Phonetics and phonology

11 Source: University of Stirling, Centre for English Language Teaching Descriptions of the English simple “pure” vowels English front vowels There are four front vowel phonemes in E

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TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUẢNG BÌNH

KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ

GIÁO TRÌNH (Lưu hành nội bộ) PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

NGỮ ÂM –ÂM VỊ

(Dành cho sinh viên ĐH, CĐ Tiếng Anh) Tác giả: Nguyễn Thọ Phước Thảo

Năm 2016

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MỤC LỤC

Lời nói đầu

Unit 1: Introductions to phonetics and phonology……… 3

Unit 2: The organs of speech………5

Unit 3: English vowels and diphthongs………8

Unit 4: English consonants……… 18

Unit 5: The syllables………28

Unit 6: Stress ………33

Unit 7: Intonation……….37

Unit 8: Assimilation……….50 TÀI LIỆU THAM KHẢO

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LỜI NÓI ĐẦU

Giáo trình Ngữ âm – âm vị nhằm cung cấp các kiến thức về ngữ

âm và âm vị học trong ngôn ngữ tiếng Anh, giúp hỗ trợ khả năng phát

âm của sinh viên, phát triển khả năng giao tiếp tiếng Anh và tạo tiền đề cho việc tự nghiên cứu một số vấn đề cụ thể trong lĩnh vực ngôn ngữ

Giáo trình được biên soạn dựa trên một số sách về ngữ âm và âm

vị quốc tế và giáo trình ngữ âm âm vị sử dụng ở các trường đại học chuyên ngữ trong nước Trong quá trình biên soạn, tác giả đã có những chỉnh sửa để phù hợp với đối tượng là sinh viên đại học, cao đẳng chuyên ngành tiếng Anh tại trường Đại học Quảng Bình

Phonetics is the study of how speech sounds are produced, transmitted and perceived

2 Main branches of phonetics

2.1 Articulatory phonetics

Articulatory phonetics deals with the way in which the speech sounds are produced It describes speech sounds genetically - that is, with respect to the ways by which the organs of speech modify the air stream in the throat, the mouth, and the nose in order to produce a sound The production of different speech sounds through the use of the organs

of speech is known as articulation

2.2 Acoustic phonetics

Acoustic phonetics deals with the transmission of speech sounds through the air It is the study of speech waves as the output of a resonator A spectrograph may be used to record significant characteristics of speech waves and to determine the effect of articulatory activities Parts of this record of speech waves can be cut out experimentally and the rest can be played back as sound in order to determine wich features suffice to identify the sounds of a language

2.3 Auditory phonetics

Auditory phonetics deals with how speech sounds are perceived by the listeners The auditory aspect of speech is very important: the ear is capable of making fine discrimination between different sounds, and sometimes it is not possible to define in articulatory terms precisely what the difference is

II Phonetics and Phonology

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As seen above, phonetics is the study of pronunciation, that is, the study of human speech sounds Besides having the physical properties, the speech sounds aso have the distinctive function when they are used as distinctive units of sounds in a language According to I J Ohala (in R.E Asher, 1994: 3053), othe designations for this field of inquiry include

“speech science” or “the phonetic sciences” and “phonology” Some apply the term

“phonetics” to the physical, including physiological, aspects of speech; others prefer to reserve the term “phonology” for the study of the more abstract, the more functional, or

the more psychological aspects of the underpinnings of speech

Phonetics, as used in this course of study, is the study of all speech sounds and the ways

in which they are produced The main aims of phonetics are to describe human speech sounds

Phonology is the study and identification of the distinctive unit of sound in a language The most basic activity in phonology is phonemic analysis, in which the objective is to establish what the phonemes are and arrive at the phonemic inventory of the language Very few phonologists have ever believed that this would be an adequate analysis of the sound system of a language: it is necessary to go beyond this One can look at suprasegmental phonology - the study of stress, rhythm and intonation, which has led in recent years to new approaches to phonology such as metrical and autosegmental theory; one can go beyond the phoneme and look into the detailed characteristics of each unit in terms of distinctive features; the way in which sounds can combine in a language is studied in phonotactics and in the analysis of syllable structure For some phonologists the most important area is the relationships between the different phonemes - how they form groups, the nature of the oppositions between them and how those oppositions may be neutralised

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UNIT 2: THE ORGANS OF SPEECH

Vocal tracts and articulators

Names of articulators

Perhaps readers and learners may get confused with the terms used for the articulators The table below will help to make clear the common names and what each of them mean Normal name Fancy name Adjective Normal name Fancy name Adjective

(soft) palate Velum Velar Tongue body Dorsum

(back)

Dorsal

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lungs A few languages use the epiglottis in making sounds English is fortunately not one

of them

Vocal folds/vocal cords

folds of tissue stretched across the airway to the lungs They can vibrate against each other, providing much of the sound during speech

Oral cavity

the part of the mouth behind the teeth and gums that is bounded above by the hard and soft palates and below by the tongue and the mucous membrane connecting it with the inner part of the mandible

Nasal cavity

the cavity on either side of the nasal septum, extending from the nose to the pharynx, and lying between the floor of the cranium and the roof of the mouth

Tongue Backness

The second aspect of vowel classification that you will be introduced to is that of tongue backness Vowels are classified in terms of how far the raised body of the tongue

is from the back of the mouth, which is called the backness of the tongue

There are three primary height distinctions among vowels: front, back, and central

In English, examples of front vowels are /w/, /i:/, /e/, /æ/ These vowels are articulated relatively forward in the mouth Examples of back vowels are /•/, /u:/, /Y:/, /Z/, /]:/ These vowels are articulated relatively far back in the mouth Examples of central vowels are /∂/, /f:/, /ž / These are vowels whose tongue positions are roughly between the front and back vowels

These classifications, like the tongue heights, are quite relative, as different languages have different canonical tongue backnesses for different classifications

As illustration of tongue backness, observe the following diagrams for the vowels /w/, /u:/

Vowel Length

Vowel length is the length of time it takes to pronounce the vowel We can measure this length in centiseconds - hundredths of a second

 Short English vowels: /w/, //, /æ/, /Z/, /e/, /∂/, //

 Long English vowels: /i:/, /u:/, /Y:/, /]:/, /f:/

Some languages, like English, vary the lengths of their vowels according to certain rules Below you can see the typical or average length of some of the vowels in English

As we will see, there is not a clear-cut long/short distinction Typically, each vowel has its own length, with for instance /æ/ holding a half-way position between lax and tense vowels Also, lengths of different vowels overlap in different contexts: looking at /i:/ and /w/ we found the following situation The lengths are given in centiseconds

Tense vs Lax

Another aspect of vowel classification is commonly characterized in terms of the tenseness or laxness of the articulators Some vowels, such as the vowels /i:/ and /e/, are formed with a high degree of tenseness Such vowels are called tense vowels Some vowels, such as /∂/ and /ž /, are formed without a high degree of tenseness, and are called lax vowels

The general rule is:

 lax vowels (/w/, //, /æ/, /Z/, /e/, /∂/, //) are short

 tense (/i:/, /u:/, /Y:/, /]:/, /f:/) vowels (including diphthongs: /ew/, /aw/, /]w/,

/∂/,/a/, /w∂/, /∂/, /ε ∂/) are variable in length, and often longer than lax vowels

English vowel charts

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(Source: University of Stirling, Centre for English Language Teaching)

Descriptions of the English simple (“pure”) vowels

English front vowels

There are four front vowel phonemes in English: /w/, /i:/, /e/, /æ/

Sound Description Distribution Spelling

initial, medial and

final: east, dean, sea

e: economy, remark ee: eel, see, feet, ea: each, seal, plea ie: fiend

ei: seizing i: machine ey: key ay: quay eo: people oe: Oedipus eau: Beauchamp /w/ more retracted,

front, short, lax,

initial, medial and

final: ink,

i: ill, tick y: syntax, party

bread

a: ate (the past tense of eat),

many, any, Thames or Pall Mall

English central vowels

There are three central vowel phonemes in English: /ž /, /∂/, /f:/

u: under, but o: come, front, honey ou: courage, southern, rough,

fatality, above) in English and

can consequently be rendered in writing by any vowel letter with the

exception of y which only represents the semivowel j or the vowel i

/f:/

central, mid, long, in all three basic

positions, very often

ir: bird ur: burn

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tense central vowel in monosyllabic

words: err, first, curtain, fur, refer

er: fern yr: myrtle ear: learn our: journey, journal, scourge

English back vowels

There are five back vowel phonemes in standard English: /•/, /u:/, /Y:/, /Z/, /]:/

initial, medial and

final: are, cart, far

ar: jar, carpet al: palm, calm, balm

af (ff): after, staff ass: pass, class ath: path, bath

as or an followed by another

consonant: past, demand Exceptionally, other letters: aunt, Berkeley, hearth, father, sergeant, memoir , barrage

/]:/

a long, tense vowel,

more rounded than

aw: awl, drawn, thaw au: August, taught or: for, sore, port oor: floor, door oa: board, broad, coarse, hoard ough: (n)ought, sought, wrought ou: course, source

a: water, wrath

/ ʊ/ short, lax, rounded

vowel which is

Being restricted to medial position;

u: push, cushion, pull, put o: wolf, Worcester

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considerably closer

than /]:/, its degree of

aperture being a little

bit higher than the

cardinal half-close

never occurring in initial position and only exceptionally

initial, medial and

final: oom, oomph, ooze, ugh, uhlan;

rude, baboon, crew, chew, tatoo

u: rule, music, mutiny, deluge ui: suit, fruit

o: to, who, ado oo: root, taboo ou: route, through, routine, douche oe: shoe, canoe, manoeuvre

eau: beauty eu: feu

English Diphthongs

Classification of diphthongs

Diphthongs are described as sequences of two vowels pronounced together, the two vocalic elements being members of the same syllable The most important feature of a diphthong is that it contains a glide from one vowel quality to another one According to the position of the more prominent element in the diphthong we can divide diphthongs into falling diphthongs – if the prominent element comes first – and rising diphthongs – if the less prominent element comes first All English diphthongs belong to the first category Diphthongs can then be opening if the degree of aperture increases with the glide or closing if the less prominent vowel is closer than the first We can also differentiate between wide diphthongs – those in which the glide implies a more radical movement of the speech organs and narrow diphthongs – if the two vocalic elements occupy neighbouring positions on the vowel chart There are also centring diphthongs – if the glide is from a marginal vowel in the vowel chart – either back or front - to a central vowel To make it simple, we can say that there are three diphthongs ending in /w/ (/ew/, /aw/, /]w/), two ending in /∂/ (/w∂/, /∂/, /ε∂/) and three ending in // (/∂/, /a/)

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The easiest way to remember them is in terms of three groups divided as in this diagram:

The descriptions of English diphthongs

The centring diphthongs: /w∂/, /∂/, /ε∂/

Sound Description Distribution Spelling

initial, medial and

final: air, scarce, fare

air: air, fair, chair, dairy, fairy are: fare, mare, care, care ear: bear, wear, tear (v.) aer: aerial, aeroplane ere: there

eir: their, heir ay: prayer, layer, mayor /ʊ∂/

initial, medial and

final: ear, deer, tier

eer: deer, peer

b: ear, weary, idea, tear, beard

eir: weird ier: fierce, pierce

iu: delirium eo: theory, theology e: hero, serious, serial

The diphthongs to /w/: /ew/, /aw/, /]w/

initial, medial and

final: isle, bite, cry

i: ice, dime, loci y: dyke, fly ie: die, lie, pie ye: dye, fye ei: height, either, neither uy: in buy, guy

Note also the pronunciation of ay(e)

/aı/, eye /aı/ and aisle /aıl/

oi: oil, toil oy: oyster, Boyle, coy

initial, medial and

final: eight, plate, play

a: ace, lace ai: aid, maid ay: aye, clay ei: eight, reign ey: they, grey, ea: break, steak

et or é: ballet, bouquet, chalet, café,

fiancé, attaché, resumé Exceptionally, there are spellings like gaol, bass, gauge, halfpenny

initial, medial and

final: old, gold, flow

o: old, sold, no oa: oak, roast oe: toe

ow: own, known, row ou: poultry, dough eau: beau, bureau au: gauche

oo: brooch ew: sew oh: oh /a•/

a falling, wide,

closing diphthong

initial, medial and

final: ouch, loud, bough

ou: oust, doubt, plough ow: owl, howl, how eo: MacLeod

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UNIT 4: ENGLISH CONSONANTS

Producing a consonant involves making the vocal tract narrower at some location than

it usually is We call this narrowing a constriction Which consonant you're pronouncing depends on where in the vocal tract the constriction is and how narrow it is It also depends on a few other things, such as whether the vocal folds are vibrating and whether air is flowing through the nose

We classify consonants along three major dimensions:

 place of articulation

 manner of articulation

 voicing

For example, for the sound d:

 Place of articulation = alveolar (The narrowing of the vocal tract involves the tongue tip and the alveolar ridge.)

 Manner of articulation = oral stop (The narrowing is complete the tongue is completely blocking off airflow through the mouth There is also no airflow through the nose.)

 Voicing = voiced (The vocal folds are vibrating.)

Places of articulation

The place of articulation (or POA) of a consonant specifies where in the vocal tract the narrowing occurs From front to back, the POAs that English uses are:

Bilabial

In a bilabial consonant, the lower and upper lips approach or touch each other English

p, b, and m are bilabial stops

The diagram to the right shows the state of the vocal tract during a typical p or b (An

m would look the same, but with the velum lowered to let out through the nasal passages.)

The sound w involves two constrictions of the vocal tract made simultaneously One of

them is lip rounding, which you can think of as a bilabial approximant

Labiodental

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In a labiodental consonant, the lower lip approaches or touches the upper teeth English f and v are bilabial fricatives The diagram to the right shows the state of the vocal tract during a typical f or v

Dental

In a dental consonant, the tip or blade of the tongue approaches or touches the upper

teeth English θ and ð are dental fricatives There are actually a couple of different ways

of forming these sounds:

 The tongue tip can approach the back of the upper teeth, but not press against them

so hard that the airflow is completely blocked

 The blade of the tongue can touch the bottom of the upper teeth, with the tongue tip protruding between the teeth still leaving enough space for a turbulent air-

stream to escape This kind of θ and ð is often called interdental

The diagram to the right shows a typical interdental θ or ð

The diagram to the right shows the state of the vocal tract during plosive t or d

The diagram to the right shows the state of the vocal tract during the first half (the stop

half) of an affricate t∫or dʒ

Retroflex

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In a retroflex consonant, the tongue tip is curled backward in the mouth English ɹ is a retroflex approximant the tongue tip is curled up toward the postalveolar region (the area immediately behind the alveolar ridge)

The diagram to the right shows a typical English retroflex ɹ

Both the sounds we've called "postalveolar" and the sounds we've called "retroflex" involve the region behind the alveolar ridge In fact, at least for English, you can think of retroflexes as being a sub-type of postalveolars, specifically, the type of postalveolars that you make by curling your tongue tip backward

Palatal

In a palatal consonant, the body of the tongue approaches or touches the hard palate

English j is a palatal approximant the tongue body approaches the hard palate, but

closely enough to create turbulence in the air-stream

Velar

In a velar consonant, the body of the tongue approaches or touches the soft palate, or

velum English k, g, and ŋ are stops made at this POA

The diagram to the right shows a typical k or g though where exactly on the velum

the tongue body hits will vary a lot depending on the surrounding vowels

As we have seen, one of the two constrictions that form a w is a bilabial approximant

The other is a velar approximant: the tongue body approaches the soft palate

Glottal

The glottis is the opening between the vocal folds In an /h/, this opening is narrow

enough to create some turbulence in the air-stream flowing past the vocal folds For this

reason, /h/ is often classified as a glottal fricative

Manners of articulation

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The manner of articulation dimension is essentially everything else: how narrow the constriction is, whether air is flowing through the nose, and whether the tongue is dropped down on one side

Stops

Stops are consonants formed by completely stopping the flow of air somewhere in the vocal apparatus, and then releasing the air Since the sudden release of the pent-up air creates a small explosive sound, stops are also called plosives Stops may be voiced (vocal cords vibrating during the articulation of the stop) or voiceless (vocal cords not

vibrating during the articulation of the stop) Here is a list of the stops in English t, d, k,

g, p and b

Fricatives

In the stop t, the tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge and cuts off the airflow In s, the

tongue tip approaches the alveolar ridge but doesn't quite touch it There is still enough of

an opening for airflow to continue, but the opening is narrow enough that it causes the

escaping air to become turbulent (hence the hissing sound of the s) In a fricative

consonant, the articulators involved in the constriction approach get close enough to each

other to create a turbulent air-stream The fricatives of English are f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ∫ and ʒ

Approximants

In an approximant, the articulators involved in the constriction are further apart still than they are for a fricative The articulators are still closer to each other than when the vocal tract is in its neutral position, but they are not even close enough to cause the air

passing between them to become turbulent The approximants of English are w, j, ɹ, and l

Affricates

An affricate is a single sound composed of a stop portion and a fricative portion In

English t∫, the airflow is first interrupted by a stop which is very similar to t (though made

a bit further back) But instead of finishing the articulation quickly and moving directly into the next sound, the tongue pulls away from the stop slowly, so that there is a period

of time immediately after the stop where the constriction is narrow enough to cause a turbulent airstream

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In t∫, the period of turbulent air-stream following the stop portion is the same as the fricative ∫ English dʒ is an affricate like t∫, but voiced

Laterals

Pay attention to what you are doing with your tongue when you say the first consonant

of /li:f/ leaf Your tongue tip is touching your alveolar ridge (or perhaps your upper teeth),

but this doesn't make /l/ a stop Air is still flowing during an /l/ because the side of your

tongue has dropped down and left an opening (Some people drop down the right side of

their tongue during an /l/; others drop down the left; a few drop down both sides.) Sounds

which involve airflow around the side of the tongue are called laterals Sounds which are not lateral are called central

/l/ is the only lateral in English The other sounds of English, like most of the sounds

of the world's languages, are central

More specifically, /l/ is a lateral approximant The opening left at the side of the

tongue is wide enough that the air flowing through does not become turbulent

Voicing

The voicing parameter specifies whether the vocal folds are vibrating The vocal folds may be held against each other at just the right tension so that the air flowing past them from the lungs will cause them to vibrate against each other We call this process voicing Sounds which are made with vocal fold vibration are said to be voiced Sounds made without vocal fold vibration are said to be voiceless

There are several pairs of sounds in English which differ only in voicing that is, the two sounds have identical places and manners of articulation, but one has vocal fold

vibration and the other doesn't The θ of thigh and the ð of thy are one such pair The

others are:

The other sounds of English do not come in voiced/voiceless pairs h is voiceless, and has

no voiced counterpart The other English consonants are all voiced: ɹ, l, w, j, m, n, and ŋ

/p/ voiceless bilabial stop / plosive

It is spelt p: plane or pp: opposite and only

exceptionally gh in hiccough

The letter p is silent when followed by

another obstruent or a nasal in word-initial

position: psalm, pterodactyl, pneumatic

/b/ voiced bilabial stop/plosive

It is spelt b: bar or bb: ribbon

The letter is silent in final position after

m: limb, crumb, dumb and in front of t in

words of Latin origin where the sound has

long been lost: debt, doubt, subtle

/t/ voiceless alveolar stop/plosive It is spelt with t: toe, with tt: cutter or with

th: Thomas, Thames

/d/ voiced alveolar stop/plosive It is spelt d: read or dd: adder

/k/ voiceless velar stop/plosive

The sound can be represented by the letter

c: comb or by cc: accuse, by k: kill, by ck: pick, by ch: architect, by qu: queen

In words like muscle and knave the letters

c an k are silent

/g/ voiced velar stop/plosive

The consonant can be rendered by g: get

by gg: begged, or by g followed by h, as in ghastly, by ua, ue or ui, as in guarantee,

guess or linguist, respectively The voiced counterpart of /ks/, /gz/ can

also be rendered by x in words like

example

/t∫/ voiceless postalveolar affricate

The phoneme is represented graphically by

ch: charm, chinchilla, rich or tch: kitchen, bitch or by t followed by u: creature,

culture when the plosive is palatalized

In words like habitual, sanctuary the

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pronunciation with an affricate is a variant

Exceptionally, we can have ce or cz as

graphic representations of the sound in

(violin) cello or Czech

/dʒ/ voiced postalveolar Affricate

It can be rendered graphically by j: justice, John, rejoice, pyjamas, by ge: gesture, agent, sage, by gi: giraffe, rigid; and gy:

gymnastics

In certain words it can be spelt d followed

by u: gradual, individual, procedure/al In

all these cases, however, there is an alternative pronunciation /dj/

In a number of proper names or common

nouns originating in proper names ch is

read /dʒ/: Norwich, Greenwich, S/sandwich

Another spelling can be dg in words like

ridge or edge

/m/ voiced bilabial Nasal It can be spelt with m or mm: come,

common

/n/ voiced alveolar Nasal It is spelt n or nn: dean, annual

/ŋ/ voiced velar Nasal

This phoneme has a limited distribution: it always precedes the voiceless velar plosive

or occurs in syllable-final position in front

of an elided /g/: tank, ankle, sing, long

/f/ voiceless labiodental Fricative

The sound can be spelt f: fine, fringe, feud, loaf, stifle, ff: effort, snuff, ph: physics, graph, or even gh: enough, tough

The word lieutenant /lef’tenənt/ is a

particular case

/v/ voiced labiodental Fricative

It is spelt with the letter v: vein, live, voice (Exceptionally, by ph in Stephen, nephew and f in of)

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/θ/ voiceless dental Fricative

The sound is rendered graphically by th:

The sound often occurs in clusters difficult

to pronounce: eighths,, depths, lengths

/ð/ voiced dental Fricative The sound is always spelt th, like its

voiceless counterpart: within, then, they

/s/ voiceless alveolar Fricative

It is spelt s, ss or c in front of e, i or y:

sour, say, hiss, assign, ceiling, cellar, cigarette, precise, cypress, bicycle

Sometimes the spelling can be sce, sci or

scy: science, scent, scene, scythe; s is silent

in words like corps, island, viscount

/z/ voiced alveolar Fricative

The sound is spelt z It is often spelt s

when the sound does not occur in initial positon: nose, easy, desire, and, exceptionally, tz in tzar

Similarly, when it marks the plural of

nouns ending in a voiced sound (e.g boys, balls, ribs) or when it is the voiced

allomorph of the 3rd person singular present indicative of verbs ending in a

voiced sound (e.g plays, calls, adds) the

Exceptionally, the sound can be spelt

double ss in words like dissolve, possess

/∫/ voiceless postalveolar fricative

It is often spelt sh in words like shoe,

It can also be spelt s: sure, sugar or ss: pressure, mission or ci: ancient, delicious, sci: conscious, ce: ocean, si: pension,

mansion, ti: tuition, retribution

It is a variant of /sj/ in words like issue, tissue

In words of French origin the sound is

spelt ch: champagne, charade, chargé,

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The same spelling is used in proper names like Charlotte, Chicago, Chicoutimi, Michigan

/ʒ/ voiced postalveolar Fricative

It can be spelt either s when followed by u:

visual or i: decision, or z if followed by u: seizure or ge: massage, espionage

In words like casual the alternative pronunciation /zj/ is possible, while in other cases the fricative is replaced by the

affricate /dʒ/ (e.g garage)

/ɹ/ voiced retroflex approximant The sound is spelt r: rain, ring or rr:

carry, marry

/j/ voiced palatal approximant

The sound may be spelt y (as in year)

while in words spelt with u, ue, ui, ew, eu and eau read as the long vowel /u:/ the

palatal sound is often inserted

/w/ voiced labial + velar approximant

It can be rendered graphically either by the

letter w (the most common case) (e.g

sweet) or by u (e.g quite)

/l/ voiced alveolar lateral

approximant

The phoneme is spelt either l or ll in words

like link or call, for instance In many

words, however, before plosive sounds like

/k/ or /d/ – cf chalk, could; or before nasals like /m/ or /n/ – cf calm, Lincoln;

the labio-dental fricatives /f/ and /v/ – cf

calf, calves; the lateral sound is not

pronounced

/h/ voiceless glottal fricative

The conservative spelling of English has

preserved the letter h after r in words of Greek origin where no h sound or

aspiration is heard nowadays: rhapsody, rhetoric, rheumatism, rhinal, rhinoceros, rhombus, rhyme, rhythm