Structure of English

EDUC 300

Phoneme

the smallest unit of spoken language that makes a difference in a words meaning

What are the two types of Phonemes?

Consonant and Vowel Phonemes

What are the consonant phoneme classifications?

Place of articulation, Manner of articulation, and Voice v. Voiceless Sounds

Stops

Airflow is stopped completely for a short time; Ex: /p/, /b/

Nasals

Air is forced through nasal cavities; Ex: /m/, /n/

Fricatives

Air is forced through a narrow space; Ex: /v/, /f/, /th/

Affricates

A sequence of a stop and a fricative (airflow is stopped then released); Ex: /j/, /ch/

Glides

Glide immediately into the vowel that always follows; Ex: /y/, /w/

Liquids

Seem to float in the mouth; difficult to produce in isolation or to seperate from the preceeding vowel sound; Ex: /l/, /r/

Continuous Sounds

Sounds that can be produced for several seconds

Stop Sounds

Sounds that can be produced for only an instant

Schwa (Vowel Phoneme Classification)

The vowel sound sometimes heard in an unstressed syllable

Diphthong (Vowel Sound Classification)

A blend of vowel sounds in one syllable; Ex: oi, oy

R-controlled Vowels

The letter r affects the sound of the vowel(s) that precedes it

Consonant Blends

Two consonants that appear together in a word, with each retaining its sound when blended; Ex: fl, gr, sp, mp

Silent Consonants

Two consonant letters may represent the sound of only one of them (the other is silent); Ex: gn, kn, wr

Vowel Diagraphs

Vowels Teams/Pairs that make one sound; Ex: ai, ee, ie, oa

Syllables

A word or part of a word pronounced as a unit

Closed

A syllable ending in one or more consonants and having short-vowel sound spelled with one vowel letter

Open

A syllable ending ending with a long-vowel sound spelled with one vowel letter

Vowel Teams

A syllable with a short-vowel, long-vowel, or diphthong sound spelled with a vowel combination

Vowel-Consonant-e

A syllable with a long vowel sound spelled with one vowel letter followed by a consonant and a silent e

Consonant-le

A final, seperate syllable containing a consonant followed by the letters le

Onset

Before the vowel

Rime

Vowel and everything after

Morphemes

The meaningful parts of words

Which ancient languages are most English morphemes from?

Greek, Latin, and Anlgo-Saxon

Free Morphemes

Can stand alone as words

Bound Morphemes

Cannot stand alone as words (affixes, Greek and Latin root words)

Prefixes

Word parts that are “fixed” to the beginning of root words; Ex: dis-, in-, re-, un-

Derivational Suffixes

Word parts that are “fixed” to the end of root words- usually alter the meaning of the root word

Inflectional Suffixes

Word parts that are “fixed” to the end of root words- usually change the form of a root word but not its part of speech

Consonant Diagraphs

Two consonant letters that together stand for a single sound; Ex: sh, th, wh