English Phonetics and

Phonology

Huỳnh Quang Minh

The University of Da Lat
Pronunciation Poem
I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble but not you
On hiccough, thorough, slough and through.
Well done! And now you wish perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word

That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead, it's said like bed, not bead—
For goodness' sake don't call it 'deed'!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).

A moth is not a moth in mother,

Nor both in bother, broth, or brother,
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,
And then there's doze and rose and lose—
Just look them up—and goose and choose,
And cork and work and card and ward
And font and front and word and sword,
And do and go and thwart and cart—
Come, I've hardly made a start!

A dreadful language? Man alive!

I'd learned to speak it when I was five!
And yet to write it, the more I sigh,
I'll not learn how 'til the day I die.
Outline
Sounds and Spellings
 see sea scene
seize siege
senile
cedar [si:] ceiling
cease
juicy glossy
sexy Lucie
Why & Wherefores?
 Diverse origins
 Norman Invasion

cween – queen
theef – thief
Why & Wherefores?
 Diverse origins
 Norman Invasion
 William Caxton

ghost/ghastly
Why & Wherefores?
 Diverse origins
 Norman Invasion
 William Caxton
 Renaissence Reform

debt, salmon
Why & Wherefores?
 Diverse origins
 Norman Invasion
 William Caxton
 Renaissence Reform
 abc stays, [eI bi: si:]
comes and goes
k k k
knight, freight, through
Why & Wherefores?
 Diverse origins
 Norman Invasion
 William Caxton
 Renaissence Reform
 abc stays, [eI bi: si:]
comes and goes
 Big home of English

favor, traveling, [nA:t]

Why & Wherefores?
 Diverse origins
 Norman Invasion
 William Caxton
 Renaissence Reform
 abc stays, [eI bi: si:]
comes and goes ity [%i:lEk"tIs@4i]
 Big home of English ian [%i:lEk"tISn=]
 Adjacent sounds and
stress patterns
Why & Wherefores?
 Diverse origins
 Norman Invasion
 William Caxton
 Renaissence Reform
 abc stays, [eI bi: si:]
comes and goes
 Big home of English
 Adjacent sounds and
stress patterns
 Varied spoken forms
wanna, gotcha
1.

f@"nE4Iks
D@ "sa~Undz @v %l{~Ngw@dZ@s
Branches of Phonetics
?

Di: %aI pi: "eI

I~n4@`"n{Sn=l= f@%nE4Ik "O:5f@b@t
bRAINsTORMING
1. What is a sound?
2. How are sounds
made?
3. What is a
consonant?
4. What is a vowel?
The Vocal Tract
Describing Sounds: Consonants
Places of Articulation
 Bilabial
 Labio-dental
 Interdental
 Alveolar
 Palato-alveolar
 Palatal
 Velar
 Uvular
 Glottal
Describing Sounds: Consonants

 voicing
voiceless
 place of articulation
bilabial
 manner of
articulation
stop
Consonants
What consonants?
 voiceless alveolar stop t
 voiced bilabial nasal m
 voiced palatal approximant j
 voiceless palato-alveolar fricative S
 voiced palato-alveolar affricate dZ
 voiceless glottal stop ?
 voiced velar stop g
 voiced lateral alveolar approximant l
Describing Sounds: Vowels
Describing Sounds: Vowels

 height
high
 frontness
back
 roundness
rounded
Vowels
What vowels?
 low back unrounded vowel A
 high back unrounded lax vowel U
 high front unrounded tense vowel i
 lower mid central unrounded vowel V
 mid central unrounded vowel (schwa) @
 lower mid back rounded vowel O
 lower mid front unrounded vowel E
 low front unrounded vowel {
Other Features
Diphthongs
Practice
sVm@raIzIN summarising
k@ntInju:@s continuous
frIk@tIv kA:ns@n@nts fricative consonants
D@ ju:nIv3:rs@4I the university
f@nA:l@dZi: i:z @ vErI Phonology is a very boring
bO:rIN sVbdZEkt subject
haU du: aI lVv ju: lEt How do I love you? Let me
mi: kaUnt D@ weIz count the ways.
Practice
saUndz sounds
INglIS English
lO:N @n SO:rt vaU@lz long and short vowels
foUt@gr{f photograph
f@tA:gr@f@` photographer
Di: aI pi: eI Iz @ f@nE4Ik The IPA is a phonetic
O:lf@b@t alphabet
D@ ju:naI4@d steIts @v The United States of
@mErIk@ America
Practice
hu:z wUdz Di:z A:r aI Whose woods these are I
TINk aI noU think I know
hIz haUs Iz In D@ vIlIdZ His house is in the village
DoU though
hI w@d nA:t si: mi: He would not see me
stA:pIN hI@` stopping here
t@ wA:tS hIz wUdz fIld To watch his woods filled
Vp wIT snoU up with snow
Homework
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the souls
And sings the tunes without the words
And never stops at all

I have been one acquainted with the night

I have walked out in rain and back in rain
I have outwalked the furthest city lights
Practice

hoUp Iz D@ TIN wiT Hope is the thing with

fED@`z feathers
D@t p3:rtS@z In D@ soUlz That perches in the souls
@n sIN D@ tu:nz wIDaUt And sings the tunes
D@ w3:rdz without the words
{n nEv@` stA:ps @t O:l And never stops at all
Practice

aI h@v bIn wVn I have been one

@kweIntId wID@ naIt acquainted with the
night
aI h@v wO:5kt aUt In I have walked out in rain
reIn @n b{k In reIn and back in rain
aI h@v aUtwO:lkt D@ I have outwalked the
f3:rD@st sI4I: laIts furthest city lights
2.

f@"nA: l@dZi
D@ "sa~Und %sIstm= @v "l{~Ngw@dZ
Phonology Overview
Phonology Overview
Phonology Analogy
Phoneme vs. Allophones
Phoneme vs. Allophones
Phonemes Allophones
 Smallest audible units in a  Manifestations of a
language phoneme
 Contrastive  Non-contrastive
 /p/, /b/  [p], [p], [b]
 Minimal pairs  Complementary
distribution
 Free variation
Allophones of a Phoneme

[p] [p] [p] [p]

pedigree peninsula computer rapid
personal peculiar competitive spin
pencil pesonification anthropology competition
persuade persistent capacity computational
Distribution of Allophones

Phoneme Allophones Distribution

initially in stressed syllables or initially
[p] in words
/p/
[p] elsewhere
Aspiration Rule
Aspiration Rule
Aspiration Rule
Aspiration Rule
Natural Class of Sounds
 p, t, k  voiceless stops
 p, b, m, w  bilabials
 v, D, z, Z  voiced fricatives
 S, Z, tS, dZ  palato-alveolars
 d, n, z, r, l  voiced alveolars
 m, n, N  nasals
 i:, I, e, E, {  front unrounded
 u:, U  high back rounded
Nasalisation Rule
Underlying and Surface Forms
Underlying and Surface Forms
I scream for ice-cream.
ice-cream I scream
Lengthening Rule
write ride
neat need
rope robe
cap cab
lock log
tap tab
pick pig
recruit recrewed
Lengthening Rule
Lengthening Rule
Flapping Rule
writer /"raIt@`/
rider /"ra:Id@`/
liter /"lit@`/
leader /"li:d@`/
seater /"sit@`/
seeder /"si:d@`/
rooter /"rut@`/
ruder /"ru:d@`/
Flapping Rule
Flapping Rule
Rule Ordering
Dialect A
writer rider
Rule Ordering
Dialect B
writer rider
Syllable and Syllable Structure

1 word

2 syllable syllable

3 ONSET RHYME

4 PEAK CODA
Syllable and Syllable Structure
ti:tS@r

ti: tS@r

ONSET PEAK ONSET RHYME

PEAK CODA

t i: tS @ r
Syllable Structure
f@nEtIks

f@ nE tIks

onset peak onset peak onset rhyme

peak coda

f @ n E t I ks
Practice
 squirts  skw3rts
 ago  @goU
 students  stud@nts
 company  kAmp@ni
 phonology  f@nAl@dZi
 insanity  Ins{n@ti
 progressively  pr@grEsIvli
 irresponsibility  ir@spAns@bIl@ti
Stress
THE WHITE HOUSE?
•● ●•
Practice
Given the following word:

 Write the phonemic transcription of the word.

 What phonological rule(s) affect the pronunciation of the
word? Why? Write down the formula(s) of the rule(s) as
specifically applied to the word. Then present the final
allophonic transcription of the word.
 How many syllables are there in the word? Draw a diagram
presenting the syllable structure of the word.
Practice