SEGMENTATION:

Wo rdsi nt hespe echa ina reno tper cei ve dasw rit ten la ngu ageis
[Words in the are not perceived as griten languages]
SYLLABIC LANGUAGES
GREEK TRADITION > LATIN > ENGLISH
SEGMENTAL ELEMENTS:
Phonemes, syllables, feet, words, breath groups, etc.
SUPRASEGMENTAL (PROSODIC) ELEMENTS:
Intonation, speed, tempo, loudness, etc.

ISOLATED SOUNDS/CONNECTED SPEECH:

COARTICULATION:

Phonemes are hardly ever produced in isolation; they are influenced by

neighbouring sounds or their location:
Sun (nasalised)
Brown [sn] car (assimilation)
Late [l], play [l] (voiceless)
Phoneme: Abstract distinctive unit of speech which may produce functional
contrastive pairs
Minimal pairs:
Park-pork, moon-soon, sheep-ship, wife-life, etc.
Minimal sets:
Shamen, maim, same, tame, lame.
Pill, pall, poll, pull, pearl.
Allophones:
Different articulations of the same phoneme, depending on their sound
environment and its social o geographical variation.
/n/ ---- [n] net, [] length, [n:] lands
// ---- [] banner (e.g.: GenAm)
/r/ --- [] very
/t/ --- [] better (e.g.: GenAm)

<tide>
PHONEMIC
(BROAD) TRANSCRIPTION:
/tad/
PHONETIC (ALLOPHONIC OR NARROW) TRANCRIPTION:
[\t]
Each language (and also each accent) has its own

PHONEMIC SYSTEM:

/ - i:/ / - n/ /s z/ Are not distinctive, contrastive phonemes in Spanish

There is no phonemic difference in Japanese between /r/ and /l/
Latin American and southern Spanish have no //

PHONOTACTIC RULES:
In English, // is never found initially, and / U - / never occur in open
syllables.
In Spanish, there is no initial /sk/ or /sp/

PHONOTACTIC:
The study of the possible locations and combinations of sounds in each
language (hence phonotactic rules)

E.g.:
Only /s/ can be pre-initial: /strend/
/pw fw/ do not happen initially

Consonants:
Functional definition:
They need a vowel to form a syllable (but bottle [], button []?)

Articulatory definition (contoids):

They are produced through friction or closure of organs
(but told [], every []?)
Clusters:
Groups of consonants (up to 4 in RP) together in the same syllable:

/str-/, /r-/, /-fs/, /-ksts/

/-/ ?,
/d t dr tr/?

Vowels:
Functional definition:
They do not need a consonant to for a syllable

Articulatory definition:
They involve no friction or closure (constriction) in their production*
(vocoids)

RP diphthongs:

Closing: /a/ /e/ // - // /a/

Centring: // /e/ //

RP triphthongs:

/a/ // /e/ /a/ (power) // (lowyer)

Approximants (or frictionless continuants)

/ j / w / r / l / are functionally consonants (they need a vowel to form a syllable),

buy they are vowels (vocoids) from the viewpoint of articulation (they involve
no closure or friction of organs).

Glides:
/ju:/j:/j/j/w/w:/wa/, etc.

UNIT 2:
RP VOWELS, DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS
 Pure (steady state) vowels:
Acoustic features:
- Length (long/free short/checked)
- Quality (produced by resonators)

Articulatory features:
- Openness: open-mid-close
- Place of articulation: front/central/back
- Lip position: rounded / neutral / spread
- Muscle strain: tense/lax
- (Nasalisation, etc)

/ i: / DESCRIPTION:
Long, front, close, spread, tense, quality closer to cardinal no. 1 than //.

SPELLINGS:
EE: tree, cheese /tri:/ /ti:z/
E: complete, (lever) /kmpli:t/ /li:v/ /lev/
EA: leave, reason /li:v/ /ri:zn/
IE: piece, field, fiend /pi:s/ /fi:ld/ /fi:nd/
EI, EY: seize, key, (either, neither) /si:z/ /ki:/ /i:/
I: machine, police, expertise /mi:n/ /pli:s/ /ekspti:s/
Also people and quay. Notice vehicle: /pi:pl/ /ki:/ /vi:kl/ /vkl/

REMARKS:
It does not happen before //: seeing /si: /
Closing /p t k/ usually reduce its length, in beat, for example. The contrast
with bit rather lies in quality (pre-fortis clipping).

/ / DESCRIPTION:
Short, front-central, close-close mid, slightly spread or neutral, lax, closer to
cardinal no. 2 than /i:/
 SPELLINGS:
I: sit, rich, treatrise /st/ /rt/ /tri:ts/
Y: myth, symbol /m/ /smbl/
E: pretty, except, careless /prti/ /ksept/ /kels/
IE: ladies*, cities* /lediz/ /stiz/

Also village private, (forehead), build, biscuit, circuit, busy, business, (Sunday),
women, (minute):
/vld/ /pravt/ /frd/ /bld/ /bskt/ /s:kt/ /bzi/ /bzns/ /sndi/
/wmn/ /mnt/

REMARKS:
// Sometimes appears instead of this vowel in unstressed position: useless,
believe, private, village.
Functional words like me, be, been, she have [i] (weak) or /i:/ (strong).
The article the // is /i/ before vowels
*Weak alternative [i]

Recent dictionaries and authors are now introducing this short form as an
alternative to /I/ in some particular weak positions:

1. Finally, after consonants (happy words):

Really, happy/happier, hurry/hurrying /rli/ /hpi()/ /hri()/

2. Before another stressed vowel in the next syllable:

React, preoccupied --- /rikt/ /prikjpad/

3. Before endings in ate or-ous:

Appreciate, hilarious --- /priiet/ /hleris/

4. In weak forms of me, she, he, we, be.

/e/ DESCRIPTION:
Short, front, close mid-open mid, unrounded, quality between cardinals 2 and 3.

SPELLINGS:
E: set, bed /set/ /bed/
 EA: dead, head, breath, cleanse, breast /hed/ /bre/ /klenz/ /brest/
A: many, any, Thames /meni/ /eni/ /temz/

Also said, leisure, Leicester, fried, bury, (ate), (again), Greenwich

/sed/ /le/ [li] /lest/ /frend/ /beri/ /et/ /gen/ /grend/

REMARKS:
It is slightly more open than Spanish [ e ]
Final e is usually silent, but there are exceptions:
Recipe, resum, fianc, employee, trainee
/respi/ /rezjume/ /finse/ /mpli/ ..

*// alternative to /e/

Some authors and dictionaries (e.g. OED) now use this pure vowel
(corresponding to cardinal 3, somewhat SPREAD) in words like square or bear /
skw/ /b/ instead of /e/

// DESCRIPTION
Short, front, open mid-open, slightly spread or neutral quality cardinals 3 and 4.

SPELLINGS:
A: sat, hand, marry /st/ /hnd/ /mri/
Al: plait, plaid /plt/ /pld/

REMARKS:
Not found in open syllables; // appears instead:
Idea, Africa, media /ad/ /frk/ /midi/
For Spanish speakers, it lies between [ e ] and [ a ].
In American English // - /e/ have similar quality.
American and Northern British speakers of RP use it instead of // in
words like "path, grass, dance" ("BATH" words).
It is kept in "wax, wag, twang", but not in "wall, war, swap" /wl/ /w/ swp/

// DESCRIPTION:
Short, central, open mid-open, unrounded, quality similar to final // but more
open.

SPELLINGS:
 U: sun, dull, Murray /sn/ /dl/ /mari/
O: other, another, son, among, one, done, month, colour, money, monk,
monkey, mother, nothing, Monday, onion, London, oven, love, dove,
glove, some, government, front
// /n/ /sn/ /m/ /wn/ /dn/ /mn/ /'kl/ /mni/ /mk/ /
mki/ /m/ /n/ /mnde/ /nn/ /lndn/ /nv/ /lv/ /dv/ /glv/ /s
m/ /gvnmnt/ /frnt/
OU: country, southern, couple, enough, tough, rough, young
/kntri/ /sn/ /kp,l/ /nf/ /tf/ /rf/ /j/
OO: blood, flood /bld/ /fld/
OE: does, doesn't /dz/ /dznt/

REMARKS:
It does not occur in final, open syllables.
Northern English (and many Irish) speakers still retain the old pronunciation //

// DESCRIPTION:
Long, back, open, unrounded, quality close to cardinal number 5.

SPELLINGS:
A: (last, pass, past, class, grass, daft, after, bath, tomato*, father, branch,
dance, example)
/lst/ /ps/ /pst/ /kls/ /grs/ /dft/ /ft/ /b/ /tmt/
[tmt] /f/ /brnt/ /dns/ /gzmpl/
AR: part, March, large /pt/ /mt/ /ld/
EAR: heart, hearth /ht/ /h/

ER: (clerk, Derby, Berkeley), sergeant) /klk/ /dbi/ /bkli/ /sdnt/

AL: calm, palm, half, salmon /km/ /pm/ /hf/ /smn/
AU, UA: aunt, laugh, guard, guardian /nt/ /lf/ /gd/ /gdin/
Also reservoir /rezvw/, camouflage /kmfl/
 REMARKS:
American and some British speakers use // before /s - f - / or nasal +
consonant ("BATH" words). There is a general indecision in RP for those cases.
Some modern RP speakers tend to use it to
simplify triphthongs in fire, power, ("smoothing").
The strong form of are (weak form //) sounds like smoothed our //.

// DESCRIPTION:
Short, back, open-open mid, (variably) rounded, quality between cardinals 5 & 6

SPELLINGS:
O: dock, sorry, gone /dk/ /sri/ /gn/
A: was, what, swan, want, quality /wz/ /wz/ /wt/ /swn/ /wnt/ /kwlti/
OU, OW: cough, Gloucester, knowledge /kf/ /glst/ /nld/
AU: (because), sausage, Australia, cauliflower /bkz/ /ss/ /strel/ /
klfla/

Also yatch. Silent <o> in Leonard, leopard /jt/ /lend/ /'lepd/

REMARKS:
It does not occur in final open syllable (// instead): bingo, cheerio.
Gen Am and SW BrE accents lose its rounding, making it more open, like
unrounded cardinal 5 [ ].
J.C. Wells's dictionary simply uses // for // in GenAm.
Before fricatives /s - f- /, some RP speakers lengthen it: cross, cloth, off.

// DESCRIPTION:
Long, back, open mid-close mid, (variably) rounded, quality between cardinals 6
and 7.

SPELLINGS:
OR: horse, sword, born /hs/ /sd/ /bn/
AW: saw, jaw, law /s/ /d/ /l/
OU, AU: bought, daughter, fault, cause /bt/ /dt/ /flt/ /k/(noun) /kz/
(verb)
A: all, water, talk, war /l/ /wt/ /tk/ /w/
ORE, OOR, OAR, OUR: before, more, door, floor, board, court, course
/bf/ /m/ /d/ /fl/ /bd/ /kt/(=caught) /ks/

Also broad, (sure) /brd/ //, but not it cupboard /kbd/

REMARKS:
GenAm has a more open, unrounded production.

// DESCRIPTION:
Short, central-back, close-close mid, rounded, lax, quality between cardinals 7
and 8, though more centralized.

SPELLINGS:
U: bull, full, cushion, butcher, bush, push, pudding
/bl/ /fl/ /kn/ /bt/ /b/ /pd/
O: wolf, woman, bosom, Worcester, worsted
/wlf/ /wmn/ /bzm/ /wst/ /wstd/
OO: good, book, (wood), wool
/gd/ /bk/ /wd/ /-wd/ /wl/
OU: (could, should, would), courier
/kd/ /d/ /kr/

REMARKS:
There is a difference of quality between // and /u:/ in good-food, foot-boot,
pull-pool.
/u:/ DESCRIPTION:
Long, back, close, rounded, tense, quality next to cardinal 8.

SPELLINGS:
OO: food, moon, too, balloon /fud/ /mud/ tu/ /blun/
O: do (s.f.), who (s.f.), move, lose, two, tomb, womb
/du/ /hu/ /muv/ /luz/ /tum/ /wum/
OU: group, soup, (wound), through, youth
/grup/ /sup/ /wund/ /ru/ (="threw") /ju/
U: rude, June, Susan, rule /rud/ /dun/ /suzn/ /rul/
EW, UE, UI, OE: new, chew, blue, juice, bruise, cruise, suit, shoe
/nju/ /tu/ /blu/ /dus/ /bruz/ /kruz/ /sut/ /u/

REMARKS:
American speakers tend to simplify the glide /ju/ to /u/: new students knew.
"Yod-dropping" also affects RP in words like suit.

*Weak alternative [ u ]

Now used in dictionaries for some cases:

Where a vowel follows in the next syllable: situation, influence, vacuum
/stuen/ /nfluns/ /vkjum/
In functional words, such as to (before vowels), you, into, do, who
(rel.) and through (prep.)

// DESCRIPTION:
Long, central, open mid-close mid, unrounded, quality like //, but
with a smaller range.

SPELLINGS:
IR, YR: bird, first, myrtle, circus /bd/ /fst/ /mtl/ /sks/
ER, ERR, EAR: (her, were), serve, err, earth, heard, (year)
/h/ /w/ /sv/ // // /hd/ /j/
UR, URR: turn, church, curse /tn/ /tt/ /ks/
W + OR: word, world, work /wd/ /wld/ /wk/
OUR: courtesy, journey /ktsi/ /dni/

REMARKS:
It can be considered as a strong form of //: foreword / forward /fwd/ /
fwd/

// ("schwa") DESCRIPTION:
Short, central, close mid-open mid, unrounded, lax, quality ranging more than
//

SPELLINGS:
It is the most common vowel in English. Any vowel and combination can stand
for it as long as they are in UNSTRESSED position: possible, gentlemen,
woman, pleasure, about, famous, fellow, (informal)
/psbl/ /dentlmn/ /wmn/ /ple/ /bat/ /fems/ /fel/
It may be STRESSED only in //.
In rhotic accents, it is r-coloured [ ] or followed by /r/ if the spelling reflects it.

REMARKS:
All the WEAK FORMS of articles, prepositions, conjunctions and auxiliaries such
as the, a, an, for, but, to, and, are, have, etc. have //.
Its openness ranges from that of // in final position as in over, picture, to
close // in ago, away, interest.
Some words like between, behind, before are often heard with // instead of //.
Something similar may happen in private, stomach, pigeon, etc.

DIPHTHONGS:

/e/ DESCRIPTION:

SPELLINGS:
A: late, waste, (bass), catering, (GenAm tomato)
/let/ /west/ /bes/ /ketr/ [tmeo]
AI, AY: day, rail /de/ /rel/
EI, EY: eight, they, freight, weight /et/ /e/ /fret/ /wet/
EA: great, steak, break /gret/ /stek/ /brek/
Also gauge, halfpenny, jail (gaol) /ged/ /hepni/ /del/
Final sound in bouquet, ballet (before silent <t>) /buke/ /balle/

REMARKS:
In Estuary English and some urban British and overseas varieties (including
Australian), it often becomes /a/
Some American and northern British accents especially those

/a/ DESCRIPTION:

SPELLINGS:
I, Y: time, climb, dry, island /tam/ /klam/ /dra/ /alnd/
IGH: high fight, height /ha/ /fat/ /hat/
IE, YE: die lie, rye, dye /da/ /la/ /ra/
EI, AI: (either, neither), aisle /a/ /al/
Also buy, eye /ba/ /a/

REMARKS:
In RP, fertile, fragile, missile, mobile /ftal/ /frdal/ /msal/ /mbal/
have /a/, whereas in GenAm they have syllabic [l] or /l/, with no diphthong.

When in open syllable, it is often produced as long [a]: Friday.

There is an (informal) American spelling for this glide in nite, lite.
For some people in the north of Britain night, blind may have /i/.

// DESCRIPTION:

SPELLINGS:
OI, OY: noise, toy /ns/ /t/
Also buoy /b/

REMARKS:
Some London and overseas speakers pronounce it like /a/

// DESCRIPTION:
(slo en ste diptongo se puede decir en stress).

SPELLINGS:
O: most, sole, folk, don't, won't /mst/ /sl/ /fk/ /dnt/ /wnt/
OA: oak, toast /k/ /tst/
OE: toe, foe /t/ /f/
OU, OW: soul, Seoul, though, shoulder, know, crow
/sl/ // /ld/ /n/ /kr/
Also sew, brooch, mauve /s/ /brt/ /mv/

REMARKS:
GenAm starts this glide from a back vowel [o]. So do some British NRP users.
Some British NRP speakers say it like /e/, making virtual homophones of
gate/goat, toast/taste.

/a/ DESCRIPTION:

SPELLINGS:
OU, OW: house, couch, allow, sound, bough, brow, frown
/has/ /kat/ /la/ /sand/ /bau/ /bra/ /fran/
Note Macleod /mklad/

REMARKS:
Mordern dictionaries and most authors use the notation /a/, considering that
the first part of the glide starts closer to cardinal no. 4.
D. Jones and A.C. Gimson used [], placing its starting point near cardinal no.
5.

// DESCRIPTION:

SPELLINGS:
EER, EAR, ERE: beer, dear, (year), teardrop, here, beard
/b/ /d/ /j/ /tdrp/ /d/ /bd/
EIR, IER, IR: weird, fierce, fakir /wd/ /fs/ /fk/
EA, IA, EU, EO: idea, really, Ian, museum, theological /ad/ /rli/ /n/
/mjuzm/ /ldk/
Also hero, period, serious, series /hr/ /prid/ /sris/ /sriz/

REMARKS:
Some RP speakers make a rising glide /jz/ years
Rhotic accents usually pronounce [ir]
Centring diphthongs and RP triphthongs often happen before or instead of /r/
and /l/ ("breaking").
/e/ (cf. //):

SPELLINGS:
ARE: care, share /ke/ /e/
AIR: chair, fair, air /te/ /fe/ /e/
EAR: bear, wear, tear (v) /be/ /we/ /te/
Also mayor, there, (were), heir, their, Mary, Sarah, scarce
/me/ /e/ /we/ /e/ /e/ /meri/ /ser/ /skes/

DESCRIPTION:
Some authors and dictionaries (e.g. OED) now use //, corresponding to
cardinal 3.
In fact, older representations, (e.g., A.C. Gimson's) considered that the start of
the diphthong was quite open: [ ]

REMARKS:
Rhotic accents tend to shorten it to //: [fr] fair.
RP (strong form) were is most often /w/.

// DESCRIPTION:

SPELLINGS:
OOR: poor, moor /p/ /m/
URE: sure, (after /j/: pure, cure, endure) // /pj/ /kj/ /ndj/
UR: curious, during, security (kjris/ /djr/ /skjrti/
EWER (after /j/ in RP): sewer, fewer /sj/ /fj/
Also tour, jewel, fluent, truant /t/ /dl/ /flnt/ /trnt/
REMARKS:
Many British speakers will say // in sure and poor.
American and some eastern British users remove /j/ in dedure, sewer, newer,
and RP also does it in influence /nflns/ ("yod-dropping").

TRIPHTHONGS:

/a/
fire, society, liable, tired, higher, liar, buyer
/fa/ /ssati/ /labl/ /tad/ /ha/ /la/ /ba/
It may become [] or even // in some modern RP speakers ("smoothing").
/e/
player, conveyor, layer /ple/ /knve/ /le/
It often becomes /e/

//
employer, enjoyable, buoyant, lawyer
/mpl/ /ndbl/ /bnt/ /l/
It tends to become []

//
slower, mower /sl/ /m/
Pronounced as [o] in some accents, it may be smoothed to // as in blur.

/a/
hour, ours, shower, flower, coward, nowadays, sour
/a/ /az/ /a/ /fla/ /kad/ /nadez/ /sa/
Increasingly heard in RP as [a] or //, even producing virtual homophones in
tower/tyre, shower/shire.

ENGLISH CONSONANTS:

Features of consonants:

- Voicing: voiced-voiceless
- Place of articulation
- (Secondary articulation)
- Manner of articulation: plosives (stops), fricatives, affricates, nasals, laterals,
approximants, trills (rolls), taps (flaps), etc.
- Effort involved: fortis-lenis contrast.

/p/ - /b/ DEFINITION:

/p/ - voiceless (fortis)

/b/ - voiced (lenis)
Bilabial plosives

SPELLINGS:
/p/ corresponds to <p>, except in hiccough (also spelt hiccup,) /hkp/
Silent p in receipt, psalm, pneumonia, cupboard
/rsit/ /sm/ /njumni/ /kbd/
/b/ corresponds to <b>, but sometimes it is silent in debt, doubt, subtle,
climb, thumb /stl/ /klam/

REMARKS:
/p/ is usually aspirated [p] in stressed position: pain, impatient.
They often become [] before nasals: happen, topmost, submerge, ribbon.
In final position the voicing contrast is neutralized, as there is son release bulb,
glup.

/t/- /d/ DEFINITION:

/t/ - voiceless (fortis)
/d/ - voiceless (lenis)
Alveolar plosives

SPELLINGS:
/t/ corresponds to <t, tt> and exceptionally<th>in thyme, Thames, Thomas,
Thom(p)son, Theresa /tam/ /temz/ /tms/ /tmsn/ /triz/

/d/ corresponds to <d, dd>

/t/ - /d/

Silent t in castle, (often), fasten, Christmas, Hertfordshire

/ksl/ /fn/ /fsn/ /krsms/ /hfd/
/t/ is usually aspirated [t] initially:
time, intention /tam/ /ntenn/
Both /t/ and /d/ often become [] before other consonants: football, adjective.
In dialects such as Cockney and Estuary English, [] happens in more locations:
flatmate [flma]

/t/ - /d/

*Regular past ed endings:

/t/ after voiceless/fortis consonants:
stopped, guessed /stpt/ /gest/

/d/ follows voiced consonants and vowels:

filmed, played, realised /flmd/ /pled/ /rlaz/
Addedm syllable /d/ (/d/) after final /t/ or /d/:
spotted, hooded /sptd/ /hudd/

The adjectives wicked, (learned), naked, (aged), wretched, ragged, crooked,

rugged have final /d/. They are not verbs
/nekd/ / wkd/ /retd/ /edd/ /rgd/ /krkd/ /rgd/ /lnd/

REMARKS:
They may have nasal release in button, eaten, burden /btn/ /itn/ /bdn/ or
laterally in little, bottel, noodle /ltl/ /btl/ /nudl/
Voicing is usually neutralized finally, as in mate, maid ("unreleased").
In GenAm as a rule there is an alveolar tap [] ([tt ]) replacing both /t/ and /d/ in
some enviroments: city, today, powder, dirty, forty /sti/ /tde/ /pad/ /
dti/ /fti/

/k/ - /g/ DEFINITION:

/k/ - voiceless (fortis)
/g/ - voiced (lenis)
Velar plosives

/k/ SPELLING:
<k, c, cc> before <a, o, y, qu, /k w/, x /k s/, ch (variably)>:
king, accurate, quick, care, stomach, chemistry, character, fix
/k/ /kjrt/ /kwk/ /ke/ /stmk/ /kemstri/ /krkt/ /fks/

Silent <k> in know, knife, knight /n/ /naf/ /nat/

/g/ SPELLING:
<g, gg, gh, gu, x /gz/>:
gate, give, struggle, ghost, guard, guide, guess, guility, exam, example
/get/ /gv/ /strgl/ /gst/ /gd/ /gad/ ges/ /glti/ /gzm/

Silent <g> in gnat, gnaw, reign, sign, foreing /nt/ /n/ /ren/ /san/ /frn/

But not in signal, signature /sgnl/ /sgnt/

<u> can be pronounced after <g>:

Argue, penguin, anguish /gju/ /pegwn/ /gw/

<g> can be /d/ before <i, y, e>: clergy, gesture /kldi/ /dest/

/k/ - /g/ REMARKS:

/k/ is usually aspirated [k] in stressed position: kid, unkind /kd/ /kand/
Sometimes [] appears instead of or reinforcing these plosives: Blackpool,
actor, dog food, bagpipes [blpul] [kt] ]dfud] [bpaps]

[]*

The GLOTTAL STOP often works as a syllable marker, as in co-operate,

Geography, to eat (hard attack).
It also reinforces or replaces another plosive: submit, atmosphere.

In connected speech it is even more common good morning, top floor.

Local (esp. London) and less refined varieties also show it:
What are you waiting for? [w? ju wa? f]

It is defined as voiceless/fortis glottal plosive.

It is not used in phonemic transcription.

/t/ - /d/ DEFINITION:

/t/ - voiceless (fortis)

/d/ - voiced (lenis)
palato-alveolar affricates
(also defined as postalveolar)

SPELLINGS:
<ch, tch, t+ure, t+eous, t+ion (after <s>)>:
charge, orchard, butcher, nature, courteous, question, (christian):
/td/ /td/ /bt/ /net/ /kts/ /kwestn/ /krstn/

<j, g, dg, gg, dj, de, di, ch>: jacket, George, dudget, suggest, adjust, deuce
/dkt/ /dd/ /bdt/ /sdest/ /dst/ /dus/

Soldier, Norwich /sld/ /nr/

REMARKS:
Many speakers use /dj/ in during, soldier.

The biggest trouble for Spanish speakers lies between /d/ (sera y) and /j/
(sera ie) jet, yet /det/ /jet/
They should also realize their difference in final position:
George, church /dd/ /tt/

/tr/ - /dr/* DEFINITION:

/tr/-voiceless (fortis)
/dr/-voiced (lenis)
post-alveolar affricates

SPELLING:
<tr, dr> in true, drive. Also an alternative sound to /tr, dr/ in history,
cementery, wandering /hst()ri/ /semt()ri/ /wnd()r/

REMARKS:
They are no longer considered as single phonemes by most authors.

/f/ - /v/ DEFINITION:

/f/-voiceless (fortis)
/v/-voiced (lenis)
Labio-dental fricatives

SPELLING:
<f, ff, ph, gh>: fork, physics, afford, enough, laugh, rough, tough, laughter,
draught (draft) /fk/ /fzks/ /fd/ /nf/ /lf/ /rf/ /tf/ /lft/ /drft/

<v, f, ph>: vine, (of), (nephew), Stephen /van/ /v/ /nevju/ /stivn/
Silent <gh> in slaughter: /slt/
Also lieutenant /leftennt/ in Britain.

REMARKS:
There is actually no difference between the weakened forms of of and have /v/.
Spanish-speaking learners must mark the difference between /v/ and /b/:
Vest - best, bury - very.

// (z) - // (d) DEFINITION:

//-voiceless (fortis)
//-voiced (lenis)
Dental fricatives

SPELLING:
<th>: thick, thumb, booth, youth, breath, worth, bath
/k/ /m/ /bu/ /ju/ /bre/ /w/ /b/

And other, the, this, worthy, breathing, with, bathing

// // /s/ /wi/ /bri/ /w/ /be/

<th> stand for /t/ in thyme, Thames, Thomas, Thompson, Theresa. There ma
y be either // or // in without.

REMARKS:
Local accent speakers in London make no distinction between free-three,
fought-thought, pronouncing /f/ in both, and /v/ for // in brother.
Traditional Irish speakers may often say tin for thin.

/s/ - /z/ DEFINITION:

/s/-voiceless (fortis)
/z/-voiced (lenis)
Alveolar fricatives

SPELLING:
<s, ss, c, sc, x, (/ks), (cc)>: seat, pass, piece, science, fax, vaccine
/sit/ /ps/ /pis/ /sans/ /fks/ /vksin/

<s, ss, z,zz, x (/gz/)> roses, scissors, zip, dizzy, (easy, busy) exactly, exam
/rzz/ /szz/ /zp/ /dzi/ /gzkli/ /gzm/
REMARKS:

/z/ appears in weak auxiliaries, articles, conjunctions, etc such as was, has, is,
as, these, those.
But there is voiceless (s normal) /s/ in yes, this, its, its, thats.

/s/ is always present in initial clusters: speak, say, sky, smear, snipe, etc.
In final position, after a voiceless sound: thanks, faults.

/s/ - /z/
In plurals and verb endings after a voiced or vocalic sound we have /z/: cares,
knows, plays, behaves, listens, touches, passes and windows, jewels, roses,
others. Also in always, besides, etc.

/z/ appears in final clusters after voiced sounds: legs, battles, hundreds,
visions. There is usually /z/ between vowels if it is unstressed: easy.

/s/ - /z/

Singular nouns ending in <-ce> have final /s/:

Choice, patience, piece, and also many with final <-se>: horse, mouse.
There is /z/ news, alms and verbs: please, lose, browse.

Notice the change in house /s/ - houses /zz/, close, use (verbs /z/ -
adj/noun /s/) crisis, crises /krass/ /krasiz/

Setting a comprehensive rule for the distribution of these two phonemes is

quite complicated (horse /s/, nose /z/?) so we can only rely on practice and
contrast in many cases.

// - // DEFINITION:
//-voiceless (fortis)
//-voiced (lenis)
Palato - alveolar fricatives

SPELLING:
<sh, ch, sch, s, ss, also ti, si, sci, ci, ce, x> shoe, machine, (schedule), sure,
sugar, assure, naton, mansion, mision, conscience, special, ocean, anxious
/u/ /min/ /edjul/ // /g/ // /nen/ /mnn/ /mn/ /knns/
/spel/ /fn/ /s/

<si, s, z> final <ge>: vision, measure, pleasure, seizure, beige, prestige
/vn/ /me/ /ple/ /si/ /be/ /prsti/

REMARKS:
Some clusters may be difficulty to Spanish speakers: shrink /rk/
They should also exercise the contrasts among /t/ - /d/ - // - //
// hardly ever occurs initially (genre /nr/)

/h/ DEFINITION:
Voiceless (lenis)
Glottal fricative

SPELLING:
<h, wh>: how, head, behind, who, whose (which, white)
/ha/ /hed/ /bhand/ /hu/ /huz/ (/hwt/ /hwat/)

Silent <h> in hour, honest, honour, exhaustive, vehicle, Buckingham

/a/ /nst/ /n/ /gzstv/ /vikl/ /bkgm/

REMARKS:
The omission of /h/ is quite common in local speech. In unstressed words it is
often absent in RP: He loved her.
The use of /hw/ or [] in wh- words is still considered correct in British and
American educated English, especially in Scotland although it is now declining.
Spanish speakers should take care not to turn /h/ into //.

/m/ DEFINITION:
Voiced
Bilabial nasal

SPELLING:
<m, mm>, finally, <mb, mn>: meat, summer, name, criticism, comb, autumn,
column /mit/ /sm/ /nem/ /krtszm/ /km/ /tm/ /klm/

REMARKS:
Spanish learners should be careful not to turn /m/ into /n/ in final position or in
clusters: come, empty /km/ /emti/
There is the possibility of a syllabic [mm] in rhythm when the schwa is totally lost.
/m/ is often the result of assimilation when /n/ appears before bilabials: in pairs,
on board.
If <p, b> follow in the same syllable, they are not pronounced ("lamb, climb,
empty").

/n/ DEFINITION:
Voiced
Alveolar nasal

SPELLNG:
<n, nn, kn, gn, pn>: now, funny, knife, gnat, sign, foreign, pneumatic
/na/ /fni/ /naf/ /nt/ /san/ /frn//njumtk/
Recent French loans keep their nasalized vowel: genre, lingerie, rendez-vous
/nr/ /lndri/ /ndvu/

REMARKS:
Syllabic [nm] behaves functionally as a vowel in ribbon, (open), southern, reason
/rbnm/ /pnm/ /snm/ /riznm/, where /n/ is an alternative, as reflected in LPD.

// DEFINITION:
Voiced
Velar nasal

SPELLING:
<ng>, <n> + other velar sounds: tongue, singing, sink, uncle, anxious
/t/ /sg/ /sk/ /kl/ /(k)s/

REMARKS:
Single-morpheme words, such as anger, finger, angle, have /g/.
Those with more morphemes (singer, ringing), only have //, except
comparatives and superlatives: longer, strongest /g/.
For many speakers in America and Ireland, -ing formsare /n/, making
homophones of driving and drive-in.
Spanish users should drill the velarity of this sounds.

/l/ DEFINITION:
Voiced
Alveolar lateral
Approximant

SPELLING:
<l, ll>: light, fill, kettle /lat/ /fl/ /ketl/
<l> is frequently silent after vowels: talk, walk, should, would, calm, folk, half
/tk/ /wk/ /d/ /wd/ /km/ /fk/ /hf/

REMARKS:
Three allophones deserve attention:

Syllabic /lm / in apple, middle, parcel, final, mantle

/plm / /mdlm / /pslm / /fanlm / /mntlm /

Dark /l/, following vowels (not in Irish English): call, told, feel /kl/ /tld/ /fil/
Voiceless [] in clusters after voiceless consonant: play, flap /ple/ /flp/
Spanish learners should practice the syllabic allophone without vowels.
Pre-/l/ breaking happens frequently, but is not normally reflected in dictionaries,
wheel [w l] [wil]

/r/ DEFINITION:
Voiced
Postalveolar approximant

SPELLING:
<r, rr, wr, rh>: red, carry, write, wrong, rhythm
/red/ /kri/ /rat/ /r/ /rm/

REMARKS:
It is important to stress the allophonic variety of this phoneme:

Roll or trill (fortis) [r] in some Scottish speakers.

Tap or flap [] in Yorkshire, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, in RP
sometimes in very, tree.
This is the standard realization in GenAm of /t/ and /d/ in beautiful, thirty,
dirty ([tt ]).
Retroflex [] in America an SW Britain.
Uvular [] in some speakers in the NE of England and Scotland.

/r/ VARIATION BETWEEN RHOTIC AND NON-RHOTIC ACCENTS:

RP/NRP, as non-rhotic accents, doesnt have postvocalic /r/, except when a

vowel follows in the same word or in connected speech: morale, far away
("linking" or "sandhi" /r/).

GenAm is predominantly a rhotic accent, i.e. it shows postvocalic /r/ in further

or a rhoticized ("r-coloured") [].
Other non-rhotic accents: Estuary English, (incl. Cockney), Australian English.
Other rhotic accents: Scottish, Irish.

/r/

A so-called instrusive /r/ happens frequently in non-rhotic accents connecting

the vocalic ending of a word with the vocalic beginning of the next one with no
spelling support: I saw (r) it, the idea (r) of

/j/ DEFINITION:
Voiced
Palatal approximant
(Quality near cardinal 1)

SPELLING:
<y, i>, also <eu, u, ew, eau, ui>:
yesterday, companion, music, feudal, few, beauty, (suit)
/jestde/ /kmpnjn/ /mjuzk/ /fjudl/ /fju/ /bjuti/ /s(j)ut/

REMARKS:
"Yod-dropping": many Americans omit it in new, produce, presume
/n(j)u/ /rd(j)us/ /prz(j)um/
It is an RP alternative in suit, assume /s(j)ut/ /z(j)um/
It appears initially in yes, yard, used, young /jes/ /jd/ /juzd/ /j/
Often mistaken for /d/ by Spanish speakers yet-jet, yolk-joke.

Instances such as opinion, onion /pnjn/ /njn/ may present [],

resembling Spanish .

/w/ REMARKS:
Voiced
Labial-velar approximant
(Quality near cardinal 8)

SPELLINGS:
<w, wh, u> after <g, q>: west, wood, where, quick, language
/west/ /wd/ /we/ /(w)/ /kwk/ /lgwd/

Also in one, once, choir, suite /wn/ /wns/ /kwa/ /swit/

Silent <w> in whole, sword, answer, Norwich, Greewich, Warwick

/hl/ /sd/ /ns/ /nrd/ /grend/ /wrk/

REMARKS:
In wh- words like which, white, why /wt/ /wat/ /wa/

The historical voiceless fricative pronunciation with /hw/ or [] may still be used
by many speakers in Scotland, Ireland and North America, producing minimal
pairs in witch-which, wear-where.
Spanish speakers should not replace it for /b/ (Hollywood) or add /g/ (where) in
its pronunciation.
 UNIT 4:
PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION:

STRESSEND AND UNESTRESSED WORDS IN TEXTS:

Some words have STRONG or WEAK realizations according to their syntactic

function or the PROMINENCE the speaker gives them in the text:

Those are // my clothes (weak form)

Yes, you are! // (strong form)

I would /wd/ say so (w.f.)

If I could, I would /wd/ (s.f.)

There was /wz/ a huge noise (w.f.)

Do you know who it was? /wz/ (s.f.)

Location may also influence the form we use:

Who are you talking to? -> "stranded" /tu/

I'm going to change -> unstressed /t/ (before consonants)
I'm going to eat -> unstressed /tu/ (before vowels)

There may be different degrees of weakening:

V. principal V. auxiliar

HAVE -> /hv/ -> /hv/ -> /v/ -> /v/

SOME -> /sm/ -> /sm/ -> /sm/
BECAUSE -> /bkz/ -> /bkz/ -> /kz/ -> kz/

SYNTACTIC WORDS, USUALLY WEAK:

Articles (a, an, the)

Auxiliaries (be, do, have, will, can, must)

Conjunctions (and, as, but, because)

Prepositions (for, of, from, at, to)

Pronouns (you, he, she, him, us, her)

Possessive adjectives (my, his, your)

Relative pronouns (that, who)

Indefinite adj. and adv. (some, there)

Some titles (sir, mister, miss, saint)

ASSIMILATION (-> COARTICULATION)

thinking /k/ (within the same world)

In connected speech:
green card /gri kd/
bright colour /brak kl/
(Progressive / anticipatory / leading assimilation)

forget them /fget tm/

(Regressive / perseverative / lagging assimilation)

Coalescence (reciprocal):
Would you...? /wdu/

ELISION:

asked -> /s(k)t/ (isolated word)

policeman -> /p()lismn/ (isolated word)
lots of money -> /lts e(v) mni/ /connected speech)
best friend -> /bes(t) fren(d)/ (connected speech)
want to, going to -> /wn/ /gn/ (informal)
SMOOTHING: towel, desire /tl/ /dz/

LIAISION / LINKING / " SANDHI" /r/

Care
RP & non-rhotic accents: /ke/
GenAm & rhotic accents: [kr - ker - ke]

Caring
All accents, incl. RP: /'ker/

RP four /f/ -> four eyes /fr az/ (all accents)

RP there /e/ -> there is /rz/ (all accents)

*the idea is fine /i adrz fan/ (intrusive /r/)

RHYTHM:
Is English isochronous?
(i.e. the time between stresses tends to be the same, no matter how many
syllables there are in between)

Stress-timed vs. Syllable-timed rhythm

ts bjutfl sat t si
s w s ww s w s (feet)

twenti fav -> twenti fav pandz

pkdli -> pkdli sks
i wz tin -> i wz tin jz ld

UNIT 5:
SEGMENTAL AND SUPRASEGMENTAL ELEMENTS:

Stress, prominence and accent are intertwined concepts.

Accent is more accurately used for intonation and social and geographical
variation.
 Stress is perceived or produced through changes in
- Loudness (traditional approach)
- Pitch (more often linked to tone)
- Length
- Quality

WORD (LEXICAL) STRESS is not represented in isolated, one-syllable words,

but only when those words carry SENTENCE (RHYTHMIC) STRESS:

Fire /fa/ (in a dictionary is not stressed)

There is a fire /rz fa/ (in this sequence is stressed because it carries
rhythmic stress)

A two-level analysis of stress (strong-weak syllables) is not realistic.

Words with more than one syllable after the main peak of prominence usually
feature SECONDARY and even tertiary stress:

ftrfk
nrpldi
nrpldklm
ndvzblti

Suffixes may affect words stress:

1) With primary stress themselves:

/treni/ /ptgiz/

2) Influencing stress in the stem:

/pfekn/ /kreds/

3) Not affecting stress:

/wndflm / /kmftblm /
Prefixes do not normally affect word stress:
/prkjpad/ /mblivblm /

Compounds may vary depending on the category of the words they

include:

Noun + noum: teblkl naitgan

Adj. + -ed: hevihndd bdmnd
Adv. + verb: bkfa pgred

Variation in stress may be due to rhythm (?):

bdmnd b hevihndd rspns

Or other reasons:
kntrvsi / kntrvsi
klmit / klmt
lbrtri /

Many words with the same spelling (usually prefix + stem) have different
stress patterns, depending on their function or word class (noun, adjective,
verb):

Desert Contract Escort

Export Insult Permit
Object Present Produce
Protest Record Subject
Torment Transport Survey

THE SYLLABLE

Minimum syllable
Peak / onset / coda / rhyme
Maximum onsets principle
Ambisyllabic words
Juncture

Minimum syllable:
One single vowel (no onset and no coda) or even a syllabic consonant:
arrive /rav/, are //-//, rock and roll /nm/

Peak:
A vowel, diphthong, triphthong or syllabic consonant which is the nucleus of the
syllable. It is the essential part of it.
A term applied to the first (or only) element of rhyme.

Onset (of the syllable):

Consonant or cluster preceding the peak of a syllable. It may be absent:
Splinter /spln t/
The consonants in the onset may be pre-initial and postinitial.
 Coda: (it goes after the peak)
Consonant or cluster following the peak of a syllable. It may absent.
/prmpts/ (pre-final, final, post-final 1, post-final 2)
Another example (there is a post-final 3 and no pre-final in /teksts/)
Rhyme = peak + coda (if any)

Maximum onsets principle:

Words should be broken down into syllable with as many consonants as
possible in their onsets:
extreme /ik strim/, human /hju mn/
These are ambisyllabic words.
*******poner separacion de 1,5 en todo lo de arriba*******
Juncture:
The relationship between two sounds in contact (-> COARTICULATION):
Ice cream /as krim/ or I scream /a skrim/?
My turn /ma tn/ or might earn /mat n/?
External open juncture
Internal open juncture
Close juncture

INTONATION
Basically given by variations of PITCH (traditional definition).
It can be defined as the melody of speech.
Loudness, length, quality, etc. are also involved in the production and
perception of intonation.
Tone languages (e.g. Chinese) use contours affecting the lexical level of
meaning.

THE 3 Ts

1) TONALITY:
The speech chain is divided into units called IPs (Intonation Phrases or Toe
Units).
2) TONICITY:
In addition to other rhythmically stressed and unstressed syllables, in each IP
there is a prominent or tonic syllable (the nucleus) carrying the nuclear tone.
It tell us where the change of tone it happens.

3) TONE:
The pitch can rise, fall, remain level, etc, producing a wide range of possibilities.

__________________________

1) TONALITY: THE INTONATION PHRASE (IP):

As a unit of speech, it may consist of one or more syllables or feet, as long as

there is one contour or change of tone.

Enough (1 ip)
I wonder if you can help me (1 IP =change of tone).
Have you been to that pub? (1 IP)
If she calls me | tell her Ill be away for two days (2 IPs)

2) TONICITY: LOCATING THE NUCLEUS:

The nucleus tends to be on the stressed syllable of the last meaningful of the IP:
- She was trying to lose weight (broad focus)
A shift happens when we make the focus contrastive:
- She was trying to lose weight (not gain it)
- She was trying to lose weight (but she couldnt)
- She was trying to lose weight (but not any more)
- She was trying to lose weight (not me)

3) TONES AND MEANING:

High fall: conclusive, final, used for statements, wh-questions, etc.
Low fall: also conclusive; less emotionally involved.
Fall-rise: doubt, uncertainty, hesitating requests, limited agreement.
Low rise: used when something is to follow, or there is an invitation to reply.
Full rise: disbelief or shock.
High rise: mild puzzlement at what we have just heard.
Level: enumerations. Also expresses routine, boredom, etc.
Rise + fall: surprise, strong approval or disapproval.
________________________
Functions of intonation:
TONALITY is linked to its grammatical function (putting together or separating
words, clauses and sentences, as a sort of spoken punctuation, also involving
syntax).

TONICITY conveys the focusing function (drawing more attention to new

contents and less to redundant information).

TONE explains the attitudinal / emotional function (to distinguish statements

from questions, to express surprise, anger, interest, delight)

Other functions include:

Textual (to establish the limits of units of speech larger than the sentence,
changing topics, etc)

Psychological (to perceive and memorise things or spoken messages)

Indexical: (to mark professional, familiar or social identity).

SEQUENTIAL PARTS OF INTONATION:

1) Nucleus / tonic syllable: the on carrying tonic (nuclear) stress

2) Head (if any): the syllables from the first stress (called the onset of the head)
to the nucleus.

3) Pre-head (if any): all the unstressed syllables before the first stress in the
head.

4) Tail (if any): all the syllables after the tonic syllable in the unit.
Pauses, tone-unit boundaries, rhythmic stresses, etc.

PRE-HEAD, ACCENT ONSET, HEAD, NUCLEUS, TAIL

(Practical exercise):

We are intending to fly to Italy next summer

| wi r ntend t fla tu tli .neks .sm |

*Nota: . Significa un circulito abajo como ste fla*

PARALINGUISTIC FEATURES:

Whisper
Breathiness
Huskiness
Nasality
Lip rounding

ACCENTS OF ENGLISH:

General American (GA or GenAm)

* Rhotic

* /t/ - /d/ become [] (t) b) between vowels in weak syllables:

Matter, modern [m] [mn]
Shutter and shudder are homophones []
* hot, talk have unrounded, more open vowels: hot, talk [ht] [tk]
* "Yod-dropping" in produce, new, resume
* [o] in so, road.
* Plant, exam, answer, class, chance, nasty, have // or even [ e ]
* /e/ is often simplified to []: later [l]

London ("Cockney")

*Non-rhotic
*// in dance, class, nasty, plant.
*// for dark [] in film, help.
*[a] instead of /e/ in make way.
*[] for /t/ between vowels and before pauses: late, waiting.
* /f/ - /v/ for // - // in think, brother.
*final [] in city, busy.
*Estuary English and urban speech in general often show these features.

Scotland

* Rhotic (ofter trill [r])

* Short vowels in pool, feel, poor.
* [e] in take and [o] in boat.
* [] or /hw/ in why, what.
* [n] in having, doing.
* Rise tone in statements.
North of England:

* Variably rhotic.
* // for // in money, sun, bus.
* Shortened diphthongs in name, know.
* // in dance, class, example.

Ireland:

* Rhotic
*Clear /l/ in bell, feel, tall (no darck [])
* // for // in cut, money.
* Fricative [s] for plosive final: plate, kit.
* True and through are homophones with dental [ tt ]
* /i/ becomes [e] in tea, leave.
* Short vowels in general.

Australia:
* Non-rhotic
* /i/ becomes [i] in city, busy.
* /e/ is [a] in make, way.
* [] for /a/ in mine, find.