Session one: Phonology and Phonetics 思维导图

By the end of this week, you should be able to:

Understand the difference between phonology and phonetics

Analyse sounds in context – vowels and consonants

Identify word stress patterns

Identify and analyse features of connected speech

Transcribe speech using the IPA

Consider the difficulties L2 learners might have with aspects of phonology

We have included some reference materials for phonology and phonetics at the end of the handout. This is to help you if you chose to do the task on phonology and phonetics for the assignment.

You should watch the mini-lectures on phonology and phonetics. After the mini-lectures, you should go through this and do the tasks, and read Chapter One of Ladefoged and Johnson (2015). This is available through Minerva and you can also access a digital version of the book through the University of Leeds library. You do not need to cover the sections on wave forms in this chapter.

Phonology is how sounds are perceived and so is related to particular languages.

In phonological or phonemic transcriptions, you should use slanted lines i.e. / /.

The unit of analysis in phonology is phonemes. Different languages have different phonologies and so different phonemes and even when the same symbol is used in different languages the sound may not be the same. For example both English and Chinese have the phonemes /b/ and /p/ but the difference between them in English is to do with voicing while the difference in Chinese is to do with aspiration.

English

Chinese

/p/

/b/

/p/

/b/

[pʰɪl]

[spɪl]

[bɪl]

[pʰɪl]

[spɪl]

[bɪl]

Phonetics looks at how sounds are produced. It has a specialist vocabulary related to different parts of the mouth and throat because that is where sounds are produced. In phonetic transcription you should use square brackets i.e. [ ].

Consonants

Put your finger on your Adam’s apple at the front of your throat and say the pairs of words below. For each pair, one sound is made with more vibration. Phoneticians describe the sounds made with more vibration as voiced and the other sounds as unvoiced. For each of the following pairs, decide which word begins with a voiced consonant and which with an unvoiced one. Write the words in the appropriate column. The first one has been done. We will discuss the answers in the seminar.

Sue zoo

two do

cheap jeep

van fan

Voiced

Unvoiced

Zoo

Sue

Put these sounds in a sequence depending on where you make the sound in your mouth. Start with the sound the sound made with the lips and end with made furthest back in the mouth: [b](bee), [d](do) , [g](go) , [h](hi), [ð] (that) , [f] (fluff)

Bilabial (lips)

b

Labio-dental (lips and teeth)

Dental (teeth)

Alveolar (the ridge behind the teeth)

velar

glottal

Manner of articulation

Some consonants are produced by a kind of explosion, whereas other sounds are more continuous.

English has three main ways of producing or articulating consonants: through the nose and sounds which are made in the mouth: fricatives or continuous sounds, and stop or plosives i.e. sounds which stop suddenly, Nasal sounds are continuous. Nasal sounds are usually voiced but because English has no unvoiced nasals, the description of nasals often do not include voicing.

Put these consonants in the appropriate column

[n], [s]. [d], [k] [f] [m] [ŋ [ the sound of ng in “sing” [p] [h]

Nasal/nose sounds

Fricatives/ continuous

Plosives/stops

n

s

d

There are some other manners of articulation, covered later in the handout.

Using the IPA chart to help you, describe the following consonants using the terminology introduced in the lecture (voicing, place and manner of articulation).

Voicing

Place of articulation

Manner of articulation

[k]

unvoiced

velar

stop

[m]

[l]

[ʒ]

[j]

Changes in pronunciation

Transcribe the following phrases as they would be said in careful speech and how they would be said in casual or connected speech.

Ten pins

Sandwich

Two or more

The idea of it

Vowels

The vowels in the following sets of words are the same in received pronunciation for every word except for one. Which word has a different vowel sound?

1.

pen

said

death

mess

mean

2.

meat

steak

weak

theme

green

3.

sane

paid

eight

late

mast

4.

one

fun

bone

son

sun

5.

so

sew

show

cow

no

Using the IPA chart to help you, describe the following vowels using the terminology introduced in the lecture (height, backness and rounding).

Height

Backness

Rounding

/ɑ/

Open

Back

unrounded

/e/

/ɜ/

/ᴧ/

/ɔ/

/rɪˈsiːvd prəˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃən

a) School of Education

b) Leeds

c) a cup of tea

d) lovely day, isn’t it?

Different languages have different phonologies and this can create problems for learners of second languages.

If you speak a language other than English, can you identify any features of English that you think cause problems for speakers of that language when they learn English? How do these problems relate to phonological and phonetic descriptions?

Transcribe this excerpt from Murderers and Other Friends by John Mortimer. Include any aspects of connected speech and primary stress.

Identify any places where connected speech would be different for careful speech.

Consider a learner whose mother tongue is not English. What features of the excerpt would present particular difficulties for them?

To complete this task you will need to arrange to meet with your study group independently before next week’s lecture.

On my first visit the old Singapore had not been entirely obliterated or moved into high-rise shopping precincts. A little of Chinatown remained. The food stalls in parking lots and on street corners, where you could dine lavishly for a dollar on savoury Malaysian omelettes and spiced mutton soup, were still there. At Fatty’s in Albert Street the almost circular owner used to lay his tables in the middle of the road and serve delectable Cantonese cooking. When the traffic got busy, your table might be seized from under you and carried inside the restaurant to prevent a collision between the sweet and sour fish and a battered pick-up truck.

(from Murderers and Other Friends by John Mortimer, 1994)

The phonetics of consonants in the received pronunciation (RP) accent of English (

The phonetics of consonants in standard Chinese (Duanmu, 2007: 24)

Phonetics: the vowels of the RP accent

Phonology: the phonemes of BBC English