1 Università di Cagliari Corso di Laurea in Lingue e Comunicazione Programma di Lingua Inglese prof.ssa Luisanna Fodde a.a. 2015/2016

T HE SOUNDS OF ENGLISH

3 : The Sounds of English

4 The study of sounds can be considered from three different points of view: Articulatory phonetics which studies and classifies language sounds according to its production; Acoustic phonetics which studies the physical transmissions of speech sounds from speaker to listener; Auditory phonetics which studies the reception and perception of speech sounds by the listener.

5 WORDS CAN BE BROKEN DOWN (DIVIDED) INTO MORPHEMES - THEIR STRUCTURAL CONSTITUENTS un-employ-ment THEY CAN ALSO BE BROKEN DOWN INTO THEIR CONSTITUENT SOUNDS, PHONEMES A PHONEME is the smallest unit of sounds which constitute a change of meaning. Seat / beat / meat /

6 The organs of articulation

7 The sounds of English   English (RP/BBC English/Southern British Standard) has 44 phonemes, 24 consonant and 20/22 vowel sounds   Drammatical difference between the written alphabet and most English accents.

8 Consonants Sounds made with a certain amount of temporary block of the airflow through the mouth. They are articulated in two ways: partial or total blockage of one of the vocal organs. The closing movement may involve the lips, the tongue, or the throat….. From a phonological point of view they occupy the edges or margins of a syllable. They may also appear in clusters or sequences: play [ple ɪ ]; jump [d ʒʌ mp]; twelfth [twelfθ]. Some consonants involve the vibration of the vocal cords: they are voiced consonants, others have no vocal cord vibration. They are called voiceless.

9Consonants 3 factors to be considered: a. a.Vocal cords (voiced/voiceless); b. Place of articulation (lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard or soft palate, glottis). Thus we can have: -Bilabial sounds (/b/, /m/, /p/, /w/); -Labio-dental sounds (/f/, /v/); -Dental sounds (/θ/, /ð/) -Alveolar (/d/, /t/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/, also /r/ or post- alveolar); -Palato-alveolar (/ ʃ /, / ʒ /, /d ʒ /, /t ʃ /); -Palatal (/j/); -Velar (/K, /g/, /ŋ/); -Glottal (/h/)

10Consonants 3 factors to be considered: a. a.Vocal cords (voiced/voiceless); b. Place of articulation; c. Type of articulation: Type of obstruction or blockage of the air flow, total, partial, or free: -Plosive (/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/) -Fricative (/f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, (/ ʃ /, / ʒ /, /h/ ) -Affricate (/d ʒ /, /t ʃ /) -Nasal (/ŋ/, /n/, /m/); -Lateral (/l/) -Continuant (/w/, /j/, /r/)

11 Consonants

12 Consonants Some sounds may be confused, as they are articulated in the same way as vowels, but function in the language as consonants: /j/ in YES and /w/ in WE. These two consonants are sometimes described as semi-vowels

13 The sounds of English VOWEL A sound made without any such restrictions in the airflow. The 20 vowel sounds may be divided into 12 'pure' vowel sounds or monothongs, and 8 diphthongs.

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15 Describing vowels Vowels can be of two types: simple vowels (monotongues), or compound vowels (diphtongues). From a phonetic point of view, vowels are articulated with a relatively open configuration of the vocal tract: no part of the mouth is closed and no audible friction is made. Vowels are formed by the various configuration of the open vocal tract. In particular, vowel sounds are formed thanks to the position of the tongue which influences the form of the vocal tract where the air flows.

16 Describing vowels From a phonological point of view, vowels occupy the middle of the syllable. Consonants, by contrast, are found at the edges or margins of syllables. BIG [b ɪ g]; CAP [kæp]. The letter Y can be described as either a consonant when it occupies the edges (YET), and as a vowel when it acts as a vowel (MY). Vowels involve the vibration of the vocal cords (voicing), and their distinctive resonances are made by varying the shape of the mouth.

17 Describing vowels In order to determine the type of vowel, we need to consider 4 features: - HEIGHT. Vowel height is named for the vertical position of the tongue relative to either the roof of the mouth or the aperture of the jaw. In close or raised vowels, such as [i] and [u], the tongue is positioned high in the mouth, whereas in open or low vowels, such as [a], the tongue is positioned low in the mouth. - BACKNESS. Vowel backness is named for the position of the tongue during the articulation of a vowel relative to the back of the mouth. In front vowels, such as [i], the tongue is positioned forward in the mouth, whereas in back vowels, such as [u], the tongue is positioned towards the back of the mouth.

18 Describing vowels In order to determine the type of vowel, we need to consider 4 features: 1- HEIGHT, 2- BACKNESS…. - ROUNDNESS. It refers to whether the lips are rounded or not. In most languages, roundedness is a reinforcing feature of half to close back vowels, and is not distinctive. - LENGTH. The length of the sound, which can be long or short.

19 Describing vowels

20 Describing vowels Length is a very important factor in phonology, symbolized by /:/ SIT [s ɪ t] SEAT [s ɪː t] From the point of view of length, diphthongs are like long vowels, there is a passage from one sound or another (so-called glide). The first part of a diphthong in English is much longer and louder than the second.

21 The sounds of English THE PHONETIC ALPHABET DISTINGUISHES ALL PHONEMES IN WRITING. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) provides a writing symbol for any linguistic sound of any world language.

22 The International Phonetic Alphabet Enables students and linguists to learn and record the pronunciation of languages accurately, thereby avoiding the confusion of inconsistent, conventional spellings. One aim of the IPA was to provide a unique symbol for each distinctive sound in a language--that is, every sound, or phoneme, that serves to distinguish one word from another.

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25 The Sounds of English In English, stressed syllables occur generally at regular intervals. The stress pattern can sometimes indicate a word's class, for example 'conduct' can be pronounced /' /, a noun, or / '/, a verb. Also 'contest', 'contact', ecc.

26   A STRESSED SYLLABLE IS MARKED BY PLACING A HIGH VERTICAL MARK /'/ BEFORE IT. A stressed syllable is relatively loud, long in duration, said clearly and distinctly.   LONGER WORDS may have one or more secondary stresses coming before the main stress. These are marked with /, / Laboratory, cerimony, monastery

What words do you recognize?  /'k ʌ mp ə n ɪ //'fe ɪ lj ə (r)/  / ʃ e ə 'h ə ʊ ld ə (r)//'b ɪ zn ɪ s/  /'m ɜ rd ʒ ə //'gl ə ʊ bl/  /'str ʌ kt ʃ ə (r)//'d ʒ a ɪ ə nt/  /r ɪ 'la ɪ ə bl//'stænd ə (r)da ɪ z/  /'k ʌ stma ɪ z//'ha ɪ ə r ɑ rk ɪ /  /'ha ɪ ə r ɑː k ɪ //bj ʊ ə 'r ɒ kr ə s ɪ /  /s ə k'ses/ 27

What words do you recognize? 28   / ɔː 'θ ɒ r ə t ɪ //d ɪ 'rekt ə /   /'del ɪ g ə t//‚m ə ʊ t ɪ 've ɪʃ n/   /s ə 'b ɔː dn ɪ t//'ent ə pra ɪ z/   /'l ɪː d ə (r) ʃɪ p//‚ækw ɪ 'z ɪʃ n/   /'mæn ɪ d ʒ ə (r)/ /stæf /st ɑː f/

29 T he Sounds of English INTONATION MAY BE RISING OR FALLING In English declarative sentences - statements - are spoken with FALLING intonation. Interrogative sentences - questions - with RISING intonation.

30 The Sounds of English THE FIRST PRONUNCIATION GIVEN IN A DICTIONARY IS THAT OF GENERAL BRITISH – British English Received Pronunciation - RP - plus similar accents not strongly regional

31 The Sounds of English OFTEN THE SAME PHONETIC REPRESENTATION OF A WORD IS ALSO APPROPRIATE FOR AMERICAN SPEECH, WITH SIMPLE AUTOMATIC CHANGES ( F.E. TO INSERT /r/ IN SUCH WORDS AS FARM). If the word is pronounced differently in the US, the dictionary will give its pronunciation separately with the label US:. HOT, BUTTER, BETTER, FAST, PAST, PASS, CEMETERY, MONASTERY, MONETARY.