2. 2
PART 1
PHONETICS
Phonetics deals with the physical aspect of
sounds. Phonetic transcription with allophones is
used in this field of study.
The speech organs are the parts of the body that
are used to produce the sounds. The speech
organs consist of:
I- Articulators
They are the movable parts to modify the air
stream to produce different sounds. The
articulators are:
3. 3
1. Vocal cords in the larynx:
Where sounds may be produced with vibration
(voiced sounds) or without vibration (voiceless).
The opening between the vocal cords is called
the glottis.
2. Pharynx:
The tube above the larynx. The epiglottis in the
pharynx can be raised or lowered to open or
close the way to the windpipe.
3. Tongue:
The most important articulator because it is
flexible and it can move to different places in the
mouth.
4. 4
4. Uvula:
The extreme back of the roof of the mouth. It can
be raised or lowered to open or close the
passage to the nose.
5. Lower teeth (lower jaw):
They are behind the lower lip.
6. Lower lip:
It faces the upper lip. It is flexible and can be
pressed against the upper lip or can be rounded
or spread.
5. 5
II- Points of articulation:
The fixed parts on the roof of the mouth towards
which the articulators move to produce sounds.
Points of articulation are:
7. Upper lip: Opposite the lower lip.
8. Upper teeth (upper jaw): opposite the lower lip.
9. Alveolar ridge/tooth ridge/gum: It is between
the upper teeth and the hard palate.
10. Hard palate/roof of the mouth: It is the hard
part of roof of the mouth.
11. Soft palate/velum: It is the soft part of roof of
the mouth.
9. 9
Vowels are classified according to 5
standards:
1) Tongue height
- Tongue height is the vertical distance
between the upper surface of the tongue
and palate (= degree of opening of the
mouth).
- The tongue may be raised high, mid or low.
- Correspondingly the position of the jaw may
also be close, mid or open.
10. 10
2) Tongue position:
This means the front, central or back of the
tongue is raised or lowered.
3) Lip rounding:
Different shapes and positions of the lips.
They may be rounded, unrounded or
neutral.
4) Muscle tension:
Tenseness in the muscle of the jaw and
throat. The muscles may be lax or tense.
11. 11
Short vowels are often lax vowels
meanwhile tense vowels are often long
vowels.
5) Vowel length:
There are:
5 long vowels: i: u: ɜ: ɔ: a:
7 short vowels: i u e Ə „ ʌ
ɑ
13. 13
1. /i/ high front unrounded tense vowel
2. /I / high front unrounded lax vowel
3. /e/ mid front unrounded lax vowel
4. /„ / low front unrounded lax vowel
5. /a/ low back rounded tense vowel
6. /o/ low back rounded lax vowel
7. /ɔ/ low back rounded tense vowel
8. /υ/ high back rounded lax vowel
9. /u/ high back rounded tense vowel
10. /ʌ/ mid central unrounded lax vowel
11. / Ə/ mid central unrounded lax vowel
12. / ɜ/ mid central unrounded tense vowel
14. 14
CONSONANTS AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION
A consonant is a sound. In producing it, the air
stream coming from the lungs is stopped,
impeded, constricted or otherwise interfered
within its passage to the outside air.
Consonants are classed as VOICED if they are
produced with vibration of the vocal cords and
VOICELESS if they are produced without
vibration.
CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS:
Consonants are classified according to these
four standards:
1. Places of articulation:
15. 15
a) Bi-labial: 2 lips are pressed together.
Ex: /b, p, m/
b) Labio-dental: The upper teeth and lower lip
come close together.
Ex: /f, v/
c) Dental or interdental: The tip of the tongue is
between the upper and lower teeth.
Ex: /θ, ð /
d) Alveolar: The tip of the tongue touches the
alveolar ridge.
Ex: /d, t, l, n, s, z, r/
e) Alveo-palatal: The front of the tongue touches
the part between the alveolar ridge and the hard
palate.
16. 16
Ex: /dʒ, tʃ, ʃ, ʒ/
f) Velar: The back of the tongue touches the soft
palate or velum.
Ex: / ŋ, k, g, w/
g) Palatal: The front of the tongue touches the
hard palate.
Ex: /j/
h) Glottal: The sound is produced with a friction
noise in the glottis between the vocal cords. The
glottis opens wide and the sound is voiceless.
Ex: /h/
2. Manner of articulation:
The ways the airstream modifies the organs of
speech.
a) Plosive or stop: The air is stopped, then
17. 17
released with an explosive sound.
Ex: /b, p, d, t, g, k/
b) Fricative: The air is constricted, causing
friction when passing through the organs of
speech.
Ex: /v, f, ð, θ, z, s, ʒ , ʃ, h/
c) Affricative: It is the combination of the plosive
and fricative. The air stream is stopped, then
released slowly with friction.
Ex: / dʒ, tʃ/
d) Nasal: The air passes through the nose when
the uvula is lowered.
Ex: /m, n, ŋ/
e) Lateral: The air passes out at both sides of the
tongue.
18. 18
Ex: /l/
f) Gliding or semi vowel (consonant) or
approximant: There is a gliding from one
to another with little or no obstruction of
the air stream. The tip of the tongue
approaches the alveolar ridge.
Ex: /w, r, j/
3) Voicing:
There is presence or absence of the
vibration of the vocal cords.
19. 19
a) Voiced: When the vocal cords open and
close rapidly: /b, d, v, g, ð, z, ʒ, dʒ, l, m, n,
ŋ, r, w, h, j/
b) Voiceless: When the vocal cords open
wide and there is the vibration of the
vocal cords: /p, t, f, k, θ, s, ʃ, tʃ/
4) Aspiration: /k, p, t/
a) Aspirated: At the beginning of the word.
Ex: Cook, pen, ten
b) Unaspirated: At the end of the word.
Ex: Book, map, hat
20. 20
In general, there are 24 consonants in
English: b, d, f, g, h, j, k, m, n, l, p, r, s, t, v,
w, ð, ɵ, ʧ, ʤ, ʃ, ʒ, Z, ŋ.
Place of articulation
Bilabial Alveolar Velar
Fortis p t k
(Voiceless)
Lenis b d g
(Voiced)
24. 24
Syllabic consonants
Syllabic consonants are the ones which can form
syllable without vowels.
Ex: table /’teibl/
They occur in the following cases:
+ Alveolar /t, d, s, z, n/ + le, al, el, on, en:
1. t + le: bottle, cattle
2. t + al: petal
3. t + on: button
4. d + le: muddle, coddle
5. d + al: pedal
25. 25
6. d + el: model
7. d + en: sudden
8. s + le: wrestle, castle
9. s + el: parcel
10. z + le: nozzle
11. z + al: nasal
12. n + el: kernel
+ Bilabial /p, b/ + le, al, el, on, en
13. p + le: couple, people
14. p + al: papal
15. p + en: happen
26. 26
16. b + le: trouble, bubble
17. b + el: Babel
18. b + on: ribbon
+ Velar /k, g/ + le, al, on, en, an:
19. k + le: pickle
20. k + al: mechanical
21. k + en: thicken
22. g + le: struggle
23. g + al: frugal
24. g + on: wagon
27. 27
25. g + an: toboggan
+ Labio-dental /f, v/ + en:
26. f + en: often
27. v + en: seven
28. tr-: history /’histƏri/ or /’histri/
29. dr-: wanderer /’wɔndƏrƏ/ or /’wɔndrƏ/
28. 28
VOICING AND CONSONANTS
FORTIS & LENIS CONSONANTS
1. Introduction:
1. We have voicing when there is a
vibration of the vocal cords.
2. When consonants have different
positions, we have different productions of
the words.
3. The voiceless /p t k/ are produced with
more force than the voiced /b d g/.
29. 29
Therefore /p t k/ are sometimes called
FORTIS meaning STRONG and /b d g/
are then called LENIS meaning WEAK.
3. Fortis and Lenis consonants have an
effect on the sounds before and after them
and may change a voiceless sound into a
voiced one or vice versa.
Ex: /b d g/ are lenis consonants. They are
sometimes fully voiced, sometimes partly
voiced and sometimes scarcely voiced at
all (in initial & final position.)
30. 30
When they are devoiced, they become
voiceless.
Therefore voicing is not a good distinctive
feature; it is aspiration that distinguishes /p
t k/ from /b d g/.
2. Voicing and aspiration of consonants in
different positions
A. The English plosive: /p t k/ and /b d g/.
All six plosives can occur in:
1) Initial position (C V)
31. 31
1. no voicing=voiceless
a/ Fortis consonants 2. audible and clear plosion
/p t k/ 3. aspirated
Ex: pee, top, cope
1. little voicing: voiceless
b/ Lenis consonants 2. weak plosion
/b d g/ 3. unaspirated
Ex: bee, deer, green
32. 32
2) Final position (V C)
1. no voicing= voiceless
a/ Fortis consonants 2. weak plosion
/p t k/ 3. little aspiration
4. effect on vowel: shorter
Ex: neat, tap, leak
1. very little voicing=voiceless
b/ Lenis consonants 2. weak position
/b d g/ 3. unaspirated
4. effect on vowel: longer
Ex: need, tab, league
33. 33
3) Medial position (C V C)
1. no voicing = voiceless
a/ Fortis consonants 2. audible plosion & aspirated
if they are in stressed syllables
Ex: repél, retéll, recúr
3. weak plosion & unaspirated
if they are in unstressed syllables
Ex: háppy, létter, línking
34. 34
1. much voicing = voiced
b/ Lenis consonants 2. weak plosion
/b d b/ 3. unaspirated
Ex: unbar, dundo, ungainly
ladder, digger.
B. Effects of fortis & lenis plosive consonants on
other sounds & on themselves.
1) Lenis consonants (plosives)
a/ Initial and final lenis consonants are usually
pronounced with very little or no voicing, that is,
they are devoiced or they become voiceless.
35. 35
Ex: deer, green, bee, need, tab, league
b/ However, they are usually fully voiced in medial
position, especially when they are surrounded
by voiced sounds.
Ex: elbow, unbar, undo, ungainly
2) Fortis consonants (plosives)
a/ Final fortis consonants shorten their preceding.
+ Vowels: plate [phleit], bark [ba:k]
+ Continuant consonants l, m, n:
belt [belt], bump [bʌmp], bent [bent], bank [b„ŋk]
36. 36
b/ Initial fortis consonants make their following
vowels which are always voiced continuant
consonant (r w j) lose their voicing:
+ Initial fortis aspirated consonants + partly
devoiced vowels.
Ex: Put [phut]
+ Initial fortis aspirated consonant + devoiced (l r
w j)
Ex: play [phlei], tray [threi], quick [khwik], cue
[khju:], straight [streit].
37. 37
+ Initial fortis unaspirated consonant + devoiced (l
r w j)
Ex: splendid [‘splendid] spread [spred]
square [skweƏ], skewer [skju:Ə]
C. The English fricative:
There are nine:
1. are voiceless
1) Fortis fricatives 2. are articulated with greater
/f θ s ʃ/ force than the lenis ones and
their friction noise is louder.
3. shorten their preceding vowel
38. 38
Ex: laugh [laf], death [deθ], kiss [kis], bush [buʃ]
1. are pronounced with very little
or no voicing (are devoiced or
become voiceless
- in initial position (CV)
2) Lenis fricatives Ex: vet [vet], this [δis], zoo [zu:]
/v δ z ʒ/ - in final position (CV)
Ex: five [faiv], booth [ bu:δ]
dose [dƏU z], beige [beiʒ]
2. are fully voiced in medial
position (VCV)
39. 39
Ex: television [thelƏviʒn], closet [klƏU zit]
breathing [bri:δiŋ], closure [khlƏU zƏ]
1. when h occurs between
3) The glottalfricative h voiced sounds: ahead,
greenhouse, it is voiced.
2. h + w is a voiceless
fricative: which, whale, why
D) The English Affricates ʧ & ʤ
1. are voiced sounds.
ʧ & ʤ 2. Initial ʧ is slightly aspirated
3. Final ʧ shortens its preceding vowels.
40. 40
E) The Lateral l
Devoiced l, follows p or k at the beginning of a
stressed syllable.
Ex: play [phlei], clever [khlevƏ]
F) The Alveo Palatal Aproximant r
1. continuant and voiced
r 2. preceded by p t k at the beginning of a
syllable, it is voiceless and slightly fricative
Ex: press [phres], stress [stres], cress [kres]
41. 41
G) The Palatal Approximant j and the Bilabial
Approximant w:
1. continuant & voiced
j & w 2. are devoiced and slightly fricative when
preceded by p t k at the beginning of a
syllable.
Ex: pure /pjuƏ/ [phjuƏ], queue /kju:/ [khju:],
twin /twin/ [thwin], quin /kwin/ [khwin]
42. 42
THE ENGLISH SYLLABLE
1. Introduction:
When we combine vowels, diphthongs and
consonants we have different syllables.
The number of the syllables in a word
depends on the number of vowels. In other
words, a syllable must contain at least a
vowel.
Ex: ah /a/, are /a/, or /ɔ/, err /ɜ/
43. 43
2. Definition:
A syllable is a unit in speech longer than a
sound but shorter than a word.
Ex: The word writer has 2 syllables /rai/ +
/tƏ/. /rai/ is a syllable longer than the sound
/r/ or /ai/ but shorter than the word writer
itself.
3. The structure of a syllable
A syllable usually consists of:
1. a peak (vowel).
44. 44
2. ± (with or without) onset and coda
consonant(s).
Ex: WRITER /rai tƏ/ BOOK /b u k/
o p op o p c
4. Analysis of the Internal structure of the
English syllable
The maximum phonological structure of the
English syllable may be as follows: The
symbol is ~)
45. 45
Onset Consonants peak Coda Consonants
Pre-initial initial post-initial Vowel Pre- Final Post- Post- Post-
final final 1 final 2 final 3
S L, R, W, J l, s
m, n, ŋ
Pre-initial + initial
s + mell: smell /smel/
s + now: snow /snƏU/
Initial + post initial
c + lay: clay /klei/
t + ray: tray /trei/
46. 46
q +uick: quick /kwik/
p +ure: pure /piuƏ/
Pre-initial + initial + post initial
s p t k l r w j
spl: splay
str: string
skw: squeak
Pre-final m, n, ŋ, l, s + final
bump, bent, bank, belt, ask
Final + post final s, z, t, d, θ
bets, beds, backed, bagged, eighth
47. 47
Pre-final + final + post final
helped, banks, bonds, twelfth
Final + post final 1 + post final 2
fifths, next, lapsed
Pre-final + final + post final 1 + post final 2
twelfths, prompts
Final + + post final 1 + post final 2 + post final 3
sixths, texts.
5. The analysis chart
1. One syllable word:
49. 49
6. Illustrative examples
1. One-syllable words: squealed and eighths
~
O R
P C
s k w i l d
Pre- initial post peak pre- final
initial initial final
51. 51
2. Multi-syllable words: extreme and temperature
Word
~ ~
R R
P C O P C
i k s t r i m
Peak final Pre- initial post peak final
initial initial
52. 52
Word
~ ~
O R O R
P C ~
O I
P I
t e m p r I ʧ Ə
Intial peak final initial post peak initial p
53. 53
Phonemes and allophones
1. What is a phoneme?
1) A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound
in a language which can distinguish 2
words.
2) For example:
a/ In English, the words PAN and BAN
differ only in their initial sound: PAN
begins with /p/ and BAN with /b/.
54. 54
b/ BEN and BIN differ only in their vowels:
/e/ and /i/.
3) Therefore /p b e i/ are phonemes of
English. The number of phonemes varies
from one language to another. English is
often considered to have 44 phonemes: 24
consonants and 20 vowels.
2. What is an allophone?
1) An allophone is any of the different
forms of a phoneme.
55. 55
2) For example: In English, when the phoneme
/p/ occurs at the beginning of words like PUT
/put/ and PEN /pen/, it is said with a little puff of
air. That is, it is aspirated. [ph].
3) But when /p/ occurs in words like SPEND
/spend/ and SPELL /spel/ it is unaspirated. [po]
4) Both the aspirated [ph] in PEN and the
unaspirated [p] in SPELL have the same
phoneme function. That is, they are both heard
and identified as [p] and not as [b]. They are
both ALLOPHONES of the PHONEME [p] > ([ph]
and [po].
56. 56
3. The difference between a phoneme and
an allophone.
1) A phoneme is a meaning-distinguish
sound in a language. If we substitute one
sound for another in a word and there is a
change of meaning, then the 2 sounds
represent different phonemes.
Ex: tie and die. They are not allophones.
2) Otherwise if we substitute allophones,
we have different pronunciation of the
same word.
57. 57
Ex: Phoneme [t] has got 2 allophones.
[th] aspirated as in TAPE.
[to] unaspirated as in LETTER.
3) Phonemes are transcribed phonemically
in slant bars / / and allophones are
transcribed phonetically in square brackets
[ ].
4) As a result of this, we have 2 kinds of
transcription: narrow transcription
(phonetic transcription) and broad
transcription (phonemic transcription).
58. 58
4. English phonemes and allophones
A. Consonants
[po] unaspirated after /s/: speak, span
1) [p] (o : unaspirated mark)
[ph] aspirated elsewhere: pen, map
(h : pronounced with aspiration)
[bo] final position: rib
2) [b] (o : pronounced without voicing, voiceless mark
[b] elsewhere: bag
59. 59
[t] after /s/: stood
3) [t] [th] aspirated, elsewhere: ten
[th
o] before /δ θ/: eighth /eitθ/
(o pronounced with tip between teeth)
[d] elsewhere: decide
4) [d] [d] before dental sound /δ θ/ breadth
[do] final position: decide
60. 60
[+kh] before front vowels: keep
(+ : voiced)
5) [k] [-kh] before back vowels: coop
(- : devoiced)
[k] after the phoneme /s/: sky
[kh] elsewhere: cake
[go] final position: bag
6) [g] [g+] before front vowels: geese
[g-] before back vowels: goose
[g] elsewhere: revolve
61. 61
7) [v] [vo] final position: revolve
[v] elsewhere: revolve
8) [δ] [δo] in initial & final position: this, booth
[δ] in medial position: breathing
9) [z] [zo] in initial & final position: zoo, dose
[z] in medial position: closet
dark [l] before consonants: milk
devoiced [lo] after /p.k/: play, clock
10) [l] [l] before dentals: health
syllable [l] after t n b d: bottle tunnel, trouble
clear [l] elsewhere or before vowels: lake
62. 62
11) [r] [ro] after voiceless consonants: pray
[r] elsewhere: right
12) [n] [n] before dentals: month
[n] elsewhere: nine
13) [m] [m] before f: nymph / nimf
[m] elsewhere: mine
B. Vowels & diphthongs
1) Diacritics show the allophones of vowel and
diphthong phonemes.
: > long vowels & diphthongs
~ > long & short vowel or diphthongs, before
nasals.
63. 63
o > long vowels or dipthongs shortened by the
following fortis consonants /p t k/.
v > short vowels or diphthongs shortened by the
following fortis consonants.
2) For examples:
[i:] elsewhere: seed [si:d]
[i] [ĩ] before nasals: seen [sĩ:n]
[io] long I before fortis consonants /p t k/:
seat [sio]
[ĭ] short i before fortis consonants /p t k/:
lip [lĭp]
3) Transcription: peat (spelling) phonemic /pit/
phonetic [phiot]
64. 64
ASSIMILATION
1. Definition.
- Assimilation is the influence of one
phoneme upon another neighboring
phoneme, so that they become more alike.
2. Notes about assimilation.
1) Assimilation is more likely to be found in
rapid, casual speech and less likely in
slow, careful speech.
65. 65
2) Assimilation affects consonant only.
3) Assimilation may occur:
a/ across word boundaries or between
words: light blue.
b/ across morpheme boundaries: beds,
hits, looked.
Fortis: cats, jumps, Pat’s
Lenis: dogs, runs, Pam’s
c/ within a morpheme (assimilation of
place) or word.
66. 66
Ex: bump /bʌmp/ (bilabial)
tenth /tenθ/ (dental)
hunt /hʌnt/ (alveolar)
bank /b„ŋk/ (velar)
3. Kinds of assimilation across word boundaries
1) In terms of regressive assimilation: Cf > Ci
the direction (cons. final > cons. initial)
of change progressive assimilation: Cf < Ci
67. 67
2) In terms of Assimilation of place: Cf > Ci
the ways in Assimilation of manner: Cf > Ci
which Cf < Ci
phonemes Assimilation of voice: Cf > Ci
change (Only regressive)
4. Progressive & regressive assimilation
1) Progressive assimilation: When the latter is
affected to become the former in some ways.
Ex: in the /in ðƏ/ /innƏ/
2) Regessive assimilation: When the former is
affected to become the latter in some ways.
68. 68
Ex: one more /wʌn mɔ/ > /wʌmmɔ/
5. Three other kinds of assimilation
1) Alveolar + bilabial > bilabial (regressive ass.)
p Ex: right place /raip pleis/
t + b p [p]
m white bird /waip bɜd/
[p]
p Ex: hard path /hab paθ/
d + b b [b]
m good boy /gub bɔi/
[b]
69. 69
p Ex: gone past /gƏUm past/
n + b m [m]
m ten men /tem men/
[m]
2) Alveolar + velar > velar (regressive)
k Ex: white coat
t + k [k]
g that girl
[k]
70. 70
k Ex: bad cold
d + g [g]
g bad gate
[g]
k Ex: one cup
n + ŋ [ŋ]
g main gate
[ŋ]
71. 71
3) Alveolar + palato-alveolar/palatal > palato-
alveolar/palatal (regressive)
ʃ Ex: nice shoes
s + ʃ [ ʃ ]
j this year
[ ʃ ]
ʃ Ex: those shops
z + ʒ [ʒ]
j Where’s yours
[ʒ]
72. 72
B. Assimilation of manner of articulation
1) Plosive + fricative/nasal > fricative/nasal (regr.)
s > s Ex: that side
[s]
t + z > z that zoo
[z]
n > n that night
[n]
73. 73
s > s Ex: good song
[s]
d + z > z bad zone
[z]
n > n good night
[n]
74. 74
2) Plosive/nasal + fricative > plosive/nasal (prog.)
t t Ex: get them
[t]
d + ð d read these
[d]
n n in the
[n]
75. 75
C. Assimilation of voicing in consonants
1) Lenis + fortis > fortis (regressive; lenis
/b d g/ /p t k/ disappears)
b + p > p Ex: rob Peter
[p]
d + t > t bad tongue
[t]
g + k > k big car
[k]
2) Fortis + lenis > no assimilation because fortis
becomes unaspirated
sit down black dog
[to] [d] [ko] [d]
76. 76
Elision and linking
1. Elision or disappearance of sounds.
A. Definition
Elision is the complete disappearance of a
sound. Elision is typical of rapid casual
speech. Foreign learners do not need to
learn to produce elisions, but the
perception of elision is important.
B. Elision inside English words.
77. 77
1) Elision inside English words has been
taken place in the past, resulting in the
following normal forms:
grandmother /grænmʌðƏ/
handsome / hænsƏm/
castle /casl/
postman pƏUsmƏn/
draughtsman /drafsmƏn/
family /fæmli/
garden /gadn/
78. 78
Edinburgh /’ednbrƏ/
awful /’ɔfl/
evil /’ivl/
interest /’intrƏst
history /’histri/
2) In other cases, there are two possibilities
and you can use whichever you find easiest.
generous /’ʤenƏrƏs/ / ’ʤenrƏs/
pattern /’pætƏn/ / ’pætn/
deliberate /dilibƏrƏt/ / dilibrƏt/
79. 79
probably /prɔbƏli/ /prɔbli/
properly /prɔpƏli/ /prɔpli/
often /ɔfƏn/ /ɔfn/
kindness /kaindnis/ /kainis/
asked /askt/ /ast/
clothes /klƏUðz/ /klƏUz/
C. Rules of Elision
1) Stop fortis /p t k/ aspirated + weak vowel
/i or Ə/ disappears
81. 81
stop
4) - st - + nasal - s –
fricative
last time last man last song
s t s m s s
stop
- ft - + nasal - f -
fricative
left door left knee left shoe
82. 82
nasal
5) – nd - + stop lenis - n -
kind nurse canned bacon
- md - + nasal - m -
stop lenis
skimmed milk seemed good
6) Loss of final /v/ in OF + consonant:
Ex: Lots of them Waste of money
s Ə ð
83. 83
But: I think of exams.
Əv ͜ i
II. LINKING
A. Definition
- Linking happens when we link words
together, usually for ease of pronunciation.
Ex: Thousands of people.
z͜ Əv
He eats and drinks.
s͜ Ən
84. 84
Learners of English must be made aware of
the problems that they will meet in listening to
colloquial, connected speech.
B. Cases of linking:
1) Vowel-to-vowel:
Ex: Very͜ interesting The story͜ is
A lovely͜ ice cream The͜ end
2) Stop-to-stop consonants:
Ex: That’s a bad͜ dog Where’s the red͜ door
Put͜ ten in the box Stop͜ pushing
85. 85
3) Consonant-to-vowel:
a/ Stop-to-vowel:
Ex: Drink͜ a cup͜ of tea Put͜ it͜ on
b/ Fricative/affricate-to-vowel:
Ex: Don’t crash͜ into anything
I want to move͜ into a flat with some friends.
c/ Continuant
Ex: Pull͜ over turn͜ on When͜ I Where͜ I
4) Linking /r/
Final r + initial vowel. It occurs in the word’s
spelling. Ex: her͜ own for͜ ever here͜ are
86. 86
5) Intrusive /r/: Letter a + vowel. It occurs in the
word’s spelling.
Ex: media͜ event Australia͜ and Africa
ri ræ
Formula͜ A
rei
6) Intrusive /j/
Ex: the͜ other my͜ aunt they͜ are
j j j
7) Intrusive /u/
Ex: go͜ in two͜ others
u u
87. 87
WORD STRESS
I. Definition:
- Stress is the degree of force used in
producing a syllable.
- There are three types of stress in English:
word, phrase and sentence stress.
- There are four degrees of stress: primary,
secondary, tertiary and weak stress.
- Following are some remarks about
English word stress.
88. 88
II. Stress in simple words
- A simple word is a word which consists of
a single free base/root: house, honest, etc.
- All words of more than one syllable are
stressed.
A. Two-syllable words
1) Two-syllable verb:
- If the second syllable of the verb contains
a long vowel or diphthong or if it ends with
more than one consonant, that second
syllable is stressed.
89. 89
Ex: applý, arríve, attráct, assíst
- If the second syllable contains a short
vowel and one or no final consonant, the
first syllable is stressed.
Ex: énter, énvy, ópen, équal
- If the second syllable contains /ƏU/, it is also
unstressed.
Ex: fóllow, bórrow
Exception: permít, admít, commít
2) Two-syllable adjectives:
- They are stressed the same as two syllable
90. 90
verbs.
Ex: devíne, corréct, alíve, lóvely, éven, hóllow
- exceptions: hónest, pérfect
(The first syllable is stressed though they end
with 2 consonants).
3) Two-syllable nouns:
- If the second syllable contains a short vowel,
the stress will usually come on the first
syllable.
Ex: estáte, ballóon, desígn
4) Two-syllable adverbs and prepostions:
91. 91
They are stressed the same as verbs and
adjectives.
B. Three-syllable words.
1) Three-syllable verbs:
- If the last syllable contains a short vowel
and ends with not more than one
consonant, that syllable will be unstressed,
and stress will be placed on the preceding
syllable.
Ex: encóunter, detérmine
92. 92
- If the last syllable contains a long vowel or
diphthong and ends with more than one
consonant, that final syllable will be stressed.
Ex: entertáin, resurréct
2) Three-syllable nouns
- If the last syllable contains a short vowel or
/ƏU/, it is unstressed and if the syllable
preceding this final syllable contains a long
vowel or diphthong or if it ends with more than
one consonant, that middle syllable will be
stressed.
93. 93
Ex: mimosa /mim’ƏUzƏ/ disaster /dizástƏ/
potato/pƏtéitƏu/ synopsis /sin’ɔpsis/
- If the last syllable contains a short vowel
and the middle syllable contains a short
vowel and ends with not more than one
consonant, both final and middle syllables
are unstressed and the first syllable is
stressed.
Ex: quantity /kw’ɔntiti/ emperor /’empƏrƏ/
cinema /’sinƏmƏ/ custody /’kʌstƏdi/
94. 94
- If the last syllable contains a long vowel
or diphthong and/or ends with more than
one consonant, the first syllable will be
stressed. The last syllable is usually quite
prominent so that in some cases it could
be said to have secondary stress.
Ex: alkali /lklai/ stalactite /stltait/
intellect /’intlekt/ marigold /mrigld/
3) Three-syllable adjectives:
They are stressed the same as three-
syllable nouns.
95. 95
Ex: ópportune /’ɔpƏtjun/
dérelict /dérƏlikt/
ánthropoid /’ænθrƏpɔid/
ínsolent /ínsɔlƏnt/
III. Stress in complex words:
A complex word is a word which consists of
a bound / free base + an affix.
Ex: careful, dishonest, worker, prelude,
terminate, rupture
Affixes will have effects on word stress.
96. 96
1) Prefixes and stress
- Stress in words with prefixes is governed by
the same rules as those of words without
prefixes.
Ex: semi-detáched, semi-cónscious
- But it is also irregular.
Ex: sémi-circle, sémibreve
2) Suffixes and stress
1. Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves:
AIN: entertaín, ascertaín.
99. 99
FY: glóry > glórify
WISE: óther > ótherwise
Y: fun > fúnny
3. Suffixes that influence stress in the base:
a/ Primary stress on the last syllable of the
base:
EOUS: advántage > advantágeous
GRAPHY: phóto > photógraphy
IAL: próverb > provérbial
100. 100
IC: clímate > climátic
ION: pérfect > perféction
IOUS: ínjure > injúrious
ITY: tránquil > tranquílity
IVE: réflex > refléxive
b/ The suffixes: ANCE, ANT, ARY
- A single-syllable base + ANCE, ANT, ARY:
The stress is on the first syllable.
Ex: Sérvant bínary
101. 101
- A two-syllable base +ANCE, ANT, ARY:
The stress is on the second syllable of the
base if this syllable contains a long vowel
or a diphthong or if it ends with more than
one consonant.
Ex: importance /impɔ:tns/
centenary /sentí:nƏri/
- Otherwise, the first syllable of the base
receives the stress.
Ex: consonant /k’ɔnsƏnƏ nt/
military /mílitƏri/
102. 102
IV. Stress in word-class pairs:
There are pairs of 2-syllable words with the
same spelling which have stress on the
first syllable when they are nouns or
adjectives and on the second syllable
when they are verbs.
Noun or adjective Verb
Ex: rébel rebél
présent presént
pérfect perféct
éxport expórt
103. 103
V. Stress in compound words:
- A compound word is a word which
consists of 2 free bases.
Ex: housework, ice cream, desk clerk
- Different ways of writing compound words
* as one word: armchair, sunflower
* with words separated by a hyphen: gear-
change, fruit-cake
* with two words separated by a space:
desk lamp, battery charger.
104. 104
- Types of compound words Stress patterns
1. Noun+noun: typewriter Stress on the first elem
2. Adj+noun+ed: bad-tempered second
3. Number+noun: second-class second
4. Compounds functioning as
adverbs: down-stream second
5. Adverb+2nd element (as
verbs): ill-treat, down-grade second
105. 105
VI. Stress in words groups (phrases or
sentences)
- Picture words (content words) are usually
stressed
- Grammatical words (function words) are
usually not stressed.
- Stress-moving: bad-témpered >
bád-tempered téacher
106. 106
Phrase and sentence stress
I. Introduction:
1) To mark word stress, we use only one
degree of stress i.e. the primary stress (‘).
To show the stress of a phrase or
sentence, four degrees of stress ( ‘ ^ ` ˘ )
are used.
2) Four degrees of stress:
- Primary stress : ‘
- Secondary stress: ^
107. 107
They are called major stress.
- Tertiary stress: `
- Weak stress : ˘
3) The general rule of phrase and sentence
stress:
- Content words (nouns, demonstratives,
adjectives, adverbs, verbs) often receive
the major stress meanwhile function words
(prepositions, auxiliaries, conjunctions and
pronouns) usually carry the minor stress.
108. 108
- The primary stress is put on the most
important word in a phrase or sentence.
And there is only one primary stress in
each phrase or sentence.
II. The use of the 4 degrees of stress:
A. The uses of ˘:
1. Unstressed syllable: cŏntínue
2. Title: Măss Whíte
3. a, an, the, some: ăn élĕphănt
4. pronoun IT as object: ĕxchánge ĭt
5. modal CAN & ãuilỉay BE in affirmative
109. 109
sentences: Wè wĕre wóndĕring.
B. The ues of `:
1. subject pronouns & contractions:
Thèy’re cómĭng.
2. posessives: mỳ ŏccǔpátĭon.
3. prepositions: wìth Jóhn
4. all modals & auxiliaries in questions:
Mày Ì réad ĭt
5. all modals & auxiliaries in affirmative
sentences except BE & CAN:
110. 110
Ì mìght wórry (but: Ì căn cóme)
6. the second element in a compound noun:
óffice mànăgĕr scíĕnce tèachĕr
7. phrasal verbs:
Shè tùrned ón Shè tùrned ĭt ón.
Shè tùrned ȏn thĕ líght.
8. object pronouns except IT: cáll ùs
but: gét ĭt
111. 111
C. The uses of ^:
1. material nouns in compound nouns:
cȏttŏn shírt
2. adjective modifying a noun ≠ adjective in
a compound noun:
bláckbòard ≠ blâck bóard
3. descriptive and numeral adjectives:
lârge cóntĭnĕnt fîve schóols
4. verb-noun object in affirmative sentences
& questions:
sêe Jóhn Dìd yòu stûdy thĕ léssŏn?
112. 112
5. verb-gerund:
stôp réadĭng stôp réadĭng thĕ pápĕr
6. verb-adverb of time, place, manner:
sîgn hére
7. adverb of frequency: sêldŏm wént
8. adverb of intensity: quîte góod
9. nouns & compound nouns as subjects:
Thĕ grôcĕry stòre ĭs ópĕn
10. the word NOT in full form & in
contraction:
Hè’s nôt cómĭng. Hè îsň’t cómĭng
113. 113
11. the word PLEASE:
Plêase fínd ĭt.
12. question words:
Whên dìd yòu ărríve?
114. 114
ENGLISH INTONATION
There are three basic English tunes.
- Falling intonation
- Rising intonation
- Sustained intonation. (combination of
tunes 1 + 2)
FALLING INTONATION
I. Uses of falling intonation (tune 1)
The falling intonation is used in the
following cases:
115. 115
1) Statements.
2) Wh-questions.
3) Imperatives.
II. How to describe it?
Following are the 2 steps:
1) Intonation markings: Identiying the tonic
syllables by using the intonation markings.
2) Graphic description: Notice that:
a/ The voice descends step-wise on each
stressed syllable. Unstressed syllables are
116. 116
on the same level as the preceding
stressed syllable.
b/ To avoid monotony because of a
continuous descent, you can make your
voice rise at any convenient stressed
syllable (optional rising mark: ) but not as
high as the first stressed syllable.
c/ For longer statements, break them into
different tunes 1(This vertical stroke I
shows the completion of one tune).
117. 117
III. Illustrative examples:
1) Statements:
I am surprised that you haven’t forgot me.
. . -
2) Wh-questions:
Where did you put my hat?
-
3) Imperatives:
Shut the door.
-
118. 118
RISING INTONATION
l. Uses of rising intonation (tune 2)
It is used in:
1) Yes-no questions
2) Imperatives as requests or statements as
remarks of any emotion.
II- How to describe it?
1) Intonation markings: identifying the tone
units by using the intonation markings.
2) Graphic description: The voice descends
119. 119
step-wise at each stressed syllable and
then rises.
III. Illustrative examples:
1) Yes-no questions:
Did you see me leave the house?
- .
2) Imperatives as requests or statements
as remarks of any emotion.
Don’t go away!
-
120. 120
That’s funny.
-
SUSTAINED INTONATION
I. Definition:
Sustained intonation is the ccombination of
falling and rising tunes.
II. Uses of sustained intonation:
1) Subordinate clause: tune 2 + main clause
: tune 1
When he came, I asked him to wait.
121. 121
2) Main clause: tune 1 + subordinate
clause: tune 2
I asked him to wait when he came.
3) Main clause: tune 1 + Adverb phrase:
tune 2
I’ll ask him myself, if necessary.
4) Tag-questions-falling: statement: tune 1
+ tail: tune 1
122. 122
It’s a fine day, isn’t it? (yes, it is)
5) Tag-questions-rising: statement: tune 1 +
tail: tune 2
It’s a fine day, isn’t it? (yes, it is or No, it isn’t)
123. 123
Exercises
1) Circle the words that contain:
1. a low vowel: weed, wad, load, lad, rude
2. a high vowel: sat, suit, got, meet, mud
3. a front vowel: gate, caught, cat, kit, put
4. a back vowel: maid, weep, coop, cop, good
2) Write the symbol that corresponds to each of
the following descriptions; then give an English
word that contains this sound:
124. 124
1. low front vowel
2. long high back vowel
3. short front high vowel
3) What is the difference between vowels
and consonants?
4) Circle the words that end with:
1. A nasal: rain, rang, dumb, eat
2. A stop: lip, lit, group, crab, dog, hide,
back
3. An affricate: much, back, edge, ooze
125. 125
5) Write the symbol that corresponds to
each of the following descriptions; then
give an English word that contains this
sound:
Example: voiced alveolar stop > /d/: dog
1. voiced bilabial stop.
2. Voiceless alveolar stop.
3. Velar nasal.
4. Voiceless alveolar fricative.
5. Voiced affricate
126. 126
6. palatal glide.
7. Voiced interdental fricative.
8. Voiceless labio-dental fricative
6) Circle the words that begin with:
1. A bilabial consonant: mat, gnat, sat, bat,
rat, pat.
2. A velar consonant: knot, got, lot, cut,
hot, pot.
3. A labio-dental consonant: fat, cat, that,
mat, chat, vat.
127. 127
4. An alveolar consonant: zip, nip, lip, sip, tip,
dip.
5. An alveo-palatal consonant: sigh, shy, tie,
thigh, thy, he.
7. In what cases are consonants syllabic? Give
illustrative examples.
8. Comment on the degree of voicing of the
following plosives:
1. Peter 2. peak 3. ladder
4. deer 5. top 6. toad
128. 128
9. Analyse the syllabic structure of the following
words:
a) One-syllable words
1. cure 2. thwart 3. huge
4. shriek 5. square 6. stew
7. sprawl 8. splice 9. sphint
b) Multi-syllable words:
1. other 2. explode 3. translate
4. wonderful 5. salute 6. condition
7. paragraph 8. beautiful 9. middle
129. 129
10. Transcribe the following words phonemically and
phonetically, paying attention to the allophones of
the phonemes.
1. bake 4. bored 7. speed 10. car
2. goat 5. guard 8. partake 11. bad
3. doubt 6. peak 9. book 12. appeared
11. Give the phonetic transcription and explain the
changes if there are any:
1) Good boy, good chip.
2) This sharp pen is mine, and that pen is yours.
130. 130
3) Ten boys met and said good morning.
4) That pen, that men, that boy, that cup,
that girl.
5) This shop, this year, has she?
6) Ten pens, ten boys, ten men, ten cups,
ten girls.
12. Make necessary changes in these for
casual speech:
1) Have you seen my sports shirts?
2) That’s impolite of you to say it.
131. 131
13. The following utterances are given in
spelling and in a slow, careful phonemic
transcription. Rewrite the phonemic
transcription as a “broad phonetic” one so
as to show likely assimilations, elisions and
linking.
1) One cause of asthma is supposed to be
allergies
2) What the urban population could use is
better trains.
3) She acts particularly well in the first
scene.
132. 132
14. Put an accent mark over the main stressed
syllable of the following words:
a. politician b. democratic c. personality
d. secretary e. manipulate f. nobility
g. particular h. comedian i. grammatical
j. geography
15. Put the stress marks on the following
words:
a. shop-fitter b. open-ended c. Japanese
d. birth-mark e. anti-clockwise f. confirmation
133. 133
16. Mark the stress over the following
phrases & sentences according to their
four degrees of stress.
1. pronounce it. 2. Dr. Baker
3. silk dress 4. singing birds
5. understand him 6. She overslept
7. He’s my science teacher.
8. Does he know it?
9. I have to put away the car.
10. They realize the difficulty.
134. 134
17. Describe the intonation of the following
sentences graphically:
1. If you like, I’ll send the car for you.
2. Where have you put it?
3. That’s right.
4. Must you go now?
5. You’re wondering who I am, aren’t you?
6. Did you have a good holiday?
7. You must take him home.
8. I prefer red if you’ve got it.