɪʃəs], carbonaceous) and in many unreduced syllables ( [pʰɒtʰæʃ], potash). However, in unstressed syllables it is not really appropriate to speak of aspiration because oral stops are only weakly released in these contexts. It is acceptable therefore, to omit the symbol for aspiration in words such as: /pəteɪtəʊ/ [pətʰeɪtəʊ] potato /kəlekt/ [kəlekt] collect Audible vs inaudible Word and syllable-final oral stops or VC stops ("VC" means vowel+consonant and indicates syllable final consonants) show somewhat different patterns of release to those shown by CV stops. When carrying out a narrow transcription of VC stops we are particularly interested in whether the release of the stop is audible or inaudible. This applies to both voiced and voiceless stops. Voiceless stops with audible release often have clear aspiration, especially when the stop precedes a pause. Sometimes the release is less intense but is still audible. It is customary, when transcribing English to leave audibly released stops unmarked (ie. [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [ɡ]) and to indicate stops without audible release in the following way (ie. [p̚ ], [b̚], [t̚], [d̚], [k̚], [ɡ̚]). Strong aspiration, as in the word  "eat" can therefore be transcribed as [i:t] but the transcriber has the option of adding an aspiration diacritic when the aspiration in an audible release is deemed strong enough to warrant it (ie. [ɪːt] or [ɪːtʰ]). released unreleased released unreleased "map" [mæp] [mæp̚] "wink"  [wɪŋk]     [wɪŋk̚] ̚ "squeak" [skwiːk]     [skwiːk] "fade"  [feɪd]   [feɪd̚] "tired"    [taɪəd] [taɪəd̚] "jog" [dʒɒɡ]   [dʒɒɡ̚] Here are some examples of pairs of words with and without audible release:Devoicing Voiced oral stops and voiced fricatives are usually devoiced in the following contexts: (a) Before a pause (eg. at the end of a sentence or utterance): /tæb/ [tʰæb̥] tab /meɪz/ [meɪz̥] maze /beɪð/ [beɪð̥] bathe (b) Before a voicelessor devoiced obstruent (ie. before oral stops, affricates or fricatives) /tæbz/ [tʰæb̥z̥] tabs ( /b/ is devoiced before a devoiced /z/ /sed kɑːl/ [sed̥ kʰɑːl] said Karl ( /d/ is devoiced before /k/ ) /sed suː/ [sed̥ suː] said Sue ( /d/ is devoiced before /s/ )

Page|9 Devoicing Approximants Following Voiceless Fricatives When approximants immediately follow voiceless fricatives they are often, but not always, devoiced. This process is analogous to the effect of stop aspiration on following approximants. Note that this devoicing doesn't always happen. It usually happens when the fricative and approximant are in the same syllable. It also seems to be more likely to happen when the syllable is stressed. This effect is generally blocked by a syllable boundary between the two sounds. /frend/ [fɹ̥ end] friend /swiːt/ [sw̥iːt] sweet /ʃred/ [ʃɹ̥ ed] shred Variation in the place of articulation of /k/ and /ɡ/ (a) Before fronted vowels such as /iː/,/ɪ/,/e/, and /æ/, diphthongs with fronted first targets such as /aɪ/, and /ɪə/, as well as the consonants /j/ and /r/, the velar stop consonants /k/ and /ɡ/ are fronted to a pre-velar (between palatal and velar) or even a palatal place of articulation. The pre-velar forms are indicated by placing a + under (or over) the appropriate symbol, ie. [k̟] and [ɡ˖]. /kiːn/ [k̟iːn] keen /kjuːt/ [k̟j̊ uːt] cute /ɡiːs/ [ɡ˖iːs] geese /ɡruːp/ [ɡ˖ɹuːp] group (ii) Before back vowels such as /ɔː/,/ʊ/,/ɔ/,/ɔɪ/, and /ʊə/, as well as the semi-vowel /w/, the velar stop consonants /k/ and /ɡ/ are realised as post-velar stops. The post-velar forms are indicated by placing a "-" under (or over) the appropriate symbol, ie. [ḵ] and [ɡ̄]. /kɔːt/ [ḵɔːt] caught /kwaɪt/ [ḵw̥aɪt] quite /ɡɔːdiː/ [ɡ̄ɔːdiː] gaudy Note that if consonants intervene between /k/ or /ɡ/ and the following vowel then the effect of that vowel is neutralised and the place of articulation is not changed. However, if /w/, /j/ or /r/occur after /k/ or /ɡ/ then they affect the place of articulation of these velar stops, not the vowel. Clear and Dark realizations of /l / (a) Before vowels, diphthongs and /j/, /l/ is realised as [l] (clear 'l '). [ɫ] is also usually found at the end of a word even when the following word starts with a vowel. This articulation clearly marks the /l / as belonging to the end of the first word rather than the beginning of the second word. The following words should be transcribed as follows: /liːf/ [liːf] leaf /lɔː/ [lɔː] law /blɪŋk/ [blɪŋk] blink /væljuː/ [væljuː] value /mɪljən/ [mɪljən] million /fiːlɪŋ/ [fiːlɪŋ] feeling /selaut/ [selaut] sellout (b) Before consonants (except /j/) or a pause (e.g. the end of a sentence or utterance), the allophone is dark (velarized), ie. [ɫ], (this is an "l" with a "~" through it ): /fiːl/ [fiːɫ] feel /fiːld/ [fiːɫd] field /fiːlfaɪn/ [fiːɫ faɪn] feel fine (c) Syllabic realizations of /l/ are usually dark: /teɪbl/ [tʰeɪbɫ̩ ] /mʌdl/ [mʌdɫ̩ ]

table muddle

P a g e | 10 (d) Note however, that the choice of clear or dark /l/ is often dialect specific. For example, many do use dark /l/ before /j/ in words like "value" /væljuː/ and "million" /mɪljən/ and also before morpheme boundaries like "control-able" , even use it in words like "slowly" and it is almost obligatory in "holy". Assimilation of alveolars The following assimilations should be noted. Alveolar assimilation is extremely common, but exceptions to these rules do occur, even in casual connected speech. Assimilations are much less likely to occur in careful speech and particularly when articulating isolated words carefully. (a) Labiodental nasals before labiodentals /ɪnfənt/ [ɪɱfənt] /ɪnvaɪt/ [ɪɱvaɪt] (b) Dental nasal and oral stops before dentals /eɪtθ/ [eɪt̪ θ] /tenθ/ [ten̪θ] (c) Post-alveolar oral and nasal stops before /r/ /traɪ/ [ṯɹ̥ aɪ] /draɪ/ [ḏɹaɪ] /enrəʊl/ [eṉɹəʊɫ]

infant invite eighth tenth try dry enrol

Syllabic consonants All syllabic consonants must be marked with a [x̩] diacritic in a narrow transcription. /mɪdl/ [mɪdɫ̩ ] middle /sʌdn/ [sʌdn̩] sudden

P a g e | 11

Chapter 4: Syllables Syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. It is typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "building blocks" of words. They can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic meter, its stress patterns, etc. A word that consists of a single syllable (like ‘cat’ in English) is called a monosyllable (such a word is monosyllabic), while a word consisting of two syllables (like monkey) is called a disyllable (such a word is disyllabic). A word consisting of three syllables (such as indigent) is called a trisyllable (the adjective form is trisyllabic). A word consisting of more than three syllables (such as intelligence) is called a polysyllable (and could be described as polysyllabic), although this term is often used to describe words of two syllables or more. There are four ways to split up a word into its syllables : 1- Divide between two middle consonants .For example : hap-pen and bas-ket . The exceptions are th ,ph, sh, ch and wh .

P a g e | 12 2- Usually divide before a single middle consonant .When there is only one syllable, you usually divide in front of it , as in : o-pen and i-tem . 3-Divide before the consonant before le syllable .For example : a-ble and rub-ble . The only exception is ckle words such as tickle . 4-Divid off any compound words , prefixes , suffixes and roots which have vowel sounds . Spilt off the parts of the compound words such as sports–car . Divide off prefix such as un–happy. Also divide off suffixes as in farm-er . To find the number of syllables in a word ,use the following steps : 1- Count the vowels in the word. 2- Subtract any silent vowels ,(like the silent e at the end of the a word , or the second vowel when two vowels are together in a syllable ). 3- Subtract one vowel from every diphthong (diphthongs only count as one vowel sound). 4- The number of vowels sounds left is the same as the number of syllables. Kinds of Syllables There are six different kinds of syllables in English: 1- Closed Syllables have one and only one vowel, and it ends in a consonant (in ,ask, sock) 2- Open Syllables have one and only one vowel, and that vowel occurs at the end of the syllable (no, she) 3- Silent e Syllable ends in e , and has one and only one consonant before that e , and has one and only one vowel before that consonant (ate ,ice ,these). 4- Vowel combination Syllables have a cluster of two vowels (rain, day, see, toy, true). 5- Vowel –r syllable is one which includes one and only one vowel followed by r ,or one vowel followed by /r/ which is followed by a silent e or a vowel combination followed by /r/ (car, or, care, air). 6- Consonant – le Syllable : In these syllables , a consonant is followed by le . The vowel sound in these syllables is schwa l (ble, cle, dle, fle) (see syllabic consonant) Syllable structure The general structure of a syllable consists of the following segments:   o o

Onset (obligatory in some languages, optional in others) Rime Nucleus (obligatory in all languages) Coda (optional in some languages, highly restricted or prohibited in others)

tree representation of a CVC syllable In some theories of phonology, these syllable structures are displayed as tree diagrams (similar to the trees found in some types of syntax). (a)

Syllable nucleus

P a g e | 13 The syllable nucleus is typically a sonorant, usually a vowel sound, in the form of a monophthong, diphthong, or triphthong, but sometimes sonorant consonants like [l] or [r]. (b) syllable onset The syllable onset is the sound or sounds occurring before the nucleus. (c)

Syllable coda

(literally 'tail') is the sound or sounds that follow the nucleus. The term rime covers the nucleus plus coda. In the one-syllable English word cat, the nucleus is a, the onset c, the coda t, and the rime at. This syllable can be abstracted as a consonant-vowel-consonant syllable, abbreviated CVC. Generally, every syllable requires a nucleus. Onsets are extremely common, and some languages require all syllables to have an onset. (That is, a CVC syllable like cat is possible, but a VC syllable such as at is not.) We may describe the English syllable as having the following maximum phonological structure. Pre- initial post-initial Initial

vowel prefinal

Onset

nucleus

final

post- post- postfinal1 final2 final3 Coda

This is an analysis of the word ‘cramped’ initial post-initial k r

vowel pre-final æ m

final p

Onset

nucleus

Coda

post-final t

Tree representation of the syllable structure Syllable Weight We learnt that the syllable is divided into an onset and a rime and the rime is divided into a nucleus and a coda. The rime, not the onset, carries the weight of the syllable. That weight is known as a mora (plural morae). A mora (often symbolized μ) is a unit in phonology that determines syllable weight, which determines stress or timing. Short vowels in the rime such as [dʊ] are counted as one mora (monomoraic syllable) and the syllable here is known as a light syllable. Long vowels or diphthongs in the rime such as [si:], [ni:], [ɡəʊ] and [haʊ] are counted as two morae, and the syllable is termed as a heavy syllable. When a coda consonant is added to the rime of a light syllable, the syllable will be a heavy syllable; and if a coda consonant is added to the heavy syllable [si:k], [ni:t], [ɡəʊt] and [haʊs], the syllables are termed as a super heavy syllable. Light syllable: short vowels only Heavy syllables: short vowels + a coda consonant or long vowels only. Super heavy syllables: short vowels + 2 , 3 or 4 consonants or a heavy syllable + a/codas.

P a g e | 14 Monomoraic syllables have one mora, [μ] bimoraic syllables have two, [μ μ] and trimoraic syllables have three [μ μ μ] Onsets= zero [μ] Codas = one [μ] Nucleus = short vowels = one [μ], long vowels and diphthongs = [μ μ] morae

σ σ

  R   N  o μ d ʊ (light)

R σ

σ

σ

σ

R

N

N

R

R

N

o μμ o μμ o μμ μμ s i: n i: ɡ əʊ h (heavy) (heavy) (heavy)

N

C

aʊ s (super heavy)

σσσ  

 

 

 

RRR NC

ON

ON C

 μμ μμ μμμ  ɪm. pɔ:. tənt HeavyHeavySuper heavy The syllabification of the word important [ɪm.pɔ:.tənt] shows that it contains of the three syllables: two heavy and one super heavy syllables Syllables and Phonotactic constraints

P a g e | 15 Phonotactic rules determine which sounds are allowed or disallowed in each part of the syllable. English allows very complicated syllables; syllables may begin with up to three consonants (as in string or splash), and occasionally end with as many as four (as in prompts or sixths). There are languages that forbid empty onsets, Arabic "Omar", "Ali" and "Abdullah", among many others, actually begin with a glottal stop consonant /ʔ/. Types of Syllables This is the analysis of types of syllable that we have in English : Syllable Examples 1- ( V ) I a 2- ( VC ) an at 3- ( VCC ) ask 4- ( VCCC ) pre – empts 2- ( CV ) no so 6- ( CVC ) can hat 7-(CVCC ) tent desk 8-( CVCCC) thanks sixth 9- ( CCVC ) speak green 10- ( CVCCCC ) tempts 11- ( CCV ) play sky 12- ( CCVCC ) snacks 13- ( CCVCCCC ) twelfths 14- ( CCVCCC ) stands twelfth 12 - ( CCCV ) spray 16- (CCCVC ) stream street 17- ( CCCVCC ) strange script 18- ( CCCVCCC ) strands Syllabic consonants Syllabic consonants occur frequently in some contexts and less frequently in others. Whilst in certain contexts syllabic consonants occur with very high frequency, it is not obligatory for this to happen. The frequency of use of syllabic consonants is speaker-dependent. (i) Syllabic /n/ and /l/ Syllabic /n/ and /l/ occur, with very high frequency, after alveolar consonants at the end of words. The words below would therefore normally be transcribed without a schwa (/ə/). Note that in this kind of transcription (i.e. Broad) , it is not necessary to include a diacritic to indicate that the sonorant (i.e. /n/ or /l/) is syllabic: /tn/ /dn/ /zn/ /tl/ /dl/ /sl/ /zl/ /nl/

/bʌtnˌ/ /sædnˌ/ /dʌznˌ/ /kætlˌ/ /mɪdlˌ/ /kɑ:slˌ/ /mʌzlˌ/ /faɪnlˌ/

button sadden dozen cattle middle castle muzzle final

Comparison of Syllabic Structure of Arabic and English

P a g e | 16 The syllabic structures of Arabic and English, though basically quite similar, differ in some ways. In both languages the syllables are marked out by the relative prominence of the peaks. We can consider the syllabic systems of the two languages as syllable systems of the peak type. That is to say that there are as many syllables as there are peaks of prominence in these languages. In both Arabic and English the syllable systems have syllable onsets and codas more or less of similar types, but differing in their structures. Syllables with peaks only do not exist in Arabic, but they do in English. We may classify basically the syllable structure of both Arabic and English as follows: English Arabic 0-3 0-4 1 0-2 C VC C VC 1. V (zero onset and zero coda) (does not exist) e.g., a (article) 2. VC (with zero onset) No syllable starts with V e.g., out, in, end, awful, ooze 3. CV (with zero coda) CV (with zero coda) e.g., tea, sea la ma ‘no water' 4.CVC (with onset and coda) CVC (with onset and coda) e.g., pin, sun, man bar sir bur In Arabic the non-zero onsets and codas syllable allows only one consonant in the onset and two successive consonants in the coda maximally, in contrast with English in which non-zero onsets include from one to three successive cons onants and non-zero codas from one to four consonants. This area is of major difficulty for the Arab learners. It should be noted that both languages have clusters, i.e., intervocalic consonants and consonant sequences in a micro segment. English is said to have final consonant cluster of one to four consonants. Arabic differs in this respect; it has final cluster of one to two consonants only. Across a word boundary where a word ends in four consonants coda and a following word begins with three consonant onset, a combination of seven consonants, though rare, is possible in English, e.g., The texts stretched over the theme. In Arabic, across word boundaries, a maximum of three consonants sequence is possible. Contrastively, the English consonants sequence will be a little difficult for the Arab learners and particularly those which are not similar to the final combinations of Arabic.

P a g e | 17

P a g e | 18 Chapter 5: Assimilation Assimilation The phonetic assimilation is a very frequent type of phonetic modification undergone by a sound in contact with its neighboring context, which tends to reduce the differences between the two. It consists of acquisition by a sound of one or more characteristics specific to its neighbor. Contrary, when two similar sounds in more or less direct contact move away one from the other, one speaks about dissimilation. Types of assimilations One distinguishes several types of phonetic assimilation, according to the position of the sounds influenced compared to the sound which influences. Regressive assimilation An assimilation is known as regressive by which the influenced sound is before the sound which influences it: In continuous speech, alveolar consonants can assimilate to the place of articulation of a following consonant in certain contexts. This process is certainly not obligatory, but it is nevertheless sufficiently common that the rules should be known. a) alveolar consonants can assimilate to a bilabial place of articulation before labials /maɪppʊt/ /maɪpbaɪ/ /maɪpmeɪk/ /maɪpwɪn/ /ʃʊbpʊt/ /ʃʊbbaɪ/ /ʃʊbmeɪk/ /ʃʊbwɪn/ /siːmpiːtə/ /siːmbɪl/ /siːmmaɪk/ /siːmwɔːltə/

might put might buy might make might win should put should buy should make should win seen Peter seen Bill seen Mike seen Walter

b) alveolar consonants can assimilate to a velar place of articulation before velar consonants /maɪkkʌm/ /maɪkɡəʊ/ /ʃʊɡkʌm/ /ʃʊɡɡəʊ/ /siːŋkærən/ /siːŋɡreɡ/

might come might go should come should go seen Karen seen Greg

c) alveolar fricatives can assimilate to a palato-alveolar place of articulation before /ʃ/ and /j/ /ðɪʃʃɒp/ /ðiːʒʃiːp/ /ðɪʃjɪə/

this shop these sheep this year

P a g e | 19 /telʒjuː/

tells you

When the following word is a function word, the /j/ may also be elided: /ɪŋkeɪʃəniːdət/ /hæʒəletəkʌm/

in case you need it has your letter come?

d) alveolar stops and a following /j/ may merge to form an affricate /ʃʌtʃərɪez/ /dɪdʒuː/

shut your eyes did you?

e) word-internal assimilation The same processes of assimilation can also take place word-internally. Often this will be in compounds or words that are formed from a root+affix eg.: /ɡʊbbɑɪ/ /tæbpəʊl/ /ʌmmʉːvd/ /hɔːʃʃuː/

good-bye Tadpole Unmoved horse-shoe

Progressive assimilation An assimilation is known as progressive by which the influenced sound is after the sound which influences it: Examples???????????? (iv) Consonant deletion /t/ and /d/ are particularly prone to deletion when they occur between two consonants. Some examples are given below:  

Full Form /əmendz/ /hændfʊl/ /daɪrektli/ /ɪnvestmənt/

 

Deleted Stop /əmenz/ /hænfʊl/ /dərekli/ /ɪnvesmənt/

  amends handful directly investment

/t/ and /d/ can also be deleted in many cases when the following consonant belongs to a different word: /nekst deɪ/ /əʊld mæn/

/neks deɪ/ /əʊl mæn/

next day old man

P a g e | 20

Chapter 6 Stress Definition of stress Stress is an elusive feature. It is hard to find a single mechanism to which the production of stress can be attributed. From the speaker's point of view, stress means greater effort in the stressed syllable, strongly stressed syllable is one " that the speaker consciously utters with greater effort than other neighboring syllables in the word or sentence". Jones, D. (1976:134-32). Bloomfield, (1933:111) indicates that from the listener's point of view stressed syllables are louder than unstressed syllables. Word stress is one of the most important features of spoken English. If a syllable is uttered with higher pitch and greater effort than the other adjacent syllables, the syllable is said to be accented. "The syllable or syllables of a word which stand out from the remainder are said to be accented, to receive the accent". Gimson, 1984: 223). In other words, the accented syllable of a word is the syllable which is relatively more prominent than its neighbors. However, Jones, D (1989) distinguished between stress and prominence. According to Jones, the prominence of a syllable is its general degree of distinctness, this being the combined effort of the timbre, length, stress, and (if voiced) intonation of the syllabic sound. The term "stress" refers only to the degree of force of utterance; it is independent of length and intonation, although it may be combined with these. Prominence is a perceptual quality that may be decreased or increased by means of any of the sound attributes (length, stress, pitch, timbre); stress is an articulatory gesture. (Lehiste, 1970). In English, the accent of words is fixed, in the sense that the main accent always falls on a particular syllable of any given word. It is also free, in the sense that the main accent is not tied to any particular position in the chain of syllables constituting a word. Gimson listed four factors which may play a part in rendering a sound or syllable prominent. They are: 1. stress 2. Pitch change, 3. sound quality and 4. sound quantity. (Gimson, 1984:223). Among the factors, pitch variation is rendered to be the most commonly used and efficient cue in communicating prominence for the listener. Length variation is also a strong contributory factor both as regards the association of vowel quantity with accentuation and also as a feature of prominence in its own right (Gimson, 1984:223). Stress is the weakest as regard to communicating prominence. In antique, for example, the second syllable is accented and the first is weak. In understand, the third syllable is accented and the second one is unstressed. Accent in English carries particular distinctive phonetic features. Accent is a characteristic feature of the phonological structure of English word and thus is indicated by a sign [ ' ] in pronouncing dictionaries. Catford (1977:84) considers initiator power as the organic-aerodynamic phonetic correlate of stress. Experimental observations have proved that the stressed syllable is pronounced with higher initiatory power than the unstressed syllable. The more strongly stressed a syllable is, the greater the initiator power.

P a g e | 21 Chomsky and Halle (1968), as quoted by Ladefoged, claim that it is easy to detect at least five degrees of stress in English. Larry M. Hyman, (1972) states that stress within a word is part of the underlying phonological form. He does not favour any rules of stress assignment and argues that in languages with predictable stress, prominence is attributed to grammatical and phonological factors (Hyman, L. M. 1972:202). Degrees of Stress 10.2.1. Primary Stress In English, the syllables of words differ in prominence. In polysyllabic words (words of more than one syllable), one of the syllables always has a greater degree of prominence than any other syllable. The syllable of greatest prominence is known as the primary stressed syllable, or the syllable that carries primary stress. The primary stressed syllable can be marked by placing a ˈ mark in the following way: Primary stress aˈpart deˈfine ˈpattern ˈmetal ˈpamela ˈimpudent ˈmiserable phoˈnetics

part fine pat met pam im mis net

In monosyllabic words (words of one syllable), the outcome is unambiguous: the syllable, i.e. word, has primary stress (eg.     heat,     look,     greet) and does not need to be marked. 10.2.2. Secondary stress Many words have two stresses, one primary and one secondary. The secondary stress can be marked by placing a diacritic before the syllable which has secondary stress:   ˌacaˈdemic aˌpoloˈɡetic ˌecoˈnomic ˌexplaˈnation deˌlibeˈration enˌvironˈmental ˌɡeneˈrosity pheˌnomeˈnoloɡy ˌrhodoˈdendron

Secondary ac pol ec ex lib vir gen nom rho

Primary Dem Get Nom Nat Rat Ment Ros Nol Den

Further comments (i) words that have secondary stress are very often morphologically related to simpler forms e.g.     aˌpoloˈɡetic /     aˈpoloɡy;     ˌɡeneˈrosity /     ˈɡenerous.

P a g e | 22 (ii) secondary stress (mostly) precedes the primary stress (iii) at least one syllable (usually) intervenes between the secondary and primary stress Exceptions to (ii) and (iii): Compounds A compound is a word which is composed of two separate words. Examples would be roadblock, sunglasses and loudspeaker. These have two stresses, one of them primary, the other secondary. The secondary stress can precede or follow the primary stress, and there need not be an intervening syllable: ˈsurˌcharɡe ˈblackˌboard ˈsuperˌmarket ˈsunˌɡlasses ˈloudˌspeaker ˈupˌstairs ˌoutˈstare

or

ˌupˈstairs

Exceptions to (ii) and (iii): Unreduced syllables There are some words in which the secondary stress can follow the primary stress. In such cases, it is conventional to refer to the secondary stressed syllable as an unreduced syllable. The same  diacritic can be used to indicate an unreduced syllable.  

Primary al re sys an syll rhu diph po

ˈalterˌnate ˈreaˌlise ˈsystemaˌtise ˈanecˌdote ˈsyllaˌbub ˈrhuˌbarb ˈdiphˌthonɡ ˈpoˌtash

Unreduced nate lise tise dote bub barb thong tash

In some cases, the occurrence of an unreduced syllable is predictable (eg. words ending in -ate or -ise), in others it is not. Note that there is also not necessarily a requirement that an unstressed syllable intervenes between the primary stressed and unreduced syllable. 10.2.3. Weak Unstressed syllables In almost all cases, syllables other than primary stressed, secondary stressed or unreduced syllables are unstressed. In General English, the large majority of the vowels of unstressed syllables can be transcribed as /ə/: /əbˈdʌkt/ /ədˈmɪt/ /kəmˈbaɪn/ /ˌkɒnfəˈmeɪʃn/ /kənˈdɪʃn/ /əˈlæbəˌrət/ /pəˈtrəʊl/

abduct admit combine confirmation condition elaborate patrol

P a g e | 23 There are also some cases when unstressed vowels have a quality other than /ə/. It is not possible to list them all, but some of these include: Some words that end in unstressed -ish, -ic, -ism and -ing /ˈrædɪʃ/ radish /ˈmjuːzɪk/ music /ˈkɒmjənɪzm/ communism /ˈrʌnɪŋ/ running Unstressed /ɪə/ and /ʊə/; some of which are given below: /ˈænjʊəl/ /ˈæktʃʊəl/ /kənˈtɪnjʊəs/ /ˈɡɑːdɪən/ /ˈdʒuːnɪə/ /ˈvɜ:rɪəs/

annual actual continuous guardian junior (nb. can also be pronounced  /ˈdʒuːnjə/ ) various

Word-final unstressed /ɪ/ and /əʊ/ /ɪ/ in words like      very,      /əʊ/ in words like      potato,     

city,     

every

barrow

Unstressed vowels preceding stressed vowels /ɪnflʉːenʃl/ (not     /ɪnfləenʃl/ ) /əpriːʃiːæɪʃn/ (not     /əpriːʃəæɪʃn/ )

influential appreciation

Some further comments on schwa /ə/ Schwa is also known as the "indeterminate vowel" because its exact pronunciation varies with context. Sometimes schwa has a quality reminiscent of /ɐ/, sometimes /æ/ and sometimes of other vowels. In other words it is not always a central vowel with a quality similar to that of /ɜː/. Its main distinguishing feature is that it is a very short, unstressed vowel with a tendency to be more centred than the majority of the vowels. Very often you will hear speakers pronounce a vowel such as the final vowel in "mother" in a way that makes it sound like a /ɐ/ rather than what you might expect a /ə/ to sound like. Such a sound is still considered to be a schwa, however. In a word final position the only vowels that can occur are the long monophthongs, the diphthongs and schwa. There is a rule in English which only permits long vowels (ie. long monophthongs and diphthongs) in open syllables (syllables that end in a vowel rather than a consonant). The only exception to this rule is schwa, which occurs because it is a reduction of a long vowel. So, if you hear /ɐ/ at the end of a word such as "mother" treat it as /ə/. Rules of stress English Stress 1) If a word ending in ‐ate, ‐ment has more than two syllables, the main stress will fall on the third syllable from the end. In verbs, the final syllable is pronounced weak demonstrate implement ferment certificate fortunate delicate intimate ornament compartment (exc) duplicate estimate delegate separate supplement complement experiment

P a g e | 24 2) Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves '-ee': 'refugee' 'Japanese' '-eer': 'mountaineer' '-ese': 'Portuguese' -ette': 'cigarette' 'esque': 'picturesque' 3) Suffixes that do not affect stress placement '-able': 'comfort' '-age': 'anchor' '-al': 'refuse' '-en': 'wide' '-ful': 'wonder' '-ing': 'amaze' '-like': 'bird' '-less': 'power' '-ly': 'hurried' '-ment' (noun): 'punish' '-ness': 'yellow' '-ous': 'poison' '-fy: 'glory' '-wise': 'other' '-y' (adjective or noun): 'fun' ' 4) Suffixes that influence stress in the stem In these examples primary stress is on the last syllable of the stem. '-eous': 'advantage' '-graphy': 'photo' '-ial': 'proverb' '-ic': 'climate' '-ion': 'perfect' '-ious': 'injure' '- ty': 'tranquil' '-ive': 'reflex' Otherwise the syllable before the last one receives the stress: 'inheritance' 2) Compound words 'typewriter' 'car ferry' 'sunrise' 'suitcase' 'teacup' bad-'tempered half-'timbered heavy-'handed Compounds in which the first element is a number in some form also tend to have final stress: three-'wheeler second-'class five-'finger Compounds functioning as adverbs are usually final-stressed:

P a g e | 25 head'first North-'East down'stream Finally, compounds which function as verbs and have an adverbial first element take final stress: down'grade back-'pedal ill-'treat 6) Variable stress ,bad-'tempered but a ,bad-tempered 'teacher .half-'timbered but a ,half-timbered 'house .heavy-'handed but a .heavy-handed 'sentence 7) Word-class pairs A number of words have two different stress patterns according to whether they are verbs or nouns, e.g.: absent, accent, convict, digest, separate, suspect, transport, conduct, contract, contrast, desert, escort, export, import, insult, object, perfect, permit, present, produce, protest, rebel, record, subject

Sentence stress Rhythm In English as well as in Arabic the stressed syllables tend to occur at regular intervals of time. This phenomenon has a considerable effect on the duration of sounds and syllable in connected speech. It also affects the perception of the stressed syllables in speech. This phenomenon is known as rhythm and is caused by isochronous stress pulses. Thus English and Arabic have stress-timed rhythm. In English, accent is a significant feature due to the following factors: (1) It is an essential part of the phonological structure of the word; words become unrecognizable if the accent is wrongly placed. (2) The rhythm of an utterance depends to a greater degree upon the succession of stressed syllables, as English is a language with stress-timed rhythm. (3) The choice of the vowel depends on where the stress is placed in respect of structural words. If a syllable is stressed, it is generally the strong vowel that is used and in unstressed syllables, it is mostly a weak vowel that is used. (4) Stress is said to be contrastive in English - i.e., it makes for a difference in grammatical meaning and function in some words. There are a number of disyllabic words in English in which the accentual pattern depends upon whether the word is used as a ‘noun’ or adjective or as a verb. The accent is on the first syllable if the word is a noun or adjective and on the second if it is a verb. Some examples are: Noun/adjective 'conduct 'digest 'present

Verb Noun/ Adj con'duct 'record di'gest 'subject pre'sent

Verb re'cord sub'ject

P a g e | 26 Exercises Primary and secondary stress Mark primary stress using and any secondary stressed or unreduced syllables using . You do not need to give a phonemic transcription. Mark stress as it occurs in the recording. Example: economic Answer: ˈecoˌnomic (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii)

accommodation certainty orthodox fanatical greenhouse methodical unbelievable Adelaide

In the following sequences, a schwa is usually obligatory: /mən/ /nən/ /tʃəl/ /dʒəl/ /tʃən/ /dʒən/

salmon linen satchel angel question dungeon

In the following cases both possibilities occur with reasonable frequency. /ʃl/ vs /ʃəl/ /ʃn/ vs /ʃən/ /ʒn/ vs /ʒən/

bushel cushion Persian

(ii) Syllabic /m/ All sequences have a /ə/ preceding /m/ except the following which may either have a /ə/ or else may be syllabic:     /bəm/ or     /bm/ album     /ðəm/ or     /ðm/ fathom The word in connected speech When words occur in connected speech, there can be many modifications to their phonemic form compared with their production in isolation. It is not possible to cover all the different kinds of modifications that can arise. Some of the more important changes are listed below. (i) Function words The label functieon word is often used to describe a class of words which serves a purely grammatical role. Since their presence is usually predictable from context, their vowels can reduce to [ə] and some of their consonants may also be deleted. Some function words are given below. The

P a g e | 27 left column shows the forms that might occur when the words are produced in isolation (the citation form), the right columns include forms which are more typical of continuous speech. Citation am  an  and  are  as  at  been  but  can  could  do  does  for   from   had  has  have   he                                     who     

Continuous speech forms Rapid speech forms /æm/ /əm/ /m/ /æn/   /ən/ /n/ /ænd/   /ənd/, /ən/, /n/ /ɑ:/   /ə/ /æz/   /əz/ /z/ /æt/   /ət/ /biːn/   /bin/, /bɪn/ /bʌt/   /bət/ /kæn/   /kən/ /kʊd/   /kəd/ /duː/   /duː/, /də/, /d/ /dʌz/   /dəz/, /z/ /fɔː/   /fə/ /frɒm/   /frəm/ /hæd/   /həd/, /əd/, /əd/, /d/ /hæz/   /həz/, /əz/, /z/ /hæv/   /həv/, /əv/, /v/ /hiː/   /hiː/*, /iː/ her   /hɜː/   /ɜː/,/ə/ him   /hɪm/   /ɪm/ his   /hɪz/   /ɪz/ Is   /ɪz/   must   /mʌst/   /məst/ of   /ɒv/   shall   /ʃæl/   /əl/ should   /ʃʊd/   some   /sʌm/   than   /ðæn/   that   /ðæt/   them   /ðem/   there   /ðɜ:/   to   /tuː/   us   /ʌs/   was   /wɒz/   were   /wɜː/   /huː/   /uː/   /wɪl/   /wɪl/*, /wəl/ would   /wʊd/   /əd/, /d/ you   /juː/  

             

  /ɪ/ /hɜː/*, /hə/, (/ɜː/)

 

/hɪm/*, (/ɪm/)

 

/hɪz/*, (/ɪz/)

 

/ɪz/*   /z/ /mɐst/*, /məst/

 

/əv/   /ʃəl/, /ʃl/

/ə/, /v/  

/ʃəd/   /sɐm/*, /səm/   /ðən/   /ðæt/*, /ðət/   /ðəm/   /ðm/, /m/ /ðə/ /tə/   /əs/   /wəz/   /wə/     will     /l/ /wʊd/*, /wəd/, /əd/   /juː/*, /jə/  

Note in the above table that there are occasions where it is common to produce the citation form in connected speech. Such common cases are repeated in the connected speech column and marked

P a g e | 28 with a *. In some cases that form is only normally reduced in rapid speech, whilst in some cases there are both a reduced and an unreduced connected speech forms, which may be selected according to the whim of the speaker or for semantic reasons. Further, occasionally even the most commonly reduced words, such as "the" may be pronounced as the citation form in connected speech when there is a strong semantic need to stress that word: eg. "This isn't just A book, this is THE book." (referring to a book of particular cultural importance to the speaker) You might also note that for some of the pronouns such as her, his, her, him there are some forms surrounded by round brackets. These forms are the "dropped h" forms which some speakers use in normal connected speech. Other speakers choose forms with the "h" intact in normal connected speech, but may "drop the h" in rapid speech. (ii) Post-vocalic /r/ (for words spelt with a final "r" or "re") In English /r/ is only pronounced after vowels in certain circumstances. /r/ is pronounced at the end of words preceding words that begin with vowels or diphthongs. The following transcriptions would therefore be appropriate: At the end of sentences, when produced in isolation, or preceding a pause, no /r/ is pronounced: /ðə kɑ:/

the car

Before words that begin with consonants, no /r/ is pronounced: /ðə kɑː siːt/

the car seat

Before words that begin with vowels, /r/ is pronounced: /ðə kɑːr ɪz ɪn ðə draɪv/

the car is in the drive

P a g e | 29

Chapter 7. Intonation Intonation No language is spoken on a monotone. Every language has a melody of its own. It has a limited number of pitch patterns, which are common to the community of speakers. They are to a considerable degree, language-specific and are used to produce definite meaningful effects - the meaning of an utterance derives not only from its changing sound pattern and stress pattern but also from associated variations in pitch. It is possible to describe these fluctuations and to give rules for their use. Definition of intonation Pitch variations can be described as " speech tones or melodies", the musical features of the language. Abercrombie makes a distinction between pitch fluctuations in words and in sentences -- " Tone is a speech melody when it is a property of the word, while intonation is a speech melody when it is a property of the sentence. (Abercrombie, 1967, 104). Languages are divisible into tone and intonation languages. In intonation languages, a change in pitch pattern brings about syntactical differences in meaning, and not a lexical one. For instance: You are ‵sick --- is a statement You are ʹsick --- is a question These two sentences have different meanings but they are not different words. Arabic, Russian and French are some of the intonation languages. Chinese, Thai among other Asian languages are examples of the tone languages. In such languages, the word “ma”, for example, has different meanings depending on the tone used by the speaker. Thus, By pitch variations, we mean the changes in fundamental frequency of the vocal cords vibration --i.e. the change in its rate of vibration per second. Vibration of the vocal cords has thus a double role -- it provides the voiced-voiceless distinction at the segmental level, and it provides pitch fluctuation at the suprasegmental level. Such pitch variation usually occurs on a stressed syllable giving it prominence of both stress and intonation. "Pitch fluctuation in its linguistic function may be conveniently be called speech melody “ Abercrombie, (1967: 104). The term intonation refers to the linguistically significant functioning of fundamental frequency at the sentence level. Lehiste, (1970, 83). Generally, scholars have restricted the formal definition of intonation to pitch movement alone, but when coming to the study of its semantic effect, other criteria also come into consideration. Therefore Crystal (1969: 196) prefers to say that though pitch contrast is central to intonation, a periphery of reinforcing those contrasts also occurs. Lieberman (1967:38-47) observes that the universal aspects of breath-group are manifested in the cries of new-born infants. A normal breath-group produces the acoustic patterns characteristic of a declarative sentence and a marked breath-group, those of the yes/no questions. Thus children employ, in the very first moments of their life, meaningful intonation signals. When they are three months old, they start responding positively to friendly tones and negatively to angry tones. They also mimic the intonation patterns of their parents. For all these reasons, Lieberman concludes that intonation is an innate rather than an acquired mechanism. To modify Lieberman's statement, it is better to consider intonation as both innate and acquired at the same time. The universality of intonation is also ascertained by Bolinger (1964: 833-848). He found universality in the tension-relaxation dichotomy, which depends on the psychological frame of human beings. Thus emotional tension increases the tension of the vocal cords, which consequently rises

P a g e | 30 pitch. Physiologically, increase in sub-glottal pressure which results from the effect involved in speaking, rises pitch in its turn. According to O'conor and Arnold (1967), intonation is based on three major premises: a. Intonation is significant: A change in the intonation pattern of a sentence changes the meaning of the sentence. b. Intonation is systematic: In any language there is a fixed number of pitch patterns. They are used to produce defined meaningful effects. These frequently recurring patterns of intonation are governed by a system of rules. c. Intonation is characteristic: Usually the pitch patterns of one language, say English, differ from those of other languages, i.e., they do not produce the same meaning or effort. So if the pitch patterns of some other languages are used in English, they sound wrong and this makes understanding difficult. Functions of Intonation Gimson names three functions of intonation: accentual, non- accentual and attituditional Accentual: When the speaker wishes to draw the listener's attention to a particular word, he does so by means of intonation. Hence pitch change is "significant as cue for signaling the word or words carrying primary (nuclear) accent". Accentuation in sentences is brought about in the following ways: a. Primary (nuclear) accent: (marked with ( ˡ ) placed before the syllable onset) A primary stress is uttered with a strong buff of air. The onset of the syllable is preceded by this mark ( ˡ ) to indicate the primary stress. b. Secondary (pitch prominent accent: (marked with ( ˌ ) placed before the syllable onset) A secondary stress is uttered with a relatively lesser buff of air than the primary stress. The onset of the secondary stress syllable is preceded by this mark ( ˌ ) to indicate the secondary stress. c. Tertiary accent without pitch prominence: (marked with ( ˅ ) placed before the syllable onset) The third degree of stress is sometimes marked with ( ˅ ) to indicate the tertiary stress in words with four syllables and more. d. Unaccented Syllables: (unmarked) They do not have any of the pitch prominences above (left unmarked). A change of pitch direction with the nucleus (falling, rising, or the combination of the two) on the syllable on which the speaker wishes to draw attention manifests the primary accent. For example in the sentence, He is ˡmad, the speaker wishes to draw the attention of the listener to the word 'mad', and so he initiates the pitch movement on this word. Where there is no particular focus in a sentence, the tonic accent is located on the last accented syllable in a sentence.

P a g e | 31

Non- accentual: Intonation does not alter the meaning of individual words but affects the tonality of the meaning of a sentence. It divides long utterances into grammatically relevant word groups. It has a semantic function and is used to make a distinction between sentence types, for instance, the same sentence is said with a falling tone can be a statement and when said with a rising tone, is interpreted as a question. Given below are examples: He's come ‵(statement) He's comeʹ (question) Attitudinal: Intonation also expresses the speaker's attitude to the situation in which he is, and also his physiological state such as anger, excitement, sex, happiness and so on. Intonation indicates if the speaker is saying the sentence with politeness or authority. Given below are the examples: Sit downʹ Sit down ‵ (politeness) (authority) O’Connor and Arnold say " we may regard the words as a rough guide to the meaning and the intonation as giving greater precision and point..." (O’Connor & Arnold, 1970: 3). Aspects of Intonation According to Halliday, Intonation is a network of three choices, viz., tonality, tonicity and tone. (Halliday, 1967, p.18). In the study of intonation, the concepts of tone group, tonic and tone are of great importance. Based on the English intonation analyses, let us see what is meant by each of these terms. Tonality: Tone group: The unit of intonation in English is the tone group. It contains a number of feet, has a tendency to correspond to a "sense group" -- where by "sense group", we mean those closely knit groups of words which form a single unit of thought -- and contains a significant pitch movement. The division of a sentence into tone groups is "tonality". We communicate in "chunks of speech" and not word by word, i.e., pausing after each word. "We express our thoughts in closely knit groups of words". These groups are called tone groups or sense groups and they can be marked by a vertical bar in writing. Good morning | How are you? Sometimes the number of tone groups in a sentence also changes the meaning. She dressed and fed the baby| She dressed | and fed the baby Taken as one-word group in the above sentence, it is the baby that dressed and fed. When treated as two groups, it would mean that she fed the baby after dressing herself. Tonicity: Tonic: Every tone group contains one and only one nucleus or tonic. It is the most prominent syllable in a tone group, which carries the main burden of the pitch movement in it. The location of the tonic syllable is "tonicity". Tonic syllable is the syllable on which the speaker initiates the pitch movement. For example: What a 'pity.

P a g e | 32 Here the first syllable in "pity" is the tonic syllable. A shift in the tonic accent changes the meaning. For example: ‵He works for me. He ‵works for me. He works ‵for me. He works for ‵me. Sentence (1) means that he and not anyone else works for me. The second sentence means that he works and does not do anything else. Sentence (3) is that he works for me and not against me. Sentence (4) means that he works for me and not for someone else. The situation of the nucleus is therefore important in conveying the meaning. Tone types: The word "tone" denotes the pitch movement which takes place on the tonic. Some tones may be fairly simple with a unidirectional pitch movement -- a falling movement (usually indicated with the mark ‵ ) or a rising tone (usually marked as ( ʹ ). or even a level tone (usually marked as - ). Simple tones are the most common ones in English. There can also be being complex pitch movements involving one change of direction. Fall-rise ( ˅ ), and rise-fall ( ˄ ), are such complex tones. The first fully stressed syllable of a tone group is its "head". It is an optional element and has got a pitch movement on it. Body "consists of any syllables, whether stressed or unstressed, lying between the Head and the Nucleus." Palmer and Blandford, 1924 - 1976 ed,20). Syllables which follow the nucleus form the "tail". In English the pitch contour of the tail is only a continuation of what has taken place on the nucleus. The choice of tone (falling, rising or a combination of both) to be used on the tonic syllable is "tone". ‵ yes -- falling ʹ yes -- rising ˅ yes -- falling rising ˄ yes -- rising falling Gimson gives the following types of nucleus: a. The falling nucleus ( ). The fall may start from the highest point of the speaker's voice and fall to the lowest pitch (in the case of high-fall), or from a mid-pitch to the lowest variations of staring point according to intonation context. b. The rising nucleus (

)

A rising glide extends from low to mid, or from glide to high or with other variations of starting and end points between low and high. Can she / cook? /Coming c. The falling rising nucleus (∨ ) The fall and rise may be confined within on syllable, the glide beginning at about mid level and ending at the same level (or slightly above or below). The fall rise may be spread over two words also. It's ∨ true

\You can /see

P a g e | 33 The rising falling nucleus ( ∧ ). A fall may be reinforced by an introductory rise. It was ^ raining Pre-nuclear and Post-nuclear: The syllables preceding the nucleus are called pre-nuclear syllables, and those following the nucleus are called post-neuclear syllables. The first pre-nuclear-accented syllable is the head. The syllables between the head and the nucleus constitute the body. The syllable before the stressed syllable of the first accented syllable, i.e., the head, constitute the pre-head. The syllables which follow the nucleus constitute the tail. Choice of tones: a. Falling tone: Whether high or low, a falling tone is generally assertive, reparative, matter of fact. The higher the fall the more the degree of finality. WH questions are spoken with this tone. Commands and exclamations too are spoken with falling tone. b. Low fall: This sounds detached, calm, unexcited, impatient, neutral, polite, resigned, and unconcerned. Given below are a few examples: 1. \No. \Yesterday. (detached) 2. \Tragic (unmoved and distant) 3. Are you \going? (peremptory, impatient) 4. Put it over \there. (polite, neutral ) 2. What are you going to \do? (resigned, bored) 6. How anno\ying (unconcerned, sarcastic) 7. Good \morning. (routine, perfunctory greeting) c. High-fall This is strongly contrastive or contradictory often showing indignation or excitement. This is used mostly in colloquial speech. Here are few examples: 1. \why? \How can she? (surprise, incredulity, indignation) 2. \Drop it. \Cancel it. (energetic command) 3. (He \does) \doesn't he? (demands agreement) 4. Good \morning (a bright cheerful greeting) d. Rising Tone: This is used for yes-no questions, Wh questions said in a friendly manner, echo question of the speaker repeated by the listener, incomplete utterances leading to another tone group, requests, statement expressing sympathy, for counting etc. e. Low-rise Essentially unfinished and continuative, with overtones of politeness, encouragement, pleading difference, suspicion etc. Here are few examples:

P a g e | 34 1. 2. 3. 4. 2. 6.

/No. /Possibly. Is /he? /Wait. /Hold it. What's the /time? Sit /down. I am /so sorry

(encouraging) (doubtful, indifferent) (gentle command or request) (polite inquiry) (encouraging invitation) (sympathetic)

f. High rise This is associated essentially with questions. (i) an elliptical question (showing eagerness, brightness, enthusiasm or asking for repetition). 1. /Coffee? 2. /John? 3. /when? (ii) A question showing great eagerness, excitement, concern, indignation. For example: 1. It /is? You /did? (surprise, incredulity) 2. Can we af/ford it? (concern, apprehension) 3. You actually /saw him? (indignation, horror) g. Falling Rising tone: This combines the effect of the fall with any of the meaningful attitudes associated with the rise. It may occur with one word. Given below are a few examples: 1. ∨No (doubtful or encouraging) 2. I'm ∨waiting (so do hurry up) 3. ∨When? ∨How? (forceful prompting) The fall rise may occur on different words too: 4. \He /could (but I doubt whether you could) 2. \When can you /come? (a politeness questioning rise preceded by a fall on when to insist on the precise time) 6.\Mind how you /go (strong but sympathetic warning) h. Rising - falling tone: This shows special interest, sometimes with a bit of suspicion, irony or honour. There are a few examples: If a ridiculous article is read from newspaper, the answer will be with a rising falling tone. Allan: Hey, Sarah! The king of Orunia wants to invade the isle of Wight. Sarah: ∧Does he? When impressed by something, this tone is used. ∧marvelous ∧fantastic

P a g e | 35 Chapter 8

Distinctive Features *Each sound has distinctive phonetic features from the other sounds. Why is it important to know about distinctive phonetic features of a sound? 1. Features exit on their own as a result of various articulatory movements and shapes of various organs of speech. *Features represented by placing them between square brackets [ ], and we can put positive value [ + ….. ] if the feature applies to the phoneme or a negative value [ - ……. ] if the features is not applicable. *Matrix: It is a group of phonetic features that make the sound distinctive from the other. For example, the matrix of /e/ is described with these features: [+syllabic] [-consonant] [+sonorant] 2. It can help us to classify a group of phonemes that share two or more features into natural classes. 3. We can understand the nature of allophonic variation more exactly. For example, the devoicing of glides and liquids and the nasalization of vowels. 4. It can help us to describe precisely the changes that happen in the phonological processes like assimilation. *How can I use or deal with phonological process? According to distinctive features.

P a g e | 36

P a g e | 37

Classification of Distinctive Features *Distinctive features are classified into four major classes: 1. Major class features. 2. Laryngeal features. 3. Place features. 4. Manner features. First : Major Class Features These features distinguish between five natural classes of phonemes: (Vowels, liquids, nasals, and obstruent – plosives - fricatives -affricates). Consonantal [+consonantal] Phonemes are produced with a major obstruction in the vocal tract including Obstruent , Liquids and nasals. [-consonantal] Phonemes are produced without a major obstruction in the vocal tract. In other words, they are produced with relatively free air flow including all vowels and Glides. Syllabic [+syllabic] phonemes are those speech sounds can occur in the Nucleus (peak) of the syllable including all vowels, syllabic liquid and syllabic nasals. [-syllabic] phonemes are those speech sounds occur at the left or right margins of the Nucleus of the syllables including obstruents, liquids, glides and nasals. Sonorant [+sonorant] phonemes are produced with high energy and they have a singable quality (they can be sung at various tones) including all vowels, Liquids, glides, and nasals. [-sonorant] phonemes are not produced with a singable quality or with various tones including all obstruents.

[consonantal] [syllabic] [sonorant] examples

Vowels + + æ, ə ,ɔː ,ɪ, ……etc.

Glides + j, w

Liquids + +\+ l,r

Nasals + +\+ n, m, ŋ

Obstruents + K, g , f, z, …….etc.

Second: Laryngeal Features These are the features that represent the laryngeal states (states of glottis). Voice [+voice] sounds produced with the vibration of the vocal cords. [-voice] sounds that do not involve vibration of the vocal cords. Constricted Glottis [CG] [+CG] sounds made with the glottis closed including only one sound in English which is the glottal stop /ʔ/. [-CG] other sounds, which do not involve closing the glottis. Spread Glottis [SG] *this feature distinguishes aspirated from unaspirated consonants. [+SG] aspirated sounds are only four sounds /h/ and the aspirated allophones of voiceless stops /p,k,t/.

P a g e | 38 [-SG] unaspirated consonants sounds. Third: Place Features Labial [+labial] any speech sound produced using one or both lips such as /p,b,m,f,v,w/ and the sounds that are [+round]. [-labial] sounds whose production does not involve the lips including the other consonants. Round [+round] sounds that are produced by protruding and rounding the lips such as /w/ and these vowels /ɒ, ɔː, ʊ, uː/. [-round] the other sounds that we do not produce it with rounding the lips. *All [+round] sounds are also [+labial], but sounds which are [+labial] are not necessarily [+round] such as /p,b,f,v,m/ which are [+labial] but [-round]. Coronal [+coronal] sounds produced by the tongue tip or blade including interdental /ð , θ/ , alveolar /t,d,s,z,n,l,r/ and alveopalatal /ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/. [-coronal] sounds whose production does not involve the tip of the blade of the tongue including the other consonants. Anterior [+anterior] sounds that are produced in front of the palate-alveolar region including bilabial /p,b, m/, labiodental /f,v/ interdental /ð , θ/ ,and alveolar /t,d,s,z,n,l,r/. [-anterior] the other consonants. Strident [+strident] sounds which are articulated with a noisy hissing sounds including alveolar fricatives /s,z/ alveopalatal fricatives /ʃ, ʒ/ and the alveopalatal affricates /tʃ, dʒ/. [-strident] all other consonants. Dorsal Features (the body of the tongue). These are the features that represent vertical and horizontal position of the body of the tongue. These are including five features which are used mostly for vowels. High [+high] speech sounds produced with the body of the tongue raised closer to the roof of the mouth including the vowels /iː, ɪ, ʊ, uː/ and the following consonants /k,g,w,j, ŋ/. [-high] the other vowels and consonants. Low [+low] Vowels that are produced with body of the tongue lowered from a central position in the mouth including \æ, ʌ, ɑː, ɒ\. [-low] other vowels. Back [+back] any sound produced behind the hard palate in the mouth including the vowels \ɑː, ɒ, ɔː, ʊ, ɒ\ and the following consonants \k,g, ŋ,w\. [-back] other vowels and consonants. Tense [+tense] vowels whose articulation involves tensing the muscles of the mouth such as long vowels \iː, ɔː, uː, ɜː, ɑː\. [-tense] other vowels which are short and lax. Reduced [+reduced] the shwa sound \ə\ is the only [+reduced] vowel in English. *The term reduced here is synonymous with weak and it is normally unstressed.

P a g e | 39 [-reduced] all other vowels. Fourth: Manner Features These features represent manner of articulatin. Nasal [+nasal] sounds that are produced with the uvula lowered thus allowing the airflow to escape through the nasal passage including /m,n, ŋ/. [-nasal] all other consonants and vowels. Continuant [+continuant] sounds produced with free or relatively free airflow in the mouth including all vowels, fricatives, liquids and glides. [-continuant] all other sounds. *Notice that nasals, although their airflow passes freely in the nose, their airflow is blocked in the mouth and consequently they are still [-continuant] because [+continuant] refers to the free airflow in the mouth and not in the nose. Lateral [+lateral] the consonant /l/ is the only [+lateral] sound in English. It involves the escaping of the airflow from both sides of the tongue. [-lateral] including all other sounds. This feature is considered as synonymous of the feature [+central] which involves the passing of airflow from the center of the mouth. Delayed Release [DL] [+DL] /tʃ, dʒ/ are the only two sounds including in this feature, their articulation involves the delay of the release stage. [-DL] all other consonants. This feature is considered as synonymous of the feature [abrupt release]. The Feature Matrix for English Vowels

Major Class Features Laryngeal Features Place Features Dorsal Features

Manner place

Features

i: ɪ

e

æ ʌ

ə

[consonantal [sonorant] [syllabic] [voice] [round] [high] [low] [back] [tense] [reduced] [continuant]

+ + + + + +

+ + + +

+ + + + +

+ + + + +

+ + + + +

+ + + + +

ɜ: ɑ : - + + + + + + - - - + - + + + - + +

ɒ ɔ: ʊ u: + + + + + + +

+ + + + + + +

+ + + + + + +

+ + + + + + + +

P a g e | 40 The Feature Matrix for English Consonants p pʰ b t Major Class [consonantal] + + + + Features [sonorant] - - [syllabic] - - Laryngeal Features Place Features

Dorsal Features Manner Features

Exercises:

[voice] [CG] [SG] [labial] [round] [coronal] [anterior] [strident] [high] [back] [nasal] [continuant] [lateral] [delayed Release]

+ + -

+ + + -

+ + + -

+ + -

tʰ + -

d + -

k + -

kʰ + -

g + -

f + -

v + -

s + -

z + -

θ + -

ð + -

ʃ + -

ʒ + -

tʃ + -

dʒ + -

m + + +\-

n + + +\-

+ + + -

+ + + -

+ + -

+ + + -

+ + + -

+ + + -

+ + + + -

+ + + + -

+ + + + + -

+ + + -

+ + + + -

+ + + -

+ + + + -

+ + +

+ + + +

+ + + + -

+ + + + -

ŋ + + +\ + + + + -

l + + +\-

r + + +\-

j + -

w + -

h -

ʔ -

+ + + + + -

+ + + + -

+ + + -

+ + + + + -

+ + -

+ -

P a g e | 41 1. Name the one (or two) feature(s) that distinguish(es) the following pairs of sounds.    __________ __________ 

[θ] : [ð] 

__________  __________  [s] : [ʃ] 

__________ __________ 

[ i: ] : [ e ]

__________  __________  [b] : [m]

2. Consider this group of sounds:    For each of the features or feature bundles given below, give the phoneme or phonemes that match. 1. ____________[+Coronal, -Strident] 4.____________ [+Anterior, -Voiced] 2.  ___________ [-Coronal, -Anterior] 2. ____________[+High] 3. ____________[+Strident,  +Voiced] 3. Differentiate the four major classes of consonants in terms of [continuant and sonorant]: STOPS, NASALS, FRICATIVES, APPROXIMANTS [–CONTINUANT] [–SONORANT]

[–CONTINUANT] [+SONORANT]

[+CONTINUANT] [–SONORANT]

[+CONTINUANT] [+SONORANT]

4. Complete the Feature Matrix for English vowels by adding the values [+} or [-} in the following table:

P a g e | 42 i : [HIGH] [LOW] [BACK] [ROUND] [TENSE] [REDUCED ]

ɪ e ɜ :

æ ə ʌ u :

ʊ ɒ ɔ :

ɑ :

P a g e | 43

2. Complete the Feature Matrix for English Consonants by adding the values [+} or [-} in the following table:

P a g e | 44 p

Major Class Features

[cons] [sono] [syl]

Laryngeal Features

[voice] [CG] [SG]

Place Features

[labial] [round] [coronal] [anterior] [strident]

Dorsal Features

[high] [back]

Manner

[nasal]

pʰ

b

t

tʰ

d

k

kʰ

g

f

v

s

z

θ

ð

ʃ

ʒ

tʃ

d ʒ

m

n

ŋ

l

r

j

w

h

ʔ

P a g e | 45 Features

[continuant ] [lateral] [delayed Release]

P a g e | 46

Now try to do the following exercises: 1. What distinctive feature(s) do the sounds in each set have in common? a. /k/, /u/, /ɑ/, /ŋ/ b. /b/, /ŋ/, /ɛ/, /ʊ/ c. /f/, /ʃ/, /ə/, /j/ d. /l/, /ʒ/, /t/, /n/ e. /j/, /k/, /i/, /w/ f. /r/, /ŋ/, /ɔ/, /æ/ 2. What feature or features distinguish each of the following sets of sounds? a. /v/, /ə/ b. /f/, /v/ c. /r/, /j/ d. /f/, /θ/ e. /e/, /o/ f. /i/, /j/ g. /u/, /ʊ/ h. /z/, /ð/ i. /g/, /ŋ/ j. /t/, /s/ 3. Give a list of distinctive features for each of the following sounds. Which are necessary to distinguish the sound from all other sounds? a. /w/ b. /dʒ/ c. /l/ d. /ɑ/ 4. What sound or sounds have the following sets of distinctive features? a. [+CONSONANTAL, +HIGH, +SONORANT, +BACK] b. [–CONSONANTAL, +HIGH, –BACK, –VOCALIC]

P a g e | 47 c. [–ROUND, +LOW, –BACK] d. [+ANTERIOR, –SIBILANT, +CORONAL, –VOICE] 2. It could be argued that [±NASAL] is a redundant feature since it is not required to distinguish /m, n, ŋ/ from other sounds. Explain. Key 1. a.[+BACK] b. [+VOICE] c.[+CONTINUANT] d.[+ANTERIOR], [+CONSONANTAL] e. [+HIGH] f. [+SONORANT], [+VOICE] 2. a.[±REDUCED] b.[±VOICE] c.[±ANTERIOR], [±SYLLABIC] d.[±CORONAL] e.[±BACK], [±ROUND] f.[±CONSONANTAL] g.[±TENSE] h.[±SIBILANT] i.[±SONORANT], [±NASAL] j.[±CONTINUANT], [±SIBILANT] 3. a.[–SYLLABIC, –CONSONANTAL, +SONORANT, –NASAL, –ANTERIOR, –CORONAL, +HIGH, +BACK, +CONTINUANT, –DELAYED RELEASE, –SIBILANT, +VOICE, –LATERAL] b.[–SYLLABIC, +CONSONANTAL, –SONORANT, –NASAL, –ANTERIOR, +CORONAL, –BACK, –HIGH, –CONTINUANT, +DELAYED RELEASE, +SIBILANT, +VOICE, –LATERAL] c.[±SYLLABIC, +CONSONANTAL, +SONORANT, –NASAL, +ANTERIOR, +CORONAL, –BACK, –HIGH, +CONINUANT, –DELAYED RELEASE, –SIBILANT, +VOICE, +LATERAL] d.[–CONSONANTAL, +SONORANT, +CONINUANT, +VOCALIC, +VOICE, –HIGH, +LOW, –ROUNDED, +BACK, –REDUCED]

P a g e | 48

4. a. /ŋ/ b. /w/ c. /æ/ d. /θ/ 2. Nasals are characterized by the combination of features [–CONTINUANT] and [+SONORANT/. While stops are [–CONTINUANT], they are [– SONORANT] and while approximants are [+SONORANT], they are [+CONTINUANT].