American English Phonetics and Pronunciation Practice PDF

“An excellent complement to the authors’ volume on General British English. The sections on phonetic theory are wonderfully concise and precise, and the practice material with audio recordings will prove extremely useful to any student wanting to improve their American English pronunciation.” Christian Jensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark “This much-needed up-to-date description of General American phonetics with its comprehensive practice material will be welcomed by all students of American English. A fantastic achievement.” Hiroshi Miura, Senshu University, Japan “The authors have succeeded in presenting complex material in a way that renders it accessible to beginners. The book’s solid theoretical basis and the abundance of practice material make it a must buy for both teachers and students. I’m sure I will use it in my teaching, and I’ll definitely be referring my students to this informative material.” Petr Rösel, University of Mainz, Germany American English Phonetics and Pronunciation Practice American English Phonetics and Pronunciation Practice provides an accessible introduction to basic articulatory phonetics for students of American English. Built around an extensive collection of practice materials, this book teaches the pronunciation of modern standard American English to intermediate and advanced learners worldwide. This book provides an up-to-date description of the pronunciation of modern American English; demonstrates the use of each English phoneme with a selection of high-frequency words, both alone and in context, in sentences, idiomatic phrases, and dialogues; provides examples and practice material on commonly confused sounds, including illustrative pronunciation diagrams; is supported by a companion website featuring complete audio recordings of the practice material to check your pronunciation against; can be used not only for studying pronunciation in the classroom but also for independent practice. American English Phonetics and Pronunciation Practice is essential reading for any student studying this topic. Paul Carley is a lecturer in English at Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences, Jeddah, and has held posts at the University of Leicester, the University of Bedfordshire, and the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. He is a regular lecturer at the UCL Summer Course in English Phonetics. Inger M. Mees is an associate professor in the Department of Management, Society, and Communication at the Copenhagen Business School. She has formerly held lectureships at the universities of Leiden and Copenhagen. She is on the academic staff of the UCL Summer Course in English Phonetics. American English Phonetics and Pronunciation Practice Paul Carley and Inger M. Mees First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 Paul Carley and Inger M. Mees The right of Paul Carley and Inger M. Mees to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Carley, Paul (Linguist), author. | Mees, Inger M, author. Title: American English phonetics and pronunciation practice / Paul Carley and Inger M. Mees. Description: 1. | New York : Taylor and Francis, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019026217 (print) | LCCN 2019026218 (ebook) | ISBN 9781138588530 (paperback) | ISBN 9781138588516 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429492228 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: English language—United States—Phonetics. Classification: LCC PE2815.C37 2019 (print) | LCC PE2815 (ebook) | DDC 421/.58—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026217 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026218 ISBN: 978-1-138-58851-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-58853-0 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-49222-8 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC Visit the companion website: www.routledge.com/cw/carley Contents English phonemic transcription keyxiv Phonetic symbols and diacriticsxvi The International Phonetic Alphabetxvii Preface and acknowledgmentsxviii 1 Basic concepts 1 1.1 Pronunciation priorities 1 1.2 Phonemes and allophones 2 1.3 Spelling and sound 3 1.4 Phoneme symbols 3 1.5 The syllable 4 1.6 Stress 4 1.7 Pronunciation model 5 2 Consonants 7 2.1 The vocal tract and tongue 7 2.2 Describing consonants 9 2.2.1 Voicing 9 2.2.2 Place of articulation 10 2.2.3 Manner of articulation 10 2.2.4 Double and secondary articulations 11 2.2.5 Combining voicing, place, and manner 11 2.3 The English consonants 12 2.4 Obstruents and sonorants 12 2.4.1 Pre-fortis clipping 12 2.4.2 Obstruent devoicing 12 2.5 Stops 13 2.5.1 The stages of stops 15 2.6 Aspiration 16 2.7 Glottal plosive [ʔ] 17 2.7.1 Hard attack 17 2.7.2 Glottal replacement 18 2.7.3 Glottal reinforcement 18 viii Contents 2.8 Tapping 19 2.9 Nasal release 20 2.10 Lateral release 21 2.11 Stop sequences 21 2.12 Affricates 23 2.13 Fricatives 24 2.14 Sibilants 25 2.15 /h/ 25 2.16 Distribution of fricatives 26 2.17 Nasals 26 2.18 Distribution of nasals 27 2.19 Syllabic nasals 28 2.20 Approximants 28 2.21 Bunched /r/ 30 2.22 Distribution of /r/: rhoticity 31 2.23 Syllabic /r/ 31 2.24 Median and lateral approximants 31 2.25 Velarized /l/ 31 2.26 Syllabic /l/ 32 2.27 Semi-vowels 32 2.28 Distribution of approximants 32 2.29 Yod-dropping 33 2.30 Inflections 33 3 Practice: individual consonants 35 3.1 Stops: practice 35 3.1.1 Summary of key features 35 3.2 Voiceless bilabial plosive /p/ 36 3.3 Voiced bilabial plosive /b/ 38 3.4 Voiceless alveolar plosive /t/ 40 3.5 Voiced alveolar plosive /d/ 43 3.6 Voiceless velar plosive /k/ 45 3.7 Voiced velar plosive /ɡ/ 48 3.8 Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate /ʧ/ 50 3.9 Voiced palato-alveolar affricate /ʤ/ 51 3.10 Fricatives: practice 53 3.10.1 Summary of key features 53 3.11 Voiceless labio-dental fricative /f/ 54 3.12 Voiced labio-dental fricative /v/ 56 3.13 Voiceless dental fricative /θ/ 58 3.14 Voiced dental fricative /ð/ 60 3.15 Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ 61 3.16 Voiced alveolar fricative /z/ 63 Contents ix 3.17 Voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ/ 66 3.18 Voiced palato-alveolar fricative /ʒ/ 68 3.19 Voiceless glottal fricative /h/ 69 3.20 Nasals: practice 70 3.20.1 Summary of key features 70 3.21 Voiced bilabial nasal /m/ 71 3.22 Voiced alveolar nasal /n/ 73 3.23 Voiced velar nasal /ŋ/ 75 3.24 Approximants: practice 78 3.24.1 Summary of key features 78 3.25 Voiced palatal approximant /j/ 78 3.26 Voiced labial-velar approximant /w/ 80 3.27 Voiced alveolar lateral approximant /l/ 82 3.28 Voiced post-alveolar approximant /r/ 84 4 Practice: consonant contrasts 88 4.1 Voiceless bilabial plosive /p/ vs. voiced bilabial plosive /b/ 88 4.2 Voiceless alveolar plosive /t/ vs. voiced alveolar plosive /d/ 89 4.3 Voiceless velar plosive /k/ vs. voiced velar plosive /ɡ/ 91 4.4 Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate /ʧ/ vs. voiced palato-alveolar affricate /ʤ/ 92 4.5 Voiceless labio-dental fricative /f/ vs. voiced labio-dental fricative /v/ 93 4.6 Voiceless dental fricative /θ/ vs. voiced dental fricative /ð/ 94 4.7 Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ vs. voiced alveolar fricative /z/ 95 4.8 Voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ/ vs. voiced palato-alveolar fricative /ʒ/ 96 4.9 Voiceless labio-dental fricative /f/ vs. voiceless dental fricative /θ/ 97 4.10 Voiced labio-dental fricative /v/ vs. voiced dental fricative /ð/ 98 4.11 Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ vs. voiceless dental fricative /θ/ 99 4.12 Voiced alveolar fricative /z/ vs. voiced dental fricative /ð/ 100 4.13 Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ vs. voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ/ 101 4.14 Voiced alveolar fricative /z/ vs. voiced palato-alveolar fricative /ʒ/ 103 4.15 Voiced alveolar nasal /n/ vs. voiced velar nasal /ŋ/ 104 4.16 Voiced post-alveolar approximant /r/ vs. voiced labial-velar approximant /w/ 105 4.17 Voiced alveolar lateral approximant /l/ vs. voiced post-alveolar approximant /r/ 106 4.18 Voiceless alveolar plosive /t/ vs. voiceless palato-alveolar affricate /ʧ/ 108 4.19 Voiced alveolar plosive /d/ vs. voiced palato-alveolar affricate /ʤ/ 109 x Contents 4.20 V oiceless palato-alveolar affricate /ʧ/ vs. voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ/ 111 4.21 Voiced palato-alveolar affricate /ʤ/ vs. voiced palato-alveolar fricative /ʒ/ 112 4.22 Voiceless bilabial plosive /p/ vs. voiceless labio-dental fricative /f/ 113 4.23 Voiced bilabial plosive /b/ vs. voiced labio-dental fricative /v/ 114 4.24 Voiceless alveolar plosive /t/ vs. voiceless dental fricative /θ/ 115 4.25 Voiced alveolar plosive /d/ vs. voiced dental fricative /ð/ 116 4.26 Voiced labio-dental fricative /v/ vs. voiced labial-velar approximant /w/ 117 4.27 Voiced palato-alveolar affricate /ʤ/ vs. voiced palatal approximant /j/ 118 4.28 Voiceless glottal fricative /h/ vs. zero 120 4.29 Voiced velar nasal + velar plosive /ŋk/ or /ŋɡ/ vs. voiced velar nasal /ŋ/ 120 5 Vowel theory 122 5.1 Describing vowels 122 5.1.1 Tongue shape 122 5.1.2 Lip shape 124 5.1.3 Vowel labels 125 5.2 English vowels 125 5.2.1 The thought /ɔ/ vowel 125 5.2.2 The sport [o] vowel 126 5.3 Strong and weak vowels 127 5.4 Checked and free vowels 128 5.5 Monophthongs and diphthongs 130 5.6 Pre-fortis clipping 131 5.7 Rhoticity 132 5.7.1 Vowels before /r/ 133 5.7.2 R-coloring 134 5.8 Influence of dark /l/ 134 5.9 Breaking 135 6 Practice: individual vowels 136 6.1 Checked monophthongs: summary of key features 136 6.2 kit /ɪ/ 137 6.3 foot /ʊ/ 139 6.4 dress /ɛ/ 140 6.5 trap /æ/ 144 6.6 Schwa /ə/ 146 6.7 Schwar /ər/ [ɚ] 150 6.8 Free monophthongs: summary of key features 154 Contents xi 6.9 fleece /i/ 155 6.10 goose /u/ 159 6.11 palm /ɑ/ 162 6.12 The sport vowel [o] 166 6.13 Free diphthongs: summary of key features 168 6.14 face /eɪ/ 168 6.15 price /aɪ/ 171 6.16 choice /ɔɪ/ 173 6.17 goat /oʊ/ 175 6.18 mouth /aʊ/ 178 7 Practice: vowel contrasts 181 7.1 dress /ɛ/ vs. kit /ɪ/ 181 7.2 dress /ɛ/ vs. trap /æ/ 182 7.3 Schwa /ə/ vs. trap /æ/ 183 7.4 dress /ɛ/ vs. schwa /ə/ 185 7.5 palm /ɑ/ vs. schwa /ə/ 186 7.6 fleece /i/ vs. kit /ɪ/ 187 7.7 goose /u/ vs. foot /ʊ/ 189 7.8 trap /æ/ vs. palm /ɑ/ 190 7.9 price /aɪ/ vs. face /eɪ/ 191 7.10 price /aɪ/ vs. choice /ɔɪ/ 192 7.11 mouth /aʊ/ vs. goat /oʊ/ 193 7.12 dress /ɛ/ vs. face /eɪ/ 194 7.13 fleece + /r/ vs. dress + /r/: /ir/ vs. /ɛr/ 195 7.14 fleece + /r/ vs. schwar: /ir/ vs. /ər/ [ɚ] 196 7.15 palm + /r/ vs. schwar: /ɑr/ vs. /ər/ [ɚ] 197 7.16 dress + /r/ vs. schwar: /ɛr/ vs. /ər/ [ɚ] 198 7.17 sport + /r/ vs. schwar: [or] vs. /ər/ [ɚ] 199 8 Weak vowels and weak forms 201 8.1 Weak vowels 201 8.2 Syllabic consonants 202 8.2.1 Syllabic /l/ 203 8.2.2 Syllabic /n/ 203 8.2.3 Syllabic /m/ 204 8.2.4 De-syllabification 204 8.2.5 Sequences of syllabic consonants 204 8.2.6 Transcription 204 8.3 Strong forms and weak forms 205 8.4 The use of strong forms 205 8.5 Weak form contractions 206 8.6 Weak forms of BE (main verb and auxiliary) 208 xii Contents 8.6.1 Am 208 8.6.2 Are 209 8.6.3 Is 209 8.7 Weak forms of auxiliary HAVE and DO 210 8.7.1 Have 210 8.7.2 Has 210 8.7.3 Had 211 8.7.4 Do 211 8.8 Weak forms of modal verbs 212 8.8.1 Would 212 8.8.2 Will 212 8.8.3 Can 213 8.9 Weak forms of prepositions 213 8.9.1 At 213 8.9.2 For 213 8.9.3 To 213 8.10 Weak forms of personal pronouns and possessive determiners 213 8.10.1 He 213 8.10.2 Him 214 8.10.3 His 214 8.10.4 Her 214 8.10.5 Them 214 8.11 Weak forms of articles 215 8.11.1 A and An 215 8.11.2 The 215 8.12 Weak forms of conjunctions 215 8.12.1 And 215 8.12.2 As 215 8.12.3 Than 215 8.12.4 That 216 8.13 Variable weak forms 216 8.14 Non-phonemic weakening 216 8.15 Weak forms and connected speech 217 8.16 Contractions with NOT 217 9 Practice: weak vowels and weak forms 219 9.1 Syllabic consonants: practice 219 9.2 Syllabic /l/ 219 9.3 Syllabic /n/ 220 9.4 Weak forms and contractions: practice 221 9.5 Forms of BE (main verb and auxiliary) 222 9.6 Forms of HAVE (auxiliary) 223 9.7 Forms of DO (auxiliary) 226 Contents xiii 9.8 Modal verbs 226 9.9 Prepositions 228 9.10 Personal pronouns and possessive determiners 229 9.11 Articles 230 9.12 Conjunctions 230 10 Consonant clusters 232 10.1 Consonant clusters vs. consonant sequences 232 10.2 Initial clusters 232 10.3 Final clusters 233 10.4 Elision 235 10.5 Epenthesis 235 11 Practice: consonant clusters 237 11.1 Initial clusters ending in /j/ or /w/ 237 11.2 Initial clusters ending in /l/ or /r/ 238 11.3 Initial two-consonant clusters beginning with /s/ or /ʃ/ 239 11.4 Final clusters 239 11.5 First consonant = stop 239 11.6 First consonant = fricative 240 11.7 First consonant = nasal 241 11.8 First consonant = approximant 242 11.9 Final clusters with dental fricatives 243 12 Connected speech 244 12.1 Citation forms vs. connected speech forms 244 12.2 Elision 245 12.2.1 Consonant elision 245 12.2.2 Vowel elision 246 12.3 Assimilation 246 12.3.1 Place assimilation 246 12.3.2 Coalescent assimilation 247 12.3.3 Voicing assimilation 248 12.3.4 Manner assimilation 248 References and suggested reading249 Index250 English phonemic transcription key Consonants Voiceless Voiced Plosives p pet, lap pɛt, læp b bet, lab bɛt, læb t town, mat taʊn, mæt d down, mad daʊn, mæd k cap, luck kæp, lək ɡ gap, lug gæp, ləɡ Affricates ʧ chin, batch ʧɪn, bæʧ ʤ gin, badge ʤɪn, bæʤ Fricatives f fast, safe fæst, seɪf v vast, save væst, seɪv θ thigh, breath θaɪ, brɛθ ð thy, breathe ðaɪ, brið s sink, face sɪŋk, feɪs z zinc , phase zɪŋk, feɪz ʃ shy, wish ʃaɪ, wɪʃ ʒ measure ˈmɛʒər h hat hæt, – Nasals Voiced m meet, team mit, tim n nice, fine naɪs, faɪn ŋ –, sing –, sɪŋ Approximants Lateral (approximant) l late, sail leɪt, seɪl (Median)approximants j yes, – jɛs, – w wait – weɪt, – r red, dare rɛd, dɛr Notes 1 This phonemic transcription system is, with few exceptions, the same as that in the Routledge Diction- ary of Pronunciation for Current English (Upton and Kretzschmar 2017). 2 Examples show initial and final position. Note that /ŋ/ does not occur initially; /ʒ/ is virtually restricted to medial position; /h j w/ do not occur finally. 3 The voiceless/voiced contrast is found only in the plosives, affricates, and fricatives. 4 Stress is shown by [ˈ] placed before the syllable, e.g., open /ˈoʊpən/, forget /fərˈɡɛt/. 5 Syllabic consonants (Section 8.2) are shown by [ ̩ ] below the symbol, e.g., apple /ˈæpl̩ /, mission /ˈmɪʃn̩/. 6 Tapped /t/ (Section 2.8) is shown as [t̬ ] e.g., pretty /ˈprɪt̬ i/, thirty /ˈθərt̬ i/. English phonemic transcription key xv Vowels The words shown in small capitals are the keywords used throughout this book to refer to the vowels. These were first introduced in Wells (1982). Vowel Keyword Additional spellings Checked ɪ kit/kɪt/ gym, manage, busy, England, guilt ɛ dress /drɛs/ bread, friend, said, fair, vary, their æ trap /træp/ plaid ə schwa /ʃwɑ/ son, young, blood ər [ɚ] schwar /ʃwɑr/ girl, term, heard, word, journey, curry ʊ foot /fʊt/ put, would, woman Free monophthongs i fleece/flis/ neat, these, technique, belief, beer, weird ɑ palm/pɑm/ not, swan, knowledge, start, heart, memoir u goose /ɡus/ rude, soup, shoe, do, crew, tour, poor (ɔ thought /θɔt/ caught, saw, walk, broad) Free diphthongs eɪ face /feɪs/ laid, may, weigh, they, break aɪ price /praɪs/ try, lie, buy, guide ɔɪ choice /ʧɔɪs/ boy oʊ goat /ɡoʊt/ nose, blow, soul, toe [o] sport /sport/ more, four, oar, door, war aʊ mouth /maʊθ/ drown Unstressed vowels ə schwa comma, ability, useless, bonus, famous ər [ɚ] schwar collar, under, forget, Virginia, capture, martyr i fleece happy, money, hippie, mediate Notes 1 Some American accents have an additional vowel /ɔ/, which is used instead of palm /ɑ/ in the lexical sets thought and cloth (Section 5.2.1), e.g., law, loss /lɔ lɔs/. 2 The allophone of goat before /r/ is strikingly different and shown as [o], e.g., more [mor]. We have assigned it a separate keyword: sport. In accents that have an additional thought vowel, it is regarded as an allophone of thought ; see Sections 5.2.1 and 5.2.2. Phonetic symbols and diacritics This is a list of the phonetic symbols used in this book. We have not included here the sym- bols used for English phonemic transcription (see previous pages). [ç] voiceless palatal fricative, as a realization of /hj/, e.g., huge [ɦ] voiced glottal fricative, e.g., ahead [ɫ] voiced velarized alveolar lateral approximant (“dark /l/”), e.g., well [ɹ] voiced post-alveolar approximant, e.g., very [ʔ] glottal plosive, e.g., as a realization of /t/ before consonants, at school [əʔ ˈskul], or glottal reinforcement of a voiceless plosive, e.g., background [ˈbæʔkɡraʊnd] [t̬ ] tapped /t/, e.g., city [ˈsɪt̬ i] [˳] devoiced consonant, e.g., rob [rɑb̥] (normally below the symbol, but above for descending symbols, e.g., rag [ræɡ̊]) [h] aspirated, e.g., pie [pʰaɪ] [ˌ] syllabic consonant, e.g., Britain [ˈbrɪtn̩] (normally below the symbol, but above for descending symbols, e.g., bacon [ˈbeɪkŋ̍]) [ˈ] primary stress, e.g., intend /ɪnˈtɛnd/ [ˌ] secondary stress, e.g., kangaroo /ˌkæŋɡəˈru/ // phonemic transcription [] phonetic transcription orthographic form * incorrect or unattested form Preface and acknowledgments American English Phonetics and Pronunciation Practice is unique in combining an intro- duction to English phonetics with extensive material for practicing English pronunciation. It presents a twenty-first-century model of educated American English, “General American” (GA), and is supported by a website containing complete recordings of all exercises. A paral- lel version for British English is also available (Carley, Mees, Collins 2018). Modern corpus-based descriptions of colloquial English have been used to create materi- als that teach pronunciation while simultaneously practicing useful idiomatic language. Each English phoneme is demonstrated in high-frequency words in different phonetic contexts, in common phrases, in sentences, and in dialogues. Moreover, each phoneme is also exten- sively practiced in contrast with similar, confusable sounds in minimal pairs, phrases, and sentences. Beyond the segmental level of vowels and consonants, considerable attention is given to the difference between strong and weak syllables, a very important component of English rhythm, and two complete chapters are dedicated to the difficult area of consonant clusters. Learners who will benefit from the book include Learners of English as a foreign language Students of English language and linguistics Trainee English teachers Professionals wishing to speak English with clarity and accuracy Our thanks go to Whitney Byrn for reading the manuscript and making many valuable suggestions, to Trevor Forrest for the many hours he put into making the recordings, and to Joshua S. Guenter for sharing his thoughts on certain points of analysis. Naturally, the responsibility for this work and the views expressed in it are entirely our own. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the patience shown and help given by our editors at Routledge – Francesca McGowan, Nadia Seemungal-Owen, and Lizzie Cox. Paul Carley and Inger M. Mees Jeddah and Copenhagen, May 2019 Chapter 1 Basic concepts 1.1 Pronunciation priorities When learning to pronounce a new language, it’s essential to get your priorities right. The most important sounds are the ones that can change the meaning of words. These are called phonemes (see Section 1.2). If you say pin and it sounds like bin, people will misunderstand you. And if you say I hid them and it sounds like I hit them, there will also be a breakdown in communication. Furthermore, you should be aware that sounds may be pronounced differ- ently in different contexts, e.g., pre-vocalically (before vowels), intervocalically (between vowels), or pre-consonantally (before consonants). They may also be pronounced differ- ently in different positions in the word – at the beginning (initial), in the middle (medial), and at the end (final). For instance, /p/ is more like a /b/ when it occurs after /s/, e.g., port vs. sport; /r/ sounds different in red and tread, the two /t/ sounds in tight are different, and the quality of is different in goat and goal. Note that when we refer to the letters in a word – as opposed to the sounds – we show them in angle brackets, e.g., or. Pho- nemes are shown in slant brackets, e.g., /r/ or /ɛ/. The word spread would phonemically be shown as /sprɛd/. Even if people can understand what you are saying, an off-target pronunciation may still sound comical, irritating, or distracting to listeners. For instance, if you say English /r/ with a back articulation (in your throat) instead of a front articulation (with your tongue-tip), it may sound funny to people who aren’t used to it. If listeners are distracted because of a false pronunciation, they may stop concentrating on what you are trying to say. Or if they need to invest a lot of effort in deciphering what you are saying, they may lose track of your message. Furthermore, judgments of your overall ability in English are likely to be based on the impression your pronunciation makes: if you sound like a beginner, you may be treated like a beginner, even if your level is advanced in terms of grammar, vocabulary, reading, and writing. The best approach is to aim for a pronunciation that (1) can be understood without any difficulty and (2) doesn’t irritate or distract your listeners. Note that there’s more to learning the pronunciation of a language than mastering the segments (vowels and consonants). You have to pay attention to several other points. For instance, correct use of weak forms (Section 8.3) helps to get the speech rhythm right. Contractions, e.g., don’t, it’s, we’ll, improve the fluency. To make your pronunciation more authentic, it’s important to have knowledge of assimilation (sounds that change under the influence of neighboring sounds, e.g., when becomes /wɛm/ in when my) and elision (disappearing sounds, e.g., /t/ is often lost in facts). 2 Basic concepts 1.2 Phonemes and allophones Some sound differences matter a great deal, whereas others are of little significance. The ones that matter most are those that can change the meaning of otherwise identical words. In English, the words bit, bet, boat are distinguished only by the vowels; in bit, sit, wit, only the initial consonant is different. In bit, bill, bin, it’s the final consonant that brings about the change in meaning. Sounds that can distinguish meaning are called phonemes (adjective: phonemic). A pair of words distinguished by a single phoneme is called a minimal pair, e.g., bit – hit. The variety of English taught in this book (see Section 1.7) has 24 consonant phonemes and 13 vowel phonemes. Not every sound difference can change the meaning of a word. Listen carefully to feet and feed. You can hear a distinct difference in the length of the two vowels. But the native English speaker interprets these vowels as two variants of the same phoneme /i/; the different vowel lengths are the result of the influence of the following consonants /t/ and /d/. Similarly, the two /k/ sounds in keen and corn are different, the first being formed more forward and the sec- ond further back in the mouth, but English speakers hear both as variants of the phoneme /k/. When you say the /d/ in deal, your lips are unrounded during the consonant, but when you say /d/ in door, they are rounded. In deal, the vowel is unrounded, and in door, the vowel is rounded. When we say deal and door, our lips are getting ready for the vowel dur- ing the articulation of the consonant. So the lip-shape of the consonant is affected by the lip-shape of the following vowel. Each phoneme is composed of a number of such different variants. These are termed allophones (adjective: allophonic). Allophones may occur in complementary distribution or in free variation. Our deal/door example is an instance of allophones in complementary distribution. This means that the different allophones comple- ment each other; where one occurs, the other cannot occur. In other words, we can write a rule for the occurrence of the two allophones: /d/ with rounded lips occurs before lip-rounded sounds while /d/ with unrounded lips occurs before all other sounds. Vowels are shortened before voiceless consonants like /s/ while they retain full length before voiced consonants like /z/; for example, the vowel in face /feɪs/ is clearly shorter than that in phase /feɪz/. Again, the allophones are in complementary distribution. If allophones are in free variation, their occurrence cannot be predicted from the phonetic context. An example of this would be the different possible pronunciations of /t/ in word-final position, as in hat. It’s possible to pronounce the /t/ with or without glottal reinforcement (see Section 2.7.3). Many speakers vary between these two possibilities, and we cannot predict which of the two they are going to use. The glottally reinforced and non-glottally reinforced variants are therefore said to be in free variation. Unfortunately for the learner, languages generally don’t have the same phoneme system, and they certainly don’t have the same range of allophones. So the learner has to work out the phonemic inventory of the new language and all the phonetic variants. Your first task is to make sure you never lose a phoneme contrast. This isn’t easy to do in practice. Even though two phonemes may sound very similar, or identical, to the learner, to the native speaker, they are completely different. This is something native speakers and learners are often not aware of. Native speakers are frequently surprised to hear that the vowels in the English words seat /sit/ and sit /sɪt/ sound identical to speakers of most other languages, who hear them as the same vowel because they count as allophones of the same phoneme in their languages. Many learners find it difficult to separate the phonemes in Luke /luk/ and look /lʊk/. Others find it difficult to distinguish between cat /æ/, cut /ə/, and cot /ɑ/. Yet others can’t hear and/or make Basic concepts 3 the difference between the initial consonants in three /θ/ and tree /t/, or three /θ/ and free /f/, or theme /θ/ and seem /s/. In this book, we have provided exercises for 29 consonant contrasts and 17 vowel contrasts. You’ll find that some of these don’t pose a problem for speakers of your language while others will take a long time to master. If making a particular contrast isn’t difficult for you, you can still use the contrast section as extra material to help you get the two sounds just right. Note that a full command of the contrasts involves being able to say all the different allophones of a phoneme in their appropriate contexts. Remember that allophones can never change the meaning of words. English /t/ can be said in many different ways (i.e., there are many different allophones or variants), but if we substi- tute one allophone for another, the meaning remains the same. It will merely sound a bit odd. However, if we replace /t/ in tight by /s/, /f/, or /k/, then it turns into sight, fight, kite, and the result is a new word with a different meaning; /t s f k/ are therefore examples of phonemes in English. The English phoneme system is shown in the “English Phonemic Transcription Key” at the start of this book. 1.3 Spelling and sound English orthography (i.e., spelling) is notoriously unreliable. For instance, the vowel /i/ can be spelled in numerous ways. All the letters underlined in the following words represent /i/: me, see, sea, believe, receive, pizza, people, key, quay, quiche, Portuguese. Most other pho- nemes can also be spelled in many different ways, especially vowels. So instead of relying on the orthography, phoneticians use transcription. There are two types: (1) phonemic tran- scription, indicating phonemes only; this type, as we have seen, is normally placed inside slant brackets / /, e.g., part /pɑrt/. The sign – is used to show phoneme contrasts, e.g., let /lɛt/ – met /mɛt/; (2) phonetic transcription, showing more detailed allophonic distinctions, enclosed by square brackets [ ], e.g., part [phɑrt]. To indicate the allophonic distinctions, we often make use of diacritics, i.e., marks added to symbols to provide extra information, e.g., [pʰ]. The rounded allophone of /t/ is shown as [tw]; as /t/ said with unrounded lips is the default, there’s no special symbol to denote it. Sometimes words with different meanings are spelled completely differently but are pro- nounced in the same way, as in key and quay above. Such words are called homophones (same pronunciation, different meaning). English has a great many of these. Other examples of homophones are wait/weight, know/no, sea/see, cite/sight/site. To confuse matters even more, the opposite also occurs. It’s possible for words that are spelled identically to be pro- nounced differently. The written word row can be said with the vowel in goat (when it means a “line”) or the vowel in mouth (when it means a “quarrel”), and it’s therefore impossible to tell from the spelling alone which meaning and pronunciation are intended. Words of this type are called homographs (same spelling, different pronunciation). 1.4 Phoneme symbols Unfortunately, at present, there is no consensus among writers on the set of symbols used for transcribing GA. Even those, like us, who use the symbols of the International Phonetic Association’s (IPA) International Phonetic Alphabet (see p. xv) don’t necessarily use the same symbols in their transcriptions. The main reason for this is that while the IPA provides symbols to represent the range of speech sounds found in language, it doesn’t dictate how the sound system of a language should be analyzed. A further reason is that writers have different 4 Basic concepts approaches depending on whether they are writing for foreign learners, speech and language therapists, professional linguists, actors, dictionary users, and so on. In each case, there may be different traditions of transcription, differences in the linguistic knowledge of readers, dif- ferent levels of tolerance for unfamiliar symbols, and different assumptions about what needs to be made explicit and what can be taken for granted in transcriptions. In this work, we use a transcription system which is mostly phonemic but includes a small number of non-phonemic elements. We take a phonemic approach to the schwa /ə/ phoneme, using the same symbol for it in stressed and unstressed syllables (e.g., above /əˈbəv/; see Sec- tion 5.3) and the same symbol followed by /r/ when it is r-colored in stressed and unstressed syllables (e.g., murmur /ˈmərmər/; see Section 5.3). We take a non-phonemic approach to the sport [o] vowel (e.g., four /for/, sort /sort/, story /ˈstori/; see Section 5.2.2), t-tapping (e.g., city /ˈsɪt̬ i/; see Section 2.8), and syllabic consonants (e.g., kitten /ˈkɪtn̩/, rattle /ˈrætl̩ /; see Sec- tion 1.5 and Section 8.2). In these three cases we continue to use phonemic slanted brackets in this book in order to avoid the inconvenience of constantly switching between phonemic and phonetic bracketing. 1.5 The syllable A syllable is a group of sounds that are pronounced together. Words can consist of a single syllable, i.e., a monosyllable (tight, time) or of two or more syllables (polysyllabic), e.g., waiting (two syllables – disyllabic), tomato (three syllables), participate (four syllables), university (five syllables), and so on. A syllable nearly always contains a vowel (e.g., eye /aɪ/); this is called the syllable nucleus. The nucleus may be preceded or followed by one or more consonants (e.g., tea, tree, stream, at, cat, cats, stamps). The consonant or consonants preceding the nucleus are known as the syllable onset, and the consonants following the nucleus are called the coda. A group of consonants in a syllable onset or coda is known as a cluster. The English syllable can consist of clusters of up to three consonants in the onset (e.g., strengths /strɛŋθs/), and as many as four in the coda (e.g., texts /tɛksts/). Note that we are here concerned with pronunciation, so even though the word time looks as if it consists of two syllables because it has two vowel letters in the orthography, the word consists of only one syllable, as the second vowel letter in the spelling doesn’t represent a vowel sound. A syllable that has a coda (i.e., one or more closing consonants) is called a closed syllable, while a syllable that ends with a vowel phoneme is called an open syllable. Occasionally, a syllable consists of a consonant only, most frequently /n/ or /l/, e.g., Brit- ain /ˈbrɪtn̩/, hidden /ˈhɪdn̩/, mission /ˈmɪʃn̩/, middle /ˈmɪdl̩ /, apple /ˈæpl̩ /. A consonant that forms a syllable without the aid of a vowel is called a syllabic consonant. Note that we show a syllabic consonant by means of a small vertical mark beneath the symbol (with descending symbols, a superscript mark is used, e.g., bacon /ˈbeɪkŋ̍/). A word like apple /ˈæpl̩ / consists of two syllables, but only the first contains a vowel; the second contains a syllabic consonant; see Sections 2.19, 2.23, 2.26, and 8.2. 1.6 Stress Words consist of more than a set of segments (vowels and consonants) arranged in a certain order. Words of more than one syllable also have a distinctive rhythmic pattern depending on which syllables are pronounced with stress and which are not. Stressed syllables are pronounced with greater energy and effort than unstressed syllables, which results in greater Basic concepts 5 prominence, i.e., they stand out more. The first syllable in carpet is stressed and the sec- ond unstressed; the second syllable in contain is stressed and the first unstressed. Stress is indicated by means of a vertical mark placed before the stressed syllable, and unstressed syl- lables are left unmarked, e.g., /ˈkɑrpət/, /kənˈteɪn/. The position of stress in an English word is an important factor in word recognition, and there are even words that are distinguished by stress alone, e.g., the noun increase /ˈɪŋkris/ and the verb increase /ɪŋˈkris/. Some words have more than one stressed syllable. In Alabama, the first and third syllables are stressed, while in impossibility, the second and fourth syllables are stressed. In these examples, as in all cases of multiple stresses, the last stress sounds more prominent than the earlier stress, and this is why the term primary stress has been used for the last, more prominent stress and secondary stress for any earlier, less prominent stresses. Primary stress is indicated with the usual stress mark and secondary stress with the same symbol at a lower level, e.g., /ˌæləˈbæmə/, /ɪmˌpɑsəˈbɪlət̬ i/. Although the terminology and transcription seem to suggest that there are three different levels of stress – primary stress, secondary stress, and unstressed – this isn’t actually the case. There are only stressed and unstressed syllables, and the difference in prominence between the stresses in words such as Alabama and impossibil- ity is due to pitch accent. An accented /ˈæksɛntəd/ syllable is one that is accompanied by a change in the pitch of the voice. Pitch is related to the speed at which the vocal folds vibrate: faster vibration results in higher pitch and slower vibration lower pitch. When a word is pronounced in isolation, the syllable that takes primary stress is accented, i.e., accompanied by a pitch movement, usu- ally a fall in pitch. When there’s a “secondary stress” earlier in the word, this is accompanied by a step up to a relatively high pitch before the pitch movement of the “primary stress.” In terms of the English sound system, the pitch movement associated with the “primary stress” is more salient than the step up in pitch associated with the “secondary stress.” Thus, the dis- tinction between primary and secondary stress is really a difference between different kinds of pitch accent rather than stress. In this book, when individual monosyllabic words are transcribed as examples, we don’t use a stress mark, which agrees with the approach taken in most dictionaries and works on English phonetics. Every word must have at least one stressed syllable when pronounced in isolation, and therefore, it’s self-evident that the one and only syllable of a word is stressed. When we transcribe an individual polysyllabic word, we only indicate primary stress. When we transcribe utterances longer than a single word, we use the stress mark whenever a syl- lable is stressed, meaning that monosyllabic words can receive a stress mark but also that some stresses that appear when a word is said in isolation may disappear when the word is spoken in a phrase. 1.7 Pronunciation model Every language has a number of different accents. An accent is a pronunciation variety characteristic of a group of people. Accents can be regional or social. In the USA, we find many different regional accents; examples are Texas, Kentucky, New York, and Boston, spoken by most of the people who live in these areas. But unless you have reasons for specifically wishing to adopt one of these regional accents, it’s best for learners not to use these as a model for imitation. The accent of American English we recommend is one heard from educated speakers throughout the USA (and also in Canada). We shall term this social accent General American (abbreviated to GA). If you listen regularly to the American 6 Basic concepts media, you’re probably already familiar with this accent, since it’s the variety used by the majority of American presenters. It’s sometimes even called “Network E nglish.” It’s either completely non-localizable (i.e., it’s impossible to tell where speakers come from) or has very few regional traces. Thus, GA can be taken as the common denominator of the speech of educated Americans. When people alter their pronunciation (consciously or unconsciously) to sound less regional, they change in the direction of GA. When there’s an accent spectrum within a location, those at the lower end of the social scale speak with the local accent while those toward the other end of the social scale speak with an accent progressively more like GA. The English we describe in this book is the speech of the average modern General Ameri- can speaker. Old-fashioned usages have been excluded, as have any “trendy” pronunciations that are too recent to have gained widespread acceptance. Chapter 2 Consonants 2.1 The vocal tract and tongue Before we discuss how the 24 English consonant phonemes are made, or articulated, let’s familiarize ourselves with the anatomy of the vocal tract (Figure 2.1) and tongue (Figure 2.2). 1 Nasal cavity 10 Tip of tongue 2 Oral cavity 11 Blade of tongue 3 Pharynx 12 Front of tongue 4 Lips 13 Back of tongue 5 Teeth 14 Root of tongue 6 Alveolar ridge 15 Epiglottis 7 Hard palate 16 Larynx, containing vocal folds 8 Soft palate (also termed “velum”) 17 Trachea 9 Uvula 18 Esophagus Figure 2.1 T he anatomy of the vocal tract 8 Consonants This diagram might appear strange to you at first. The tongue may be larger or smaller than you expected. It’s small in the sense that the tip does not extend much further from the place at which it’s attached to the lower jaw, and it’s large in the sense that it extends deep into the mouth and throat and almost completely fills the oral cavity (mouth). If we start at the bottom of the diagram, we see that there are two passages. The esophagus /ɪˈsɑfəɡəs/ (food passage) leads to the stomach, and the trachea /ˈtreɪkiə/ (windpipe) leads to the lungs. It’s the trachea that is of most interest for our purposes. During speech, air flows up from the lungs via the trachea, and the first point of interest that it meets is the larynx /ˈlɛrɪŋks/. The larynx joins the trachea to the pharynx (throat), and is a box-like structure made of cartilage. It’s larger in men than in women and is what makes the “Adam’s apple,” the lump at the front of the throat. The larynx contains the vocal folds, a pair of lip-like structures that can be brought together to close off the trachea and lungs. If there’s a need to expel something from the lungs or trachea, the vocal folds are brought tightly together, the muscles of the chest and abdomen squeeze the lungs strongly, and then the vocal folds are abruptly separated to let the trapped air below escape in an explosion that hopefully clears the blockage. This is a cough. The vocal folds also seal off the lungs to stabilize the chest during lifting or other types of physical exertion. You will notice that before you pick up something heavy, you take a breath and trap it in your lungs by bringing the vocal folds together, and then when you put the load down, you inevitably let out a gasp as you release the air you had trapped in your lungs. The next feature is the epiglottis /ɛpəˈɡlɑt̬ əs/, a flap of cartilage at the root of the tongue. It isn’t involved in making speech sounds in English. Its biological function is to fold over the entrance to the larynx during swallowing in order to guide food and drink into the esophagus. The space above the larynx and behind the root of the tongue is called the pharynx /ˈfɛrɪŋks/. It’s smaller when the tongue is pulled back in the mouth and larger when the tongue is pushed forward. There is then a possible fork in the road for the airstream. In our diagram, the soft pal- ate /ˈpælət/ (also termed velum /ˈviləm/) and the uvula /ˈjuvjələ/ at its tip are shown in the lowered position, but it’s also possible for the soft palate to form a seal against the back wall of the pharynx and close off the entrance to the nasal cavity (nose). This is known as a velic closure; see, e.g., Figure 2.3. Thus, the airstream can potentially enter both the oral and nasal cavities (as in Figure 2.1) or only the oral cavity (when the soft palate is raised and a velic closure is formed). There’s little to be said about the nasal cavity itself because its dimensions are fixed; it’s only the valve-like action of the soft palate opening and closing the entrance to it that is relevant for speech. The oral cavity is bordered by the tongue at the bottom, the palate at the top, and the lips, cheeks, and teeth at the front and sides. By opening and closing the jaw and pulling the tongue back and pushing it forward, the oral cavity can be made larger or smaller. The tongue, lower teeth, and lip move with the lower jaw while the upper teeth and lip are in a fixed position. Behind the upper front teeth is a lumpy area called the alveolar ridge /ælˈviələr/, and to the rear of that is the palate. The palate is divided into the soft palate and the hard palate. If you explore your palate with the tip of your tongue, you’ll find that it’s indeed hard and bony at the front and soft and fleshy at the back. At the very end of the soft palate is the uvula, which you can see hanging down when you look in the mirror. The position shown in Figure 2.1 is actually a slightly unusual one, but it’s useful for demonstration purposes. It shows the position assumed when breathing through the nose and mouth simultaneously. When not speaking, a healthy person would hold the jaws closer Consonants 9 Figure 2.2 Divisions of the tongue together with the lips and teeth touching; the tongue would fill the oral cavity, touching the roof of the mouth from the alveolar ridge to the soft palate; and the soft palate would be low- ered (as in the diagram) to allow for normal breathing in and out via the nose. The tongue has few obvious natural divisions in the way that the vocal tract does. H owever, phoneticians find it convenient to divide it into a number of parts when describing sounds and their articulations (see Figure 2.2). The very point of the tongue is known as the tip. The part of the tongue that narrows to the tip and that lies under the alveolar ridge is the blade of the tongue. The part that lies under the hard palate and the part under the soft palate are called the front and back of the tongue respectively. This may seem strange at first, but front and back refer to the part of the tongue used in the articulation of vowels (see Section 5.1.1) – the front is the part of the tongue used to form front vowels and the back is the part used to form back vowels. The tip and blade remain low in the mouth and are not involved in making vowels. Finally, the part of the tongue in the pharynx is the root. 2.2 Describing consonants A consonant is a speech sound that involves an obstruction of the airstream as it passes through the vocal tract. Describing a consonant involves describing the nature of the obstruc- tion, and there are three factors to be taken into consideration: voicing, place of articulation, and manner of articulation. 2.2.1 Voicing Voicing refers to the actions of the vocal folds during the articulation of a consonant. Differ- ent actions of the vocal folds produce voiced and voiceless sounds. For voiced sounds (i.e., vowels and the voiced consonants /b d ɡ ʤ v ð z ʒ m n ŋ l r j w/), the vocal folds are held gently together so that the airflow from the lungs causes them to vibrate. For voiceless sounds (i.e., the voiceless consonants /p t k ʧ f θ s ʃ h/), the vocal folds are held apart as in the position for normal breathing. It’s easiest to appreciate the voicing in sounds like /v ð z ʒ m n ŋ l r/ because these can be prolonged. Put your hand on your throat as you say them and feel the vibration. Note how the vibration stops and starts as you stop and start the consonant. 10 Consonants A number of English consonants come in pairs, the only difference between them being that one is voiceless and one is voiced. These pairs are: /f v/, /θ ð/, /s z/, /ʃ ʒ/, /p b/, /t d/, /k ɡ/, and /ʧ ʤ/. Take some of the pairs that can be easily lengthened, such as /f v/ and /s z/, and alternate between the voiceless and the voiced consonants, feeling how the vibration in your larynx stops and starts. Note that in our diagrams of consonant articulations, we use a plus sign at the larynx to indicate that the consonant is voiced and a minus sign if it’s voiceless. If both signs are included (±), both voiced and voiceless articulations are possible. 2.2.2 Place of articulation The second factor to take into account when describing a consonant is where in the vocal tract the obstruction is made. Place of articulation is described in terms of an active articu- lator that moves toward a passive articulator, which is in a fixed position (Table 2.1). Table 2.1 English consonants: place of articulation Place Active articulator Passive articulator Consonants Bilabial Lower lip Upper lip /p b m/ Labio-dental Lower lip Upper incisors /f v/ Dental Tongue-tip Upper incisors /θ ð/ Alveolar Tongue-tip Alveolar ridge /t d n s z l/ Post-alveolar Tongue-tip Rear of alveolar ridge /r/ Palato-alveolar Tongue-tip, blade, and front Alveolar ridge and hard palate /ʧ ʤ ʃ ʒ/ Palatal Front of tongue Hard palate /j/ Velar Back of tongue Soft palate /k ɡ ŋ/ Glottal Vocal folds Vocal folds /h/ Labial-velar Back of tongue Soft palate /w/ Lips Lips The lip-rounding of labial-velar /w/ and positioning of the vocal folds for glottal /h/ cannot be analyzed in terms of passive and active articulators because they involve two elements moving toward each other (the corners of the mouth for /w/ and the two vocal folds for /h/). The lips and vocal folds are therefore classified as both active and passive in our table. We refer to /r/ as post-alveolar, but see Section 2.21 for a discussion of an alternative place of articulation for this consonant. Take some time to silently articulate the consonants listed in the table (or at least those you are confident you can correctly pronounce) in order to identify the different places of articulation. 2.2.3 Manner of articulation Manner of articulation is the term used to describe the kind of obstruction involved in articulating a consonant. The five manners of articulation found in English are Plosive: A complete closure is formed in the vocal tract, blocking the airstream, and then released. The GA plosives are /p b t d k ɡ/. Fricative: A narrowing is formed in the vocal tract, causing turbulence and fricative noise as the airstream is forced through. The GA fricatives are /f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h/. Consonants 11 Affricate: A complete closure is formed in the vocal tract, blocking the airstream, and then released slowly, resulting in homorganic friction (i.e., fricative noise at the same place of articulation). The GA affricates are /ʧ ʤ/. Nasal: A complete closure is formed in the oral cavity, the soft palate is in the lowered position, and air exits via the nose. The GA nasals are /m n ŋ/. Approximant: A narrowing is formed in the vocal tract, but one not narrow enough to cause turbulence and noise as in the case of a fricative. The GA approximants are /r l j w/. Explore what these terms really mean by articulating some of the consonants you are confi- dent of and feeling the different manners of articulation. 2.2.4 Double and secondary articulations English /w/ is an example of a double articulation, meaning that two articulations of equal magnitude (i.e., two primary articulations) take place at the same time – an approximant articulation between the back of the tongue and the soft palate and another approximant articulation consisting of the rounding of the lips. Other double articulations are possible but do not occur in English. In the case of secondary articulations, the primary articulation is accompanied by an artic- ulation of lesser magnitude. Examples of this in GA are the labialization (i.e., lip-rounding) accompanying /ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ r/ (see Sections 2.5, 2.13, and 2.20) and the approximation of the back of the tongue to the soft palate (velarization) that accompanies /l/ (see Section 2.25). 2.2.5 Combining voicing, place, and manner When we bring together the key factors of voicing, place of articulation, and manner of articulation, each English consonant phoneme has its own unique label that phoneticians use when referring to them. /p/ voiceless bilabial plosive /s/ voiceless alveolar fricative /b/ voiced bilabial plosive /z/ voiced alveolar fricative /t/ voiceless alveolar plosive /ʃ/ voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /d/ voiced alveolar plosive /ʒ/ voiced palato-alveolar fricative /k/ voiceless velar plosive /h/ voiceless glottal fricative /ɡ/ voiced velar plosive /m/ voiced bilabial nasal /ʧ/ voiceless palato-alveolar affricate /n/ voiced alveolar nasal /ʤ/ voiced palato-alveolar affricate /ŋ/ voiced velar nasal /f/ voiceless labio-dental fricative /j/ voiced palatal approximant /v/ voiced labio-dental fricative /w/ voiced labial-velar approximant /θ/ voiceless dental fricative /l/ voiced alveolar lateral approximant /ð/ voiced dental fricative /r/ voiced post-alveolar approximant Strictly speaking, the IPA symbol for a voiced post-alveolar approximant is [ɹ], but when making practical phonemic transcriptions for various languages, phoneticians often replace “exotic” symbols with the nearest “non-exotic” symbol for the sake of ease of printing and writing. In such cases, there’s no danger of confusion because the description of the sounds is included with the symbols, as we do here. Note that in the IPA chart (see p. xv) the term post-alveolar is used for /ʧ ʤ ʃ ʒ/, but we prefer the term traditionally used for English, palato-alveolar, because it better describes the English articulations. 12 Consonants 2.3 The English consonants Table 2.2 conveniently summarizes the voicing, place, and manner of articulation of the 24 English consonants. Within each cell, the sound on the left is voiceless and the one on the right is voiced. Table 2.2 English consonant grid Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Post- Palato- Palatal Velar Glottal Labial- dental alveolar alveolar Velar Plosives pb td k ɡ Affricates ʧ ʤ Fricatives fv θ ð sz ʃ ʒ h Nasals m n ŋ Approximants l r j w 2.4 Obstruents and sonorants Table 2.2 reveals that consonants fall into two groups: those that typically come in voiceless and voiced pairs (obstruents) and those that do not (sonorants). Plosives, affricates, and fricatives are obstruents /ˈɑbstruənts/, the most consonant-like of the consonants, involving the great- est degree of obstruction to the airstream. Nasals and approximants are sonorants /ˈsɑnərənts/ (as are vowels) and are the least consonant-like of the consonants, involving a lesser degree of obstruction. 2.4.1 Pre-fortis clipping Voiceless (also known as fortis) obstruents shorten sonorants that precede them in the same syllable. This phenomenon is termed pre-fortis clipping and is most often discussed in rela- tion to vowels (see Section 5.6), but it also affects sonorant consonants, for example: /m/ lump /ləmp/, lymph /lɪmf/ /n/ bent /bɛnt/, wince /wɪns/, bench /bɛnʧ/ /ŋ/ bank /bæŋk/ /l/ help /hɛlp/, belt /bɛlt/, sulk /səlk/, belch /bɛlʧ/, golf /ɡɑlf/, health /hɛlθ/, else /ɛls/, Welsh /wɛlʃ/ /r/ sharp /ʃɑrp/, short /ʃort/, fork /fork/, march /mɑrʧ/, scarf /skɑrf/, north /norθ/, scarce /skɛrs/, marsh /mɑrʃ/ 2.4.2 Obstruent devoicing Although we have so far referred to English consonants as either voiceless or voiced, Eng- lish voiced obstruents are actually only potentially fully voiced. Depending on the phonetic context, they are often partially or even completely devoiced /diˈvɔɪst/ (i.e., they partially or completely lose their voicing). For this reason, the terms fortis and lenis are sometimes used for voiceless and voiced instead. Fortis means strong, while lenis means weak, which reflects the fact that voiceless obstruents are articulated more forcefully than voiced obstru- ents. Force of articulation is a difficult feature to perceive, and many learners are confused Consonants 13 by these terms because they feel that voiced sounds are louder and therefore strong, while voiceless sounds are quieter and therefore weak. It’s preferable, therefore, to stick with the terms voiceless and voiced, with the understanding that when we refer to English /b d ɡ ʤ v ð z ʒ/ as voiced obstruents, we actually mean “potentially” fully voiced. English voiced obstruents are typically fully voiced when they occur between voiced son- orants, i.e., nasals, approximants, and vowels: /b/ rabbit [ˈræbət] a boat [ə ˈboʊt] rub it [ˈrəb ɪt] /d/ colder [ˈkoʊldər] a dog [ə ˈdɑɡ] need it [ˈnid ɪt] /ɡ/ cargo [ˈkɑrɡoʊ] my gate [maɪ ˈɡeɪt] big oak [ˈbɪɡ ˈoʊk] /ʤ/ magic [ˈmæʤɪk] a joke [ə ˈʤoʊk] page eight [ˈpeɪʤ ˈeɪt] /v/ envy [ˈɛnvi] a view [ə ˈvju] move it [ˈmuv ɪt] /ð/ clothing [ˈkloʊðɪŋ] see this [ˈsi ˈðɪs] loathe it [ˈloʊð ɪt] /z/ easy [ˈizi] the zoo [ðə ˈzu] his own [hɪz ˈoʊn] /ʒ/ vision [ˈvɪʒn̩ ] a genre [ə ˈʒɑnrə] beige is [ˈbeɪʒ ˈɪz] English voiced obstruents are typically partially or fully devoiced when they are preceded by a pause (i.e., silence) or a voiceless consonant or when a pause or voiceless consonant follows: /b/ this book [ˈðɪs ˈb̥ ʊk] grab some [ˈɡræb̥ ˈsəm] /d/ dog [ˈd̥ ɑɡ] load [loʊd̥ ] /ɡ/ that guy [ˈðæt ˈɡ̊ aɪ] big [ˈbɪɡ̊ ] /ʤ/ joke [ˈʤ̊ oʊk] stage fright [ˈsteɪʤ̊ fraɪt] /v/ eight verbs [ˈeɪt ˈv̥ ərbz] save time [ˈseɪv̥ ˈtaɪm] /ð/ not that [ˈnɑt ˈð̥ æt] bathe [beɪð̥ ] /z/ six zones [ˈsɪks ˈz̥ oʊnz̥ ] buzz [bəz̥ ] /ʒ/ genre [ˈʒ̊ ɑnrə] beige top [ˈbeɪʒ̊ ˈtɑp] A devoiced consonant is normally shown by means of a subscript circle under the conso- nant (e.g., [b̥]), but with descending symbols, a superscript circle is used (e.g., [ɡ̊]). In the case of fricatives, the devoicing is greater before a voiceless consonant or pause than after a voiceless consonant or pause. When devoicing occurs, the difference between pairs of voiced and voiceless obstruents is less marked, but the contrast still remains – /b d ɡ ʤ v ð z ʒ/ do not become /p t k ʧ f θ s ʃ/. 2.5 Stops Plosives and affricates make up the category of stops. They have in common a combination of a velic closure and a closure in the oral cavity that results in a complete obstruction to the airstream (hence the term stop). English has three pairs of voiceless and voiced plosives at the bilabial, alveolar, and velar places of articulation. For /p/ and /b/, the lips come together and form a complete closure, stopping the air- stream (see Figure 2.3). For /t/ and /d/, a complete closure is formed by the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge and by the sides of the tongue against the upper side teeth (see Figure 2.4). For /k/ and /ɡ/, the back of the tongue forms a closure against the soft palate, and the rear of the sides of the tongue form a seal against the rear upper side teeth (see Figure 2.5). 14 Consonants Figure 2.3 English plosives /p/ and /b/ Figure 2.4 English plosives /t/ and /d/ Figure 2.5 English plosives /k/ and /ɡ/ English has a single pair of voiceless and voiced affricates at the palato-alveolar place of articulation. For /ʧ/ and /ʤ/, the tip and blade of the tongue form a closure against the rear part of the alveolar ridge, the front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate, and the sides of the tongue form a seal against the upper side teeth (see Figure 2.6). The closure is released slowly, resulting in a brief moment of homorganic friction (Figure 2.7). The primary articulation is accompanied by a simultaneous secondary articulation – rounding and protrusion of the lips. Although the phonemic symbols for the affricates consist of two elements, these phonemic affricates are single sounds, and although the first element of each symbol is the same as that used for the alveolar plosives, the place of articulation is different (as our diagrams demon- strate), the same symbols being used only for the sake of convenience. Consonants 15 Figure 2.6 English affricates /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ Figure 2.7 English affricates /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ showing palato-alveolar closure showing release with homor- ganic friction Figure 2.8 A rticulation timing diagram showing the three stages of a stop 2.5.1 The stages of stops Stops have three stages (see Figure 2.8): 1 Approach: The active articulator moves toward the passive articulator in order to form the closure. 2 Hold: The closure is made, the airstream is blocked, and pressure builds up. 3 Release: The active articulator moves away from the passive articulator, breaking the closure and releasing the compressed air. The difference between plosives and affricates is that the release stage of affricates is slower, and therefore, the articulators spend a brief moment in the position for a fricative at the same place of articulation, resulting in audible friction. Another key difference is that the fricative release stage of affricates is always present while the release stage of plosives is very variable (Section 2.11). 16 Consonants 2.6 Aspiration When the voiceless plosives /p t k/ are at the beginning of a stressed syllable, they are released with aspiration. This means that there’s a brief period of voicelessness between the release of the plosive and the beginning of voicing for the next sounds (see Figure 2.9). During this period, the vocal folds remain open, and the air rushing through the vocal tract gives the impression of a short [h]; hence, aspiration is shown with the symbol [h] (e.g., [th]). [p h] peas [p hiz] palm [p hɑm] pound [p haʊnd] [t h] toad [t hoʊd] tail [t heɪl] torn [t horn] [k h] kind [k haɪnd] care [k hɛr] curb [k hərb] When /p t k/ are not at the beginning of a stressed syllable, they are weakly aspirated or unaspirated. This is the case at the beginning of unstressed syllables and at the end of syl- lables but also, quite strikingly, when preceded by /s/ at the beginning of a syllable: [p] perform [pərˈform] pacific [pəˈsɪfɪk] pyjamas [pəˈʤæməz] [t] today [təˈdeɪ] taboo [təˈbu] together [təˈɡɛðər] [k] concern [kənˈsərn] kebab [kəˈbɑb] canal [kəˈnæl] [p] leap [lip] rope [roʊp] map [mæp] [t] fight [faɪt] goat [ɡoʊt] rate [reɪt] [k] like [laɪk] sick [sɪk] cheek [ʧik] [p h] pin [p hɪn] pot [p hɑt] pie [p haɪ] [p] spin [spɪn] spot [spɑt] spy [spaɪ] [t h] tone [t hoʊn] top [t hɑp] till [t hɪl] [t] stone [stoʊn] stop [stɑp] still [stɪl] [k h] core [k hor] kill [k hɪl] cool [k hul] [k] score [skor] skill [skɪl] school [skul] Figure 2.9 Aspiration in English /p/ as in pea; the diagram shows the brief period of voice- lessness after the release of the plosive and before the voicing for the vowel Consonants 17 When aspirated /p t k/ are followed by approximants /l r w j/, the aspiration takes place during the articulation of the approximant, partially or fully devoicing the approximant [l̥ r̥ j̊ w̥ ] and causing turbulence and fricative noise at the place of articulation of the approxi- mant, for example: /p/ play [pl̥ eɪ] print [pr̥ ɪnt] pew [pj̊ u] /t/ treat [tr̥ it] twin [tw̥ ɪn] /k/ clay [kl̥ eɪ] cream [kr̥ im] cue [kj̊ u] queasy [ˈkw̥ izi] When /s/ precedes these clusters, there’s no aspiration and therefore the approximants do not become devoiced or fricative: /sp/ splay [spleɪ] sprint [sprɪnt] spew [spju] /sk/ scream [skrim] skew [skju] squeezy [ˈskwizi] As regards aspiration and devoicing, the /str/ cluster is a little irregular. Unlike other /s/ + voiceless plosive + approximant clusters, the /r/ remains somewhat devoiced and frica- tive. Consequently, the /tr/ of strap is not very different from, or even identical to, the /tr/ of trap. Because the voiced plosives are frequently partially or fully devoiced (see Section 2.4.2), the presence of aspiration is an important cue for distinguishing /p t k/ from /b d ɡ/. 2.7 Glottal plosive [ʔ] In addition to the bilabial /p b/, alveolar /t d/, and velar /k ɡ/ plosives, the glottal plosive [ʔ] (often referred to as “glottal stop”) also occurs in English. The closure for a glottal plosive is made by bringing the vocal folds firmly together in an articulation similar to that of a very weak cough. The vocal folds are unable to vibrate during the production of a glottal plosive and therefore the sound has no voiced equivalent. Although common, the glottal plosive is not an independent phoneme in English (though it may be in other languages). The glottal plosive has a number of uses (see the following sections). 2.7.1 Hard attack When a word starting with a vowel is preceded by a voiceless consonant or a pause, the usual way to begin the vowel is to gently bring the vocal folds together into the position for voicing or, if the preceding sound is voiced, to continue the voicing as the articulators move into the position for the vowel. An alternative to this is to begin with a glottal plosive: irrespective of whether the vocal folds are apart for a preceding voiceless consonant or a pause or vibrat- ing for a preceding voiced sound, the vocal folds are brought tightly together and on release immediately take up the position for voicing, giving the impression of a very abrupt start to the vowel. This is known as hard attack and is used for emphasis in English, although in certain other languages, this may be the most usual treatment of word-initial vowels. Without hard attack: This is an apple. [ˈðɪs ɪz ən ˈæpl̩ ] With hard attack: This is an apple (not a pear)ǃ [ˈðɪs ɪz ən ˈʔæpl̩ ] 18 Consonants A similar use of the glottal plosive is to separate sequences of vowels within words. In words like react /riˈækt/, cooperate /koʊˈɑpəreɪt/, and deodorant /diˈoʊdərənt/, the transi- tion from one vowel to the next usually consists of a rapid glide of the tongue from the first vowel position to the second. An alternative in emphatic speech is to insert a glottal plosive between the vowels as the tongue moves between the vowel positions. This is only possible when the second vowel is stressed (i.e., not in serious /ˈsiriəs/, fluent /ˈfluənt/, leotard /ˈliətɑrd/). 2.7.2 Glottal replacement The most important occurrence of the glottal plosive in English is as an allophone of the /t/ phoneme. This is known as glottal replacement. Glottal replacement occurs in only a specific set of phonetic contexts. The most important of these is when /t/ is in a syllable coda, preceded by a sonorant (i.e., vowel, nasal, or approximant) and followed by another consonant: Within words: butler [ˈbəʔlər], lightning [ˈlaɪʔnɪŋ], pitfall [ˈpɪʔfɑl], tents [tɛnʔs] Between words: felt wrong [ˈfɛlʔ ˈrɑŋ], sent four [ˈsɛnʔ ˈfor], light rain [ˈlaɪʔ ˈreɪn], part time [ˈpɑrʔ ˈtaɪm] Glottal replacement is also common before a pause, e.g., wait [weɪʔ]. Although, in GA, [ʔ] does not occur between vowels in word-medial position, as in meet- ing, it can be heard in word-final position before a vowel in high-frequency words, for exam- ple got a [ˈgɑʔ ə], met us [ˈmɛʔ əs]; note, however, that t-tapping (see Section 2.8) is far more common in this position. 2.7.3 Glottal reinforcement In addition to [ʔ] acting as an allophone of /t/, it can also occur together with /t/ and the other voiceless stops, /p k ʧ/, in a process known as glottal reinforcement. A glottal closure overlaps with the oral closure (see Figure 2.10): first the glottal closure is made; then the bilabial, alveolar, palato-alveolar, or velar closure is made; then the glottal closure is released inaudibly behind the oral closure before finally the oral closure is released; this phenomenon Figure 2.10 G lottal reinforcement in English /p/, as in captive. The reinforcing glottal plosive is formed before the hold stage of /p/ and released before the release of the bilabial plosive. (See Figure 2.9 for key to symbols.) Consonants 19 is sometimes also referred to as “pre-glottalization.” Glottal reinforcement occurs in the same phonetic contexts as for glottal replacement of [t] (except for /ʧ/, which does not have to be followed by a consonant), and like glottal replacement, although it’s common, it isn’t obligatory. captive [ˈkæʔptɪv] keep calm [ˈkiʔp ˈkɑm] curtsey [ˈkərʔtsi] hot sauce [ˈhɑʔt ˈsɑs] faultless [ˈfɑlʔtləs] don’t know [ˈdoʊnʔt ˈnoʊ] action [ˈæʔkʃn̩ ] take five [ˈteɪʔk ˈfaɪv] hatchet [ˈhæʔʧət] catch me [ˈkæʔʧ mi] catch it [ˈkæʔʧ ɪt] 2.8 Tapping In certain phonetic contexts, the alveolar plosives /t d/ and the alveolar nasal /n/ are articu- lated very rapidly. The tongue tip and blade move to and away from the alveolar ridge very quickly, and the contact between the active and passive articulators is very brief. This manner of articulation is known as a tap, and the IPA symbol for a voiced alveolar tap is [ɾ]. A voiced alveolar tap [ɾ] is used as the usual realization of the /r/ phoneme in many languages around the world and can also be heard in a number of English accents. Speakers who have a tap for /r/ in their language or accent of English may feel that the GA tap for /t d/ isn’t quite the same as their own. The most striking effect of tapping in GA is that /t/ becomes voiced and indistinguishable from /d/. They are both realized as a voiced alveolar tap [ɾ], and the difference between them is neutralized in tapping contexts. In contrast, the effect on the realization of /n/ is relatively minor. When tapped, /n/ is realized as a nasalized tap [ɾ]̃ , the equivalent of tapped /t/ or /d/ with the velum lowered. The result is a sound that isn’t very different from /n/ in other con- texts and that isn’t easily confused with any other sound. Some works on GA phonetics transcribe t-tapping with [ɾ], which emphasizes the par- ticular type of articulation used. Other works transcribe t-tapping with [d], which dem- onstrates that the tapped variant of /t/ sounds to the ears of English speakers more like a variant of the /d/ phoneme than of any other phoneme. In this book, we prefer a third approach, which is used in two standard reference works: the Longman Pronunciation Dic- tionary and the Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary. The voiceless alveolar plo- sive symbol [t] is combined with the IPA “voiced” diacritic [ ̬ ] (t-tapping is also referred to as t-voicing) to give [t̬ ]. This symbolization has the advantage of making the transcription not too different from the orthography and of using a similar symbol for the same word in different phonetic contexts (e.g., write /raɪt/, writing /raɪt̬ ɪŋ/, writes /raɪts/, write it /raɪt̬ ɪt/, write some /raɪt səm/). This special symbol for t-tapping makes our transcription system a little unphonemic, but for the sake of simplicity, we will continue to use phonemic slanted brackets and not switch to phonetic square brackets for every instance of t-tapping. T-tapping occurs when /t/ is at the end of a syllable and between vowels. Within a word, the following syllable must be unstressed, but the preceding syllable can be stressed or unstressed: Stressed: city /ˈsɪt̬ i/, vitamin /ˈvaɪt̬ əmən/, critic /ˈkrɪt̬ ɪk/, beautiful /ˈbjut̬ əfl̩ / Unstressed: deputy /ˈdɛpjət̬ i/, quality /ˈkwɑlət̬ i/, society /səˈsaɪət̬ i/ 20 Consonants The following syllable can also be /əl/, realized as syllabic /l/, or /ər/, realized as schwar [ɚ] (the equivalent of syllabic [ɹ], see Section 2.23) but not /ən/, realized as syllabic /n/ (where /t/ is more likely to be realized as a glottal stop): Syllabic /l̩ /: bottle /ˈbɑt̬ l̩ /, total /ˈtoʊt̬ l̩ /, little /ˈlɪt̬ l̩ /, fatal /ˈfeɪt̬ l̩ /, rattle /ˈræt̬ l̩ / Schwar/ər/ [ɚ]: letter /ˈlɛt̬ ər/, meter /ˈmit̬ ər/, butter /ˈbət̬ ər/, water /ˈwɑt̬ ər/ Syllabic /n̩ /: button /ˈbətn̩ /, kitten /ˈkɪtn̩ /, rotten /ˈrɑtn̩ /, threaten /ˈθrɛtn̩ / button [ˈbəʔn̩ ], kitten [ˈkɪʔn̩ ], rotten [ˈrɑʔn̩ ], threaten [ˈθrɛʔn̩ ] The preceding sound doesn’t have to be a vowel. It can also be /r/: After /r/: dirty /ˈdərt̬ i/, poverty /ˈpɑvərt̬ i/, artist /ˈɑrt̬ ɪst/, mortar /ˈmort̬ ər/, turtle /ˈtərt̬ l̩ / When the preceding sound is /l/, tapping is variable: After /l/: alter /ˈɑltər/ or /ˈɑlt̬ ər/, guilty /ˈɡɪlti/ or /ˈɡɪlt̬ i/, penalty /ˈpɛnl̩ ti/ or /ˈpɛnl̩ t̬ i/ When the preceding sound is /n/, the tendency is for the /t/ to be lost altogether, particularly in familiar, high-frequency words: After /n/: twenty /ˈtwɛni/, winter /ˈwɪnər/, plenty /ˈplɛni/, wanted /ˈwɑnəd/, dentist /ˈdɛnəst/ When t-tapping occurs between words, the following syllable does not have to be unstressed: Unstressed: get it /ˈɡɛt̬ ɪt/, visit us /ˈvɪzət̬ əs/, bet a lot /ˈbɛt̬ ə ˈlɑt/, late again /ˈleɪt̬ əˈɡɛn/ Stressed: get out /ˈɡɛt̬ ˈaʊt/, visit others /ˈvɪzət̬ ˈəðərz/, bet everything /ˈbɛt̬ ˈɛvriθɪŋ/, late evening /ˈleɪt̬ ˈivnɪŋ/ The neutralization of /t/ and /d/ in these contexts creates a number of homophones: writer/rider, latter/ladder, parity/parody, atom/Adam, metal/medal, petal/pedal. 2.9 Nasal release The bilabial /p b/ and alveolar plosives /t d/ have the same place of articulation as the bila- bial /m/ and alveolar /n/ nasals respectively. They differ only in the soft palate being in the raised position (forming a velic closure) for the plosives and in the lowered position for the nasals. Consequently, it’s possible to move from /p/ or /b/ to /m/ and from /t/ or /d/ to /n/ by lowering the soft palate only and leaving the oral closure in place. This is called nasal release and is usual in English when plosives are followed by their nasal equivalents. It’s not usual for velar plosives /k ɡ/ because the velar nasal /ŋ/ does not occur at the beginning of syllables. /pm/ chipmunk /ˈʧɪpməŋk/ ripe melon /ˈraɪp ˈmelən/ /bm/ submit /səbˈmɪt/ grab more /ˈɡræb ˈmor/ /tn/ witness /ˈwɪtnəs/ got none /ˈɡɑt ˈnən/ /dn/ kidney /ˈkɪdni/ good news /ˈɡʊd ˈnuz/ Consonants 21 Nasal release often results in syllabic /n/ in unstressed syllables (see Section 8.2.2). Syllabic /m/ and /ŋ/ only occur in such contexts as the result of assimilation (see Section 12.3.1). [tn̩ ] button [ˈbətn̩ ] cotton [ˈkɑtn̩ ] eaten [ˈitn̩ ] [dn̩ ] hidden [ˈhɪdn̩ ] sudden [ˈsədn̩ ] wooden [ˈwʊdn̩ ] 2.10 Lateral release A similar process to nasal release occurs when /l/ follows /t/ or /d/. It’s possible to go from the /t d/ position to the /l/ position simply by lowering one or both sides of the tongue, this being the only difference in the articulation of the sounds. This is called lateral release. /tl/ atlas /ˈætləs/ at least /ət ˈlist/ /dl/ badly /ˈbædli/ bad luck /ˈbæd ˈlək/ Lateral release often results in syllabic /l/ (see Sections 2.26 and 8.2.1). [tl̩ ] bottle [ˈbɑt̬ l̩ ] total [ˈtoʊt̬ l̩ ] crystal [ˈkrɪstl̩ ] [dl̩ ] idol [ˈaɪdl̩ ] model [ˈmɑdl̩ ] cradle [ˈkreɪdl̩ ] When the non-alveolar plosives, bilabial /p b/ and velar /k ɡ/, are followed by /l/, lateral escape occurs. This means that the tongue-tip contact for /l/ is in place during the hold stage of the bilabial and velar plosives, and when they are released, the pent-up air in the vocal tract travels around the side(s) of this obstruction. /pl/ topless /ˈtɑpləs/ stop lying /ˈstɑp ˈlaɪɪŋ/ /bl/ public /ˈpəblɪk/ grab lunch /ˈɡræb ˈlənʧ/ /kl/ backlash /ˈbæklæʃ/ thick legs /ˈθɪk ˈlɛɡz/ /ɡl/ burglar /ˈbərɡlər/ big lights /ˈbɪɡ ˈlaɪts/ Lateral escape also often results in syllabic /l/ (see Sections 2.26 and 8.2.1). [pl̩ ] apple [ˈæpl̩ ] pupil [ˈpjupl̩ ] simple [ˈsɪmpl̩ ] [bl̩ ] double [ˈdəbl̩ ] label [ˈleɪbl̩ ] verbal [ˈvərbl̩ ] [kl̩ ] tackle [ˈtækl̩ ] local [ˈloʊkl̩ ] rascal [ˈræskl̩ ] [ɡl̩ ] eagle [ˈiɡl̩ ] legal [ˈliɡl̩ ] single [ˈsɪŋɡl̩ ] 2.11 Stop sequences When two identical plosives occur in sequence, the first isn’t usually released. Instead, the sequence is realized as a single long plosive consisting of an approach stage followed by a long hold stage and then a release stage: /pp/ ripe pear /ˈraɪp ˈpɛr/ /bb/ grab both /ˈɡræb ˈboʊθ/ /tt/ get two /ˈɡɛt ˈtu/ /dd/ red door /ˈrɛd ˈdor/ /kk/ black car /ˈblæk ˈkɑr/ /ɡɡ/ big guy /ˈbɪɡ ˈɡaɪ/ 22 Consonants As in the case of two identical plosives, the first plosive is also usually unreleased when the plosives have the same place of articulation but differ in voicing: /pb/ stop by /ˈstɑp ˈbaɪ/ /bp/ rob people /ˈrɑb ˈpipl̩ / /td/ hot dinner /ˈhɑt ˈdɪnər/ /dt/ red tie /ˈrɛd ˈtaɪ/ /kɡ/ black gown /ˈblæk ˈɡaʊn/ /ɡk/ big cat /ˈbɪɡ ˈkæt/ When plosives occur in sequence at different places of articulation, the closure for the second plosive is made before the closure for the first plosive is released. Consequently, the release of the first plosive is inaudible because a closure has already been made further forward in the mouth or because a closure further back in the mouth holds back the com- pressed air. Second plosive further forward than first plosive: /tp/ that part /ˈðæt ˈpɑrt/ /tb/ what beach /ˈwət ˈbiʧ/ /dp/ bad place /ˈbæd ˈpleɪs/ /db/ good boy /ˈɡʊd ˈbɔɪ/ /kp/ black pony /ˈblæk ˈpoʊni/ /kb/ thick book /ˈθɪk ˈbʊk/ /ɡp/ big picture /ˈbɪɡ ˈpɪkʧər/ /ɡb/ big bang /ˈbɪɡ ˈbæŋ/ /kt/ lack time /ˈlæk ˈtaɪm/ /kd/ back door /ˈbæk ˈdor/ /ɡt/ big tip /ˈbɪɡ ˈtɪp/ /ɡd/ big dog /ˈbɪɡ ˈdɑɡ/ Second plosive further back than first plosive: /pt/ top team /ˈtɑp ˈtim/ /pd/ strap down /ˈstræp ˈdaʊn/ /bt/ grab two /ˈɡræb ˈtu/ /bd/ job done /ˈʤɑb ˈdən/ /pk/ deep cut /ˈdip ˈkət/ /pɡ/ cheap gift /ˈʧip ˈɡɪft/ /bk/ drab colors /ˈdræb ˈkələrz/ /bɡ/ superb garden /suˈpərb ˈɡɑrdn̩ / /tk/ what car /ˈwət ˈkɑr/ /tɡ/ that guy /ˈðæt ˈɡaɪ/ /dk/ sad case /ˈsæd ˈkeɪs/ /dɡ/ hard game /ˈhɑrd ˈɡeɪm/ When an affricate occurs as the first in a sequence of stops, it is always released. The frica- tive release stage of affricates is always present, for example: Sequences of the same affricate: /ʧʧ/ rich cheese /ˈrɪʧ ˈʧiz/ /ʤʤ/ large jaw /ˈlɑrʤ ˈʤɑ/ Sequences of affricates differing in voicing: /ʧʤ/ which job /ˈwɪʧ ˈʤɑb/ /ʤʧ/ large child /ˈlɑrʤ ˈʧaɪld/ Sequences of an affricate followed by a plosive: /ʧp/ much pain /ˈməʧ ˈpeɪn/ /ʧb/ catch both /ˈkæʧ ˈboʊθ/ /ʧt/ each time /ˈiʧ ˈtaɪm/ /ʧd/ each day /ˈiʧ ˈdeɪ/ /ʧk/ each case /ˈiʧ ˈkeɪs/ /ʧɡ/ teach grammar /ˈtiʧ ˈɡræmər/ /ʤp/ barge past /ˈbɑrʤ ˈpæst/ /ʤb/ edge back /ˈɛʤ ˈbæk/ /ʤt/ large team /ˈlɑrʤ ˈtim/ /ʤd/ charge down /ˈʧɑrʤ ˈdaʊn/ /ʤk/ large cuts /ˈlɑrʤ ˈkəts/ /ʤɡ/ huge grin /ˈhjuʤ ˈɡrɪn/ Consonants 23 A number of alternative realizations for the first member of a stop sequence are possible: 1 When the first stop is voiceless (i.e., /p t k ʧ/), it can undergo glottal reinforcement (see Section 2.7.3). 2 When the first stop is an alveolar plosive (i.e., /t/ or /d/), it can undergo assimilation (see Section 12.3.1), in which case /tp tb dp db/ and /tk tɡ dk dɡ/ become /pp pb bp bb/ and /kk kɡ ɡk ɡɡ/ respectively. 3 When the first stop is /t/, it can undergo glottal replacement (see Section 2.7.2), /tp tb tk tɡ/ becoming [ʔp ʔb ʔk ʔɡ]. In all three cases, the first plosive is unreleased or inaudibly released. 2.12 Affricates So far, as is usual in phonetics textbooks, we have been using the term affricate a little impre- cisely. There’s a distinction between phonetic affricates and phonemic affricates that we should bear in mind. Phonetically, an affricate is a sound that consists of a complete closure followed by homorganic friction. Accordingly, English /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ are phonetic affricates because both the stop element and the fricative element are palato-alveolar. But by our defi- nition, the alveolar sequences /ts dz/ (as in cats, kids) are also phonetic affricates. The reason we consider /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ to be phonemic as well as phonetic affricates is that they behave as single, indivisible units in the English sound system and are felt to be single sounds by native speakers. /ts dz/, in contrast, behave like sequences and are felt to be sequences by natives. Another pair of non-phonemic phonetic affricates is formed when /r/ follows /t/ or /d/. The closure for the /t/ or /d/ is post-alveolar in anticipation of the following /r/ (see Figure 2.11), and the release into the position for /r/ results in homorganic friction. The acoustic effect of /tr/ and /dr/ is similar to that of /ʧ/ and /ʤ/, but the two sets of sounds remain distinct: chain /ʧeɪn/ vs. train /treɪn/, Jane /ʤeɪn/ vs. drain /dreɪn/. Figure 2.11 E nglish post-alveolar (phonetic) affricates /tr/ and /dr/ [tɹ̥ , dɹ] as in train, drain; the arrow indicates the raising of the sides of the tongue toward the back teeth 24 Consonants 2.13 Fricatives English has four pairs of voiceless and voiced fricatives at the labio-dental, dental, alveolar, and palato-alveolar places of articulation and a single voiceless glottal fricative. For /f/ and /v/, the lower lip lightly touches the upper incisors, and the airstream is forced through the gap (see Figure 2.12). For /θ/ and /ð/, the sides of the tongue form a seal against the side teeth, and the air- stream is forced through a gap between the tongue tip and the rear of the upper incisors (see Figure 2.13). For some speakers, the articulation of /θ ð/ is interdental, i.e., made with the tongue tip projecting a little between the upper and lower incisors. For /s/ and /z/, the airstream is forced through a gap between the tongue tip/blade and the alveolar ridge, while the sides of the tongue form a seal against the upper side teeth (see Figure 2.14). For /ʃ/ and /ʒ/, the sides of the tongue form a seal against the upper side teeth, forc- ing the airstream through a narrow gap between the tongue tip/blade and the alveo- lar ridge and between the front of the tongue and the hard palate (see Figure 2.15). Figure 2.12 English fricatives /f/ and /v/ Figure 2.13 English fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ Figure 2.14 English fricatives /s/ and /z/ Figure 2.15 English fricatives /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ Consonants 25 The primary articulation is accompanied by a simultaneous secondary articulation: rounding and protrusion of the lips. For /h/, the airstream is forced through the vocal tract with stronger than usual pressure, resulting in friction throughout the vocal tract and particularly at the narrowest point – the glottis, the space between the open vocal folds. Each fricative is accompanied by the raising of the soft palate, forming a velic closure block- ing the entrance to the nasal cavity. 2.14 Sibilants Fricatives can be divided into the sub-classes of sibilant fricatives /s z ʃ ʒ/ and non-sibilant fricatives /f v θ ð h/. The tongue assumes a longitudinal grooved shape for sibilants (see Figure 2.16) and a flatter shape for non-sibilants. Grooving of the tongue channels the air- stream into a jet that becomes turbulent and noisy when it strikes an obstruction further forward in the mouth – the teeth. In the case of non-sibilant fricatives, the turbulence and noise is generated at the stricture itself. The jet-of-air method of producing noisy turbulence is more effective than simple narrowing of the articulators, and hence sibilants are noticeably louder than non-sibilant fricatives. In the case of the English voiced non-sibilants, /v/ and /ð/, there’s often very little fricative noise, and the difference between them and their approxim- ant equivalents can be very slight. 2.15 /h/ During the articulation of /h/, the vocal tract assumes the position for the following sound, usually a vowel, which gives /h/ the quality of a voiceless or fricative version of the follow- ing sound. Thus, when isolated, the /h/ in heart is noticeably different from the /h/ in hit, the first having the quality of [ɑ̥] and the second of [ɪ̥ ]. In the case of a following /j/, as in huge, the /h/ is usually [ç], a voiceless palatal fricative. Fricative realizations of /h/ are also some- times heard before back vowels – pharyngeal before /ɑ/ (e.g., hot), uvular before [o] (e.g., horse), or velar before /u/ (e.g., whose). Between vowels, as in ahead or a house, a voiced glottal fricative [ɦ] is a common, but not obligatory, realization. The [ɦ] articulation involves a brief period of breathy voice, where the vibrating vocal folds do not fully come together as they vibrate, allowing air to escape between them and resulting in a “breathy” quality. Figure 2.16 Mouth viewed from front showing grooved tongue shape for sibilants 26 Consonants 2.16 Distribution of fricatives Some of the fricatives are restricted in their distribution. /h/ only appears in syllable onsets before vowels (e.g., hot, who, home) or /j/ (e.g., human, hue), but not in syllable codas. /ʒ/ mainly occurs medially (e.g., treasure, pleasure, vision), being found initially and finally only in relatively recent loanwords (e.g., genre, camouflage), which often have alternative variants with /ʤ/. 2.17 Nasals English has three nasals, all voiced, at the bilabial, alveolar, and velar places of articulation: For /m/, the lips come together and form a complete closure while the soft palate lowers to allow air to exit via the nose (Figure 2.17). For /n/, a complete closure is formed in the oral cavity by the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge and by the sides of the tongue against the upper side teeth. Simultaneously, the soft palate is lowered, allowing air to escape via the nose (Figure 2.18). For /ŋ/, the back of the tongue forms a closure against the soft palate, and the rear of the sides of the tongue form a seal against the rear upper side teeth. The soft palate is in the lowered position, allowing air to exit via the nose (Figure 2.19). Note that these three articulations are the same as those for the bilabial /p b/, alveolar /t d/, and velar /k ɡ/ plosives, only differing in the position of the soft palate – raised for plosives, lowered for nasals. E nglish nasal /m/; the arrow Figure 2.17 E nglish nasal /n/; the arrow Figure 2.18 indicates the escape of the air- indicates the escape of the air- stream through the nose stream through the nose Consonants 27 Figure 2.19 English nasal /ŋ/; the arrow indicates the escape of the airstream through the nose 2.18 Distribution of nasals Historically, the voiced plosives /b/ and /ɡ/ have been lost from the word-final clusters /mb/ and /ŋɡ/. The only voiced plosive that can occur word-finally after a nasal is /d/. All three voiceless plosives /p t k/, however, can occur in this position: Bilabial /p b/: lump /ləmp/ comb /koʊm/ Alveolar /t d/: count /kaʊnt/ hand /hænd/ Velar /k ɡ/: link /lɪŋk/ ring /rɪŋ/ The preceding examples also demonstrate that within a morpheme, nasal + plosive clus- ters must be homorganic (i.e., have the same place of articulation). The bilabial nasal /m/ is followed by the bilabial plosive /p/, the alveolar nasal /n/ is followed by the alveolar plosives /t d/, and the velar nasal /ŋ/ is followed by the velar plosive /k/. Across a morpheme bound- ary, however, sequences of a nasal and a following plosive do not have to be homorganic: Bilabial /m/ + alveolar /t d/: timetable /ˈtaɪmteɪbl̩ / someday /ˈsəmdeɪ/ Bilabial /m/ + velar /k ɡ/: tomcat /ˈtɑmkæt/ homegrown /hoʊmˈɡroʊn/ *Alveolar /n/ + bilabial /p b/: pinpoint /ˈpɪnpɔɪnt/ sunbed /ˈsənbɛd/ *Alveolar /n/ + velar /k ɡ/: springclean /sprɪŋˈklin/ wineglass /ˈwaɪnɡlæs/ Velar /ŋ/ + bilabial /p b/: gangplank /ˈɡæŋplæŋk/ songbird /ˈsɑŋbərd/ Velar /ŋ/ + alveolar /t d/: Washington /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/ kingdom /ˈkɪŋdəm/ (*Note that /n/ is likely to assimilate when followed by /p b/ or /k ɡ/; see Section 12.3.1.) In the examples given here, although the nasal + plosive sequences are within a single word (often a compound word), they are separated by a syllable boundary, making them sequences, not true clusters (see Section 10.1). However, when verbs ending in /m/ or /n/ have their regular past/past participle form, they are followed by /d/, forming clusters, /md/ and /ŋd/, within the same syllable: /md/: blamed /bleɪmd/, formed /formd/, harmed /hɑrmd/, named /neɪmd/ /ŋd/: banged /bæŋd/, belonged /bəˈlɑŋd/, thronged /θrɑŋd/, wronged /rɑŋd/ 28 Consonants The velar nasal /ŋ/ is restricted to syllable-coda position (e.g., sing /sɪŋ/, sink /sɪŋk/) and occurs word-finally through the historical loss of /ɡ/ from /ŋɡ/ at the end of words. When a suffix is added to a word ending in /ŋ/, the pronunciation remains /ɡ/-less even though it’s now in word-medial position: ring /rɪŋ/, ringing /ˈrɪŋɪŋ/; hang /hæŋ/, hanger /ˈhæŋər/; and so on. This leads to the generalization that word-medially, /ŋ/ is found at the end of morphemes (e.g., singer, hanging) and /ŋɡ/ within morphemes (e.g., finger, angry, angle, bongo) because in the latter words, /ŋɡ/ was never word-final,

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