Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

1. Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

2. Important facts • written English different from spoken English • need to study the sound system of English and its correlation to writing • grown-ups cannot acquire pronunciation as easily as children can • HARD WORK NECESSARY! • talent also plays a role, but WORK comes first

3. Basic sounds I • different sounds at the beginnings of these words: pier veer near beer sheer weir tier hear year deer leer cheer gear rear jeer fear mere

4. Basic sounds II • Different sound at the ends of these words base wrath baize wrong bathe beige bake • 24 sounds altogether – CONSONANTS

5. Basic sounds III feel cat tier fill cot tear fell cut tour fall curt banana full cart fool fail foal file foul 20 sounds – vowels foil

6. Symbols to match the sounds I p - pip, pot b - bat, bugt - tell, table d - dog, digk - cat, keyg - get, gumf - fish, phonev - van, vatθ - thick, thump, faith ð - these, there s - sat, sitz - zebra, zapʃ - shipʒ - treasure, leisuredʒ - lodge, judge tʃ - chiph - hop, hut m - man, mummy n – nanny, nothingŋ - sing, wrongl - let, lipsr - rub, ranw - wait, wormj - yet, yacht

7. Symbols to match the sounds II Short vowels ɪ - bit, silly ɛ - bet, head æ - cat, dad ɒ - dog, rotten ʌ - cut, nut ʊ - put, soot ə - about, clever

8. Symbols to match the sounds III Long vowels i: - cream, seen ɜ: - burn, firm (also shown as ə:) ɑ: - hard, far ɔ: - corn, faun u: - tube, glue

9. Symbols to match the sounds IV Diphthongs aɪ - spice, pie ɛɪ - wait, fate ɔɪ - toy, joy əʊ - oats, note aʊ - clown, vow ɪə - deer, pier ɛə - hair, bear ʊə - cure, fuel

10. Phoneme • speech is divided into segments • an abstract set of units called phonemes • the complete set of these units – phonemic system of a language • phoneme – the smallest phonetic unit, abstract in nature • the smallest contrastive unit • why constrastive? • we get it when we distinguish one word from another (the sounds “d” and “t” in the words “bid” and “bit”) – minimal pairs

11. there are many slightly different ways in which we can make the sounds represent the phonemes, e.g. in writing with a set of symbols called phonemic transcription • sometimes same sounds are realized differently (e.g. /t/ in tea and eat – more or less aspiration) • How does this happen? • a phoneme is usually adapted to the spoken context in which it occurs, in ways that do not alter the meaning • different realizations of the same phoneme – allophones • allophones are not normally represented in the phonemic transcription

12. example: if we isolate the l sound in the initial position in lick and in the final position in ball, we should be able to hear that the sound is (physically) different as is the way our speech organs produce it • the initial l sound is called clear l, while the terminal l sound is sometimes called a dark l • when we want to show the detail of phonetic variants or allophones we enclose the symbols in square brackets whereas in transcribing sounds from a phonological viewpoint we use slant lines • [l] is clear l, while [ɫ] is dark l

13. PHONETICS: the study of the sounds of human speech • concerned with the actual properties of speech sounds (phones), and their production, audition and perception • deals with the sounds themselves rather than the contexts in which they are used in languages

14. PHONOLOGY: the study of the sound system of languages • describes the way sounds function within a given language or across languages • which sounds are distinctive units within a language • also studies how sounds alternateand topics such as syllable structure, stress, accent, and intonation

15. when we talk, sounds and words are connected together into longer utterances, which should be pronounced smoothly • in some utterances some words bear more importance than others – in speech realized with more prominence • rhythm – different lengths which syllables in English are given • tune/melody – rising and falling and the combinations of the two

16. Exercises: 1. How many phonemes are there in the following words: write, through, measure, six, half, where, one, first, voice, castle, scissors, should, judge, father, lamb? 2. Bear and bare are spelt differently but pronounced the same. Make a list of other words which are spelt differently but pronounced in the same way.

17. Speech organs • we speak with the air from our lungs • we draw it in, release it slowly and then interfere with its passage in various ways and in various places • necessary to know how the speech organs work to be able to learn how to pronounce better • vocal cords, the palate, the teeth, the tongue, the lips

19. Vocal cords • the air from lungs first arrives at the larynx, which contains two small bands of elastic tissue lying opposite each other across the air passage • the vocal cords can move towards each other, they can meet completely and they can separate completely • when they are brought together completely, no air can pass between them • when they are separated, sounds are made • rapid movement of vocal cords (even 800 times per second) produces voiced sounds • when vocal cords are drawn apart, voiceless sounds are produced

20. all vowels are voiced • some consonants are voiced, some are voiceless • consonants normally go in voiced-voiceless pairs (e.g. p-b, t-d, k-g), but there are consonants which do not have their “pair” (e.g. m, n, h)

21. The palate • forms the roof of the mouth • separates the mouth and the nasal cavity • alveolar ridge begins right behind the teeth • hard palate is the highest part of the palate • soft palate lies towards the throat, above the root of the tongue • hard palate is immobile • soft palate can move, participates in making sounds

22. The teeth • lower front teeth are not important in making sounds • the two upper front teeth are used in English to some extent

23. The tongue • the most important of the speech organs • has the greatest variety of movement • conventionally divided into 4 parts: tip, blade, front, back • tip: the most forward part • blade: follows the tip • front: lies under the hard palate • back: lies under the soft palate • the tongue easily changes its shape, it easily rises and falls

24. The lips • very mobile, like the tongue • positions: they can be brought together, the lower lip can be drawn inwards and slightly upwards, they can be kept apart flat or rounded

25. Exercises 1. Which sounds in Serbian are voiced and which are voiceless? 2. Can you sing a voiceless sound? 3. How does the soft palate affect the air stream?