INTRO

Speech: System of communication that uses spoken words or sound symbols.

Writing: The visual representation of speech. In many languages, the written form may be
responsible for changes in pronunciation or impose restrains upon its development. A written
form of the English forms has existed for more than 1.000 years and written English is often an
inadequate or misleading representation of the spoken language of today.
Language: System of conventional signals used for communication by a whole community. We
can produce an infinite number of speech sounds, but we only use a selection of them in
language.
We describe the current state of a language on several interrelated levels:

 Phonology: The concrete phonetic characteristics (articulatory, acoustic, auditory) of the

sounds used in a language; the functional phonemic behavior of these sounds; the
combinatory possibilities of the phonemes; the nature and use of the prosodic features
(stress, length).
 Lexis: the total number of word forms which exist in a language.
 Grammar: System of rules governing the structure of phrases, clauses, and sentences.
 Semantics: The relation of meaning to the signs and symbols of language.

It’s important to remember that languages are always undergoing change. So, the state of a
language at any (synchronic) moment must be seen against a background of its historical
(diachronic) evolution.
Throughout history, the English vowels have suffered more striking changes than the consonants.
This is because consonantal articulation usually involves an approximation of organs which can
be felt and tends to be more easily identified and transmitted from one generation to another.
Vowels can, however, be modifies as a result from very slight changes of tongue or lip position.
History of English:
The broad lines of the pronunciation of Old English can be conjectured from a comparison of the
development of other West Germanic group of languages. The earlier runic spellings were
replaced, however, by a form of the Latin alphabet. It can be assumed that the sounds of Old
English were represented as far as possible by the Latin letters with their Latin values. During
the Middle English period (1100-1450) the Latin values were still conserved but the spelling was
modified by French influences. With the introduction of printing during the Early Modern
English period (1450-1600) spelling was standardized and already the spoken and written forms
of the language were beginning to diverge. After that, a great diversity of spoken realizations of
the language have coexisted but, for reasons of politics, commerce, and the presence of the
Court, the pronunciation of the London region had been considered socially preferable.
Nowadays, tis pronunciation is often called Received Pronunciation (RP).
 INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA)
The IPA is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin alphabet. The
IPA is designed to represent only those qualities of speech that are part of oral language: phones,
phonemes, intonation, and the separation of words and syllables.
The general principle of the IPA is to provide one letter for each distinctive sound. It does not
normally use combination of letters to represent single sounds (eg, sh) or single letters to
represent multiple sounds (eg, x). There are no letters that have context-dependent sound values.
There are two principal types of transcription:

 Between square brackets []: used with phonetic notations including details of the
pronunciation that may not be used for distinguishing the words, but which the author
nonetheless wishes to document.
 Between slashes //: used for phonemic notations which note only features that are
distinctive in the language, without any extraneous details.
For example, while the /p/ sounds of pin and spin are pronounced slightly differently, the
difference is not meaningful in English. Thus, phonemically the words are /pɪn/ and /spɪn/,
with the same /p/ phoneme. However, to capture the difference between them (the allophones
of /p/), they can be transcribed phonetically as [pʰɪn] and [spɪn].
A precise phonetic transcription is known as narrow transcription. A coarser transcription
which ignores some of this detail is called a broad transcription.
Diacritics and prosodic notation:
Diacritics are used for phonetic detail. They are added to IPA letters to indicate a modification or
specification of that letter’s normal pronunciation.
Prosody is the study of those aspects of speech that typically apply to a level above that of the
individual phoneme and very often to sequences of words. Features above the level of the
phoneme (or "segment") are referred to as suprasegmentals. A phonetic study of prosody is a
study of the suprasegmental features of speech. At the phonetic level, prosody is characterized
by:

 vocal pitch (fundamental frequency)

 loudness (acoustic intensity)
 rhythm (phoneme and syllable duration)

Suprasegmentals
These symbols describe the features of a language above the level of individual consonants and
vowels, such as prosody, tone, length, and stress; that is, elements such as intensity, pitch, and
rhythm.
 ENGLISH SOUNDS
There are twenty-four consonants and twenty vowels in the English language. A sound is made
by definite movement of the organs of speech, and if those movements are exactly repeated the
result will always be the same sound.
Speech organs:
1. Vocal cords: The two small bands of elastic tissue opposite each other inside the larynx.
The inner edges of the vocal cords can be moved towards each other so that they meet
and completely cover the top of the wind-pipe, or they can be drawn apart to form a gap
(glottis). The height of a musical note depends on the speed of opening and closing of the
vocal cords, if they are very quick the note will be high, if they are slow the note will be
low. The note produced by this opening and closing, whether high or low, is called voice.
2. Palate: The roof of the mouth. It separates the mouth cavity from the nose cavity. Most of
it is hard and fixed in position. The hard part is divided into two sections, the alveolar
ridge (the part of the gums behind your teeth) and the hard palate. But, at the back, you
will notice that the palate becomes soft. This soft palate can move; it can be raised so that
it stops the breath from going into the nasal cavity, or it can be lowered to allow the
breath to pass up into the nasal cavity.
3. Teeth
4. Tongue: Most important of the organs of speech because it has the greatest variety of
movement. Although it has no natural division, it is useful to think of it as divided into
four parts: tip, blade, front, back. The side of the tongue can also move and either be
pressed firmly against the sides of the palate or left flat so they do not touch the sides of
the palate.
5. Lips: The lips can take various different positions. The English, however, do not move
their lips with much energy or very far apart. The same is true for movement of the jaw.
 LENGTH
The length or quantity of a sound is the length of time during which a sound is held on
continuously in a given word or phrase. Vowels, semi-vowels, and continuant consonants (nasal,
lateral, rolled, and fricative consonants) all have length. Non-continuous consonants (flapped and
plosive consonant) have no appreciable length. The mark of length is “:” placed immediately
after the sound symbol.
Vowels Length:
Rule 1: There are, in English, a group of vowels (long vowels) naturally longer than the other
vowels (short vowels) in similar situations. And the diphthongs have about the same length as
the long vowels.
Rule 2: All vowels are shorter when followed by a voiceless (strong) consonant than when final
or followed by a voiced consonant. Thus, the i: vowel is shorter in “seat” than in “sea”.
Rule 3: Long vowels and diphthongs are shorter before a nasal consonant or l+voiceless
consonant. Thus, the o: in “fault” is shorter than in “fall”.
Rule 4: Long vowels and diphthongs are shorter in unstressed syllables than in stressed
syllables. Thus, the o: in “au´dacious” is shorter than in “´August”.
Rule 5: Long vowels and diphthongs in stressed syllables are shorter when followed by an
unstressed syllable in the same word. Thus, the i: in “leader” is shorter than in “lead”.

*Short vowels are also affected by rules 3-5, but the differences are barely noticeable.

Consonants Length:

Rule 1: Final consonants are longer when preceded by one short vowel than when preceded by a
long vowel. Thus, the n in “sin” is longer than in “seen”.
Rule 2: Later and nasal consonants are longer when followed by a voiced consonant than when
followed by a voiceless consonant. Thus, the n in “wind” is longer than in “hint”.
Rule 3: Plosive consonants preceded by a short stress vowel and followed by another consonant
are rather long. E.g.: the k in “actor”.

LENGTH AND RHYTHM

Vowel-length depends to a considerable extent on the rhythm of the sentence. In a succession of

sounds, rhythm is the manner in which strong/weak and long/short sounds alternate.
ENGLISH IS A STRESS TIMED LANGUAGE, while Spanish is a syllable timed language.
This means that, in connected speech, there is a strong tendency to make stress syllables
follow each other as nearly as possible at equal distances irrespective of the number of
unstressed syllables in between.
It may be remarked, however, that the rhythm is determined not only by the number of the
stresses in the words but also by the grammatical relations between words. To illustrate how
grammatical relations determine rhythm, let’s compare the sequence “ei + t + unst. Shwa +
stressed syllable” in the following expressions:
 STRESS

Stress may be described as the degree of force with which a sound or syllable is uttered. A
strong force of utterance means an energetic action of all the articulating organs, strong force of
exhalation, and gives the impression of loudness. Weak force of utterance involves weak force of
exhalation and gives the impression of softness.

Now stress is not the same as prominence. Prominence is the degree of general distinctness
resulting of the combined effect of the timber, length, stress and intonation of the syllabic sound.
Stress refers only to the degree of force of utterance and is independent of length and intonation.

Stress is marked by using the sign ‘ before the stressed syllable. Thus, ‘father and a’rrive. A
secondary stress may be distinguished in long words using the sign ,. E.g.: examination –
ig,zami’nation.

Words Stress

Simple words:

Most English words of two syllables have one stressed syllable and one unstressed syllable. For
instance, in the nouns increase and insult, the first syllables are stressed. In the verbs increase
and insult, however, the second syllables are stressed. In words of three or more syllables there
is always one stressed syllable and occasionally two, or one stressed syllable and a secondary
stressed syllable.

There are no rules determining which syllable or syllables bear the stress in English. However,
there are certain rules for words formed by adding prefixes:

Rule 1: If the prefix has a distinct meaning of its own and the combined word is in common use,
it has two strong stresses. E.g.: ‘anti’climax, ‘disco’nnect, ‘inex’perienced, ‘under’estimate.
Rule 2: If the word to which the prefix is added is not in common use or is used with a different
sense, then there is only one strong stress in the main word. E.g.: dis’courage (courage is not use
as a verb), i’nordinate (ordinate is rare).
For similar reasons, some adverbs have single stress while the corresponding adjectives
have double stress. E.g.: una’countably & ‘una’countable.
Rule 3: When the word formed with the prefix is very common and the main word has stress in
the first syllable, is not usual to stress the prefix. E.g.: im’possible, un’usual.

Rhythmical Variations:
In sentences, words with double stress are usually modified. When closely preceded by another
stressed syllable, the first of the stressed syllables is apt to lose its stress. Similarly, when closely
followed by another stress syllable, the second of the stressed syllables is apt to lose its stress.
Thus, we pronounce ‘unknown ‘land but ‘quite un’known.

Emphasis:
In words with secondary stress, usually the secondary stress becomes a strong stress, especially if
there is a great distance between the secondary and primary stress. Thus, ,funda’mental becomes
‘funda’mental.
Sometimes single stressed words take a second stress for emphasis. E.g.: un’less becomes
‘un’less.

Compound Words:

For compound nouns, the stress is usually on the first part. E.g.: ‘blackbird.

1. When the comp. noun denotes a single new idea rather than the combination of the
original words. E.g.: ‘blacksmith, ‘greenhouse.
2. When the meaning of the compound noun is the meaning of the second word restricted
by the first one. E.g.: ‘birthday, ‘cart-horse, ‘dinner-table.
3. When the compound word denotes an object and its function. E.g.: ‘paper-knife (knife to
open letters), ‘wall-paper.
4. Verbal nouns (ending in er/or). E.g.: ‘book-seller, ‘bus-driver.
5. Nouns compounded of a verb + an adverb. E.g.: ‘make-up, ‘setback, ‘get-away.
Exceptions:
6. When the compound word denotes the object and the material it is made of. Both words
are stressed. E.g.: ‘paper-‘knife (knife made of paper), ‘brick-‘wall.
For compound adjectives, the stress is usually on the second word. E.g.: bad-‘tempered,
old-‘fashioned.
For compound verbs, the stress is usually on the second word. E.g.: under’stand, over’flow,
out‘smart.
Compound words consisting of three elements generally take single stress on the second
element when the first two elements taken alone form a double-stressed compound. E.g.:
ginger-‘beer-bottle, waste-‘paper-basket.
Otherwise, three-word compounds have main stress on the first element. E.g.: ‘teaspoonful,
‘sodawaterbottle.
 Sentence Stress

As a general rule, the relative stress of a word in a sequence depends on its relative importance.
Thus, content words are generally stressed; and structure words, unstressed.

Content words – stressed: words carrying Structure words – unstressed: words for
meaning correct grammar
 Main verbs  Pronouns
 Nouns  Prepositions
 Adjectives  Articles
 Adverbs  Conjunctions
 Negative auxiliaries  Auxiliary verbs

Exceptions:

1. Emphasis: When we want to emphasize a word for contrast, its stress is increased, while the
stress of the surrounding words may be diminished. E.g.: Normally we’d pronounce the
sentence “I never gave you that book” as . But, if we wanted to
emphasize the word you, we’d pronounce it .

2. Contrast: When in a word sequence of two words, one is naturally or habitually contrasted
with another word, that word alone receives stress. E.g.: ‘acute angle (contrary to obtuse
angle).

3. Repetition: When a sentence contains a word which has been used just before, that word is
generally not stressed. E.g.: would
be pronounced .

4. When two nouns in sequence are felt as closely connected by sense, so they are practically
one word, the second word is generally unstressed. E.g.: ‘door handle, ‘camping ground.

5. Phrases of parenthetical nature are often unstressed. E.g.: ‘Yes, he said.

6. The word “street” in the names of streets is never stressed. E.g.: ‘Oxford Street.

7. Exclamatory “what” is unstressed. E.g.: what a ‘beautiful ‘day!

8. The various forms of the verb “be” are usually unstressed, even when the word is the main
verb, except when it is in final position. E.g.: the ‘train was ‘late, I ‘don’t know ‘where it ‘is.
 However, it can be unstressed too in final position is preceded by its subject. E.g.: He ‘asked
what the ‘time was.
STRONG & WEAK FORMS

Is important to remember that Spanish is a syllable-stressed language (every syllable carries the
same amount of time regardless whether they are stressed or not), while English is a stress-timed
language. Stressed syllables occur at regularly spaced intervals, regardless of the number of
unstressed syllables in between. This means that words are run together and in consequence we
can hear two phenomena; a slight change in certain words and contracted forms.

The change we can easily perceive in the sound of some words has been termed gradation.
Gradation is almost always produced by a monosyllabic grammatical word that connects words
or sentences to each other. There are about thirty-five or so of these gradation words. Gradation
words have two forms: the weak or connecting function and the strong or isolated form. Weak
forms are limited in number but their occurrence, in terms of discourse frequency, is
overwhelmingly more common than strong forms.

Orthography Strong form(s) Weak form(s)

the ðiː ðɪ, ðə
a/an eɪ, an ə, ən
determiners/quantifiers
some sʌm səm, sm̩
many ˈmen.i ?
he hiː ɪ
his hɪz ɪz
him hɪm ɪm
she ʃiː ʃɪ
her hɜː hə, ə, ɜː
you juː jʊ, jə
pronouns
your joː jə
my maɪ ?
them ðɛm ðəm, əm
we wiː wɪ
us ʌs əs, s
that (relative) ðæt ðət
prepositions/particles at at ət
as az əz, z
by baɪ ?
for foː fə
from fɹɒm fɹəm, fəm, fm̩
 of ɒv əv, v
per pɜː(r) pə(r)
so səʊ ?
to tuː tə, tʊ
than ðan ðən
there ðɛə ðə
and and ənd, ən, n̩d, n̩
but bʌt bət
conjunctions
that ðat ðət
or ɔː(r) ə(r)
can kan kən, kn̩
could kʊd kəd
have hav əv, v
has haz əz, z
had had əd, d
will wɪl l
shall ʃal ʃəl, ʃl, l
should ʃʊd ʃəd
auxiliaries must mʌst məs, məst
do duː də, d
does dʌz dəz, z
am am əm, m̩
is ɪz z, s
are ɑː(r) ə(r)
was wɒz wəz
were wɜː wə
been biːn bɪn
nor nɔː(r) ?
not nɒt ?
Saint seɪnt snt
others Sir sɜː(r) sə(r)
such sʌtʃ ?
time(s) taɪm ?
who hu: ?
 INTONATION
Intonation may be defined as the variations which take place in the pitch of the voice in
connected speech. When the pitch of the voice rises, we have a rising intonation; when it falls,
we have a falling intonation; when it remains in one note, we have level intonation.
Notice that tone (sound, referred to pitch/modulation of the voice) and tune (melody with or
without harmony) are not the same. In some languages, the tune belongs to the word and can
change its meaning (e.g.: Chinese). In English tune does not change the word we are
pronouncing but it can give important information. This use of tunes is called intonation.
To represent intonation, we are going to use a system of dots and curves placed above each
syllable of a phonetic transcription. Stress will be indicated in this system with larger dots.
Remember that intonation is applied on the “important” words and that importance is not given
by stress.
Most sense-groups in English are said with one of two fundamental tunes or a variation of
these two:

Uses of Tune 1:
1. Statements

2. Questions containing a special 4. Invitations

interrogative word

3. Commands
Characteristics:
a. Initial unstressed syllables are rather low
b. The stressed syllables form a descending
sequence of notes
c. Unstressed syllables between stressed d. Last unstressed syllables are said with
syllables have the same pitch as the low level pitch
preceding stressed syllable

Uses of Tune 2:
1. Yes/No questions
5. Requests

2. First part of complex sentences and first

part of alternative questions 6. Final reservations after Tune 1

Characteristics:
a. Initial unstressed syllables are rather low
b. When there is more than one stressed
3. Statements with an implication syllable, the first have a rather high pitch
and the last has a low pitch. The
intervening syllables (both stressed and
unstressed) are said on a descending
sequence of notes.
c. Unstressed syllables following the last
stressed syllable are said on an
4. Enumerations in which the alternatives ascending sequence of notes. When there
mentioned don’t exhaust the possibilities are no unstressed syllables at the end, the
rising intonation is put on to the last
stressed syllable.
Special Intonations
1. Rising intonation when the speaker desires the person addressed to repeat what they said
before. E.g.:

2. Yes & No answers are said with Tune 1, but use Tune 2 when they are used to contradict
what the previous speaker has said. E.g.:

3. In wh-word questions, great curiosity is conveying pronouncing the wh-word in a very low
tone.

4. Question Tags: When we agree we use a level intonation. When we don’t, we use a rising
intonation because I want an answer.
5. Interjections and exclamatory phrases take as a rule the intonation of the complete sentences
to which they are equivalent.
 EMPHASIS
When we want to give emphasis to a particular word, that word has to be said with greater
prominence than usual. Special prominence may be given: 1) by increasing the length of one or
more sounds, 2) by increasing the stress of one or more syllables, 3) by using special kinds of
intonations, or 4) by a combination of these three means.
There are two types of emphasis:
Emphasis for contrast: Intended to show that a word is contrasted with another or that it
introduces a new and unexpected idea. It is expressed mainly by a falling intonation in the
emphatic word.
E.g., in a Tune 1 sentence:

E.g., in a Tune 2 sentence:

In these cases, the rising intonation starts in the
last stressed or semi-stressed syllable. If there’s
none, it starts in the syllable following the
emphatic word.

Emphasis for intensity: Used to express a particularly high degree of the quality which a word
expresses, equivalent to adding “very”. It can only be applied to words expressing measurable
qualities (adjectives, adverbs, plural nouns, and certain verbs). It is expressed with very strong
stress on the emphatic word, with generally some lengthening. The pitch is usually led up to a
rise before falling again.
E.g.:

CONECTEC SPEECH PHENOMENA

Similitude: It often happens that a particular sequence of two phonemes involves the use of a
certain subsidiary member of one of them which has greater resemblance to the neighboring
sound than the principal member has. Thus, we use a partially breather l in please as the p is
aspirated.
Types of Similitude:
1. When m, n, l, r, w, j are immediately preceded by a voiceless consonant in a stress
syllable, we use partially breathed varieties of these phonemes. E.g.: small, place, quite
2. When h occurs between voiced sounds, we use a voiced h. E.g.; adhere, inhabit
3. Lip-rounded varieties of k, g, and other consonants are used before w. E.g.: queen
4. Vowels have slight nasality before nasal consonants.
Assimilation: The process of replacing a sound by another sound under the influence of a third
sound which is near to it in the word or sentence. The term may also include cases where a
sequence of two sounds coalesces and gives place to a single new sound; often being referred as
“coalescent assimilation”.
There are two chief kinds, historical and contextual:
Historical assimilations are assimilations which has taken place in the course of development of
a language. E.g.: picture is nowadays pronounced /ˈpɪktʃə(r)/ even if originally it was probably
pronounced similarly to mature /məˈtʃʊə(r)/.
Contextual assimilations happen when words are juxtaposed in a sentence and one word comes
to have a pronunciation different from that which it has by itself. E.g.: horse /ˈhɔːs/ and shoe
/ʃu:/ when put together in horse-shoe sound /ˈhɔːʃʃuː/. An example of coalescent contextual
assimilation is when don’t /dount/ and you /ju:/ are put together and pronounced /’dountʃu/.
We can also distinguish between progressive and regressive assimilation according as the
assimilated sound is influenced by a preceding or by a following sound. E.g.: dɔgz (s-z because
of the g) is progressive, and nju:speipə (z-s because of the p) is regressive.
Elision: The disappearance of a sound.
There are two chief kinds, historical and contextual:
Historical elisions occur when a sound which existed in an earlier form of a word was omitted
in a later form. A noteworthy example of historical elision is the loss of all r-sounds in final
position and before consonants in Southern English. E.g.; arm /ɑːm/ and more /mɔː/.
Contextual elisions occur when a sound which exist in a word said by itself is dropped in a
compound or in a connected phrase. E.g.: blind man /´blaɪn ´mæn/ and take care /´tei´keə(r)/.
We can also distinguished between:
1. Word internal – vowels: Elision of weak vowels (ə, i, u) when preceded and followed by
consonants (especially r, n, l) in unaccented syllables. E.g.:
a. /-tn/ certain, curtain, /-tnC/ importance, potent, /-dnC/ guidance, prudent, /-snC/
absence, adjacent, /-ʃn/ caution, emotion, /-ʃnC/ allusion, vision, /-rnC/
appearance, inherent, and others like golden, medicine.
When any of the nasals precedes the sequences /-dən, -tən/, the schwa cannot be
elided. E.g.: abandon, London, attendance, redundant, sentence, accountant.
b. /-kl/ classical, local, /-fl/ forgetful, graceful, /-vl/ approval, arrival, /-sl/ cancel,
rehearsal, /-zl/ disposal, nasal, /-ʃl/ commercial, official, /-ml/ animal, formal, /-rl/
barrel, moral, and others like chapel, verbal, hostel, legal, lethal.
c. /-Cli/ is retained in the suffix -ly most of the time but note beautifully and
carefully.
d. /-dri, -tri/ secretary, secondary. But not recommended is the resulting word is
disyllabic, e.g.: lottery.
e. /-bri/ only recommended in the spelling -berry and -bury, e.g.: strawberry,
Salisbury.
2. Word internal – consonants: It mostly affects alveolars, especially when preceded or
followed by other consonants. E.g.: handsome /ˈhænsəm/, asthma /ˈæsmə/, asked /ast/,
prohibition /ˌprəʊɪˈbɪʃn/.
3. At word boundary: The final alveolars are generally elided when preceded and followed
by a consonant, especially if the following is a stop. E.g.: next turn, next stop, soft chair,
send two, didn’t call, rubbed down.
There is, however, a tendency to retain t, d before initial h. E.g.: guest house.

SYLLABLE SEPARATION
Syllables are essentially a small sound sequence containing a peak of prominence. There
exist circumstances where points of syllable separation are well marked in pronunciation and
must be shown in transcriptions to render them unambiguous. This happens in some compound
words and in some apparently simple words where two parts, though joined together without
pause, are nevertheless pronounces as if they were separate words. When two parts of a word are
pronounced as separate words, the rule of length in single words apply to each part; one part does
not affect the other.
Syllable separation:

1. Between a vowel and a consonant: ‘awe-struck , ‘bow-string ,

‘door-plate
2. After the first of two or three consonants: horse-truck , heat-wave
, outrageous
3. After the second of three consonants: mincemeat , lamp-light
4. Between a consonant and a vowel: lynx-eyed , stomach-ache

In transcriptions in which words are joined together, hyphens have to be inserted wherever the
absence of it would render the notation ambiguous in the matter of syllable separation. E.g.: