PHONOLOGY

LESSON 13 (ALL)
KINDLY STUDY THIS PART FROM THE PPT AS THE BOOK IS NOT ENOUGH
WHAT IS PHONOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE?

• We have already been introduced to the 44 phonemes of English.

• It allows us to produce sounds that form meaningful utterances (even if they are
new)
• It allows us to recognize and understand a foreign accent
 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY?
Phonetics is the broad study of sounds, e.g. /p/ in speak and peak. Articulatory
phonetics attempts to describe how isolated speech sounds are produced and how
they are classified.
Phonology is the study of the structure and systematic patterns of sounds in human
language. It studies how phonemes are combined and merged in a given
language. It also studies the functional patterns of such merging. This is why
phonology is sometimes called functional phonetics. It deals with the rules
governing how phonemes are combined.
 PHONEMES

• Distinctive or contrastive sound and meaningful sounds in the sound system of a

language. PHONE
• A Phonetic Segment Occurring in Language

• PHONEME
• A Segment that differentiates meaning. English has 44 phonemes

WHAT IS A SYLLABLE?

• Speech can be broken into syllables.

• Syllable: is the sound unit in a word upon which rhythm is based. Every syllable
must include ONE VOWEL. ( nucleus)

• Phonotactic: is how phonemes can be fitted together in a particular language.

This is so much related to the concept of syllabic structure of a word.
• Syllabic structure: is the internal structure of a syllable in terms which deals
with how consonants and vowels are organized inside the one syllable.

• Inside the syllable the consonant is referred to as C and the vowel is referred to

as V.
 A SYLLABLE CAN BE DEFINED BOTH PHONETICALLY AND
PHONOLOGICALLY

• Phonetically: syllables are usually described as consisting of a center (nucleus) which has little or
no obstruction to airflow and which sounds comparatively loud. This center is always a vowel.

• This definition for a syllable can lead to 4 Type of Syllables: (not in your course Book)
1. Minimum syllable: it is a a single vowel in isolation e.g.: are /a:/ or /ɔː/
2. Some syllables have an onset (that is consonant sounds before the vowel) e.g. 'bar’ /ba:/ 'key’ /
ki:/ (opened syllable)
3. Syllables may have no onset but have a coda ( Consonant sounds after the vowel) e.g. 'ease’ /
i:z/ (opened syllable)
4. Some syllables have onset and coda: e.g. fill /fil/ boot /bu:t/ (closed syllable)
 PHONOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF A
SYLLABLE

• The structure of the syllable deals with looking at the possible combinations of English
phonemes.
• It is simplest to start by looking at what can occur in initial position- in other words, what can
occur at the beginning of the first word when we begin to speak after a pause.
• We find that the word can begin with a vowel, or with one, two or three consonants.
• we can look at how a word ends when it is the last word spoken before a pause; it can end with a
vowel, or with one, two, three or (in a small number of cases) four consonants. No word ends with
more than four consonants.

• Practice p. 140-143
EXCEPTIONAL SYLLABIC CONSONANT /L/

• The vowel is the center of a syllable. An exception is when /l/follow a consonant,

especially a stop, it is not desirable according to RP English to have a vowel in between.
Therefore /l/ tend to be produced for a longer period taking the place of vowel in the
syllable, e.g. little /ˈlɪt̬ l/ cattle /kætl/ ,bottle /ˈbɑ·t̬ l/.
• Although there are one pronounced vowel in the words but the words include two
syllables. The final /l/ is syllabic because each one stands for a syllable, e.g. it stands out
as stronger and louder than consonants.
 TYPES OF WORDS ACCORDING TO SYLLABLES
Mono-syllabic is a word which has one syllable, e.g. rich, smart, soon;
whereas multi-syllabic is when a word has more than one syllable, e.g. understand /ˌʌn·də
ˈstænd/, happily  /ˈhæp·ɪ·li/, consequently /ˈkɒn·sɪ·kwənt·li/.
EXAMPLE ON SYLLABIC STRUCTURES

• Line: /lain/ (one syllable) CVC

• Each: /i:tʃ/ (one syllable) VC

• Milk /milk/ (one syllable) CVCC

• Words which consist of only one syllable is mono-syllabic

• Pretend /pri’tend/ (two syllables) CCVCVCC

• Greasy /gri:si/ (two syllables) CCVCV

• Words which consists of more than one syllable is called polysyllabic

• Or: /ɔ:/ (one vowel) V

 Are : /a:/ (one vowel) V
 I : /ai/ (one vowel) V
• A single vowel can from ONE syllable
 CONSONANT CLUSTERS

Phonology also deals with how sounds are combined together to form words.
Consonant clusters are possible pattern of consonants in a specific language. In
English words, up till three consonants can come at the beginning of words and
up to 4 consonants can come at the end of words, e.g. spread  /spred/ (CCCVC),
stadium /ˈsteɪ·dəm/ (CCVCVC), strengths /streŋθ/ (CCCVCC), splash /splæʃ/
(CCCVC), instant  /ˈɪn·stənt/ (VCCCVCC), crisp /krɪsp/ (CCVCC), fields
 /ˈfiːldz/ (CCVCCC), twelfth  /twelfθ/ (CCVCCC). In English, two, three or
more consonants may be grouped together to form clusters or groups.
 CONSONANT CLUSTERS: PHONETIC
CONSTRAINTS IN ENGLISH

• VC : on, at, out

• VCC : ant, oust
• CV : to, shoe
• CCV : spy, snow
• CVC : tin, chap
• CVCC : tenth
• CCVC : spin, cloud, pride
• CCCVC : splash, spread, split
• CCCVCCC : scripts, sprints

• Maximum number of Consonants before the vowel is 3

• Maximum number of consonants after the vowel is 4
SYLLABIC ANALYSIS IN TERMS OF ONSET AND
CODA
• Maximum number of sounds in the onset is 3
• Maximum number in the Coda is 4
• The vowel in-between is called peak
STRONG AND WEAK SYLLABLES

• strong syllables are stressed and weak syllables unstressed

• Weak syllables must include unstressed vowels

• Possibilities for the vowels (peaks) of weak syllables:
i) the vowel a ("schwa") / ə /
ii) a close front unrounded vowel in the general area of /i:/ and /i/
iii)a close back rounded vowel in the general area of /u:/ and /u/
iv)Syllabic /l/ bottle / ˈbɒtl/
Practice consonant clusters
https://www.speechactive.com/english-pronunciation-consonant-clusters/
WEAK SYLLABLES

• we find the vowel in a weak syllable tends to be shorter, of lower intensity and different in quality.
For example, in the word 'father’ /ˈfɑːðə / the second syllable, which is weak, is shorter than the
first, is less loud and has a vowel that cannot occur in strong syllables

• In a word like 'bottle’ / ˈbɔtl / the weak second syllable contains no vowel at all, but consists
entirely of the consonant! (a syllabic consonant)

• The most frequently occurring vowel in English/ i:/,/ a:/, which is always associated with weak
syllables is the shwa / ə /. It is generally described as lax, that is, not articulated with much energy.
 WHAT IS A SYLLABLE?
TYPES OF SYLLABLES IN TERMS OF VOWELS
Minimum syllable is when a vowel or diphthong is the whole syllable, e.g. or /ɔːr/, eye /aɪ/,
ear  /ɪər/. Exception to the rule are syllabic sounds e.g. mutton, cattle; although there is
one vowel in the word but it consists of two syllables.
Closed syllable refers to a syllable that consists of a vowel preceded and followed by one
or more consonants, e.g. bed (CVC), trim (CCVC), test (CVCC).
An open syllable is composed of a vowel with one or more consonants on one side only,
e.g. way (CV), cry (CV), up (VC), act (VCC).
 WHAT IS A SYLLABLE?
TYPES OF ACCORDING TO SYLLABLES
Mono-syllabic is a word which has one syllable, e.g. rich, smart, soon;
whereas multi-syllabic is when a word has more than one syllable, e.g. understand /ˌʌn·də
ˈstænd/, happily  /ˈhæp·ɪ·li/, consequently /ˈkɒn·sɪ·kwənt·li/.
IMPORTANT NOTES ON SYLLABLES
• A syllable can be made up of one vowels and no consonants, but it cannot be made up of consonants
with no vowels.
• e.g or : /ɔ:/

• When two or more consonants come in the same syllable they can form a consonant cluster.
• E.g. Strip / strip/ CCCVC (CCC is a consonant cluster)

• A consonant cluster at the beginning of the word is an initial consonant cluster e.g. strike
CCCVC, while a consonant cluster at the end of the word is a final consonant cluster e.g.
milk CVCC.
• In Polysyllabic words consonants can come together at the syllable boundaries to form a
medial cluster.
• Breakfast /brekfəst/ CCVCCVCC a medial cluster

• Practice p. 142-143
THIS PART IS IN BOOK 2 LESSON 1
P.7-9
• What are the suprasegmental features?
• They are speech features like accent and Pitch.
Suprasegmental features are divided into Volume, Duration and Key.
Volume measures the loudness of the sound. When a person varies the volume of his voice, he
varies how loudly or quietly he speaks.
Duration is the time taken for an utterance to be said.
Key is the movement from one pitch range to another. When a person varies pitch from one key
to another he is using different keys.
 WORD STRESS
• To understand word stress, you need to understand syllables. Every word is
made from syllables. Each word has one, two, three or more syllables.
• Dog (dog) has 1 syllable,
• object (ob-ject) has 2 syllables,
• expensive (ex-pen-sive) has 3 syllables,
• interesting (in-ter-est-ing) has 4 syllables, and
• unexceptional (un-ex-cep-tion-al) has 5 syllables.
Note that every syllable contains at least one vowel (nucleus or nuclear).

What is Word Stress? Accented Syllable

• In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. In one
word, we stress / accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly
(big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly.
 1. STRESS

• stress is the emphasis given to certain syllables in a word or certain words in a

sentence.
• In words of more than one syllable, there will be one syllable which is more heavily stressed
than the others. We say that this syllable carries the primary stress (e.g. apartment) /ə
ˈpɑːt·mənt/. In some longer words, other syllables may carry secondary stress. The most
important thing is to recognize where the primary stress is - and remember that it can change
between words derived from the same base or from the same family. for example:
• photograph, /ˈfəʊ·tə·ɡrɑːf/
• photographer, /fəˈtɒɡ·rə·fər/
• photographic). /ˌfəʊ·təˈɡræf·ɪk/

Types of stress
There are two types of stress:
1) words stress = lexical stress
2) sentence stress = stress in connected utterances or connected speech
• The syllables that are not stressed are weak or small or quiet. Native
speakers of English listen for the stressed syllables, not the weak syllables.
Unstressed words are not marked
Important rules about word stress:
• One word = one stress. Each word has one primary stress marked by
superscript [ ٰ ] It is true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some
words. But a secondary stress is much weaker than the main [primary] stress,
and is only used in long words and it is marked by subscript [ ֽ ] /ˌfəʊ·tə
ˈɡræf·ɪk/, /ˌʌn·ɪmˈpɔː·tənt/, /ˌdɪs.əˈpɔɪn.tɪd/, /prəˌkræs.tɪˈneɪ.ʃən/
(procrastination )
• The stress is always on a vowel (the nucleus of a syllable).
• The number of syllables in a word corresponds to the number of vowels
in that word.
• English speakers use word stress to communicate rapidly and accurately. I
have got to go Be right back.
WHAT IS STRESSED (ACCENTED) SYLLABLE?
• Stressed or accented syllables will be higher in pitch, longer in duration, and generally a
little louder than unstressed or unaccented syllables.
• The first syllable of words like father, open, ·camera is stressed
• The middle syllable is stressed in potato, apartment, relation
• The final syllable is stressed in about, receive, perhaps

• We will mark a stressed syllable in transcription by placing a small vertical line ' high up, just
before the syllable it relates to / ˈkæmər ə / /ə'baut/ / a'pa:tmant/

• All stressed syllable have one common characteristics which is prominence

WHAT MAKES A SYLLABLE PROMINENT?
1. Most people seem to feel that stressed syllables are louder than unstressed.

2. The length of syllables has an important part to play in prominence. Stressed syllables have tendency to be longer.

3. Every syllable is said on some (different) pitch; pitch in speech is closely related to the frequency of vibration of the vocal folds and
to the musical notion of low- and high-pitched notes.

4. A syllable will tend to be prominent if it contains a vowel that is different in quality from neighboring vowels. If we change one
of the vowels in the"nonsense word" (e.g. ba:bi:ba:ba:) the "odd" syllable bi: will tend to be heard as stressed.
Prominence, then, is produced by four main factors:
(i) loudness,
(ii) length,
(iii) pitch
(iv) Quality
• Types of stress:

1. Primary
2. Secondary
3. Unstressed
STRESS IN ENGLISH WORDS
• Many writers have said that English word stress is so difficult to predict that it is best to treat stress
placement as a property of the individual word, , to be learned when the word itself is learned.
• However, there must be some fixed rules to help if speakers come across an unfamiliar word, they
can pronounce.
• In order to decide on stress placement, it is necessary to make use of
• some or all of the following information:

i) Whether the word is morphologically simple, or whether it is complex as a result either

of containing one or more affixes (that is, prefixes or suffixes) or of being a compound
word.
ii) The grammatical category to which the word belongs (noun, verb, adjective, ere.).
iii)The number of syllables in the word.
iv)The phonological structure of those syllables.
TWO-SYLLABLE VERBS

• Either the first or the second syllable will be stressed - not both.
1. The basic rule for Verb stress is that if the second syllable of the verb contains a long vowel
or diphthong, or if it ends with more than one consonant, that second syllable is stressed.
Thus:
• 'apply’ / ə ’plai/
• 'arrive’ /ə 'raiv/
• 'attr’act /ə ˈtrækt/
2. If the final syllable contains a short vowel and one (or no) final
consonant, the first syllable is stressed. Thus:
• 'envy’ /’en vi/
• enter / ˈentə/
• 3. A final syllable is also unstressed if it contains the diphthong / əu/

• Follow / ˈfɒləʊ/
 TWO-SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES
• Two-syllable simple adjectives are stressed according to the same rule, giving:

• Divine /diˈvain/
• even /'i:vn/
• Hallow /ˈhæləʊ/

• As with most stress rules, there are exceptions, for example 'honest’ /ˈɒnɪst /, end with two
consonants but are stressed on the first syllable.
• Other two-syllable words such as adverbs and prepositions seem to
• behave like verbs and adjectives.
 TWO-SYLLABLE NOUNS

• Nouns require a different rule: if the second syllable contains a short vowel the stress will
usually come on the first syllable. Otherwise it will be on the second syllable.
• money /'m/\ni/
• estate / isˈteit/ (long vowel)
• Balloon / bəˈluːn/
SIMPLER WAY
1. Stress on the first syllable.

Rule Example
Most 2-syllable nounsPRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble, REcord, SUBject,
OBject
Most 2-syllable adjectives. PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy

2. Stress on last syllable

Rule Example
Most 2-syllable verbs to preSENT, to exPORT,
to deCIDE, to beGIN, perMIT, obJECT, subJECT, reCORD
3. Stress on second syllable from end
Rule Example
Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic Words ending in -
sion and –tion teleVIsion, reveLAtion
4. Stress on syllable before suffix

Rule Example
Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, geOLogy
Words ending in –al CRItical, geoLOGical

5. Compound words (words with two parts)

Rule: For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part

Example: BLACKbird, GREENhouse
Rule: For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part
Example: bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
Rule: For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part
Example: to underSTAND, to overFLOW
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class
change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-
syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective
(opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb
(to offer). More examples: the words export, import, contract and object
can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or
second syllable.
Verbs (stress on second Nouns (stress on first syllable)
syllable)
ob'ject 'Ob.ject
pre'sent 'pre.sent
re'cord 're.cord
im'port 'im.port
con'tract 'con.tract
sub'ject 'sub.ject
 THREE-SYLLABLE WORDS

• Here we find a more complicated picture. In verbs, if the last syllable contains a short vowel and ends with no more than
one consonant, that syllable will be unstressed, and stress will be placed on the preceding syllable
• Encounter /inˈkaʊntə/

• Discover / dɪsˈkʌvə/
• If the final syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong, or ends with more than one consonant, that final syllable will be
stressed.
• Entertain / ˌentəˈtein/

• Here, if the final syllable (in a three syllable word) contains a short vowel or əu, it is unstressed
• Potato / pəˈteitəʊ/
• If the final syllable contains a short vowel and the middle syllable contains a short vowel and ends with not more than one
consonant, the first syllable is stressed
• Quantity / ˈkwɒntiti/
• Most of the above rules show stress tending to go on syllables containing a long vowel or diphthong and/or ending with
more than one consonant.
SENTENCE STRESS = STRESS IN
CONNECTED SPEECH

• Sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English, especially when
spoken fast. You know that word stress is accent on one syllable within a
word. Sentence stress is accent on certain words within a sentence.

Most sentences have two types of word:

• Content words : nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs (stressed)
• Function words (grammatical words): pronouns (he, she, them), definite
and indefinite articles (the, a), prepositions (in, at, on), auxiliaries (will,
may, is), conjunctions (and, but , or). These are usually unstressed
Content words are the key words of a sentence. They carry the meaning of the
sentence. However, function words are not very important words; they make
the sentence correct grammatically.
• will you SELL my CAR because I’ve GONE to FRANCE

In this sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3 syllables
between CAR and GONE. But the time between SELL and CAR and
between CAR and GONE is the same.
RULES FOR SENTENCE STRESS IN ENGLISH

The basic rules of sentence stress are:

• content /major words are stressed
• function/grammatical words are unstressed
• the time between stressed words is always the same

How can we differentiate between Content words and Function words?

Content words - stressed
Words that carry the meaning Example
- Main verb SELL – ENJOY – LEARN
- Nouns CAR – SCHOOL – MONA
- Adjectives HAPPY – BIG – GREEN
- Adverbs SLOWLY – NEVER
- Negative Auxiliary VerbsDON’T – CAN’T
 Function words – unstressed
Words for correct grammar example
- pronouns HE – SHE – MY
- prepositions ON – AT – WITH
- articles A – AN – THE
- conjunctions BUT – BECAUSE – AND
- affirmative auxiliary verbs BE – HAVE – DO – CAN

Exception:

Sometimes we may need to stress a function word because there is no content word in the
sentence/ for emphasis. Look at the following example.

"They've been to Mongolia, haven't they?"

"No, THEY haven't, but WE have.

 SCHWA /ǝ/

The sound schwa does not only represent a single letter. In some words it represents several
letters.

This is often seen in words which have a syllable made up of a vowel letter followed by the
letter 'r‘ like:
• Teacher  /ˈtiː·tʃə/,
• translator, /trænzˈleɪ·tə/
• Tutor /ˈtjuː·tə/
• Driver /ˈdraɪ·və/

Remember the schwa sound is only used if the syllable in which it occurs is not stressed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu6UVwkUgzc