University of the Immaculate Conception

A. Bonifacio Street, 8000 Davao City

Graduate School
ENGL 205 | Communicative Grammar of English and Phoenetics

LESSON PHONETICS: The Sounds of Language

1
INTRODUCTION:
Language and sounds are inseparable. One who knows the sounds of the language, knows how to
combine sounds into words. When you are a speaker of the language, you know very well that each word is
a combination of distinct sounds such as /b/, /æ/, /t/, for bat (Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, 2011).
In this lesson, it is expected that we will be able to discuss the speech sounds, how they are
pronounced, and how they may be classified.

Sound Segments
 To describe speech sounds, it is necessary to know what an individual sound is, and how each
Phonetics sound differs from all others. When we know the language, we hear the individual sounds in
the study of our “mind’s ear” and are able to make sense of them.
speech
sounds Example:
A speaker of the language (English) knows that there are three sounds in the word bus. One can
segment that one sound into parts because one knows the language. And you recognize those
parts when they appear elsewhere:

Letter b u s
Sound /b/ /^/ /s/
other examples /b/, /Ɛ/, /t/ = bet /^/, /p/ = up /s/, /ɪ/, /t/ = sit

 Speakers of the English language can separate keepout into two words, keep and out because they
know the language. We do not generally pause between words, even though we may think we do.
Conversely, if one is not so familiar with how words are segmented through its sounds, one may
misinterpret the word, keepout as key pout, and not keep out.
 Some phrases and sentences that are clearly distinct when printed may be ambiguous when spoken.
Notice the following examples:
WORDS MISINTERPRETATION
Grade A Gray Day
I scream Ice Cream
The sun’s rays meet The sons raise meat

 Yet, if you know the language, you have no difficulty segmenting continuous sounds of speech.
Everyone who knows the language knows how to segment sentences into words, and words into
sounds.

Spelling and Speech

 Orthography does not represent the sounds of a language in a consistent way.
Orthography Notice the following examples:
the study of
alphabet spelling
Example 1:
Did he believe that Caesar could see the people seize the seas?
 The same sound is represented by various spelling, e, ie, ae, ee, eo, ei, ea.

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 Example 2:
My father wanted many a village dame badly.
 The same letter, a, represents various sounds as in father, wanted, many, …
Example 3:

shoot character Thomas physics deal nation

coat either rough glacial theater plain
 The combination of letters produces a single sound.
Example 4:

mnemonic autumn resign write

psychology hole debt island
 Some letters have no sound in certain words (silent letters).
Example 5:

cute (sounds like kyute; but different from coot)

fume (sounds like fyume; but different from fool)
use (sounds like yuse; but different from Uzbekistan)
 There may be no letter to represent a single sound.

 Spelling and Speech was so inconsistent that the word fish could be spelled as ghoti because gh may
sound f as in tough, o may sound i as in women, and ti may sound sh as in nation.

The International Phoenetic Alphabet

 The phoenetic alphabet utilized both ordinary letters and invented symbols.
Phoenetic Each character of the alphabet had exactly one value across all of the world’s languages.
Alphabet Someone who knew this alphabet would know how to pronounce a word written using it,
developed by the and upon hearing the word pronounced, would know how to write it using the alphabetic
members of the symbols. The table below shows the list of IPA symbols that is usually used to represent
International
Phoenetic
English speech sounds.
Association (IPA)
in 1888 to Table 3. | The Phonetic Alphabet for English Pronunciation with example words
symbolize the
sounds of all VOWELS CONSONANTS
languages IPA example IPA example IPA example IPA example IPA example

/i/ beet /ɪ/ bit /p/ pill /t/ till /k/ kill
/e/ bait /Ɛ/ bet /b/ bill /d/ dill /g/ gill
/u/ boot /ʊ/ foot /m/ mill /n/ nill /ŋ/ ring
/o/ boat /ɔ/ bore /f/ feel /s/ seal /h/ heal
/æ/ bat /a/ pot /v/ veal /z/ zeal /l/ leaf
/^/ butt /ə/ sofa /Ɵ/ thigh /ʧ/ chill /r/ reef
/ aɪ / bite / aʊ / bout /ð/ thy /ʤ/ gin /j/ you
/ ɔɪ / boy /ʃ/ shill /ʍ/ which /w/ witch
/ʒ/ measure

Other Alternatives:
IPA r ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ ʊ
Alternative ɹ š ž č ĵ Ʊ

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  Using the IPA symbols, we can now unambiguously represent the pronunciation of words. The phonetoc
transcription below gives us the actual pronunciation.
Spelling Pronunciation Spelling Pronunciation
though [ ðo ] thought [ Ɵɔt ]
rough [ r^f ] bough [ baʊ ]
through [ Ɵru ] would [ wʊd ]

Let’s Try! Decoding IPA

symbols
Activity 1 | Mission: Decoding IPA symbols
Try to decode the IPA symbols into words and find out the hidden message. Write the word below
its symbol. Have fun!

[ gret ] [ yu ] [ ɔlrƐdi ] [ no ] [ haʊ ] [ tu ] [ du ] [ it ]. [ kəŋɡrætʃuleʃns ]

_________ _______ ___________ _______ ________ ______ _______ ______ _____________________
Activity 2 | Transcribing words to IPA symbols
Transcribe the following words to its corresponding IPA symbol.

1. rude - ___________________ 2. soar - _____________________ 3. things - ______________________

4. cough - ___________________ 5. thorough - ________________________

Articulatory Phonetics
 The production of any sound involves the movement of air. Most speech sounds are produced by
pushing lung air through the vocal cords – a pair of thin membranes – up the throat, and into the mouth
or nose, and finally out of the body.
 Glottis - the opening between the vocal chords
 Larynx – the voice box where the glottis is located
 Pharynx – the tubular part of the throat above the larynx
 Oral Cavity – most commonly known as “the mouth”
 Nasal Cavity – the nose and the plumbing that connects it
to the throat, plus one’s sinuses
 Vocal Tract – its differe=t shapes result in the differing
sounds of language

In phonetics, the CONSONANTS Figure 1. | The Vocal Tract

terms consonants
and vowels refer
Consonants are produced with some restriction or closure in the vocal tract that impedes the
to types of flow of air from the lungs.
sounds, not to
the letters that  Place of Articulation
represent them. - The classification of consonants according to where in the vocal tract the airflow
restriction occurs. Movement of the tongue and lips creates the constriction,
reshaping the oral cavity (mouth) in various ways to produce the various sounds.

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1. Bilabials [ p ] [ b ] [ m ] - When we produce these sounds,
we articulate by bringing both lips together.
2. Labiodentals [ f ] [ v ] - When articulate these sounds by
touching the bottom lip to the upper teeth.
3. Interdentals [ Ɵ ] [ ð ] - These sounds, both spelled th, are
pronounced by inserting the tip of
the tongue between the teeth.
* Notice youself in a mirror and say think [ Ɵɪŋk ] or these [ ðiz ]

4. Alveolars [t] [d] [n] [s] [z] [l] [r] – All of these sounds are
pronounced with the tongue raised in
various ways to the alveolar ridge
5. Palatals [ ʃ ] [ ʒ ] [ ʧ ] [ ʤ ] [ j ] – The constriction of these
sounds occurs by raising the front
part of the tongue to the palate.
6. Velars [ k ] [ g ] [ ŋ ] – These sounds ar produced by raising the
back of the tongue to the soft palate or velum.
7. Uvulars [ r ] [ q ] [ g ] – These sounds are produced by raising the Figure 2. | Place of Articulation
back of the tongue to the uvula, the freshly
protuberance that hangs down in the back of our throats.
8. Glottals [ h ] – the sound is from the flow of air through the open glottis, and past the tongue and lips
as they prepare to pronounce a vowel sound

 Manner of Articulation
- Speech sounds also vary in the way airstream is affected as it flows from the lungs up and out of
the mouth and nose. It may be blocked or partially blocked; the vocal cords may vibrate or not
vibrate.

A. Voiceless sounds – Sounds are voiceless when the vocal chords are apart so that air flows freely
through the glottis into the oral cavity.
Example: [ p ] and [ s ] in supper are both voiceless when pronounced.

B. Voiced sounds – Sounds that are produced when the vocal cords are together where the airstream
forces its way through and causes them to vibrate.
Example: [ b ] and [ z ] in buzz are both voiced when pronounced.

Let’s Try! Voiced and Voiceless

Sounds
Activity 1 | Voiced or Voiceless?
Identify the highlighted sounds if such is a voiced or a voiceless one.

1. rope [ rop ] - __________________ 2. robe [ rob ] - __________________

3. fate [fet] - __________________ 4. fade [fed] - __________________
5. rag [ræg] - _____________________ 6. rack [ræk] - _____________________
7. wreath [riƟ] - _____________________ 8. wreathe [rið] - _____________________
9. joke [ʤok] - _____________________ 10. choke [ʧok] - _____________________

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 C. Oral sounds – Sounds that are produced with the velum up, blocking the air from escaping through
the nose and the air can escape through the oral cavity (mouth).
Example: When raid [ red ] and rug [ r^g ] are pronounced, the velum is raised in the
production, preventing the air from flowing through the nose.

D. Nasal sounds – sounds that are produced when the velum is not in its raised position where the air
escapes through both the nose and the mouth.
Example: When rain [ ren ] and rung [ r^ŋ ] are pronounced, the velum is down, allowing the
air out through both the nose and the mouth when the closure is released.

ORAL NASAL
VOICED [b] [d] [g] [m] [n] [ŋ]
VOICELESS [p] [t] [k]

 Stops [ p ][ t ][ k ][ b ][ d ][ g ] – Two articulators (lips, tongue, teeth, etc.) are brought together such
that the flow of air through the vocal tract is completely blocked.
 Fricatives [ f ][ v ][ Ɵ ][ ð ][ s ][ z ][ ʃ ][ ʒ ][ h ] – Two articulators are brought near each other such
that the flow of air is impeded but not completely blocked. The air flow
through the narrow opening creates friction.
 Affricates [ ʧ ] [ ʤ ] – Are those that begin like stops (with a complete closure in the vocal tract) and
end like fricatives (with a narrow opening in the vocal tract).
 Nasals [ m ] [ n ] [ ŋ ] – A nasal articulation is one in which the airflow through the mouth is completely
blocked but the velum is lowered, forcing the air through the nose.
 Liquids [ l ] [ r ] – There is some obstruction of the airstream in the mouth, but not enough to cause any
real constriction or friction.
 Glides [ j ] [ w ] – These are produced with little obstruction of the airstream. They are always followed
by a vowel and do not occur at the end of words (Don’t be confused! Words ending in
y and w like say and saw end in a vowel sound).

Bilabial Labiodental Interdental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Stop
Voiced p [ pie ] t [ tie ] k [ kite ] (ʔ)uh-(ʔ)oh
Voiceless b [ buy ] d [ die ] g [ guy ]
Fricative
Voiced f [ fine ] Ɵ [ thigh ] s [ sue ] ʃ [ shoe ] h [ high ]
Voiceless v [ vine ] ð [ thy ] z [ zoo ] ʒ [measure]
Affricate
Voiced ʧ [ cheese ]
Voiceless ʤ [ jump ]
Nasal m [ my ] n [ night ] ŋ [ sing ]
Glide
Voiced w [ wipe ] j [ you ]
Voiceless
Liquid
Voiced l [ lye ] r [ rye ]
Voiceless

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VOWELS
Vowels are produced with little restriction of the airflow from the lungs out the mouth and/or the nose.
The quality of a vowel depends on the shape of the vocal tract as the air passes through. Vowel sounds carry
pitch and loudness. Vowels can stand alone—they can be produced without consonants before or after them.

Tongue Part of the Tongue Involved

Height FRONT CENTRAL BACK
HIGH Tense / i / - he / u / - who
Lax / ɪ / - hit / ʊ / - put
MID Tense / e / - bait / o / - boat
Lax / Ɛ / - bet / ^ / - butt / ɔ / - bore
LOW Tense */ a / - hah
Lax / æ / - hack
SPREAD ROUND
 Tongue Position
 The tongue is high in the mouth in the production of the vowels [i] and [u] in the words he [hi] and who
[hu]. In he the front part (but not the tip) of the tongue is raised; in who it is the back of the tongue.
These are both high vowels, and the [i] is a high front vowel while the [u] is a high back vowel.
 To produce the vowel sound [a] of hah [ha], the back of the tongue is low in the mouth. This vowel is
therefore a low back vowel.
 The vowels [ɪ] and [ʊ] in the words hit [hɪt] and put [pʊt] are slightly lowered tongue positions.
 The vowel [æ] in hack [hæk] is produced with the front part of the tongue low in the mouth, similar to
the low vowel [a], but with the front rather than the back part of the tongue lowered. Thus [æ] is a low
front vowel.
 The vowels [e] and [o] in bait [bet] and boat [bot] are mid vowels, produced by raising the tongue to a
position midway between the high and low vowels just discussed. [ɛ] and [ɔ] in the words bet [bɛt] and
bore [bɔr] are also mid vowels, produced with a slightly lower tongue position than [e] and [o],
respectively. Here, [e] and [ɛ] are front; [o] and [ɔ] are back.
 To produce the vowel [ʌ] in the word butt [bʌt], the tongue is not strictly high nor low, front nor back.
It is a lower midcentral vowel.

 Lip Rounding
 Vowels also differ as to whether the lips are rounded or spread. The back vowels [u], [ʊ], [o], and [ɔ] in
boot, put, boat, and bore are the only rounded vowels in English. They are produced with pursed or
rounded lips.
 The high front [i] in cheese is unrounded, with the lips in the shape of a smile.
 The low vowel [a] in the words bar, bah, and aha is the only (American) English back vowel that occurs
without lip rounding.

 Tense and Lax Vowels

 The vowels [i], [e], [u], and [o] has a slightly higher tongue position which is generally produced with
greater tension of the tongue muscles and they are often a little longer in duration than its counterpart,
[ɪ], [ɛ], [ʊ], and [ɔ]. These vowels can be distinguished by the features tense and lax.

TENSE LAX
/ a / = bat / e / = bait / ɪ / = bit / Ɛ / = bet
/ i / = beat / o / = boat / ʊ / = put / ɔ / = bore
/ u / = boot / aɪ / = high / ɔɪ / = boy / æ / = bat
/ aʊ / = how / ^ / = hut / ə / = about

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 LESSON PHONOLOGY: The Sound Patterns of Language
2
INTRODUCTION:
There are thousands of languages but only hundreds of spech sounds. Hence, languages across the
world sound different because they form different patterns in different languages. That is the reason why
English speakers have difficulty in other language’s pronunciation (such as Vietnamese or Filipino that has
an initial / ŋ / in some of their words). It is in this sense that the ability to pronounce particular sounds
depends on the speaker’s unconscious knowledge of the sound patterns of her own language or languages

Phonology refers to the knowledge of sound patters the speaker has about his
Phonology
language and the description of that knowledge that linguists try to produce. These
the study of how
patterns may be simple as the fact that / ŋ / cannot begin a syllable in the English language speech sounds
but is possible in Filipino, or as complex as why the letter “g” is silent in the word sign, but form patterns.
is pronounced in the word signature (Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, 2011).

In this lesson, it is expected that we will be able to look at some of the phonological
processes that you know and that yet may initially appear to you to be unreasonably complex. Keep in mind
that we are only making explicit what we already know, and its complexity is in a way a wondrous feature of
our own mind.

The Pronunciation of Morphemes

 Knowledge of phonology determines how we pronounce words and the parts of words we call
morphemes. Often, certain morphemes are pronounced differently depending on their context, and we
will introduce a way of describing this variation with phonological rules.

A. The Pronunciation of Plurals

SET A SET B SET C SET D

Cab cap bus child
Bag back buzz mouse
Love cuff match sheep
The final sound of the The final sound of the The final sound of the Irregularity of plural
plural nouns is [z]— plural nouns is [s]— plural nouns is a [əz] forms
voiced alveolar voiceless alveolar
fricative fricative

Allomorph  How do we know how to pronounce this plural morpheme? When faced with this type of
the variants the a question, it’s useful to make a chart that records the phonological environments in which
morpheme may each variant of the morpheme is known to occur (Allomorph).
take in different
 Moreover, to help us better understand this, we consider minimal pairs. It can be noticed
context
that cab [kæb] and cap [kæp], which respectively take the allomorphs [z] and [s] to form
the plural. Clearly, the finalsegment is responsible, because that is
where the two words differ. Minimal Pairs
two words with
Allomorph Environment different meanings
After [b], [d], [g], [v], [ð], [m], [n], [ŋ], [l], [r], [a], [ɔɪ] that are identical
[z] except for one
After voiced nonsibilant segments sound segment that
After [p], [t], [k], [f], [θ] occurs in the same
[s] place in each word.
After voiceless nonsibilant segments
After [s], [ʃ], [z], [ʒ] , [tʃ], [dʒ]
[ əz ]
After sibilant segments

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 B. Additional Examples of Allomorphs

SET A SET B SET C

gloat - gloated grab - grabbed reap - reaped
raid - raided hug - hugged poke - poked
faze - fazed kiss - kissed
roam - roamed patch - patched
suggests that if the verb ends in suggests that if the verb ends in suggests that if the verb ends in
a [t] or a [d] (non-nasal a voiced segment other than voiceless segment other than
alveolar stops), [əd] is added [d], you add a voiced [d]. [t], you add a voiceless [t].
to form the past tense

 Two further allomorphs in English are the possessive morpheme and the third person singular
morpheme, spelled s or es. These morphemes take on the same phonetic form as the plural morpheme
according to the same rules!

Phonemes: The Phonological Units of Language

 Other phonological rules apply to sounds as they occur in any morpheme in the language.
Phonemes
the basic form of
These rules express our knowledge about the sound patterns of the entire language.
a sound and are
sensed in your A. Vowel Nasalization as an Ilustration of Allophones
mind rather than
spoken or heard.  Vowels are nasalized before a nasal consonant within the same syllable. Consider the
following examples:
WORDS NON WORDS
be [bi] bead [bid] bean [bĩn] *[bĩ] *[bĩd] *[bin]
lay [le] lace [les] lame [lẽm] *[lẽ] *[lẽs] *[lem]
baa [bæ] bad [bæd] bang [bæ̃ŋ] *[bæ̃ ] *[bæ̃d] *[bæŋ]

 Phonemes are not physical sounds. They are abstract mental representations of the phonological units
of a language, the units used to represent words in our mental lexicon. The phonological rules of the
language apply to phonemes to determine the pronunciation of words. Consider this:
Allophones
beat [bit] [i] boot [but] [u] bit [bɪt] [ɪ] Each phoneme has
but [bʌt] [ʌ] bait [bet] [e] boat [bot] [o] associated with it
one or more sounds,
bet [bɛt] [ɛ] bought [bɔt] [ɔ] bat [bæt] [æ] called allophones,
bout [baʊt] [aʊ] bite [baɪt] [aɪ] bot [bat] [a] which represent the
actual sound
book [bʊk] [ʊ] boy [bɔɪ] [ɔɪ]
corresponding to
the phoneme in
 Our minimal pair analysis has revealed eleven monophthongal and various
three diphthongal vowel phonemes, namely, /i ɪ e ɛ æ u ʊ o ɔ a ʌ/ and /aɪ/, /aʊ/, environments.
/ɔɪ/.

B. Allophones of /t/
 Consonants, too, have allophones whose distribution is rule-governed. In tick we normally find an
aspirated [tʰ], whereas in stick and hits we find an unaspirated [t], and in bitter we find the flap [ɾ].
With this, we account for the following rules:
Phones
aspirated [tʰ] occurs before a stressed vowel tick A particular
unaspirated [t] occurs directly before or after /s/ stick / hits realization
flap [ɾ] occurs between a stressed vowel and bitter (pronunciation)
an unstressed vowel of a phoneme.

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 Distinctive Features of Phonemes
A. Feature Values
Distinctive
Feature  A single feature may have two values: plus (+), which signifies its presence, and minus
a feature that (–), which signifies its absence. For example, [b] is [+voiced] and [p] is [–voiced].
distinguishes one Below is an example of a matrix showing distinctive features:
phoneme from
another, hence one
word from another
B M D N G Ŋ
(equivalently known STOP + + + + + +
as phonmemic
feature) VOICED + + + + + +
LABIAL + + - - - -
ALVEOLAR - - + + - -
VELAR - - - - + +
NASAL - + - + - +

 Each phoneme in this chart differs from all the other phonemes by at least one distinctive feature.
For example, because the phonemes /b/, /d/, and /g/ contrast by virtue of their place of articulation
features—labial, alveolar, and velar—these place features are also distinctive in English.
 Vowels, too, have distinctive features. For example, the feature [±back] distinguishes the vowel in rock
[rak] ([+back]) from the vowel in rack [ræk] ([–back]), among others, and is therefore distinctive.
Similarly, [±tense] distinguishes [i] from [ɪ] (beat versus bit), among others, and is also a distinctive
feature of the vowel system.

Natural Classes of Speech Sounds

 Phonological rules often apply to natural classes of sounds. The relationships among phonological rules
and natural classes illustrate why segments are to be regarded as bundles of features. Look at the
example below:
Rule 1. Nasalize vowels before p, i, or z. Natural
Class
Rule 2. Nasalize vowels before m, n, or ŋ.
is a group of
sounds
 Rule 1 has no phonetic explanation, whereas Rule 2 does. In Rule 1, the environment is a
described by a
collection of unrelated sounds that cannot be described with a few features. Rule 2 applies small number
to the natural class of nasal consonants, namely sounds that are [+nasal], [+consonantal]. of distinctive
features

The Rules of Phonology

 Although the specific rules of phonology differ from language to language, the kinds of rules, what they
do, and the natural classes they refer to are universal.
A. Assimilation Rules
 A process that results from a sound becoming more like another nearby sound in terms of one or
more phonetic characeristics.
Example: impossible [ĩmpʰasəbəl], intolerant [ĩntʰalərə̃ nt], incongruous [ĩŋkʰãngruəs].
In effect, the rule makes two consonants that appear next to each other more similar.

B. Dissimilation Rules
 A process that results in two sounds becoming less alike in articulatory or acoustic terms; a process
in which units which occur in some contexts are lost in others.
Example: The fricative /θ/ becomes dissimilar to the preceding fricative by becoming a stop.
For example, the words fifth and sixth come to be pronounced as if they were spelled fift and sikst.

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 C. Segment Insertion and Deletion Rules
 Insertion (or Epenthesis) is the process that inserts a syllable or a nonsyllabic segment within an
existing string of segment.
Example: We insert [ə] before the plural morpheme /z/ when a regular noun ends in a sibilant, giving
[əz] as in church = churches; or insert [ə] before the past-tense morpheme when a regular verb ends
in a non-nasal alveolar stop, giving [əd] as in plant = planted.

 Deletion is a process that removes a segment from certain phonetic context which usually occurs in
rapid speech.

Example: mystery general memory funeral vigorous Barbara

These words in casual speech sound as if they were written:
mystry genral memry funral vigrous Barbra
Look at the following examples:
SET A SET B
sign [sãɪn] signature [sɪgnətʃər]
design [dəzãɪn] designation [dεzɪgneʃə̃ n]
paradigm [pʰærədãɪm] paradigmatic [pʰærədɪgmæɾək]

Rule: Delete a /g/ word initially before a nasal consonant or before a syllable-final nasal consonant.
D. Metathesis Rules
 A process that reorders or reverses a sequence of segments; it occurs when two segments in a
series switch places. These are very common to children.

Example: aminal [æ̃ mə̃ nəl] for animal and pusketti [pʰəskɛti] for spaghetti

Prosodic Phonology
A. Syllable Structure
Syllable
is a phonological  Every syllable has a nucleus, which is usually a vowel (but which may be a syllabic liquid
unit composed of or nasal)
one or more  The nucleus may be preceded and/or followed by one or more phonemes called the
phonemes syllable onset and coda.
 The nucleus + coda constitute the subsyllabic unit called a rime (note the spelling).
 A syllable thus has a hierarchical structure. Using the IPA symbol σ for the phonological
syllable, the hierarchical structure of the monosyllabic word splints can be shown:

B. Word Stress
 A stressed syllable, which can be marked by an acute accent (´), is perceived as more prominent
than an unstressed syllable. Stress can be contrastive in English. It often distinguishes between
nouns and verbs.
Look at the following examples:

10 | P a g e
 Word Stress Part of Speech Example
pérvert noun “My neighbor is a pervert.”
pervért verb “Don’t pervert the idea.”
súbject noun “Let’s change the subject.”
subjéct verb “He’ll subject us to criticism.”

 The vowel that receives primary stress is marked by an acute accent. The other stressed vowels are
indicated by a grave accent ( ` ) over the vowels (these vowels receive secondary stress).
Examples:
• rèsignátion • lìnguístics • sỳ stəmátic • fùndaméntal • ìntrodúctory

C. Sentence and Phrase Stress

 We place primary stress on the adjectival part of a compound noun (which may be written as one
word, two words separated by a hyphen, or two separate words)
Examples:
COMPOUND NOUNS
tíghtrope “a rope for acrobatics”
Rédcoat “a British soldier”
hótdog “a frankfurter”
Whíte House “the US President’s house”

 We place the stress on the noun when the words are a noun phrase consisting of an adjective followed
by a noun.
Examples:
NOUN PHRASES
tight rópe “a rope drawn taut”
red cóat “a coat that is red”
hot dóg “an overheated dog”
white hóuse “a house painted white”

D. Intonation
 In English, intonation may reflect syntactic or semantic differences. A sentence that is ambiguous in
writing may be unambiguous when spoken because of differences in the pitch contour.
Note the following examples:

Sentence 1:

 If Tristram wanted Isolde to follow him, the sentence would be pronounced with a rise in pitch on the
first syllable of follow, followed by a fall in pitch. In this pronunciation of the sentence, the primary
stress is on the word follow.

Sentence 2:

 If the meaning is to read and follow a set of directions, the highest pitch comes on the second syllable
of directions. The primary stress in this pronunciation is on the word directions.

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Sequential Constraints of Phonemes

Let’s Try! What’s the

WORD?
Without looking at your dictionary, try to check all the possible words in English.

________ blick ________ lbick ________ chut ________ ntuc

________ chack ________ Jolick ________ condstluct ________ chone

 Your knowledge of English phonology includes information about what sequences

of phonemes are permissible, and what sequences are not. Phonotatic
Constraints
Constraints: the limitations on
sequences of
 After a consonant like /b/, /g/, /k/, or /p/, another stop consonant in the same
segments
syllable is not permitted by the phonology.
 If a word begins with an /l/ or an /r/, the next segment must be a vowel.
 If the initial sounds of /tʃ/ or /dʒ/ begin a word, the next sound must be vowel. The words /tʃon/ or
/tʃæk/are possible in English (chone, chack), as are /dʒil/ or /dʒalɪk/ (jeel, jolick).
 No more than three sequential consonants can occur at the beginning of a word, and these three are
restricted to /s/ + /p,t,k/ + /l,r,w,y/. This means that spew /spju/, sclaff /sklæf/ (to strike the
ground with a golf club), and squat /skwat/ are possible words in English.

Phonological Analysis

Take note of the following data from Greek language:

[x] - voiceless velar fricative Pronunciation English Meaning Pronunciation English Meaning
[k] - voiceless velar stop [kano] “do” [çeri] “hand”
[c] - voiceless palatal stop [xano] “lose” [kori] “daughter”
[ç] - voiceless palatal fricative [çino] “pour” [xori] “dances”
[cino] “move” [xrima] “money”
Note:
Phoneme is different from [kali] “charms” [krima] “shame”
its phone. Phones are the actual [xali] “plight” [xufta] “handful”
sounds of the mental and
abstract units that differentiate [çeli] “eel” [kufeta] “bonbons”
words, commonly known as [ceri] “candle” [oçi] “no”
phonemes

 Find for minimal pairs. By analyzing the data, we find that [k] and [x] contrast in a number of minimal
pairs, for example, in [kano] and [xano], as well as [c] and [ç] also contrast in [çino] and [cino]. Therefore,
[k] and [x], and [c] and [ç] are distinctive.
 For noncontrasting phones, check for complementary distribution. One way to see if sounds are
in complementary distribution is to list each phone with the environment in which it is found:
[k] before [a], [o], [u], [r]
[x] before [a], [o], [u], [r]
[c] before [i], [e]
[ç] before [i], [e]

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 The stops [k] and [c] are in complementary distribution; [k] occurs before back vowels and [r], and never
occurs before front vowels. Similarly, [c] occurs only before front vowels and never before back vowels
or [r]. Finally, [x] and [ç] are in complementary distribution for the same reason. We therefore conclude
that [k] and [c] are allophones of one phoneme, and the fricatives [x] and [ç] are also allophones of one
phoneme.
 Look for the main phoneme. In many languages, velar sounds become palatal before front vowels.
This is an assimilation rule; palatal sounds are produced toward the front of the mouth, as are front
vowels. Thus we select /k/ as a phoneme with the allophones [k] and [c], and /x/ as a phoneme with the
allophones [x] and [ç].

Communicative Strategies in Teaching

 Communication is an important skill for every modern student to master. As their teacher, these
communicative strategies will help to enhance student’s speaking abilities, no matter their age.

1. Watch films that model conversation skills. Conversation is one of the most basic and essential
communication skills. It enables people to share thoughts, opinions, and ideas, and receive them in turn.
Although it may appear simple on the surface, effective conversations include a give-and-take exchange
that consists of elements such as: body language, eye contact, summarizing, paraphrasing, and
responding. Your students can learn the foundational elements of conversation by watching films or
videos of these interactions taking place.

2. Use technology. From audiobooks to apps, there is a multitude of technological resources you can use
for improving student communication skills. Students can listen to or read along with audiobooks to
hear how the speaker pronounces and enunciates different words or phrases.

3. Reinforce Active Listening. Communication isn’t just about speaking; it’s also about listening. Teachers
can help their students develop listening skills by reading a selection of text aloud, and then having the
class discuss and reflect on the content. Active listening also means listening to understand rather than
reply. Reinforce building good listening skills by encouraging students to practice asking clarifying
questions to fully understand the speaker’s intended message.

4. Offer reflective learning opportunities. Recording students reading selected text or videotaping
group presentations is an excellent method for assessing their communication strengths and
weaknesses. Students can reflect on their oral performance in small groups. Then, ask each student to
critique the others so that they can get used to receiving constructive criticism.

5. Find teachable moments. Whatever the age group you are working with, maximize on the everyday
happenings in the classroom environment. For example, if a student answers a question in a complicated
way, you might ask that they rephrase what they said, or challenge the class to ask clarifying questions.
If an unfamiliar word pops up in a text or on a film, pause in order for the class to search for the word in
the dictionary.

References:

 Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., and Hyams, N. (2011). An Introduction to Language, Ninth Edition. USA:
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
 Montano, E., Flores, M., Ladera, H. (2010). Proficiency in English III. Rex Book Store, Inc. Philippines:
Quezon City
 Villamin, A., Salazar, E., Alumbro, Z. (2013). Skill Builders for English Proficiency 7. Phoenix
Publishing House, Inc. Philippines: Quezon City
 Watanabe-Crockett, L (2017). 8 Methods For Effectively Improving Student Communication Skills.
Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2RvOa0Q on June 23, 2019

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