11 4 THE CONSONANTAL

SYSTEM

OF RP: THE

So NO RANTS

of lateral + plosive Ilg/. Firstly, the tip and blade of the tongue make contact with the
alveolar ridge forming a closure along the median line of the tongue. The rims of the
tongue are lowered so that the air can escape laterally for the production of II/.
Secondly, while the tip, blade and sides of the tongue retain this configuration, the
back of the tongue moves towards the soft palate (approach phase for Igl). Thirdly,
the rims of the tongue move towards the side teeth ready for the hold phase of the
plosive. Fourthly, the tip and blade of the tongue drop while the plosive closure is
firmly held (hold phase of plosive). Then the tongue drops and the air that has been
compressing behind the closure is now released (release phase of plosive). The
tongue and lips then assume the configuration necessary for the articulation of the
following vowel l el . The vocal folds vibrate throughout the word and the velum is
raised throughout too.

5.2.1.2.

Clear and dark

/1/

In many accents of English (and certainly in RP), there is a perceptible difference in

the way III is pronounced depending on whether it is (i) initial, (ii) before vowels or
consonants and (iii) before Ijl or Iw/. Two distinct pronunciations are perceived. Even
though both of these allophones of III are produced as described in 5.2.1.1, the difference between them is one of quality (or timbre, resonance or colour) and is due
to the particular configuration assumed by the body of the tongue in each of these two
cases ( Figure 46 and Figure 47).

Figure 46 Sagittal cross-section of

the vocal organs during the
median obstruction phase of the
production of clear /1/

Figure 47 Sagittal cross-section of

the vocal organs during the
median obstruction phase of the
production of dark /1/

Specifically, III has an e-kind of quality (hence the term clear Ill, [I]) when it occurs

THE CONSONANTAL

SYSTEM

OF RP:

THE SONO RANTS

11 5

(i) before vowels (i.e. in word-initial position, as in lamp [leernp], and in word-medial
and (ii) before the semi-vowel Ijl (again word-initially

position as in mellow ['melau])

as in lure [Ijua] and word-medially

as in allure [a'ljua]).

In contrast, III has an o-kind

of quality (hence the term dark I, [t]) when it occurs (i) before consonants (e.g. altar

[ri+taj), excluding the semi-vowel Ijl but including Iwl (e.g. always ['::dwaz])

and (ii)

before a pause or major syntactic boundary (e.g. Not at all! ['not at 'or+j). Note that
when III occurs in word-final

position closely followed by a vowel-initial

word-final III will be pronounced as clear (e.g. all of you ['~:I av ju],

word, the

* [I~:t av

ju]).

Modern Greek has clear III in all positions, as do most southern

Athenian

Welsh accents. In contrast, some Northern Greek accents have dark

positions,
accents.

and so do a number of Scottish, American

It I in all

and northern Welsh

Finally, III has a devoiced allophone produced with friction if it occurs after a strongly
aspirated voiceless plosive, as in plot [8,lot"].

5.2.1.3.

Sound - spelling correspondences

(i) The letter I is silent in a number of words such as the ones in Table 18:
chalk

calf

Iha:fl
Ika:fl

behalf

Iba'ha:fl

folk

half

calm
palm
salmon

~ Ika:ml
Ipa:ml
I'sremanl

walk

could
should
would

!tS~:k/
Iw~:kl
Ifaukl
Ikudl
IJudl
Iwudl

Table 18 Words with silent spelling I

(ii) The word colonel is pronounced as 1'k3:n,11in RP.
(iii) The sound II1 is usually spelt I or 11as in little, full.
Summary

The RP lateral sound is III (alveolar).

Lateral articulation involves a complete median closure in the mouth while one or
both sides of the tongue are in a lowered position so that the air can escape
laterally without causing friction.
When a lateral precedes a plosive, we talk of lateral approach to the plosive.
When a lateral follows a plosive, we talk of lateral release of the plosive. If both
the lateral and the plosive are produced at the same place of articulation, they

11 6 THE CONSONANTAL SYSTEM OF RP: THE SONORANTS

are homorganic.

In RP, clear [I] appears before vowels and Ij/.

Dark [+] appears in all other

environments.
References and further reading
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~

Cruttenden, A. (ed.) 1994: Chapter 9

Jones, D. [1918]1983: Chapter 20
Ladefoged, P. [1975]2001: Chapter 3
Laver, J. 1994: Chapters 5 and 10
O'Connor, J. D. [1967]1977: Chapters 3 and 4
O'Connor, J. D. [1973]1991: Chapter 5
Roach, P. [1983]2000: Chapter 7
Trask, R. L. 1996

Wells, J. C. and Colson, G. [1971]1986: Chapters 17 and 19

Practice
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Draw a sagittal cross-section of the vocal organs during the hold phase of the
production of the RP lateral phoneme. Explain how this is produced.
Describe the articulatory movements involved in the production of the words
fellow, Nellyand pulley.
Describe the articulatory movements involved in the production of the words
Elton and older.
Describe the articulatory movements involved in the production of the words
madly and handler.
Describe the articulatory movements involved in the production of the word
coldly.
Describe the articulatory movements involved in the production of the words
ablaze, snugly and vaguely.
Describe the articulatory movements involved in the production of the words
Elgar and album.
Produce a clear and a dark Ill. Discuss their distribution and provide examples
for each environment in which they may appear.

Extension Practice
1.

The following text consists of 6 to 8 word groups. It is the continuation of those

used for plosive, fricative and affricate practice and it is useful for transcription
and lateral theory application.
Please notify this office when the restoration of the dam has been completed so
that our staff may schedule a follow up site inspection. Failure to comply with
this request may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action.

THE CONSONANTAL SYSTEM OF RP: THE SONORANTS

117

When you transcribe the text, pay particular attention to weak forms and unstressed syllables in stressed words. Notice that about 20 syllables carry primary
stress. You may also need to check the stress patterns of notify, restoration and
elevated which tend to be mis-stressed. You could finally check your transcription
of notify, staff, schedule, failure, request and action, as these words are often
mis-transcribed.
If you wish to revise the lateral allophones you can identify the 7 instances of the
lateral phoneme in the text and provide a full phonetic characterization for each
instance, e.g. III in please: alveolar lateral, clear (before a vowel), devoiced and
fricative (as it follows a strongly aspirated /p/).
2.

Draw diagrams showing the action of the articulators (show the rims of the tongue
separately), the vocal folds and the soft palate during the production of the following words and sequences:
alive

la'larvl

all or nothing

I'~:I o: InASrl)1

all

I~:II

collateral

/ka'leetrel/

language

I'Irel)gwrd31

glazed surface

I'glerzd 'sstfas/

litter

I'lrtal
I'lrt,ll

madly in love

I'mredli rn 'IAVI

triple nine

I'trrp,l 'nam/

little

5.2.2.

The !rI-sounds

of RP

5.2.2.1.
General characteristics
The Irl phoneme of English is quite unique, as not only its voicing state and place of
articulation but also its, manner of articulation change quite substantially, depending
on the phonetic environment in which it appears. As we shall see in the next few
paragraphs, the English Irl has three allophones in RP alone: a voiced post-alveolar
friction less continuant

(as in write [rartj),

a voiceless

post alveolar fricative

(as in

creme [k~i:m]) and a post-alveolar affricate (as in try [trar] and drive [diarvl).
The voiced alveolar roll [r] is used in some Scottish accents for special purposes, such as greater clarity. Most Scottish accents use the voiced post-alveolar fricative [J], while some English people use the voiced labiodental approximant [u]. This latter sound is often used by cartoon characters, such as
Elmer Fudd. The voiced alveolar trill is also used in Spanish and Welsh.
Let us look at each of the RP Irl allophones in turn, beginning with the voiced postalveolar frictionless continuant

;I ],

the most common allophone of RP Irl (Figure