Due

Read: Understanding English Grammar, Appendix A 

Meeting Place

We will meet on Monday in our usual classroom, Dial 153.  Please bring Understanding English Grammar.  On Friday, we will meet in the main library.

January 22-26, 2001

We turn this week to a look at the English sound system.  Please read the assignment listed in the box at the left, as well as the material that appears below.  If you have questions, please let me know.

On Friday, we will meet in the main library, where I will get you started on your research for your grammar guide.  
 

Objectives

By the time you finish this you unit, you should: 
  • understand how English speakers create the sounds of their language;
  • understand the implications of sounds for meaning and effect;
  • know the meanings of the terms below.

Terms

  • phonetics 
  • International Phonetic Alphabet 
  • place of articulation 
  • bilabial 
  • labiodental 
  • interdental 
  • alveolar 
  • palatal 
  • velar 
  • glottal 
  • manner of articulation 
  • voiced 
  • voiceless 
  • nasal 
  • stop 
  • fricative 
  • affricate 
  • liquid 
  • glide 
  • diphthong 
  • stress 
  • phonology 
  • phoneme 
  • phone 
  • allophone 
  • distinctive feature 
  • intonation 
  • assimilation 
  • deletion 
  • accent 

Resources

The following Internet and print sources can help you with the concepts covered in this unit: 
  • An Introduction to Language
  • The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language
  • Understanding English Grammar
Updated January 11, 2001 
© Mark Canada, 2001 
mark.canada@uncp.edu

Phonology

By Tabitha Strickland 
Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke 

With additional material and exercises by Professor Mark Canada 

Before the study of the parts of speech, subject-verb agreement, or the passive voice, there was sound.  A person can make nonsense noises all day long, and that is all that they would be, nonsense, but when you add meaning to those sounds you have phonemes, and the study of these phonemes is called phonology.  To understand phonology, you must look beyond letters and concentrate on the sounds that these letters represent.   

Sound Production

Speech sounds begin in the lungs and with the air that we breathe in and out every day.  It is up to us to utilize the oral cavity or mouth along with the air to form the sounds that we want to make.  We decide--usually unconsciously--whether or not the sound we want to make should be released through the nose or the mouth, whether we will vibrate our vocal cords while making it, how and where we will change the air flow through the mouth, and if certain syllables should be stressed or unstressed.  The images below, which comes from An Introduction to Language, shows the different parts of the speech apparatus we use to make sounds.  

    

Phones

Bilabial stops: In the production of the sounds /p/ and /b/, the air is stopped at the lips. The only difference between them is that the /p/ is voiceless and the /b/ is voiced.  That is, we vibrate our vocal cords when pronouncing /b/, but not when pronouncing /p/.  Try pronouncing the following pairs of words and see if you can feel the difference:  
  1. cap/cab
  2. pat/bat
  3. pup/bub
  4. cup/cub
You may notice some vibration when you pronounce the phoneme /b/, especially if you place your hand on your throat.  This vibration indicates that /b/ is a voiced sound.  If you feel a vibration, then the phoneme is voiced; if not, then the phoneme is voiceless.  

Other stops: In order to produce some other sounds, the tip of the tongue stops the air flow on the roof of the mouth. In the pronunciation of the sounds /k/ and /g/, the tongue stops the flow of air near the back of the mouth.  Try pronouncing these words in order to feel a difference between the /k/ phoneme and the /g/ phoneme and see if you can tell which one is voiced and which one is voiceless.  

  1. back/bag  
  2. core/gore  
  3. thick/twig
If you said that the /k/ is voiceless and that the /g/ is voiced, then you are correct.  

Fricatives: When a speaker pronounces fricative consonants, parts of the mouth such as the teeth and bottom lip partially block the flow of air. It is as though something has obstructed the air flow, and the air is fighting its way out. Like stops, fricatives can be voiced or voiceless. Some examples of fricative phonemes are the /f/ and the /v/.  The /f/ and the /v/ phonemes are called labio-dental fricatives, meaning the air comes through the teeth and the lips.  The pronunciation of the following words will give you a better understanding of the /f/ phoneme, which is voiceless, and the /v/, which is voiced.  

  1. far/van  
  2. feel/veal  
  3. fife/five
Another set of fricative phonemes are the interdental fricatives. We already know that there is an obstruction with the pronunciation of fricatives; this time the obstruction comes between the teeth. These may be more difficult to differentiate because this pair is identical in spelling, "th"; however, they are different in pronunciation. Here are some examples:  
  1. thought/the  
  2. bath/bathe
Because one can feel a vibration iwhen pronouncing words such as "the" and "bathe," we know that this phoneme is voiced.  

Alveolar fricatives: The production of this sound results from an obstruction of the air flow at the alveolar ridge just behind the teeth.  Instead of being located near or on the lips, the tongue is now on the alveolar ridge.  Two alveolar fricatives are the /s/ phoneme, which is voiceless, and the voiced /z/. Pronounce the following words and see if you can find a difference:  

  1. bus/buzz  
  2. so/zoo  
  3. sip/zip

Phonemes

Phonemes are sounds that actually mean something in a particular language.  While they usually do not stand for a particular idea, they play meaningful roles in words.  For example, while some people may pronounce the vowel sound in the word "buy" differently, these different pronunciations do not result in different words.  Thus, the different sounds are not separate phonemes. 

Exercises

  1. Phonetic Alphabet: Using the phonetic alphabet, rewrite the word according to the way that it sounds.  
    1. sign
    2. bomb
    3. girl
    4. bath
    5. assure
    6. cold
    7. cheese
    8. buy
  2. Phonology and Spelling: Use your understanding of phonology to analyze and correct the common spelling problem in the following sentence: "Many scientist have studied this phenomenon." 
  3. Sound Symbolism: Review David Crystal's list of "Sounds and Senses" on page 251 of The Cambrdige Encylopedia of the English Language. Why do you think these sounds have the associations they seem to have? Try to think of other sounds with apparent connotations. 
  4. Intonation: Review David Crystal's comments on "A Really Interesting High Rise Intonation" (p. 249) in The Cambrdige Encylopedia of the English Language. Have you noticed this phenomenon in hearing various people speak? If so, how did you interpret it? Do you use this rising intonation? If not, would you consider starting? Why or why not? 
  5. Accent: Take turns saying the list of words below. As one person says the words, the other should transcribe the words in IPA. Feel free to ask your partner to repeat the words if necessary. Does your pronunciation of a word change if you use it in a sentence? 
    1. pen 
    2. interesting 
    3. aunt 
    4. car 
    5. route 
    6. pin 
    7. buy 
    8. ask 
    9. through 
    10. pianist 
  6. Register: This time, each of you will pronounce the following sentence: "I'm going to say something to them." First, pronounce the sentence as if you were talking to a friend over lunch. Next, pronounce the sentence as if you were speaking to a potential employer in a job interview. Transcribe your partner's speech for each context and note any differences you find. 
  7. Sound in Poetry: Use what you have learned about stops, continuants, stress, rhyme, and sound symbolism to analyze the following poem by Emily Dickinson: 
      8. After great pain, a formal feeling comes-- 
      The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs-- 
      The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore, 
      And Yesterday, or Centuries before? 

      The Feet, mechanical, go round-- 
      Of Ground, or Air, or Ought-- 
      A Wooden way 
      Regardless grown, 
      A Quartz contentment, like a stone-- 

      This is the Hour of Lead-- 
      Remembered, if outlived, 
      As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow-- 
      First--Chill--then Stupor--then the letting go--

    Now use what you have learned about intonation to read it aloud. You may want to refer to David Crystal's discussion of intonation on pages 248 and 249 of The Encyclopedia of the English Language. Try reading some lines with different intonation and analyze the different effects.