1. John Corbett: USP-CAPES International Fellow Session 1: Introduction
Phonetics & Phonology
John Corbett: USP-CAPES International Fellow
Session 1: Introduction

2. Today’s session What is Phonetics & Phonology? Why should we study it?
Course aims & structure.
The concept of ‘accent’.
The vocal organs.
The International Phonetic Alphabet
The consonants of English.
Today’s session

3. What is ‘Phonetics & Phonology’?
The systematic study of pronunciation
The scientific study of spoken language
Phonetics: individual units of sound
Phonology: putting those sounds together
Say these words
Hand
Handbag
What is ‘Phonetics & Phonology’?

4. What is ‘Phonetics & Phonology’?
The systematic study of pronunciation
The scientific study of spoken language
Phonetics: individual units of sound
Phonology: putting those sounds together
Say these words
Hand /nd/
Handbag: /nd+b/ > /mb/ or /ŋb/
What is ‘Phonetics & Phonology’?

5. Why should we study ‘Phonetics & Phonology’?
Because speaking is the most complex motor activity that humans do
To understand the structure of English
To understand variation in English
To apply our knowledge to language teaching, but also speech therapy, forensic phonetics, speech synthesis and recognition...
To understand and modify (if we wish) our own pronunciation
Why should we study ‘Phonetics & Phonology’?

6. Course aims & structure: Main topics 1-7
Introduction
Vocal chamber
Accents: normative, rhotic
IPA #1
Consonants 2
IPA #2
Vowels & Diphthongs 3
Transcription practice 1 & review 4
Allophones 5
Assimilation and elision
Consonant clusters 6
Syllable structure
Word and sentence stress 7
Transcription practice 2 & review
Course aims & structure: Main topics 1-7

7. Course aims & structure: Main topics 8-15
Teaching issues: contrastive analysis 1 9
Teaching issues: contrastive analysis 2 10
Teaching issues: pronunciation tasks 11
Teaching issues: awareness & correction 12
Teaching issues: English as a Lingua Franca 1 13
Teaching issues: English as a Lingua Franca 2 14
Group teaching/performance videos 15
Course aims & structure: Main topics 8-15

8. Assessment Regular online quizzes on moodle
Class tests (transcription)
Recording upload to moodle (poodle)
Group teaching/performance activities
Detailed information is on moodle.
Assessment

9. Course slides
Further reading
Assessment actvities
Links to useful and fun web resources
Resources on moodle

10. Accents and norms Accent = how you realise the sounds of a language
Different accents give indication of
Geographical origin, e.g. West of Scotland
Social class
Ethnicity
Gender orientation, etc
Normative accents include
RP (‘Received’ or ‘socially acceptable’ pronunciation)
GenAm (‘General American’)
Lingua Franca English (‘rational/non-native’)
Accents and norms

11. Lips (labial)
Teeth (dental)
Alveolar ridge
Hard palate (palatal)
Velum (velar)
Glottis (glottal)
& vocal cords/folds
Say hello to your vocal organs: consonant articulators: place of articulation

12. Consonants involve an obstruction of the passage of air from the lungs out through the mouth or nose.
We ask:
Where does the obstruction occur? (place of articulation)
How does the obstruction occur? (manner of articulation)
Is there vibration of the vocal cords during production? (voicing)
How to make a consonant

13. Is the consonant voiced or voiceless?
To test whether your vocal folds are vibrating:
Say a long /s/ sound, followed by a long /z/ sound and
Put your index fingers on either side of your throat. OR
Put your hands over your ears.
Can you feel the vibration in /z/, and not /s/?
Is the consonant voiced or voiceless?

14. Plotting consonants: the IPA

15. Place of articulation examples ± voicing where appropriate
Labial: p/b, m
Labio-dental: f/v
Interdental: θ/ð as in ‘thin’, ‘this’
Alveolar: t/d, n, r (almost)
Alveo-palatal: /ʃ, ʒ/ as in fish, vision and
/tʃ, dʒ/ as in ‘church’ and ‘judge’
Palatal: /j/ as in ‘yes’
Velar: k/g, and /ŋ/ as in ‘sing’
Glottal: h
Place of articulation examples ± voicing where appropriate

16. Manner of articulation ± voicing where appropriate
Stop/plosive: /p, b, t, d, k, g/
Fricative: /f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ/
Affricate (plosive + fricative): /tʃ, dʒ/
Nasal: /m, n, ŋ/
Lateral approximant: /l/
Retroflex approximant: /ɹ/
Glide/semivowel: /j, w, ʍ /
Manner of articulation ± voicing where appropriate

17. Plotting consonants: the IPA

18. Interesting consonants
/ʍ/ is used by speakers of those accents that make a difference in the pronunciation of ‘whales’ and ‘Wales’.
We sometimes hear /ʔ/ instead of /t/ in the middle and end of words like ‘butter’ or ‘slight’. This is the famous ‘glottal stop’.
In some (non-rhotic) accents, /r/ is not pronounced word-finally or before consonants. Where it is pronounced, it can be pronounced in many ways, eg
[r] (trill)
[ɾ] (tap or flap]
[ɹ] (approximant)
[R] retroflex approximant, ‘uvular r’
Interesting consonants

19. A bit of groupwork In groups of 2-3, do the following:
1. Say the following words with a /t/ sound and then a glottal stop:
‘litter’ ‘butter’
‘cut’ ‘fright’
2. Is there a difference (apart from the first sound!) in the way you pronounce ‘singer’ and ‘finger’? Is there a rule? Does everybody follow it?
2. Say the following dialogue in a non-rhotic and then a rhotic accent:
A: ‘There’s been a murder!’
B: Where!?’
C:/A ‘There!!’
3. Shout out the word ‘freedom’ together, using a Scottish trill and then an RP approximant.
A bit of groupwork

20. Beyond today’s session Familiarising yourself with IPA
In your copious free time, look at some of the following resources on moodle:
Familiarise yourself with the consonant symbols and sounds of the IPA by checking out the consonants in the following resources.
art=1&datatype=1&speaker=1
Note that the speakers will put the consonants in different contexts: initial, medial and final.
If you want to type and then cut and paste IPA symbols, look at
Beyond today’s session Familiarising yourself with IPA

21. Moodle Quiz 1: Identify your articulators before the next class!

22. Contact info:
Note the ‘b’ and the ‘2’
Make sure you can access moodle!
Next week…vowels!!
Thanks!