Uttalslära Introduction to phonetics and English phonology: Consonants, part 2

Lecture outline Consonants – brief recap Nasals Affricates Semi-vowels /l/ /r/

Consonants Formed by blocking the stream of air through the mouth, completely or partially Can be voiced or voiceless

Types of consonants Plosives (stops) Fricatives Nasals Affricates Semi-vowels (Laterals) (Frictionless continuants)

The consonants of English 1 VoicelessVoiced Fricatives/f/ fan/v/ van /s/ so/z/ zoo / ʃ / shore/ ʒ / vision /θ/ thin/ð/ then /h/ hat Plosives/p/ pet/b/ bag /k/ kite/g/ bag /t/ take/d/ dog Nasals/m/ men /n/ men /ŋ/ sing

The consonants of English 2 VoicelessVoiced Affricates/t ʃ / church/d ʒ / judge Semi-vowels/w/ well /j/ yes Lateral/l/ long Frictionless continuant/r/ rose

Nasals When producing a nasal, we let the air flow through the nose instead of the mouth. English has three nasals, all of them voiced.

/m/ as in me Examples: summer/ ˈ s ʌ mə(r)/ Always voiced in English but what about Swedish?

/n/ as in not Pronunciation: the tip of the tongue not touching the teeth “n” is mute in words with -mn: condemn/kən ˈ dem/ hymn/hım/ damn /dæm/

/ŋ/ as in king The spelling “ng” is sometimes pronounced /ŋ/ and sometimes /ŋg/ herring/ ˈ herıŋ/ singing/ ˈ sıŋıŋ/ angry/ ˈ æŋgrı/ hunger/ ˈ h ʌ ŋgə(r)/

Affricates Consist of a plosive followed by a fricative. English has two affricates; one voiced and one voiceless.

/ t ʃ / as in church The plosive /t/ is followed by the fricative / ʃ / Spellings: ch cheese/t ʃ i ː z/ China/ ˈ t ʃ aınə/ children/ ˈ t ʃ ıldrən/

/ ʃ / versus /t ʃ / sheep/ ʃ i ː p/cheap/t ʃ i ː p/ ship/ ʃ ıp/chip/t ʃ ıp/ Charlotte/ ˈʃɑː (r)lət/ Charles/t ʃɑː lz/ Talk is not sheep!

Pronunciations of ch /t ʃ / in most words / ʃ / in champagne, chauffeur, Chicago, parachute /k/ in chaos, chemistry, echo, epoch Mute in yacht /j ɒ t || j ɑː t/

/ d ʒ / as in judge Spellings: j, g, ge geography/d ʒ ı ˈɒ grəfı || d ʒ ı ˈɑː grəfı/ jeans/d ʒ i ː nz/ jam/d ʒ æm/ ridge/rıd ʒ /

/d ʒ / versus /t ʃ / judge /d ʒʌ d ʒ / church /t ʃɜː (r)t ʃ / George /d ʒɔː (r)d ʒ / check /t ʃ ek/

/d ʒ / versus /g/ ginger / ˈ d ʒ ınd ʒ ə(r)/giggle / ˈ gig(ə)l/ urgent / ˈɜː (r)d ʒ ənt/target / ˈ t ɑ (r) ː gıt/ gentle / ˈ d ʒ ent(ə)l/giddy / ˈ gıdı/

Semi-vowels Produced like vowels, without any obstruction of the oral cavity, but behave like consonants. English has two semi-vowels, both voiced.

/w/ as in well The letter w is mute in words beginning with wr-. wring/rıŋ/ Also mute in sword/s ɔː (r)d/ Note the contrast /v/ – /w/ !

/ j / as in yes Spelling: y, eu, u, ue, ui The letter “j” is never pronounced /j/! unit/ ˈ ju ː nıt/ Europe/ ˈ ju ː rəp/

/d ʒ / versus /j/ use(noun)/ju ː s/juice/d ʒ u ː s/ your/j ɔː (r)/jaw/d ʒɔː /

/ l / as in all A lateral consonant Two realisations: clear and dark In RP, /l/ is clear before vowels and /j/, dark in other positions including at the end of a word. In GA, /l/ is always more or less dark.

/ l / as in all Clear l: lip, less, fully, halyard Dark l: tall, world, help, humble Linda Wilson will perhaps be on television cddc

/ l / as in all Clear and dark /l/ – sound examples “leap, play, pool” (clear, clear, dark) “play, play” (first clear, then dark)

/ l / as in all The letter l is mute in some words with -alf, -alk, -alm, -olk Examples: calf/k ɑː f || kæf/ chalk/t ʃɔː k/ calm/k ɑː m/ yolk/jə ʊ k/ Also mute in salmon, Stockholm, colonel.

/ r / as in rose A fricative in Swedish. In English it is a frictionless continuant. In RP, final r is only pronounced before a vowel. In GA, /r/ occurs in all positions.

/ r / as in rose Linking /r/ occurs in RP when a word with a final r is followed by a vowel. Examples: far away, your answer, War and Peace Compare: before longbefore everyone

/ r / as in rose Intrusive /r/ occurs in RP in some positions where there is no r in the spelling. Used to prevent hiatus (vokalmöte). Examples: Asia and Africa / ˈ eı ʃ ər ən ˈ æfrikə/ law and order/l ɔː r ən ˈɔː də/ drawing/ ˈ dr ɔː rıŋ/

/θæŋk ju ː fə ˈ lısənıŋ/!