11. English Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics

  • Phonetics: Study of all speech sounds humans produce; examines physical properties of sounds (production, perception).

    • Branches:

    • Auditory: Studies sounds with instruments.

    • Acoustic: Studies speech perception.

    • Articulatory: Studies speech production and organs involved (articulators).

Phonology

  • Phonology: Investigates systematic sound usage in languages.

    • Focuses on sound patterns, system within a language, and sound interaction affecting meaning.

Key Terms

  • IPA: International Phonetic Alphabet, 1:1 correspondence between sounds and symbols.

  • Allophone: Predictable phonetic variant of a phoneme (e.g., [t] in "stop" vs. aspirated [tʰ] in "top").

  • Compound: Lexeme consisting of more than one stem (e.g., "blackbird").

  • Deletion: Omission of sounds in words (e.g., dropping final /ɹ/ in "dinner").

  • Free Variation: Same environment different pronunciations without changing meaning (e.g., "been" as /biːn/ or /bɪn/

  • GA: General American accent, rhotic (pronounces /r/ in all positions).

  • Homophone: Words that sound the same but have different meanings (e.g., "two" and "to").

  • Larynx: Organ involved in breathing and sound production.

  • Morpheme: Smallest meaningful word part (e.g., "un-", "break", "-able").

  • Nasal Cavity: Space inside the nose.

  • Oral Cavity: Mouth.

  • RP: Received Pronunciation, typical British accent, non-rhotic.

  • Schwa: Unstressed sound (e.g., "a" in "alive").

  • Soft Palate (Velum): Back of the roof of the mouth.

  • Stress: Degree of emphasis on sounds or syllables.

Syllables and Morphology

  • Suffix: Letters added at word end (e.g., "-ly", "-ness").

  • Syllable: Single sound part of a word (e.g., "book" has one syllable).

  • Vocal Cords: Muscles in the larynx that vibrate to produce sound.

Consonants of English

  • Definition: Speech sound with closure at one or more points in the breath channel.

Phonological Processes

  • Consonants classified by:

    1. Voicing: Vocal cord vibration (voiced vs. voiceless).

    2. Place of Articulation: Location of obstruction (e.g., labial, coronal, velar, glottal).

    3. Manner of Articulation: Airflow effect (e.g., oral, nasal, stops, lateral).

Sonority Scale

  • Oral stops and affricates: Least sonorous.

  • Vowels: Most sonorous.

  • Obstruents: Plosives to fricatives have considerable obstruction.

  • Sonorants: Nasals, liquids, glides are more sonorous.

Consonant Behavior in Accents

  • Consonant /r/:

    • GA (Rhotic): /r/ pronounced in all positions.

    • RP (Non-Rhotic): /r/ pronounced before vowels, not at word ends or between consonants.

    • R-dropping: Process where /r/ is dropped in certain accents.

Consonant /l/

  • Pronounced differently depending on position (clear vs. dark).

    • Clear-L: Before a vowel.

    • Dark-L: Before consonants or at the end of words.

Plosives of English

  • Defined by stopping airflow and sudden release (e.g., /t/, /p/).

    • Aspiration: Voiceless plosives followed by a short [h]-like sound (aspirated vs. unaspirated).

Vowels of English

  • Vowel Definition: Speech sounds with open mouth, no tongue obstruction.

Vowel Characteristics

  • Back, Central, Front: Refers to tongue position during pronunciation.

  • Open vs. Close Vowels: Open (low) vs. close (high) in tongue position.

  • Monophthongs: Stable tongue position.

  • Diphthongs: Movement from one vowel quality to another.

  • Triphthongs: Movement through three vowel qualities.

Stress and Duration

  • Stressed Vowels: Longer, louder, higher pitch.

  • Short vs. Long Vowels: Short vowels are typically half the length of long vowels.

Vowel Reduction**

  • Weak Vowels: Found in unstressed syllables. Usually /ə/ (e.g., "about").

Phonological Classifications

  • Based on syllable types.

  • First syllable can carry stress; unstressed syllables have reduced vowels only.

Vowel Classification Criteria

  • Horizontal tongue position, vertical tongue position, and lip rounding.