This document provides an overview of phonetics and phonology. It discusses: 1. Phonetics is the scientific study of human speech sounds, including their production (articulatory phonetics), transmission (acoustic phonetics), and perception (auditory phonetics). 2. Phonology studies how speech sounds are organized and pattern in a given language. It focuses on a particular language, whereas phonetics studies speech sounds more generally. 3. The document outlines the major consonant and vowel sounds in English, and discusses topics like place and manner of articulation, stress, intonation, assimilation and dissimilation rules.

1. Raj Wali Khan
Lecturer in English
university of Lahore
rwalikhan@gmail.com
1

2. Phonetics
The word “ Phone” means sound and “tics” means scientific or
systematic study of something. So we can say that Phonetics means
scientific or systematic study of human speech sounds.
Phonetics is general study of all human speech sounds and how they
are produced, transmitted and received.

3. Branches of Phonetics
The study of phonetics can be divided into three main branches.
1. Articulatory Phonetics(How sounds are produced?)
2. Auditory Phonetics(How sounds are received?)
3. Acoustic Phonetics(How sounds are transmitted?)

4. Articulatory Phonetics
It is concerned with the positions and
movements of the lips, tongue, and other
speech organs in producing speech. It
analyses how the various speech sounds are
articulated by vocal organs.

5. Auditory Phonetics
Auditory Phonetics is the study of hearing
and the perception of speech sounds.

6. Acoustic Phonetics
This branch of phonetics is concerned with the properties of sound
waves.
It studies the physical properties of speech sounds as transmitted
between the mouth and ear.

7. Phonology
Phonology is a broader study of major
speech sounds and their organization in a
particular language.

8. Difference Between Phonetics & Phonology
The difference between Phonetics & Phonology is
that of generality and particularity.
PHONETICS
Phonetics deals with
production,
transmission and
reception of all human
speech sounds in
general with no
particular reference to
any one language.
PHONOLOGY
Phonology deals with
the ways those
sounds are organized
in a particular
language. It is sub-
category of
phonetics.

9. Why the study of Phonetics is
important?
A knowledge of Phonetics is essential for a learner of the English
language. This knowledge enables him/her:
1. To give a true description of sounds of English and how they are
made.
2. To point out the mistakes in leaner’s pronunciation and help them
learn the correct form.
3. To differentiate sounds of English from those of the mother tongue.

10. Organs of speech

11. Classification of English Sounds
The English Language sounds are classified into two main streams:
1. Consonants
2. Vowels
Consonants:
A Consonant is a sound that is articulated with complete or partial
closure of the air stream by constriction of speech organs.
There are 24 consonants in English.

12. English consonant sounds

13. Plosives
There are six plosive consonants in English. These are the sounds
formed by means of a complete closure of the air passage, which is
afterwards released suddenly.
These are given as followed:
/p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/
pen bet tea dress kind good

14. Aspiration
Aspiration is a period during which air escapes through vocal cords,
making a sound like “h”.
There are three plosives in English Phonology which are aspirated when
they are pronounced as initial sounds in a word.
They are symbolized as:
/ph/ /th/ /kh/
e.g. Pet /phet/ Tailor /theɪlə/ Cool /khu:l/

15. Fricatives
In production of Fricatives, articulators move
towards each other to make stricture or
obstruction in flow of air but air cannot be stopped
completely and it escapes through narrow passage
with friction or hissing sound.
Fricatives are 9 in number.
/f / /v/ /s/ /z/ /θ/ /ð/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /h/
Fine very song zeal through these sheet treasure hay

16. Nasal
There are three nasal sounds in English. These sounds are pronounced
or uttered by escaping the air (partially or completely) through nasal
cavity.
These are given as followed:
/m/ /n/ /ŋ/
Miss nine sing
Melancholy Naïve Finger

17. Affricates
There are two affricate sounds in English. These are the sounds formed
by means of a complete closure of the air passage which is afterwards
released slowly with friction.
/tʃ/
/dʒ/
Chair germ

18. Lateral
There is only one sound in English. While uttering this sound air escapes
along the both sides of the tongue.
/l/
Like, life, silly

19. Approximants/Semi-Vowels
There are three semi-vowels. These sounds are phonetically vowels and
phonologically consonants. Phonetically means their mechanism of
producing the sound is same as vowels because there is no obstruction
in flow of air.
But phonologically, they give sounds like consonants.
/w/ /r/ /j/
Wine read young

20. The place of articulation
Bilabial [p], [m]. Speech /spiːtʃ/
Labio-dental [f]. Fat /fæt/
Dental .[ð] those /ðəʊz/
Alveolar e.g. [t] try /traɪ/
Palatal e.g..[j]. Yet /jet/
Palato-alveolar [ʃ] share /ʃeə(r)/
Velar e.g. [k]. Kill /kɪl/
Glottal e.g. [h] house /haʊs/
Retroflex [r] reverse /rɪˈvɜː(r)s/

21. A Diagram of English Vowels

22. Kinds of vowels
monophthong e.g. [u]
diphthong e.g. [au] [uə]
triphthong e.g. [auə]

23. Phonology
It is the study of sounds system and the way we can discover the
unconscious systems underlying speech.
It is the patterning of the sounds in a practical manner which we call the
performance.
Fact but not cfta atfc or ctaf.
Phoneme: the minimal unite of sound that can change the meaning
as,
pat & cat [p] or [k] sound
Allophones: the variants of same sound is called allophones as
kh~al (skin) Kal (time)
Pat speak

24. Assimilation rules
It is the process of making one sound like neighboring one with respect
to some features.
Sandwich
I can be ready in five minutes
I can go with you .

25. Dissimilation rules
Rules of dissimilation cause two neighboring sounds to become less
alike with respect to some features:
Latin Turture--------- turtle
purpre----------- purple
Marmor---------- marmle-------- marble

26. Supra-segmental features
 stress
 pitch
 tone
 Intonation
They relate to aspects of pronunciation that go
beyond the production of individual segments.

27. Stress and pitch
stress is the relative emphasis/ prominence given
to syllable in a word, as
record (N) record(V)
Rebel (n) rebel (v)
Pitch: the tonal variation in which a word is pronounced in such a way
that makes difference in meaning.
Mandarin chines have four tones:
[ma] mother high level tone [ma] hemp high rising tone
[ma] horse low falling [ma] scold high falling tone

28. Intonation:
Variation in the pitch across a longer stretch of
speech is known as intonation. One syllable stands
out as most prominent. This stressed syllables is
called intonation nucleus. As
Three CHILDERN were sitting on the beach.
Three children were siting on the BEACH,
Three children were SITTING on the beach.

29. Syllable:
Any [portion of a word or lexeme that we can pronounce in ne may go.
Syllables are usually described as consisting a center which has little or
no obstruction to air flow and which the sound is comparatively loud
before and after this center.
◦ Minimal syllable: are or err
◦ Onset : bar key more
◦ Onset +coda : run sat , fill .
◦ Sixths

30. English syllable structure

31. Elision
Under certain circumstances sounds disappear or more technically that
in certain situation a phoneme may be realized as zero or have zero
realization or be deleted. It happens in rapid and casual speech , as
Lass of weak wovels after +n, l, r
Bottle ˈ[bɒt(ə)l] [ bɒtl] this we call syllabification
Loss of final “v “ in “of” as lots of them
Acts looked back =====
Phonotactic constraints: some specific restriction on sound
combination. Lp is possible in help but not initial lped etc
Pn gm are also exclude qingqi is not an English word .

32. Transcribe it at home.
I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble but not you
On hiccough, thorough, lough 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)