PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

SEMINAR 1: INTRODUCTION TO PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

Phonetics and phonology both study the sounds of a language; common subject matter, but two different
points of view.

Phonetics studies the production of speech sounds; the study of the speech sounds in human language in
general.

Phonology studies how sounds are organized and used in a given language; the study of the role of these
sounds in a particular language.

Phonetics: Phonology:

speech sounds are physical reality; speech sounds as abstract units;

physical view of speech sounds – how functional view of speech sounds – how
sounds are produced, transmitted and sounds pattern together and function in a
perceived. language.

PHONETICS

1. ARTICULATORY PHONETICS: studies how speech sounds are produced or articulated. It covers the
description of the organs of speech and how they are used to produce sounds.
2. ACOUSTIC PHONETICS: studies how speech sounds are transmitted through the air in the form of
air waves.
3. AUDITORY PHONETICS: studies the perception of speech by the hearer.

PHONOLOGY

1. SEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY: deals with individual segments (phonemes)

2. SUPRASEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY (PROSODY): goes beyond a single segment (phoneme); it deals
with aspects of speech such as stress, intonation and pitch.

ACCENTS AND DIALECTS OF ENGLISH

ACCENT – refers to variation in pronunciation.

DIALECT – refers to variation in grammar and vocabulary + pronunciation.

REGIONAL VARIATION – variations in speech between different geographical areas (British English vs.
American English)

SOCIAL VARIATION – variation in speech between different social groups (differences based on gender,
ethnicity, age, social class, etc.)
RP (Received Pronunciation) – an accent of English; it is a social not a regional accent. For a long time it has
been considered a prestige model of pronunciation generally associated with the elites (Oxford and
Cambridge, BBC, etc.). Nowadays the situation is somewhat different and a greater variation in
pronunciation has become acceptable.

NRP (Non-regional pronunciation) – neutral type of modern British English (educated middle and younger
generation speakers in England), also known as Standard Southern British English (SSBE).

GA (General American) – is an accent of American English; perceived as having no distinct regional

characteristics; non-regional style of American English aka. Network American. The educated English of the
northern USA. The accents of the southern states are clearly quite different from GA.

- tongue twisters
 LECTURE 1: SPEECH PRODUCTION

ORGANS OF SPEECH / SPEECH MECHANISM

1. THE BREATHING MUSCLES produce the stream of air that is needed for the production of almost all
sounds. The majority of languages (English and Croatian included) use the airstream coming from the
LUNGS – pulmonic egressive airstream (the lungs are contracting and pushing the air outwards). The other
type of airstream is ingressive (air is being taken into the mouth).
2. THE LARYNX (you can feel it moving up and then down when swallowing; Adam’s apple is a part of larynx).
Very important speech organ as it contains vocal folds/vocal cords, which play an important role in the
process of voicing.
3. VOCAL FOLDS (vocal cords) – in the larynx, two muscles stretching horizontally across the larynx; The vocal
cords are relatively open during normal breathing, but closed during eating. They vibrate when airstream
passes between them producing a “buzz” known as voice that we can hear in vowels and some
consonants. For voiceless sounds, the vocal folds are open and the air escapes freely. The space between
the cords when they are open is known as the glottis.

4. THE VOCAL TRACT – ends at the mouth and nostrils. There are many parts of the vocal tract –
articulators. Articulatory phonetics studies articulators.
ORGANS OF SPEECH ( contd.)

ARTICULATORS ABOVE THE LARYNX / SUPRA – GLOTTAL VOCAL TRACT

a) THE PHARYNX (throat)

located directly above the larynx
for the production of English (and Croatian) speech sounds, the pharynx only serves as the air
passage. Arabic, for example, also known pharyngeal sounds.
the pharynx separates into the oral cavity and the nasal cavity.
b) THE VELUM (soft palate)
it is a movable speech organ – it can be raised or lowered.
it directs the airflow into the oral cavity or nasal cavity.
if velum is raised, the air cannot escape through the nose, but goes through the mouth – oral
sounds are produced
if velum is lowered, some part of the airstream goes through the nose – nasal sounds are produced
if the back of the tongue is in contact with the lower side of the velum – velar sounds are produced
c) THE UVULA
its movement is opposite to that of the velum.
d) THE ALVEOLAR RIDGE
sounds produced with the tongue touching the alveolar ridge (the ridge immediately behind the
front teeth) are alveolar e, g, t, d, s, z, n
e) THE HARD PALATE
sounds produced on the hard palate are palatal (e.g. j)
f) THE TONGUE
it is a movable speech organ; it’s usually divided into 5 parts (tip, blade, front, back root)
g) THE TEETH (upper and lower)
sounds produced with the tongue touching the back of the upper front teeth are called dental
(e.g. /ð , θ/)
h) THE LIPS
sounds produced with the lips in contact with each other are called bilabial (e.g. /p, b, m/, while
those produced with the lips in contact with the teeth are called labiodental (e.g. /f, v/)

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE ARTICUALTORS

Active articulators (movement) – e.g. vocal folds, tongue, soft palate, uvula, lips, lower jaw, lower teeth

Passive articulators – larynx, pharynx, vocal tract, hard palate, alveolar ridge, upper teeth
 SEMINAR 2: TRANSCRIPTION

How to represent speech?

We use alphabetic symbols to represent sounds – TRANSCRIPTION

IPA charts

THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET

The International Phonetic Alphabet is a standardized system of symbols for transcribing human
speech.
It is an alphabetic system, based primarily on the Latin script.
There is a one-to-one correspondence between an actual sound and the symbol. A single written
symbol represents one and only one speech sound.

ENGLISH SPELLING – CHALLENGES

meat, meet, machine, people, Caesar, silly, key

- one sound is represented by different graphemes (alphabet letters) or combination of graphemes
damage, educate, picked
- one grapheme represents different sounds
knee, lamb, receipt, right, honor, rhyme psalm, salmon
- some graphemes represent no sound at all
throne, chain, edge, shore, nation, itch, school, eat, too, leopard, cause, blood, lieutenant
- two or more graphemes represent a single sound
fox
- a single grapheme may represent two or more sounds, the letter x represents the sequence “ks”
a grapheme may simply indicate the quality of a neighboring sound, as in dinner vs. diner (where a
double or single n indicates the quality of the preceding vowel – monophthong vs. diphthong)

TRANSCRIPTION

Phonemic transcription (broad) – a transcription of phonemes; it doesn’t show all the phonetic details
of a sound produced – general pronunciation. Every speech sound is identified as one of the phonemes.
It is the transcription you see in a dictionary, enclosed in forward slashes /t/.
Phonetic transcription (narrow) – more detailed and specific; with a lot of information about the exact
quality of the sounds. It is enclosed in square brackets [th]

PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEMS OF ENGLISH AND CROATIAN

 LECTURE 2: CONSONANTS & VOWELS – VOWEL SOUNDS

CONSONANTS & VOWELS

Consonants and vowels differ in their phonetic (articulatory) properties as well as their phonological
(functional) properties i.e. form and function.

PHONETICALLY

During the articulation of vowels there is no obstruction to the flow of air; the vocal tract is open (e.g.
doctor’s “ah”).
During the articulation of consonants there is always an obstruction to the flow of air at some point in
the speech tract (e.g. s,t)

The cat sat on the mat.

place the back of your hand under your chin. Describe the movement of the jaw when pronouncing this
sentence?
Problem with this definition:
What about the sounds such as at the beginning of the words “hay” or “way”? Are they more like “ah”
or like “s” and “t”? Is the airflow obstructed? Not significantly
Obstruents vs. sonorants
Sonorants (sonants, semivowels) are consonants that demonstrate reduced levels of obstructed airflow
during their production.

CONSONANTS & VOWELS (contd.)

We can conclude that the degree of obstruction is not the only relevant criterion for establishing the
distinction between vowels and consonants.
We have to also consider the different contexts and positions in which particular sounds can occur –
the distribution of the sounds.

PHONOLOGICALLY
All vowels can be the nucleus (center) of a syllable, but most consonants cannot:
In Croatian [r] can sometimes (as in krv, prst, cr-no) function as a nucleus.
In English [m, n, ŋ, l] can sometimes function as syllabic consonants
E.g. rhythm - /ˈrɪðm/ - /ˈrɪðəm/
ribbon – /ˈrɪbn/ - /ˈrɪbən/
bottle - /ˈbɒtl/ - /ˈbɒtəl/

VOWELS
no obstruction to the flow of air – open articulation
syllabic sounds
typically voiced
typically oral
CARDINAL VOWELS

not vowels of any particular language;

they are a standard reference system;
important for describing, classifying and comparing vowels of any language.
Primary cardinal vowels – the vowels that are most familiar to the speakers of most European
languages.

VOWELS

Do vowels differ from each other?

Which articulators are crucial in order to distinguish vowels from each other?
The tongue and the lips.
What parameters related to those articulators are used to distinguish the vowels?
The part of the tongue involved, the degree of tongue height and the shape of the lips.
THE PART OF THE TONGUE
Front vowels – the tongue is far forward in the oral cavity toward the hard palate: /i:/ , /I/, /e/, /æ/;
Central or mixed – the tongue is in the middle position in the oral cavity: /Ʌ/, /ɜ:/;
Back vowels – the tongue is as far as possible to shape the space in the front part of the oral cavity: /ɒ/,
/Ʊ/, /u:/, /ɑ:/

THE HEIGHT OF THE TONGUE

High or close vowels – articulated with the tongue located as high as possible in the oral cavity, thus
narrowing the passage for the airflow: /I/, /i:/, /Ʊ/, /u:/
Mid or mid-open vowels – the tongue is in the mid position of the oral cavity: /æ/, /ɒ/, /Ʌ/, /ɑ:/
Low or open vowels – the tongue is positioned as low as possible in order to leave a lot of space for the
airflow: /e/, /ɜ:/

THE SHAPE OF THE LIPS

Rounded – lips are brought towards each other and pushed forwards; cardinal vowel [u]
Spread – corners of the lips are moved away from each other; cardinal vowel [i]
Neutral – lips are not rounded or spread: the noise most English people make when they are hesitating
“er”
 LECTURE 3: ENGLISH VOWELS – MONOPHTONGS, DIPHTHONGS & TRIPHTHONGS

CLASSIFICATION OF VOWELS

Monophtong – a term used in the phonetic classification of vowel sounds on the basis of their manner of
articulation: it refers to a vowel (a pure vowel) where there is no detectable change on quality during a
syllable (Crystal 2008).

cut /kɅt/

Diphthong – it refers to a vowel where there is a single (perceptual) noticeable change in quality during a
syllable.

time /taɪm/

Triphthong – it refers to a type of vowel where there are two noticeable changes in quality during a
syllable. The distinction between triphthongs and the more common diphthongs is sometimes phonetically
unclear.

fire /faɪə/

MONOPHTHONGS: ENGLISH SHORT VOWELS

ɪ pit /pɪt/ fish, pig, ship

e pet /pet/ men, yes, bed

æ pat /pæt/ mat, gas, hat

Ʌ but /bɅt/ putt, some, rush

ɒ pot /pɒt/ in RP sock

*a: pot /pa:t/ in GA sock

Ʊ put /pƱt/ pull, push, foot, book

ə about /ə ‘baƱt/ SCHWA

MONOPHTHONGS: ENGLISH LONG VOWELS

Long vowels differ from the short vowels not only in length but also in quality (differences in tongue
shape and position and lip position)
For that reason long vowels have symbols that are different from those of short vowels and a length
mark (two dots : )
The length of all vowels varies according to their context (the type of sound that follows them) and the
presence or absence of stress.
Long vowels tend to be longer than the short vowels in similar contexts (some authors use labels tense
for long vowels and diphthongs, and lax for short vowels)
i: beat, mean, peace

3: bird, fern, purse (3˞:) AmE

ɑ: card, half, pass

ɔ: board, thorn, horse

u: food, soon, loose

VOWELS (contd.)

I. The difference between [i:] and [æ] is not in the part of the tongue that is raised.
[i:] as in bee – the front part of the tongue is raised - [i:] is a relatively front vowel
[æ] as in mat – the front part of the tongue is raised - [æ] is a relatively front vowel
[i:] is a relatively close vowel
[æ] is a relatively open vowel

II. The difference between [ɑ:] and [u:] is not in the part of the tongue that is raised.
[ɑ:] as in calm – the back part of the tongue is raised - [ɑ:] is a relatively back vowel
[u:] as in too – the back part of the tongue is raised - [u:] is a relatively back vowel

DIPHTHONGS

Diphthongs (gliding vowels) – sounds which consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to another.
There’s a change in the position of the articulators during its production.

Monophthong (pure vowel) – a vowel which remains constant and does not glide.

A diphthong is not just a series of two vowels:

E.g. seeing /si:ɪŋ/ two vowels i: + ɪ not a diphthong because the 2 vowels are in 2 different syllables

A diphthong is conventionally analyzed as one vowel phoneme:

E.g. face /feɪs/ three phonemes

DIPHTHONGS

The first part of English diphthongs is much longer and stronger than the second part (falling
diphthongs); Italian diphthongs più - rising diphthongs).
E.g. eɪ as in face (most of the diphthong eɪ consists of the θ vowel, and only at the very end it
glides to ɪ).

RP DIPHTHONGS
ɪə fierce, near
eə cared
Ʊə tour, cure
eɪ pain, say
aɪ nice, sigh
ɔɪ voice, soy

əƱ RP home oƱ GA
aƱ how, now

TRIPHTHONGS
The most complex English vowel sounds; rather difficult to pronounce.
Triphthongs – sounds which consist of a glide from one vowel to another and then to a third.
Composed of the five closing diphthongs with ə added on the end.
In speech triphthongs tend to be smoothed out into diphthongs or even monophthongs, especially in
less formal registers.

eɪ + ə = eɪə player

aɪ + ə = aɪə liar

ɔɪ + ə = ɔɪ royal

əƱ + ə = əƱə lower

aƱ + ə = aƱə hour

Triphthongs are not analyzed as separate vowel phonemes, but as closing diphthongs followed by a schwa.

E.g. royal – four phonemes /r/ /ɔɪ/ /ə/ /I/

 LECTURE 4: PLOSIVES

CONSONANTS

In terms of articulatory phonetics – in the production of consonants there is always an obstruction to

the stream of air at some point in the speech tract
CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS – 3 criteria (distinctive features):
1. Place of articulation – indicated along the horizontal axis
2. Manner of articulation – indicated along the vertical axis
3. Voicing – the voiceless sound precedes its voiced pair the cell

PLOSIVES (STOPS)

ARTICULATION

Articulated by producing a complete closure at some point in the speech tract

After the closure has been formed and the air compressed behind it (the air pressure builds up), it is
suddenly released
When the plosive is released the escape of air will produce a loud noise called plosion

English has 6 plosive consonants: /p, t, k, b, d, g/

The glottal plosive ʔ occurs frequently, it is usually just an alternative pronunciation of p, t or k in certain
contexts, it is not a phoneme of English

PLACE OF ARTICULATION

Bilabial plosives – the lips are pressed together to form the structure: p and b
Alveolar plosives – the tongue blade is pressed against the alveolar ridge: t and d
Velar plosives – the back of the tongue is pressed against the area where the hard palate ends and the
soft palate begins: k and g

POSITION

All 6 plosives can occur in initial, medial and final position.

Initial position (Consonant vowel – CV)

no voicing in p, t and k
very little voicing in b, d and g
the release of p, t and k is followed by audible plosion – in the post-release phase the air escapes
through the vocal folds making a sound like h – this is called aspiration
the release of b, d and g is followed by weak plosion, no aspiration
Medial position (VCV)
A medial plosive may have the characteristics either of final or initial plosives

Final position (VC)

The position following the release of both voiced and voiceless stops is very weak

FORTIS AND LENIS

Some phoneticians say that p, t and k are produced with more force than b, d and g
So the voiceless plosives (p, t, k) are sometimes called fortis and voiced plosives (b, d, g) are sometimes
called lenis
 LECTURE 6: ENGLISH CONSONANTS – FRICATIVES AND AFFRICATES

CONSONANTS
In terms of articulatory phonetics – in the production of consonants there is always an obstruction to
the stream of air at some point in the speech tract.
Classification of consonants – 3 criteria:
1. Place of articulation – indicated along the horizontal axis.
2. Manner of articulation – indicated along the vertical axis.
3. Voicing – the voiceless sound precedes its voiced pair in the cell.

FRICATIVES

Articulation

When producing fricatives, air escapes through a small passage (a very narrow gap) and makes a
hissing sound.
e.g. make a long hissing sound s and gradually lower your tongue – as the passage opens, the sound
will stop.
Fricatives are continuants (you can continue making them without interruption).
English has 9 fricatives: f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ∫, ɜ, h
the largest class of consonants in English by manner of articulation
with the exception of h, each place of articulation has a pair of phonemes – fortis and lenis.
Fortis is articulated with a greater force, their friction noise is louder and they have the effect of shortening the
preceding vowel,
Lenis is articulated with less force than fortis fricatives.

According to the place of articulation

f and v – labiodental (lower lip and upper teeth)
fan, van
half, halve
θ, ð – dental (tongue behind teeth)
thumb, thus
breath, breathe
According to the place of articulation
s and z – alveolar (tongue blade against the alveolar ridge)
sip, zip
rice, rise
∫ and ɜ - palate-alveolar (post-alveolar) (tongue is positioned further back than for s, z)
Irish, garage

*ɜ is very rare in initial position

h is glottal (the narrowing that produces the friction noise is between the vocal folds - the glottis)
It always has the quality of the vowel it precedes
It is usually found before vowels. It can have initial and medial position.
In Croatian h is classified as velar (IPA symbol is x). Also, in English some authors classify it as a glide.

ʍ - a voiceless fricative, produced by some speakers of English in words which begin orthographically with
wh
witch wɪtʃ, which ʍɪtʃ
wail weɪl, whale ʍeɪl

AFFRICATES
Articulation
Begin as plosives and end as fricatives. The complete obstacle to the stream of air is released gradually
- the result is friction created by the stream of air.
e.g. the word child – the affricate heard at the beginning of this world starts with an articulation as that
for t, but instead of a rapid release, as we would find in the word tin, the tongue moves in the position
for the fricative ʃ, as in the word sheep.
Although said to be made of a plosive and a fricative, they are independent phonemes of English.

tʃ and ʤ

The place of articulation is post-alveolar

When tʃ is in final in the syllable, it has the effect of shortening a preceding vowel as do other fortis
consonants
 LECTURE 7: NASALS AND OTHER CONSONANTS

NASALS / m, n, ŋ
Nasals m, n, ŋ – articulation
There's a complete closure at some point in the mouth (just like for plosives) and the air escapes
through the nose;
In order for the air to pass through the nose, the soft palate (velum) must be lowered;
All nasal sounds are voiced in English (lenis sounds).

Nasals – place of articulation

m bilabial closure (lips)

n alveolar closure (tongue blade against alveolar ridge)

ŋ velar closure (back of the tongue against the palate)

* ŋ – phonetically simple, but phonologically complex (contexts in which it occurs are quite complicated to
describe)

Nasalization

When a nasal sound is syllable final, the vowel can be slightly nasalized, usually in conversational
speech.
e.g. soon, hang
During the production of nasalised sounds, velum is lowered and the oral cavity it's open resulting in
simultaneous nasal and oral airflow.

NASAL SOUNDS ≠ NASALISED SOUNDS

ŋ – position
Never occurs in initial position - it must follow a vowel
Follows a small number of vowels, (ɪ, e, æ, Ʌ, ɒ); never occurs after a diphthong or a long vowel.
Medially occurs quite frequently:
some words with orthographic ng in the middle will have pronunciation containing ŋg and some will
have only ŋ (without g).
finger /fɪŋgə/ singer /sɪŋə/

ŋ – medial position
finger /fɪŋgə/ singer /sɪŋə/
anger /æŋgə/ hanger /hæŋə/
These two sets of words are morphologically different.
finger = finger singer = sing+er
anger = anger hanger = hang + er
 one morpheme two morphemes

RULE: if a word contains ŋg in spelling, ŋ (without g) occurs at the end of a morpheme whereas ŋg occurs in
the middle of a morpheme.
ŋ – end
ŋg – middle

ŋ – final position
RULE: word ending with ŋg in spelling always ends with ŋ (without g)
sing sɪŋ
bang bæŋ

Exceptions: comparative and superlative suffixes -er, -est

long lɒŋ
long + ish lɒŋɪʃ
long + er lɒŋgə
long + est lɒŋgəst
Comparative and superlative suffixes -er, -est should be treated as single-morpheme words.

LATERAL CONSONANT / L
The tip of the tongue is in contact with the alveolar ridge.
The air escapes along the sides of the tongue
e.g. Try producing the sequence – dldldldldl without moving the middle of your tongue - you will feel
the movement of the sides of the tongue necessary for the production of a lateral.
it can be found initially, medially and finally.
The realization of l before vowels it's quite different from l in other contexts:
LEA /li:/ clear l [l] lily, listen
EEL /li:ɫ/ dark l [ɫ] bell, cat

clear (light) l and dark l are two allophones of the phoneme l.

Most English speakers are not conscious about the difference between the dark L and clear L.

APPROXIMANTS / r, j, w

The consonant r – approximant

Articulatory it is an approximant - articulation in which the articulator approach each other, but do not
get sufficiently close to each other to produce a complete consonant such as a plosive, fricative or
nasal.
The tip of the tongue approaches the alveolar area in the way it would for a t or d, but never makes
contact with any part of the roof of the mouth.
Do we articulate r in the same way in Croatian? No.
In English the tongue is slightly curled backwards with the tip raised - consonants with this song shape
are called retroflex. The lips should be slightly rounded.
The consonants j and w
Phonetically like vowels, but phonologically like consonants (used to be called semivowels)
Phonetically:
j is similar to i:
w is similar to u:
Phonologically they are used like consonants - they only occur before vowel phonemes.
j – palatal
w - bilabial