Introduction to phonetics and phonology

Linguistics:
Phonetics vs. Phonology- differ by the subject they study but the focus is the same(speech)

PHONETICS-study of speech sounds (physical properties of sounds)

Types of phonetics:
 Articulatory- the use of vocal organs to articulate speech
 Acoustic- physical properties of speech sounds (e.g. duration, frequency, intensity, and
quality of the sounds)
 Auditory- the perception of speech sounds by the listener (ear to brain)

PHONOLOGY- studies the abstract side of the sounds of language

the speakers’ knowledge of the sound system of a language; the function and relationship of
sound units (phonemes)
 segmental phonology (relations and functions of phonemes)
 suprasegmental phonology (prosody): stress, rhythm and intonation

Phonemic inventory (system) of a language:

Awareness
Teaching
Description/ (comparative) research

PHONEME- The smallest distinctive, or contrastive, unit in the sound system of a language
(vowels and consonants)
Minimal pair - a pair of words that differ in meaning and in only one sound
We are sinking vs. We are thinking /s/ vs. /θ/
Allophones- different realizations of a phoneme
/t/ in tea vs. eat
Complementary distribution- distribution of a pair of speech sounds or a pair of linguistic
forms such that the one is only found in environments where the other is not
(found the definition in Merriam Webbster dictionary idk if its acceptable, seems legit tho)
English spelling (ortography)- inconsistent relationship between speech and writing
TRANSCRIPTION- the process of writing down spoken language in phonetic symbols
phonographic relationship: thorough /θʌrə/
slants (/ /) for phonemes -> International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
ACCENT- the pronunciation features of a language variety dependent on geographical places,
social class, age, educational background etc. (England vs. UK/Northern vs. Southern accent)
DIALECT- a variety of a language which is different from others not just in pronunciation but
in e.g. vocabulary, grammar and word order
RP- RECEIVED PRONOUNCIATION
 Prestige accent, social accent
 Extremely popular in the 20th century
 Nicknames: The Queen’s English, BBC English, Oxford English
 Spoken by small percentage of population
 High status everywhere in Britain
 Well received by the rest of the population- therefore the name
 Nowadays considered old-fashioned and carrying objectionable social connotations
Non regional Pronunciation (NRP)- Lacks obvious local features
Present day variation that can be heard from educated middle and younger generation of
speakers in England
 General American- Amalgam of the educated speech of northern USA, having
otherwise no recognizably local features

Articulatory phonetics: Speech organs

Egressive pulmonic airstream vs. Ingressive pulmonic airstream
(outward, lungs) (inward)
DIVISION OF SPEECH MECHANISM:
Head > Articulatory system
 Pharinx
 Soft palate (velum)
 Hard palate
 Alveolar ridge
 Tongue
 Teeth
 Lips

Throat > Phonatory system

 Trachea (windpipe)- made of cartilages
 Larynx (voice box)- most important for making sounds
 Vocal folds/cords- epiglotis / esphoragus – thick flaps of mouscle

Chest > Respiratory system:

 Lungs x2
 Bronchial tubes
 Throat
 Vowels
Introduction to the syllable
VOWELS vs. CONSONANTS
 Traditionally: difference in the way they are pronounced
 Different patterns of distribution
 No obstruction of the airflow from larynx to lips - VOWELS
 Air flow gets obstructed at certain places- CONSONANTS
VOWELS
Shape and position of the tongue:
 vertical distance between the upper surface of the tongue and the palate: close- open
 horizontal part of the tongue (between front and back) which is raised the highest

CARDINAL VOVELS:
not the vowels of any particular language
Upper vowel limit - rise
Lower vowel limit –depress
- Vowel area (area that tongue covers)
- Primary cardinal vowels: a e i o u
LIP ROUNDING:
3 possibilities: a) rounded b) spread c) neutral

DIPHTONGS – two vowels put together + glide from one to another

PHONETIC STRUCTURE OF THE SYLLABLE:
NATURE OF THE SYLLABLE: nature of producing the sound
MINIMUM SYLLABLE:
Single vowel in isolation /ɑː/ ‘are’ ; /oː/ ‘or’ ; /ɜː/ err
Vowel – centre of the syllable
Syllabic consonants- (l,r,n)
ONSET syllable in which vowel is preceeded by a consonant
/bɑː/ 'bar‘; /kiː/ key‘; /mɔ/ 'more'
CODA – syllable that ends in consonant /
ræn/ /sæt/ /fɪl/
RHYME- devides syllables into strong and weak
STRONG SYLLABLE:
 has a rhyme- syllabic peak: long vowel or diphtong
 - vowel followed by coda (schwa, i, u)
WEAK SYLLABLE:
syllabic peak: Short vowel & no coda
(unless peak is schwa vowel /o pƏn/ or in some cases short i)
To conclude:
Only strong syllables can be stressed (sometimes strong syllables are unstressed)
weak are always unstressed
PHONOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF A SYLLABLE:
Possible combinations of phonemes → phonotactics
1. What can occur in initial position: V, C, CC, CCC
2. How a word ends: -V-C, CC, CCC(C)
THE STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH SYLLABLE:
ZERO ONSET- syllable that begins with a vowel
CONSONANT CLUSTER: syllable that ends with 2,3,4 consonants
1) sway /sweɪ/ , smoke /sməʊk/
preinitial consonant
initial consonant

2) play /pleɪ/, try /traɪ/, quick /kwɪk/, few /fjuː/

initial
post initial

(prema objašnjenju kolege C. Christmas:

znaci, imas dvije mogucnosti:
1. zero onset - nemas nista prije samoglasnika, 2. consonant cluster - više suglasnika prije
samoglasnika
mozes imati najvise 3 suglasnika za redom na pocetku rijeci i najvise 4 na kraju
preinitial consonant je uvijek s (koliko sam shvatio), a ovaj poslije s je initial, a ako imas jos
jedan (treći), taj je post initial)
END OF THE WORD:
Max. 4 consonants
ZERO CODA no final consonant
final consonant (any except h, w, j) ; NB: r (RP vs. SAE)
Two-consonant final clusters:
bump /bʌmp/, bent /bɛnt/, 'bank' /bæŋk/, belt /bɛlt/, ask /ɑːsk /
bets /bets/, beds /bedz/, backed /bækt/, bagged/ˈbægd/, eighth /ˈeɪtθ/

DESCRIPTION OF A SYLLABLE:
Problem: division point→syllabification or syllabication
mourning /’mɔːnɪŋ/ : ˈmɔː +nɪŋ vs. ˈmɔːn + ɪŋ
Maximal onsets principle: where two syllables are to be divided, any consonants
between them should be attached to the right-hand syllable, not the left, as far as
possible.

Ambisyllabic consonant:
better /betə/ ; carry /kærɪ/
STRONG vs. WEAK SYLLABLEs:
Important in/ for : stress ellision intonation
Phonetic definition: a weak syllable: the vowel shorter, of lower intensity (loudness),
different in quality
data /deltə/ vs. bottle /ˈbɒtl/ -> syllabic consonant
Stress:Two perspectives:
production - using more muscular energy for stressed than for unstressed syllables
perception-
PROMINENCE(as a defying feature of stress:
Produced by: loudness(ii) length (iii) pitch (iv) quality
two-level analysis of stress: stressed and unstressed (around /əˈraʊnd/)
Primary stress: results from pitch movement
Secondary stress: photographic/ˌfəʊtəˈgræfɪk/ anthropology /ˌænθrəˈpɒləʤi/
tertiary stress? 'indivisibility' /ˌɪndɪˌvɪzɪˈbɪlɪti/
English word stress: difficult to predict because:
i) Whether the word is morphologically simple, or whether it is complex
ii) What the grammatical category of the word is (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)
iii) How many syllables the word has
iv) What the phonological structure of those syllables is
Complex word stress:
(i) words made from a basic word ( the stem)+ an affix (prefix or suffix)
care vs. careful, careless, carelessness ; unlawful
ii) compound words: ice cream, armchair
AFFIXES: The affix itself receives the primary stress
ii) The word is stressed as if the affix were not there
iii) The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but is shifted to a different syllable
STRESS IN AFFIXATIONS:
Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves:
'-ee': -eer': '-ese‘'-ette‘'esque‘
Suffixes that do not affect stress placement:
-able, -age, -ing -less -al‘, -en, -ful, -wise, -ment –ness, -ous, -y –fy- ly,
Suffixes that influence stress in the stem (the stress remains on the stem but different
syllable):
-eous, -ial, -ic - ty -ious , -graphy, ion,
Prefixations: governed by the same rules as those for polysyllabic words without prefixes
STRESS IN CONPOUNDS:
typewriter /ˈtaɪpˌraɪtə/ car ferry /ˈkɑː ˈferɪ/ sunrise /ˈsʌn,raɪz/ suitcase/ˈs(j)uːt,keɪs/
,bad- 'tempered ,half- 'timbered ,heavy- 'handed
,three-'wheeler, second-'class, five-'finger ,head 'first ,North-'East ,down 'stream
,down 'grade(v.) ,back-'pedal(v.) ,ill- 'treat(v.)
STRESS POSITION VARIENCE:
bad-'tempered but a ,bad-tempered 'teacher
,half- 'timbered but a ,half-timbered 'house
Controversy: /ˈkɒntrəvɜːsi/ vs. /kɒn’trəvɜːsi/