.

KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
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DIGITAL SCHOOL OF VIRTUAL AND OPEN LEARNING

IN COLLABORATION WITH

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LINGUISTICS

AEN 202 – PHONOLOGY OF ENGLISH

DR. KEBAYA

Copyright © Kenyatta University, 2015

All Rights Reserved
Published By:
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY PRESS

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 PRELIMINARIES

INTRODUCTION

English is a global language and there are over 1.5 billion speakers who use it (Crystal,
2012). This phenomenal growth of English is attested to by the existence of numerous
dialects and varieties of the language. The pronunciation of a particular dialect is called an
accent. This module mainly describes the Received Pronunciation (RP) accent, which is used
as a model in Kenya and many other former British colonies. The RP is the accent associated
with the Standard British English. It is prescribed for teaching in Kenyan schools (KIE,
2002). There is a huge debate concerning the teaching of this model ( See Njoroge 2011) but
until Kenya adopts an ‘endonormative’ accent (Njoroge, 2008) this accent will continue to
retain a strong hegemony, not only in Kenya but also in many other countries. The RP has
been elaborately described in major works like Jones (1960), Wells (1982, 2000), Cruttenden
(2001) and Roach (2009).

This module is organised in Lectures which are in sync with the course description and the
course outline provided to you. Your journey through this module will enable you to identify
and describe the sound segments of English as well as to appreciate the sound patterns of this
fast growing global language. The last section of this module covers various native and non-
native accents, albeit shallowly. The key purpose of this course is to enable you to speak
English intelligibly and appreciate the pronunciation of other English speakers world-wide.

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COURSE OBJECTIVES

After effective study of this module, you will be able to:

i. Identify and pronounce the English speech sounds correctly;

ii. Describe the 44 phonemes of English and their phonetic realizations;

iii. Distinguish between English orthographic and phonetic symbols;

iv. Describe the syllable structure of English;

v. Use stress in English appropriately;

vi. Describe and use prosodic features in English;

vii. Explain assimilatory and non-assimilatory processes in English;

viii. Distinguish between orthographic symbols and phonetic symbols; and

ix. Briefly explain variation in native and non-native accents of English.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lecture One: Introducing the Phonology of English

Lecture Two: The Physiology of Speech Production
Lecture Three: English Consonants: Plosives and Nasals
Lecture Four: English Consonants: Fricatives
Lecture Five: Other English Consonants
Lecture Six: English Vowels Sounds
Lecture Seven: English Monophthongs
Lecture Eight: English Diphthongs
Lecture Nine: Phonemic and Phonetic Transcription
Lecture Ten: Orthographic and Phonemic Symbols in English
Lecture Eleven: Syllable Structure in English
Lecture Twelve: Prosodic Features in English
Lecture Thirteen: Phonological Processes in English
Lecture Fourteen: The Varieties of English

LECTURE ONE

INTRODUCING THE PHONOLOGY OF ENGLISH

1.0 INTRODUCTION

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 Linguistic analysis is done at several levels. These include phonology, morphology, syntax

1.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

At end of this lesson, you should be able to:

 Define phonology;

 Distinguish between phonology and phonetics; and

 Describe the concerns of phonology and phonetics

1.2 DEFINING PHONOLOGY

When we speak, we use sounds to form words. These sounds are patterned in specific ways. The
word ‘love’ for instance has three sounds. These are /l/, /ʌ / and /v/. We cannot, in English, have
a word with the sounds /ʌlv/*. There are, therefore, patterns that are allowed in English and
others that are disallowed. You will notice that the symbols that we use to indicate the sounds of
a language are different from those that we use in spelling (orthography).

The minimal sound units that distinguish meaning in a language are called phonemes. For
example, ‘pit’ and ‘pin’ are a pair that is distinguished by the substitution of the sounds /t/ and
/n/ at the final position. One way of identifying the phonemes of a language is by use of
‘minimal pairs’ like in the example above. All the phonemes of a language are regarded as the
‘phonemic inventory’ of that language. English has 24 consonant sounds and 20 vowel sounds.

All languages have different phonemic inventories. Even when several languages share the same
sounds these sounds pattern differently as speakers use them in words to convey different
meanings. Phonology is the study of the sound patterns of a language. Yule (1996) says that
Phonology is essentially ‘the description of the system and patterns of speech sounds in a
language’ (p.54). The possible sequences of the sounds in a language comprise the phonology of
that language. In English for instance, the sound / ŋ /, which is the middle sound in ‘ink’ and the

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last sound in ‘sing’ can only occur at the medial and final position of a word. We do not have
any English word which begins with this velar nasal.

1.3 PHONOLOGY AND PHONETICS

Phonetics is the study of the production and characteristics of speech sounds. It is concerned
with the way sounds are produced by the organs of speech; the way they are transmitted as
airwaves from a speaker to a listener and the way they are perceived by the listener. These
concerns are the focus of each of the three major corresponding sub branches of phonetics
namely; articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics and auditory phonetics. Phonology on the
other hand is concerned with the patterning of sounds in a specific language or in different
languages.

You will notice that both phonetics and phonology are concerned with human speech sounds.
This shared concern is further attested to by the fact that in describing speech sounds phonology
uses phonetic terminologies. For instance, the first sound in ‘pin’ is described as a ‘voiceless
bilabial plosive’. We therefore use concepts in phonetics to describe the sounds of a given
language. Therefore, when we study the phoneme /p/ and its different realizations in English, for
instance, we are in essence using phonological theory in phonetics.

English has its own order of occurrences of its sounds i.e., it has its own sequential constraints.
We have noted for example, that the sound / ŋ / in sing cannot occur word initially in English.
But in Kiswahili for instance, this sound will begin words such as ng’ombe (cattle) and ng’oa
(uproot). Quite interestingly, we do not have a Kiswahili word which ends in this sound!

Concerning the phonemes of a language, you will notice that a feature which is distinctive in one
language (i.e., which causes difference in meaning) may not be distinctive in another. For
example, aspiration is distinctive in some Kiswahili dialects, but not in English. For instance,
the voiceless plosives /p/, /t/ and /k/ are produced with a puff of air (‘aspiration’) if they precede
vowels at word initial positions. Aspiration in English is redundant: it does not cause a

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distinction in meaning. However, if we aspirate some initial consonants in Kiswahili, we will

have different words altogether as shown in the pair below.

paa [paa] - a roof

paa [phaa] - a gazelle

The human speech organs produce numerous sounds (phones). Every language selects from this
pool a set of sounds (phonemes) that it uses to make words.

1.5 SUMMARY

In this lesson, we have noted the following:

 Phonology is the study of the sound patterns a language.
 Phonetics deals with the production and characteristics of human speech sounds,
often without prior knowledge of the language being spoken.
 Whereas phonology looks at the relationship, occurrence and combination of sounds;
phonetics looks at the production of the human speech sounds.
 Three distinct branches of phonetics are Auditory, Acoustic, and Articulatory
phonetics.
 Auditory Phonetics: studies the perception of speech sounds through the ear and the
transmission and processing of the same in the brain.
 Acoustic phonetics: studies the physical 7properties of speech sounds
 Articulatory Phonetics : studies the production of speech sounds by the organs of
speech (where and how speech sounds are produced)
1.6 NOTE

1.7

This course will focus on articulatory phonetics. We will use phonetic terms to describe the
physical characteristics of English sounds.

FURTHER READING
Crystal, D. (2

1.9 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS Roach, P. (20

Ca
Wells, J. C. (
Pre

All phonemes are phones, but not all phones are phonemes. Do you agree?

1. 10 GLOSSARY

Articulatory Phonetics- concerned with production of sounds

Acoustic Phonetics- concerned with transmission of sounds
Auditory Phonetics- concerned with perception of sounds by the ears

LECTURE TWO

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 PHYSIOLOGY OF SPEECH PRODUCTION

2.0 INTRODUCTION

Human beings were created with a uniquely designed physiology which enables them to
speak. Of all terrestrial beings, it is perhaps only Prophet Balaam’s Donkey (recorded in
Numbers 22:21-39) which ‘spoke’!
During this lesson, you will learn about the organs that we use in speech production.

2.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

2.3

Having defined phonology and phonetics in Lecture One, we will now look at the
organs involved in the production of English speech sounds. In this section, you should
be able to:

i. Identify the cavities involved in the production of speech sounds

ii. Identify and describe the human speech organs

THE CAVITIES
Three cavities are involved in the production of speech sounds. These are the oral cavity, the
nasal cavity, and the pharyngeal cavity. The oral cavity extends from the lips to the velum. Oral
sounds are made when the airstream passes through the mouth. Not all speech sounds are oral as
some, produced when the airstream passes through the nose, are nasal. The nasal cavity extends
from the nostril vents to the velum. All nasal English sounds involve a closure of the oral cavity
at the point of articulation of the specific sound. Air is then allowed to pass through the nose.

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The cavity from the velum to the glottis is called the pharyngeal cavity. Identify each of these
cavities in the Figure below.

1. Bilabial (lips)
2. Labio-dental
(lips-teeth)
3. Interdental
Dental (teeth)
4. Alveolar ridge
Figure 2.1 The Human Speech Organs
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2.4 PLACES OF ARTICULATION

Speech sounds are made by partially or fully obstructing the airstream as it flows out from the

lungs. Consonant sounds involve a significant stricture of this air. Vowels on the other hand are

made by letting the air flow freely out of the oral cavity while varying the position of the tongue

and the shape of the lips.

2.5 THE STATE OF THE GLOTTIS

In Figure 2.1 above, you will observe the part named glottis. In lay man’s term, this part is called

the Adam’s apple or the voice box. The glottis has cartilages that are also called the vocal

chords or the vocal folds. When the airstream flows out through these cartilages, they will either

vibrate if they are held together and air has to be forced through (closed glottis) or remain still if

the folds are held apart and air can pass through the larynx without impediment (open glottis).

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The sounds produced when the glottis is closed (thus the vibration when air is forced through)

are termed as voiced sounds while those produced when the glottis is open (thus no vibration as

air can pass freely) are termed as voiceless sounds. Other terms used to make this distinction is

‘lenis’ and ‘fortis’ for voiced and voiceless sounds respectively. The distinction between the first

sound in time and the first sound in dime is voicing. All English vowels are voiced. The nasals

are also voiced. You will learn more about voicing when we describe the English consonants

during the next lecture.

2.6 SUMMARY

In this lecture, we described the three cavities that the airstream passes through in the
Three major
production featuresThese
of sounds. are involved in the
are the oral production
cavity, ofcavity
the nasal sounds:
andthe
thepoint of stricture,
pharyngeal the
cavity.
state of the glottis and the cavity that the airstream flows.
We also noted that the state of the glottis determines whether the sounds we make are
voiced or voiceless. We also examined organs that are involved in the production of speech
sounds.

2.7 NOTE
2.8 ACTIVITIES

a) Look at the picture below carefully and identify the two English sound s
produced during this stricture.
b) Write two minimal pairs that may11
be used to distinguish the sounds identified in
(a) above.
2.9 FURTHER READING

Roach, P (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course (4th Edition)
Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

LECTURE THREE

ENGLISH CONSONANTS

3.0 INTRODUCTION

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In Lecture One, we noted that English has 24 consonants. A consonant is a sound that is
produced with some form of obstruction as the airstream moves out of the oral or nasal
3.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

3.3

During this lecture, you will:

 Identify and describe the 24 English consonants

 Articulate the English consonants appropriately

ENGLISH CONSONANTS
The production of consonants involves a form of obstruction (known as stricture) of the air as it
flows through the oral or nasal cavities. The airstream is not significantly obstructed in the vowel
sounds. Try producing /t/ and /i:/ in the English word ‘tea’. The sounds /w/ in wet and /j/ as
represented by the letter ‘y’ in yet, are called semi- vowels because the obstruction in the oral
cavity during their production is minimal. However, the two sounds are classified as consonants
since they behave like the rest of consonants; especially in terms of their syllable positions.
Below are the 24 English consonants and examples of words in which they occur.
1) /b/ - bob, boy, lobby
2) / d/ - did, dry, den
3) /f/ - fish, laugh, phone
4) /g / - gift, game, green
5) / h / - house, hoe, him
6) / j / - yes, year, yellow
7) / k/ - cake, lake, act,
8) / l/ - leg, all, aloof
9) /m/ - lemon, me, mad
10) / n / - now, nun, knee
11) / ŋ / - sing, ink, among
12) / p / - pet, apple, ripe
13) / r / - red, arrive, row
14) / s / - sea, ice,

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 15) / ∫ / - she, nation, wash
16) / t / - tea, ate, lot
17) / t∫ / - cheap, church, chores
18) / θ / - think, thin, three
19) / ð / - mother,
20) / v / - voice, van, rave
21) / w / - we, once, week
22) / z / - zoo, raze, booze
23) / ʒ / - pleasure, measure, seizure
24) / dʒ / - gym, joy, judge

3.4 NOTE

 By convention we enclose the symbols for the sound between two slashes /.../ to
distinguish them from the letters we use in writing
 The symbols of some sounds look alike with the letters that represent them while
others do not.

3.5 THE ENGLISH PLOSIVES

In the production of Plosives a complete closure is formed in the vocal tract (by upper and
lower lips coming together, the tongue pressing against the alveolar ridge, the tongue closing
against velum ,etc) and when the closure is released air escapes in a burst know as plosion. The
six English plosives are /p, b, t, d, k, g /

3.5.1 The sounds /p/ and /b/

These two sounds are produced at the lips. In the production of /p/ the vocal folds do not vibrate
and hence the sound is said to be voiced, but in making the /b/ sound, the folds vibrate and the
sound is thus said to be voiced.
Read the following tongue twisters noting the sounds /p/ and /b/
 Peter Piper Picked a Pack of Pickled Peppers.
 Buy pie pans before you buy butter plates.

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  Printed papers under pressure make pens prickle

3.5.2 The Alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/

In the production of these sounds, the tip of the tongue is in contact with the alveolar ridge. The
Sound /t/ is voiceless and /d/ is voiced. Practice saying the following pairs of words.
/t/ sound /d/ sound
tip dip
rate raid
write ride
Read or recite the following tongue twisters as fast as you can.
If Kanti can tie a tie and untie, why can’t I tie a tie and untie, as Kanti can tie a tie and
untie?
Highly delicate diplomatic duties, you know- Henry Barlow

3.5.3 The sounds /k/ and /g/

These are velar plosives. They are so called because during their production, the back of the
tongue raises to touch the velum. They are distinguished by voicing: / k / is voiceless and / g / is
voiced.
Practise pronouncing these sounds in the following minimal pairs and underline the letters that
represent the sounds / k / and / g /
Key ghee
Came game
Rock rogue
Rack rag

3.6 THE ENGLISH NASALS

Nasal sounds are made when the velum is lowered closing off the oral cavity and allowing air to
pass through nasal cavity and escape through the nose. There are three nasal sounds in
English. /m/, /n/ and / ŋ /. The closure of these sounds is at the lips, alveolar and velar. All nasal
are considered stops because their production involves complete obstruction of air in the oral
cavity.

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 sum sin sing
more no ink
met net incomplete
mail nail English
Look up the above words in a dictionary and establish the letters that represent nasal sounds in
each word. You will notice that the ‘-ing’ sound does not begin words in English.

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LECTURE FOUR

ENGLISH CONSONANTS: FRICATIVES

4.0 INTRODUCTION

In the last lecture, we defined a consonant and saw a broad overview of all the
24 English consonants. We then discussed the stops and nasals. In this lesson, we will discuss
the fricative English consonants

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4.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

During this lecture, you will identify and describe the English fricatives,

4.2 ENGLISH FRICATIVES

In the production of fricatives, a narrow constriction is formed in the vocal tract so that the air
escapes with difficulty, ultimately causing a hissing sound known as frication.

4.2.1 Labio-dental fricatives /f/ and /v/

The two labio-dental fricatives are produced by the upper lip approximating (coming very near)
the lower teeth and allowing a narrow passage of air through the vent.
1. fan van
2. fear veer
3. offer over

Read the popular high school tongue twister below loudly;

‘Four Form Four fools fighting for food’

4.2.2 The Dental Fricatives

The two inter-dental fricatives are a pair of troublesome sounds for speakers of English as a
Second Language. These sounds are found in words such as:
/θ/ and /ð/
Thin mother
Three other

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According to Deterding (2006, p.376) one of the most common features of New Englishes is the
tendency to avoid using /θ/ and /ð/. Of the two, /ө / is voiceless while / ð / is voiced.

4.2.3 Alveolar Fricatives

The two alveolar fricatives are /s/ which is voiceless and /z/ that is voiced. Their production
involves rising the tongue toward the alveolar ridge.
1. sip zip
2. sue zoo
3. seal zeal
Now practice this tongue twister: Six slimy snails sailed silently.

4.2.4 Post- Alveolar Fricatives

Beyond the alveolar, towards the hard palate, the following two English Fricatives are produced.
Use the following words to practice pronouncing these two sounds. The voiced sound on the
right is used in very few English words.
/∫ / /ʒ /
she pleasure
nation measure
wash seizure
Some speakers confuse the sound /∫ / with the alveolar fricative /s/.Use the tongue twisters below

to make this distinction.

 She is at the shop to buy the soap.

 She sells seashells on the seashore. The seashells she sells are seashore seashells.

4.2.5 The Glottal Fricative

English has one glottal fricative /h/. This sound is problematic amongst some speakers of

Kenyan English since it lacks in their mother tongues. A good example of speakers who lack this

sound are the Akamba who have a tendency to elide the sound in places where it occurs in RP or

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insert it in word contexts where it is absent (see Itumo, 2006). Some words English words which

have this sound are: Hare (but not heir), home, hive, heaven, hell, etc.

4.3 FURTHER READING

Roach, P. (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A little Encyclopaedia of Phonetics.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wells, J. C. (1982). Accents of English. Vol. I-III. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

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LECTURE FIVE

OTHER ENGLISH CONSONANTS

5.0 INTRODUCTION

In the first two lectures on consonants, we discussed the plosives, the nasals and the
fricatives. In this last lecture you will learn about the rest of the English consonants
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5.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

During this lecture, you will identify and describe the English, affricates, lateral, trill and the
approximants

5.2 THE AFFRICATES

An affricate is a combination of a stop and a fricative. These are pronounced successively in
such a manner that they are regarded as a single phoneme. The consonants in English words
church and judge are affricates. The only distinction is their voicing. The two English affricates
are: / t∫/ in words such as cheap, church, chores and /dʒ/ in words such as gym, joy and judge.

5.3 Lateral and the trill

English has one lateral sound; /l/ as in love, lull, etc. The sound is voiced.

Depending on the position of this sound in word, this sound can be either ‘clear’ as in ‘love’ or
‘dark’ as in ‘all’.

The trill /r/ is produced with the tongue intermittently at the alveolar.

These two sounds are easily confused. Some second and foreign speakers of English will confuse
the word ‘liver’ and ‘river’.

Let us practise some minimal pairs with these sounds.

/l/ sound /r/ sound

lake rake
leap reap
low row
alive arrive
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 lot rot

5.4 NOTE

 The RP realizes the trill as an alveolar approximant. The trill /r/ is common among
English as a Second Language (ESL) speakers

5.5 SUMMARY
In the last three lectures, we have described the English consonants. We have identified the
twenty-four (24) English consonants and described them in relation to their manner, place of
articulation and the state of the glottis (voiced or voiceless). Remember to keep practising the
articulation of these sounds.

5.6 GLOSSARY

Fortis: The voiceless sounds. They are usually produced with more energy than the lenis
sounds.

Lenis: the voiced sounds in English produced. They are produced with less energy than the
fortis sounds.

5.7 REFERENCES

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Roach, P. (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A little Encyclopaedia of Phonetics.

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LECTURE SIX

ENGLISH VOWELS
6.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous chapters, we have been studying consonants. We noted that consonants are
articulated with a form of obstruction. During the next two lectures, we will focus on the
During
English vowels . this lecture, you should be able to:
 Explain three parameters used in describing vowels
 Give a general description of English vowels

6.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

6.2 HOW TO DESCRIBE ENGLISH VOWELS

Vowels are produced by a pulmonic egressive airflow through vibrating vocal chords. The
sound generated at the larynx is modified by the shape of the vocal tract to produce different
vowels. Several criteria are use to describe vowel sound but the major two are tongue position
and lip rounding. With regard to the first criterion, we need to note that the tongue can occupy
different horizontal and vertical positions in the oral cavity. We use two dimensional spaces of
the tongue to describe vowels. These are: tongue fronting plotted along the horizontal axes and
tongue height along the vertical axes. We therefore have front, central and back vowels in
relation to tongue fronting and low, mid-low, mid-high and high vowels. The second criterion

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that we use to describe vowels is lip-rounding. This parameter has spread or rounded vowels.
Let us examine each of these criteria in reference to the English to monophthongs.

6.3 HORIZONTAL POSITION OF THE TONGUE: FRONTNESS OR BACKNESS

In the production of front vowels, the highest point of the tongue is brought forward. The vowel
sound in ‘bean’ is the most front vowel in English. The central vowels are produced with the
highest point of the tongue at the central position of the mouth. The first sound in ‘ahead’ and the
last sounds in ‘longer’ end with the Schwa, a central vowel. Another central vowel in English is
the English long vowel in ‘nurse’ and ‘bird’. The back vowels are produced with a retraction of
the body of the tongue. Try producing the vowel sounds in ‘zoo’ and ‘cot’.
The figure below shows the relative frontness/ backness position of three English vowels.

Figure 6.1 Relative frontness/backness of vowels

6.4 VERTICAL POSITION OF THE TONGUE: HIGHNESS OR LOWNESS

This parameter uses the relative position of the tongue between the foot and the roof of the
mouth. When producing the vowel sound in ‘calm’ and the tongue is at the bottom of the mouth.
On the other hand, the vowel in ‘lean’’ is high .The vowels in ‘man’ and ‘wet’ are mid- low and
mid-high respectively.

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 Figure 6.2 Vowels distinguished by tongue height

6.5 LIP ROUNDING

Attempt to say the word ‘law’ while looking at the shape of your lips in the mirror. Then attempt
saying ‘let’. You will notice that the shape of the lips varies in roundedness. Figure 6.3 below
shows possible shape of lips when producing several monophthongs.

Figure 6.3 Lip rounding in vowels

6.6 SUMMARY

During this lecture, you leant of the three major parameters used to describe English vowels.
We have noted that vowels are defined in relation to the ‘fronting’ of the tongue, height of the
tongue and the shape of the lips. In the next lecture, you will use these parameters to describe
the English vowel phonemes.

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6.7 NOTE

The major distinction between vowels and consonants is that the production of vowels does
not involve any stoppage or obstruction of the air as it flows out of the oral cavity.

6.8 FURTHER READING

Ladefoged, Peter and Theo Vennemann (1973) Phonetic features and phonological

features. Lingua 32: 61–74.

Odden, D. (2005) Introducing Phonology. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
ISBN-978-0-511-10939-3 eBook (EBL)

6.9 GLOSSARY

Pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism: The movement of airstream from the lungs
during speech production. English uses this airstream mechanism.

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 LECTURE SEVEN

ENGLISH MONOPHTHONGS

7.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous lecture, you were introduced to the vowels. You discussed three ways of
describing vowels: tongue fronting, tongue height and lip rounding. In this lecture, we will
describe the English monophthongs.
During this lecture, you should be able to:

 Identify and discriminate the English monophthongs

 Use the English monophthongs in words

7.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

7.2 THE ENGLISH MONOPHTHONGS

A monophthong is a vowel sound in which there is no appreciable change in quality during a
syllable, as in ‘bid’ and ‘bead’. You will notice the vowel in ‘bid’ is short and the one in ‘bead’
is long. We therefore, have two types of monophthongs: short and long. We normally plot
vowels on a trapezium to describe them. In plotting these vowels on a vowel trapezium, we
usually make reference to the cardinal vowels in the IPA chart. Figure 7.1 below shows the
relative position of the English monophthongs.

26
 .
Figure 7.1 The English monophthongs

The figure above imitates the shape of the tongue. The highest vowel to the left which is the
vowel in ‘bead’ can be described as high front vowel. The lowest vowel at the back is the middle
sound in ‘cot’. The mid-low and mid-high central vowels are the sounds that we find in ‘nurse’
and the last sound in ‘longer’.

7. 2 .1 THE SHORT MONOPHTHONGS

English has 7 short vowel phonemes. These are: /ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʌ, ʊ, ə /. Look at Figure 7.1 above.
You will see the position of each of these short vowels in the vowel trapezium. Let us now
examine each of these vowels closely.
1) / ɪ /. This sound is the middle sound in ‘six’ and ‘bid’. It is a high front vowel and the lips
are spread. This sound is slightly retracted from the front and closer to the ‘mid-high’
position than the long vowel /i:/. There is therefore a distinction between ‘six’ and
‘seeks’; and ; ‘bid’ and ‘bead’.

(2) / e /. This is the first sound in ‘egg’. The front of the tongue is raised between mid - close
and mid-open position, and the lips are slightly spread. It is a mid front vowel.

(3) / æ /. This is the second sound in ‘cat’ and ‘man’. The front of the tongue is raised between
mid-open and fully open position, and the lips are slightly spread. It is a mid-open open front
vowel.

27
(4) / ʌ /. This is the second sound in ‘cut’ and the first in ‘up’. The centre of the tongue is raised
between mid-open and fully open position, and the shape of the lips is neutral. It is a mid-open
central vowel.

(5) / ɒ /. This is the second sound in ‘cot’. The back of the tongue is lowered to almost fully open
position, and the lips are slightly rounded. This is an open back vowel.

(6) / ʊ /. This is the second sound in ‘wood’. The part of the tongue between the centre and the
back is raised to just above mid-close position, and the lips are rounded. It is a mid-close
central-back vowel.

(7) / ə /. This is also called the schwa. It is the first sound in ‘ago’ and the last in ‘mother’. In the
production of this sound, the centre of the tongue is raised between mid-close and mid-open
position, and the lips are in a neutral shape. It is a mid central vowel.

7.2.2 THE LONG VOWELS

The five long English vowels are: / i: , u:, ɔ:, a:, ɜ:/. Figure 7.2 below isolates these vowels
from the rest of the monophthongs.

Figure 7.3 The Long English Vowels

Examples of words with the English long monophthongs

i: - bead, seek, pee

u: - boom, zoo, you

28
 ɔ: - law, cord, lord

a: - hard, barred, marred

ɜ: - nurse, bird, herbal

7.3 SUMMARY

During this lecture, we noted that English has seven short vowels. These are: /ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʌ, ʊ,
ə /. We also observed that there are five long vowels in English. These are: / ɪ:, u:, ɔ:, a:, ɜ:/
Both the short and long vowels are called monophthongs. The monophthongs can be divided
into the ‘short’ and the ‘long’ vowels.

7.4 NOTE

Vowels may lead to unintelligibility. For instance, if you do not distinguish between the
vowel in ‘six’ and ‘seeks’, a listener who may not infer meaning from the context may be
lost in the course of your speech.

7.5 SELF-TEST QUESTION

Transcribe the underlined vowels in the English words below.

(a) up

(b) away

(c) wood

29
 (d) see

(e) hot

(f) six

(g) learn

(h) law

(i) man

(j) boom

7.6 FURTHER READING

Roach, P (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course (4th Edition)
Cambridge University Press: Cambridge

Wells, J. C. (1982). Accents of English. Vol. I-III. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

COURTESY OF AYUB BRIAN 0796363336

LECTURE EIGHT

ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS

8.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous lecture, we discussed the English monophthongs. We noted that the
production of monophthongs does not involve an appreciable quality change of a vowel. We
30
will now examine the English diphthongs, which involve quality change.
8.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

In the previous lecture, we identified and described the English short and long
monophthongs. You noted that the production of these two vowel types does not involve a
change in the quality of the sound during its production. This essentially means that the
tongue and the lips remain at a relatively constant position during the time of production. Let
us now turn our attention to diphthongs.

8.2 DEFINING DIPHTHONGS

In the production of these sounds, the vowel quality changes. The tongue position or height
changes. The lips may also change. In other words, a diphthong involves two vowel sound
produced cosecutively.Try saying ‘main’. During the production of ‘main’ , the vowel in ‘get’ is
immediately followed by the vowel in ‘pin’. A few words in English such as ‘power’ have three
consecutive vowels. These are called triphthongs. During this lecture, we will only focus on
English dipthongs.

31
Phoneticians describe diphthongs in three categories: those moving towards the centre , those
moving towards the front and those moving towards the back. Let us look at each of these in our
subsequent sub-topics below.

8.3 THE CENTERING DIPHTHONGS

The centering diphthongs end in the Schwa. We earlier described the Schwa as a mid-high
central vowel. Try producing the vowel sounds in ‘dear’ , ‘dear’ and ‘sure’. The vowel sounds in
each of these words are represented in Figure 8.1 below.

Figure 8.1 The English Centering Diphthongs

8.4 DIPTHONGS MOVING TOWARDS /I/

The second set of English diphthongs comprises of three diphthongs that move towards the
vowel sound in ‘bid’. These diphthongs, as you can see in Figure 8.2 below, move from the low
or mid-low positions towards a high position. The words ‘pay’, ‘buy’ and ‘boy’ represent each of
these three diphthongs.

32
Figure 8.2 English Diphthongs moving to /I/

33
8.5 DIPHTHONGS MOVING TOWARDS /ʊ/
English has two diphthongs that move towards the back high rounded vowel /ʊ/. The first
diphthong begins with a schwa. This is the vowel sound in ‘go’. The other begins with the low
vowel /a/. The English word ‘spout’ has this diphthong.

Figure 8.3 Diphthongs moving towards / ʊ /

8.6 SUMMARY

During this lecture, we defined diphthongs and distinguished them from monophthongs. We
noted that diphthongs involve vowel quality change. We have described 8 diphthongs in
English. The two sets of diphthongs which move towards the schwa are called centering
diphthongs and those that end in either /I/ or /ʊ/ are called closing dipthongs. Figure 8.4
below summarises all the English dipthongs .

34
Figure 8.4 The English Diphthongs

8.7 NOTE

 The centering diphthongs move towards the schwa and the closing diphthongs
move towards either /I/ or /ʊ/
 If a vowel moves to another and yet another, we call the vowel sound ‘triphthong’.
 A triphthong: A vowel glide involving three sounds in words such as ‘liar’ and
‘power’. In English there are five triphthongs, formed by adding ə to the diphthongs
ei, ai, ɔi, əυ, aυ, these triphthongs are found in the words ‘layer’ leiə, ‘liar’ laiə,
‘loyal’ lɔiəl, ‘power’ paυə, ‘mower’ məυə.

35
8.8 FURTHER READING

Roach, P (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course (4th

Edition) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge

Wells, J. C. (1982). Accents of English. Vol. I-III. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

COURTESY OF AYUB BRIAN 0796363336

LECTURE NINE

PHONEMIC AND PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION

9.0 INTRODUCTION

You are now familiar with the phonemic symbols that are used to pronounce English words.
You will however, notice that when we pronounce the phoneme /p/ for instance, it will have
different physical properties. It can either be aspirated, unreleased, voiced, etc. Describing the
actual physical realization of a phoneme is will involve phonetic transcription. During this
lecture, we will distinguish between phonemic and phonetic transcription and perform each of
these two activities.

36
 9.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

9.2 PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION

Phonemic transcription captures the phonemes of a language. It is also called broad. It uses a
simple set of symbols. This is the type of transcription that you will find in the Advanced
Oxford Learner’s Dictionary. Phonemic transcription uses the phonemic symbols. The symbols
are put in slashes / /. For example, the phonemic transcription of ‘link’ is /lɪŋk/. The RP has a
total of 44 phonemes: 20 and 24 consonants (Hannisdal, 2006; Wells, 1982; Cruttenden, 2001;
Roach, 2009). The vowels are: /ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʌ, ʊ, ə, ɪ:, u:, ɔ:, a:, ɜ:, eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ ,əʊ, aʊ, ɪə, eə, ʊə/.
The English consonants are shown in Table 9.1 below.

Table 9.1 English Consonants. In cells which have a pair of sounds, the sound on the right is
voiced.

Place Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Palato- Velar Glottal

dental Alveolar
Manne
r

Stops p b t d k g

Nasals m n ŋ

37
 Fricatives f v θ ð s z ∫ ʒ h

Affricates t∫ ʤ

Laterals l

Approximants r

Glides w j

9.3 PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION

Phonetic transcription is also called narrow transcription. This form of transcription shows
more phonetic detail, either by just using more specific symbols or by also representing some
allophonic differences. Native speakers of English for instance, pronounce ‘pin’ /pIt/ as [pʰIt].
The superscript symbol is a ‘diacritic’ indicating ‘aspiration’. This means that the sound is
produced with a gust of air. Phonetic symbols are always in square brackets [ ].

When phonemes are pronounced differently depending on the position of the sound within the
word, we call the phones ‘allophones’. Allophones are therefore, different realizations of a
phoneme. Allophones are usually in complementary distribution. i.e, where one sound occurs,
another cannot occur. For example, if plosives occur word initially preceding vowels, they are
aspirated. When they occur at the end of words following vowels, they are ‘unreleased’

We may also show ‘free variants’, sounds whose substitutions in words do not cause a difference
in meaning. For example; the alternation of [s] and [ ∫ ] in the word ‘issue’ is not distinctive.
Several Kenyan speakers use the bilabial fricative [ɸ] instead of the plosive [p] in words such as
‘peep’.

38
Phonetic transcription may involve the use different phonetic symbols (see Appendix i for the
IPA consonant symbols) or the use of ‘diacritics’. The next sub-topic defines diacritics and
gives some of the diacritics used during narrow transcription.

9.4 DIACRITICS
Phoneticians have put all the sounds that humans use in speech into the International Phonetic
Alphabet ( IPA). The IPA consonant and vowel figures comprise the appendices of this module.
A ‘diacritic’ is a small mark that is added during phonetic transcription to distinguish different
values of an IPA symbol. We saw for instance how we add the diacritic for aspiration. Below
are common diacritics that are used in narrow transcription and the values that they represent.

 Syllabicity diacritics
ɹ̩ n̩ - indicates the consonants are syllabic
e̯ ʊ̯ - indicates the vowels are non- syllabic

 Consonant-release diacritics
tʰ dʰ - indicates the consonants are aspirated
d̚ - Indicates no audible release of the plosive
dⁿ - indicates nasal release of the plosive
dˡ - indicates lateral release of the plosive

 Phonation diacritics

n̥ d̥ - indicates voiceless release

s̬ t̬ - indicates voiced release

b̤ a̤ - indicated breathy voiced

b̰ a̰ - indicates creaky voiced

39
  Articulation diacritics

t̪ d̪ - dental release

ẽ z̃ - nasalized

ɚ ɝ - rhotic

9.5 SUMMARY

In this lecture, we distinguished between phonetic and phonemic transcription. We noted that
phonemic transcription is broad and it is the form of transcription that we find in the
dictionary. It does not provide the phonetic details of the sounds as is given by the narrow
transcriptions, which is alternately known as phonetic transcription.

We also noted that when we are describing the ‘allophones’ and ‘free variants’ of a phoneme,
we are at the phonetic levels. This is because phonetic transcription gives details of how a
particular phoneme is pronounced.

9.6 NOTE

Phonemic transcription is ‘broad’; it does not give details. Phonetic transcription on the other
hand is ‘narrow’. The depth of description in narrow transcription depends on how much
detail the linguist wants to include.

COURTESY OF AYUB BRIAN 0796363336

40
9.7 SELF- TEST QUESTION

Transcribe the following words and place the stress marker on each.

(i) Japanese (ii) compensation (iii) import (n) (iv) defective

Roach, P (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical course (4th Edition)
Cambridge University Press: Cambridge
Skandera and Burleigh (2005). A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology. Narr
Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG

9.8 FURTHER READING

LECTURE TEN

ORTHOGRAPHIC AND PHONEMIC SYMBOLS IN ENGLISH

41
10.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous lectures, we have described the 44 English phonemes. We have often used
phonetic symbols to describe these sounds. During this lecture, we will introduce you to the
During this lecture, you will:
IPA chart and draw a distinction between phonetic and orthographic symbols.
 Identify the IPA symbols that are used to describe English sounds.
 Draw a distinction between spelling and pronunciation symbols.

10.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

10.2 ORTHOGRAPHIC SYMBOLS AND PHONETIC SYMBOLS

Let us begin this section by reading the poem below. Pay close attention to the spelling and
pronunciation of the highlighted words.

I take it you already know of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Some may stumble, but not you, on hiccough, thorough, slough, and through?
So now you are ready, perhaps, to learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word, that looks like beard, but 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 moth 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 then 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, come, come! I've hardly made a start.

42
 A dreadful language? Why man alive! I've learned to talk it when I was five.
And yet to write it, the more I tried; I hadn't learned it at fifty-five.
- Author Unknown

The above poem helps us perceive the fact that the spelling system of English differs from the
pronunciation. English orthography has 26 letters of the alphabet. These letters can be written in
the upper and lower case. That means that we actually have 52 letter symbols that are used to
write words in English. Let us see how they look like.

UPPER CASE
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W,X, Y, Z

The lower case

a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z

The orthographic vowels in both spelling the upper and lower case respectively are: A, a; E, e; I,
i; O, o; and U, u. The other letters in the list above that are not in this list of orthographic vowels
are consonants. We are careful to use the word ‘orthographic’ or ‘spelling’ so as to emphasize
the fact that the symbols referring to consonants and vowels are not the same in at the two levels
of language.

In our previous lectures, we noted that English has 44 phonemes. These are categorized into
vowels and consonants.

The English vowel phonemes are:

/ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʌ, ʊ, ə, ɪ:, u:, ɔ:, a:, ɜ:, eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ ,əʊ, aʊ, ɪə, eə, ʊə/.

The English consonant phonemes are:

/b , d, f , g , h , j , k , l , m, n , ŋ , p , r, s , ∫ , t ,t∫, θ , ð, v, w, z, ʒ , dʒ/

10.3 SUMMARY

43

During this lecture, we observed that English has 26 letters of the alphabet. The writing
10.4 NOTE

There is a great difference between orthographic consonants and vowels and phonemic
consonants and vowels.

10.5 SELF-TEST QUESTION

[ðə prəfesə wən meni əwɔ:dz fə hiz lɪtrəʧə bʊks]. Write in orthography

10. 6 FURTHER READING

Roach, P (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course (4th Edition)

Cambridge University Press: Cambridge

44
 COURTESY OF AYUB BRIAN 0796363336
LECTURE ELEVEN

SYLLABLE STRUCTURE IN ENGLISH

11.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous lectures, we have been describing segments of English at the level of the
phoneme. We will now focus our attention on a segment which is larger than a phoneme: the
syllable.

11.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

During this lecture, you should be able to:

 Define a syllable
 Identify the constituents of a syllable
 Describe the syllable structure of English words

11. 2 DEFINING THE SYLLABLE

If two people, one called ‘John’ and another called ‘Peter’ are told to repeat their names, John is
unlikely to segment his name but Peter can split his name into two: PE-TER. If you transcribe

45
the two names, you will notice that the first has one vowel and the second has two. We use these
vowels to determine the number of syllables in a word. A syllable is therefore, a unit of speech
consisting of either a single vowel (or a syllabic consonant) or a vowel and one or more
consonants associated with it.

Syllabification: how words break apart; the separation of a word into syllables. Every syllable
contains at least one vowel
Technically, the basic elements of the syllable are the onset (one or more consonants), and the
rime (also written as rhyme).

The rime is treated as the nucleus, plus any following consonant(s), treated as the coda. Thus
syllables in words like tree, me, and to have onsets, nucleus but no coda. When a coda is
present, as in the syllables up, love and hate, they are called closed syllables. Notice that if you
transcribe ‘love’ and ‘hate’, the words will end with consonants.
Open syllables with one or more consonants and ends with vowels.
We use the symbol C for ‘consonant’ and V for ‘vowel’

The information on syllable structure can be presented diagrammatically as shown below. The
small Greek sigma (σ) is used to denote a syllable.
σ

Onset rhyme

Nucleus coda

11.3 STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH SYLLABLE

46
11.4 SUMMARY

During this lecture, we defined a syllable as a phonological unit that has at least one vowel or
a syllabic consonant. We also identified the elements of a syllable. The Onset was defined as
a consonant that begins a syllable. We noted that the Reme has the nucleus (the obligatory
vowel or syllabic consonant) and an optional coda. Coda is a consonant that ends a syllable.
We also noted that there are permissible syllable clusters in a language. For instance, a CVC
structure is permissible in English.

11.5 NOTE

The syllable is a phonological unit. You will therefore need to transcribe the words
phonemically to determine how the syllable structure of those words.

47
11.6 SELF- TEST QUESTION

Provide the syllable structure for each of the following English words.

cot , trip , eggs , eye , crisps

11.7 FURTHER READING

Odden, D. (2005) Introducing Phonology. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

ISBN-978-0-511-10939-3 eBook (EBL)
Skandera and Burleigh (2005). A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology. Narr

Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG

11. 8 GLOSSARY

48
 Onset - A consonant or consonant cluster that comes at syllable initial position
Nucleus - The vowel in the syllable. The obligatory syllable peak
Reme - both the nucleus and the coda of a syllable
Coda - the last consonant or consonant cluster in a syllable

COURTESY OF AYUB BRIAN 0796363336

COURTESY OF AYUB BRIAN 0796363336

LECTURE TWELVE

PROSODIC FEATURES

12.0 INTRODUCTION

Prosody is often called ‘the music of a language’ because of its characteristic ‘melody’ and
‘rhythm’. A more formal definition is the system of prosodic contrasts that a language
employs.
49
Supra-segmental features realize or express prosodic contrasts; this means that by using a
feature of prosody, for instance stress, we will be able to distinguish meaning in spoken
12.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to:

 Define stress and use stress to distinguish meaning in English words

 Explain the function intonation in English
 Describe the English Tone Unit

12.2 STRESS IN ENGLISH

Stress is the relative prominence of a syllable. It operates at the level of the word.
You should practice hearing and producing the stress contrasts in words such as those listed
below:
an 'insult to in'sult
an 'overflow to over'flow
an 'increase to in'crease
a 'walkout to 'walk 'out

English is said to be a ‘stress-timed’ language. There appears to be regular intervals of stressing

words in an English sentence. In English, the content words, as opposed to the functional
categories receive stress in a stretch of words.

Other languages are said to be ‘syllable timed’ (e.g. French) .How is rhythm patterned in
Kiswahili? What can you say about the rhythm of your L1?

12.3 NOTE

No language is perfectly rhythmic (isochronous) and this classification of types of

language rhythm remains controversial.

50
12. 4 TONE AND INTONATION
Tone is the rising and falling of the voice (pitch) usually on a syllable.
We have five basic tones in English. These are: fall; rise; rise-fall ; fall -rise and level
The following symbols represent these tones said on the monosyllabic word ‘yes’.

Each of these tones may express particular attitudes. If 'yes' for example, is said in response to
the question , 'Did you know the late George Eshiwani?' the respondents attitude can be
interpreted as follows:
 Fall: neutral statement. (Yes, I did)
 Rise: neutral question, doubt ( What about him?)
 Fall-Rise: scepticism
 Rise-Fall: emphatic statement (He actually mentored me!)
 Level: boredom, disinterest (I don't want to hear more of what you are saying!)

12.5 INTONATION

We have noted that intonation is the variation of pitch over a stretch of spoken text. There are
four basic functions of intonation. These are:

 Accentual
 Grammatical
 Attitudinal
 Discourse

51
In communication, intonation may perform several functions:
12.5.1 Accentual
The accentual function is expressed by the accent component of intonation. This function is
closely connected to the primary accent carried by the most prominent word in an utterance. In
these sentences, the nuclear or tonic stress falls on the last important lexical item:
 She must ‘CALL’
 Place the phone on the ‘TABLE’
 Muindi and Mugenda must ‘SEE, it.

12.5.2 Attitudinal function

The attitudinal function expresses the connection between tones and attitudes (e.g. joy, anger,
irony, indignation, surprise, arrogance, etc.). This function is superimposed on the accentual
function and cannot be clearly separated from it.

Kimani 'and Mutia must do it (not only Kimani)

'He must come (not she)
Put the book 'on the table (not on the box)

An attitude that is expressed could be an attitude towards the listener, towards what is being said
or towards some external event or situation.

12.5.3 Grammatical Function

Different types of sentences have different intonation patterns in English. In other words, certain
grammatical structures have the tendency to go with certain intonation patterns.
The most common associations between intonation and communicative function are as follows:
 Statement: falling intonation;
 Yes/No Question: rising intonation;
 Wh-Question: falling intonation;
 Command: falling intonation;
 Request: rising intonation;
 Exlamation: falling intonation
52
12. 5.4 Discourse Function
This looks at the role of tone in larger chunks of texts and is closely related to all the other
functions highlighted above. In discourse tone can be used for:
a) Attention focusing: speakers tend to place more emphasis more information as opposed
to given information. Consider the statement: My eldest brother ' immigrated to
Australia. We can assume that the speaker takes it that the listener already knows he has
an elder brother but what is new is the fact that the said brother immigrated to Australia.
It is this on new information that the tone unit will be placed.

b) Marking subordination: In reading the sentence: The security officers, for their own
strange reasons, did not ask him to open the bag. In uttering this sentence, we can show
the subordinate status of ‘for their own strange reasons’ by a drop to a lower pitch, an
increase in speed and reduced loudness relative to the neighbouring parts which belong to
the main clause. In fact, reading without such variations in intonation can distort meaning
of texts.

c) Regulation of conversational behaviour. In a conversation, we need to communicate to

others our intentions such as when we want them to speak or to let us finish what we are
saying. Moreover, we also communicate other pragmatic aspects of communication such
as being disapproving, casting doubt on what others have said, challenging or
encouraging the other discourse participants. All these are done through the use of
combination aspects of ‘body language’ (gaze, gestures, eye contact etc) and tone. Think
of all that you can communicate with a one word question like: ‘What?’ when you utter it
in a given tone and accompany this with given aspect of body language.

12.6 The English Tone Unit

In the earlier sub-topic, we discussed the function of intonation in speech. In every clause or
unit of meaning, there is a syllable that receives more stress prominence than the rest. This
syllable is the tonic syllable. We may define the tonic syllable as the last prominent syllable in
the tone unit where the tone change begins.

53
A tone unit is a sequence of accented syllables, one or more of which are prominent. The tone
unit may have the following:
• A tonic syllable (obligatory)

• Optional elements which precede the tonic syllable (pre-head, head)

The head is the part of a tone-unit that extends from the first stressed syllable (the onset
of the head) up to the tonic syllable.

• Optional elements which follow the tonic syllable (tail)

• (pre-head) (head) tonic syllable (tail)

Tonic syllables carry a tone and also a type of stress. The Tonic syllables are also known as
nucleus. Each tone unit contains only one tonic syllable and it carries one change of tone. The
tonic syllables must have a high degree of prominence than the rest of the syllables in the tone
unit. Remember that stressed words are (usually) content words (nouns, adjectives, verbs,
adverbs).

12.7 SUMMARY

During this lecture, we discussed the structure of the English syllable. We also discussed
stress and intonation. Lastly, we briefly described the notion of the tone unit in English.

54
12.8 FURTHER READING

Roach, P. (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A little Encyclopaedia of Phonetics.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Roach, P (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course (4th Edition)

Cambridge University Press: Cambridge

COURTESY OF AYUB BRIAN 0796363336

LECTURE THIRTEEN

PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN ENGLISH

13.0 INTRODUCTION

The sounds of a language are influenced by the neighbouring sounds. Sounds also go through
changes in ‘connected’ speech. During this lecture, we will examine some assimilatory and
non-assimilatory phonological processes in English.

13.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

55

During this lecture, you will be able to identify and describe both assimilatory and non-
13.2 ASSIMILATORY PROCESSES

In assimilation, two sounds become more alike. We have two types of assimilation:
Regressive and Progressive Assimilation. In regressive assimilation a sound influences the
preceding segment. In progressive assimilation, a sound influences the following segment.

Some of the common assimilatory processes in English are: palatalization, labialization,

nasalization, voicing, and homorganic nasal assimilation

13.3.1 Palatalization
Palatalization is the presence, during an articulation, of the raising of the front of the tongue (as
in [tj]). /l/ in initial position may be slightly palatalized so that ‘leaf’ /li:f/ will be pronounced as
[lji:f].

13.3.2 Labialisation

This is a secondary articulatory form whereby the primary stricture has a lip rounding secondary
stricture added to it. For instance, in English, the post-alveolar fricative / ʃ/ "sh" = [w], as in
"she", and "r" too is often labialized, even before unrounded vowels e.g. in "sheet" or "reek".

13.3.3 Nasalization
The most common form of nasalization in English is in cases where a vowel precedes a nasal
consonant. In the producing the minimal pair ‘tip’ and ‘tin’ ; the vowel in the first word will be
pronounced with a nasal effect.

13.3.4 Voicing assimilation

When sounds that are voiceless are preceded by sounds that are voiced, the voicing feature may
be carried over to the following sounds. A commonly used example in English is the plural

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morpheme {-s} in English. If the noun ends in a vowel or voiced consonant, then the sound /s/ is
pronounced as [z]. If it is preceded by voiceless consonants, it is pronounced as [s].

13.4.5 Homorganic nasal assimilation

Homorganic sounds are articulated at the same point. The words are: indefinite, impossible, and
incomplete. Look at the nasal sound in the word ‘can’ in each of the phrases below and see how
in connected speech it will be assimilated. For example, the plosive in each of the following
words is influenced by the stricture of the antecedent plosive. The nasal is assimilated to the
‘homorganic’ nasal.

13.5 NON-ASSIMILATORY PROCESSES

There are several non-assimilatory processes that involve sound change in connected speech.
These include deletion, insertion, coalescence, and metathesis.

.
13.3.1 Deletion
This involves removal of a segment during speech. When English speakers pronounce ‘police’ in
connected speech, the initial vowel sound is often removed and the word is homophonic to

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‘please’. There are numerous instances of deletion in English. How for instance do you say
‘grandpa’? There is a tendency to remove the alveolar plosive so that it comes out as ‘granpa’.

13.5.2 Insertion
In this process, a consonant or a vowel is inserted. Some RP speakers insert the sound /r/ in
contexts where there is no historical /r/, if a word ends with a non-high vowel and if it precedes
another beginning with a vowel. This feature has been called the ‘intrusive r’ (Wells 1982).
For example, when speakers say ‘law and order’, an intrusive ‘r’ may be inserted and it will be
produced as [lɔ: ren ɔ:də].
13.5.3 Coalescence – two contiguous segments coalesce or are replaced by a single segment. A
good example of coalescence is found in geminate segments (also called doubled consonant or
doubled vowel). Geminate consonants occur in English only at morpheme boundaries: nighttime,
bookcase, solely, non-null.

13.5.4 Metathesis – two segments may interchange

There are few cases of metathesis in English. There are however speakers who pronounce ‘ask
you’ as ‘axe you’.

13.5.5 Neutralization
Phonemes lose their distinction in a particular phonological environment. A common example
that is used refers to the American English accent where the phoneme /t/ and /d/ become a flap
[ɾ] if they occur in between two vowels. In this case, ‘bitter’ and ‘bidder’ become homophones.

13.5.6 Dissimilation

This type of rule refers to processes whereby two neighboring sounds become less similar.

For example in ‘fifths’ : [f I fθs] à [f I f t s]

Three fricatives à fricative+stop+fricative

13.6 SUMMARY

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13.7 FURTHER READING

Roach, P (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course (4th Edition)

Cambridge University Press: Cambridge

Odden, D. (2005) Introducing Phonology. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

ISBN-978-0-511-10939-3 eBook (EBL)

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13.8 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS

Transcribe the past tense morpheme in each of the following words then use the
transcription to deduce a rule for pronouncing this morpheme in English. The words are:

 Studied
 Licked
 Erased
 Booked
 Sorrounded
 Picked

COURTESY OF AYUB BRIAN 0796363336

LECTURE FOURTEEN
THE VARIETIES OF ENGLISH

14.0 INTRODUCTION

We began this module by noting that English is a global language. It is spoken by about two
billion people around the globe. The dispersion of English has brought with itself both
regional and social dialects. During this lecture we will restate some distinctive features of
RP and other Inner Core varieties. We will then look at the distinctive features of the World
Englishes and lastly, narrow down to Kenyan English.
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14.1 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

During this lecture, you will be able to:

 Classify the world Englishes

 Describe distinctive features of the RP and the Inner Core varieties
 Describe the common phonological features of the World Englishes
 Describe common phonological features of the Kenyan English acrolect

English is a global language (Crystal, 2012).According to Kachru, Y., and Smith, L. E

(2008), people from different parts of the continent use different varieties of English to

communicate. The common term used for these different varieties of English is ‘Word

Englishes’ (WE). According to Edgar W. Schneider (2011), ‘World Englishes’ was originally

Kachru’s term and it basically includes all forms of English spoken anywhere but emphasizes

the special importance and independence of “Outer Circle” varieties (p. 335). ‘Englishes’

emphasises the plurality of varieties in the English speaking world and their right to explicit

recognition (Schneider ed., 1997). In the following discussion, we shall examine several

approaches to classifying WE’s.

14.2 THE WORLD ENGLISHES

Kachru’s (1985) Model of Classifying the WE’s

Kachru (1985, pp. 366-367) classified the WE’s into three concentric circles: the Inner Circle,
Outer Circle and Expanding Circle. In the Inner Circle, Kachru noted that English is spoken in

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countries where native speakers spread from United Kingdom and settled down in large
numbers. These include; Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United
States. In these countries, English is used as a native language (ENL) for many.

The Outer Circle countries include; Hong Kong, India and Singapore. Several Englishes found in
former British colonies such as Nigeria and Kenya also fall this category. In these countries,
English is spoken as a Second Language (ESL). Lastly, Kachru’s Expanding Circle refers to
countries such as Germany, Hungary, Poland, China, and Japan. In these countries, English is
spoken as a Foreign Language (EFL).

Fig. 2.1 Kachru’s (1985) Model of classifying the World Englishes

14.4 The Inner Core Varieties

Most of the Inner core varieties of English have minimal variation in the consonants. Much of
the variation in English accents is in the vowels. The table below shows this variation across
dialects on some selected words.

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Table 14.1 Differences in pronunciation in native English accents

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Key: AmE = American English (General American), AuE = Australian English, BrE = British
English (RP), CaE = Canadian English, IrE = Irish English, NZE = New Zealand English, SAE =
South African English, ScE = Scottish English, WeE = Welsh English
Source: http://www.soundcomparisons.com

14.5 PHONOLOGY OF THE NEW ENGLISHES

In this sub-section, both the Outer Circle and Expanding Circle varieties have been lumped
together. We will use the term ‘World Englishes’ (WE’s) specifically to refer to these
varieties; as contrasted with the Inner Core varieties. Other terms that have been used to
refer to this phenomenon include: ‘English World-Wide,’ ‘English as a World Language,’
‘Varieties of English around the World,’ ‘New Englishes,’ ‘Extraterritorial Englishes,’
‘Indigenized Varieties of English,’ ‘Global Englishes’ and ‘Postcolonial
Englishes’(Schneider, 2011).We will examine, very superficially, the common
phonological features of New Englishes.

Common Phonological features of WE’s

Numerous researches done on the Outer and Expanding Circle varieties of English have found
striking similarities of the WE’s, irrespective of the regional basis of these varieties. Kachru, Y.,
and Smith, L., (2008, p.80) have written:
In pronunciation, most Outer and Expanding Circle varieties are different from the Inner
Circle varieties. They share this characteristic with the regional dialects within the Inner

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 Circle varieties of English. Some of these differences lead to grammatical consequences
which affect comprehension.
There are, of course, idiosyncratic features of each of the varieties of WE’s. For instance, the
conflation of /v/ and /w/ in India, reported by Kachru (1985) is characteristically Indian English
feature, which cannot be generalized on other WE’s. However, there are common phonological
features of WE’s that have been observed in numerous varieties. These include: avoidance of
dental fricatives, reduction of final consonant clusters, and use of syllable-based rhythm
(Kirkpatrick & Deterding, 2006). We will examine the consonantal features of WE’s below.
14.5.1 Avoidance of dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/
WE’s have a tendency to avoid using the dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/. Kirkpatrick and Deterding
(2006, p.376) summarized several researches that have striking similarities concerning the dental
fricatives in the following except:
One of the most common features of New Englishes is the tendency to avoid using /θ/
and /ð/. However, the sounds that are used in place of these dental fricatives vary. For
example, in place of initial /θ/ in a word such as three, [t] tends to occur in places such as
Singapore (Deterding 2007: 13–16), the Philippines (Tayao 2004), Brunei (Mossop
1996), Ghana (Huber 2004), the Bahamas (Childs and Wolfram 2004) and India (Kachru
2005: 44–6), while [f] occurs in Hong Kong English (Deterding et al. 2008), and Gut
(2004) reports that, in Nigerian English, Hausa speakers tend to use [s] but Yoruba and
Igbo speakers use [t].

14.5.2 Simplification of final consonant clusters

A tendency to avoid word final consonant has been reported as another feature of WE’s
phonology. Deterding (2007, p. 18) for instance reported that in Singapore, the final consonant is
often omitted, “even when the next word begins with a vowel”. Kirkpatrick and Deterding (2011,
p.376) have recorded that the omission of final consonants has also been reported in Malaysia
(Collins, 2002; Baskaran, 2004); Brunei (Mossop, 1996); Hong Kong (Deterding et al., 2008);
Nigeria (Gut, 2004); Ghana (Huber, 2004); and East Africa (Schmied, 2006).

14.5.3 Loss of aspiration in initial voiceless plosives

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 According Kachru, Y., and Smith, L., (2008) “voiceless plosives, p, t, k, lose their initial
aspiration so that the speakers of Inner Circle varieties perceive them often as b, d, g.” The
voiced plosives b, d, and g tend to be devoiced. As a result, pig: big, town: down, could: good
may be pronounced identically” (Brown, 1986).

14.5.7 Other consonantal features

According to Kachru, Y., and Smith, L., (2008, p.9) some speakers of African Englishes (e.g.
Zambian) and Expanding Circle varieties (e.g. Japanese) do not distinguish between r and l;
these may be substituted for each other freely. Similarly, the clear l and dark l are not
distinguished in most varieties of WE’s.

14.6 The Kenyan English Accent

A research done on Kenyan primary school teachers (see, Njoroge, 2008) shows that
Kenyans generally do not speak the RP, as described by Jones (2003) and Wells (2002).

Instead, there is, “an educated Kenyan variety of English that [...] teachers use in the

classroom” (Njoroge, 2008, p.76). Let us attempt to describe the phonological features of this

accent.

Kenya’s English Accent (KEA) Phonological Core.

Several researchers have described, albeit shallowly, the phonology Kenyan English. Schmied
(2006) studied East African English (EAfE) in general. However, he specifically noted the
following three “general tendencies for consonants” in Kenyan English:
1. The merger of /r/ and /l/ is widespread, but still ridiculed.

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 2. Intrusive or deleted (as a hypercorrect tendency) nasals, especially /n/ before plosives,
are common, since some languages like Kikuyu have nasal consonants.
3. English fricatives are generally difficult but particular deviations often restricted to
certain ethnic groups.
(Schmied, 2006, p.193)
Schmied has however, noted that the merger of /r/ and /l/ “though widespread, is still ridiculed.”
This research seeks to describe phonological features of the ‘stigma free’ KEA. Secondly,
Schmied (ibid) has noted that the ‘intrusive’ or ‘deletion’ of nasals is limited to “some languages
like Kikuyu.”

Concerning Kenyan English fricatives, Schmied (2006) has noted that “deviations are often
restricted to certain ethnic groups”. Schmied has also noted that the sets of voiced and voiceless
fricatives around the alveolar ridge: /t∫ /, /∫/, and /s/; and / ʤ /, /ʒ /, and /z/ are not distinguished
clearly. He however, observed that “most of these deviations are registered by East Africans as
“sub-national peculiarities.” (p.193).

As regards consonant clusters, Schmied (2006) observed that many African Languages have a
relatively strict consonant -vowel (CV) syllable structure. There is therefore a tendency to
dissolve the consonant clusters by inserting a vowel, hence splitting the clusters or dropping one
or some of the consonants involved. Schmied (2006) also noted that final vowels are added to
closed syllables. He gives the examples of the words ‘hospital’, ‘spring’ and ‘book’ which in
EAfE would be pronounced as [hosIpItalI] , [ spIrIŋI] and [bʊkʊ] respectively. The feature of
final consonant cluster simplification is regarded as an aspect of WE’s phonology.

Much of the variability of KEA from the RP is in the vowel inventory. Schmied (2006) has noted
that overall East African English (EAfE) “tends toward a basic five-vowel system. (p.193)” He
noted that the system of EAfE is systematically different from that of the Standard English (RP).
Schmied (ibid) has observed that vowels tend to merge, “because the range of the English vowel
continuum is not covered by the underlying African systems of, for instance, the Bantu
languages” .

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Schmied’s (2006) confirms Kanyoro’s (1991) research which noted that three RP vowels were
not found in Kenyan English. These are:
/ə/ as in RP bacon;
/ɜ:/ as in RP bird, herd and turn; and
/æ/ as in RP bad
(Kanyoro, 1991, p.408)

According Kanyoro (1991), the monophthongs / æ /, / a: / and / ʌ / are not distinguished for
quality in Kenyan English.
/æ/ /a:/ /ʌ/
back bark buck
cap carp cup
cat cart cut

Kanyoro (1991) also noted that the short vowels / ɒ / and / ɛ/ are not diphthongs that are not
distinguished for quality with the diphthongs / oʊ / and / eɪ / respectively. These are:
/ɒ/ /oʊ/ /ɛ/ /eɪ/
not note let late
cot coat bet bait
got goat get gate

As regards stress of KEA, Kanyoro noted that “Kiswahili intonation is often carried over to
English language” (1991, p.410). Kanyoro gave the example of syllable stress by listing nouns
such as, ‘convict’, ‘progress’ and ‘ present’, which are stressed on the first syllable in RP. These
nouns are stressed on the second syllable in Kenyan English, thus making them sound like verbs.
Kanyoro noted that those were some aspects of Kenyan English phonology “upon which
remedial teaching work is built upon” (Kanyoro, 1991, p. 408).

68
14.7 SUMMARY

During this lecture, we observed some distinctive features of the RP accent. We used
Kachru’s Model of classifying World Englishes. We then briefly did a comparison of the
native English accents. Thereafter, we gave an account of common phonological features of
World Englishes. We also specifically focused on the phonological core of the Kenyan
English.

14.8 NOTE

Kenya has prescribed the RP as the accent that should be taught in schools. You should,
therefore, be familiar with this accent.

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14.9 FURTHER READING

Crystal, D. (2012) English as a global language. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge

Jenkins, J. (2003) World Englishes: A Resource Book for Students. Psychology Press:
USA
Kachru, Y., and Smith, L., (2008) Cultures, contexts and World Englishes: Rutledge: New
York.
Kirkpatrick, A and Deterding, D. (2011) “World Englishes”In, The Routledge Handbook
of Applied Linguistics.J. Smpson (ed.) USA: Routledge. pp 373-387

ANSWERS TO SELF-TEST QUESTIONS

2.8 : Self –test question

a. the sounds /t/ and /d/
b. Example; tin and din

7.6: Self –test question

(a) up /ʌp/
(b) away /əwei/
(c) wood /wʊd/

70
 (d) see /si:/
(e) hot /hɒt/
(f) six / ɪ/
(g) learn / ɜ:/
(h) law /l ɔ:/
(i) man /m æn/
(j) boom /bu:m/

9.7 Self-test Question

(i) /ʤæpəˈni:z/ (ii) /kɒmpenˈseɪʃn/ ) (iii) /ˈɪmpɔ:t/(N) (iv) /dɪˈfektɪv/

10.5 Self- test question

The professor won many awards for his literature books

11.6 Self- test question

cot - CVC trip - CCVC eggs - VCC eye - V crisps- CCVCCC

13.8 Self –test question

 Studied {-id}
 Licked { - t}
 Erased {-d}
 Booked {-t}
 Sorrounded {-id}
 Picked {-t}

REFERENCES

71
Crystal, D. (2012) English as a global language. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge
Cruttenden, A. (2001). Gimson’s university pronunciation of English. Arnold: London.

Deterding, David. 2006. “The pronunciation of English by speakers from China”. English

World-Wide 27: 175–98.

Edgar W. Schneider (2011) Colonization, globalization, and the sociolinguistics of World

Englishes 335-IN Cambridge handbook if Sociolinguistics. Edited by Rajed
Mesthrie. Cambridge University Press .
Fromkin,V and Rodman, R. (1988). An Introduction to Language. 4 th edition. Fort worth:Holt ,
Rhinehart and Winston , inc.
Gimson, A.C (1989). An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English. 4 th edition. London:
Edward Arnold.
Gimson, A.C & Cruttenden A (1994). Gimson’s Pronunciation of English. Fifth Edition:
London: Arnold.
Hannisdal, B. R. (2006) Variability and change in Received Pronunciation: A study of
six phonological variables in the speech of television newsreaders.
Unpublished Ph.D thesis. University of Bergen
Itumo, J. M (2006) Phonological variability in the ESL of students: A case study of Mikuini
Secondary school, Machakos District. Unpublished M.A dissertation: Kenyatta
University.
Jenkins, J. (2003) World Englishes: A Resource Book for Students. Psychology Press: USA

Kachru, B. (1982). “Models for Non – Native Englishes.’’ In, The Other Tongue: English Across
Cultures. B.B. Kachru (ed.) Oxford: Pergamon Press. pp 31-57.

Kachru, Y., and Smith, L., (2008) Cultures, contexts and World Englishes: Rutledge: New
York.
Kanyoro, M. (1991). “The Politics of the English Language in Kenya and Tanzania.” In, English
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Cambridge University Press. pp 402- 417.

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Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) (2002). Secondary Education Syllabus: Volume 1. Nairobi:
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Applied Linguistics.J. Smpson (ed.) USA: Routledge. pp 373-387
Kioko, A. and Muthwii, M. (2001). “The demands of a changing society: English in
education in Kenya today.” Language, Culture and Curriculum. Vol. 14:3, 201-213.
Njoroge, C.M (2011). Linguistic variation in a multilingual setting: Evidence from Kenya,
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Njoroge, M.C (2008) Variations in Spoken English Used by Teachers in Kenya: Pedagogical
Implications: Working Papers in Educational Linguistics 23/2: 75-103.
Odden, D. (2005) Introducing Phonology. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
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Roach, P (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course (4th Edition)
Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
Skandera and Burleigh (2005). A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology. Narr
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