MID-TERM ENGLISH PHONETICS

I. VOCAL TRACT & ARTICULATORS

Names off articulators

Normal name Definition Fancy name Adjectiv

e
Lips Labia Labial
Teeth Dental
Alveolar ridge A short distance behind the Alveolar
upper teeth is a change in
the angle of the roof of the
mouth
Hard palate The hard portion of the roof Palatal
of the mouth
Soft palate The soft portion of the roof Velum Velar
of the mouth, lying behind
the hard palate
Uvula The small, dangly thing at Uvular
the back of the soft palate
Upper throat The cavity between the root Pharynx (yết Pharyng
of the tongue and the wall hầu) eal
of the upper throat
Voicebox The stucture that holds and Larynx (thanh Larynge
manipulates the vocal cords quản) al
Tongue tip The narrow area at the very Apex Apical
front of the tongue
Tongue blade The flat surface of the Lamina Lamina
tongue just behind the tip
Tongue The main part of the Dorsum Dorsal
body/front tongue, lying below the
hard and soft palate
Tongue The lowest part of the Radical
root/back tongue in the throat
Nasal cavity The upper part of the vocal
tract inside the nose
Oral cavity The upper part of the vocal
tract inside the mouth
Nostrils Either of two openings at
the end of your nose that
you breathe through
Glottis (thanh The opening between the
môn) vocal cords

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Epiglottis (nắp thanh A flap of tissue closses to stop food
quản) going down the trachea (khí quản)
into the lungs
Vocal folds/cords Folds of tissue strectched (căng ra,
(dây thanh quản) duỗi ra) across the airway to the lungs

II. THE SPEECH PRODUCTION MECHANISM

3 fundamental components involing aspects of sound production
Initiation mechanism Phonation mechanism Articulation mechanism

The lungs Larynx & vocal folds Articulators & cavities

energy source vibration shaping sounds with
pulmonic (thuộc về voicing sounds different quality &
phổi) airflow constriction (sự co thắt)

a) Initiation mechanism
- LUNGS (energy source)
+ Produce an airflow as a source of energy to make a speech sound
+ Airflow generated from lungs → pulmonic
- Airflow going out of the lungs is called pulmonic egressive airflow (egressive means ‘outgoing’)
+ Air comes from lungs, through trachea & larynx, and out mouth or nose
+ Standard Airflow Mechanism (e.g. English, Spanish, Polish, Indonesia, Chinese)
- Airflow going in the lungs is called pulmonic ingressive airflow (ingressive means ‘incoming’)
+ Very rare (Norwegian “ja” = yeah)
+ Doesn’t allow vibration in vocal folds
+ Isn’t used systemmatically for distinctive phonological purposes
b) Phonation mechanism
- LARYNX
+ Produce many different modifications (sự thay đổi) in the flow of
air responsible for phonation
+ Phonation → all movements of vocal folds in producing speech
sounds

- The structure of the larynx

+ Larynx is positioned in the top of the trachea. It is a value (cái van) which regulates (điều
chỉnh) the respiration (sự hô hấp) and it is a sound source
+ The larynx houses (chứa) the vocal folds which open and close. The larynx are very complex
structure – a delicate (mỏng) web of bone, cartilage (sụn), muscle and ligament (dây chằn)
+ The vocal folds themselves are made up of loose bands of muscles (dải cơ lỏng lẻo) that can
move over each other to allow high speed vibration
- Vibration cycle of the folds

1&2 3 4 5
 + The vocal folds are held together along their full length with enough tension to allow vibration:
1. The vocal folds momentarily block airflow from the lungs
2. The air pressure underneath the vocal folds increases
3. The increased pressure forces the vocal folds up and apart
4. As the pressure falls again, the vocal folds snap back together
5. Go to 1
+ When the folds close, the pressure of the air below them inreases
+ When this pressure exceeds (vượt quá) the pressure holding the folds together, they burts apart
(vỡ ra) and air flows again
+ This air flows again, drops (giảm) the pressure and the folds get sucked back (hút lại) together
again
- Phonation modes
+ A phonation mode is a category of vocal setting that allows a particular type of voice quality
+ Linguists usually recognize five phonation modes which are relevant to speech production
+ Only four will be mentioned in this course:
 Voiceless mode
 Voiced mode
 Whisper mode
 Creaky mode
- Vocal folds for voiceless mode
+ Open glottis:
 When the folds are wide open, the glottis has roughly the shape of triangle
 Open vocal folds – air passes freely through the glottis
→ normal breathing → voiceless sounds (không rung cổ họng)

- Vocal folds for voiced mode

+ Narrow glottis:
 When the two free ends are brought together (kết
hợp), the vocal can be nearly or completely closed,
impending (cản trở) airflow through the glottis
 The air from the lungs forces its way through them
causing the folds to vibrate → voiced sounds (rung cổ
họng vì có áp lực)

- Vocal folds for whisper mode

+ Partially – open glottis:
 Whisper mode is involes holding the length of the vocal folds closed
 Vocal folds don’t close completely along their entire length
 The folds don’t vibrate when humans whisper
 Airflow is forced through a much smaller opening than in voiceless mode
→ Unvoiced mode
- Vocal folds for creaky mode
 Creaky mode involves the vibration in the vocal folds but with very low frenquency

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  The folds are closed for more time
 The folds being bunched up and thick allow slow vibration at a slow airflow rate
III. THE ENGLISH CONSONANTS
a) Definition: a speech sound produced with a complete or partial obtruction of the air stream in
vocal tract
b) Description: can be described in terms of articulatory parameters
1. Vocing
2. Place of articulation → Where ?
3. Manner of articulation → How ?
- VOICING (states of glottis)
+ Voiced sounds: vibration during the articultion of the consonant
E.g. [b, d, g, dʒ, ð, v, z, ʒ, m, n, ŋ, l, ɫ, w, r, j]
+ Voiceless sounds: vibration during the articulation of the consonant
E.g. [p, t, k, ʔ, tʃ, ʃ, θ, f, s, h]

s = ʃ x = s ch = tʃ f = f t = t k = k th = θ h = h ph = p
+ All vowels are voiced, while consonants can be voiced or voiceless
+ Pair of consonants have the same of palace & manner, but different voicing:
a) [f] fat / [v] vat
b) [tʃ] rich / [dʒ] ridge
c) [θ] thigh / [ð] thy
d) [p] pat / [b] bat
e) [s] sip / [z] zip
f) [t] tab / [d] dab
g) [ʃ] dilution / [ʒ] delusion
h) [k] kill / [g] gill
- PLACE OF ARTICULATION
+ Bilabial consonants (complete obstruction)
 Between two lips
 The lower lip moves toward and two lips touch each other
 [p] pie
 [b] buy
 [m] mute → có hơi ra đường mũi
 [w] wood → môi tiến sát nhưng không chạm

+ Dental consonants (complete obstruction)

 Interdental consonants
 The tip of the tongue moves toward the upper teeth
 [θ] thin → không rung cổ họng
 [ð] this → rung cổ họng

+ Labio – dental consonants (complete obstruction)

 Between the lower lip and the upper teeth

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  The lower lip moves toward the upper teeth
 [f] fine
 [v] voice

+ Alveolar consonants (complete obstruction)

 Made with the tongue tip at or near the alveolar ridge
 The tip/blade of the tongue moves toward the alveolar ridge
 [s] Sue → partial obstruction
 [l] light → khí ra hai bên lưỡi → partial obstruction
 [n] night → âm mũi
 [t] tie
 [d] die
 [z] zoo
 [r] rock
+ Palato – alveolar consonants (complete obstruction)

 Between the blade of the tongue and the space behind the
alveolar ridge
 The tongue blade moves toward the part behind the alveolar
ridge
 [tʃ] cheap → chạm rồi thả → complete obstruction
 [dʒ] jeep → chạm rồi thả → complete obstruction
 [ʃ] shoe
 [ʒ] pleasure
+ Palatal consonants (partial obstruction)

 Between the middle of the tongue and the hard palate

 The tongue front moves toward the hard palate
 [j] Japan
 [ɫ] control

+ Velar consonants (partial obstruction)

 The tongue blade moves toward the soft palate/velum
 [k] kite
 [g] good
 [ŋ] bank

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 + Glottal consonants (voiceless consonants)
 Produced at the larynx
 [h] home
 [ʔ] -uh, -oh → phụ âm tắc thanh hầu

- MANNER OF ARTICULATION

Structure or obstruction types Movement or interaction of Sounds

articulatiors
Stops (ploives – âm bật) Complete stop of air, the rapid [p, b]: bilabial
(think explosion) separation (sự giải phóng) [t, d]: alveolar
[k, g]: velar
[ʔ]: glottal
→ âm bật, hơi to
Affricates (a combination of Stop of air, then slow separation [tʃ]: voiceless palato – alveolar
stop + fricative) affricate
[dʒ]: voiced palato – alveolar
affricate
Fricatives (think friction) Narrowing, causing audible [θ, ð]: dental
friction [f, v]: labio – dental
[h]: glottal
[s, z]: alveolar
[ʃ, ʒ]: palato – alveolar
Nasals Lowering of velum, air escapes [m]: bilabial
through nose [n]: alveolar
[ŋ]: velar
→ just 3 nasal sounds
Lateral (clear) ≈ tongue Air escapes downsides of tongue [l]: alveolar
→ just 1 lateral sound
Approximants Slight narrowing, not enough to Những âm to và rõ nhất
cause friction [w]: bilabial
[j]: palatal
→ glides
[r]: alveolar
[l]: alveolar
→ liquids

+ 2 subclasses of approximants:

Approximants:
 No major obstruction
 No auditory effect of friction
Liquids: [l, r] Glides (semivowels): [w, j]
Characterized with high level of sonority (độ vang Characterized with their dual nature (bản tính
âm) song song)

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 - Can be syllable nuclei, e.g. [teɪbl] -Predominantly vocalic (like vowel)
- Can be consonant, e.g. [leɪk] -Distribution: consonantal
→ Có thể vừa là phụ âm vừa là nguyên âm. Thay [ju:nɪvəs ətɪ] , [nju:]
thế vì to chứ không mang tính chất của nguyên âm → Nguyên tắc: là phụ âm chính trong câu
nên không được xem là một nguyên âm. - Nếu là âm đầu tiên vẫn được xem là một
phụ âm.
E.g. young, university
- Nếu đứng sau một phụ âm khác thì sẽ
đóng vai trò là nguyên âm (quy tắc phát
âm)
E.g. thank you, beautiful

Place Bilabial Dental Labio – Alveolar Palato – Palatal Velar Glottal

Manner dental alveolar
Stops
-voice p t k ʔ
+voice b d g
Affricates
-voice tʃ
+voice dʒ
Fricatives
-voice θ f s ʃ h
+voice ð v z ʒ
Nasal m n ŋ
Lateral l ɫ
Approximant w r j w
s

IV. SOME PHONETIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS

a) Force of articulation: Greater or lesser effort and high/low air pressure required for the
articulation of a consonant
1. Fortis consonants (phụ âm căng):
- Voiceless consonants have strong pronunciation
- Produced by increased tension in the vocal apparatus
- Tend to be long, voiceless, aspirated, and high
E.g: [p, t, k]
2. Lenis consonants (phụ âm bật hơi yếu):
- Voiced consonants have weaker pronunciation
- Produced by the lack of tension in the vocal apparatus
- Tend to be short, weakly voiced or voiceless, aspirated, low and the following vowels tends to be
lengthened
E.g: [b, d, g]
b) Length of articulation:
1. Voiceless consonants are longer than voiced consonants at final position
E.g: leak > league ; hit > hid ; tap > tab
2. Open syllables (end with vowels) are longer than closed syllables (end with consonants)
E.g: be [bi:] > bead [bi:d]

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 3. Syllables closed with voiced consonants are longer than syllables closed with voiceless
consonants
E.g: bead [bi:d] > beat [bi:t] ; raise [reiz] > race [reis]
c) Voice of articulation
1. Full voice:
- [b, d, g] are intervocalic (between 2 vowels)
E.g: about, ado, ago
- [l, r] are syllable initial
E.g: rain, lean
2. Devoiced:
- When [b, d, g] are syllable initial, they become devoiced. In phonetic environment, they are
partially voiced and sound a bit like their voiceless [p, t, k]
E.g: be, do, go
- [l, r] are preceded by voiceless stops
E.g: train [threɪn], clean [khliːn]
3. Voiceless:
- When [b, d, g] are syllable final in a word, and there is a pause or silent phrase after this word
E.g: [li:d] (lead) in There’s no lead and [dɒg] (dog) in my grandfather has a dog
d) Syllabicity:
- When syllabic consonants [l, r, m, m] are preceded by another consonat
E.g:
1. [l]: little [lɪtl], table [teɪbl]
2. [r]: matter [mætr], ladder [lædr]
3. [m]: madam [mædm], rhythm [rɪðm]
4. [n]: listen [lɪsn], garden [gɑːdn]
e) Flapping [ɾ] or T-voicing:
- Voiceless alveolar [t] or voiced alveolar [d] becomes voiced flap [ɾ] in an unstressted syllable
E.g: little [lɪ tl] , ladder [lædr] , city [sɪ tɪ]

[‘lɪ ɾl] [‘læ ɾr] [‘sɪ ɾɪ]

f) Aspirated with [p, t, k]:
1. Aspirated:
- When [p, t, k] are syllable-initial in a stressted syllable
E.g: pay [‘pheɪ], top [‘thɒp], keep [‘khiːp]
2. Relatively aspirated:
- When [p, t, k] are syllable-initial in an unstressted syllable
E.g: upon [‘ʌphɒn], happen [‘hæphn], ankle [‘ænkhl]
3. Unaspirated:
- When [p, t, k] are preceded by [s]
E.g: speak [spiːk], stab [stæb], skill [skil]
- When [p, t, k] are syllable-final
E.g: stop [stɒp], meat [mi:t]

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 V. THE ENGLISH VOWEL
a) Definition: a speech sound produced with relatively little obstruction of air stream in the vocal
tract
b) Characteristics: Vowels are
1. Voiced
2. Sonorant (nasals: [m, n]; liquids: [l, r]; glides – semivowels: [w; j]): loulder than consonant
- While consonants can be voiced or voiceless, vowels are almost always VOICED
→ Vowels are sounds caused by vocal fold vibration
- Vowels are most SONORANT (audible) sounds
→ Sonorant is a voiced speech sound, as vowel, semivowel, liquid or nasal, characterized by
ralatively free passage of air through a channel
- Vowel sounds change according to SHAPE of vocal tract, RELATIVELY LIITLE obstruction of
airstream in the vocal tract
- Vowels usually function as SYLLABLE NUCLEI
c) Description:
- The vowel can be described in terms of articulatory & auditory parameters
- Tongue positions = horizontal (tongue parts) & vertical (tongue height)
- Shape of lips = lip rounding
- Mouth aperture = the openness of the mouth

- Tongue height
+ Put your hand under your chin and
+ Compare tongue/jaw position for [i:] (“beet”) and [æ] (“bat”)
+ Tongue height → the vertical distance between the upper surface of the tongue and the palate
Note the tongue height differences between: (a) [i:] and [æ], (b) [a:] and [ʊ]. There are other differences
that distinguish [i:]-[æ] and [a:]-[u:]. For now, focus on tongue – height differences only.
[i:] & [u:]

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[æ] & [a:]

- Lip rounding
+ Rounded vowels: All the back vowels in English are rounded expect [a:]
+ [u:], [ʊ], [ɔ:], [ɒ]
+ Unrouded vowels: All the front vowels and central vowels in English are unrounded
- Mouth aperture – the openess of the mouth
+ Close vowels: [i:], [ɪ], [u:] and [ʊ]
+ Half/semi-close vowels: [e] and [ɜ:]
+ Half/semi-open vowels: [ə] and [ɔ:]
+ Open vowels: [æ], [ɒ], [ʌ] and [a:]
- The tense – lax distinction
+ English has seven pairs of acoustically and articulatorily similar vowels that differ according to
a distinction called tense – lax
[i:] vs. [ɪ] beet – bit [e] vs. [ɜ:] bait – bet [u:] vs. [ʊ] boot – book
d) Classification of the vowels
1. Principles of quality (tongue positions & lip position)
2. Principles of quantity (length of vowel, degree of tenseness & character of their end)

Principle Parameters
Quality Tongue position
- Horizontal (part) Front: [i:], [ɪ], [e], [æ]
Central: [ɜ:], [ə], [ʌ]
Back: [u:], [ʊ], [ɔ:], [ɒ], [a:]

- Vertical (height) High: [i:], [ɪ], [u:], [ʊ]

Mid: [e], [ɜ:], [ə], [ɔ:]
Low: [æ], [ʌ], [ɒ], [a:]
Lip position
- Rounded vowels [u:], [ʊ], [ɔ:], [ɒ]
- Unrounded vowels The others
Quantity Length of vowel
- Long vowels [i:], [ɜ:], [u:], [ɔ:], [a:]
- Short vowels [ɪ], [e], [æ], [ə], [ʊ], [ʌ], [ɒ]
Degree of tenseness
- Tense vowels [i:], [ɜ:], [u:], [ɔ:], [a:]
- Lax vowels [ɪ], [e], [æ], [ə], [ʊ], [ʌ], [ɒ]
Character of their end
- Checked: strong end in
closed syllable
- Unchecked: lessending
end in open syllable

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e) Identification of a pure vowel
1. Tongue part
2. Tongue height
3. Shape of lips
4. Length
5. Tenseness

VI. DIPTHONGS: a speech sound involving two vowels, the first of which glides into the
second one. Complex vowels which are characterized by movement are called dipthongs

VII. ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH & COARTICULATORY PROCESSES

a) Some common coarticulations
- Labialization, rounding the lips while producing the obstruction, as in [kw] and English [w].
E.g. ‘queen’ [kwi:n] → âm môi hóa
- Palatalization, raising the body of the tongue toward the hard palate while producing the
obstruction, as in Russian [tj] or palatalisation in English [lj].
E.g. ‘lewd’ [lju:d] → âm ngạc cứng hóa
- Velarization, raising the back of the tongue toward the soft palate (velum), as on the English dark
el [ɫ], [lᵞ].
E.g. dull [dʌɫ] → âm ngạc mềm hóa
b) Assimilation (sự đồng hóa)
- Definition: a coarticulatory process by which a sound segment is influenced and changes to
become more like its neighboring sound.
1. Progressive assimilation (đồng hóa tiến/xuôi): the change of a sound segment is brought
about by the preceding sound
+ Possessive: students’ books [-s], girls’ pictures [-z]
+ 3rd person singular: He writes [-s]; He speaks [-s]; She reads [-z]; She plays [-z]
+ Past tense and past participle: worked [-t]; laughed [-t]; learned [-d]; played [-d]
E.g: books
[bʊk z] → [bʊk s]: The voiced alveolar [z] is devoiced by the preceding voiceless [k] and
becomes voiceless [s]
→ assimilation of VOICING of articulation
2. Regressive assimilation (đồng hóa ngược/lùi): the change of a sound segment is brought
about by the following sound
+ Labialization (assimilation of PLACE of articulation):
(1) [t] [p, b, m]

[p]
E.g: that pen [ðæt pen]

[ðæp pen]
→ The alveolar [t] is labialized by the following bilabial [p] and becomes bilabial [p]

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(2) [d] [p, b, m]

[b]
E.g: good bye [gʊd baɪ]

[gʊb baɪ]
→ The alveolar [d] is labialized by the following bilabial [b] and becomes bilabial [b]
(3) [n] [p, b, m]

[m]
Ex: gun man [gʌn men]

[gʌm men]
→ The alveolar [n] is libialized by the following bilabial [m] and becomes bilabial [m]
+ Velarization (assimilation of PLACE of articulation):
(1) [t] [k, g] E.g: that girl [ðæt gɜːl]

[k] [ðæk gɜːl]

→ The alveolar [t] is velarized by the following velar [g] and becomes velar [k]
(2) [d] [k, g] E.g: good girl [gʊd gɜːl]

[g] [gʊg gɜːl]

→ The alveolar [d] is velarized by the following velar [g] and becomes velar [g]
(3) [n] [k, g] E.g: bank [bæn k]

[ŋ] [bæŋ k]
→ The alveolar [n] is velariezed by the following velar [k] and becomes velar [ŋ]
+ Nasalization (assimilation of MANNER of articulation)
(1) [d] [n/m] E.g: good night [gʊd naɪt]

[n/m] [gʊn naɪt]

→ The stop [d] is nasalized by the following nasal [n] and becomes nasal [n]

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 (2) [v] [m] E.g: give me [gɪv mi:]

[m] [gɪm mi:]

→ The fricative [v] is nasalized by the following nasal [m] and becomes nasal [m]
3. Mutual assimilation / Coalescence (assimilation of place of articulation) (đồng hóa hợp
nhất):
(1) [t] + [j] = [tʃ] E.g: want you [wɒnt + ju:]

[wɒntʃu:]
→ The alveolar [t] combines with the palatal [j] to make the palato-alveolar [tʃ]
(2) [d] + [j] = [dʒ] E.g: need you [ni:d + ju:]

[ni:dʒu:]
→ The alveolar [d] combines with the palatal [j] to make the palato-alveolar [dʒ]
(3) [s] + [j] = [ʃ] E.g: miss you [mɪs + ju:]

[mɪʃu:]
→ The alveolar [s] combines with the palatal [j] to make the palato-alveolar [ʃ]
(4) [z] + [j] = [ʒ] E.g: loose you [lu:z + ju:]

[lu:ʒu:]
→ The alveolar [z] comebines with the palatal [j] to make the palato-alveolar [ʒ]
c) Dissimilation (sự dị hóa): a sound segment becomes less alike its neighboring sound
[sθ] → [st] ; [θ] → [t] E.g: fifths [fɪfθs] → [fifts]
d) Elision (deletion): a sound segment is deleted from the existing string of sounds
1. Elision of the Schawa [ə]
- When preceded by a consonant in an unstressted syllable
E.g: today [thə’deɪ], po’lice, cor’rect
- After a consonant and before a linking [r] which precedes another vowel
E.g: interesting [‘ɪntərəstɪŋ], secretary, literature, dictionary
2. Elision of [t, d] between two other consonants
E.g: hand me [hænd mi], next day [nekst deɪ]
e) Mentathesis: the order of the sound is rearranged to ease the articulation
E.g: spaghetti [spəgetɪ] ask [a:sk]
[pəsgetɪ] [a:ks]
f) Epenthesis: a sound segment is inserted within a existing string of sounds when there is a
transition from a sonorant to a nonsonorant
- Notice that, the epenthesized consonants are all nonsonorant and stop, have the same place of
articulation as the sonorant consonant to their left, and have the same voicing as the nonsonorant
consonant to their right

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 E.g: prins [prɪn s] → [prɪn p s]

alveolar sonorant nonsonorant voiceless

voiceless alveolar stop [t]
g) Liasion (linking): The linking of a ginal consonant in the preceding word to the initial vowel of
the following word.

VIII. STRESS
a) Definition: The pronunciation of a syllable/word with more force and prominence than the others
nearby
b) The characteristics
c) Types
1. Word stress: 3 levels: primary/hight stress, secondary/low stress, tertiary/rhythmic stress
2. Sentence stress: Parts of speech usually have stress in a sentence: n, V, adj, adv
E.g: ‘Tom ‘usually ‘comes to ‘class ‘late on ‘Monday
d) Function of stress
1. Distinguish between different parts of speech

Noun Verb/Adjective
‘Import Im’port
‘Contact Con’tact
‘Content Con’tent
2. Distinguish between a compound and a noncompound (free word group)

Compound Noncompound
‘GREEN house Green ‘HOUSE
‘BLUE bottle Blue ‘BOTTLE
e) Stress shift/Change
IX. INTONATION (book)
X. PHONOLOGY
a) Definition: The study of how the speech sounds function and form patterns according to
phonological rules
b) Basic elements used to make up the phonological patterns
1. The features:
- The smallest phonological units to build up/define the segment
E.g: /n/ - vocalic, + nasal, - continuant
- The basic phonemes of English are listed in the consonant and vowel charts
- The features of each sound are used to create these charts
- Festures have two values: [+ feature] and [- feature] to indicate the presence or absence of that
particular feature
 For example, [b] is [+voiced] and [p] is [-voiced]
 Voicing
 Place/Manner of articulation
 Tongue height/advancement
 Suprasegment features (include length, intonation, tone, and stress)

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 → DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
2. The segments:
- Speech sounds
- Are built up from features
- [m]: voiced bilabial nasal
- Segments can be viewed as the phonological discrete unit used to build up the syllable
- For example: the sound sequence [kɪn] can be segmented into three discrete unit [k], [ɪ] and [n]
3. The syllables: sprasegment unit
- The phonological units used to build up the world
E.g: /kændɪ/ candy

kæn dɪ
Phonological representation of hierarchical levels of elements
Wd Word level
Syllable level
o

K æ n
Segment level
+ consonant + vocalic + consonant

- continuant - back - continuant

Feature level
- voice - high - nasal
XI. SEGMENT IN CONTRAST
a) The phoneme (âm vị thuộc về âm vị - phonemic)
- The smallest contrastive or distinctive unit in the sound system of a language that distinguishes
between different words with different meanings
- Are expressed by /.../
E.g: /p/ - /b/ in /pæt/ - /bæt/ “pat” & “bat” and /ɪ/ - /i:/ in “hit” /hɪt/ & “heat” /hi:t/
→ /p/ & /b/ or /ɪ/ & /i:/ are different phonemes
b) The distinctive feature (contrastive/phonemic)
- Distinguish/contrast between two phonemes
E.g: +/- voice in bilabial stops /p/ & /b/
- voice + voice
+ labial + labial
+ stop + stop
c) The minimal pair test
1. The minimal pair:
- Consists of two forms/words that are identical (=similar) in everywhere expect for one segment
that occurs in the same place in the string/phonemic context
E.g: hit /hɪt/ : /t/ voiceless alveolar
hid /hɪd/ : /d/ voiced alveolar
- Four golden rules for minimal pairs:
 They must have the same number of sounds
 They must be identical in every sound expect for one
 The sound that is different must be in the same position in each word

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  The words must have different meanings
2. Environment/Context/Background
- The phonemic context in which a sound or segment occurs
E.g: /fæn/ is the environment for /f/
/væn/ is the environment for /v/

XII. PHONETICALLY CONDITION VARIATIONS THE PHONEME & THE ALLOPHONE

a) The allophone (âm tố thuộc về ngữ âm – phonetic)
- Any form of the variants of a phoneme in pronunciation
- A predictable phonetic realization of a phoneme in speech
E.g: /p/: aspirated when syllabic-initial, [phi:k] peak but unaspirated after /s/, [spi:k] speak
Both aspirated [ph] and unaspirated [p] are two phonetic realizations or allophones of the same
phoneme /p/
/p/ phoneme

[ph] [p] allophones

- A set of phonetic realizations of a phoneme; the various ways that a phoneme is pronounced in
speech
- The phonetic distinctions among allophones are noncontrasive; i.e. not affecting the meaning of
words
- Marked by [...]
b) Complementary distribution (CD)
- Two or more sounds or segments never occur in the same phonetic environment

Phoneme Allophone
What you interpret What you hear
Name for a class of sounds Actual members of that class
Abstract unit of language Concrete unit of speech
Contrastive/distinctive Noncontrastive/nondistinctive
Non-predictable Predictable
Phonemic (in dictionary) Phonetic (in pronunciation)
Basic, underlying form Phonetic realization/variant
Socialized Individual (free variation)

XIII. THE SYLLABLE

- A syllable is a unit of sound composed of a central peak of sonority (usually a vowel) and the
consonants that cluster around this central peak
- The internal structure of a syllable

Parts Description Optionality

Onset (O) Initial segment of a syllable Optional
Rhyme (R) Core of a syllable, consisting Obligatory
of N and C
--Nucleus (N) Central segment of a syllable Obligatory
--Coda (C) Closing segment of a syllable Optional
Nucleus(N) Coda (C)
CCCVCCCC

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Onset (O) Rhyme (R)

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