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Edi ia a III-a

Editura Funda iei Romania ae Maine, 2007

(GLWXU DFUHGLWDW GH Ministerul Eauca iei ,i Cercet rii
prin Consiliul Na ional al Cercet rii Stiin ifice
ain Inv mantul Superior

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9$16&+$,.5 '8/(6&80$5$
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Schaik R dulescu, Mara. Ed. a III-a Bucuresti, Editura
Funda iei Romania ae Maine, 2007
Bibliogr.
ISBN 978-973-163-082-3

811.111`34(075.8)



Reproducerea integral sau Iragmentar , prin orice Iorm si prin orice
mijloace tehnice, este strict interzis si se pedepseste conIorm legii.

R spunaerea pentru con inutul ,i originalitatea textului
revine exclusiv autorului/autorilor.



Redactor: Andreea DINU
Tehnoredactor: Alexandru OAN
Lauren iu Cozma TUDOSE
Coperta: Cornelia PRODAN

Bun de tipar: 13.12.2007; Coli tipar: 9,5
Format: 16/61x86

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FACULTATEA DE LIMBI SI LITERATURI STR INE

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Edi ia a III-a

EDITURA FUNDA IEI ROMNIA DE MINE

Bucuresti, 2007



5


CONTENTS





FOREWORD ...................... 9
I. INTRODUCTION ................... 11

1. Phonetics and phonology as branches oI linguistics ..... 11
1.1. Disciplines oI linguistics .............. 12
2. Speech sounds .................... 14
3. The International Phonetic Alphabet ........... 15
4. On varieties oI English ............... 20
5. Questions ..................... 21

II. BRANCHES OF PHONETICS ............. 22

1. Acoustic phonetics .................. 23
2. Auditory phonetics .................. 28
3. Questions ..................... 30

III. ARTICULATORY PHONETICS ............. 32

1. Airstream mechanisms ................ 32
2. The vocal cords .................... 34
3. Resonance .................... 35
4. Oral and nasal sounds ................. 36
5. Active and passive articulators ............. 36
6. Manners oI articulation ............... 37
7. Fortis and lenis ................... 38
8. Places oI articulation ................ 38
9. Questions ...................... 40


6
IV. CONSONANTS ................... 42

1. Obstruents .................... 42
1.1. Plosives ..................... 42
1.1.1. Aspiration ............... 43
1.2. Fricatives ................... 44
1.2.1. On the distribution oI Iricatives ........ 45
1.3. AIIricates ................... 46
2. Sonorant consonants ................. 46
2.1. Nasals .................... 46
2.2. Liquids ................... 46
2.2.1. Laterals ................ 46
2.2.2. Rhotics ................ 47
3. Glides ........................ 48
3.1. Distribution and variation oI glides ......... 49
4. Summary ..................... 50
5. Questions and exercises ............... 53

V. VOWELS ...................... 55

1. Criteria Ior classiIying vowels ............ 55
2. The Cardinal Vowels ................ 56
3. Other criteria Ior classiIying vowels .......... 57
4. English vowel sounds ................. 61
4.1. RP Iront vowels .................. 61
4.2. RP back vowels .................. 62
4.3. RP central vowels ................. 62
4.4. RP centring diphthongs ............... 62
4.5. RP diphthongs Ialling to |'] and to |3] ......... 63
5. Questions and exercises ............... 63

VI. PHONOLOGY .................... 66

1. Phonetics vs. phonology ................. 66
2. Segmental vs. suprasegmental phonology ........ 66
3. Segmental phonology ................. 67

7
3.1 Phonemes and their variants ............ 67
3.2 Distribution .................... 70
4. Questions ...................... 71

VII. PHONOLOGICAL FEATURES ............. 72

1. Major class Ieatures ................. 75
2. Consonantal Ieatures ................ 76
2.1. Voice ..................... 77
2.2. Manner Ieatures ................ 77
2.3. Place Ieatures ................ 78
3. Vowel Ieatures ................... 79
4. Summing up .................... 82
5. Questions and exercises ............... 84

VIII. PHONOLOGICAL RULES .............. 86

1. Rule writing ..................... 86
2. Selecting the underlying Iorm .............. 88
3. Phonological alternations ............... 90
3.1 Phonetically conditioned alternations ......... 90
3.2 Phonetically and morphologically conditioned alternations 91
3.3 Phonetically, morphologically and lexically conditioned alternations 92
4. More on rule writing ................ 93
5. Derivations ...................... 98
5.1. Rule ordering .................. 99
6. Questions and exercises ............... 101

IX. PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES .......
103

1. Feature changing rules ................ 103
1.1. Assimilation .................. 103
1.2. Dissimilation ................. 105
1.3. Lenition ................... 105
1.4. Flapping ................... 106
1.5. Glottalisation ................. 106

8
2. Other types oI changes ................ 106
2.1. Deletion ................... 106
2.2. Insertion .................... 107
2.3. Metathesis .................. 108
2.4. Reduplication ................... 108
2.5. Haplology .................. 109
3. Questions and exercises 109

X. SUPRASEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY: THE SYLLABLE 110

1. Syllable structure ................... 111
1.1. Sonority and the syllable .............. 111
1.2. The onset-rhyme theory ............... 114
1.3. The timing tier ................. 117
2. SyllabiIication .................... 119
2.1. Principles oI syllabiIication ........... 119
3. Syllable weight ................... 120
3.1. Latin stress assignment rule ........... 121
4. Questions and exercises ............... 122

XI. SUPRASYLLABIC STRUCTURE 126

1. Stress and accent ................... 126
2. The metrical Ioot .................. 129
3. Intonation and tone .................. 133
4. Questions and exercises ................ 136

SAMPLE TESTS .................... 139

APPENDIX 1: English consonantal clusters ......... 141
APPENDIX 2: English weak Iorms ............. 146

SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO SAMPLE TEST A ..... 148
RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING ....... 150
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................. 151

9

FOREWORD





The general purpose oI this course oI lectures is to introduce the
Iirst year students in English to the study oI sounds. The emphasis
Ialls oI course on the English sound system, but some examples Irom
other languages are also brought up, so as to increase the explanatory
power oI the presentation.
Preparing Ior this course will Iirst oI all enable the students to
recognize, transcribe and describe the English sounds in general
phonetic terms and to master the basic phonetic characteristics oI the
English language. At the same time, they will have the possibility to
improve their knowledge oI English pronunciation in relationship with
the English spelling, thus increasing their speaking and writing
proIiciency.
In the second part oI the course, the students will become
Iamiliar with the object oI phonology, its basic concepts, and the
phonological description and classiIication oI sounds. They will be
introduced as well to the main phonological processes and their
representation, with practical application on English speciIic
phenomena.
The third aim oI the course is to present the main Ieatures oI
English suprasegmental phonology, starting with English phonotactics
(phonological restrictions), and continuing with syllable structure and
syllabiIication rules oI English. Other categories that will Iall under
scrutiny are: stress, rhythm, intonation, the relationship between
English weak and strong syllables, etc.



10



11
I. INTRODUCTION





1. 3KRQHWLFVDQGSKRQRORJ\DVEUDQFKHVRIOLQJXLVWLFV

Phonetics and phonology are two closely related branches oI
linguistics, the science which studies human language in all its
aspects.
The study oI language is one oI the oldest and dearest
preoccupations oI philosophers and scientists. Ever since ancient
times, linguists and other scholars have understood that the
phenomena oI language are much too complex to be studied globally.
There are, in Iact, different levels at which the linguistic analysis can
apply, including, Ior instance, the level oI sounds, that oI words and
that oI sentences. OI course, sounds, words and sentences cannot be
separated in practice, as they are simultaneously included in the
utterances that we use to communicate. However, a close examination
will reveal that both the substance and the rules by which these
elements oI language are organized are quite speciIic and diIIerent
Irom one another. This is the reason why each level oI linguistic
analysis has come to be studied by a diIIerent branch oI linguistics,
with its own principles and methods. Especially in the past century,
the study oI language has become such a complex and diverse
enterprise that it has split up into various relatively independent
branches the linguistic disciplines oI today.






12

1.1. Disciplines of linguistics

In a philological approach, students are Iirst to become Iamiliar
with the theoretical bases oI the most important branches oI
linguistics, depending on the various levels oI linguistic analysis, and
then learn how to apply their newly acquired knowledge on the
languages they are studying. Consequently, the Iull (Iour-year)
curriculum oI a department oI Ioreign languages has come to contain
courses covering the disciplines oI phonetics, phonology, morphology,
syntax, semantics, pragmatics, as well as other areas oI linguistics,
such as discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics,
computational linguistics, historical linguistics, etc. Below Iollows a
short presentation oI these branches.
3KRQHWLFV deals with the physical aspect oI speech sounds (or
phones): their production, transmission, and reception (hence the
three corresponding branches oI phonetics: articulatory, acoustic and
auditory phonetics).
3KRQRORJ\ is the study oI the distinctive sounds oI a language,
the so-called phonemes. Phonology examines the functions of
sounds within a language, as well as the way they combine in
syllables and other stretches oI speech.
0RUSKRORJ\ is the study oI morphemes, the smallest
meaningIul elements oI a language. Morphemes may be whole words
(e.g., thin, cat, wait) or parts oI words (e.g., the plural marker -s in
cats, the past tense marker -ea in waitea, the comparative marker -er
in thinner, etc.).
6\QWD[ is the study oI sentence structure. There are several
ways oI deIining and examining sentences, according to various
grammars. Syntax may look at the inner structure oI clauses or at the
way clauses combine into complex sentences.



13
6HPDQWLFV examines the meaning oI linguistic signs (words)
and strings oI signs. This meaning may result Irom the relationship oI
a sign with the concept it corresponds to in our minds, with the object
it represents in the real world or with another sign in the same natural
language.
3UDJPDWLFV studies the use oI language and the relationship
between language and its users. It is interested in what we do with
utterances, the way we use them to a certain eIIect.
'LVFRXUVH DQDO\VLV studies the various linguistic Ieatures oI
diIIerent types oI text: e.g., the detective story, the political discourse,
the medical scientiIic reports, etc.
6RFLROLQJXLVWLFV is the study oI the interaction oI language and
social organization. Ianguage has speciIic social Iunctions, which
make it change accordingly.
3V\FKROLQJXLVWLFV studies the processes oI language acquisition,
language comprehension, language production, language
memorization, etc., which have to do with the cognitive aspect oI
language.
&RPSXWDWLRQDO OLQJXLVWLFV is an interdisciplinary area oI
research between linguistics and inIormation science. Some computer
linguists simulate language structures into computer programs. Some
others use the computer as a tool Ior the analysis oI language (e.g., by
using text corpus analysis).
+LVWRULFDO OLQJXLVWLFV studies the historical development oI
languages. Apart Irom the diachronic analysis (along time), it also
deals with the synchronic analysis oI certain states oI language (e.g.,
Old English, the language oI Shakespeare, that oI the eighteenth
century England, etc.). The evolution oI the sound pattern in a
language is studied by a subIield oI historical linguistics: historical
(or diachronic) phonetics and phonology.




14


2. 6SHHFKVRXQGV

As can be seen Irom their deIinitions, both phonetics and
phonology deal with human speech sounds. Speech sounds are the
sounds we produce when we want to communicate, that is, the sounds
that build up our words and sentences. Unlike animals, which use sets
oI sounds at random to transmit brieI uncomplicated messages (e.g., a
honey-bee dancing in Iront oI its hive), human beings can combine
their sounds in a precise order so as to Iorm larger units and to convey
much ampler and more abstract meaning. This double structuring oI
natural languages both at the lower` level oI sounds and at the
higher` levels oI grammar and meaning has been reIerred to by
linguists as double articulation. Owing to this special ability, human
languages are (as good as) inIinitely creative. In other words, human
speakers can produce an indeIinite number oI words and sentences,
while using a limited number oI sound units and a restricted set oI
rules according to which these sounds are organized.
Speaking a language we are intuitively aware that in order to
pronounce it correctly (or accurately) we have to Iollow a certain
pattern and pick those sounds that characterize it. This is because, as
already stated, each language uses a closed set oI sounds, and native
speakers have the built-in ability to identiIy those sounds and
associations oI sounds, which normally occur in their language and
distinguish them Irom alien` ones. It is usually when we try to learn a
Ioreign language that we start to realize what is typical oI it (i.e., what
rules are there to observe) and where it diIIers Irom our native
language. For example, a Romanian will have diIIiculties when
learning how to master the diIIerence between the initial sound in the
word there || and the corresponding sound in aare |d| because the
Iormer sound does not belong to the inventory oI sounds oI his own



15
language. A similar lack oI correspondence between the Romanian
and the English sound systems stands behind the way the English
vowel || is rendered in Romanian in neologisms, e.g. in the way the
name Lassie is pronounced Romanian |lesi|. Since there is no ||
sound in Romanian, our language replaces it with the sound |e|, which
is the most similar to || in our sound repertoire.
Although each language can only make use oI a Iinite set oI
sounds, each set is diIIerent, so there is no natural language that
employs, has employed or probably will ever employ the same sounds
as another one. Moreover, the sound system oI any language changes
in time. This is due to the Iact that the vocal tract oI a human being is
sophisticated enough to produce an amazingly large variety oI speech
sounds (see Figure 1.1), so that when the generations oI speakers
change, the sounds they use will also change, even iI only
imperceptibly, under various conditioning Iactors. Small changes turn
over centuries into big shiIts. This explains, Ior instance, why the sets
oI sounds oI related languages, e.g., Romanian, Italian, French, etc.
are not identical among themselves and with the sounds oI the mother-
language they all emerged Irom in our example: Iatin.


3. 7KH,QWHUQDWLRQDO3KRQHWLF$OSKDEHW

As a means oI communication, language is Iundamentally oral.
However old writing might seem to be, as compared to speech it is a
Iar younger development in the history oI humanity. Writing is
subordinate to speech and thinking, as its role is that oI Iixing ideas in
a more or less durable material by means oI symbols.
The oldest systems oI writing placed great emphasis on the
iconic representation oI words; thus, Ior each word corresponding to a
reIerent in the real world or to a concept, a suggestive image was
carved or painted. This led to the creation oI a long list oI symbols


16
(ideograms), which had little to do with the actual pronunciation oI
words. Iater on, the sounds contained in words came to be
individualized in writing, Iirst grouped in syllables, then separately.
Thus the Iirst alphabet was invented, marking a major breakthrough in
people`s conception about language.
An alphabet is a much more economical system oI writing, as
it starts Irom the idea that every sound should be represented by one
symbol, a letter. Since, as already stated, there is only a small set oI
sounds employed in a language at a certain stage in its existence, the
number oI corresponding letters in an alphabet are also small, and thus
easy to master and use. Nowadays, the most Irequently employed
alphabet is the Iatin one, which has been adapted by many languages
according to their phonetic system.
Natural languages tend to change in their historical evolution,
which makes the relationship between their spelling and their sounds
imperIect. In Iact, the older the alphabet, the more irregular the
correspondence between letters and sounds, owing to the phonetic
transIormations which have taken place in the history oI the respective
language. In the English spelling, Ior instance, the relationship
between the pronunciation and the spelling oI words has become
apparently so lax that learners have to memorize strings oI letters
whose value is diIIerent in diIIerent contexts: think, e.g., oI the
English ghost, laugh and thought. In the Iirst word, the graphic
sequence gh is pronounced |g|, and in the second, |I|, but in the third
it is not pronounced at all.
Faced with the imperIections and irregularities characterizing
the alphabets oI natural languages, in order to be able to reIer
unambiguously and rigorously to speech sounds, linguists have come
to design special phonetic alphabets. Nowadays, the best known in the
scientiIic world is the alphabet oI the International Phonetic
Association (in short: IPA see Figure 1.1), which can be used Ior
the notation oI speech sounds Irom all natural languages.



17
The IPA was Iirst devised at the end oI the 19
th
century, and
ever since it has been regularly revised and updated, so as to
accommodate sounds Ieatures and Irom languages that are still being
studied. Nevertheless, many American linguists preIer to use simpler
symbols and diacritics available on typewriters. For instance, instead
oI IPA |j| and ||, they use |s| and |z| to note the initial sounds in ship
and genre, respectively.
Iike any alphabet, IPA makes use oI letters and other small
symbols attached to them (diacritics), which can express the tiniest
nuances oI pronunciation. For instance, there are numerous shades oI
|t| listed in the IPA alphabet: aspirated |t
h
| (as in top), labialised |t
w
|
(as in twitter), palatalized |t
j
| (as in tune), etc. (see Figure 1.1). Such
detailed notations are necessary in the narrow` phonetic
transcription, which tends to be exhaustive in its description, that is,
to capture all the details in the articulation oI the respective sound.
The narrow transcription is useIul when we wish to give an accurate
and unitary rendering oI the pronunciation oI a sound in a certain
language and/or in a speciIic phonetic environment. II, on the
contrary, we need to be economical, we may only note the sound as a
simple symbol, without any detail (i.e., in broad` phonetic
transcription) in our example as |t|. By convention, the symbols
used in the phonetic transcription are places within square brackets,
e.g., the cat is on the mat: |e ll iz nn e ml|.
As can be seen in Figure 1.1, apart Irom various types oI
sounds, the International Phonetic Alphabet also contains symbols Ior
suprasegmental phonological phenomena like stress, tone, intonation,
etc.






18




19


20


4. 2QYDULHWLHVRI(QJOLVK

Being spoken on all continents, English is the most widely
spread language on earth. It is used by hundreds oI millions oI people,
as a mother tongue, but also as a second language (e.g., in India,
where it is an oIIicial language), or as a language oI international
communication (a lingua franca).
The immense geographical spread oI English makes it very
diIIerent in various places. There are traditional dialectal diIIerences,
as those between standard British English and the English dialects
spoken in the United Kingdom and Ireland (e.g., Scottish English,
Irish English, etc.), but there are also diIIerences due to the separate
evolution oI the language in various parts oI the world (e.g., in the
United States oI America or Canada), or to the contact between
English and the language oI a colonized territory (e.g., in Hong Kong
or South AIrica).
The Standard British English pronunciation, also known as
Received Pronunciation (in short, RP), is based on the southern
dialects oI England and it is the type oI language used by the upper
middle classes, in schools and in the media. In the United States a
corresponding standard variety is called General American
(abbreviated GenAm or GA).











21


5. 4XHVWLRQV

1. What characterizes linguistics?
2. Which linguistics branches do you know?
3. What do phonetics and phonology share?
4. What are speech sounds?
5. What is the double articulation oI language?
6. Why is it diIIicult to learn the sounds oI a Ioreign language?
7. Does writing depend on speech?
8. Is the English spelling phonetic?
9. What is IPA and what does it contain?
10. How many kinds oI phonetic transcription do you know?
11. Which are the most important varieties oI English?
12. What are RP and GenAm?


















22

II. BRANCHES OF PHONETICS





A phonetician may be interested in studying the speech sounds
oI the languages oI the world in general (general phonetics) or he
may apply himselI to the study oI the phonetic system oI one given
language. His approach may be synchronic (Iocusing on the state oI a
phonetic system at a certain moment in its historical development), or
diachronic (Iollowing the historical evolution oI the respective
system). He may wish to compare or contrast two systems that are
related or not (comparative phonetics). In his investigation, he can
make use oI various techniques and devices to probe the nature oI
speech sounds (experimental phonetics). II he makes use oI
instruments, which allow him to perIorm exact measurements, then he
is an adept oI instrumental phonetics.
Phonetics, as practiced today, is an independent science, with its
own methods oI investigation and experiment, but importing data
Irom the Iields oI anatomy, physiology and physics. As already stated,
phonetics deals with speech sounds, Iocusing on how they are
produced and perceived and on their physical Ieatures.
Speech sounds can be described in three diIIerent ways: in
terms oI (a) the manner oI their production; (b) the acoustic properties
oI the sound waves traveling between speaker and hearer; and (c) their
physical eIIects upon the ear. Hence a threeIold division oI this
science into: articulatory, acoustic and auditory phonetics. We will
start with a short presentation oI the last two branches.





23


1. $FRXVWLFSKRQHWLFV

Acoustic phonetics is the most technical branch oI phonetics, as
the data and the methods it operates with are mostly borrowed Irom
physics.
Analyzed Irom the physical point oI view, speech sounds are
waves, originated by the vibration oI the source (the vocal cords in the
human larynx) and transmitted through the air. Waves can be
represented graphically in sinusoidal shape (see Figure 2.1). Apart
Irom duration ( how long they last) they have two important
characteristics. One oI them is frequency, measured in Hertz (Hz).
Frequency shows how close together the waves are and corresponds to
the pitch ( the shrillness) oI the sound. It is calculated by the number
oI sinusoidal cycles completed per second (cps). (A complete cycle is
illustrated in Figure 2.1 as the movement between the rest points A
and B.)

Frequency
peak

x

x x
A B
x

trough
Figure 2.1 Periodic wave



24
The second important aspect oI sounds is amplitude (
intensity), measured in decibels (dB). Amplitude is the maximum
distance between the highest point oI the wave the peak and the
lowest point the trough (oIten divided by 2) and corresponds to the
loudness oI the sound. This is related to the amount oI energy that is
transmitted through the air by means oI the respective sound wave.
As to the measurement oI amplitude, the reIerence point Ior the
decibel scale is the standard intensity oI a sound, which has a Iixed
value close to the audible limit oI sound. The sound intensity at the
threshold oI human hearing ( 0 dB) is conventionally taken to be one
picowatt per square meter (1 pW/m), roughly the sound oI a mosquito
Ilying 3 m away, or a sound pressure level (SPI) oI 20 micropascal
(20 Pa).
The reason Ior using the decibel is that the ear is capable oI
hearing a very large range oI sound pressures. The ratio oI the sound
pressure that causes permanent damage Irom short exposure to the
limit that (undamaged) ears can hear is more than a million.
Psychologists have Iound that our perception oI loudness is roughly
logarithmic. In other words, you have to multiply the sound intensity
by the same Iactor to have the same increase in loudness. This is why
the numbers around the volume control dial on a typical audio
ampliIier are related not to the absolute power ampliIication, but to its
logarithm.
Because the power in a sound wave is proportional to the square
oI the pressure, the ratio oI the maximum power to the minimum
power is more than one trillion. To deal with such a range, logarithmic
units are useIul: the log oI a thousand is 3 (Irom 10
3
), so this ratio
represents a diIIerence oI 30 dB Irom the audible limit. Similarly, a
sound oI 60 dB is a million times more intense than the standard
value, while one oI 120 dB is a trillion times more intense.
The time it takes Ior a cycle to be completed is called the
period oI the vibration. Some sounds have constant regular periodic



25
vibrations ( tones musical sounds, including, oI the speech sounds,
vowels and sonorant), some others have irregular aperiodic vibrations
( noise sounds, including voiceless consonants), while still others
have mixed vibrations ( tones and noises, including voiced
consonants) (see also Chapter III).
Vowels consist oI bunches oI periodic waves with various
Irequencies. The wave with the lowest Irequency is called the
fundamental (frequency), whereas the others are called the
harmonics oI the respective sound. The higher harmonics are whole
number multiples oI the Iundamental ( the lowest harmonic). For
instance, iI a sound has as its Iundamental Irequency 100 Hz and one
oI its higher harmonics is, Ior instance, oI 400 Hz, then we may say
that this is its Iourth harmonic, since it is Iour times higher than the
Iundamental.
The fundamental frequency is produced by the vibration oI
the vocal cords in the larynx (hence the name laryngeal or glottal
tone), whereas the harmonics are due to the resonating qualities oI
the vocal tract above the larynx (in the supraglottal cavities: the
pharynx, the mouth and the nose), whose shapes can be modiIied
during the articulation. Only some oI the harmonics oI a sound are
emphasized by the shapes and materials oI the resonating cavities,
thus giving the sound a certain quality. That is why, when describing
sounds, phoneticians speak oI their characteristic energy bands
(formants), namely the bands oI strongly reinIorced harmonics,
corresponding to a speciIic shape oI the resonating chamber. The
complex range oI Iormants oI a sound make up its acoustic spectrum.
For example, the spectrum oI the vowel /o:/ has one band oI strong
components in the 800 Hz range and another one in the 1100 Hz
range, while the Iormants oI /i:/ are in the 280 and 2500 Hz range,
respectively (see Figure 2.2).


26

/i:/ /o:/ /ai/

Figure 2.2 Spectrograms oI /i:/, /o:/, /ai/ (aIter IadeIoged 1971;
Chi oran 1978: 49)

The Iundamental Irequency oI a sound corresponds to its pitch.
While the Iundamental Irequency involves acoustic measurement
expressed in Hz, pitch is used as a perceptual term, relating to
listeners` judgements as to whether a sound is high` or low`, whether
one sound is higher` or lower` than another and by how much, and
whether the voice is going up` or down`. Such judgements are not
linearly related to Iundamental Irequency. For listeners to judge that
one tone is twice as high as another, the Irequency diIIerence between
the two tones is much larger at higher absolute Irequencies, e.g., 1000
Hz is judged to be double 400 Hz, but 4000 Hz is judged to be double
1000 Hz. However, Iundamental Irequency values in speech are all
relatively low (i.e., usually less than 500 Hz), and Ior most practical
purposes pitch can be equated with Iundamental Irequency.
DiIIerent persons have diIIerent pitches (women have shriller
voices than men, though not as shrill as those oI children; the average
values Ior the Iundamental Irequency with men, women and children
are 120 Hz, 225 Hz and 265 Hz, respectively). However, we can still
recognize, e.g., an /i:/ or an /ai/ even iI the type oI voice which utters
them is diIIerent Irom the point oI view oI pitch. What stays the same



27
is the shape oI the spectrum: e.g., in the /i:/ pronounced by a woman
and the /i:/ oI a man the harmonics with the greatest amplitude are oI
similar Irequency (even iI the lower pitch will involve a lower number
oI harmonics in the man`s sound).
The graphic representation oI the Irequencies (the Iormants) oI
a sound is called spectrogram and it can be obtained by means oI a
device called acoustic spectrograph. Nowadays the Iunctions oI such
devices have been taken over by specially programmed computers.
A recent Iield oI activity, which involves knowledge oI
phonetics and much more, is speech processing, the study oI speech
signals and the processing methods oI these signals. The signals are
usually processed in a digital representation whereby speech
processing can be seen as the intersection oI digital signal processing
and natural language processing.
Speech processing can be divided in the Iollowing categories:

(a) speech recognition (analysis oI the linguistic content oI a
speech signal);
(b) speaker recognition (where the aim is to recognize the
identity oI the speaker);
(c) speech signal enhancement (e.g., noise reduction);
(d) speech coding Ior compression and transmission oI speech
(in telecommunications);
(e) voice analysis Ior medical purposes (e.g., analysis oI vocal
loading and dysIunction oI the vocal cords);
(I) artiIicial speech synthesis (by means oI a speech
synthesizer, a soItware or hardware device capable oI rendering text
into speech).






28


2. $XGLWRU\SKRQHWLFV

Auditory phonetics Iocuses on the perception oI sounds (the
way in which sounds are heard and interpreted). It is a Iield oI study
where the scientist has to rely heavily on notions oI anatomy and
physiology, involving the Iunctions oI the ear, but also oI the brain,
where the acoustic message is decoded.
The ear receives auditory stimuli and transmits them Iurther to
the brain. The outer ear is made up oI the pinna (auricle), which
collects and Iocuses sound waves. From the pinna, the sound moves
into the ear canal, a simple tube running to the middle ear. This
includes the eardrum (tympanum or tympanic membrane) and the
ossicles, three tiny bones (called hammer, anvil, and stirrup) which
Iorm the linkage between the tympanic membrane and the oval
window that leads to the inner ear. The tympanum turns vibrations oI
air in the ear canal into vibrations oI the ossicles.
The inner ear contains the organ oI hearing (the cochlea) and
the labyrinth (vestibular apparatus), the organ oI balance. The
cochlea is a hollow organ Iilled with a Iluid (endolymph) and lined on
the inside with hair cells (sensory cells topped with hair-like
structures), the stereocilia. All vibrations passing through the middle
ear enter the endolymph. Hair cells are varied in length, so that they
resonate with sounds oI various Irequencies. Whenever a hair cell
resonates, it sends a nerve impulse to the brain, which is perceived as
a sound oI whatever pitch the hair cell is associated with. A very
strong movement oI the endolymph due to very loud noise may cause
hair cells to die. This is a common cause oI partial hearing loss, and
the reason why anyone near guns or heavy machinery should wear
earmuIIs or earplugs.



29
Our hearing mechanism is limited to an auditory field
ranging Irom the Irequency oI roughly 20 Hz to that oI 20000 or
22000 Hz. With age, the range decreases, especially at the upper limit.
Above and below this range are ultrasound and inIrasound,
respectively. Iower Irequencies cannot be heard but loud sounds can
be Ielt on the skin. The optimum range oI sensitivity is between 600
Hz and 4200 Hz.
Frequency resolution oI the ear is, in the middle range, about 2
Hz. That is, changes in pitch larger than 2 Hz can be perceived.
However, even smaller pitch diIIerences can be perceived through
other means. For example, the interIerence oI two pitches can oIten be
heard as a (low-)Irequency diIIerence pitch. This eIIect is called
beating.
The intensity range oI audible sounds is enormous. The lower
limit oI audibility is deIined to 0 dB (we cannot hear sounds lower
than this), but the upper limit is not as clearly deIined. The upper limit
is more a question oI the limit where the sensation oI pain occurs
(because oI too much pressure on the eardrums) and the ear will be
physically harmed. This limit depends also on the time exposed to the
sound. Sometimes, the ear can be exposed to short periods oI sounds
oI 120 dB without harm, but long periods oI exposure to 80 dB sounds
will harm the ear. 150 dB sounds will cause physical damage to the
human body.
The human hearing is basically a spectral analyzer, that is, the
ear resolves the spectral content oI the pressure wave without respect
to the phase or the waveIorm oI the signal. In practice, though, some
phase inIormation can be perceived. Inter-aural (i.e., between ears)
phase diIIerence is a notable exception by providing a signiIicant part
oI the directional sensation oI sound.
In some situations an otherwise clearly audible sound can be
masked by another sound. For example, conversation at a bus stop
can be completely impossible iI a loud bus is driving past. This


30
phenomenon is called intensity masking. A loud sound will mask a
weaker sound so that the weaker sound is inaudible in the presence oI
the louder sound.
Actually, the masking depends on two more parameters:
Irequency and temporal separation oI the sounds. A sound close in
Irequency to the louder sound is more easily masked than two sounds
Iar apart in Irequency. This eIIect is called pitch masking. Similarly,
a weak sound emitted soon aIter the end oI a louder sound is masked
by the louder sound. In Iact, even a weak sound just beIore a louder
sound can be masked by the louder sound. These two eIIects are called
Iorward and backward temporal masking, respectively.
The act oI audition has objective as well as subjective
characteristics when it comes to language. Most oIten we give a
subjective interpretation to what we hear, selecting only those sound
Ieatures that are relevant Ior the language we communicate in. For
example, when listening to spoken standard English, untrained
Romanians may have diIIiculty in recognizing (and reproducing) the
diIIerence between the aspirated and non-aspirated variants oI
voiceless stops (e.g., the diIIerence between |p
h
| in top and |p| in
stop), because they do not use aspiration in their own language. So in
order to become able to perceive sounds correctly, speakers must also
learn how to pronounce them and how to use them in the system oI the
respective language, and thus develop an awareness oI auditory
sensations corresponding to various sound qualities.


3. 4XHVWLRQV

1. Which branches oI phonetics do you know?
2. What do articulatory, acoustic and auditory phonetics study?
3. Which are the physical characteristics oI sounds?
4. What is Irequency and what is its unit oI measure?



31
5. What is amplitude and how is it measured?
6. What is the diIIerence between periodic, aperiodic and mixed
vibrations?
7. What is the Iundamental Irequency and how is it produced?
8. What is the relationship between pitch and Iundamental
Irequency?
9. What are the harmonics and where are they produced?
10. What is an acoustic spectrum and what does it consist in?
11. What is a spectrograph and what is it used Ior?
12. What is speech processing?
13. How is sound transmitted to the brain?
14. Which are the limits oI the human auditory Iield?
15. Which is the intensity range oI audible sounds?
16. How can a sound be masked?
17. Can an untrained ear easily discern the sounds oI a Ioreign
language?


















32

III. ARTICULATORY PHONETICS





The physical processes involved in the production oI speech
sounds are the domains oI articulatory phonetics, which uses a lot oI
data Irom human anatomy and physiology in its descriptions. This is
so because the same organs, which are involved in breathing
processes, also participate in the production oI speech. Speech sounds
result Irom the modiIication oI the volume and direction oI the airIlow
originating in the lungs, which are carried out through the vocal tract
(see Figure 3.1 Ior a schematic illustration oI the anatomic parts
involved in the process).

1. $LUVWUHDPPHFKDQLVPV

The airIlow initiated in the lungs Iollows the direction oI the
trachea (windpipe), larynx (in the Adam`s apple) and vocal tract
(mouth and nose). This type oI airstream mechanism, known as
pulmonic egressive (Irom the lungs outwards`) is involved in all
human languages and Ior many languages it is the only mechanism
employed to produce speech sounds (e.g., English, Romanian, etc.).
For a small number oI articulations, the airstream does not
originate in the lungs, but rather Irom outside. The ingressive
airstream mechanism produces sound through inhalation, as when
uttering a gasp oI astonishment by breathing in air: aa' A speech
sound can also be generated Irom a diIIerence in pressure oI the air
inside and outside a resonator. In the case oI the oral cavity, this



33
pressure diIIerence can be created without using the lungs at all
(producing clicks, Ior example).
In the Iollowing discussion it will be assumed that the airstream
mechanism is pulmonic egressive.







Figure 3.1 The vocal tract and articulatory organs



Alveolar ridge (Hard) Palate



Upper lip Velum (soIt
palate)
Nasal cavity
Uvula

Oral
cavity
Teeth
Tongue Pharynx





Iower lip

Epiglottis
Iarynx (with
vocal cords)

Trachea




Iungs


34


2. 7KHYRFDOFRUGV

In the larynx box, the air pushed out Irom the lungs meets the
vocal cords. These are two Ilaps oI muscle placed across the windpipe
and bound to the arytenoids cartilages (which cause the protrusion
called the Adam`s apple in males` throats). The vocal cords can
modiIy their position and thus allow the air to Ilow upwards in certain
ways.
When they are wide apart, the air passes through without any
obstacle. This results in a so-called voiceless sound, such as the initial
and Iinal sounds in the word case |leis|. II, on the contrary, the vocal
cords are close together, with a narrow gap in between, then the
pressure oI the air moving through will cause them to vibrate, which
will result in a voiced sound (as in all the sounds in the word ga:e
|geiz|). The vibration oI the vocal cords can be heard when we cover
our ears during the articulation, as well as Ielt by placing a Iinger on
the larynx during the pronunciation oI voiced sounds. To practice, try
to articulate the voiced Iricative consonants |z| or |v| in a prolonged
manner, contrasting them with their voiceless counterparts |s| and |I|.
Apart Irom these two most common positions oI the vocal cords
(open and narrowed), languages can also exploit a number oI other
conIigurations, such as complete closure. II the glottis ( the opening
inside the larynx box, in between the vocal cords) is completely closed
(glottal stop), the air accumulates below the vocal cords; when they
are opened, the pressure is released with a cough-like puII oI air. The
glottal stop is important in the study oI many kinds oI British English,
as it can be Iound in the dialects spoken in Iondon (Cockney),
Glasgow, Manchester and in some varieties oI North American
English (in New England). Take Ior instance the regional
pronunciation oI the Iinal sounds in wha|'| (e.g., in what rain), shu|'|



35
(e.g., in shut up), the dropped t or k pronunciation oI, e.g., butter
and crackle, etc., the vowel reinIorcement in a hiatus, etc. (see also
Section III.3).
II the vocal cords are wide apart, as iI Ior the pronunciation oI
voiceless consonants, but the air still causes some vibrations while
passing through the glottis, we are dealing with the so-called
murmured sounds or breathy voice. These are sounds we may
produce every day when we whisper so as not to disturb the people
around us.


3. 5HVRQDQFH

As the air moves out oI the larynx, owing to the movement oI
the articulators (the tongue, lips, etc.) the shapes oI the vocal tract
above it are modiIied, so that the vibrations oI the air inside the oral
and nasal cavities will also change, by a phenomenon called
resonance, similar to the resonance inside a guitar box or a Ilute.
Some sounds (the sonorants vowels, glides, liquids and
nasals) involve a relatively high degree oI resonance ( sonorance or
sonority). Other sounds (the obstruents) involve much less
sonorance. Obstruents are noisy` consonants produced by air
disturbances: a sudden burst oI air or air Iriction, whereas sonorants
are more like pure, musical sounds. The most sonorous sounds are the
vowels. In English all sonorants are voiced, while obstruents can be
either voiced or voiceless.


36
4. 2UDODQGQDVDOVRXQGV

The choice between the oral and nasal articulations depends on
the position oI the soft palate (or velum), a muscular Ilap placed at
the back end oI the palate ( the rooI oI the mouth) (see Figure 3.1). II
the velum is raised and the nasal port closed, the air Ilows only into
the oral tract (the mouth), so that oral sounds are produced (most
speech sounds are oral). II the velum is lowered, the air can Ilow both
through the oral and the nasal cavities, which leads to the articulation
oI nasal sounds. Nasals are sonorant consonants (see Section III.3).


5. $FWLYHDQGSDVVLYHDUWLFXODWRUV

In the oral tract, the tongue and the lips, which move during the
articulation oI sounds, are considered to be active articulators,
whereas the upper non-mobile surIaces oI the mouth are usually
reIerred to as passive articulators. OI the active articulators, the
tongue is usually described in very precise details: the tip, blade,
Iront, body, back and root. That is because the smallest alteration in its
position can determine a perceptible change in the pronunciation oI
the sound. Passive articulators can be the lower lip, the teeth, the
palate and the pharynx wall. By convention, the rooI oI the mouth is
Iurther subdivided into the alveolar ridge ( the gum ridge), the hard
palate, the soft palate (oIten called velum) and the uvula ( the
Ileshy tip oI the soIt palate, used, e.g., in the articulation oI French
uvular r` ||) (see Section III.8).



37
6. 0DQQHUVRIDUWLFXODWLRQ

The manner in which a sound is articulated depends on the
channel opening (the distance between the active and passive
articulators). This distance can vary Irom complete closure (or
stricture) (a blockage in the mouth which prevents the air Irom
escaping) to complete aperture (through which the air Ilows out
unhindered).
In the case oI complete stricture, the air which has built up
behind the blockage (the closure phase)` is released with a small
outburst when the blockage is removed (the release phase`). This is
the way in which stops are produced. Oral stops (also known as
plosives iI they are pulmonic egressive) are obstruent sounds
articulated with a raised velum (e.g., the consonants in the word biae:
|b| and |d|). Nasal stops involve a lowered velum (e.g., the initial and
Iinal consonantal sounds oI mine |m| and |n|); they are sonorant
sounds (in their production the nasal cavity acts as a resonator Ior the
airIlow vibrations).
When the articulators are close together, but the stricture rests
incomplete, the air escapes through a very narrow passageway with
some Iriction (turbulence noise). This is the manner oI articulation
speciIic to fricatives (e.g., the Iirst and last sounds in fuss: |I| and |s|).
Since in the articulation oI Iricatives the air can pass continuously
through the vocal tract, they are described as continuant sounds.
The articulation oI another type oI obstruents involves
complete closure, Iollowed by a release phase which is prolonged.
The air is slowly released through a narrow gap between the
articulators, in a way that resembles the articulation oI Iricatives. The
sounds produced in this manner are called affricates (e.g., the initial
sounds || and |q| in cheat and gesture). AIIricates do not behave
however like a sequence made up oI two sounds, but rather as one
single segment. Examine, e.g., the Iollowing pairs oI words: catch it


38
(containing the sound ||) and cat shit (containing the sequence |tj|,
noticeably longer than the previous one).
Apart Irom Iricatives, there are some other sounds which can
be characterized as continuant: the frictionless continuants or
approximants, which are divided into two groups: glides and liquids.
The glides are closely related to the corresponding high vowels (e.g.,
the glide |j| in vet resembles the short vowel |i| in sing). The liquids
are laterals and rhotics (i.e., l` and r` sounds, respectively), which
oIten are articulated with approximation, but not always.
In the articulation oI vowels (e.g., the middle sounds in fish
|i|, baa || or boot |u:|), the air Ilows out unhindered because the
articulators are more or less wide apart. Just like glides and liquids,
vowels are continuant sounds.


7. )RUWLVDQGOHQLV

Fortis consonants are produced with greater articulatory eIIort
and more air pressure required by stronger resistance at the place oI
articulation. Lenis consonants are more lax: they require less intensity
and tension. The duration oI articulation is also longer in the case oI
Iortis consonants than in the case oI lenis ones. In a voiced/voiceless
pair (e.g., |d|/|t|), the voiced consonant is lenis and the voiceless
consonant fortis.


8. 3ODFHVRIDUWLFXODWLRQ

The production oI a sound involves the movement oI an active
articulator towards a passive one. The articulators give the name oI the
place oI articulation oI the respective sound (see Table 3.1).




39

Table 3.1 Places oI articulation

x Bilabial sound produced with both lips (e.g., |p|, |b|, |m|, etc.).
x Labiodental the lower lip and the upper teeth (e.g., |I|, |v|, etc.).
x Interdental the teeth and the tongue tip/blade (e.g., |T|, ||, etc.).
x Alveolar the alveolar ridge and the tongue tip/blade (e.g., |t|, |d|,
|s|, |z|, |n|, |r|, |l|, etc.).
x Alveo-palatal - the alveolar ridge/hard palate and the tongue blade
(e.g., |j|, ||, ||, |q|).
x Retroflex the hard palate and the tongue tip curled backwards
(e.g., ||, etc.).
x Palatal the hard palate and the tongue blade (e.g., |j|, etc.).
x Velar the soIt palate (velum) and the tongue body (dorsum) (e.g.,
|k|, |g|, etc.).
x Uvular the uvula and the tongue body (dorsum) (e.g., || in Fr.
raison root, reason`, etc.).
x Pharyngeal the pharynx wall and the tongue root (e.g., |'| in
Arabic |'amm| uncle`, etc.).
x Glottal the vocal cords in the larynx (e.g., |h|, |'| (the glottal
stop), etc.).

Bilabial and labiodental sounds are included in the general
class oI ODELDOV, since both sets involve at least one oI the lips. The
class oI FRURQDOV (sounds produced by raising the Iront part oI the
tongue the tongue tip or blade, but not the body oI the tongue)
comprises the dentals, alveolars, alveo-palatals ( palato-alveolars
or postalveolars), retroflex and palatal sounds. Velars and the
uvulars have as an active articulator the body or dorsum oI the
tongue, so they are both reIerred to as GRUVDOV. The class oI JXWWXUDOV
contains pharyngeal and glottal sounds, which tend to behave as one
group (see Table 3.2).


40
Some consonants have two simultaneous places oI articulation.
Secondary articulation occurs when an additional vowel-like
articulation is overlaid on the basic sound. In this case the consonant is
articulated with a simultaneous glide, i.e., palatalized (e.g., |t
j
| in
Romanian pe,ti Iish (pl.)`), labialized (e.g., |k
w
| in English quick),
etc. In the production oI sounds with double articulation both places
oI articulation are equally important (e.g., the labio-velar glide |w| in
wife).

Table 3.2 Groups oI place oI articulation

LABIAL CORONAL DORSAL GUTTURAL
Bilabial
Iabio-dental
Dental
Alveolar
Alveo-palatal
RetroIlex
Palatal
Velar
Uvular
Pharyngeal
Glottal


9. 4XHVWLRQVDQGH[HUFLVHV

1. What do you know about the pulmonic egressive airstream
mechanism?
2. Are there any other types oI airstream mechanisms?
3. Which positions oI the vocal cords do you know?
4. What is the diIIerence between voiced and voiceless sounds?
5. How is a glottal stop articulated?
6. What is resonance?
7. Which sonorant sounds do you know?
8. What is the diIIerence between oral and nasal sounds?
9. Which active and passive articulators do you know?
10. Which types oI manner oI articulation do you know?



41
11. How are plosives / Iricatives / aIIricates articulated?
12. How are nasals articulated?
13. How are liquids / glides / vowels articulated?
14. What is the diIIerence between fortis and lenis consonants?
15. Which places oI articulation do you know and how can they
be grouped?
16. Which sounds correspond to each place oI articulation?
17. What is the diIIerence between secondary articulation and
double articulation?
18. In each oI the Iollowing words one sound is underlined.
Describe it in terms oI voicing, nasality (iI necessary), place oI
articulation and manner oI articulation:
a) more b) bar c) assist d) lazy e) joy
I) peach g) thin h) Iast i) season j) north
19. Which are the active and passive articulators in the
production oI the Iollowing underlined sounds?
a) choke b) very c) yet d) happy e) singing
I) then g) cherry h) dear i) bridge j) shoe
20. For each oI the pairs oI words below identiIy the diIIerence
between the underlined sounds.
Example: The diIIerence between the |t| in pat and the |d| in
pad is a matter oI voicing (|d| is voiced, while |t| is voiceless).
a) pit/bit b) sent/tent c) vest/zest d) mob/bob
e) core/gore I) deck/neck g) soap/soak h) Iorce/source
i) lag/lad j) measure/mesher









42



IV. CONSONANTS





1. 2EVWUXHQWV

1.1. Plosives ( oral stops)

Table 4.1 English plosives

Plosive
(IPA)
Place of articulation Voice Examples
|p| bilabial - pear, drop
|b| bilabial bit, sob
|t| alveolar - tooth, pat
|d| alveolar dash, cod
|k| velar - kitchen, thick
|g| velar gong, lag
|'| glottal - rat, buckle (in some varieties
oI Br. Engl. and Am. Engl.)

Some languages may have other oral stops, produced in other
places oI articulation. For instance, in the pronunciation oI Romanian
|t| and |d| the passive articulators are the upper teeth rather than the
alveolar ridge, as in English (dental stops are usually symbolised by
|t | and |d|, with a little tooth-like diacritic under the main symbol).



43
The glottal stop |'| has been compared with a slight cough. It
has no voiced counterpart because the vocal cords cannot vibrate
when they are in contact (see also Section III.2). Under some
circumstances, voiceless stops may be reinforced or completely
replaced by glottal stops: e.g., in bu|'n| (button) (where the diacritic
| | under |n| marks the syllabic nasal); li|'|or (liquor); si|' g|uv (sick
guv); cu|' s|lice (cut slice), etc. II vowels occur (emphatically) at the
beginning of a word or in a hiatus (two vowels juxtaposed in
consecutive syllables), they may also suIIer glottal reinIorcement, as,
e.g., in its |'|eight'; re|'|act.


1.1.1. Aspiration

In most English varieties, when a voiceless stop is placed at the
beginning of a stressed syllable, its release is Iollowed by a
perceptible puII oI air, called aspiration` and marked by a |
h
|
diacritic, e.g. in |p
h
|ot, |t
h
|op, |k
h
|an. On the other hand, when the stop
Iollows the Iricative |s| in the same initial position, its release stage is
devoid oI such an audible outrush oI air (it is non-aspirated`), e.g. in
spot, stop, scan.
In connected speech, aspiration may help us distinguish
between otherwise ambiguous sentences, such as in the pair peace
talks |i:sl
h
5:ks| and pea stalks |pi:st5:ks|. A weaker sort oI aspiration
may also be present in the articulation oI stops at the beginning oI
unstressed English syllables, as well as in word-Iinal position.


44
1.2 Fricatives

In many varieties oI English, there is no voiced glottal Iricative
corresponding to the voiceless |h|. However, iI the sound begins a
stressed syllable, Iollowing a non-stressed syllable ending in a vowel,
some English speakers make use oI a breathy voice |f|, as in beheaa
or rehearsal (see Section III.2). Some other English variants (e.g.,
Cockney) hardly make use oI any |h| sound, which leads to
ambiguities oI pronunciation (e.g., in the pair hall all).
In the so-called Celtic` varieties oI English (Irish, Scottish and
Welsh) another type oI Iricative occurs: the voiceless velar |x| (e.g., in
Scottish loch / Irish lough lake`, as well as in German acht eight` or
Dutch nog still, more`). Other languages use diIIerent places oI
articulation Ior the pronunciation oI their Iricatives, e.g., the Japanese
voiceless bilabial |[|, as in Fufi, the Spanish voiced bilabial |||, as in
aeber owe`, the German voiceless palatal ||, as in sich selI`, the
Greek voiced velar |y|, as in |y|ata cat` (see also the IPA chart
Figure 1.1).

Table 4.2 English Iricatives

Fricative
(IPA)
Place of articulation Voice Examples
|I| labio-dental - Iine, puII
|v| labio-dental vat, move
|T|
(inter)dental - thick, path
|| (inter)dental that, bathe
|s| alveolar - sink, kiss
|z| alveolar zero, buzz
|j| alveo-palatal - shake, dash
|| alveo-palatal pleasure, beige
|h| glottal - hat, inherit





45
1.2.1. On the aistribution of fricatives

Most oI the English Iricatives occur in all positions (word-
initial, word-medial and word-Iinal). Words beginning with the voiced
interdental || belong to a small set oI articles and adverbs, such as
the, that, there, etc.
Other Iricatives with only limited distribution in English are ||,
|h| and |x|. The voiced alveo-palatal || never occurs word-initially
(except in a couple oI neologisms, e.g. gigolo and genre) and Ior the
rest it can only be identiIied in relatively Iew words, e.g., pleasure,
casual; beige, rouge. In word-Iinal position || may vary with the
aIIricate |q| (e.g., garage, etc.).
The voiceless glottal Iricative |h| can never be Iound in Iinal
position; it is restricted to the word-initial or word-medial position,
but even then it must belong to the onset oI a stressed syllable, e.g., in
horse or aheaa. |h| is regularly dropped Irom the initial position oI
several Iunction words unstressed pronouns and auxiliaries (e.g., his,
her, has, etc.) and it is oIten absent in other words in many varieties oI
English characterised as sub-standard. In those cases where the Iirst
orthographic sequence oI a word is hu`, the initial sound is sometimes
pronounced as the palatal Iricative || Iollowed by the glide |j|. In
some North American varieties, these words actually begin with the
glide |j|, without any |h| sound (e.g., in huge, humia, etc.).
The voiceless velar |x| never occurs word-initially in the
Celtic` English varieties.


46
1.3 Affricates

There are only two aIIricates commonly used in English, both
alveo-palatal: voiceless || (as in charitv, teacher, catch) and voiced
|q| (as in generous, pleager, rage). Speakers oI other languages make
use oI more aIIricates, such as the German voiceless labio-dental |pI|,
as in Pfeffer pepper`, the Romanian voiceless dental |ts|, as in ar
country`, or the Italian voiced dental |dz| in :io uncle`.


2. 6RQRUDQWFRQVRQDQWV

2.1 Nasals

English nasals are stops. They correspond to the English
plosives in terms oI their place oI articulation: there is a bilabial |m|,
as in monev, an alveolar |n|, as in nuttv, and a velar |g|, as in sing. The
English velar nasal |g| cannot occur at the beginning oI a syllable. In
other languages we Iind diIIerent types oI nasals (e.g., dental |n|, as in
Romanian numai only`, palatal ||, as in French ga||er (gagner) to
win`, Spanish ni||o (nio) child`, Italian o||i (ogni) every`, etc.).


2.2 Liquids

2.2.1. Laterals

Iaterals are those sonorants whose articulation involves a free
flux of air over the lowered sides of the tongue. The central part oI
the tongue (the active articulator) touches the palate (the passive
articulator) (in a so-called mid-saggital contact), but both (or at least
one oI) its lateral parts are Iree in the process. Characteristic oI many



47
languages including English is the alveolar lateral |l|, as in lamb (in
this case, the tongue blade is in contact with the alveolar ridge).
Another type oI lateral is Spanish and Italian palatal |\| (as in Sp.
caballo horse`, It. figlio son`), etc.
In English, a lateral liquid may occur in all positions in a
word, but its articulation varies accordingly. An important distinction
results Irom contrasting the articulation oI (a) an |l| in initial position,
or word-medially beIore a vowel, to (b) a lateral placed at the end oI
the word, beIore a consonant or in syllabic position. The lateral variant
produced in the environments under (a) (e.g., in lake, luaicrous,
follow, inlana), which only has alveolar contact, is known as clear 'l`
and is symbolised as |l|. For the articulation oI the other variant, in
addition to the alveolar contact, the back oI the tongue is
simultaneously raised towards the soIt palate (e.g., in pi|l|, ki|l|t, ratt|l|).
This secondary velar articulation has given the alveolar sound the
description dark 'l`.


2.2.2 Rhotics

Under the name rhotics` a large variety oI sounds are usually
grouped, and a good ear will notice the diIIerences in the articulation
oI the r` sounds used, Ior instance, in RP English, Scottish English,
North American English, or other languages, such as Spanish, French
and High German (see Table 4.3). In Iact, as we will see, the general
heading oI rhotic covers sounds that either involve contact between
the active and passive articulators, or Iriction, or neither contact nor
Iriction (in the case oI continuants). What all these r` sounds share is
that they tend to Iunction as sonorants, even iI they are not so
phonetically.
In the articulation oI the alveolar trill (or roll) |r|, which also
happens to be the r` sound characteristic oI Romanian, the tongue


48
blade vibrates against the alveolar ridge, touching it repeatedly (in
intermitent closure). For the alveolar tap (or Ilap) |i| (a stop oI very
short duration), a single tap oI the tongue blade against the alveolar
ridge is enough. Both the trill and the tap are met in the Scottish
varieties oI English, especially the latter. The tap (or Ilap) |i| is also
the intervocalic sound in North American English pattern, etc.

Table 4.3 Various types oI rhotics

Rhotic
(IPA)
Place and manner of
articulation
Examples
|i| alveolar trill/roll Sp. perro dog`, Rom. ra duck`,
Russ. ro:a rose`
|i| alveolar tap/Ilap Sp. pero but`, Scott. Eng. rea, North
Am. Eng. cutter
|+| (post-)alveolar
approximant
Br. Eng. right
|| retroIlex approximant North Am. Eng. rabbit
|i| uvular trill/roll Somewhat older (e.g., Edith PiaI`s)
Fr. regrette regret`
|n| uvular Iricative French mari husband`, High German
richtig

The characteristic RP rhotic is the (post-)alveolar continuant
(approximant) |+|. It is produced by raising the tongue blade towards
the alveolar ridge, but in this case the sides oI the tongue come into
contact with the molars, which creates a narrow channel Ior the air to
Ilow down the middle oI the tongue. The retroflex approximant ||
is articulated in a similar way (characteristic, e.g., oI many North
American varieties oI English), but this time the tongue blade is curled
backwards, to the post-alveolar position.



49
The uvular roll (or trill) |i| and the voiced uvular fricative
|n| involve the vibration oI the back oI the tongue against the velum
or in close approximation to it, respectively. The Iormer reminds an
English speaker oI gargling and it occurs in some older dialects oI
French and in Iisbon Portuguese. The latter is the sound oIten heard
in French and High German.
The distribution oI the r` sounds lies at the basis oI one oI the
major English dialect divisions. Thus, varieties with pre- and post-
vocalic r` are called rhotic accents (i.e., accents where both the
rhotics in e.g. rose or marrv are pronounced, as well as in, e.g., fair
and sort), whereas those with only pre-vocalic r` are named non-
rhotic accents. Most types oI English are non-rhotic. The rhotic ones
include the majority oI North American English, Scottish and Irish
English, etc.
This dialectal diIIerence rests on a historical sound change,
which led to the post-vocalic loss oI the rhotic in some types oI
English. The evidence comes Irom the spelling oI English words, as
well as Irom the presence at the end oI a word like fair in non-rhotic
accents oI an r` sound iI the word is Iollowed by another word which
starts with a vowel, e.g., in fair answer (this rhotic is called linking
'r`). This phenomenon occurs also within morphologically complex
words, as Ior instance in boring (cI. bore): the rhotic always precedes
a vowel-initial ending.
Another phenomenon connected to the one illustrated above is
intrusive 'r`: the insertion oI a word-Iinal rhotic sound between two
vowels in non-rhotic accents, e.g., in the iaea |+| of it. Intrusive r` is
most oIten heard word-Iinally aIter the vowel |e| and it is also
sometimes heard word-internally Ior some speakers (e.g., compare
soaring and saw|+|ing (sawing)).
Some adult speakers use a so-called defective r` |c|, a labio-
dental approximant quite similar to the glide |w|. This type oI


50
pronunciation is oIten considered aIIected, and was typically a Ieature
oI upper class English English, but nowadays it is characteristic oI the
language spoken, Ior instance, by the working-class and lower middle-
class in South Eastern England.


3. *OLGHV

In the articulation oI glides, no contact is produced between the
articulatory organs, which groups them together with the vowels. For
this reason glides are also called semi-vowels. In Iact, their
articulation is slightly diIIerent Irom that oI the corresponding vowels:
when a glide is produced, the articulators are prepared Ior a vowel-like
sound, but then they immediately change their position (get closer) to
produce another sound. It is to this gliding` that the sounds owe their
name. Besides, glides are shorter and their articulation is more
IorceIul than that oI vowels.
Glides are also called semi-consonants because they behave
like consonants: unlike vowels, they cannot occur at the end oI a
syllable or preceding a consonant and they are always Iollowed by a
vowel. Together with some oI the liquids with similar characteristics
they build the class oI approximants (Irictionless continuant sounds).
There are only two glides in English, as in the majority oI
languages: the palatal |j| (e.g., in vet) and the labio-velar |w| (e.g., in
water). The articulation oI the palatal |j| is similar to that oI the vowel
|i| (the Iront oI the tongue is raised close to the palate). The labio-
velar |w| shares the articulation Ieatures oI |u| (the lips are rounded
and the back oI the tongue raised towards the soIt palate). Apart Irom
these most common two glides, there are also others, such as the
French labio-palatal |q| (similar to French |y|, the Iront round vowel)
(e.g., in lui |IqI| him`).




51


3.1. Distribution and variation of glides

In many North American types oI English, as well as in some
English English varieties, |j| cannot Iollow the alveolar consonants |t|,
|d|, |s|, |z|, |n| and |l|, or the dental Iricative |T|, e.g., in tune, aupe,
suit, presume, rebuke, lure, Lithuania, but it will Iollow |n| and |l| iI
they are placed in unaccented syllables, e.g., in ven|j|ue and val|j|ue.
In those varieties oI English where |j| can Iollow an alveolar
sound, the sequences |t| |j| and |d| |j| Irequently coalesce to Iorm
the alveo-palatal aIIricates ||and |q|. This happens inside words or
across word boundaries, e.g. in |une, |q|uring, as well as in bet vou
|bre|, bia vou |biqe|, etc. Similarly, the sequences |s| |j| and |z|
|j| oIten combine into the corresponding alveo-palatal Iricatives |j|
and ||, e.g. in ti|j|ue (tissue), ca||ual (casual), as well as in ki|j|vou
(kiss vou), ama||vou (ama:e vou).
In Scottish, Irish and North American types oI English, a sound
which is very similar to the labio-velar glide, the voiceless labio-velar
Iricative |n|, spelled wh`, Iunctions as a distinct sound. Thus, in
these types oI English there is a clear contrast between the words:
witch (with initial |w|) vs. which (with |n|), Wales vs. whales,
weather vs. whether, etc. The other English varieties treat these words
as pairs oI homophones, both having the glide |w|.


52
4. 6XPPDU\

Table 4.4 resumes the typical English consonantal sounds
introduced in this chapter.

Table 4.4 Consonants typically used in English

A
p
p
r
o
x
i
m
a
n
t
s





|
I
|





|
+
|





(
l
i
q
u
i
d
s
)


|
j
|

(
g
l
i
d
e
)

(
l
a
b
i
o
-

v
e
l
a
r
)

|
v
|

(
g
l
i
d
e
)


N
a
s
a
l
s

|
m
|


|
n
|


|
p
|


A
f
f
r
i
c
a
t
e
s


|
l
j
|


|
d

|


F
r
i
c
a
t
i
v
e
s


|
!
|

|
v
|

|
0
|


|

|

|
s
|

|
z
|

|
j
|



|

|




|
x
|

(
i
n

C
e
l
t
.

v
a
r
.
)










|
h
|

S
t
o
p
s


|
p
|

|
b
|




|
l
|

|
d
|




|
k
|

|
g
|

|
'
|

(
d
i
a
l
.
)

C
L
A
S
S

b
i
l
a
b
i
a
l

l
a
b
i
o
-
d
e
n
t
a
l

(
i
n
t
e
r
)

d
e
n
t
a
l

a
l
v
e
o
l
a
r

a
l
v
e
o
-
p
a
l
a
t
a
l

p
a
l
a
t
a
l

v
e
l
a
r

g
l
o
t
t
a
l





53

5. 4XHVWLRQVDQGH[HUFLVHV

1. Which English plosives do you know?
2. What characterizes the glottal stop?
3. What is aspiration and which sounds are aIIected by it?
4. Which English Iricatives do you know?
5. What is particular in the distribution and variation oI English
Iricatives?
6. Which aIIricates do you know?
7. Which sonorant consonants do you know?
8. What is characteristic oI the English nasals?
9. Which English liquids do you know?
10. What is the diIIerence between clear l` and dark l`?
11. What is the diIIerence between rhotic and non-rhotic
varieties oI English?
12. What are linking / intrusive / deIective r`?
13. What are glides?
14. What characterizes the distribution and variation oI English
glides?
15. Indicate the symbols representing the sounds described
below:
a) voiceless dental Iricative; b) voiceless bilabial stop; c) voiced
velar nasal; d) voiced palatal glide; e) voiceless alveolar Iricative;
I) voiced alveo-palatal Iricative; g) voiced alveolar lateral; h) voiceless
glottal stop; i) voiced alveo-palatal aIIricate; voiced labio-velar glide;
j) voiced labio-dental Iricative; k) voiced bilabial nasal.
16. For each oI the Iollowing symbols, Iind an adequate
description in words.

Example: |b| voiced bilabial stop
a) |d| b) |z| c) |n| d) |p| e) |h| I) |lj| g) |?|


54
h) || i) || j) || k) |j| l) |+| m) |v| n) |x|
o) |/| p) |i| q) |p| r) |!| s) |n| t) || u) |k|
v) ||

17. IdentiIy the diIIerence in articulation between the Iollowing
sounds, grouped in two sets.

Example: |0 s v | diIIer Irom |d p g k| in point oI manner oI
articulation the sounds in the Iirst set are all Iricatives and the
sounds in the second set are all stops.

a) |k g x y p| vs. |t d s z n| b) |n r I| vs. |d s z| c) |b d | vs. |p t j| d) |
0| vs. |b d k| e) |j w| vs. |z +| I) |m n p| vs. |b d g| g) |pI ts lj| vs. |I s j|

18. IdentiIy which oI the Iollowing sounds does not share all the
Ieatures oI the rest oI the sounds and speciIy what the diIIerence
consists in (sometimes there is more than one solution).

Example: in the set |p, n, s, d|, |n| is nasal and the rest are oral
sounds.

a) |w j t| b) |k x g s| c) |r l m n| d) |m p b | e) |v z y h|











55


V. VOWELS





The description oI vowels is quite diIIerent Irom that oI
consonants. First oI all, voicing is irrelevant in this case, since vowels
are usually voiced in the majority oI languages, so this Ieature is rarely
mentioned. Secondly, the manner oI articulation as such is equally
irrelevant, since all vowels are by deIinition produced with the
articulators wide apart. Thirdly, vowels are restricted to the palatal and
velar places oI articulation.


1. &ULWHULDIRUFODVVLI\LQJYRZHOV

Vowels are usually described according to their quality` within
a three-term system: vowel height, vowel backness, and vowel
roundness.
Vowel height is a vertical` parameter, corresponding more or
less to the consonantal criterion oI manner, based on the distance
between the articulators. Vowels vary Irom high (that position in
which the tongue body is as near the palate as it can be without
causing audible Iriction) to high-mid, mid, low-mid and low (where
the tongue body is as Iar Irom the palate as possible) (older texts may
also use FORVH and RSHQ instead oI high and low, respectively).
Vowel backness is a horizontal` criterion, parallel to
consonantal place. It reIers to the part oI the tongue which is raised


56
highest in the articulation oI the vowel, varying Irom front (equivalent
to SDODWDO) (through central) to back (equivalent to YHODU).
Vowel roundness: a vowel may be either rounded articulated
with the corners oI the lips brought towards each other and the lips
pushed Iorwards, e.g., |u| or unrounded. Some phoneticians make a
Iurther distinction within unrounded vowels, between spread vowels
produced with the corners oI the lips moved away Irom each other,
as Ior a smile, e.g., |i|, and neutral vowels where the lips are not
noticeably rounded or spread, e.g., |e|.


2. 7KH&DUGLQDO9RZHOV

Applying the three major criteria presented above, we can
delimit the vowel articulation Irom the articulation oI other sounds,
calculating the so-called vowel space`. This is the space within the
oral cavity available Ior the production oI vowels. For the sake oI
simplicity, the most common representation oI the vowel space takes
the stylized arbitrary shape oI a quadrilateral (a trapezoid), as Iirst
proposed by Daniel Jones in the 1920s, under the name oI Cardinal
Vowel chart (see Figure 5.1).
In Figure 5.1, the upper leIt corner represents the tongue
position Ior the (ideally) highest and Iurthest Iorward vowel (|i|),
while the lower right corner shows the tongue position Ior the lowest
and Iurthest back vowel |o|. Six other sounds, approximately placed
equidistantly Irom each other, are also indicated, thus giving a series
oI eight cardinal vowels, oI which 1 to 5 are unrounded, and 6 to 8
rounded. These are known as the primary cardinal vowels.
By reversing the rounding value, we obtain eight more secondary
cardinal vowels, oI which 9 to 13 are rounded, and 13 to 16 unrounded.
Two more vowels are numbered in the chart: the high central unrounded 17
|i| and the high central rounded 18 |u|. There are also other central vowels



57
which do not belong to the inventory oI cardinal vowels, but are included in
the IPA chart: the central low unrounded vowel |v|, the central low-mid
unrounded vowel |a|, the central mid unrounded vowel |e|, etc. |e| is
shaped like an inverted e` and is usually called schwa` (pronounced
|jwo|), which is the old Hebrew term Ior a diacritic indicating a missing
vowel (Hebrew writing usually only includes consonants).

1 i u 8

2 e o 7

3 c 5 6

4 a u 5
Figure 5.1 The primary cardinal vowels
A Iew other IPA vowels are important in the description oI the
English vocalic system. One oI them is || (Iound in conservative RP
and in most American English varieties). This vowel is somewhat
higher and Ironter than |a|, but also a little lower than |r|. IPA |i| and
|v| are the lower, more central, short, and lax counterparts oI |i| and
|u|, respectively, while |o| similarly corresponds to |u| (see Figure
5.2).

i y i u m u
i v o
e v o
e
c o a t 5
v
a u u

Figure 5.2 IPA vowels (selective)
front centraI back
high
highmid
mid
Iowmid
Iow


58
The Cardinal Vowel chart is a schematic representation oI the
vowel space and its limits. It establishes reIerence points (hence the
label cardinal`) to which vowels in speciIic languages can be
compared and described as, Ior instance, higher than the cardinal
vowel X`, Iurther back than the cardinal vowel Y`, or more rounded
than the cardinal vowel Z`. In this sense, the vowels in the words sea
and shoe are said to illustrate the high cardinal vowels |i| and |u|,
respectively. But so is said about the French vowels in the words si
yes` and chou cabbage`, and yet there is a perceptible diIIerence
between the two pronunciations. This is because the French vowels
are closer to the corresponding cardinal vowels than are the English
vowels.
A special mention needs to be made oI the symbol |a| being
commonly used to represent a low central vowel rather than a low
Iront vowel (as speciIied in the Cardinal Vowel chart). This sound is
typical, Ior instance, oI Romanian (e.g., in are (he) has`).


3. 2WKHUFULWHULDIRUFODVVLI\LQJYRZHOV

Traditionally in describing English vowels we use the quantity`
distinction long` vs. short`. Iong consonants are also known (e.g.,
Iricatives take longer to be articulated than plosives; plosives can be
long iI they are doubled` or geminated as, e.g., in Italian). Iong
vowels can be 50 to 100 percent longer than short vowels. For
example, there is an obvious diIIerence in length between the vowel
in feet |i:| (the colon indicates a long vowel) and the one in fit |i|. At
the same time, the two vowels also diIIer through quality` Iactors: |i|
is lower and more central than |i:|. That is because length in most
English varieties is never the only Ieature which distinguishes two
vowels. This is not the case in other languages (e.g., Danish) or even
in a number oI Scottish and Northern Irish English varieties, where



59
length is sometimes the only criterion oI distinction between pairs oI
words such as aa:e |dez| and aavs |de:z|.
Long vowels are always associated with a higher degree of
muscular tension in the articulatory organs. Consequently, they are
described as tense. Short vowels are produced with less tension, in a
more relaxed manner hence their description as lax.
The more advanced or retracted position of the tongue root
can diIIerentiate among vowels. Vowels articulated with the root oI
the tongue pushed Iorward oI its normal position are described as
advance tongue root (ATR) vowels. Non-ATR vowels are
articulated with the tongue root in its resting position. The Iormer type
oI vowels are also tenser and higher than the latter.
Another important way oI distinguishing vowel sounds depends
on whether the tongue stays in the same position or is shiIted during
the articulation. Some vowel sounds are relatively steady
(monophthongs, also called pure` vowels), e.g. in feet, some others
involve tongue movement aIter the beginning oI the articulation
(diphthongs), e.g., in fight. Monophthongs are represented by a single
vowel symbol, such as |i:| in feet, while diphthongs are represented by
two symbols (indicating the starting and the Iinishing positions oI the
tongue, respectively), such as |ai| in fight. Both monophthongs and
diphthongs belong to one single syllable. The duration oI a diphthong
is usually equal to the duration oI a long vowel, but there are
languages which make use oI short diphthongs (e.g., Icelandic).
One oI the members oI the diphthong sequence dominates over
the other. II the dominant member comes Iirst in the sequence, we are
dealing with a falling diphthong. English only has Ialling diphthongs,
oI two kinds: opening in Iact, centering (ending in |e|, e.g., |ie| in
beara) and closing (ending in |i| or in |o|, e.g., |5i| in voice and |ao|
in loua). In other languages, e.g., Romanian, there are also rising
diphthongs, where the dominant member comes second, e.g., in iarn
(winter`), iute spicy, quickly`, ies I go out`, coaa tail`, ceas


60
clock, watch, hour`, etc. However, some linguists (especially
Americans) describe diphthongs (and even long monophthongs) as
sequences oI glide vowel (e.g., |ja|, |wa|) or vowel glide (e.g.,
|aj|, |aw|).
In some non-rhotic English varieties, closing diphthongs may
be Iollowed by |e| (in those environments where rhotic varieties have
an r` sound), e.g., in RP sour |saoe|, saver |seie|, fire |Iaie|, lawver
|l5ie|, and slower |sleoe|. Thus triphthongs result, which by nature
are very unstable and subject to reduction. Their reduction usually
implies the loss oI the intermediary vowel, which automatically
determines the compensatory lengthening oI the initial vowel. The RP
words enumerated above are now pronounced |sa:e| (sour), |se:e|
(saver), |Ia:e| (fire), |l5:e| (lawver), and |sla:| (slower), with a Iurther
tendency towards monophthongisation oI the resulting centring
diphthong. Thus the pairs slower and slur |a:|, fire and far |o:|, and
even laver and lair (iI the |e:e| is Iurther reduced to |r:|) tend to
become homophonous.
The position oI the velum can also be used as a criterion in
distinguishing vowels. In most oI the situations the soIt palate is raised,
so that oral vowels are produced, but iI it is lowered, the change results
in the articulation oI nasal vowels. In some languages oral vowels
contrast with nasal vowels as in French, e.g., in the pair lait |lr| milk`
vs. lin |lr| Ilax` (the nasal sound is marked by the tilde` symbol |`|). In
English, nasalised vowels are always positional variants: iI a vowel
precedes a nasal stop it will be produced with lowered velum so as to
anticipate the Iollowing consonant, as in seen | i:|.



61
4. (QJOLVKYRZHOVRXQGV

Vowels have a tendency to move about in the articulatory space
much more than consonants. This variation depends both on the
regional origin oI the speaker and on his social class and age group.
The number oI vowels and their positions on the vowel chart diIIers
considerably Irom one English variety to another. OI the English
varieties, the RP vowel system is particularly rich (see Figure 5.3),
though the diphthongs have tended towards sympliIication.
Conservative RP is thus said to have 21 vowel sounds (12
monophthongs and 9 diphthongs). In more recent RP, speakers tend to
reduce the diphthongs |5e| and |oe| to |5:| and |ee| to |r:|, so that the
newer Iorm oI RP only has 19 vowels sounds.

i: u:
i o

e 5:
c a:
t
u
u:

Figure 5.3 RP pure vowels

4.1. RP front vowels

|i:| high, long, tense, unrounded (e.g., in see).
|i| high, more central and lower than |i:|; short, lax,
unrounded (e.g., in bit).
|r| low-mid, short, lax, unrounded (e.g., in check).
|| low, short, lax, unrounded (e.g., in cat).


62


4.2. RP back vowels

|u:| high, long, tense, rounded (e.g., in boot).
|o| high, more central and lower than |u:|; short, lax, rounded
(e.g., in put).
|5:| low-mid, long, tense, rounded (e.g., in taught).
|n| low, short, lax, rounded (e.g., in got).
|o:| low, long, tense, unrounded (e.g., in father).


4.3. RP central vowels

|\| low-mid, short, lax, unrounded (e.g., in cut); it is closer to
the IPA vowel |v| than to the cardinal |\|.
|e| mid, short, lax, unrounded (e.g., in about, veranaah
always in unstressed syllables).
|a:| mid, long, tense, unrounded (e.g., in fur, bira, in non-
rhotic varieties oI English); in North American English (which a
rhotic variety oI English) a |e| is oIten used Iollowed by an r` sound,
represented as |o|.


4.4. RP centring diphthongs

|ie| e.g., in fear.
|ee| traditional RP (e.g., in fair); nowadays reduced to |r:|.
|5e| traditional RP (e.g., in oar); nowadays reduced to |5:|.
|oe| traditional RP (e.g., in poor or tour); nowadays reduced
to |5:|.



63


4.5. RP diphthongs falling to i] and to o]

|ai| e.g., in pie. |ao| e.g., in cow.
|5i| e.g., in coin. |eo| e.g., in know.
|ei| e.g., in plav.


5. 4XHVWLRQVDQGH[HUFLVHV

1. Which are the main criteria used to classiIy vowels?
2. What is the diIIerence between high and low vowels?
3. What is the diIIerence between Iront and back vowels?
4. What is the diIIerence between rounded and unrounded
vowels?
5. What is the cardinal vowel chart?
6. Which cardinal vowels do you know?
7. Which are the other criteria used to classiIy vowels?
8. How can vowels be classiIied according to length?
9. How is a tense vowel articulated?
10. What is Adanced Tongue Root?
11. What is the diIIerence between a monophthong and a
diphthong?
12. Are there any triphthongs in English?
13. What kind oI diphthongs do you know?
14. How is a nasalised vowel articulated?
15. Are there nasalised vowels in English?
16. Which are the vowel sounds oI RP English?
17. Indicate the symbols representing the vowel sounds
described below:


64
a) low back round vowel; b) mid central unstressed short vowel;
c) high back short vowel; d) high Iront long vowel; e) mid back round
vowel; I) high central unround vowel; g) mid Iront unround vowel; h)
low Iront unround vowel; i) low-mid central stressed vowel; j) central
to high back diphthong; k) mid back to central diphthong; l) low Iront
to high Iront diphthong.
18. For each oI the Iollowing symbols, Iind an adequate
description in words.
Example: |e| high-mid Iront unround vowel

a) || b) |c| c) |o| d) |u| e) |o| I) |u| g) |n| h) |u:|
i) |i| j) |ai| k) |u:| l) |o| m) |m| n) || o) |v| p) |s:|
q) |io| r) |.| s) |y|

19. IdentiIy the diIIerence in articulation between the Iollowing
sounds, grouped in two sets.

Example: The vowels in the set |c c o | are mid non-central,
while the vowels in |o . s| are mid central.

a) |y o u u| vs. |o a c i| b) | u n| vs. |I c u|
c) |i u u| vs. |I: u: u:|

20. TransIorm the Iollowing transcriptions into orthographic
Iorms.
a) |pII:zd|, b) |lju:ns|, c) |laimip|, d) |0+u:|, e) |Idib+o|,
I) |koum|, g) |skcod| h) |!.ni|, i) |jcslodci|, j) |djl|,
k) |u:n+o|, l) |k:l|, m) |eo|, n) |ok.slomd|, o) |Il:+o|.






65
21. Transcribe phonetically the Iollowing words in RP.

a) question b) threaten c) this d) yelling e) blurry I) congress
g) generosity h) phantom i) shiver j) jester k) chopper
l) casualties m) womb n) central o) thought p) social.
66

VI. PHONOLOGY





1.3KRQHWLFVYVSKRQRORJ\

Unlike phonetics, which deals with the more or less universal
Ieatures oI sounds, phonology studies the relationships and Iunctions
oI sounds, the way they are organized into patterns and systems and
the way they interact with each other. However, there is no clear-cut
boundary between the two disciplines oI linguistics: in Iact, one could
not separate the phonetic Ieatures oI a sound Irom its phonological
environment, nor could one analyze a phonological process without
taking into account its phonetic characteristics.


2. 6HJPHQWDOYVVXSUDVHJPHQWDOSKRQRORJ\

Sounds are not always seen as independent segments, since they
are usually organized in higher, more complex structures. II a
phonologist regards sounds as individual units (phonological
segments), he places his approach within the Iramework oI segmental
phonology. II, on the contrary, he looks at sounds as parts oI higher
units oI organization, he does it Irom the perspective oI
suprasegmental phonology (also known as prosody).
Suprasegmental phonology studies units oI speech larger than sounds,
e.g., syllables, metrical Ieet, phonological words, phrases and
sentences, and phenomena which characterize them, such as pitch,
stress, tone, intonation, rhythm, etc.


67


3. 6HJPHQWDOSKRQRORJ\

3.1. Phonemes and their variants

II a speaker oI English is asked to produce the word cup several
times, he will articulate the three sounds |k, \, p| with slight, almost
imperceptible diIIerences every time he utters the word (this can
easily be proven by means oI a simple phonographic recording).
However, he will tend to ignore such diIIerences and consider the
sounds identical. This is because the speaker will compare, e.g., the
types oI |k| he articulates with a mental representation oI |k| stored in
his mind (a common denominator oI all the |k| sounds he has ever
produced or heard in his language) and decide that they should be
treated as the same thing.
Indeed, in the mind oI the speaker oI a certain language there
are abstract representations oI the sounds used in the respective
language, listed up in a sort oI catalogue he consults on every occasion
a sound is produced. All the possible sounds oI a language are reIerred
to such phonological categories, which are not palpable entities, like
the speech sounds we ourselves hear or articulate, but rather exist only
in our minds. These categories are described by phonologists as
invariants or phonemes, as opposed to all their possible concrete
phonetic realizations or materializations in the actual speech, which
are called variants or phones. By convention, phonemes are
transcribed within slashes (in broad transcription) and their variants
within square brackets (in narrow transcription).
We always strictly reIer to the phonemes oI one language and
not oI languages in general, because each language has a diIIerent
grouping oI the sounds into phonemes. A phonological category in a
language may be larger than the corresponding category in another


68
language. For instance, the English phoneme /p/ is the category to
which we reIer both aspirated and non-aspirated |p| variants (e.g., the
|p
h
| in pan and the |p| in span). On the contrary, in a language like
Thai, |p
h
| and |p| belong to two diIIerent phonemes, one aspirated and
the other plain (non-aspirated) (/p
h
/ and /p/), as, Ior instance, in /p
h
aa/
to split` and /paa/ Iorest`. We know they are diIIerent because they
contrast: when one is replaced by the other in a word ( the
substitution or commutation test) there results a diIIerent word with
another meaning.
Such two words are said to make up a minimal pair, that is, a
pair oI words that diIIer in just one respect (e.g., English /pn/ pan vs.
/bn/ ban, where /p/ and /b/ are diIIerent phonemes they contrast in
an opposition oI voicing). In some cases, certain sounds may have
limited occurrence, so there might be no minimal pairs to evince the
diIIerence between these sounds. Instead, we could content ourselves
with near minimal pairs, where only the immediate phonetic
environment oI the sounds concerned is identical. For instance, in
pressure |irje| vs. pleasure |lre| we can see the contrast between
/j/ and //, though the two words also diIIer by another opposition
(between /r/ and /l/). In this case, the immediate phonetic
environment is |r__e| Ior both /j/ and //.
A phoneme, thereIore, is an abstract representation oI a class oI
sounds whose members (variants) are highly similar phonetically and
never contrast Iunctionally (i.e., never occur in the same
environment). Only sounds with a high degree oI phonetic similarity
qualiIy as members oI the same phoneme (e.g., aspirated and plain |p|,
which only diIIer in one phonetic Ieature: aspiration). II two sounds
always occur in diIIerent contexts, but do not share enough phonetic
Ieatures, they cannot be the realizations oI the same phoneme. For
instance, English /h/ is always syllable-initial, while English /g/ is
only syllable-Iinal, but physically they are completely diIIerent: one is


69
a voiceless glottal Iricative and the other a voiced velar nasal stop, so
they could not be the variants oI the same phoneme.
The diIIerence between the English |p| and |p
h
| and the Thai
|p| and |p
h
| does not lie in the phonetic characteristics oI these sounds,
i.e., in their physical traits. Both English and Thai use more or less the
same plain and aspirated types oI voiceless bilabial plosive. We are
rather dealing with a diIIerence in the two language systems, in the
way the speakers oI the two languages group these phones in their
minds in one or two categories, i.e., one or two phonemes: /p/ and /p
h
/.
Graphically, this can be illustrated as in Figure 6.1:

English /p/ Thai /p/ /p
h
/ phonological level (phonemes)



|p| |p
h
| |p| |p
h
| phonetic level (phones)

Figure 6.1 The phonological and phonetic levels

The phonetic and the phonological level coexist, i.e., speakers
use concrete sounds in accordance with the abstract role played by
these sounds in their language system. The concrete level oI
representation has been conventionally called by linguists the surface
level` ( the level oI phones, i.e., oI sounds as they are actually
pronounced), while the abstract level has become known as the
underlying level` ( the level oI phonemes, i.e., oI sounds as they are
systematically organized in the respective language).


70
3.2. Distribution

Variants (or phones) can be oI diIIerent types, depending on
their distribution ( their occurrence in diIIerent environments or
contexts). For example, the aspirated and the non-aspirated |p| in
English never appear in the same environment: |p
h
| only shows up
unless preceded by |s|, whereas |p| is always preceded by |s|. Such
conditioned variants (or allophones) are in complementary
distribution. The occurrence oI allophones is said to be predictable,
because in a certain environment only one variant oI the phoneme is
expected to appear (they are context-bound). On the contrary, the
occurrence oI phonemes is described as unpredictable (phonemes
have contrastive distribution in the same context: e.g., /p b k r m/,
etc. in initial position beIore /n/ - in pan, ban, can, man etc.).
Sometimes, variation is not related to positioning, being rather
unpredictable, yet not phonemic: this is the case oI free variants.
Free variation is the diIIerent realization oI one phoneme in various
dialects oI the same language or in one person`s speech, in diIIerent
situations. Free variants are context-free and are not supposed to lead
to meaning contrasts: e.g., Northern English English |mod| mua vs.
Southern English English |m\d| (regional variants); |pli:| please vs.
|pli:z| (uttered by a lisping person).


71
4. 4XHVWLRQV

1. What is the diIIerence between segmental and
suprasegmental phonology?
2. What are phonemes?
3. What are (allo) phones / variants?
4. What is the relationship between two phonemes that can
occur in the same environment?
5. What is a minimal pair?
6. What is a near minimal pair?
7. What is the surIace level oI representation?
8. What is the underlying level oI representation?
9. Which types oI speech sound distribution do you know?
10. When are two sounds in contrastive distribution?
11. When are two sounds in complementary distribution?
12. When are two sounds in Iree variation?
13. When is the occurrence oI a sound predictable?

















72



VII. PHONOLOGICAL FEATURES





When they contrast in a minimal pair, phonemes oppose each
other in terms oI one or more distinctive features ( phonological
properties): e.g., in /bit/ vs. /pit/, /b/ is voiced and /p/ is not; in /mi:t/
vs. /bi:t/, /m/ is nasal and /b/ is not; in /vn/ vs. /bn/, /v/ is
continuant, while /b/ is not; in /brt/ vs. /wrt/, /b/ is a consonant, while
/w/ is not, etc.
Thus, by contrasting /b/ with other sounds we can learn more
about what /b/ is and what it is not. In Iact, we can arrive at a list oI
inherent Ieatures which characterize this sound, which we might
consider equal to the phoneme /b/. This means that we can regard /b/
as a unit (a phoneme) decomposable into smaller constitutive elements
(its distinctive Ieatures).
Based on their constitutive Ieatures, phonemes are more or less
alike, i.e., they share more or less properties. The more properties two
phonemes share, the higher the chance Ior them to belong to the same
class oI sounds.
Thus, /b/, /p/, /m/ and /v/ are all consonants, thereIore they can
all be represented as |consonantal|; /w/, however, is a glide (it only
resembles consonants in its behavior) and like vowels it can be
described as |consonantal|.
Secondly, /b/, /p/ and /m/ are all non-continuant sounds (they
are stops), so they can all be characterised as |continuant|; /v/ and
/w/, on the other hand, are |continuant| (in the articulation oI


73
Iricatives, glides, and a Iew other sounds the air is released
continuously, without complete obstruction).
Thirdly, /m/ is |nasal| because it is articulated with a raised
velum, while /b/, /p/, /v/ and /w/ are oral sounds, thereIore |nasal|.
Similarly, in the articulation oI /p/ the vocal cords do not vibrate
(so /p/ is to be described as |voice|), but /b/, /m/, /v/ and /w/ are
voiced, thereIore |voice|.
Finally, /b/, /p/, /m/, /v/ and /w/ are articulated by means oI lip
movement, so they all belong to the class oI |labial| sounds. At the
same time, /w/ also belongs to the |dorsal| class (it is a labio-velar).
Sounds, thereIore, can be grouped in several ways according
to their Ieatures. Phonologists, starting Irom the discoveries oI
phoneticians, have tried not to simply list up sound Ieatures at
random, but rather to associate them in categories (clusters) that are
relevant Ior the hierarchy in which the phonological system oI a
human language is organized. Thus they have come to rank Ieatures
according to the role they play in the system.
Since one oI the most important oppositions in the phonological
system is that oI vowels vs. consonants, the Ieature |consonantal|, Ior
instance, which distinguishes between the two classes oI sounds, has
been given pride oI place. Another Ieature illustrated above, |nasal|, is
hierarchically subordinated to |consonantal|, since it is used to
subdivide some consonants (or vowels) into nasal and oral. The same
is true about the Ieatures |voice| or |continuant|. Features like |labial|
and |dorsal|, which strictly reIer to the place oI articulation oI a
consonant, are commonly subordinated to other Ieatures characteristic
oI consonants.
The Ieature hierarchy depends on the natural grouping oI
sounds into classes, which make up the (segmental) phonological
system: e.g., obstruents, sonorants, stops, nasals, etc. Sounds are
grouped according to their articulatory characteristics, but also
depending on the way they behave in phonological processes. For


74
example, alveolar and dental sounds can suIIer a phenomenon called
palatalization` (a type oI assimilation) by which they turn into alveo-
palatals or palatals (e.g., in the pronunciation ki|j|vou oI kiss vou see
also Section IV.3.1). Besides, these places oI articulation are, oI
course contiguous and the position oI the tongue is not very dissimilar
in the articulation oI these sounds. For these reasons they are grouped
together under the label |coronal|.
The most widely known system oI phonological properties is
the one proposed in Chomsky and Halle`s work (1968) The Souna
Pattern of English (in short SPE), taken over and amended by
numerous phonologists who Iollowed in their Ioot steps. For example,
in the SPE model segments were viewed as consisting simply oI a list
oI binary features ( with two possible values: or ), as illustrated
above by |nasal|/|nasal|, |voice|/|voice|, etc. Iater on, as already
emphasized, linguists understood that phonological Ieatures are
hierarchically ordered in the system.
Phonologists have also insisted on the avoidance oI redundancy
in Ieature speciIication, stating that some Ieatures are simply implied
by others and should not be mentioned. For instance, since all
sonorant sounds are voiced, it would usually be superIluous to
describe a sound as |voice| once it has already been described as
|sonorant|. However, there are situations where the sonorant is
devoiced (e.g., iI Iollowed by a voiceless sound), and in such cases the
|voice| speciIication will indeed be necessary.
In the SPE model, the Ieatures characterizing a segment were
organized into a feature matrix representation in which they were
listed along with their value (either or ) Ior the respective segment.
For example, in the spirit but not exactly the letter oI the SPE, the
Ieature matrix Ior the English consonant /b/ could be described as
containing the Iollowing properties:




75


/b/ syllabic
consonantal
sonorant
continuant
del. release
IABIAI
voice


1. 0DMRUFODVVIHDWXUHV

Already in the SPE approach Ieatures were grouped according
to their higher or lower degree oI general applicability. Those Ieatures
which apply to all sounds are those which distinguish the so-called
major classes oI speech sounds: obstruents, sonorant consonants,
glides, and vowels.
Vowels can be described as |syllabic], because they
characteristically occur in syllable nucleuses ( centers). Other
sounds also become |syll| when they behave in the same way as
vowels. They are mainly syllabic sonorant consonants, like those in
button |b.tn| or bottle |bntI|) (in English, generally in word-Iinal
unstressed syllables).
In order to distinguish obstruents, liquids and nasals Irom
vowels and glides, the Ieature |consonantal| was introduced: |cons|
sounds are articulated with a high degree oI stricture.
The third major class Ieature, |sonorant|, is the one which
allows us to distinguish vowels, glides, liquids and nasals |son| Irom
obstruents (oral stops, Iricatives and aIIricates: |son|). Sonorants are
produced with a higher degree oI sonority and they display a clear


76
Iormant pattern in the acoustic spectrum they have relatively more
periodic acoustic energy.
By combining the three Ieatures we can characterize each major
class oI segments in a particular way.
A Ieature which has also been introduced as a major class
Ieature is |approximant| ( Irictionless continuant), used to
individualize liquids and glides (|approximant|) Irom nasals.

vowels glides sonorant consonants obstruents
liquids nasals
|syll|
|cons|
|son|
|approx|


2. &RQVRQDQWDOIHDWXUHV

Because oI the numerous diIIerences between the articulation oI
consonants and that oI vowels, their Ieatures are usually presented in
separate lists. We will start with consonants.


2.1. Voice

Although it is a general Ieature which applies to all classes oI
sounds, |voice| is mostly used to distinguish between voiceless and
voiced obstruents. As already stated, |voice| sounds are produced
with vocal cord vibration. They typically include the vowels, as well
as the glides, sonorants and voiced obstruents. However, there are
languages which sometimes make use oI voiceless vowels or voiceless
sonorants.


77


2.2. Manner features


There are Iive manner Ieatures to be discussed here:
|continuant|, |delayed release|, |strident|, |nasal|, and |lateral|.
To account Ior manner oI articulation diIIerences between
sounds, e.g., in the obstruent series /l/, /s/, and /ls/, new Ieatures were
introduced instead oI the phonetic labels |stop|, |Iricative| and
|aIIricate|, namely |continuant| and |delayed release|, which reIer to
the degree oI aperture in the oral tract and to the duration oI the sound,
respectively.
Thus, a stop, which is pronounced with a complete obstruction
oI the airIlow, can be described as |cont, del rel|, a fricative (which
is articulated with incomplete stricture) as |cont, del rel|, and an
affricate (which starts as a stop and ends as a Iricative and takes
longer than the other obstruents) as |cont, del rel|.
The Ieature |delayed release| is strictly relevant in describing
the diIIerence between the articulation oI a stop and that oI an
aIIricate, whereas |continuant| applies to all sounds: |cont| sounds
are those in the articulation oI which there is a Iree airIlow through the
oral tract: vowels, glides, liquids and Iricative obstruents.
One more Ieature (|strident|) was introduced in the list oI
manner Ieatures to pinpoint the diIIerence between relatively turbulent
|strid| sounds (those Iricatives and aIIricates whose articulation involve
a complex kind oI constriction, resulting in continuous noisy or hissing
airIlow): e.g., /! v s z j ts dz lj d/ and those sounds (Iricatives only)
which have less high-Irequency noise: e.g., |strid| / 0 x y h/.



78
The Iollowing two Ieatures are mainly used to distinguish
sonorants. Above we mentioned the Ieature |nasal|. |nas| sounds are
those articulated with lowered velum, so that the airIlow can pass both
through the oral cavity and through the nose. In English and
Romanian, Ior instance, |nasal| is only distinctive Ior consonants, but
there are other languages in which it can also distinguish vowels, e.g.,
French.
The Ieature |lateral| is used to separate l`-sounds Irom other
liquids (and also Irom the rest oI the sounds). It reIers to the lateral
release oI the airIlow i.e., by the sides oI the tongue.


2.3. Place features

The numerous articulatory labels used by phoneticians were
replaced in the SPE model by only two binary Ieatures, |anterior| and
|coronal|. Chomsky and Halle described as |ant| those sounds which
are produced no Iurther back in the oral tract than the alveolar ridge
(labials, alveolars and dentals), while |cor| was introduced to reIer to
sounds produced in the area delimited by the teeth and the hard palate
(alveolars, dentals and alveo-palatals). This caused palatals, velars,
uvulars, pharyngeals and glottals to be characterized together as |ant,
cor|. Iater on, due to the similarities noticed in the phonological
behavior oI alveolars and palatals (see above), the latter were also
included in the group oI |coronal| sounds. They were distinguished
by means oI the vowel-speciIic Ieatures |high|, |low| and |back|.
Instead oI using the two binary Ieatures in the SPE approach,
it has been assumed that it would be more adequate and more
economical to base the classiIication on the active articulators.
Thus the Ieatures |labial| ( with the lips), |coronal| ( with the crown
/ blade oI the tongue), |dorsal| ( with the tongue-body (dorsum)) and
|guttural| ( with the tongue root) came to be employed as


79
unary ( single-value) features. Place Ieatures are now unary because
phonologists have come to the conclusion that there is no point in
speciIying a sound Ior anything but its own place oI articulation (e.g.,
in the old system oI notation, /b/ would have been |anterior| but also
|coronal|). Unary place oI articulation Ieatures can also co-occur:
e.g., /w/, which has double articulation, can be described as both
|labial| and |dorsal|.
The Ieature |anterior| has not been altogether abandoned,
however, but now it is used exclusively to subcategorize the class oI
coronals.

dental alveolar alveo-palatal retroIlex palatal
|ant|

Another Ieature originally proposed in SPE which has proved to
be useIul in distinguishing coronals is |distributed|. Tongue-blade
(laminal) sounds and non-retroIlex sounds are thus considered to be
|distr|, whereas tongue-tip (apical) sounds and retroIlex sounds are
described as |distr|. This Ieature is particularly useIul Ior stops, since
Ior Iricatives |strident| (already) is suIIicient to characterize the
oppositions Iound in language.


3. 9RZHOIHDWXUHV

The Iollowing Ieatures are mainly relevant in the description oI
vowels (in terms oI height, backness, roundness and length see
Chapter V), but they have also been used to distinguish consonants.
The Ieature |high| applies to those sounds which involve
raising the body oI the tongue above the so-called neutral` position
(roughly the position characterizing the articulation oI the schwa),
e.g., the high vowels, the glides, the velar consonants, etc.


80
|low| applies to sounds in the articulation oI which the body oI
the tongue is lowered Irom the neutral position, e.g., the low vowels
and the pharyngeal and glottal consonants.
We use |back| to reIer to sounds produced by retracting the
body oI the tongue Irom the neutral position, e.g., the back vowels, the
velar, uvular and pharyngeal consonants.
The Ieature |front| describes those sounds which involve the
Ironting oI the body oI the tongue Irom the neutral position, e.g., the
Iront vowels. This Ieature is not accepted by all accounts (including
the SPE), but it is useIul in characterizing central vowels, in
combination with the Ieature |back| (central vowels can thus be
deIined as |back, Iront|).
|round| sounds are articulated with rounded protruding lips,
e.g., the rounded vowels and the labial-velar glide /w/.
In order to distinguish long vowels Irom short ones, we may use
the Ieature |tense|, Iirst proposed in SPE: |tense| sounds are
produced with a lot oI muscular eIIort a considerable tensing oI the
body oI the tongue in comparison to the so-called lax` vowels
(|tense|), and they imply a greater deviation Irom the neutral relaxed
state oI the tongue. This increased muscular eIIort allows Ior a longer
and more peripheral sound to be articulated (e.g., the vowel |u:| in
boom |bu:m|) rather than a shorter and more centralized lax vowel
(e.g., |o| in |ol|) (see Figure 5.3).
The Ieature |tense| seems to apply well in RP: the |tense|
vowels oI RP Iorm a class (including |i r e \ n o|), which is
proven by the Iact that they cannot occur in Iinal position in a stressed
syllable, while the |tense| vowels oI RP can (e.g., |Ii:| vs. *|li|).
Similarly, |tense| vowels occur beIore the velar nasal |g|, but
|tense| vowels do not (e.g., |s\g| vs. *|su:g|).
An idealized ten-vowel system based on the distinction oI
tenseness will contain a set oI |tense| central` vowels (|i r e 5 o|)


81
i

c
o
and one oI |tense| peripheral` vowels (|i e o o u|), as in the
Iollowing representation:

I u

c o




u

There are other vowel systems, however, with a diIIerent type
oI organization oI the very same vowels. Many languages do not
divide the set oI vowels into a tense and a lax subset. Instead, they
oppose two subsets according to the position oI the tongue-root (and
the Ieature |Advanced Tongue Root|). Some vowels are |ATR|
(|i e a o u|), whereas others are |ATR| (|i r a 5 o|) (see below).

I u
i u
c o
c



s


a

u




82
The Ieature |ATR| is sometimes used nowadays to describe
English vowels instead oI the Ieature |tense|, since, as already stated,
the advanced position oI the tongue root determines the simultaneous
raising oI the tongue body (which, by deIinition, characterizes tense
vowels).

4. 6XPPLQJXS

The Ieatures presented in this chapter are phonologically
relevant. They can be successIully used to identiIy natural classes oI
sounds. For instance, the set oI English nasal consonants |m n p|
share the Ieatures |cons, son, approx, nasal| and constitute a
natural class because there are no other sounds in this language to Iit
this description. Similarly, |lj| and |d| are the typical English sounds
describable as |cons, son, cont, del rel|.
From now on, instead oI enumerating sounds, we will oIten
reIer to them via their Ieature speciIications. As it will soon become
obvious, this approach is considerably more economical and allows us
to capture interesting generalizations on whole classes oI sounds.
Tables 7.1 and 7.2 present a summary oI the Ieatures oI various
kinds oI English sounds. Further on, the main Ieatures introduced so
Iar are presented in the shape oI a tree.

Table 7.1 Features oI English RP vowels

Features L , ( 4 $ c o: X 8
high - - - - - - - -
low - - - - - - - -
back - - - - - - -
front - - - - - - - -
round - - - - - - - -
tense - - - - - - -



83
Table 7.2 Features oI English RP consonants

round - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
back - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
low - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
high - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
dorsal 9 9 9 9
distrib - - - - - - - - - -
ant - - - - - -
cor 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
labial 9 9 9 9 9 9
lat - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
nas - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
stri - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
del rel - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
cont - - - - - - - - - - -
voice - - - - - - - - -
approx - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
son - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


cons - -
Feature p b I v
l d s z 0 j
l
j
d

k
g L m n p J I
w j




84


|- syll| |syll|

| cons| |- cons| |- cons|

|- son| | son| | son| | son|
,obstruents, ,sonor. cons., ,glides, ,owels,

|- cont| | cont| |nas| |-nas|
,ricaties, ,nasals, ,liquids,
|-approx| |approx| |approx|

|-del rel| |del rel| |lat| |-lat|
,stops, ,aricates, ,laterals, ,rhotics,


5. 4XHVWLRQVDQGH[HUFLVHV

1. What is a distinctive Ieature? What is a binary Ieature? What
is a unary Ieature?
2. What is a matrix representation?
3. How many types oI Ieatures do you know?
4. Which are the major class Ieatures?
5. Which manner Ieatures do you know? What role does each oI
them play?
6. Why are unary Ieatures preIerable in place descriptions?
7. What role does the Ieature |anterior| play in the recent
approach?
8. Which vocalic Ieatures do you know? Do they only apply to
vowels?


85
9. What is the diIIerence between the Ieatures |tense| and
|ATR|?
10. Decide whether the Iollowing sets Iorm natural classes or
not. Which Ieatures would you use to describe them?

a) /p l L lj/; b) /I m p i n/; c) /b ! j L/; d) /u u m o u n/;
e) /b l m I j /; I) /u u v/; g) /! s ls j lj/; h) /I i y j I u/;
i) /I n c v/; j) / v u/; k) / v z y/; l) /b d g/.

11. Decide which sounds are represented by the Iollowing
Ieature matrices:

a) cor b) labial c) -cont d) dorsal e) -syll
ant -del rel -del rel -cont -cons
cont voi -voi son son

12. IdentiIy the Ieatures which distinguish the Iollowing
sounds:

a) /l/ and /lj/; b) // and /v/; c) /I/ and /j/; d) /L/ and /x/;
e) /s/ and /j/; I) /0/ and //; g) /L/ and /'/; h) /I/ and /i/;
i) /g/ and /p/; j) /v/ and /j/.

13. Provide Ieature matrixes Ior the Iollowing sounds:

a) /p/; b) /g/; c) /z/; d) /q/; e) /l/; I) /h/; g) /m/;
h) /l/; i) /j/; j) //; k) /v/; l) /+/; m) /w/; n) /'/;
o) /d/; p) /j/; q) /n/; r) /\/; s) /i:/; t) /r/; u) /5:/;
v) /e/; w) /o:/; x) o: y) //; z) /a:/.




86



VIII. PHONOLOGICAL RULES





1. 5XOH ZULWLQJ

Sounds used in spoken communication may be more or less
similar to the corresponding phonemes. Sometimes speech may be
hard to understand because oI the numerous phonetic accidents`
which can occur in various environments, changing or even
completely deleting sounds. Think Ior instance oI the Iollowing
sentence: Dia vou arrive safelv?. In very careIul pronunciation, this
sentence could be transcribed as |did ju: e+aiv seilli|, but in Iast
coarticulated speech it will sound more like |diqe+ailseilli| (including
several instances oI assimilation and deletion).
Despite the diIIerences between the Iirst and the second
pronunciation oI this sentence, a speaker oI English will be able to
interpret them in a similar way. This is because in the mind oI a
speaker, apart Irom the set oI phonemes characteristic oI his language
(the underlying structure), there is also a set oI rules which he can
apply in order to generate the spoken sounds (the surface structure).
These rules also help the speaker reconstruct` the phonemes and
interpret the message attached to them.
The two levels oI representation introduced in Section VI.3.1
(the underlying level and the surIace level) are thus linked by a set oI
rules characteristic Ior a certain language, that is, a set oI explicit
statements (predictions) about the way particular (allo)phones


87
represent particular phonemes in the respective language. By means oI
these rules, speakers are able to use the sounds oI their language in an
appropriate way. We can also say that they derive the phonetic
representation Irom the phonological representation by applying the
rules (see also Section VIII.5).

Underlying representation
p
Rule(s)
p
SurIace representation

Essentially, rules state that some (input) item (e.g., A) becomes
(o) some other (output) item (e.g., B) in some speciIic environment
(e.g., X__Y). Such a statement can Iormally be represented in the
Iollowing way:

A o B / X __Y

Here the slash (/) precedes (marks) the environment. X and Y
stand Ior two variables (the leIt-hand and the right-hand environment),
and the underscore ( __ ) represents the position oI the item which
suIIers the eIIect oI the rule in this case: A.
An illustration is oIIered by the regional nasalization oI the
English vowels beIore nasal stops. For instance, the underlying Iorm
/pcn/ may be realized as |pcn|, Ior instance in the Southern United
States. We may write thereIore the Iollowing rule:

a. /c/ is nasalized when Iollowed by /n/.
b. /c/ o |c| / __ /n/



88
Moreover, taking into account that this phenomenon aIIects all
vowels oI English preceding all kinds oI nasals, we can raise our rule
to a higher degree oI generalization, using the phonological Ieatures
introduced in Chapter 7.

a. A vowel is nazalised when Iollowed by a nasal.
b. |syll| o |nas| / __ |nas|

Rules are usually written in terms oI the relevant Ieatures, not oI
the whole Ieature matrices represented by sounds (in order to avoid
redundancy and to increase the explanatory power). Thus, to represent
vowels we only picked |syllabic| because vowels are the only speech
sounds which typically Iorm a syllable nucleus. For nasals we picked
the Ieature |nasal|, which distinguishes them Irom the rest oI the
sounds; besides, in English there are only nasal stops, so any
additional Ieatures describing stops in particular would have been
redundant.


2. 6HOHFWLQJWKHXQGHUO\LQJIRUP

Now the question arises: on which criteria did we select the
underlying Iorm? In other words: why did we pick the non-nasalized
vowel to be the underlying Iorm and the nasalized one to be the
surIace Iorm and not the other way round?
Although no Iormula has been Iound yet to work without Iail, as
sometimes there might be more than a single right answer, several
guiding principles have been suggested so Iar, based oI which we may
identiIy the best candidate Ior the underlying item.
1. First oI all we have to make sure we are dealing with the
allophones oI one single phoneme. For this we need to see iI the


89
sounds are in complementary distribution and also share a great
number oI Ieatures (i.e., iI the sounds are phonetically similar).
2. Then we have to apply the principle oI phonetic naturalness
(which reIers to what is likely to be Iound or Irequently Iound across
languages). According to this principle, the symbol chosen to
represent the phoneme must have as much in common with the surIace
Iorms as possible. For instance, iI we want to represent the underlying
Iorm realized on the surIace level as oral |c| or nasalised |c|, we
should not pick a random symbol, such as 2` or *`, but a symbol that
represents the largest number oI the Ieatures oI the two allophones,
i.e., a symbol which usually stands Ior a low-mid Iront short vowel,
which cannot be Iar Irom c` itselI.
3. It derives that the symbol representing the phoneme should in
Iact be the same as one of the symbols representing the allophones.
This way, we can explain the other allophones and their distribution in
opposition to this basic Iorm and its own distribution. In the example
above, we would have to pick either the oral or the nasalized vowel
symbol to represent the phoneme.
4. OI several allophone symbols, the simplest is usually
preIerred Ior the underlying representation, i.e., the one that has
nothing added to its basic shape. From this point oI view, in the case
oI the two vowels, c` would be more appropriate to stand Ior the
phoneme, as it lacks the additional tilde symbol `.
5. It is usually the Iorm with the widest distribution (the
allophone which occurs in the largest number oI environments) that is
selected to also represent the phoneme. In our example, |c| can be
Iollowed by any kind oI consonants, except Ior nasals, while |c| is
naturally placed beIore a nasal consonant. According to this criterion,
we come to the conclusion that the unnasalyzed allophone |c| must be
chosen to also represent the phoneme, since the number oI


90
environments oI |c| is Iar larger than the number oI environments oI
its nasalized counterpart.
6. The principle oI process naturalness is also applicable
whenever we need conIirmation Ior the underlying Iorm already
identiIied by using the other criteria. A cross-linguistic analysis will
conIirm the supposition that there is indeed a natural tendency Ior
unnasalized vowels to be nasalized when Iollowed by a nasal.
7. The same phenomenon (nasalization) applies to all English
vowels. This regularity is usually reIerred to as pattern congruity and
is itselI oIten worth adopting as a general guiding principle in the
phonemic analysis.


3. 3KRQRORJLFDODOWHUQDWLRQV

There are many kinds oI phonological alternations, as there are
various kinds oI phonological processes. Some oI the alternations are
purely phonetically conditioned, some others are phonetically and
morphologically conditioned, while a third type oI alternations are
phonetically, morphologically and lexically conditioned.


3.1. Phonetically conditioned alternations

An example oI this category is the alternation between
unnasalized and nasalized vowels in English (see above). The only
cause which determines the nasalization is the presence oI a nasal
consonant immediately aIter the vowel. This means that the
phenomenon oI nasalization occurs irrespective oI the morphological
structure oI the word: it is simply conditioned by the phonetic
environment.


91
Other examples oI alternations oI the same type include
aspirated vs. non-aspirated voiceless stops, the lateral and nasal
release oI stops (e.g., in battle or rotten), the phenomenon oI
Ilapping` characteristic oI North American English, Northern Irish
and Australian English (e.g., in wa|i|er (water)), the assimilation oI
the English alveolar nasal /n/ to the place oI articulation oI the
Iollowing labial or velar consonant (e.g., i|mp|eace (in peace)),
clear` vs. dark l`, etc.


3.2. Phonetically and morphologically conditioned alternations

A word is made up oI one or several morphemes (units
contained in the word with identiIiable meanings), e.g., in the word
input, the preIix in- is a (preIix) morpheme with one meaning, while
the root -put is another morpheme, with a meaning oI its own;
thereIore, morpho-phonologically we can represent the word as
/inol/ (where the symbol `, called juncture, is used to mark the
morpheme boundary). A conditioned variant oI a morpheme is called
an allomorph.
The English noun plural morpheme (orthographic (e)s`) has
three allomorphs: |s|, |z|, and |iz|, depending on the nature oI the
preceding segment. II the noun ends in a sibilant (i.e. |s|, |z|, |j|, ||,
||, or |q|), the plural takes the Iorm |iz|, iI it ends in a voiceless non-
sibilant, the plural is |s|, and iI the Iinal segment is a voiced non-
sibilant, the Iorm oI the plural is |z|. This means that a word ending,
Ior instance, in a nasal or a vowel will automatically take the plural
allomorph |z|.
On the other hand, when we hear the English words |do:ns| and
|leis| we do not have to dismiss them as ill-Iormed plural Iorms,
because we can interpret them as the mono-morphemic ( made up oI


92
one morpheme) singular Iorms aance and case. ThereIore, the
phonetic alternation introduced at the beginning oI this section, though
perIectly motivated by the environment, is exclusively valid in the
case oI the plural marker allomorphs.
Other alternations oI a similar kind in English are, e.g., the
third person singular present tense markers |s/z/iz| and the past tense
regular markers |t/d/id|.


3.3. Phonetically, morphologically and lexically conditioned
alternations

Consider the Iollowing English singular and plural noun Iorms:

wolf |woll| wolves |wolvz| gulf |g\ll| gulfs |g\lls|
wife |wail| wives |waivz| still-life |slillail| still-lifes |slillails|
leaf |li:l| leaves |li:vz| belief |Lili:l| beliefs |Lili:ls|

Apparently, there is no phonetic or morphological diIIerence
between the words in the leIt-hand column and those in the right-hand
column that would motivate this erratic behaviour. And yet native
speakers oI English do know that in the cases exempliIied in the leIt-
hand column they have to apply voicing on the labio-dental Iricative
when they add the plural suIIix. This means that there is a list oI items
in the lexicon ( the set oI words) contained in the speakers` minds
which are speciIied Ior this irregular type oI plural marking, a list
which is transmitted Irom parent to child as a pre-established
convention. The assimilatory voicing phenomenon is not restricted to
the voiceless labio-dental Iricative, as it also applies to its alveolar and
dental counterparts.

path |o:0| paths |o:z| moth |mn0| moths |mn0s|
house |laos| houses |laoziz| boss |Lns| bosses |Lnsiz|


93
The explanation stays in the diachronic evolution oI English.
These plural Iorms are exceptions to the general plural-Iorming rule
which have been inherited Irom earlier stages oI English, when a rule
applied according to which intervocalic voicing was obligatory. That
this is so is proven by the Iact that this type oI plural Iormation is no
longer productive (i.e., it cannot apply to newly-Iormed nouns, which
automatically build their plural according to the common present-day
plural rule presented in Section VIII.3.2).
Other alternations oI this type in English are the velar softening
(the process by which the velar stop |k| is Ironted and Iricativized to
the alveolar Iricative |s| beIore a high Iront (palatal) vowel sound),
e.g., in ethnic |r0nil| / ethnicitv |r0nisili|, and the trisyllabic
shortening, e.g., in nature |neilje| / natural |nlje+el|, aocile
|deosail| / aocilitv |deosilili|, serene |si+i:n| / serenitv |si+rnili|,
etc. All these alternations are the so-called Iossilized` rests oI
phonological processes once productive in the history oI English.
There are also other irregularities among the plural noun Iorms
in contemporary English, e.g., goose |gu:s| / geese |gi:s|, mouse
|maos| / mice |mais|, etc. This kind oI alternations are not
phonetically conditioned at all, as there are no phonological
processes to be recognized by speakers oI contemporary English, who
have to learn them and use them as such. The phenomenon also occurs
Ior instance in irregular verbal and adjectival Iorms, e.g., can / coula,
sing / sang, far / farther, etc. II the two Iorms are etymologically
unrelated, their association within one paradigm is called suppletion:
e.g., is / was, go / went, gooa / better, etc.

4. 0RUHRQUXOHZULWLQJ

In Section 8.1 we showed that rules can be written in words or
with sound symbols, but quite oIten they are written in terms oI their
Ieatures, preIerably in terms oI their most relevant features.


94
In English there are alternations between the alveolar Iricatives
|s| and |z| and the alveo-palatal Iricatives |j| and ||, respectively.
The latter appear beIore the palatal glide. Consider the Iollowing
examples:

i. kiss |kis| ii. kiss vou |lijju|
please |pli:z| please vou |li:ju|

In order to account Ior these alternations we may write two
rules using sound symbols:

a. /s/ o |j| / __ |j|
b. /z/ o || / __ |j|

However accurate, this kind oI notation does not reveal
anything about the phonological processes at stake here. Iet us now
transcribe these rules in Ieature notation (as introduced in Chapter
VII), trying to avoid redundancies.

a. cont cont syll
stri stri cons
cor o cor / __ cor
ant ant ant
voice voice

b. cont cont syll
stri stri cons
cor o cor / __ cor
ant ant ant
voice voice



95
The Iirst observation we can make is that we could write one
single rule, ignoring the Ieature |voice|, as the rest oI the
speciIications are identical. Secondly, we notice that instead oI
describing the alveo-palatal Iricatives in so many Ieatures, we might
simply pick |ant| to capture the essence oI the transIormation. Thus,
we arrive at the Iollowing generalization:

cont syll
stri cons
cor o |ant| / __ cor
ant ant

Apart Irom the basic rules, as the one illustrated above, there
are also more complex relationships and operations, Ior which we
need additional notation devices and conventions. For instance,
optional elements are noted in linear rule writing by means oI regular
parentheses (brackets). They may occur to the right or leIt oI both the
leIt-hand-side and the right-hand-side environment.

A o B / X(Y) __ Z or A o B / X __ (Y)Z etc.

An example is provided by the rule oI l-velarization in English.
Most English varieties have two lateral allophones, a clear l`,
represented as |I|, in words like |Icit| and |o'Iain|, and a dark
(velarised) l` ||, as in |bu| and |!im|. Velarised l` (be it
consonantal or syllabic dark l`) occurs at the end oI a monosyllabic
word (Iollowed or not by another consonant), but it also occurs at the
end oI a non-Iinal syllable in a polysyllabic word: e.g., in |.':.!u.|,
|.'J.l.|, |.m.'+l.lis.| etc. (Dots indicate syllable boundaries in
the IPA transcript.)


96
In word notation, the l-velarization rule can be Iormulated in the
Iollowing way: Alveolar l is velarized whenever it occurs in syllable-
Iinal position (Iollowed or not by another consonant), i.e., when it
belongs to the syllable coda. This generalization can also be expressed
in more Iormal phonological notation (where the bracket and the
V
`
mark the syllable boundary):

/I/ o || / __ (C)|
V


Brace notation (within curly brackets) is used when we want to
show that the same rule applies in more than one environment (i.e.
that it applies either in one environment or the other). The extra
environment may occur either to the leIt or to the right oI the segment
that suIIers the transIormation.

A o B / X __ Y or A o B / X __ Y
Z Z

For instance, voiced Iricatives in English suIIer devoicing
whenever they are placed in word-Iinal position or beIore a voiceless
sound. Thus we may write (using the grid (#) to mark the word
boundary):

son #
cont o |voice| / __ |voice|
voice

Sometimes we need to express the upper and lower limits on the
number oI similar segments possibly contained in the environment
variables. The maximum number oI segments is conventionally
noted as a superscript number attached to the upper right side oI the


97
segment symbol, while the minimum number is noted as a subscript
attached to the lower right side oI the symbol. Consider the Iollowing
(imaginary) examples:

/u/ o |u| / __ C
2


This rule states that in order Ior the /u/ vowel to turn into |u| it
needs to be Iollowed by at least two consonants.

/I/ o |i| / __ C
1


According to this rule, /I/ will become |i| iI Iollowed by no
more than one consonant.
Iet us discuss another example, that oI the assimilation oI the
alveolar nasal |n| to the place oI articulation oI the Iollowing stop. In
order to write a rule that would capture the whole phenomenon in its
generalization, we would have to solve the problem oI how to
represent the two transIormations simultaneously in Ieature notation.
We know that whenever /n/ precedes a velar stop it oIten turns
into its velar counterpart |p|, e.g., in |ipL| (ink), and when it occurs
beIore a labial stop, it is labialised as |m|, e.g. in |im pi:s| (in peace).
We also know that the three nasals can be described as Iollows:

|m| |n| |p|
|lab| 9
|cor| 9
|dors| 9

II we start by saying that the |coronal| |n| becomes |labial| |m|,
how can we add, in the same rule and in the same type oI


98
environment that it can also become |dorsal| |p|? One possible
solution lies in dropping the detailed notation and replacing it with a
variable, conventionally taken Irom the letters oI the Greek alphabet,
hence the name alpha-notation. Thus, instead oI writing |lab|, |cor|
and |dors|, which are all place Ieatures, we can simply write |place|.

|nasal| o |place| / __ son
cont
del rel
|place|


5. 'HULYDWLRQV

As suggested in Section VIII.1, phonological rules apply on the
underlying representations (URs) (the phonemes) and determine their
surIace representations (SRs) (the phonetic Iorms). In other words,
speakers derive the phonetic Iorms Irom the phonemes by means oI
language-speciIic rules. Underlying Iorms may be aIIected by one or
more rules; the series oI steps taken Irom UR to SR is known as a
derivation.
Iet us have another look at the rules oI nasal assimilation to the
place oI the articulation oI the Iollowing obstruent. We will apply this
rule on samples and establish the derivation. The derivation is a means
oI checking whether the rule has been Iormulated correctly. II the rule
applies to the appropriate segments in the appropriate environments,
the derivation will necessarily end with viable phonetic Iorms.

UR /i n pi:s/ /i nlenleijen/ /i ndrl/ /i nl/
Assim. Rule m g n
SR |i m pi:s| |i gkenleijen| |i ndrl| |i nl|
(in peace) (incantation) (inaebt) (inapt)


99

5.1. Rule ordering

Iet us take another look at the regular noun plural Iorms in
English. Consider the Iollowing Iorms:

a. caps |ls|, staffs |slo:ls|, cats |lls|, months |mnn0s|, ticks
|lils|
b. cabs |lLz|, aoves |d\vz|, paas |dz|, clothes |lleoz|, aogs
|dngz| bins |Linz|, bells |Lrlz|, spas |so:z|, cows |laoz|
c. bosses |Lnsiz|, bu::es |L\ziz|, leashes |li:jiz|, rouges |+u:iz|,
benches |Lrniz|, /uages |q\qiz|

At close examination, we notice that the singular nouns that
take |s| end in a voiceless stop or a voiceless non-sibilant Iricative (a
sibilant is a hissing sound made with the air Ilowing down the center
oI the tongue: |s z j |). Secondly, those that take |z| may end in a
voiced stop, in a voiced non-sibilant Iricative, a nasal or a liquid, a
vowel or a diphthong. Finally, those that take |iz| (or |ez|, depending
on the dialect) end in one oI the voiced or voiceless sibilants or in
aIIricates whose release stage is similar to a sibilant Iricative.
Hence, we may draw the conclusion that the regular noun plural
suIIix in English is a |coronal| |anterior| sibilant Iricative which
agrees in voicing with the preceding segment, except Ior those cases
in which the root-Iinal segment is also a sibilant then a vowel is
inserted between the two consonants.
According to the principles established in Section VIII.2, the
allophone which is selected to play the role oI underlying Iorm must
have the widest distribution oI the three. The Iorm which qualiIies
best is |z|, as it occurs aIter voiced obstruents, sonorants, vowels and
diphthongs, while |s| is restricted to positions Iollowing voiceless
obstruents, and |iz| only occurs aIter sibilants. II we pick /z/ as the


100
underlying Iorm, we have to decide what rules apply to change it into
|s| and |iz| and in what order. Since |s| is always preceded by a
voiceless non-sibilant obstruent, we should write a rule oI voicing
assimilation.

strid o |voice| / |voice| __
cor
ant
voice

At the same time, considering that the only diIIerence between
the UR Iorm /z/ and the SR Iorm |iz| is the presence oI the vowel |i|,
we should postulate an insertion (also called epenthesis) rule to
account Ior it.

syll
O o high / strid __ strid
back cor cor
tense

The problem is to decide which rule applies Iirst. Iet us assume
that the Iirst to apply is the voicing assimilation rule, Iollowed by the
i-epenthesis rule. The derivation oI the UR Iorms /llz/, /dngz/ and
/li:jz/ would then be the Iollowing.

UR /llz/ /dngz/ /li:jz/
voicing assim. rule lls li:js
i-epenthesis rule li:jis
SR |lls| |dngz| |li:jis|
The Iirst two Iorms resulting Irom the derivation are correct, but
the last one is wrong. For this reason we have to reorder the
application oI the two rules.


101
UR /llz/ /dngz/ /li:jz/
i-epenthesis rule li:jiz
voicing assim. rule lls __
SR |lls| |dngz| |li:jiz|

The SR Iorms resulting Irom this derivation are all correct, so
this must be the order in which the two rules are to apply.


6. 4XHVWLRQVDQGH[HUFLVHV

1. What level oI representation is characteristic oI a) phonemes;
b) allophones?
2. How are the underlying and the surIace structure related?
3. What are phonological rules? What is their role?
4. What does a rule contain?
5. How can the underlying representation be selected?
6. How many kinds oI alternations do you know?
7. Are there any alternations which are not phonetically
conditioned?
8. In how many ways can rules be written?
9. How are optional elements noted in a rule?
10. How are multiple environments noted in a rule?
11. When is alpha-notation used?
12. What is a derivation?
13. How are rules ordered?
14. Write the Iollowing rules in Ieature notation:
a) A consonant is deleted at the end oI a word when it Iollows
another consonant.
b) A voiceless Iricative is voiced between two vowels.
c) An alveolar stop becomes a palato-alveolar aIIricate beIore
|i| or |j|.


102
d) An alveolar stop is inserted between an alveolar Iricative and
|r|.
e) A stop is devoiced at the end oI a word.
15. Consider the Iollowing series oI words in English.
a) last |lo:sl|, clasp |llo:s|, araft |d+o:ll|, svnapse |sains|,
inept |inrl|, works |wa:ls|, workea |wa:ll|
b) laggea |lgd|, la:ea |leizd|, receives |iisi:vz|
Can you identiIy any pattern congruity? II so, comment on the
acceptability oI the Iollowing Iour transcriptions in English: |o:sd|,
|l\vl|, |l|, |slLd|.
16. In Japanese, the phoneme /t/ has at least the allophones |t|,
|ts|, and ||. Consider the Iollowing words.
a) |lalsu| stand` d) |lelsu| iron`
b) |loiu| take` e) |iLa| Chiba`
c) |lsui| dirt` I) |qaiimii| gravel road`
What are the underlying representations oI the Iorms Ior iron`,
Chiba`, and dirt`? Write derivations Ior these three words. Write a
rule in prose and then in Ieature notation to account Ior the realisation
oI the allophones oI /t/.
17. In French there is voice agreement between the non-
sonorant members oI a consonant cluster. The Iirst segment may
sometimes assimilate to the second to comply to this rule, as Iollows:
/bs/ becomes |ps| as in absolu |as5ly| absolute` /kd/ becomes |gd|
as in anecaote |anrgd5l| anecdote`, /bt/ becomes |pt| as in obtus
|5lys| obtuse`, /gs/ o |ks|, /kb/ o |gb|, /tz/ o |dz|. As you can see,
sometimes the assimilation implies voicing, some other times
devoicing. Write two rules to illustrate the two types oI regressive
assimilation. Then write one rule to generalise over the Iirst two.


103

IX. PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES





1. )HDWXUHFKDQJLQJUXOHV

Feature-changing rules are those rules which aIIect one Ieature
or a small group oI Ieatures. Here belong assimilation and
dissimilation, as well as lenition, Ilapping, glottalisation, etc.


1.1. Assimilation

Assimilation is the process by which (non-)adjacent segments
(belonging to the same word or to two successive words) change so as
to become more like each other. It is the result oI the speaker`s
tendency to reduce his articulatory eIIort.
Assimilation can be classiIied according to the direction in
which the Ieature spreads. Thus assimilation can be progressive,
regressive or reciprocal. In progressive assimilation (which happens
to be the least common) one or several Ieatures are copied/spread Irom
the item on the leIt to the one on the right: e.g., in happen the alveolar
nasal may be inIluenced by the preceding labial sound, hence the
pronunciation |lm|.
Regressive assimilation applies Irom right to leIt, in
anticipation oI the sound that is just to be articulated: e.g., in
aismantle, the Ieature |voice| oI the nasal may be copied on the


104
preceding sound, which is voiceless, hence the pronunciation
|dizmnll|.
In reciprocal assimilation the two sounds inIluence each other
and may even coalesce ( become Iused): e.g., in scheaule |jrdju:l|,
|d| and |j| may coalesce into the new aIIricate sound |q|.
In terms oI the degree oI similarity achieved, assimilation may
be partial or total. In partial (allophonic) assimilation the two
neighboring sounds become only partly similar: e.g., in inclination the
nasal is oIten pronounced as a velar |g| because oI the Iollowing velar
|k|; however, the two sounds remain diIIerent. Total (phonemic)
assimilation occurs when the two sounds come to be perceived as
one: e.g., in this ship |iji|, where |s| is no longer heard in Iast
speech.
Assimilation may aIIect the voicing, the manner or the place
oI articulation. For example, in English liquids and glides Iollowing a
voiceless obstruent are devoiced, as in I|I|y, s|I|ope, c|j|ute, t|w|in,
s|w|ine, etc. (devoicing is indicated by a little circle-like diacritic
written under or over the phonetic symbol). Devoicing also takes
place when voiced Iricatives or aIIricates in word-Iinal position
Iollowed by another word beginning with a voiceless consonant: e.g.,
with ten |wi0 lrn|, of course |el l5:s|, those seven |eos srvn|, etc.
The coalescence oI the stops |t| and |d| with the glide |j|
produces the aIIricates || and |q| ( aIIrication), e.g., in aont vou
|deone| and coula vou |luqe|. A vowel or a consonant may be
nasalised under the inIluence oI the Iollowing nasal sound
( nasalization); e.g., // in pan or /d/ in gooa night |gu:n nail|, etc.
Place assimilation is present, Ior instance, in the articulation
oI the initial consonantal cluster |tJ|, as in trav |lJci|, where |l|
acquires a post-alveolar articulation under the inIluence oI |J| (and can
even be pronounced as the alveo-palatal aIIricate ||). The alveolar
Iricatives |s| and |z| may have alveo-palatal articulation beIore |j|, |j|


105
or ||: e.g., this vear |ij ja:|, please vou |li: je|, etc. The last two
changes are cases oI palatalization ( the transIormation in which a
sound becomes (more) palatal). As shown in Sections VIII.4 and
VIII.5 nasal stops can assimilate to the place oI articulation oI the
Iollowing sound.


1.2. Dissimilation

The process in which two (usually adjacent) segments that share
some Ieature(s) change so as to become less similar is known as
dissimilation. Iike assimilation, it can be progressive or regressive,
partial or total, etc. An example Irom English is the substandard
pronunciation |im(b)li| oI the word chimnev. Dissimilation also
occurred in the history oI the word pilgrim (Irom Old French pelegrin,
itselI Irom Iatin peregrinus).
In Romanian dissimilation is illustrated, Ior instance, by the
historical evolution oI the word mormant |moiminl| grave`, Irom
Iatin monumentum (Iunerary) monument`, as well as by the current
substandard pronunciation |lolidoi| oI the word coriaor corridor`.


1.3. Lenition

The term lenition` (or weakening`) reIers to various changes
in which the resulting sound is somehow weaker in the articulation
than the original sound. Ienitions can be changes oI stops or aIIricates
into Iricatives, oI two consonants to one, oI Iull consonants to glides,
oI voiceless consonants to voiced in some environments (especially in
intervocalic position), etc. In some cases lenition can also reIer to the
complete loss oI sounds.


106
An example oI double-staged lenition is the evolution oI Iatin
voiceless stops |p, t, k| to Spanish voiced |b, d, g| and then to the
Iricatives |, , y| in intervocalic position: e.g., Iatin scopa > Spanish
escoba |rsloa| broom`, Iat. natare > Sp. naaar |naai| to swim`,
Iat. amica > Sp. amiga |amiya| Iemale Iriend`.


1.4. Flapping

Flapping is a phenomenon characteristic oI North American
English and a Iew other English varieties. In these accents, when a /t/
occurs between two vowels, it is pronounced as a Ilap |i|, provided
that the second vowel is not stressed: e.g., in water.


1.5. Glottalization

Glottalization applies to English /t/, which either becomes a
glottal stop aIter a vowel at the end oI a word or is only partially
glottalized, irrespective oI the preceding sound. The second
phenomenon may also characterize other voiceless stops (/p/ and /k/)
(see Section III.3 and IV.1.1).


2. 2WKHUW\SHVRIFKDQJHV

2.1. Deletion

Deletion (or elision) is the process by which a whole segment (e.g.,
A) is eliminated. In technical terms, the segment becomes O (zero).

A o O / X _ Y


107
Deletion can aIIect vowels or consonants and it can occur at the
beginning, inside or at the end oI a word. An example oI initial vowel
deletion comes Irom Spanish: the Spanish word boaega wine cellar,
storeroom` derives Irom Iatin apoteca (on the voicing suIIered by the
consonants see IX.1.2). English words like familv or memorv tend to
be pronounced without the unstressed vowel |e|. II the Iollowing
syllable starts with a sonorant, the sonorant may become syllabic, as in
tonight |tnail|, police |li:s|, correct |l+rll|, etc. Old English Iinal
(unaccented) vowels have been reduced to |e| and then lost: e.g., OE
sunu > PDE ( Present-day English) sun, OE mona > PDE moon, etc.
In the history oI English, initial |g| and |l| were lost in initial
position preceding a nasal. Even iI they are still used in spelling, they
are no longer pronounced: e.g., in knight |nail|, gnaw |n5:|. In present-
day English, elision also applies to (mostly alveolar) consonants
occurring within consonant clusters, e.g. in hanasome |lnsem|,
mostlv |meosli|, prompts |+nms|, frienaship |l+rnji|, fifths |lils|,
etc. The Iinal |v| in the preposition of is oIten lost beIore consonants,
e.g. in lots of them |lnls e em|, while the conjunction ana is reduced
to |en|, e.g., in breaa ana breakfast |L+rd en L+rllesl|.

2.2. Insertion

The process oI insertion (or epenthesis) consists in the
introduction oI a new segment (e.g., A) between two previously extant
sounds (in this case, we may say that O becomes A).

O o A / X _ Y

Insertion can occur in word-initial position or inside a word. An
example oI initial vowel insertion is oIIered by Spanish escuela, Irom
Iatin scola. English film is regionally pronounced |lilem|, with |e|
epenthesis and a similar phenomenon occurs in words oI Ioreign


108
origin, with speciIic consonantal clusters unknown to English: e.g., in
Tbilissi, pronounced |teLilisi|.
A plosive may be inserted between two sonorants so as to ease
their pronunciation. Some examples come Irom the history oI English:
e.g., OE vmel |0y:mel| > PDE thimble, OE unrian |0oniion| >
PDE thunaer, etc. Similarly, the English word chamber comes Irom
the French chambre, itselI Irom Iatin camera.

2.3. Metathesis

By metathesis ( transposition oI sounds) the order oI a
sequence oI sounds (or longer segments) is reversed. Examples oI
historically recognizable metathesis in English are contained in words
like clasp, Irom Middle English clapse, burn, Irom ME brennen, bira,
Irom OE bria, horse, Irom OE hros, etc.
In Romanian we Iind palavr , Irom Iatin parabola, castravete
Irom Bulgarian krastavit:a cucumber`, intreg Irom Iatin integrum
whole`, as well as present-day substandard Iorms, such as potrocal
Ior portocal orange` and scluptur Ior sculptur sculpture`.

2.4. Reduplication

Reduplication is the process in which a part oI a word is copied
and attached to the beginning oI the original word. In English,
reduplication has exclusively lexical Iunctions: it is oIten used in child
language (e.g., in words like mama, papa, gee-gee, wee-wee).
In some languages spoken in Samoa (Samoan), the Philippines
(Tagalog), North America (Dakota), etc. reduplication is used to mark
grammatical categories, e.g., tense and number. A similar device was
used at some time in the old Indo-European languages (e.g., in the
paradigm oI some oI the perIect Iorms), as can still be seen in
Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, Iatin, etc.



109
2.5. Haplology

Haplology is a change in which a repeated sequence oI sounds is
simpliIied to a single occurrence. In some varieties oI English, a word like
librarv is pronounced |laiL+i|, and probablv |+nLli|. There are also examples
where the haplologized Iorm has become the standard, e.g., pacifism (instead
oI pacificism, Irom pacific), humblv (instead oI ME humblelv).

3. 4XHVWLRQV DQG H[HUFLVHV
1. What Ieature changing rules do you know?
2. What is the diIIerence between regressive and progressive
assimilation?
3. What is reciprocal assimilation?
4. What is total assimilation?
5. What is nasalization?
6. What is voicing / devoicing?
7. What is palatalization?
8. What is dissimilation?
9. What is lenition?
10. What is Ilapping?
11. What is glottalization?
12. What do deletion and insertion have in common?
13. What do metathesis and reduplication have in common?
14. What do reduplication and haplology have in common?
15. IdentiIy the changes in the Iollowing words:
a) athlete |0eli:l|, b) good morning |gu:m m5:nig|, c) soIten
|snln|, d) dodo |deodeo|, c) OE lie [vie] ever`, d) increase
|igl+i:s|, e) open |eom|, I) education |rqoleijn|, g) buckle |L\'l|, h)
Iatter |lio|, i) ban |Ln|, j) February |lrL+i|, k) Sp. arbol Iat. arbor,
l) jewelry |qu:le+i|, m) handbag |lmLg|, n) average |v+iq|.


110

X. SUPRASEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY:
THE SYLLABLE





Syllables are clusters oI segments grouped around a sonority peak
(usually a vowel). The most widely-spread syllable structure in the
languages oI the world consists oI a CV sequence (i.e., a consonant
Iollowed by a vowel e.g., Rom. mas table, meal`, syllabiIied as
|mu|
V
|so|
V
, where the Greek letter V` stands Ior syllable`. This is also
the Iirst type oI syllable used in early child speech, as it demands the least
articulatory eIIort (e.g., in words like mama or papa). For these two
reasons, the CV syllable has been known as the core or basic syllable. It
is an open syllable (it ends in a vowel; a syllable ending in one or more
consonants is reIerred to as a closed syllable). Closed syllables
predominate in English, while in Romanian open syllables are preIerred.
Other types oI syllables have a higher degree oI complexity: V
and CVC structures diIIer by one segment Irom the core syllable,
whereas VC diIIers by two segments, which makes it the most
complex syllable structure oI the Iour and thus the least likely to occur
in human languages. It has been noticed in Iact that a language which
allows Ior (C)VC structures also accepts syllables with a lower degree
oI complexity, but when a language has CV syllables it does not
necessarily use other syllable structures.
Native speakers are able to recognise syllables as phonological
units in their own language according to the characteristic well-
Iormedness restrictions (phonotactic constraints). Some languages
may use more than one consonant (i.e., consonantal clusters) in
syllable initial or Iinal position or in both. In such a language there are


111
a series oI acceptable consonantal clusters (see Appendix 1 Ior
English consonantal clusters). These clusters are not independent oI
their position in the syllable, i.e., the clusters allowed in syllable-
initial position are oIten unacceptable in syllable-Iinal position and
vice versa e.g., the Romanian consonantal sequence |pl| can occur in
syllable-initial but not in syllable-Iinal position. Thus the
syllabiIication oI a word like Rom. suplini replace` implies cutting
the consonantal group |pl| oII the Iirst syllable and including it in the
second syllable: |su| |pli| |ni| . A similar phenomenon takes place in
the syllabiIication oI Rom. complace indulge`, where the medial
cluster |mpl| needs to be split, since it is unacceptable both as a
syllable-Iinal cluster and as a syllable-initial one: |kom| |pla| |e| .


1. 6\OODEOH VWUXFWXUH

1.1. Sonority and the syllable

What makes speakers oI a language able to identiIy the number
oI syllables within a word is their perception oI the Iact that some oI
the sounds contained in the word are more sonorous that any oI the
others (hence the name syllable peaks or nucleuses). Practically,
what speakers count are syllable peaks, not syllables. Since vowels are
inherently more sonorous than consonants, they tend to be syllable
peaks. However, in syllables which do not contain a vowel the most
sonorous consonant will be the syllable peak. For instance, when
English speakers recognize Iour syllables in the word refunaable, they
perceive Iour syllable peaks, as in the Iollowing graphic
representation, where the sonority proIile Iollows a rugged line.
The Iinal || in refunaable is a sonorant consonant which is
neither preceded nor Iollowed by a more sonorous segment (the
previous consonant |b| is less sonorous, and there is no Iollowing


112
segment). This is why || Iorms a syllable peak (is syllabic`), just as
the vowels |i|, |\|, and |e|, which are more sonorous than their
neighbours. Other English sonorant consonants can also be syllabic,
being marked with the same diacritic sign under the phonetic symbol,
e.g., mechanism |mrlenizm|, button |L\ln|, etc. Even Iricatives may
be syllabic (though only in Iast speech) e.g., the pronunciation
|sijs| Ior suspicious, or the interjections psst! |pst| and ssh! |j

|.

J i ! . n d o b





In articulatory terms, the degree oI sonority is closely linked
with two things: one oI them is the blockage oI the airstream (the
degree of stricture). Vowels are the least constricted segments (in
their articulation, the mouth is relatively open). Furthermore, the
lower a vowel, the more open the vocal tract, and the less constriction
there is. Iow vowels are thereIore the least constricted, and thus the
most sonorous and the most prone to belong to the nucleus oI a
stressed syllable.
Voicing too plays a role in sonority, since it is required to
produce it: voiced segments are always more sonorous than their
voiceless counterparts. Given the two Iactors, voicing and degree oI
stricture, phonologists have postulated a sonority hierarchy (scale)
among segment types, oI the Iollowing sort:

Vowels (6) > Glides (5) > Liquids (4) > Nasals (3) >
> Fricatives/Affricates (2) > Plosives (1)



113
According to this scale, plosives are the least likely to be the
nucleus oI a syllable. On the contrary, they usually occur at syllable
edges, either preceding the nucleus or Iollowing it.
II a consonant precedes the nucleus (N), it is said to belong to the
onset (O); iI it Iollows the nucleus, it is known to be contained in the coda
(Co). Each oI the three syllable components may be either simple or complex
(depending on the phonotactic restrictions in the respective language). In
English only the nucleus is an obligatory constituent oI the syllable.
The degree oI sonority (graphically represented as the sonority
profile see above) is supposed to be low at the beginning oI the onset,
to gradually increase up to its peak in the nucleus, and then to decrease
to the end oI the coda. This is regulated by a universal principle known
as the sonority sequencing generalisation: the sonority proIile oI the
syllable must rise until it peaks, and then Iall. An example which obeys
this principle is that oI the monosyllabic word trust |l+\sl|. Indeed, in
this case a stop precedes the liquid sonorant in the onset, the peak is a
vowel, and the coda starts with a Iricative and ends with a stop:

l + \ s l




As we will see, not all cases are as easy to account Ior as this one.
Syllables like skips |slis| or streets |sl+i:ls| obey the sonority scale but Ior
the Iricative |s|, whose sonority is higher than that oI the adjacent stops |l|,
|l| and ||, although it is placed at the extremities oI these syllables:

s l i s






114
This is a Ieature oI English phonotactics, which allows Ior
consonantal groups such as |s+|, |sl+|, |sl+|, |s| |sl|, |sl|, etc. in
syllable-initial position and |s|, |ls|, |ls|, etc. in Iinal position.
A phonotactic rule which applies on English onsets is the
minimal sonority distance. According to this rule, the distance in
sonority between the Iirst and second element in the onset must be oI
at least two degrees. ThereIore, sequences like plosive (1) liquid (4)
(e.g., |kl|) and Iricative (2) glide (5) (e.g., |sw|) are allowed, but
combinations like nasal (3) liquid (4) (e.g., *|mr|) are ruled out (the
asterisk *` marks an unacceptable Iorm).
Sequences made up oI nasal and liquid, which do not obey the
minimal sonority distance, tend to be uncomIortable Ior speakers even
iI the nasal and the liquid belong to diIIerent adjacent syllables. For
instance, in IX.2.2 several examples are provided where a stop was
inserted in between two sonorants: OE vmel |0y:mel| > PDE thimble,
OE unrian |0oniion| > PDE thunaer, etc. Engl. chamber Fr.
chambre Iat. camera.
Iike many other languages, English also disIavours segments
with an identical place oI articulation in the same onset or coda. This
principle (called the obligatory contour principle) applies on |labial|
or |coronal| clusters such as *|pw|, *|Lw|, *|ll|, *|dl|, *|0l|, *|l|
etc., which are disallowed.

1.2. The onset-rhyme theory

Adepts oI the onset-rhyme theory analyse the syllable as
consisting oI two immediate constituents: the onset(0), containing the
consonants preceding the vowel (or another syllabic element), and the
rhyme (R), containing the vowel and the segments that Iollow it. The
name oI the phonological constituent rhyme` derives Irom the term
traditionally used in analyzing verse e.g., think oI the segments


115
shared by the mono-syllabic words ash |j|, aash |dj| and clash
|llj|.
Various arguments have been advanced in Iavour oI dividing
the syllable into onset and rhyme, which are apparently independent
units, each with its own constraints on its internal structure. That
speakers have an awareness oI this is proved by the phenomena oI
alliteration and spoonerism, which emphasise the individuality oI the
onset, and poetic rhvme, which evinces the phonological rhyme (see
above).
Alliteration (the rhetorical repetition oI consonants or
consonantal clusters in the onset oI successive stressed syllables) can
be traced in the Iollowing example: Laughing ana leaping thev left the
loage, where the consonant |l| appears in initial position (i.e., in the
onset) in all stressed syllables.
Spoonerism is a type oI speech error, in which the Iirst segment
or cluster oI a syllable (the onset) is swapped Ior the Iirst segment oI
another syllable in a phrase, e.g., in hush mv brat replacing brush mv
hat, or a well-boilea icicle Ior a well-oilea bicvcle.
Another important argument Ior posing rhyme as a separate unit
involves stress assignment. In many languages (including English), the
location oI stress in a word depends on the syllable structure; however,
the onset has no role to play here in stress assignment, it is entirely
irrelevant whether there is an onset at all or how many consonants it is
made up oI. What matters is the composition oI the rhyme. It has been
noticed that in English a syllable can only receive stress in one oI the
Iollowing cases: iI its rhyme contains at least a long vowel or a
diphthong (VV), or a short vowel and one or more consonants (VC). In
other words, iI the rhyme oI an English syllable contains nothing more
than a short vowel it cannot be assigned stress, and that because it is
light (see below). The Iirst three cases, however, exempliIy heavy
syllables, which are capable oI carrying stress. (Syllables with long
nucleuses as well as (long) codas are called superheavy.)


116

a. heavv b. heavv c. heavv d. superheavv e. light
Rhyme Rhyme Rhyme Rhyme Rhyme

a i I I c n a i nd i
angina arena agenda behind America


English is thereIore known as a rhyme-weight language
because it is the rhyme, not necessarily the nucleus that has to be
heavy to receive stress in this language. (There are also nucleus-
weight languages (where only syllables with heavy nucleus receive
stress) and coda languages (where only syllables ending in codas can
be stressed).)
A rhyme consists oI a nucleus(N), (usually a vowel) and a
coda(Co) (one or more consonants). This accounts Ior the Iollowing
syllable representation to which we can associate segments, as in the
example below.
V

O R

N Co
Consider, Ior instance, the onset-rhyme representation oI the
monosyllabic word |leiq|:


O R

N Co


l e i q


117


1.3. The timing tier

Syllables are sequences oI segments, each with its own set oI
Ieatures. Take Ior instance the monosyllabic word bat |Ll|, which is made
up oI three segments: a stop, a short vowel and another stop. Each oI them
is associated in the English speakers` minds to an abstract timing unit (or
timing slot), which we may represent conventionally by the symbol X.

X X X timing tier

L l melody tier

In point oI segment length, this syllable raises no problems. Each oI its
timing units in the timing tier is associated to one segment represented by
one symbol (i.e., one melody a unit oI phonetic quality) in the melody tier.
Consider however a monosyllabic word like |II:d| leaa, which contains a
long vowel. Since the long vowel is perceived phonologically as one single
segment and yet it is considered, at least theoretically, to last twice as much as
the short vowel, it will be associated with two timing units (i.e., two Xs).

X X X X

I I: d

Similarly, a geminate consonant, like double ll` in the Italian word
stella, will also be represented as two timing units associated to one melody:

X X X X X X

s l r l o



118
As to diphthongs, which have two melodies, a distinction has to
be made between long and short ones. Iong diphthongs, such as those
in English (e.g., in bov), are associated to two timing slots, whereas
short diphthongs, like those in Icelandic (e.g., in |laisli| lock`), are
represented as being linked to only one slot.

a. X X X b. X X X X X

L o i l a i s l i

The same principle applies in the timing tier representation oI
an aIIricate or oI a prenasalized stop. Such sounds, are simultaneously
monosegmental, with a single X slot, and bisegmental, since they
involve a dual sequential articulation (i.e., two melodies). See, e.g.,
the representations oI the English word /ob and oI the Sinhala word
Ior blind` |Iudu|.

a. X X X b. X X X X

d n b I u d u
By associating the timing tire representation with the onset-
rhyme representation, we obtain the Iollowing syllabic structure Ior
(a) cage and (b) shriek:
a. b.

O R O R

N Co N Co

X X X X X X X X X

L c i d j + i: l


119
2. 6\OODELILFDWLRQ

2.1. Principles of syllabification

Nucleuses are the most important components oI syllables, so
they are to be granted the role oI syllable heads. SyllabiIication ( the
parsing oI segments into syllables) begins by marking the nucleuses
(the peaks) (see, e.g., the syllabiIication oI the words |l+ilil| and
|+illrljn| below) and continues by selecting the onsets.

a. N N b. N N N

L J i l i L J i ! I c L j n

The intervocalic |t| in |l+ilil| qualiIies in principle as either an
onset or a coda. There is a general tendency however in natural
languages to assign an intervocalic consonant to the onset, according
to what has been named the principle oI minimal onset satisfaction:
minimal satisIaction oI onsets takes priority over satisIaction oI codas
see below. (There are however syllables without any onset: e.g. |e|
in a-bout |e]
V
[Laol|
V
.)

a. O R O R b. O R O R O R


N N N N N

L J i l i L J i ! I c L j n

The second principle which applies in onset IulIillment is that
oI onset maximization: maximal Iormation oI onsets takes priority


120
over Iormation oI codas. According to this principle, with a given
string oI segments in which the consonants may in principle be
syllabiIied in more than one way, syllabiIication will take place such
that consonants which may occupy either coda or onset position will
occur in the onset rather than in the coda. The two cases in which the
onset maximization principle applies in the examples above are the
clusters |l+| and |ll|. These two clusters obey the English phonotactic
constraints on syllable well-Iormedness, so they can be selected in the
onset. This is not the case oI *|lj|, which is not a well-Iormed English
consonantal cluster; it has to be split in the syllabiIication, so that |l|
is assigned to the coda and |j| to the onset.

a. b.



O R O R O R O R O R

N N Co N N Co N

L J i l i L J i ! I c L j n

Phonotactic constraints (those rules which restrict the set oI
permissible combinations oI segments in a certain language) are thus
essential in syllabiIication (see Appendix 1). A syllable may only
include in its onset and coda, respectively, consonantal clusters
allowed in that particular language. Not any consonantal sequence
which occurs in a language is a well-Iormed consonantal cluster, e.g.,
in the English words cobweb |lnLwrL| and knapweea |nwi:d|
the sequences *|bw| and *|pw| are not good clusters, because they can
never occur in the onset oI a word-initial syllable there is no word
starting with |bw| or |pw| in English. (The symbol ` is used to


121
indicate the presence oI primary stress on the Iollowing syllable,
whereas ` indicates secondary stress.)
Consequently, we have to ignore the sonority sequencing
generalization and the onset maximization principle in these cases and
split these sequences in syllabiIication: the Iirst consonant should
belong to the coda oI the initial syllable, while the second consonant
should be part oI the onset oI the Iinal syllable:



O R O R

N Co N Co

L n b v c b


3. 6\OODEOH ZHLJKW

An alternative model to the onset-rhyme theory is the mora
theory based on syllable weight. In such an approach, syllables are
no longer divided into the immediate constituents onset and rhyme,
but into weight units` also called moras or morae (a term
originally used in classical poetic prosody) represented by the Greek
letter mu, . By convention, a light syllable only contains one mora
(hence the name monomoraic), while a heavy syllable contains at
least two moras (bimoraic syllable), or even three moras (trimoraic
superheavy syllable).





122

a. OLJKW b. KHDY\ c. KHDY\ d. KHDY\ e. VXSHUKHDY\




C V C V C V V C V C C V C

The single V symbol in (a) above stands Ior a short vowel, in
(b) and (e) Ior a long vowel, while the two V symbols in (c) stand
Ior a diphthong. In Section X.1.1.2 we stated that English is a rhyme-
weight language, so English CVC syllables are heavy. In Iact, they
acquire weight by position, i.e., when Iollowed by consonants. For
instance, the Iinal consonant in a word like imagine |imqin| is not
considered to project (i.e., to be linked to) any mora because it is not
Iollowed by another consonant, unlike |n| in agenaa |eqrnde|,
which is Iollowed by |d| and does project a mora oI its own.

a. b.



i m d i n o d c n d o

As already stated in Section X.1.1.2, initial (onset) consonants
do not contribute to the weight oI a syllable, so Ior the weight oI a
syllable it does not matter whether there are two consonants in the
onset or one, or three, or none. Such consonants, thereIore, have a
special (extramoraic`) representation that is why they are usually
associated directly to the syllable node.




123

3.1. Latin stress assignment rule

In many languages (e.g. Iatin), stress is sensitive to syllable-
weight. The Latin stress assignment rule, which states that the stress
in this language will always Iall on the third mora counting Irom right
to leIt, i.e., Irom the end oI the word to its beginning. Take the
Iollowing examples: uiaere |.wi.dee.re.| to see` vs. capere
|.la.pe.re.| to take`. Both words are trisyllabic, but the rhyme oI the
second syllable in the Iormer word consists oI a long vowel (which
counts as two morae), whereas the rhyme oI the second syllable in the
latter word has only a short vowel (which only counts as one single
mora). Consequently, the stress in uiaere will Iall on the penultimate
syllable, because it is this syllable which contains the third mora
counting Irom right to leIt, whereas capere will be stressed on the
antepenultimate syllable Ior the same reason.

a.

b.



v I 'd c c i c 'L a p c i c


4. 4XHVWLRQV DQG H[HUFLVHV

1. What is a syllable?
2. Which is the core syllable type and what is special about it?
3. What other types oI syllable do you know?
4. What are phonotactic constraints?
5. What is a syllable peak? Which sounds can Iorm syllable
peaks?


124
6. What Iactors determine the sonority level oI a sound?
7. What does the sonority hierarchy reIer to?
8. What is a sonority proIile?
9. What does the sonority sequencing generalisation postulate?
10. What is the minimal sonority distance?
11. What is the obligatory contour principle?
12. How is a syllable analyzed in the Onset-Rhyme theory?
13. What is the composition oI a syllable in the perspective oI
the onset-rhyme theory?
14. What arguments have been advanced in support oI the
onset-rhyme theory?
15. What are alliteration and spoonerism?
16. Which kinds oI syllables are considered heavy` in English?
How does this eIIect stress assignment?
17. What is the timing tier?
18. Which are the principles oI syllabiIication?
19. What do minimal onset satisIaction and onset maximization
postulate?
20. What is the mora theory based on?
21. What does Iatin stress assignment depend on?
22. Arrange the Iollowing sounds according to their relative
sonority:

|L| |n| |s| |c| |i| || |I| |b| |m| |I| |a| |v|

23. Draw sonority proIiles Ior the Iollowing words:

content verandah tripper hysteria Krakatoa improbable

24. Which oI the Iollowing hypothetical words are syllabiIiable
in English? Explain.



125
|lnrlin| |lmil| |d+olig| |lLrlsil| |gimln| |lrslil|
|\d+il+rz|

25. SyllabiIy the Iollowing words using onset-rhyme and timing
tier representations. What kinds oI syllables can you identiIy? Which
principles do you apply during syllabiIication?

combustion industrialization spectacle Ilower hairy knuckles
pneumonia

26. SyllabiIy the Iollowing words using moraic representations:

accusation cartoon dandelion structural boosting depressive
Jeremiah


126

XI. SUPRASYLLABIC STRUCTURE





1. 6WUHVV DQG DFFHQW

In several examples so Iar we have used a symbol consisting in
a small vertical line placed beIore a syllable at top level in order to
indicate the location oI (main) stress in a word, e.g. |gln+i|. The
syllable placed aIter the little vertical line is stressed, i.e., it is
pronounced perceptually more prominently` (or saliently`) than the
other syllables. This prominence is achieved in English, Romanian
and many other languages by increasing the (1) duration, (2)
amplitude and modiIying the (3) pitch oI the syllable. The most
important element is pitch (see also Section II.1).
This means (1) that stressed syllables oIten last longer, (2) that
more energy is spent in their articulation so as to make them louder
than unstressed syllables, and (3) that a stressed vowel is articulated
with diIIerent Irequency than the others (its pitch changes). In
addition, stressed syllables tend to contain low-vowel nucleuses, with
a high level oI (4) sonority, whereas unstressed syllables usually have
high vowels, characterized by less sonority, or a reduced vowel.
The terms stress` and accent` are oIten used as synonyms, but
stress is the prominence given to a syllable (without reIerence to
pitch), whereas accent is usually associated with pitch. Besides, the
word accent in English is also understood to mean the pronunciation
and speech patterns that are typical oI a speech community (as, e.g., in
he speaks with a French DFFHQW).


127
In stress` languages, including English, intonation also plays
an important role. Thus, in a sentence like Its Marv, the Iirst syllable
oI Mary is likely to be stressed and given some sort oI pitch
prominence, but the type oI pitch prominence may be, e.g., high, as in:
_______

It`s Mary

or low, as in:
_______
q
It`s Mary

(In this type oI transcription the top and bottom lines represent
the top and bottom oI the speaker`s speech range and each dot
corresponds to a syllable, the larger dots indicating stressed/accented
syllables.)
Stress and intonation languages, like English, are oIten
contrasted with pitch accent languages, like Japanese. In Japanese
words realise their accent by a high pitch on the accented syllable,
Iollowed by a low pitch on the Iollowing syllable (unless the accented
syllable is the last in the word) (e.g., ongaku music` |* |), a
situation that can also be encountered in English. However, the
Japanese accents cannot be reversed by intonation as English accents
can. In some situations such a reversal would in Iact lead to conIusion,
because pitch variation is distinctive in Japanese (e.g., hashi
chopsticks` vs. hashi bridge`, tabi socks` vs. tabi trip`, etc.). The
use oI intonation in Japanese is highly limited in comparison to
English.
Stress may have a demarcative function: in many languages,
between any two stresses there must be a word boundary. II the


128
location oI stress is predictable, i.e., iI it Ialls on a Iixed syllable in
the word (e.g., the Iirst one as in Hungarian, and Czech, or the last
one as in French and Turkish), the exact boundary between words
can be determined according to the position oI the stress. However, in
connected speech, stressed words alternate with unstressed words
(e.g., weak Iorms oI pronouns, articles, prepositions, etc.) and thus in
French, Ior instance, stress will delimit a word group rather than a
single word.
There are also languages in which the placement oI stress is
unpredictable. English and Romanian, Ior instance, have no Iixed
word-stress and their rules oI stress assignment are quite complex. In
such languages word-stress can be used with a distinctive function:
e.g., Romanian urc |uile| (he) climbs` vs. urc |uile| (he)
climbed`, pas |ase| pass (noun)` vs. pas |ase| (he) passed`;
English convict |lnnvill| (noun) vs. convict |lenvill| (verb),
perfect |a:lrll| (adjective) vs. perfect |elrll| (verb), etc.
Every word has at least one stress in its dictionary entry Iorm,
but some types oI words most commonly occur in a weak (unstressed)
Iorm in connected speech, e.g., the articles the and a are usually
pronounced |e| and |e|, not |i| and |ei| (strong Iorms). English
unstressed syllables are pronounced in a lax manner, which leads to
vowel reduction oIten to schwa, the most reduced vowel. Other
types oI words most commonly occurring without a stress (and with
reduced vowels) are all grammatical words (auxiliary verbs, personal
pronouns and shorter prepositions and conjunctions) (see Appendix 2
Ior strong and weak Iorms oI such words in English), whereas the
majority oI lexical words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs)
commonly occur with a stress.
Stresses in connected speech (in an intonation group) occur
with varying degrees of prominence: (1) primary stress (involving
the principal pitch prominence), (2) secondary stress (involving a
subsidiary pitch prominence), (3) tertiary stress (involving a


129
prominence produced mainly by length and/or loudness), or (4)
unstressed. Both tertiary stress and lack oI stress can be described as
unaccented. Sometimes a polysyllabic word may be characterised by
both a primary and a secondary stress: e.g., in telephone |lrlileon|.
The secondary stress is usually represented as a small vertical line
placed beIore a stressed syllable at bottom level.
Any utterance is made up oI a sequence oI stressed and
unstressed syllables. The way in which the pitch changes during the
utterance Iollowing the stressed and unstressed syllables creates the
intonational melody (or contour) oI an utterance. Intonational
contours provide inIormation on the syntactic and semantic structure
oI utterances and play an important discourse role.


2. 7KHPHWULFDOIRRW

The organizing structure Ior combining syllables is commonly
called the metrical foot (or rhythm group). The term is Iamiliar Irom
the study oI the metre oI traditional verse-Iorms. In prosody, a Ioot is
the association oI a accented syllable with one or several unaccented
syllables. The accented syllable, being the most prominent, plays the
role oI head ( peak) oI the Ioot.
According to their prominence, there are right-headed | |
and left-headed Ieet | |, depending on the position oI the accented
syllable, as there are binary (bounded) Ieet (made up oI two syllables
only) e.g. the iamb | | and the trochee | | and unbounded
Ieet (consisting oI all the syllables in a morpheme or word). II the Ioot
only has one syllable, it is called degenerate because it lacks internal
opposition: when a syllable occurs in isolation it is neither strong, nor
weak in relation to another one. Below see representations Ior (a) an
unbounded leIt-headed Ioot in and (b) a degenerate Ioot.


130


a. F b. F

| | | |

One current notation uses the symbols s` or ` and w` or `
to mark strong and weak syllables, respectively.

s w s w s w s w
(Up goes) (Har-ry) (cree-py) (craw-ly)

The example above displays what is known as eurhythmicity
the accented syllables are not too close and not too wide apart in Iact
in this case they are equally spaced, as it oIten happens in verse
patterns. In English, however, eurhythmicity can be achieved even
though the number oI syllables placed between two accents varies: in
time, the distance between the two accents remains Iairly constant
(they are isochronous, i.e., they last the same amount oI time). In this
respect, the foot is interpreted as a unit of timing, just like the bar or
measure in music. Consider the Iollowing example:

w w s w w s w w s w s
`Tis the (mid-dle oI) (day by the) (woo-den) (clock)

In this case, the Iirst two syllables do not Iorm a Ioot. They
belong to the so-called anacrusis, which in principle can be attached
to the Iinal Ioot oI the previous line. The general tendency in English
is to produce syllables in an anacrusis with greater speed than any
unstressed syllables within Iollowing Ieet, so such syllables are
extremely liable to be reduced.


131
As to the number oI unaccented syllables in the Iour complete
Ieet in the example above they vary Irom zero to two, and yet they
are more or less equally distributed (their duration is almost the same).
This is in Iact a Ieature oI the English language, which allows Ior any
oI the Iollowing Ioot structures with little diIIerence in the time
necessary to pronounce them see blow the representations Ior the
words: a. co:v, b. carnival, c. palatable, d. characteri:e.

a. ( ) b. ( ) c. ( ) d. ( )


(The accented syllables are indicated here with a cross `, and
the unaccented syllables with a dot `. This is known as the bracketed
grid notation`.)
This is possible because English is a stress-timed` language, in
which the rhythmic pulse (or beat) oI the speech is determined by the
timing relationship between accented syllables. Each accented syllable
in English coincides with a beat and the distance between them is
approximately the same.
French and Romanian, on the other hand, are characterised by
a diIIerent rhythmical pattern. In French, which is a syllable-timed`
language, each syllable corresponds to a beat, except Ior reduced
syllables which contain a schwa, as, e.g., in mon petit garon my
little boy` (see below). The only Ioot structures possible in French are
thus unary and binary.

( ) () () ()

m po lI gan s

There are cases where Ioot structure plays a role in
phonological processes. Consider the Iollowing data:


132


|ipL| ink |ipLIi'ncijn| inclination
|'inLIain| incline (noun) |in'LIain| incline (verb)

In ink and inclination the /n/ obligatorily appears as |p|,
whereas in incline (noun and verb) the /n/ may occur as |p|, but it does
not have to; it may as well occur as |n|. Why is this so? Ieaving aside
ink, the syllabiIication is the same: both in inclination and in incline
the /n/s are syllable-Iinal.

a. b.

i p L I i n ci j n i n L I ai n

But the Ioot structure oI these words is diIIerent. II we assume
that each accented syllable (primary or secondary accent) heads a Ioot
(be it even degenerate), the diIIerence between the two words depends
on whether the /n/ and the /k/ are both in the same Ioot or they are
separated by a Ioot boundary. When the two segments are in the same
Ioot /n/ obligatorily surIaces as |p| (is obligatorily assimilated to the
velar); when they are in diIIerent Ieet the /n/ may appear as |n|.

a. F b. F F c. F F



i p L i p L I i n ci j n i n L I ai n





133

3. ,QWRQDWLRQDQGWRQH

An English utterance can be pronounced in various ways, with
various types oI intonation. The very words ves and no or utterances
containing these words e.g. He saia `ves. or Dia he sav `ves? or
Sav `ves' can be pronounced with a diversity oI pitch variation,
such as rising or Ialling or simply level, signaling all sorts oI attitudes
and meanings. ThereIore, intonation can be deIined as modulated
pitch. DiIIerent patterns oI modulation correspond to diIIerent
intonational contours ( melodies or tunes). Each intonational
contour can be associated with a set oI meanings; it applies on
utterances, which are made up oI groups oI words oI varying length
(Irom isolated words to whole sentences) called intonation groups or
intonational phrases. Intonation groups generally correspond with
constituents oI sentences in a somewhat loose way.
In each intonation group there can be several pitches, but there
is one syllable within one word which bears the main stress or
nucleus oI that intonation group. This syllable is also called the tonic
syllable`. The nucleus is thus the pitch accent which stands out as the
most prominent in an intonation group.
The nucleus may be preceded by a head and pre-head, and
may be Iollowed by a tail. The pre-head is made up oI all the
unaccented syllables preceding the Iirst accented syllable oI the
intonation group. The head begins with the accented syllable oI the
Iirst stressed word and ends with the syllable immediately preceding
the nucleus. All the syllables that Iollow the nucleus make up the tail.
For instance, in the utterance He has come to ainner, the pre-head is
He has, the head come to, the nucleus ai- and the tail -nner:


134
_________________
e
He has come to dinner

The rises and Ialls in the pitch taking place on the nucleus or
starting Irom it are called nuclear patterns (or tones). There are six
types oI nuclear tones in English: low Iall, high Iall, low rise, high
rise, rise-Iall and Iall-rise. The unaccented syllables preceding the
head can be pronounced on a low pitch level or on a high pitch level.
Heads may be low or stepping (gradually Ialling to the nucleus). Tails
can take various patterns, depending on the nuclear tone.
Intonation has various functions: (1) grammatical,
(2) attitudinal and (3) accentual. (1) Intonation distinguishes
between questions, statements and exclamations and it also marks
sentence, clause, phrase, or word boundaries. (2) Intonation usually
signals personal attitude: e.g., surprise, joy, anger, irony, etc. (3)
Intonation marks the most important word (and syllable) in the
intonation group, by a change oI pitch on the prominent syllable (it
also attaches emphasis to a certain word in the sentence).
English and most oI the other European languages are grouped
in the category oI stress and intonation languages because in their
case a change in the pitch variation pattern oI a certain utterance does
not trigger a change in the meaning oI the words contained in the
utterance, but a change in the discourse Iunction oI the respective
utterance. For example, raising intonation may turn the declarative
sentence You have succeeaea. into the interrogative sentence You have
succeeaea? without any alteration in the prepositional (semantic)
content oI either the utterance or the words included in it.
There are other Iunctions oI tone, beside intonation, which do
not occur in English or most European languages but are still very
common in other languages oI the world. In tone languages, Ior
instance, tones are used to diIIerentiate lexical items or to express


135
morphological Iunctions One oI the widest known tone languages is
Mandarin Chinese, in which words which share identical segments are
only diIIerentiated lexically by their tonal structure.

m Ieel` mo plan` mo end` m smear`
x sunset` xi exercise` xi play` x wash`

This is possible because in tone languages each syllable is a
tone unit (i.e., each syllable Iunctions as an independently variable
item). In stress languages the syllable may be the smallest tone unit
(e.g., in the monosyllabic utterance school), but there are also larger
tone units which comprise several syllables, oI which only one carries
the tone (the tonic syllable) (e.g., in the intonation group to the
school).
In pitch accent languages, as already shown, a single Iixed
tonal melody is associated to each word and pitch variation can have a
distinctive Iunction at the lexical level (change the meaning oI the
word). The same type oI pitch variation would change an order into an
interrogation in English (e.g., Johnnv' vs. Johnnv?).
Some languages which are predominantly intonation languages
may also make a limited use of tone. This means that in such
languages tone has a distinctive Iunction Ior some words. This is the
case, e.g., in Norwegian and Swedish, as well as Serbian and
Iithuanian.
In Swedish about Iive hundred minimal pairs distinguished by
tone alone can be Iound (see, e.g., the Iollowing examples).

buren the case` vs. buren carried`
tanken the tank` vs. tanken the thought`
anden the duck` vs. anden the spirit`
panter panther` vs. panter pledges`, etc.


136
Words signaled here by are associated with a single-peaked
Ialling tone (high-low), while words with ` are commonly double-
peaked (high-low-high-low). The Iirst pattern is in Iact the common
accentual pattern Ior words in Swedish and is not limited to words
where the accent is on the Iirst syllable, whereas the second pattern is
the marked` pattern and limited to word-initial accent. In connected
speech some indication oI the diIIerent accents is regularly
maintained.


4. 4XHVWLRQVDQGH[HUFLVHV

1. What characterizes stress?
2. What is the diIIerence between stress and accent?
3. What is the diIIerence between a stress and intonation
language and a pitch accent language?
4. Can stress be predictable?
5. Is the position oI stress predictable in English?
6. What is the demarcative Iunction oI stress?
7. Can stress have a distinctive Iunction?
8. What is the diIIerence between lexical Iorms and
grammatical Iorms in English in terms oI stress?
9. How many degrees oI prominence can stress have?
10. What is the intonational melody (or contour) oI an
utterance?
11. What is a metrical Ioot?
12. How many kinds oI metrical Ieet do you know?
13. What is eurhythmicity?
14. What are isochronous accents?
15. What is the diIIerence between a stress-timed and a
syllable-timed language?
16. Can the Ioot structure play a role in phonological processes?


137
17. What is intonation?
18. What are intonation groups?
19. What is the structure oI an intonation group?
20. What is a nucleus?
21. What is a nuclear tone (or pattern)?
22. Which are the Iunctions oI intonation?
23. What diIIerentiates stress and intonation languages Irom
tone languages?
24. How can an intonation language make use oI tone?
25. IdentiIy the position oI the (primary) stress in the Iollowing
English words. What eIIect does placing the stress on one oI the
syllables have upon the other syllable nuclei?

correspondent deIinitely courageous declaration inIerence
inIer comIortable

26. IdentiIy the rhythm patterns in the Iollowing lines and
isolate the metrical Ieet within brackets.

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether tis nobler in the mind to suIIer
The slings and arrows oI outrageous Iortune,
Or to take arms against a sea oI troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That Ilesh is heir to, this a consummation
Devoutly to be wish`d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there`s the rub;
For in that sleep oI death what dreams may come,
When we have shuIIled oII this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there`s the respect


138
That makes calamity oI so long liIe;
For who would bear the hips and scorn oI time.
(W. Shakespeare: Hamlet, III, i)

27. Using the inIormation in Appendix 2, as well as the
knowledge acquired throughout this course, make phonetic
transcription oI the Iollowing sentences:

a) Could you show me your book, please?
b) Did he help you as he was supposed to?
c) Must I always tell him what to do?
d) We were wondering iI he really was the one.
e) Should she wait Ior the bus or shall I drive her home?
I) Can it be so that they are Irom here?
g) But Ior Mary and John the house would not have been
Iinished.
h) I am your Iather and you had better not Iorget it!
i) I would rather work in a pub than at the station.
j) There are some cookies in a box iI you want any.















139

SAMPLE TESTS





Test A (You will Iind the answers at the end oI Appendix 2.)

1. DeIine: a) articulatory phonetics; b) active articulators; c)
liquids.
2. Indicate the symbols representing the sounds described below
and give examples oI words containing them:
a) voiced labio-dental Iricative; b) voiced alveo-palatal
aIIricate; c) voiced velar nasal d) low Iront unrounded lax vowel; e)
low back unrounded tense vowel.
3. For each oI the Iollowing symbols, Iind an adequate
description in words: a) , g, l; b) u: , r .
Examples: a) voiceless bilabial stop; b) o high back
rounded lax vowel.
4. Transcribe phonetically the Iollowing English words:
a) concrete, b) equip, c) divergence.
5. DeIine: a) contrastive distribution, b) allophone, c)
progressive assimilation.
6. Give two examples oI minimal pairs illustrating that the
sound /0/ is a phoneme in English.
7. a) SyllabiIy the Iollowing words. b) Give the common
spelling oI these words in English orthography.
a. slndodai zeijn ; b. mnjoslii pl .





140

Test B

1. DeIine: a) acoustic phonetics; b) phonetic transcription; c)
obstruents.
2. Indicate the symbols representing the sounds described below
and give examples oI words containing them:
a) voiceless interdental Iricative; b) voiced labio-velar glide; c)
voiced bilabial nasal; d) high Iront unrounded tense vowel; e) low-mid
central unrounded lax vowel.
3. For each oI the Iollowing symbols, Iind an adequate
description in words: a) , +, n; b) 5, o: .
Examples: a) l voiceless velar stop; b) o high back rounded
lax vowel.
4. Transcribe phonetically the Iollowing English words:
a) manuIacture, b) honour, c) though.
5. DeIine: a) complementary distribution, b) phoneme, c)
metathesis.
6. Give two examples oI minimal pairs illustrating that the
sound /j/ is a phoneme in English.
7. a) SyllabiIy the Iollowing words. b) Give the common
spelling oI these words in English orthography.
a. ilrllieomgnel ; b. l\ndemrnll .










141

APPENDIX 1: English consonantal clusters





The Iirst syllable oI an English word may begin with a vowel
(zero onset) or with a consonant. II the syllable begins with one
consonant (the initial consonant), this may be any English consonant
except |p| (though || rarely occurs in this position).
There are two sorts oI two-consonant initial clusters in English:
one sort composed oI |s| (pre-initial) another consonant (initial)
and the other made up oI a consonant (initial) one oI the Iollowing:
|I|, |J|, |v| or |j| (post-initial). Tables 1 and 2 present two-consonant
initial clusters. The clusters corresponding to a question mark in Table
2 are rare in English. Thus, |sJ| only occurs in Ioreign place names
(e.g., Sri Ianka), |gv| is a characteristic Welsh cluster occurring in a
Iew names in English (e.g., Gwen and Gwent), |jv| is to be Iound in
the words schwa and Schweppes, while |gj| and |0j| are only used in
the archaic words gules and thew.










142


M

s
j
u
:

Z

s
v
i
m

?

O

s
I
i
p

Q

s
n
o
u

P

s
m
c
I

I

s
!
i
o

N

s
L
i
n

W

s
l
i
L

I
n
i
t
i
a
l

S

s
p
i
n

T
a
b
l
e

1

T
w
o
-
c
o
n
s
o
n
a
n
t

i
n
i
t
i
a
l

c
l
u
s
t
e
r
s

w
i
t
h

p
r
e
-
i
n
i
t
i
a
l

|
s
|

P
r
e
-
i
n
i
t
i
a
l

V

+






143
l

-

-

-

I
j
u
:
d

n

-

-

-

n
j
u
:
z

m

-

-

-

m
j
u
:
z

v

-

-

-

v
j
u
:

h

-

-

-

L
j
u
:

6

-

j
J
u
:

?

-

7

-

0
J
o
u

0
v

:
l

?

f

!
I
a
i

!
J
a
i

-

!
j
u
:

J

g
I
u
:

g
J
i
n

?

?

d

-

d
J
i
p

d
v
c
I

d
j
u
:

b

b
I
i
s

b
J
i
L

-

b
j
u
:
l
i

k

L
I
c
i

L
J
a
i

L
v
i
L

L
j
u
:

t

-

l
J
c
i

l
v
i
l
j
u
:
I
n
i
t
i
a
l

p

p
I
c
i

p
J
c
i

-

p
j
u
o

I
J
v
j

P
o
s
t
-
i
n
i
t
i
a
l

+

O

+

+

Z

+

M



144
Three-consonant initial clusters are related to the two-
consonant clusters in Table 1 and 2. Their number is restricted see
Table 3.

Table 3 Three-consonant initial clusters

Pre-
initial
Initial Post-initial
V O Z M
S splay` spray` - spew`
W - string` - stew`
N sclerosis` screen` squeak` skewer`

At the end oI a word we may Iind no consonant at all (zero
coda), or we may Iind up to Iour consonants. When there is one
consonant only, it is called the final consonant. Any consonants may
play this role, except |L|, |J| (unless we are dealing with a rhotic
dialect), |v| and |j|.
As in the case oI initial clusters, there are two types oI two-
consonant Iinal clusters: the Iinal consonant is either preceded by a
pre-final consonant (selected Irom |m|, |n|, |p|, |I|, |s|) or Iollowed
by a post-final consonant. The post-Iinal consonants can oIten be
identiIied as separate morphemes (though not always): |s|, |z|, |l|, |d|,
|0|. More than one post-Iinal consonant can occur in a Iinal cluster
see Table 4 (aIter Roach 1993: 72).








145


Table 4 Final clusters

Pre-
final
Final Post-final 1 Post-final 2 Post-final 3
helped` Lc O S W - -
banks` b 1 N V - -
bonds` bn Q G V - -
twelIth` lv
c
O I 7 - -
IiIths` !i - I 7 V -
next` nc - N V W -
lapsed` I - S V W -
twelIths` lv
c
O I 7 V -
prompts` pJ
n
P S W V -
sixths` si - N V 7 V
texts` lc - N V W V
















146



APPENDIX 2: English weak forms





In the English language there are certain highly Irequent words
which can be pronounced in two diIIerent ways: strong or weak.
Almost all the words which have both a strong and a weak Iorm
belong to the category oI function words, which contains auxiliary
verbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners etc. All oI
these are more Irequently pronounced in their weak Iorms.
The most common weak Iorms will be introduced in Table 5
(aIter Roach: 102-9).

Table 5 English weak Iorms

Function Word Weak Forms
1. THE` o (beIore consonants); I (beIore vowels)
2. A`, AN` o (beIore consonants); on (beIore vowels)
3. AND` on (sometimes n aIter t, d, s, z, j)
4. BUT` bol
5. THAT` ol (when it introduces a relative clause)
6. THAN` on
7. HE` I; LI (in initial position)
8. HER` o (beIore consonants); oJ (beIore vowels); Lo (in initial
position)
9. HIM` im
10. HIS` iz


147
11. SHE` jI
12. THEM` om
13. US` os
14. WE` vI
15. YOU` ju
16. YOUR` jo (beIore consonants); joJ (beIore vowels)
17. AT` ol
18. FOR` !o (beIore consonants); !oJ (beIore vowels)
19. FROM` !Jom
20. OF` ov
21. TO` lo (beIore consonants); lu (beIore vowels)
22. AS` oz
23. SOME` som (beIore uncountable nouns and other nouns in the
plural)
24. THERE` o (beIore consonants); oJ (beIore vowels)
25. CAN` Lon
26. COUID` Lod
27. HAD` od; Lod (in initial position)
28. HAS` oz; Loz (in initial position)
29. HAVE` ov; Lov (in initial position)
30. SHAII` joI or jI
31. SHOUID` jod
32. MUST` mos (beIore consonants); mosl (beIore vowels)
33. DO` do (beIore consonants); du (beIore vowels)
34. DOES` doz
35. AM` om
36. ARE` o (beIore consonants); oJ (beIore vowels)
37. WAS` voz
38. WERE` vo (beIore consonants); voJ (beIore vowels)


148

SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO SAMPLE TEST A





1.a) Articulatory phonetics is a branch oI phonetics which deals
with the production oI speech sounds;
b) Active articulators are parts oI the vocal tract which actively
participate in the production oI sounds: the lips and the tongue.
c) Iiquids are sonorant consonants produced with
approximation. There are two types oI liquids: laterals (l-sounds) and
rhotics (r-sounds).
2. a) voiced labio-dental Iricative: |v| e.g., in voice;
b) voiced alveo-palatal aIIricate: |q] e.g., in George;
c) voiced velar nasal: |g] e.g., in bring;
d) low Iront unrounded lax vowel: |] e.g., in ash;
e) low back unrounded tense vowel: |o:| e.g., in father.
3. a) |] : voiceless alveo-palatal aIIricate
[g] : voiced velar plosive (oral stop)
|l] : voiced lateral alveolar liquid
b) |u:] : high back long tense rounded vowel
[r] : low-mid Iront short lax unrounded vowel
4. a) concrete: |lenlii:l|
b) equip: |ilwi|
c) divergence: |daiva:qns|
5. a) Contrastive distribution is a type oI distribution which
characterizes phonemes. Two sounds are in contrastive distribution iI
by replacing one with the other (in a minimal pair) there results
another word with a diIIerent meaning: e.g., bn vs. pn.


149
b) An allophone is a contextual variant oI a phoneme: e.g., /p/
in English is realized as the allophone |p
h
| in at the beginning oI a
stressed syllable unless preceded by |s|.
c) Progressive assimilation is a type oI assimilation in which
a phonological Ieature spreads Irom one sound to the Iollowing sound:
e.g., in open |eom|.
6. thick |0il| vs. kick |lil|; moth |mn0| vs. mob |mnL|.
7.
a) V V V V V

O R O R O R O R O R

N Co N Co N Co N Co N Co

s l n d o d a i z e i j n

b) V V V

O R O R O R

N Co N Co N Co

m n j o s l ii p l








150

RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING





Mateescu, Dan (2002). A Course in English Phonetics ana Phonologv.
Bucuresti: Editura Universit ii Bucuresti.
Prlog, Hortensia (1997). English Phonetics ana Phonologv.
Bucuresti: AII.
R dulescu, Mara-Octavia (2001). An Introauction to Phonetics ana
Phonologv. Bucuresti, CREDIS.





















151

BIBLIOGRAPHY





Carr, Philip (1993). Phonologv. Iondon: Macmillan.
Chi oran, Dumitru (1978). English Phonetics ana Phonologv.
Bucuresti: Editura didactic si pedagogic .
Chi oran, Dumitru & Iucre ia Petri (1977). Workbook in English
Phonetics ana Phonologv. Bucuresti: Editura didactic si
pedagogic .
Chomsky & Halle (1968). The Souna Pattern of English. New York:
Harper & Row. In Davenport & Hannahs (1998).
Clements, George N. & Samuel Jay Keyser (1983, 1990). CJ
Phonologv: A Generative Theorv of the Svllable. Cambridge,
Mass.: MIT Press.
Davenport, Mike & S. J. Hannahs (1998). Introaucing Phonetics ana
Phonologv. Iondon: Arnold.
Ewen, Colin J. & Harry van der Hulst (1999). Phonological
Representation. An Introauction to the Structure of Woras.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Harris, J. (1994). English Souna Structure. OxIord & Cambridge,
Mass.: Blackwell.
Kenstowicz, Michael (1994). Phonologv in Generative Grammar.
OxIord: Blackwell.
IadeIoged, Peter (1993). A Course in Phonetics. 3
rd
edn. New York:
Harcourt Brace.
Iyons, John (1969). Introauction to Theoretical Linguistics.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


152
Mateescu, Dan (2002). A Course in English Phonetics ana Phonologv.
Bucuresti: Editura Universit ii Bucuresti.
Prlog, Hortensia (1997). English Phonetics ana Phonologv.
Bucuresti: AII.
R dulescu, Mara-Octavia (2001). An Introduction to Phonetics and
Phonology. Bucuresti, CREDIS.
Roach, Peter (1993). English Phonetics ana Phonologv, 2
nd
edn.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Roca, Iggy & Wyn Johnson (1999). A Course in Phonologv. OxIord:
Blackwell.
Spencer, Andrew (1996). Phonologv: Theorv ana Description.
OxIord: Blackwell.
Trudgill, Peter & Jean Hannah (1994). International English. A Guiae
to the Jarieties of Stanaara English. Iondon: Arnold.
Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. 3 vols. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.