Pronunciation Table … [605233]
5
Contents
Pronunciation Table ……………………………………… …
1. Introduction …………………………………………….. …….
1.1. Phonetics and Phonology ……………………… ..…
1.2. Letters and so unds……………………………… .…..
1.3. Sounds and phonemes ………………………… ..….
1.4. Symb ols and transcription …………………… ……
1.5. Dialects, accents and R.P. ………………………… ..
2. Speech Production ………………………………… .……
2.1. The vocal tract …………………………………………
2.2. Voicing ………………………………………………… .
2.3. Vowel and consonant ……………………………… .
3. The English Vowels …………… ………………… ..…….
3.1. Cardinal vowels …………………………………… .…
3.2. The short vowels of English …………………… ….
3.3. The long vowels of English ……………………… ..
3.4. Diphthongs and triphthongs …………………… …
4. The English Consonants ………………………… …….
4.1. Definition and classification ……………………… .
4.2. The English plosives ……………………………… …
4.3. The English fricatives ……………………………… ..
4.4. The English affricates ………………………………. .
4.5. The nasals of English ………………………………. . 7
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17
18
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34
35
39
39
42
48
54
59
59
62
66
68
70
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4.6. Lateral /l/ ………………………………………………
4.7. The approximants of English …………… ………. .
5. The English Syllable ……………………………… …….
5.1. Defining the syllable ………………………………..
5.2. The structure of the English syllable ………… …
5.3. Strong and weak syllables …………………………
5.4. Strong and weak forms ……………………………..
6. The Issue of Stress in English ………………… ……..
6.1. What is stress? …………………………………………
6.2. Word stress …………………………………………….
6.2.1. Stress in simple words ……………………….
6.2.2. Stress in complex words …………………….
6.2.3. Stress in compound words ………………….
6.3. Connected speech ……………………………………
7. Intona tion ………………………………………………… ..
7.1. Introducing tone and intonation …………………
7.2. Types of tones …………………………………………
7.3. The functions of the English tones ………………
7.4. The tone -unit ………………………………………….
7.5. The functions of intonation ……………………….
Key …………………………………… ……………………………
Glossary ……………………………………………………… …
Bibliography ………………………………………………… … 72
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81
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84
94
101
107
107
111
115
121
127
128
141
141
142
143
146
151
157
193
199
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Pronunciatio n Table
Vowels
/ɪ/ – tin/tɪn/
/e/ – pen /pen/
/æ/ – cat /kæt/
/ʌ/ – cut /kʌt/
/ɒ/ – pot /pɒt/
/ʊ/ – put /pʊt/
/ə/ – about /ə'baʊt/
/i:/ – meat /mi:t/
/ɑ:/ – car /kɑ:/
/ɔ:/ – door /dɔ:/
/u:/ – pool /pu:l/
/ɜ:/ – purse /pɜ:s/
/i/ – valley /'væli/
/u/ – to /tu/
Diphthongs
/eɪ/ – pain /peɪn/
/aɪ/ – time /taɪm/
/ɔɪ/ – void /vɔɪd/
/əʊ/ – home /həʊm/
/aʊ/ – out /aʊt/
/ɪə/ – beard /bɪəd/
/eə/ – hair /heə/
/ʊə/ – tour /tʊə/
Triphthongs
/eɪə/ – player /pleɪə/
/aɪə/ – tired /taɪəd/
/ɔɪə/ – loyal /lɔɪəl/
/əʊə/ – lower /ləʊə/
/aʊə/ – tower /taʊə/
Consonants
/p/ – pet /pet/
/t/ – tan /tæn/
/k/ – cat /kæt/
/b/ – bat /bæt/
/d/ – debt /det/
/g/ – good /gʊd/
/f/ – fat /fæt/
/θ/ – thing /θɪŋ/
/s/ – say /seɪ/
/ʃ/ – shame /ʃeɪm/
/v/ – vet /vet/
/ð/ – the /ðə/
/z/ – zoo /zu:/
/ʒ/ – garage /gə'rɑ:ʒ/
8
/h/ – heart /hɑ:t/
/tʃ/ – church /tʃɜ:tʃ/
/dʒ/ – judge /dʒʌdʒ/
/m/ – main /meɪn/
/n/ – nut /nʌt/
/ŋ/ – king /kɪŋ/
/l/ – lamb /læm/
/w/ – wide /waɪd/
/r/ – root /ru:t/
/j/ – yard /jɑ:d/
Other symbols used
/'/ – primary str ess
/ˌ/ – secondary stress
/l / – syllabic consonant
╽- foot boundary
9
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
Phonetics and phonology are basically concerned with the way
in which humans produce and hear sounds in order to
accom plish typical social interaction which is essentially
realized by means of linguistic communication. Since we often
tend to take for granted this aspect of our everyday life, the
question arises as to what exactly it is that phonetics and
phonology (as bra nches of linguistics) contribute to our
development as communicators by means of language.
Although such matters might seem trivial to non -specialists in
the field, the expert will identify a rich network of issues
associated with the field of phonetics an d phonology that
explicate some of the most complex phenomena occurring in
some of the simplest instances of spoken communication in
everyday life. Hence, the wide variety of professional
categories that phonetics and phonology have served, ranging
from la nguage and communication professionals, teachers
and learners of languages, to speech pathologists, linguistic
engineers and beyond.
10
In order to have a clearer perspective on the complex
nature of speech – and implicitly into some of the areas of
interest of phonetics – an insight into a few of its levels might
be useful. First of all, “speech is a matter of anatomy and
physiology” (Clark et al. 1), that is it depends on the proper
functioning of the brain, of the articulators and of the hearing
organs. Th e branch of phonetics that deals with the
identification, description and classification of individual
sounds is articulatory phonetics .
Second ly, the speech sounds produced by any
participant in an act of communication travel through the air
in the form of sound waves before they reach the ears of the
hearer. The instrumental analysis and measurement of these
sound waves is essentially the domain of acoustic phonetics .
Third ly, the sounds produced by the speaker eventually
reach the hearer who analyses an d processes them. As a result
of a complex mental process, the hearer will be able to decode
the message sent by the speaker. The different aspects
concerning the perception of sounds by the hearer is the
object of auditory or perceptual phonetics .
Unlike phonetics , which mainly describes sounds in
isolation, phonology is associated with the study of possible
combinations of phonemes, which are abstractions of the
sounds of language, as well as with certain suprasegmental
aspects of speech such as stress an d intonation (Roach 35 -6).
11
1.2. LETTERS AND SOUNDS
Video:
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron
/features/sounds/
The relationship be tween letters and sounds in English is not
as straightforward as in other languages. As Clark et al.
remark,
…many of the world ’s languages do have spelling
systems that were deliberately designed to reflect
pronunciation (sometimes misleadingly called
‘phonetic spelling systems’) and others have been
reformed from time to time to keep them closer to
actual pronunciation (6).
Indeed, if we take a closer look at other languages such as
Romanian, French and even German, a number of relatively
unsophistica ted spelling rules that reflect speech sounds can
be identified. Unfortunately, English pronunciation has little in
common with English spelling as a presumably anonymous
poem frequently quoted on the Internet argues:
12
Activity :
Read out loud the fragmen t below:
The English Lesson (fragment)
I take it you already know
Of tough, and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble but not you
On hiccough, through, slough and though.
Well done! and now you wish, perhaps
To learn of less familiar traps?
Bewar e of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead; it’s said like bed, not bead!
For goodness sake don’t call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat,
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt)
A moth is not a mot h in mother,
Nor both in bother, broth in brother.
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,
And there’s dose and rose and lose –
Just look them up – and goose and choose,
And cork and work and card and ward
And font and front and word and sword.
And do and go, then thwart and cart.
13
Come, come, I’ve hardly made a start.
A dreadful language: Why, man alive,
I’d learned to talk when I was five.
And yet to write it, the more I tried,
I hadn’t learned it at fifty -five.
(www.fun -with-words.com/double_english.html )
Furthermore, in English there is a number of words
with different spellings but in the pronunciation of which
native speakers cannot identify the slight est difference, such
as ‘peace’ and ‘piece’ or ‘which’ and ‘witch’ (Ashby 1). Words
with identical pronunciation but different spelling and
meaning are called homophones (‘homo’ – same + ’phone’ –
sound).
Activity :
Which of the following pairs of words can be pronounced
identically (are homophones)?
flower flour
sell cell
lose loss
bee be
weight wait
practice practise
14
man men
groan grown
moor more
subject (n.) subject (vb.)
right wright
Homographs – i.e. words which share the same spelling
(‘homo’ – same + ‘graph’ – writing) – also rise difficulty when
it comes to pronunciation. The verb ‘read’ rhymes with ‘need’
when in the infinitive, and with ‘red’ when in the past tense or
past participle.
1.3. SOUNDS AND PHONEMES
So far the term sound has been used with reference to the
smallest unit or segment of speech. However, phoneticians
use a more specialized term, namely phoneme, to refer to
“contrastive units of sound which can be used to change
meaning” (Collins et al. 10). For example, let us consider the
following pair s of words: ‘sheep’ and ‘ship’; ‘men’ and ‘pen’;
‘pin’ and ‘bin’; etc… All pairs are composed of two words
distinguished by a single sound. Thus, the difference between
‘sheep’ and ‘ship’ is the use of long i /i:/ in the first element,
and the use of short i /ɪ/, in the second. Similarly, the
difference between the words in the other pairs consists in the
15
use of different initial consonants. Two words distinguished by
a single sound are called a minimal pair . If several words in a
sequence are distinguished by a single sound, they will be
referred to as a minimal set like in ‘pet’, ‘bet’, ‘set’ and ‘net’.
Activity :
Make minimal pairs or groups in English starting from the
words below . Make sure that all resulting words are
meaningful.
Example: Pen – hen – den – ken – pin – pun – pet…
Sun –
Pea –
Kiss –
Ship –
Lawn –
Say –
Besides the above -mentioned opposition in terms
between sound and phoneme, which is largely attributed to
the more or less specialized use of concepts, another
opposition also be comes evident in the literature, namely
between their abstract or concrete nature . As in the case of
16
spelling , which uses an abstract alphabet as the basis of our
writing, speech consists of a set of abstract set of units called
phonemes . When these abstra ct entities are actually produced ,
they become sounds , i.e. concrete realizations of phonemes
which may differ from one speaker to another or from one
linguistic context to another:
The phonemes themselves are abstract, but there are
many slightly differe nt ways in which we make the
sounds that represent these phonemes, just there are
many ways in which we may make a mark on a piece of
paper to represent a particular (abstract) letter of the
alphabet (Roach 32).
Thus, depending on a number of factors suc h as the accent
used by a particular speaker of English, the position of a
particular phoneme in a word – initial, medial or final -, or
even the articulation particularities in a certain speaker, one
phoneme may have a number of distinct possible realizat ions
called allophones, which do not have any influence on
meaning. Peter Roach explains:
We find cases where it makes little difference which of
two possible ways we choose to pronounce a sound.
For example, the /b/ at the beginning of a word such
as ‘bad’ will usually be pronounced with practically no
voicing. Sometimes, though, a speaker may produce
17
the /b/ with full voicing, perhaps in speaking very
emphatically. If this is done, the sound is still identified
as the phoneme /b/, even though we can hear that it is
different in some way. We have in this example two
different ways of making /b/ – two different
realizations of the phoneme. One can be substituted
for the other without changing the meaning (33).
Activity :
In your words, try to explain the way in which the
pronunciation of /l/ in ‘law’ is different from the
pronunciation of /l/ in ‘cattle’. In what way are they similar?
1.4. SYMBOLS AND TRANSCRIPTION
Phonemes as abstract entities are represented by means of a
set of phonemic symbols , which usually consist of one
character. It is possible however, that one phoneme be
represented by two characters. For example, /dʒ/ in ‘jam’
/dʒæm/ is a phonemic symbol consisting of two characters, d
and ʒ, and /dʒæm/ is the phonemic transcription of the word
‘jam’. This is one of the traditional exercises used in teaching
pronunciation, where every sound in a sequence must be
18
identified and represented in writing by means of phonemic
symbols. At more advanced levels, however, students and
professionals in the field of phonetics may find it difficult to
represent sound differences that they might not have been
aware of. In this case, the use of a set of phonetic symbols
(the International Phonetic Alphabet – IPA) is recommended
which adds a set of diacritic s and symbols to the phonemic
symbols used to mark certain subtle differences in the
pronunciation of certain sounds.
1.5. DIALECTS, ACCENTS AND R.P.
All languages exist in a number of different forms, i.e.
varieties , depending on the region in which sp eakers live or
the social group(s) they are part of. Language variation may
refer to contrasts in lexical choice, spelling and even
grammar, in which case we speak of dialects . When we refer
specifically to the pronunciation peculiarities of a speaker or
group of speakers, we use the term accent .
English as the lingua franca in the world displays a
particularly wide variety of dialects and accents, which has
given rise to a lot of debate , especially in what social dialects
are concerned. Collins and Mees e xplain:
Regional variation is accepted by everyone without
question. It is common knowledge that people from
19
London do not speak English in the same way as those
from Bristol, Edinburgh or Cardiff… What is more
controversial is the question of social vari ation in
language, especially when the link with social class is
concerned. Some people may take offence when it is
pointed out that accent and dialect are closely
connected with class differences, but it would be very
difficult to deny this fact (2 -3).
Indeed, it has been noticed that differences in terms of
accents used by educated people living in different
geographical regions of the British Isles for example are far
less numerous and more subtle than accents used by speakers
of regional dialects with working -class occupations and less
education (Collins et al. 3). Therefore, ‘educated’ English,
which is also the most regulated by dictionaries, grammars,
etc., is considered the standard variety of English that is most
often recommended to foreign learne rs.
In Britain, the accent used in standard language bears
the name of Received Pronunciation or RP. The term ‘received’
is rather obsolete in the sense that it is used to mean
‘approved’ or ‘accepted’ (Roach 3). Recently, there has been
an increasing num ber of linguists in general and researchers
in the field of sociolinguistics in particular arguing that RP is
used only by approximately three percent of the British
population, in contrast with the proportion of RP speakers who
work in the media (171) . Thus, RP is the most widely used
20
accent in public addresses and by most announcers and
newsreaders on public broadcasting channels, hence the
names of BBC English , the Queen’s English , or Oxford English .
Sociolinguistic studies in the current distribution o f RP
among speakers of English have revealed yet another
interesting, less than expected phenomenon. Whereas in the
1970’s the number of speakers who would describe
themselves as users of RP was far more significant (Trudgill
171), it seems that nowadays n ative speakers of English do
not display the same in terest in adopting RP publicly. As
Trudgill points out, the explanation lies partially in the origins
of RP and its lack of regional features:
…This peculiar lack of regionality must be due to a
peculia r set of sociolinguistic pre conditions, and has
in fac t often been ascribed to its origin in British
residential, and therefore also non -regional, schools
for the children of the upper classes: the so -called
Public Schools (172 -173).
The other half of th e explanation concerns the paradoxical
perception of RP speakers among their various communities.
While RP is perceived as the la ndmark of an educated,
competent , reliable and confident person, users of RP are
generally perceived as less friendly, sociable , sincere and
persuasive (Gill quoted by Trudgill 176). Moreover, with more
and more voices arguing against discrimination on all
21
grounds, including accent – regional or otherwise -, British
public speakers do not need to ‘polish’ their RP accent as they
once did. As a matter of fact, such speakers are more likely
than ever to be perceived as ‘posh’ and ‘snobbish’ (176).
Despite such recent developments, the question
emerges whether foreign spea kers or teachers of English
around the world should adopt it or not. With many diverging
and converging opinions being expressed in the liter ature, we
need a nuanced perspective on the subject matter. As
concerns teachers, a sensible approach would be that they
should teach the variety of English (accent included) t hey feel
most confortable with rather than attempting to use an
unnatural, less than perfect accent which does not fit its
specific teaching context. At more advanced level, however, as
is the case of this particular course, standardization may play
a vita l role since our goal is to raise awareness in students of
the pronunciation peculiarities of educated English and
encourage them to develop a proficiency similar to that of
educated native speakers. Once this objective has been
reached, students may feel free and confident enough to
explore and experiment using other accents and varieties of
English. Hence, the aim of this course is to develop students’
pronuncia tion, make them aware of certain phenomena
occurring in every day speech , and make oral communi cation
as smooth and effective as possible.
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Revision :
1. In English, there is often no one -on-one correspondence
between spelling and pronunciation. How many letters and
how many sounds are there in the words below:
a. zoo
b. cuckoo
c. wrong
d. through
e. read
2. What is a dialect ? How does it relate to the concept of
accent ?
3. Explain the concept of Received Pronunciation. Why is it
useful to have and promote a pronunciation standard in a
language?
4. What are homophones and homographs ? Give examples.
5. What is the difference between phonetic and phonemic
transcription ?
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2. SPEECH PRODUCTION
2.1. THE VOCAL TRACT
Speech may be defined as an activity specific to humans that
involves the use of an inventory of vo cal sounds for the
purpose of communication. Although animals also have the
ability of using meaningful vocal sounds or noises, it is only
humans who have managed to develop these sounds into a
highly sophisticated means of communication. However, the
primary function of the organs helping us to produce these
sounds was not communication but breathing, feeding and
drinking, which largely explains why the upper part of the
vocal tract is also part of the breathing and digestive systems.
This also points to t he interdependence between respiration
and speech production process (Chițoran 28).
The speech mechanism involves two crucial elements:
an energy source (the respiratory system ) and a set of internal
organs (the vocal tract which includes: the lungs, the t rachea,
the larynx, the pharynx, and the oral and nasal cavities). The
vocal tract may be divided into three main parts: the thorax
and the lungs (where the act of phonation is initiated; the
24
larynx (where the sounds are actually generated); the
supraglott al cavities (which act as resonators).
The thorax or the rib cage contains the lungs whose
anatomical structure resembles that of sponges. When air is
inspired into the lungs, they expand causing the rib cage to
expand its volume as well. When the rib cage comes to its
initial position due to the action of muscles, the air in the
lungs is expelled, which means that it can be used in order to
produce speech sounds.
The larynx is in the neck and its main structure
resembles that of a box. It is composed of s everal cartilages
attached to the trachea (the t hyroid and the cricoid cartilages) .
The front part of the larynx is more prominent and is
commonly known as Adam’s Apple .
25
The upper vocal tract
This cartilage structure contains the vocal cords or folds ,
which are two flaps of muscle at the back of which two small
cartilages – the arytenoid cartilages – are attached. Whenever
the cartilages move, the vocal folds move too.
26
Activity :
You will watch a stroboscopy of the vocal folds, during which
a thin tube with a small camera attached to its end is inserted
through a patient’s nose and down to her throat. In your own
words, explain what happens to the vocal cords when the
patient breaths and what ha ppens when a sound like /ɪ/ is
produced.
Source: www.youtube.com
Basically, one can distinguish among four possible positions of
the vocal folds, only one of which is the position for vocal fold
vibration .
27
a. the wide apart position – is the position for normal
breathing. In other words the air coming out from the lungs
passes through the glottis – which is the empty space between
the vocal cords – without causing them to vibrate. This is also
the p osition for the production of certain voiceless consonants
such as /f/, /s/ or / ∫/.
28
b. the narrow glottis position – is the position in which the
fricative consonant /h/ is produced. The arytenoid cartilages
attached to the vocal folds come closer together. As a result,
the glottis becomes smaller and the air coming out fro m the
lungs produces some sort of friction.
29
c. the position for vocal fold vibration – is the only position
during which the vocal folds vibrate. During this position, the
arytenoid cartilages are brought very close together so that
the edges of the vocal folds are almost touching each other.
When the air coming out from the lungs passes quickly
through this extremely narrow passage, it causes the vocal
folds to vibrate.
30
d. vocal folds tightly closed position – During this position, th e
vocal folds are pressed against each other and the air flow
coming out from the lungs cannot pass through the glottis.
The result of this is a glottal plosive represented as /?/, which
is very similar to a gentle cough.
31
The supraglottal cavi ties, i.e. the nose and oral cavities ,
are situated at the upper end of the pharynx and act as
resonators. The pharynx is a tube of about seven centimeters
long in women and eight centimeters long in men. At the
lower end of the pharynx is the epiglottis whose basic role is
to regulate the passage of food down the esophagus and that
of the air down the trachea. In some languages, such as
Arabic, certain pharyngeal sounds are produced whereas in
English the degree of tenseness of the muscles in the pharynx
may produce changes in the quality of sounds.
When the air comes out of the lungs it is directed by
the movements of the soft palate or velum either to the mouth
or to the nasal cavity. If the velum is lowered, the passage of
the air through the mouth is blocked and is directed to the
nose. When the air is released through the nose, a nasal
consonant is produced, such as /m/, /n/ or /ŋ/.
If the velum is raised , it will be released through the
mouth cavity in which case it can be obstructed in many
vario us ways. The shape of the mouth and the use of the
various articulators in it complete the final quality of the
majority of speech sounds. It may be argued that the most
important articulator in the mouth cavity is the tongue since
there are very few soun ds in the production of which the
tongue is inactive. The tip of the tongue is very active in the
production of consonants, whereas the blade of the tongue is
used to change the shape of mouth cavity which is of utmost
importance in the production of vowel s. For the purpose of
32
phonetic analysis, the blade of the tongue is divided into
several parts the front part, the back of the tongue and the
root of the tongue.
Other articulators in the mouth cavity are: the upper
and lower lips , the upper and lower te eth, the alveolar ridge ,
the hard palate , the soft palate , which in combination either
with one another or with the tongue create a number of
obstructions to the flow of air that comes out of the lungs.
Depending on the type of obstruction created, the con sonant
produced will have a number of articulatory characteristics.
For example, if an obstruction is produced with the tip of the
tongue touching the alveolar ridge , one in a series of alveolar
consonants is produced: /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, or /l/. If t he
back of the tongue touches the velum , a velar consonant will
be produced such as /k/, /g/ or/ ŋ/.
33
The articulators above the larynx
Activity :
Using the diagram above, describe the movements of the
articulators in the production of the following consonants:
/b/, /f/, /l/, /θ/ (as in ‘thumb’ ), and /k/ (as in ‘car’ ).
34
2.2. VOICING
Video :
Most speakers are aware of the difference between voiced
and voiceless sounds. In what follows, you will watch a video
explaining how we can distinguish between voiced and
voiceless consonants.
(Source: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/gramm
ar/pron/ features/voicing/ )
In the previous subchapter, the mechanism of speech was
presented including some considerations on the
interdependence between the process of respiration and that
of voicing or phonation . This phenomenon occurs when the
eggressive pulmonic airstream , i.e. the airflow generated when
the lungs are compressed by the rib cage, passes through the
vocal folds causing them to vibrate.
Howe ver, as it has already been demonstrated in the
video, not all sounds in English are voiced. As a matter of fact,
the voiced sounds category includes all of the vowel
phonemes as well as part of the consonants (/b/, /d/, /g/,
/v/, etc.) whereas the voicele ss sounds category includes only
some of the consonants (/p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, etc.).
35
Activity :
Say which of the final consonants in the following words are
voiced and which are voiceless: ‘cat’, ‘dog’, ‘cats’, ‘dogs’,
‘church’, ‘churches ’, ‘judge’, ‘judges’. Can you think of any
reason why the plural of nouns is pronounced /s/ or /ts/ in
some cases, and /z/ or /iz/ in others?
2.3. VOWEL AND CONSONANT
So far, the mechanism of speech and the relationship between
respiration and voicing have been desc ribed. In what follows,
we will try to define the concepts of vowel and consonant from
a phonetic and phonological perspective.
Phonetically, i.e. from the point of view of their
production, vowels are sounds which are produced when the
flow of air does n ot meet any obstruction as it comes out of
the vocal tract.
Consonants , on the other hand, are sounds in the
production of which the airflow coming out of the lungs is
obstructed at some point in the vocal tract. If a cl osure is
created with the lips, th e sound produced will be a bilabial
consonant; if the closure occurs at the level of the alveolar
ridge, the consonant will be alveolar, etc.
36
Activit ies:
1. Which of the following words start with a vowel and which
with a consonant:
umbrella
young
intern
heritage
heart
heir
horn neither
university
upper
uniform
wealth
opera
heiress hole
water
apple
card
unseen
usher
unique
2. How can we demonstrate that ‘unique’ starts with a
consonant whereas ‘upper’ starts with a vowel?
Although f rom a phonetic point of view there is a
general agreement among specialists that the sounds in
English are e ither vowels or consonants, the status of /w/ as
in ‘watch’ and /j/ as in ‘year’ is rather unclear. Although
phonetically there is no obstruction to the airflow coming out
of the lungs – which would include the abovementioned
phonemes in the category of vowels, on a phonological level
they act like consonants: we say ‘a watch’, not ‘*an watch ’ and
‘a year’ not ‘*an year ’.
37
Revision :
1. What are the a rticulators above the larynx.
2. Give examples of words containing voiced and voiceless
consonants.
3. Define vowels and consonants.
4. What are the articulators involved in the production of the
following sounds:
a. /p/ as in ‘pet’
b. /k/ as in ‘ket’
c. /ʃ/ as in ‘fish’
d. /ð/ as in ‘those’
e. /m/ as in ‘moon’
f. /ŋ/ as in ‘king’
5. Now think of th e words in exercise 4. In your words,
describe the succession of movements performed by the
articulators in the pronunciation of each word .
38
39
3. THE ENGLISH VOWELS
In the previous chapter the basic concepts of vowel and
consonants have been defined both from a phonetic and from
a phonological point of view. In what follows, a classification
of vowels as well as a more detaile d description of each vowel
phoneme individually will be presented.
3.1. C ARDINAL VOWELS
Generally, vowels can be classified according to two basic
criteria:
a. According to the distance between the surface of the
tongue and the hard palate there are two categories of vowels
close vowels in the case of which the distance is quite small
(e.g. /i:/, /u:/), and open vowels (e.g. /ɑ:/, /æ/) which are
pronounced with an open mouth.
b. According to the part of the tongue which is raised or
lowered in the p roduction of a particular vowel. Thus, /i:/ and
40
/æ/ are described as front vowels whereas /u:/ is a back
vowel .
Despite this apparently clear attempt at classification, a
more detailed and refined instrument for the description of
vowels was necessary. Thus, phoneticians have developed a
standard reference system consisting of eight cardinal vowels
which has become an invaluable instrument in describing,
classifying and comparing vowels. As their name sugge sts, the
cardinal vowels are ‘extreme’ sounds se rving a theoretical
purpose similar to that of the geographical cardinal points. In
other words, in the pronunciation of cardinal vowels, the
tongue tends to be in an ‘extreme’ position: high, low, front or
back. As a matter of fact, it is quite unlikely f or the average
speaker in an everyday communication situation to use or
articulate cardinal vowels.
The International Phonetic Association recommends
the use of an irregular quadrilateral for the description of the
cardinal vowels. The upper horizontal lin e represents the part
of the tongue which is raised or lowered (front -central -back)
whereas the vertical line on the left represents the distance
between the roof of the mouth and the surface of the tongue
(close, close -mid, open -mid, open). The eight card inal vowels
are placed at the knots of the diagram indicating the fact that
they are extremes of vowel quality not vowel phonemes
normally used in everyday speech.
41
Activity :
In the dia gram below, one place has been assigned for each
cardinal vowel ( Roach 12). Describe eac h cardinal vowel (1 -8)
and explain their location on the diagram.
Besides the two criteria for classification and
description mentioned earlier in this subchapter, th ere is yet
another vowel feature which is not represented in t his
diagram, i.e. lip-position . In terms of this variable, we can
identify three basic positions of the lips:
– rounded – when the corners of the lips are brought together
and the lips are pushed forward like in the pronunciation of
cardinal vowel number 8;
42
– spread – when the corners of the lips move away from each
other as in a smile. This is typical of the pronunciation of
cardinal vowel number 1.
– neutral – when the lips are neither rounded nor spread like
in the pronunciation of cardinal vowel numbe r 4.
Activity :
Divide the words below into three categories according to the
type of vowel they contain: rounded, spread and neutral:
art thus food
error soon thin
steel word cut
love elf pea
then first horse
earn you list
seen cat hot
warm roof cheat
3.2. THE SHORT VOWELS OF ENGLISH
In English, there are 7 short vowels: /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɒ/,
/ʊ/, and /ə/, each of which will be described in relation to the
eight cardinal vowels introduced above.
43
1. Short /ɪ/ as in ‘bit’, ‘lip’, ‘tip’, is a close front vowel but not
as close and front as cardinal vowel number one. In the
production of short /ɪ/ the lips are slightly spread.
Activity:
According to the description above, place /ɪ/ on the diagram
below:
2. Short /e/ as in ‘bet’, ‘led’, ‘pen’, is a front vowel between
cardinal vowels number 2 and 3. Short /e/ is produced with
the lips slightly spread.
Activity:
According to the description above, place /e/ on the diagram
below and explain its location:
44
3. Short /æ/ as in ‘bad’, ‘cat’, ‘tan’, is an open front vowel,
almost as open and front as cardinal vowel number 4. The lips
are slightly spread in the pronunciation of this vowel.
Activity:
According to the description above, place /æ/ on the diagram
below and explain its location:
45
4. Short /ʌ/ as in ‘but’, ‘cut’, ‘shut’, is a central vowel,
between open -mid and open in the pronunciation of which lip
position is neutral.
Activity:
According to the description ab ove, place /ʌ/ on the diagram
below and explain its location:
5. Short /ɒ/ as in ‘moth’, ‘pot’, ‘shot’, is a back vowel between
cardinal vowels number 5 and 6 in the production of which
lips are slightly rounded.
Activity:
According to the description above, place /ɒ/ on the diagram
below and explain its location:
46
6. Short /ʊ/ as in ‘foot’, ‘look’, ‘put’, is a back close vowel in
the area of cardinal vowel number 8 but not as close and back.
The lips are ro unded.
Activity:
According to the description above, place / ʊ/ on the diagram
below and explain its location:
7. Short /ə/ or ‘schwa’ as in ‘about’, ‘autumn’, ‘attend’, is the
most frequently occurring short vowel in English. It is central,
47
between close -mid and open -mid and the lips are neutral in
shape when it is produced.
Activity:
According to the description above, place / ə/ on the diagram
below and expalin its location:
Activities :
1. Pronounce th e words below and transcribe the short vowels
that they contain:
fish let cat cell
shot rang put chin
lamb miss bus still
48
thus man pot push
lot cut tell witch
2. Use a monolingual dictionary to find 20 other words for
each of the seven short vowels of English. Then, transcribe the
words phonemically.
3. Transcribe the following words phonemically:
belt love tin left
still bat look flash
wood luck cod gull
log stamp mud foot
4. Spell the following words given in phonemic transcription:
/fæn/ /kæm/ /hɪm/ /ðen/
/kʌm/ /bʌd/ /stʌk/ /θɪn/
/kʌp/ /sæŋ/ /θɪk/ /lɒt/
/ðɪs/ /hʌt/ /lɒk/ /pæn/
/ʃɒk/ /fʊt/ /flʌʃ/ /mɒk/
3.3. THE LONG VOWELS OF ENGLISH
Long vowels may be defined as a class of vowel phonemes
which are longer than short vowels in simil ar contexts.
49
In English, there are 5 long vowels:
1. Long /i:/ like in ‘beat’, ‘lead’, ‘seat’, is a front close vowel
nearer to cardinal vowel number 1 than short /ɪ/ resulting in a
different vowel quality than the latter. The lips are slightly
spread.
Activity:
Pronounce these words: ‘ship’ and ‘sheep’. In what way does
the vowel in the former differ from the one in the latter? Where
exactly would you place the /i:/ in ‘sheep’ on the diagram
below? What about the /ɪ/ in ‘ship’?
2. Long/ɑ:/ like in ‘car’, ‘lark’, ‘half’, is an open back vowel in
the area of cardinal vowel number 5 but not as back as this.
The lip position is neutral.
50
Activity:
Pronounce these words: ‘ cut’ and ‘ car’. In what way does the
vowel in the former di ffer from the one in the latter? Where
exactly would you place the /ʌ / in ‘ cut’ on the diagram below?
What about the / ɑ:/ in ‘ car’?
3. Long /ɔ:/ like in ‘board’, ‘law’, ‘sort’, is a back vowel in the
mid-close area (cardinal vowel n umber 7) in the pronunciation
of which the lips are strongly rounded.
Activity:
Pronounce these words: ‘ lock’ and ‘ law’. In what way does the
vowel in the former differ from the one in the latter? Where
51
exactly would you place the /ɒ / in ‘ lock’ on the diagram
below? What about the / ɔ:/ in ‘ law’?
4. Long /u:/ like in ‘food’, ‘moon’, ‘soon’, is a close back
vowel, more close and back to cardinal vowel number 8 than
short /ʊ/. The lips are moderately rounded.
Activity:
Pronounce these words: ‘foot’ and ‘food ’. In what way does
the vowel in the former differ from the one in the latter? Where
exactly would you place the /ʊ/ in ‘foot ’ on the diagram
below? What about the /u:/ in ‘food ’?
52
5. Long /ɜ:/ like in ‘bird’, ‘curse’, ‘further’, is most commonly
referred to in English as the ‘hesitation sound’. It is central,
between mid -close and mid -open and the lip position is
neutral.
Activity:
Pronounce these words: ‘about’ and ‘earn ’. In what way does
the vowe l in the former differ from the one in the latter? Where
exactly would you place the /ə / in ‘about ’ on the diagram
below? What about the / ɜ:/ in ‘earn ’?
53
Activit y:
Which word in the following pairs contains the closer vowel?
could – nude
feet – feed
shock – shook
cat – card
horse – rest
first – moon leg – lag
Luke – luck
men – man
arm – earn
meet – met
red – scheme
Now use a monolingual dictionary to copy the full transcription
of the words above.
54
3.4. DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS
Diphthongs may be defined as a movement of the articula tors
or glide of voice from one vowel to another.
Activity :
Pronounce the following words :
fear; loud ; air ; tour ; mind ; face ; voice ; cold
Each of the words above contain a diphthong. Which part of
the diphthong sounds louder ? Which part of th e diphthong
seems to be longer than the other ?
Depending on the sound towards which they glide, we
can distinguish between centring diphthongs , i.e. diphthongs
ending in the central vowel ə (/ ɪə/ as in ‘fear’, /eə/ like in
‘hear’, /ʊə/ like in ‘tour’), and closing diphthongs . Closing
diphthongs may either end in the close front vowel ɪ (/ eɪ/ as
in ‘they’, /aɪ/ like in ‘bike’, /ɔɪ/ like in ‘void’) or in the close
back vowel ʊ (/ aʊ/ like in ‘loud’, /əʊ/ like in ‘code’).
55
Activity
On the diagram below, the diphthong /ɪə/ like in ‘fear’ is
represented as a glide of voice from short /ɪ/ to short /ə/.
Complete the diagram with representations of all other seven
diphthongs in English.
Triphthongs are the most complex vowel phonemes in
English. They are a glide of voice from one vowel to a second
and then to a third, all of them produced rapidly and without
interruption. In English, there are 5 triphthongs consisting of
the five closing vowels of English and the central vowel /ə/:
/eɪ/ + /ə/ = /eɪə/ like in mayor, layer, player
/aɪ/ + /ə/ = /aɪə/ like in fire, hire, tire
/ɔɪ/ + /ə/ = /ɔɪə/ like in loyal, royal
/aʊ/ + /ə/ = /aʊə/ like in shower, our, hour
/əʊ/ + /ə/=/əʊə/like in lower, slower, mower
56
Activities
1. Use a monolingual dictionary to find 10 words that contain
the triphthong in:
a. mayor
b. fire
c. loyal
d. shower
e. lower
2. Transcribe phonemically all the words that you have found
Revision
1. At this point you should be able to recognize the phonemic
symbols. Read the words g iven in phonemic transcription and
spell them:
a. /'kɒləm / – …
b. /dɪs'tɪŋgwɪʃ / – …
c. /'gɔ:ʤəs / – …
d. /ɪnɪks'pɪərɪənst / – …
e. /pɪkʧə'resk / – …
f. /ʌn'fəʊld / – …
g. /ʃæ'leɪ / – …
57
h. /wɔ:d/ – …
i. /'kælkjʊleɪtɪd / – …
j. /fraʊn / – …
2. There are some mistakes in the phonemic transcriptions of
the words given below. As a matter of fact, these have grown
to become some of the typical pronunciation mistakes by
Romanian learners of English. Can you correct them?
a. saw – /səʊ/
b. ballet – /bælɪt/
c. zoo – /zʊu/
d. lawn – /ləʊn/
e. apple – /eɪpl/
f. police – /'pɔ:lis/
g. hotel – /'hɒtəl/
3. Read the following text and find:
a. all words containing long vowels
b. all words containing short vowels
c. all words containing open vowels
d. all words containing central vowels
e. all words containing diphthongs
Then t ranscribe the words phonemically using a monolingual
dictionary.
58
“The other child wore a black velour hat turned up all round, a
fawn coat of covert -coating, and at her neck a narrow white
ermine tie. She wore white silk gloves. Sybil was dressed
identica lly, and though this in itself was nothing to marvel at,
since numerous small girls wore this ensemble when they were
walked out in the parks and public gardens of cathedral towns
[…], it did fortify the striking resemblance in features, build,
and height, between the two children. Sybil suddenly felt that
she was walking past her own reflection in the long looking –
glass”
(Muriel Spark, The Portbello Road – adapted fragment).
59
4. THE ENGLISH CONSONANTS
4.1. DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION
In chapter 2 a phonetic and phonological definition of
consonant phonemes has been provided. Phonetically, a
consonant may be regarded as a sound in the production of
which some kind of obstruction to the eggressive pulmonic
airstream occurs. It has also been pointed out that this closure
or obstruction may occur at several levels in the vocal tract. In
what follows a classification of consonants will be attempted
in terms of their place of articulation on the one hand, and in
terms of their manner of art iculation on the other hand.
Furthermore, the concepts of fortis and lenis will be
introduced and their relationship with the phenomenon of
voicing in consonant production will be explained.
As far as the place of articulation of consonants is
concerned, phoneticians have identified ten groups of
consonantal sounds corresponding to ten distinct articulation
points in the vocal tract:
60
a. bilabial consonants in the production of which the lips are
brought together and the tongue remains inactive. E.g.
/b/,/m/, etc…
b. labiodental consonants in the production of which the lower
lip comes against the upper teeth; the tongue is in rest
position. E.g. /f/, /v/.
c. dental consonants are produced when the tip of the tongue
touches the back part of the upper teet h. E.g. /θ/, /ð/ as in
‘thumb’ / θʌm/ and ‘there’ /ðeə/.
d. alveolar consonants are produced when the tip of the
tongue touches the alveolar ridge creating an obstruction to
the flow of air coming out of the lungs. E.g. /d/, /t/, /s/, /z/.
e. palato -alveolar consonants are produced with the front or
blade of the tongue raised against the area between the
alveolar ridge and the hard palate. E.g. /ʃ/ as in ‘fish’ /fɪʃ/.
f. palatal consonants in the production of which the front of
the tongue is raised agai nst the palate. E.g. /j/ as in ‘year’
/jɜ:/.
g. velar consonants are produced when the back of the tongue
comes into contact with the soft palate or the velum. E.g. /k/,
/g/.
61
h. uvular consonants are not produced with the back of the
tongue touching the u vula. This consonant does not occur in
English but it is quite frequent in German in the production of
uvular /r/.
i. pharyngeal consonants are produced when the root of the
tongue is moved against the wall of the pharynx. This
consonant is typical of Ara bic and does not occur in English.
j. glottal consonants are produced with the vocal folds
functioning as articulators and making a brief closure like in a
gentle cough (Brinton et al. 24) .
Besides this inventory of places of articulation each of
which corresponds to a consonant or group of consonants,
there is also a number of manners of articulation in the
production of these phonemes:
a. plosives (oral stops ) involve a closure between two
articulators so that the air is completely stopped behind tha t
closure or stricture. E.g. /p/.
b. in the production of nasals , the velum is lowered and the air
is expelled through the nose rather than the mouth. E.g. /m/.
c. fricatives (spirants ) are a group of consonants which are
produced with a partial strictur e between two articulators so
62
that a friction or a sound similar to that produced by a snake
is produced. E.g. /ʃ/, /s/.
d. affricates consists of “a stop released into a homorganic
fricative” (Brinton et al. 25). In other words, they start as
fricatives and end like plosives. E.g. /tʃ/ as in ‘church’.
e. approximants are quite difficult to define. They are
produced when one articulator comes against another but the
stricture is incomplete – hence, their name – and no friction of
the air coming out of the lungs occurs. E.g. /w/ as in ‘wet’.
4.2. THE ENGLISH PLOSIVES
Let us now have a closer look at each of the above -mentioned
classes of consonants. As pointed out in the previous sub –
chapter, plosives are a class of consonants in the production
of which two articulators form a complete stricture causing the
air coming out of the lungs to be compressed behind that
closure. The plosive will not be produced until the air is
released. If there is enough pressure behind the articulators,
the puff of air that is released will create a similar effect with
the pronunciation of fricative consonant h. This phenomenon
is known in phonetics as aspiration and it normally occurs in
the production of initial voiceless plosives when they are
followed by a vowel. This asp iration sound is represented in
63
phonetic transcription as a superposed h like in ‘peat’ [phi:t].
When the plosive is preceded by the pre -initial consonant /s/,
it is not aspirated: spy [spaɪ].
In English, there are six plosives grouped according to
their place of articulation and whether they are voiced or
voiceless as follows:
Bilabial Alveo lar Velar
Voiceless p t k
Voiced b d g
Nevertheless, while the place of articulation is quite
easy to determine, the issue of a plosive being voiced or
voiceless is a little more complex. Although on a phonetic
level (i.e. the level which describes the production of
phonemes in isolation) it is quite common to refer to one
particular consonant as being voiced or voiceless,
phonologically (i.e. in words or longer stretches of speech), a
number of phenomena such as aspiration – described above –
or devoic ing may occur. Devoicing occurs when the plosive is
at the end of words in anticipation to the silence following the
pronunciation of a word. For example, in the pronunciation of
the word rub [rʌb], the final plosive /b/ is partially devoiced
despite the f act that phonetically, or in slow, careful speech it
is described as a voiced consonant.
At this point we have most of the theoretical tools to
refer to the distribution of plosives in English, i.e. to the place
64
in which they normally occur in words. Thus , English plosives
may occur in all three positions in a word, i.e. in initial , medial
or final position as follows:
– in initial position like in: ‘pat’ /pæt/, ‘bat’ /bæt/, ‘cat’
/kæt/,etc…
– in medial position as in: ‘apply’ /ə'plaɪ/, ‘contain’
/kən'teɪn/, ‘occur’ /ə'kɜ:/, etc…
– in final position like in: ‘soap’ /səʊp/, ‘cube’ /kju:b/,
‘dark’ /dɑ:k/, etc…
Besides aspiration and devoicing which have already been
briefly described above, there is yet another important
phonologi cal phenomenon which is worth mentioning here.
Let us take a look at the pronunciation of ‘bit’ and ‘bid’ for
example. Although the phonemic transcription provided by
any English dictionary will reflect the fact that each of the
above -mentioned words are c omposed of thre e phonemes,
i.e. [bɪt] and [bɪd] respectively, a more subtle difference is
noticed in the production of short /ɪ/. Whereas in the later
word the vowel phonemes seems to be the normal length one
may expect in the pronunciation of a short vowel, in the
former word the pronunciation of short /ɪ/ is shortened even
further in anticipation of the pronunciation of voiceless plosive
t which requires more force of articulation. Phoneticians have
distinguished between two groups of consonants in terms of
their force of articulation: fortis consonants (‘fortis’ = Lat.
65
‘strong’) and lenis consonants (‘lenis’= Lat. ‘mild’, ‘gentle’).
As it will become evident from th e exercise below , fortis
consonants – in this case plosives – tend to shorten the
preceding vowel.
Activ ity:
When a word ends in a lenis plosive, the final consonant is
partially devoiced which means it is quite difficult to
distinguish it from a voiceless consonant. Pronounce the
following pairs of words and say what happens to the vowel
preceding the fina l plosive. Make sure that the final lenis
plosives are partially or totally devoiced.
cap – cab
lap – lab
rip –rib
cup – cub
bit –bid
fat –fad
cot – cod quit – quid
got – god
knot – nod
tack – tag
dock – dog
duck – dug
tuck – tug
66
4.3. THE ENGLISH FRICATIVES
Fricatives are a group of consonants which are produced when
two articulators form an incomplete closure allowing the air to
escape through a small passage, producing a friction or a
hissing noise , i.e. a noise similar in effect to that produc ed by
a snake.
In English, there are nine fricatives classified in terms
of place of articulation, voicing , and force of articulation as
follows:
Labio –
dental Dental Alveolar Palato –
alveolar Glottal
Voiceless
(Fortis) /f/ /θ/ /s/ /ʃ/
/h/
Voiced
( Lenis) /v/ /ð/ /z/ /ʒ/
In terms of the distribution of fricatives in English,
although most of them may occur in initial, medial and final
position, the lenis palato -alveolar /ʒ/ and glottal /h/ display a
more uneven behaviour:
67
– initial posit ion: ‘fan’ /fæn/, ‘thumb’ /θʌm/, ‘soul’ /səʊl/,
‘shy’ /ʃaɪ/, ‘hot’ /hɒt/, ‘van’ /væn/, ‘there’ /ðeə/, ‘zoo’ /zu:/.
Exception : /ʒ/ cannot occur in initial position except in words
of French origin which have been adopted as such in terms of
pronunciation in English like in ‘genre’.
– medial position : ‘afar’ /ə'fɑ/, ‘cathedral ’ /kə'θi:drəl/, ‘basic’
/'beɪsɪk/, ‘ashamed ’ /ə'ʃeɪmd/, ‘ahead’ /ə'hæd/, ‘even’ /i:vn/,
‘leather’ /'leðə/, ‘lazy’ /'leɪzi/, ‘azure’ /'æʒə/.
– final position : ‘cough’ /kʌf/, ‘teeth’ /ti:θ/, ‘kiss’ /kɪs/, ‘ash’
/æʃ/, ‘Eve’ /i:v/, ‘bathe’ /beɪð/, ‘dogs’ /dɒgz/, ‘garage’
/gə'rɑ:ʒ/.
Exception : Glottal /h/ cannot occur in final position in English.
Activit ies:
1. Use a monolingual dictionary to find fricatives in all three
positions : initial, medial and final (20 examples). Remember!
/ʒ/ can rarely occur in initial position and there are no English
words that end in /h/ .
2. What articulators are involved in the production of fricatives
in the words below ? Describe the production process .
frown thing
seize relieved
68
ashamed boxes
hollow mirage
niche (Br.E.) other
4.4. THE ENGLISH AFFRICATES
An affricate is a consonant articulation which starts like a
plosive and ends like a homorganic fricative. In phonemic
transcription , this becomes evident in the use of one symbol
represen ted by means of two characters: /ʧ/and /ʤ/.
Activity :
In the word ‘breakfast ’ ['brekfəst] the velar plosive k and the
labiodental fricative f occur. Can they function as a fricative?
Why?
According to their place of articulation, voicing and
force o f articulation, affricates in English can be described as
follows:
– /ʧ/ is a voiceless palato -alveolar consonant in the
production of which more force of articulation is used. The
69
quality of /t/ in /ʧ/ is slightly different from that of the
voiceless alv eolar plosive, in the sense that it is no longer
produced at the level of the alveolar ridge but further back in
the oral cavity, between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate.
– /ʤ/ is a voiced palato -alveolar consonant in the production
of which less f orce of articulation is used. As with the previous
affricate, the pronunciation of d in /ʤ/ is palato -alveolar
rather than alveolar as in the case of the plosive /d/.
In terms of distribution , the English affricates may
occur in all three positions in a word:
– in initial and in final positions as in ‘church’ /ʧɜ:ʧ/ and
‘judge’ /ʤʌʤ/
– in medial position like in ‘Rochester ’ /'rɒʧestə/ and
‘conjunction ’ /kən'ʤʌŋkʃən/.
Activities :
1. Use a monolingual dictionary to find affricates in all
three positio ns : initial, medial and final (20 examples).
2. Transcribe the following words phonemically :
anthropology conjure
70
cultural cheerleader
jetlag Ipswitch
chequers Iphigenia
jokose geranium
Use a monolingual dictionary to check your transcription.
4.5. THE NASALS OF ENGLISH
Nasals are consonant phonemes in the production of which
the air coming out of the lungs escapes through the nose not
through the mouth. In English , there are three nasals: bilabial
/m/, alveolar /n/, and velar /ŋ/. Except for nasal velar /ŋ/, all
other consonants in this category may occur in all three
positions. Velar /ŋ/ only occurs in medial and final position in
English:
– initial position : ‘man’ /mæn/, ‘nap’ /næp/
– medial position : ‘among’ /ə'mʌŋ/, ‘tenure’ /'tenjə/, ‘finger’
/'fɪŋgə/
– final position : ‘ram’ /ræm/, ‘tan’ /tæn/, ‘king’ /kɪŋ/
In terms of distribution, there is yet another peculiarity
related to the velar nasal /ŋ/, namely tha t in medial position it
71
may or may not be accompanied by the velar plosive /g/ in
words with orthographic ‘ng’ in them. Peter Roach explains:
The important difference is in the way words are
constructed – their morphology . The words in column
B [singer and hanger ] can be divided into two
grammatical pieces: ‘sing’+’er’, ‘hang’+’er’. These
pieces are called morphemes , and we say that column
B words are morphologically different from column A
words [ finger and anger ], since these cannot be divided
into two m orphemes (47).
To put it differently, /ŋ/ is followed by /g/ in the
pronunciation of words which contain orthographic ‘ng’ in
them, only when this spelling occurs medially in a word and in
the morpheme: /'fɪŋgə/ but /'sɪŋə/; /'æŋgə/ but /'hæŋə/.
Activi ties:
1. Use a monolingual dictionary to find nasals in all three
positions : initial, medial and final (20 examples).
2. How many morphemes are there in each of the words
below ?
penguin ingoing
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length ingrained
inlying marbling
agonizingly repell ing
3. Transcribe the words above phonemically paying
attention to the distribution of / ŋ/ and /g/.
4.6. L ATERAL /l/
Consonant /l/ is commonly described as an approximant
consonant (see definition below) in the production of which
the air coming out of the lungs escapes through the sides of
the tongue rather than the centre of the mouth due to the fact
that this area is blocked by the tip of the tongue which comes
against the alveolar ridge forming a closure. Thus, lateral /l/
is also described as an alveolar consonant.
In terms of distribution , /l/ displays an interesting
feature: alt hough the place of articulation, i.e. the alveolar
ridge, remains the same, lateral /l/ has a different quality
when it occurs in initial position in a word than when it occurs
in final position. Let us consider the words ‘leg’ and ‘cuddle’:
in the pronunc iation of the former the /l/ is ‘clear’ whereas in
the pronunciation of the latter word, /l/ acquires a certain
velar quality – ‘dark l’. In phonetic transcription this is usually
marked by the use of the symbol /ł/. ‘Dark l’ is also known in
73
phonetics as ‘syllabic l’ (see the chapter on the English
syllable) and is often represented in phonemic transcription as
/l /.
Activit ies:
1. Which of the following words contain a dark /l/ and
which a clear /l/ ? Transcribe them phonemically.
‘lamp’, ‘claim’, ‘re pel’, ‘hurdle’, ‘light’, ‘ calendula’, ‘citril’,
‘handle’.
2. Use a monolingual dictionary to find 10 words containing
clear l and 10 words containing dark /l /.
4.7. THE APPROXIMANTS OF ENGLISH
Approximants are quite difficult to define. Intuitive ly, i.e. a
less scientific description of this group of consonants,
approximants are produced with the articulators approaching
but not touching each other. In other words, no complete or
partial stricture occurs as in the case of other groups of
consonant s.
74
Apart from lateral alveolar /l/ introduced above, this
group also includes other two classes of consonants: retroflex
/r/, and two glides, namely /w/ and /j/.
A retroflex is a consonant in the production of which
the tongue curls back slightly. The p ronunciation of the
English retroflex alveolar also presupposes a certain degree of
labialization, which means that the quality of this consonant is
also influenced by the shape of the lips.
As concerns its distribution , there are certain aspects
that mu st be pointed out here. First, in some dialects
including R.P., /r/ is not pronounced in final position, i.e. at
the end of a word or at the end of a syllable. These dialects of
English are called non-rhotic accents . Second, in rhotic
accents , i.e. dialect s of English in which /r/ occurs in all three
positions – initial, medial and final – like some regional
dialects in American English, the distribution of this
approximant is quite straightforward:
– initial position : ‘rat’ R.P. [ræt];
Am.E. [ræt ];
– medial position : ‘around’ R.P. [ə'raʊnd];
Am. E.[ ə'raʊnd] ;
– final position : ‘measure ’ R.P. ['meʒə];
Am.E. ['meʒər] ;
75
Activit ies:
1. Use a monolingual dictionary to find words featuring
approximant /r/ in initial and position. (20 examples)
2. Can you think of ten words in which ‘r’ occurs in spelling
in final position but it is not pronounced in RP ?
3. What do you call an accent in which /r/ does not occur in
final position ? Give examples of such accents.
4. What do you call an accent in which /r/ always occur s in
final position ? Give examples of such accents.
Approximants /w/ and /j/ were also known in earlier
literature on phonology as semi -vowels (see chapter 2). In
more recent works on the subject matter they are also referred
to as glides (Brinton et al.). From a phonetic point of view, /w/
in ‘wet’ is very close in pronunciation to short /ʊ/. Similarly,
the pronunciation of /j/ as in ‘yet’ may be easily mistaken for
short /ɪ/. From a phonological point of view however, both
/w/ and /j/ behave like con sonants.
76
Activit ies:
1. Each of the transcriptions below contains one or several
errors for you to correct.
a. unusual /an'jʊʒʊəl/
b. earring /'jərɪŋ/
c. meadow /'medəw/
d. wonderful /'ʊʌndəfʊl/
e. year /ɪə/
f. university /ɪʊnɪ'vɜ:sɪti/
g. weather /'ʊeθə/
h. write /wraɪt/
i. jonquil /'dʒʌŋkɪl/
2. Use a monolingual dictionary to find 20 words in the
pronunciation of which approximants /w/ and /j/ occur.
As regards their distribution , /w/ and /j/ occur in
initial and medial position only:
– initial position : ‘weather ’ /'weðə/, ‘uniform ’ /'ju:nɪfɔ:m/.
– medial position : ‘away’ /ə'weɪ/, ‘tune’ /tju:n/.
At this point, a clearer perspective on the classification
of consonants of English in terms of their place and manner of
articulation can be provided in the form of the chart below:
77
A classification of English Consonants
Plosives
Fricatives
Affricates
Nasals
Approxi
mants
Bilabial
/p/
/b/ /m/ /w/
Labio –
dental /f/
/v/
Dental
/θ/
/ð/
Alveolar
/t/
/d/ /s/
/z/ /n/ /l/
Palato –
alveolar /ʃ/
/ʒ/ /ʧ/
/ʤ/ /r/
Palatal
/j/
Velar
/k/ /g/ /ŋ/
Glottal
/h/
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Revision :
1. Give a complete description of the initial consonant
sound in the words below. Then, transcribe the word
phonemically.
e.g. cheerleader – /tʃ/ – voiceless palato -alveolar a ffricate;
/'tʃɪəli:də/
a. thrust b. one
c. genre d. write
e. young f. gull
2. Give the phonetic symbol representing the consonant
described below. Then, give examples of words containing
the sound.
a. voiced palato -alveolar aff ricate
b. aspirated voicel ess bilabial plosive
c. alveolar approximant
d. alveolar nasal
e. bilabial approximant
f. voiceless labio -dental fricative
g. glottal fricative
h. velar nasal
i. lenis palato -alveolar fricative
j. lateral dark approximant
79
3. Of t he sounds in questions (1) and (2)
a. Which never occur word initially in English?
b. Whi ch occurs in a word or syllable only initially?
c. Which involves a complete closure formed by the
articulators ?
d. Which can be regarded as a ‘complex ’ sound?
e. Which can be described as ‘hissing’?
4. Many of the words below are mispronounced by learners
of English. Can you pronounce them correctly? Transcribe
them phonemically.
aegis
ascension
ascertain
ascesis
auction
auricular
aura
auxiliary
balm
bandage
banqu et
beige
bomb gnat
guardian
height
hiccough
hyperbole
irreverent
knee
knight
knife
mirage
mischievious
niche
picture
80
broadband
butane
capture
climb
chalet
chorus
connoisseur
conspire
comb
councilor
cupboard
draught pheasant
phylology
physics
psyche
psycho logy
psalm
queue
subtle
specific
Thames
tongue
tomb
81
5. THE ENGLISH SYLLABLE
5.1. DEFINING THE SYLLABLE
For a long time, it has been common practice among teachers
of elementary schools to ask their class to syllabify words and
use s yllables to teach basic skills such as reading for instance.
Although most learners would be able to perform this task
intuitively, there is often disagreement in terms of where a
syllable ends and where exactly the next one starts. Thus,
defining this spe ech unit more scientifically has proven quite a
difficult if not an almost impossible endeavour.
Phonetically , the syllable has been defined from an
articulatory, auditory and acoustic perspective. According to
Stetson’s ‘motor theory, a syllable may be defined in terms of
articulatory phonetics as chest pulses. According to this
theory, whatever syllables are, they may be associated with
bursts of activity of the intercostal muscles. In other words,
the speaker produces syllables sequentially – i.e. one at a time
– each syllable corresponding to a muscular gesture (Lass
248). Consequently, in auditory terms, a certain part of the
syllable will be more prominent than others.
82
J.C. Catford, on the other hand, links the definition of
the syllable to the con cept of stress, and implicitly to the
initiatory activity in the production of speech stretches. A
series of syllables is perceived as “a series of power peaks , or
peaks of initiator velocity separated from each other by
moments o f diminished velocity” (16 8). He describes the
syllable as “a minimal pulse of initiatory activity bounded by a
momentary retardation of the initiator, either self -imposed,
or, more usually, imposed by a consonantal type of
articulatory stricture” (168). In other words, the phoneti c
concept of syllable is perceived as part of a more
comprehensive phenomenon, i.e. in association with the
rhythmic pattern of a language, which will be discussed
thoroughly in the following chapter.
Acoustically, peaks of acoustic energy can be measured
in the lab although not without certain specific issues which
may arise in the process (Chitoran 262 -263). Nevertheless,
from the point of view of the way in which we produce a
syllable, we may define it as consisting of a centre – which
may have no obstru ction to the flow of air coming out of the
lungs – which may or not be preceded and followed by greater
obstruction (Roach 56). Thus, one may distinguish among four
possible syllable structures:
a. the minimal syllable, consisting of a vowel making up the
centre of the syllable.
e.g. are [ɑ:]
83
b. a centre (vowel) preceded by greater obstruction, i.e. one or
several consonants, which make up the onset of a syllable.
e.g. core [kɔ:]
c. a centre (vowel) followed by one or several consonants
which make up t he coda of the syllable.
e.g. ache [eɪk]
d. a syllable consisting of an onset, centre and a coda:
e.g. catch [kæʧ]
(Idem 56 -7)
Phonologically , a syllable is defined in terms of
possible combinations of phonemes. In other words, a syllable
consists of a mix of vowels and consonants which occur in an
order that is determined by the phonological principles of
English. Whereas a phonetic definition of the syllable allowed
us to locate the centre or peaks of muscular energy and
determine the number of sylla bles in a stretch of speech, a
phonological definition would provide us with the right
instruments in order to determine the exact location of
syllable boundaries. As a matter of fact, it is at this level that
most disagreement concerning the syllable -boun daries
occurs.
According to Peter Roach, one such troublesome word
is extra . Looking at the word from a phonetic perspective, one
84
may safely state that it consists of two syllables, each of which
has for a centre a vowel: /e/ and /ə/ respectively. However ,
when it comes to the actual syllabification of the word, several
possibilities emerge:
['e.kstrə]
['ek.strə]
['eks.trə]
['ekst.rə]
['ekstr.ə]
(61)
This issue can only be settled if we take a closer look at the
structure of the English syllable.
5.2. THE STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH SYLLABLE
As it has already been explained above, a syllable consists of
three elements – the onset, the peak or the centre and the
coda – of which only the peak is compulsory. As for the onset
and the coda, most difficulties arise in terms of the linguistic
rules according to which consonants may combine into
clusters or groups which make up the onset or the coda of a
syllable. J.C. Catford defines consonant clusters as “those
sequences of consonants that occur initially or f inally in the
syllables” (195). In other words, consonant cluster may be
85
regarded as a group of consonants that either precedes the
peak of the syllable or follows it. There are at the most three
in initial position and four in final position.
In what fol lows a presentation of the structure of the
onset and the coda of a syllable will be attempted. Although
this presupposes close statistical analysis of the patterns of
consonant clusters normally occurring in English, the
phonological analysis according to which certain consonants
have been classified as either ‘initial’, ‘pre -final’ or ‘post -final’
for example, is rather complex and much too sophisticated for
an introductory course in English phonetics and phonology.
Thus, only vital information will be de veloped in what follows
in terms of the structure of the English syllable, i.e. the kind of
information that will help the student understand the general
phenomenon, recognize a specific type of syllabic structure,
and find examples to reflect such specifi c syllabic structures.
Collins and Mees argue that what makes vowels – and,
as we shall see in the last subchapter, even some consonants –
perfect candidates for the status of centre or peak of a
syllable, is sonority (74). In other words, following a se ries of
in-lab measurements, phoneticians have discovered the fact
that some sounds are more prominent than others, a fact
which is mainly due to their acoustic structure. Therefore,
vowels are universally perceived by listeners as being more
sonorous than consonants. At the other end of this ‘sonority
spectrum,’ are the plosives and the fricatives, which are
perceived as the least ‘musical’ phonemes in the entire
86
collection of English sounds. Consequently, the phonemes,
which most probably would make up th e centre of a syllable
are firstly vowels, followed by nasals and approximants (74 –
75).
However, such considerations will not help much in
terms of determining the boundaries of certain discrete
speech segments that syllables have often proved to be:
Peaks of acoustic energy or of articulatory constriction
are important in speech organization but again do not
offer absolute criteria. As a rule, a peak of energy is
likely to be identified as the nucleus of a syllable, and a
trough of energy as a margin; w hile a peak (or trough)
of constriction or stricture in the supraglottal tract is
likely to be identified as the centre of a segment. […]
Nevertheless, there are instances where these criteria
fail to produce the results expected by a native
speaker. A wor d such as ‘gorilla’, for example, does
not display the clear peaks and troughs that can be
observed in ‘potato’. Apart from its initial consonant,
the word ‘gorilla’ contains only vocalic and vowel -like
(approximant) sounds. It shows a relatively even
acoustic output and little variation in the degree of
constriction (Clark et al. 59 -60).
With very little help from the phonetic principles in
determining the boundaries of syllables in a language, in our
87
case in English, and with not much else to rely on e xcept for
the intuitive manner in which native speakers of English divide
words into syllables, specialists in the field of phonology have
resorted to other linguistic aspects that are observable in
speech, namely statistics. In other words, they have reso rted
to the linguistic corpus to determine the probability for a
certain English sound to be preceded and followed by one or a
set of other sounds that are more or less phonetically similar.
Furthermore, they have developed a number of patterns in this
respect, with specific reference to the structure of the onset
and of the coda rather than the general structure of a syllable
as a whole. In what follows we shall take a closer look at the
consonant clusters which may make up the onset and the coda
of a syll able in English.
A. Initial consonant clusters
As seen above, the consonant or group of consonants
occurring in a syllable before its peak or centre, is known as
the onset of that syllable. The onset of the syllable consists of
one to three consonants, a nd it normally includes those
consonants which have already been mentioned in the
previous chapter as occurring in initial position, i.e. at the
beginning of a word. Thus, if the onset consists of one
consonant, that consonant will be known as initial cons onant
(ci). According to the distribution of the various classes of
consonants described earlier in this course, any consonant
may occur in initial position except palato -alveolar fricative
88
/ʒ/, which only occurs in initial position in foreign words that
have been adopted as such in E nglish, like ‘genre’.
If the onset consists of a two-consonant cluster , two
possibilities emerge in the structure of the onset:
1. pre -initial consonant followed by an initial consonant
If the first consonant in a two -consonant cluster in the onset
is fricative / s/, it will be referred to as a pre-initial consonant ,
whereas the following consonant will be referred to as initial.
e.g. ‘stay’, ‘swing’, ‘scar’, etc.
2. initial consonant followed by a post -initial consonant
If a consonant occurs in the seco nd position after a consonant
other than fricative /s/, it will be referred to as a post-initial
consonant . This class includes all approximants of English, i.e.
/l/, /r/, /j/, and /w/ as in the examples below:
e.g. ‘play’, ‘tray’, ‘queue’, ‘quick’, etc.
If the onset consists of a three consonant cluster , it will
be invariably composed of a pre -initial, an initial and a post –
initial consonant:
e.g. ‘scratch’, ‘string’, ‘square’, etc.
Activities :
1. Transcribe phonemically the words in the examples
above.
89
2. Describe the structure of the onset in the following
words:
a. skirt
b. drip
c. sprout d. dwell
e. spew
3. Give other examples of words with the following syllabic
structure:
a. initial consonant + post -initial conson ant
b. pre -initial consonant + initial consonant + post -initial
consonant
c. pre -initial consonant + initial consonant
B. Final consonant clusters
As pointed out earlier, the coda consists of a maximum
of four consonants. If the coda is composed of on e consonant
only, this will be referred to as a final consonant , which may
be any of the English consonants introduced in the previous
chapter, except /h/, /w/, and /j/ which do not occur in this
position (see distribution of consonants). Furthermore,
approximant /r/ is a case apart in the sense that it only occurs
in final position in rhotic accents of English. Since – for
90
obvious reasons – this introductory course in English
Phonetics and Phonology focuses on Received Pronunciation,
i.e. a non -rhotic acce nt, consonant /r/ cannot be described
here as a final consonant.
With two-consonant final clusters two possibilities are
identified: either a final consonant preceded by a pre -final
consonant, or a final consonant followed by a post -final
consonant:
1. pre-final consonant + final consonant
The English pre -finals include a limited set of consonants,
namely the nasals /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/, lateral /l/ and fricative
/s/.
e.g. ‘ask’, ‘twelve’, ‘count’, ‘kings’, etc.
2. final consonant + post -final consonant
The class of consonants which are desc ribed to occur in post –
final position include: /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, and /θ/.
e.g. ‘apt’, ‘baths’, ‘dogs’, ‘craft’, etc.
Activities:
1. Look at the syllables in the following words and say which
of the syllables contain a coda composed of a pre -final+ fi nal
consonant structure and in which of them the coda is made up
of a final+post -final consonant?
91
Example:
‘correct’ – /kə'rekt/ – This word is composed of two syllables
of which the second contains a coda formed of a final
consonant /k/ followed by a p ost-final consonant /t/.
a. apes
b. condemn
c. condense
d. conduct
e. first
f. makings
g. missed
h. predict
i. second
j. third
2. Find words reflecting each of the 2 coda patterns described
above (5 examples for each pattern).
Three -consonant clusters in final position are also a
common occurrence in English with two distinct possibilities
identified. In what follows, the classes of consonants
described as ‘pre -final’ and ‘post -final’ remain consistent with
the previous ones.
92
1. pre -final + final + post -final consonant
e.g. ‘wel shed’, ‘filmed’, ‘bulbs’, ‘stunts’, etc.
2. final + post -final consonant 1 + post -final consonant 2
e.g. ‘fifths’, ‘widths’, ‘text’, ‘elapsed’, etc.
Activities:
1. Look at the syllables in the following words and say which
of the syllables contain a c oda composed of a pre -final+
final+post -final consonant structure and in which of them the
coda is made up of a final+post -final1+post -final 2
consonant?
a. ants
b. angst
c. cataracts
d. collapsed
e. contacts
f. finalists
g. moulds
h. prisms
i. splints
2. Find 5 more examples for each of the two three -consonant
93
cluster types in the coda.
Four-consonant clusters in final position, although a
rarer occurrence in English, present certain difficulties in
terms of pronunciation in the sense that more often than not,
especially in ra pid speech, certain consonants tend to be
deleted. This is the case of the word ‘prompts’ in the case of
which most dictionaries recommend the pronunciation
[prɒmpts]. However, in connected speech, the pronunciation
[prɒmts] is more common. In this case, t he final consonant
cluster is composed of three not four elements.
Two possible structures of the final four -consonant
clusters are identified:
1. pre -final + final + post -final consonant 1+ post -final
consonant 2
e.g. ‘twelfths’, ‘prompts’, ‘waltzed’, ‘jinxed’ etc.
2. final + post -final consonant1 +post -final consonant 2 +
post-final consonant 3
e.g. ‘texts’, ‘sixths’, etc.
One conclusion may be drawn from this phonological
analysis, namely that whereas the smallest English syllable
consists of a peak, i.e. a vowel, as in the case of ‘are’ [ɑ:], the
longest syllable may be described as consisting of three
94
consonants in the onset, a vowel, and four consonants in the
coda. However, it is extremely difficult to identify a word in
the English lexical c orpus which may contain such a syllable
although it may be possible to identify words that have been
borrowed from other languages, such as ‘stroumpfs’ for
example. Even so, the pronunciation of such syllables is often
simplified in rapid speech, to confor m to one of the most
basic principles of linguistic communication, i.e. effectiveness.
Activity
Find 3 more examples (other than the ones given above) for
each of the two four -consonant cluster types in the coda.
5.3. STRONG AND WEAK SYLLABLES
As Peter Roach notes, one of the main character istics
of English as well as of other languages is the existence of
strong and weak syllables, two concepts which are defined in
terms of the phonetic characteristics of a syllable:
What do we mean by “strong” and “weak”? To begin
with, we can look at how we use these terms to refer to
phonetic characteristics of syllables. When we compare
95
weak syllables with strong syllables, we find the vowel
in a weak syllable tends to be shorter, of lower
intensity (loudness ) and different in quality (64).
Indeed, if we consider the word ‘valley’ for example, we will
notice that the vowel in the former syllable tends to be more
prominent than the vowel in the latter, i.e. it tends to be of
higher intensity and different in q uality than the latter. In a
similar way, in the word ‘bottle’, the first syllable is perceived
as being strong whereas the second is a weak syllable due to
the less prominent centre.
From a phonological point of view, the studies of
possible combinations of English phonemes have revealed that
weak syllables tend to have one of a number of possible
structures describing the nature of its centre/peak. In other
words, a syllable will be described as weak if the centre
consists of one of the following:
a. the vowel /ə/
b. a close front vowel in the area of /ɪ/ and /i:/ known in the
literature as ‘neutral /i/’
c. a close back vowel in the area of /ʊ/ and /u:/ often referred
to as ‘neutral /u/’
d. a syllabic consonant (65 -70)
Nevertheless, in tackling the issu e of strong and weak
syllables, we tend to focus on lexical words whereas functional
96
or grammatical words are left unaccounted for. Therefore,
before proceeding to analysing each of the abovementioned
weak syllable types, we shall refer briefly to the issu e of strong
and weak forms in functional words.
Functional words, i.e. words with a grammatical rather
than lexical function, tend to be unstressed in rapid speech
due to the rhythmic characteristics of English. Therefore, in
their case, dictionaries pro vide several pronunciation
alternatives, the first of which is usually the strong or stressed
pronunc iation and the subsequent ones are weak. According
to Dumitru Chi țoran, there are about sixty words in English
displaying this dual pronunciation behaviour , including “the
articles, the auxiliaries, the modal verbs, some pronouns and
pronominal adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions,
and a few other individual words” (308).
e.g. are – strong pronunciation: [ɑ:]
– weak pronunciation: [ə]
she – strong pronunciation: [ʃi:]
– weak pronunciation: [ʃɪ] or [ʃi]
some – strong pronunciation: [sʌm]
– weak pronunciation: [səm]
could – strong pronunciation: [kʊd]
– weak pronu nciation: [kəd]/ [kd]
Thus, it becomes immediately evident that s trong and weak
pronunciations of functional words tend to conform to the
97
general phonological principles according to which English
syllables have been classified into strong and weak. Like all
weak syllables in English, weak pronunciations of functional
words ten d to contain vowel /ə/, neutral /i/, neutral /u/ or a
syllabic consonant.
Vowel /ə/ is one of the most frequent phonemes in
English, which reflects in incredibly varied ways at
orthographic level, as Peter Roach shows:
– ‘a’ like in ‘attend’ [ə'tend], ‘b arracks’ ['bærəks], ‘character’
['kærəktə]
– ‘ar’ like in ‘particular’ [pə'tɪkjələ], ‘monarchy’ ['mɒnəki],
‘molar’ ['məʊlə]
– ‘ate’ like in ‘intimate’ ['ɪntɪmət], ‘desolate’ ['desələt],
‘accurate’ ['ækjʊrət]
– ‘o’ like in ‘tomorrow’ [tə'mɒrəʊ], ‘potato’ [p ə'teɪtəʊ], ‘carrot’
['kærət]
– ‘or’ like in ‘forget’ [fə'get], ‘opportunity’ [ɒpə'tju:nəti],
‘ambassador’ [æm'bæsədə]
– ‘e’ like in ‘settlement’ ['setlmənt], ‘postmen’ ['pəʊstmən],
‘violet’ ['vaɪələt]
– ‘er’ like in ‘perhaps’ [pə'hæps], ‘superman’ ['su:pəm æn],
‘stronger’ ['strɒŋgə]
– ‘u’ like in ‘autumn’ ['ɔ:təm], ‘halibut’ ['hælɪbət], ‘support’
[sə'pɔ:t]
– ‘ough’ like in ‘thorough’ ['θʌrə], ‘borrow’ ['bʌrə]
– ‘ou’ like in ‘gracious’ ['greɪʃəs], ‘callous’ ['kæləs] (65 -66).
98
Neutral /i/ , is a close front vo wel in the area of /ɪ/ and
/i:/ that suffered a process of neutralization . Roger Lass
defines the concept as “suspensions of contrast, due to
structural principles of the language” (40). In other words,
oppositions in the realization of certain sounds such as voiced
/vs/ voiceless in the case of consonants or long vowel /vs/
short vowel tend to disappear because of certain linguistic
phenomena that shall not developed upon here. Apart from
several regional accents of English in which this matter is
more str aightforward, in Received Pronunciation it is more
difficult to argue whether the close front vowel in final
position in words such as ‘valley’, ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘easy’, ‘busy’ is
either short or long. Nevertheless, as Peter Roach argues, the
final vowel in an y of these words is perceived among speakers
of RP as shorter than long /i:/ and longer than /ɪ/ (66). Hence,
we say that final i in ‘valley’, ‘he’, ‘she’, etc… is neutral i
represented in the IPA as /i/. All in all, there are several
situations in which n eutral /i/ occurs:
– in word -final position: ‘valley’, ‘busy’, etc.
– in prefixes spelt ‘re -’, ‘pre -’, ‘de -’: ‘react’, ‘deodorant’, etc.
– in suffixes spelt ‘ -iate’, ‘ -ious’ when they have two syllables:
‘appreciate’, ‘hilarious’, etc.
– in functional word s when unstressed: ‘he’, ‘be’, etc. (Roach
67).
A similar phenomenon occurs in the case of the
rounded close back vowel known as neutral /u/ in the word
99
‘to’ in the phrases ‘good to eat’ and ‘food to eat’. However, as
the learner will soon find out, neutr al /u/ is less frequent in
individual words than neutral /i/ and tends to occur more
often in phrases such as the above -mentioned ones.
Last but not least, a weak syllable may have for a
centre a syllabic consonant , a concept which is still a quite
debat ed upon issue. It may be argued, for example, that a
syllab ic consonant is really a combination between a vowel
and a consonant – if such a thing should really exist – as a
result of which the consonant becomes the centre of the
syllable.
Let us consider the word ‘bottle’. Most speakers of
English will agree that ‘bottle’ is composed of two distinct
syllables – a fact also confirmed by dictionaries of English. A
closer analysis will also reveal a slight variation in
pronunciation marked by some dictionarie s. In some of these,
‘syllabic l’ is marked in the transcription of the word by a
small vertical mark below the symbol for lateral /l/: ['bɒtl ].
Other dictionaries prefer a transcription which reflects the
existence of short /ə/ that precedes the final consonant. In
this case, final /l/ is not marked as syllabic: ['bɒtəl].
Furthermore, as Peter Roach remarks, in some cases, the
existence or non -existence of the syllabic consonant might as
well make the difference between two words with distinct
meanings:
100
Some phonologists maintain that a syllabic consonant
is really a case of vowel and a consonant that have
become combined. Let us suppos e that the vowel is ə.
We could then say that, for example, ‘Hungary’ is
phonemically hʌŋgəri while ‘hungry’ is hʌŋgr i; it would
then be necessary to say that the ə vowel phoneme in
the phonemic representation is not pronounced as a
vowel, but instead caus es the final consonant to
become syllabic. This is an example of the abstract
view of phonology where the way a word is represented
phonologically may be significantly different from the
actual sequence of sounds heard, so that the phonetic
and the phonemi c levels are quite widely separated
(101).
Indeed, while in some cases such a contrast between the
existence and non -existence of a syllabic consonant does not
influence meaning of the word itself, in others such a
distinction on a phonological level may bring about a
distinction that exceeds the limits of pronunciation.
Activit ies:
1. Transcribe the following words marking syllabic
consonants if needed. How many syllabic consonants can
you identify?
101
a. wrestle b. history c. potato d. tun nel e. frighten
2. Transcribe the texts below paying attention to the
representation of the vowels and the syllabic consonants.
Then check your transcription in a monolingual dictionary.
a. “Two examples particularly struck me. The first was a
remark able discovery about Lord of the Flies . In the famous
scene where Piggy’s spectacles are used for the rediscovery
of fire, William Golding got his optics wrong. Completely
back to front, in fact” (Julian Barnes, Flaubert’s Parrot ).
b. “I have already told the reader, t hat every night when the
family were gone to bed, it was my custom to strip and
cover myself with my clothes. It happened one morning
early that my master sent for me by the sorrel nag, who was
his valet; when he came I was fast asleep, my cl othes fallen
off on one side, and my shirt above my waist” (Jonathan
Swift, Gulliver’s Travels ).
5.4. STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
It is not only English syllables that can be grouped into strong
and weak according to their phonological features. A s it has
102
already been pointed out earlier, a number of words in this
language may also have several possible accepted
pronunciations depending on the linguistic context in which
they are used. This feature of English is particularly evident
among native speakers and less so among non -native
speakers.
Let’s take the example of ‘ and’. According to the
electronic version of the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary (3rd edition), ‘ and’ can be pronounced in three
distinct ways: /ænd/ – which is described as the strong form-
/ənd/ or /ən/ – which are the weak forms. The choice of one
of these forms over another is not necessarily a matter of
well-informed and documented linguistic study but rather a
matter of applying a basic principle in any instance of
communication, re gardless of the language or variety of
language that is used, namely the ease of communication. In
other words, speakers – in particular the native ones as well as
most of the advanced users – tend to use language at a higher
speed in oral communication. I nevitably, certain sounds will be
deleted and the quality of others will be altered resulting in
the use of different sounds altogether. The word ‘and’
occurring in a sentence, such as the one below suggested by
the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (3rd edition) will
be pronounced quite differently by different speakers,
depending on wether they are native or non -native, faster or
slower speakers, fluent or less so:
103
“It costs a lot to feed and clothe five children.”
SF: [ɪt kɒsts ə lɒt t u: fi:d ænd kləʊð faɪv 'ʧɪldrən]
WF: [ɪt kɒsts ə lɒt t ʊ fi:d ənd kləʊð faɪv 'ʧɪldrən]
WF: [ɪt kɒsts ə lɒt t ə fi:d ən kləʊð faɪv 'ʧɪldrən]
As it becomes evident from the transcriptions above,
other words in English display the same characteristic (notice
the pronunci ation of ‘to’). While the number of such words is
relatively low, they are function words, i.e. words that carry no
or very little meaning, such as auxiliaries, prepo sitions,
articles, etc.:
Almost all the words which have both a strong and
weak form belo ng to a category that may be called
function words – words that do not have a dictionary
meaning in the way that we normally expect nouns,
verbs, adjectives and adverbs to have. These function
words are words such as auxiliary verbs, prepositions,
conjunct ions, etc., all of which are in certain
circumstances pronounced in their strong forms but
which are more frequently pronounced in their weak
forms (Roach 89).
Speed, however, is not the only criterion in selecting
strong or weak forms. According to Pet er Roach, there is a
number of other factors which may determine the use of one
104
form over the other. Strong forms, for example, are used
instead of the weak ones if:
a. the function word occurs in final rather than medial
position in a sentence
b. when two funct ion words are used in contrast to each
other
c. when the function word carries stress
d. (similar to c.) when the function word is quoted (89 –
90).
e. in the case of definite articles when the following word
starts with a vowel:
Let us consider a few examples:
a. ‘a friend of mine’ [ ə frend əv maɪn] but ‘What are you
afraid of?’ [wɒt ɑ: ju: əfraid 'ɒv]
b. ‘I haven’t heard from him’ [aɪ hævnt hɜ:d frəm hɪm] but
‘The letter’s from him, not to him’ (idem 90) [ðə letəz
'frɒm hɪm nɒt 'tu: hɪm]
c. ‘I have eaten this morning’ [aɪ həv 'i:tn ðɪs 'mɔ :nɪŋ] but
‘I have eaten this morning!’ [aɪ 'hæv 'i:tn ðɪs 'mɔ:nɪŋ]
d. ‘We often eat fruit and vegetables’ [wɪ ɒftn i:t fru:t ənd
veʤtəblz] but ‘”And” should not be used at the
beginning of a sentence.’ [ 'ænd ʃʊd nɒt bɪ ju:zd ət ðə
bɪgɪnɪŋ əv ə sentənts ]
e. ‘the doctor’ [ðə 'dɒktə] but ‘the umbrella’ [ði: ʌm'brelə]
105
Revision :
Transcribe the following words, using periods to indicate
syllable breaks and marking syllabic consonants where
necessary:
blithering hegemony
blooey hermeneutic
boisterous incomprehens ible
Carolingian inconvenience
catabolism incorporated
collection locomotive
deconstruction macadamia
découpage metaphysical
delirium nauseous
entanglement parliamentary
euphemism particularly
excipient reiterate
gondolier
gregarious rejuvenesc ence
remarkable
106
107
6. THE ISSUE OF STRESS IN ENGLISH
6.1. WHAT IS STRESS ?
In the previous chapter, the syllable has been described
phonetically, i.e. in terms of how it is produced, and
phonologically, i.e. in terms o f combinations of English
phonemes. In what follows, we shall take a closer look at
phenomena which occur beyond the level of segments,
affecting a group of phonemes rather than one phoneme at a
time. These will be referred to as suprasegmental features and
include aspects referring to stress placement, aspects of
connected speech and issues regarding tone and intonation.
So far, the term ‘stress’ has been used intuitively in
this course based on the fact that most speakers of one
language or another can identify which syllable in a particular
word be ars the stress and which does not . It has often been
argued that while the mispronunciation of one phoneme in an
English word may trigger confusion in oral communication,
the misplacement of stress does dot re sult in anything more
than an overall impression of a foreign accent which does not
impede communication. Yet, frequent misuse of stress and of
intonation patterns may often result in unintelligible speech.
108
Hence, the importance of suprasegmental features in the
study of a foreign language.
Activity :
Say which syllables in the following words are stressed and
which aren’t and why:
a. about b. compete c. photo d. subject e. original
Stress has been defined by phoneticians as an effect of
prominence created in the process of speech, which implies a
greater use of muscular energy on the part of the speaker . The
hearer in his turn will perceive the stressed syllable as being
more prominent than all other syllables in the word. In other
words, prominence may be created jointly by a number of
factors such as: loudness, length, difference in pitch, and
difference in vowel quality.
Possibly one of the first factors considered by speakers
when deciding which syllable in a word is stressed is loudness .
Catford speaks of loudness in terms of initiator power or
“pulmonic pressure initiation” (164). He has noticed that
certain sounds are bound to have greater acoustic intensity
than others when using the same degree of initiator power
(165).
109
However , such remarks, no matter how objective and
pertinent from a phonetic point of view they may be, are
considerably less so when considered from a phonological
perspective. Firstly, it would be inconsistent of one to argue
that sounds – i.e. individual vowel s and consonants – display
some sort of suprasegmental (prosodic) feature. That is to say
that it is the syllable that may be said to carry some sort of
stress rather than one particular sound or another. Secondly, a
phonetic rather than phonological persp ective is far less
productive in terms of an accurate and functional description
of everyday speech.
One respect in which Catford may be right is the
methodical and scientific approach of the issue. It would be
useless, for example, to compare two stresse d syllables in two
different words since they may display different features
accounting for that prominence effect we have described
earlier. Peter Roach proposes the use of a sequence of
identical syllables making up a non -existent word in the
traditional sense of the word, in which one syllable is
pronounced louder: [bɑ: bɑ:bɑ]. He argues that while
producing a louder syllable in a sequence is not usually a
problem, it is very difficult to distinguish between loudness
and other features of pronunciation wh ich may create a
prominence effect, such as length and difference in pitch , for
example. Furthermore, in a sequence of syllables with similar
structures, the syllable whic h has for a centre a vowel that is
110
different in quality form the rest tends to be per ceived as
stressed: [bɑ:bɑ :bi:bɑ] (74).
Another issue relating to stress is the degree to which
a certain syllable is stressed:
Incidentally, we often talk as if there were two clearly
distinct degrees of stress – called ‘stressed’ and
‘unstressed’. This , of course, is not the case. Initiator
power is infinitely variable, from zero […] to an
indefinite maximum (depending on the size and
muscular strength of the speaker) when the initiator is
operating at full power (Catford 165).
In other words, whereas in two -syllable words we distinguish
between two levels of stress, i.e. stressed and unstressed, in
words consisting of more than two syllables, only at a
theoretical level, we may distinguish among a number of levels
of stress equal to the number of sylla bles in the word.
Practically, it would be unrealistic to presume that all or most
speakers of English would distinguish among five different
levels of stress in a five -syllable word such as ‘anthropology’
for instance. Such distinctions are most of the ti mes the
domain of in -lab experiments in phonetics during which the
degree of initiator power is measured. Most speakers are
capable of distinguishing among three levels of stress in
English: absence of stress , primary stress , and secondary
stress . For exam ple, if in a word such as ‘photo’ we can
111
distinguish between a stressed first syllable and a non –
stressed second syllable, in ‘photographic’, the third syllable
will be the most prominent in the word (it is primary -stressed)
whereas the first syllable will be perceived as the second most
prominent sy llable in the word, i.e. it carries secondary stress:
[ˌfəʊtə'græfɪk].
Activity :
Say which syllables in the following words carry primary
stress (') and which carry secondary stress (ˌ). Then
transcribe the words phonemically marking the primary and
secondary stresses.
a. catastrophic
c. celebration
e. gainsay
g. improbability
i. Wolverhapton b. cavalcade
d. familiarity
f. handmade
h. Latino
j. ringleader
6.2. WORD STRESS
The issue of stress in English is extremely complex and
depends on a la rge number of factors from the unit of analysis
112
and the phonological and grammatical peculiarities of the
respective unit, to the variations in stress patterning that may
exist at some point in English. As some phoneticians argue,
applying the concept of s tress to a particular stretch of speech
is not such a straightforward matter:
Despite the persistence of the terms ‘word -stress’,
‘lexical stress’ and ‘prominence’, the patterning of
spoken English is not based on words – or at least not
on words in a gra mmatical or orthographic sense.
Phrases such as ‘the table’ or ‘a party’ or ‘leave it’ will
normally have the pattern of single words, with only
one prominent syllable. In fact, there is normally no
difference in spoken English between single words
such as ‘array’ or ‘arise’ and two -word combinations
such as ‘a ray’ or ‘a rise’ (Clark et al. 350).
Indeed, stress may occur at several levels in English.
First of all, there is a type of stress normally referred to as
‘word stress’ in which, as Clark et al. points out, the reference
is not necessarily to the lexical word but to a group of words
perceived as a unit by the speaker. Second of all, ‘sentence
stress’ – as some have called it – may take precedence over
word stress, a phenomenon which may have certa in
consequences on the overall function of the utterance as it will
be seen in the following chapter. Finally, we should also take
into consideration the fact that suprasegmental features, i.e.
113
the phonological features applying to segments longer than
the individual sound, are interconnected in the sense that
stress placement, whether at the level of the word or of the
sentence, may determine a change in the rhythmic pattern of
an utterance which in its turn will influence its intonation
pattern and eventu ally the pragmatic meaning of the message.
In what follows, we wi ll refer extensively to word
stress, an issue of some difficulty for learners of English who
are often puzzled by the great deal of variance in this respect.
Although some linguists like Gri mson or Fudge remark that
the place of stress within the word is largely constant, there
are a great many exceptions to these rules which they
attribute to the context and its occasional prosodic pattern, or
to the instability of lexical patterning of Engl ish. Grimson, for
example, argues that there is a current tendency among
speakers to stress the second syllable in words such as
‘integral’, ‘communal’, ‘formidable’, ‘controversy’, even if such
words normally take the stress on the first syllable. Yet, th is is
not a matter of lack of observance of the phonological rules,
but is rather regarded as a matter of increasing norm, a
natural process of linguistic evolution (Clark et al. 350 -352).
Nevertheless, it would be of great help to the learner of other
languages if a set of well -determined rules or criteria were
identified to help them identify the stressed syllable in a
particular word.
Peter Roach identifies four distinct factors which
crucially determine stress placement within a word, namely:
114
the morph ological structure of a word, the grammatical
category it is part of, the number of syllables in the word, and
the phonological structure of its syllables (76). In addition,
there are a number of criteria which may be taken into
consideration, such as word origin, dialect, etc. and which may
occasionally account for certain exceptions which do not
conform to any of the above -mentioned major criteria.
The first criterion, namely the morphological structure
of the word, will help the speaker distinguish betw een simple
words , i.e. words composed of one morpheme or meaningful
unit, on the one hand, and complex and compound words on
the other hand, which are formed of several such units. As we
will see later on in this subchapter, simple words are subject
to a d ifferent set of stress placement rules than complex or
compound words.
The grammatical category of the word also influences
the position of stress in the word. In words such as ‘subject’,
‘object’, ‘record’, etc… stress is placed either on the first or
the last syllable depending on the grammatical category they
are part of in the utterance. If they are nouns or adjectives, the
stress will be placed on the first syllable and if they are verbs,
the second syllable will be stressed.
The third criterion in d etermining stress placement is
the number of syllables in a word. Peter Roach argues that
single -syllable words present no problem as such words are
normally pronounced as stressed when produced in isolation
and as unstressed if produced as part of a longe r context (76).
115
However, the issue seems to be a bit more complex than that
in the sense that this also depends on whether such words are
lexical or functional (grammatical) words. Functional words
tend to display several forms of which one is strong, whic h
means it can take stress, and the others are weak. Lexical
words are invariably stressed but stress is not marked in the
phonemic transcription of individual one -syllable words.
Finally, the phonological structure of the word is
essential in determining stressed syllable. As it has been
pointed out in the previous chapter, syllables which have for a
centre one of the vowels short /ə/, neutral /i/, neutral /u/ or a
syllabic consonant are weak syllables, therefore not stressed.
6.2.1. STRESS IN SIMPLE WO RDS
Simple words are traditionally defined as words consisting of
only one grammatical unit and often referred to as non –
derivative words, i.e. words not formed by means of affixation.
Over the years, a number of theories and rules
regarding stress plac ement have been developed such as ‘the
Transformational Cycle’ or the ‘Main Stress Rule’ for example.
Although of great help to the researchers of the time, such
sophisticated theories have had little contribution to helping
foreign speakers of English – people with little if any
linguistics -related training – decide which syllables in a
sequence are stre ssed and which are not . Therefore, the
116
present approach to the subject matter will be significantly
less complex but, hopefully, of greater practical help to
students striving to improve their pronunciation skills.
As it has already been pointed out here, one-syllable
words do not pose any difficulty other than that of the
existence of strong and weak forms in the case of functional
words.
Activity
Transcribe the following stretches of speech paying
attention to the underlined words:
a. I’m going to buy him a present.
b. Two and two is four.
c. How could you?!
d. He could have helped us all.
e. Here’s your money.
f. It’s your opinion I have a problem with, not his.
In which of these cases is the underlined word a strong and
in which a weak form?
With two-syllable words , either the first or the second
syllable carries stress. According to Peter Roach, in the case of
117
verbs and adjectives , if the final syllable is weak, the first
syllable will be stressed (77):
Verbs: ‘enter’ ['entə]
‘envy’ ['envi]
‘apply’ [ə'plaɪ]
‘assist’ [ə'sɪst]
Adjectives: ‘lovely’ ['lʌvli]
‘even’ ['envi] ‘alive’ [ə'laɪv]
‘correct’ [kə'rekt]
Although this rule seems to be quite straightforward , there are
a number of exceptions, especially as far as adjectives are
concerned. In ‘hollow’ ['hɒləʊ] for example, the first syllable
takes the stress despite the fact that the final syllable is not
weak, having for a centre the diphthong /əʊ/. The same
phenomenon occurs in ‘perfect’ ['pɜ:fɪkt] and ‘honest’ ['ɒnɪst]
(77).
As concerns two -syllable nouns , they seem to take
stress on the first syllable unless the first syllable is weak:
‘product’ ['prɒdʌkt] and ‘money’ ['mʌni] but ‘baloon’ [bə'lu:n]
and ‘cadet’ [kə'det].
Activity
Explain stress -placement in the following words:
118
a. dentist ['dentɪst]
b. alone [ə'ləʊn]
c. polish ['pɒlɪʃ]
d. yellow ['jeləʊ]
e. below [bɪ'ləʊ] f. record [rɪ'kɔ:d]
g. record ['rekəd]
h. sublime [sə'blaɪm]
i. defeat [dɪ'fi:t]
j. collect [kə'lekt]
Three -syllable simple words in English, as the simple
words with more than three syllables, are difficult to identify
due to the large number of words formed by means of
derivation. Nevertheless, it may be argued that this category
of simple words generally follow a rule of thumb which
basically refers to their phonological structure. This rule says
that if the final syllable contains a long vowel, a diphthong or
if it ends in more than one consonant, that syllable will be
stressed. If this is not the case, the phonological structure of
the secon d syllable will be analysed to determine whether it
can be stressed. The analysis ends with the first syllable of the
simple word, which will be stressed unless it is weak:
E.g.: entertain [entə'teɪn], encounter [ɪŋ'kaʊntə], parody
['pærədi]
emperor ['em prə], custody ['kʌstədi], mimosa
[mɪ'məʊzə]
As much as one would like to rely exclusively on a set
of pre -established rules in determining the stressed syllable in
119
a three -syllable word or longer, one should always take into
account the large number of ex ceptions. For example, in
nouns such as ‘potato’ [pə'teɪtəʊ] and ‘sinopsis’ [sɪ'nɒpsɪs],
the placement of stress on the second syllable is justified
neither by the phonemic structure of the final syllables. In the
former word, both the final and the second syllables contain a
diphthong, whereas in the latter, both contain a short vowel
and neither ends in more than one consonant.
Adjectives display an even less typical behaviour. In
their case, if the final syllable contains a long vowel or a
diphthong or it ends in more than one consonant, that final
syllable will not be stressed. Instead, the first syllable will take
the stress: ‘opportune’ ['ɒpətju:n], ‘insolent’ ['ɪnsələnt],
‘anthropoid’ ['ænθrəpɔɪd] (Roach 78).
Activity:
Divide into syllables the fol lowing words and decide which
syllable takes the stress. Then explain why.
a. clepsydra
b. universe
c. company
d. director
e. tomorrow f. confetti
g. confidence
h. incident
i. memory
j. persuade
120
Besides variations in terms of stress placement from
one grammatical category to another, there are also a number
of other variations that range from peculiarities related to
regional/ social ac cent to a mere issue of speaker preference
when such preference is shared by a larger number of native
speakers and has given rise to a linguistic tendency that has
been described by specialists in the field as ‘trends’ or an
ongoing process of linguistic change. If we add to these the
issue of names, which do not seem to follow any rules in
terms of pronunciation – including stress -placement –, stress
placement in English simple words seems altogether much
more complex than anyone might have expected. Ther efore,
caution is advised when applying these stress -placement
rules.
Activity:
Transcribe the following proper nouns phonemically than
check your transcription in a dictionary.
a. Stephen Hawking
b. Julie Andrews
c. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
d. Anne Bo leyn
e. William Wordsworth f. Aldous Huxley
g. Cleopatra
h. the Thames
i. Charlotte Brontë
j. Gloucester
121
6.2.2. STRESS IN COMPLEX WORDS
Complex words are words which have been formed by means
of derivation , i.e. by means of affixes – i.e. prefixes and
suffixes – which are normally added to a stem word.
Stress placement in complex words has been a matter
of much debate in the literature. Although they often display
more regular behaviour in terms of stress, as is the case of
words formed by means of su ffixes, words formed by means
of prefixes have been often neglected and only superficially
referred to:
Their effect on stress does not have the comparative
regularity, independence and predictability of suffixes,
and there is no prefix of one or two syll ables that
always carries primary stress. Consequently, the best
treatment seems to be to say that stress in words with
prefixes is governed by the same rules for polysyllabic
words without prefixes (Roach 85).
While it may be true that prefixes do not h ave the
predictability of suffixes in determining the stressed syllable
in a complex word or that their behaviour is similar to that of
simple words, it still does not justify the fact that there are
only a few lines dedicated to the status of prefixes and their
influence in stress placement in a course book which
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otherwise may be considered one of the most authoritative
writings in the field of English Phonetics and Phonology.
A far more detailed and structured account on the
issue is provided by Dumitru Chițoran who argues that,
according to their semantic status, prefixes may be divided
into three distinct classes:
a. prefixes which have entirely lost their original meaning and
carry no stress whatsoever: ‘believe’ [bɪ'li:v], ‘forbid’ [fə'bɪd],
‘above’ [ə 'bʌv], etc.
b. prefixes which have a meaning of their own but whether
they carry stress or not depends on how attached they have
become to the stem word in the course of time: ‘omnipotent’
[ɒm'nɪpətənt] but ‘omnipresence’ ['ɒmnɪpresəns], ‘prejudice’
['preʤʊdɪs] but ‘prehistory’ [pri:'hɪstəri], ‘provide’ [prə'vaɪd]
but ‘pro -British’ ['prəʊbrɪtɪʃ].
c. prefixes which almost always have a distinct meaning of
their own but, as in the previous category of prefixes, stress
placement depends crucially on the fus ion between the prefix
and the stem word. This also occurs in words where the shift
of stress from the prefix on a syllable in the stem word
triggers a certain semantic change as well: misconduct
[mɪ'kɒndʌkt] (= adultery) or ['mɪ skəndʌkt] (= behave badly)
(Chițoran 290 -295).
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Activity:
Transcribe the words below and mark the stressed syllables.
Then check transcription in a dictionary. Can you say what
these words mean?
a. periphrasis
b. periphrastic
c. misinterpret
d. nonentity
e. nondescript
f. remake (vb)
g. remake (n)
h. regress (vb)
i. regress (n)
j. overconfidence
k. outcome
l. outdated
As concerns suffixes , linguists agree that they display a
much more regular behaviour than simple words or derivative
words formed by means of prefixes. Thus, three distinct
categories of suffixes are identified:
a. suffixes that take stress themselves (Chi țoran 300 -301):
– ee:
refuge ['refjʊʤ] – refugee [refjʊ'ʤi:];
employ [ɪm'plɔɪ] – employee [ɪmplɔɪ'i:] ;
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– eer:
mountain ['maʊntɪn] – mountaineer [maʊntɪ'nɪə]; profit
['prɒfɪt] – profiteer [prɒfɪ'tɪə]
– ette:
cigar [sɪ'gɑ:] – cigarette [sɪgə'ret];
laudry ['lɔ:ndri] – launderette [lɒndə'ret] ;
– (m)ental :
document ['dɒkjʊmənt] – documental [dɒkjʊ'mentəl]
experiment[ɪks'perɪmənt] – experimental
[ɪksperɪ'mentəl] ;
– esque :
picture ['pɪkʧə] – picturesque [pɪkʧə'resk];
giant ['ʤaɪənt] – gigantesque [ʤɪgən'tesk] ;
– ese:
China ['ʧaɪnə] – Chinese [ʧaɪ'ni:z];
Malta ['mɔ:ltə] – Maltese [mɔ:l'ti:z] ;
b. suffixes which do not influence position of stress in the
word (Roach 84):
– able:
comfort ['kʌmfət] – comfortable ['kʌmfətəbl];
manage ['mæn ɪʤ] – manageable ['mænɪʤəbl] ;
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– ness:
happy ['hæpi] – happiness ['hæpɪnəs];
calm ['kɑ:m] – calmness ['kɑ:mnəs] ;
– like:
animal ['ænɪməl] – animal -like ['ænɪməllaɪk];
ball ['bɔ:l] – ball-like ['bɔ:llaɪk] ;
– ful:
colour ['kʌlə] – colourful ['kʌləfʊl];
spoon ['spu:n] – spoonful ['spu:nfʊl] ;
– less:
colour ['kʌlə] – colourless ['kʌləles];
care ['keə] – careless ['keəles] ;
– fy:
simple ['sɪmpl] – simplify ['sɪmplɪfaɪ];
intense [ɪn'tens] – intensify [ɪn'tensɪfaɪ] ;
c. suffixes which determine a shi ft of stress in the stem word
(Roach 84):
– graphy :
photo ['fəʊtəʊ] – photography [fə'tɒgrəfi];
chorus ['kɔ:rəs] – choreography [ˌkɒrɪ'ɒgrəfi] ;
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– ious:
injure ['ɪnʤə] – injurious [ɪn'ʤʊərɪəs];
luxury ['lʌkʃəri] – luxurious [lʌg'ʒʊərɪəs] ;
– ic:
magnet ['mægnət] – magnetic [məg'netɪk];
economy [ɪ'kɒnəmi] – economic [ɪkə'nɒmɪk] ;
– ive:
imagine [ɪ'mæʤɪn] – imaginative [ɪmə'ʤɪnətɪv];
communication [ kəmjʊnɪ'keɪʃən] – communicative
[kə'mjʊnɪ kətɪv] ;
Activity
Transcribe and mark the primary st ress in the following
words. Then check transcription in a dictionary.
a. etiquette
b. liqueur
c. communicate
d. auctioneer
e. payee
f. cartoon
g. hilarious
h. phonetician
i. ageles s
j. burlesque
k. Japanese
l. handful
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6.2.3. STRESS IN COMPOUND WORDS
Compound words are words formed by means of words which
may also exist individually. According to their spelling they
may be grouped into:
a. compound wo rds written as one word: ‘armchair’,
‘typewriter’
b. compound words which are hyphenated: ‘cost -effective’
c. compound words which are written separately: ‘desk lamp’,
‘battery charger’ (Roach 85).
Irrespective of the way they are spelt, the position of
stress in compound words depends on a number of factors.
Dumitru C hițoran argues:
Their accentual pattern depends both on their
morphemic structure (the number and the arrangement
of constituent morphemes) and on their semantic
unity. One element of the compound word carries the
primary […] accent, while the others will c arry one (or
more) secondary accents (305).
Indeed, the number and nature of constituent morphemes in a
compound seems to be the decisive factor in determining the
stressed syllable. For example, if we refer to such compounds
as ‘postman’ ['pəʊstmən], ‘s unflower’ ['sʌnˌflaʊə], ‘tape
recorder’ ['teɪprɪˌkɔ:də] we find that stress tends to fall on the
first word, since both components are nouns and therefore
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have similar status. In other compounds formed of a noun and
another part of speech such as an adject ive or a numeral for
example, stress tends to fall on (one of the syllables of) the
noun: ‘vice -chancellor’ [ˌvaɪs'ʧɑ:ntsələ], ‘second hand’
[ˌsekənd'hænd], ‘broken -hearted’ [ˌbrəʊkn'hɑ:tɪd], etc.
Similarly, the verb tends to carry primary stress if it for ms a
compound in combination with an adverb or a preposition:
‘easy going’ [ˌi:si'gəʊɪŋ], ‘take away’ ['teɪkəˌweɪ].
Activity
Transcribe the following compounds and mark the primary
stress and the secondary stress where necessary.
a. waste -paper
b. fair -haired
c. merry -go-round
d. Westminster Abbey
e. exchange office
f. near -sighted
g. half -timbered
h. far away
i. garden party
6.3. CONNECTED SPEECH
So far, we have discussed the issue or word stress. However,
stress is not only a feature applicable to individual syllables,
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but it may also be a feature of longer stretches of speech such
as utterances, in the case of which it becomes a means
whereby certain parts of a sentence are emphasized:
There is, however, a basic difference between the
accentuation of isolated words and that of longer
utterances: while isolated words have a single
accentual pattern there are more possible accentual
patterns for the latter. Each of the underlined words in
the following utterance may carry in turn the primary
accent: I read it in the Times depending on which word
is chosen for special emphasis. […] It is clear,
therefore, that larger utterances allow for more
changes of pattern than isolated wor ds (Chițoran 307).
The fact that longer stretches of speech than the individual
word also use stress for emphasis is common knowledge
among phonologists and an issue that has been tackled for
quite a long time under different headings. Some prefer the
concept of ‘connected speech’ – possibly due to its
explicitness – to refer to a set of phonological phenomena
taking place in most utterances in rapid speech. Others, like
Roger Lass, who focuses more on conceptualization, use the
term ‘process’. The category of pr ocesses is quite varied
ranging from transformations in the produc tion of
contextualized phonemes – palatalization, velarization,
assimilation, dissimilation, etc. – to stress -related issues such
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as rhythm. In what follows, we will group these connected
speech aspects under four more comprehensive headings,
namely: rhythm, assimilation, elision and linking.
A. Rhythm is defined as “a noticeable event happening at
regular intervals of time” (Roach 107). Although such a
definition may seem rather ambiguous i t is indicative of all
phenomena present in our everyday life, like the rhythm of a
poem, the rhythm of our heartbeats, etc. In phonology, the
concept of ‘rhythm’ applies to any longer stretch of speech in
a language. It may be argued that English speech h as a certain
rhythmic pattern whereas other languages may display
different rhythmic patterns. As a matter of fact, phonologists
have identified two types of linguistic rhythm: stress -timed
rhythm, which is specific to English, and syllable -timed
rhythm, w hich is proper to Romance languages.
Stress -timed rhythm is defined as a type of rhythm in
which stressed syllables in a longer stretch of speech tend to
occur at relatively equal intervals of time irrespective of the
number of unstressed syllables betwe en them. By contrast,
with syllable -timed rhythm , the time elapsed between
stressed syllables will be shorter or longer in proportion to the
number of unstressed syllables between them.
Let us consider a stretch of speech composed of a
number of syllables of which a few are marked as stressed
(‘/’). If four syllables are stressed, there will be four feet. The
foot is a unit of rhythm and starts with the first stressed
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syllable and ends right before the next stressed syllable. Foot
boundary is marked in our stretch of speech by a vertical line:
T1 T2 T3 T4
If our imaginary stretch of speech is an English
utterance, the time that a speaker will need to produce the
first foot will be relatively eq ual to the time that he/she will
need to produce the other feet in our utterance:
T1≃T2≃T3≃T4 (stress -timed rhythm).
Supposing that our stretch of speech is a French or
Romanian utterance, the time that a speaker will need to
produce one foot will be longer or shorter in accordance with
the actual number of syllables – stressed and unstressed – in
each foot: T1<T2; T1<T4; T2<T4, etc. (syllable -timed
rhythm).
Let us now consider a specific English utterance and
the phenomenon of stress -timed rhythm. In othe r words, we
will try to explain how it is possible for a two -syllable foot to
be produced in the relatively same amount of time as a five –
syllable foot for example. In the sentence:
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there are five primary stressed syllables and therefore five
feet. Of the five feet, the last foot is the shortest – one syllable
only – whereas the third foot is the longest in terms of number
of syllables (five). The pronunciation of foot five and foot three
in relatively similar stretches of time is possible due to the
existence in English of the so -called weak syllables (syllables
which cannot carry stress due to their phonemic structure) and
of the weak forms. The latter refer to the weak pronunciation
of functional words such as prepositions, conjunctions,
pronouns and articles. Both weak syllables and weak forms of
functional words take considerably less time to produce than
stressed syllables. This becomes even more evident in native
and relatively rapid speakers of English who tend to produce
them quite rapidly. In fa ct, so rapidly are they produced
sometimes that the weak syllable/ form is hardly audible.
Activity
Divide the following utterances into feet:
a. “I won the battle the right way when our worthy Russian
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generals were losing it the right way” (G.B. Shaw – Arms and
the Man ).
b. “But it’s horribly lonely not to hear someone else talk
sometimes” (G. B. Shaw – Candida ).
c. “…he supports his king on loyal principles and cuts off his
king’s head or republican principles” (G.B. Shaw – The Man of
Destiny ).
B. Assimilation is “a phonetic process by means of which two
or more phonemes, when joined together within the word or
at word boundaries, influence one another in an effort to
achieve some degree of similarity” (Chi țoran 250). In other
words, two neighbouring consonants located at word
boundaries or in the same word, tend to cause changes in
each other in order to achieve some similar pronunciation
characteristics. Since this phenomenon occurs exclusively in
the case of consonants the changes in pronunciation
characteristics may take place at three distinct levels: the place
of articulation ( assimilation of place ), manner of articulation
(assimilation of manner ) and voicing ( assimilation of voice ):
E.g.:
– assimilat ion of place: – ‘this year’ [ðɪʃ'jɜ:]
– assimilation of manner: – ‘good night’ [gʊn'naɪt]
– assimilation of voi ce: – ‘cats’ [kæts] but ‘dogs’
[dɒgz]
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Activities
1.Transcribe the following words and phrases paying attention
to instances of assimilation:
a. ‘get them’
b. ‘cheesecake’
c. ‘connects’
d. ‘buzzes’ e. ‘findings’
f. ‘blackbird’
g. ‘bright colours’
h. ‘not related’
2. In English, Past Tense and Past Participle forms of regular
verbs can be pronounced in three ways : /t/, /d/, and /ɪ d/.
Divide the following verbs into three distinct categories
dependi ng on the pronunciation of their –ed forms . Why is the
pronunciation of –ed forms different?
a. stay
b. walk
c. watch
d. look
e. force
f. use
g. connect
h. sneeze
i. retrieve
j. sail k. pack
l. care
m. donate
n. elaborate
o. judge
p. march
q. hunt
r. correct
s. stop
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3.In English , Present Tense Simple in the 3rd person singular and
the plural of most nouns are formed by using the endin g ‘–s’ or
‘–es’ in spelling. These forms can be pronounced in three
different ways : /s/, /z/, and /ɪz/. Divide the following words
into three groups depending on their pronunciation. Can you
explain why pronunciation is different?
a. possess
b. urge
c. stop
d. watch
e. face
f. flower
g. harm
h. cat
i. fight
j. soprano
k. king
l. trip
m. dog
n. product
o. cow
p. road
q. journey
r. nurse
s. string
C. Elision is a phonetic process whereby certain sounds are
omitted, “especially when they occur in clusters which are
difficult to pronounce or when they occur in unaccentuated
syllables and, owing to redundancy features, their loss does
not destroy the intelligibility of the word to which they belong”
(Chitoran 251).
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Activity :
Read the following tongue twisters quickly. Then say wh ich
phonemes could be deleted without affecting the overall
intelligibility of the message:
a. “I’m not the pheasant plucker,
I’m the pheasant plucker’s son,
And I’m only plucking pheasants,
Till the pheasant plucker comes.”
b. “The Smith s wear thin clothes throughout the winter months.”
c. “The Smith’s six miffed fixed mixed -Manx cats missed sex.”
(www.languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1581 )
D. Linking is a phonetic pr ocess whereby two words are
pronounced as one. Hollingsworth and Park argue that:
Linking is a fundamental part of speaking English. If
you don’t link your words in the correct way, your
English will sound abrupt and staccato. Understanding
the rules of l inking is the first step towards sounding
more natural (31).
137
Indeed, simple everyday phrases like ‘Good afternoon’ or
‘Good evening’ may sound awkward in the absence of any link
and results in the pidginisation1 of English. Thus, a simple
sentence such as ‘She’s an amazing artist’ sounds naturally if
the final sound in the first word seems to start the second
word and so on:
‘She’s◡an◡amazing◡artist’ ['ʃi:zənə'meɪzɪŋg'ɑ:tɪst].
Linking may occur under the following circumstances:
a. when a word ends in a consonant and the following starts
with a vowel: ‘Come◡in!’
b. when a word ends in ‘r’ in spelling (/r/ is not normally
pronounced in non -rhotic accents of English) and the
following starts with a vowel: ‘four◡eggs’ [fɔ:'regz].
c. when a word ends in shor t /ɪ/, long /i:/ or in a closing
diphthong ending in /ɪ/, and the following starts with a vowel:
‘Happy◡anniversary!’ [ˌhæpijænɪ'vɜ:sri].
d. when a word ends in short/ʊ/, long /u:/ or a closing
diphthong ending in /ʊ/,and the following starts with a vowel:
‘How◡are you?’ [haʊ'wɑ:ju].
etc…
A special case of linking is the so -called ‘ intrusive r ’
which occurs when a word ends in a vowel and the next word
1 “Pidgin is a simple form of any language used by people who think that
someone who speaks another language will find it easier to understand”
(Cambridge International Dictionary of English).
138
also starts with a vowel. This is typical to non -rhotic accents
of English including RP:
E.g. ‘I saw it’ [aɪ'sɔ:rɪt]; ‘Law and Order’ [ˌlɔ:rənd'ɔ:də]
Activity
Mark the linking in the following utterances:
a. ‘Where are Arthur and Rick?’ ‘They’re on a holiday’.
b. ‘What’s the answer?’ ‘I’ve got no idea’.
c. ‘Your umbrella is awful!’ ‘You ought to buy another.’
d. ‘Leave our toys alone!’ ‘Why should I? These aren’t your
only toys.’
(adapted, Hollingsworth et al. 33)
Revision:
1. Divide into feet the following text:
“There was a young person from Perth,
Who was born on the day of his birth,
He was married, they say,
On his wife’s wedding day,
And died when he quitted this earth.”
(Hollingsworth et al. 25)
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2. Transcribe the following text paying attention to instances
of assimilation, elision and linking:
“Lady Bracknell : […] How old are you?
Jack: Twenty -nine.
Lady Bracknell: A very good age to be married at. I have always
been of opinion that a man who desires to get married should
know either everything or nothing. Which do you know?
Jack [after some hesitation ]: I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.
Lady Bracknell: I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of
anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like
a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The
whole theory of modern education is radically unsound.
Fortunately in England, at any ra te, education produces no
effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to
the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in
Grosvenor Square. What is your income?”
(Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest )
140
141
7. INTONATION
7.1. INTRODUCING TONE AND INTONATION
Intonation is an important part of what has been named here
suprasegmental phonology or prosodic phonology. Whereas it
is crucial for communication – as it may interfere with
meani ng – it is also mostly an unconscious mechanism.
Incorrect intonation may result not only in failure of
communication but often in cross -linguistic and cross -cultural
misunderstandings. Hence, the considerable difficulty in
defining the concept in a way th at should be generally
accepted by the majority of specialists in the field. However
varied the definitions, they all share a common characteristic,
namely the variations in the pitch of voice applied either to
longer stretches of speech – consisting of se veral syllables – in
the case of which we speak of intonation , or to one syllable
only in which case we use the term tone:
Pitch and pitch changes are utilized in languages in
two distinct ways. On the one hand, variations of pitch
may be related to relat ively long stretches of speech,
which may be many syllables in length, and which
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correspond to relatively large grammatical units such
as the sentence. Pitch variations used in this way is
called intonation . On the other hand, the pitch
variations of a lan guage may be related to short
stretches of speech, typically of syllable length, and to
small grammatical units such as words and
morphemes. Pitch variations used in this way is called
tone (Catford 173).
So far, the notion of pitch of voice has been use d
intuitively in the previous chapter. In what follows, we shall
attempt a more comprehensive definition of the concept. The
term ‘pitch’ is often used in music to refer to the rate of
vibrations of the vocal folds, i.e. the voice frequency. Although
pitch variations are sometimes very subtle, which are only
detectable by instruments in specialized labs. In order to serve
our linguistic purpose – i.e. to determine the shape of pitch
variations on the one hand and their linguistic purpose on the
other hand – pitch variations must be perceptible to the
average hearer.
7.2. TYPES OF TONES
As it has already been pointed out earlier, tone refers to pitch
variations applied to one syllable. Basically, one can identify
143
three distinct simple tones, depending on the direction of
pitch variation: level tone, rising tone and falling tone.
Activity :
Read the following instances of communication and say
which tone – level, rising or falling – applies to the words
‘Yes’ and ‘No’. Then say what’s the attitude conveyed by the
speaker’s making use of that tone (several options possible
sometimes).
a. ‘Have you met John?’ – ‘No…’
b. ‘Are you ready?’ – ‘Yes.’
c. ‘Excuse me…’ – ‘Yes?’
d. ‘Are you well, sir?’ – ‘Yes…’
In additi on to the above -mentioned three simple tones,
there are also a couple of complex tones used in English,
namely fall-rise (vyes, vno) and rise-fall (‸yes, ‸no).
7.3. THE FUNCTIONS OF THE ENGLISH TONES
Across languages, tones can be used in two distinct ways. In
many Asian dialects and languages like Chinese, for example,
they are used to convey semantic meaning: a syllable to which
144
different tones are applied – level, rising or falling – may
display three different semantic meanings. Therefore,
languages that make use of tone in this way are called tone
languages (Roach 122). On the other hand, the great majority
of languages in the world, use pitch variation in a syllable for
more subtle purposes, i.e. to convey attitudes towards the
interlocutor or what is being said. These have been named
intonation languages .
Pitch variations in one -syllable words may take a
number of linguistic functions which vary from one linguistic
context to another and from one speaker to another. In what
follows, we shall look at the various functions of the tones as
applied to the English words ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
a. falling ‘ \yes’ and ‘ \no’ are used to express a neutral
attitude and are often used to signal end of conversation:
e.g. ‘Have you seen John lately?’ ‘ \No.’
‘Are we ready to go?’ ‘ \Yes.’
b. rising ‘/yes’ and ‘/no ’ indicate the fact that something more
is to follow:
e.g. ‘Excuse me…’
‘/Yes?’
‘I’d like a cup of coffee…’
‘/Yes?’
‘White, please.’
‘Anything else, ma’am?’
145
‘\No. Thank you.’
c. level ‘_yes’ and ‘_no’ are normally used to indicate extreme
boredom, lack of interest or routine. It is typically used by
students when their teacher calls their names from a register.
d. fall-rise ‘ vyes’ and ‘ vno’ indicate limited agreement.
e.g. ‘I hear that’s a good school you go to.’ – ‘vYes…’
In this case the speaker is obviously aware of his interlocutor’s
opinion regarding his/ her school. Nevertheless, he/she has
reasons not to share this opinion completely.
e. rise-fall ‘‸yes’ and ‘‸no’ indicate full agreement. Let us
consider the following context: a young mother looks at her
five-year old son and she can clearly see he’s up to
something. She asks him: ‘You’re not up to anything, are you?’
to which the reply is: ‘‸No!’. Whether the child means it or not
is another issue . The fact is that he clearly intends not to let
his mother know.
Activity :
Think about five conversational situations which should reflect
the above -mentioned communicative functions of ‘Yes’ and/or
‘No’. Make sure you use the right intonation pattern.
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7.4. THE TONE -UNIT
So far we have referred to variations of pitch applied to
individual syllables, which we have named tone. However,
everyday communication does not consist exclusively of one –
syllable words, which means that variations in the pitch o f
voice are also applicable to longer instances of speech such as
longer sentences, for example. In this case, we use the term
intonation . The variations in pitch throughout a sentence
indicate the speaker’s intention and are closely linked to the
meaning of the respective sentence.
Activity :
In pairs, read the following instances of conversation and
identify the syllables carrying primary stress in the passages
below:
A. ‘Are you feeling better?’
B. ‘Yes, thank you.’
A. ‘Was she wearing a black skirt?’
B. ‘No, she was wearing a black dress.’
A. ‘Shall we meet at noon?
B. ‘Couldn’t we meet a bit later?’
147
A. ‘I’m afraid Mrs. Smith can’t receive visitors. She isn’t
feeling well at the moment.’
B. ‘Oh, dear! I’m sorry to hear that!’
Which of the stressed syllables do you perce ive as the most
prominent?
The dialogues in the box above are instances of
conversation that are typical in everyday interaction. Questions
such as ‘Are you feeling better?’ or ‘Shall we meet at noon?’
carry an overall rising intonation pattern whereas ‘ Oh, dear!’
or ‘… thank you.’ display falling intonation pattern.
Nevertheless, the question is how can one go beyond the
intuitive level and determine the overall intonation pattern
objectively? In order to be able to do that, a more in -depth
description o f the syllables in these utterances is needed, as
well as a more detailed description of the overall linguistic
context in which these utterances occur.
Let us consider the first dialogue, which is typical of a
doctor -patient interaction. The question cons ists of six
syllables, of which four are primary stressed:
'Are 'you 'feeling 'vbetter?
However, most native speakers of English will agree that the
most prominent of all four stressed syllables in this utterance
148
is the last one. This is due to the fact that the first syllable in
the final word carries tonic stress , i.e. it carries both tone (in
this case fall -rise tone) and primary stress. A syllable carrying
tonic stress is called a tonic syllable or nucleus and is the
centre of a tone unit .
The tone unit has the following general structure:
(pre-head) + (head) + TONIC SYLLABLE + (tail).
However, of the four constitutive elements above, only
the tonic syllable is obligatory while the rest are optional
elements. In other words, a tone unit cannot exis t unless it
contains a tonic syllable. In our example, “'Are 'you 'feeling
'vbetter?” the tonic syllable is the fifth syllable in the utterance
which is preceded by a head . The head begins with a stressed
syllable and includes all stressed and unstressed s yllables in a
tone unit up to but not including the tonic syllable (Roach
131). Therefore, our utterance will have the following
structure: Head + Tonic syllable.
The pre-head starts with the first unstressed syllable in
the tone unit and ends right before the first stressed syllable
(idem). For example, in an utterance such as “for the 'first and
'last ' \time”, the last syllable (‘time’) carries falling tone and
primary stress, therefore this will be our tonic syllable. The
first two words in the utterance are functional words,
therefore, normally, they will not carry stress:
149
pre-head head tonic syllable
The tail is the last optional element in the tone unit and
includes all the stressed and unstressed syllabl es following the
tonic syllable up to the end of the tone unit (idem):
tonic syllable tail
Although at this point we have completed our general
description of the structure of a tone -unit, it is still quite
difficul t to define in a less intuitive manner. Some argue that
tone units are often separated by a short pause, usually
shorter than the pause which separates two utterances, for
example. However, this is hardly a scientific criterion to
determine tone -unit bound aries.
Some phoneticians argue that tone unit boundaries
tend to correspond to clause boundaries provided that the
overall attitude towards what is being said is rather neutral or
unmarked. If emphasis is added, tone unit boundaries change
dramatically a nd tend to coincide with phrase boundaries.
E.g. – neutral division :
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│On Monday we went to the British Museum│(tone unit
boundary coincides with clause boundary)
– emphatic division
│On Monday│ we went to the British Museum│(tone unit
boundary coincides with boundary between adverbial and
subject)
Intonation patterns combini ng stress and variations in the
pitch of voice is not a fixed element in uttering a sentence but
can be used to add emphasis to a particular part of an
utterance which the speaker feels should be more prominent.
In the examples above, the former tone unit division may
reflect the casual mentioning of a past event, whereas in the
latter, the tone -unit division may suggest the overall utterance
is part of an enumeration of activities performed on Monday,
Tuesday, etc.
Activity :
Divide the following utteran ces into tone units. Then identify
the tonic syllables and the type of tone they carry:
1. Is it raining at the moment?
2. Why did you do that?
3. A: ‘I live in London.’ B: ‘So do I!’
4. She’s going to marry him, isn’t she?
151
5. Mr. Thomson whose wife you’ve already me t is
going to be our head teacher this year.
6. She was wearing a gorgeous red dress.
7.5. THE FUNCTIONS OF INTONATION
So far we have focused on the form of intonation in English,
i.e. the variations in the pitch of voice and the way they
combine with st ress patterns to form distinct tone -units. In
what follows we will refer to the relevance of these structures
in everyday speech. Peter Roach argues that one of the best
ways to reveal the function of intonation in everyday oral
communication is to investi gate what would happen if we
didn’t make use of such patterns:
Perhaps the best way to start is to ask ourselves what
would be lost if we were to speak without intonation:
you should try to imagine speech in which every
syllable was said on the same level pitch, with no
pauses and no changes in speech or loudness. This is
the sort of speech that would be produced by a
“mechanical speech” device […] that made sentences
by putting together recordings of isolated words. To
put it in the broadest possible term s, we can see that
152
intonation makes it easier for a listener to understand
what a speaker is trying to convey (146).
Indeed, mechanical speech devices as described by Roach,
made use of a pre -established set of linguistic items such as
pre-recorded words combined with a number of grammatical
rules but no intonation which in fact makes human speech
intelligible and may trigger a number of nuance changes in the
overall meaning of the utterance.
Yet, the question remains: what is it that intonation
actuall y consists of? According to Peter Roach, one can
distinguish among three distinct suprasegmental variables:
sequential (i.e. elements of intonation such as pre -heads,
tonic syllables, heads, tails, boundary limits, etc. which occur
sequentially not simulta neously), prosodic (i.e. components
such as key, loudness, pitch of voice, voice quality, etc.) and
paralinguistic (i.e. gestures and body language) (149 -150).
Some of the most widely known functions of intonation
in English are: the attitudinal , the acc entual , the grammatical
and the discourse functions but the range of functions is so
wide that it is hardly possible to make a full inventory.
Therefore, we shall only look at a few examples.
A. The attitudinal function of intonation
In English, intonati on is commonly used to express feelings
and attitudes. In other words, different intonation patterns
may be applied to the same utterance in order to express
153
different feelings such as anger, dislike, irritation, boredom,
gratefulness, surprise, etc. For e xample, a neutral falling
intonation pattern in ‘I feel like an ice -cream’ uttered by an
adult on a hot summer day, conveys an unmarked attitude.
Nevertheless, the same utterance used by a young child on a
hot summer day to which a plaintiff tone is applie d is used to
signal request or even begging.
B. The accentual function of intonation
As the name of this section suggests, intonation may be used
to emphasise a specific part of an utterance. However, a clear
distinction between word stress and tonic stre ss should be
made here: whereas the former is independent of the
intonation used, the latter has often been referred to as
‘sentence stress’ and is the centre of the tone unit. Peter
Roach explains:
[…] the placing of stress is independent and prior to
the the choice of intonation. However, one particular
aspect of stress could be regarded as part of
intonation: this is the placement of the tonic stress
within the tone -unit. It would be reasonable to suggest
that while word stress is independent of intonat ion, the
placement of tonic stress is a function (the accentual
function) of intonation (153).
154
Hence the placement of the tonic stress in the utterance may
very well make the difference between emphatic and non –
emphatic use:
You 'mustn’t 'talk so \loudly. (non -emphatic)
You \mustn’t talk so loudly. (emphatic) (Roach 154)
In the first sentence, the use of tonic stress on the first
syllable in the last word causes an unmarked effect on the
listener in terms of emphasis. In the second, the use of ton ic
stress in the modal verb produces a strong emphatic effect,
which means that tonic stress is closely linked to intonation.
C. The grammatical function of intonation
In English, the use of a particular intonation pattern
may trigger subtle changes in the overall grammatical
structure of a sentence thereby contributing to the
disambiguation of certain utterances.
As it has been pointed out earlier, intonation patterns
depend largely on the position of tonic stress in the sentence.
Roach proposes the following example:
The Conservatives who like the proposal are please d (155) .
When considered out of its linguistic and extra -linguistic
context, the sentence is quite ambiguous: some will argue that
all Conservatives like the proposal, whereas others sa y that
only some of them like it depending on the placement of the
tonic stress and, implicitly, of tone unit boundaries:
155
The Con'servatives who vlike the proposal│are
\pleased .
The Con vservatives │who vlike the proposal│ are
\pleased .
In the former se ntence, there are two tonic stresses therefore
two tone units, which means that only some Conservatives are
in favour of the proposal (restrictive relative clause). In the
latter, the use of a separate tone unit determines a pause
which is semantically int erpreted as a supplementary piece of
information without which the meaning of the sentence will
not change. Therefore it is implied that all Conservatives are in
favour of the proposal (non -restrictive relative clause).
D. The discourse function of inton ation
As far as the discourse is concerned, intonation may be used
in two ways. On the one hand it may be used to focus the
listener’s attention on a particular aspect of the message
which is more important. In this case, tonic stress is added to
a partic ular word in the utterance which is considered
important:
She 'went to \Scotland (Roach 157).
On the other hand, intonation may be used to signal
the fact that a certain conversational behaviour is expected of
the interlocutor. This is particularly rel evant in some typical
156
linguistic contexts, such as doctor -patient, student -teacher or
parent -child interaction. In this case, the expected answer on
the part of the interlocutor may be signaled by using a specific
intonation pattern.
Activity :
Give exam ples of utterances used by the above -mentioned
pairs of interlocutors and say in what way an answer can be
suggested to the listener.
157
KEY
Activity page 1 3
Homophones: flower -flour; sell -cell; weight -wait; practice –
practise; groan -grown; right -wright;
Non-homophones: lose -loss; bee -be; man -men; moor -more;
subject n. -subject vb.;
Activity page 15
Some possible solutions:
Sun – pun – nun
Pea – bee – see – knee
Kiss – miss – hiss
Ship – shop – lip – cip
Lawn – pawn – dawn
Say – may – lay
Revision page 22
1. a. 3 letters, 2 sounds; b. 6 letters, 4 sounds; c. 5 letters, 3
sounds; d. 7 letters, 3 sounds; e. 4 letters, 3 sounds.
158
2. A ‘dialect’ refers to a variety of language which is social ly or
regionally -bound and subsumes a number o f linguistic
characteristics in terms of spelling, pronunciation, grammar
and vocabulary. An ‘accent’ refers exclusively to variation in
pronunciation among various users of a language. For
example, we can say that someone speaks English with a
strong Fren ch accent, or that some learners prefer using the
American rather than the British English accent.
3. Received Pronunciation or RP is the accent of educated
native speakers in the area of London a nd Oxbridge and it has
come to represent the standard o f Br itish English
pronunciation. Why is it useful? Well, what do you think?
4. Homophones are words which are pronounced identically
although they may be spelt differently: cell -sell. Homographs
are words which are spelt identically although they are
pronounc ed differently: read (infinitive) – read (past tense).
5. See chapter 1.4;
Activity page 33
Example:
/b/ is a consonant in the production of which the air coming
out from the lungs is stopped behind the closure formed by
the upper and lower lips.
159
/f/ is a consonant in the production of which the lower lip and
the upper teeth form a closure which is not complete and the
air can come out through a small passage.
Now it’s your turn!
Activity page 35
Words ending in voiced consonants: dog, dogs, churc hes,
judge, judges
Words ending in voiceless consonants: cat, cats, church.
The pronunciation of plural markers depends largely on the
nature of the preceding sound. If this is a voiceless consonant,
the plural will be voiceless /s/ or /ts/. Alternatively , if the
preceding sound is a vowel (which is always voiced) or a
voiced consonant the plural of the noun will be pronounced as
/z/ or /iz/.
Activities page 36
1. Words that start with a vowel: umbrella, intern, heir, upper,
opera, heiress, apple, unsee n, usher
Words starting with a consonant: young, heritage, heart, horn,
neither, university, uniform, wealth, hole, water, card, unique
160
2. The easiest way to demonstrate that the first sound in
‘unique’ behaves a consonant and the first sound in ‘upper’
like a vowel is to include them in longer phrases. For example,
we say:
“On an upper floor of the building, there was an apartment
with a unique interior design”.
So we use indefinite article ‘an’ before ‘upper’ – which means
the first sound in the latter is a vowel – and the indefinite
article ‘a’ before ‘unique’ – which makes the first sound in this
word a consonant.
Revision page 37
1. The articulators above the larynx are: the pharynx, the soft
palate (velum), the hard palate (roof of the mouth), th e
alveolar ridge, the upper and lower teeth, the upper and lower
lips, the tongue and the nose.
2. Examples of words containing voiceless consonants: stay (in
initial position) thorough (in initial position, embrace (in final
position).
Examples of words containing voiced consonants: zoo (in
initial position), adore (in middle position), crooked (in final
position).
161
3. See subchapter 2.3.
4. /p/ – upper and lower lips
/k/ – the alveolar ridge and the back part of the tongue
/ʃ/ – the tongue and the post alveolar area
/ð/- the tip of the tongue and the upper teeth
/m/ – the upper and lower lips
/ŋ/ – the velum and the back part of the tongue
Activity page 41
Rounded vowel: food, soon, horse, you, hot, roof
Spread vowel: er ror, steel, elf, pea, cat, then, seen, cheat
Neutral vowel: art, thus, love, first, earn, warm
Activity page 43
162
Activity page 43
Activity page 44
163
Activity page 45
Activity page 45
164
Activity page 46
Activity page 47
Activities page 47
1. Use an electronic version of a monolingual dictionary to
hear and t ranscribe the vowels in these words.
165
3.
/belt/ /lʌv/ /tɪn/ /left/
/stɪl/ /bæt/ /lʊk/ /flæʃ/
/wʊd/ /lʌk/ /kɒd/ /gʌl/
/lɒg/ /stæmp/ /mʌd/ /fʊt/
4.
fan Cam him then
come bud stuck thin
cup sang thick lot
this hut lock pan
shock foot flush mock
Activity page 49
166
Activity page 50
Activity pages 50
167
Activity page 51
Activity page 52
Activity pages 53
– could [kʊd] – nude [nju:d] – long /u:/ is closer than short
/ʊ/
– leg /leg/ – lag /læg/ – short /e/ is closer than open /æ/
168
– feet /fi:t/ – feed /fi :d/ – similar vowel sound
– Luke /lju:k/ – luck /lʌk/ – long /u:/ is much closer than
short /ʌ/
– shock / ʃɒk/ – shook / ʃʊk/ – short /ʊ/ is closer than short
/ɒ/
– men/men/ – man /mæn/ – short /e/ is a mid -close vowel
whereas open /æ/ is a mid -open vowel
– cat /kæt/ – card /kɑ:d/ – open /æ/ is closer than long /ɑ:/
– arm /ɑ:m/ – earn /ɜ:n/ – long /ɜ:/ is closer than long /ɑ/
– horse /hɔ:s/ – rest /rest/ – short /e/ is closer than long /ɔ:/
– meet /mi:t/ – met /met/ – long /i:/ is closer than short /e/
– first /fɜ:st/ – moon /mu:n/ – long /u:/ is closer than long
/ɜ:/
– red /red/ – scheme /ski:m/ – long /i:/ is closer than short
/e/
Activity page 54
fear /fɪə/; loud /laʊd/; air /eə/; tour /tʊə/; mind /maɪnd/;
face /feɪs/; voice /vɔɪs/; cold /kəʊld/.
The former part of the diphthong tends to be louder and
longer than the latter. As a matter of fact this is a key feature
of diphthongs in English.
169
Activity page 55
Activities page 56
1. a. mayor – /eɪə/
b. fire – /aɪə/
c. loyal – /ɔɪə/
d. shower – /aʊə/
e. lower – /əʊə/
2. a. mayor – /meɪə/
b. fire – /faɪə/
c. loyal – /lɔɪəl/
d. shower – /ʃaʊə/
e. lower – /ləʊə/
170
Revision page 56
1. a. column; b. distinguish; c. gorgeous; d. inexperienced; e.
picturesque; f. unfold; g. chalet; h. ward; i. calculate d; j.
frown.
2. a. saw – /sɔ:/
b. ballet – /bæ'leɪ/
c. zoo – /zu:/
d. lawn – /lɔ:n/
e. apple – /'æpļ/
f. police – /pə'li:s/
g. hotel – /həʊ'tel/
Activity page 65
While it is extremely difficult to distinguish between a final
voiced and a final vo iceless plosive, it is important to know
that this distinction triggers other changes in the phonological
structure of the words in a minimal pair. Perhaps the most
obvious of these occurs at the level of the vowel which
precedes the final consonant. For e xample, the /æ/ in ‘cap’
will be somewhat shorter than the /æ/in ‘cab’. As a rule, a
fortis consonant tends to shorten the preceding vowel in a
word whereas a lenis consonant will do the opposite.
171
Activities pages 67
2. First identify the fricatives in each word, then describe the
movement of the articulators as you pronounce them. You
may use consonant descriptions in this chapter for guidance.
Activity page 68
/k/ and /f/ in ‘breakfast’ do not combine into an affricate for
two distinct reasons:
1. they are part of different syllables
2. they are not homorganic – i.e. produced with the same
articulators – therefore, they can only be produced
consecutively, not simultaneously like /tʃ/ in ‘church’
or /dʒ/ in ‘judge’.
Activities page 69
2.
anthropology /ænθrɒ'pɒlədʒi/
cultural /'kʌltʃərə l/
jet lag /'dʒetlæg/
chequers /'tʃekəz/
jocose /dʒə'kəʊz /
conjure /'kʌndʒə/
cheerleader /'tʃɪəli:də/
Ipswitch /'ɪpswɪtʃ /
172
Iphigenia /ɪfɪ'dʒɪnɪə/
geranium /dʒə'reɪnɪəm/
Activities page 71
2. & 3.
penguin – one morpheme – /'peŋgwɪn/
length – two morphemes: long + th – /leŋkθ/
inlying – three morphemes – /'ɪnlaɪɪŋ/
agonizingly – three morphemes – /'ægənaɪzɪŋli/
ingoing – three morphemes – /'ɪngəʊɪŋ/
ingrained – two morphemes – /ɪn'greɪnd/
marbling – two morphemes – /'mɑ:blɪŋ/
repelling – two morphemes – /rɪ'pelɪŋ/
Activities page 73
1.
– clear l occurs in: ‘lamp’ /læmp/, ‘claim’ /kleɪm/, ‘repel’
/rɪ'pel/, ‘light’ /laɪt/, ‘calendula’ /kə'lendjʊlə/ , ‘citril’ /'sɪtrɪl/.
– dark l occurs in ‘hurdle’ /'hɜ:dļ/ and ‘handle’ /'hændļ/
Activities page 75
3. An acc ent in which /r/ does not occur in pronunciation in
final position is called ‘non -rhotic’. British English in its
standard form (Received Pronunciation) is a non -rhotic accent.
173
4. An accent of English in which /r/ is produced in final
position is a rhoti c accent. American English is one such
example.
Activities page 76
1. correct pronunciation and transcription:
a. unusual /ʌn'ju:ʒʊəl/
b. earring /'ɪərɪŋ/
c. meadow /'medəʊ/
d. wonderful /'wʌndəfļ/
e. year /jɪə/
f. university /jʊnɪ'vɜ:sɪtɪ/
g. weather /'we ðə/
h. write /raɪt/
i. jonquil /'dʒʌŋkwɪl /
Revision page 78
1.
a. /θ/ in /θrʌst/ – voiceless denta l fricative
b. /w/ in /wʌn/ – bilabial approximant
c. /ʒ/ in /'ʒãrə/ – voiced palatal fricative
d. /r/ in /raɪt/ – palato -alveolar approximant
e. /j/ in /jʌŋ/ – palatal approximant
f. /g/ in /gʌl/ – voiced velar plosive
174
2. a. /dʒ/; b. /p/; c. /l/; d. /n/; e. /w/; f. /f/; g. /h/; h. /ŋ/; i.
/ʒ/; j. /ļ/.
3. a. /ŋ/, /ļ/ and /ʒ/ (except in French borrowings); b. /w/; c.
/p/; d. /dʒ/; e. /f/ and /h/.
4.
aegis /'i:dʒɪs/
ascension /ə'senʃņ/
ascertain /æsə'teɪn/
ascesis /ə'si:sɪs/
auction /'ɔ:kʃņ/
auricula r /ɔ:'rɪkjʊlə/
aura /'ɔ:rə/
auxiliary /ɔ:g'zɪlɪrɪ/
balm /bɑ:m/
bandage /'bændɪdʒ/
banquet /'bæŋkwɪt/
beige /beɪʒ/
bomb /bɒm/
broadband /'brɔ:dbænd/
butane /'bjʊteɪn/
capture /'kæptʃə/
climb /klaɪm/
chalet /'ʃæleɪ/
chorus /'kɔ:rəs/ gnat /næt/
guardian /'gɑ:dɪən/
height /haɪt/
hiccough /'hɪkʌp/
hyperbole /haɪ'pɜ:bļi/
irreverent /ɪ'revŗənt/
knee /ni:/
knight /naɪt/
knife /naɪf/
mirage /mɪ'rɑ:ʒ/
mischievious /'mɪstʃɪvəs/
niche /ni:ʃ/
picture /'pɪktʃə/
pheasant /'fezņt/
philology /fɪ'lɒlədʒi/
physics /'fɪzɪks/
psyche /'saɪki/
psychology /saɪ'kɒlədʒi/
psalm /sɑ:m/
175
comb /kəʊm/
connoisseur /kɒnə'sɜ:/
conspire /kəns'paɪə/
councilor /'kaʊntslə/
cupboard /'kʌbəd/
draught /drɑ:ft/ queue /kju/
subtle /'sʌtļ/
specific /spə'sɪfɪk/
Thames /temz/
tongue /tʌŋ/
tomb /tu:m/
Activities page 88
1.
‘stay’ /steɪ/ ‘queue’ /kju:/
‘swing’ /swɪŋ/ ‘quick’ /kwɪk/
‘scar’ /skɑ:/ ‘scratch’ /skrætʃ/
‘play’ /pleɪ/ ‘string’ /strɪŋ/
‘tray’ /treɪ/ ‘square’ /skweə/
2.
a. ‘skirt’ /skɜ:t/ – pre-initial /s/ + initial /k/
b. ‘drip’ /drɪp/ – initial /d/ + post -initial /r/
c. ‘sprout’ /spraʊt/ – pre-initial /s/ + initial /p/ + post -initial
/r/
d. ‘dwell’ /dwel/ – initial /d/ + post -initial /w/
e. ‘spew’ /spju/ – pre-initial /s/ + initial /p/ + post -initial /j/
3. Use a monolingual dictionary t o find as many examples as
possible.
176
Activities page 90
1.
a. ‘apes’ /eɪps/ – This is a monosyllabic word in which
the coda is composed of final /p/ and post -final /s/;
b. ‘condemn’ /kən'de m/ – The word is made up of two
syllables. Non -native speakers tend to produce it as
/kən'demn/, which is incorrect. Hence, the second
syllable ends in one consonant only not in a consonant
cluster;
c. ‘condense’ /kən'dens/ – There are two syllables in this
word. The coda in the latter is composed of final /r/
and post -final /s/ ;
d. ‘conduct’ /kən'dʌkt/ – The second syllable in this word
ends in final consonant /k/ and post -final /t/;
e. ‘first’ /fɜ:st/ – This is a monosyllabic word with a coda
consisting of pre -final consonant/s/+ final /t/;
f. ‘makings’ /'meɪkɪŋz/ – The latter syllable ends in pre –
final consonant /ŋ/ and final consonant /z/.
g. ‘missed’ /mɪst/ – This is a monosyllabic word ending
in final consonant /s/ + post -final /t/;
h. ‘predict’ /prɪ'dɪkt/ – The word is formed of two
syllables with the coda of the latter consisting of final
consonant /k/ + post -final /t/;
i. ‘second’ /'sekənd/ – The latter syllable ends in a pre-
final consonant /n/ + final /d/ ;
177
j. ‘third’ /θɜ:d/ – The coda in this monosyllabic word is
formed of only one consonant. /r/ is not pronounced
in RP in final position.
Activities page 92
1.
The best way to determine the syllabic structure of the given
words is first to transcribe them phonemically and then to
identify the consonant clusters in the coda which start with a
pre-final consonant, i.e. one of the following; / m/, /n/, /ŋ/,
/l/ or /s/.
a. ants /ænts/
b. angst /æŋkst/
c. cataracts /'kætərækts/
d. collapsed /kə'læpst/
e. contacts /'kɒntækts/
f. finalists /'faɪnəlɪsts/
g. moulds / məʊldz/
h. prisms / 'prɪsm s /
i. splints /splɪnts/
Of the words above, ‘ants’, ‘finalists’, ‘moulds’, ‘prisms’, a nd
‘splints’ have a pre -final + final + post -final coda structure,
the rest have final + final consonant1 + final consonant 2
coda structure.
178
Watch out!
The word ‘ angst’ has a four consonant cluster in the coda,
therefore it is not the object of this an alysis.
The word ‘ prisms’ is formed of two syllables, the last
consisting of a syllabic consonant as the centre and the
consonant /s/ as a final consonant in the coda.
Activities page 100
1.
a. wrestle /'resl /
b. history /'hɪstr i /
c. potato /pə'teɪtəʊ/
d. tunnel /'tʌnl /
e. frighten /'fraɪtn /
2. Suggested transcription. Please note that t here may be
certain variations as the speed of pronunciation may influence
the production of certain so unds in longer stretches of
speech .
a. [tu ɪg'zɑ:mpl z pə 'tɪkjʊləli strʌk mi] [ðə fɜ:st wəz ə rɪ 'mɑ:kəbl
dɪs'kʌvr i ə'baʊt lɔ:d əv ðə flaɪz ] [ɪn ðə 'feɪməs si :n weə 'pɪgɪz
'spektəkl z ɑ : ju:zd fə ðə rɪdɪs 'kʌvr i əv faɪə 'wɪlɪəm 'gəʊldɪŋ gɒt
hɪz 'ɒptiks rɒŋ] [kəm'pli:tli bæk tʊ frɒnt ɪn fækt]
179
b. [aɪ hæv ɔ:l 'redi təʊld ðə 'ri:də ðæt 'evr i naɪt wen ðə 'fæml ɪ
wɜ: gɒn tə bed ɪt wəz maɪ 'kʌstm tə strɪp ənd kʌvə maɪ 'self
wɪð maɪ kləʊðz] [ ɪt 'hæpn d wʌn 'mɔ:nɪŋ 'ɜ:li ðæt maɪ 'mɑ:stə
sent fə mi baɪ ðə 'sɒrl næg hu wɒz hɪz 'væleɪ wen hi keɪm aɪ
wɒz fɑ:st ə'sli:p maɪ kləʊðz 'fɔ:lən ɔ:f ɒn wʌn saɪd ænd maɪ
ʃɜ:t ə'bʌv maɪ weɪst]
Revision page 105
blithering /'blɪðr .ɪŋ/
blooey /'blu:.i/
boisterous /'bɔɪ.str .əs/
Carolingian /kæ.rə'lɪn.dʒɪən/
catabolism /kə'tæ.bə.lɪzm /
collection /kə'lek.ʃn /
deconstruction /di:.kəns'trʌk.ʃn /
découpage /deɪ.ku:'pɑ:ʒ/
delirium /dɪ'lɪ.rɪ.əm/
entanglement /ɪn'tæŋ.gl .mənt /
euphemism /'ju:.fə.mɪ.zm /
excipient /ek'sɪ.pɪ.ənt/
gondolier /gɒn.də'lɪə/
gregarious /grə'gæ.rɪ. əs/
hegemony /hɪ'dʒe.mə.ni/
hermeneutic /hɜ:.mɪ'nju:.tɪk/
incomprehensible /ɪn.kɒm.prɪ'hen.sɪ.bl /
180
Inconvenience /ɪn.kən'vi:.nɪ.əns/
Incorporated /ɪn'kɔ: .pər.eɪ.tɪd/
locomotive /ləʊ.kə'məʊ.tɪv/
macadamia /mʌ.kə'deɪ.mɪə/
metaphysical /me.tə'fɪ.zɪ.kə l/
nauseous /'nɔ:.zɪ.əs/
parliamentary /pɑ:.lɪ'men.tr .i/
particularly /pə'tɪk.jʊ.lə.li/
reiterate /rɪ'ɪt .ər.eɪt/
rejuvenescence /rɪ.dʒu:.və'ne.səns/
remarkable /rɪ'mɑ:.kə.bl /
Activity page 108
a. /ə'baʊt/ – a stress having for a centre the vowel /ə/ is a
weak syllable and cannot be stressed
b. /kəm'pi:t/ – same as above
c. /'fəʊ.təʊ/ – explanations in chapter 6.2.
d. /'sʌb.dʒekt/ or /səb'dʒekt/ – stress placement depends
on the grammatical category of the word. For example,
here, the former word transcribed is a noun and the
latter is a verb
e. /ɒ'rɪ.dʒɪ.nəl/ – explanations in chapter 6.2.
181
Activity page 111
a. catastrophic /ˌkætə'strofɪk/
b. cavalcade /ˌkævl 'keɪd/
c. celebration /ˌselɪ'breɪʃn /
d. familiarity /fəˌmɪlɪ'ærɪti/
e. gainsay /ˌgeɪn'seɪ/
f. handmade /ˌhænd'meɪd/
g. improbability /ˌɪmprɒbə'bɪlɪti/
h. Latino /ˌlæ'tɪnəʊ/
i. Wolverhampton /ˌwʊlvə'hæmptən/
j. ringleader /'rɪŋˌli:də/
Activity page 116
a. I’m going to buy him a present. (weak)
/aɪm 'gəʊɪŋ tə baɪ hɪm ə 'prezn t /
b. Two and two is four. (both are possible depending o n
speaker)
/tu: ænd tu: ɪz fɔ:/ or /tu ən tu ɪz fɔ:/
c. How could you?! (strong)
/haʊ 'kʊd ju/
d. He could have helped us all. (weak)
182
/hi kəd hæv helpt ʌs ɔ:l/
e. Here’s your money. (usually weak in this context)
/hɪərɪz jə 'mʌni/
f. It’s your opinion I have a problem with, not his.
/ɪts jɔ: ə'pɪnɪən aɪ hæv ə 'prɒbləm wɪð nɒt hɪz/
Activity page 117
a. dentist ['dentɪst] – two-syllable nouns usually take stress
on the first syllable
b. alone [ə'ləʊn] – the fi rst syllable in this word has a weak
vowel for a centre, therefore it will not be stressed
c. polish ['pɒlɪʃ] – the second syllable does not contain a long
vowel or a diphthong and it doesn’t end in more than one
consonant. Instead the first syllable wi ll be stressed.
d. yellow ['jeləʊ] – exception to the general rule, just like
‘hollow’
e. below [bɪ'ləʊ] – observes the general rule: this is an adverb
with the centre of the second syllable consisting of a
diphthong.
183
f. record [rɪ'kɔ:d] – the second syllable is stressed as this is a
verb unlike the word below which is a noun.
g. record ['rekəd] – see above.
h. sublime [sə'blaɪm] – the second syllabl e has a diphthong for
a centre therefore will be stressed.
i. defeat [dɪ'fi:t] – long vowel in the second syllable
j. collect [kə'lekt] – the second syllable ends in more than one
consonant
Activity page 119
a. clepsydra /'klep.sɪ.drə/ – the last syllable can’t be stressed
as it has for a peak a weak vowe l; the second syllable does not
contain a long vowel or a diphthong, and it has no consonant
in the coda
b. universe /'ju:.nɪ.vɜ:s/ – both last and first syllables contain a
long vowel; this is an exception to the phonological rule
c. company /'kʌm.pə.ni/ – the last and second syllables are
weak
184
d. director /daɪ'rek.tə/ – see a. above
e. tomorrow /tə'mɒr.əʊ/ – an exception to the phonological
rule; this is an adverb in which the presence of a diphthong in
the last syllable does not influence stress placement on the
second syllable. The first syllable is weak.
f. confetti /kən'fe.ti/ – see a. above
g. confidence /'kɒn.fɪ.dəns/ – see a. above
h. incident /'ɪn.sɪ.dn t/- the last syllable is weak because its
centre consists of a syllabic consonant; the second syllable
cannot be stressed as it does not contain a diphthong or long
vowel an d it does not end in more than one consonant
i. memory /'me.m .ri/- second and third syllables are weak.
Can you say why?
j. persuade /pə'sweɪd/ – second syllable contains a diphthong
while the first is weak
Activity page 120
You may use Collins English online dictionary to check the
correct pronunciation.
185
Warning! There may be slight variations from one dictionary to
another in terms of the symbols used.
a. Stephen Hawking /'sti:vn 'hɔ:kɪŋ/
b. Julie Andrews /'dʒʊli 'æ ndru:z/
c. Samu el Taylor Coleridge /'sæmjʊəl 'teɪlə ‘kəʊlərɪdʒ/
d. Anne Boleyn /æn bʊ'lɪn/
e. William Wordsworth /'wɪljəm 'wɜ:dzwəθ/
f. Aldous Huxley /'ɔ:ldəs 'hʌksli/
g. Cleopatra /ˌklɪə'pætrə/
h. the Thames /ðə temz/
i. Charlotte Brontë /'ʃɑ:lət 'brɒnti/
j. Gloucester /'glɒstə/
Activity page 123
Use a monolingual dictionary to find out what these word
mean.
a. periphrasis /pə'rɪfrəsɪs/
b. periphrastic /ˌperɪ'fræstɪk/
c. misinterpret /ˌmɪsɪn'tɜ:prɪt/
d. nonentity /ˌnɒn'entɪti/
e. nonde script /'nɒndɪskrɪpt/
f. remake (vb) /rɪ'meɪk/
g. remake (n) /'rɪmeɪk/
186
h. regress (vb) /rɪ'gres/
i. regress (n) /'rɪgres/
j. overconfidence /ˌəʊvə'kɒnfɪdəns/
k. outcome /'aʊtkʌm/
l. outdated /ˌaʊt'deɪtɪd/
Activity page 126
a. etiquette /'etɪket/
b. liqueur /lɪ'kjʊə/
c. communicate /kə' mju:nɪkeɪt/
d. auctioneer /ɔ:kʃə'nɪə/
e. payee /peɪ'i:/
f. cartoon /kɑ:'tu:n/
g. hilarious /hɪ'leərɪəs/
h. phonetician /fɒne'tɪʃn /
i. ageless /'eɪdʒləs/
j. burlesque /bɜ:'lesk/
k. Japanese /dʒæpə'ni:z/
l. handful /'hændfʊl/
Activity page 128
a. waste -paper /'weɪstˌpeɪpə/
b. fair -haired /ˌfeə'heəd/
187
c. merry -go-round /'merɪgəʊˌraʊnd/
d. Westminster Abbey /'westmɪnstə ˌræbi/
e. exchange office /ɪks'tʃeɪndʒ ˌɒfɪs/
f. near -sighted /ˌnɪə'saɪtɪd/
g. half -timbered /ˌhɑ:f'tɪmbəd/
h. far away /ˌfɑ:rə'weɪ/
i. garden party /'gɑ:dn ˌpɑ:ti/
Activity page 132
Before dividing the utterances into feet, divide all words into
syllables and mark all stressed syllables. Only then will you be
able to solve the task accurately.
Activities page 134
1.
a. ‘get them’ / 'gedðəm/
b. ‘cheesecake’ / 'tʃi:skeɪk/
c. ‘connec ts’ /kə 'nekts/
d. ‘buzzes’ / 'bʌzɪz/
e. ‘findings’ / 'faɪndɪŋz/
f. ‘blackbird’ /'blægbɜ:d/
g. ‘bright colours’ /braɪt'kʌləz/
h. ‘not related’ /ˌnɒdrɪ'leɪtɪd/
188
2.
/t/: walk, watch, look, force, pack, march, stop
/d/: stay, use, sneeze, retrieve, sail, care, judge
/ɪd/: connect, donate, elaborate, hunt, correct
3.
/s/: stop s, cats, fight s, trips, product s
/z/: flowe rs, harm s, soprano s, king s, dog s, cow s, road s,
journey s, string s
/ɪz/: possess es, urge s, face s, nurse s
Activity page 136
As you read the texts remember that native speakers can be
very fast and inevitably, some sounds will be deleted.
Transcribe the texts phonemically and try to determine which
of the sounds will be lost in rapid speech.
Activity page 138
Warning! When linking occurs, other so unds may appear in the
pronunciation of these utterances. Transcribe the texts
phonemically in order to identify them.
189
a. ‘Where◡are◡Arthur◡and Rick?’ ‘They’re◡on
◡a◡holiday’.
b. ‘What’s the◡answer?’ ‘I’ve got no◡ idea’.
c. ‘Your◡umbrella◡is◡ awful!’ ‘You◡ought to
buy◡another.’
d. ‘Leave◡ our toys◡alone!’ ‘Why should◡ I?
These◡aren’t your◡only toys.’
Revision page 138
1. In order to di vide the text into rhythmic units correctly, you
must first determine the number of syllables in the text and
the stressed syllables.
2.
['leɪdi 'bræ knəl] [haʊ'wəʊldɑ:ju]
['dʒæk ] ['twentinaɪn]
['leɪdi 'bræ knəl] [əˌverigʊd'eɪdʒ tʊ bi'mæri:də t] [aɪ hæv'ɔ:lweɪz
bi:nəvə 'pɪnɪən ðætə'mæn hu dɪ'zaɪəz tə ged 'mærɪd ʃʊd
nəʊ'waɪðə evr ɪ θɪŋ ɔ: 'nʌθɪŋ] ['wɪtʃ d'ju: nəʊ]
['dʒæk] ['ɑ:ftə səm hezɪ 'teɪʃn ] [aɪ nəʊ 'nʌθɪŋ 'leɪdi 'bræ knəl]
['leɪdi 'bræknel] ['aɪjæm 'pli:zd tə'hɪərɪt]
[aɪdʊ'nɒtə'pru:vəv'ænɪθɪŋ ðæ'tæmpəz wɪ ð 'nætʃərl 'ɪgnərəns]
['ɪgnərənsɪz laɪkə 'delɪkətɪg'zɒtɪk fru:t] [ 'tʌtʃɪtənðə 'blu:mɪz
gɒn] [ðə həʊl 'θɪəri əv 'mɒdənedjʊ 'keɪʃn ɪz 'rædɪkl i ʌn 'saʊnd]
['fɔ:tʃʊnətli ɪn 'ɪŋglənd ə 'tæni reɪt edjʊ 'keɪʃn prə 'dju:sɪz
190
nəʊwɪ'fekt w ɒtsəʊ'evə] [ ɪfɪ'dɪd ɪt wʊtpru:v ə'sɪrɪəs 'deɪndʒə tə
ði'jʌpəklɑ:sɪz ən'prɒbəbli li:tə æksə'vaɪələnsɪn 'grəʊvnəskweə]
[wɒtɪzjɔ: 'ɪnkʌm]
Activity page 143
Suggested answers:
a. ‘No…’ – punctuation suggests a level tone which means
the speaker is hardly interested in the topic.
b. ‘Yes.’ – carries a falling tone suggesting a final answer.
c. ‘Yes?’ – rising tone; the speaker invites the interlocutor to
continue.
d. ‘Yes…’ – level tone suggesting partial agreement
Activity page 146
Suggested answers:
A. ‘Are 'you 'feeling 'better?’
B. ‘'Yes, 'thank you.’
A. ‘Was 'she 'wearing a black 'skirt?’
B. ‘'No, she was 'wearing a black 'dress.’
A. ‘Shall 'we 'meet at 'noon ?
191
B. ‘'Couldn’t we 'meet a bit 'later?’
A. ‘I’m a 'fraid Mrs. 'Smith 'can’t re'ceive 'visitors. 'She 'isn’t
'feeling 'well at the 'moment.’
B. ‘'Oh, 'dear! I’m 'sorry to 'hear that!’
Activity page 150
Warning! As in the previous activity, identifying tonic stress
and tonic units is often a matter of the speaker’s choice.
192
193
GLOSSARY
accent – the way in whi ch someone pronounces words in a
particular language thus revealing the geographic
region they come from.
accentual function – a function of intonation whereby certain
words in an utterance are stressed over others.
affix – a particle before (prefix) or af ter (suffix) a stem word
which helps to form a new word by means of a process
called ‘derivation’.
affricate – a consonant combining the features of a plosive and
a fricative ; example: /tʃ/ in church /tʃɜ:tʃ/.
alveolar consonant – a consonant produced with the tip of the
tongu e touching the alveolar ridge; e xample: /t/.
approximant – a consonant in the production of which the
articulators do not form a complete closure.
aspiration – a phenomenon whereby air is released from the
lungs during the production o f certain consonants.
attitudinal function – a function of intonation whereby the
speaker’s attitude is expressed by means of the
variations in the pitch of voice.
connected speech – a concept in phonology used to refer to
stretches of speech produced at normal speed (or
194
faster ) triggering a number of phonological
phenomena such as assimilation, linking, etc.
consonant cluster – a group of consonants occurring at the
beginning or end of a syllable.
bilabial consonant – a consonant in the production of whi ch a
closure is formed by the upper and lower lips.
dental consonant – a consonant in the production of which the
tip of the tongue touches the back part of the upper
teeth; example: /θ/ in thick /θɪk/.
distribution – a term referring to the position of a particular
sound in a word.
discourse function – a function of inton ation which becomes
evident in the interaction between pairs of individu als
such as doctor -patient, parent -child, teacher -student,
etc. where it is relatively easy “to identify what each
speaker is actually doing in speaking” (Roach 158).
elision – an asp ect of connected speech whereby certain
sounds tend to be lost in rapid pronunciation.
force of articulation – a concept referring to the muscular
effort needed to produce a certain consonant.
fortis – a term used to describe a group of consonants that are
produced with more force of articulation.
fricative – a type of consonant in the production of which the
air passes through a small passage formed by the
articulators, resulting in a friction noise or a hissing
sound.
friction – term used to refer to a hi ssing sound.
195
glide – a movement of the articulators from the position of
one sound to the next
glottal consonant – a consonant produced in the glottis
grammatical function – a function of intonation whereby the
variations in the pitch of voice are used to
disambiguate certain grammatical structures.
head – an element in the tone -unit which precedes the tonic
syllable
intonation languages – languages that use intonation to
convey attitudes, to emphasize certain parts of an
utterance, etc. and not to convey s emantic meaning
labio -dental consonant – a consoanant produced with the
lower lip touching the upper teeth; example: /f/.
lateral consonant – a consonant in the production of which the
air is released from the lungs along the sides of the
tongue.
lenis – a term used to describe a group of consonants that are
produced with less force of articulation.
morpheme – the smallest meaningful unit in a language.
nasal consonant – a consonant produced when the air coming
out of the lungs is released through the nose; example:
/m/.
non-rhotic accent – an accent of English in which the r
occurring in spelling in final position is not
pronounced.
palatal consonant – a consonant produced with the blade of
the tongue against the palate; example: /j/.
196
phonation – a term ref erring to sound production processes.
phonetics – a branch of linguistics which describes the sounds
used in speaking.
phonology – a branch of linguistics concerned with how
phonemes (sounds) function in language as well as the
relationship among various s ounds.
phonemic transcription – a type of exercise whereby each
phoneme in a sequence is transcribed by means of a
phonemic symbol.
phonetic transcription – a type of transcription which is more
accurate than the phonemic transcription as it makes
use of a set of diacritics as well as a number of
supplementary symbols.
pitch – a term used to refer to variations in the vibration of the
vocal folds.
plosive – a consonant in the production of which a complete
obstruction is formed by the articulators. When the air
is released the effect produced is that of an
‘explosion’; example: /p/.
primary stress – a type of stress carried by the most
prominent syllable in a word.
Received Pronunciation – the accent of Standard British
English.
rhotic accent – a dialect of English in which /r/ occurs in final
position in a syllable or word.
secondary stress – a type of stress carried by the second most
prominent syllable in a word.
197
syllabic consonant – a consonant that is the centre of a weak
syllable.
tail – a part of the t one-unit which follows the tonic syllable.
tone – a variation of the pitch of voice which occurs in a
syllable.
tone languages – a group of languages that use pitch variation
in order to convey semantic meaning.
tone unit – a unit which is variable in size used in analyzing
intonation
tonic syllable – a syllable that carries primary stress and tone.
198
199
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