1. Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

2. Important facts written English different from spoken English
need to study the sound system of English and its correlation to writing
grown-ups cannot acquire pronunciation as easily as children can
HARD WORK NECESSARY!
talent also plays a role, but WORK comes first

3. Basic sounds I different sounds at the beginnings of these words:
pier veer near
beer sheer weir
tier hear year
deer leer cheer
gear rear jeer
fear mere

4. Basic sounds II Different sound at the ends of these words base wrath
baize wrong
bathe
beige
bake
24 sounds altogether – CONSONANTS

5. Basic sounds III feel cat tier fill cot tear fell cut tour
fall curt banana
full cart
fool
fail
foal
file
foul sounds – vowels
foil

6. Symbols to match the sounds I
p - pip, pot b - bat, bug t - tell, table d - dog, dig k - cat, key g - get, gum f - fish, phone v - van, vat θ - thick, thump, faith
ð - these, there
s - sat, sit z - zebra, zap ʃ - ship ʒ - treasure, leisure dʒ - lodge, judge tʃ - chip h - hop, hut
m - man, mummy n – nanny, nothing ŋ - sing, wrong l - let, lips r - rub, ran w - wait, worm j - yet, yacht

7. Symbols to match the sounds II
Short vowels
ɪ - bit, silly
ɛ - bet, head
æ - cat, dad
ɒ - dog, rotten
ʌ - cut, nut
ʊ - put, soot
ə - about, clever

8. Symbols to match the sounds III
Long vowels
i: - cream, seen
ɜ: - burn, firm (also shown as ə:)
ɑ: - hard, far
ɔ: - corn, faun
u: - tube, glue

9. Symbols to match the sounds IV
Diphthongs
aɪ - spice, pie
ɛɪ - wait, fate
ɔɪ - toy, joy
əʊ - oats, note
aʊ - clown, vow
ɪə - deer, pier
ɛə - hair, bear
ʊə - cure, fuel

10. Phoneme speech is divided into segments
an abstract set of units called phonemes
the complete set of these units – phonemic system of a language
phoneme – the smallest phonetic unit, abstract in nature
the smallest contrastive unit
why constrastive?
we get it when we distinguish one word from another (the sounds “d” and “t” in the words “bid” and “bit”) – minimal pairs

11. there are many slightly different ways in which we can make the sounds represent the phonemes, e.g. in writing with a set of symbols called phonemic transcription
sometimes same sounds are realized differently (e.g. /t/ in tea and eat – more or less aspiration)
How does this happen?
a phoneme is usually adapted to the spoken context in which it occurs, in ways that do not alter the meaning
different realizations of the same phoneme – allophones
allophones are not normally represented in the phonemic transcription

12. example: if we isolate the l sound in the initial position in lick and in the final position in ball, we should be able to hear that the sound is (physically) different as is the way our speech organs produce it
the initial l sound is called clear l, while the terminal l sound is sometimes called a dark l
when we want to show the detail of phonetic variants or allophones we enclose the symbols in square brackets whereas in transcribing sounds from a phonological viewpoint we use slant lines
[l] is clear l, while [ɫ] is dark l

13. PHONETICS: the study of the sounds of human speech
concerned with the actual properties of speech sounds (phones), and their production, audition and perception
deals with the sounds themselves rather than the contexts in which they are used in languages

14. PHONOLOGY: the study of the sound system of languages
describes the way sounds function within a given language or across languages
which sounds are distinctive units within a language
also studies how sounds alternate and topics such as syllable structure, stress, accent, and intonation

15. when we talk, sounds and words are connected together into longer utterances, which should be pronounced smoothly
in some utterances some words bear more importance than others – in speech realized with more prominence
rhythm – different lengths which syllables in English are given
tune/melody – rising and falling and the combinations of the two

16. Exercises:
1. How many phonemes are there in the following words: write, through, measure, six, half, where, one, first, voice, castle, scissors, should, judge, father, lamb?
2. Bear and bare are spelt differently but pronounced the same. Make a list of other words which are spelt differently but pronounced in the same way.

17. Speech organs we speak with the air from our lungs
we draw it in, release it slowly and then interfere with its passage in various ways and in various places
necessary to know how the speech organs work to be able to learn how to pronounce better
vocal cords, the palate, the teeth, the tongue, the lips

19. Vocal cords
the air from lungs first arrives at the larynx, which contains two small bands of elastic tissue lying opposite each other across the air passage
the vocal cords can move towards each other, they can meet completely and they can separate completely
when they are brought together completely, no air can pass between them
when they are separated, sounds are made
rapid movement of vocal cords (even 800 times per second) produces voiced sounds
when vocal cords are drawn apart, voiceless sounds are produced

20. all vowels are voiced
some consonants are voiced, some are voiceless
consonants normally go in voiced-voiceless pairs (e.g. p-b, t-d, k-g), but there are consonants which do not have their “pair” (e.g. m, n, h)

21. The palate forms the roof of the mouth
separates the mouth and the nasal cavity
alveolar ridge begins right behind the teeth
hard palate is the highest part of the palate
soft palate lies towards the throat, above the root of the tongue
hard palate is immobile
soft palate can move, participates in making sounds

22. The teeth lower front teeth are not important in making sounds
the two upper front teeth are used in English to some extent

23. The tongue the most important of the speech organs
has the greatest variety of movement
conventionally divided into 4 parts: tip, blade, front, back
tip: the most forward part
blade: follows the tip
front: lies under the hard palate
back: lies under the soft palate
the tongue easily changes its shape, it easily rises and falls

24. The lips very mobile, like the tongue
positions: they can be brought together, the lower lip can be drawn inwards and slightly upwards, they can be kept apart flat or rounded

25. Exercises
1. Which sounds in Serbian are voiced and which are voiceless?
2. Can you sing a voiceless sound?
3. How does the soft palate affect the air stream?