OE1.3 Phonetics and__ Phonology

SPOKENENGLISH1PRONUNCIATION3:PHONETICSANDPHONOLOGY3.1.1:INTRODUCTIONThestudyofpronunciationconsistsoftwofields,phoneticsandphonology.Phoneticsdealswiththeproductionofspeechsoundsbyhumans;oftenwithoutpriorknowledgeofthelanguagebeingspoken.Phonologyisaboutpatternsofsounds,especiallydifferentpatternsofsoundsindifferentlanguages,orwithineachlanguage,differentpatternsofsoundsindifferentpositionsinwordsetc.3:PhoneticsandPhonology23.1.2:INTRODUCTIONSPOKENENGLISHVocabularySyntaxPronunciationPhonemesConsonantsVowelsSuprasegmentalsStressIntonationRhythmConnectedSpeech3:PhoneticsandPhonology33.2.1:PHONEMICAWARENESSSpeechiscomposedofasequenceofsoundsorphonemesthatarecombinedtoformthedifferentsoundswithinalanguage.Phonemicawareness,istheabilitytohearidentifyandmanipulatesoundsorphonemesinspokenwords.3:PhoneticsandPhonology43.2.2:PHONEMICAWARENESSSpokenwordsorsyllablescanbethoughtofasasequenceofphonemesanditistheabilitytothinkconsciouslyaboutandtoperformmentaloperationsofspeech-soundsequences.suchas:segmenting(dividing)blending(combining)deleting(removing)changingorder(mixing)3:PhoneticsandPhonology53.2.3:PHONEMICAWARENESSThewordPOLICEMANcanbesegmentedintotwowords,/pə’lis/and/mən/andthewordPOLICEcanbesegmentedintotwosyllables,/pə/and/lis/3:PhoneticsandPhonology63.2.4:PHONEMICAWARENESSSpokenwordsareablendofphonemes,exceptthewords[a]and[I]whicharesinglephonemewords,butallotherwordscontainablendofsounds.ThewordthatiscommonlybelievedtobethelongestwordintheEnglishlanguageis,ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISMwhichcontainsablendoftwenty-eight(28)phonemes.æ-n-t-i-d-i-s-a-s-t-æ-b-l-i-ʃ-m-ə-t-ɛ-a-r-i-ə-n-ɪ-z-ə-m3:PhoneticsandPhonology73.2.5:PHONEMICAWARENESSThenumberphonemesinaparticularwordarecrucialtoitsmeaning.TakethewordBLENDforexample.Deletethe[b]andyouhaveadifferentword,LEND.Deletethe[l]andyouhaveanotherword,BEND.Deletethe[b]and[l],andyouhaveanotherword,END.SothatitiscrucialthateachsoundisutteredandheardcorrectlybecauseifonesoundisnotspokenclearlythenIcouldhearadifferentword.3:PhoneticsandPhonology83.2.6:PHONEMICAWARENESSTheorderinwhichindividualphonemeareutteredisalsoimportant,changetheorderandyouhavethewrongwordornowordatall.TakethewordMEAT/mit/forexample,changethephonemeorderandyoucancreateanotherword,MATE/meit/.changethephonemeorderagainandyoucancreateanotherword,TEAM/tim/.changethephonemeorderandagainyoucancreateanotherword,TAME/teim/.3:PhoneticsandPhonology93.3.1:MINIMALPAIRSOnesimplewaytotesttheimportanceofasoundisthe“minimalpairtest”.Iftwowordsdifferbyonlyonesoundthentheyarecalledaminimalpair.Forexample:TIP/tɪp/andDIP/dɪp/differinonlyonesound.Theyareaminimalpair.3:PhoneticsandPhonology103.3.2:MINIMALPAIRSMoreexamples:CHEAP/tʃip/andJEEP/dʒip/WING/wɪŋ/andSING/sɪŋ/KILL/kɪl/andHILL/hɪl/3:PhoneticsandPhonology113.3.3:MINIMALPAIRSWhatisalsoimportanttorememberisthatweareconsideringphonemes,notspellingsymbols.Forexample:therearesixlettersbutonlythreephonemesinthewordSHOULD,/ʃʊd/.therearefivelettersbutonlytwophonemesinthewordinEARTH,/ɜ:θ/NB;BritishEnglishhastwophonemesbutAmericanEnglishusesthree/ɜ:rθ/.3:PhoneticsandPhonology123.3.4:MINIMALPAIRSMoreexamples:wepronounce[Eu]inEuropeasa/y/,/yʊərəp/.andweaddthephoneme/w/in“one”,/wʌn/HAND/hænd/andHANG//hæŋ/arenotaminimalpairbecausewhilethesewordsdifferbyonlyinonespellingsymbol,theydifferbytwophonemes3:PhoneticsandPhonology133.4.1:VOWELSVowelsarethenucleusofallwordsandeveryspokenEnglishwordmustcontainatleastonevowelsound.Theword“vowel”comesfromtheLatinword“vocalis”,whichinitsturnderivesfrom“vox”,“vocis”,meaningword,voice.3:PhoneticsandPhonology143.4.2:VOWELSVowelsbeginwithairflowingbetweenthevocalcords,causingthemtovibrate,continuingunobstructedthroughvocaltract.Theysounddifferentfromeachotherbecauseofthedifferentmouthshapeeachoneentailsbutmostlyitisthearticulationoftongueheight3:PhoneticsandPhonology153.4.3:VOWELSMostEnglishspeakersusetwelve12purevowelscalledmonothongsand8combinationvowelscalleddiphthongs.Whilethereare20vowelsoundsinspokenEnglish,havingonly5vowellettersinwrittenEnglishcreatescertainproblemswhentranscribingspeechintowriting.3:PhoneticsandPhonology163.4.4:VOWELSTraditionally,thelongvowels/eɪ/,/i:/,/aɪ/,/ou/and/ju/aresaidtobethecounterpartsoftheshortvowels/æ/,/ɛ/,/ɪ/,/ɒ/and/ʌ/.NB.ThisterminologyreflectstheirpronunciationbeforetheGreatVowelShift,ratherthantheirpresent-daypronunciations.LetterShortLongExample[a]/æ//eɪ/mat/mate”[e]/ɛ//iː/pet/Pete[i]/ɪ//aɪ/twin/twine”[o]/ɒ//ou/not/note”[u]/ʌ//juː/cub/cube”3:PhoneticsandPhonology173.4.5:VOWELSMandarinChinese,ontheotherhand,has8purevowelsoundsandthereisalotofoverlapbetweenEnglishvowelsounds.Thefollowingarethe5EnglishvowelsoundsthatChinesestudentsseemtohavethemostdifficultieswith.3:PhoneticsandPhonology183.4.6:VOWELSThe/i:/inHEATispronounced/ɪ/andsoundslikeHIT.The/æ/inHATispronounced/ɑ:/andsoundslikeHEART.The/eɪ/inPLAYEDispronounced/ɛ/andsoundslikePLED.The/u:/inSUITispronounced/u/andsoundslikeSOOTThe/ɔ:/inBOUGHTispronounced/ɒ/andsoundslikeBOT.3:PhoneticsandPhonology193.5.1:CONSONANTSConsonantsareliketheskeletonsofwords,givingt