The Functional Aspect of Speech Sounds: the

Phoneme
To know how sounds are produced by speech organs is not enough to
describe and classify them as language units. When we talk about the
sounds of a language, the term "sound" can be interpreted in two rather
different ways. In the first place, we can say that [t] and [d] are two different
sounds in English, [t] being fortis and [d] being lenis and we can illustrate
this by showing how they contrast with each other to make a difference of
mean­ing in a large number of pairs, such as tie — die, seat — seed, etc. But
on the other hand if we listen carefully to the [t] in let us and compare it
with the [t] in let them we can hear that the two sounds are also not the
same, the [t] of let us is alveolar, while the [t] of let them is dental. In both
examples the sounds differ in one articulatory feature only; in the second
case the difference between the sounds has functionally no significance. It is
perfect­ly clear that the sense of "sound" in these two cases is different.
To avoid this ambiguity, the linguist uses two separate terms: "phoneme" is
used to mean "sound" in its contrastive sense, and "allophone" is used for
sounds which are variants of a phoneme: they usually occur in different
positions in the word (i.e. in differ­ent environments) and hence cannot
contrast with each other, nor be used to make meaningful distinctions.
According to L.V.Shcherba the phoneme may be viewed as a
functional, material and ab­stract unit. These three aspects of
the phoneme are concentrated in the definition of the phoneme
suggested by V.A.Vassilyev, who looks upon the phoneme as "...a
dialectical unity of these aspects because they determine one
another and are thus inter­dependent" (79, p. 141).
V.A.Vassilyev defined the phoneme like this:
"The segmental phoneme is the smallest (i.e. further indivisi­ble
into smaller consecutive segments) language unit (sound type)
that exists in the speech of all the members of a given lan­guage
community as such speech sounds which are capable of
distinguishing one word of the same language or one grammati­
cal form of a word from another grammatical form of the same
word" (79, p. 136).
The phoneme is a minimal abstract linguistic
unit realized in speech in the form of speech
sounds opposable to other pho­nemes of the
same language to distinguish the meaning of
mor­phemes and words.
 The phoneme from the point of view of its
three aspects.
1. The phoneme is a functional unit. In phonetics
function is usually under­stood to mean
discriminatory function, that is, the role of the
various components of the phonetic system of
the language in distinguishing one morpheme
from another, one word from an­other or also
one utterance from another.
• The opposition of phonemes in the same
phonetic environ­ment differentiates the meaning
of morphemes and words, e.g. said — says,
sleeper — sleepy, bath — path, light — like.
• Sometimes the opposition of phonemes serves
to distinguish the meaning of the whole phrases,
e.g. He was heard badly — He was hurt badly.
Thus we may say that the phoneme can fulfill the
distinctive function.
2. The phoneme is material, real and objective.
That means that it is realized in speech of all
English-speaking people in the form of speech
sounds, its allophones. The sets of speech
sounds, that is the allophones belonging to the
same phoneme are not identical in their
articulatory content though there re­mains some
phonetic similarity between them.
[d] - when not affected by the ar­ticulation of the
preceding or following sounds is a plosive, fore-
lingual apical, alveolar, lenis stop. This is how it
sounds in isola­tion or in such words as door,
darn, down, etc., when it retains its typical
articulatory characteristics. In this case the
consonant [d] is called the principal allophone.
The allophones which do not undergo any
distinguishable changes in the chain of speech
are called principal.
At the same time there are quite predictable
changes in the articulation of allophones that
occur under the in­fluence of the neighboring
sounds in different phonetic situa­tions. Such
allophones are called subsidiary.
The articulatory modifications of the phoneme [d] in
various phonetic contexts:
• [d] is slightly palatalized before front vowels and
the sonorant [j], e.g. deal, day, did, did you.
• [d] is pronounced without any plosion before
another stop, e.g. bedtime, bad pain, good dog;
• it is pronounced with the nasal plosion before the
nasal sonorants [n] and [m], e.g. sudden, admit,
could not, could meet;
• the plosion is lateral before the lateral sonorant
[l], e.g. middle, badly, bad light.
• The alveolar position is particularly sensitive to the
influence of the place of articulation of a following
consonant. Thus fol­lowed by [r] the consonant [d]
becomes post-alveolar, e.g. dry, dream; followed by
the interdental [θ], [ð] it becomes dental, e.g. breadth,
lead the way, good thing.
• When [d] is followed by the labial [w] it becomes
labialized, e.g. dweller.
• In the initial position [d] is partially devoiced, e.g. dog,
dean; in the intervocalic position or when followed by
a sonorant it is fully voiced, e.g. order, leader, driver; in
the word-final position it is voiceless, e.g. road, raised,
old.
These modifications of the phoneme [d] are
quite sufficient to demonstrate the articulatory
difference between its allophones, though the
list of them could be easily extended. If you
consider the production of the allophones of the
phoneme above you will find that they possess
three articulatory features in common, all of
them are forelingual lenis stops.
• Allophones are arranged into functionally similar groups,
that is groups of sounds in which the members of each
group are not opposed to one another, but are opposable
to members of any other group to distinguish meanings in
otherwise similar sequences. Consequently allophones of
the same phoneme never occur in similar phonetic
contexts, they are entirely predictable according to the
phonetic environment, and thus carry no useful
information, that is they cannot differentiate meanings.
• But the phones which are realized in speech do not corre­
spond exactly to the allophone predicted by this or that
phonetic environment. They are modified by phonostylistic,
dialectal and individual factors. In fact, no speech sounds
are absolutely alike.
3. Phonemes are important for distinguishing meanings, for
knowing whether, for instance, the message was take it or
tape it. But there is more to speaker — listener exchange than
just the "message" itself. The listener may pick up a variety of
information about the speaker: about the locality he lives in,
regional origin, his social status, age and even emotional state
(angry, tired, excit­ed), and much other information. Most of
this other social infor­mation comes not from phonemic
distinctions, but from phonetic ones. Thus, while phonemic
evidence is important for lexical and grammatical meaning,
most other aspects of a communication are conveyed by
more subtle differences of speech sounds, requiring more
detailed description at the phonetic level. There is more to a
speech act than just the meaning of the words.
phonemic
adjective
UK /fəˈniːm.ɪk/ US /foʊˈniːm.ɪk/
relating to the phonemes of a language

phonetic
adjective
UK /fəˈnet.ɪk/ US /foʊˈnet̬.ɪk/
using special signs to represent the different sounds made by the
voice in speech
 CONSONANTS
Consonants are sounds in the production of
which there is some form of obstruction to the
flow of air as it passes from the larynx to either
the lips or the nostrils. There are twenty-four
(24) consonants in English and they are
described based on the following parameters:
(a) Place of articulation: Consonants are often described and labelled based
on where, in the vocal tract, the articulation process takes place. For instance,
sounds in which the two lips are the primary articulators (p,b,m and w) are
known as bilabial sounds. When the lower lip articulates with the upper front
teeth (as in f and v), labiodental sounds are produced. The articulation
processes involving the upper front teeth and the tongue tip or blade produce
dental sounds ( interdental - ∂ and ɵ) while those involving the blade or tip of
the tongue and the alveolar ridge (s,z,t,d,n and l) produce alveolar sounds. In
the case of r, where the tongue does not actually make contact with any part
of the roof of the mouth, the label post-alveolar is preferred. When the blade
of the tongue articulates with the alveolar ridge and there is at the same time
a raising of the front of the tongue towards the palate , palato-alveolar
sounds (ʃ,ʒ,ʧ and ʤ)are produced. Sounds in which the front of the tongue
articulates with the hard palate (ј) are known as palatal sounds while those
involving the back of the tongue and the soft palate (k,g and ŋ) are called
velar sounds. When in the articulation of a sound there is an obstruction, or a
narrowing causing friction but not vibration, between the vocal folds, a glottal
sound (h) is produced.
(b) Manner of articulation: Using the parameter of manner of articulation,
we can identify the following groups of consonant and their characteristic
patterns of articulation:

• Stops or Plosives are characterized by a complete closure at some point

in the vocal tract behind which the air pressure builds up and can be
released explosively (e.g. p,t,k,b,d and g).
• Fricatives are characterized by close approximation of two articulators
with the airstream escaping through a small passage with friction or a
hissing sound (e.g. f,s, ʃ, ɵ,h, v,z, ʒ and tʃ.).
• Affricates begin as plosives and end as fricatives. This implies that they
combine the articuatory features of the two groups discussed above.
There is a complete closure at some point in the vocal tract behind
which the air pressure builds up.
• The pulling apart of the articulators is, however, slow such that the
second part of the sound is characterized by audible friction (e.g. ʧ and
ʤ).
• Nasals begin with a complete closure at some point in the
mouth, followed by the lowering of the soft palate or velum
to obstruct the passage of the air through the mouth.
Consequently, air escapes through the nose (e.g. m,n and ŋ).
• Approximants are articulated with a narrowing in the mouth
in such a way that the articulators do not get sufficiently close
to each other to produce audible friction (e.g. r,w and ј). /w/
and /ј/ constitute a sub-group of approximants known as
glides.
• Lateral is produced with a complete closure between the
centre of the tongue and the alveolar ridge which
necessitates the passage of the air along the sides of the
mouth. There is only one sound in this category –l. /l/ and /r/
together make up the group of sounds called liquids.
• State of the glottis: In our discussion of the organs of
speech, we mentioned that the glottis plays an
important role in modifying the airstream from the
lungs to acquire the quality of a speech sound. The
impact of the glottis is mostly felt in the phonation or
voicing aspect of speech production. When it is held
open and the air passes through it without any
obstruction, the resultant sound is said to be voiceless.
Voiceless consonants in the English language include
p,t,k,s, f, ʃ, ɵ,h and ʧ. On the other hand, when the
vocal folds are brought sufficiently close together, they
vibrate when subjected to air pressure from the lungs;
thus, voiced sounds are produced. Voiced English
consonants include b,d,g,z,v, ʒ, ʤ,m,n, ŋ,l,r,w and ј
• /p/- voiceless bilabial stop (as in pot, spot, stop, happy and hiccough)
• /b/ - voiced bilabial stop (as in bad, robust, sob, rubber and number)
• /t/ - voiceless alveolar stop (as in top, stop, cot, Thomas and kitten)
• /d/ - voiced alveolar stop (as in den, dead, golden, friend and daddy)
• /k/ - voiceless velar stop (as in cough, kitchen, character and queue)
• /g/ - voiced velar stop (as in goat, ghost, haggard,gaggle and rag)
• /f/ - voiceless labiodentalfricative (as in off, fan, cough and chauffeur)
• /v/ - voiced labiodental fricative (as in van, of, cave, victory and love)
• /s/ - voiceless alveolar fricative (as in see, cease, silence and centre)
• /z/ - voiced alveolar fricative (as in zoo, rise, rays, maize and tease)
• /ɵ/ - voiceless dental fricative (as in thing, mouth, healthy and thigh)
• / ∂ / - voiced dental fricative (as in this, mother, clothe and worthy)
• /ʃ/ - voiceless palato-alveolar fricative (as in shoe, chauffeur , social and issue)
• /ʒ/ - voiced palato-alveolar fricative (genre, seizure, garage, and casual)
• /h/ - voiceless glottal fricative (as in heigth, behave, heaven and offhand)
• /ʧ/ - voiceless palato-alveolar affricate (as in church, touching, chew and
catch)
• /ʤ/ - voiced palato-alveolar affricate (prestige, gigolo, judge and George)
• /m/ - voiced bilabial nasal (as in man, come, hammer, tom and mansion)
• /n/ - voiced alveolar nasal (as in new, manner, sun, nonsense and sunny)
• /ŋ/ - voiced velar nasal (as in song, singing, thing and nothingness)
• /l/ - voiced alveolar lateral (as in letter, swallow, little, fall and lofty)
• /r/ - voiced post-alveolar approximant (as in right, marry, rarity and reaction)
• /w/ - voiced bilabial glide (as in wonderful, twist, sweater, dwindle and war)
• /ј/ - voiced palatal glide (as in youth, stew, queue, few, yam and suitor)
 Pronunciation of ‘th’ sound in English:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CeNTtb
hYLs
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7nsgRyK
DXg
 VOWELS
Vowels are sounds in the production of which there is no
obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips.
This free air flow is made possible by the fact that during vowel
articulation, the articulators do not come very close together, thus,
there is no contact whatsoever. The vocal folds are adjusted so that
there is only a narrow passage between them, as such, the
airstream from the lungs sets them vibrating. This vibration is what
we had earlier referred to as voicing. All vowels are voiced. There
are twenty vowel sounds in English. Twelve of them are pure
vowels or monophthongs while eight are diphthongs. Vowels are
often described based on the shape and position of the tongue
during the articulatory process. Since the articulators do not meet
at any point in the vocal tract, vowels, generally, are not described
using the place of articulation parameter. Basically, in describing a
vowel, the following are taken into consideration:
Tongue height: This parameter is concerned with
the vertical distance between the upper surface
of the tongue and the palate . When in the
articulation of a vowel sound the tongue is held
up close to the roof of the mouth, high or close
vowels (i:, ɪ, u:, and ʊ) are produced. When,
conversely, the tongue is placed in a resting
position far away from the roof of the mouth, low
or open vowels (ɒ, ʌ and ɑ:) are produced. When
the height of the tongue is between these two
extremes, mid vowels (ɜ:, ə and ɔ:) are produced.
Tongue backness: Using this parameter, the
consideration is on which part of the tongue ,
between the front and the back, is raised highest. A
vowel articulated with the front part of the tongue
raised (e.g. i:, ɪ, ɛ and æ) is called a front vowel while
a vowel in which the back of the tongue is the
highest point (u:, ʊ, ɒ, ɔ: and ɑ:) is called a back
vowel. When the tongue-raising is felt half-way
between the front and the back of the tongue,
central vowels (ɜ:,ə and ʌ) are produced.
The degree of lip rounding: Of all the
parameters for vowel description, the kind of
aperture formed by the lips is the easiest to
observe. The lips may be spread (as in ɪ, i:, ɛ ),
neutral (as in ʌ, ɜ: , ɑ: and ə ) or rounded (as in
ɒ, ʊ, ɔ: and u:).
Duration: Although this has been a source of
controversy, certain vowels are described as
short while others are described as long.
However, considering the fact that the context of
usage can either increase or reduce the length of
a vowel, the term ‘tense’ is often used as a
substitute for long (in i:, ɜ:, ɔ:,u: and ɑ:) while
‘lax’ is used instead of short (in ɪ,ɛ,ʌ,ə ,ɒ and ʊ)
thus emphasizing qualitative differences over
and above the quantitative.
Based on the parameters described above, certain descriptive labels are adopted to
distinguish individual vowels as follows:
• /i:/ - high, front, tense vowel (as in seat, seed, receive, be, machine and key)
• /ɪ/ - mid-high, front, lax vowel (as in rich, basket, symbol, village and ladies)
• / ɛ/ - mid, front, lax vowel (as in bed, breath and many)
• / æ / low, front, lax vowel (as in man, back, hat, badge and land)
• / ɑ :/ - low, back, tense vowel (as in card, heart, clerk, pass, half and laugh)
• / ɒ/ - low, back, lax vowel (as in cot, was, cough, knowledge and because)
• / ɔ:/ - mid-low, back, tense vowel (war, four, door, board, cause, water, jaw, ought
and broad)
• / ʊ/ - mid-high,back, lax vowel (as in full, book, woman and could)
• / u:/ - high, back, tense vowel (as in rule, food, who, soup, chew, blue and juice)
• / ʌ/ - mid-low, central, lax vowel (as in cup, son, young, blood and does)
• / ɜ:/ - mid-high, central, tense vowel (as in serve, nurse, bird, myrrh, work, search
and journey)
• / ə/ - mid, central, lax vowel (as in woman, oblige, figure, mother, possible,
suppose and colour)
Diphthongs are simply vowel sounds which
consist of a movement or glide from one vowel
to another. Although they contain two elements,
diphthongs are equivalent in length to the long,
pure vowels. The two vowel elements in a
diphthong are usually reflected in the symbols
used to represent them. There are eight
diphthongs in English and they are divided into
two group based on the direction of the glide as
follows:
Rising Diphthongs are diphthongs with a first element which is either a
mid or low vowel and a high vowel second element. They include -
• /eɪ/ (as in gate, waist, play, eight, they and great),
• /aɪ/ (as in time, pie, fly, type, light, dye and eye),
• /ɔɪ/ (as boil, boy, joint, joy, oyster, void and voyage),
• /Əʊ/ (as in so, hoe, own, toast, soul, go and pillow) and
• /aʊ/ (as in house, how, loud, crowd, shout and owl).

Centering Diphthongs begin with either a front or back vowel first

element and end with the schwa /Ə/ which is a central vowel. They
include –

• /ɪƏ/ (as in here, cheer, media, idea and museum),

• / ɛƏ/ (as in care, chair, bear, parent and aerial) and
• /ʊƏ/ (as in poor, gourd, endure and during).
The Vowel Chart - The 12 Monophthongs in British English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYkITIqfZ6c

Diphthongs in English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAVGOpzqm8M

Short Vowel Exercise - Better Pronunciation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KeeU1N2FUg

Long & Short Vowel Sound Exercise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWpyFifs-pM