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ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY I Anthology 2015-16
Fonètica i Fonologia Angleses I (Codi: 362720 / 203108)
Notes and exercises 2015-16 1
Teachers: Cristina Aliaga, Eva Cerviño, Marc Miret, Joan Carles Mora, Brian Mott, Mireia Ortega, Aaron Ventura
Contents Page Introduction ........................................................................................................... 3 Assessment of students’ performance .................................................................... 3 Model exams ......................................................................................................... 4 Phonetics I Exam. Part 1, Question 3 ..................................................................... 6 The levels of language (Phonetics, Phonology and linguistics) ............................... 7 Phonetic symbols for the transcription of English .................................................. 9 The English vowels: contrasts................................................................................ 11 The English vowels and diphthongs: words for transcription ................................. 12 English Vowel no. 12: schwa ................................................................................. 14 Passages for phonetic transcription ........................................................................ 15 Phonetic dictations ................................................................................................ 16 The Speech Organs ................................................................................................ 20 Phonetics websites ................................................................................................. 21 Exercises on the Speech Organs............................................................................. 22 Characteristics of vowels and consonants .............................................................. 23 Exercises on the classification of speech sounds .................................................... 24 Exercises on the classification of English speech sounds ....................................... 25 Phonetics and Phonology ....................................................................................... 26 The Phoneme ......................................................................................................... 27 The Phoneme: Daniel Jones’ Propositions ............................................................. 28 Distinctive Feature Theory .................................................................................... 29 Distinctive Feature charts ...................................................................................... 31 Distinctive Features: exercises ............................................................................... 32 Assimilation .......................................................................................................... 34 Weak forms ........................................................................................................... 36 Transcription practice with weak forms ................................................................. 37 Weak forms: additional exercises .......................................................................... 38 The sound systems of English, Spanish and Catalan .............................................. 41 The consonants of English, Spanish and Catalan .................................................... 43 Phonetic transcription ............................................................................................ 45 Some notes to help you with English phonetic transcription ................................... 46 Texts for phonetic transcription ............................................................................. 50 Transcriptions of the texts...................................................................................... 54
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INTRODUCTION Fonètica i Fonologia Anglesa I is intended to provide both practice in the phonetics of English and an introduction to the essential theoretical foundations of the discipline. Like all technical subjects, it has its own terminology and language associated with it. To acquire the technical vocabulary of the field, you are advised to write down terms like phoneme, allophone, complementary distribution, etc. with a definition and at least one example. After each topic has been covered in class, you should read the relevant chapter of English Phonetics and Phonology for Spanish Speakers (2nd ed. 2011) by Brian Mott. Some transcription practice will be given in class, but this will never be enough for students to reach the required standard without work outside class. For this purpose, texts have been provided for private study in this anthology (pp. 50-64). Further recorded texts will be found in the textbook, pp. 359-361, transcriptions pp. 413-415 (CD tracks 43-52). Useful bibliography ASHBY, Patricia. 2005. Speech Sounds. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. CARR, Philip. 2013. English Phonetics and Phonology: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. CRUTTENDEN, Alan. 2008. Gimson’s Pronunciation of English. 7th ed. London: Hodder. LILLO, Antonio. 2009. Transcribing English. Albolote (Granada): Comares. MCMAHON, April. 2002. An Introduction to English Phonology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ROACH, Peter. 2009. English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge: CUP. TATHAM, Mark, & MORTON, Katherine. 2011. Speech Production and Perception. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. TENCH, Paul. 2011. Transcribing the Sound of English. Cambridge: CUP. ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE Continuous assessment (“avaluació contínua”) is the general norm. In this subject, the final exam will constitute 60% of the final grade, and other components 40%. The pass mark will be 50%. The final exam will consist of: 1. 100 word phonetic dictation (10 marks; at least 2.5/10 is required) (first half hour of exam). 2. Two and a half hour written paper (50 marks: 20 + 20 + 10): see model exams, anthology, pp. 4-5. The remaining 40% of the mark will be distributed as follows (each item is worth 10%, detailed instructions to be given in due course): 1. March 19th: Phonetic transcription of words in isolation (10%) 2. April 14th: Perception task (5%) 3. April 30th: Mid-term multiple-choice test (20 questions) (10%). 4. May 7th: Phonetic dictation of sentences (10%). 5. May 24th: Production task (5%) Students unable to submit to continuous assessment are required to fill in a form within the first 30 days of the beginning of the course (http://www.ub.edu/filologia/tauler/canvis_avaluacio.htm). These students will be required to do a final exam worth 80% of the final mark and will be asked to hand in tasks 2 and 5 (10%) on the day of the final exam. The final exam for these students will include an additional section with 10 multiplechoice items (10%). The 2nd sitting (“re-avaluació”) will consist of a final exam worth 80% of the final mark that will include an additional section with 10 multiple-choice items (10%) and students will be asked to hand in tasks 2 and 5 (10%) on the day of the final exam. IMPORTANT NOTE: Students must attend class with and do the exam of the group in which they are matriculated. Failure to comply with this requirement may lead to students not having their final mark transferred to the “acta”. Any student wishing to change group must do so officially and inform the teachers involved.
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UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA DEPARTAMENT DE FILOLOGIA ANGLESA I ALEMANYA FONÈTICA I FONOLOGIA ANGLESA I Lay out your answers as tidily as possible. Label all the questions clearly and use only relevant material in your answers. ALWAYS GIVE EXAMPLES. Part I. Answer the following questions: (20 marks) 1. Classify the following English vowels: (a) // (b) // 2. Classify the following English consonants: (a) // (b) // 3. Describe fully how English /s/ is produced. 4. Explain the main difference in the way Spanish and English listeners perceptually distinguish voiced from voiceless oral stops in word-initial pre-tonic position. 5. Define the term co-articulation. 6. What distinctive feature distinguishes labials from velars? 7. Illustrate the difference between velar and velic closure. 8. Describe the morphophonemic alternations of the simple past / past participle suffix. 9. Why are /w / and /j/ described as being [-vocalic] and [-consonantal]? 10. What are the main pronunciation differences between Southern British English (SSB) and General American (GA) in the following words: beer, tune. Part II. Write in detail on FOUR of the following: (25 marks) 1. Describe the main differences between vowels and consonants. 2. The phonetic form of grammatical words varies according to context, whereas the form of lexical words is invariant. Discuss and illustrate with examples from English. 3. What is a diphthong? How are diphthongs classified in English? 4. Explain the usefulness of the features [sonorant], [continuant] and [nasal] in the description and classification of the sounds of English. 5. Explain the distribution and articulatory features of the allophonic variants of the English voiceless alveolar plosive. Illustrate with examples. 6. Explain the role of the velum in speech production. Assess its importance as regards the English phonological system. Part III. Phonetic and phonological processes and phenomena (10 marks) Identify and explain the type of connected speech process or phenomena in the following examples from English. Identify clearly in each case the sounds you are referring to. 1. Pete > . 2. buttler [] > [].
6. attic /t/ > []. 7. one month /wʌn mʌnθ/>[wʌn mʌnθ].
3. library pronounced as ].
8. I let you /aɪ ˈlet ju/ > [aɪ ˈletʃu].
4. it’s small /ɪts smɔːl/ > [ɪts smɔːɫ]. 5. table /teɪbl/ [teɪbɫ̩].
9. tabs /tæbz/ > [tæbz̥]. 10. clear it /klɪr ɪt/
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UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA DEPARTAMENT DE FILOLOGIA ANGLESA I ALEMANYA FONÈTICA I FONOLOGIA ANGLESA I Lay out your answers as tidily as possible. Label all the questions clearly and use only relevant material in your answers. ALWAYS GIVE EXAMPLES. Part I. Answer the following questions: (20 marks) 1. Classify the following English vowels: (a) æ (b) ʊ 2. Classify the following English consonants: (a) (b) ʒ 3. Describe fully how English is produced. 4. What do you understand by the term DEVOICING? 5. What is the role of the LARYNX and why is it important in the production of English speech sounds? 6. What is the difference between a long monophthong and a diphthong? 7. What English vowel phonemes can never occur word-finally? 8. Describe the position of the tongue in the articulation of a vowel with a low first formant and a high second formant. 9. What distinctive features can be used to identify vowel-like consonantal sounds such as glides and liquids? 10. Which of the following pronunciations of the word singing is correct: /sɪŋgɪŋ/ or /sɪŋɪŋ/? Why? Part II. Write on FOUR of the following: (25 marks) 1. Explain the distribution of the weak and strong forms of grammatical words according to (a) phonetic context (b) stress 2. Describe the process of articulation in the production of speech sounds. 3. Explain the differences and similarities between vowels and sonorant consonants. 4. To what extent are English vowels and consonants different in terms of the position they occupy in syllable structure? 5. Compare the realizations and allophonic distribution of the plosive consonants of English and Spanish. 6. Allophonic variants of phonemes may occur in complementary distribution, parallel distribution and free variation. Explain the main characteristics and differences between these different types of sound distribution. Part III. Phonetic and phonological processes and phenomena (10 marks) Identify comment on the following examples of connected speech phenomena (there might be more than one process in the each example). 1. English packed /pækt/. 6. English play /pleɪ/ is realized as [pl ̥eɪ]. 2. RP biting /ˈbaɪtɪŋ/, Cockney [ˈbaɪʔɪn].
7. English piano /piˈænəʊ/ > /ˈpjænəʊ/.
4. ten cars /ten kɑːz/ is pronounced [teŋ kɑːz]
9. Eng. city BrE sɪti AmE sɪi
3. Eng.share /ʃeə/; but share it /ʃeər ɪt/
8. Eng. contain kn͙teɪn
5. Balearic Catalan les set /ləs sɛt/ > [lət sɛt].
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10. Spanish cabo /ˈkabo/ is pronounced [ˈkaβo]
Phonetics I Exam. Part 1, Question 3 Study the following model answers: In the articulation of /b/, the air expelled from the lungs makes the vocal cords vibrate. The velum is raised, so that the air passes into the mouth, where it is momentarily blocked by the lips. When the lips open, a slight explosion is heard. /b/ is therefore a VOICED BILABIAL PLOSIVE. In the articulation of /k/, the vocal cords are held apart, so that there is no vibration. The velum is raised, so that the air passes into the mouth, where it is momentarily blocked by the back of the tongue touching the velum. When this contact is released, a slight explosion is heard. /k/ is therefore an UNVOICED VELAR PLOSIVE. In the articulation of /n/, the air expelled from the lungs makes the vocal cords vibrate. The velum is lowered, so that the air passes into the nasal cavity. In the mouth, the tongue makes contact with the alveolar ridge. /n/ is therefore a VOICED ALVEOLAR NASAL. In the articulation of /l/, the air expelled from the lungs makes the vocal cords vibrate. The velum is raised, so that the air passes into the mouth. The tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge, but the sides are raised, so that the air escapes laterally. /l/ is therefore a VOICED ALVEOLAR LATERAL (APPROXIMANT). In the articulation of /t/, the air expelled from the lungs passes freely through the glottis, so there is no vocal cord vibration. The velum is raised, so that the air passes into the mouth, where it meets an obstruction formed by the tongue tip and alveolar ridge. When this contact is released, a slight explosion is heard. /t/ is therefore an UNVOICED ALVEOLAR PLOSIVE. In the articulation of /v/, the air expelled from the lungs produces vocal cord vibration. The velum is raised, so that the air passes into the mouth. A partial obstruction is formed by the lower lip and upper teeth. The air passing through the narrow gap creates audible friction. /v/ is therefore a VOICED LABIO-DENTAL FRICATIVE. In the articulation of /dʒ/, the air expelled from the lungs makes the vocal cords vibrate. The velum is raised, so that the air passes into the mouth, where an occlusion is made in the postalveolar region. With slow release of the contact of the articulators, friction is heard. /dʒ/ is therefore a VOICED POST-ALVEOLAR AFFRICATE. In the articulation of /h/, the air expelled from the lungs creates turbulence in the glottis, but there is no vocal cord vibration. /h/ is therefore an UNVOICED GLOTTAL FRICATIVE. NOW WRITE A DESCRIPTION OF SOME OTHER ENGLISH CONSONANTS.
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THE LEVELS OF LANGUAGE (Phonetics, Phonology and linguistics)
Language is made up of several different interacting levels:
LANGUAGE
PRONUNCIATION
phonetics
GRAMMAR
phonology
morphology
syntax
SEMANTICS
lexicon
discourse
pragmatics
Although we can concentrate on any one of these levels largely to the exclusion of the others, as is often done in language teaching or for the purpose of linguistic analysis in order to see particular patterns of organization like combinations of vowels and consonants, verb paradigms or lexical fields more clearly, these different facets of the structure of language are in fact inextricably interrelated. The fact that the different levels of language come into play simultaneously might be represented by the following model of language structure proposed by David Crystal (The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, p. 82), which is rather like a space station, and shows that entering the system at any one level provides access to all the other levels:
P1
S1
M = Morphology P
P = Phonetics P1 = Phonology S = Syntax
M
S
O
S1 = Semantics O = Other levels
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1. The levels of language Phonetics deals with the (1) articulation of sounds, (2) their transmission from speaker to hearer, and (3) audition or perception of these sounds by the hearer. It is not considered to be part of linguistics. Phonology is a branch of linguistics that studies (1) the sound systems of languages (sounds and sound combinations) and (2) which sounds are most commonly used in the world’s languages (and whether the existence of one sound implies the existence of any other(s)). Morphology is the study of word structure. Words are composed of morphemes. A word may consist of only one morpheme, like manage, or two or more, like manage-(e)d and un-manage-able. The field of morphology is divided into Inflectional Morphology and Derivational Morphology. Derivational morphology tends to be much less predictable than inflectional morphology. Syntax studies the way words combine to form larger units like phrases, clauses and sentences. Lexicon refers to the words of a language or language variety, especially the way they are organized in the mind. A unit of vocabulary is called a lexical item or a lexeme. The words in the mental lexicon are organized into an indeterminate numer of lexical (semantic) fields, such as COLOUR, ANIMALS, FOOD, COOKING, MEMORY, PERCEPTION, CLOTHING, SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, SCIENCE, etc., just like a thesaurus. Thus they are not listed in alphabetical order as in a dictionary, but rather as superordinates and hyponyms, or in groups of synonyms and antonyms. Languages do not manifest symmetrical patterns of superordinates and hyponyms owing to the many gaps in the lexis of individual languages. Discourse is the study of larger patterns of meaning, i.e. stretches of speech or writing longer than the sentence, such as stories, conversations, jokes and letters, and is concerned with such aspects of language as inter-sentence connectivity. Pragmatics deals with the speaker’s intended meaning. The simplest formulation of meaning would be to say that it equals semantics + pragmatics. 2. The interaction of the levels of language Phonology and grammar. -(e)s = third person singular present tense, or plural Phonology and syntax: don’t with final [-nt] in isolation or in careful speech, but this pronunciation may alter in connected speech: Don’t be silly [ˈdəʊm bi ˈsɪli]; don’t you think it’s time [ˈdəʊntʃə ˈθɪŋk ɪts ˈtaɪm]. Phonology and semantics: seat v. sheet. Semantics and morphology: -ness = noun, -ing = gerund, -hood = state. Semantics and syntax: nothing doing v. doing nothing. Syntax and pragmatics: Geoff and I v. Me and Geoff. 3. Generation and interpretation of language The human brain contains a mental dictionary, i.e. a lexicon of words and the concepts that they stand for, and a set of rules (a grammar) which combines the words to relate the concepts to one another. Any act of communication begins with the intention to convey a message, a gathering together of the concepts to be expressed, and a search for the words with which to translate those concepts into speech. The words are accessed in the lexicon and then grammatical rules like addition of –s to form the plural in English will be applied by the syntactic component. There is still some discussion as to whether words are stored in the lexicon as wholes (FULL LISTING HYPOTHESIS) or whether it is their component morphs which are stored separately and then assembled. Apart from producing subject-verb concord like The boy is eating, The boys are eating, the syntactic component makes questions and determines the correct output for word and phrase order. The phonological component ensures the correct phonological form for each word and for the utterance as a whole Comprehension, roughly speaking, involves a reversal of this process. There are two main tasks involved: (1) decoding the speech signal, (2) attaching meanings to what is heard. The recognition of words is a fundamental and indispensable stage in language comprehension. Misinterpretation of messages may occur through factors like structural ambiguity, garden-path sentences and misanalysis of word boundaries.
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PHONETIC SYMBOLS FOR THE TRANSCRIPTION OF ENGLISH THE VOWELS OF ENGLISH 1
/i/
FLEECE,
2
/ɪ/
KIT,
even, see, sea, field, seize, machine; key, quay, people. Unstressed
final or prevocalic: [i], very, áviary, serious. Also found in the unstressed prefixes be-, de-, e-, pre-, re-: begin, decide, elect, prevent, receive
ship, symbol, seduce, horses, ticket, village, private, fetid; minute,
women, pretty, lettuce, England, busy 3
/e/
DRESS,
5
/ɑ/
START, PALM, BATH,
4
6 7
/æ/
// //
TRAP,
bed, head, breath; any, many, Thames /temz/, ate /et/
man, that, and, Paris, can, Spanish; plait
are, garden, half, staff, class, after, fast, can’t, bath;
moustache, drama, tomato, vase; aunt, draught, clerk, example, heart, father, memoir /memwɑ/, barrage LOT, CLOTH,
wash, quality, Australia; gone, because, knowledge, Gloucester,
yacht
THOUGHT, NORTH, FORCE,
small, lawn, author, course, coarse, board, swarm,
bought; for, before, door, oar, ore (some accents use // in open syllables); broad, water
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/ʊ/
/u/
FOOT,
full, look, good; could, wolf, woman, Worcester
GOOSE,
too, to, two, who, move, blue, June, route, feud, new, suit; beauty
/bjuti/, shoe, canoe, manoeuvre. Unstressed pre-vocalic, [u]: vírtuous
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//
STRUT,
much, sun, son, some, London, country; does, blood, flood
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//
NURSE,
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//
LETTER, COMMA,
fern, Thursday, third, myrtle, worth, heard, journey; colonel,
connoisseur
under, father, address, possible, tomato, suppose, Saturday,
furniture, author, dangerous, famous, cupboard, Oxford, occasion; select, serene (before a liquid, /ə/ is more usual than /ɪ/). Note the use of this vowel
in weak forms of words like at, to, for, and, them
THE DIPHTHONGS OF ENGLISH 1
/eɪ/
FACE,
play, waiter, weigh, great, baby, plate, bass; gauge
2
/ʊ/
GOAT,
only, Poland, road, know, though; brooch, sew, bureau
3
/aɪ/
PRICE,
try, side, ice, pie, tried, cries, height; buy, eye, choir
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4 6 8
/ʊ/ /aʊ/
old, cold, soldier (in some accents before [ɫ]) MOUTH,
cow, count, hour, MacLeod
/ɪ/
CHOICE,
employ, boil, voice, noise
/e/
SQUARE,
chair, there, their, care, prayer; scarce, aeroplane
/ɪ/ /ʊ/
NEAR, CURE,
deer, dear, hear, here, weird, pierce, idea
moor, poor, secure
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THE CONSONANTS OF ENGLISH /p/
pay, people, help; shepherd, hiccough.
/t/
tooth, better, sit, liked; Thames, thyme.
/k/
kick, cat, back, queen; chemist, character, Christmas.
/f/
fine, safe, photo, physics, nephew, laugh; lieutenant /lefˈtenənt/.
/v/
voice, never, save, of, nephew.
/ð/
that, then, weather, with, bathe.
/z/
zoo, dizzy, fizzy, has, comes, knives, noise, resist.
/b/ /d/ /ɡ/
/θ/ /s/ /ʃ/
/ʒ/
baby, husband, club. do, Friday, sad.
gold, bag, girl, dog, egg.
thank, nothing, author, method, bath, twentieth. sit, thinks, mass, missing, place, cigarette. sheep, fish, Persia, ancient, ocean, conscious, nation; moustache, machine, chandelier.
leisure, measure, occasion, usual, seizure; rouge, garage (some speakers).
/h/
his, happy, behind, who, whole.
/dʒ/
judge, age, religion, garage, bridge; soldier, Greenwich, sandwich.
/n/
near, send, dinner, can, pneumatic, pneumonia.
/l/
little, miller, while, full, greatly.
/j/
yet, yacht, year, you, young.
/tʃ/ /m/ /ŋ/ /r/ /w/
cheap, Richard, each, catch, fetch, furniture, question. make, ham, hammer, autumn, climb, comb. thing, English, singer, ink.
room, around, very, current, far away. walk, will, when, away.
DIVIDE THE ABOVE CONSONANTS INTO CLASSES
First of all, make sure you know which ones are voiced, and which unvoiced.
Now identify the plosives, fricatives, affricates, nasals, liquids and semi-vowels (glides). Now identify the approximants. Now separate the obstruents from the sonorants. (Note that vowels are also sonorants.) Which consonants are called sibilants?
Which consonants only occur before vowels?
Which consonants only occur after vowels? What do you know about the pronunciation of final /r/ and /l/ in SSB (Standard Southern British) (also called RP: Received Pronunciation)?
The words in small caps under Vowels and Diphthongs are J. C. Wells’s keywords, intended to be unmistakeable in whatever accent they are pronounced (see Accents of English 1, CUP, 1982, p. xviii).
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THE ENGLISH VOWELS: CONTRASTS /i/, /ɪ/ The sea, green and deep, Seems like a beast asleep. The beach and seaweed gleam, And the sea breathes, heaves, sleepily, In its deep green dream. Winter winds Freeze the trees. Winter winds chill the knees. Bitter, shrill, They whistle, shriek, Nip and whip Chin and cheek. Shiver, shiver, bird on tree, Shiver, shiver, fish in sea. Stream and river, frozen be. Soon will spring Bring the sun, Linnets sing, Winter done. /u/, /ʊ/ 1) Who could do it sooner than you? 2) He shook Luke’s football boots to empty them of soot. 3) There’s a new book out called The Good Food Guide. 4) The musicians flew off to New York as soon as they could. 5) There’s no room in here for that rude, uncouth youth. 6) “The moon is too beautiful to be true,” said Ruth. 7) You should put your new shoes on – you would look good. 8) You wouldn’t want to shoot yourself in the foot, Woody. 9) Stop fooling around with your foot – you’ll make the wound worse. 10) She took a spoonful of pudding and wolfed it down. //, //, // 1) The drinking water was luke-warm, so they didn’t serve it. 2) What on earth are you working on? 3) We ought to walk a bit further – at least to the corner. 4) We saw a brightly burning ball of fire above the earth. 5) It’s a lost cause; we’ve burnt our boats. /æ/, //, /ɑ/ 1) He has a gap between his teeth and a massive cut on his left hand. 2) Mash the large potatoes up and mix them with some butter and parsley. 3) The shutters on the farmhouse windows were shattered by a strong gust of wind. 4) The barrister always carried large sums of money in his jacket. 5) We had a lovely crusty buttered bun for supper. 6) Cut the cackle and start wrapping up the presents! 11
THE ENGLISH VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS: words for transcription Vowel no. 1 be/bee, tea, plead, please, marine, serene, sleep, league, refugee, evening, feel, grief, conceive, Odyssey, jelly, Ely, toffee, museum, freedom, delete, aesthetic, encyclopaedia. Vowel no. 2 fit, lift, district, edifice, malice, return, depend, elicit, depict, Wallace/Wallis, forest, mallet, bracket, illogical, furnace, tenderness, wicked, belated, fascist, savage, Stevenage, catches, washes, marries, married, promise, symptom, syntax. Vowel no. 3 left, get, cretin, press, peasant, lemon, shed, meant, leant, healthy, Leonard, friend, end, many, any, ate, zealous, bread. Vowel no. 4 lap, ash, fan, ban, placid, drastic, plastic, have, can, strand, crass, transmit, stenograph, Patrick, parrot, Sadam, acceed. Vowel no. 5 dart, spa, char, Charles, harm, heart, last, craft, promenade, photograph, raft, balm, lager, serenata, boudoir, prance, blast. Vowel no. 6 shot, wander, Warwick, squat, quarantine, loss, resolve, swap. Vowel no. 7 ball/bawl, stall, form, hawk, audible, dawn, prawn, broad, swarthy, ward, fought/fort, assault, afford, malt, distraught, nor, door, saw/sore/soar, floor, straw, tore, chore, glory. Vowel no. 8 hook, shook, wooden, woman, should, pudding, hood, bosom, push. Vowel no. 9 spoon, balloon, swoop, chew, prune, recruit, flute, duty, swoon, cool, stew, eunuch, Ulysses, salute, boon, improve, move. Vowel no. 10 punch, flunk, junk, punk, shove, dove, gutter, seductive, country, fun, bunch, come, company, rough, constable, honey. 12
Vowel no. 11 prefer, slur, fir/fur, earnest, worthy, shirt, concur, jersey, Ferdinand, journalese, spurt, urgent, mercy, firm, bird, turkey. Vowel no. 12 alert, utter, humour, attend, commit, confuse, surrender, support, holiday, focus, memorandum, clueless, clement, nervous. .................................................................................................... Diphthong no. 1 late, crate, praise, tray, stranger, main, paint, rape. Diphthong no. 2 hose, doze, hole, most, ghost, chosen, hello, poach, coach, yolk. Diphthong no. 3 pine, benign, despise, reply, biology, science, either, bright. Diphthong no. 4 mouse, proud, crowd, spout, loud, drown, outside, crown, shout. Diphthong no. 5 soil, embroil, coil, annoy, destroyed, Freud, Boyd, foil, joyous. Diphthong no. 6 sheer, appear, steer, near, pier/peer, cheers, beard, serial. Diphthong no. 7 spare, dare, parents, bear/bare, dairy, Mary, prayer, air. Diphthong no. 8 poor, sure, Bourbon, touring, manure, Europe, bureau, jury. DIPHTHONGS + SCHWA lower, inquire, layer, dowry, coyer, desire, coward, Howard.
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SCHWA 1) TRANSCRIBE THE FOLLOWING WORDS (omit schwa if possible):
2)
3)
4) 5)
6) 7)
8)
across, America, among, apology, asparagus, banana, bargain, bottom, Brazil, camouflage, Canada, certain, circus, complain, composer, coward, cupboard, Devon, fibre, figure, handsome, harbour, harmony, human, innocence, Japan, kingdom, legacy, manoevre, metre, Morocco, motor, murmur, narrator, nervous, Norman, Peru, parliament, particular, photographer, potato, propose, provide, spacious, standard, surgeon, the Garden of Eden, the Iron Curtain, tortoise, Venus, villain, vineyard. Loss of schwa: common in -ary, -ery, -ory, -ury: secretary, adultery, nursery, delivery, history, factory, memory, century. Every, decorative, medicine, aspirin, comparable, considerable, comfortable, definitely, generally, generous, literature, moderate, opening, reasonable, temperature, vegetable, police. No reduction in forgery and burglary to avoid offending clusters. Syllabic [n]: cotton, sudden, often, fasten, oven, listen, dozen, doesn’t, ocean, visión, open, broken. Syllabic [l] apple, trouble, travel, cattle, medal, buckle, struggle, trifle, oval, Ethel, castle, hazel, camel, final. Homophones: principle - principal, gambol - gamble, medal - meddle, idol - idle, counsel - council, navel - naval. No reduction between /l/ and /n/ or /m/, /n/ and /n/: woman, cannon, sullen, stolen, swollen, venom, lemon, gammon (cured or smoked ham, Sp. jamón fresco salado), woollen, salmón, pollen, fallen, Alan/Allen. No reduction in other less common words: acc(e)nt, activity, adult, Afghan, ajax, asphalt, cannot, canton, carnation, cartoon, chaos, comment, contract, convert, electrode, electron, epoch, ferment, grandson, handicap, hotel, housework, hubbub, insect, knapsack, mosquito, muscology, Norwegian, omen, prestige; record, semen, statute, torment, Zodiac. Compounds: blackboard, bum bag, shepherd (BUT cow-herd). Reduction of -ow is a vulgarism: yellow, shallow, narrow, marrow (‘calabacín, médula’ [soft, fatty substance in the centre of bones]), window. NOTE ALSO photo, potato. Schwa taking over from //: possible, responsible, mistake, elect, family, familiarity, angrily, primarily, begin, between, favourite, accident, Elizabeth, enough, despair. BUT illusion v. allusion, effect v. affect, boxes v. boxers, chatted v. chattered, it v. at, ’im v. ’em. Other Vs: September, November, nobody, cellotape, photograph, obscene, legislature, maintain, hurricane, income, until, phonetic, omission, romance, consequences, Soviet, Greenland (BUT wonderland, hinterland), Frenchman (BUT snowman, Batman, business man), secretariat, accelerate (BUT homophone, photogenic, photosensitive). Note vacillation in -ness and -less endings: homeless, useless, waitress, tenderness, BUT goddess, manageréss. BUT not in -es and -ed in Standard BrE. AmE may not distinguish between Lennon and Lenin, conquered and Concord. Schwa taking over from other Vs for special groups of people: Australia, Manhattan, trombone. Schwa in place names: Newbury, Farnborough, Edinburgh, Norfolk, Suffolk, Bedford, Bradford, Immingham, Ireland, Plymouth, Yorkshire, Maidestone.
14
PASSAGES FOR PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION 1) The weather today is terrible. It’s very cold and it’s snowing. Last night there was ice on the roads, so I had to be careful driving home. I can’t understand why people enjoy winter so much. These months are boring. At this time of the year, I usually stay at home and watch television or listen to the radio. I have big breakfasts with lots of toast, butter and jam. 2) John is a farmer. He has a farm in the country. It is on the side of a hill. He has worked on this farm for fifteen years. He keeps cows and sheep, and grows corn and potatoes. He usually has his lunch at home, but today is his wife’s birthday, so they are going to a restaurant in the town. John is driving carefully, but there is a lot of traffic and they are late. When they arrive at the restaurant, they cannot find a table, so they must look for another. John thinks that life is better on his farm because it is quieter. 3) The Majestic Hotel, one of Spain’s finest, is close to the sea and only minutes from the small town of Panar. This holiday centre has a lot to offer the tourist. There are shops full of leather goods and Mediterranean fruit, together with interesting restaurants serving good food. If you like nightlife, there are clubs, bars and discos. If you enjoy exploring during the day, the countryside and beaches are beautiful. Believe me – I’ve been there several times. 4) Death and injury from motor-vehicle accidents are reaching epidemic proportions in developing countries around the world, according to the World Health Organization. Traffic accidents in the young nations of Africa are giving cause for great concern, and all too often the victims are young, educated Africans who earn enough money to buy a motorcycle or a car. Statistics from three Latin American countries reveal that traffic accidents are now the main cause of death among young adults. 5) We have an electric cooker in our kitchen, and it is quite easy to cook on and to bake things in. I make chocolate cake best, my mother says. I put flour, butter, sugar, eggs and chocolate in it. I mix them well in a bowl, and then put them in a baking tin. I put the tin in the oven and leave it for an hour and a half. In summer and autumn, when fruit is cheap, I also make jam. 6) There were some unwritten laws around in my earlier years in the trade. A worker would, in the course of time, have his own tools. Some would buy them if they had to be bought; some were made roughly by the worker himself. However, it was not considered correct to borrow another man’s tools without first asking. Nobody liked lending them, and borrowing without permission could lead to unpleasantness. Tools could be obtained by the fact that a person had died and his family had no further use for them. Another law was that one should never criticize or handle another person’s work. Whatever the condition of that work was, right or wrong, it was entirely his business and not for others to pass judgement. 7) We thought that Nick must have gone home as he usually did, but to our surprise he kept appearing like a ghost at the little glass window of whatever room we happened to be in. He must have seen the music teacher leave the room while we were listening to a Classical record. He burst in, accompanied by two other teenagers, took a knife from his pocket and started to destroy the revolving disc of black plastic, scratching and stabbing it alternately. We sat attentively and watched him as if it were a demonstration of a new art form. Nick and his accomplices departed, leaving the music teacher to bemoan the fact that the record that once sounded so clear now sounded like someone sawing wood.
15
PHONETIC DICTATIONS
ˈ= primary stress. No intonation is given.
1. / ɪn ðə ˈmɪdl əv ˈpærɪs / ð wz restrənt / wɪtʃ wəz ˈfeɪməs əz ə ˈmiːtɪŋ pleɪs / fə ˈpəʊɪts ən ˈraɪtəz // bɪˈkɒz əv ɪts feɪm / ɪt bɪˈkeɪm ˈmɔːr ɪkˈspensɪv / ən ˈpʊər ɔːθəz bɪˈkeɪm ɪkˈskluːdɪd /
waɪl ˈrɪtʃ ˈbɪznɪsmen wə ˈwelkmd // ðə ˈpraɪsɪz went ˈʌp ən ˈʌp // bɪˈtwiːn ðə ˈwɔːz / ɪt wəz ˈðiː pleɪs tə ˈɡəʊ / ɪf ju ˈwɒntɪd tu ɪmˈpres jɔː ˈɡests // ðə ˈmenjuː wəz əˈmʌŋ ðə ˈtɒp ˈfaɪv / ɪn ðə
ˈhəʊl əv ˈfrɑːns / ən ˈprɒbəbli ˈwʌn əv ðə ˈbest ɪn ˈjʊərəp // ʌnˈfɔːtʃənətli / ðər ə ˈnəʊ ˈpəʊɪts ˈeni ˈmɔː / ən ði ˈəʊnli ˈpiːpl huː ˈiːt ðeə / ə ðə ˈveri ˈrɪtʃ / 2. / ə ˈpliːsmən ɪn ˈnjuː ˈmeksɪkəʊ / wəz ˈtʃeɪsɪŋ ə ˈspiːdɪŋ ˈməʊtərɪst ˈaʊt əv ˈtaʊn // ˈsʌdnli / ðə ˈpliːsmənz əˈtenʃn wəz kɔːt / baɪ ˈsʌm ˈkaɪnd əv ˈflaɪɪŋ θɪŋ / dɪˈsendɪŋ frm ði ˈeə // hi ˈlɒst ˈsaɪt əv ði ɒbdʒɪkt / bɪˈhaɪnd sm ˈnɪəbaɪ ˈhɪlz / bət ˈwen i drəʊv ˈraʊnd ə ˈkɔːnə / ət ə ˈhaɪə levl
/ hi ˈwʌns əˈɡen sɔː ðə streɪndʒ məʃiːn / ɪn ə ˈsmɔːl ˈvæli // hi kəd ˈklɪəli ˈsiː / ðət ɪt wəz ˈʃeɪpt
laɪk ən ˈeɡ / ən wəz ˈrestɪŋ ɒn ˈfɔː ˈleɡs // hi ˈɔːlsəʊ nəʊtɪd ðə fækt / ðət ðə wə ˈtuː ˈfɪɡəz / ˈstændɪŋ ˈkləʊs tu ɪt // ɪt dɪsəˈpɪəd ˈʃɔːtli ˈɑːftəwədz / 3. / æz ðə ˈdeɪ went ˈɒn / ən ˈdɑːknɪs fel ɪn ðə ˈstriːts aʊtˈsaɪd / ðə ˈnʌmbər əv ˈkrɪsməs ˈʃɒpəz
/ ˈsiːmd tu ɪnˈkriːs // ˈθaʊnz ən ˈθaʊnz əv ˈpiːpl / rʌʃt ˈɪn ən ˈaʊt əv ðə ˈʃɒps / ən ˈlɑːdʒ dɪˈpɑːtmənt stɔːz // ðə ˈseɪlz ɡɜːlz wə ˈsəʊ ˈbɪzi / ðət ðeɪ ˈdɪdnt hæv ˈtaɪm / tə ˈtɔːk tə ðeə ˈfrenz
/ əz ðeɪ əˈtendɪd / tə ðə ˈnevərendɪŋ ˈstriːm əv ˈkʌstəməz // ðeɪ ˈdremt əv ðə ˈməʊmənt / wen ðə ˈdɔːz wəd kləʊz / ən ðeɪ kəd ˈhæv ə sɪɡəˈret / bɪfɔː ˈkætʃɪŋ ðə ˈbʌs ˈhəʊm // ət ˈhəʊm ðeɪd bi eɪbl ət ˈlɑːst / tə ˈpʊt ðeə ˈfiːt ʌp / ən ˈhæv ə ɡʊd ˈrest /
4. / ɪt əd biːn ə ˈtaɪərɪŋ ˈdeɪ fɔː hɪm / ən i wəz ˈlʊkɪŋ ˈfɔːwəd / tə hɪz ˈɪːvnɪŋ ˈaʊt // fər ə ˈməʊmənt / hi ˈstɒpt aʊtˈsaɪd ðə ˈdɔː / tə ˈmeɪk ˈʃʊə hid ˈkʌm / tə ðə ˈraɪt ˈpleɪs // hi ˈpʊʃt ˈəʊpn
ðə ˈswɪŋ ˈdɔːz / ən ˈstept ɪnˈsaɪd / tə ðə ˈwɔːm ˈætməsfɪə // ðə ˈruːm wəz ˈkraʊdɪd wɪð ˈdaɪnəz // ə ˈkwɪk ˈɡlɑːns ˈraʊnd ðə ruːm / ˈtəʊld ɪm ɪz ˈfrend / wəz ɔːlˈredi ˈðeə // ˈɡriːtɪŋ ə wɪð ə ˈweɪv
əv ðə ˈhænd / hi ˈmeɪd ɪz ˈweɪ bɪˈtwiːn ðə ˈteɪblz / tə ˈweə ʃi wəz ˈsɪtɪŋ // əz ˈsuːn əz ðə ˈmenjuː əraɪvd / ðeɪ ˈɔːdəd ə ˈmiːl wɪð ˈwaɪn / 5. / ˈlɪvəpuːl / wɪtʃ ˈjuːʒjuəli hæz ə ˈveri ˈlɪbərəl ˈætɪtjuːd / ɪz ˈɡrəʊɪŋ ˈwʌrɪd əbaʊt ˈvaɪələns /
ən ðə ˈsɪtiz ˈbæd ˈɪmɪdʒ // ˈvaɪələnt ˈkraɪm həz ɪnˈkriːst səʊ ˈmʌtʃ / ɪn ˈriːsnt ˈmʌnθs / ðət ðə ˈsɪtiz həʊˈtel əʊnəz ˈkleɪm / ðət ˈmɔː ðn ˈθriː ˈmɪljən ˈpaʊnz ə ˈjɪə / ɪz ˈlɒst bɪkɒz ˈbɪznɪsmen ər əˈfreɪd / tə ˈsteɪ əʊvəˈnaɪt ðeə // ˈpiːpl ər ˈɔːlsəʊ əˈfreɪd / əv ˈhævɪŋ ðeə ˈkɑːz stəʊlən // ðə ˈpliːs ˈrekn / ðət əbaʊt ˈsevnti ˈkɑːz ə ˈdeɪ ə stəʊlən / əbaʊt ˈwʌn evri ˈtwenti ˈmɪnɪts // ˈməʊst əv ðə ˈkʌlprɪts ə ˈjʌŋ ˈtiːneɪdʒəz / huː ˈteɪk ðm fə ˈdʒɔɪraɪdz / ən ˈleɪtər əˈbændn ðm /
6. / ðə ˈtaʊn ˈkaʊnsl həz ˈriːsntli dɪˈsaɪdɪd / tə bæn ˈɔːl ˈkɑːz ˈvænz ən ˈlɒriz / frm ðə ˈtaʊn 16
ˈsentə / wɪtʃ ðeɪ ˈplæn tə tɜːn ˈɪntu / ə ˈlɑːdʒ pəˈdestriən priːsɪŋkt / ˈfriː frm pəˈluːʃn // ˈplænz ɪnˈkluːd ðə ˈbɪldɪŋ əv ˈhjuːdʒ ˈkɑːpɑːks / ɒn ði ˈedʒɪz əv ðə taʊn / frm wɪtʃ ˈbʌsɪz ən ˈtæksiz wɪl bi əˈveɪləbl / tə ˈteɪk piːpl ˈɪntə ðə ˈsentə // ðər ər ˈɔːlsəʊ plænz / tə ˈplɑːnt ə ˈlɑːdʒ ˈnʌmbər əv
ˈtriːz ən ˈbʊʃɪz / ən tə ˈmeɪk ðə taʊn sentə / ə ˈmɔːr əˈtræktɪv pleɪs ɪn ˈdʒenərəl // ˈmiːtɪŋz tə dɪˈskʌs ðiːz prəpəʊzd tʃeɪndʒɪz / wɪl bi ˈɔːɡənaɪzd ˈsuːn /
7. / ðə ˈɡrəʊθ əv ˈfemɪnɪzm / əʊvə ðə ˈlɑːs ˈθɜːti ˈjɪəz / həz dʌn ə ˈlɒt tə ˈtʃeɪndʒ piːplz ˈætɪtjuːdz / tə ðə ˈdɪfrnt ˈrəʊlz / ˈmen ən ˈwɪmɪn ˈpleɪ ɪn səˈsaiəti / ən ɪn ðeə rɪˈleɪʃnʃɪps wɪð ˈiːtʃ ˈʌðə // bət ˈnəʊ ˈmætə ˈhaʊ ɪnˈlaɪtnd ˈðiːz ˈætɪtjuːdz meɪ ˈsiːm / ˈmeni piːpl meɪ ˈstɪl knˈsɪdər ɪt
ˈstreɪndʒ / ðət ə ˈwʊmən kn ˈriːtʃ ə ˈθɜːtiz / wɪðˈaʊt ə ˈhʌzbnd ən ˈtʃɪldrən // ˈðɪs ɪz ðə ˈkeɪs wɪð ˈsɑːndrə // ˈwen ʃi ˈɡəʊz ˈhəʊm tə ˈsiː hə ˈmʌðə / ˈevri ˈtuː ˈmʌnθs / ðə ˈpiːpl ɪn ðə ˈvɪlɪdʒ ˈpɪti hə // ˈʃiːz ðə ˈpʊə ˈɡɜːl ðət ˈnevə ɡɒt ˈmærid /
8. / ði ˈʌðə ˈdeɪ aɪ wəz ˈɑːst tə dɪˈskraɪb maɪself / bət ˈhaʊ ɪz ɪt ˈpɒsəbl / tu ɒfər ə dɪˈskrɪpʃn əv wʌnself // ɪt ˈsəʊ ˈɒftn ˈhæpnz / ðət ðəz ən ɪˈnɔːməs dɪfrns / bɪtwiːn ˈhaʊ ʌðə ˈpiːpl siː ju /
ən ˈwɒt jɔː ˈrɪəli laɪk // ˈæz fə ˈmiː / aɪv ˈɔːlweɪz ˈθɔːt əv maɪself / əz ə ˈʃaɪ rɪˈzɜːvd pɜːsn / bət maɪ ˈfrenz tel mi / aɪm ˈkwaɪt ˈaʊtɡəʊɪŋ // ˈmʌtʃ ˈmɔː səʊ ðn aɪd ˈθɔːt // ˈwɒt ʃəd aɪ ˈduː // ˈʃæl aɪ dɪˈskraɪb maɪself / əz aɪ ˈθɪŋk aɪ æm / ɔːr ˈæz aɪ əˈpɪə tu ˈʌðəz // pəˈhæps ɪt əd bi ˈbetə / ˈnɒt tə ˈliːv ɪt tə maɪ ˈəʊn ˈdʒʌdʒmənt / 9. / ˈduːɪŋ ðə ˈhaʊswɜːk ɪz ˈnəʊbɒdiz feɪvrɪt dʒɒb // bət ɪtl bi ˈjɔː tɜːn ˈsʌm deɪ // ˈswiːpɪŋ ðə
ˈflɔːz / ˈdʌstɪŋ ðə ˈfɜːnɪtʃə / ˈkliːnɪŋ ðə ˈwɪndəʊz / ˈmeɪkɪŋ ðə ˈbedz // ˈɔːl ðiːz ˈhaʊshəʊld ˈdʒɒbz / ðət ˈhæf tə bi ˈdʌn // ən ɪts ˈbetə tə ˈduː ðm wɪð ə ˈsmaɪl / ðn ɪn ə ˈbæd ˈmuːd // ˈmeni əv əs
wɪl ˈwʌn deɪ / hæv ə ˈpleɪs əv aʊər ˈəʊn / tə lʊk ɑːftə // ˈðen wil siː / wɒt ə ˈlɒt ðər ɪz tə ˈduː / tə ˈkiːp ə haʊs ˈɡəʊɪŋ // haʊˈevə / ˈθɪŋz ə ˈnɒt əz ˈbæd əz ðeɪ ˈwɜː // ˈnaʊ wi hæv ˈmɒdn əˈplaɪənsɪz tə ˈhelp əs /
10. / ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒɪz ə ðə ˈkiː tə kəmjuːnɪˈkeɪʃn // wɪðˈaʊt ðm / ðə ˈmiːdiə / ˈreɪdiəʊ / ˈtelɪvɪʒn / ˈnjuːzpeɪpəz / ən ˈbʊks / ə ˈjuːsləs // ˈnaʊədeɪz / ˈnɒlɪdʒ əv læŋɡwɪdʒɪz / həz bɪkʌm ˈsəʊ
ɪmˈpɔːtnt / ðət ˈməʊs dʒɒbz / ɪkˈspekt ju tə bi ˈfluːənt / ɪn ət ˈliːst ˈwʌn ˈʌðə læŋɡwɪdʒ / bɪˈsaɪdz jɔː ˈneɪtɪv wʌn // ət ˈskuːl / wi ˈjuːstə ˈstʌdi ˈəʊnli ˈwʌn fɒrən læŋɡwɪdʒ / ˈfrentʃ // bət ˈnaʊ ju
kn ˈteɪk ˈsevrəl ˈdɪfrənt læŋɡwɪdʒɪz // əˈpɑːt frm frentʃ / ðər ə ˈdʒɜːmən ən ˈspænɪʃ ˈtuː // haʊˈevə / ɔːlˈðəʊ ju niːd tə ˈɡəʊ tə ˈklɑːs tə lɜːn ˈɡræmə / ðəz ˈnʌθɪŋ ˈbetə ðn ə ˈsteɪ / ɪn ðə ˈkʌntri weə ðə læŋɡwɪdʒ jɔː ˈstʌdiɪŋ ɪz ˈspəʊkn /
11. / ðə ˈməʊst ɪmˈmbærɪsɪŋ ɪkˈspɪəriəns / aɪv ˈevə ˈhæd / hæpnd ˈtuː ˈjɪəz əɡəʊ // maɪ ˈwaɪf ən aɪ həd ˈdrɪvn ɪntə ˈtaʊn / tə ˈduː sm ˈʃɒpɪŋ // ˈsʌdnli / maɪ ˈwaɪf sɔː ə ˈdres ðət si laɪkt / ɪn ə ˈʃɒp ˈwɪndəʊ / ən ˈstɒpt // ˈaɪ stɑːtɪd ˈlʊkɪŋ ət sm ˈreɪdiəʊz / ɪn ðə ˈnekst wɪndəʊ // ˈɑːftər ə 17
ˈmɪnɪt ɔː tuː / aɪ ˈriːtʃt fə maɪ ˈwaɪfs ˈhænd // ðə wəz ə ˈlaʊd ˈskriːm / ən ə ˈwʊmən ˈhɪt maɪ ˈfeɪs // aɪ ˈhædnt ˈteɪkn maɪ ˈwaɪfs hænd // aɪd ˈteɪkn ðə ˈhænd əv ə kmˈpliːt ˈstreɪndʒə / 12. / ˈwʌns ə ˈjɪə / ɪn ˈevri ˈbrɪtɪʃ juːnɪˈvɜːsɪti / ˈstjuːdnts ˈselɪbreɪt ə ˈspeʃl ˈwiːk / kɔːld ˈræɡ wiːk // djʊərɪŋ ðɪs wiːk / ɪt ɪz trəˈdɪʃnl fə ðə stjuːdnts / tu ˈɔːɡənaɪz ʌnˈjuːʒjuəl ækˈtɪvɪtiz / ət ðə
juːnɪˈvɜːsɪti ən ɪn ðə ˈtaʊn // ˈɡruːps əv stjuːdnts / pʊt ɒn ˈfænsi ˈdres / meɪk ˈdʒəʊks / ən ˈhəʊld ˈpɑːtiz // ði ˈaɪdɪə ˈɪz / tə kəlekt ˈmʌni / wɪtʃ ˈðen ˈɡəʊz tə ˈtʃærɪtiz / ˈəʊld ˈpiːplz ˈhəʊmz / ɔː
ˈhɒspɪtlz // wen ˈræɡ wiːk ɪz ˈəʊvə / ðə ˈfʌn ˈfɪnɪʃɪz / ən bəʊθ ˈstjuːdnts ən ðə ˈrest əv ðə juːnɪˈvɜːsɪti / rɪˈtɜːn tə nɔːˈmælɪti / 13. / ˈbɪl ˈrædfəd hæz ə ˈdʒɒb / ɪn ə ˈsmɔːl ˈfæktri // hi ˈdznt ˈlaɪk ðə wɜːk veri ˈmtʃ / bət i ɪnˈdʒɔɪz ðə rɪˈleɪʃnʃɪp / wɪð ðə ˈðə wɜːkəz / ən i ˈɡets ɒn ˈwel wɪð ðə ˈbɒs // hɪz ˈwaɪf əz biːn nɪmˈplɔɪd / fə ðə ˈlɑːs tuː ˈjɪəz // ʃi ˈsteɪz ət ˈhəʊm / ən lʊks ˈɑːftə ðə ˈhaʊs // ət wiːkˈenz / ðeɪ
ˈtraɪ tə ˈspend sm ˈtaɪm aʊtˈdɔːz // ðeɪ ˈɒftn ɡəʊ ˈwɔːkɪŋ ɪn ðə ˈkntri / ɔː ˈteɪk ðeə ˈdɔːtər ɒn ˈtrɪps / tə ˈpleɪsɪz laɪk ðə ˈzuː / ɔː ðə ˈsiːsaɪd / 14. / ˈdʒeɪn ˈstɒpt aʊtˈsaɪd ðə ˈʃuː ʃɒp / ən lʊkt ˈɪntə ðə ˈwɪndəʊ // fə ˈsm ˈtaɪm / ʃi ˈsteəd ət ə ˈpeər əv ˈleðə ˈbuːts / ən ˈrɪəlaɪzd ðət ðeɪ wər ɪɡˈzækli / ˈwɒt ʃid bɪn ˈlʊkɪŋ fɔː // ðə ˈpraɪs
wɒznt ˈmɑːkt ɒn ðm / səʊ ˈdʒeɪn went ˈɪntə ðə ˈʃɒp / tə ˈfaɪnd aʊt ˈhaʊ mtʃ ðeɪ ˈwɜː // ʃi wəz
ˈpliːzd tə ˈlɜːn / ðət ðeɪ wə ˈtʃiːp / bət ˈnɒt ət ˈɔːl pliːzd tə dɪskvə / ðət ɪn ˈhɜː saɪz / ðə wə ˈnn ˈleft // ˈfɔːtʃənətli / ðə wəz əˈnðə peə ʃi fænsid / səʊ ʃi wəz ˈeɪbl tə baɪ ˈðəʊz / ɪn ðə ˈklə ʃi wɒntɪd /
15. / ðə ˈbrɪtɪʃ ə ˈfeɪməs / fə ðeə rɪˈspekt fə trəˈdɪʃn // ˈvɪzɪtəz ˈkm frm ˈðə ˈkntriz / tə siː ˈserəməniz / laɪk ðə ˈtʃeɪndʒɪŋ əv ðə ˈɡɑːd / wɪtʃ ˈteɪks ˈpleɪs ɪn ˈlndən / ən ətrækts ðə ˈjŋ ən ði ˈəʊld // ˈwns / ən əˈmerikn leɪdi / ˈwɒntɪd tə ˈfəʊtəɡræf ə ˈsəʊldʒə / huː wəz ˈaʊtsaɪd
ˈbkɪŋəm ˈpælɪs // ɪt wəz ˈhɒt / ən ðə ˈsəʊldʒə wəz ˈtaɪəd / ɑːftə ˈsevrəl ˈaʊəz ɪn ðə ˈsn // ˈsmtaɪmz / ˈsəʊldʒəz luːz ˈpeɪʃns wɪð ˈtʊərɪsts // ˈwen ðə ˈleɪdi ˈtəʊld ɪm tə ˈstænd ˈstɪl / hi ˈstʊd ɒn hə ˈfʊt // ði ˈɪnsɪdnt wəz rɪˈpɔːtɪd / ɪn ðə ˈnjuːzpeɪpəz ðə ˈfɒləʊɪŋ ˈdeɪ / 16. / ˈwn smər ˈiːvnɪŋ / ˈdʒɒn rɪˈtɜːnd ˈhəʊm əz ˈjuːʒjuəl / ət ˈfaɪv ˈmɪnɪts tə ˈsevn prɪˈsaɪsli //
ˈwen i ˈəʊpnd ðə ˈfrnt ˈɡeɪt / hi ɪˈmiːdjətli ˈnəʊtɪst ˈsmθɪŋ ˈstreɪndʒ // ðə wəz ə ˈhevi ˈfʊtprɪnt ɪn ðə ˈɡɑːdn // ˈdʒɒn ˈθɔːt / ɪt ˈmaɪt əv bɪn ðə ˈpəʊsmən / bət ˈðen i nəʊtɪst / ðət ˈwn əv ðə ˈwaɪt ˈkɜːtnz / ɪn ðə ˈfrnt ˈruːm daʊnˈsteəz / wəz ˈaʊt əv ˈpleɪs // ˈdʒɒn ˈnevə left ˈeniθɪŋ aʊt əv
pleɪs // hi wɔːkt ˈp tə ˈfrnt ˈdɔː / ən ˈəʊpnd ɪt ˈkwaɪətli // hi ˈlɪsnd ˈkeəfəli / bət kəd ˈhɪə ˈnθɪŋ /
17. / ˈevə sɪns ˈdʒɒnəθən / muːvd ˈɪntə hɪz ˈnjuː ˈhaʊs / hi həz lʊkt ˈɑːftər ɪt / ˈveri ˈkeəfəli // hi 18
wɜːks ˈhɑːd ɪn ðə ˈɡɑːdn ˈevri ˈsndi / ən ɪz ˈneɪbəz ə ˈveri ɪmˈprest / baɪ ðə ˈwaɪd vəˈraɪəti əv ˈflaʊəz ðət ɡrəʊ ðeə // bɪˈfɔː ˈdʒɒnəθən ˈliːvz ðə haʊs / ɪn ðə ˈmɔːnɪŋz / hi ˈkeəfəli ˈkləʊzɪz / ˈɔːl
ðə ˈdɔːz daʊnˈsteəz / ˈəʊpnz ðə ˈwɪndəʊz ˈpsteəz / tə ˈlet ðə ˈfreʃ ˈeər ɪn / ən ˈðen ˈlɒks ðə ˈfrnt ˈdɔː // ˈevriθɪŋ ˈdʒɒnəθən ˈdz / ɪz ˈtaɪdi ən sɪstəˈmætɪk / 18. / əz ˈɪf frm ˈnəʊweə / ə ˈmæn əpɪəd / ən ˈsæt ˈdaʊn bɪˈsaɪd redfəd / ˈpleɪsɪŋ ɪz ˈnjuːzpeɪpər ɒn ðə ˈsiːt bɪˈtwiːn ðm // hi wəz ˈθɪn ən ˈmɪdlˈeɪdʒd / ən ˈsiːmd ɪn ˈniːd / əv ə ˈɡʊd ˈmiːl // tə
ˈlʊk ət ɪm / ju wəd ˈnevə ˈɡes / ðət i wəz ə səkˈsesfl ˈspaɪ // hɪz kɒnvəˈseɪʃn / əˈbaʊt ðə ˈweðə / wəz ˈterɪbli nˈɪntərestɪŋ // ə ˈfjuː mɪnɪts ˈleɪtə / hi ɡɒt ˈp / ən knˈtɪnjuːd ɒn ɪz ˈweɪ // ˈredfəd
ˈpɪkt p ðə peɪpə / wɪtʃ ˈleɪ ɒn ðə ˈbentʃ / əz ɪf i ˈwɒntɪd tə ˈriːd ðə ˈnjuːz // hɪz ˈhænz ˈʃʊk / əz i ˈtɜːnd tə ˈpeɪdʒ fɔːˈtiːn / 19. / aʊə səˈpraɪz wəz ˈɡreɪt / wen wi ˈhɜːd / ðət ðə ˈhaʊs həd ˈfaɪnəli biːn ˈsəʊld // ðə ˈnjuː əʊnə ˈplænd / tə knˈvɜːt ɪt ˈɪntu ə həʊˈtel // ˈʃɔːtli ˈɑːftəwədz / ə ˈsmɔːl ˈɑːmi əv ˈwɜːkmən əpɪəd
/ ən ɪn ˈrekɔːd ˈtaɪm / trænsˈfɔːmd ði əʊld ruːɪn // bət ˈɔːl ðɪs ˈɜːdʒnt ækˈtɪvɪti / ˈkeɪm tu ən
əˈbrpt ˈend / wen ə ˈfaɪə brəʊk aʊt wn naɪt / ən knˈsɪdərəbli ˈdæmɪdʒd / ðə nɪəli kmpliːtɪd həʊtel // nˈfɔːtʃənətli / ðə ˈbɪldɪŋ ˈhædnt bɪn ɪnˈʃʊəd / səʊ ˈwɜːk ˈstɒpt / 20. / ˈlɑːs ˈsndi ˈnaɪt / aɪ wəz ˈveri ˈləʊnli ɪnˈdiːd // aɪ wəz ət ə ˈveri naɪs ˈspə pɑːti // aɪ ˈdɪdnt hæv ˈmtʃ tə ˈdrɪŋk / bɪˈkɒz aɪ wəz ˈdraɪvɪŋ // ˈwen aɪ əˈraɪvd ˈhəʊm / ɪt wəz ˈveri ˈleɪt / bət aɪ ˈdʒs ˈdɪdnt ˈfiːl laɪk / ˈɡəʊɪŋ tə ˈbed / səʊ aɪ ˈsæt ən ˈhæd ə ˈɡlɑːs əv ˈwaɪn / ən ˈlɪsnd tə
ˈmjuːzɪk / fər ə ˈkpl əv ˈaʊəz // aɪ ˈθɔːt haʊ ˈmtʃ / aɪd ˈlaɪk tə ˈhæv / ˈsmwn aɪ ˈtrstɪd / ˈsmwn wɪð ðə ˈseɪm ˈsens əv ˈhjuːmə / ðət aɪ kəd ˈsɪt wɪð / ən ˈtɔːk tuː // aɪ felt ˈveri ˈləʊnli /
bət ˈðen aɪ rɪˈmembəd / ðət ˈhɑːdli ˈeniwn hæz ˈsmwn / wɪð ɪɡˈzækli ðə ˈseɪm riˈækʃnz / ən ˈɪf ðeɪ ˈhæv / ɪt ˈdznt wɜːk ˈɔːl ðə taɪm / 21. / ˈwɒt wɪl ðə ˈfjuːtʃə bi laɪk // wɪl kmˈpjuːtəz teɪk əˈweɪ / ˈɔːl aʊə ˈdʒɒbz // ə ˈrædɪkl ˈsəʊʃl
ˈtʃeɪndʒ ɪz ˈnesəseri / ˈɪf wi ə tə səˈvaɪv / ði ɔːtəˈmeɪʃn revəluːʃn // ɪf ˈlɑːdʒ ˈɡruːps ɪn səˈsaɪəti / ə dɪsˈsætɪsfaɪd ən ˈresləs / ən ˈɪŋkriːs ɪn ˈkraɪm ɪz ɪnevɪtəbl // ɪt ɪz ðə rɪspɒnsəˈbɪlɪti əv
pɒlɪˈtɪʃnz / tə ˈdiːl wɪð ðɪs prɒbləm // ən ˈɒbviəs səluːʃn / ɪz ə ˈʃɔːtə ˈwɜːkɪŋ wiːk // ˈles taɪm ət ˈwɜːk / wʊd miːn ˈmɔː taɪm əveɪləbl / tə teɪk p ˈnjuː æktɪvɪtiz / ən ˈmɔːr ɒpətjuːnɪtiz / fə ˈfɜːðər edjuˈkeɪʃn /
22. / ɪn nəʊˈvembə ˈnaɪntiːn ˈsɪksti ˈsɪks / ɑːftər ɪkˈstriːmli ˈhevi ˈreɪn / ðə ˈrɪvər ˈɑːnəʊ / ɪn ˈnɔːðn ˈɪtəli / ˈəʊvəˈfləʊd ɪts ˈbæŋks / ən ˈkɔːzd ˈɡreɪt ˈlɒs əv ˈlaɪf / ən dɪˈstrkʃn əv ˈhəʊmz / əz ˈwel əz ɪkˈstensɪv ˈdæmɪdʒ / tə ˈmeni ˈwəːks əv ˈɑːt / wɪtʃ ðə ˈsɪti əv ˈflɒrns / knteɪnd // ɪt wəz
ˈnɒt ˈəʊnli / ˈwn əv ðə ˈkntriz məʊs ˈsɪəriəs ˈnætʃərəl dɪˈzɑːstəz // ɪt wəz ˈɔːlsəʊ ən ɪˈvent / əv ˈtrædʒɪk prəˈpɔːʃnz / fə ˈpiːpl ˈɔːl ˈəʊvə ðə ˈwɜːld / 19
PHYSIOLOGY: THE SPEECH ORGANS The so-called speech organs were not initially speech organs but developed first to cope with the primary biological functions of breathing, coughing, chewing and swallowing, etc. There are three stages in the production of speech sounds: 1. Initiation: Use of an air-stream mechanism to initiate the production of speech sounds (pulmonic, glottalic, velaric/mouth; egressive v. ingressive). 2. Phonation: Use of the larynx, aided by an airstream, to produce speech sounds. 3. Articulation: Use of the speech organs in the supralaryngeal or supraglottal vocal tract to produce speech sounds. Thus the speech organs can be divided into 3 parts: 1. The respiratory apparatus: the lungs 2. The larynx (rough equivalents: Adam’s apple, thyroid cartilage) 3. The supraglottal cavities: the oral cavity/mouth, nasal cavity, pharynx 1. The lungs: 2 spongy masses enclosed in an airtight sack (pleura) inside the ribcage. The lungs are like bellows. When they expand, they can take in 2-3 litres of air. We breathe in much faster when speaking and let the air out more slowly. 2. The larynx: the hard casing round vocal cords/folds, 2 bands of elastic tissue, which open in a triangular shape with the apex at the front. The opening between the cords is the glottis. The cords prevent entry of foreign bodies into the windpipe and assist in any muscular effort of the arms and abdomen. Positions in speech: 1. Wide open: unvoiced sounds. 2. Close together and vibrating: voiced sounds. Note the following important factors in vibration: i. frequency of vibration - the faster the vibration, the higher the pitch ii. mode of vibration A. normal voice (modal voice) B. creaky voice (“glottal fry”) C. breathy voice (“bedroom voice”) D. whisper (Ladefoged: murmur) (“library voice”) E. harsh voice (creak + whisper, concomitant action of false vocal folds) iii. amplitude of vibration - related to loudness. 3. Tightly shut. 3. The supraglottal cavities: They act as resonators for the laryngeal tone, rather like the body of a guitar. Note the importance of the tongue, lips and velum. Co-articulation: voice quality/phonetic settings. Features may not merely be characteristic of particular segments, but pervade or “colour” the speech of individuals or whole communities. 1. Laryngeal settings: (as above). 2. Supralaryngeal settings: 1. lip-rounding 2. nasalization 3. raised larynx 4. lowered larynx 5. retroflex articulation 6. dentalized voice 7. palatalized voice 8. velarized voice. IMPROVING A SMALL NUMBER OF FEATURES CAN INFLUENCE A LARGE NUMBER OF SEGMENTS. 20
Phonetics Websites 1. www.phon.ucl.ac.uk Website for the Department of Phonetics, University College London. For the homepage of Professor John Wells, add /home/wells/. For information on the Summer Course in English Phonetics, add /home/scep/. 2. www.yek.me.uk Homepage of Jack Windsor Lewis, former lecturer in English Phonetics, University of Leeds. Tutor and lecturer at SCEP (see 1). 3. http://hctv.humnet.ucla.edu/departments/linguistics/VowelsandConsonants/ This is the website for Peter Ladefoged’s book Vowels and Consonants (Blackwell 2001). Visit it to listen to the sounds of the IPA and see a video of the vocal cords or the tongue, etc. 4. www.ctlwmp.cityu.edu.hk/lingintro/english/sounds/phonology/index-analysis.htm For an explanation of phoneme and allophone. 5. http://www.phon.ox.ac.uk/~jcoleman/phonation.htm The vocal tract, the larynx, the vocal folds and the glottis. Read about phonation. 6. http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html Interactive sagittal section. Voicing, place and manner in the articulation of consonants. Use the buttons to change voicing, nasality, lip position, and tongue position. To move the tongue, you need to specify both manner and place of articulation. Not all of the possible combinations of tongue and lip positions are used in speech; for example, if the tongue is making a stop, positioning the lips for a fricative will have no effect on the resulting sound. Try to obtain the following IPA sounds: [p, b, m, w, l, d, j, s, h, etc.]. 7. www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/ The University of Iowa’s Sounds of Languages page. 8. www. cambridge.org/0521004969 The website for the book Introducing Phonetic Science by Ashby and Maidment (CUP 2005). 9. www.cambridge.org/elt/peterroach/resources.htm Material accompanying the 4th edition (2009) of English Phonetics and Phonology by Peter Roach. 10. www.speechinaction.com Richard Cauldwell’s site for his Streaming Speech materials.
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EXERCISES ON THE SPEECH ORGANS Read Mott, A Course ..., ch. 2, then do the following exercises: 1. Complete the following sentences: 1. The three major parts of the speech apparatus are ________________. 2. The most important organ in the mouth is the___________ because of its mobility. 3. If the glottis is almost closed and the vocal folds vibrate, we produce a ___________sound. 4. Velic closure is raising of the __________to touch______________. 5. Velar closure is raising of the ___________to touch_____________. 6. The palate is a _______________articulator. 7. The resonances set up in the vocal tract are called _____________. 8. The opening between the vocal cords is called the _____________. 9. Clicks are produced by the _________________mechanism. 10. The appendage attached to the soft palate is called the __________. 11. The supraglottal cavities are_____________________________. 12. The lips and the vocal cords are ______________ articulators. 13. The roof of the mouth is divided into __________________________. 14. Most speech sounds are produced by using air expelled from the lungs and are therefore called ______________. 15. If there is a groove down the middle of the tongue, we say that it is______________. Adapted from: Mott, B. A Course in Phonetics and Phonology for Spanish Learners of English. 2. True or false? If false, say why. 1. __The function of the the epiglottis is to prevent air from going into the trachea. 2. __We use breathy voice when we speak at the same time as we are making an effort. 3. __A glottal stop is often produced before voiceless plosives in English. 4. __We have clicks as phonemes in English and they are rarely used. 5. __The thyroid and arytenoid cartilages are found in the pharynx. 6. __Amplitude of vibration is related to loudness. 7. __We find considerable opening towards the front of the vocal cords when we whisper. 8. __When the glottis is tightly shut and opens suddenly, a glottal stop can be produced. 9. __The oral cavity acts as a resonator but not the nasal cavity. 10. __When we produce a nasalized vowel, the air escapes only through the nose.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF VOWELS and CONSONANTS VOWELS
CONSONANTS
… can be well described in auditory terms.
… can be well described in articulatory terms.
… are produced on an unobstructed flow of air.
… are produced on an obstructed flow of air.
… constitutes the peak of stress. They forms the nucleus of a syllable.
… are marginal in the syllable.
… are relatively long.
… are relatively short.
… are voiced.
… can be both voiced and unvoiced.
… are more audible than consonants, i.e. they have greater carrying-power (relative … are less audible than vowels. sonority). … are less vital to understanding than consonants. (Note Arabic, in which vowels are not written.)
… are more vital to understanding than vowels.
… are always less numerous than consonants in a phonological system, and there are always fewer nasal vowels than oral vowels.
… are always more numerous than vowels in a phonological system.
… bear pitch change, and the frequency of vibration of the vocal cords is higher than in consonants.
… have vocal cord vibration if voiced, but this is lower than in vowels.
… can form a syllable without the support of consonants.
… cannot usually form a syllable on their own, but in some languages lateral and nasal consonants may be syllabic and therefore vocoid.
The glides /j/ and /w/ are classified as vowels or consonants according to the language in question, but very often their classification is phonological and is not based on their phonetic properties. For example, in English, the fact that they can be followed by any vowel or diphthong, like all consonants, justifies classifying them as consonants. 23
EXERCISES ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF SPEECH SOUNDS 1. True or False? 1. Consonants are less audible than vowels. 2. /p/ and /b/ can be considered approximants in some contexts. 3. All English vowels are voiced.
4. There are physiological differences in the production of vowels and consonants. 5. In a vowel system, there may be more labialized than non-labialized vowels. 6. Liquids and nasals can constitute the nucleus of a syllable. 7. Vowels are shorter than consonants.
8. Consonants are less vital to understanding than vowels. 9. Vowels are more sonorous than consonants and liquids are less sonorous than vowels.
10. Cardinal vowels are always unrounded and non-nasalized.
11. We can find vowel systems of two vowels if at least one of the vowels can be nasalized.
12. We can define a diphthong as a kind of vowel-glide or gliding vowel. 13. In a rising diphthong, the end is more prominent than the beginning. 14. The diphthong in /klaɪm/ (climb) is falling, closing and narrow. 15. The diphthong in /rəʊd/ (road) is falling, centring and narrow.
2. Answer the following questions: a) Why are the terms VOCOID and CONTOID useful when classifying speech sounds?
b) What are syllabic [l] and [n]? When do we find them? Give some examples.
24
EXERCISES ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH SPEECH SOUNDS CIRCLE THE WORDS THAT: 1)
... begin with a bilabial consonant: man, gnaw, saw, bone, write, pill.
2)
... begin with a velar consonant: knit, knee, give, gem, jealous, gear, heel.
3)
... begin with a labio-dental consonant: tap, van, photo, think, those, file.
4)
... begin with an alveolar consonant: too, name, thick, zoo, light, pneumonia.
5)
... begin with a dental consonant: tea, deep, this, five, vote, give, then, shake.
6)
... begin with a palato-alveolar consonant: soon, jealous, zoom, day, sugar, joke.
7)
... end with a fricative: rough, allow, though, less, much, nose, will, hiccough.
8)
... end with a nasal: ham, womb, kneel, whip, behind, climb.
9)
... end with a stop: pack, hope, graph, club, comb, send.
10)
... begin with a lateral: road, clean, lay, Lloyd, meet, roar.
11)
... begin with an approximant: rope, mean, nut, break, lose, use, once.
12)
... end with an affricate: choose, pull, seeds, sledge, which, high.
13)
... have a voiced consonant in the middle: easy, bother, dressing, cupboard, letter.
CIRCLE THE WORDS THAT: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
... contain a high vowel: wet, sweet, mood, blood, come, blot, feud. ... contain a low vowel: sack, suck, shark, shoe, soup, what. ... contain a front vowel: late, plant, calm, bet, will, wool. ... contain a back vowel: cough, some, like, pot, want, wake. ... contain a rounded vowel: work, got, let, learn, horn, shoot.
FILL IN THE FOLLOWING TABLE: English consonant /d/
voiced/unvoiced voiced
place of articulation manner of articulation alveolar
/dʒ/ /f/
/ʃ/
/h/ /ŋ/ /l/
25
plosive
PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY PHONETICS: “The science which studies the characteristics of human sound-making, especially those sounds used in speech, and provides methods for their DESCRIPTION, CLASSIFICATION and TRANSCRIPTION”. (D. Crystal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. 6th ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008, p. 363) There are three main branches: (1) ARTICULATORY PHONETICS – which studies the way speech sounds are made; (2) ACOUSTIC PHONETICS – which studies the physical properties of speech sounds, as transmitted between mouth and ear; (3) AUDITORY PHONETICS – which studies the perceptual response to speech sounds, as mediated by ear, auditory nerve and brain. Phonetics is a pure science and need not be studied in relation to any particular language. PHONOLOGY: If Phonetics provides descriptions and classifications of speech sounds, Phonology employs these to study the SOUND SYSTEMS OF LANGUAGES. “Out of the very wide range of sounds the human vocal apparatus can produce, and which are studied by Phonetics, only a relatively small number are used distinctively in any one language. The sounds are organized into a system of contrasts, which are analysed in terms of phonemes, distinctive features, or other such phonological units, according to the theory used” (Crystal, 2008, p. 365). Phonology has two goals: (1) To write descriptions of the sound patterns of particular languages. (2) To make general statements about the nature of the sound systems of the languages of the world and establish universals. For example, a language does not usually have voiced stops without voiceless ones. A language does not have /ei/ unless it has /i/. Vowel systems tend to be predominantly symmetrical, with the vowels distributed fairly evenly between back and front, and open and close. A three-vowel system, for example, will not consist entirely of front vowels, or entirely of close vowels. Large sound systems are orderly expansions of smaller ones. In Phonology, the expression DISTINCTIVE FEATURES is used to refer to any features of speech which enable a contrast to be made between phonological units. Such features might also be labelled RELEVANT, FUNCTIONAL or SIGNIFICANT. “Distinctive features may be seen either as part of the definition of phonemes, or as an alternative to the notion of the phoneme. The first of these views is found in the approach of the Prague School, where the phoneme is seen as a BUNDLE of phonetic distinctive features: the English phoneme /p/, for example, can be seen as the result of the combination of the features BILABIAL, VOICELESS, PLOSIVE, etc. Other phonemes will differ from /p/ in respect of at least one of these features.” (Crystal, 2008, p. 151)
26
THE PHONEME Languages differ as to which units they use distinctively. What is distinctive in one language may not be so in another. The minimal distinctive units of language are what we call phonemes, which are not sounds, but linguistic abstractions. However, the degree of abstraction varies according to the concept of different linguists. According to the American survey known as UPSID (The University of California, Los Angeles Phonological Segment Inventory Database), the number of phonemes in the world’s languages ranges between 11 and 141; the consonant range is 6-95 segments, and the vowel range is 3-46 segments; 70% of the world’s languages have between 20 and 37 segments; a typical language has over twice as many consonants as vowels. Owing to the different number of phonemes in different languages, languages use different PHONETIC SPACE. For example, Tagalog, with its three-vowel system, needs less precision for /i/ than English does in this area with the / – // opposition. Cf. also Japanese /l ~ r/: Japanese has only one phoneme in this articulatory area, and this phoneme therefore has greater latitude. The terms PHONEME, ALLOPHONE and PHONE PHONE = any speech sound; a phoneme-token – a single instance of the utterance of a phoneme on a particular occasion by a particular speaker. ALLOPHONE = a phoneme sub-type – one of the members of a phoneme “family”; a particular way of realizing a phoneme in a particular phonetic environment; a positional variant of a phoneme which occurs in a specific environment and does not serve to distinguish meaning. PHONEME = the minimal distinctive unit of phonology which serves to distinguish meaning. Problems of segmentation Sometimes problems of segmentation arise. Are /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ one phoneme or two? Or putting
it more technically, are they monophonematic or biphonematic? As regards /tʃ/in Spanish there is no great problem. Spanish has no independent phoneme /ʃ/ so we classify /tʃ/ as a separate phoneme. The unitary interpretation is preferred in English because we do not split /tʃ/ and /dʒ/:a grey chip is distinguishable from a great ship. Note also that Cheese and apple can be fumbled as Eese and chapple, but would never come out as *Sheese and tapple. Daniel Jones “physical” view of the phoneme The phoneme is regarded as a “family” of sounds satisfying certain conditions, notably: (a) The various members of the “family” must show phonetic similarity to one another, in other words be “related in character” (Jones, 1950: 10). (b) No member of the “family” may occur in the same phonetic context as any other; this condition is often referred to as the requirement of complementary distribution. Differentiation of meaning is considered a corollary of the definition, not the basis (Jones, 1950: 13-15). Jakobson refers to this view as the “generic” view. Phoneme is opposed to sound as class is to specimen. 27
THE PHONEME: DANIEL JONES’ PROPOSITIONS 1) The theory of the phoneme can only be based on the speech of one particular person. Different speakers can have different phoneme inventories.
2) The theory can only apply if based on one consistent style used in one dialect. Slow speech and fast speech produce different pronunciations; Northerners may say /lʊk/ or
/luːk/ depending on whom they are addressing; in Standard English horse and hoarse are homophones, but not in every dialect.
3) The theory can only apply to isolate words, not connected speech; sequences like [ɡʊɡ ɡl] and [ɡʊb bɪ] present problems of phonemic analysis (see Roach, section entitled “Aspects of Connected Speech”). If phonemic grouping were based on connected speech,
[y] and [] would be different phonemes in French because of oppositions like tu es [tyɛ] and tuait [tɛ]. Note also the problem of German [x] and [ç]. The latter allophone is used after front vowels, and the former after back vowels. On the basis of pairs like tauchen
[tauxn] ‘to dive’ and Tauchen [tauçn] ‘little rope’, it looks as if we have to treat them as phonemes. However, as [-çn] in Tauchen is an invariable diminutive ending, it can be treated as if it were a separate word, i.e. dealt with on a morphophonological level. 4) The theory of the phoneme should not include prosodic features.
5) A sound cannot belong to more than one phoneme. We cannot say that in English [n] and [ŋ] are usually distinct, but that in ink the [ŋ] belongs to the /n/ phoneme. For then we could say that [m] belongs to /n/ in lamp as *[lænp] does not exist.
EXCEPTIONS TO (5):
(i) Overlapping. Example: the retracted variety of French // sounds much like the advanced variety of //.
(ii) In a hypothetical language in which [d] and [z] occurred in the same environment and [dz] in a different one, [dz] could be assigned equally well to either /d/ or /z/.
6) The members of a phoneme must be phonetically similar. English /ŋ/ and /h/ are in complementary distribution, but they are not phonetically similar and therefore cannot reasonably be assigned to a single phoneme.
However phonetic similarity should not be thought of in purely articulatory terms. Sounds may differ greatly in place and manner of articulation and yet share certain auditory properties which justify regarding them as similar. Japanese has a phoneme consisting of the allophones:
[] bilabial fricative before [u] as in [uku] ‘luck’ [ç] palatal fricative before [i] as in [çito] ‘man’
[h] glottal fricative before [e, o, a] as in [hana] ‘nose’.
Study definitions of the terms phoneme and allophone. Make sure you understand the concepts neutralization,
free variation and complementary distribution.
28
DISTINCTIVE FEATURE THEORY Distinctive Feature Theory (DFT) arose as a challenge to Phoneme Theory (PT). It takes the features of which phonemes are traditionally considered to be composed (e.g.
[NASAL], [VOICE]) as the basic units of phonology rather than the phonemes themselves, and casts doubts on the validity of the concept of the phoneme. Thus, DFT can be compared to splitting the atom.
Why is PT unsatisfactory? As we speak, we do not simply articulate a series of
phonemes, so we are not moving from one sound to another, as it were. What is really happening is that features are continually being turned on and off throughout the speech chain. For example, if we pronounce the English word wander, there is voicing throughout,
labialization is spread over the first two segments (/wɒ/), and the two intervocalic consonants (/nd/) are both alveolar.
Compare also historical change. In the development of Latin VITA into Spanish vida,
we could say that /-t-/ has become /-d-/, but this does not tell us very much. Feature analysis tells us that what has changed here is the voicing, exactly the same change that has taken
place in LUPU > lobo and LACU > lago. This is important because changes tend to affect
whole natural classes, like /p, t, k/ here, which are all unvoiced plosives. And note, moreover, that the voicing facilitates the transition between the vowels, which are voiced sounds. It is much easier to keep the voicing on than to turn it off between vowels. Advantages of DFT There are three major advantages of DFT over PT: 1. Economy: some traditional labels, like lateral, retroflex, tap, flap, trill and labio-dental, apply to very few segments. The initial idea of DFT was to dispense with unnecessary phonetic detail and provide an economical set of labels. 2. The “one-mouth” principle (Jakobson): it should be possible to describe Vs and Cs by
using the same set of terms because Vs are “open Cs” and Cs are “close Vs”. [j] and [w], as in radio [ˈreɪdjəʊ] and influence [ˈɪnflwəns], are rapid, gliding versions of [i] and [u]; [l] and [r] can vocalize and become [– CONS].
3. Sounds may have very different places of articulation, but similar acoustic properties, and so be related despite their physical differences. DFT shows this more clearly.
[b] and [ɡ], [k] and [p] are often confused in the world’s languages as they are all
[+GRAVE]; [x] became [f] in some words in English ( enough, cough) because they are both [+GRAVE]. [t] and [ʔ] in English are both stops despite the very different place of articulation ([t] is alveolar and [ʔ] is glottal). 29
Jakobson chose acoustic features in preference to articulatory ones to capture relationships like these, but Chomsky & Halle reverted to articulatory ones.
The basic idea of DFT was to find a minimal set of phonetically based features
capable of defining the sounds found in the world’s languages. Jakobson proposed that these
should be binary but, although this works for categories like voicing and nasalization, as sounds can usually be said to either possess these features or not possess them, for vowel
qualities it is more problematic, as vowels are not merely open or close, but may be halfopen or half-close. Note also that some systems have central vowels in addition to front and back articulations.
Major class features The first job that DFT needs to do is to distinguish vowels from consonants and the major classes of these types of articulation from each other. We can divide vowel articulations into
the two broad categories vowels and semi-vowels (glides), while consonants can be split into those that block the air (obstruents) and those that do not block the air completely and
are therefore more vowel-like (sonorants). These sounds can be distinguished satisfactorily from
each
other
by
using
three
features
([SYLLABIC],
[CONSONANTAL], which we call major class features:
[SONORANT]
VOWELS
[+SYLL]
[+SON]
[–CONS]
GLIDES
[–SYLL]
[+SON]
[–CONS]
OBSTRUENTS
[–SYLL]
[–SON]
[+CONS]
SONORANT Cs
[+/–SYLL]
[+SON]
and
[+CONS]
Other important features that distinguish consonants are [VOICE], [NASAL],
[CONTINUANT], [STRIDENT]. The feature [STRIDENT] groups the sibilants [s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ] + [f] and [v], while [CONTINUANT] blocks off the fricatives, vowels (including glides) and liquids.
Two very powerful features are used for place: [ANTERIOR] and [CORONAL]. The
first of these, [ANTERIOR] defines all sounds up to and including the alveolars. Those
further back are [–ANTERIOR], so a good way to memorize the division is to recall that, in
English, [s] is [+ANTERIOR], while [ʃ] is [–ANTERIOR]; likewise, [l] is [+ANTERIOR], while [r] is [–ANTERIOR], as it is post-alveolar.
The [+CORONAL] consonants are dentals, alveolars and palatals, i.e. the central
ones, while the consonants articulated at the front and back of the mouth (labials and velars)
are [–CORONAL]. Show on a grid how these two features combined distinguish the English labial (/p, b, m/), alveolar (/t, d, n/) and velar (/k, ɡ, ŋ/) stops from each other. 30
DISTINCTIVE FEATURE CHARTS (Add + where appropriate) Five-vowel system i
e
a
o
u
high low back round The English Vowel System i
ɪ
e
æ
ɑ
ɒ
ɔː
ʊ
uː
ʌ
ɜː
ə
high low back tense round The English Consonant System p b
t
d k
ɡ
f
v θ ð
s
z
ʃ
ʒ tʃ dʒ m n ŋ
l
r
j w h
syll son cons voice ant cor cont nasal strid There are certain features that are commonly found which have not been included on this
consonant grid. First of all, it is convenient to define the affricates (/tʃ, dʒ/) as [DELAYED RELEASE] or [DEL REL], though the proper representation of affricates is a currently
unresolved issue in phonology. Some systems also use [LATERAL] (for [l]) and [LABIAL], and the aspiration of English /p, t, k/ ([pʰ, tʰ, kʰ]) is referred to with the feature [SPREAD]. 31
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES: EXERCISES
Exercise 1. Circle the segments which are: 1.
[–CONS]
[w
p
ð
ʊ
ɒ
j
ɑ
ŋ]
2.
[+SYLL]
[ð
v
ɔ
dʒ
n̩
e y
x]
4.
[–COR]
[n
j
w ɡ
β
l
r
f
ɡ
dʒ]
6.
[+HIGH]
[iː
ɪ
ə
ʊ
ʌ
ɑː
æ
e]
8.
[–VOICE]
[h [t
d
d
ʔ
ɡ
k
m
r
l]
[–CONT]
[k
m
3. 5. 7. 9. 10.
[–SON]
[+ANT] [+SPREAD] [+DEL REL]
[tʃ [b [w
u
ʒ t
m
ʔ
ʃ
r
v
b
kʰ
ʒ
z
ə
β
s
b
r t
ɡ
ŋ h
tʃ
t] e
r
w
w]
ʃ
iː]
dʒ] tʃ]
Exercise 2. What segment results from changing the feature(s) you are given in each case? 1.
[u]
[+SYLL]
2.
[eː]
[+TENSE]
5.
[n]
[+NASAL]
6.
[ʒ]
[+VOICE]
9.
[ð]
[+CONT]
10.
[ɡ]
[–CONT]
3. 7. 11.
[ɡ] [i]
[m]
[–NASAL] [–ROUND] [+ANT]
4. 8. 12.
[u] [d] [y]
[+BACK, +ROUND] [+ANT, +COR] [+ROUND]
Exercise 3. What feature/s has/have changed in each of the following developments? 1.
[p] > [b]
2.
[b] > [m]
3.
[m] >[n]
4.
[n] > [d]
7.
[ɡ] > [ɣ] [p] > [f]
8.
10.
[ɣ] > [x]
11.
[s] > [ʃ]
12.
[ʃ] > [tʃ]
15.
[s] > [r]
16.
[e] > [a]
19.
[i] > [y]
20.
[o] > [e]
5. 9. 13. 17.
[d] > [ð]
[z] > [d] [a] > [e]
6.
14. 18.
[l] > [r]
[θ] > [f] [i] > [j]
[e] > [i]
Exercise 4. Study exercise 3 again and write ten examples of your own. 32
Exercise 5. What places of articulation do the following features identify? 1. [+ANT]
2. [– ANT]:
3. [+ COR]:
4. [– COR]:
5. [+COR, +ANT]:
6. [+COR, –ANT]:
7. [–COR, +ANT]:
8. [–COR, –ANT]:
Exercise 6. What phoneme(s) do the following bundles of features represent? 1. [–VOICE, –CONT] 2. [+VOICE, +CONT]
3. [+ANT, +COR, +NASAL] 4. [–VOICE, +DEL REL] 5. [+DEL REL]
6. [+CONT, +STRID] 7. [+STRID]
8. [–VOICE, –ANT, +COR, +CONT] 9. [+SYLL, –CONS]
10. [–SYLL, –CONS]
-----------------------------------------------------------+ANT
–COR
–ANT
+COR –COR
Fig. [ANTERIOR] and [CORONAL] consonants
33
ASSIMILATION (Textbook 6.2, 15.4.2) Principal types: A) HISTORICAL (has become permanent and irreversible: makes, begs B) CONTEXTUAL (contact assimilation at word boundaries). 1) Contact: English leaves 2) Distant: OF cercher > ModF chercher. 3) Regressive: Latin CUM + RODERE ‘to gnaw’> English corrode. 4) Progressive: English stepped /stept/. 5) Reciprocal: English seven /sebm/. 6) Complete: Latin AD + TANGERE ‘to touch’ > English attain. 7) Partial: English breaks (Partial assimilation affecting allophones is called SIMILITUDE by Daniel Jones. For example, we have the devoicing of /m/ after /s/ in English small and before /s/ in French m’sieur.) 8) Coalescent: /s/ + /j/ > // in English session. 9) Umlaut: OE *musiz > mys ‘mice’. German singular Fuss ‘foot’, plural Füsse. (Umlaut is a kind of vowel metaphony or vowel harmony. Strictly speaking, it is regressive vowel assimilation in German.) Exercise Identify the types of assimilation in the following examples: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12)
Latin CUM-LEGERE > English collect. Latin HOMINE > HOM’NE > French homme. English I miss you German singular Kamm ‘comb’, plural Kämme. Old Spanish sospiro > Modern Spanish suspiro. English that Latin COCTU > Italian cotto ‘cooked’. English nature > English good luck English worms Basque itsu ‘blind’, Zuberoan dialect ütsü. English that goat ASSIMILATION IN ENGLISH
1) a: 3rd person singular present tense of regular verbs and plural of nouns: /-s/ after unvoiced Cs
lacks /læks/, hopes /həʊps/, bets /bets/, sniffs /snɪfs/, prints /prɪnts/, cats /kæts/ /-z/ after voiced Cs gives /ɡɪvz/, feels /fiːlz/, guards /ɡɑːdz/, means /miːnz/, pigs /pɪɡz/, files /faɪlz/ 34
/-ɪz/ after sibilants: /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/
misses /ˈmɪsɪz/, buzzes /ˈbzɪz/, fishes /ˈfɪʃɪz/, teaches /ˈtiːtʃɪz/, judges /ˈdʒdʒɪz/, bushes /ˈbʊʃɪz/ b: Past tense and past participle of regular verbs: /-t/ after unvoiced Cs (except /t/)
hoped /həʊpt/, kicked /kɪkt/, laughed /lɑːft/, missed /mɪst/, washed /wɒʃt/, watched /wɒtʃt/ /-d/ after voiced Cs (except /d/)
grabbed /græbd/, begged /begd/, lived /lɪvd/, buzzed /bzd/, managed /ˈmænɪdʒd/, filled /fɪld/ /-ɪd/ after /-t/ and /-d/
wanted /ˈwɒntɪd/, defended /dɪˈfendɪd/, printed /ˈprɪntɪd/, landed /ˈlændɪd/ These very important cases of assimilation are often referred to as morphophonemic alternation. 2) Genitive -s, is, has. These behave the same way as (1a) above
John’s not there /ˈdʒɒnz nɒt ˈðeə/ My money’s gone /maɪ ˈmniz gɒn/ Mary’s friend’s uncle’s umbrella /ˈmeəriz ˈfrenz ˈŋklz mˈbrelə/
3) Have to /ˈhæftə/, has to /ˈhæstə/, used to /ˈjuːstə/, be supposed to /biː səˈpəʊstə/ 4) Wanna /ˈwɒnə/, gonna /ˈgəʊnə, ˈgənə/
5) Velar nasal assimilation in stressed syllables: dónkey /ˈdɒŋki/, cónquest /ˈkɒŋkwest/. BUT: incúr /ɪnˈkɜː/, ingrátiate /ɪnˈɡreɪʃieɪt/.
UN- does not assimilate: unpack /nˈpæk/, unplug /nˈplɡ/, unpopular /nˈpɒpjulə/, etc. Exercises 1) Transcribe the principal parts of these verbs (e.g. lack ): issue, lick, laugh, jumble, waste, offend, beg, hand, fan, wave, file, fax, believe, search, elope, touch, prefer, seethe, erase, confess, damn, long, prick, wash. 2) Transcribe the following plural nouns: pencils, printers, rulers, plugs, anthologies, magazines, journals, compact discs, diskettes, clocks, watches, plants, flowers, stems, bushes, leaves, feathers, birds, eggs, nests, sticks, stones, bones, pigs, cows, horses. 3) Transcribe the following contractions and genitives: Now’s the time. My money’s just gone. Hers is that one. What’s John’s aunt’s name? Who’s cap’s this? Mary’s friend’s uncle’s umbrella. 35
WEAK FORMS (Textbook 6.5) See also: O'CONNOR, J. D. Better English Pronunciation. 2nd ed. Cambridge: CUP, 1980. ROACH, P. English Phonetics and Phonology. 4th ed. Cambridge: CUP, 2009. 1. WFs are so called because they generally involve weakening or even loss of a V or C (and > have > ). This vocalic alternation under the influence of stress is also called gradation or apophony. Cf. ablaut (sing/sang/sung, food/feed) and umlaut (regressive vowel assimilation in German (Mutter ‘mother’, pl. Mütter; Loch ‘hole’, pl. Löcher). 2. Contractions like I’ve and the V reduction in of ([] > []) are manifestations of the same phenomenon, so English writing with Roman letters often conceals the V reduction in unstressed syllables. 3. Use of WFs is not a sign of laziness. If no WFs are used, the important words will not stand out. 4. On, off, when and then do not usually have a WF. Prepositions and verbs do not have WFs in final position. Have uses WFs with got and as an auxiliary in compound tenses. 5. WFs manifest what is going on in English words in general under the influence of stress. Cf. cónduct, to condúct; pérfect, to perféct; to compéte, competítion. Note the resistance of /ae/ to reduction: ábstract, to abstráct, gýmnast, bómbast. Other Vs are sometimes retained in unstressed position, too: mayhem /, compost (see textbook, p. 111). It would be impractical for English to be perfectly phonetic as we would need several different spellings for a word like and according to context. And there would be no visible relationship between nation and national, define and definition, etc. Note also that as there are wide dialectal differences in English, the present spelling system is useful as a standard. 6. Reduction of unstressed Vs started in Old Northumbrian and spread south after 10c. It is an on-going process in Modern English (nobody, November). Note the evidence of V reduction in 15c spellings: disabey, Bishap, tenne a clock. The reductions mentioned above all take place in idealized speech, the kind of speech we are supposed to be aiming at. In informal speech many other reductions can take place. Here we go beyond the realms of phonology into phonetics. /bɪkɒz/
[pxǝz, kǝz]
/ˈkʊk ˈðeǝ/
[ˈlʊx ˈðe]
/ˈmʌs biː/
/aɪ/
/ˈɡǝʊ ˈbæk/
[ʌ]
/ˈsiː ˈhaʊ ˈðeɪl ˈbiː/
[ˈsiː hʌ ðel ˈbiː]
[ˈmʌsβiː]
[ɡǝ ˈbæk]
36
Transcription practice with weak forms 1. TO BE She’s an engineer. Are they engineers, too? Yes, they are. Mine’s the blue one. WE were there. Where were YOU? I was watching the football on television. 2. TO HAVE He hasn’t come to class for ages. Have you done your homework? I’ve already told you. If I’d known, I’d have called you. 3. WILL/SHALL/WOULD/SHOULD I’ll be there at two. Shall I carry it for you? I would (I’d) advise you to go. You should always look before you leap. 4. CAN/COULD Can I talk to you? I can’t stop at the moment. I could see you were upset, but I couldn’t help you. 5. MUST You must watch what you’re doing.
You mustn’t be so impatient.
6. DO/DOES How do you do?
Does it matter? No, it doesn’t.
7. PREPOSITIONS It’s ten to two. That’s for you, not for me.
a cup of coffee Regards from your mother-in-law.
8. PRONOUNS AND POSSESSIVES Give him his money back. Give her a good talking-to. Tell us a story and then take me home. Bring them here. 9. CONJUNCTIONS John’s older than Mary. black and white
That dress is prettier than this one. tired but safe
10. THAT:
That film that you saw is awful.
11. SOME:
Buy some milk, eggs, cheese, butter and some mineral water. Some day you’ll be sorry.
12. THE, A(N):
the world, the earth, a book, an onion.
37
WEAK FORMS: ADDITIONAL EXERCISES
1. Read the following text and then fill in the gaps in the phonetic transcription below with the appropriate form of the missing grammatical words: Peter gave his car a good wash because he and his wife were going to visit some friends that
afternoon. All the windows were clean and the metal was bright. He was very proud of his work. While they were driving along the road, a few drops of rain began to fall. Then the rain began to pour down and fell loudly on the roof of the car. A car passed them and
splashed dirty water from the road over theirs. He felt miserable and told his wife he’d never clean a car again until they could afford to buy a new one.
/ piːtə ɡeɪv ..... kɑːr ..... ɡʊd wɒʃ / bɪkɒz ..... ..... ..... waɪf ..... ɡəʊɪŋ ..... vɪzɪt ..... frenz / ðæt ɑːftənuːn // ɔːl ..... wɪndəʊz ..... kliːn / ..... ..... metl ..... braɪt // ..... ..... veri praʊd ..... ..... wɜːk
// waɪl ðeɪ ..... draɪvɪŋ əlɒŋ ..... rəʊd / ..... fjuː drɒps ..... reɪn bɪɡæn ..... fɔːl // ðen ..... reɪn bɪɡæn ..... pɔː daʊn / ..... fel laʊdli ..... ..... ruːf ..... ..... kɑː // ..... kɑː pɑːst ðm / ..... splæʃt dɜːti
wɔːtə ..... ..... rəʊd əʊvə ðeəz // ..... felt mɪzrəbl / ..... təʊld ..... waɪf / ..... nevə kliːn ...... kɑːr əɡen / ʌntɪl ðeɪ ..... əfɔːd ..... baɪ ..... njuː wʌn /
2. Fill in the gap with the appropriate phonetic form of the word in brackets in the following text: / .....(a) fɑːmə .....(was) wɜːkɪŋ nɪər .....(his) haʊs / wen .....(he) nəʊtɪst .....(a) pɑːti .....(of) hʌntəz / .....(who) .....(were) raɪdɪŋ ðeə hɔːsɪz / təwɔːdz .....(his) kɔːnfːld // .....(he) kɔːld
.....(his) jʌŋ sɜːvnt / ..... (and) sed / ɡəʊ .....(to) .....(the) ɡeɪt .....(of) .....(the) kɔːnfiːld / .....(and) ʃʌt ɪt // .....(don’t) let eniwʌn ɡəʊ .....(into) .....(the) fi:ld // wen .....(the) fɜːst hʌntə
keɪm .....(to) .....(the) fiːld / .....(he) sed .....(to) .....(the) bɔɪ / aɪ .....(will) ɡɪv .....(you) tu: paʊnz / ɪf .....(you) əʊpn .....(the) ɡeɪt // ɔːlðəʊ .....(he) .....(was) juːʒjuəli .....(an) əbiːdiənt sɜːvnt / đɪs .....(was) mɔː mʌni / .....(than) .....(he) rɪsiːvd / .....(in) .....(a) həʊl mʌnθ // .....(he) .....(couldn’t) rɪzɪst .....(the) tempteɪʃn // səʊ .....(he) əɡriːd / .....(and) əʊpnd .....(the) ɡeɪt //
3. Fill in the gap with the appropriate phonetic form of the word in brackets in the following text: / maɪkl dɪsaɪdɪd .....(to) ɡəʊ .....(to) taʊn / .....(to) du: .....(a) lɪtl ʃɒpɪŋ // .....(he) .....(didn’t) hæv meni θɪŋz .....(to) baɪ / .....(but) ɪt .....(was) ɔːlredi hɑːf paːs faɪv / .....(and) .....(the) ʃɒps kləʊzd .....(at) sɪks // .....(he) went .....(to) .....(a) pəʊst ɒfɪs / .....(to) ɡet .....(some) mʌni //
.....(he) .....(was) hæpi .....(to) siː / .....(that) .....(there) .....(was) əʊnli wʌn pɜːsn ðeə / .....(but) 38
ʌnfɔːtʃənətli / ɪt .....(was) wʌn .....(of) ðəʊz əʊld men / huː ɔːlweɪz si:m .....(to) .....(be) ɪn frʌnt .....(of) .....(you) ɪn kju:z / wen .....(you) .....(are) ɪn .....(a) hʌri // .....(at) lɑːst / .....(he) ɡɒt .....(to) .....(the) desk / .....(and) dru: aʊt .....(a) hʌndrəd paʊnz // .....(he) naʊ .....(had) .....(the) mʌni / .....(but) .....(not) ɪnʌf taɪm .....(to) spend ɪt //
4. Correct the mistakes in the following phonetic transcriptions: 1.
It’s nót for mé, it’s for Ánne. / itz ˈnɒt fɔː ˈmiː / itz fə ˈæn /
3.
I hónestly thínk you shóuldn’t have sáid that. / aj ˈɒnɪstli ˈθɪŋk juː ˈʃʊdnt hæv ˈsed ðæt /
5.
He cóuldn’t búy it because it was tóo expénsive for him. / hi ˈkudnt ˈbaɪ ɪt / bɪkɔz ɪt
6.
Whére are you fróm? From Spáin. / ˈweə ə ju ˈfrəm / / frɒm ˈspeɪn /
7.
He néver invítes me to his párties. / hiː ˈnevər ɪnˈvaɪtz miː tə hɪs ˈpɑːtiz /
9.
He’ll néver knów how múch I réally lóve him. / hɪl ˈnevǝ ˈnəʊ haʊ ˈmtʃ aɪ ˈrɪəli ˈlʌv
10.
We were áll enjóying a níce pízza and chíps. / wi wɜːr ˈɔːl ɪnˈdʒɔɪɪŋ eɪ ˈnaɪs ˈpiːtsǝ ænd
2. 4.
8.
Whý don’t you téll us the whóle truth. / ˈwai dəʊnt juː ˈtel əz ði ˈhəʊl tru:θ/ He bóught a présent for his fríend. / hiː ˈbɔːt ə ˈpreznt fə hɪs ˈfrend / wəs ˈtu: ɪkˈspensɪv fə hɪm /
We líked the énd of the bóok. / wiː ˈlaɪkt ðə ˈend ɒv ðə ˈbʊk / hiːm /
ˈtʃɪps /
5. Read the following, first with the weak form given, then the strong form. Make sure you understand the difference in each case by translating them into Spanish or Catalan. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)
W = future perfect construction S = causative construction ʌ W = partitive S = indefinite (with a derogatory value) W = preposition S = numeral W = preposition S = numeral W = infinitive particle S = adverb meaning ‘excessively’ W = ‘two years old’ S = ‘also, as well’ W = preposition meaning ‘before’ S = numeral, part of flight number W = conjunction S = demonstrative (with derogatory value) W = auxiliary verb S = past tense of to have expressing possession 39
10)
W = existential there, implying something like Spanish tener en cuenta que S = demonstrative locative
6. Read the following, paying careful attention to the weak forms. Then write them out in ordinary alphabetical script. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12)
.
40
THE SOUND SYSTEMS OF ENGLISH, SPANISH AND CATALAN (Textbook ch. 12) VOWELS Compare the number of Vs in English, Spanish and Catalan. Note the English hard attack on Vs (textbook p. 251). The English long Vs tend to diphthongize. Note also the centripetal tendencies with reduction to schwa in unstressed syllables. The English low Vs have a front-central-back opposition. The long and short Vs form pairs because of their similar place of articulation. The short Vs are non-final, but shortened versions of V1 and V9 exist, as in very and you. Note the important influence of stress on pronunciation in English: súbject, to subjéct. Diphthongs go higher and are faster in Spanish and Catalan, thus foreign learners of English should try not to intercalate a [j] or [w] in player, Brian, how are you?, tower, etc. [jiː] and [wuː] are not found in Sp or Cat, but note Eng yield, yeast, wound, woo.
[eu] exists in Sp and Cat but not in Eng. Two varieties in Cat: open [e]: jeure, seure, feu; close [e]: Romeu, Andreu, Matheu.
Vowel clusters English avoids hiatus with: (1) [-n]: an ant, an insect, an event, an oven. (an apron < a napron, an orange < a norange); (2) Semi-V or close V: the earth, piano, million; (3) Glottal stop: Asia and Europe, data entry; (4) Intrusive [r]: Asia(r) and Europe, data(r) entry. Sp and Cat reduce identical Vs: acaba(d)a, ensala(d)a; ¿qué te he hecho? Non-identical Vs: (1) Shortening: lă horca; (2) Reduction to yod: si hay...; (3) Loss: primo + hermano > primormano, la entrada > l’antrada. Cat a ofegar > aufegar, la oliva > l’auliva (Fraga euliva). For diagrams of English, Spanish and Catalan Vs, see TEXTBOOK, p. 249. CONSONANTS Generalizations (see table, anthology p. 34) Harder contact for English Cs. Note lenition in Spanish. Spanish has not got the phonemes Catalan has no // or /h/, and /v/ is dialectal. Spanish will produce [x] for [h], and English people use [h] for [x]. For Eng [v] encourage use of []; for Eng [] encourage use of the voiced theta in juzgar. Sp and Cat [r]s are different from Eng [r]s. (Sp para/parra, Cat pare/parra). Eng has not got the phonemes/, of which /x/ is not found in Cat. Eng and Cat have final clusters; Sp has not and only allows. (boj, reloj). Final is generally lost in Cat, but note pur, car, mar. Final Cs in foreign words in Sp are weakened or lost: club, esnob, spot, raid, eslip, camping, light, autostop, chip, chut; estándar, lor, sprint, stand, flirt. (filme; chicano cloche, breque) Plosives All 3 langs have all 6 (but [t, d] are alveolar in Eng). 41
Note neutralization in Cat; aspiration and glottal stop in Eng; Sp and Cat fricative allophones; Eng nasally and laterally exploded [t, d]. Sp [b] in cabo may sound like [w] to the Eng ear. Reverse: Eng water > Sp bater. Fricatives and affricates Sp theta is fully interdental. Eng and Cat have /s/ v. /z/. Nthn Sp [s] often sounds like esh. Valencia and Ribagorza are apitxat. [h] is unstable in Eng: hit > it; hypercorrection: hilliterate, h-ignorant. (What airline do fleas fly on?) Nasals No eng as a phoneme in Sp. No final [m] in Sp. Sp and Cat have a palatal nasal. Homorganic Nasal Assimilation is regular in Sp. In Eng it is only obligatory if the nasal and oral stop belong to the same syllable or if the nasal is in a stressed syllable. Approximants Sp [l] is always “clear”; Cat has a “dark” [l] like Eng postvocalic [l]. Sp and Cat have a palatal lateral; loss of lateralization is common in Sp. Final [l] often vocalizes in English. (How do you count a large herd of cattle?). Postvocalic is mute in SSB. Yod is tenser in Sp than in Eng; [w] is more labial than velar in Eng. CONSONANT CLUSTERS Initial clusters Similar in Eng, Sp & Cat, but Eng has [s] + C, [r], [r]. [tr, dr] are a pronunciation problem. Eng 2 Cs without [s]: plosive + approx; fricative + approx; nasal [n,m] + approx [j]. Eng 2 Cs with [s]: [s] + voiceless plosive or fricative, nasal or approx (not [r]). 2 labials are not allowed initially in Eng except in foreign words: pueblo, buana, foie gras, foyer, bon voyage. No [] in Eng, except in foreign words: Vladimir, Vronsky, Shluh, Schweppes. Eng 3 Cs: [s] + unvoiced plosive + approx. [spl-, spr-, spj-, str-, stj-, skl-, skr-, skw-, skj-]. No [spw] or [stl] (no [pw] or [tl]); no [stw], but [tw] exists. Final clusters Eng has up to 4 Cs (with at least one morpheme boundary): glimpsed, waltzed, twelfths. 3 Cs are found with or without morpheme boundaries: next (no boundary), whilst, facts. 2 Cs occur with or without morpheme boundaries if unvoiced: lax, lacks; pact, packed; mist, missed; past, passed; quartz, quarts. 2 Cs occur with morpheme boundaries if voiced: ribs, rigged (exception: adze ‘kind of axe’). Mixed voicing occurs in a few cases with a morpheme boundary: amidst, breadth, hundredth, thousandth, width (but there are alternative assimilated forms with [t]) Alternatives: faul(t)s, prin(t)s; French, lounge (nasal + affr > fric); prom(p)t, glim(p)se, succin(c)t, lynx (without [k]) Cat may have 3 final Cs: serps, Alps, llests, marcs, forns (texts/textos, passeigs/passeijos). Reduction: camp, cinc, alt, fent, test, part. Cf. Eng climb, comb, sing, hang; as(k)ed. Intrasyllabic groups Reduction in Sp: submarino, subnormal, examen, próximo, Victoria, se(p)tiembre, Pepsi Cola, fútbol; assimilation: balompié, I(s)rael. Cat preserves more intrasyllabic groups: comptar, assumpte, capsa. Cat has [ts, dz]: dotze, atzar. Eng loses [t] between Cs: listen, castle, soften, often. [p] is optional in empty, glimpse; epenthetic in plim(p)soll ‘zapato de tenis’. 42
THE CONSONANTS OF ENGLISH, SPANISH and CATALAN English has twenty-four consonant phonemes, Spanish has twenty, and Catalan twentythree. The consonant systems of the three languages can be compared in the following table (E = English, S = Spanish, C = Catalan): E p b t d k ɡ
f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ
S p b t d k ɡ x f C p b t d k ɡ
f
θ
tʃ dʒ h m n ŋ
l
r
j w
s
tʃ
m n
ɲ l ʎ
r ɾ j w
s z ʃ ʒ
tʃ dʒ
m n ŋ ɲ l ʎ
r ɾ j w
[ð] exists as an allophone of /d/ in Spanish and
Catalan. Spanish also has [z] as an
allophone of /s/, and [ŋ] as an allophone of /n/; [ʒ], [dʒ] and [h] exist dialectally in Spanish.
[v] exists as a phoneme in Western Catalan: beure v. veure. Note the Catalan oppositions involving /s/ – /z/: caça – casa; /n/ – /ŋ/: fan – fang; /ɾ/ – /r/: pare – parra.
Examples of the palatals: /ʃ/ xic, això; /ʒ/ verge, joc; /tʃ/ mig, desig, cotxe; /dʒ/ viatge,
viatjar.
EXERCISE 1. Work out the possible INITIAL consonant clusters of English from the following data:
bucolic, blunder, broken, clock, quack, closet, creep, cue, duty, draught, dwindle, flow, phlox, glad, gnomic, greed, guano, Gwynedd, human, lurid, mnemonic, muse, psychology,
nude, phlegm, piano, plus, pneumatic, protocol, pseudo, pure, cure, quiet, Scot, sclerosis, scribble, shrine, skewed, slim, smack, sniff, spank, spew, sphincter, splash, spread, squat,
stock, stroll, stupid, sweat, swamp, thrust, thwack, trust, tune, twine, view, fuse, flap, nubile, skim, sclaff, free, practice, plan, splendid, sprint, stretch, screw, squash, skin, speak, steal. Notes: Initial /pr/ and /fl/ are very common; initial /ɡw-/, /dw-/, /ʃr-/ and /θr-/ are uncommon (Gwen, dwell, shrink, thwaite, thwart).
/θj-/ and /ɡj-/ are very rare word-initially (Thule, gubernatorial), but not so rare in syllableinitial position (enthusiasm, language, distinguish, argue, singular).
/lj-/ and /sj-/ are old-fashioned in some words (lute, lurid, suit, sue). LOAN WORDS are sometimes accepted with little change: pueblo, Puerto Rico (GB: /ˈpwɜːtəʊ ˈriːkəʊ/; USA: /ˈpɔrtə ˈriːkoʊ/), Buenos Aires, foie gras, bon voyage, voyeur,
Vronsky, Vladimir, Schweppes, schwa. Sometimes they undergo ANGLICIZATION: Schnorkel (Eng. snorkel; cf. Sp. esnórquel), Schnapps, tsetse fly, Nkomo (/nˈkʊmʊ/ – /ŋˈkəʊmʊ/), mnemonic, pneumatic, pterodactyl, psych-, xerox (/ks/ > /s/ > /z/), gnosis, gnu (< Kaffir [Xhosa]). 43
EXERCISE 2 What is the source of each of the following? 2. How are they pronounced in English? 3. What adaptations from the original have taken place? 4. Are they “ear-borrowings” or “eye-borrowings”?
apartheid, autobahn, chapati, Chopin, cul-de-sac, Don Quixote, foyer, joie de vivre, mirage, paella, rapport, seance, Sheikh, slalom, yoghourt. EXERCISE 3 Which of the following are not a possible word in English?: 1. /prɒt/
2. /tweŋ/
3. /fæmd/
4. /slɔːŋ/
5. /pwɪd/
6. /blʌnd/
7. /pljed/
8. /mbʊnd/
9. /zbiːl/
10. /ˈmele/
11. /ˈmeli/
12. /meˈle/
13. /ˈbəʊdəʊ/
14. /flaɪnd/
15. /flaɪmb/
16. /snɔːb/
17. /psɪk/
18. /sklɪnt/
19. /spwæt/
20. /spɪr/
44
PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION No student of foreign languages can doubt the value of phonetic transcription. The alphabets we use to represent the sounds of our languages are imperfect tools for such a
purpose, no matter how “phonetic” we may claim a language to be. Even Spanish, for example, which people assume to show a close correspondence between spoken and written form, has a writing system which is incapable of indicating all the minor adjustments that
sounds make to their phonetic environment when they are put together into connected speech. Take, for instance, the [s] of desde. Only Spaniards trained in linguistics will be aware of the fact that it is articulated as [z] before the [d]. Again, how many Spaniards are aware of the elision of [s] before [r] in word groups like las rosas and las ranas?
English spelling is particularly irregular: the letter combination in the words
enough, cough and trousers is pronounced differently in each case; and the sound [iː] is represented by no less than eleven different letters or letter combinations (see below: Some notes...). There have been outcries against the illogicality of English spelling for several centuries, and proposals for reform have been presented by people such as Alexander Gill, Richard Mulcaster, John Wilkins, John Hart and, more recently, George Bernard Shaw. In
fact, Shaw thought that English spelling was so absurd that, on the basis of our inconsistent
spelling rules, we might write the word fish as ghoti, seeing that = [f] in cough, = [ɪ] in women, and = [ʃ] in nation.
Phonetic transcription is a way of writing down speech unambiguously. It provides
students with a more precise knowledge of pronunciation and is useful in correcting
pronunciation errors which students may have been making unconsciously for years. How often is it realized by the foreign student, or the native speaker of English for that matter,
that the [d] and [r] in bedroom are tautosyllabic, that the of exact stands for [ɡz] and not for [k], that the first in February is often pronounced as [j], that sandwich often has [dʒ] finally and not [tʃ], and that Southwark (London SE1) and Arkansas are pronounced /ˈsʌðək/ and /ˈɑːkɪnsɔː/ respectively?
Phonetic symbols are useful because alphabets represent the sounds of language rather
unsystematically. However, the symbols have no intrinsic value in themselves and only
represent what we want them to represent. We may use the symbol [r] for the [r]-sounds in Spanish parágrafo and also for the [r]-sounds in English paragraph, which are quite different, so make sure that for reading purposes you know the value of a given symbol in the language in question first.
45
SOME NOTES TO HELP YOU WITH ENGLISH PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION (Study these notes carefully before attempting the transcriptions) There is no one-to-one sound-symbol correspondence in English; therefore, a letter may
have several values (e = /iː/ in even, /e/ in bed, /i/ in begin) and, conversely, a sound may
be represented by more than one letter or letter combination ( can all stand for /iː/, as shown by the words even, feet, beat, receive, believe,
machine, Oedipus, people, Caesar, quay, key).
However, in spite of this apparent chaos, the spellings of the English words you are
transcribing can still be a help to correct transcription. Try and remember the following points:
1) Letter i is not usually /iː/ except in a few words of French origin, like machine,
ravine, police, Christine, technique and physique. These words are late borrowings into English which did not undergo the Great English Vowel Shift, which would
have changed their /iː/ into /aɪ/ (as in fine, wine, guide, style, etc.). Letter is
usually /ɪ/ (as in bit and lift) or /aɪ/ (as in dine and dining – i.e. when followed by a single consonant plus or sometimes ).
2) /æ/, /ɑː/ and /ʌ/ are often difficult to distinguish for foreign students of English.
Remember that /æ/ is always spelt with , except in the words plait and plaid;
/ʌ/ is spelt with (cup, bus) or (money, honey, London, love, glove,
monk, ton), and sometimes with (couple, country), though usually = /aʊ/ (trousers, about). The problem with letter is that some words did not undergo the Southern English change converting /ʊ/ into /ʌ/, so we have words like butcher, put, pull, push and cushion with /ʊ/ and not /ʌ/.
The vowel /ɑː / is a long vowel and its length is often due to consonant loss, as in words like park and calm, so don’t transcribe the or the in these cases.
3) The phoneme /ɜː/ is usually associated with the spellings , and (herd, bird, fur), although there are a few words with (word, world, work,
worth, worm, attorney), and the irregular words learn, heard, journey, were. Note also the French ending in words like connoisseur /kɒnəˈsɜː/ (but amateur /ˈæmətə/).
4) Remember that schwa (/ə/) only occupies unstressed syllables. Unfortunately, no hard-and-fast rules can be given for its use. Schwa is taking over from /ɪ/ in some cases, e.g. /ˈpɒsəbl/ ~ /ˈpɒsɪbl/, /ˈjuːsləs/ ~ /ˈjuːslɪs/. Note also alternation with [i] /prəˈtend/ ~ /prɪtend/, /bəˈɡɪn/ ~ /biˈɡɪn/.
5) normally = /iː/ (beat) or /e/ (bread), but it has the value /eɪ/ in break, steak, 46
great, Reagan (and the obsolete word yea ‘truly’). 6) For the diphthong in phone we use the symbol /əʊ/ as the first element of the diphthong is a central articulation, not a back rounded vowel.
7) We use the symbols /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ for the diphthongs in like and cow, with the symbol [a], to indicate that they begin with an element which is fronter than /ɑː/ (so our transcription is not completely broad – see also 8).
8) Some transcriptionists use the symbol /ɛə/ for the diphthong in where, but the LPD uses /eə/.
9) Some speakers use the diphthong /ɔə/ in open syllables (= sílabas no trabadas por
consonante): door /dɔə/, before /bifɔə/, war /wore /wɔə/. But note that RP speakers
today consistently replace the diphthong // by vowel no. 7, /ɔː/, which is the usual transcription given in dictionaries, and that these sounds are used by some speakers instead of /ʊə/ in words like poor and sure.
10) Unstressed letter is often pronounced /ɪ/: ticket, enjoy, largest /tɪkɪt, ɪndʒɔɪ, lɑːdʒɪst/. Also [i] (see page 50).
11) /s/ versus /z/.
is /s/ except in scissors /ˈsɪzəz/, possess /ˈpəzes/ and dessert /dɪˈzɜːt/ (cf. desert
/ˈdezət/).
is always /s/: niece, choice, voice, fleece, Greece, police, pence. varies: /s/ in crease, grease, release, case, base. /z/ in cheese, please, noise, raise, phase.
In certain words final = /z/: is, was, has, his, as. In others we find /s/: bus,
gas, this (cf. these /ðiːz/ and /ðəʊz/). Note that the plural of house /haʊs/ is /haʊzɪz/. The use of /s/ or /z/ in the above-mentioned words is lexical and has nothing to do with the assimilation rules for the third person singular present tense verbal ending
and the plurals of nouns (see p. 34-35). N.B. the ending */-ɪs/ does not exist in these
cases (though naturally it is found in other words like palace /pælɪs/, premise /premɪs/, etc.
Similar rules of assimilation apply to the regular past tense and past participle
ending, i.e. is pronounced /t/ after unvoiced consonants, /d/ after voiced consonants and vowels, /ɪd/ after /t/ or /d/.
Note also the assimilation in have to, has to, used to (= ‘solía’) and be used to (=accustomed to): /hæv tə/> /hæf tə/, /hæz tə/ > /hæs tə/, /juːzd tə/ > /juːstə/. Cf. /juːzd/, past tense of /juːz/, and note that the noun is pronounced /juːs/. 12) /θ/ versus /ð /.
Unfortunately, both these sounds are represented by