Phonetics and Phonology

Ahsan Habib

1. What is phonetics and what is phonology?

Ans:​ Phonetics:

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds, and how they are produced. Phonetics has come from
the word ‘phone’ that means sound or voice. So sound or voice is closely related to phonetics.
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that deals with the characteristics of speech sounds. It helps
us both to recognize and to produce different sounds.

Phonology:

Phonology is the study of how speech sounds are selected, organized and used in a particular
language. Different languages select different sounds out of the total inventory of sounds that can
possibly be articulated by man. And different languages organize the selected sounds in different
systematic ways. The selection and organization of sounds in a particular language constitute the
phonology of that language.

2. How is phonology indebted to phonetics?

Ans: Phonology is, although considered more improved than phonetics, deeply indebted to
phonetics. The first reason behind this is that phonology has no device of its own to describe the
speech sounds, and therefore uses the devices of phonetics—such as the place of articulation, the
manner of articulation, the position of the vocal cords, the height of the tongue, the part of the
tongue, and the shape of the lips. Besides, phonology represents the sounds with the symbols
given by phonetics. Phonology is not self-sufficient—but rather dependent largely on phonetics,
as a matter of fact.

3. Show the differences between phonetics and phonology.

Ans: There are a number of differences between phonetics and phonology, and these are given
below:

i) ​Phonetics is the study of human speech sounds and how they are produced. It

deals with the characteristics of different speech sounds. On the other hand,
phonology is the study of how speech sounds are organized and used in particular
languages. It involves the consideration of meanings.

ii) ​Phonetics is concerned with the actual physical production of speech sounds,

while phonology concerns the mental or abstract aspect of the sounds in a language.

iii) ​In phonetics there can be a sound between a / p / and a / b /. It means that the

sound can have certain characteristics of each—such as voicelessness of an initial / p /

and the relatively weak aspiration of an initial / b /. But in phonology there are no
such gradations. A sound is assigned to one phoneme or another, and there are no
in-between stages.

iv) ​The techniques used by phonetics include the use of phonetic symbols given

by the International Phonetic Association [IPA]. On the other hand, the phonemic
symbols of English are based on the Received Pronunciation [RP] to represent
different sounds.

v) ​A phonetic symbol is enclosed in square brackets like [ t ] and phonemic

symbols is enclosed in slashed marks like / t /.

vi) Phonetic units are called phones, whereas phonological units are called
​

phonemes.

vii) ​Phonetics has its own symbols to represent sounds. But phonology uses the

symbols given by phonetics.

viii) ​Phonetics deals with a large number of sound units, while phonology deals

with a limited number of sound units.

4. Discuss the main branches of phonetics.

Ans:​ ​Phonetics is divided into three main branches:

i)​ Articulatory phonetics

​

ii)​ Acoustic Phonetics

​
 iii)​ Auditory Phonetics
​

Articulatory Phonetics: Articulatory phonetics may be defined as the general study of the
characteristics of speech sounds. It is concerned with the actual physical articulation of speech
sounds. This branch of phonetics tries to study how the various organs of speech—the lungs, the
larynx, the soft palate, the tongue and the lips—operate in the production of speech. It also tries
to give articulatory accounts of various sounds by describing the air-stream mechanisms as well
as the phonetory and articulatory processes involved.

Acoustic Phonetics: It refers to the study of the physical properties or nature of sounds and
analysis of the speech wave with the help of instruments.

Auditory Phonetics:​ This branch deals with the perception, via the air, of speech sounds.

5. Define the organs of speech.

Ans: The organs of the human body—such as the muscles of the chest, the vocal cords, the
tongue, the lips, etc.—which produce speech sounds are together called the organs of speech.
The air that flows out of our mouth is modified into speech sounds by the action of these organs.

The organs of speech and their functions can best be described under three systems:

i) ​The respiratory system: This comprises the lungs, the muscles of the chest

and the wind-pipe (or, trachea)

ii)​ The phonatory system:​ This comprises the larynx.

​

iii) ​The articulatory system: This comprises the nose, the teeth, the tongue, the

roof of the mouth and the lips.

6. Describe the functions of the human speech organs in speech

production.
Ans: The organs of human body which produce speech sounds are together called organs of
speech. The lungs, the larynx, the vocal cords, the tongue, the soft palate, the hard palate, the
alveolar ridge, the teeth, the nose and the lips are some of the organs that are usually described as
organs of speech in phonetics. The speech organs and their functions are described below:

1. The lungs: The lungs are spongy bodies that are made up of small sacs. The lungs
perform the function of breathing, or respiration, under the action of the muscles of the
chest. The breathing process using lungs involves two processes—taking outer air into
the lungs (called inhalation), and throwing the air out (called exhalation). Almost all
languages of the world use the air-stream provided by the lungs.
2. The larynx: The larynx is commonly known as the ‘Adam’s apple’ which is situated in
the upper part of the wind-pipe. The air from the lungs comes out through the larynx.
3. The vocal cords: Situated inside the larynx is a pair of lip-like structures—called the
vocal cords. These are placed horizontally from front to back, joined at the front, but
separated at the back. As they are separated at one end, they can assume a large number
of positions. They can easily be opened and closed by the air pressure from the lungs, and
thus help to produce speech sounds.
4. The tongue: The tongue is by far the most important single organ of speech. It
contributes greatly to the production of speech sounds by taking up many different
positions.
5. The soft palate: The soft portion of the roof is called the soft palate or velum. It acts like
a valve in opening and closing the nasal passage of air. The nasal passage gets closed if
the soft palate is raised—thereby contributing to the production of oral sounds. In
addition, the soft palate helps to produce nasal sounds when it is lowered, making an
opening in the nasal passage. Soft palate’s contact with the tongue also causes certain
speech sounds.
6. The hard palate: ​The hard, bony and concave surface lying immediately behind the
teeth ridge is called the hard palate. The hard palate is approached by the tongue during
the production of certain speech sounds.
7. The alveolar ridge: The alveolar or teeth ridge is the convex part of the roof of the
mouth lying immediately behind the upper teeth. The contact of the tongue-tip with the
alveolar ridge produces a number of speech sounds, called alveolar sounds.
8. The Teeth: The teeth lie at the front of the mouth, immediately behind the lips and to the
sides of the mouth, back almost to the soft palate. The contact of the tongue with the
upper front row of teeth produces some speech sounds.
9. The nose: The nose is placed right above the lips. It helps to produce nasal sounds as
well as nasalized sounds. The air from the lungs can pass through the nasal passage of air
when there is a velic closure, and thus nasal sounds are produced. And when the air can
pass through both the nose and the mouth, then nasalized sounds are produced.
 10. The lips: The two soft edges at the opening to the mouth are called lips. They are pressed
together; brought into contact with the teeth; rounded in order to produce many different
speech sounds.

7. What are the active articulators and passive articulators?

Ans: The vocal organs are conveniently divided into two kinds: ​i) the active articulators, and ii)
the passive articulators.

Active articulators: The organs—which can freely be moved more or less, and thus be made to
assume a variety of positions—are called active articulators.

Passive articulators: ​The passive articulators are the fixed points, lying above the active
articulators, which can be touched or approached by the active articulators.

The tip of the tongue is, for example, an active articulator, since it can be moved up and down,
forward and back, and since this nobility is essential to the production of many speech sounds.
On the other hand, the front upper teeth are passive articulators, since the tip of the tongue can
touch or approach them.

8. Describe Oral, Nasal and Nasalized sounds.

Ans: ​Oral sounds: The sounds—during the production of which the air passes only through the
mouth—are called oral sounds. The soft palate can either be raised to make a velic closure or can
be lowered to remove such closure. If it is raised—so that it touches the back wall of the
pharynx, the passage unto the nose is closed. The air then cannot escape through the nose at all.
Thus oral sounds are produced. Examples of oral sounds are all the sounds contained in the
English words: take, play, radio, and lecture.

Nasal sounds: The sounds—during the production of which the air passes only through the
nose—are called nasal sounds. If the soft palate is lowered, the passage into the nose is opened.
And if, at the same time, there is a closure at some point in the oral passage, the air from the
lungs can escape only through the nose—thereby producing nasal sounds. Examples of such
sounds are the final sounds in the English words: hum, hen, and hung.

Nasalized sounds: The sounds—during the production of which the air escapes through both the
mouth and the nose—are called nasalized sounds. When the soft palate is lowered—thereby
opening the nasal passage of air, and there is no closure at any point in the oral passage, then the
air can escape through the mouth as well as the nose. In this way nasalized sounds are produced.
The last sound in the French word ‘bon’ (good) is an example of nasalized sound.

9. Classification of speech sounds: vowel and consonant.

Ans: Speech sounds are classified, first and foremost, into vowels and consonants.

Vowel: A vowel is a speech sound for whose production the oral passage of air is
unobstructed—so that the air current can flow from the lungs to the lips and beyond, without
being stopped, without having to squeeze through a narrow construction, without being deflected
from the median line of its channel, and without causing any of the supraglottal organs to vibrate.
In other words, vowels are defined, in terms of phonetics, as the speech sounds in the production
of which there is—in the pharynx and the mouth—no obstruction or narrowing of a degree that
would cause audible friction. Vowels are typically, but not necessarily, voiced.

In terms of their function in a given language, however, some of the sounds determined in
phonetic terms as vowels may be regarded as consonants. Such is the case with the initial sounds
in the English words ‘yes’ and ‘wet’, for example.

Consonant: A consonant, conversely, is a sound for whose production the air current is
completely stopped by an occlusion of the larynx or the oral passage, or is forced to squeeze
through a narrow construction, or is deflected from the median line of its channel through a
lateral opening, or causes any of the supraglottal organs to vibrate. Consonants are either voiced
or voiceless.
10. What are monophthongs or pure vowels?
Ans: The vowels—during the production of which the position of the tongue remains
unchanged—are called a pure vowel or monophthong. There are twelve monophthongs in
English of which five vowels are long and the rest are short.

11. What is a diphthong?

Ans: Diphthong signifies the combination of two vowel sounds. The word ‘dipthong’ takes its
origin from Greek ‘di’ meaning two, and ‘phthong’ meaning sound. When a cluster of two
vowels—being pronounced side by side—produces one vowel sound, it is called a diphthong. In
other words, the sounds that consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to another are called
diphthongs. In a diphthong, the first part of the combined vowel sound is much longer and
stronger than the later. And a diphthong occupies a single syllable. There are eight diphthongs in
English. All the eight diphthongs can be found in the following English words:

1. Pure / /

2. Hair / /

3. Near / /

4. Take / /

5. Five / /

6. Coin / /

7. Now / /

8. Go / /

12. What is narrow transcription and broad transcription?

Ans: The transcription—which represents a language’s distinctive sounds, that is its
phonemes—is called phonemic or narrow transcription. On the other hand, allophonic or broad
transcription is the transcription in which allophonic distinctions and the linguistically
insignificant features that do not bring about a change in meaning are explicitly represented.
13. How is a vowel sound described?
Ans: A vowel can best be described or classified according to 1) the length of the vowel, 2) the
position of the lips, 3) the height of the tongue, 4) the point of tongue, and 5) the tension of the
tongue

1. According to the length, there are two kinds of vowels—long vowels and short vowels.

2. There are, according to the position of the lips, three kinds of vowels: spread, neutral and
round.

3. In respect of the height of the tongue, vowels are divided into four kinds:

*If the tongue is close to the roof of the mouth, the vowel will be close.

*If the tongue is close to the bottom, the vowel will be open.

*If the tongue is in the middle, but near the close point, it will be half-close.

*If the tongue is in the middle, but near the open point, it is half-open.

4. In terms of the point of the tongue, there are three kinds of vowels—namely front, central, and
back vowels.

5. In respect of the tension of the muscles of the tongue, there are two kinds of vowels, viz. tense
vowels and lax vowels.

14. How is a vowel sound produced?

Ans: Vowels are articulated with a stricture of open-approximation—that is the active articulator
is raised towards the passive articulator in such a way that there is sufficient gap between them to
allow the air to escape freely, continuously and without any friction.

15. Describe the vowel sounds from the vowel diagram.

Ans: See exercise-book!!!

16. How is a consonant sound described?

Ans: A consonant sound can be described, with the help of the following details regarding
production:

1. The air stream mechanism;

2. The state of the glosttis;
3. The position of the soft palate;
4. The place of articulation, and
5. The manner of articulation

The air stream mechanism: For all sounds of English, the air-stream is provided by the lungs,
and the air is forced out—that is all English sounds (vowels and consonants) are produced with a
Pulmonic egressive air-stream mechanism.

[Note: ​Pulmonic egressive: In human speech, egressive sounds are those in which the air
stream is created by pushing air out through the mouth or nose. There are three types
egressive sounds and they are ​Pulmonic egressive (exhaled), ​Glottalic egressive and
Lingual egressive​]

The state of the glottis: The state of the glottis determines whether the vocal cords will vibrate
or not. If it is closed, the vocal cords vibrate and the sound produced is voiced. And if it is
opened, the vocal cords do not vibrate and the sound produced is voiceless. So speech sounds
can thus be classified as ‘voiceless’ and ‘voiced’ in terms of the state of the glottis.

The position of the soft palate: Speech sounds can be classified as oral or nasal, depending
upon whether the soft palate is raised or lowered. If it is raised—thereby shutting off the nasal
passage of air, there is a velic closure—during which only oral sounds can be produced. If it is
lowered, there is no such closure, and therefore either nasal or nasalized sounds can be produced.

Place of articulation: Consonants can be described according to the place of articulation. A

sound is produced by using both active articulators and passive articulators. According to the
position of articulators consonants are described as bilabial, labio-dental, dental, alveolar,
post-alveolar, palato-alveolar, palatal, velar, and glottal.

Manner of articulation: A sound is also described in accordance with the movement of the
air—whether the air is coming suddenly, slowly, or between suddenly and slowly from lungs;
whether the air is going out through the nose or the mouth. All these different ways of producing
sounds are together called the manner of articulation. And according to the manner of
articulation consonants are described as plosive, fricative, affricates, nasal, lateral, semi-vowels,
etc.

17. Classify consonant sounds according to the state of the

glottis.
Ans: According to the state of the glottis consonant sounds classified into two classes: (1)
voiceless sounds, and (2) voiced sounds. Speech sounds are produced using the fairly complex
oral equipments that we have. The air-stream is provided by the lungs, and is forced out through
the windpipe (trachea) to the larynx. In the larynx are situated a pair of lip-like structures called
“vocal cords” that are placed horizontally from front to back. They are attached in front and can
be separated at the back, thereby producing an opening between the cords, which is called ‘​the
glottis​’.

Voiceless sounds: The speech sounds—in the production of which there is a wide opening
between the vocal cords, namely the glottis—are called voiceless sounds. When the vocal cords
are drawn wide apart, the air from the lungs can, through the glottis, pass freely without setting
the vocal cords into vibration. This is the normal position of the vocal cords during breathing.
Examples of such sounds are the initial sounds in the following English words: pen, ten, chain,
fine, thin, hat, etc.

Voiced sounds: The speech sounds—in the production of which the vocal cords create a kind of
vibration—are called voiced sounds. When the vocal cords are held loosely together, the air from
the lungs can escape only by setting them into vibration. Such vibration imparts a ‘hum’ to the
sound produced. Examples of voiced sounds are all English vowels and the initial sounds in the
following English words: bed, dead, judge, get, etc.
18. Classify English consonant sounds according to their places
of articulation.
Ans: ​The ​places of articulation refer to the various positions of articulators involved in the
production of consonant sounds. The place of articulation of a consonant is determined by the
passive articulator involved in the production of it, and therefore the sound is also named after
the passive articulator. So consonants can be classified according to their places of articulation.
The chief places of articulation of consonants are the following:

i) Bilabial: ​These are sounds made by using both the two lips. Examples of such sounds are the
initial sounds in the following English words: wait, mat, bat and pat. They can be represented
respectively by the symbols [w], [m], [b]—which are voiced—and [p] which is voiceless.

ii) Labio-dental: These sounds are produced by placing the upper teeth against the lower lip.
The lower lip functions as the active articulator and the upper row of teeth, as the passive
articulator. Examples of such sounds are the initial sounds in the English words ‘fat’ and ‘vat’
and the final sounds in the words ‘safe’ and ‘save’. They are represented by the symbols
[f]—which is voiceless, and [v]—which is voiced.

iii) Dental: These are sounds produced by the tongue-tip against the upper front teeth. The active
articulator is the tip of the tongue, and the passive articulator is the upper row of teeth. Examples
of such sounds are the initial sound of ‘thin’ and the final sound of ‘both’ and they are both
voiceless dentals. This sound is represented by the symbol [θ]. The voiced dental is represented
by the symbol [ð] and is found in the initial sound of ‘thus’ and the final sound of ‘bathe’. The
term ‘interdental’ is sometimes used to describe a manner of pronunciation with the tongue-tip
between the upper teeth and the lower teeth.

iv) Alveolar: ​These sounds are formed with the front part of the tongue on the alveolar
ridge—which is the rough, bony ridge immediately behind the upper front teeth. The active
articulator is the blade, or tip and blade, of the tongue, and the passive articulator is the alveolar
or teeth ridge. The initial sounds in the words: sit, zoo, top, dip, and nut—are all alveolars. The
symbols for these sounds are: [s], [z], [t], [d] and [n] respectively. Among them [s] [t] are
voiceless and the rest are voiced.
v) Post-alveolar: The active articulator is the tongue and the passive articulator is the rear part of
the teeth ridge. The sound represented by the letter ‘r’ in the words ‘rail’ and ‘tree’ is an example
of post-alveolar sound.

vi) Palato-alveolar: Palato-alveolar sounds are produced by two simultaneous articulations: (1)
the blade of the tongue (active articulator) articulates against the teeth ridge (passive articulator),
and (2) the front of the tongue (active articulator) is raised towards the hard palate (passive
articulator). The initial sounds in the English words ‘shoot’ and ‘chalk’ are palato-alveolars
which are voiceless and are represented by the symbols: [ ∫ ] and [ t∫ ]. The sounds in the words
‘judge’ and ‘pleasure’ are also palato-alveolars which are voiced and are represented by the
symbols [ ] and [ ] .

vii) Palatal: These sounds are produced by placing the tongue against or near the hard
palate—the hard, bony and concave surface lying immediately behind the teeth ridge. The active
articulator is the front of the tongue, and the passive articulator is the hard palate. The initial
sound in the English word ‘yes’ represented by the symbol [ j ] is an example of the palatal
sound.

viii) Velar: These are sounds produced by placing the back of the tongue against or near the soft
palate or velum—the soft portion of the roof of the mouth lying immediately beyond the hard
palate. The active articulator is the back of the tongue, and the passive articulator is the soft
palate. Examples of such sounds are the initial sounds in the words ‘cool’ and ‘go’ represented
by [k] which is voiceless, and [ ] which is voiced. There is another voiced velar sound
represented by [ ŋ ] which is found in the end of the English words ‘king’, ‘sing’, ‘song’, etc.

ix) Glottal: The opening between the two vocal cords in the larynx is called the glottis. Glottal
sounds are produced by the glottis. The articulators for the glottal sounds are the two vocal cords.
The sounds are produced by an obstruction, or a narrowing causing friction, but not by vibration,
between the vocal cords. The initial sound in the English word ‘hen’ represented by [h] is an
example of the voiceless glottal sound.
x) Retroflex: These sounds are produced with the end of the tongue turned up against the hard
palate. The active articulator is the underside of the tip of the tongue, and the passive articulator
is the front of the hard palate. The tip of the tongue is curled back in such a way that only its
underside articulates. The ‘r’ sound—found in the General American pronunciation of words
such as rain, rat, and right—is an example of retroflex sound.

19. Classify English consonant sounds according to their

manners of articulation.
Ans: The manner of articulation specifies the kind of closure or narrowing involved in the
production of a sound. No consonant is fully identified, or described, without stating the manner
of its articulation. Depending on whether there is a complete closure, a partial closure, or only a
narrowing that causes audible friction, consonants are classified into plosive or stop, affricate,
nasal, roll, flap or tap, lateral, and fricative. Then there are consonants in the production of which
there is no noise and no audible friction. These are called frictionless constituents and
semi-vowels.

i) ​Plosive or Stop: The sounds, which are produced with a stricture of complete closure and
sudden release of the air, are called plosives. During the production of these sounds, there is,
first, a complete closure of the passage of air at some point in the vocal tract. The active and
passive articulators come into firm contact with each other, thereby preventing the lung air from
escaping through the mouth. Simultaneously, there is a ‘velic closure’—namely the soft palate is
raised towards the back wall of the pharynx, thereby shutting off the nasal passage of air. Thus,
the lung air is blocked in the mouth. As a result, air pressure is built up behind the closure. The
oral closure is then suddenly removed—thus causing, in the process, a sudden release of the
blocked air with some explosive noise, and producing the plosive sounds. The initial sounds in
the English words: keen, go, pen, be, time, deep—are all plosives.

ii) ​Affricate: The sounds—produced with a stricture of complete closure and slow release of the
air—are called affricates. As in the case of plosives, affricates are produced in three stages, the
first two of which are the same as for plosives—a complete closure of the air passage followed
by a building up of pressure behind the closure. At the third stage, however, the production of
affricates is different from that of plosives. For plosives the release of the blocked air is sudden.
But in the case of affricates, it is slow. Because of a slow separation of the articulators, a sort of
friction will be heard. Affricates are characterized by some audible friction. The initial sounds in
the English words “chalk” and “jam” are affricates.
iii) ​Nasal: The sounds which are produced with a stricture of complete oral closure and nasal
opening are called nasals. In the production of nasals, there is a closure only of the oral passage,
while the nasal passage remains open. The active articulator and passive articulators come into
firm contact with each other—thereby blocking off the oral passage of air completely. And at the
same time, the soft palate is lowered so that there is no velic closure and thus the nasal passage is
opened. Now, the lung air can pass freely through the nose, producing nasal sounds. The final
sounds in the English words: sum, sun, and sung—are some examples of nasal sounds.

iv) Roll: The sounds—articulated with a stricture of intermittent closure—are trills or rolled
sounds. As against the plosives, the affricates and nasals, no closure is involved in the production
of rolls. What is necessary, instead, here are repeated taps. The soft palate is raised towards the
back wall of the pharynx—thereby shutting off the nasal passage of air. The active
articulator—namely the tip of the tongue—taps against the passive articulator—the alveolar
ridge (or just behind it), or the uvula strikes against the back of the tongue several times with the
result that the air escapes between the articulators intermittently. Such a stricture is termed
intermittent closure, and thus rolled consonants are produced. The sound ‘r’ used by some
English speakers in the initial positions of words like red, rain, rat, etc.

v) Flap: ​The sounds, produced with a single tap, are called flaps. Whereas a roll consists of
several taps, a flap has a single tap. Here the active articulator strikes against the passive
articulator just once and then quickly flaps forward. In all other respects, the manner of
articulation of the two is the same. Flaps are also called taps. The ‘r’ sound of the English word
‘very’ is often pronounced as a flap by many English speakers.

vi) Lateral: The sounds—that are articulated with a stricture of complete closure in the centre of
the vocal tract but with air escaping along the sides of the tongue without any friction—are
called laterals. During the production of a lateral sound, the active and passive articulators come
into firm contact with each other. The soft palate is raised—thereby shutting off the nasal
passage of air. If the sides of the tongue are lowered—so that there is plenty of gap between the
sides of the tongue and the upper molar teeth, the air will escape along the sides of the tongue
without any friction. Since the air can pass continuously, the sound produced is a ‘continuant’,
that is, it can be continued. The initial sound in the words ‘let’ is a lateral sound.
vii) Fricative: The sounds which are produced with a stricture of close approximation are called
fricatives. During the production of these sounds, the active articulator comes close to the
passive articulator in such a way that there is only a narrow gap between them. When, the soft
palate is raised so as to shut off the nasal passage of air, the lung air escapes through the narrow
gape, producing audible friction. In this way, fricatives are produced. The initial sounds in the
English words: fine, vain, the, thin, ship, zoo, sun, and hat—are fricatives.

viii) Frictionless continuant: The sounds—produced with a stricture of open

approximation—are called frictionless continuants. During the production of these sounds, the
soft palate is raised—thereby shutting off the nasal passage of air. If the active articulator is
brought close to the passive articulator—so that the gape between them is wide, the lung air will
escape through this gape without any friction. The example of a frictionless continuant is the
common variety of the ‘r’ sound in Received Pronunciation (RP).

ix) Semi-vowels: Semi-vowels are vowels that function as consonants. The initial sounds in the
English words ‘watch’ and ‘yes’ are examples of semi-vowels.

20. What is a phoneme? What is its essential property?

Ans: A phoneme is a minimal, distinctive sound-unit of a language. Here ‘minimal’ signifies that
it cannot be sub-divided, and ‘distinctive’ signifies that it has the potentiality of changing the
meaning of a word. In other words, two phonetically dissimilar sounds like [p] and [t]—which
can occur in the same position (or ‘environment’) and are contrastive—are called phonemes. Or,
a phoneme may be defined as a group of phonetically similar phones which are in
complementary distribution or in free variation or in both, but never in contrastive distribution.
English has 44 phonemes in its sound system.

The essential property of a phoneme is that it functions contrastively. For example, in English
there are two phonemes like /f/ and /v/ and they can be identified only on the basis of the contrast
in meaning in the words ‘fine’ and ‘vine’.

In grouping phones together into phonemes, several criteria are used by phonologists—such as
economy, contrastive distribution, complementary distribution, free variation and phonetic
similarity.
21. What is an allophone? How is it related to a phoneme?
Ans: The sounds that can be grouped together into a single phoneme are called allophones of that
phoneme. In other words, phonetically similar sounds—which are in complementary distribution
in relation to one another—are called positional variants or allophones of the same phoneme. For
example, the sounds [p] and [p​h​] are allophones of the same phoneme / p / in the English words
‘spot’ and ‘pot’.

22. Describe the allophonic processes with examples.

Ans: There are four allophonic processes. With the help of these processes, conversations are
made natural, comfortable, economical and fluent.

The allophonic processes are as follows:

1. Assimilation;
2. Elision,
3. Aspiration, and
4. Reduction

Assimilation:

Assimilation is the process in which one sound becomes more like another sound, or two sounds
in speech—which are next to each other—are made more similar to each other. In other words,
assimilation signifies the way in which sounds ‘influence’ each other. In this process, one
phoneme affects the neighbouring phoneme.

For example:

In + put→ Input [imput]

Here, the sound [n] is becoming more like [m] sound in order to make the pronunciation of the
sound [p] easier. The sound [n] is alveolar, but the sounds [m] and [p] are bilabials. It is
noteworthy that bilabial sounds are always strong and influencing. As the bilabial sound [p] is
stronger than the alveolar [n], the sound [n] has turned to the bilabial sound [m] by the influence
of [p]. Some other examples of assimilation are: Not + bad = Not bad [nopbad], Good + boy =
Good boy [goobboy]

Assimilation can be of three kinds:

1. Progressive

2. Regressive

3. Reciprocal

Elision:

Elision is the process in which a sound completely disappears, or is omitted. And it takes place
only in fairly rapid speech.

For example:

Next day→ / neks dei /

Interest→ / ​I​ntrest /

Perhaps→ / præps /

Aspiration:

Aspiration is the process in which the release of voiceless plosives (p, t, k)—when they occur at
the beginning of accented syllables—is followed by an extra puff of breath, thus making a sound
like ‘h’.

For example: The English words ‘pen’, ‘ten’, and ‘cool’ are pronounced as [p​h​en, t​h​en, k​h​u:l].

Reduction:
Reduction is the process in which a structure or form word (unstressed word) gets reduced in
fairly rapid speech.

Example:

Bread and butter.

23. What is a phone?

Ans: A phone is one of the different phonetic realizations of any phoneme.

24. What is the difference between phoneme and allophone?

Ans: The crucial distinction between phonemes and allophones is that substituting one phoneme
for the other results in a word with a different meaning and a different pronunciation, but
substituting allophones only results in a different pronunciation of the same word.

25. On what criteria are the phones grouped together into

phonemes?
Ans: In grouping phones together into phonemes several criteria are used by phonologists—such
as economy, contrastive distribution, complementary distribution, free variation and phonetic
similarity.

Economy: According to this criterion, the number of phonemes in a particular sound system
should be as few as possible, keeping their essential quality—such as contrastive property intact.
It is due to this criterion that the number of phonemes in a particular language is found to be
much less than that of actual sounds used in that language.

Contrastive distribution: This criterion specifies that two phones cannot be grouped into a
single if they stand in contrast—namely if substitution of one for the other in the same
environment changes the meaning of a word or, to put it simply, changes the word. For example,
if we substitute the initial sound of the word ‘ten’ by the phone [p], the word will change into
‘pen’ that has a separate meaning. So [t] and [p] cannot be the allophone of a single phoneme in
English. They are two separate phonemes: /t/ and /p/.
Complementary distribution: This criterion states that two or more phones which occur in
non-identical environment may belong to the same phoneme if the substitution of one phone for
the other does not change the meaning of the words. For example, the phoneme / t / has two
realizations: 1) aspirated [ t​h ]​—as is found in the initial position of the word ‘ten’, and 2)
unaspirated [ t ]—as is in the final position of the word ‘eat’. Now, the aspirated and unaspirated
realizations are both recognized as / t / by English speakers despite their differences. But the
aspirated realization will never be found in the place where the unaspirated realization is
appropriate, and vice versa. If the unaspirated [ t ] is used in ‘ten’, and the aspirated variety in
‘eat’, the words may sound odd to the native speakers, but the meaning of the words will not be
altered by such substitution. Thus the distribution of the two phones is complementary, and they
belong to the same phoneme.

Free variation: According to this criterion, if two or more phones occur in the same
environment without changing the meaning of the word in which they occur, then they may
belong to the same phoneme. For example, the English word ‘pen’ is pronounced with the
aspirated plosive sound [p​h​]. But if the word is pronounced with any phone of [p]—such as the
unaspirated plosive sound [ p ], the word may sound odd to the native speakers, but the meaning
of the word will not change. The two phones, therefore, belong to the same phoneme.

Phonetic similarity: According to this criterion, two or more phones will be the allophones of
the same phoneme if they are phonetically similar. The term ‘phonetically similar’ suggests that
substitution of one phone for the other will not result in the meaning of the word, thus changing
the word, but it will result only in pronunciation. For example, substitution of [ p ] for [ p​h ​] in
the word ‘pen’ will not change the meaning of the word; only the pronunciation will sound
different.

26. What is a syllable? What are its constituents? What is the

core constituent of a syllable?
Ans: The unit at the next higher level than phoneme is called the syllable. The
phonemes—minimal, distinctive sound-units of a language—do not add up in a simple manner
(that is, in the sequence of a + b + c +……) to form its utterances. They, instead, combine to
form the next higher unit which forms part of the next higher unit and so on. Thus the syllable is
produced immediately after the phoneme.
The syllable is divided into its constituent segments or speech sounds, which fall into two
classes: 1) vowels and 2) consonants. The vowel is the core constituent of a syllable. A syllable
is not possible without the vowel element. So the vowel is the obligatory element in a syllable
and is called its “nucleus”.

27. Define syllabic consonants?

Ans: Syllabic consonants are the consonants which occupy the nucleus of certain syllables. The
nucleus or the central element of a syllable is normally a vowel sound, and marginal elements are
usually consonants. But there are some syllables in which the nucleus is occupied by certain
consonants that function like vowels. Among all the English consonants, / m /, / n /, / r / and / l /
occupy the central ‘V’ position in some syllables. They function as syllabic in the second
syllables of words like rhythm /ri-ðm/, seven /se-vn/, and symbol /sim-bl/.

28. Define consonant clusters.

Ans: Consonant clusters signify sequences of consonants at the beginning or end of a syllable.
The structure of a typical English syllable is Co-​3​VCo-​4​. This means that in English, up to three
consonants are allowed to begin a syllable and up to four, to end a syllable. It is noteworthy that
a sequence of consonants without a vowel between them should occur within a single syllable in
order to be consonant clusters. For example, the /st/ and /nd/ in ‘stand’ are examples of
consonant clusters. But the / mb / in ‘member’ is not.

29. Define diacritics with examples:

Diacritic signifies a mark such as an accent, placed above or below a phoneme in order to show
certain characteristics of that phoneme. A few examples are given below to make the concept of
diacritics clear:

In the case [ t ], the circle mark below the sound ‘t’ is used to suggest that it is a alveolar sound.
Then in the case of [ t​h​ ], the sound ‘h’ above the ‘t’ shows that it is aspirated.

30. Define Homorganic sounds.

Ans: The plosives and fricatives—which are made with the same articulators and can produce
affricates—are technically called homorganic sounds. Affricates are rather complex consonants.
They begin as plosives and end as fricatives. But all the plosives and fricatives are not able to
produce affricate sounds. If any plosives and affricates are homorganic—that is, made with the
same articulators, then they can make an affricate sound.

For example, in the middle of the word ‘breakfast’ / brekf st / the plosive sound ‘k’ is followed
by the fricative ‘f’. But their combination will not make an affricate sound because they are not
made with the same articulators—namely not homorganic. On the other hand, in the word
‘church’ / t∫ t∫/, the combination of the plosive ‘t’ and the fricative ‘∫’ forms an affricate ‘t∫’
since they are homorganic.

31. What is “distribution” in phonology? How can a sound

differ according to its distribution? Illustrate.
Ans: Distribution means the position of a particular sound in a word—that is, whether the sound
occurs in the initial position, medial position or final position of a word.

Let us take three English words ‘ten’ / t​h​en /, ‘satin’ / sæt​hI​n /, and ‘eight’ / e​I​t /. The / t / sound is
fully aspirated in the first word as it occurs in the initial position of the word. It is a bit aspirated
in the second as it occurs word-medially, and it is not aspirated in the third word when it occurs
word-finally.

32. What is “environment” in phonology? How can a sound

differ according to its environment? Illustrate.
Ans: In phonology, environment signifies the nature of other sound segments, immediately
preceded or followed a phoneme.

A sound differs according to its environment. Let us, for example, take two words ‘dogs’ and
‘cats’. In the fist word the last /s/ sound is immediately preceded by a voiced /g/ sound. And so
the /s/ sound becomes voiced and the word becomes / /. On the other hand, in the second word
the last /s/ sound is preceded by a voiceless /t/ sound. So the /s/ sound is not influenced and the
pronunciation of the word is / kæts /.

33. What is a minimal pair?

Ans: A minimal pair is a set of two words which differ from each other in one sound only,
making the difference in meaning. ‘Meat’ and ‘neat’ constitute a minimal pair in English because
they differ from each other in the initial consonant. We can identify phonemes in a particular
language by the existence of minimal pairs.

34. What is a minimal set?

Ans: A minimal set is the group of words which are different from each other only in one
phoneme, and always in the same position. In English there are two kinds of minimal set. Thus a
minimal set based on vowel phonemes of English would, for example, include feat, fit, fat, fate,
fought, foot, and based on consonants include big, pig, rig, fig, dig, wig.

35. What is RP (Received Pronunciation)?

Ans: The dialect namely “Educated South-eastern British English” is called “Received
Pronunciation” (abbreviated to RP). It is a dialect of English spoken by the educated southern
British people. “Received Pronunciation” (RP)—initially no more than an educated south-eastern
British English accent—is today more of a social than regional accent. The word “Received” in
its label surely suggests social acceptance. It has several characteristics which are as follows:

1) It represents the contemporary state of a standard which has evolved over at least
the last four centuries.

2) It is the accent generally used in British recorded courses of English.

3) It is regarded as a form of speech which is not markedly regional—but which is

easily understood anywhere in Britain.

4) It is the most completely described form of British English pronunciation.

36. What is IPA? What is its function? What is an IPA symbol?

Ans: International Phonetic Alphabet (or IPA), used very extensively by phoneticians all over the
world, is the alphabet that is devised by the International Phonetic Association. It is claimed to
have symbols to represent all the sounds that exist in the languages of the world; it can therefore
be used to transcribe words of any language—namely to write them down more or less as one
pronounces them. It is based primarily on the Roman alphabet, but some additional
symbols—since the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet are grossly inadequate to represent all the
sounds that exist in all the languages of the world—have been devised by modification of the
existing symbols of the alphabet, and some other symbols have been borrowed from the Greek
alphabet.

37. What is tone group?

Ans: Tone group signifies the stretch of speech over which a particular pattern of pitch variations
extends. While speaking, we divide long utterances into small, manageable groups of words,
between which we pause. So a tone group may also be defined as a stretch of speech between
any two such pauses. Tone group is the basic unit of intonation in a language—which consists of
one or more than one syllable. A few examples are given below in order to make the concept of
the tone group clear:

1. Yes. 2. I’ll come tomorrow. 3. When you go, /shut the door.

Every utterance has one or more than one tone group, and every tone group has its own pattern
of pitch variation. And this pattern depends upon the number of accented syllables in a particular
tone group, the location of the tonic syllable in it, and the nature of the change of pitch direction
on the tonic syllable.

38. What is tonic syllable?

Ans: The syllable on which a particular kind of pitch direction begins is called the ​nucleus of the
tone group, or the ​tonic syllable​. Within a tone group consisting of more than one syllable, there
is at least one syllable that becomes prominent amongst the rest of the syllables, because it
initiates a major change in the direction of pitch movement. This kind of syllable is tonic
syllable.

Let us have a look at a few examples:

1. I 'want you to 'take the 'dog for a 'walk in the 'park.

(Here, ‘park’ is the tonic syllable; what the speaker wants to convey is that the dog should not be
taken anywhere else.)

2. I 'want you to 'take the 'dog for a 'walk in the park.

(Here, ‘walk’ is the nucleus. The speaker wants to place special emphasis on ‘walk’ because he
does not want the other person to make the dog run.)

3. I 'want you to 'take the 'dog for a walk in the park.

(Here, ‘dog’ is the nucleus. The speaker wants the other person to take the dog and not any other
animal, for walk.)

4. If the context demands it, a structural word can receive accent.

I 'want 'you to 'take the dog for a walk in the park.

(Here, the word ‘you’ is the nucleus. The speaker wants the addressee, and not anyone else, to
take the dog for a walk.)

If the context does not demand that a particular syllable be made prominent, the last syllable in a
tone group will be the nucleus. For example:

1. The 'address is 'good.

(No special emphasis is needed. So the last prominent syllable is the nucleus.)

39. What is pitch?

Ans: Pitch specifies how high or low a sound is. When the vocal cords are kept loosely together,
they vibrate, thereby producing a kind of musical note called voice. During normal speech, the
vocal cords—in the case of an adult male—vibrate between 80 to 120 times per second, and
between 150 to 200 times in the case of an adult female. The vocal cords are capable of vibrating
at varying rates. The rate of the vibration of vocal cords is called the frequency of vibration
which determines the pitch of the voice. The level of pitch, while speaking, goes up and down.
The higher the frequency, the higher will be the pitch, and vice versa.

40. What is stress-timed rhythm and what is syllable-timed

rhythm?
Ans: ​Stress-timed rhythm:

Stress-timed rhythm signifies the occurrence of stressed syllables at regular intervals, while the
unstressed syllables are just touched upon. In such utterances the stressed syllables have the
tendency to occur in approximately equal intervals of time, irrespective of the number of the
unstressed syllables between them. English, Arabic, and Russian sentences are examples of
“stressed-timed rhythm”.

Syllable-timed rhythm:

It is a kind of rhythm in which the time taken to shift from one syllable to another—whether
stressed or unstressed—is equal, and in which every syllable is uttered with the same emphasis.
Bengali and French sentences are good examples of syllable-timed rhythm.

Differences between them:

1. In stressed-timed rhythm, the required time of uttering a sentence depends upon the
number only of the stressed syllables the sentence consists of. On the other hand, the
required time of uttering a sentence depends upon the total number of the syllables the
sentence consists of.
2. In stressed-timed rhythm, every two stressed syllables must be uttered at equal interval of
time. But in syllable-timed rhythm, the time-interval between all syllables will be the
same.

41. What is intonation? What are the elements of intonation?

Ans: Intonation signifies the rise and fall of the voice in speaking, especially when this affects
the meaning of what is said. Different pitches of the voice combine to form patterns of speech
variation, or tones, which altogether constitute the intonation of a language. There are five
elements of intonation which are described below:

1. Word Stress: Word Stress means giving extra force or emphasis to a syllable in a word
when saying it. Stress has two kinds—1) Primary Stress, and 2) Secondary Stress. For
example, refugee / / at the initial position of the word there is a secondary stress and
then there is a primary stress.
2. Sentence Stress: Sentence stress is the loudness of voice deliberately thrown upon an
entire word to distinguish it from other words.

Example: I want you to go over there. Here the sentence-stress is given to the word ‘you’
to go over there—that is, the speaker wants the person mentioned, and not anybody else.
 3. Juncture: We cannot talk for a long time with taking any breath. Juncture is the pause
giving at the right place—so that the message does not change.
4. Pitch: Pitch specifies how high or low a sound is. When the vocal cords are kept loosely
together, they vibrate, thereby producing a kind of musical note called voice. During
normal speech, the vocal cords—in the case of an adult male—vibrate between 80 to 120
times per second, and between 150 to 200 times in the case of an adult female. The vocal
cords are capable of vibrating at varying rates. The rate of the vibration of vocal cords is
called the frequency of vibration which determines the pitch of the voice. The level of
pitch, while speaking, goes up and down. The higher the frequency—that is, the more
rapidly the vocal cords vibrate, the higher will be the pitch, and vice versa.
5. Tone: Different pitches of the voice combine to form certain patterns of pitch variation,
called tones.

42. What are the functions of “Intonation”?

Ans: Intonation does not play a mere decorative role, but performs a linguistic function.

1. Grammatical function: Initially, intonation distinguishes different types of sentences.

With the help of intonation, the listener can make out whether a particular utterance is a
statement, or a question, a command or a request. Some examples are given below in
order to make it clear: see examples in Anirban Neogi. Secondly, intonation helps the
speaker divide longer utterances into small, grammatically relevant word groups (in this
case, tone groups)—each carrying a different tone, and indicating whether a particular
tone is a complete or incomplete utterance. For example: When you go, (incomplete)
/shut the door. (complete)
2. Attitudinal function: Intonation is perhaps the chief means by which the speaker
conveys his attitude and emotions. With the help of intonation one can find out the
attitude or mood of the speaker—whether he is bored, annoyed, interested in the
conversation, or whether he is sarcastic, polite, assertive, incredulous, querulous etc. The
following examples will show how intonation signals the speaker’s attitudes and
emotions. See Anirban Neogi.
3. Accentual function: Intonation performs an accentual function in that it enables the
speaker to make any part of his utterance prominent in accordance with the meaning that
he would like to convey. Any part of an utterance can be specially emphasized by putting
the ‘tonic’ on the appropriate syllable.
But if the context does not demand that a particular syllable be made especially prominent, the
last prominent syllable will be the tonic syllable. Let us have a look at the sentences.

i)​ X: They told me at the station /that the train leaves at seven.
​

ii)​ Y: Who told you this?

​

iii)​ X: The men at the enquiry office told me.

​

In the first sentence, the entire information being ‘new’, the ‘tonic’ is placed on the accented
syllables of the last important words ‘station’ and ‘seven’ in the two tone groups. In the second
sentence, ‘who’ carries the ‘tonic’ and becomes the focus of information. In the third sentence, it
is ‘enquiry’ which conveys the new information and hence receives accentual prominence.

43. Give an account of the four major tones.

Ans: There are four major tones: 1) Falling tone, 2) Rising tone, 3) Falling-rising tone, and 4)
Rising-falling tone.

1. Falling tone: When the tone falls from very high or from mid to very low, then it is called
falling tone.

Examples:

a) The door is closed. (A complete and definite statement)

b) Where are you going? (A matter-fact-question)

2. Rising tone:

When the changing of pitch or tone rises from mid or from very low, then it is called rising tone.
Examples:

a) Are you busy? (Yes/no question)

b) Shut the door. (Polite request)

3. Falling-rising tone:

The tone—which falls from about mid-level to lower and then rises to more or less the same
level—is called falling-rising tone.

Examples:

a) If you don’t behave, / (I’ll punish you severely).

b) I admire your courage. (I must admit)

4. Rising-falling tone:

The pitch—which rises from low to about mid and then falls to low—is called rising-falling tone.

Examples:

a) Of course. (Statement showing enthusiastic agreement)

b) Yes.