Apuntes Fonetica y Fonologia

English Phonetics and Phonology 1
CONTENTS
1 Phonetics and phonology ...................................................................................... 3
1.1. Phonetics and phonology ............................................................................... 3
1.6.1 What is a phoneme? ............................................................................... 3
1.6.2 What is a phone? .................................................................................... 3
1.6.3 Defining phonetics ................................................................................. 3
1.6.4 Defining phonology ................................................................................ 4
1.6.5 Differences between phonetics and phonology ...................................... 5
1.2. Articulatory phonetics: the organs of speech ................................................ 9
1.3. The vocal organs.......................................................................................... 10
1.4. Places of Articulation .................................................................................. 11
1.5. Manners of articulation .............................................................................. 13
1.6.6 Stops ..................................................................................................... 13
1.6.7 Fricatives .............................................................................................. 14
1.6.8 Affricates .............................................................................................. 15
1.6.9 Approximants ....................................................................................... 15
1.7 The articulation of the vowel sounds .......................................................... 18
1.7.1 Cardinal vowels .................................................................................... 19
1.7.2 The twelve English vowel phonemes ................................................... 20
1.7.3 Diphthongs ........................................................................................... 21
1.7.4 Triphthongs .......................................................................................... 22
1.8 Exercises ...................................................................................................... 23
1.8.1 Vowels................................................................................................... 23
1.8.2 Consonants ........................................................................................... 24
2 Phonemic and Phonetic transcription................................................................ 26
2.1 Phonology and Phonetic Transcription ....................................................... 26
2.2 The English Phonemic inventory. Comparison with Spanish. .................. 26
2.3 Description and Transcription of English vowels....................................... 27
2.3.1 Vowels / iː /, / ɪ /, / e /, / æ /....................................................................... 27
2.3.2 Vowels / ʌ / and / ɑː / ............................................................................. 28
2.3.3 Vowels / ɒ / and / ɔː / ............................................................................. 28
2.3.4 Vowels / ʊ / and / uː / ............................................................................. 28
2.3.5 Vowels / ɜː / and / ə / .............................................................................. 30
2.3.6 Diphthongs / aɪ /, / eɪ / and / ɔɪ / ............................................................ 30
2.3.7 Diphthongs / ɪə /, / eə / and / ʊə / ........................................................... 31
Degree in English Studies UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID

Class Notes 2
2.3.8 Diphthongs / əʊ / and / aʊ / ................................................................... 31

2.3.9 General revision (Vowels) .................................................................... 32
2.4 Description and Transcription of English consonants. .............................. 32
2.4.1 Plosives (oral stops) / p /, / b /, / t /, / d /, / k / and / ɡ / .......................... 32
2.4.2 Nasals / m /, / n / and / ŋ / ..................................................................... 33
2.4.3 Fricatives / f /, / v /, / θ / and / ð / ........................................................... 34
2.4.4 Sibilants / s /, / z /, / ʃ / and / ʒ / ............................................................. 35
2.4.5 Fricatives / h / ....................................................................................... 36
2.4.6 Affricates / ʧ / and / ʤ / ......................................................................... 37
2.4.7 Approximants / l / and / r / ................................................................... 38
2.4.8 Approximants / j / and / w / .................................................................. 39
2.5 English allophonic rules .............................................................................. 39
2.5.1 Rules affecting consonants ................................................................... 40
2.5.2 Rules affecting vowels .......................................................................... 41
3 The phonetics of English Words and Sentences. ............................................... 42
3.6 Strong and Weak forms............................................................................... 42
3.7 Word stress .................................................................................................. 45

Unit 1
1 PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
1.1. PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

1.6.1 What is a phoneme?
A phoneme is one of the units of sound that distinguish one word from
another in a language. For example, in most dialects of English, the sound patterns
/ θʌm / (thumb) and / dʌm / (dumb) are two separate words distinguished by the
substitution of one phoneme, / θ /, for another phoneme, / d /. (Two words like this
that differ in meaning through a contrast of a single phoneme form what is called a
minimal pair). In many other languages these would be interpreted as the same
set of phonemes (i.e. / θ / and / d / would be considered the same). In linguistics,
phonemes (usually established using minimal pairs, such as kill vs kiss or pat vs bat)
are written between slashes, e.g. / p /. To show pronunciation more precisely linguists
use square brackets, for example [pʰ] (indicating an aspirated p).
1.6.2 What is a phone?

The term phoneme has become very widely used for a contrastive unit of
sound in language: however, a term is also needed for a unit at the phonetic level,
since there is not always a one-to-one correspondence between units at the two levels.
For example, the word ‘can’t’ is phonemically kɑːnt (four phonemic units), but may
be pronounced kɑ̃t with the nasal consonant phoneme absorbed into the preceding
vowel as nasalization (three phonetic units). The term phone has been used for a unit
at the phonetic level, but it must be said that the term (though useful) has not
become widely used; this must be at least partly because the word is already used
for a much more familiar object.
Allophones are part of the phone family and as such, they are transcribed between
square brackets. Therefore, we could have cases like:
 / p / (phoneme)
 [ph] as in put (aspirated)
 [p˺] as in tap (unreleased)
 [pº] as in apt (unexploded)
 [p] as in happy (unaspirated)
1.6.3 Defining phonetics

Phonetics is the scientific study of speech. The central concerns are the
discovery of how speech sounds are produced, how they are used in spoken language,
how we can record speech sounds with written symbols and how we hear and
recognize different sounds. Although there are many areas in which phonetics and
phonology may overlap, the first one studies the more physical aspect of sound
production. Later, the differences between these two will be explained thoroughly.

Class Notes 4
1.6.3.1 Areas of study of Phonetics.
1.6.3.1.1 Articulatory phonetics

Yule1 states Articulatory Phonetics is the study of how speech sounds are
made or articulated. It is also known as the physiological mechanisms of speech
production by human beings2. It concerns with the sounds of speech produced by the
organs of speech and how the vocal folds adjust the flow of air while it is passing
through them for producing different sounds3.
1.6.3.1.2 Acoustic Phonetics

An important part of phonetics is the study of the physics of the speech signal:
when sound travels through the air from the speaker’s mouth to the hearer’s ear it
does so in the form of vibrations in the air. It is possible to measure and analyse
these vibrations by mathematical techniques, usually by using specially-developed
computer software to produce spectrograms. Acoustic phonetics also studies the
relationship between activity in the speaker’s vocal tract and the resulting sounds.
Analysis of speech by acoustic phonetics is claimed to be more objective and scientific
than the traditional auditory method which depends on the reliability of the trained
human ear.
1.6.3.1.3 Auditory phonetics

Auditory phonetics is a branch of phonetics concerned with the hearing of
speech sounds and with speech perception. Our recognition of linguistic units (such
as syllables, words and clauses) depends on several factors, including the acoustic
structure of the speech signal itself, the context, our familiarity with the speaker and
our expectations as listeners. There is substantial evidence that much of our
understanding of speech involves a component of 'top down' linguistic processing
which draws on our knowledge and does not demand segment-by-segment processing
of the acoustic signal to establish the phonological structure and arrive at its
meaning.4
1.6.4 Defining phonology

The most basic activity in phonology is phonemic analysis, in which the
objective is to establish what the phonemes are and arrive at the phonemic inventory
of the language. Very few phonologists have ever believed that this would be an
adequate analysis of the sound system of a language: it is necessary to go beyond
this. One can look at suprasegmental phonology – the study of stress, rhythm
and intonation, which has led in recent years to new approaches to phonology such
as metrical and autosegmental theory; one can go beyond the phoneme and
investigate the detailed characteristics of each unit in terms of distinctive features;
the way in which sounds can combine in a language is studied in phonotactics and
in the analysis of syllable structure. For some phonologists the most important area
is the relationships between the different phonemes – how they form groups, the
1 Yule, G. (2010). The study of Language. New York: Cambridge University Press.
2 Brinton, L., & Brinton, D. (2010). The Linguistic Structure of Modern English.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
3 Zhu, X. (2015). Phonetics Articulatory. International Encyclopedia of the Social &
Behavioral Sciences, 65-74.

4 Clark, John; & Yallop, Colin. (1995). An introduction to phonetics and phonology (2nd ed.).
Oxford: Blackwell.

nature of the oppositions between them and how those oppositions may be
neutralized.
Until the second half of the twentieth century most phonology had been treated as a
separate “level” that had little to do with other “higher” areas of language such as
morphology and grammar. Since the 1960s the subject has been greatly influenced
by generative phonology, in which phonology becomes inextricably bound up with
these other areas; this has made contemporary phonology much harder to
understand, but it has the advantage that it no longer appears to be an isolated and
self-contained field.
Ladefoged and Johnson5 define it as the description of the systems and patterns
of sounds that occur in a language. It involves studying a language to
determine its distinctive sounds, that is, those sounds that convey a
difference in meaning.
1.6.5 Differences between phonetics and phonology

Phonetics and phonology are two important intra-disciplinary branches of
linguistics. Though closely interlinked and serving the same purpose, i.e. dedicated
to the study of human speech sounds and sound structures, phonetics and phonology
differ from each other to an extent that each has been given a separate disciplinary
status. Some of the most prominent differences between phonetics and phonology
can be elaborated as follows:
 Descriptive vs. Theoretical: Phonetics is a subfield of descriptive linguistics

while phonology is an area of theoretical linguistics.
 Major Field vs. Sub-discipline: Linguists often consider phonology a major

field of linguistics. While, on the other hand, phonetics is regarded as a subfield
placed under phonology.
 Phonological Analysis vs. Further Studies: Phonetics is the basis for

phonological analysis. On the other hand, phonology is the basis for further work
in morphology, syntax, discourse, and orthography design.
 General Speech Sounds vs. Specific Sound Pattern Analysis: Phonetics

(the study of the physical aspects of sound) analyses the production of all human
speech sounds, regardless of any language it is dealing with. While, phonology
analyses the sound patterns of a language by determining which phonetic sounds
are significant and explaining how these sounds are interpreted by the native
speaker.
 Concrete vs. Abstract: Phonetics discusses the physical characteristics of

speech sounds or signs, especially, their physiological production, acoustic
properties, auditory perception and neurophysiological status. Phonology is
primarily concerned with the abstract, grammatical characterization of systems
of sounds or signs.
 Audible Sounds vs. Their Meanings: Phonetics is strictly about audible

sounds and the things that happen in our mouth, throat, nasal and sinus cavities,
5Ladefoged, Peter; & Johnson, Keith. (2011). A Course in Phonetics (6th ed.). Boston:
Wadsworth

Class Notes 6
and the lungs to make these sounds. It has nothing to do with meaning. It is only
description. Phonology, on the other hand, is both physical as well as meaningful.
It explores the differences between the sounds in a language that change the
meaning of an utterance.
 Limited vs. Wide Scope: Phonetics only asks, “Does this sound go here or
not?” Phonology asks, “Does the meaning change if this sound is put here instead
of that one?”
 Form vs. Function: Phonetics is concerned with the form, i.e. the physical
properties of sounds. Phonology, on the other hand, is concerned with the function,
i.e. the differences and similarities of sounds.
 Parole vs. Langue: The linguistic term ‘parole’ is the concern of phoneticians
while ‘langue’ is studied by phonologists.
 Universal vs. Language Specific: Phonetics deals with the universal

phenomenon of human speech sounds. Phonology, on the other hand, is language
specific.
 Phone vs. Phoneme: In phonetics, the smallest structural unit is a phone. In

phonology, on the other hand, the minimal meaningful unit is called a phoneme.
 Phone vs. Allophone: Every language consists of speech sounds called phones.
Phonetics is concerned with phones in general. Phonology, on the other hand,
describes phones as allophones of phonemes.
 Phonetic vs. Phonemic Transcription: Phonetics deals with the phonetic

transcription of speech sounds. Phonology, on the other hand, deals with the
phonemic transcription of speech sounds.
 Square Brackets vs. Slanted Brackets: In phonetic transcription, square

brackets […] are used to enclose transcribed symbols. In phonemic transcription,
on the other hand, slashes /…/ are used for the same purpose.
 Speech Act vs. Language System: Phonetics is concerned with the speech
act. Phonology, on the other hand, is concerned with the language system.
 Continuous vs. Discrete Entity: Phonetics is the domain of the continuous,

while phonology is the domain of discrete entity.
 Gradient vs. Categorical: Phonetics is gradient while phonology is

categorical.
 Phonetics in Phonology vs. Phonology in Phonetics: During their

interaction, when phonetics affects phonology, the phonetics effects and
constraints are reflected in the phonology. This is referred to as naturalness. On
the other hand, when phonology affects phonetics, it results in the mapping
between the units of phonology and their physical realization.
 Individuality vs. Interrelationship of Sounds: Phonetic transcription

depends simply on the pronunciation of each individual sound regardless of its
function in the sound system of the given language, whereas phonemic
transcription depends upon the interrelationship of sounds in each language.

 Identification vs. Interpretation of Sounds: Phonetics studies ‘which

sounds are present in a language’. Phonology, on the other hand, studies how
these sounds combine and how they change in combination, as well as which
sounds can contrast to produce differences in meaning.
 Phonetic vs. Phonemic Features: Phonetic features whose presence or

absence can alter meaning are called phonemic features. On the other hand,
adding or subtracting a phonemic feature normally results in a change of meaning
as well as in a change in pronunciation.
 Predictability vs. Unpredictability of Features: The occurrence of certain

phonetic features is entirely predictable in phonetic environment, called
redundant phonetic features, as is the case in English with voicing or sonorants,
nasality of vowels, or length in vowels. On the other hand, the presence of a
phonemic feature is not predictable according to phonetic context.
 Phonetic Symbols vs. Phonemic Symbols: The symbols of phonetic alphabet

are universal. On the other hand, phonemic symbols are a type of phonetic
shorthand with specific value for a sound in a language.
 Marking vs. Ignoring Phonetic Detail: Phonetic transcription, enclosed in

square brackets, attempts to express as much phonetic detail as possible,
redundant or otherwise; phonemic transcription does not mark redundant
features, but rather is intended to represent only those phonetic details of a given
language that are distinctive.
 “One for One” vs. “One for Several”: In phonetics, a phonetic symbol stands
for one and the same sound regardless of language, but a phonemic symbol often
stands for any one of the several actual sounds.
 Examples: Let us take an example of the word “bed”. Phonetics is concerned

with its physical production, acoustic properties, and its physiological status. On
the other hand, phonologists take the word “bed” differently. They say the word
“bet” is very similar to the word “bed” in terms of the physical manifestation of
sounds. The only difference is that at the end of “bet,” the vocal chords stop
vibrating so that sound is a result only of the placement of the tongue behind the
teeth and the flow of air. However, the meanings of the two words are not related
in the least. This is the biggest distinction between phonetics and phonology,
although phonologists analyze a lot more than just the obvious differences.6
To sum up, the differences can be plotted as follows:

Phonetics Phonology
Definition Phonetics can be considered as a Phonology is another branch of
branch of linguistics as it deals linguistics which focuses on the
with the study of the sounds of organization of sounds by
human speech. It also considers studying speech patterns. The key
the function production and words for describing Phonology
6Source:
https://www.academia.edu/10165716/Difference_between_Phonetics_and_Phonology

Class Notes 8
auditory qualities of human are distribution and patterning

speeches. related to speech.
Described Physics of sound. Psychology of sound.

as
Focus Theories of speech production and Rules or constraints to find out
perception. about the combinations of sounds
of a language.
Branches 1. Acoustic phonetics – related  Segmental Phonology –
to the study of physical based on the segmentation of
attributes of sound produced by language into individual
the vocal tract. speech sounds derived from
2. Auditory phonetics deals phonetics.
with understanding that how  Suprasegmental Phonology
hum ear perceives sound and – deals with attributes (like
how the brain recognizes rhythm, stress, etc.) of
different speech units. pronunciation which cannot be
3. Articulatory phonetics deals segmented.
with studying the making of
single sounds by the vocal
tract.
Table 1 - Comparison between Phonetics and Phonology. Source:
http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-phonetics-and-phonology
A speech chain that can explain what each area studies could be:
Speaker’s brain Phonology
Speaker’s mouth Articulatory phonetics
Transmission of sound through air Acoustic phonetics
Listener’s ear Auditory phonetics
Listener’s brain Phonology
1.6.5.1 Why are Phonetics and Phonology useful?

 To improve your pronunciation.
 To improve your own listening skills.
 To be able to describe how something is pronounced and spelt in a systematic
way, which is a must for English teachers and researchers.
 To distinguish accents and get “information” about that person and make
sociolinguistic classifications of different informants.

 Multiple areas of study benefit from the study of phonetics and phonology to help
identify speech problems or any other disorder that may affect some speakers.
Similarly, some learning disabilities or more serious speech pathologies can be
detected. This has been used in very specific areas, such as forensic phonetics, in
which experts can create profiles of criminals by the sounds they produced when
they speak.
 Archaeologists or historians can also make use of phonetics and phonology to
reconstruct lost languages. By tracing back sound changes, experts can make good
approximations as to how speakers could have pronounced dead languages like
the Etruscan, Hittite or Sumerian.
 As a summary, without phonetics and phonology, we can neither observe nor
record the simplest phenomena of language.
1.2. ARTICULATORY PHONETICS: THE ORGANS OF SPEECH

The term ‘organs of
speech’ refers to all those parts of
the human body which are
concerned in various ways with the
production of speech. Most of them
are only secondarily concerned with
speech production - their primary
functions are to do with eating,
chewing and swallowing food, and
respiration. Figure l shows a section
through the body indicating the
major organs which contribute to
the speech process.
The organs of speech shown in fig. 1,

namely the lungs, trachea, larynx,
the pharyngeal and oral cavities
with their component parts, and the ARTICULATION
nasal passages, constitute as a PHONATION

group what is termed the vocal INITIATION
tract. For functional and
Figure 1 - The organs of speech with the functional
descriptive purposes, the tract is components of speech
normally divided into two basic
parts, one above the larynx, the other below it. Within the larynx itself are the vocal
folds: the aperture between the folds is known as the glottis, and the tract above the
glottis is therefore called the supraglottal vocal tract, that below it the subglottal
vocal tract. The choice of this point of division is based on a functional distinction.
The respiratory system below the glottis provides the major energy source for
producing speech sounds, while the tract above the glottis determines, in general,
the phonetic quality of speech sounds. Most phonetic descriptions of speech sounds
are primarily concerned with supraglottal activity.

Class Notes 10
1.3. THE VOCAL ORGANS

a. The pharynx is a tube which begins
just above the larynx. It is about 7
cm long in women and about 8 cm in
men, and at its top end it is divided
into two, one part being the back of
the oral cavity and the other being
the beginning of the way through the
nasal cavity. If you look in your
mirror with your mouth open, you
can see the back of the pharynx.
b. The soft palate or velum is seen in
the diagram in a position that allows
air to pass through the nose and Figure 2 - The articulators
through the mouth. Yours is
probably in that position now, but often in speech it is raised so that air cannot
escape through the nose.
c. The hard palate is often called the “roof of the mouth”. You can feel its smooth
curved surface with your tongue.
d. The alveolar ridge is between the top front teeth and the hard palate. You can
feel its shape with your tongue. Its surface is much rougher than it feels and is
covered with little ridges. You can only see these if you have a mirror small
enough to go inside your mouth, such as those used by dentists.
e. The tongue is a very important articulator and it can be moved into many
different places and different shapes. It is usual to divide the tongue into
different parts, though there are no clear dividing lines within its structure. Fig.
3 shows the tongue on a larger scale with these parts shown: tip, blade, front,
back and root. (This use of the word “front” often seems rather strange at first.)
f. The teeth (upper and lower) are usually shown in diagrams like Fig. 2 only at
the front of the mouth, immediately behind the lips. This is for the sake of a
simple diagram, and you should remember that most speakers have teeth to the
sides of their mouths, back almost to the soft palate. The tongue is in contact
with the upper side teeth for most speech sounds.
g. The lips are important in speech. They can be pressed together (when we produce
the sounds p, b), brought into contact with the teeth (as in f, v), or rounded to
produce the lip-shape for vowels like u:.
Figure 3 - Subdivisions of the tongue

The seven articulators described above are the

main ones used in speech, but there are a few
other things to remember. Firstly, the larynx
could also be described as an articulator - a very
complex and independent one. Secondly, the
jaws are sometimes called articulators;
certainly, we move the lower jaw a lot in
speaking. But the jaws are not articulators in
the same way as the others, because they
cannot themselves contact other articulators.
Finally, although there is practically nothing
active that we can do with the nose and the
nasal cavity when speaking, they are a very Figure 4 - Dental sounds
important part of our equipment for making
sounds (which is sometimes called our vocal apparatus), particularly nasal
consonants such as m, n. Again, we cannot really describe the nose and the nasal
cavity as articulators in the same sense as (a) to (g) above.
1.4. PLACES OF ARTICULATION

Carr7
refers to the points at which the flow of
air can be modified as places of articulation. He
also identifies the vocal folds as a place of
articulation; since the space between the vocal cords
is referred to as the glottis, he refers to sounds
produced at this place of articulation as glottal
sounds.
Firstly, sounds in which the airflow is modified by

forming a constriction between the lower lip and the Figure 5 – Bilabial sounds
upper lip are referred to as bilabial sounds (Fig. 4).
An example is the first sound in pit.
Secondly, sounds in which there is a constriction between the lower lip and the upper
teeth are referred to as labiodental sounds (Fig. 5). An example is the first sound
in fit.
Thirdly, sounds in which there is a constriction

between the tip of the tongue and the upper teeth
are referred to as dental sounds (Fig. 6). An
example is the first sound in thin.
For the remaining places of articulation, let us

distinguish between the tip, the blade of the
tongue, the front of the tongue and the back of the
tongue (as in fig. 2). Let us also distinguish various
Figure 6 - Labiodental sounds points along the upper part of the mouth. We will
7Carr, Philip. (2013) English Phonetics and Phonology: An Introduction, (2nd Ed.) Oxford:
Blackwell-Wiley

Class Notes 12
identify four different areas: the alveolar

ridge (the hard, bony ridge behind the teeth;
see fig. 2), the hard palate (the hard, bony
part of the roof of the mouth; see fig. 1), the
palato-alveolar (or post-alveolar) region8
(the area in between the alveolar ridge and the
hard palate), and the velum (the soft part at
the back of the roof of the mouth, also known
as the soft palate; see fig. 2).
Sounds in which there is a constriction

between the blade or tip of the tongue and the
alveolar ridge are called alveolar sounds
Figure 4 - Alveolar sounds
(Fig. 7). An example is the first sound in sin.
Sounds in which there is a constriction between the blade of the tongue and the
palato-alveolar (or post-alveolar) region are called palato-alveolar sounds (Fig. 8).
An example is the first sound in ship.
Sounds in which there is a constriction between the front of the tongue and the hard
palate are called palatal sounds (Fig. 9). An example is the first sound in yes
(although this may be less obvious to you; we will return to this sound below).
Sounds in which there is a constriction between the back of the tongue and the velum
are called velar sounds (Fig. 10). An example is the first sound in cool.
Figure 5 - Palato-alveolar Figure 6 - Palatal sounds Figure 7 - Velar sounds

sounds
Clark and Yallop 9 summarize the places of articulation for consonants in the
following table:
8 Many phonologists and phoneticians use the term ‘palato-alveolar’, but the chart of symbols
used by the International Phonetics Association uses the term ‘post-alveolar’. It will suffice
for our purposes if the student takes the two terms to be interchangeable. There are no rigid
physiological divisions between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate; the transition from
one to the other is a continuum. And the range of articulations which can be made in between
the two is relatively varied, leading some phoneticians to distinguish alveo-palatal from
palato-alveolar articulations. We will simplify by ignoring these details.
9 Clark, John & Yallop, Colin (1990). An introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Oxford:
Blackwell

Name of place Articulators used

Bilabial Upper and lower lips (English p, b, m)
Labio-dental Lower lip and edges of upper incisors (English f, v)
Apico-dental Tongue tip and edges or backs of upper incisors (Spanish t,
d, English th in thin)
Lamino-dental Tongue blade and edges or backs o upper incisors (th in
Australian aboriginal languages)
Apico-alveolar Tongue tip and alveolar region (English t, d)
Lamino-alveolar Tongue blade and alveolar region
Apico- Tongue tip and post alveolar region (Southern British
postalveolar English r in trip, drip)
Lamino- Tongue blade and post-alveolar region (English sh as in
postalveolar ship may be apico-alveolar or lamino-postalveolar
depending on the speaker)
Sublamino- Tongue undersurface and post-alveolar region (as in
postalveolar ‘retroflex’ sounds of Hindi or Urdu)
Apico-palatal Tongue tip and palatal region
Lamino-palatal Tongue blade and palatal region (English y)
Velar Tongue body and soft palate (English k)
Uvular Tongue body and uvula/soft palate (r in some varieties of
French and German)
Pharyngeal Pharynx walls
Glottal Glottis (vocal folds)
1.5. MANNERS OF ARTICULATION

To identify the way a sound is articulated, we will identify three different
degrees of constriction (complete closure, close approximation and open
approximation), and thus three different categories of consonant: stops, fricatives,
affricates and approximants.
1.6.6 Stops
The articulators in question may form a stricture of complete closure; this
is what happens when one produces the first sound in pit. Here the lower and upper
lips completely block the flow of air from the lungs; that closure may then be
released, as it is in pit, and may then produce a sudden outflow of air. Sounds which
are produced with complete closure are referred to as stops (or plosives).
 We may describe the first sound in pit as a voiceless bilabial stop (transcribed
as / p /) and we will henceforth identify all consonants with three-term labels of
this sort. The consonant in abbey is also a bilabial stop but differs from that in pit:
it is voiced. This consonant (transcribed as / b /) is a voiced bilabial stop.
 The first sound in tin is a voiceless alveolar stop; it is transcribed as / t /. Its
voiced counterpart is the consonant in ado. This sound, the voiced alveolar stop,
is transcribed as / d /.
 The first sound in cool is a voiceless velar stop; it is transcribed as / k /. Its
voiced counterpart, the voiced velar stop, is transcribed as / ɡ /; an example is the
consonant in ago.
We have now identified bilabial, alveolar and velar stops; stops may be made at
many other places of articulation, but we will ignore those, as they are not relevant
to the study of English. There is one further stop which we must mention, however,

Class Notes 14
as it is very common in the speech of most speakers of English. This is the glottal
stop (transcribed as [ʔ]). It is made by forming a constriction of complete closure
between the vocal folds. This is the sound made instead of / t / in many Scottish and
Cockney pronunciations of, for example, the word butter. We will see that it is
present in the speech of almost every speaker of English, no matter what the accent.
There is no question of describing the glottal stop as voiced or voiceless, since it is
articulated in the glottis itself.
Ladefoged and Johnson10 classify the stops as oral stops and nasal stops. If, in
addition to the articulatory closure in the mouth, the soft palate is raised so that the
nasal tract is blocked off, then the airstream will be completely obstructed. Pressure
in the mouth will build up and an oral stop will be formed. When the articulators
come apart, the airstream will be released in a small burst of sound. This kind of
sound occurs in the consonants in the words pie, buy (bilabial closure), tie, dye
(alveolar closure), and key, guy (velar closure). If the air is stopped in the oral cavity,
but the soft palate is down so that air can go out through the nose, the sound
produced is a nasal stop. Sounds of this kind occur at the beginning of the words
my (bilabial closure) and nigh (alveolar closure), and at the end of the word sang
(velar closure). Apart from the presence of a velic opening, there is no difference
between this stop and the one in buy. Although both the nasal sounds and the oral
sounds can be classified as stops, the term stop by itself is almost always used by
phoneticians to indicate an oral stop, and the term nasal to indicate a nasal stop.
Thus, the consonants at the beginnings of the words day and neigh would be called
an alveolar stop and an alveolar nasal, respectively. Although the term stop may be
defined so that it applies only to the prevention of air escaping through the mouth,
it is commonly used to imply a complete stoppage of the airflow through both the
nose and the mouth.
1.6.7 Fricatives
Let us now distinguish between complete closure and another, less extreme,
degree of constriction: close approximation. Sounds which are produced with this
kind of constriction entail a bringing together of the two articulators to the point
where the airflow is not quite fully blocked: enough of a gap remains for air to escape,
but the articulators are so close together that friction is created as the air escapes.
Sounds of this sort are referred to as fricatives.
 The first sound in fin is created by bringing the lower lip close to the upper teeth
in a constriction of close approximation. This sound is a voiceless labio-dental
fricative (transcribed as / f /). Its voiced counterpart (the voiced labiodental
fricative, transcribed as / v /) is the consonant in Eva.
 The first sound in thin is created by bringing the tip of the tongue into a
constriction of close approximation with the upper teeth. This sound is a
voiceless dental fricative, transcribed as / θ /. Its voiced counterpart, the
voiced dental fricative (transcribed as / ð /) is, for some speakers, the first sound
in the word that.
 The first sound in sin is created by bringing the tip or blade of the tongue into a
constriction of close approximation with the alveolar ridge. This sound,
Ladefoged, Peter; & Johnson, Keith. (2011). A Course in Phonetics (6th ed.). Boston:
10
Wadsworth

transcribed as / s /, is a voiceless alveolar fricative. Its voiced counterpart, the

voiced alveolar fricative (transcribed as / z /) is the consonant in zoo.
 The first sound in ship is created by bringing the blade of the tongue into a
constriction of close approximation with the palato-alveolar region. This sound,
transcribed as / ʃ /, is a voiceless palato-alveolar fricative. Its voiced
counterpart, transcribed as / ʒ /, is the second consonant in seizure.
Fricatives may be articulated at any point of articulation, but many of those sounds
are irrelevant to the study of English. However, we will mention three.
 One is the voiceless velar fricative / x /, found in the speech of many Scots, in
words such as loch. Another is the voiceless fricative [ʍ], again found in the
speech of many Scots, as in words like whale (as opposed to wail) and which (as
opposed to witch); its place of articulation is labial-velar.
 A third is the glottal fricative / h /, as in the first sound in hit. This sound is
produced by bringing the vocal cords into a constriction of close approximation, so
that friction is produced. As the vocal cords are not vibrating, we will take it that
this is a voiceless sound.
1.6.8 Affricates
These sounds are produced by making an initial stop (or closure) followed by a
fricative release. A first example is that of the word church, in which the first sound
starts with the voiceless alveolar stop / t / followed by the voiceless palatal
fricative / ʃ /, the final sound would be transcribed as / ʧ / and named voiceless
post alveolar (or pre-palatal) affricate. Its voiced counterpart is formed then by
using the voiced equivalents of / t / and / ʃ /, which are /d/ and /ʒ/ (transcribed together
as / ʤ /) in words like joke. This sound is called voiced post alveolar (or pre-
palatal) affricate.
1.6.9 Approximants
The least radical degree of constriction occurs when the articulators come
close together, but not sufficiently close together to create friction. This kind of
stricture is called open approximation. Consonants produced in this way are
called approximants.
The first sound in yes is an approximant. It is produced by bringing the front of the
tongue close to the hard palate. Although the sides of the tongue are in a constriction
of complete closure with the upper gums, the air escapes along a central groove in
which the front of the tongue is not close enough to the hard palate to create friction.
This sound, transcribed as/j/, is a voiced palatal approximant. Approximants are
normally voiced11, so we will not discuss any voiceless counterparts for these sounds.
The first sound in many English speakers’ pronunciation of rip, rope, rat, etc. is an
approximant. It is produced by bringing the blade of the tongue into a constriction of
open approximation with the alveolar ridge. This approximant, transcribed as / r /,
is referred to as a voiced alveolar approximant. As with / j /, the sides of the
tongue form a constriction of complete closure with the gums at the sides of the
11The case of using the vocal folds to produce voiced and voiceless sounds is only
pertinent in stops, fricatives and the combination of these two, i.e. affricates. The rest of
the consonant sounds are all voiced.

Class Notes 16
mouth, but the air escapes along a central groove without creating friction. For most
speakers (and in varying degrees, depending on the accent), the tongue body is
somewhat retracted when / r / is uttered; it is therefore often referred to as a post-
alveolar approximant (retroflex), but ‘alveolar approximant’ will suffice for our
purposes. It’s also worth mentioning that there are varieties of English in which the
final ‘r’ is not pronounced, as in the word car, unless it precedes a vocalic sound in
the following word or within the same word. This is a non-rhotic accent, common
in RP or other varieties in the US (Boston and New York dialects) South Africa, New
Zealand or Australia. Rhotic varieties, which occur in most of the United States and
many regions in the UK, the / r / is always pronounced regardless of the position in
a word. Two other realizations of the / r / sound occur in Scottish English, for
example: the alveolar flap (or tap) and the alveolar trill (or roll). The first one,
transcribed as [ɾ], occurs in words like three (with a stronger pronunciation of the ‘r’).
In American dialects, the same flap occurs as an allophone of / t / and / d / in
intervocalic position (butter, city, or daddy). The second one, transcribed as [r]; [r̝] or
[r̻] depending on the author, occurs in words like curd. The roll in this allophone is
the same as the Spanish phoneme found in perro.
Let us identify one further such sound, the sound at the beginning of wet. In
producing this sound, the lips form a constriction of open approximation: there is no
friction produced. But its articulation is more complicated than that of / j /, the
palatal approximant, since it also involves another articulation, between the back of
the tongue and the velum (i.e. a velar articulation). We will therefore refer to it as a
voiced labio-velar approximant; it is transcribed as / w /.
Ladefoged and Johnson12 also identify another type of approximant called lateral.
It is formed by an obstruction of the airstream at a point along the center of the oral
tract, with incomplete closure between one or both sides of the tongue and the roof
of the mouth. Say the word lie and note how the tongue touches near the center of
the alveolar ridge. Prolong the initial consonant and note how, despite the closure
formed by the tongue, air flows out freely, over the side of the tongue. Because there
is no stoppage of the air, and not even any fricative noises, these sounds are classified
as approximants. The consonants in words such as lie, laugh are alveolar lateral
approximants, but they are usually called just alveolar laterals, their approximant
status being assumed. You may be able to find out which side of the tongue is not in
contact with the roof of the mouth by holding the consonant position while you
breathe inward. The tongue will feel colder on the side that is not in contact with the
roof of the mouth. There are other instances in which a lateral velar approximant
is produced in postvocalic ‘l’ as found in words like ill. The tongue is retracted and
does not touch any part within the mouth, instead, it goes back giving it a velar
quality. However, there is still some argument about this sound as many authors
consider it to be an allophone of the / l /, being transcribed as [l̴].
As a summary, consonant sounds can be simplified in the following table:
Ladefoged, Peter; & Johnson, Keith. (2011). A Course in Phonetics (6th ed.). Boston:
12
Wadsworth

Postalveolar
Labiodental
Retroflex
Alveolar
Bilabial
Palatal
Glottal
Dental
Velar
Plosive p b t d k ɡ ʔ
Nasal m n
Fricative f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h
Approximant w r ɹ j w
Lateral l
Affricate tʃ dʒ
Table 2 - Summary of consonant sounds in English classified by manner (light purple) and point (light
blue) of articulation. Voiced sounds have been shaded. NB the / w / sound has a double point of
articulation, as explained before.
Davenport and Hannahs13 offer a more complete inventory of the typical English
consonants grouped in two major categories: Obstruents and Sonorants.
Category 1: Obstruents
Group 1: Stops
Place Manner Symbol Example
bilabial voiceless unaspirated [p] happy, tap
voiceless aspirated [ph] pit
voiced [b] but, rubber, lob
alveolar voiceless unaspirated [t] writer, hit
voiceless aspirated [th] tip
voiced [d] dip, rider, bid
voiced flap [ɾ] writer, rider14
velar voiceless unaspirated [k] looking, tick
voiceless aspirated [kh] kit
voiced [ɡ] game, muggy, dog
glottal voiceless [ʔ] writer, hit15
Group 2: Affricates
palato-alveolar voiceless [tʃ] ([č]) chuck, butcher, catch
voiced [dʒ] ([ǰ ]) jug, lodger, fudge
Group 3: Fricatives
labio-dental voiceless [f] fun, loafer, stuff
voiced [v] very, liver, dive
dental voiceless [θ] thin, frothing, death
voiced [ð] then, loathing, bathe
alveolar voiceless [s] sin, icing, fuss
voiced [z] zoo, rising, booze
palato-alveolar voiceless [ʃ] ([š]) ship, rasher, lush
voiced [ʒ] ([ž]) treasure, rouge
glottal voiceless [h] hop
velar voiceless [x] loch16
13 Davenport, Michael & Hannahs, S. J (2010). Introducing phonetics and phonology (3rd
ed). Hodder Education, London
14 North American English
15 Many British English varieties
16 Irish Eng., Scottish Eng., Welsh Eng.

Class Notes 18
Category 2: Sonorants
Group 1: Nasals
Place Manner Symbol Example
bilabial [m] man, tummy, rum
alveolar [n] nod, runner, gin
velar [ŋ] drinker, thing
Group 2: Liquids
alveolar lateral ‘clear’ [l] long, mellow
‘dark’ (velarized) [l̴] dull
alveolar rhotic [ɹ] run, very (car, cart17)
Group 3: Glides
palatal [j] yes
labial-velar [w] with
1.7 THE ARTICULATION OF THE VOWEL SOUNDS

In the production of vowel sounds, the
articulators do not come very close together,
and the passage of the airstream is
relatively unobstructed. We can describe
vowel sounds roughly in terms of the
position of the highest point of the tongue
and the position of the lips. Fig. 11 shows
the articulatory position for the vowels in
heed, hid, head, had, father, good, food. Of
course, in saying these words, the tongue
and lips are in continuous motion
throughout the vowels. The positions shown
in the figure are best considered as the
targets of the gestures for the vowels.
Figure 8 -The positions of the vocal organs for
the vowels in the words 1 heed, 2 hid, 3 head,
As you can see, in all these vowel gestures,
4 had, 5 father, 6 good, 7 food. The lip
the tongue tip is down behind the lower
positions for vowels 2, 3, and 4 are between
front teeth, and the body of the tongue is
those shown for 1 and 5. The lip position for
vowel 6 is between those shown for 1 and 7 domed upward. Check that this is so in your
own pronunciation. You will notice that you can prolong the / h / sound and that
there is no mouth movement between the / h / and the following vowel; the / h / is
like a voiceless version of the vowel that comes after it. In the first four vowels, the
highest point of the tongue is in the front of the mouth. Accordingly, these vowels
are called front vowels. The tongue is close to the roof of the mouth for the vowel
in heed (you can feel that this is so by breathing inward while holding the target
position for this vowel), slightly less close for the vowel in hid (for this and most other
vowels it is difficult to localize the position by breathing inward; the articulators are
too far apart), and lower still for the vowels in head and had. If you look in a mirror
while saying the vowels in these four words, you will find that the mouth becomes
progressively more open while the tongue remains in the front of the mouth. The
vowel in heed is classified as a high front vowel, and the vowel in had as a low front
17 Scottish English, North American English

vowel. The height of the tongue for the vowels in the other words is between these
two extremes, and they are therefore called mid-front vowels. The vowel in hid is a
mid-high vowel, and the vowel in head is a mid-low vowel.
Now try saying the vowels in father, good, food. In all three, the tongue is close to
the back surface of the vocal tract. These vowels are classified as back vowels. The
body of the tongue is highest in the vowel in food (which is therefore called a high
back vowel) and lowest in the first vowel in father (which is therefore called a low
back vowel). The vowel in good is a mid-high back vowel. The tongue may be near
enough to the roof of the mouth for you to be able to feel the rush of cold air when
you breathe inward while holding the position for the vowel in food.
Lip gestures vary considerably in different vowels. They are generally closer together
in the mid-high and high back vowels (as in good, food), though in some forms of
American English this is not so. Look at the position of your lips in a mirror while
you say just the vowels in heed, hid, head, had, father, good, food. You will probably
find that in the last two words, there is a movement of the lips in addition to the
movement that occurs because of the lowering and raising of the jaw. This movement
is called lip rounding. It is usually most noticeable in the inward movement of the
corners of the lips. Vowels may be rounded (as in who’d) or unrounded (as in heed).
In summary, the targets for vowel gestures can be described in terms of three factors:
a. the height of the body of the tongue;

b. the front–back position of the tongue; and
c. the degree of lip rounding.
Say just the vowels in the words given in the figure caption and check that your
tongue moves in the pattern described by the points. It is very difficult to become
aware of the position of the tongue in vowels, but you can probably get some
impression of tongue height by observing the position of your jaw while saying just
the vowels in the four words heed, hid, head, had. You should also be able to feel the
difference between front and back vowels by contrasting words such as he and who.
Say these words silently and concentrate on the sensations involved. You should feel
the tongue going from front to back as you say he, who. You can also feel your lips
becoming more rounded.
1.7.1 Cardinal vowels

It has become traditional to locate
cardinal vowels on a four-sided figure (a
quadrilateral of the shape seen in Fig. 12
– the design used here is the one
recommended by the International
Phonetic Association). The exact shape
is not important – a square would do quite
well – but we will use the traditional
shape. The vowels in Fig. 12 are the so-
called primary cardinal vowels; these are Figure 9 - The primary cardinal vowels
the vowels that are most familiar to the

speakers of most European languages, and there are other cardinal vowels
(secondary cardinal vowels) that sound less familiar. Cardinal vowels are usually

Class Notes 20
printed within square brackets [ ] to distinguish them clearly from English vowel
sounds.
Cardinal vowel no. 1 has the symbol [i], and is defined as the vowel which is as close
and as front as it is possible to make a vowel without obstructing the flow of air
enough to produce friction noise; friction noise is the hissing sound that one hears in
consonants like s or f. Cardinal vowel no. 5 has the symbol [ɑ] and is defined as the
most open and back vowel that it is possible to make. Cardinal vowel no. 8 [u] is fully
close and back and no. 4 [a] is fully open and front. After establishing these extreme
points, it is possible to put in intermediate points (vowels no. 2, 3, 6 and 7).
1.7.2 The twelve English vowel phonemes
9
1
8
2
11
3 7
12
4 6
10
5
Figure 10 - English vowels
1. / iː / as in eat
2. / ɪ / as in it Front
3. / e / as in bed
4. / æ / as in cat
5. / ɑː / as in cart
6. / ɒ / as in lot
7. / ɔː / as in all Back
8. / ʊ / as in put
9. / uː / as in soon
10. / ʌ / as in cut
11. / ɜː / as in bird Central
12. / ə / as in the second syllable of brother

1.7.3 Diphthongs
ɪə
Centring Ending in ə eə
DIPHTHONGS
ʊə
eɪ
Ending in ɪ aɪ
ɔɪ
Closing
əʊ
Ending in ʊ
aʊ
Figure 11 - Diphthongs
Apart from the 12 pure vowel phonemes (also called monophthongs) in English,
there are 8 diphthongs which can be classified as in Fig. 14.
The centring diphthongs (also called centripetal) glide towards the ə (schwa)
vowel, as the symbols indicate.
ɪə (example words: ‘beard’, weird’, ‘fierce’) The
starting point is a little closer than i in ‘bit’, ‘bin’,
eə (example words: ‘aired’, ‘cairn’, ‘scarce’) This
diphthong begins with a vowel sound that is more
open than the e of ‘get’, ‘men’
ʊə (example words: ‘moored’, ‘tour’, ‘lure’) For
speakers who have this diphthong, this has a
starting point like u in ‘put’, ‘pull’. Many speakers
Figure 12 - Centring pronounce ɔː instead.
diphthongs
The closing diphthongs have the characteristic that they all end with a glide
towards a closer vowel. Because the second part of the diphthong is weak, they often
do not reach a position that could be called close. The important thing is that a glide
from a relatively more open towards a relatively closer vowel is produced. Three of
the diphthongs glide towards ɪ, as described below:
eɪ (example words: ‘paid’, ‘pain’, ‘face’) The starting

point is the same as the e of ‘get’, ‘men’,
aɪ (example words: ‘tide’, ‘time’, ‘nice’) This diphthong
begins with an open vowel which is between front
and back; it is quite like the ʌ of the words ‘cut’,
‘bun’,
ɔɪ (example words: ‘void’, ‘loin’, ‘voice’) The first part
of this diphthong is slightly more open than ɔː in
Figure 13 - Closing diphthongs ‘ought’, ‘born’.

Class Notes 22
Two other closing diphthongs glide towards ʊ, so that as the tongue moves closer
to the roof of the mouth there is at the same time a rounding movement of the lips.
This movement is not a large one, again because the second part of the diphthong is
weak.
əʊ (example words: ‘load’, ‘home’, ‘most’) The vowel position for the
beginning of this is the same as for the “schwa” vowel ə, as found in the
first syllable of the word ‘about’. The lips may be slightly rounded in
anticipation of the glide towards ʊ, for which there is quite noticeable
lip-rounding.
aʊ (example words: ‘loud’, ‘gown’, ‘house’) This diphthong begins with a
vowel like aɪ. Since this is an open vowel, a glide to ʊ would necessitate
a large movement, and the tongue often does not reach the u position.
There is only slight lip-rounding.
1.7.4 Triphthongs
A triphthong is a glide from one vowel to another and then to a third, all produced
rapidly and without interruption. For example, a careful pronunciation of the word
‘hour’ begins with a vowel quality like ɑː, goes on to a glide towards the back close
rounded area (for which we use the symbol ʊ), then ends with a mid-central vowel
(schwa, ə). We use the symbol aʊə to represent the pronunciation of ‘hour’, but this
is not always an accurate representation of the pronunciation.
The triphthongs can be looked on as being composed of the five closing diphthongs
described in the last section, with ə added on the end. Thus, we get:
 eɪ + ə = eɪə (player, layer, etc.)

 aɪ + ə = aɪə (higher, liar, fire, etc.)
 ɔɪ + ə = ɔɪə (loyal, royal, etc.)
 əʊ + ə = əʊə (lower, mower, etc.)
 aʊ + ə = aʊə (power, hour, etc.)

1.8 EXERCISES
1.8.1 Vowels
1. Describe the articulation of the following sounds. Be sure to include
information about the path of airflow, the state of the vocal cords, the
position of the velum and the obstruction in the oral cavity.
a. [b] — voiced bilabial stop (obstruent)
b. [ŋ] — voiced velar nasal (sonorant)
c. [tʃ] — voiceless palate-alveolar affricate (obstruent)
d. [s] — voiceless alveolar fricative (obstruent/sibilant)
e. [θ] — voiceless dental fricative (obstruent)
2. Assuming the consonants of English, indicate the symbol representing the
sound described by each of the following:
a. voiceless alveolar stop  [t]
b. voiced dental fricative  [ð]
c. voiced labial-velar glide  [w]
d. voiceless velar stop  [k]
e. voiced alveolar nasal (stop)  [n]
3. Describe each of the following symbols in words. Example: [d] = voiced
alveolar stop.
a. [b]  voiced bilabial stop
b. [m]  (voiced) bilabial nasal stop
c. [v]  voiced labiodental fricative
d. [dʒ]  voiced palate-alveolar affricate
e. [ɹ]  voiced alveolar (retroflex) approximant
4. Identify the difference in articulation between the following groups of
sounds. For example, [p b t ɡ] differ from [f s ʃ θ] in that the sounds in the
first set are all stops and the sounds in the second set are fricatives.
a. [p t s k] vs. [b d z ɡ]  voiceless vs. voiced
b. [b d ɡ] vs. [m n ŋ]  oral vs. nasal
c. [n l ɹ] vs. [t d s]  sonorants vs. obstruents
d. [p b f v m] vs. [t d s z n]  labial vs. alveolar
e. [w j] vs. [l ɹ]  glides vs. liquids
Exercises (from Roach's book)
1. On the diagram provided, various articulators are indicated by

labelled arrows (a–e). Give the names for the articulators.
a. Velum
b. Alveolar ridge
c. Tongue
d. Hard Palate
e. Lower lip

Class Notes 24
2. Using the descriptive labels introduced for vowel classification, say

what the following cardinal vowels are:
a) [u] – close back rounded
b) [e] – close-mid front unrounded
c) [a] – open front unrounded
d) [i] – close front unrounded
e) [o] – close-mid back rounded
3. Draw a vowel quadrilateral and indicate on it the correct places for
the following English vowels: æ; ʌ; ɪ and e.
e
ʌ
æ
1.8.2 Consonants
1. Highlight the words that begin with a stop:
a. philanderer f. charismatic k. grueling
b. plasterer g. cereal l. guardian
c. cry h. carping m. thick
d. parsimonious i. tickle n. bin
e. psyche j. ghoulish o. dreary
2. Highlight the words that begin with a fricative:
a. ship f. philosophy
b. psychology g. think
c. veer h. late
d. round i. xylophone
e. plot
3. Highlight the words that end with a fricative:
a. stack g. hash m. pleads
b. whale h. haze n. mission
c. swim i. phase o. energy
d. epitaph j. use p. later
e. half k. path q. truth
f. halve l. cuts r. froth
4. Highlight the words that end with a nasal:
a. rain
b. rang
c. dumb
d. deaf
5. Highlight the words that begin with a lateral:
a. nut d. rob
b. lull e. list
c. bar f. one
6. Highlight the words that begin with an approximant:
a. we c. shut
b. you d. run

e. one f. cry
7. Describe the position and action of the articulators during the

production of the following sounds – e.g.
[d] – the blade of the tongue forms a constriction of complete closure with the
alveolar ridge, vocal cords are vibrating.
[f] – lower lip is brought close to the upper teeth in a constriction, vocal cords
are not vibrating.
Phone Position and action of the articulators during production

the tip of the tongue is brought into a constriction of close
[ð] approximation with the upper teeth, vocal cords are vibrating
A constriction of complete closure is made at the lips, vocal cords are

[p] not vibrating
the back of the tongue forms a constriction of complete closure with

[ɡ] the velum, vocal cords are vibrating
the blade of the tongue forms a constriction of complete closure with

[tʃ] the alveolar ridge, vocal cords are not vibrating
the vocal cords are brought into a constriction of close

[h] approximation, vocal cords are not vibrating
the blade of the tongue is brought into a constriction of close
[ʃ] approximation with the palato-alveolar region, vocal cords are not
vibrating
the back of the tongue forms a constriction of complete closure with
[k] the velum, vocal cords are not vibrating
the tip of the tongue is brought into a constriction of close

[θ] approximation with the upper teeth, vocal cords are not vibrating
the tip or blade of the tongue is brought into a constriction of close

[s] approximation with the alveolar ridge, vocal cords are not vibrating
A constriction of complete closure is made at the lips, vocal cords are

[m] [b] vibrating
lower lip is brought close to the upper teeth in a constriction of close

[v] approximation, vocal cords are vibrating
the tip or blade of the tongue is brought into a constriction of close

[z] approximation with the alveolar ridge, vocal cords are vibrating

Class Notes 26
2 PHONEMIC AND PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION
2.1 PHONOLOGY AND PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION

There are two ways in which we can transcribe speech. Phonemic transcription,
also sometimes known as ‘broad’ transcription, involves representing speech using
just a unique symbol for each phoneme of the language. Features like allophones or
any other specific realizations of a sound are not considered when transcribing with
phonemic symbols. When we transcribe phonemically, we are representing not
actual sounds, but abstract mental constructs. Transcription must be noted between
slanted bars or “slashes”, for example: / e /.
The other way we can transcribe speech is using phonetic transcription, also
sometimes known as ‘narrow’ transcription. This involves representing additional
details about the contextual variations in pronunciation that occur in normal
speech. Note that phonetic transcription is placed between [square brackets]. When
we transcribe phonetically, we are representing not abstract mental constructs, but
rather the actual sounds in terms of their acoustic and articulatory properties.
Phonemic and phonetic transcription both have their purposes. The goal of a
phonemic transcription is to record the ‘phonemes as mental categories’ that a
speaker uses, rather than the actual spoken variants of those phonemes that are
produced in the context of a particular word. An English speaker has internalized a
rule that says, ‘sounds like / t / are always aspirated when word-initial’, so they’ll
automatically make the / t / in ‘tenth’ aspirated. Phonetic transcription on the other
hand specifies the finer details of how sounds are made. So, a non-English speaker
trained in the IPA could look at a phonetic transcription like [tʰɛ̃n̪θ] and know how
to pronounce it accurately without knowing the rules about English phonemes.
2.2 THE ENGLISH PHONEMIC INVENTORY. COMPARISON WITH

SPANISH.
While Spanish and English consonants systems show many similarities, the vowel
system and sentence stress are very different. When it comes to vowels, Spanish has
five pure vowels and five diphthongs, in which length is not a distinctive feature.
In terms of consonants, there are similar sounds, others that share the same
phoneme and other which only occur as allophones in one of them. Finch and Ortiz18
compare Spanish and English in the following tables:
Table 3 - The English and Spanish vowel phonemes
The English vowel phonemes

i ɪ e æ ɑ ɒ ɔ ʊ u ʌ ɜ ə
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
eɪ əʊ aɪ aʊ ɔɪ ɪə eə ʊə
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
The Spanish vowel phonemes
i e a o u
1 2 3 4 5
ei ai oi ui iu eu au ia ua ie ue io uo
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
18 Finch, D. and Ortiz, H. (1982) A Course in English Phonetics for Spanish Speakers.

Table 4 - The English and Spanish consonant phonemes
Palato-alveolar
Post-alveolar
Labio-dental
Alveolar
Bilabial
Palatal
Glottal
Dental
Velar
E p b t d k ɡ
Plosive
S p b t d k ɡ
E tr dr ʧ ʤ
Affricate
S ʧ
E m n
Nasal
S m n ŋ
E
Roll
S r ɲ
E
Flap
S ɾ
E l
Lateral
S l ʎ
E f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h
Fricative
S f θ s jz x
E
Approximant
S
E w j
Semivowel
S
2.3 DESCRIPTION AND TRANSCRIPTION OF ENGLISH VOWELS.

2.3.1 Vowels / iː /, / ɪ /, / e /, / æ /
Examples: bead / biːd / bet / bet /
bit / bɪt / tap / tæp /
Comments:
1. Notice that the / iː / is a long vowel while / ɪ /, / e /, and / æ / are short vowels.
A special length mark (ː) is put after long vowels to remind us that they are
long.
2. Write the symbol for / æ / using one movement of the pen only. Start with the
top left-hand corner of the symbol, and without taking your pen off the paper,
“glide” your pen as if writing a number six, then go on to drawing the letter
“e” with the same stroke. The two glyphs must be drawn together.
3. Notice that the long / iː / has a “dot” but only half a “flat hat” (i but not ɪ).
Short / ɪ / has no “dot” but does have a complete “flat hat”. When writing the
symbols, you should write long / iː / with no “flat hat” at all and no “flat base”
either: / i /. Write short / ɪ /; however, with both “flat hat” and a “flat base.”
Exercises: Write the following words in phonemic transcription:

Class Notes 28
 bee / biː /  tea / tiː /  mat / mæt /

 egg / eɡ /  dead / ded /  pill / pɪl /
 hat / hæt /  pack / pæk /  bad / bæd /
 big / bɪɡ /  eat / iːt /  ten / ten /
 van / væn /  lip / lɪp /  rat / ræt /
 lid / lɪd /  mean / miːn /
2.3.2 Vowels / ʌ / and / ɑː /

Examples: mud / mʌd /
bar / bɑː /
Comments:
1. / ʌ / is an upside-down letter “v”. you must write this symbol with a point at
the top. If there is no point, there may be confusion with / n /.
2. Notice that / ʌ / is a short vowel and / ɑː / a long vowel.
Exercises: Transcribe the following words in phonemic transcription:
 hut / hʌt /  harmed / hɑːmd /  trip / trɪp /

 gun / ɡʌn /  ham / hæm /  tree / triː /
 hard / hɑːd /  dumb / dʌm /  rent / rent /
 rum / rʌm /  hill / hɪl /  team / tiːm /
 arts / ɑːts /  aunt / ɑːnt /  tramp / træmp /
 nut / nʌt /  bug / bʌɡ /  hunt / hʌnt /
 heart / hɑːt /  bat / bæt /  tart / tɑːt /
2.3.3 Vowels / ɒ / and / ɔː /

Examples: hot / hɒt /
door / dɔː /
Comments:
1. / ɒ / is rather like “ɑ” upside down. It is perhaps easiest to write by making

one movement of your pen, starting in the top left-hand corner with a
“hook,” and then sweeping into the anticlockwise drawing of a circle.
2. / ɔː / is a back to front “c” plus the length mark.
3. Notice that /ɒ/ is a short vowel and / ɔː / a long vowel.
 pot / pɒt /  ball / bɔːl /  man / mæn /

 law / lɔː /  pop / pɒp /  mod / mɒd /
 dog / dɒɡ /  more / mɔː /  hall / hɔːl /
 torn / tɔːn /  mop / mɒp /  mud / mʌd /
 doll / dɒl /  rob / rɒb /  rot / rɒt /
 bond / bɒnd /  bought / bɔːt /  leap / liːp /
 port / pɔːt /  dig / dɪɡ /  part / pɑːt /
2.3.4 Vowels / ʊ / and / uː /

Examples: good / ɡʊd /
boot / buːt /
Comments:

1. / ʊ / is usually printed as an upside-down Greek omega sign, with curved

sides, which is used by Gimson. The symbol has no supporting leg and foot o
the right-hand side like the long vowel / uː /.
2. Be careful not to write / u / like an / n /. In some people's handwriting 'u' is
very similar (or even identical) to 'n'.
3. / ʊ / is a short vowel and /uː/ is a long vowel.
 put / pʊt /  get / ɡet /

 hoot / huːt /  hall / hɔːl /
 pull / pʊl /  root / ruːt /
 rule / ruːl /  rub / rʌb /
 hood / hʊd /  hut / hʌt /
 bull / bʊl /  tap / tæp /
 moon / muːn /  got / ɡɒt /
 rude / ruːd /  pig / pɪɡ /
 room / ruːm /  heel / hiːl /
 arm / ɑːm /
Words of more than one syllable will appear in the exercises from here on, every
multi-syllabic word, when pronounced in its citation form (i.e. the form used when
saying the word alone or when looking the word up in a dictionary), usually has one
syllable which is more prominent than the other(s). This “stressed” syllable is
marked in transcriptions by a raised vertical line (') in front of it. Thus:
 many / 'menɪ /
 pity / 'pɪtɪ /
 teapot / 'tiːpɒt /
 unsaid / ʌn'sed /
 indeed / ɪn'diːd /
Note carefully that whereas the letters of normal writing have two forms, a small
letter and a capital letter (e.g. “t” and “T”), phonemic symbols are always the same.
In other words, the sound / t / is always written as / t /, never as ‘T’. Even if the sound
is the first sound in a sentence, it is still written in the same way. Thus, if you have
a sentence like:
Beat the carpet: / biːt ðə ꞌkɑːpɪt /
The first word will still be transcribed as /biːt/. Just because there is a capital letter
‘B’ in the normal writing does not mean to say that there must be some sort of capital
symbol in the phonemic transcription.
However, proper nouns and adjectives, which will also appear in the exercises which
follow, are a different matter. Form these words, and for initials (e.g. Helsinki, Fred,
Scottish, E.T.), use an asterisk (*) before the word in the phonemic transcription.
Thus:
 Ted / *ted /

Class Notes 30
 German / *ꞌʤɜːmən /
 Italy / *ꞌɪtəlɪ /
 E.T. / *'iː *ꞌtiː /
Not all phoneticians, and indeed not all textbooks on English or general phonetics,
follow this convention of an asterisk preceding initials and a proper noun or
adjective, but it seems to make the reading if transcriptions much easier.
2.3.5 Vowels / ɜː / and / ə /

Examples: burn / bɜːn / better / ꞌbetə /
a/ə/
Comments:
1. / ə / is the most common vowel sound in English.
2. / ə / only appears in unstressed syllables; it never appears in stressed
syllables.
3. The symbol / ə / is the letter ‘e’ upside down. There must be a clearly visible
straight horizontal line in the symbol: / ə /. Other ways of transcribing this
symbol may lead to confusion.
 fatter / ꞌfætə /  madder / ꞌmædə /

 ever / ꞌevə /  meaner / ꞌmiːnə /
 bird / bɜːd /  a daughter / ə ꞌdɔːtə /
 a letter / ə ꞌletə /  bitter / ꞌbɪtə /
 a word / ə ꞌwɜːd /  a big bag / ə ꞌbɪɡꞌbæɡ /
 to hurt / tə hɜːt /  a partner / ə ꞌpɑːtnə /
 a banana / ə bəꞌnɑːnə /  a hooter / ə ꞌhuːtə /
 bigger / ꞌbɪɡə /  dirty / ꞌdɜːtɪ /
 a girl / ə ɡɜːl /  muddy / ꞌmʌdɪ /
 butter / ꞌbʌtə /  a robber / ə ꞌrɒbə /
 early / ꞌɜːlɪ /  women / ꞌwɪmɪn /
 to murder / tə ꞌmɜːdə /  a hammer / ə ꞌhæmə /
 worm / wɜːm /  a good dog / ə ꞌɡʊdꞌdɒɡ /
 a learner / ə ꞌlɜːnə /
2.3.6 Diphthongs / aɪ /, / eɪ / and / ɔɪ /

Examples: try / traɪ / boy / bɔɪ /
prey / preɪ /
Comments:
1. Notice that all these three diphthongs have the /ɪ/ symbol with a “flat hat”
and a “flat base”; there is no “dot.”
2. Notice that the symbol /a/ only appears in the diphthong /aɪ/ here and in the
diphthong /aʊ/ in the point 2.3.8. It is not the same symbol as in any of the
pure vowels.
Exercise: Write the following words in phonemic transcription:

 light / laɪt /  rainy / ˈreɪnɪ /

 a toy / əˈtɔɪ /  annoy / əˈnɔɪ /
 today / təˈdeɪ /  a pint / ə ˈpaɪnt /
 pilot / ˈpaɪlət /  height / haɪt /
 to boil / tə ˈbɔɪl /  vain / veɪn /
 right / raɪt /  male / meɪl /
 name / neɪm /  mile / maɪl /
 pointer / ˈpɔɪntə /  Roy / *rɔɪ /
 to hate / tə ˈheɪt /  time / taɪm /
 a writer / ə ˈraɪtə /  mate / meɪt /
2.3.7 Diphthongs / ɪə /, / eə / and / ʊə /

Examples: ear / ɪə / poor / pʊə /
bear / beə /
Comments:
1. Notice that the second part of the symbol for all these three diphthongs is
again the letter “e.”
2. The first part of the symbol / ʊə / has no supporting leg or foot on the right-
hand side. Again, like the pure short vowel /ʊ/, it is probably best to write the
symbol with curved lines, as in point 2.3.4.
 dare / deə /  air / eə /

 here / hɪə /  pier / pɪə /
 tour / tʊə /  poorly / ˈpʊəlɪ /
 hairy / ˈheərɪ /  Mary / *ˈmeərɪ /
 beard / bɪed /  merely / ˈmeəlɪ /
 mayor / meə /  dearer / ˈdɪərə /
 moor / mʊə /  rarely / ˈreəlɪ /
 idea / aɪˈdɪə /  really / ˈrɪəlɪ /

2.3.8 Diphthongs / əʊ / and / aʊ /

Examples: no / nəʊ /
now / naʊ /
Comments:
1. The second part of the symbol for both diphthongs, i.e. /ʊ/, has no leg or foot
on the right-hand side. Again, write the symbol with noticeably curved lines.
2. Notice that the first part of the symbol / aʊ / is “a”, not “ɑ” or “ʌ”. The symbol
“a” only appears in this diphthong / aʊ / and in the diphthong / aɪ /.
 how / haʊ /  town / taʊn /

 hope / həʊp /  over / ˈəʊvə /

Class Notes 32
 down / daʊn /  a brown mouse / ə braʊn maʊs /

 road / rəʊd /  blow / bləʊ /
 about / əˈbaʊt /  a pole / ə peʊl /
 moan / məʊn /  loud / laʊd /
 an owl / ənˈaʊl /  a mountain / ə ˈmaʊntən /
 round / raʊnd /  a role / ə rəʊl /
 a low boat / ə ləʊ bəʊt /
2.3.9 General revision (Vowels)

Exercises: Write the following words and phrases in phonemic transcription:
 a poor boy / ə pʊə bɔɪ /  a great hero / ə ˈɡreɪt ˈhɪərəʊ /

 our home / ˈaʊə həʊm /  downtown / ˈdaʊntaʊn /
 a dear girl / ə dɪə gɜːl /  a tightrope / ə ˈtaɪtrəʊp /
 a good poem / ə ɡʊd ˈpəʊɪm /  a bad dog / ə ˈbæd dɒɡ /
 my toy / maɪ tɔɪ /  put it down / pʊt ɪt ˈdaʊn /
 holy water / ˈhəʊlɪ ˈwɔːtə /  deadly dull / ˈdedlɪ dʌl /
 I don’t know / aɪ ˈdəʊnt nəʊ /  Pete’s Bar / *ˈpiːts bɑː /
 how about it / ˈhaʊ əˈbaʊt ɪt /  honeymoon / ˈhʌnɪmuːn /
 daytime / ˈdeɪtaɪm /  a potato / ə pəˈteɪtəʊ /
 a hairy bear / ə ˈheərɪ beə /  Madrid / *məˈdrɪd /
2.4 DESCRIPTION AND TRANSCRIPTION OF ENGLISH

CONSONANTS.
2.4.1 Plosives (oral stops) / p /, / b /, / t /, / d /, / k / and / ɡ /

Examples: pea / piː / die / daɪ /
bee / biː / key / kiː /
tea / tiː / go / ɡəu /
Comments:
1. The sounds / p / and / b / are regularly spelt as 'p' and 'b'. Occasionally, the
letters “p” and “b” are not pronounced (e.g. pneumonia, psalm, debt, comb,
etc.)
2. The sound / t / is regularly spelt as 't' or 'tt' (sometimes also 'th', e.g. Thomas,
Thames, Thailand, etc.). Occasionally, the letter “t” is not pronounced, as in
Christmas, castle, etc.
3. Note carefully that the “-ed” marker for the past tense and past participle is
pronounced as:
i. / t / when it follows a fortis (voiceless obstruent) consonant other than
/ t /, e.g. walked, coughed, rushed, etc.
ii. / d / when it follows a lenis (voiced obstruent) consonant other than /d/,
e.g. loved, robbed, fizzed, etc.
iii. / ɪd / when preceded by either / t / or / d /, e.g. painted, beaded, etc.
4. The sound / d / is always spelt as “d” or “dd”. No problems.
5. The lack of similarity between spelling and the sound / k / regularly leads
only to pronunciation problems but also to mistakes in transcriptions. Great

care is needed here. The sound / k / is variously spelt as 'k', 'ck', 'c', 'cc', 'qu',
'ch', and 'x' (e.g. king, duck, account, conquer, chemistry, except). Note the
following special cases, however:
i. “qu” sometimes = / kw /, e.g. queen
ii. “cc” sometimes = / ks /, e.g. accent
iii. “x” sometimes = / ks /, e.g. axe
To complicate matters further, the letters 'k' and 'c' are sometimes silent, as
in knee, know, knit, knife, or muscle.
6. The sound / ɡ / is usually spelt as “g” and “gg” though occasionally as “gh” or
“gu” (e.g. ghost, guess, guilty). The letter “g” is sometimes silent, as in sign,
reign, gnaw, and is sometimes not pronounced as / ɡ / at all but as the lenis
affricate / ʤ /, as in ginger and general.
Examples: Write the following words and phrases in phonemic transcription:
 black coal / blæk kəʊl /

 eggcup / ˈeɡkʌp /
 a writer / ə ˈraɪtə /
 a dark night / ə ˈdɑːk ˈnaɪt /
 a dirty pig / ə ˈdɜːtɪ ˈpɪɡ /
 a puppy barked / ə ˈpʌpɪ ˈbɑːkt /
 I tapped / aɪ tæpt /
 Bob hummed / *bɒb hʌmd /
 Pete kicked / *piːt kɪkt /
 a knitted hat / ə ˈnɪtɪd ˈhæt /
 a doorknob / ə ˈdɔː nɒb /
 a painted cupboard / ə ˈpeɪntɪd ˈkʌbəd /
 a locked door / ə ˈlɒkt ˈdɔː /
 combed hair / kəʊmd heə /
2.4.2 Nasals / m /, / n / and / ŋ /

Examples: meat / miːt /
note / nəʊt /
bang / bæŋ /
Comments:
1. The sound / n / is typically spelt as 'm' or 'mm', sometimes as 'mb' or 'mn' (e.g.
tomb, autumn, etc.)
2. The sound / n / is usually spelt as 'n' or 'nn', occasionally as 'kn', 'gn' or 'pn'
(e.g. knowledge, gnaw, pneumonia, etc.)
3. / n / may be syllabic, i.e. function as a syllable centre, in which case it is
marked in phonemic transcriptions by a little vertical line below the symbol:
/ ņ /, as in / ˈkɒtņ /, / ˈbʌtņ /, / ˈiːtņ /, / ˈrɪdņ /. Such syllabic n’s are always
unstressed and occur immediately after a stressed syllable19.
19In the 14th edition of Everyman’s English Pronouncing Dictionary (Dent, 1977), Gimson
does not usually mark the syllabic “n” with a little vertical line below the symbol: he does not
use a sign at all. He says, “Final syllabic / ņ / is to be understood following / t, d, f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ

Class Notes 34
4. The sound / ŋ / is typically spelt as “ng” (e.g. king) or sometimes as 'n' if

followed by either of these sounds / ɡ / or / k /, as in finger, sink, uncle, etc.
Exercises: Write the following words and phrases in phonemic transcription.
 home-made / ˈhəʊm meɪd /

 cotton-mill /ˈkɒtņ mɪl /
 kneeling / ˈniːlɪŋ /
 a knight in armor / ə naɪt ɪn ɑːmə /
 ringing a bell / ˈrɪŋɪŋ ə bel /
 a tank / ə tæŋk /
 anger / ꞌæŋɡə /
 a hungry king / ə ˈhʌŋɡrɪ kɪŋ /
 a punk rocker / ə pʌŋk ˈrɒkə /
 a pretty kitten / ə ˈprɪtɪ ˈkɪtņ /
 a written book / ə ˈrɪtņ bʊk /
 a cold autumn / ə kəʊld ˈɔːtəm/
 pinned down / pɪnd daʊn /
 an old monk / ən əʊld mɒŋk /
 I couldn’t hear / aɪ ˈkʊdņt hɪə /
 a reigning monarch / ə ˈreɪnɪŋ ˈmɒnək /
 eaten / iːtņ /
 I’ve given up / aɪv ˈɡɪvņ ʌp /
2.4.3 Fricatives / f /, / v /, / θ / and / ð /

Examples: feet / fiːt / thank / θæŋk /
very / ˈverɪ / this / ðɪs /
Comments:
1. The sound / f / is typically spelt as “f”, “ff”, “ph” and “gh” (e.g. fish, off,
photograph, rough).
2. The sound / v / is usually spelt as “v”. But notice the weak form of “of”: / əʌ /.
3. Both sounds / θ / and / ð / are always spelt as “th”. This inevitably leads to
problems for foreign learners when a new strange word is read first rather
than heard first: should the “th” be pronounced as / θ / or as / ð /? Great care is
needed here, However, there are two general rules which may be of help:
a. In initial position “th” is always fortis (voiceless) / θ / except for a group
of about thirty words, including the definite article, pronouns and
pronominal adverbs (e.g. the, they, them, their, thou, thee, thy, thine,
this, that, these, those, than, then, thence, there, therefore, thither,
though, thus). On the contrary, / θ / is used with “big” (lexical) words
such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives (e.g. thing, theatre, theft, think,
thank, thick, thin, thoughtful, etc.)
b. In word medial position “th” is usually fortis (voiceless) / θ / in words
of foreign, and particularly Greek, origin (e.g. athlete, cathedral,
/.” (p. xix). He goes on, “Final syllabic / l / is similarly to be understood following /p, b, t, d, k,
ɡ, f, v, θ, s, z, ʃ, m, n /.” (p. xx). However, for the purposes of these notes, it is preferred to
indicate syllabic /ņ/ and syllabic / ļ / every time they occur with the little vertical line. Thus, it is explicitly
clear that both sounds on their own without a preceding short vowel /ə/ are syllabic.

mathematics, sympathy, etc.), but lenis (voiced) / ð / in native English

words (e.g. father, weather, either, other, brother, etc.).
 thirty-five / ˈθɜːtɪfaɪv /
 the five hundred / ðə faɪv ˈhʌndrəd /
 enough food / ɪˈnʌf fuːd /
 an undoubted triumph / ən ənˈdaʊtɪd ˈtraɪəmpf /
 the three coughing men / ðə ˈθriː ˈkɒfɪŋ men /
 a love affair / ə lʌv əˈfeə /
 through thick and thin / θruː ˈθɪk ənd ˈθɪn /
 Philip loves Phyllis / *ˈfɪlɪp lʌvz *ˈfɪlɪs /
 they laughed / ðeɪ lɑːft /
 bathed / beɪðd /
 Thomas coughed / *ˈtɒməs kɒft /
 involved / ɪnˈvɒlvd /
 lived a good life / ˈlɪvd ə ˈgʊd ˈlaɪf /
 then think again / ðen ˈθɪŋk əˈɡen /
 the thunder / ðə ˈθʌndə /
 mother might though not father / ˈmʌðə ˈmaɪt ðəʊ nɒt ˈfɑːðə /
 thick leather / θɪk ˈleðə /
 fruitcake / ˈfruːtkeɪk /
 a blunt knife / ə ˈblʌnt ˈnaɪf /
2.4.4 Sibilants / s /, / z /, / ʃ / and / ʒ /

Examples: meat / miːt / shoot / ʃuːt /
note / nəʊt / leisure / ˈleʒə /
Comments:
1. The sound / s / is usually spelt as ‘s’, ‘ss’ and ‘c’, sometimes as ‘sc’ (e.g. sit, loss,
peace, science, etc.) Notice also that ‘x’ is sometimes pronounced as / ks / (e.g.
axe).
2. The sound / z / is spelt as ‘s’, ‘ss’, ‘z’ and ‘zz’ (e.g. busy, scissors, zoo, puzzle).
Notice again that ‘x’ is sometimes pronounced as / ɡz / (e.g. exact).
3. The sound / ʃ / is variously spelt as ‘sh’, ‘s’, ‘ss’, ‘ti’, ‘si’, ‘sci’, ‘ci’, ‘ch’, ‘sch’ and
‘ce’ (e.g. shoot, insure, reassuring, cation, mansion, conscience, special,
machine, schedule, ocean). Notice again one more pronunciation of ‘x’ / kʃ /
(e.g. luxury).
4. The sound / ʒ / is spelt as ‘s’, ‘z’, ‘si’ and ‘ge’ (e.g. leisure, seizure, television,
garage).
5. The letter ‘s’ is used in English to indicate plurality and genitive in nouns,
and third person singular in verbs. Note carefully that the pronunciation of
this ‘s’ marker is / s / after fortis (voiceless) non-sibilant consonants,
approximants, nasals and vowels.
boats / bəʊts / beds / bedz /

Dave’s /* deɪvz /
Dick’s / *dɪks /
loves / lʌvz /
kicks / kɪks /

Class Notes 36
kills / kɪlz / lies / laɪz /

sings / sɪŋz /
The ‘s’ marker (usually ‘-es’) after a sibilant is, of course, pronounced as / ɪz /:
washes / ˈwɒʃɪz /
kisses / ˈkɪsɪz /
buzzes / ˈbʌsɪz /
 pleasure / ˈpleʒə /
 a marshy landscape / ə ˈmɑːʃi ˈlændskeɪp /
 a short skirt / ə ʃɔːt skɜːt /
 treasure / ˈtreʒə /
 a soapy razor / ə ˈsəʊpɪ ˈreɪzə /
 a lazy cashier / ə ˈleɪzɪ kæˈʃɪə /
 selfish boys / ˈselfɪʃ bɔɪz /
 sea-shells / ˈsiːʃelz /
 six exercises / sɪks ˈeksəsaɪsɪz /
 a grocer / ə ˈɡrəʊsə /
 sixty sugar lumps / ˈsɪkstɪ ˈʃʊɡə lʌmps /
 seventeen cousins /sevənˈtiːn ˈkʌzɪnz/
 icy roads / ˈaɪsɪ rəʊdz /
 the garage / ðə ˈɡærɑːʒ /
 the thirteenth psalm / ðə ˌθɜːˈtiːnθ sɑːm /
 Susan’s cautious husband / *ˈsuːzənz ˈkɔːʃəs ˈhʌzbənd /
 David’s patience / *ˈdeɪvədz ˈpeɪʃəns /
 difficult decisions / ˈdɪfɪkəlt dɪˈsɪʒn̩z /
 crashed / kræʃt /
 kissed / kɪst /
 rushed / rʌʃt /
 diseased / dɪˈziːzd /
 Sheila sings songs / *ˈʃiːlə sɪŋz sɒŋz /
 Sarah begs / *ˈseərə beɡz /
 it stinks / ɪt stɪŋks /
 the dog bites / ðə dɒɡ baɪts /
 a starry night / ə ˈstɑːrɪ naɪt /
2.4.5 Fricative / h /
Examples: hot / hɒt /
behind / bɪˈhaɪnd /
Comments:
1. The sound / h / is always spelt as either ‘h’ or ‘wh’ (e.g. hot, who).
2. Notice that the letter ‘h’ is occasionally not pronounced (e.g. eight, plough,
hour, honest, vehicle, shepherd, exhausting).
3. The sound / h / is regularly dropped in the weak form of he, him, his, her (see
point 2.4.9) when the weak form in question is:

a. unstressed, and
b. in reasonably rapid and/or informal speech.
 hole / həʊl /  how did he go / ˈhaʊ dɪd (h)ɪ ˈɡəʊ /

 hire / ˈhaɪə /  give him his book / ɡɪv (h)ɪm (h)ɪz bʊk /
 hour / ˈaʊə /  behave / bɪˈheɪv /
 perhaps / pəˈhæps /  rehearse / rɪˈhɜːs /
 ghastly / ˈɡɑːstlɪ /  shouting crowds / ˈʃaʊtɪŋ kraʊdz /
 healthy / ˈhelθɪ /  unhappy / ʌnˈhæpɪ /
 heaped / hiːpt /  wholesome / ˈhəʊlsəm /
 give him some / ˈɡɪv (h)ɪm sʌm /  wholesale / ˈhəʊlseɪl /
2.4.6 Affricates / ʧ / and / ʤ /

Examples: church / ʧɜːʧ /
judge / ʤʌʤ /
Comments:
1. The sound / ʧ / is usually spelt as ‘ch’, ‘tch’, and ‘t’ (e.g. chair, catch, lecture,
question, etc.)
2. The sound / ʤ / is usually spelt as ‘j’, ‘g’, ‘gg’, ‘dg’ and sometimes as ‘dj’, ‘ge’,
and ‘di’ (e.g. joke, age, suggest, ridge, adjacent, change, soldier, etc.)
3. For economic reasons, some phonetic textbooks print these sounds as two
consecutive but separate symbols, i.e. as / tʃ / and / dʒ /, not as / ʧ / and / ʤ /.
However, each of these two affricates is just one phoneme, not a sequence of
two phonemes. It is perhaps better, therefore, to try and write these affricate
symbols as one unit.
 edge / eʤ /
 joy / ʤɔɪ /
 cheer / ʧɪə /
 gem / ʤem /
 chat / ʧæt /
 Cambridge / ˈkeɪmbrɪʤ /
 snatched / snæʧt /
 pinched / pɪnʧt /
 kitchen / ˈkɪʧɪn /
 region / ˈriːʤən /
 cheap chairs / ʧiːp ʧeəz /
 culture / ˈkʌlʧə /
 large / lɑːʤ /
 nature / ˈneɪʧə /
 strawberry jam / ˈstrɔːbrɪ ʤæm /
 psychology books / saɪˈkɒləʤɪ bʊks /
 cheddar cheese / ˈʧedə ʧiːz /
 the parish church / ðə ˈpærɪʃ ʧɜːʧ /
 just joking / ʤəst ˈʤəʊkɪŋ /

Class Notes 38
 Jack and Jill / *ʤæk ənd *ʤɪl /

 catch-phrases / ˈkæʧfreɪzɪz /
 all change / ɔːl ʧeɪndʒ /
 common knowledge / ˈkɒmən ˈnɒlɪʤ /
2.4.7 Approximants / l / and / r /

Examples: lip / lɪp /
red / red /
Comments:
1. The lateral sound / l / is always spelt as either ‘l’ or ‘ll’ (e.g. lip, hill, etc.)
2. The letter ‘l’ is sometimes not pronounced (e.g. walk, talk, folk, salmon, etc.)
3. / l / may be syllabic, i.e. function as a syllable centre, in which case it is written
with a little vertical line beneath it: / l̩ / (see footnote to syllabic / ņ /). The
syllabic / l̩ / is always unstressed and occurs immediately after a stressed
syllable (e.g. / ˈmetl̩ /, / ˈkætl̩ /.
4. The sound /r/ is usually spelt as ‘r’ or ‘rr’ (e.g. red, lorry), bur occasionally was
‘wr’ and ‘rh’ (e.g. write, rhyme,).
5. The letter ‘r’ is never pronounced at the end of a word in RP English unless
the following sound in the word group (if there is one) begins with a vowel
sound. The pronunciation of this word final ‘r’ is called a linking ‘r’ (e.g. poor
Ann: / ˈpʊər *ˈæn /). Occasionally the desire for smoothness of pronunciation
leads to the so-called intrusive ‘r’ being used between some word final and
word initial vowel sounds (e.g. drama and music: / ˈdrɑːmər ən ˈmjuːzɪk /; law
and order / lɔːr ən ˈɔːdə /; Dracula is a pain…: / ˈdrækjʊlər ɪz ə peɪn /).
 luck / lʌk /
 leave / liːv /
 lemon / ˈlemən /
 blink / blɪŋk /
 only /ˈəʊnlɪ /
 racial / ˈreɪʃəl /
 kettle / ˈketl̩ /
 bottle / ˈbɒtl̩ /
 muscles / ˈmʌsl̩z /
 castles / ˈkɑːsl̩z /
 roof / ruːf /
 shrill / ʃrɪl /
 pour / pʊə /
 strength / streŋθ /
 tour / tʊə /
 written / ˈrɪtn̩ /
 car / kɑː /
 collar / ˈkɒlə /
 far away / ˈfɑːr əˈweɪ /
 clear off / klɪər ɒf /
 treasure island / ˈtreʒər ˈaɪlənd /

 a pair of sheets /ə peər əʌ ʃiːts/

 stir up / stɜːr ʌp /
 Canada and the States / ˈkænədər ən ðə steɪts /
2.4.8 Approximants / j / and / w /

Examples: yet / jet/
wet /wet/
Comments:
1. The sound / j / is sometimes written as ‘y’ (e.g. yes, young), but more usually
it is not written as any letter at all: the presence of the sound is not always
immediately obvious from the spelling of a word (e.g. unite, Europe, music,
tune, pure, new, beauty).
2. The sound / w / is sometimes spelt as ‘w’ or ‘wh’ (e.g. wet, which) but like / j /
its presence is sometimes not immediately obvious from a word’s spelling (e.g.
one, quiet, language, choir).
 youth / juːθ /
 unique / juːˈniːk /
 humour / ˈhjuːmə /
 universe / ˈjuːnɪvɜːs /
 students / ˈstjuːdənt /
 excused / eksˈkjuːzd /
 unusual / ʌnˈjuːʒʊəl /
 the champion / ðə ˈʧæmpɪən /
 wire / waɪə /
 water / ˈwɔːtə /
 wax / wæks /
 watched / wɒʧt /
 questions / ˈkwesʧənz /
 quickly / ˈkwɪklɪ /
 which one / ˈwɪʧ wʌn /
 a new unit / ə ˈnjuː ˈuːnɪt /
 the quiet queen / ðə ˈkwaɪet kwiːn /
 total confusion / ˈtəʊtl̩ kənˈfjuːʒn̩ /
 a huge sandwich / ə hjuːdʒ ˈsænwɪdʒ /
 a human language / ə ˈhjuːmən ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ /
 beauty and the beast / ˈbjuːti ənd ðə biːst /
 a loud voice / ə laʊd vɔɪs /
 a wounded knee / ə ˈwuːndɪd niː /
 a united Europe / ə juˈnaɪtɪd ˈjʊərəp /
 a weird tune / ə wɪəd tjuːn /
2.5 ENGLISH ALLOPHONIC RULES

This list of allophonic rules of English, based on Ladefoged's A course in phonetics,
makes clear how to write a consistent narrow transcription, because the output of

Class Notes 40
these rules must be transcribed. Also, in discussions of English phonology, the list
provides many examples for practicing rule formulation. Note, however, that some
of these rules are not suitable for a categorical phonological description and are likely
phonetic rules of a gradient nature.
2.5.1 Rules affecting consonants

1. Consonants are longer when at the end of a phrase.
2. Voiceless stops (i.e., / p, t, k / are aspirated when they are syllable initial, as
in words such as “pip, test, kick” [pʰɪp, tʰest, kʰɪk].
3. Obstruents ‒ stops and fricatives ‒ classified as voiced (that is, / b, d, ɡ, v, ð, z,
ʒ /) are voiced through only a small part of the articulation when they occur
at the end of an utterance or before a voiceless sound. Listen to the / v / when
you say try to improve, and the / d / when you say add two.
4. So-called voiced stops and affricates / b, d, ɡ, ʤ / are voiceless when syllable
initial, except when immediately preceded by a voiced sound (as in a day as
compared with this day).
5. Voiceless stops / p, t, k / are unaspirated after / s / in words such as spew, stew,
skew.
6. Voiceless obstruents / p, t, k, ʧ, f, θ, s, ʃ / are longer than their corresponding
voiced obstruents / b, d, g, ʤ, v, ð, z, ʒ / when at the end of a syllable.
7. The approximants / w, r, j, l / are at least partially voiceless when they occur
after initial / p, t, k /, as in play, twin, cue [pl̥eɪ, twɪ̥ n, kj̥u].
8. The gestures for consecutive stops overlap, so that stops are unexploded when
they occur before another stop in words such as apt [æp̚t] and rubbed [rʌb̚d].
9. In many accents of English, syllable final / p, t, k / are accompanied by a glottal
stop, as in pronunciations of tip, pit, kick as [tɪˀp, pɪˀt, kɪˀk]. (This is another
case where transcription cannot fully describe what occurs.)
10. In many accents of English, / t / is replaced by a glottal stop when it occurs
before an alveolar nasal in the same word, as in beaten ['biɁn̩]
11. Nasals are syllabic at the end of a word when immediately after an obstruent
as in leaden, chasm ['ledn̩, 'kæzm̩]
12. The lateral / l / is syllabic at the end of a word when immediately after a
consonant.
a. The liquids / l / and / r / are syllabic at the end of a word when
immediately after a consonant.
13. Alveolar stops become voiced taps when they occur between two vowels, the
second of which is unstressed.
a. Alveolar stops and alveolar nasal plus stop sequences become voiced
taps when they occur between two vowels, the second of which is
unstressed.
14. Alveolar consonants become dentals before dental consonants, as in eighth,
tenth, wealth [eɪt̪ θ, tɛn̪θ, wɛl̪ θ]. Note that this statement applies to all alveolar
consonants, not just stops, and it often applies across word boundaries, as in
at this [æt̪ ðɪs]. This is a statement that in English the gestures for these two
consonant overlap so much that the place of articulation for the first
consonant is changed.
15. Alveolar stops are reduced or omitted when between two consonants.
16. A homorganic voiceless stop may occur (i.e., be inserted) after a nasal before
a voiceless fricative followed by an unstressed vowel in the same word.

17. A consonant is shortened when it is before an identical consonant.

18. Velar stops become more front before more front vowels.
19. The lateral / l / is velarized when after a vowel or before a consonant at the
end of a word.
2.5.2 Rules affecting vowels

1. Other things being equal, a given vowel is longest in an open syllable, next
longest in a syllable closed by a voiced consonant, and shortest in a syllable
closed by a voiceless consonant.
2. Other things being equal, vowels are longer in stressed syllables.
3. Other things being equal, vowels are longest in monosyllabic words, next
longest in words with two syllables, and shortest in words with more than
two syllables.
4. A reduced vowel may be voiceless when it occurs after a voiceless stop (and
before a voiceless stop). The parenthesized phrase may be omitted for many
people.
5. Vowels are nasalized in syllables closed by a nasal consonant.
6. Vowels are retracted before syllable final dark [ɫ].

Class Notes 42
3 THE PHONETICS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND

SENTENCES.
3.6 STRONG AND WEAK FORMS

There are some very common and grammatically important words in English which
have two possible pronunciations in RP: a stressed (strong) form (= the citation form
pronunciation), and an unstressed (weak) form. The Weak Form pronunciation is far
and away the more common pronunciation of the two in normal speed everyday
conversation. Unfortunately, foreign learners of English seem to be taught and to
use only the less common strong form pronunciation. The following exercises assume
that you are familiar not only with weak forms and strong forms, but also with the
rules governing their use. The notes accompanying the exercises are not intended to
be exhaustive and if in doubt you should consult any standard textbook on English
segmental phonetics for fuller details (e.g. A. C. Gimson: An Introduction to the
Pronunciation of English, 3rd edition, Edward Arnold, 1980). Briefly, however, the
basic rule governing the use of weak forms and strong forms is this: weak forms are
always used unless the word is either stressed or the last word in a word group. The
best thing to do if you are not sure is always to use the weak form since the weak
form is overwhelmingly the more frequent.
Almost all the words which have both a strong and weak form belong to a category
that may be called function words – words that do not have a dictionary meaning
in the way that we normally expect nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs to have.
These function words are words such as auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions,
etc., all of which are in certain circumstances pronounced in their strong forms, but
which are more frequently pronounced in their weak forms. It is important to
remember that there are certain contexts where only the strong form is acceptable,
and others where the weak form is the normal pronunciation.
After completing the exercises following this point, it is perhaps worth your while to
stop and ask yourself which pronunciation you would teach beginners for all these
weak form/strong form words. Usually, beginners of English as a foreign language,
whether they are young or old, are taught only the strong forms (just as you probably
were). Thus:
to / tuː /
for / fɔː /
etc.
This results in a terribly stiff and awkward pronunciation which sounds markedly
foreign. And having learnt the strong forms only, it is very hard for learners to adopt
the weak forms (as you may well have noticed yourself already). Since the weak form
of pronunciation is the more frequent one, which of the two pronunciation would you
teach beginners? What arguments are there in favour of teaching only the strong
form? What problems are likely to be met in trying to teach beginners both forms at
once?
Examples:
Weak and strong forms: Pronouns

Pronoun Strong form Weak form

me / miː / / mɪ /
you / juː / / jʊ /
he / hiː / / ɪ, hɪ /
him / hɪm / / ɪm /
his / hɪz / / ɪz /
her / hɜː(r) / / ə(r), hə(r) /
she / ʃiː / / ʃɪ /
we / wiː / / wɪ /
us / ʌs / / əs, s /
them / ðem / / ðəm /
some / sʌm / / səm /
who / huː / / hʊ, ʊ /
that / ðæt / / ðət /
Comments:
1. Word initial / h / can be dropped in he, him, his, her and who if the word
a. is unstressed, and
b. is in reasonably rapid and/or informal speech.
But this word initial / h / should never be dropped in RP when the word
a. is the first word in the sentence or word group, or,
b. is stressed.
2. Strong forms are usually used when the word is the last word in the word
group, even when the word is unstressed. However, the six pronouns he, him,
his, her, us and them are regularly pronounced with the weal form when they
are final in the word group (and unstressed).
3. The usual weak form of you is / jʊ /. A weak form / jə / is sometimes heard in
rapid colloquial speech and is indeed listed in Everyman's English
Pronouncing Dictionary, but it is considered by some people to be a vulgarism
typical of regional British accents and not acceptable as RP.
4. The usual pronunciation of your is / jɔː / and of I is / aɪ /, but the weak forms /
jə / and / ə / may sometimes be heard in informal and very rapid colloquial
speech.
Exercises: Write the following phrases in phonemic transcription:
 She said she would come. / ʃɪ ˈsed ʃɪ wʊd kʌm /

 Did he want it? / dɪd (h)ɪ wɒnt ɪt /
 He went to work. / hɪ ˈwent tə ˈwɜːk /
 We don't really like it. / wɪ dəʊnt ˈrɪəlɪ ˈlaɪk ɪt /
 Buy him three. / baɪ (h)ɪm θriː /
 You can sing a song. / ju kən sɪŋ ə sɒŋ /
 What are you doing? / ˈwɒt ə ju ˈduːɪŋ /
 She hates him. / ʃɪ heɪts (h)ɪm /
 Give her a couple. / ɡɪv (h)ər ə ˈkʌpəl /
 I bought them yesterday. / ˈaɪ ˈbɔːt ðəm ˈjestədɪ /
 He told us twice. / hɪ təʊld əz twaɪs /
 She asked me to go. / ʃɪ ˈɑːskt mɪ tə ɡəʊ /
 I took him his coffee. / ˈaɪ tʊk (h)ɪm (h)ɪz ˈkɒfi /

Class Notes 44
 Do you want some sugar? / də ju wɒnt səm ˈʃʊɡə /

 I wonder who did it. / ˈaɪ ˈwʌndə(r) (h)ʊ dɪd ɪt /
 The book that was burnt. / ðə bʊk ðət wəz bɜːnt /
 What's your name? / ˈwɒts jə ˈneɪm /
 Where's my coat? / weəz maɪ ˈkəʊt /
 He sold her his car. / hɪ səʊld (h)ər ɪz kɑː /
 They persuaded me to sell it. / ˈðeɪ pəˈsweɪdɪd mɪ tə sel ɪt /
 I've sent it to them. / aɪv sent ɪt tə ðəm /
 In spite of his charm. / ɪn spaɪt əv (h)ɪz tʃɑːm /
 Not that we mind. / nɒt ðət ˈaɪ maɪnd /
 I've asked him, not her. / aɪv ˈɑːskt hiːm / nɒt hɜː /
 I was talking to her aunt. / ˈaɪ wəz ˈtɔːkɪŋ tə hər ɑːnt /
Weak and strong forms: Pronouns
Pronoun Strong form Weak form

as / æz / / əz /
at / æt / / ət /
for / fɔː(r) / / fə(r) /
from / frɒm / / frəm /
of / ɒv / / əv /
to / tuː / / tə, tʊ /
into / ꞌɪntuː / / ɪntə, ɪntʊ /
Comments:
1. / tə / is a weak form used only before consonants. If the next word begins with
a vowel sound, then / tʊ / is used.
2. The uses of / ɪntə / and / ɪntʊ / mirror those of / tə / and / tʊ /.
Exercises: Write following phrases in phonemic transcription.
 She does it for the fun. / ʃɪ dəz ɪt fə ðə fʌn /

 She went by bus. / ʃɪ ˈwent baɪ ˈbʌs /
 Just as you like. / dʒəst əz ju ˈlaɪk /
 I got it for nothing. / ˈaɪ ˈɡɒt ɪt fə ˈnʌθɪŋ /
 They jumped at the offer. / ˈðeɪ dʒʌmpt ət ðɪ ˈɒfə /
 Well, it comes from America. / wel / ɪt kʌmz frəm *əˈmerɪkə /
 He would have wanted to argue. / hɪ wʊd əv ˈwɒntɪd tu ˈɑːɡjuː /
 Have you been to the theatre? / həv jə bɪn tə ðə ˈθɪətə /
 Where do you come from? / weə də jə kʌm frɒm /
 We climbed up onto the roof. / wiː klaɪmd ʌp ˈɒntə ðə ruːf /
 What are you staring at? / ˈwɒt ə ju ˈsteərɪŋ æt /
 They all piled into the car. / ˈðeɪ ɔːl paɪld ˈɪntə ðə kɑː /
 What are you thinking of? / ˈwɒt ə jə ˈθɪŋkɪŋ ɒv /
 Jenny has to walk to school. / ˈdʒenɪ həz tə wɔːk tə skuːl /
 Where are they going to? / weər ə ˈðeɪ ˈɡəʊɪŋ tuː /
 A nice cup of tea. / ə naɪs kʌp ə tiː /
 What's it for? / ˈwɒts ɪt fɔː /
 It starts at seven. / ɪt stɑːts ət ˈsevən /
 As easy as anything. / əz ˈiːzɪ əz ˈeniθɪŋ /

3.7 WORD STRESS

Stress is a large topic and even though it has been extensively studied for a very long
time there remain many areas of disagreement or lack of understanding. To begin
with a basic point, it is almost certainly true that in all languages some syllables are
in some sense stronger than other syllables; these are syllables that have the
potential to be described as stressed. It is also probably true that the difference
between strong and weak syllables is of some linguistic importance in every language
– strong and weak syllables do not occur at random.
Not all languages make use of the possibility of using stress on different syllables of
a polysyllabic word: in English, however, the stress pattern is an essential
component of the phonological form of a word, and learners of English either must
learn the stress pattern of each word, or to learn rules to guide them in how to assign
stress correctly (or, quite probably, both). Sentence stress is a different problem, and
learners also need to be aware of the phenomenon of stress-shift in which stress
moves from one syllable to another in particular contexts.
It is usual to treat each word, when said on its own, as having just one primary (i.e.
strongest) stress; if it is a monosyllabic word, then of course there is no more to say.
If the word contains more than one syllable, then other syllables will have other
levels of stress, and secondary stress is often found in words like overwhelming
/ˌəʊvəˈwelmɪŋ/ (with primary word stress on the ‘whelm’ syllable and secondary
stress on the first syllable).

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English Phonetics and Phonology 1

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2.3.8 Diphthongs / əʊ / and / aʊ / ................................................................... 31

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1.1. PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

1.6.2 What is a phone?

1.6.3 Defining phonetics

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1.6.3.1 Areas of study of Phonetics.

1.6.3.1.1 Articulatory phonetics

1.6.3.1.2 Acoustic Phonetics

1.6.3.1.3 Auditory phonetics

1.6.4 Defining phonology

Behavioral Sciences, 65-74.

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1.6.5 Differences between phonetics and phonology

 Descriptive vs. Theoretical: Phonetics is a subfield of descriptive linguistics

 Major Field vs. Sub-discipline: Linguists often consider phonology a major

 Phonological Analysis vs. Further Studies: Phonetics is the basis for

 General Speech Sounds vs. Specific Sound Pattern Analysis: Phonetics

 Concrete vs. Abstract: Phonetics discusses the physical characteristics of

 Audible Sounds vs. Their Meanings: Phonetics is strictly about audible

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 Universal vs. Language Specific: Phonetics deals with the universal

 Phone vs. Phoneme: In phonetics, the smallest structural unit is a phone. In

 Phonetic vs. Phonemic Transcription: Phonetics deals with the phonetic

 Square Brackets vs. Slanted Brackets: In phonetic transcription, square

 Continuous vs. Discrete Entity: Phonetics is the domain of the continuous,

 Gradient vs. Categorical: Phonetics is gradient while phonology is

 Phonetics in Phonology vs. Phonology in Phonetics: During their

 Individuality vs. Interrelationship of Sounds: Phonetic transcription

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 Identification vs. Interpretation of Sounds: Phonetics studies ‘which

 Phonetic vs. Phonemic Features: Phonetic features whose presence or

 Predictability vs. Unpredictability of Features: The occurrence of certain

 Phonetic Symbols vs. Phonemic Symbols: The symbols of phonetic alphabet

 Marking vs. Ignoring Phonetic Detail: Phonetic transcription, enclosed in

 Examples: Let us take an example of the word “bed”. Phonetics is concerned

To sum up, the differences can be plotted as follows:

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auditory qualities of human are distribution and patterning

Described Physics of sound. Psychology of sound.

Speaker’s brain Phonology

Speaker’s mouth Articulatory phonetics

Transmission of sound through air Acoustic phonetics

Listener’s ear Auditory phonetics

Listener’s brain Phonology

1.6.5.1 Why are Phonetics and Phonology useful?

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1.2. ARTICULATORY PHONETICS: THE ORGANS OF SPEECH

The organs of speech shown in fig. 1,

nasal passages, constitute as a PHONATION

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1.3. THE VOCAL ORGANS

Figure 3 - Subdivisions of the tongue

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The seven articulators described above are the

1.4. PLACES OF ARTICULATION

Firstly, sounds in which the airflow is modified by

Thirdly, sounds in which there is a constriction

For the remaining places of articulation, let us

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identify four different areas: the alveolar