English

Phonetics and
Phonology
2013 Spring
Szcsnyi, Krisztina
Lecture 2
15 February 2013

Revision
Phonetic

symbols
+ Ndasdy p. 8.

1 Phonetics and phonology

The

two approach the sounds of

language in different ways.

1.1 Phonetics
Auditory,

acoustic, articulatory phonetics

(for more details see Lect1)
Separating
a)
b)

different types of sounds

speech sounds from noise
speech sounds from other speech sounds (the
segments)

Suprasegmental (above segment) features like stress,

intonation

1.2 Phonology

The sound patterns of (a) language, the

system of sounds within a language,
how sounds affect each other.

Different patterns of assimilation: what

happens when a voiced and a voiceless
obstruent (see chart) are next to each
other?
Different, but equally logical systems.

1.2.1 Hungarian voice

assimilation

Two or more obstruents: the last one determines the

voiced/voiceless nature of the preceding one:

a. hztl /st/
megfr /kf/
hzd ki /stk/
b. lesgl/g/
szp zld /bz/
lisztbe /zdb/
Always backwards, regressive voice assimilation

1.2.2 English voice

assimilation
No

voicing, always (partial!) devoicing

hes tired
live show

/zt/
/v/

matchbox /b/
anecdote /kd/
The direction of assimilation is not fixed.

1.2.3 Comparison of English

and Hungarian assimilation

English: it is always devoicing, if the voiceless

obstruent precedes the voiced one, assimilation is
progressive, otherwise regressive. What is fixed is
the property that spreads (voicelessness).

Hungarian: it is always regressive, if the last

obstruent is voiced, the one(s) preceding it will
also be voiced, if it is voiceless, the preceding
obstruents will be voiceless as well. What is fixed
is the direction of assimilation (always backwards).

1.2.4 Potential problems due to the

interaction between the two
systems

Potential misunderstanding:

Write back vs. Ride back

Hungarian pronunciation of write back ends
up the same as ride back, the two are
different in English (t does not become
voiced)!

2 The pronunciation of English

What
1.
2.

do you have to know?

The phonetic component

The nonphonetic component

2.1 The phonetic component

Segmental elements
1. Prounouncing them the right way:
potential native language transfer
problems. //

2.

Pronouncing them the right way in the

right position: matchbox, //: exists in
Hungarian, but only as a variant (called
allophone, see later today) of /n/.

Sample material:
Wallander
Uncool

honk

Wallander.1x03.honk.avi
Connected speech, dark L (before
consonants and word-finally), aspirated p,
t

2.1 The phonetic component

Suprasegmental
1.

2.

elements
Stress: H.: always on the first syllable
of the word; E.: on different syllables +
unstressed syllables with weak vowels
(especially for function words)
Intonation: e.g. yes/no questions

2.1 The phonetic component

Perception: the passive side of pronunciation.

heat /hi:t/
may be perceived as /hit/ due to Pre-Fortis
Clipping (also called Pre-Voiceless Vowel
Shortening)
bang /b/
may be perceived as /bn/

2.2 The nonphonetic

component of pronunciation

Lexical knowledge: storing unconnected

bits of information in our memory
(arbitrary connection between sound and
meaning, idiosyncratic information, e.g.
irregular verbs)

gone vs gun
wild vs wilderness
lead vs lead (phonetically different!)

2.2 The nonphonetic

component of pronunciation
The

knowledge of rules

Letter-to-sound rules: the regularities of

spelling (they exist and should definitely be taught
and learnt)
hall: a is never pronounced a diphthong
j is always //
w never /v/
c /k/ after a, o, u

2.2 The nonphonetic

component of pronunciation
The

knowledge of morpheme alternations:

the:
/i/

the act vs the mouse

//

-ed:
/d/

listened vs waited vs looked

/d/ /t/

potential mistakes resulting from the lack of this kind of

knowledge as well if you do not use the appropriate
alternant

2.2 The nonphonetic

component of pronunciation

1.

The knowledge of regular sound alternations

The reduction of vowels: //, rebel
Noun: /reb()l/, Verb: /rbel/, /rbel/

Pre-R Breaking: the change of the quality of

most long vowels before r:
Judy vs jury /u:di/ /ri/
Been vs beer /bi:n/ /b(r)/
2.

2.2 The nonphonetic

components of pronunciation

Conclusion: phonetics pronunciation

Why is English pronunciation difficult then?

Different systems (stress, weak forms, rhythm)
+ the relative unreliability of spelling
+ the reliable part has a logic different from Hungarian.
E.: morpheme identity: insane insanity, past tense ed, plural -s
H.: morpheme alternation: nyr-nyarak; ssz, nzz, bnts (all
hiding an underlying j)

3 Sound, allophone, phoneme

How

many sounds are there in a

language/in English?

Acoustically

every speaker produces

different sounds.

How

do we perceive them as one and

the same e.g. /e/ sound?

3.1 Phonemes

The function of sounds: to identify morphemes, to

distinguish one morpheme from another. If you use
different sounds (or the same sounds in a different
order) you expect to get a different word.

batrat, play-clay, try-fry, send-sand

Only one sound responsible for the change in

meaning: phonemes of a language can be
identified using this minimal pair technique.

3.1 Phonemes
The

difference in the phonemes is not simply

phonetic in nature but they also have a
distinctive function: they distinguish
meanings. Not just a surface difference but
an underlying one.

Definition:

a phoneme is an underlying
sound unit capable of distinguishing
one word from another in a given
language.

3.2 Allophones
One

phoneme may have different realizations,

the same underlying unit may appear as different
sounds on the surface in actual pronunciation.

The

/p/ sounds in pink/pear and lip/sleepy

aspirated

vs unaspirated voiceless stops : /p/,

/t/, /k/
/p/:

[p] and [p]

3.2 Allophones

[p] and [p] are the realizations of the same

/p/ phoneme, the difference between the two
is subphonemic, they do not distinguish
meanings, they cannot even appear in the
same position. It is predictable which variant
will appear in a given environment: they are
in complementary distribution.

/p/ is aspirated at the beginning of a word or a

stressed syllable.

3.2 Allophones
Definition:

the alternants of a
phoneme whose occurance is
regularly predictable from the
environment are called the
allophones of that phoneme.

Native

speakers use the right phoneme

instinctively, it is part of their
knowledge of language.

3.2 Allophones

/p/

phoneme

[p] [p]

allophones

Sample material:
Wallander
Private

place: does aspiration take

place when /p/, /t/, /k/ are followed by
e.g. /r/, /l/? The /r/ in private is different
from the /r/ in right.

Wallander.1x03.private place.avi

4 Consonants

The consonant system: based on place and

manner of articulation (for English consonats
see chart uploaded as a separate handout).

Important distinction within manner:

voiced/voiceless

Obstruents: voiced or voiceless

Sonorants: all of them voiced, closer to vowels

5 Exam practice

5.1 Sound identification

Voiceless

palatoalveolar affricate
Bilabial nasal
Alveolar liquid
Glottal stop
Voiceless coronals

//
/m/
/l/
//
/t/ //
/s/ //
//

5.2 Transcription
Clara
matrix
mutual
polar
slang

/kler/ /kler/
/metrks//metrks/
/mjutul//mjutul/
/pl//polr/
/sl//sl/

A difference between RP and GA:

(RP) vs. o (GA)

5.3 Stress identification

chronology

chronlogy

chronological

chrnolgical

intersect

ntersct

commission

commssion

commissionaire

commssionire

5.4 Definitions
IPA

stands for ....

The branch of phonetics dealing with
the perception of sounds is called ....
(Key: International Phonetic Alphabet;
auditory phonetics)

5.5 Multiple choice tests

What

is constant in Hungarian voicing

assimilation is ....
A) the direction of voicing.
B) the manner of voicing.
C) the spreading of the voiced property .
D) the spreading of the voiceless property .
)Which

of the following is a place of articulation?

A) obstruent
B)velar
C)nasal D) fricative

: Weeping Song (Nick Cave

and the Bad Seeds)

lots of //s!

Enjoy

and thank you for your attention!