Consonant Clusters index

Full word lists (each link is a separate page)-------for consonant clusters beginning with:

/ m / / p / / b / / f / / v / / θ / / ð / / n / / t / / d / / s / / z /

/ l / / r / / ʧ / / ʤ / / ʃ / / ʒ / / j / / ŋ / / k / / g /

BACK-------GLOSSARY-------ASSIMILATION PRACTICE-------ONLINE PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY

Quick reference (jumps to section below)-----------for consonant clusters beginning with:

/ m / / p / / b / / f / / v / / θ / / ð / / n / / t / / d / / s / / z /

/ l / / r / / ʧ / / ʤ / / ʃ / / ʒ / / j/ / ŋ / / k / / g /

"Kissing Consonants" © Ted Power 2007---------Introduction

When there are three or more consonants together, native speakers do not always produce as many consonant sounds. For example, the final consonant cluster in the word "fifths" is usually reduced to the last two consonant phonemes. Good pronunciation materials need to include practice of elision (missing phonemes out) and assimilation (a change in the quality of the phoneme - perhaps to a different phoneme altogether!).

"KISSING CONSONANTS" practises final consonant clusters, since lists of initial consonant clusters can easily be found in a dictionary, and consonant strings at the beginnings of words generally cause fewer difficulties.

My practice examples of the consonant clusters are short samples of connected speech, mainly drawn from the British National Corpus. I have been guided in selecting examples by 'frequency of use', but I have also tried to make the examples as helpful as possible to learners of English. I do not subscribe to the mistaken concept of 'authenticity' which negates the role of teachers and discourages them from vetting what they present to their students. The overwhelming majority of writers and speakers attempt to take their intended audience into account.

Learners of English as a Second Language, some who will already be 'teachers of English' in their own country, need to know when a native speaker would simplify a consonant cluster in connected speech. A second area of difficulty is that the spellings of FINAL CONSONANT CLUSTERS are often FALSE FRIENDS - i.e. a very poor guide to how they are pronounced within connected speech.

English pronunciation is a little more complicated than simple differences between individual phonemes such as the vowel sounds in pairs of words such as "ship" and "sheep". The number of manoeuvres a learner has to perform is far greater in connected speech, where there are also words containing strings of at least three consonant phonemes, involving tricky adjustments in place and manner of articulation.

Managing this juggling act can be a little easier if learners are taught to recognise ways in which native speakers simplify strings of three consonants through elision (missing out one of them) & / or assimilation (changing a consonant phoneme so that the manner of articulation is more similar throughout the consonant cluster).

Success at the above makes connected speech more fluent to listen to. Practice at this will make it less obvious that English is not your native language.

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beginning with voiced bilabial nasal---- / m / ---------GLOSSARY

001---------mp (final) -------bump, camp, hemp, limp, lump, ramp

002---------mps (final) ----- amps, camps, lamps, lumps, mumps, trumps

003---------mf (final) -------lymph, nymph

004---------mft (final) ------triumphed

005---------mfs (final) ------nymphs

006---------mt (final) -------camped, dreamt revamped, lumped

007---------mt (medial) ------empty, temptation

008---------mtr (medial) -----temptress

009---------mts (final) -------tempts

010---------md (final) -------aimed, assumed, formed, roamed, shamed

011---------mst (final) ------glimpsed

012---------mz (final) -------comes, terms, times

beginning with voiceless bilabial plosive---- / p / ----[ Back ]

013---------pθ (final)--------depth

014---------pθs (final)-------depths

015---------pθr (medial)------upthrust

016---------pt (final) --------abrupt, Egypt, except, harped, kept, opt

017---------pt (medial)------abruptly, absorption, acceptable

018---------pts (final) -------accepts, adopts

019---------ps (final) --------cups, equips, jumps, perhaps, steps

020---------ps (medial) ------Epsom, Ipswich, lopsided, upside down

021---------pst (final) -------lapsed

beginning with voiced bilabial plosive---- / b / ----[ Back ]

022---------bd (final) --------absorbed, bribed, curbed, lobbed, robed, robbed

023---------bz (final) --------cabs, fibs, jabs, knobs, verbs, yobs

beginning with voiceless labiodental fricative---- / f / ----[ Back ]

024---------fθ (final) ---------fifth, twelfth

025---------fθs (final) --------fifths, twelfths

026---------fθl (medial) ------fifthly

027---------ft (final) ---------craft, drift, gift, left, lift, loft, soft

028---------ft (medial) -------after, daftest, often rafter, softly, swiftly, thrifty

029---------fts (final) --------crofts, drifts, gifts, lifts, lofts

030---------fs (final) ---------beliefs, cliffs, chefs, chiefs, hankerchiefs, laughs

beginning with voiced labiodental fricative---- / v / ----[ Back ]

031---------vd (final) --------arrived, believed, involved, lived, proved, saved

032---------vz (final) --------additives, captives, loaves, loves, serves, waves

beginning with voiceless dental fricative---- / θ / ----[ Back ]

033---------θs (final) --------baths, cloths, maths, oaths, paths, truths

beginning with voiced dental fricative---- / ð / ----[ Back ]

034---------ðd (final) --------bathed, betrothed, clothed, seethed, swathed

035---------ðz (final) --------bathes, breathes, clothes, loathes, seethes, soothes

beginning with voiced alveolar nasal---- / n / ----[ Back ]

036---------nθ (final) -------month, tenth

037---------nθ (medial) -----anthem

038---------nt (final) --------ant, aren´t, aunt, bent, can´t, font, want

039---------nts (final) -------ants, fonts, grunts, hints, hunts, pants

040---------ntst (final) ------chintzed

041---------nd (final) -------behind, concerned, find, found, friend, owned

042---------nd (medial) -----friendship, landlord -----* Note rules for deletion of / d /

043---------ndz (final) ------bends, ends, friends, sounds

044---------ns (final) -------hence, pence, since, tense

045---------ns (medial) -----pensive, tenses

046---------nz (final) -------hens, lens, pens, runs, tens

047---------nʧ (final) -------lunch, pinch

048---------nʧt (final) ------lunched, pinched

049---------nʤ (final) ------change, hinge

050---------nʤd (final) -----changed, hinged

beginning with voiceless alveolar plosive---- / t / ----[ Back ]

051---------tθ (final) --------breadth, eighth, hundredth, thousandth, width

052---------tθs (final) -------breadths, eighths, hundredths, thousandths, widths

053---------ts (final) --------cats, eats, fights, its, meets, parts, puts, waits

054---------tst (final) ------amidst, midst

beginning with voiced alveolar plosive---- / d / ----[ Back ]

055---------dz (final) -------almonds, beds, birds, hands, kinds, weeds, words

beginning with voiceless alveolar fricative---- / s / ----[ Back ]

056---------sp (final) -------clasp, crisp, gasp, lisp, wasp

057---------st (final) -------chased, first, pursed

058---------sts (final) ------thirsts

059---------sk (final) -------ask, desk, dusk, risk

beginning with voiced alveolar fricative---- / z / ----[ Back ]

060---------zd (final) -------amazed, crazed, gazed, lazed, phased, phrased

beginning with voiced alveolar lateral approximant---- / l / ----[ Back ]

061---------lmd (final) ------filmed

062---------lmz (final) ------elms, films

063---------lp (final) --------help

064---------lpt (final) -------helped

065---------lps (final) -------helps

066---------lbd (final) -------bulbed

067---------lbz (final) -------bulbs

068---------lf (final) ---------self

069---------lfθs (final) -------twelfths, Alf´s

070---------lft (final) --------elfed

071---------lvd (final) -------delved

072---------lθ (final) --------health

073---------lθs (final) -------tilths

074---------lnd (final) -------kilned

075---------lnz (final) -------kilns

076---------lt (final) --------difficult

077---------ltst (final) -------waltzed

078---------ld (final) --------cold, held

079---------ldz (final) -------holds, worlds

080---------ls (final) --------else

081---------lz (final) --------fills, girls

082---------lʧt (final) -------filched

083---------lʤd (final) ------bilged

084---------lʃt (final) --------welshed

085---------lk (final) --------milk, silk

086---------lks (final) -------milks

087---------lkt (final) -------milked

088---------lkts (final) ------mulcts

beginning with voiced alveolar approximant ------ / r / ----[ Back ]

rm (final) -------silent before a consonant in England & Wales------- "alarm" / əˈlɑ:m /, "arm" / ˈɑ:m /, "warm" / ˈwɔ:m /

rm (final) -------generally pronounced (& sometimes rolled) in Scotland & Ireland---------------- "alarm" / əˈlɑ:rm /, "arm" / ˈɑ:rm /, "warm" / ˈwɔ:rm /

The / r / within these consonant clusters is generally pronounced in Canada most parts of the USA.

The / r / is pronounced by all English speakers when it precedes a vowel sound, as in "angry" / ˈærɪ / or "zebra" / ˈzebrə /.

/ r / can precede several other consonants sounds, though in these contexts it is rarely pronounced in England and Wales.

beginning with voiceless post-alveolar affricate---- / ʧ / ----[ Back ]

089---------ʧt (final) -------hitched, matched, watched

beginning with voiceless post-alveolar affricate---- / ʤ / ----[ Back ]

090---------ʤd (final) ------caged, edged, forged, judged, waged

beginning with voiceless post-alveolar fricative---- / ʃ / ----[ Back ]

091---------ʃt (final) -------cashed, fished, mashed, washed

beginning with voiceless post-alveolar fricative---- / ʒ / ----[ Back ]

092---------ʒd (final) -------leisured, measured, pleasured, treasured

beginning with voiced palatal semi-vocalic---- / j / ----[ Back ]

/ t / + / j / is often replaced by / ʧ / in words such as "nature" / ˈneɪʧəʳ /, "future" / ˈfju:ʧəʳ /, "feature" / ˈfi:ʧəʳ /, and "creature" / ˈkri:ʧəʳ /. This type of assimilation is known as coalescence. See Wikipedia on Yod-coalescence.

/ d / + / j / is often replaced by / ʤ / in words such as "gradual" / ˈgræʤʊəl / and individual / . This type of assimilation is known as coalescence. See Wikipedia on Yod-coalescence.

beginning with voiced velar nasal---- / ŋ / ----[ Back ]

093---------ŋθ (final) -------length

094---------ŋt (final) -------instinct

095---------ŋts (final) ------instincts

096---------ŋd (final) -------longed

097---------ŋst (medial) -----minxed

098---------ŋz (final) -------things

099---------ŋk (final) -------think

100---------ŋg (final) -------thing

beginning with voiceless velar plosive---- / k / ----[ Back ]

101---------kθ (final) -------sixth

102---------kθs (final) ------sixths

103---------kt (final) -------fact, worked

104---------kts (final) ------conflicts, contexts, expects texts

105---------ks (final) -------six, works

106---------kst (final) ------context, next, oversexed, pretext, text

beginning with voiced velar plosive---- / g / ----[ Back ]

107---------gd (final) -------bagged, hugged, logged, tagged, wagged

108---------gz (final) -------eggs, figs, mugs, rugs

GlossaryVoiceless and voiced

Voiceless consonants -no vibration of the vocal cords and more pulmonic air.

Voiced consonants -the vocal cords vibrate, limiting the airflow.

Place of articulation

Bilabial consonants / m /, / p / and / b / are made with both lips. Labio-dental consonants / f / and / v / are made with the upper teeth

and the lower lip. Dental consonants / θ / and / ð / are made with the tip of the tongue

against the upper teeth. Alveolar consonants / n /, / t /, / s /, / z / and / l / are made with the tip

of the tongue against or near to the ridge behind the upper teeth. Postalveolar consonants / ʃ /, / ʒ /, / ʧ / and / ʤ / are made with the

tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, placing them a bit further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not quite as far back as the hard palate.

Velar consonants / ŋ /, / k / and / g / are made with the back part of the tongue against the back part of the roof of the mouth.

Manner of articulation

Nasal consonants / m /, / n / and / ŋ / are made with the velum lowered, allowing air to escape through the nose.

Plosives or stop consonants / p /, / b /, / t /, / d /, / k / and / g / are made by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract.

Fricative consonants / f /, / v /, / θ /, / ð /, / s / and / z / are made by forcing air through a narrow channel by placing two articulators close together.

Affricate consonants / ʧ / and / ʤ / start as plosives, but release as fricatives rather than directly into the following vowel.

Manner of articulationFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Manners of articulation

Obstruent

Stop

Affricate

Fricative

Sibilant

Sonorant

Nasal

Flaps/Tap

Trill

Approximant

Liquid

Vowel

Semivowel

Lateral

Airstreams

Pulmonic

Ejective

Implosive

Click

Alliteration

Assonance

Consonance

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edit

Human vocal tract

In linguistics (articulatory phonetics), manner of articulation describes how the tongue, lips, jaw, and other speech organs are involved in making a sound make contact. Often the concept is only used

for the production of consonants. For any place of articulation, there may be several manners, and therefore several homorganic consonants.

One parameter of manner is stricture, that is, how closely the speech organs approach one another. Parameters other than stricture are those involved in the r-like sounds (taps and trills), and the sibilancy of fricatives. Often nasality and laterality are included in manner, but phoneticians such as Peter Ladefoged consider them to be independent.

Contents

[hide]

1 Stricture 2 Other parameters 3 Individual manners 4 Broader classifications 5 Other airstream initiations 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Stricture

From greatest to least stricture, speech sounds may be classified along a cline as stop consonants (with occlusion, or blocked airflow), fricative consonants (with partially blocked and therefore strongly turbulent airflow), approximants (with only slight turbulence), and vowels (with full unimpeded airflow). Affricates often behave as if they were intermediate between stops and fricatives, but phonetically they are sequences of stop plus fricative.

Historically, sounds may move along this cline toward less stricture in a process called lenition. The reverse process is fortition.

[edit] Other parameters

Sibilants are distinguished from other fricatives by the shape of the tongue and how the airflow is directed over the teeth. Fricatives at coronal places of articulation may be sibilant or non-sibilant, sibilants being the more common.

Taps and flaps are similar to very brief stops. However, their articulation and behavior is distinct enough to be considered a separate manner, rather than just length.[specify]

Trills involve the vibration of one of the speech organs. Since trilling is a separate parameter from stricture, the two may be combined. Increasing the stricture of a typical trill results in a trilled fricative. Trilled affricates are also known.

Nasal airflow may be added as an independent parameter to any speech sound. It is most commonly found in nasal stops and nasal vowels, but nasal fricatives, taps, and approximants are also found. When a sound is not nasal, it is called oral. An oral stop is often called a plosive, while a nasal stop is generally just called a nasal.

Laterality is the release of airflow at the side of the tongue. This can also be combined with other manners, resulting in lateral approximants (the most common), lateral flaps, and lateral fricatives and affricates.

[edit] Individual manners

Plosive , or oral stop, where there is complete occlusion (blockage) of both the oral and nasal cavities of the vocal tract, and therefore no air flow. Examples include English /p t k/ (voiceless) and /b d g/ (voiced). If the consonant is voiced, the voicing is the only sound made during occlusion; if it is voiceless, a plosive is completely silent. What we hear as a /p/ or /k/ is the effect that the onset of the occlusion has on the preceding vowel, as well as the release burst and its effect on the following vowel. The shape and position of the tongue (the place of articulation) determine the resonant cavity that gives different plosives their characteristic sounds. All languages have plosives.

Nasal stop , usually shortened to nasal, where there is complete occlusion of the oral cavity, and the air passes instead through the nose. The shape and position of the tongue determine the resonant cavity that gives different nasal stops their characteristic sounds. Examples include English /m, n/. Nearly all languages have nasals, the only exceptions being in the area of Puget Sound and a single language on Bougainville Island.

Fricative , sometimes called spirant, where there is continuous frication (turbulent and noisy airflow) at the place of articulation. Examples include English /f, s/ (voiceless), /v, z/ (voiced), etc. Most languages have fricatives, though many have only an /s/. However, the Indigenous Australian languages are almost completely devoid of fricatives of any kind.

Sibilants are a type of fricative where the airflow is guided by a groove in the tongue toward the teeth, creating a high-pitched and very distinctive sound. These are by far the most common fricatives. Fricatives at coronal (front of tongue) places of articulation are usually, though not always, sibilants. English sibilants include /s/ and /z/.

Lateral fricatives are a rare type of fricative, where the frication occurs on one or both sides of the edge of the tongue. The "ll" of Welsh and the "hl" of Zulu are lateral fricatives.

Affricate , which begins like a plosive, but this releases into a fricative rather than having a separate release of its own. The English letters "ch" and "j" represent affricates. Affricates are quite common around the world, though less common than fricatives.

Flap , often called a tap, is a momentary closure of the oral cavity. The "tt" of "utter" and the "dd" of "udder" are pronounced as a flap in North American English. Many linguists distinguish taps from flaps, but there is no consensus on what the difference might be. No language relies on such a difference. There are also lateral flaps.

Trill , in which the articulator (usually the tip of the tongue) is held in place, and the airstream causes it to vibrate. The double "r" of Spanish "perro" is a trill. Trills and flaps, where there are one or more brief occlusions, constitute a class of consonant called rhotics.

Approximant , where there is very little obstruction. Examples include English /w/ and /r/. In some languages, such as Spanish, there are sounds which seem to fall between fricative and approximant.

One use of the word semivowel, sometimes called a glide, is a type of approximant, pronounced like a vowel but with the tongue closer to the roof of the mouth, so that there is slight turbulence. In English, /w/ is the semivowel equivalent of the vowel /u/, and /j/ (spelled "y") is the semivowel equivalent of the vowel /i/ in this usage. Other descriptions use semivowel for vowel-like sounds that are not syllabic, but do not have the increased stricture of approximants. These are found as elements in diphthongs. The word may also be used to cover both concepts.

Lateral approximants, usually shortened to lateral, are a type of approximant pronounced with the side of the tongue. English /l/ is a lateral. Together with the rhotics, which have similar behavior in many languages, these form a class of consonant called liquids.

[edit] Broader classifications

Manners of articulation with substantial obstruction of the airflow (plosives, fricatives, affricates) are called obstruents. These are prototypically voiceless, but voiced obstruents are extremely common as well. Manners without such obstruction (nasals, liquids, approximants, and also vowels) are called sonorants because they are nearly always voiced. Voiceless sonorants are uncommon, but are found in Welsh and Classical Greek (the spelling "rh"), in Tibetan (the "lh" of Lhasa), and the "wh" in those dialects of English which distinguish "which" from "witch".

Sonorants may also be called resonants, and some linguists prefer that term, restricting the word 'sonorant' to non-vocoid resonants (that is, nasals and liquids, but not vowels or semi-vowels). Another common distinction is between stops (plosives and nasals) and continuants (all else); affricates are considered to be both, because they are sequences of stop plus fricative.

[edit] Other airstream initiations

All of these manners of articulation are pronounced with an airstream mechanism called pulmonic egressive, meaning that the air flows outward, and is powered by the lungs (actually the ribs and diaphragm). Other airstream mechanisms are possible. Sounds that rely on some of these include:

Ejectives , which are glottalic egressive. That is, the airstream is powered by an upward movement of the glottis rather than by the lungs or diaphragm. Plosives, affricates, and occasionally fricatives may occur as ejectives. All ejectives are voiceless.

Implosives , which are glottalic ingressive. Here the glottis moves downward, but the lungs may be used simultaneously (to provide voicing), and in some languages no air may actually flow into the mouth. Implosive oral stops are not uncommon, but implosive affricates and fricatives are rare. Voiceless implosives are also rare.

Clicks , which are velaric ingressive. Here the back of the tongue is used to create a vacuum in the mouth, causing air to rush in when the forward occlusion (tongue or lips) is released. Clicks may be oral or nasal, stop or affricate, central or lateral, voiced or voiceless. They are extremely

rare in normal words outside Southern Africa. However, English has a click in its "tsk tsk" (or "tut tut") sound, and another is often used to say "giddy up" to a horse.

[edit] See also

Place of articulation Phonation Airstream mechanism Relative articulation

List of phonetics topics Vocal tract Human Voice Source-filter model of speech production

[edit] References

Ladefoged, Peter ; Ian Maddieson (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.

Place of articulationFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Places of articulation (passive & active):1. Exo-labial, 2. Endo-labial, 3. Dental, 4. Alveolar, 5. Post-alveolar, 6. Pre-palatal, 7. Palatal, 8. Velar, 9.

Uvular, 10. Pharyngeal, 11. Glottal, 12. Epiglottal, 13. Radical, 14. Postero-dorsal, 15. Antero-dorsal, 16. Laminal, 17. Apical, 18. Sub-apical

In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a consonant is the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an active (moving) articulator (typically some part of the tongue) and a passive (stationary) articulator (typically some part of the roof of the mouth). Along with the manner of articulation and phonation, this gives the consonant its distinctive sound.

A place of articulation is defined as both the active and passive articulators. For instance, the active lower lip may contact either a passive upper lip (bilabial, like [m]) or the upper teeth (labiodental, like [f]). The hard palate may be contacted by either the front or the back of the tongue. If the front of the tongue is used, the place is called retroflex; if back of the tongue ("dorsum") is used, the place is called "dorsal-palatal", or more commonly, just palatal.

There are five basic active articulators: the lip ("labial consonants"), the flexible front of the tongue ("coronal consonants"), the middle/back of the tongue ("dorsal consonants"), the root of the tongue together with the epiglottis ("radical consonants"), and the larynx ("laryngeal consonants"). These articulators can act independently of each other, and two or more may work together in what is called coarticulation (see below).

The passive articulation, on the other hand, is a continuum without many clear-cut boundaries. The places linguolabial and interdental, interdental and dental, dental and alveolar, alveolar and palatal, palatal and velar, velar and uvular merge into one another, and a consonant may be pronounced somewhere between the named places.

In addition, when the front of the tongue is used, it may be the upper surface or blade of the tongue that makes contact ("laminal consonants"), the tip of the tongue ("apical consonants"), or the under surface ("sub-apical consonants"). These articulations also merge into one another without clear boundaries.

Consonants that have the same place of articulation, such as the alveolar sounds -- n, t, d, s, z, l -- in English, are said to be homorganic.

A homorganic nasal rule is a case where the point of articulation of the initial sound is assimilated by the last sound in a prefix. An example of this rule is found in language Yoruba, where ba, "hide", becomes mba, "is hiding", while sun, "sleep", becomes nsun, "is sleeping".

Contents

[hide]

1 Table of active articulations and places of articulation 2 List of places where the obstruction may occur 3 Nasals and laterals 4 Coarticulation 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Table of active articulations and places of articulation

This table may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this table if you can. (January 2010)

Active + passive place of articulation

Places ofarticulation

• Labial

Bilabial

Labial-velar

Labial-alveolar

Labiodental

Dentolabial

• Bidental

• Coronal

Linguolabial

Interdental

Dental

Denti-alveolar

Alveolar

Apical

Laminal

Subapical

Postalveolar

Alveolo-palatal

Retroflex

• Dorsal

Active gesture

Labial Bilabial

Labiodental

Coronal Laminal Linguolabial

Interdental

Laminal dental

Laminal denti-alveolar

Laminal alveolar

Laminal postalveolar ("retroflex" #1)

Domed (partially palatalized)

Domed postalveolar ("palato-alveolar")

PalatalizedPalatalized postalveolar ("alveolo-palatal")

Apical Apical dental

Apical alveolar

Apical postalveolar ("retroflex" #2)

Subapical Subapical (pre)palatal ("retroflex" #3)

Dorsal Prepalatal

Palatal

Prevelar (or medio-palatal)

Velar

Postvelar

Uvular

Radical Upper pharyngeal

Lower pharyngeal

Epiglotto-pharyngeal

(Ary-)epiglottal

Laryngeal Glottal

[edit] List of places where the obstruction may occur

Bilabial : between the lips Labiodental : between the lower lip and the upper teeth Dentolabial : between the upper lip and the lower teeth Linguolabial : between the front of the tongue and the upper lip Dental : between the front of the tongue and the top teeth Alveolar : between the front of the tongue and the ridge behind the gums (the alveolus) Postalveolar : between the front of the tongue and the space behind the alveolar ridge Retroflex : in "true" retroflexes, the tongue curls back so the underside touches the palate Palatal : between the middle of the tongue and the hard palate Velar : between the back of the tongue and the soft palate (the velum) Uvular : between the back of the tongue and the uvula (which hangs down in the back of the

mouth)

(All of the above may be nasalized, and most may be lateralized.)

Pharyngeal : between the root of the tongue and the back of the throat (the pharynx) Epiglotto-pharyngeal : between the epiglottis and the back of the throat Epiglottal : between the aryepiglottic folds and the epiglottis (see larynx) Glottal : at the glottis (see larynx)

[edit] Nasals and laterals

In nasals, the velum is lowered to allow air to pass through the nose (technically a place, but generally considered as a manner of articulation[citation needed])

In laterals, the air is released past the tongue sides and teeth rather than over the tip of the tongue. English has only one lateral, /l/, but many languages have more than one, e.g. Spanish written "l" vs. "ll"; some Indigenous Australian languages with dental, alveolar, retroflex and palatal laterals; and numerous Native American languages with not only lateral approximants, but also lateral fricatives and affricates. Some Northeast Caucasian languages have five, six, or even seven lateral consonants.

[edit] Coarticulation

Some languages have consonants with two simultaneous places of articulation, called coarticulation. When these are doubly articulated, the articulators must be independently movable, and therefore there may only be one each from the categories labial, coronal, dorsal, and radical. (The glottis controls phonation and sometimes the airstream, and is not considered an articulator.)

However, more commonly there is a secondary articulation of an approximantic nature, in which case both articulations can be similar, such as labialized labials, palatalized velars, etc.

Some common coarticulations include:

Labialization , rounding the lips while producing the obstruction, as in [kʷ] and English /w/. Palatalization , raising the body of the tongue toward the hard palate while producing the

obstruction, as in Russian /tʲ/. Velarization , raising the back of the tongue toward the soft palate (velum), as in the English dark

l, [lˠ] or [ɫ]. Pharyngealization , constriction of the throat (pharynx), such as Arabic "emphatic" [tˤ]. Doubly articulated stop: a stop produced simultaneously with another stop, such as labial-velar

consonants like [k[p], found throughout West and Central Africa. There are also labial-alveolar consonants [t[p d[b n[m], found as distinct consonants only in a single language in New Guinea, which also contrasts labial-postalveolar stops. Somali has a uvular-epiglottal stop [q[ʡ].

[edit] See also

Manner of articulation Relative articulation List of phonetics topics

[edit] References

Ladefoged, Peter ; Ian Maddieson (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.

Consonant clusterFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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In linguistics, a consonant cluster (or consonant blend) is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups /spl/ and /ts/ are consonant clusters in the word splits.

Some linguists argue that the term can only be properly applied to those consonant clusters that occur within one syllable. Others contend that consonant clusters are more useful as a definition when they may occur across syllable boundaries. According to the former definition, the longest consonant clusters in the word extra would be /ks/ and /tr/,[1] whereas the latter allows /kstr/. The German word Angstschweiß /aŋstʃvaɪs/ (fear sweat) is another good example, with a cluster of five consonants: /ŋstʃv/.

Contents

[hide]

1 Phonotactics 2 Loanwords 3 English 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Phonotactics

Languages' phonotactics differ as to what consonant clusters they permit.

Many languages do not permit consonant clusters at all. Maori and Pirahã, for instance, don't permit any two consecutive consonants in a word. Japanese is almost as strict, but it allows clusters of consonant plus /j/ as in Tokyo [toːkjoː], the name of Japan's capital city. Across a syllable boundary, it also allows a cluster of a nasal consonant plus another consonant, as in Honshū [honɕuː] (the name of the largest island) and tempura [tempuɽa] (a traditional dish). A great many of the languages of the world are more restrictive than English in terms of consonant clusters; almost every Malayo-Polynesian language forbids consonant clusters entirely. Tahitian, Fijian, Samoan and Hawaiian are all of this sort. Standard Arabic does not permit initial consonant clusters, or more than two consecutive consonants in other positions; neither do most other Semitic languages. Khmer, as do most Mon-Khmer languages permits only initial consonant clusters with up to three consonants in a row per syllable. Finnish has initial consonant clusters natively only on South-Western dialects and on foreign loans, and only clusters of three inside the word are allowed. Most spoken languages and dialects, however, are more permissive.

At the other end of the scale, the Kartvelian languages of Georgia are drastically more permissive of consonant clustering. Clusters in Georgian of four, five or six consonants are not unusual—for instance, /brtʼqʼɛli/ (flat), /mt[sʼvrtnɛli/ (trainer) and /prt[skvna/ (peeling)—and if grammatical affixes are used, it allows an eight-consonant cluster: /ɡvbrdɣvnis/ (he's plucking us). Consonants cannot appear as syllable nuclei in Georgian, so this syllable is analysed as CCCCCCCCVC. Some Slavic languages such as Slovak may manifest formidable numbers of consecutive consonants, such as in the words štvrť /ʃtvr htʲ/, zmrzlina /zmr hzlɪna/, and žblnknutie /ʒbl hŋknutje/, but the liquid consonants /r/ and /l/ can form syllable nuclei in Slovak, and behave phonologically as vowels in this case. Another example is the Croatian word opskrbljivanje /ɔpskr hbʎiʋaɲɛ/, though note that <lj> and <nj> here are digraphs representing single consonants: [ʎ] and [ɲ], respectively. Some Salishan languages exhibit long words with no vowels at all, such as the Nuxálk word /xɬpʼχʷɬtʰɬpʰɬːskʷʰt[sʼ/: he had in his possession a bunchberry plant. It is extremely difficult to accurately classify which of these consonants may be acting as the syllable nucleus, and these languages challenge classical notions of exactly what constitutes a syllable.

[edit] Loanwords

Consonant clusters occurring in loanwords do not necessarily follow the cluster limits set by the borrowing language's phonotactics. The Ubykh language's root psta, a loan from Adyghe, violates Ubykh's rule of no more than two initial consonants; also, the English words sphere /ˈsfɪər/ and sphinx /ˈsfɪŋks/, Greek loans, violate the restraint (or constraint, see also optimality theory) that two fricatives may not appear adjacently word-initially.

[edit] English

In English, the longest possible initial cluster is three consonants, as in split /ˈsplɪt/ and strudel /ˈʃtruːdəl/, all beginning with /s/ or /ʃ/ and ending with /l/ or /r/;[2] the longest possible final cluster is five consonants, as in angsts /ˈæŋksts/, though that is rare and four, as in twelfths /ˈtwɛlfθs/, sixths /ˈsɪksθs/, bursts /ˈbɜrsts/ and glimpsed /ˈɡlɪmpst/, is more common.

However, it is important to distinguish clusters and digraphs. Clusters are made of two or more consonant sounds, while a digraph is a group of two consonant letters standing for a single sound. For example, in the word ship, the two letters of the digraph ‹sh› together represent the single consonant [ʃ]. Also note a combination digraph and cluster as seen in length with two digraphs ‹ng›, ‹th› representing a cluster of two consonants: /ŋθ/; or even lights with a silent digraph ‹gh› followed by a cluster ‹t›, ‹s›: /ts/.

[edit] See also

English consonant cluster reductions Vowel cluster

[edit] References

1. J.C. Wells, Syllabification and allophony2. If the ‹ew› /juː/ is thought of as consonant plus vowel rather than as a diphthong, three-

consonant clusters also occur in words such as skew /ˈskjuː/

Phonological history of English consonant clustersFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The phonological history of English consonant clusters is part of the phonological history of the English language in terms of changes in the phonology of consonant clusters.

Contents

[hide]

1 H-cluster reductions

o 1.1 Wh-cluster reductions o 1.2 Yew-hew merger o 1.3 hl-cluster, hr-cluster and hn-cluster reductions

2 Y-cluster reductions o 2.1 Yod-dropping o 2.2 Yod-coalescence

3 Other initial cluster reductions o 3.1 Rap-wrap merger o 3.2 Not-knot merger o 3.3 Nome-gnome merger o 3.4 S-cluster reduction

4 Final cluster reductions o 4.1 Nonstandard final consonant cluster reduction o 4.2 Plum-plumb merger

5 Consonant cluster alterations o 5.1 Yod-rhotacization o 5.2 S-cluster metathesis o 5.3 Scream-stream merger

6 See also 7 References

[edit] H-cluster reductions

The h-cluster reductions are various consonant reductions that have occurred in the history of English involving consonant clusters beginning with /h/ that have lost the /h/ in certain varieties of English. [1]

[edit] Wh-cluster reductions

The hole-whole merger is the replacement of /hw/ with /h/ before the vowels /oː/ and /uː/ which occurred in Old English. This is due to the effect that rounded back vowels have on /h/, giving it velar and labial characteristics making /hw/ an allophone of /h/ before these vowels; the true phonetic /hw/ then eventually became perceived as this allophone of /h/ and no longer a phonologically distinct speech sound.

The wine-whine merger is the merger of /hw/ (spelled wh) with /w/. It occurs in the speech of the great majority of English speakers. Notable dialects that retain the distinction include Irish English, Scottish English, and Southern American English. This occurred after the hole-whole merger meaning that wh- is usually /w/ before orthographic a, e, i and y, but /h/ before orthographic o. (orthographic a is usually phonologically /ɒ/ or /ɔː/ after /w/ in some varieties of English.)

[edit] Yew-hew merger

The yew-hew merger is a process that occurs in some dialects of English that causes the cluster /hj/ to be reduced to /j/.[2] It leads to pronunciations like /juːdʒ/ for huge and /juːmən/ for human; hew and yew become homophonous. It is sometimes considered a type of glide cluster reduction, but is much less widespread than wh-reduction, and is generally stigmatized where it is found. Aside from accents with

h-dropping, this reduction is in the United States found mainly in accents of Philadelphia and New York City; also in Cork accents of Hiberno-English. In some dialects of English, the cluster /hj/ (phonetically [çj]) has been reduced to [ç] so that hew and yew differ only by the initial consonant sound i.e. [çuː] and [juː]).[1][3][4]

[edit] hl-cluster, hr-cluster and hn-cluster reductions

The hl-cluster, hr-cluster and hn-cluster reductions are three reductions that occurred in Middle English that caused the consonant clusters /hl/, /hr/ and /hn/ to be reduced to /l/, /r/, and /n/. For example, Old English hlāf, hring and hnutu became loaf, ring and nut in Modern English.

[edit] Y-cluster reductions

[edit] Yod-dropping

Yod-dropping is the elision of the sound [j]. The term comes from the Hebrew letter yod, which represents [j].

Yod-dropping before [uː] occurs in most varieties of English in the following environments:[1]

After [tʃ, dʒ, j], for example chew [ˈtʃuː], juice [ˈdʒuːs], yew [juː] After /ɹ/, for example rude [ɹuːd] After consonant+/l/ clusters, for example blue [ˈbluː]

There are accents, for example Welsh English, in which pairs like chews/choose, yew/you, threw/through are distinct: the first member of each pair has the diphthong [ɪu] while the second member has [uː].[1]

Many varieties of English have extended yod dropping to the following environments, on condition that the [j] be in the same syllable as the preceding consonant:

After /s/, for example suit [ˈsuːt] After /l/, for example lute [ˈluːt] After /z/, for example Zeus [ˈzuːs] After /θ/, for example enthusiasm [ɛnˈθuːziæzəm]

Yod-dropping in the above environments was formerly considered nonstandard in England, but today it is heard even among well-educated RP speakers.[1] In General American yod-dropping is found not only in the above environments but also:

After /t/, /d/ and /n/, for example tune [ˈtuːn], dew [ˈduː], new [ˈnuː]

Glide retention in these contexts has occasionally been held to be a shibboleth distinguishing Canadians from Americans. However, in a survey conducted in the Golden Horseshoe area of Southern Ontario in 1994, over 80% of respondents under the age of 40 pronounced student and news without yod.[5]

The areas marked in pink show parts of the United States where a distinction between /ɪu/ in dew and /u/ in do is made.[6]

General American thus undergoes yod-dropping after all alveolar consonants. Some accents of Southern American English preserve the distinction in pairs like loot/lute and do/dew by using a diphthong /ɪu/ in words where RP has /juː/, thus [lut]/[lɪut], [du]/[dɪu], etc.[6]

However, in words like annual, menu, volume, Matthew, continue, etc., where there is a syllable break before the /j/, there is no yod dropping.

Some East Anglian accents such as Norfolk dialect extend yod-dropping not only to the position after /t/, /d/ or /n/, but to the position after nonalveolar consonants as well, so that pairs like pure/poor, beauty/booty, mute/moot, cute/coot are homophonous.[1]. Watchers of UK television are likely to be familiar with Bernard Matthews's description of his turkeys in his television advertisements as bootiful for beautiful.

In yod-pronouncing dialects, the spellings eu, ew, uCV (where C is any consonant and V is any vowel), ue and ui, as in feud, few, mute, cue and suit generally indicate /juː/ or /ɪu/, while the spellings oo and ou, as in moon and soup generally indicate /uː/.

[edit] Yod-coalescence

Yod-coalescence is a process that changes the clusters [dj], [tj], [sj] and [zj] into [dʒ], [tʃ], [ʃ] and [ʒ] respectively.

This occurs in unstressed syllables in many varieties of English. Occurring in unstressed syllables, it leads to pronunciations such as the following:

educate→ /ˈɛdʒuːkeɪt/

graduate → /ˈɡrædʒuːeɪt

/

nature → /ˈneɪtʃər/

measure → /ˈmɛʒər/

pressure → /ˈprɛʃər/

It also occurs in some accents in stressed syllables as in tune and dune. Yod-coalescence in stressed syllables occurs in Australian, Cockney, Estuary English and New Zealand English resulting in further examples as follows:

dew → /ˈdʒuː/

tune → /ˈtʃuːn/

resume→ /rəˈʒuːm/

assume→ /əˈʃuːm/

It leads to the words dew, due, and Jew being pronounced identically. Yod-coalescence has traditionally been considered non-RP.

See also

List of yod-dropping and coalescence homophones

[edit] Other initial cluster reductions

[edit] Rap-wrap merger

The rap-wrap merger is a reduction occurring in most dialects of English that causes the initial cluster /wr/ to be reduced to /r/, making rap and wrap, rite and write etc. homophones. In some dialects of Scots, /wr/ has changed to /vr/.

Old English had a contrast between /wr/ and /r/, the former characterized by lip rounding. In Middle English, the contrast disappeared and all cases of initial /r/ came to be rounded.

[edit] Not-knot merger

The not-knot merger is a reduction that occurs in modern English where the historical cluster /kn/ is reduced to /n/ making knot and not homophones. This reduction is complete in present English, although it has not happened in all varieties of Scots.[7]

All of the kn words stem from Old English forms beginning with cn-, and at the time all were pronounced with an initial /k/ before the /n/. These words were common to the Germanic languages, most of which still pronounce the initial /k/. Thus, for example, the Old English ancestor of knee was cnēo, pronounced /kneːo/ and the cognate word in Modern German is Knie, pronounced /kniː/.

Most dialects of English reduced the initial cluster /kn/ to /n/ relatively recently—the change seems to have taken place in educated English during the seventeenth century, meaning that Shakespeare did not have the reduction.[citation needed]

[edit] Nome-gnome merger

The nome-gnome merger is the reduction of the initial cluster /ɡn/ to /n/ that occurs in all dialects of present English (though not Scots[8]). In Middle English, words spelt with gn like gnat, gnostic, gnome, etc. had the cluster /ɡn/. The humorous song The Gnu jokes about this, even though the g in gnu may actually have always been silent in English, since this loanword did not enter the language until the late 18th century.[9] The trumpeter Kenny Wheeler wrote a composition titled "Gnu High", a pun on "New High".

[edit] S-cluster reduction

S-cluster reduction is the dropping of /s/ from the initial consonant clusters with voiceless plosives (environments /sp/, /st/, and /sk(ʷ)/) occurring in Caribbean English. After the initial /s/ is removed, the plosive is aspirated in the new word-initial environment, resulting in pronunciations such as:

spit → 'pit ([ˈspɪt] → [ˈpʰɪt])

stomach → 'tomach([ˈstɐmək]

→ [ˈtʰɐmək])

spend → 'pen([ˈspɛnd]

→ [ˈpʰɛn]) (also affected by final consonant cluster reduction)

squeeze → 'queeze([ˈskwiːz]

→ [ˈkʰwiz])

[edit] Final cluster reductions

[edit] Nonstandard final consonant cluster reduction

Nonstandard reduction of final consonant clusters occurs in African American Vernacular English and Caribbean English. The new final consonant may be slightly lengthened as an effect.

Examples are:

test → tes' ([tʰɛst] → [tʰɛs])

desk → des' ([ˈdɛsk] → [ˈdɛs])

hand → han'([ˈhænd]

→ [ˈhæn])

send → sen'([ˈsɛnd]

→ [ˈsɛn])

left → lef' ([ˈlɛft] → [ˈlɛf])

wasp → was'([ˈwɑːsp]

→ [ˈwɑːs])

The plurals of test and desk may become tesses and desses by the same English rule that gives us plural messes from singular mess.[10][11][12][13]

[edit] Plum-plumb merger

The plum-plumb merger is the reduction of the final cluster /mb/ to /m/ that occurs in all dialects of present English. In early Middle English, words spelled with mb like plumb, lamb etc. had the cluster /mb/.

[edit] Consonant cluster alterations

[edit] Yod-rhotacization

Yod-rhotacization is a process that occurs for some Southern AAVE [14] speakers where /j/ is rhotacized to /r/ in consonant clusters causing pronunciations like:

beautiful→ /ˈbruːtɪfəl/

cute → /ˈkruːt/

music→ /ˈmruːzɪk/

[edit] S-cluster metathesis

S-cluster metathesis is the nonstandard metathesis of final consonant clusters starting with /s/ occurring in African American Vernacular English [14] as well as many other varieties of English.

For AAVE speakers with S-cluster metathesis the following words can undergo the following changes:

ask → /ˈæks/

grasp→ /ˈɡræps/

wasp→ /ˈwɑːps/

gasp→ /ˈɡæps/

S-cluster metathesis is lexically determined.

The above pronunciations in fact have a long history, and all the metathesised forms have existed in English for around as long as the words themselves, with varying degrees of acceptance.

For example, the Old English verb áscian also appeared as acsian, and both forms continued into Middle English. The two forms co-existed and evolved separately in various regions of England, and later America. The variant ascian gives us the modern standard English ask, but the form "axe", probably derived from Old English acsian, appears in Chaucer: "I axe, why the fyfte man Was nought housband to the Samaritan?" (Wife of Bath's Prologue, 1386.) It was considered acceptable in literary English until about 1600 [15] and can still be found in some dialects of English including African American Vernacular English. It is, however, one of the most stigmatized features of AAVE, often commented on by teachers. It also persists in Ulster Scots as /ˈaks/ and Jamaican English as /ˈaːks/, from where it has entered the London dialect of British English as /ˈɑːks/.

[edit] Scream-stream merger

The scream-stream merger is the pronunciation of the consonant cluster /str/ as /skr/ occurring for some speakers of African American Vernacular English making "scream" and "stream" homophonous as /ˈskriːm/. [14]

This phonological pattern in AAVE is a phonological pattern that's been mentioned from time to time, often by speech pathologists. Presumably the speech pathologists were concerned about this use of "skr" in place of standard English "str" because it was not clear whether the combination of sounds was an indication of a disorder or dialectal pattern. Still the scream-stream merger has not been observed or recorded in the literature nearly as often as other sound patterns. There are three possible reasons for this: (1) One is that because "skr" only occurs in positions where "str" can occur in general American English, there will be limited opportunity to produce the sound. (2) Secondly, the scream-stream merger may be viewed as a feature of the speech of young AAVE speakers that is not maintained in adult AAVE. (3) Thirdly, the scream-stream merger may be associated with AAVE spoken in certain regions of the United States.

Common words in which the /sk/ sequence occurs are given below:

street→ /ˈskriːt/

stretch →

/ˈskrɛtʃ/

straight→ /ˈskreɪt/

In summarizing her research on the cluster, Dandy (1991) notes that the form is found in Gullah and in the speech of some young African Americans born in the Southern United States. She explains that the stream-scream merger is a highly stigmatized feature and that many of the students in her study who used it were referred to speech pathologists. She goes on to note the following about her research: "I also found a continuum that may indicate sound change in progress. If children said skretch for stretch, they probably have used the skr alternation in other words that contained the feature: skreet for street, skrong for strong, skrike for strike, skranger/deskroy for stranger/destroy. There were some who said skreet for street but did not make alteration on other words with that sound". (p. 44). Also, although Dandy does not make this point, it is important to note that the students' use of /skr/ may have been affected by the training they were getting from the speech pathologists.

[edit] See also

Phonological history of the English language Phonological history of English consonants

o G-dropping Phonological history of English fricatives

o H-dropping

[edit] References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22919-7 (vol. 1), ISBN 0-521-24224-X (vol. 2), ISBN 0-521-24225-8 (vol. 3).

2. http://students.csci.unt.edu/~kun/ch11.html3. Gimson, A. C. (1980). An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English (3rd ed. ed.). London:

Edward Arnold Publishers. ISBN 0-7131-6287-2.4. Ladefoged, Peter (2001). A Course in Phonetics (4th ed. ed.). Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt

College Publishers. ISBN 0-15-507319-2.5. [1], Excerpts from J.K. Chambers, "Social embedding of changes in progress." Journal of English

Linguistics 26 (1998), accessed March 30, 2010.6. ^ a b Labov, William, Sharon Ash, and Charles Boberg (2006). The Atlas of North American

English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016746-8.7. http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/peter.siemund/Articles/English%20(Variationstypologie).pdf.

Quote: "ScotE is well-known for being more conservative than SBE and hence has retained many of the original features. Among these are the use of the velar fricative /x/ (cf. night, daughter, loch) the voiceless labial fricative /hw/ (cf. where, when, whine) and the retention of certain consonant clusters which are not possible in SBE: /kn/ as in knee, knock."

8. http://www.scots-online.org/grammar/index.asp9. The first recorded use of the word gnu in English dates back to 1777, according to the

Merriam-Webster's dictionary.[2]10. http://www.rehabmed.ualberta.ca/spa/phonology/Features.html11. HLW: Word Forms: Processes: English Accents12. List of AAVE features contrasting with MUSE

13. Ebonics Notes and Discussion14. ^ a b c Phonological Features of African American Vernacular English15. Online Etymology Dictionary

Vowel clusterFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

This article does not cite any references or sources.Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2006)

A vowel cluster is two or more vowels occurring next to each other in a single syllable with no intervening consonant. Vowel clusters are distinct from diphthongs in that diphthongs are vowel combinations in a single syllable involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another while vowel clusters have a slower rate of change of formant trajectories.

SemivowelFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Manners of articulation

Obstruent

Stop

Affricate

Fricative

Sibilant

Sonorant

Nasal

Flaps/Tap

Trill

Approximant

Liquid

Vowel

Semivowel

Lateral

Airstreams

Pulmonic

Ejective

Implosive

Click

Alliteration

Assonance

Consonance

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edit

In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel (or glide) is a sound that is phonetically equivalent to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary rather than nucleus.[1]

Contents

[hide]

1 Classification 2 Types of semivowel 3 Contrast with vowels 4 Contrast with fricatives/spirant approximants 5 Contrast between close and mid semi-vowels 6 Transcription 7 See also 8 References 9 Bibliography 10 Further reading

[edit] Classification

Semivowels form a subclass of approximants.[2][3] Although "semivowel" and "approximant" are sometimes treated as synonymous,[4] most authors agree that not all approximants are semivowels, although the exact details may vary from author to author. For example, Ladefoged and Maddieson consider that the labiodental approximant is not a semivowel,[5] while Martínez-Celdrán proposes that it should be considered a semivowel.[6]

[edit] Types of semivowel

Martínez-Celdrán lists four semivowels according to what he calls "the established classification": they correspond to the four close cardinal vowel sounds:[7]

Semivowel (non-syllabic) Vowel (syllabic)

[j] (palatal approximant) [i] (close front unrounded vowel)

[ɥ] (labio-palatal approximant)

[y] (close front rounded vowel)

[ɰ] (velar approximant)[ɯ] (close back unrounded vowel)

[w] (labiovelar approximant) [u] (close back rounded vowel)

In addition, some authors[5][6] consider the rhotic approximants [ɹ],[ɻ] to be semivowels corresponding to R-colored vowels such as [ɚ]. As mentioned above, the labiodental approximant [ʋ] is considered a semivowel in some treatments, but not others.

In some languages, such as Nepali, there exist semivowels corresponding to mid-vowels. For example, colloquial Nepali has [e�], which contrasts with the closer [j].[5]

[edit] Contrast with vowels

Semivowels, by definition, contrast with vowels by being non-syllabic. In addition, they usually contrast at the phonetic level by being shorter than vowels.[2]. In some languages, (Amharic, Yoruba, and Zuni), studies have shown that semivowels are produced with a narrower constriction in the vocal tract than their corresponding vowels.[5] Nevertheless, in some cases semivowels may be effectively interchangeable with vowels. For example, the English word fly can be considered either as consisting phonemically of an open syllable ending in a diphthong /flaɪ/, or as a closed syllable ending in a semivowel /flaj/.[8]

[edit] Contrast with fricatives/spirant approximants

According to the standard definitions, semivowels (such as [j]) contrast with fricatives (such as [ʝ]) in that fricatives produce turbulence, while semivowels do not. In discussing Spanish, Martínez-Celdrán suggests setting up a third category of "spirant approximant", contrasting both with semivowel approximants and with fricatives.[9] Though the spirant approximant is more constricted (having a lower F2 amplitude), longer, and unspecified for rounding (e.g. viuda [ˈbjuða] 'widow' vs ayuda [aˈʝʷuða] 'help'),[10] the distributional overlap is limited. The spirant approximant can only appear in the syllable onset (including word-initially, where the semivowel never appears). The two overlap in distribution after /l/ and /n/: enyesar [ẽ�ɲˈɟʝe�saɾ] ('to plaster') aniego [ãnje�ɣo�] ('flood')[11] and, although there is dialectal and ideolectal variation, speakers may also exhibit other near-minimal pairs like abyecto ('abject') vs abierto ('opened').[12] One potential minimal pair (depending on dialect) is ya visto [(ɟ)ʝaˈβisto�] ('I already dress') vs y ha visto [jaˈβisto�] ('and he has seen').[13] Again, this is not present in all dialects. Other dialects differ in either merging the two or in enhancing the contrast by moving the former to another place of articulation (e.g. [ʒ]).

[edit] Contrast between close and mid semi-vowels

Samoan also contrasts close semivowels with mid ones:[citation needed]

Samoan ’ai [ʔai �] ('probably') Samoan ’ae [ʔae�] ('but') Samoan ’auro [ʔau�ɾo] ('gold') Samoan ao [ao�] ('a cloud')

Romanian contrasts the diphthong /e�a/ with /ja/, a perceptually similar approximant-vowel sequence. The diphthong is analyzed as a single segment while the approximant-vowel sequence is analyzed as two separate segments. In addition to phonological justifications for the distinction (such as the diphthong alternating with /e/ in singular-plural pairs), there are phonetic differences between the pair:[14]

/ja/ has a greater duration than /e�a/ The transition between the two elements is longer and faster for /ja/ than /e�a/ with the former

having a higher F2 onset (i.e. greater constriction of the articulators).

Although a phonological parallel exists between /o�a/ and /wa/, the production and perception of phonetic contrasts between the two is much weaker, likely due to a lower lexical load for /wa/ (which is limited largely to loanwords from French) and a difficulty in maintaining contrasts between two back rounded glides in comparison to front ones.[15]

[edit] Transcription

Semivowels are transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet either using dedicated symbols (e.g. [j w]) or by adding the non-syllabic diacritic (an inverted breve) to a vowel sound (e.g. [i �, u�]).

The same diacritic is placed under iota (ι�) to represent the Proto-Indo-European semivowel *y as it relates to Greek grammar; upsilon with an inverted breve (υ�) is used alongside digamma to represent the Proto-Indo-European semivowel *w.[16]

[edit] See also

Diphthong List of phonetics topics Syllabic consonant Vowel cluster Hiatus (linguistics)

DiphthongFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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In phonology, a diphthong, pronounced /ˈdɪf.θɒŋ/ or /ˈdɪp.θɒŋ/, (also gliding vowel) (from Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally "two sounds" or "two tones") refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. In most dialects of English, the words eye, boy, and cow contain examples of diphthongs.

Diphthongs contrast with monophthongs, where only one vowel sound is heard in a syllable. Where two adjacent vowel sounds occur in different syllables, as in, for example, the English word re-elect, the result is described as hiatus, not as a diphthong.

Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a conversation. However, there are also unitary diphthongs, as in the English examples above, which are heard by listeners as single-vowel sounds (phonemes).[1]

In the International Phonetic Alphabet, pure vowels are transcribed with one letter, as in English sun [sʌn]. Diphthongs are transcribed with two letters, as in English sign [saɪ�n] or sane [seɪ�n]. The two vowel symbols are chosen to represent the beginning and ending positions of the tongue, though this can be only approximate. The diacritic <  �> is placed under the less prominent component to show that it is part of a diphthong rather than a separate vowel, though it is sometimes omitted in languages such as English, where there is not likely to be any confusion. (In precise transcription, [ai]

represents two vowels in hiatus, found for example in Hawaiian and in the English word naïve, and does not represent the diphthong, for instance, in the Finnish word laiva, "ship").

Contents

[hide]

1 Types o 1.1 Falling and rising o 1.2 Closing, opening, and centering o 1.3 Length

2 Difference from a vowel and semivowel 3 Diphthongs in various languages

o 3.1 Catalan o 3.2 Croatian o 3.3 Czech o 3.4 Dutch o 3.5 English o 3.6 Faroese o 3.7 Finnish o 3.8 French o 3.9 German o 3.10 Icelandic o 3.11 Irish o 3.12 Italian o 3.13 Maltese o 3.14 Mandarin Chinese o 3.15 Northern Sami o 3.16 Norwegian o 3.17 Portuguese o 3.18 Romanian o 3.19 Spanish o 3.20 Thai o 3.21 Yiddish o 3.22 Zulu

4 See also 5 References 6 Bibliography

[edit] Types

[edit] Falling and rising

Falling (or descending) diphthongs start with a vowel quality of higher prominence (higher pitch or volume) and end in a semivowel with less prominence, like [aɪ�] in eye, while rising (or ascending) diphthongs begin with a less prominent semivowel and end with a more prominent full vowel, similar

to the [ja] in yard. (Note that "falling" and "rising" in this context do not refer to vowel height; the terms "opening" and "closing" are used instead. See below.) The less prominent component in the diphthong may also be transcribed as an approximant, thus [aj] in eye and [ja] in yard. However, when the diphthong is analysed as a single phoneme, both elements are often transcribed with vowel letters (/aɪ�/, /ɪ �a/). Note also that semivowels and approximants are not equivalent in all treatments, and in the English and Italian languages, among others, many phoneticians do not consider rising combinations to be diphthongs, but rather sequences of approximant and vowel. There are many languages (such as Romanian) that contrast one or more rising diphthongs with similar sequences of a glide and a vowel in their phonetic inventory.[2]

[edit] Closing, opening, and centering

In closing diphthongs, the second element is more close than the first (e.g. [ai]); in opening diphthongs, the second element is more open (e.g. [ia]). Closing diphthongs tend to be falling ([ai �]), and opening diphthongs are generally rising ([i �a]), as open vowels are more sonorous and therefore tend to be more prominent. However, exceptions to this rule are not rare in the world's languages. In Finnish, for instance, the opening diphthongs /ie�/ and /uo�/ are true falling diphthongs, since they begin louder and with higher pitch and fall in prominence during the diphthong.

A third, rare type of diphthong that is neither opening nor closing is height-harmonic diphthongs, with both elements at the same vowel height.[citation needed] These were particularly characteristic of Old English, which had diphthongs such as /æɑ/, /eo/.

A centering diphthong is one that begins with a more peripheral vowel and ends with a more central one, such as [ɪə�], [ɛə�], and [ʊə�] in Received Pronunciation or [iə�] and [uə�] in Irish. Many centering diphthongs are also opening diphthongs ([iə�], [uə�]).

[edit] Length

Languages differ in the length of diphthongs, measured in terms of morae. In languages with phonemically short and long vowels, diphthongs typically behave like long vowels, and are pronounced with a similar length.[citation needed] In languages with only one phonemic length for pure vowels, however, diphthongs may be behave like pure vowels.[citation needed] For example, in Icelandic, both monophthongs and diphthongs are pronounced long before single consonants and short before most consonant clusters.

Some languages contrast short and long diphthongs. In some languages, such as Old English, these behave like short and long vowels, occupying one and two morae, respectively. In other languages, however, such as Ancient Greek, they occupy two and three morae, respectively, with the first element rather than the diphthong as a whole behaving as a short or long vowel.[citation needed] Languages that contrast three quantities in diphthongs are extremely rare, but not unheard of; Northern Sami is known to contrast long, short and "finally stressed" diphthongs, the last of which are distinguished by a long second element.[citation needed]

[edit] Difference from a vowel and semivowel

While there are a number of similarities, diphthongs are not the same as a combination of a vowel and an approximant or glide. Most importantly, diphthongs are fully contained in the syllable nucleus[3][4] while a semivowel or glide is restricted to the syllable boundaries (either the onset or the coda). This often manifests itself phonetically by a greater degree of constriction.[5] though this phonetic distinction is not always clear.[6] The English word yes, for example, consists of a palatal glide followed by a monophthong rather than a rising diphthong. In addition, while the segmental elements must be different in diphthongs so that [ii �], when it occurs in a language, does not contrast with [iː] though it is possible to contrast [ij] and [iː].[7]

Nonetheless, in practice the choice of treating a diphthong or diphthong-like element as a single phoneme, a sequence of two vowels or a combination of a vowel and a glide is based not on the phonetic nature of the diphthong but on systemic properties of the language.[citation needed] The following are examples of systemic characteristics that tend to determine which analysis is chosen:[citation needed]

The presence of alternations among related words or related dialects between diphthongs and monophthongs, sequences of vowel and consonant, or sequences of two vowels in separate syllables

The restrictions (or lack thereof) on the diphthongs that can occur The existence of glides such as /w/ and /j/ as separate phonemes in the language The behavior of the diphthong when a vowel directly follows The historical origin of the diphthong

Furthermore, falling diphthongs are more likely to be analyzed as unit phonemes than rising diphthongs.

As an example, the English diphthongs are usually considered single phonemes because they (mostly) originated historically as monophthongs, alternate with monophthongs in pairs such as divine vs. divinity, maintain their coherence when another vowel follows, and other, similar-looking diphthongs like /eu/ do not exist in the language.[citation needed] On the other hand, Japanese /ai/ is normally analyzed as a sequence of two vowels; Spanish /ai/ is normally analyzed as either a sequence of two vowels or of a vowel and a glide, depending on the analysis.[citation needed]

[edit] Diphthongs in various languages

[edit] Catalan

Catalan possesses a number of phonetic diphthongs, all of which begin (rising diphthongs) or end (falling diphthongs) in [j] or [w].[8]

Catalan diphthongs

falling

[aj]

aigua 'water'[aw]

taula 'table'

[əj]

mainada 'children'[əw]

caurem 'we will fall'

[ɛj] remei 'remedy'[ɛw]

peu 'foot'

[ej]

rei 'king'[ew]

seu 'his/her'

[iw] niu 'nest'

[ɔj] noi 'boy' [ɔw nou 'new'

]

[ow]

pou 'well'

[uj]

avui 'today'[uw]

duu 'he/she is carrying'

rising

[ja]

iaia 'grandma'[wa]

quatre 'four'

[jɛ] veiem 'we see'

[we]

següent 'following'

[jə]

feia 'he/she was doing'[wə]

aigua 'water'

[wi] pingüí 'penguin'

[jɔ] iode 'iodine'[wɔ]

quota 'payment'

[ju]

iogurt 'yoghurt'

There are also certain instances of compensatory diphthongization in the Majorcan dialect so that /ˈtroncs/ ('logs') (in addition to deleting the palatal plosive) develops a compensating palatal glide and surfaces as [ˈtrojns] (and contrasts with the unpluralized [ˈtronʲc]). Diphthongization compensates for the loss of the palatal stop (part of Catalan's segment loss compensation). There are other cases where diphthongization compensates for the loss of point of articulation features (property loss compensation) as in [ˈaɲ] ('year') vs [ˈajns] ('years').[9] The dialectal distribution of this compensatory diphthongization is almost entirely dependent on the dorsal plosive (whether it is velar or palatal) and the extent of consonant assimilation (whether or not it's extended to palatals).[10]

[edit] Croatian

i(j)e, as in mlijeko[11]

Croatian dialects also have uo, as in kuonj, ruod, uon[12] while, in Standard Croatian, these words are konj, rod, on)

[edit] Czech

There are three diphthongs in Czech:

/aʊ�/ as in auto (almost exclusively in words of foreign origin) /eʊ�/ as in euro (in words of foreign origin only) /oʊ�/ as in koule

The vowel groups ia, ie, ii, io, and iu in foreign words are not regarded as diphthongs, they are pronounced with /j/ between the vowels [ɪja, ɪjɛ, ɪjɪ, ɪjo, ɪju].

[edit] Dutch

Diphthongs of Dutch

Netherlandic[13] Belgian[14]

zeis [ɛɪ �]

ui [œʏ�]

zout [ʌʊ�] [ɔʊ�]

beet [t1 1] [eɪ�] [eː]

neus [t1 1] [øʏ�] [øː]

boot [t1 1] [oʊ�] [oː]

1. ^ a b c [eɪ�], [øʏ�], and [oʊ�] are normally pronounced as closing diphthongs except before [ɾ] in the same word, in which case they are centering diphthongs: [eə�], [øə�], and [oə�]. In many dialects, they are monophthongized (See Verhoeven & Van Bael (2002) for more information).

The dialect of Hamont (in Limburg) has five centring diphthongs and contrasts long and short forms of [ɛɪ�], [œʏ�], [ɔʊ�], and [ɑʊ�].[15]

[edit] English

See also: IPA chart for English dialects

All English diphthongs are falling, apart from /juː/, which can be analyzed as [i �uː].

Standard English diphthongs

RP (British) AustralianAmerican

GA Canadian

low [əʊ�] [əʉ�] [oʊ�]

loud[aʊ�] [æɔ�]

[aʊ�]

[aʊ�]

lout [əʊ�][t2 1]

lied[aɪ�] [ɑe�]

[aɪ�]

light [əɪ�][t2 1]

lane [eɪ�] [æɪ�] [eɪ�]

loin [ɔɪ �] [oɪ �] [ɔɪ �]

loon [uː] [ʉː] [ʊu�][t2 2]

lean [iː] [ɪi �][t2 2] [ɪi �][t2 2]

leer [ɪə�] [ɪə�] [ɪɚ� ][t2 3]

lair [ɛə�][t2 4] [eː][t2 4] [ɛɚ][t2 3]

lure [ʊə�][t2 4] [ʊə�] [ʊɚ� ][t2 3]

1. ^ a b Canadian English exhibits allophony of /aʊ�/ and /aɪ �/ called Canadian raising. GA and RP have raising to a lesser extent in /aɪ �/.

2. ^ a b c The erstwhile monophthongs /iː/ and /uː/ are diphthongized in many dialects. In many cases they might be better transcribed as [uu�] and [ii �], where the non-syllabic element is understood to be closer than the syllabic element. They are sometimes transcribed /uw/ and /ij/.

3. ^ a b c In rhotic dialects, words like pair, poor, and peer can be analyzed as diphthongs, although other descriptions analyze them as vowels with [ɹ] in the coda.

4. ^ a b c In Received Pronunciation, the vowels in lair and lure may be monophthongized to [ɛː] and [oː] respectively (Roach (2004:240)). Australian English speakers more readily monophthongize the former.

[edit] Faroese

Diphthongs in Faroese are:

/ai/ as in bein (can also be short) /au/ as in havn /ɛa/ as in har, mær /ɛi/ as in hey /ɛu/ as in nevnd /œu/ as in nøvn

/ʉu/ as in hús /ʊi/ as in mín, bý, ið (can also be short) /ɔa/ as in ráð /ɔi/ as in hoyra (can also be short) /ɔu/ as in sól, ovn

[edit] Finnish

Main article: Finnish phonology

All Finnish diphthongs are falling. Notably, Finnish has true opening diphthongs (e.g. /uo/), which are not very common crosslinguistically compared to centering diphthongs (e.g. /uə/ in English).

closing

[ai �] as in laiva (ship) [ei �] as in keinu (swing) [oi �] as in poika (boy) [æi �] as in äiti (mother) [øi �] as in öisin (at nights) [au�] as in lauha (mild) [eu�] as in leuto (mild) [ou�] as in koulu (school) [ey�] as in leyhyä (to waft) [æy�] as in täysi (full) [øy�] as in löytää (to find)

close

[ui �] as in uida (to swim) [yi �] as in lyijy (lead) [iu�] as in viulu (violin) [iy�] as in siistiytyä (to smarten up)

opening

[ie�] as in kieli (tongue) [uo�] as in suo (bog) [yø�] as in yö (night)

[edit] French

In French, /wa/, /wɛ�/, and /ɥi/ may be considered diphthongs (that is, fully contained in the syllable nucleus). Other sequences of a glide and vowel are considered part of a glide formation process that turns a high vowel into a glide (and part of the syllable onset) when followed by another vowel.[16]

/wa/ as in roi "king" /wɛ�/ as in groin "muzzle" /ɥi/ as in huit "eight"

/wi/ as in oui "yes" /jɛ�/ as in lien "bond" /jɛ/ as in Ariège /aj/ as in travail "work" /ɛj/ as in Marseille /œj/ as in feuille "leaf" /uj/ as in grenouille "frog" /jø/ as in vieux "old" /ɑj/ as in maille

[edit] German

Phonemic diphthongs in German:

/aɪ �/ as in Ei ‘egg’ /aʊ�/ as in Maus ‘mouse’ /ɔʏ�/ as in neu ‘new’

In the varieties of German that vocalize the /r/ in the syllable coda, other diphthongal combinations may occur. These are only phonetic diphthongs, not phonemic diphthongs, since the vocalic pronunciation [ɐ�] alternates with consonantal pronunciations of /r/ if a vowel follows, cf. du hörst [duː ˈhøːɐ�st] ‘you hear’ – ich höre [ʔɪç ˈhøːʀə] ‘I hear’. These phonetic diphthongs may be as follows:

[eːɐ�] as in er ‘he’ [iːɐ�] as in ihr ‘you (plural)’ [oːɐ�] as in Ohr ‘ear’ [øːɐ�] as in Öhr ‘eye (hole in a needle)’ [uːɐ�] as in Uhr ‘clock’ [yːɐ�] as in Tür ‘door’ [aːɐ�] as in wahr ‘true’

The diphthongs of some German dialects differ a lot from standard German diphthongs. The Bernese German diphthongs, for instance, correspond rather to the Middle High German diphthongs than to standard German diphthongs:

/iə�/ as in lieb ‘dear’ /uə�/ as in guet ‘good’ [yə�/ as in müed ‘tired’ /ei �/ as in Bei ‘leg’ /ou�/ as in Boum ‘tree’ /øi �/ as in Böim ‘trees’

Apart from these phonemic diphthongs, Bernese German has numerous phonetic diphthongs due to L-vocalization in the syllable coda, for instance the following ones:

[au�] as in Stau ‘stable’ [aːu�] as in Staau ‘steel’ [æu�] as in Wäut ‘world’ [æːu�] as in wääut ‘elects’ [ʊu�] as in tschúud ‘guilty’

[edit] Icelandic

Diphthongs in Icelandic are the following:

/aw/ as in átta, "eight" /ow/ as in nóg, "enough" /œɥ/ as in auga, "eye" /aj/ as in hæ, "hi" /ej/ as in þeir, "they"

Combinations of j and a vowel are the following:

/ja/ as in jata, "manger" /jaw/ as in já, "yes" /jo/ as in joð, "iodine," "jay," "yod" (only in a handful of words of foreign origin) /jow/ as in jól, "Christmas" /jœ/ as in jötunn, "giant" /jaj/ as in jæja, "oh well"

[edit] Irish

All Irish diphthongs are falling.

[əi �], spelled aigh, aidh, agh, adh, eagh, eadh, eigh, or eidh [əu�], spelled abh, amh, eabh, or eamh [iə�], spelled ia, iai [uə�], spelled ua, uai

[edit] Italian

In standard Italian, only falling diphthongs are considered to be true diphthongs. Rising diphthongs are considered to be sequences of approximant and vowel.[citation needed] The diphthongs of Italian are:[17]

falling

[ei �] as in potei ('could 1.sg.') [ɛi �] as in sei ('six') [ai �] as in baita ('mountain hut') [ɔi �] as in poi ('later') [oi �] as in voi ('you pl.')

[ui �] as in lui ('he') [eu�] as in pleurite ('pleuritis') [ɛu�] as in neutro ('neuter') [au�] as in auto ('car')

rising

[je] as in soffietto ('bellows') [jɛ] as in pieno ('full') [ja] as in chiave ('key') [jɔ] as in chiodo ('nail') [jo] as in fiore ('flower') [ju] as in piuma ('feather') [wi] as in guida ('guide') [we] as in quello ('that') [wɛ] as in quercia ('oak') [wa] as in guado ('ford') [wɔ] as in quota ('quota') [wo] as in acquoso ('watery')

In general, unstressed /i e o u/ in hiatus can turn into glides in more rapid speech (e.g. biennale [bjenˈnaːle] 'biennial'; coalizione [ko�aliˈtːsjoːne] 'coalition') with the process occurring more readily in syllables further from stress.[18]

[edit] Maltese

Maltese has seven falling diphthongs.[19]

[ɛɪ �] ej or għi [ɐɪ�] aj or għi [ɔɪ �] oj [ɪʊ�] iw [ɛʊ�] ew [ɐʊ�] aw or għu [ɔʊ�] ow or għu

[edit] Mandarin Chinese

Rising diphthongs in Mandarin are usually regarded as a combination of a medial glide (i, u, or ü) and a final segment, while falling diphthongs are seen as one final segment. Tone marker is always placed on the vowel with more prominence.

rising

Glide Rime Pinyin

i ä iä ia/ya jiā (家, home), yā (鴨, duck)

an iɛn ian/yan jiǎn (剪, to cut), yǎn (眼, eye) 2

ɑŋ iäŋ iang/yang xiǎng (想, to think), yǎng (癢, itchy) 2

ɛ iɛ ie/ye xiè (謝, to thank), yè (葉, leaf)

ɔ iɔ yo yō (唷, an interjection) 1

u ä u`ä ua/wa guā (瓜, melon), wā (挖, to dig)

an u`än uan/wan guǎn (管, tube), wǎn (碗, bowl)

ɑŋ u`ɑŋ uang/wang zhuāng (裝, to fill), wàng (忘, to forget) 2

ɔ u`ɔ uo/wo huǒ (火, fire), wǒ (我, I)

ən u`ən un/wen wèn (問, to ask) 2

əŋ u`ɤŋ weng wēng (翁, old man) 12

y an y`ɛn üan/yuan xüǎn (選, to choose), yuǎn (遠, far) 2

ɛ y`ɛ üe/yue xüé (學, to learn), yuè (越, to cross)

əŋ iʊŋ iong/yong xiōng (兇, menacing), yǒng (永, forever) 2

falling

ai: [aɪ�], as in ài (愛, love) ei: [eɪ�], as in lèi (累, tired) ao: [ɑʊ�], as in dào (道, way) ou: [oʊ�], as in dòu (豆, bean)

1 only occurs in isolation

2 always followed by nasal

[edit] Northern Sami

The diphthong system in Northern Sami varies considerably from one dialect to another. The Western Finnmark dialects distinguish four different qualities of opening diphthongs:

/eæ/ as in leat "to be" /ie/ as in giella "language" /oa/ as in boahtit "to come" /uo/ as in vuodjat "to swim"

In terms of quantity, Northern Sami shows a three-way contrast between long, short and finally stressed diphthongs. The last are distinguished from long and short diphthongs by a markedly long and stressed second component. Diphthong quantity is not indicated in spelling.

[edit] Norwegian

There are five diphthongs in Norwegian:

[æɪ�] as in nei, "no" [øʏ�] as in øy, "island" [æʉ�] as in sau, "sheep" [ɑɪ�] as in hai, "shark" [ɔʏ�] as in joik, "Sami song"

An additional diphthong, [ʉ£ʏ�], occurs only in the word hui in the expression i hui og hast "in great haste". The number and form of diphthongs vary between dialects.

[edit] Portuguese

Main article: Portuguese phonology

The Portuguese diphthongs are formed by the labio-velar approximant [w] and palatal approximant [j] with a vogal,[20] European Portuguese has 14 phonemic diphthongs (10 oral and 4 nasal),[21] all of which are falling diphthongs formed by a vowel and a nonsyllabic high vowel. Brazilian Portuguese has roughly the same amount, although the two dialects have slightly different pronunciations. A [w] onglide after /k/ or /ɡ/ as in quando [ˈkwɐ�dʊ] ('when') or guarda [ˈɡwaɾdɐ] ('guard') may also form rising diphthongs and triphthongs. Additionally, in casual speech, adjacent heterosyllabic vowels may combine into diphthongs and triphthongs or even sequences of them.[22]

Falling diphthongs of Portuguese

EP [21] BP

sai [aj]

sei[ɐj]

[ej]

anéis [ɛj]

mói [ɔj]

moita [oj]

anuis [uj]

viu [iw]

meu [ew]

véu [ɛw]

mau [aw]

cem[ɐ�j]

[ẽj]

mãe [ɐ�j]

anões [õj]

muita [ũj]

mão [ɐ�w]

In addition, phonetic diphthongs are formed in Brazilian Portuguese by the vocalization of /l/ in the syllable coda with words like sol [sɔw] ('sun') and sul [suw] ('south') as well as by yodization of vowels preceding /s/ in words like arroz [aˈʁojs] ('rice') and mas [majs] ('but').[22]

[edit] Romanian

Main article: Romanian phonology

Romanian has two diphthongs: /e�a/ and /o�a/. As a result of their origin (diphthongization of mid vowels under stress), they appear only in stressed syllables[23] and make morphological alternations with the mid vowels /e/ and /o/. To native speakers, they sound very similar to /ja/ and /wa/ respectively.[24] There are no perfect minimal pairs to contrast /o�a/ and /wa/,[25] and because /o�a/ doesn't appear in the final syllable of a prosodic word, there are no monosyllabic words with /o�a/; exceptions might include voal ('veil') and trotuar ('sidewalk'), though Ioana Chiţoran argues[26] that these are best treated as containing glide-vowel sequences rather than diphthongs. In addition to these, the semivowels /j/ and /w/ can be combined (either before, after, or both) with most vowels, while this arguably[27] forms additional diphthongs and triphthongs, only /e�a/ and /o�a/ can follow an obstruent-liquid cluster such as in broască ('frog') and dreagă ('to mend').[28] implying that /j/ and /w/ are restricted to the syllable boundary and therefore, strictly speaking, do not form diphthongs.

[edit] Spanish

Spanish has six falling diphthongs and eight rising diphthongs. In addition, during fast speech, sequences of vowels in hiatus become diphthongs wherein one becomes non-syllabic (unless they are the same vowel, in which case they fuse together) as in poeta [ˈpo�eta] ('poet') and maestro [ˈmae�stɾo] ('teacher'). The phonemic diphthongs are:[29]

falling

/ei �/ as in rey ('king') /ai �/ as in aire ('air') /oi �/ as in hoy ('today') /eu�/ as in neutro ('neutral') /au�/ as in pausa ('pause')

/ou�/ as in bou ('seine fishing')

rising

/je/ as in tierra ('earth') /ja/ as in hacia ('towards') /jo/ as in radio ('radio') /ju/ as in viuda ('widow') /wi/ as in fuimos ('we went') /we/ as in fuego ('fire') /wa/ as in cuadro ('picture') /wo/ as in cuota ('quota')

[edit] Thai

In addition to vowel nuclei following /j/ and /w/, Thai has three diphthongs:[30]

[ia�] [ɯa�] [ua�]

[edit] Yiddish

Yiddish has three diphthongs:[31]

[ɛɪ �] as in [plɛɪ �tə] פליטה ('refugee' f.) [aɛ�] as in [naɛ�n] נײן ('nine') [ɔə�] as in [ɔəf�nh] אופן ('way')

Diphthongs may reach a higher target position (towards /i/) in situations of coarticulatory phenomena or when words with such vowels are being emphasized.

[edit] Zulu

Diphthongs between true vowels never occur in Zulu, with each syllable having only one vowel sound, e.g. [iːǃaːǃa]. However, Zulu has two semi-vowels which form diphthongs with vowels:

[ja] as in [ŋijaɠuˈɓɛːɠa] ngiyakubeka (I am placing it) [wa] as in [ŋiːwa] ngiwa (I fall/I am falling)

TriphthongFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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In phonetics, a triphthong (from Greek τρίφθογγος, "triphthongos", literally "with three sounds," or "with three tones") is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement of the articulator from one vowel quality to another that passes over a third. While "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, are said to have one target articulator position, diphthongs have two, and triphthongs three.

Contents

[hide]

1 Examples o 1.1 Stress on the first element o 1.2 Stress on the second element o 1.3 Stress on the third element

2 References 3 See also

[edit] Examples

[edit] Stress on the first element

English in British Received Pronunciation (these can be also analyzed as disyllabic sequences of a diphthong and a monophthong[citation needed]):

[aʊ�ə] as in hour [aɪ�ə] as in fire [eɪ�ə] as in player [ɔɪ �ə] as in loyal, royal [əʊ�ə] as in lower

Bernese German (a Swiss German dialect):

[iə�w] as in Gieu 'boy' [yə�w] as in Gfüeu 'feeling' [uə�w] as in Schueu 'school' [yə�j] as in Müej 'trouble'

Latvian:

[iea] as in tie [ˈtiea] 'they'[citation needed]

[uoa] as in ko [ˈkuoa] 'what'[citation needed]

Northern Austro-Bavarian [1] :

[ɔu�ɐ] as in /hɔu�ɐ/ (MHG hâr) 'hair', or as in /ɔu�ɐ/ (mhd. ôr) 'ear' [ɛi �ə] as in /mɛi �ə/ (MHG mêr) 'more' [ou�ɐ] as in /ʃnou�ɐ/ (MHG snuor) 'cord' [ei ��ə] as in /fei ��ə/ (MHG vier) 'four', or as in /ʃnei ��əl/ (MHG snüerelîn) 'small cord'

The Northern Austro-Bavarian triphthongs have evolved from combinations of former long vowels or diphthongs from the Middle High German (MHG) period and vocalized r.

[edit] Stress on the second element

Spanish:

[we�i �] as in buey 'ox' [wai �] as in Uruguay [jai �] as in cambiáis ('you [plural]change') [je�i �] as in cambiéis ('that you may change')

Mandarin:

[i �ai �] as in 崖 yái 'cliff' [i �aʊ�] as in 票 piào 'ticket' [i �oʊ�] as in 六 liù 'six' [u�ai �] as in 快 kuài 'fast' [u�ei �] as in 回 huí 'return'

Romanian:

[jaw] as in iau 'I take' [e�aw] as in rîdeau 'they were laughing'

Vietnamese:

[ɨə�ɪ �] as in tươi 'fresh' [ɨə�ʊ�] as in rượu 'alcohol' [iə�ʊ�] as in tiêu 'pepper' [uə�ɪ �] as in nuôi 'to nourish' [ui �ʊ�] as in khuỵu 'to fall on one's knees'[citation needed]

[edit] Stress on the third element

Romanian (semivocalic phonemes marked with reversed circumflex accents):

[e�o�a] as in pleoape 'eyelids' [i �o�a] as in creioane 'pencils'

[edit] References

1. Gütter, Adolf (1971). Nordbairischer Sprachatlas. pp. maps 8 mhd. â, 9 mhd. ô, 11 mhd. ê, 15 mhd. uo, 13 mhd. ie, 14 mhd. üe.

Hiatus (linguistics)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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In phonology, hiatus (English: /haɪˈeɪtəs/; Latin: [hɪˈaːtʊs] "yawning") refers to two vowel sounds occurring in adjacent syllables, with no intervening consonant. When two adjacent vowel sounds occur in the same syllable, the result is instead described as a diphthong.

The English word hiatus itself contains a hiatus between the first and second syllables.

Contents

[hide]

1 Avoidance o 1.1 Epenthesis

1.1.1 Intrusive R o 1.2 Elision and synizesis o 1.3 Sandhi

2 Marking o 2.1 Diaeresis o 2.2 Hyphen

3 Correption 4 References 5 See also

[edit] Avoidance

Many languages disallow or restrict hiatus, avoiding it either by deleting or assimilating the vowel, or by adding an extra consonant.

[edit] Epenthesis

A glottal stop or a glide may be added (epenthesis) between vowels to prevent hiatus.

Sound change and alternation

Metathesis (reordering)[show]

Lenition (weakening)[show]

Fortition (strengthening)

Elision (loss)[show]

Epenthesis (addition)[show]

Assimilation [show]

Dissimilation

Cheshirisation (trace remains)[show]

Sandhi (boundary change)[show]

This box: view • talk • edit

[edit] Intrusive R

Some (but not all) non-rhotic dialects of English insert an /r/ to avoid hiatus after non-high word-final (or occasionally morpheme-final) vowels, although prescriptive guides for Received Pronunciation discourage this.[1]

[edit] Elision and synizesis

In Greek and Latin poetry, hiatus is generally avoided, though it does occur in many authors under certain rules with varying degrees of poetic licence. Hiatus may be avoided by elision of a final vowel, occasionally prodelision (elision of initial vowel) and synizesis (pronunciation of two vowels as one without change in writing).

[edit] Sandhi

In Sanskrit, most instances of hiatus are avoided through the process of sandhi.

[edit] Marking

[edit] Diaeresis

In Dutch, the second of two vowels in hiatus is marked with a diaeresis. In written English it was formerly common to use a diaeresis (or "tréma") to indicate a hiatus (for example: coöperate, daïs, reëlect).

[edit] Hyphen

Nowadays in English and Dutch, the diaeresis is normally left out (cooperate), or a hyphen is used (co-operate). It is, however, still common in loanwords such as naïve and Noël.

[edit] Correption

Correption is the shortening of a long vowel before a short vowel in hiatus.

[edit] References

Cluster reductionFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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In phonology and historical linguistics, cluster reduction is the simplification of consonant clusters in certain environments or over time.

Sound change and alternation

Metathesis (reordering)[show]

Lenition (weakening)[show]

Fortition (strengthening)

Elision (loss)[show]

Epenthesis (addition)[show]

Assimilation [show]

Dissimilation

Cheshirisation (trace remains)[show]

Sandhi (boundary change)[show]

This box: view • talk • edit

In some dialects of English such as AAVE certain historical consonant clusters reduce to single consonants at the ends of words: friend rhymes with Ben, and cold is homonymous with coal. In both cases, a historical cluster of homorganic consonants loses a plosive: /ˈfrɛn/, /ˈkoʊl/ However, in colder, where the consonant cluster falls between vowels, the /d/ remains: /ˈkoʊldɚ/. The similar word-final reduction of */mb/ to /m/ and */ŋɡ/ to /ŋ/ is complete in standard English (eg. lamb, long), as it is in many other Germanic languages (eg. Swedish lamm, lång).

Italian is well known to have undergone cluster reduction, where stop clusters have become geminates. For example, Victoria has become Vittoria. In other words, articulation but not length has reduced. A similar occurrence is observed in Portuguese as well, but gemination is absent. Cluster reduction also takes place in Catalan, and in a similar way as it happens in English. Certain consonant clusters placed at the end of a word are reduced: cent /sen/ instead of /sent/, although they recover the reduced consonant when the cluster falls between vowels: centenar /səntəˈna/. This phenomenon does not exist in Valencian, though: cent /sent/ and centenar /senteˈnaɾ/.

Vowel clusterFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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This article does not cite any references or sources.Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2006)

A vowel cluster is two or more vowels occurring next to each other in a single syllable with no intervening consonant. Vowel clusters are distinct from diphthongs in that diphthongs are vowel combinations in a single syllable involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another while vowel clusters have a slower rate of change of formant trajectories.

[edit] See also

Phonological history of English consonant clustersFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The phonological history of English consonant clusters is part of the phonological history of the English language in terms of changes in the phonology of consonant clusters.

Contents

[hide]

1 H-cluster reductions o 1.1 Wh-cluster reductions o 1.2 Yew-hew merger o 1.3 hl-cluster, hr-cluster and hn-cluster reductions

2 Y-cluster reductions o 2.1 Yod-dropping o 2.2 Yod-coalescence

3 Other initial cluster reductions o 3.1 Rap-wrap merger o 3.2 Not-knot merger o 3.3 Nome-gnome merger o 3.4 S-cluster reduction

4 Final cluster reductions o 4.1 Nonstandard final consonant cluster reduction o 4.2 Plum-plumb merger

5 Consonant cluster alterations o 5.1 Yod-rhotacization o 5.2 S-cluster metathesis o 5.3 Scream-stream merger

6 See also 7 References

[edit] H-cluster reductions

The h-cluster reductions are various consonant reductions that have occurred in the history of English involving consonant clusters beginning with /h/ that have lost the /h/ in certain varieties of English. [1]

[edit] Wh-cluster reductions

The hole-whole merger is the replacement of /hw/ with /h/ before the vowels /oː/ and /uː/ which occurred in Old English. This is due to the effect that rounded back vowels have on /h/, giving it velar and labial characteristics making /hw/ an allophone of /h/ before these vowels; the true phonetic /hw/ then eventually became perceived as this allophone of /h/ and no longer a phonologically distinct speech sound.

The wine-whine merger is the merger of /hw/ (spelled wh) with /w/. It occurs in the speech of the great majority of English speakers. Notable dialects that retain the distinction include Irish English, Scottish English, and Southern American English. This occurred after the hole-whole merger meaning that wh- is usually /w/ before orthographic a, e, i and y, but /h/ before orthographic o. (orthographic a is usually phonologically /ɒ/ or /ɔː/ after /w/ in some varieties of English.)

[edit] Yew-hew merger

The yew-hew merger is a process that occurs in some dialects of English that causes the cluster /hj/ to be reduced to /j/.[2] It leads to pronunciations like /juːdʒ/ for huge and /juːmən/ for human; hew and yew become homophonous. It is sometimes considered a type of glide cluster reduction, but is much less widespread than wh-reduction, and is generally stigmatized where it is found. Aside from accents with h-dropping, this reduction is in the United States found mainly in accents of Philadelphia and New York City; also in Cork accents of Hiberno-English. In some dialects of English, the cluster /hj/ (phonetically [çj]) has been reduced to [ç] so that hew and yew differ only by the initial consonant sound i.e. [çuː] and [juː]).[1][3][4]

[edit] hl-cluster, hr-cluster and hn-cluster reductions

The hl-cluster, hr-cluster and hn-cluster reductions are three reductions that occurred in Middle English that caused the consonant clusters /hl/, /hr/ and /hn/ to be reduced to /l/, /r/, and /n/. For example, Old English hlāf, hring and hnutu became loaf, ring and nut in Modern English.

[edit] Y-cluster reductions

[edit] Yod-dropping

Yod-dropping is the elision of the sound [j]. The term comes from the Hebrew letter yod, which represents [j].

Yod-dropping before [uː] occurs in most varieties of English in the following environments:[1]

After [tʃ, dʒ, j], for example chew [ˈtʃuː], juice [ˈdʒuːs], yew [juː] After /ɹ/, for example rude [ɹuːd]

After consonant+/l/ clusters, for example blue [ˈbluː]

There are accents, for example Welsh English, in which pairs like chews/choose, yew/you, threw/through are distinct: the first member of each pair has the diphthong [ɪu] while the second member has [uː].[1]

Many varieties of English have extended yod dropping to the following environments, on condition that the [j] be in the same syllable as the preceding consonant:

After /s/, for example suit [ˈsuːt] After /l/, for example lute [ˈluːt] After /z/, for example Zeus [ˈzuːs] After /θ/, for example enthusiasm [ɛnˈθuːziæzəm]

Yod-dropping in the above environments was formerly considered nonstandard in England, but today it is heard even among well-educated RP speakers.[1] In General American yod-dropping is found not only in the above environments but also:

After /t/, /d/ and /n/, for example tune [ˈtuːn], dew [ˈduː], new [ˈnuː]

Glide retention in these contexts has occasionally been held to be a shibboleth distinguishing Canadians from Americans. However, in a survey conducted in the Golden Horseshoe area of Southern Ontario in 1994, over 80% of respondents under the age of 40 pronounced student and news without yod.[5]

The areas marked in pink show parts of the United States where a distinction between /ɪu/ in dew and /u/ in do is made.[6]

General American thus undergoes yod-dropping after all alveolar consonants. Some accents of Southern American English preserve the distinction in pairs like loot/lute and do/dew by using a diphthong /ɪu/ in words where RP has /juː/, thus [lut]/[lɪut], [du]/[dɪu], etc.[6]

However, in words like annual, menu, volume, Matthew, continue, etc., where there is a syllable break before the /j/, there is no yod dropping.

Some East Anglian accents such as Norfolk dialect extend yod-dropping not only to the position after /t/, /d/ or /n/, but to the position after nonalveolar consonants as well, so that pairs like pure/poor, beauty/booty, mute/moot, cute/coot are homophonous.[1]. Watchers of UK television are likely to be familiar with Bernard Matthews's description of his turkeys in his television advertisements as bootiful for beautiful.

In yod-pronouncing dialects, the spellings eu, ew, uCV (where C is any consonant and V is any vowel), ue and ui, as in feud, few, mute, cue and suit generally indicate /juː/ or /ɪu/, while the spellings oo and ou, as in moon and soup generally indicate /uː/.

[edit] Yod-coalescence

Yod-coalescence is a process that changes the clusters [dj], [tj], [sj] and [zj] into [dʒ], [tʃ], [ʃ] and [ʒ] respectively.

This occurs in unstressed syllables in many varieties of English. Occurring in unstressed syllables, it leads to pronunciations such as the following:

educate→ /ˈɛdʒuːkeɪt/

graduate→ /ˈɡrædʒuːeɪt/

nature → /ˈneɪtʃər/

measure → /ˈmɛʒər/

pressure → /ˈprɛʃər/

It also occurs in some accents in stressed syllables as in tune and dune. Yod-coalescence in stressed syllables occurs in Australian, Cockney, Estuary English and New Zealand English resulting in further examples as follows:

dew → /ˈdʒuː/

tune → /ˈtʃuːn/

resume→ /rəˈʒuːm/

assume→ /əˈʃuːm/

It leads to the words dew, due, and Jew being pronounced identically. Yod-coalescence has traditionally been considered non-RP.

See also

List of yod-dropping and coalescence homophones

[edit] Other initial cluster reductions

[edit] Rap-wrap merger

The rap-wrap merger is a reduction occurring in most dialects of English that causes the initial cluster /wr/ to be reduced to /r/, making rap and wrap, rite and write etc. homophones. In some dialects of Scots, /wr/ has changed to /vr/.

Old English had a contrast between /wr/ and /r/, the former characterized by lip rounding. In Middle English, the contrast disappeared and all cases of initial /r/ came to be rounded.

[edit] Not-knot merger

The not-knot merger is a reduction that occurs in modern English where the historical cluster /kn/ is reduced to /n/ making knot and not homophones. This reduction is complete in present English, although it has not happened in all varieties of Scots.[7]

All of the kn words stem from Old English forms beginning with cn-, and at the time all were pronounced with an initial /k/ before the /n/. These words were common to the Germanic languages, most of which still pronounce the initial /k/. Thus, for example, the Old English ancestor of knee was cnēo, pronounced /kneːo/ and the cognate word in Modern German is Knie, pronounced /kniː/.

Most dialects of English reduced the initial cluster /kn/ to /n/ relatively recently—the change seems to have taken place in educated English during the seventeenth century, meaning that Shakespeare did not have the reduction.[citation needed]

[edit] Nome-gnome merger

The nome-gnome merger is the reduction of the initial cluster /ɡn/ to /n/ that occurs in all dialects of present English (though not Scots[8]). In Middle English, words spelt with gn like gnat, gnostic, gnome, etc. had the cluster /ɡn/. The humorous song The Gnu jokes about this, even though the g in gnu may actually have always been silent in English, since this loanword did not enter the language until the late 18th century.[9] The trumpeter Kenny Wheeler wrote a composition titled "Gnu High", a pun on "New High".

[edit] S-cluster reduction

S-cluster reduction is the dropping of /s/ from the initial consonant clusters with voiceless plosives (environments /sp/, /st/, and /sk(ʷ)/) occurring in Caribbean English. After the initial /s/ is removed, the plosive is aspirated in the new word-initial environment, resulting in pronunciations such as:

spit → 'pit ([ˈspɪt] → [ˈpʰɪt])

stomach → 'tomach ([ˈstɐmə

→ [ˈtʰɐmək])

k]

spend → 'pen([ˈspɛnd]

→ [ˈpʰɛn]) (also affected by final consonant cluster reduction)

squeeze → 'queeze([ˈskwiːz]

→ [ˈkʰwiz])

[edit] Final cluster reductions

[edit] Nonstandard final consonant cluster reduction

Nonstandard reduction of final consonant clusters occurs in African American Vernacular English and Caribbean English. The new final consonant may be slightly lengthened as an effect.

Examples are:

test → tes' ([tʰɛst] → [tʰɛs])

desk → des' ([ˈdɛsk] → [ˈdɛs])

hand → han'([ˈhænd]

→ [ˈhæn])

send → sen'([ˈsɛnd]

→ [ˈsɛn])

left → lef' ([ˈlɛft] → [ˈlɛf])

wasp → was'([ˈwɑːsp]

→ [ˈwɑːs])

The plurals of test and desk may become tesses and desses by the same English rule that gives us plural messes from singular mess.[10][11][12][13]

[edit] Plum-plumb merger

The plum-plumb merger is the reduction of the final cluster /mb/ to /m/ that occurs in all dialects of present English. In early Middle English, words spelled with mb like plumb, lamb etc. had the cluster /mb/.

[edit] Consonant cluster alterations

[edit] Yod-rhotacization

Yod-rhotacization is a process that occurs for some Southern AAVE [14] speakers where /j/ is rhotacized to /r/ in consonant clusters causing pronunciations like:

beautiful→ /ˈbruːtɪfəl/

cute → /ˈkruːt/

music→ /ˈmruːzɪk/

[edit] S-cluster metathesis

S-cluster metathesis is the nonstandard metathesis of final consonant clusters starting with /s/ occurring in African American Vernacular English [14] as well as many other varieties of English.

For AAVE speakers with S-cluster metathesis the following words can undergo the following changes:

ask → /ˈæks/

grasp→ /ˈɡræps/

wasp→ /ˈwɑːps/

gasp→ /ˈɡæps/

S-cluster metathesis is lexically determined.

The above pronunciations in fact have a long history, and all the metathesised forms have existed in English for around as long as the words themselves, with varying degrees of acceptance.

For example, the Old English verb áscian also appeared as acsian, and both forms continued into Middle English. The two forms co-existed and evolved separately in various regions of England, and later America. The variant ascian gives us the modern standard English ask, but the form "axe", probably derived from Old English acsian, appears in Chaucer: "I axe, why the fyfte man Was nought housband to the Samaritan?" (Wife of Bath's Prologue, 1386.) It was considered acceptable in literary English until about 1600 [15] and can still be found in some dialects of English including African American Vernacular English. It is, however, one of the most stigmatized features of AAVE, often commented on by teachers. It also persists in Ulster Scots as /ˈaks/ and Jamaican English as /ˈaːks/, from where it has entered the London dialect of British English as /ˈɑːks/.

[edit] Scream-stream merger

The scream-stream merger is the pronunciation of the consonant cluster /str/ as /skr/ occurring for some speakers of African American Vernacular English making "scream" and "stream" homophonous as /ˈskriːm/. [14]

This phonological pattern in AAVE is a phonological pattern that's been mentioned from time to time, often by speech pathologists. Presumably the speech pathologists were concerned about this use of "skr" in place of standard English "str" because it was not clear whether the combination of sounds was an indication of a disorder or dialectal pattern. Still the scream-stream merger has not been observed or recorded in the literature nearly as often as other sound patterns. There are three possible reasons for this: (1) One is that because "skr" only occurs in positions where "str" can occur in general American English, there will be limited opportunity to produce the sound. (2) Secondly, the scream-stream merger may be viewed as a feature of the speech of young AAVE speakers that is not maintained in adult AAVE. (3) Thirdly, the scream-stream merger may be associated with AAVE spoken in certain regions of the United States.

Common words in which the /sk/ sequence occurs are given below:

street→ /ˈskriːt/

stretch→ /ˈskrɛtʃ/

straight→ /ˈskreɪt/

In summarizing her research on the cluster, Dandy (1991) notes that the form is found in Gullah and in the speech of some young African Americans born in the Southern United States. She explains that the stream-scream merger is a highly stigmatized feature and that many of the students in her study who used it were referred to speech pathologists. She goes on to note the following about her research: "I also found a continuum that may indicate sound change in progress. If children said skretch for stretch, they probably have used the skr alternation in other words that contained the feature: skreet for street, skrong for strong, skrike for strike, skranger/deskroy for stranger/destroy. There were some who said skreet for street but did not make alteration on other words with that sound". (p. 44). Also, although Dandy does not make this point, it is important to note that the students' use of /skr/ may have been affected by the training they were getting from the speech pathologists.

[edit] See also

Phonological history of the English language Phonological history of English consonants

o G-dropping Phonological history of English fricatives

o H-dropping

[edit] References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22919-7 (vol. 1), ISBN 0-521-24224-X (vol. 2), ISBN 0-521-24225-8 (vol. 3).

2. http://students.csci.unt.edu/~kun/ch11.html

3. Gimson, A. C. (1980). An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English (3rd ed. ed.). London: Edward Arnold Publishers. ISBN 0-7131-6287-2.

4. Ladefoged, Peter (2001). A Course in Phonetics (4th ed. ed.). Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt College Publishers. ISBN 0-15-507319-2.

5. [1], Excerpts from J.K. Chambers, "Social embedding of changes in progress." Journal of English Linguistics 26 (1998), accessed March 30, 2010.

6. ^ a b Labov, William, Sharon Ash, and Charles Boberg (2006). The Atlas of North American English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016746-8.

7. http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/peter.siemund/Articles/English%20(Variationstypologie).pdf. Quote: "ScotE is well-known for being more conservative than SBE and hence has retained many of the original features. Among these are the use of the velar fricative /x/ (cf. night, daughter, loch) the voiceless labial fricative /hw/ (cf. where, when, whine) and the retention of certain consonant clusters which are not possible in SBE: /kn/ as in knee, knock."

8. http://www.scots-online.org/grammar/index.asp9. The first recorded use of the word gnu in English dates back to 1777, according to the

Merriam-Webster's dictionary.[2]10. http://www.rehabmed.ualberta.ca/spa/phonology/Features.html11. HLW: Word Forms: Processes: English Accents12. List of AAVE features contrasting with MUSE