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English Phonology

English Phonology. The Sound System of American English. Key Terms. Phoneme - a unit of sound significant in a specific language (E.g., /s/ is a phoneme in English while the German ch sound /x/ is not) Grapheme - The symbols (letters) used in a writing system such as our alphabet

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English Phonology

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  1. English Phonology The Sound System of American English

  2. Key Terms • Phoneme - a unit of sound significant in a specific language (E.g., /s/ is a phoneme in English while the German ch sound /x/ is not) • Grapheme - The symbols (letters) used in a writing system such as our alphabet • Digraph - A single sound represented by two letters (e.g., th, sh, ea) • Phonetic Alphabet - a collection of symbols used for writing words phonetically

  3. More Terms • Allophone - a variant of a phoneme; often not noticed by native speakers (e.g, spin, pin) • Minimal Pair - Two words that are pronounced the same except for one sound (e.g., Sue, zoo) • Voiced Sound - A sound produced with the vocal folds (cords) vibrating (e.g. voiced /z/ as opposed to voiceless /s/) • Diphthong - “a double vowel sound” - two vowels appearing together as the nucleus of a syllable

  4. The Vocal Tract

  5. The Vocal Folds (or Cords)

  6. The Consonants of English

  7. The Vowels of English

  8. Phonetic Transcription Horseshoes [hors‡uz] Matches [mæc‡\z] Bookend [b¨k´nd] Is [ˆz] Pain medicine [pen m´d\sˆn] Thorns [†ornz] Breathe [bri∂]

  9. Allomorphs Based on Phonology • The plural morpheme – • [s] after a voiceless consonant • [z] after a voiced consonant • [\z] after a sibilant (s, z, sh [s‡],[z‡], ch [c‡], or j [j]) • The past tense morpheme • [d] after a voiced sound, • [t] after a voiceless sound • [\d] after a [t] or [d] ‡

  10. Allomorphs Based on Phonology • The negative prefix /in-/n • [m] before a labial (e.g., impossible, immovable, imbalance) • [˜] before a velar (e.g., incorrect, ingratitude) • [r] before /r/ (e.g., irreversible) • [l] before /l/ (e.g., illogical) • Other examples of assimilation • Conduct, compel, colleague, corrode • Synergy, symmetry, syllogism • Admit, abbreviate, account, annul, appeal, arrive, assign, attend, alleviate • Submit, succeed, sufficient, suggest, support, surreptitious

  11. Vowel Deletion Delete the last vowel of a morpheme if the following morpheme begins with a vowel Works with some roots and suffixes: Not if prefix is only one syllable: re + act; bi + ennial

  12. E/O Deletion Delete the e or o of a morpheme ending in er or or of a morpheme if the following morpheme begins with a vowel

  13. S Deletion Delete an s after the prefix ex- N Deletion Delete the n ofthe prefix an- before a consonant: Examples: a + theist, a + pathy, a + symmetry, a + trophy But not: an + emic, an + archy, an + orexic, an + hydrous

  14. Vowel Alternations • /a/ changes to /e/ in other than first syllable • E.,g, ann-ual/bi-enn-ial; apt/in-ept; damn-ation/con-demn • /e/ changes to /i/ in other than first syllable • E.g., reg-ular; incor-rig-ible; spec-ulate/con-spic-uous

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