English Phonetics and Phonology

2. Some Basic Concepts

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1. How many sounds in English?

pit [phIt] and tip [thIp]: (aspiration) [ph] and [p] are used in different positions: allophones (no.: ?) fee [fi:] feel [fi.5] and leaf [lif]: (Dark-l vs. Clear-l and vowel clipping)
ladder [l{d@] and lad [l{d]: devoicing
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 Plus: differences between speakers or the same speaker on different occasions

Sounds in their physical reality: phones

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1. How many sounds in English? (cntd.)

[phIt] and [fIt]: meaning change [phIt] and *[pIt]: no meaning change
/p/ and /f/ are distinctive (contrastive): phonemes (number: ca 40 in any language)
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 Phoneme: sound units that contrast with each other: a difference between a phoneme pair, embedded in otherwise identical contexts, normally has the potential to convey a meaning difference. Allophones: contextual variants of a phoneme which differ from each other phonetically. Being contextually predictable, differences between allophones cannot convey meaning and thus are non-contrastive.
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Illustration of phonemes: The Family /i:/

he
heed

[i:]
[i.]

heat

[i]

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English voiceless stops

/p/ /t/ /k/

[p] [ph]

[t] [th]

[k] [kh]

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 Phonemes and allophones

/p/ [p] or [ph] Derivation (realisation) Two levels of representation: phonemic and allophonic
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Korean voiceless stops

/p/ /ph/ /t/ /th/ /k/ /kh/

[p] [ph]

[t] [th]

[k] [kh]

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/l/ and /r/

English: lamb [l{m] vs. ram [r{m]
Korean: [mul] water [mulkama] place for water [mure] at the water
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English /l/
[l] Korean /l/

/r/
[r]

[l]
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[r]
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2. How to find the phonemes of a language?

pit fit sit hit kit: minimal pairs Notice the difference between sounds and letters! feet /fi:t/ and feat /fi:t/: homophones tear (V) /te@/ and tear (N) /tI@/: homographs bear (V) /be@/ and bear (N) /be@/: homonyms cuff /kVf/ and cough /kQf/: a minimal pair!
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3. The phonemes of English (Source: OConnor 1980)

Consonants pier /p/ deer /d/ veer /v/ leer /l/ near /n/ cheer /tS/ baize /z/ bake /k/
beer /b/ gear /g/ sheer /S/ rear /r/ weir /w/ jeer /dZ/ bathe /D/ wrath /T/ tier /t/ fear /f/ hear /h/ mere /m/ year /j/ base /s/ beige /Z/ wrong /N/
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Vowels feel /i:/ fall /O:/ fail /eI/ foul /aU/ cot /Q/ cart /A:/ tour /U@/

fill /I/ full /U/ foal /@U/ foil /OI/ cut /V/ tier /I@/ banana /@/

fell /e/ fool /u:/ file /aI/ cat /{/ curt /3:/ tear /e@/

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4. Types of sound variation

Distribution: the range of places within a word in which a given sound may occur Parallel distribution + contrastive relationship: phonemic variation Complementary distribution + phonetic similarity: allophonic variation
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 Parallel distribution + neutralised contrast: free variation

H fel and fl E sure /SU@/ and /SO:/

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regional differences: dialectal variation (a) segmental differences realisational differences: cf. initial th in SBE and GenAm systematic differences: cf. love in SBE and Midlands areas selectional differences: SBE dance /dA:ns/ and GenAm /d{ns/ distributional differences: SBE card /kA:d/ vs GenAm /kArd/ (b) suprasegmental differences: stress, rhythm and intonation

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 Notice the difference between dialect and accent: SBE and RP Dialect: a language variety characterised by particular features of pronunciation, lexis and grammar. Accent: features of pronunciation RP: Received Pronunciation (educated southern British English) NRP: Non-Regional Pronunciation
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5.1. Types of transcription

Phonemic (broad) transcription: phonemic differences Phonetic (narrow, allophonic) transcription: realisational differences The IPA chart: sound symbols and diacritics
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5.2. Functions of transcription

(a) The representing function (b) The disambiguating function (c) The analysing function (d) The contrasting function

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The representing function

To represent the pronunciation of linguistic utterances Closeness of representation: phonetic vs. phonemic transcription

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The disambiguating function

To disambiguate the pronunciation of words whose spelling provides no clue to their spoken form (irregular spelling) Phonetic writing system: one-to-one correspondence between phonemes and letters Non-phonetic writing system: one-tomany relationship between phonemes and letters
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The analysing function

To analyse the phonological system of a language

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The contrasting function

To contrast the sounds of two languages for purposes of description or instruction

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5. Readings
Ndasdy, . 2006. Background to English Pronunciation. Budapest: Nemzeti Tanknyvkiad. Chapters 2 and 3.
Suggested readings:

Andrs L. T. and Stephanides, E. 1988. An Outline of Present-day English Structure. Volume 1: Phonetics and Phonology. Budapest: Tanknyvkiad. Chapter 1. Gimson, A. C. 1991. An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English. London: Edward Arnold. Chapter 1.
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