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FUNDAMENTALS OF PHONETICS : a
practical guide for students. 5th Edition

Larry H. Small
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Fifth Edition
Fundamentals
of Phonetics
A Practical Guide
for Students
Larry H. Small
Bowling Green State University
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Small, Larry H. , 1954- author.
Title: Fundamentals of phonetics : A practical guide for students I Larry H.
Small.
Description: Fifth edition. I Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., [2020] I
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 20180368381 ISBN 9780135206492 I ISBN 0135206499
Subjects: LCSH: English language-Phonetics-Problems, exercises, etc. I
LCGFT: Problems and exercises.
Classification: LCC PE1135 .S49 2018 I DDC 421/ .58-dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/ 2018036838
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
@Pearson ISBN-13: 978-0-13-520649-2

ISBN-10: 0-13-520649-9
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Preface
he idea to create this textbook began in 1996. I needed a phonetics textbook
T that would coincide with the lecture material I used when teaching my own
phonetics course. So I began to write my own book. Little did I know I would
be revising the text for this fifth edition more than twenty years later!
One of the guiding principles I followed when writing the first edition was to
ensure that anyone could pick up the book and understand the material. I have
tried to follow this principle in all subsequent editions. This fifth edition is quite
similar to earlier editions in terms of basic layout and organization. Each chapter
has been revised with updated material and new exercises. The book is filled with
a wealth of exercises to assure that students become experts in basic phonetic
transcription of American English. Answers to most of the exercises can be found
in the back of the book so that students can immediately receive feedback on their
progress.
It is not possible to learn phonetic transcription without having an abundance
of listening exercises. Therefore, audio recordings of many of the exercises are
available as Audio Practice files in the e-textbook. These recordings are essential
in helping students learn the subtleties of pronunciation, both in relation to the
segmental and suprasegmental characteristics of speech.
New to This Edition

• Learning Objectives have been updated in each chapter to reflect changes in
content.
• Chapter Summaries that shadow the Learning Objectives have been added to
the end of each chapter.
• Existing embedded exercises have been revised, and new ones have been
added throughout the text.
• New material has been added to Chapter 2, Phonetic Transcription of Speech,
including an expanded section on spelling versus sound. Additional informa-
tion relating to word stress and consonant and vowel patterns in syllables also
has been added to the chapter.
• New anatomical figures have been created for Chapter 3, Anatomy and Physiol-
ogy of the Speech Mechanism. A discussion of the source-filter theory of speech
production also has been added.
• A new section on the application of speech acoustics in clinical practice has
been added to Chapter 6, Acoustic Characteristics of Vowels and Consonants.
• Chapter 9, Dialectal Variation, has been revised and updated with current
census data relative to the population demographics of the United States. Ad-
ditional material has been added on sociolinguistics and regional dialects.
• Online Resources have been updated to include additional websites that
should prove beneficial to students' understanding of phonetics.
• References have been updated to reflect current philosophies and best
practices in the speech, language, and hearing professions.
• Starting with this edition, the IPA symbol / 1/ ("turned r") will be used when
transcribing consonantal English "r" as in the words "rabbit" / 1rebrt/ and
"star" / st01/ . In previous editions, the symbol / r/ was used when transcribing
consonantal "r." (The IPA symbol / r/ is a trill, a sound not part of the English
v
vi Preface
sound system; / r/ has been used in phonetic transcription over the years by
many speech and hearing professionals.) In order to remain consistent with
the principles of the IPA, and to avoid confusion, turned r will be used when
transcribing consonantal "r."
Acknowledgments
I would not have been able to write this new edition without the assistance of
many individuals who made the first four editions possible. First of all, I must
thank the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Ohio Univer-
sity (Athens) for providing the learning environment necessary for me to become
knowledgeable in the area of phonetics. Specifically, I would like to thank my
mentor Dr. Zinny Bond for her unfaltering support and friendship throughout the
years.
A big thank you goes to Erik Trentrock and Mark Bunce at Bowling Green
State University who assisted me in the creation and recording of the audio
tracks that accompany this text. Also, I would like to thank Rob Fox and Ewa
Jacewicz at Ohio State University for allowing me to make several recordings in
the Department of Speech and Hearing Science.
I would like to thank my previous Executive Editors with Pearson, Steve
Dragin and Ann Davis. Their support was immeasurable throughout the first four
editions. Many thanks to my current Executive Editor, Aileen Pogran, who has
been incredibly supportive and encouraging. In addition, I want to extend a huge
thank you to my Development Editor, Krista McMurray, who really helped in the
transition to a new editorial team.
A final thank you goes to the reviewers for this fifth edition whose contribu-
tions greatly assisted me in the editing process: Andy McMillin from Portland
State University; Barabara Prakup from Cleveland State University; Joy E. Good
from Arkansas State University, Jonesboro; Mary Dale Trabue Fitzgerald from
Tennessee State University; and William F. Katz from University of Texas at Dallas.
Brief Contents
1 Phonetics: A "Sound" Science 1
2 Phonetic Transcription of English 9
3 Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech Mechanism 41
4 Vowels 53
5 Consonants 109
6 Acoustic Characteristics of Vowels and Consonants 169
7 Connected Speech 199
8 Transcription of Speech Sound Disorders 239
9 Dialectal Variation 283
References 331
Answers to Questions 335
Appendix 381
Glossary 383
Index 389
vii
Contents
Preface v
1 Phonetics: A "Sound" Science 1

Learning Objectives 1
Phonetics and the International Phonetic Alphabet 1
Variation in Phonetic Practice 3
The IPA and Unicode Fonts 4
Chapter Summary 6
Study Questions 6
Online Resources 7
2 Phonetic Transcription of English 9

The Differences Between Spelling and Sound 10
Morphemes, Phonemes, and Allophones 13
Syllables and their Components 20
Primary Word Stress 25
Broad Versus Narrow, and Systematic Versus Impressionistic Transcription 30
Chapter Summary 31
Review Exercises 32
Study Questions 34
Online Resources 35
Assignments 37
3 Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech Mechanism 41

The Respiratory System and Respiration 41
The Laryngeal System and Phonation 43
The Supralaryngeal System and Articulation 45
The Vocal Tract and Resonance 49
Chapter Summary 50
Review Exercises 50
Study Questions 52
Online Resources 52
4 Vowels 53
English Vowel and Diphthong Production 53
Transcription of English Vowels and Diphthongs 57
Chapter Summary 94
Review Exercises 94
Study Questions 99
Online Resources 99
Assignments 101
ix
x Contents
5 Consonants 109
Consonants Versus Vowels 109
Production of English Consonants: Manner, Place, and Voicing 111
Transcription of the English Consonants 113
Chapter Summary 150
Review Exercises 150
Study Questions 154
Online Resources 154
Assignments 155
6 Acoustic Characteristics of Vowels and Consonants 169

Time, Frequency, and Intensity 170
Acoustic Characteristics of Vowels and Diphthongs 173
Acoustic Characteristics of Consonants 178
Clinical Application 191
Chapter Summary 193
Study Questions 197
7 Connected Speech 199

Assimilatory Processes in Connected Speech 200
Nonassimilatory Processes in Connected Speech 202
Suprasegmental Aspects of Speech 208
Chapter Summary 221
Study Questions 228
Assignments 231
8 Transcription of Speech Sound Disorders 239

Phonological Processes 240
Transcription of Speech Sound Disorders: Diacritics 250
Transcription of Speech Sound Disorders: Non-English Phonemes 261
Suggestions for Increasing Accuracy in Phonetic Transcription 266
Chapter Summary 267
Study Questions 271
Assignments 273
9 Dialectal Variation 283

Formal and Informal Standard American English 283
Defining Regional Dialects 286
Social and Ethnic Dialects 295
Contents xi
Learning English as a Second Language 298

Accent Modification with English Language Learners 314
Chapter Summary 315
Study Questions 324
Assignments 327
References 331
Answers to Questions 335
Appendix 381
Glossary 383
Index 389
Fundamentals
of Phonetics
Chapter 1
Phonetics: A ''Sound''
Science
m Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to:
1.1 Explain the importance of the study of phonetics and the

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
1.2 State the reasons for variation in phonetic transcription practice.
1.3 State the benefits of using a Unicode font for phonetic transcription.
Phonetics and the International

Phonetic Alphabet
As adults, you are all familiar with the speaking process. Speaking is something you
do every day. In fact, most people find speech to be quite automatic. It is safe to say
that most of us are experts at speaking. We probably have been experts since the
time we were 3 or 4 years old. Yet we never really think about the process of speech.
We do not, as a rule, sit around thinking about how ideas are formed and how
their encoded forms are sent from the brain to the speech organs, such as the teeth,
lips, and tongue. Nor do we think about how the speech organs can move in syn-
chrony to form words. Think about the last party you attended. You probably did not
debate the intricacies of the speech process while conversing with friends. Speaking
is something we learned during infancy, and we take the entire process for granted.
We are not aware of the speech process; it is involuntary-so involuntary that we
often are not conscious of what we have said until after we have said it. Those of you
who have "stuck your foot in your mouth" know exactly how automatic the speech
process is. Often we have said things and we have no idea why we said them.
Phonetics is the study of the production and perception of speech sounds. During
your study of phonetics, you will begin to think about the process of speech produc-
tion. You will learn how speech is formulated by the speech organs. You also will
learn how individual speech sounds are created and how they are combined during
the speech process to form syllables and words. You will need to learn to listen to the
speech patterns of words and sentences to become familiar with the sounds of speech
that comprise spoken language. A large part of any course in phonetics also involves
how speech sounds are transcribed, or written. Therefore, you also will be learning
a new alphabet that will enable you to transcribe speech sounds. This alphabet, the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), is different from most alphabets because
it is designed to represent the sounds of words, not their spellings. Without such a
systematic phonetic alphabet, it would be virtually impossible to capture on paper
an accurate representation of the speech sound disorders of individuals seeking pro-
fessional remediation. Using the IPA also permits consistency among professionals
in their transcription of typical or atypical speech.
2 Phonetics: A "Sound" Science
Another "sound" science related to phonetics is phonology. Phonology is the

systematic organization of speech sounds in the production of language. The major
distinction between the fields of phonetics and phonology is that phonetics focuses
on the study of speech sounds, their acoustic and perceptual characteristics, and
how they are produced by the speech organs. Phonology focuses on the linguistic
(phonological) rules that are used to specify the manner in which speech sounds are
organized and combined into meaningful units, which are then combined to form
syllables, words, and sentences. Phonological rules, along with syntactic/ morpho-
logical rules (for grammar), semantic rules (for utterance meaning), and pragmatic
rules (for language use), are the major rule systems used in production of language.
The idea of studying speech sounds may be an odd idea to understand at first.
We generally think about words in terms of how they appear in print or how they are
spelled. We usually do not take the time to stop and think about how words are spoken
and how spoken words sound to a listener. Look at the word "phone" for a moment.
What comes to mind? You might consider the fact that it contains the five letters: p-
h-o-n-e. Or you might think of its definition. You probably did not say to yourself that
there are only three speech sounds in the word ("f'-"o"-"n"). The reason you do not
consider the sound patterns of words when reading is simple-it is not something you
do daily. Nor is it something you were taught to do. In fact, talking about the sound
patterns of words and being able to transcribe them is an arduous task; it requires con-
siderable practice. Let's try another example. How many speech sounds do you think
there are there in the word "street"? If you answered five, you are correct.
As you soon will find out, the way you believe a word sounds may not be
the way it sounds at all. First, it is difficult to forget our notions of how a word
is spelled. Second, our conception of how a word sounds is usually wrong. Con-
sider the greeting "How are you doing?" We rarely ask this question with such
formality. Most likely, we would say "How ya doin'?" What happens to the word
"are" in this informal version? It disappears! Now examine the pronunciation of
the words "do" and "you" in "Whatcha want?" (the informal version of "What do
you want?"). Neither of these words is spoken in any recognizable form. Actu-
ally, these words become the non-English word "cha" in "whatcha." With these
examples, you can begin to understand the importance of thinking about the
sounds of speech in order to be able to discuss and transcribe speech patterns.
Exercise 1.1
The expressions below are written two separate ways: (1) formally and (2) casually.
Examine the differences between the two versions. What happens to the production
of the individual words in the casual version?
Formal Casual
1. Are you going to eat now? Ya gonna eat now?
2. Can't you see her? Cantcha see 'er?
3. Did you go? Ja go?
Phonetics is a skill-based course much like taking a foreign language or sign

language course. In many ways it is like learning a new language because as you
learn the IPA, you will be learning new symbols and new rules to represent spoken
language. However, the new symbols you will be learning will be representative of
the sounds of English, not their spelling. As with the learning of any new language,
phonetics requires considerable practice in order for you to become proficient in
its use when transcribing speech patterns. This text is designed to promote prac-
tice of phonetic transcription principles.
At the beginning of each chapter, several Leaming Objectives are listed. By
reading through the Learning Objectives, you will have a clear idea of the mate-
rial contained in each chapter and what you should expect to learn as you read
Chapter One 3
through the text and complete the exercises. Chapter Summaries, at the end of each
chapter, provide a summary of the Leaming Objectives in a bulleted format.
By now you may have noticed that exercises are embedded in the text. It is
important that you complete the exercises as you go along instead of waiting until
after you have completed the chapter. These exercises emphasize particular points
by highlighting the material you just completed, thereby assisting in the learning
process. If you are unsure of an answer, simply look in the back of the text for as-
sistance in completing the embedded exercises.
At the end of each chapter, you will find a series of Review Exercises so that
you may gain expertise with the material presented. The Review Exercises help
drive home much of the material discussed in each chapter. All of the answers to
the Review Exercises are located at the back of the book. Similar to the embed-
ded exercises, providing the correct answers for the Review Exercises will provide
you with immediate feedback, helping you learn from your mistakes. There is
no better way to learn! To aid in the learning process, all new terms are in bold
letters the first time they are used. In addition, all new terms are located in the
Glossary at the back of the book.
Study Questions at the end of each chapter will help you explore the major
concepts presented. Online Resources also are provided to supplement the material
presented in the text. Assignments at the end of the chapters were designed to be
collected by your instructor to test your comprehension of the material. There-
fore, the answers for Assignments are not given in the text.
There are several conventions that are adopted throughout the text. When
there is a reference to a particular Roman alphabet letter, it is enclosed with a set
of quotation marks: for example, the letter "m." Likewise, references to a particu-
lar word are also enclosed with quotation marks: for example, "mail." Individual
speech sounds are referenced with the traditional slash marks: for example, the
/ ml sound. When a word and its transcription are given together, they appear in
the following format: "mail" / merl/.
Audio Practice files provide a wide range of listening exercises to accompany the
text. Clinical practice generally requires phonetic transcription of recorded speech
samples. Reading words on paper and transcribing them is not the same as tran-
scribing spoken words. The Audio Practice files are designed to increase your lis-
tening skills and your ability to transcribe spoken English. Exercises requiring the
Audio Practice files are indicated with a speaker icon in the text. The speaker icon
will alert you to the presence of an audio file in order to complete the exercise.
Variation in Phonetic Practice

Although the IPA was developed for consistency, not everyone transcribes speech
in the same manner. The IPA does allow for some flexibility in actual practice. If
you were to pick up another phonetics textbook, you would observe some definite
differences in transcription symbols. Therefore, alternate transcription schemes
are introduced throughout this text.
One reason transcription practice differs from individual to individual is due
to personal habit or the method learned. For instance, the word "or" (or "oar")
could be transcribed reliably in all of the following ways:
/ ;n/ , / 01/ , /~/, /~/, /~/
All of these forms have appeared in other phonetics textbooks and have been ad-
opted by professionals through the years.
Several years ago I was assigned to a jury trial that lasted two weeks. Due to
the length of the trial, the judge allowed us to take notes. So that no one could
read my notes, I decided to use the IPA! Because I had to write quickly, my tran-
scription habits changed. At the beginning of the trial, I transcribed the word "or"
as / 33-/ due to personal preference. By the middle of the trial, I had switched to
/ 31/ :Simply because it was easier to write and more time efficient.
Another difference in ease of use of transcription symbols involves the symbol

/ r/ , traditionally used to transcribe the initial sound in the word "red." According
to the IPA, this sound actually should be transcribed with the symbol / J/ . The IPA
symbol / r/ represents a trill, a sound found in Spanish and other languages but not
part of the English speech sound system. Because / r/ and / i i both do not exist in
English, / r/ often is substituted simply because it is easier to write. In previous edi-
tions of this text, / r/ was used to represent "r" sounds in English words. However,
with the ever-increasing number of Spanish speakers in the United States, it has
become increasingly important that these two symbols remain distinct; that is / r/
should be reserved for trills, and / l/ should be reserved for "r" sounds, as in the
words "red," "around," and "street." Therefore, in this edition, / l / will be used to
represent English "r"' sounds.
As future speech and hearing professionals, you will be using the IPA to tran-
scribe clients with speech sound disorders. Because the IPA was not originally
designed for this purpose, clinicians have varied in their choice of symbols in tran-
scription of speech sound disorders. In 1990, an extended set of phonetic symbols
(known as the extIPA) was created as a supplement to the IPA to provide a more
standard method for transcription of speech sound disorders (refer to Chapter 8).
Similar to the original IPA, the extIPA has not been used consistently among pho-
neticians, linguists, and speech and hearing professionals.
Is one method of transcription "better" or more correct than another? Some
linguists and phoneticians might argue that one form is superior to another based
on linguistic, phonological, or acoustic theory. The form of transcription you
adopt is not important as long as you understand the underlying rationale for your
choice of symbols. In addition, you need to make sure that you are consistent and
accurate in the use of the symbols you adopt. Throughout this text, variant tran-
scriptions are introduced to increase your familiarity with the different symbols
you may encounter in actual clinical practice in the future.
The IPA and Unicode Fonts

Historically, the typical typewriter or computer did not lend itself well to the
IPA. Some keyboard symbols were routinely substituted for IPA symbols simply
because typewriters and computer keyboards did not have keys for many of the
IPA symbols. For example, the word "dot" was typically transcribed (i.e., typed)
as / dat/ instead of the correct form / dot/ because it simply was not possible to
type the vowel symbol / a / .
You may not know it, but you already have the ability to type IPA symbols
with one of the fonts located on your computer. In 1991 the Unicode Consortium
was established to develop a universal character set that would represent all of the
world's languages. The Consortium continues to publish the Unicode Standard,
which in its most recent version-version 11.0.0-covers virtually all of the char-
acters of all the languages of the world, including several character sets for the
IPA. In addition, there are character sets for currency symbols, braille patterns,
geometric shapes, musical symbols, mathematical symbols, and even emojis.
The current version of the Standard contains 137,374 characters, including
684 new characters and 66 new emojis. Each character is mapped to a unique al-
phanumeric sequence called a code point. A code point is a hexadecimal sequence
of numbers (0 through 9) and/ or letters ("a" through "f') that uniquely identify
each of the characters in the set. Each character also has a unique name. For
instance, the code point for the Roman letter "j" is 006A, and its name is "Latin
small letter j." Similarly, the code point for the Greek letter "9" is 03BB, and its
name is "Greek small letter theta." Since each character in the universal set is
linked to an alphanumeric sequence, the word processor and font you select will
determine the "look" of each individual character, that is, what appears on your
monitor and what is reproduced by your printer. Keep in mind that any one par-
ticular Unicode font does not contain all of the code points from the universal set.
Chapter One 5
The nice thing about Unicode fonts is that they can be used on multiple plat-
forms (e.g., Macintosh, Windows, Linux) and with all word processing software
packages. Unicode fonts also can be used when creating HTML documents for
online use. In the past, cross-platform fonts did not exist. Also, there was a limit
to the number of characters contained in any one font package; most fonts were
limited to 256 characters. Fonts of different languages existed separately as well,
making it difficult to switch between writing systems in the same document.
Another advantage of using a Unicode font with IPA symbols is that once the
symbols have been typed into a particular document, you can switch to a differ-
ent Unicode font and all of the symbols will remain intact. The only difference in
appearance between fonts would be related to a particular font's size and shape
and whether it is a serif or sans serif font. Prior to the utilization of Unicode, it
was not possible to switch fonts without obliterating all of the IPA symbols in a
document. Trust me, I know!
A number of Unicode phonetic fonts are available online. Many are available
for free and are really quite easy to download and use. The phonetic symbols in
this text were created with Charis SIL, a Unicode font available from SIL Inter-
national (refer to the "Online Resources" at the end of this chapter). This font
contains over 2000 characters. Doulos SIL and Gentium are two other Unicode
phonetic fonts available for free from the SIL International website.
There are three ways to enter IPA symbols from a Unicode font into a docu-
ment: (1) make use of software that creates an alternate keyboard layout; (2) enter
the code point for each IPA symbol; or (3) insert each symbol individually by using
character maps available as part of the Windows and Macintosh operating systems.
The easiest method is to use an alternate keyboard layout. I obtained a
specialized keyboard for entering the IPA symbols in this text from the website
of University College London (UCL) Psychology and Language Sciences (refer to
the "Online Resources" at the end of the chapter). Once the keyboard was in-
stalled, all I had to do to enter the symbol /J/ was to simply type SHIFT+ "s."
Without such a keyboard, it would be necessary to type the unique code point for
each character (which is a tedious and time-consuming task). In Microsoft Word
(Windows), you would have to type the four-character code point, followed by
the sequence ALT+ "x," for entry of a particular symbol. For instance, typing the
sequence "0283" followed by ALT+ "x" will yield the IPA symbol /J/ (without
the slash marks). With Mac OS, you would need to go to System Preferences; se-
lect Keyboard, Input Sources; and then Unicode Hex Input. Also, select show input
menu in menu bar. Once Unicode Hex Input is selected, hold down the ALT key,
and type the code point sequence for the particular phonetic symbol you want.
Alternatively, you could use the "insert symbol" function (Windows) or use the
"character viewer" (Macintosh) to enter the symbols individually from a character
map that shows all of the symbols associated with a particular font. This process
is much more tedious and time-consuming.
Exercise 1.2
Configure your computer so that you can enter code points into a text document
(refer to the "Online Resources" at the end of the chapter for help). Then enter the fol-
lowing code points, and write the corresponding IPA symbols in the blanks provided.
Code Point IPA Symbol
1. 0259
2. 0388
3. 028A
4. 0271
5. 0279
A Note on Pronunciation and Dialect

As you read this text, and as you attempt to answer the various exercises, please
keep in mind that English pronunciation varies depending upon individual speak-
ing style as well as on dialect. A dialect is a variation of speech or language based
on geographical area, native language background, and social or ethnic group
membership. Dialect involves not only pronunciation of words but also grammar
(syntax) and vocabulary usage. As you will learn in Chapter 9, there is no one
fixed standard of English in the United States as is the case in other countries.
Instead, Americans speak several different varieties of English depending upon
the region of the country in which they live. Additionally, dialects such as African
American English and Mexican American English have particularly strong ties to
ethnic group membership even though regional variations do exist among these
dialects. The population of the United States contains many foreign-born residents
who have learned English as a second language. The dialect of English spoken by a
foreign-born individual is affected, at least in part, by his or her native language.
This is because foreign languages have a different set of speech sounds than those
we use in English. There are sounds that are present in English that are not pres-
ent in the foreign language, and vice versa. For example, English has 14 vowels,
whereas Spanish has only five vowels. Therefore, when a native Spanish speaker
is learning English, it is not uncommon for the speaker to substitute one of the
five Spanish vowels for an English vowel that does not exist in the Spanish vowel
system, contributing to the person's "accent."
Knowledge of dialects is extremely important when establishing a treatment
plan for individuals with a communication deficit and whose speech patterns
reflect regional or ethnic dialectal variation. Because a dialect should not be con-
sidered a substandard form of English, a speech-language pathologist should be
concerned only with remediation of clients' speech sound errors, not their dialects.
The pronunciations used in this text often reflect the author's Midwest
(northern Ohio) pronunciation patterns. This does not mean that alternate pro-
nunciations are wrong! The numerous text and recorded examples, as well as the
answer key, may not be indicative of the way you pronounce a particular word or
sentence. Always check with your instructor for alternate pronunciations of the
materials found in this text and in the Audio Practice files.
Chapter Summary
• Phonetics involves the study of how speech sounds personal habit, how strictly the IPA is followed, and
are produced, how individual speech sounds are which symbols are adopted for transcribing disor-
combined to form syllables and words, and the in- dered speech.
struction of phonetic transcription for manually • The use of a Unicode font is useful when transcribing
recording spoken utterances. The International Pho- speech by computer. Unicode fonts provide a univer-
netic Alphabet (IPA) is a unique alphabet designed sal character set of over 137,000 characters (mapped
to represent the sounds of words of a language, not to a unique alphanumeric code point), including the
the spelling of words. Use of the IPA permits consis- IPA. Unicode fonts can be used on multiple platforms
tency among professionals in their transcription of including Macintosh, Windows, and Linux.
typical or atypical speech.
• Variation in phonetic transcription exists for several
reasons, including differences in methods learned,
Study Questions
1. What is a phonetic alphabet?
2. Why is it important to use a phonetic alphabet in transcription of individuals with speech sound disorders?
Chapter One 7
3. Why is there variation in phonetic transcription from professional to professional?

4. What is the difference between phonetics and phonology?
5. What is a Unicode font? What are the advantages of using such a font?
6. What are three ways you can enter phonetic symbols into a document using a Unicode font?
Online Resources
Search online for Symbol Codes Home Penn State University. This website provides several resources related to
phonetic fonts and keyboards for both Windows and Macintosh.
Search online for SIL International. From the organization's website, select "resources" and "software and fonts" for
a vast list of phonetic font resources, including downloads for the Unicode fonts Charis SIL and Doulos SIL.
Search online for The Unicode Consortium for information regarding the most current Unicode standard, access to
character code charts for all the world's languages, the IPA, and many different symbol and character sets.
Search online for University College London Psychology and Language Sciences. From the home page of the website,
search for "resources and tools" in the search bar at the top right of the page. This site has a wealth of
information relating to Unicode fonts and keyboarding.
Chapter 2
Phonetic Transcription
of English
B Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to:
2.1 Explain the differences between spelling and sound in English.

2.2 Describe the importance of morphemes, phonemes, and allophones in
phonetics
2.3 Define and describe the components of a syllable.
2.4 Identify primary stress in words.
2.5 Describe the differences between broad and narrow transcription,
and systematic and impressionistic transcription.
As you begin your study of phonetics, it is extremely important to think about

words in terms of how they sound and not in terms of how they are spelled. As you
begin your study of phonetics, it is extremely important to think about words in
terms of how they sound and not in terms of how they are spelled. The repetition of
this first sentence is not a typographical error. The importance of this concept cannot
be stressed enough. You must ignore the spelling of words and concentrate only on
speech sounds. If you have been troubled in the past with your inability to spell,
do not fear- phonetics is the one course where spelling is highly discouraged.
For many, ignoring spelling and focusing only on the sounds of words will
be a difficult task. Most of us started to spell in preschool or kindergarten as we
learned to read. It was drilled into our heads that "cat" was spelled C-A-T and
"dog" was spelled D-0-G. Consequently, we learned to connect the spoken (or
printed) words with their respective spellings. Imagine the following fictitious
scenario between a parent and child reading along together before bedtime:
"OK, Mary. Now, let's think about the word 'cat.' It's spelled C-A-T, but the
first speech sound is a / k/ as in 'king,' the second sound is an / re/ as in 'apple,'
and the third sound is a I t/ as in 'table.' Notice that the first sound is really a
! kl even though the word begins with the letter 'c.' When 'c' begins a word,
it may sound like /k/ or it may sound like / s/ , as in the word 'city.' Actually,
Mary, there is no phonetic symbol in English that uses the printed letter 'c.'"
Obviously, this type of interchange would cause children to lose any desire to read!
10 Phonetic Transcription of English
The Differences Between Spelling

and Sound
The English language, as we know it today, reflects significant historical changes
that occurred during its three major developmental periods: Old English (300-
1150 CE), Middle English (1150-1500 CE), and Modem English (since 1500 CE).
The period between 300 and 500 CE marked both the end of the Roman Empire
and the invasion of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons. In the 600s, the Roman alpha-
bet was introduced to the Anglo-Saxons by Christian missionaries. Anglo-Saxon
monks first adopted the Roman alphabet to transcribe Old English.
The Roman alphabet was originally used to transcribe Latin. It was particularly
well-suited to represent Latin since there was a separate letter for each individual
Latin speech sound. An alphabet that maintains a one-to-one relationship between
a sound and a particular alphabet letter is known as a phonetic alphabet.
The Norman Conquest of England occurred during the late Old English period.
English began to disappear as French became the official language. During the
early Middle English period, English no longer appeared in a written form; all
writing was in either French or Latin. French scribes attempted to transcribe Old
English using their own French speaking patterns. As such, changes in spelling
began to reflect the French influence. However, the alphabet contained both Old
English and French letters.
Modem spelling began to be formalized by the end of the Middle English
period and the beginning of the Modem period. Scribes copied forms used by their
predecessors and adopted spelling conventions with little regard for pronuncia-
tion changes; the Roman alphabet was no longer alphabetic. Also, with the advent
of printing, the spelling of words began to become more standard. Since many of
the first printers were from other countries, they used their own spelling conven-
tions. Words were often contracted or abbreviated in their spellings, and words
were given extra letters instead of using spaces, in order to make sure the lines of
print on the page were lined up properly, or justified.
Contemporary spelling conventions also reflect letters in words that were
once pronounced but have become "silent" over time. For example, the final
sound in the word "plumb" has no connection to its pronunciation. Consequently,
"plumb" has only four speech sounds but five printed letters, or graphemes.
Silent letters also can be found in the words "gnome," "psychosis," "rhombus," and
"pneumonia."
Exercise 2.1
Compose a list of 10 words that contain silent letters.
Many oddly spelled English words, and those that contain silent letters, are often
related to the origin of a word and usually reflect a spelling common to the lan-
guage from which it was borrowed. For example, words such as "pneumonia,"
"rhombus," and "cyst" are derived from the Greek language, helping explain their
particular spellings. In addition, we borrow entire words from other languages,
keeping their spelling intact. This only adds to our spelling irregularities. Exam-
ples of some words borrowed from other languages include:
quiche (French) karaoke (Japanese)

kielbasa (Polish) chutzpah (Yiddish)
sauerkraut (German) taekwondo (Korean)
tequila (Spanish) lasagna (Italian)
Chapter Two 11
Examine the word "through." The word has seven graphemes but only three
speech sounds: "th," "r," and "oo." Now examine the word "phlegm." How many
sounds (not letters) do you think are in this word? If you answered four, you are
correct-"f," "l," "e," and "m." Letters only tell us about spelling; they give no
clues as to the number of sounds in a word or the word's actual pronunciation. It
is imprecise to talk about a sound that may be associated with a particular alpha-
bet letter (or letters) because the letters may not be an accurate reflection of the
sound they represent. For instance, the grapheme "s" represents a different sound
in the word "size" than it does in the word "vision." What do you think is the
sound associated with the letter "g" in the word "phlegm"?
Exercise 2.2
Say each of the following words out loud to determine the number of sounds that
comprise each one. Write your answer in the blank.
Examples:
_3_ reed _4_ frog _4_ wince
lazy smooth cough

spilled driven oh
comb why raisin
thrill judge away
Because the Roman alphabet contains fewer letters than the number of speech
sounds in English, one alphabet letter often represents more than one speech sound.
For instance, the grapheme "c," in the words "cent" and "car," represents two dif-
ferent sounds. Likewise, the grapheme "o" represents six different sounds in the
words "cod," "bone," "women," "bough," "through," and "above." Sometimes
the same sequence of letters represents different sounds in English. For instance,
the letter sequence "ough" represents four different vowel sounds in the words
"through," "bough," "cough," and "rough." (Note that the spelling "ough" also rep-
resents the inclusion of the consonant / f/ in the last two words.) These examples
provide further evidence of why it is inappropriate to discuss sounds in association
with letters. After reading the previous information, how would you answer the
following question: What is the sound of the letter "o" or the letters "ough"?
Exercise 2.3
For each grapheme given, provide two words that demonstrate the varied use of
that grapheme.
Examples:
_c_ car city
_s_ vision sit

_ a_
continues
Exercise 2.3 (Cont)
_i_
__g_
_ f_
_ z_
Another way sound and spelling differ is that the same sound can be repre-
sented by more than one letter or sequence of letters. Allographs are different
letter sequences or patterns that represent the same sound. The following groups
of words contain allographs of a particular sound, represented by the underlined
letters. You will note that the sound associated with some allographs is predict-
able, while the sound associated with others is not. Keep in mind that for each
example, although the spelling is different, the sounds they represent are the same.
lQQP, through, thr~ fruit, canoe
mfill, conv~, h~te, steak
trite, try, trkd, filsle, hright
for, laugh, Illioto, muffin
shoe, .S.ean, caution, pregous, ti~ue
scene, mi~ ~ame, fensure
jam, exaggerate, gem, logge, soldier
Note in some of the examples that pairs of letters often represent one sound
because there are simply not enough single alphabet letters to represent all of the
sounds of English. These pairs of letters are called digraphs. Digraphs may be the
same two letters (as in "hoot," "heed," or "ti~ue ") or two completely different
letters (as in "shoe," "steak," or "trkd").
Exercise 2.4
Examine the underlined sounds (letter combinations) in the words in each row.
Place an "X" in front of the one word that does not share an allograph with the
others.
Example:
rfild C;!ke h~ x b;!Ck
1. shoe mea~ure ocean suffigent

2. chord liguor bisfuit rag
3. moon through though sfilt
4. wood dQne flood rgb
5. ife wa~ pre~ ~issors
Chapter Two 13
Morphemes, Phonemes, and Allophones

In this section, we will focus our attention on morphemes, phonemes, and allo-
phones. These three units of spoken language help form the foundation for the
study of phonetics. You will soon understand how a thorough understanding of
these three basic elements of language is essential in your mastery of phonetics
and phonetic transcription.
Morphemes: Units of Meaning

One key to understanding the irregularity of English spelling can be found if we
study the spelling patterns among words that share similar meaningful linguistic
units, or morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest unit of language capable of carry-
ing meaning. For instance, the word "book" is a morpheme. The word "book" carries
meaning because it connotes an item that is composed of pages with print, binding,
two covers, and so on. The word "chair" is also a morpheme; it conveys meaning.
Now consider the word "books." It contains two morphemes, the morpheme
"book" and the morpheme represented by the word ending -s. The -sending indicates
the plural form of the word, that is, more than one book. Since -s carries meaning,
it is a morpheme. Other examples of morphemes include regular verb endings (such
as -ed and -ing as in the words "walked" and "callillg"), prefixes (such as pre- and
re- as in "prepaid" and "reread"), and suffixes (such as -tion in "constitution" and
-ive as in "talkative"). Notice that syllables and morphemes are not the same thing.
It is possible for a one-syllable word, such as "books" or "walked," to have more
than one morpheme. Conversely, it is possible for words with more than one syl-
lable to be comprised of only one morpheme (e.g., "celery" and "asparagus").
Take a moment to examine the following three pairs of words. Notice that each
word pair shares the same morpheme. Say each pair aloud. What do you notice?
music musician phlegm phlegmatic press pressure
Hopefully you noted that although each pair shares the same morpheme, the pro-
nunciation of the morphemes in each pair is different. English morphemes tend
to be spelled the same even though the words that share them are pronounced in
a different manner. English spelling may not appear to be so odd if one consid-
ers the spelling of the morphemes that form the roots of many irregularly spelled
English words (MacKay, 1987).
Morphemes that can stand alone and still carry meaning, such as "book,"
"phlegm," "music," or "press," are called free morphemes. Morphemes (bold)
such as pre(date), re(tread), (book)s, (music)ian, and (press)ure are called bound
morphemes because they are bound to other words and carry no meaning when
they stand alone.
Having a good understanding of morphemes is important in the study of pho-
netics. However, when performing phonetic transcription, we will not focus on
morphemic analysis of words. Instead, our attention will be on individual speech
sounds, or phonemes.
Exercise 2.5
A. For each item below, think of another word that shares the same morpheme.
Example:
create creation
1. deduce 3. potent
2. protect 4. scrutiny
continues
Exercise 2.5 (Cont)
5. labor 8. decent
6. great 9. late
7. honest 10. magnet
B. Indicate the number of morphemes in each of the following words.
Examples:
_ 1_ cucumber _2_ reading _3_ reworked
caution running lived relistened

warmly finger talker kangaroo
prorated clarinetist sharply swarming
Phonemes and the International Phonetic

Alphabet (IPA)
A phoneme is an individual speech sound that is capable of differentiating mor-
phemes and therefore is capable of distinguishing meaning. Note that a morpheme
(such as "look") is composed of a string of individual phonemes. A change in a
single phoneme always will change the identity and meaning of the morpheme.
For example, by changing the initial phoneme from / 1/ to /b/ , the morpheme
"look" becomes "book." Using our definition of phoneme, we can say that the
phoneme / 1/ (or the phoneme / b/ ) differentiates the two morphemes "look" and
"book." By changing the final phoneme from It/ to /b/ , the morpheme "cat" is
distinguished from the morpheme "cab." In these two examples, a change of only
one phoneme results in the creation of two morphemes (words, in this case) with
completely different meaning. Words that vary by only one phoneme (in the same
word position) are called minimal pairs or minimal contrasts. "Look"/"book"
and "cat"/"cab" are examples of minimal pairs because they vary by only one pho-
neme. Other examples of minimal pairs include "hear"/ "beer," "through"/ "brew,"
"clip"/"click," and "brine"/ "bright." Notice that these words differ by only one
speech sound even though spelling shows more than one letter change.
Exercise 2.6
A. For each word below, create a minimal pair by writing a word in the blank.
The first five minimal pairs should reflect a change in the initial phoneme; the
second five should involve a change in the final phoneme.
Examples:
initial phoneme change seal
final phoneme change card
Continues
Chapter Two 15
Exercise 2.6 (Cont)
initial phoneme change final phoneme change

1. tame 6. heart
2. late 7. tone
3. call 8. web
4. could 9. cheap
5. boil 10. rub
B. Place an "X" next to the word pairs that are examples of minimal pairs.
1. kale, mail 6. find, fanned

_ _ 2. biog, blot 7. daughter, slaughter
3. smart, smarts 8. twitch, switch
4. rinse, sins 9. rings, brings
5. bird, burned _ _ 10. limes, rhymes
Because it is difficult to use the Roman alphabet to represent speech sounds, the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) has been adopted by linguists, phoneti-
cians, and speech and hearing professionals for the purpose of speech transcrip-
tion. The IPA is a phonetic alphabet; each symbol of the alphabet represents one
specific speech sound. The IPA was created for adoption by languages worldwide
by the International Phonetic Association, formed in 1886. The IPA symbols are
consistent from language to language. For example, the English word "sit" and
the German word "mit" (meaning "with") both have the same vowel. Therefore,
we would use the same vowel symbol to transcribe these words (/srt/ and / mrt/,
respectively). A list of all the common IPA symbols used in English is located in
Table 2.1.
The complete IPA chart (revised to 2015) is located in Figure 2.1. Take some
time to examine the chart. There are several sections that need to be highlighted.
The large area at the top, labeled CONSONANTS (PULMONIC), shows all the
consonants of the world's languages that are produced with an airstream from
the lungs. All English consonants are pulmonic consonants. Many of these sym-
bols may appear foreign to you. Compare the IPA pulmonic consonants with the
English consonant symbols given in Table 2.1. You will observe that many of the
symbols in the IPA chart represent sounds not present in spoken English. How-
ever, some of the non-English symbols are used in transcription of disordered
speech. This will be discussed in some detail in Chapter 8. Also, call your attention
to the section of NON-PULMONIC CONSONANTS that are produced without the
need for airflow from the lungs. Non-pulmonic consonants include the clicks often
heard in some African languages.
An especially important part of the IPA chart is labeled VOWELS. You will
note that the vowels are placed in various locations around a four-sided figure.
This quadrilateral is a schematic drawing of a speaker's mouth, or oral cavity.
The placement of the vowel symbols within the quadrilateral is roughly based on
where the tongue is located during production of the various vowels. As with the
consonants, many of the IPA vowel symbols are representative of speech sounds
not found in English.
TABLE 2.1 The IPA Symbols for American English Phonemes.

Symbol Key Word Symbol Key Word
Vowels Ii/ key / o/ Qkay
/ !/ win / J/ law
/ e/ rebate / a/ cod
/ f:/ red / <>/ _!!bout
/ re/ had /Al bud
/ u/ moon / "J'/ butt~
/ u/ wood 1~ 1 bird
Diphthongs / au/ how / er/ bake
/ ar/ tie / ou/ rose
/ JI/ boy
Consonants / p/ pork 1ri1 !hem
/bi bug / s/ say
It/ to / z/ zoo
/ d/ dog ! JI ship
!kl king / 3/ beige
l g/ go !hi hen
/ ml mad / tJ/ chew
/ n/ name / d3/ join
/ IJ/ ring / W/ wise

/ f/ for /j / yet
/ v/ vote / l/ row
/ 9/ iliink /l/ let
The area marked DIACRITICS presents another array of specialized symbols

that are used in conjunction with the IPA consonant and vowel symbols. Diacritics
are employed to indicate an alternate way of producing a certain sound.The use of
diacritical markings is explained in more detail in Chapter 8.
The last section of the IPA chart, most important for our purposes, is labeled
SUPRASEGMENTALS. The suprasegmental symbols are used to indicate the
stress, intonation pattern, and tempo of any particular utterance in a language.
As you look over the entire chart, you will notice that many of the unfamiliar
symbols appear similar to the letters of the Roman alphabet. This was one of the
guiding principles of the International Phonetic Association when creating the sym-
bols for the IPA. That is, all symbols of the IPA were designed to blend in with the let-
ters of the Roman alphabet (Handbook of the Intemati.onal Phoneti.c Associati.on, 1999).
Initially, the IPA chart will be confusing to you. As you progress through this
text, the chart will become less confusing and more meaningful in your study of
phonetics. Some good resources that will help you become better acquainted with
the sounds and symbols of the IPA can be found at the end of the chapter.
Chapter Two 17
Figure 2.1 The International Phonetic Alphabet (revised t o 20 15). Based on IPA Chart, http:// www.
intern ationalp honeticassociat ion.org/ content/ipa-chart, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-
Sharealike 3 .0 Unported License. Copyright © 2015 International Phonetic Association.
THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (revised to 2015)

CONSO NANTS (P ULMON IC) © 201 5 IPA
Bilabial Labiodental Dental IA lveolar I Posta lveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
Plosive p b t d t et c J k g q G I 71
Nasal m II] n 11. J1 I] N
Trill B r R
Tap or Flap V' f r
Fricative
Lateral
<I> 13 f v 8 al s zI I 3 ~ ~ 9 J x y xB h ) h fi
fricative i ~
Approximant u l { J UI
Lateral
approxim ant 1 l /:.. L
Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.
CONSONANTS (NON-PULMON IC) VOWELS
C licks Voiced implosives Ejectives Front Central Back

Close 1
y-1-Y--l \ l:l U ill
u
Q Bilabial 6 Bi labial ' Examples:
I Dental d Dental/alveolar p' Bi labial
J t'
Close-mid e f/J - - s\ e - - ¥ 0
'
:f
(Post)alveolar
Palatoalveolar g
Palatal
Velar k'
Dental/alveolar
Velar
d
II A lveolar latera l cf Uvular s' A lveolar fricative

Open-mid £ re - 3\ G- J\.
re u
OTHER SYM BO LS
Open a rn-~-a D
M. Voiceless labial-velar fricat ive <,; ~ Alveolo-palatal fricatives Where symbols appear in pairs, the one
to the right represents a rounded vowel.
W Voiced labial-velar approximant J Voiced alveolar lateral flap
q Voiced labial-palatal approximant fj Simultaneous J and X SU PRASEGMENTA LS
H Voiceless cpiglottal fricative Primary stress

Affricates and double articulations ,foun~'trJ~n
~ Voiced epiglottal fricative can be represented by two symbols 1 Secondary stress
'l Epiglottal plosive

joined by a tic bar if necessary.
' Long e:
0 ' Half-long e•
DIACRITI CS So me diacritics may be p laced above a symbol w ith a descender, e.g. I]
Extra-short e
0
Voiceless n d
0 0 .. Breathy voiced
R ~ n
Dental
t 9 Minor (foot) group
v
Voiced § ! - Creaky voiced
12 ;J. u
Apical
t g Major (intonation) group
h Aspirated th dh
- Linguolabial
t g Lamina!
t Q Syllable break 1i.iekt
tw dw - Nasalized
c
w e
)
More rounded
9 Labialized
Linking (ab sence of a break)
Less rounded y j Palatalized tj dj n Nasal release dn
' TONES AND WORD ACCENTS
+
Advanced
\l
y Velarized tY dY I Lateral release di LEVEL CONTOUR
,
..-
Retracted e 'I Pharyngeal ized t'l d'l No audible release d, e or 1 Extra
high e or ;1 Rising
Centralized e - Velarized or pharyngealized t e I High e \J Falling

x
Mid-central ized
x
e Raised y ( -! = voiced alveolar fricati ve) e -l Mid e 1 High
n smg
...
y ~
e _j Low e ~
Low
rising
'
Syl labic
i:i T
Lowered ( = voiced bilabial approximant)
e.i. J Extra
low e Ris ing-
~ fa lling
Non-syllabic
x "
Advanced Tongue Root y Downstep /' Global rise
.
~
t Upstcp
"" Rhoticity ()'- & Retracted Tongue Root
~
"'
Global fa ll
Exercise 2. 7
Examine the vowel symbols in Table 2.1. Which vowel symbol would be used to
transcribe each vowel in the following words?
Example:
beast i
1. lend 4. should
2. man 5. rude
3. flick 6 . week
Exercise 2.8
Examine the consonant symbols in Table 2.1. Which consonant symbol would be
used to transcribe the last consonant sound in each of the following words? Hint:
Listen to the last sound in each word as you say it aloud. Remember: Forget about
spelling!
Examples:
do~ _g_
rich ___tl_
1. ra!!! 4. SU!!&
2. laugh 5. ba!h
3. wish 6. leave
Exercise 2. 9
Which vowel or consonant IPA symbol would you use when transcribing the sounds
represented by the digraphs (underlined) in the following words? Write your
answer in the blank. (Consult Figure 2.1 and Table 2.1 to assist in completing this
exercise.)
1. shoe 7. mocked
2. !hem 8. wing
3. chew 9. exaggerate
4. gJ!!lt 10. biscuit
5 . wood 11. vigon
6 . rough 12. tabor
Complete Assignment 2-1.

Chapter Two 19
Allophones: Members of a Phoneme Family

The term phoneme has been discussed as a speech sound that can distinguish
one morpheme from another. However, there is another way to define phoneme.
We could also say that a phoneme is a family of sounds. Speech sounds are not
always produced the same way in every word. For example, the I ll in the word
"lip" is different from the I ll in the word "bottle." You might say to yourself:
How are they different? They are both / l/s. You need to consider how these I ll
sounds are produced in the mouth when saying these two words. In "lip," the
Ill is produced with the tongue toward the front of the mouth, and in the word
"bottle" the Ill is produced in the back of the mouth. Say them to yourself, and
you will discover that this is indeed true. These are but two examples of the I ll
family of sounds.
Members of a phoneme family are actually variant pronunciations of a par-
ticular phoneme. These variant pronunciations are called allophones. The front
(or light) /1/ and the back (or dark) / 1/ are allophones or variant productions of
the phoneme /1/. These two variants both can be found in the word "little" (the
first Ill is light; the second is dark). Try saying "little" by using the dark I ll at
the beginning of the word. Although the word may sound funny to you, it is still
recognizable as the word "little." For this reason, the variants of I ll are not indi-
vidual phonemes. Saying the word "little" with either the front or back / 1/ at the
beginning of the word does not change the identity or meaning of the original word.
That is, it does not result in the creation of a minimal pair.
Exercise 2.10
Try saying the / p/ sound in the word "keep" two different ways:
1. exploding (or releasing) the / p/
2. not exploding the / p/
(These are two allophones of the / p/ phoneme.)
Certain allophones must be produced a particular way due to the constraints

of the other sounds in a word, that is, the phonetic context. For instance, the /kl
sound in the word "kid" is produced close to the front of the mouth because the
vowel that follows it is a "front vowel," that is, a vowel produced toward the
front of the mouth. On the other hand, the / kl sound in "could" is produced
farther back in the mouth because the vowel following / k/ is a "back vowel"-
produced toward the back of the mouth. Say the two words, paying attention to
the position of your lips and tongue as you pronounce them. Hopefully you will
observe that there is a difference in the position of your speech organs. These two
allophones of ! kl are not interchangeable due to the phonetic constraints of
the vowel in each word. These allophones are said to be in complementary
distribution. That is, these two allophones of / kl are found in distinctly different
phonetic environments and are not free to vary in terms of where in the mouth
they may be produced.
Another example of complementary distribution involves production of / p/
in the words "pit" and "spit." In English, when / p/ is produced at the beginning
of a word, a small puff of air occurs after its release. The puff of air is called aspi-
ration. Say the word "pit" holding your hand in front of your mouth. You should
be able to feel the puff of air escaping from your lips following the production of
/p/. Whenever the phoneme / p/ follows the phoneme / s/ , as in the word "spit,"
it will always be unaspirated. Say the word "spit" holding your hand in front of
your mouth. You should feel less air than when you said the word "pit." Hold
your hand in front of your mouth alternating the productions of these two words.
You should be able to feel the variance in the airstream on your hand. These two
allophones of / p/ , aspirated and unaspirated, are in complementary distribution.
In English, unaspirated phonemes never occur in the initial position of a word.
However, unaspirated phonemes do occur at the beginning of words in many
other languages, including Vietnamese, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Tagalog.
In contrast to the examples just given, some allophones are not linked to pho-
netic context and therefore can be exchanged for one another; they are free to
vary. In Exercise 2.10 you were asked to say the word "keep" two different ways,
either releasing the / p/ or not; it is up to the speaker to decide. The phonetic en-
vironment has no bearing on whether the / p/ will be exploded. In this case, the
allophones of / p/ are said to be in free variation. Likewise, the final / t/ in the
word "hit" may be released or unreleased, depending on the speaker's individual
production of the word. These two variant productions (released or unreleased)
are allophones of I t/ that are in free variation.
Syllables and their Components

In conversational speech it is often difficult to determine where one phoneme
ends and the next one begins. This is due to the fact that in conversational speech,
phonemes are not produced in a serial order, one after the other. Instead, pho-
nemes are produced in an overlaid fashion due to overlapping movements of the
articulators (speech organs) during speech production. Because there is consider-
able overlap in phonemes during the production of speech, many phoneticians
and linguists suggest that the smallest unit of speech production is not the allo-
phone or phoneme but the syllable.
As you know, words are composed of one or more syllables. We all have
a general idea of what a syllable is. If you were asked how many syllables are
in the word "meatball," you would have little difficulty determining the correct
answer-two. Even though you have a general idea of what a syllable is, in actual-
ity it is quite difficult to answer the seemingly simple question: What is a syllable?
The reason for this difficulty is that a syllable may be defined in more than one
way. Also, phoneticians and linguists often do not agree on the actual definition
of a syllable.
We will begin our definition by stating that a syllable is a basic building
block of language that may be composed of either one vowel alone or a vowel
in combination with one or more consonants. This is a typical dictionary defi-
nition. However, for our purposes this definition is not adequate because it is
based on vowel and consonant letters, not vowel and consonant phonemes.
In most cases, it is easy to identify the number of syllables in a word. For
instance, we would agree that the words "control," "intend," and "downtown" all
have two syllables. Likewise, it is easy to determine that the words "contagious,"
"alphabet," and "tremendous" each have three syllables. However, it is not always
so easy to determine the number of syllables in a word. Using our simple diction-
ary definition, the words "feel" and "pool" would be one-syllable words. That is,
they each contain a vowel in combination with one or more consonant letters.
Many individuals, however, pronounce these words as two syllables. On the other
hand, some people pronounce these words as one syllable depending on their
individual speaking style and dialect. The word "pool" is pronounced by many as
"pull," as in "swimming pull." Likewise, some Southern speakers pronounce the
word "feel" as "fill," as in "I fill fine."
Another example involves the words "prism" and "chasm." According to
the basic definition, these words would be considered one syllable because they
Chapter Two 21
contain only one vowel. However, most speakers would probably consider these
words to consist of two syllables. One last example involves the pronunciation of
words like "camera" or "chocolate." These words have three vowels but can be
pronounced as either two or three syllables, depending on whether the speaker
pronounces the middle vowel (i.e., "camra" or "choclate"). Both pronunciations
are considered appropriate for either word.
Obviously a better definition of "syllable" is necessary to help overcome these
difficulties. One way to refine our definition might be to more fully describe a
syllable's internal structure, using terms other than consonant and vowel. It is
possible to divide English syllables into two components: onset and rhyme. The
onset of a syllable consists of all the consonants that precede a vowel, as in the
words "split," "tried," and "fast" (onset is in bold letters). Note that the onset may
consist of either a single consonant or a consonant cluster (two or three contigu-
ous consonants in the same syllable).
In syllables with no initial consonant, there is no onset. Examples of words
with no onset are "eat," "I," and the first syllable in the word "afraid." Note
that the second syllable of "afraid" has an onset consisting of the consonant
cluster ! fl/ .
Exercise 2.11
Circle the syllables in the following one-syllable and two-syllable words containing
an onset. (For the two-syllable words, circle any syllable with an onset.)
ouch crab hoe oats elm your
react cargo beware atone courage eating
The rhyme of a syllable is divided into two components, the nucleus and the
coda. The nucleus is typically a vowel. The nuclei of the words "split," "tried,"
and "fast" are indicated in bold letters. However, several consonants in English
may be considered to be the nucleus of a syllable in certain instances. In the
words "chasm" and "feel, " the / m/ and / 1/ phonemes would be considered to be
the nucleus of the second syllable of each word (if "feel" is pronounced as a two-
syllable word). In these words, the consonants / ml and / 1/ assume the role of the
vowel in the second syllable. When consonants take on the role of vowels, they
are called syllabic consonants.
The coda includes either single consonants or consonant clusters that follow
the nucleus of a syllable, as in the words "split," "tried," and "fast." In some
instances the coda may, in fact, have no elements at all, as in the words "me,"
"shoe," "oh," and "pry." In these examples, remember to forget spelling and focus
on the sounds in the words.
Exercise 2.12
Circle the letters that make up the nucleus in the following words. Some of the
words have more than one nucleus.
shrine scold plea produce schism away
elope selfish auto biceps flight truce
Exercise 2.13
Circle the word(s) (or syllables) that have a coda.

through spa rough bough row spray
lawful funny create inverse candy reply
To further illustrate the nomenclature associated with syllables, the struc-

ture of the one-syllable words "scrub," "each," and "three" are detailed in "tree
diagrams" (Figure 2.2). The onset, rhyme, nucleus, and coda of each word are
labeled appropriately. The Greek letter sigma (o) is used to indicate a syllable
division. Note the null symbol (cp), which indicates the absence of the onset and
coda in two of the examples. Diagrams of the two-syllable words "behave" and
"prism" follow the diagrams of the one-syllable words (refer to Figure 2.3). Notice
in Figure 2.3 that the consonant / ml in "prism" forms the nucleus of the second
syllable.
Syllables that end with a vowel phoneme (no coda) are called open syllables.
Examples include "the," "I," and both syllables of the word "maybe." Sylla-
bles with a coda-that is, those that end with a consonant phoneme-are called
closed syllables. Examples of closed syllables are "had," "keg, " and both syllables
of the word "contain." When determining whether a syllable is open or closed,
Figure 2.2 Syllable structure of the one-syllable words " scrub," "eac h,"
and "three."
onset rhyme
-------~
nucleus coda
I I
scr u b
onset rhyme
~ ~ No Onset
nucleus coda
I
ea eh
~ a~
onset rhyme
/ ~ No Coda
nucleus coda
thr ee
"'
Chapter Two 23
Figure 2.3 Syllable structure of the two-syllab le words "behave" and "prism."
------------- word ----------
onset / rhyme \ onset rhyme

/ '\
nucleus coda nucleus coda
I I I I
b e ~ h a ve
word - - - - - -
/a~
onset / rhyme """
nucleus coda
I
pr m
you need to pay attention to the phonemic specification of the syllable, not its
spelling. More examples of open and closed syllables are given below.
Words with Open Syllables Words with Closed Syllables

One-Syllable Two-Syllable One-Syllable Two-Syllable
he allow corn captive
bow daily suave chalice
may belie wish dentist
rye zebra charge English
through hobo slammed invest
Exercise 2.14
A. Examine the following two-syllable words. Indicate whether the first syllable is
open (0) or closed (C) by filling in the blank with the appropriate letter.
Examples: _Q_ around blistered

pliant comply coerced minutes
decree encase flatly preface
B. Examine the same two-syllable words as those in the previous exercise. Indicate
whether the second syllable is open (0) or closed (C) by filling in the blank with
the appropriate letter.
Examples: around blistered

pliant comply coerced minutes
decree encase flatly preface

Consonant and Vowel Patterns in English Syllables

In English there are a few single-syllable words that only are comprised of a
vowel or diphthong nucleus with no onset or coda, e.g., "I," "oh," and "a."
A diphthong is an individual phoneme containing two vowels. The words "I,"
"toy," and "cow" all have diphthongs as their nucleus. (More will be said of
diphthongs in Chapter 4.) There are no English words that are solely comprised
of a single consonant. This is because all English syllables must contain a vowel
or diphthong nucleus; the number of consonants in any individual syllable is
variable. English syllables are typically complex, containing a combination of
vowels and consonants. The simplest syllables in English are usually made up
of either one consonant followed by a vowel (abbreviated as CV) or one vowel
followed by a consonant (VC). Virtually all of the world's languages have CV
syllables. Also, because of their simplicity, one-syllable CV words are the first
words that children typically produce. Some examples of CV syllables include
the words "fee," "so," "the," and "chew." Some examples of VC syllables include
the words "up," "on," "it," and "oak." The largest one-syllable word in English,
"strengths" (transcribed as /st.rel)k8s/ ), is of the form CCCVCCCC. The syllable
is comprised of a three-consonant onset /st1/, the mandatory vowel nucleus /e/,
and a four consonant coda / IJk8s/. Table 2.2 provides examples of other English
syllable CV patterns.
TABLE 2.2 Examples of Eng lish Syllable CV Patterns.

Syllable Pattern Examples Syllable Pattern Examples
CV to, me ccvc crop, dream

CCV spy, true CCVCC stand, prank
CCCV straw, spry CCVCCC pranced, cringed
vc at, each ccvcccc twelfths
vcc ask, ox cceve strap, scream
vccc axed, Alps CCCVCC strict, splashed
scrounged,
eve top, can CCCVCCC
squints
cvcc picked, hasp cccvcccc strengths
CVCCC salts, helped
Exercise 2.15
Provide one English word for each of the given syllable patterns. Do not u.se the
examples given in Table 2.2.
1. CV 5. ccvc
2. CCV 6. cvcc
3. CVC 7. CCVCC
4. vcc 8.CVCCC
Every language has what is known as a canonical syllable. The canonical

syllable for any particular language indicates how many consonants may occur
both before and after the vowel nucleus in any one syllable (Maddieson, 2013c).
In English the canonical syllable is of the form (C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C), as in the
Chapter Two 25
word "strengths." That is, in English up to three optional consonants (indicated

by the parentheses) may precede a vowel, and up to four optional consonants
may follow a vowel in any one syllable (refer to Table 2.2). Note that the vowel
is not enclosed with parentheses since it is a mandatory element of every syllable.
English has a much more extensive syllable inventory than some other languages.
In fact, the CV is the canonical syllable in a small number of languages, including
Hawaiian. Other languages, including Fijian, have a (C)V canonical syllable where
the initial consonant is optional. A large number of languages have a more com-
plex syllable inventory, similar to English. These include Hindi, French, German,
Polish, Russian, and Norwegian, as well as several African and Native American
languages (Maddieson, 2013c).
Primary Word Stress

In words with more than one syllable, one syllable is produced with the great-
est force or greatest muscular energy. The increased muscular energy causes the
syllable to stand apart from the others due to greater emphasis of the syllable.
This increased emphasis in the production of one syllable is commonly referred
to as word stress or lexical stress. The increase in muscular energy or emphasis
results in a syllable that is perceived by listeners as longer in duration, higher
in pitch, and, to a lesser extent, louder (i.e., greater in intensity). The rise in
pitch is particularly important in alerting listeners to the stressed syllable in a
word (Lehiste, 1970). Phoneticians also refer to word stress, or lexical stress, as
word accent (Calvert, 1986; Cruttenden, 2008).
Stress is not a trivial matter in learning and understanding spoken language.
When we hear a word such as "confuse," we recognize it not only because of
the particular phonemes that comprise it but also because of the inherent stress
pattern of the word. Try saying this word by changing the stress to the first syl-
lable, that is, CONfuse. The word now sounds somewhat odd because the string of
phonemes does not coincide with the new stress pattern. The unique combination
of these individual phonemes and this particular stress pattern does not match
any item stored in your mental dictionary. As language is developed, children
(not just those learning English) must master not only the phonemes that make
up individual words but also their associated stress patterns. However, the stress
patterns of different languages vary remarkably. One major reason why foreign
speakers of English (or any second language) have difficulty with pronunciation
is lack of knowledge of the stress patterns of the new language being learned.
Second-language learners often sound "foreign," that is, have an "accent," when
using the stress pattern of their native language while speaking a second language.
Words that have more than one syllable always have one particular syllable
that receives primary stress (i.e., the greatest emphasis). For example, the bisyllabic
(two-syllable) word "SJSter" has primary stress on the first syllable. The multi-
syllabic (more than two-syllable) word "courAgeous" has primary stress on the
second syllable. Syllables in bisyllabic and multisyllabic words that do not receive
primary stress may receive secondary stress or no stress, depending on the level of
emphasis given to the individual syllable. As you will see, the specific syllable that
receives primary stress in multisyllabic English words is quite variable. However,
many languages have a fixed stress pattern for multisyllabic words. For example, a
word's first syllable always receives primary stress in Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian,
and Bengali. The penultimate (second-to-last) syllable always receives primary
stress in a number of languages, including Polish, Welsh, Hawaiian, Tagalog, and
some Native American languages (Goedemans and Hulst, 2013).
Word (lexical) stress is extremely important in learning the phonetic tran-
scription of English because some of the IPA symbols indicate which syllable in a
word receives primary stress. Although it is possible to learn how to mark levels
of stress in multisyllabic words (i.e., primary versus secondary stress), for now
we will focus primarily on indicating whether a syllable receives primary stress.
Some students will experience little difficulty in identifying the syllable with
primary stress in bisyllabic and multisyllabic words. Unfortunately, for many this
ability is extremely trying. Part of the reason for this difficulty is that, although
we know how to use stress correctly in production of speech, we are not accustomed
to thinking about stress patterns in the perception of speech. As communicators,
we simply are not used to listening to speech and identifying stressed syllables in
words. Researchers have been successful in enumerating the rules that govern the
location of primary stress in words (Chomsky & Halle, 1968; Cruttenden, 2008;
Jones, 1967). However, the rules do have exceptions, and they are also difficult
to remember. During transcription of speech, there is simply not enough time to
think about the rules governing stress in words. For purposes of phonetic tran-
scription, what is important is the ability to hear the location of primary stress in
words, not the rules that govern how stress is assigned to syllables. Fortunately,
the ability to identify (hear) the location of primary stress in words can be devel-
oped in time with much listening practice.
Examine the following bisyllabic words. Say them aloud. What do you notice
about the stress patterns of these words? (Hint: They all have the same stress
pattern.)
contain aware berserk charade

inspect reveal suppose detain
Hopefully, you determined that the second syllable of each of these words
receives primary stress. Say the words again, paying careful attention to the
increased pitch associated with the second syllable:
conTAIN a WARE berSERK chaRADE

inSPECT reVEAL supPOSE deTAIN
The IPA symbol used for indicating the primary stress of a word is a raised
mark (') placed at the initiation of the stressed syllable. The words above would
be marked in the following manner to indicate second-syllable stress:
con'tain a'ware ber'serk cha'rade

in'spect re'veal sup'pose de'tain
Now examine the following bisyllabic words. Each of these words contain.first
syllable primary stress:
'teacher 'certain 'careful 'practice

'plural 'larynx 'primate 'contact
Exercise 2.16
One word in each row does not have the same stress pattern as the others. Circle the
word that does not have the same stress pattern.
1. dandruff shampoo bottle fragrance
2. cologne souffle surreal careful
3. always never okay maybe
4. Marie Sarah April Lizzie
5. intrude instruct invade injure
Chapter Two 27
Word stress, in addition to its role in pronunciation, also helps differentiate words
that are spelled the same but vary in part of speech, or word class (i.e., whether a
word is a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.). For instance, the words "'contract"
(noun) and "con'tract" (verb), although spelled the same, have different stress pat-
terns. The noun form 'contract has stress placed on the first syllable, whereas the verb
form con'tract has word stress on the second syllable. Note that the change in the stress
pattern not only changes the meaning of the word but also changes its pronunciation.
Say these two words aloud. How do the two words differ in pronunciation? You prob-
ably noted that as stress changes, vowel pronunciation changes in one or both sylla-
bles. Other examples of two-syllable noun/ verb pairs differing in word stress include:
Noun Verb Noun Verb

'conflict con'flict 'permit per'mit
'record re 'cord 'subject sub'j ect
'digest di'gest 'rebel re'bel
'convert con'vert 'conduct con' duct
Note that in these word pairs, the noun form always receives first-syllable stress,
and the verb form always receives second-syllable stress.
Exercise 2.17
Circle the words that can be spoken as both a noun and a verb by shifting the stress
pattern between the first and second syllables.
propose contest protest congress research

project consume compress reasoned confines
Because identifying the primary stress in bisyllabic and multisyllabic words is

a difficult chore, the following 12 word lists will provide you with some practice in
listening for primary stress in words. These word lists (and accompanying exer-
cises) are designed to make you focus on one particular stress pattern at a time. The
lists begin with bisyllabic words and progress to multisyllabic words. As you exam-
ine each list, say the words aloud, focusing on the particular stress pattern being
demonstrated. Listen to each list several times until you are comfortable with the
stress pattern being demonstrated. If you experience any difficulty with Exercises
2.18, 2.19, and 2.20, review the word lists until you understand your errors.
List 1: Bisyllabic words; first-syllable stress (words beginning with "e")

edict easy eager Easter
Egypt ether either even
Ethan eagle eater ego
Note: Keep in mind that words beginning with the letter "e" do not always
have first-syllable stress. Examine the words in List 2.
List 2: Bisyllabic words; second-syllable stress (words beginning with "e")
eclipse elapse efface effect

elate elect ellipse elude
Elaine emote enough erupt
List 3: Bisyllabic words; first-syllable stress (words beginning with "o")

over ocean omen owner
Oprah onus oboe ogre
okra open ozone odor
Note: Keep in mind that words beginning with the letter "o" do not always
List 4: Bisyllabic words; second-syllable stress (words beginning with "o")

overt obey oppress ole
okay oblique obese oblige
List 5: Bisyllabic words; first-syllable stress (words beginning with "in")

invoice instant inbred insect
inner inches ingrate infant
income index infield inlay
Note: Keep in mind that words beginning with the letters "in" do not always
List 6: Bisyllabic words; second-syllable stress (words beginning with "in")

inspire instead induce inject
infect inflict indeed inept
infer inscribe intrude involve
List 7: Bisyllabic words; second-syllable stress (words beginning with "a")

around abuse abort amass avoid abode
away aware arise alike afloat avenge
abrupt adorn accost atone aloof aghast
alas akin avow adapt afraid anoint
Note: There are many words in English (such as those in List 7) that begin
with the letter "a." The vowel phoneme associated with the sound at the
beginning of these words is called schwa, represented with the IPA symbol / 'd/ .
This unstressed vowel constitutes its own syllable in all of the words in List 7.
List 8: Bisyllabic words; first-syllable stress

engine master caring lucky staples Harold
plastic rowing neither happen Dayton careful
forest whisper quandary listless tantrum nacho
siphon solo hidden trophy panda Pittsburgh
Note: Most, but not all, two-syllable words in English have first-syllable primary
stress. Examine List 9 for two-syllable words with second-syllable primary stress.
List 9: Bisyllabic words; second-syllable stress

remove control serene carafe pertain repulse
arranged remain caffeine repute suppose untrue
perspire beside react Brazil invoke humane
manure discrete compress admire assist beguile
(verb)
Chapter Two 29
List 10: Three-syllable words; first-syllable stress

realize horrible circulate fidgety element hypnotize
hydrogen insulin character mediate critical Michigan
premium rivalry sacrifice tolerant verbalize readable
yesterday xylophone mystify glorious caraway terrible
List 11: Three-syllable words; second-syllable stress

Missouri insipid metallic Ohio betrayal inscription
confusion diploma abortion courageous erosion contagious
awareness preparing computer neurotic palatial morphemic
repulsive reminded semantics charisma aroma transistor
List 12: Three-syllable words; third-syllable stress

interrupt indiscreet Illinois prearrange disrespect contradict
minuet intervene buccaneer decompose interfere masquerade
reprehend obsolete readjust disinfect reapply connoisseur
reimburse introduce predispose disenchant represent nondescript
Note: It is possible to pronounce most of the words in List 12 with stress on
the first syllable, depending on your own speaking habit and dialect. In addi-
tion, the location of stress in a multisyllabic word may change, depending on
the message the speaker wishes to convey.
Exercise 2.18
Circle the words that have second-syllable stress.
decoy mirage pastel puzzle regret platoon

stipend thesis undo reason falter Maureen
timid planted derail virtue restricts peon
transcend parade circus suspend movie shoulder
lucid cajole devoid cassette provide merchant
Exercise 2.19
Circle the three-syllable words that have .first-syllable stress.
pondering edited consequent misery calendar ebony

plentiful asterisk pharyngeal persona distinctive example
surrounded December caribou underling Barbados lasagna
terrified hydrangea telephoned contended perfected India
musical skeletal courageous umbrella Philistine perusal
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Sheridan—men who were Americans and nothing else: while the
Irish who remain such, and busy themselves solely with alien
politics, can have only an unhealthy influence upon American life,
and can never rise as do their compatriots who become straightout
Americans. Thus it has ever been with all people who have come
hither, of whatever stock or blood. The same thing is true of the
churches. A church which remains foreign, in language or spirit, is
doomed.
But I wish to be distinctly understood on one point. Americanism is
a question of spirit, conviction, and purpose, not of creed or
birthplace. The politician who bids for the Irish or German vote, or
the Irishman or German who votes as an Irishman or German, is
despicable, for all citizens of this commonwealth should vote solely
as Americans; but he is not a whit less despicable than the voter
who votes against a good American, merely because that American
happens to have been born in Ireland or Germany. Know-
nothingism, in any form, is as utterly un-American as foreignism. It is
a base outrage to oppose a man because of his religion or
birthplace, and all good citizens will hold any such effort in
abhorrence. A Scandinavian, a German, or an Irishman who has
really become an American has the right to stand on exactly the
same footing as any native-born citizen in the land, and is just as
much entitled to the friendship and support, social and political, of his
neighbors. Among the men with whom I have been thrown in close
personal contact socially, and who have been among my staunchest
friends and allies politically, are not a few Americans who happen to
have been born on the other side of the water, in Germany, Ireland,
Scandinavia; and there could be no better men in the ranks of our
native-born citizens.
In closing, I cannot better express the ideal attitude that should be
taken by our fellow-citizens of foreign birth than by quoting the words
of a representative American, born in Germany, the Honorable
Richard Guenther, of Wisconsin. In a speech spoken at the time of
the Samoan trouble, he said:
“We know as well as any other class of American citizens
where our duties belong. We will work for our country in time
of peace and fight for it in time of war, if a time of war should
ever come. When I say our country, I mean, of course, our
adopted country. I mean the United States of America. After
passing through the crucible of naturalization, we are no
longer Germans; we are Americans. Our attachment to
America cannot be measured by the length of our residence
here. We are Americans from the moment we touch the
American shore until we are laid in American graves. We will
fight for America whenever necessary. America, first, last, and
all the time. America against Germany, America against the
world; America, right or wrong; always America. We are
Americans.”
All honor to the man who spoke such words as those; and I
believe they express the feelings of the great majority of those
among our fellow-American citizens who were born abroad. We
Americans can only do our allotted task well if we face it steadily and
bravely, seeing but not fearing the dangers. Above all we must stand
shoulder to shoulder, not asking as to the ancestry or creed of our
comrades, but only demanding that they be in very truth Americans,
and that we all work together, heart, hand, and head, for the honor
and the greatness of our common country.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] The Forum, April, 1894.
III
THE MANLY VIRTUES AND PRACTICAL
POLITICS[4]
Sometimes, in addressing men who sincerely desire the

betterment of our public affairs, but who have not taken active part in
directing them, I feel tempted to tell them that there are two gospels
which should be preached to every reformer. The first is the gospel
of morality; the second is the gospel of efficiency.
To decent, upright citizens it is hardly necessary to preach the
doctrine of morality as applied to the affairs of public life. It is an
even graver offence to sin against the commonwealth than to sin
against an individual. The man who debauches our public life,
whether by malversation of funds in office, by the actual bribery of
voters or of legislators, or by the corrupt use of the offices as spoils
wherewith to reward the unworthy and the vicious for their noxious
and interested activity in the baser walks of political life,—this man is
a greater foe to our well-being as a nation than is even the defaulting
cashier of a bank, or the betrayer of a private trust. No amount of
intelligence and no amount of energy will save a nation which is not
honest, and no government can ever be a permanent success if
administered in accordance with base ideals. The first requisite in
the citizen who wishes to share the work of our public life, whether
he wishes himself to hold office or merely to do his plain duty as an
American by taking part in the management of our political
machinery, is that he shall act disinterestedly and with a sincere
purpose to serve the whole commonwealth.
But disinterestedness and honesty and unselfish desire to do what
is right are not enough in themselves. A man must not only be
disinterested, but he must be efficient. If he goes into politics he
must go into practical politics, in order to make his influence felt.
Practical politics must not be construed to mean dirty politics. On the
contrary, in the long run the politics of fraud and treachery and
foulness are unpractical politics, and the most practical of all
politicians is the politician who is clean and decent and upright. But a
man who goes into the actual battles of the political world must
prepare himself much as he would for the struggle in any other
branch of our life. He must be prepared to meet men of far lower
ideals than his own, and to face things, not as he would wish them,
but as they are. He must not lose his own high ideal, and yet he
must face the fact that the majority of the men with whom he must
work have lower ideals. He must stand firmly for what he believes,
and yet he must realize that political action, to be effective, must be
the joint action of many men, and that he must sacrifice somewhat of
his own opinions to those of his associates if he ever hopes to see
his desires take practical shape.
The prime thing that every man who takes an interest in politics
should remember is that he must act, and not merely criticise the
actions of others. It is not the man who sits by his fireside reading his
evening paper, and saying how bad our politics and politicians are,
who will ever do anything to save us; it is the man who goes out into
the rough hurly-burly of the caucus, the primary, and the political
meeting, and there faces his fellows on equal terms. The real service
is rendered, not by the critic who stands aloof from the contest, but
by the man who enters into it and bears his part as a man should,
undeterred by the blood and the sweat. It is a pleasant but a
dangerous thing to associate merely with cultivated, refined men of
high ideals and sincere purpose to do right, and to think that one has
done all one’s duty by discussing politics with such associates. It is a
good thing to meet men of this stamp; indeed it is a necessary thing,
for we thereby brighten our ideals, and keep in touch with the people
who are unselfish in their purposes; but if we associate with such
men exclusively we can accomplish nothing. The actual battle must
be fought out on other and less pleasant fields. The actual advance
must be made in the field of practical politics among the men who
represent or guide or control the mass of the voters, the men who
are sometimes rough and coarse, who sometimes have lower ideals
than they should, but who are capable, masterful, and efficient. It is
only by mingling on equal terms with such men, by showing them
that one is able to give and to receive heavy punishment without
flinching, and that one can master the details of political
management as well as they can, that it is possible for a man to
establish a standing that will be useful to him in fighting for a great
reform. Every man who wishes well to his country is in honor bound
to take an active part in political life. If he does his duty and takes
that active part he will be sure occasionally to commit mistakes and
to be guilty of shortcomings. For these mistakes and shortcomings
he will receive the unmeasured denunciation of the critics who
commit neither because they never do anything but criticise.
Nevertheless he will have the satisfaction of knowing that the
salvation of the country ultimately lies, not in the hands of his critics,
but in the hands of those who, however imperfectly, actually do the
work of the nation. I would not for one moment be understood as
objecting to criticism or failing to appreciate its importance. We need
fearless criticism of our public men and public parties; we need
unsparing condemnation of all persons and all principles that count
for evil in our public life: but it behooves every man to remember that
the work of the critic, important though it is, is of altogether
secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is
accomplished by the man who does the things, and not by the man
who talks about how they ought or ought not to be done.
Therefore the man who wishes to do good in his community must
go into active political life. If he is a Republican, let him join his local
Republican association; if a Democrat, the Democratic association; if
an Independent, then let him put himself in touch with those who
think as he does. In any event let him make himself an active force
and make his influence felt. Whether he works within or without party
lines he can surely find plenty of men who are desirous of good
government, and who, if they act together, become at once a power
on the side of righteousness. Of course, in a government like ours, a
man can accomplish anything only by acting in combination with
others, and equally, of course, a number of people can act together
only by each sacrificing certain of his beliefs or prejudices. That man
is indeed unfortunate who cannot in any given district find some
people with whom he can conscientiously act. He may find that he
can do best by acting within a party organization; he may find that he
can do best by acting, at least for certain purposes, or at certain
times, outside of party organizations, in an independent body of
some kind; but with some association he must act if he wishes to
exert any real influence.
One thing to be always remembered is that neither independence
on the one hand nor party fealty on the other can ever be accepted
as an excuse for failure to do active work in politics. The party man
who offers his allegiance to party as an excuse for blindly following
his party, right or wrong, and who fails to try to make that party in any
way better, commits a crime against the country; and a crime quite
as serious is committed by the independent who makes his
independence an excuse for easy self-indulgence, and who thinks
that when he says he belongs to neither party he is excused from the
duty of taking part in the practical work of party organizations. The
party man is bound to do his full share in party management. He is
bound to attend the caucuses and the primaries, to see that only
good men are put up, and to exert his influence as strenuously
against the foes of good government within his party, as, through his
party machinery, he does against those who are without the party. In
the same way the independent, if he cannot take part in the regular
organizations, is bound to do just as much active constructive work
(not merely the work of criticism) outside; he is bound to try to get up
an organization of his own and to try to make that organization felt in
some effective manner. Whatever course the man who wishes to do
his duty by his country takes in reference to parties or to
independence of parties, he is bound to try to put himself in touch
with men who think as he does, and to help make their joint influence
felt in behalf of the powers that go for decency and good
government. He must try to accomplish things; he must not vote in
the air unless it is really necessary. Occasionally a man must cast a
“conscience vote,” when there is no possibility of carrying to victory
his principles or his nominees; at times, indeed, this may be his
highest duty; but ordinarily this is not the case. As a general rule a
man ought to work and vote for something which there is at least a a
fair chance of putting into effect.
Yet another thing to be remembered by the man who wishes to
make his influence felt for good in our politics is that he must act
purely as an American. If he is not deeply imbued with the American
spirit he cannot succeed. Any organization which tries to work along
the line of caste or creed, which fails to treat all American citizens on
their merits as men, will fail, and will deserve to fail. Where our
political life is healthy, there is and can be no room for any
movement organized to help or to antagonize men because they do
or do not profess a certain religion, or because they were or were not
born here or abroad. We have a right to ask that those with whom
we associate, and those for whom we vote, shall be themselves
good Americans in heart and spirit, unhampered by adherence to
foreign ideals, and acting without regard to the national and religious
prejudices of European countries; but if they really are good
Americans in spirit and thought and purpose, that is all that we have
any right to consider in regard to them. In the same way there must
be no discrimination for or against any man because of his social
standing. On the one side, there is nothing to be made out of a
political organization which draws an exclusive social line, and on
the other it must be remembered that it is just as un-American to
vote against a man because he is rich as to vote against him
because he is poor. The one man has just as much right as the other
to claim to be treated purely on his merits as a man. In short, to do
good work in politics, the men who organize must organize wholly
without regard to whether their associates were born here or abroad,
whether they are Protestants or Catholics, Jews or Gentiles, whether
they are bankers or butchers, professors or day-laborers. All that can
rightly be asked of one’s political associates is that they shall be
honest men, good Americans, and substantially in accord as regards
their political ideas.
Another thing that must not be forgotten by the man desirous of
doing good political work is the need of the rougher, manlier virtues,
and above all the virtue of personal courage, physical as well as
moral. If we wish to do good work for our country we must be
unselfish, disinterested, sincerely desirous of the well-being of the
commonwealth, and capable of devoted adherence to a lofty ideal;
but in addition we must be vigorous in mind and body, able to hold
our own in rough conflict with our fellows, able to suffer punishment
without flinching, and, at need, to repay it in kind with full interest. A
peaceful and commercial civilization is always in danger of suffering
the loss of the virile fighting qualities without which no nation,
however cultured, however refined, however thrifty and prosperous,
can ever amount to anything. Every citizen should be taught, both in
public and in private life, that while he must avoid brawling and
quarrelling, it is his duty to stand up for his rights. He must realize
that the only man who is more contemptible than the blusterer and
bully is the coward. No man is worth much to the commonwealth if
he is not capable of feeling righteous wrath and just indignation, if he
is not stirred to hot anger by misdoing, and is not impelled to see
justice meted out to the wrong-doers. No man is worth much
anywhere if he does not possess both moral and physical courage. A
politician who really serves his country well, and deserves his
country’s gratitude, must usually possess some of the hardy virtues
which we admire in the soldier who serves his country well in the
field.
An ardent young reformer is very apt to try to begin by reforming
too much. He needs always to keep in mind that he has got to serve
as a sergeant before he assumes the duties of commander-in-chief.
It is right for him from the beginning to take a great interest in
National, State, and Municipal affairs, and to try to make himself felt
in them if the occasion arises; but the best work must be done by the
citizen working in his own ward or district. Let him associate himself
with the men who think as he does, and who, like him, are sincerely
devoted to the public good. Then let them try to make themselves
felt in the choice of alderman, of council-man, of assemblyman. The
politicians will be prompt to recognize their power, and the people
will recognize it too, after a while. Let them organize and work,
undaunted by any temporary defeat. If they fail at first, and if they fail
again, let them merely make up their minds to redouble their efforts,
and perhaps alter their methods; but let them keep on working.
It is sheer unmanliness and cowardice to shrink from the contest
because at first there is failure, or because the work is difficult or
repulsive. No man who is worth his salt has any right to abandon the
effort to better our politics merely because he does not find it
pleasant, merely because it entails associations which to him
happen to be disagreeable. Let him keep right on, taking the buffets
he gets good-humoredly, and repaying them with heartiness when
the chance arises. Let him make up his mind that he will have to face
the violent opposition of the spoils politician, and also, too often, the
unfair and ungenerous criticism of those who ought to know better.
Let him be careful not to show himself so thin-skinned as to mind
either; let him fight his way forward, paying only so much regard to
both as is necessary to enable him to win in spite of them. He may
not, and indeed probably will not, accomplish nearly as much as he
would like to, or as he thinks he ought to: but he will certainly
accomplish something; and if he can feel that he has helped to
elevate the type of representative sent to the municipal, the State, or
the national legislature from his district, or to elevate the standard of
duty among the public officials in his own ward, he has a right to be
profoundly satisfied with what he has accomplished.
Finally, there is one other matter which the man who tries to wake
his fellows to higher political action would do well to ponder. It is a
good thing to appeal to citizens to work for good government
because it will better their estate materially, but it is a far better thing
to appeal to them to work for good government because it is right in
itself to do so. Doubtless, if we can have clean honest politics, we
shall be better off in material matters. A thoroughly pure, upright, and
capable administration of the affairs of New York city results in a very
appreciable increase of comfort to each citizen. We should have
better systems of transportation; we should have cleaner streets,
better sewers, and the like. But it is sometimes difficult to show the
individual citizen that he will be individually better off in his business
and in his home affairs for taking part in politics. I do not think it is
always worth while to show that this will always be the case. The
citizen should be appealed to primarily on the ground that it is his
plain duty, if he wishes to deserve the name of freeman, to do his full
share in the hard and difficult work of self-government. He must do
his share unless he is willing to prove himself unfit for free
institutions, fit only to live under a government where he will be
plundered and bullied because he deserves to be plundered and
bullied on account of his selfish timidity and short-sightedness. A
clean and decent government is sure in the end to benefit our
citizens in the material circumstances of their lives; but each citizen
should be appealed to, to take part in bettering our politics, not for
the sake of any possible improvement it may bring to his affairs, but
on the ground that it is his plain duty to do so, and that this is a duty
which it is cowardly and dishonorable in him to shirk.
To sum up, then, the men who wish to work for decent politics
must work practically, and yet must not swerve from their devotion to
a high ideal. They must actually do things, and not merely confine
themselves to criticising those who do them. They must work
disinterestedly, and appeal to the disinterested element in others,
although they must also do work which will result in the material
betterment of the community. They must act as Americans through
and through, in spirit and hope and purpose, and, while being
disinterested, unselfish, and generous in their dealings with others,
they must also show that they possess the essential manly virtues of
energy, of resolution, and of indomitable personal courage.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] The Forum, July, 1894.
IV
THE COLLEGE GRADUATE AND PUBLIC LIFE[5]
There are always, in our national life, certain tendencies that give
us ground for alarm, and certain others that give us ground for hope.
Among the latter we must put the fact that there has undoubtedly
been a growing feeling among educated men that they are in honor
bound to do their full share of the work of American public life.
We have in this country an equality of rights. It is the plain duty of
every man to see that his rights are respected. That weak good-
nature which acquiesces in wrong-doing, whether from laziness,
timidity, or indifference, is a very unwholesome quality. It should be
second nature with every man to insist that he be given full justice.
But if there is an equality of rights, there is an inequality of duties. It
is proper to demand more from the man with exceptional advantages
than from the man without them. A heavy moral obligation rests upon
the man of means and upon the man of education to do their full duty
by their country. On no class does this obligation rest more heavily
than upon the men with a collegiate education, the men who are
graduates of our universities. Their education gives them no right to
feel the least superiority over any of their fellow-citizens; but it
certainly ought to make them feel that they should stand foremost in
the honorable effort to serve the whole public by doing their duty as
Americans in the body politic. This obligation very possibly rests
even more heavily upon the men of means; but of this it is not
necessary now to speak. The men of mere wealth never can have
and never should have the capacity for doing good work that is
possessed by the men of exceptional mental training; but that they
may become both a laughing-stock and a menace to the community
is made unpleasantly apparent by that portion of the New York
business and social world which is most in evidence in the
newspapers.
To the great body of men who have had exceptional advantages in
the way of educational facilities we have a right, then, to look for
good service to the state. The service may be rendered in many
different ways. In a reasonable number of cases, the man may
himself rise to high political position. That men actually do so rise is
shown by the number of graduates of Harvard, Yale, and our other
universities who are now taking a prominent part in public life. These
cases must necessarily, however, form but a small part of the whole.
The enormous majority of our educated men have to make their own
living, and are obliged to take up careers in which they must work
heart and soul to succeed. Nevertheless, the man of business and
the man of science, the doctor of divinity and the doctor of law, the
architect, the engineer, and the writer, all alike owe a positive duty to
the community, the neglect of which they cannot excuse on any plea
of their private affairs. They are bound to follow understandingly the
course of public events; they are bound to try to estimate and form
judgment upon public men; and they are bound to act intelligently
and effectively in support of the principles which they deem to be
right and for the best interests of the country.
The most important thing for this class of educated men to realize
is that they do not really form a class at all. I have used the word in
default of another, but I have merely used it roughly to group
together people who have had unusual opportunities of a certain
kind. A large number of the people to whom these opportunities are
offered fail to take advantage of them, and a very much larger
number of those to whom they have not been offered succeed none
the less in making them for themselves. An educated man must not
go into politics as such; he must go in simply as an American; and
when he is once in, he will speedily realize that he must work very
hard indeed, or he will be upset by some other American, with no
education at all, but with much natural capacity. His education ought
to make him feel particularly ashamed of himself if he acts meanly or
dishonorably, or in any way falls short of the ideal of good
citizenship, and it ought to make him feel that he must show that he
has profited by it; but it should certainly give him no feeling of
superiority until by actual work he has shown that superiority. In
other words, the educated man must realize that he is living in a
democracy and under democratic conditions, and that he is entitled
to no more respect and consideration than he can win by actual
performance.
This must be steadily kept in mind not only by educated men
themselves, but particularly by the men who give the tone to our
great educational institutions. These educational institutions, if they
are to do their best work, must strain every effort to keep their life in
touch with the life of the nation at the present day. This is necessary
for the country, but it is very much more necessary for the educated
men themselves. It is a misfortune for any land if its people of
cultivation take little part in shaping its destiny; but the misfortune is
far greater for the people of cultivation. The country has a right to
demand the honest and efficient service of every man in it, but
especially of every man who has had the advantage of rigid mental
and moral training; the country is so much the poorer when any class
of honest men fail to do their duty by it; but the loss to the class itself
is immeasurable. If our educated men as a whole become incapable
of playing their full part in our life, if they cease doing their share of
the rough, hard work which must be done, and grow to take a
position of mere dilettanteism in our public affairs, they will speedily
sink in relation to their fellows who really do the work of governing,
until they stand toward them as a cultivated, ineffective man with a
taste for bric-a-brac stands toward a great artist. When once a body
of citizens becomes thoroughly out of touch and out of temper with
the national life, its usefulness is gone, and its power of leaving its
mark on the times is gone also.
The first great lesson which the college graduate should learn is
the lesson of work rather than of criticism. Criticism is necessary and
useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of
action, or be even a poor substitute for it. The function of the mere
critic is of very subordinate usefulness. It is the doer of deeds who
actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on
and says how the fight ought to be fought, without himself sharing
the stress and the danger.
There is, however, a need for proper critical work. Wrongs should
be strenuously and fearlessly denounced; evil principles and evil
men should be condemned. The politician who cheats or swindles,
or the newspaper man who lies in any form, should be made to feel
that he is an object of scorn for all honest men. We need fearless
criticism; but we need that it should also be intelligent. At present,
the man who is most apt to regard himself as an intelligent critic of
our political affairs is often the man who knows nothing whatever
about them. Criticism which is ignorant or prejudiced is a source of
great harm to the nation; and where ignorant or prejudiced critics are
themselves educated men, their attitude does real harm also to the
class to which they belong.
The tone of a portion of the press of the country toward public
men, and especially toward political opponents, is degrading, all
forms of coarse and noisy slander being apparently considered
legitimate weapons to employ against men of the opposite party or
faction. Unfortunately, not a few of the journals that pride themselves
upon being independent in politics, and the organs of cultivated men,
betray the same characteristics in a less coarse but quite as noxious
form. All these journals do great harm by accustoming good citizens
to see their public men, good and bad, assailed indiscriminately as
scoundrels. The effect is twofold: the citizen learning, on the one
hand, to disbelieve any statement he sees in any newspaper, so that
the attacks on evil lose their edge; and on the other, gradually
acquiring a deep-rooted belief that all public men are more or less
bad. In consequence, his political instinct becomes hopelessly
blurred, and he grows unable to tell the good representative from the
bad. The worst offence that can be committed against the Republic
is the offence of the public man who betrays his trust; but second
only to it comes the offence of the man who tries to persuade others
that an honest and efficient public man is dishonest or unworthy.
This is a wrong that can be committed in a great many different
ways. Downright foul abuse may be, after all, less dangerous than
incessant misstatements, sneers, and those half-truths that are the
meanest lies.
For educated men of weak fibre, there lies a real danger in that
species of literary work which appeals to their cultivated senses
because of its scholarly and pleasant tone, but which enjoins as the
proper attitude to assume in public life one of mere criticism and
negation; which teaches the adoption toward public men and public
affairs of that sneering tone which so surely denotes a mean and
small mind. If a man does not have belief and enthusiasm, the
chances are small indeed that he will ever do a man’s work in the
world; and the paper or the college which, by its general course,
tends to eradicate this power of belief and enthusiasm, this desire for
work, has rendered to the young men under its influence the worst
service it could possibly render. Good can often be done by
criticising sharply and severely the wrong; but excessive indulgence
in criticism is never anything but bad, and no amount of criticism can
in any way take the place of active and zealous warfare for the right.
Again, there is a certain tendency in college life, a tendency
encouraged by some of the very papers referred to, to make
educated men shrink from contact with the rough people who do the
world’s work, and associate only with one another and with those
who think as they do. This is a most dangerous tendency. It is very
agreeable to deceive one’s self into the belief that one is performing
the whole duty of man by sitting at home in ease, doing nothing
wrong, and confining one’s participation in politics to conversations
and meetings with men who have had the same training and look at
things in the same way. It is always a temptation to do this, because
those who do nothing else often speak as if in some way they
deserved credit for their attitude, and as if they stood above their
brethren who plough the rough fields. Moreover, many people whose
political work is done more or less after this fashion are very noble
and very sincere in their aims and aspirations, and are striving for
what is best and most decent in public life.
Nevertheless, this is a snare round which it behooves every young
man to walk carefully. Let him beware of associating only with the
people of his own caste and of his own little ways of political thought.
Let him learn that he must deal with the mass of men; that he must
go out and stand shoulder to shoulder with his friends of every rank,
and face to face with his foes of every rank, and must bear himself
well in the hurly-burly. He must not be frightened by the many
unpleasant features of the contest, and he must not expect to have it
all his own way, or to accomplish too much. He will meet with checks
and will make many mistakes; but if he perseveres, he will achieve a
measure of success and will do a measure of good such as is never
possible to the refined, cultivated, intellectual men who shrink aside
from the actual fray.
Yet again, college men must learn to be as practical in politics as
they would be in business or in law. It is surely unnecessary to say
that by “practical” I do not mean anything that savors in the least of
dishonesty. On the contrary, a college man is peculiarly bound to
keep a high ideal and to be true to it; but he must work in practical
ways to try to realize this ideal, and must not refuse to do anything
because he cannot get everything. One especially necessary thing is
to know the facts by actual experience, and not to take refuge in
mere theorizing. There are always a number of excellent and well-
meaning men whom we grow to regard with amused impatience
because they waste all their energies on some visionary scheme
which, even if it were not visionary, would be useless. When they
come to deal with political questions, these men are apt to err from
sheer lack of familiarity with the workings of our government. No
man ever really learned from books how to manage a governmental
system. Books are admirable adjuncts, and the statesman who has
carefully studied them is far more apt to do good work than if he had
not; but if he has never done anything but study books he will not be
a statesman at all. Thus, every young politician should of course
read the Federalist. It is the greatest book of the kind that has ever
been written. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay would have been poorly
equipped for writing it if they had not possessed an extensive
acquaintance with literature, and in particular if they had not been
careful students of political literature; but the great cause of the value
of their writings lay in the fact that they knew by actual work and
association what practical politics meant. They had helped to shape
the political thought of the country, and to do its legislative and
executive work, and so they were in a condition to speak
understandingly about it. For similar reasons, Mr. Bryce’s American
Commonwealth has a value possessed by no other book of the kind,
largely because Mr. Bryce is himself an active member of
Parliament, a man of good standing and some leadership in his own
party, and a practical politician. In the same way, a life of Washington
by Cabot Lodge, a sketch of Lincoln by Carl Schurz, a biography of
Pitt by Lord Rosebery, have an added value because of the writers’
own work in politics.
It is always a pity to see men fritter away their energies on any
pointless scheme; and unfortunately, a good many of our educated
people when they come to deal with politics, do just such frittering.
Take, for instance, the queer freak of arguing in favor of establishing
what its advocates are pleased to call “responsible government” in
our institutions, or in other words of grafting certain features of the
English parliamentary system upon our own Presidential and
Congressional system. This agitation was too largely deficient in
body to enable it to last, and it has now, I think, died away; but at one
time quite a number of our men who spoke of themselves as
students of political history were engaged in treating this scheme as
something serious. Few men who had ever taken an active part in
politics, or who had studied politics in the way that a doctor is
expected to study surgery and medicine, so much as gave it a
thought; but very intelligent men did, just because they were
misdirecting their energies, and were wholly ignorant that they ought
to know practically about a problem before they attempted its
solution. The English, or so-called “responsible,” theory of
parliamentary government is one entirely incompatible with our own
governmental institutions. It could not be put into operation here
save by absolutely sweeping away the United States Constitution.
Incidentally, I may say it would be to the last degree undesirable, if it
were practicable. But this is not the point upon which I wish to dwell;
the point is that it was wholly impracticable to put it into operation,
and that an agitation favoring this kind of government was from its
nature unintelligent. The people who wrote about it wasted their time,
whereas they could have spent it to great advantage had they
seriously studied our institutions and sought to devise practicable
and desirable methods of increasing and centring genuine
responsibility—for all thinking men agree that there is an undoubted
need for a change in this direction.
But of course much of the best work that has been done in the
field of political study has been done by men who were not active
politicians, though they were careful and painstaking students of the
phenomena of politics. The back numbers of our leading magazines
afford proof of this. Certain of the governmental essays by such
writers as Mr. Lawrence Lowell and Professor A. B. Hart, and
especially such books as that on the Speakers’ Powers and Duties,
by Miss Follet, have been genuine and valuable contributions to our
political thought. These essays have been studied carefully not only
by scholars, but by men engaged in practical politics, because they
were written with good judgment and keen insight after careful
investigation of the facts, and so deserved respectful attention.
It is a misfortune for any people when the paths of the practical
and the theoretical politicians diverge so widely that they have no
common standing-ground. When the Greek thinkers began to devote
their attention to purely visionary politics of the kind found in Plato’s
Republic, while the Greek practical politicians simply exploited the
quarrelsome little commonwealths in their own interests, then the
end of Greek liberty was at hand. No government that cannot
command the respectful support of the best thinkers is in an entirely
sound condition; but it is well to keep in mind the remark of Frederick
the Great, that if he wished to punish a province, he would allow it to
be governed by the philosophers. It is a great misfortune for the
country when the practical politician and the doctrinaire have no
point in common, but the misfortune is, if anything, greatest for the
doctrinaire. The ideal to be set before the student of politics and the
practical politician alike is the ideal of the Federalist. Each man
should realize that he cannot do his best, either in the study of
politics or in applied politics unless he has a working knowledge of
both branches. A limited number of people can do good work by the
careful study of governmental institutions, but they can do it only if
they have themselves a practical knowledge of the workings of these
institutions. A very large number of people, on the other hand, may
do excellent work in politics without much theoretic knowledge of the
subject; but without this knowledge they cannot rise to the highest
rank, while in any rank their capacity to do good work will be
immensely increased if they have such knowledge.
There are certain other qualities, about which it is hardly
necessary to speak. If an educated man is not heartily American in
instinct and feeling and taste and sympathy, he will amount to
nothing in our public life. Patriotism, love of country, and pride in the
flag which symbolizes country may be feelings which the race will at
some period outgrow, but at present they are very real and strong,
and the man who lacks them is a useless creature, a mere
incumbrance to the land.
A man of sound political instincts can no more subscribe to the
doctrine of absolute independence of party on the one hand than to
that of unquestioning party allegiance on the other. No man can
accomplish much unless he works in an organization with others,
and this organization, no matter how temporary, is a party for the
time being. But that man is a dangerous citizen who so far mistakes
means for ends as to become servile in his devotion to his party, and
afraid to leave it when the party goes wrong. To deify either
independence or party allegiance merely as such is a little absurd. It
depends entirely upon the motive, the purpose, the result. For the
last two years, the Senator who, beyond all his colleagues in the
United States Senate, has shown himself independent of party ties is
the very man to whom the leading champions of independence in
politics most strenuously object. The truth is, simply, that there are
times when it may be the duty of a man to break with his party, and
there are other times when it may be his duty to stand by his party,
even though, on some points, he thinks that party wrong; he must be
prepared to leave it when necessary, and he must not sacrifice his
influence by leaving it unless it is necessary. If we had no party
allegiance, our politics would become mere windy anarchy, and,
under present conditions, our government could hardly continue at
all. If we had no independence, we should always be running the risk
of the most degraded kind of despotism,—the despotism of the party
boss and the party machine.
It is just the same way about compromises. Occasionally one
hears some well-meaning person say of another, apparently in
praise, that he is “never willing to compromise.” It is a mere truism to
say that, in politics, there has to be one continual compromise. Of
course now and then questions arise upon which a compromise is
inadmissible. There could be no compromise with secession, and
there was none. There should be no avoidable compromise about
any great moral question. But only a very few great reforms or great
measures of any kind can be carried through without concession. No
student of American history needs to be reminded that the
Constitution itself is a bundle of compromises, and was adopted only
because of this fact, and that the same thing is true of the
Emancipation Proclamation.
In conclusion, then, the man with a university education is in honor
bound to take an active part in our political life, and to do his full duty
as a citizen by helping his fellow-citizens to the extent of his power in
the exercise of the rights of self-government. He is bound to rank
action far above criticism, and to understand that the man deserving
of credit is the man who actually does the things, even though
imperfectly, and not the man who confines himself to talking about
how they ought to be done. He is bound to have a high ideal and to
strive to realize it, and yet he must make up his mind that he will
never be able to get the highest good, and that he must devote
himself with all his energy to getting the best that he can. Finally, his
work must be disinterested and honest, and it must be given without
regard to his own success or failure, and without regard to the effect
it has upon his own fortunes; and while he must show the virtues of
uprightness and tolerance and gentleness, he must also show the
sterner virtues of courage, resolution, and hardihood, and the desire
to war with merciless effectiveness against the existence of wrong.

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FUNDAMENTALS OF PHONETICS : a

practical guide for students. 5th Edition

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

@Pearson ISBN-13: 978-0-13-520649-2

he idea to create this textbook began in 1996. I needed a phonetics textbook

New to This Edition

2 Phonetic Transcription of English 9

3 Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech Mechanism 41

6 Acoustic Characteristics of Vowels and Consonants 169

7 Connected Speech 199

8 Transcription of Speech Sound Disorders 239

9 Dialectal Variation 283

Answers to Questions 335

1 Phonetics: A "Sound" Science 1

2 Phonetic Transcription of English 9

3 Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech Mechanism 41

6 Acoustic Characteristics of Vowels and Consonants 169

7 Connected Speech 199

8 Transcription of Speech Sound Disorders 239

9 Dialectal Variation 283

Learning English as a Second Language 298

Answers to Questions 335

1.1 Explain the importance of the study of phonetics and the

Phonetics and the International

Another "sound" science related to phonetics is phonology. Phonology is the

Phonetics is a skill-based course much like taking a foreign language or sign

Variation in Phonetic Practice

Another difference in ease of use of transcription symbols involves the symbol

The IPA and Unicode Fonts

A Note on Pronunciation and Dialect

3. Why is there variation in phonetic transcription from professional to professional?

2.1 Explain the differences between spelling and sound in English.

As you begin your study of phonetics, it is extremely important to think about

The Differences Between Spelling

Compose a list of 10 words that contain silent letters.

quiche (French) karaoke (Japanese)

_3_ reed _4_ frog _4_ wince

lazy smooth cough

_c_ car city

_s_ vision sit

Exercise 2.3 (Cont)

rfild C;!ke h~ x b;!Ck

1. shoe mea~ure ocean suffigent

Morphemes, Phonemes, and Allophones

Morphemes: Units of Meaning

Exercise 2.5 (Cont)

7. honest 10. magnet

B. Indicate the number of morphemes in each of the following words.

caution running lived relistened

Phonemes and the International Phonetic

final phoneme change card

Exercise 2.6 (Cont)

initial phoneme change final phoneme change

5. boil 10. rub

1. kale, mail 6. find, fanned

TABLE 2.1 The IPA Symbols for American English Phonemes.

Vowels Ii/ key / o/ Qkay

/ f:/ red / <>/ _!!bout

/ re/ had /Al bud

/ u/ moon / "J'/ butt~

Diphthongs / au/ how / er/ bake

/ ar/ tie / ou/ rose

Consonants / p/ pork 1ri1 !hem