Phonetics and Phonology

Assimilation

Assimilation occurs when a speech sound changes to become more like a neighbouring sound. This

change can be in terms of place of articulation, manner of articulation or voicing. For example, in

English, the word ‘handbag’ is often pronounced as ‘hambag’, where the /n/ sound assimilates to

the following /b/ sound by becoming a bilabial nasal /m/.

Vowel reduction

In unstressed syllables, vowels often become less distinct and are reduced to a more central vowel,

typically a schwa /ə/. For instance, the vowel sound in the first syllable of ‘banana’ is reduced – it is

not pronounced with the same quality as the stressed vowel in the second syllable.

Elision

Elision involves the omission of a sound or syllable in spoken language, such as in the contraction of

phrases. For instance, ‘I have’ is frequently contracted to ‘I've’ in speech, with elision of the ‘h’ and

‘a’ sounds.

Insertion

Insertion involves the addition of sounds. This often happens for ease of pronunciation. For example,

the word ‘warmth’ often has an extra /p/ sound inserted in some dialects, making it sound like

‘warmpth’

Pitch

Pitch is the relative height, ranging between high and low, of auditory sound.

Intonation

Intonation relates to the patterns of pitch variation across phrases, clauses and sentences.

Stress

Stress is the intensity that is placed upon a syllable within a word. The speaker may increase the

length, volume or pitch of the syllable compared to its surrounding syllables, to create emphasis.

Tempo

Tempo relates to the pace (speed) with which an intonation unit is delivered.

Volume

Volume is the relative increase or decrease in decibels across an intonation unit. Increasing volume

on a single syllable can create stress. When it occurs across a longer stretch of an intonation unit, it

must be analysed within the situational context.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

The IPA is a system of symbols that are used to represent the sounds in human speech. It

encompasses all languages and uses symbols to represent each sound (phoneme). It can be viewed

on the website by the International Phonetic Association

(https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/content/full-ipa-chart).

You won’t need to memorise the chart for your studies; however, you may use IPA

transcription conventions to assist you with your analyses and assessments in Year 12 English

Language. See the link on page 27 for further information on how to transcribe English from the IPA,

as described by Harrington, Cox and Evans (1997).