PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
There is no right way of speaking.
The pronunciation of English varies from one country to another.
Even within UK, there are variations. RP is treated as Standard English.
Received pronunciation (RP)
Generally called as correct pronunciation
Called as King’s/ Queen’s English or BBC English or Oxford English
Used by elite society / educated English speakers in London and South East of England.
British phonetician Daniel Jones's English Pronouncing Dictionary (1917) named it as “Public School Pronunciation” and later in the second edition in 1926, he changed it as “Received Pronunciation”
The word 'received' conveys its original meaning of 'accepted' or 'approved'
Used by BBC/ Dictionaries/ Oxford/ Cambridge
Languages like Telugu, Arabic and Spanish are consistent in their spelling and pronunciation each letter represents a single sound which rarely varies.
English is different. It has many letters with two or more sounds and many letters that are silent.
There in no one to one correspondence between letters (26) and sounds (44) in English.
About 80% English words not spelled phonetically
In English the same letters produce different sound and different letters produce the same sound.
Example:
One letter can represent several sounds
Letter S🡪send /s/;flash /ʃ/;busy /z/;measure /ʒ/
Letter C 🡪 Car /k/ ; cell /s/ ; chain /ʧ/ ;
One sound can be represented by several letters
Sound /ʃ/🡪 Shine ; Passion; Special
Sound /k/🡪 Chemistry ; Court; kite; car, equal
Letter e has 4 different pronunciations in --
Re-entered (1 letter- 4 pronuciations)
Letters ough has 8 different pronunciations in--
Bough, bought, cough, dough, hiccough, rough, thoroughbred and through
Letters ch has various pronunciations in--
School, character, machine, church
George Bernard Shaw allegedly joked that “fish” should be spelled G–H–O–T–I,
GH as in "enough" → /f/
O as in "women" → /ɪ/
TI as in "nation" → /ʃ/
Daniel Jones- English Pronouncing Dictionary (EPD)
A S Hornby- The Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English (APD)
A C Grimson- An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English
There are 26 letters and 44 sounds in English.
They are broadly classified into Vowels and Consonants.
There are 24 consonant sounds and 20 vowel sounds.
Vowels are two types:
There are 12 monophthongs (pure vowel sounds) and 8 diphthongs (a combination of two vowel sounds).
Key terms:
1.PHONETICS:
Phonetics is the scientific study of all human meaningful sounds in all human languages on this earth. (Physics of sound)
It is a branch of linguistics that studies the production, transmission and reception of speech sounds.
Phonetics describes these sounds using the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
Phonetics studies speech from different viewpoints and is broken down into three categories:
Articulatory phonetics: the production of speech sounds.
It aims to explain how we move our speech organs (articulators) to produce certain sounds.
It looks at how aerodynamic energy (airflow through the vocal tract) is transformed into acoustic energy (sound).
Acoustic phonetics: the physical way speech sounds travel.
looks at the physical properties of sound, including the frequency, intensity, and duration, and analyses how sound is transmitted.
Auditory phonetics: the way people perceive (hear) speech sounds.
It studies the reception and response to speech sounds, mediated by the ears, the auditory nerves, and the brain.
2.PHONOLOGY:
Phonology is a branch of linguistics that studies how languages systematically organize their sounds. (Psychology of sound)
It is the study of phonemes.
In phonetics and phonology, speech sounds can be analyzed at two main levels: segmental and suprasegmental.
Segmental features of pronunciation: The individual sounds (phonemes) of a language–vowels and consonants.
Suprasegmental features of pronunciation: Aspects of pronunciation that affect more than just one sound segment, such as stress, rhythm, and intonation–the musical aspects of pronunciation.
3.Phone:
A distinct speech sound, It is actual realization of a sound.
When you actually produce a sound, you are producing a phone.
4.Phoneme:
A speech sound (phoneme is really the mental representation of a sound, not the sound itself.)
It is the basic unit of spoken language.
There are 44 phonemes in English.
It is smallest unit of speech sound that distinguishes meaning between sounds in a given language.
Written in slashes- / /
Ex: /k æ t/- three different sounds
If we replace /t/ with /n/- we get new word, So /t/ & /n/ are phonemes.
If we change a phoneme, we change the meaning of a word.
It is written in broad transcription.
Phone- actual sounds
Phoneme- mental representation
5.Allophones: (In Telugu Mahaprana)
phonetic variations of phonemes; Not all phonemes have allophones.
Written in square brackets- [ ]
In the word puff [pʰʌf], p is aspirated / pʰ/.
If we were speaking a language with aspiration, it does change the meaning of a word, then /p/ and /pʰ/ are called allophones.
It is nothing but 2 or more alternative pronunciation of phonemes. (no change in meaning, as in phonemes)
It is written in narrow transcription.
Broad transcription
- No allophones - slashes -puff /pʰʌf/
Narrow transcription
–with allophones- square brackets – puff [pʰʌf]
Note: Phonetically Allophones are the same sound, although they are different in terms of aspiration, voicing, point of articulation
Speech mechanism
It starts in the brain, moves through the biological processes of respiration (lungs and trachea), phonation (larynx or voice box-vocal cords) and articulation (lips, nose, mouth) to produce sounds.
📌 1. The respiratory process (In Trunk)
Speech begins with airflow. The organ generating the airstream is called the initiator and there are three initiators: Lungs, Glottis and Tongue (velar).
The outward and inward airflow are termed as egressive and ingressive.
Egressive sounds are sounds in which the air stream is created by pushing air out through the mouth or nose.
Pulmonic egressive airstream: (most common): Air pushed out from the lungs (e.g., English sounds).
Glottalic egressive sounds are known as ejectives.
velaric egressive
Ingressive sounds are sounds by which the airstream flows inward through the mouth or nose. (e.g., Sindhi, Zulu languages).
pulmonic ingressive (from the lungs)- Air sucked in
velaric ingressive (from the tongue and the velum), known as clicks
glottalic ingressive (from the glottis), knows as implosives
Note:
1. All English sounds are created by Pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism only.
2. clicks, ejectives, and implosives are non-pulmonic sounds.
📌 2. Phonation (in Throat)
Vocal cords in the larynx vibrate to create voicing: There are four major states of the glottis:
1.open glottis: When glottis is open, air can flow through quite freely. voiceless sounds (9 consonants) are produced.
2.vibrating glottis: When the vocal cords are allowed to vibrate, they produce voiced sounds (15 consonants and all vowels).
100-150 times/second- Man’s voice.
200-325 times/second- Women’s voice
Note: All vowels are voiced
3.closed glottis: Complete closure of vocal cords, in hiccups and coughs.
4.narrowed glottis: When vocal cords came to so closer, in whispers.
📌 3. Articulation (in Head)
Articulators are the parts of the mouth responsible for shaping sounds in speech.
They are divided into active articulators (movable parts) and passive articulators (fixed structures).
1. Passive Articulators (Non-Moving Structures)
The Upper lip
The Upper Teeth- Used in dental sounds where the tongue touches the teeth.
Alveolar Ridge (Gum Ridge Behind Upper Teeth)- Critical for alveolar sounds.
The Back of the alveolar ridge - for post-alveolar sounds.
Hard Palate (Bony Roof of Mouth)- Involved in palatal sounds. We can feel its smooth curved surface with your tongue.
Soft Palate (Velum – Back of Mouth Roof)- Raises to block nasal cavity for oral sounds; lowers for nasals. When we make the sounds [k] and [g] the tongue is in contact with the lower side of the velum, and we call these velar consonants.
The uvula, pendant-like structure, hanging down at the entrance to the throat (uvular)
The throat itself, a.k.a. the pharynx (pharyngeal)
The epiglottis at the entrance to the windpipe, above the voice box (epiglottal)
2. Active Articulators (Moving Parts)
The Lower Lip (Labial Articulation)
Tongue (Divided into Regions)
Tip of the tongue
Blade of the tongue
Frint of the tongue
Back of the tongue
Root of the tongue (pharyngeal)
The aryepiglottic fold inside the throat (aryepiglottic)
The glottis at the very back of the windpipe (glottal)
VELIC CLOSURE VS VERLAR CLOSURE
Velic closure refers to an incomplete closure, soft palate is raised to block the nasal tract to produced oral sounds.
Ex: All oral sounds
In Velar closure the back of the tongue touches the soft palate (velum) creating an obstruction in oral cavity.
Example:
Oral stops: /k/, /g/ (velic closure must co-occur to block nasal airflow).
Nasal stop: /ŋ/ (velar closure + open velum for nasal resonance).
Consonant Sounds (24):
Consonant sounds are sounds in the production of which there is either a closure or a narrowing of the air passage in the mouth cavity.
During the articulation of the consonant sounds the air from the lungs is either stopped or allowed to pass through a narrowed passage. (obstruction or friction)
Note: /j/, /w/ are articulated as vowels, but classified as consonants, because they do not form the nucleus of a syllable.
DESCRIPTION OF CONSONANTS:
Consonant sounds are described using voicing, place of articulation and manner of articulation:
📌 A. Voicing
It is two types:
Voiced Consonants (15): Vibrating Glottis-When the vocal cords are held loosely together, the air can escape through them and the vocal cords are set into vibration. There is a vibration in the vocal cords. (vocal cords are partly closed)
Ex: consonants (15) such as /b/, /d/, /g/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/, /l/, /r/, /j/, /w/, and all vowels are voiced.
Voiceless Consonants (9): Open Glottis- Voiceless consonants (9) are usually articulated with open glottis. There is no vibration in the vocal cords. (vocal cords are open)
Ex: /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /θ/, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/, /h/.
Note:
ALL VOWELS ARE VOICED SOUNDS.
If you put your fingers over your Adam’s Apple (larynx) when you pronounce voiced sounds in isolation, you should be able to feel your vocal cords vibrate.
📌 B. Place of Articulation
📌 C. Manner of Articulation
The stricture is the technical term used for the position taken up by the active articulator in relation to the passive articulator.
Vowel sounds (20):
In producing vowel sounds, there is no closure or narrowing made at any point in the mouth cavity.
Thus, vowel sounds are produced when the air from the lungs comes out freely and in a continuous stream (without any obstruction or audible friction.) and the vocal cords vibrate to produce the sound.
There are 20 vowel sounds, of which 12 are monophthongs (pure vowel sounds) and 8 are diphthongs (a combination of two vowel sounds).
a) Monophthongs
If the quality of a vowel sound does not change, it is called a pure vowel or a monophthong.
English has 12 pure vowels.
The quality of a vowel sound is determined by the arrangement of the tongue, lips and lower jaw.
Monophthongs can be divided into two categories.
1. Long vowels- they are five. The length is marked by two dots ( : ) after vowel. If there are dots, the sounds are long
Ex: /i/ is a short vowel in ill.
2. Short Vowels -they are seven
Ex: /i:/ is a long vowel in eat
DESCRIPTION OF VOWELS:
We describe vowels in terms of:
📌 1.Part of the tongue raised (front, Centre, back):
1.front vowels (4) For front vowels, the front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate. They are: /iː/, /i/, /e/, /æ/
2.back vowels (5): For back vowels, the back of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate. They are: /ɑː/, /ɒ/, /ɔː/, /ʊ/, /uː/
3.central vowels (3): For central vowels, the center of the tongue is raised towards the roof of the mouth. They are: /ʌ/, /ɜː/, /ə/
📌 2.Height of the tongue raised:
It deals with the four different tongue positions: close, half close, half open & open.
Note: 1. British linguists prefers: close, half close, half open and open
2. American Linguists prefers: High, Mid and Low instead of the above terms.
Daniel Jones, British phonetician, secretary and later president of IPA (international Phonetic Alphabet), popularized the concept of ‘Cardinal Vowels’. A cardinal vowel is produced when the tongue is in an extreme position, either front or back, high or low.
📌 3. Position of the lips (rounded/unrounded):
In the articulation of vowel sounds, the lips take various positions.
e.g spread (unrounded), neutral or rounded
In front vowels, the lips are spread or unrounded
In central vowels, the lips are neural/ unrounded.
In back vowels, the lips are in rounded shape.
Monophthongs:
b) Diphthongs
Diphthong is the combination of two pure vowel sounds in a single syllable or word.
There are 8 diphthongs.
They are usually produced one after other without taking a break between them.
The tongue glides or moves from one position other position
For Example: / aɪ /as in sky, is a combination of pure vowels namely / a / and / ɪ /
Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a conversation.
Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue and other speech organs move during the pronunciation of the vowel.
Diphthongs:
ALLOPHONIC VARIENTS:
Allophones are variations of phonemes that do not change word meaning.
English has several key allophonic variations, often influenced by position, stress, or neighboring sounds.
📌 1. Voiced Plosives:
Aspiration [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] Occurs at the start of stressed syllables. Ex:pin [pʰɪn], top [tʰɒp], cat [kʰæt]
No aspiration after /s/ or in unstressed positions. Ex: spin [spɪn], stop [stɒp], scar [skɑː]
📌 2. Voiceless Plosives:
Voiced stops (/b, d, g/) become partially devoiced at the beginning and end of words. Ex: bulb [b̥ʌlb̥], dead [d̥ɛd̥], bag [bæɡ̊]
b̥, d̥, ɡ̊- diacritic marks indicate devoiced sound
📌 3. Lateral (Lateral Approximant)
/l/ is voiced alveolar lateral.
It has two allophonic varients.
Clear [l]: Occurs before vowels and semi vowels (e.g., leaf [liːf]).
Dark [ɫ]: Occurs in final position or before consonants (e.g., ball [bɔːɫ], milk [mɪɫk]).
📌 4.Frictionless Continuant (Approximant)
/r/ (post-alveolar approximant)
It occurs between two vowels or preceded by /θ/, /ð/
It is realized as a voiced alveolar flap as in red [ɹɛd], very [veɹi],
📌 5.Linking R
When a word ends in orthographic ‘r’ and if the next word begins with a vowel, /r/ is pronounced.
Ex: far away → /fɑːr əˈweɪ/ (the /r/ is "linked"); car engine → /kɑːr ˈɛndʒɪn/.
📌 5. Intrusive R
When a word not ends in orthographic ‘r’ and if the next word begins with a vowel, /r/ is pronounced.
Ex: law(r) and order → /lɔːr ən ˈɔːdə/.
Phonotactics:
It is a branch of phonology that deals with restrictions in a language on the permissible combinations of phonemes.
It defines permissible syllable structure, consonant clusters and vowel sequences by means of phonotactic constraints.
ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH
Connected speech refers to the way words flow together in natural spoken language, often leading to changes in pronunciation for smoother, faster communication.
📌 1.Assimilation =(‘makes similar’ in Latin)
Assimilation is the change in pronunciation of a phoneme under the influence of its surrounding sounds.
In other words, one sound becomes similar to neighboring sound due to influence.
Regressive (Following Sound Affects Previous Sound)
Ex: input → /ˈɪmpʊt/ /n/ → /m/ before /p/
ten bikes→[tem baɪks] (/n/ →/m/ before /b/)
sand which🡪 /sæmwitʃ/ (/n/ →/m/ before /d/)
hot meal → [hɒp miːl] (/t/ → /p/ before /m/)
that girl → [ðæk gɜːl] (/t/ → /k/ before /g/)
Progressive (Previous Sound Affects Following Sound)
Ex: dogs → [dɒɡ̊z] /ɡ/ devoices before /z/
cats /kæts/ (voiceless /t/ → voiceless /s/)
kissed /kɪst/ (voiceless /s/ → voiceless /t/)
washed🡪 (voiceless /s/ → voiceless /t/)
robbed /rɒbd/ (voiced /b/ → voiced /d/)
Reciprocal (two sounds merge)
Ex: issue → /s/ + /j/ → /ʃ/
Don’t you🡪 /t/+/j/🡪/t ʃ/
would you 🡪 /d/ + /j/ → /dʒ/
📌 2. Elision =(‘striking out’ in Latin)
Sounds are omitted in fast speech, especially in consonant clusters or unstressed syllables.
Common in casual conversation.
It is indicated by apostrophe in connections
Ex: I can’t, I’ll, Who’s, Haven’t
/t/, /d/ dropping:
next day → "nex' day" /ˈneks deɪ/
first light🡪 "firs' light" /ˈfɜːs laɪt/
I don’t know🡪 "I dunno" /aɪ ˈdənoʊ/
Acts🡪 "ax" /æks/
handbag → "hambag" /ˈhæmbæɡ/
/h/-dropping:
his book → “iz book” /ɪz ˈbʊk/
📌 3. Linking
Words are connected to avoid pauses.
Linking R (non-rhotic dialects)
Ex: far away → /fɑːr əˈweɪ/ (Silent /r/ pronounced)
Intrusive R (non-rhotic)
Ex: law and order → /lɔːr ən ˈɔːdə/ (/r/ added between vowels)
📌 4.Weak Forms
Unstressed grammatical words (e.g., to, for, and) are pronounced weakly.
To /tuː/🡪/tə/ ("going to" → "gonna")
And /ænd/🡪/ən/ ("fish and chips" → /ˈfɪʃ ən ˈtʃɪps/)
Of /ɒv/ 🡪 /ə/ ("cup of tea" → /ˈkʌp ə tiː/)
📌 5. Juncture
It is the sound quality signalling pauses. This transition between successive syllables affect meaning
a name vs. an aim
That stuff vs That’s tough
Fork handles vs four candles
Nitrate vs night rate
Grey tapes vs Great apes
Ice train vs I strain
Grade A vs Gray Day
Send the maid vs send them aid
Syllables structure:
Syllables are the building blocks of a word.
Vowel functions as nucleus.
Consonant functions as marginal element, at beginning and end.
The three parts are:
1. Onset (optional)
2. Nucleus (obligatory)
3. Coda (optional)
Ex: Book - /buk/
Here
/b/ is releasing consonant (onset),
/u/ is nucleus
/k/ is arresting consonant (coda)
Closed Syllable: ends with consonant (has a coda).
Ex: ill - /il/- VC
Open syllable: no arresting consonant. (no coda).
Ex: she - /ʃi/- CV
Note:
1.Each syllable must have a nucleus.
2.Onset and coda are optional in syllables.
3.The sequence of nucleus and coda is called a rhyme.
4. Some syllables consist of only a nucleus, only an onset and a nucleus with no coda, or only a nucleus and coda with no onset.
Onset, Nucleus & Coda:
Syllables can consist of three parts:
1. onset (= one more consonant sound at the beginning of the syllable),
The consonant(s) that come before the vowel in a syllable.
It can be zero, one, or more consonants.
Examples:
cat → onset: /k/
stop → onset: /st/
eat → onset: (none)
2. nucleus (= exactly one vowel sound in the middle forming the core – it can be a monophthong, diphthong or triphthong)
The core of the syllable, usually a vowel sound.
This is the only mandatory part of a syllable.
Examples:
cat → nucleus: /æ/
eat → nucleus: /iː/
sun → nucleus: /ʌ/
3. coda (= one or more consonants at the end of the syllable).
The consonant(s) that come after the vowel.
Like the onset, the coda can be absent, or made up of one or more consonants.
Examples:
cat → coda: /t/
dog → coda: /g/
see → coda: (none)
Syllabification:
We can divide words into syllables:
Monosyllabic
1 syllable
cat, run, sky, fast, strength
Disyllabic
2 syllables
apple (ap-ple), happy (hap-py), water (wa-ter)
Trisyllabic
3 syllables
banana (ba-na-na), elephant (el-e-phant), beautiful (beau-ti-ful)
Polysyllabic
4+ syllables
alligator (al-li-ga-tor), university (u-ni-ver-si-ty), responsibility (re-spon-si-bi-li-ty)
Note:
Every syllable must have a vowel (nucleus).
If there is no vowel, consonant acts as vowel/nucleus and it is called as “Syllabic consonant”
It has to be marked as vowel in Syllabic structure.
Ex: [n̩]- "button" [ˈbʌ-tn̩]- CV-CV (‘n’ is marked as vowel.
[l̩]- "bottle" [ˈbɒ-tl̩]- CV-CV (‘l’ is marked as vowel.
[m̩]- "rhythm" [ˈrɪ-ðm̩]- CV-CV (‘m’ is marked as vowel.
CONSONANT CLUSTER:
Consonant cluster in a word is a group of consonants with no vowels between them.
In English,
the longest possible initial cluster is three consonants, as in split /ˈsplɪt/, strudel /ˈstruːdəl/, 'splash, strengths /ˈstrɛŋkθs/, and "squirrel" /ˈskwɪrəl/;
the longest possible final cluster is four consonants, as in angsts (/ˈæŋksts/), twelfths /twelfθs/
Longest possible cluster in English
CCC - V - CCCC
Onset- nucleus- coda
Types of Consonant Clusters:
1. Initial Clusters (at the beginning of a word):
2-consonant clusters:
bl – black
cr – cry
st – stop
3-consonant clusters:
spl – splash
str – street
spr – spring
2. Medial Clusters (in the middle of a word):
mp – camping
lt – altar
nk – thinking
3. Final Clusters (at the end of a word):
2-consonant clusters:
nd – land
st – best
3-consonant clusters:
lpt – helped
mps – lamps
4-consonant clusters:
lmps – glimpsed
nkst – thinks
Some important features of pronunciation
1. Pronunciation of the letter 'r'
The letter 'r' is silent when a word ends with it and if it is taken as an individual word (as in car, war, etc.).
It is also silent when it is followed by a consonantal sound (as in pardon, warden, etc.). But when the letter 'r' is followed by a vowel sound, it is pronounced (as in paragon, autograph, etc.).
2. Pronunciation of the past tense suffix: -d/-ed
When the verb ends in a voiceless sound as /p/, /k/, /f/, /θ/, /s/, /f/ or /tf) the past tense is pronounced/t/.
Ex: pushed/puʃt/, laughed, backed, latched
When a verb ends in a voiced sound as /b/, /g/, /v/, /b/, /z/,/3/,/d3/,/m/,/n/, /k/,/, /r/, /j/, /w/ or any vowel sound, the past tense marker is pronounced/d/.
Ex: lived/livd/, named, cried, praised
When a verb ends either in /t/ or /d/, then the past tense is pronounced,
Ex: coded/kəudid/, heated, drafted, loaded
3. Pronunciation of a plural suffix, singular form of a verb -s- (-es) and possessive -s.
It is pronounced as /s/ when a word ends in /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, or/θ/.
Ex: bats/bæts/, cats, consists, talks
It is pronounced as /z/ when a word ends in /g/, /b/, /d/, /v/, /b/, /l/ or any vowel sound.
Ex: bags/bægz/, hands, toys
It is pronounced as /iz/ when a word ends in /s/, /z/, /f/, /z/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/
Ex: batches /bætʃiz/, roses, horses
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