(RP) English Phonetics

Recieved Pronunciation (RP) English Phonetics

Phonetics

The study of human speech sounds

Phonology

The study of how speech souns are organized and used in natural languages

Grapheme

Smallest meaningful unit in the writting system (letters)

Phoneme

Smalles unit in the speech system of a language

Minimal Pairs

Pair of words tha are differentiated by one phoneme (sound) and have different meaning: mat - cat

Allophones

Variations of a phoneme that do not change meaning in a language

Place of articulation

The part of the vocal tract where airflow restriction occurs during the production of a consonant sound.

These are bilabial, labio-dental, dental, alveolar, palatal, palato-alveolar, velar, glottal.

the parts of the mouth that are involved in making speech sounds are called articulators. These are divided into active and passive articulators.

Manner of articulation

The way in which airflow is obstructed during the production of a consonant. They are: plosives, fricatives, affricatives, nasals and approximants

Voicing

The use of vocal cord vibration during the production of a phoneme. Voicing can result in voiced or voiceless consonants.

Plosives

Consonants produced by obstructing airflow completely and then releasing it, resulting in a small “explosion“ such as /p/, /t/, and /k/.

Fricatives

Consonants formed by forcing air through a narrow channel, creating friction. They are characterized by partial obstruction of airflow. e.g.: /f/, /s/, and /z/.

Diacritics

Signs added to letters (graphemes) to modify their pronunciation or to distinguish between similar words, such as accents, umlauts, or cedillas.

Elision

The omission of a sound or speech segment when speaking, likely to occur when clusters of consonants form. For example, lesson may be pronounced as "les'n"= /lesn/, I am may be pronounced as "I'm".

Liason

A phonetic phenomenon where speech segments are linked or joined resulting in a smoother pronunciation.

Often occurs with the intrusive /r/ : such as in 'law(r) and order'.

Assimilation

The process in phonetics where a speech segments changes to become more similar the preceding or following sound, often occurring in rapid speech.

Assimilation of place

Where a consonat changes its place of articulation. This can include sounds like 'input' pronounced as 'imput'. /n/ (alveolar) becomes /m/ (bilabial)

Coalecent Assimilation

A type of assimilation where two speech segments merge into one, such as /d/ and /j/ resulting in /dʒ/ as in 'did you' being pronounced as 'dijou'.

Assimilation of voice

A type of assimilation where a consonant changes from voiced to voiceless or vice-versa.

Assimilation of manner

A type of assimilation where a speech segment changes its manner of articulation. For example in ‘good night’ the /d/ alveolar plosive becomes the /n/ alveolar or nasal resulting in /gʊn naɪt/

Vowels are qualitatively divided into: (1)

The distance between the tongue and the palate categorizing them into closed vowel or open vowel based on the height of the tongue and its position in the mouth, thus classifying them into high, mid, or low vowels.

Vowels are qualitatively divided into: (2)

The position of the tongue in relation to the roof of the mouth, distinguishing them as front, central, or back vowels.

Vowels are qualitatively divided into: (3)

Lip position (rounded, neutral, unrounded) that influences vowel sound quality.

Vowels are quantitatively divided into:

Short vowels and long vowels and diphthongs based on duration, affecting sound production in speech.

Short vowels: cat, set, pit, lot

Long vowels / diphthongs: pool, beat, stone, go, say, cow

/i:/

Closed, front, unrounded vowel sound.

Sheep, beat, feet, please

/ɪ/

Lower-closed, front, unrounded vowel sound but shorter in duration. Seen in words like ship, bit, and sit.

/e/

Half-closed front, unrounded vowel sound, as in bed, head, and many.

/æ/

Open, front, unrounded vowel sound used in words like cat, bat, and stamp.

/u:/

A close back, rounded vowel sound found in words like food, mood, and blue.

/ʊ/

lower-close back, rounded vowel sound used in words like book, good, and foot.

/ɔ:/

closed lower/mid back rounded vowel sound used in words like board, afford, course, talk

/ə/ - schwa

A mid-central, neutral vowel sound commonly found in unstressed syllables, as in the first syllable of about or the second syllable of sofa.

/ɜ:/

A mid-central, open, unrounded vowel sound found in words like bird, word, hurt and fur.

/ʌ/

A mid-open back unrounded vowel sound commonly found in words like cup, love, and but.

/ɒ/

open back rounded vowel sound present in accents like British English, often found in words such as lot, thought, and dog.

/ɑ:/

A long back open unrounded vowel sound present in accents like Received Pronunciation, often found in words such as father, car, bar.