Phonetics and phonology lectures

An e-learning text for extramural students

Aleš Svoboda

Ostrava University, Faculty of Arts

2006

1. Phonetics and phonology. Phonemes and allophones. Transcription. Varieties of English. Production of speech.

Phonetics [f@(U)"netIks] is the science which studies the characteristics of human sound making, especially those used in speech.

The main activities of phoneticians are

• the description of sounds • the classification of sounds • the transcription of sounds

The main branches of phonetics are

• articulatory phonetics [A:"tIkjUl@t(@)ri], which studies the way speech sounds are made (articulated) - artikulační fonetika, organogenetická fonetika

• acoustic phonetics [@"ku:stIk], which studies physical properties of speech sounds as transmitted between mouth and ear

• auditory phonetics [O:dIt(@)ri], which studies the perceptual response to speech sounds - zkoumá vjemovou reakci na zvuky

• we percept (and dicipher /dI"saIf@/ - dešifrujeme) the sounds through the articulation basis of our mother tongue (in bad and bed Chechs hear the same sound /e/)

Another classification of phonetics is the classification into

• general phonetics • instrumental phonetics • experimental phonetics

Phonology [f@U"nQl@dZi] is a branch of linguistics which studies the sound system of language, it studies the sounds which have distinctive features. The sounds are organized into a system of contrasts which are analyzed in terms of phonemes. Some scholars regard phonology as structural and functional phonetics, because it studies the structure of the sounds and their function in the structure.

There are two branches of phonology:

• segmental phonology (which analyses discrete segments – phonemes) • suprasegmental phonology (which analyses those features which extend over more

than one segment – it means, rhythm, stress placement etc.) Another classification of phonology is the classification into

• diachronic phonology (the historical development of sounds) • synchronic phonology (the present systems of various languages)

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The phoneme The basic unit in phonology is the phoneme. There are many definitions of the phoneme. For example, phoneme is

• a minimal unit in the system of a language (Crystal) • a family of related sounds (Daniel Jones) • a bundle of abstract distinctive features or oppositions between sounds (such as

voicing and nasality) (the Prague School of Linguistics, Trubeckoj, Jakobson) bid bad bed bud (different vowel phonemes) bit pit fit sit (different consonat phonemes) Variants of one phoneme – allophones Variants are sets of phonetically similar phones (sounds) of the same underlying unit.

• Czech [n] and [N] are allophones of one phoneme /n/ – brána [bra:na], branka [braNka]

• in English /n/ and /N/ are two different phonemes, because they change the meaning of the respective word – sin [sIn] (hřích, hřešit) and sing [sIN] (zpívat)

Transcription Basically we distinguish two types of transcription:

• phonemic transcription or broad transcription where only phonemes are given. We write the transcribed text in slashes /teIbl/.

• phonetic transcription or narrow transcription, where different degrees of allophonic detail are introduced, e.g., devoicing (by a little circle under the letter – [∑l]), or the dental variant ([ ∞t] and [∞d] in Czech) or the syllabic character ([ !l] in table), we write the transcribed text in square brackets [theIb !L]. Quite frequently, however, any kind of transcribed pronunciation is called phonetic transcription.

For the purpose of transcription, the International Phonetic Alphabet – IPA was introduced by the International Phonetic Association (originally in 1929, the latest version in Kiel 1989). Pronunciation Dictionaries, the first was published by Prof. Daniel Jones, London University (1st edition 1917, 16th edition 2003), followed by others (Gimson, Wells, and Roach), use IPA. An example of the phonetic transcription (an extract of a conversation published by O’Connor and Arnold (1973:275): (A) Did you see Othello on television last night? (B) The opera, you mean. No, I didn’t. I was out. (A) I saw it and quite enjoyed it. (B) Did you? I thought you didn’t approve of television. (A) I don’t as a regular thing, but I happened to be round at my sister’s and she wanted to see it. So I watched it too. (A) ["dIdZ@ "si: @U"Tel@U Qn "telIvIZn "lA:st "naIt] (B) [DI "Qpr@ j@ "mi:n – "n@U aI "dIdnt aI w@z "aUt] (A) ["aI "sO: It @n "kwaIt In"dZOId It] (B) ["dIdZU – aI "TO:t jU "dIdnt @"pru:v @v "telIvIZn] (A) [aI "d@Unt @z @ "regjUl@ "TIN – b@t aI "h&pnd t@ bI "raUnd @t maI "sIst@z @n "Si: "wQntId t@ "si: It – s@U "aI "wQtSt It "tu:]

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Varieties of English

RP means Received Pronunciation, which is the neutral pronunciation based on the educated southern standard of English (also called BBC English or King’s English).

Other British pronunciation varieties are

• Yorkshire type (Northern English pronunciation: love [lUv], bad [bad]) • Scottish English (trilled /r/) • Irish English • Cockney [kQkni] (originally one of London dialects, cf. Shaw’s Pygmalion and the

musical My Fair Lady) Other varieties of English are

• American English (most frequent variant called General American (GenAm) • Canadian English (closer to British English) • Australian English • Other Englishes (African, Indian, Central European, etc.)

Human speech production

• The air from the lungs passes through the trachea, possibly causes the vibration of the vocal folds, passes through the pharyngal cavity to the oral and possibly nasal cavity, and goes out.

• On the way of the air, there are obstacles in the oral cavity which shape the sound. • The sounds with little obstacle are tones – vowels [vaU@lz], the sounds with big

obstacles are noises – consonants [kQns@n@nts]. Voice production

• The air pressure from the lungs causes vibrations of the vocal folds (vocal cords).

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(Reprinted from Gimson 1973:8)

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2. The system of English vowels. Quality and quantity. Diphthongs, Triphthongs. Pre-fortis clipping.

Vowels [vaU@lz] are sounds that correspond to tones in music, while consonants are noises. Vowels are always voiced (not in whisper). We usually distinguish the quality and the quantity of a vowel.

According to quality we distinguish various vowels like /i, e, a, o, u/. Different quality, which means a different vowel, is achieved by the change of the oral cavity mainly by means of the tongue and the lips. Daniel Jones made a chart (in the form of a trapezoid) where the position of the tongue (more specifically, one point on the tongue) can be marked. To be able to insert the vowels of different languages, he suggested a chart with cardinal vowels.

Chart (trapezoid) with (Primary) Cardinal Vowels:

The chart has vertically four levels (stages) • close • half-close • half-open • open and horizontally three areas • front • central • back Primary cardinal vowels denote the utmost tongue positions: i, e, E, a, A, O, o, u All the English vowels are inserted in relation to the cardinal vowels in the chart. By quantity we mean the length of vowels. The length of vowels in English is relative. The primary feature of the vowels is their quality. The difference between short /I/ and long /i:/ is more in the quality than in the length. The following chart with single vowels (monophthongs) will illustrate:

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English short and long vowels:

Short vowels English short vowels are

• /I/ is not quite close, rather half-close, front and slightly centred (it is less close then the Czech /i/ – hit, sit, bit

• /e/ is a front vowel between cardinal [e] and [E]. It is practically the same as the Czech /e/ – set, bed, yes

• /&/ is front and rather open. It is often lengthened. – bad, gas, band • /V/ is a central vowel, half-open. – cup, love • /Q/ is a back vowel, open, labialized [leIbI@laIzd] (lips are slightly rounded) – pot,

gone, hot (in American English without labialization, the result is /A:/) • /U/ is a back vowel, slightly centred, half-close – put, push, pull • /@/ is a central vowel, in RP always unstressed. It is generally described as lax. It can

appear in different central places according to the character of neighbouring sounds. It is also called a mixed vowel. – today, connect

Long vowels English long vowels are

• /i:/ is a front vowel, close. It is often diphthongized into /Ii/ (the first element is in the position of the short /I/ and the second in the position of a long /i/) or even /@i/ in Cockney. (Tea is pronounced as [ts@I] in Cockney.) It is shortened before a fortis consonant. This phenomenon is called a pre-fortis clipping: see [si:] x seat [si(:)t].

• /3:/ is a central vowel. It is shortened before a fortis consonant: bird [b3:d] x shirt [S3(:)t]

• /A:/ is an open, not quite in the back, but slightly centred: car, task • /O:/ is a back vowel, between half-close and half-open, strongly rounded (labialized).

It is shortened before a fortis consonant: four [fO:] x fort [fO(:)t] • /u:/ is a back vowel, close, rounded (labialized). It is shortened before a fortis

consonant: moon [mu:n] x loose [lu(:)s]

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Diphthongs

Diphthongs are formed by two vowels within one syllable. In English there are two types of diphthongs: centring diphthongs and closing diphthongs.

English centring diphthongs are

• /I@/ tear /tI@/ • /e@/ tear /te@/ • /U@/ tour /tU@/ • /O@/ only in dialects where door is pronounced /dO@/.

English closing diphthongs are

• /eI/ play • /aI/ time • /aU/ how • /OI/ boy • /@U/ open

• Closing diphthongs are glides from the first component in the direction to the second. But it does not come so far.

• They are shortened before a fortis consonant.

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Triphthongs English triphthongs are combinations of closing diphthongs with /@/:

• /eI@/ player • /aI@/ tyre • /aU@/ tower • /OI@/ royal • /@U@/ mower

English triphthongs tend to omit the second element and change into diphthongs.

• tyre /taI@/ > /ta(I)@/ > /ta@/ • tower /taU@/ > /ta(U)@/ > /ta@/

Some of these diphthongs tend to be made monophthongs: • tyre /ta@/ > /ta:/ > /tA:/ • tower /ta@/ > /ta:/ > /tA:/

(Reprinted from Gimson 1973:138) Pre-fortis clipping In English, a vowel is clipped (shortened) when it is followed by one of the fortis (voiceless, see later) consonants within the same syllable, and we call the phenomenon “pre-fortis clipping”. It is particularly noticeable with long vowels and diphthongs when they are stressed. For example leap [li(:)p], [lip] (shorter than lead [li:d], but different from lip [lIp]) feet [fi(:)t], [fit] (shorter than feed [fi:d], but different from fit [fIt]) seek [si(:)k], [sik] (shorter than siege [si:dZ], but different from sick [sIk]) loose [lu(:)s], [lus] (shorter than lose [lu:z], but different from look [lUk]) rate[reIt] (shorter than raid [reId]) The difference between a long clipped /i:/ or /u:/ and a short /I/ or /U/ is, not so much in the quantity (length), but in the quality of /i/ versus /I/, and /u/versus /U/!!!

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3. The classification of consonants. The way (manner) and the place of articulation. The oppositions of voiced vs. voiceless, and lenis vs. fortis. The

plosives (stops).

Consonants are noises. Basically we clasify them according to two aspects: (i) the way (manner) of pronunciation and (ii) the place of articulation (pronunciation).

According to the way of pronunciation we distinguish • plosives (stops) – a full closure in the way of the air is suddenly released, which makes a

plosive sound (a stop) – e.g. /p/ • fricatives – a partial closure causes the friction of the air, which makes a hissing sound;

fricatives may be pronounced long without interruption (they are continuants) – e.g. /f/ • affricates – they begin as plosives and end as fricatives – e.g. /tS/ According to the place of articulation we distinguish • bilabials – both lips are involved – e.g. /p/ • labiodentals – the upper teeth and the lower lip are involved – e.g. /f/ • dentals (interdentals and postdentals) – the tip of the tongue and the teeth are involved –

e.g. /T/ • alveolars – the alveoli and the tongue are involved – e.g. English /t/ • postalveolars (palatoalveolars) – the beginning of the hard palate and the tongue are

involved – e.g. /S/ • palatals – the hard palate and the tongue are involved – e.g. /c/ (= Czech ť in tiskne) • retroflex – the tongue is in a retroflex or upright position – e.g. /R/ (American r) • velars – the soft palate and the blade of the tongue are involved – e.g. /k/ • glottals – are articulated in the glottis – e.g. /h/ In addition to this there are three oppositions • voiceless vs. voiced (the vocal folds are: inactive or active) – e.g. /p/ vs. /b/ • fortis vs. lenis (the articulation is tense or lax) – e.g. /p/ vs. /b/ • aspirated vs. non-aspirated (aspiration is a very special activity of the vocal folds) – e.g.

/ph/ vs. /b/ Further features • nasals – the air also passes through the nasal cavity – e.g. /m/ • laterals – the air passes on the sides of the tongue – e.g. /l/ • trills – the tip of the tongue is trilling (vibrating) like in Scottish or Czech /r/ • taps/flaps – a single "vibration", a single, very short touch – e.g. American /}t/ in the word

transmitter [tr&nz"mI}t@] • approximants – the tongue is not too close to the other articulatory organ, so the result is a

semi-vowel or a semi-consonant – e.g. /w/

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Consonants: Classification Table

Place of articulation Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar GlottalPlosives (stops) p b (t) (d) t d (c) (ƒ) k g ? Fricatives f v T D s z S Z x G h (§) Africates (ts) (dz) tS dZ Nasals m (n) n (J) N Taps/ Flaps t} Trills r Laterals l

Way

of a

rtic

ulat

ion

Aproximants w l R R j

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With plosives (stops) a full closure in the way of the air is suddenly released, which makes a plosive sound (a stop).

• bilabial plosives /p/ voiceless, fortis, aspirated /b/ voiced, lenis, non-aspirated

• in English the opposition fortis-lenis is primary, and the opposition voiceless-voiced is secondary

• in Czech the opposition voiceless-voiced is primary, and the opposition fortis-lenis is secondary (it can be heard in whisper when all the sounds are voiceless: berem vs. perem, ten vs. den)

• the cluster /sp/ is not aspirated: space [speIs] vs. pace [pheIs] • alveolar plosives /t/ voiceless, fortis, aspirated /d/ voiced, lenis, non-aspirated

• alveolar in English! • dental (post-dental) in Czech

• school practice: “Wait a minute, caller, trying to connect you.” If /t/ and /n/ are alveolar, and /th/ and /kh/ are aspirated (/t/ in /tr/ is aspirated by means of voiceless /r/), the sentence sounds English. If /t/ and /n/ are dental, and /t/ and /k/ are not aspirated (and /r/ is trilling), the sentence sounds Slavonic (a typical Czech accent).

• the cluster /st/ is not aspirated: sty [staI] vs. tie [thaI] • velar plosives /k/ voiceless, fortis, aspirated /g/ voiced, lenis, non-aspirated

• the same pronunciation as in Czech, but /k/ is aspirated • the cluster /sk/ is not aspirated: school [sku:l] vs. cool [khu:l]

• the glottal plosive /?/ glottal plosive or glottal stop (ráz in Czech)

• glottal stop /?/ in Czech – A i on! [?a ?i ?on] (Moravian A i on! [ajion]) • glottal stop in RP – not used, see linking later on • glottal stop in Cockney – replacement of /p, t, k/

Have a look! ["&v@ "lU?] cup of tea ["kV? @ "ts@I]

• (In Czech, we also have palatal plosives /c/ and /ƒ/ as in tiskne, děkuje. In English, these

palatal plosives appear as the result of the assimilation of /tj/ and /dj/: tune [tju:n], [cu:n], duty [dju:ti], [ƒu:ti].)

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4. English fricatives.

With fricatives a partial closure causes the friction of the air, which makes a hissing sound; fricatives may be pronounced long without interruption (they are continuants)

English fricatives are • labiodental /f/ voiceless, fortis /v/ voiced, lenis

• the oppositions fortis-lenis primary, the opposition voiceless-voiced is secondary • dental /T/ voiceless, fortis /D/ voiced, lenis

• There are two possible ways of pronunciation: • interdental (easier for foreign learners) • postdental

• alveolar /s/ voiceless, fortis /z/ voiced, lenis

• in Cz often alveodental – in English they are less hissing • palato-alveolar, postalveolar /S/ voiceless, fortis /Z/ voiced, lenis

• /sj/ > /S/ e.g. issue [Isju:] > [ISu:] • /zj/ > /Z/ e.g. luxurious [lVg"zjU@ri@s] > [lVg"ZU@ri@s]

• velar /x/

• Scottish loch [lOx] (Czech hroch [§rox]) • glottal /h/ voiceless in English!

• In some social dialects of English /h/ is not pronounced, we say that pople are dropping their h’s [eItSIz]. This is one of the typical features of Cockney: Have a look! ["&v@ "lU?]

• In some dialects, the written group of letters wh- is pronounced as a fortis (voiceless) bilabial fricative //. So the words which [ItS] and witch [wItS] are not homophones.

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5. English affricates and English nasals.

The affricates begin as plosives and end as fricatives, this means that they begin with the full closure of the passage of air and end in a partial closure.

The English affricates are • postalveolar /tS/ voiceless, fortis /dZ/ voiced, lenis

• they begin with the plosives /t/ or /d/ and end in fricatives /S/ or /Z/. Some phoneticians think that English has got another pair of affricates, • alveolar /tR/ voiceless, fortis /dR/ voiced, lenis

• in broad transcription they are transcribed as /tr/, /dr/ – train [treIn], dry [draI], but in narrow transcription as /tR/, /dR/ – train [tReIn], dry [dRaI] ([R] is not trilled, but fricative

• ( In Czech we also have an alveolar affricate /ts/ – cesta)

With nasals the air passes through both the oral and the nasal cavities. The soft palate (the uvula) is dropped and the passage to the nasal cavity is open.

The English nasals are • the bilabial /m/ • the alveolar /n/ (the Czech nasal /n/ is dental (postdental)) • the velar /N/ In Czech we have the palatal /J/ In English, /n/ and /N/ are two phonemes (thin vs. thing), while in Czech they are two allophones of one phoneme (brána, branka).

• /m/, /n/ readily perform a syllabic function (capitalism, nation) • /m/ appears before /p/ instead of /n/ in quick speech (assimilation)

ten pairs [tem pe@z] • /N/ appears before velar plosives instead of /n/ in quick speech (assimilation)

ten cups [teN kVps]

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6. English approximants.

With approximants the tongue is not too close to the other articulatory organ, so the result is a semi-vowel or a semi-consonant. Approximants behave phonetically like vowels, but phonologically like consonants.

English approximants are • the bilabial /w/ • the lateral /l/

• (which is an alveolar sound when the air passes on the sides of the tongue) • various types of /r/ sounds • the palatal /j/ • the lateral /l/

• it is normally voiced, but voiceless (devoiced) after aspirated /p, t, k/ – play [p ∑leI], clean [k ∑li:n]

• there are two allophones: clear [l] and dark [5] • clear [l] – before vowels and /j/ • dark [5] – finally after the vowel (feel, fill)

– before a consonant (help, alphabet) – as a syllabic sound following a consonant (apple, table) – there is a tendency to lip-rounding (labialization)

• how to teach dark [L] – the tongue-tip permanently touches the upper teeth ridge while we are pronunciation various vowels, finally /o/ and /u/ – then, e.g. in Czech, we pronounce the words blba blba blba blba, babl babl babl babl without removing the tip of the tongue from the teeth ridge – the same /bL/ sound should appear in bubble, people, awful with the tongue in “dark /L/ position” – then table, gobble, ball, hall, etc.

• there is no phonemic distinction between clear and dark /l/ • the frictionless continuant /r/ appears in several variants

• trilled /r/ appears in Czech or in the Scottish variant of English. The tip of the tongue is trilling.

• in Southern English RP (= received pronunciation), the /R/ sound is pronounced with some very slight friction, but no trill. It can be especially seen when pronounced after p, t, k as voiceless and fricative (press, trees, creep). With some speakers the English /R/ is slightly labialized.

• linking /r/ appears between words – before our eyes [bI"fO:r "aU@r "aIz] • intrusive /r/ appears in wrong positions to make the pronunciation easier (to

abolish the hiatus [haI"eIt@s]) – the India (r) Office [DI "IndZ@r "QfIs] • the retroflex /R/ appears in American English • the tap/flap sound, denoted by symbols /}t/ or /4/, is a single “vibration”, a single,

very short touch of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, like a quick /d/ sound (little [lI}tl] in American English)

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• /w/ and /j/ are typical approximants, it means that they are half-vowels and half-consonants.

• /j/

• Yod coalescence ["jQd !k@U@"lesns] (or coalescent assimilation) is the process which changes /t/ or /d/ plus /j/ into [tS] or [dZ] respectively:

/tj/ > /c/ > /tS/ statue [st&tju:] > [st&cu:] > [st&tSu:] (Czech ť ) /dj/ > /ƒ/ > /dZ/ residue [rezIdju:] > [rezIƒu:] > [rezidZu:] (Czech ď )

• The same phenomenon may be observed with /sj/ and /zj/ /sj/ > /S/ issue [Isju:] > [ISu:] /zj/ > /Z/ luxurious [lVg"zjU@ri@s] > [lVg"ZU@ri@s]

• Across word boundaries, in standard accents it mainly affects phrases involving you or your.

let you out [let ju aUt] > [letS u aUt] would you try [wUd ju traI] > [wUdZ u traI] get your bags [get jO: b&gz] > [getS O: b&gz]

• /w/ • In some regions, the initial cluster wh- is pronounced /hw/ or //. Then the

following pairs are not homophonous: witch [wItS] vs. which [hwItS] , [ItS] weather [weD@] vs. whether [hweD@], [eD@] wine [waIn] vs. whine [hwaIn], [aIn]

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7. The stress.

The problem of stress is very complex. Generally, we can say that the stressed syllables need more effort (energy) in articulation than the unstressed syllables.

In words we distinguish • the primary stress – /"tQp/, /"ti:tS@/, /f@"netIks/ • the secondary stress – /! f@Ut@"gr&fIk/

We learn the stress together with the words so we usually do not have problems with separate words. The stress in compounds and phrases is more complex. Compounds If the first elements is adjectival, it carries the secondary stress and the primary stress is on the second element:

• %loud "speaker %bad-"tempered %second "class If the compound is considered one word, the first element is stressed:

• "greenhouse "blackboard "blackbird "background • compounds with an -ing form: "walking stick, "steering wheel

If the first element is a noun, it is stressed:

• "typewriter "car-ferry "sunrise Note: "dancing master is a teacher of dancing "dancing "master is a master (teacher) who is dancing "English teacher is a teacher of English %English "teacher is a teacher from England Weak syllables (unstressed syllables)

• Syllables with short /@/ are never stressed

• /I/ or /i/ are frequently pronounced • in words ending with -y, -ly after a consonant (happy, valley, happier) • in unstressed prefixes re-, pre-, de- before a vowel (react, deactivate) • in suffixes -iate, -ious (appreciate, hilarious)

• /U/ or /u/ in unstressed positions are pronounced as an /u/ sound (you, into, do,

through, who), or reduced to /@/ (you, into, do) – see below

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Word stress distinguishing the function of the word

• A number of English words have different stress patterns if they are adjectives or nouns and if they are verbs. Examples of such pairs are the following:

Noun/Adjective Verb Noun/Adjective Verb

abstract "&b!str&kt !&b"str&kt @b"str&kt

torment "tO:!ment !tO:"ment t@"ment

accent "&k!sent,"&ksnt !&k"sent @k"sent

transfer "trA:ns!fE: !trA:ns"fE: tr@ns"fE:

digest "daI!dZest !daI"dZest dI"dZest

transport "trA:ns!pO:t !trA:ns"pO:t tr@ns"pO:t

absent "&bs@nt @b"sent permit "pE:mIt p@"mIt combine "kQm!baIn k@m"baIn present preznt prI"zent compress "kQm!pres k@m"pres produce "prQ!dju:s pr@"dju:s conduct "kQn!dVkt k@n"dVkt progress "pr@U!gres pr@"gres contract "kQn!tr&kt k@n"tr&kt project "prQ!dZekt pr@"dzekt contrast "kQn!trA:st k@n"trA:st protest "pr@U!test pr@"test desert "dez@t dI"zE:t rebel "rebl rI"bel export "eks!pO:t Iks"pO:t record "re!kO:d rI"kO:d frequent "fri:kw@nt frI"kwent refuse "re!fju:s rI"fju:z object "QbdZIkt @b"dZekt subject "sVbdZIkt s@b"dZekt perfect "pE:fIkt p@"fekt survey "sE:!veI s@"veI

8. Weak forms.

In English there is a number of words, most of them are function words, that have a strong, stressed form and a weak, unstressed form. One word may have more than one weak forms. As weak forms frequently appear • articles: the, a, an (the strong forms are /Di:/, /eI/) • conjunctions: and, but, that (but not the demonstrative that), than • possessive pronouns: his, her, your • personal pronouns: she, her, he, him, we, us, them • prepositions: at, for, from, of, to, as • some (in the article function), there (in the existential phrase there is, there are) • auxiliary verbs: can, could, have, has, had, shall, should, must, do, does, am, are, was,

were, been The strong form is used in the following cases • if the weak form is at the end of the sentence or clause: The man I spoke of is Mr. Smith. • if the word is contrasted with another word: The letter is from him, not to him. • in the case of emphasis: You must go there. • if a preposition and a personal pronoun are at the end of the sentence or clause: I’ll do it

for him /"fOrIm/. Note: Weak forms are not the same as contracted forms (don´t, mustn´t).

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List of weak forms (in unaccented positions) after Gimson 1973:264 Words Weak

form(s) Notes Words Weak

form(s) Notes

a @ me mI, mi am m, @m must m@st, m@s an n, @n not nt, n and @nd, nd, @n, n of @v, v, @ are @(r) Saint s@nt,snt,s@n,sn as @z shall S@l, l at @t she SI, Si be bI should S@d, Sd been bIn Sir s@(r) but b@t some s@m, sm unspecified quantity

can k@n, kn (auxiliary) than D@n, Dn could k@d, kd that D@t do dU, d@, d (auxiliary) the DI, Di, D@ D@ before consonants

does d@z, z, s (auxiliary) them D@m, @m, m for f@(r) there D@(r) in there is, there are

from fr@m, frm to t@, tU tU before vowels

had h@d, @d, d (auxiliary) us @s, s has h@z, @z, z, s (auxiliary) was w@s have h@v, @v, v (auxiliary) we wI, wi he hI, i:, I were w@(r) her h@, E:, @ who hU, u:, U, hu him Im will l his Iz would w@d, @d, d is s, z you jU, ju

9. Rhythm.

The notion of rhythm [rIDm] refers to the regularity of some units in speech. We can see the regularity in stress (e.g., in stress-timed languages) or in syllables (in syllable-timed languages), or in the length of vowels etc.

English has a stress-timed rhythm, which means that stressed syllables tend to occur at relatively regular intervals whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or not. |Walk |down the |path to the |end of the ca |nal 1 2 3 4 5 The stress-timed rhythm means that the time from each stressed syllable to the next will tend to be the same, irrespective of the number of unstressed syllables in between. (Czech is a syllable-timed language, so each syllable has it fixed length (short or long) and the stress comes in more or less irregular intervals.)

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10. Connected speech. Assimilation

Connected speech is not only a sequence of separate words. The coarticulation of words tend to the economy of articulation by means of assimilation, elision, and linking. Other aspects of connected speech are rhythm and intonation.

Assimilation is a type of coarticulation of a speech sound caused by the neighbouring sounds. It applies both to the internal structure of words and to the neighbouring words.

• If the preceding consonant Cm changes to become like the following consonant Cn , the

assimilation is called regressive.

• Regressive assimilation is typical of Czech: zahrádka [zahra:tka], léčba [le:dZba] • If the following consonant Cn changes to become like the preceding consonant Cm , the

assimilation is called progressive.

• Progressive assimilation is typical of English: beds [bedz], stops [stops] There are basically three ways of assimilation:

• the assimilation of voice and tension • the assimilation of place • the assimilation of manner

The assimilation of voice and tension (progressive, in English, more tension than voice)

• he speaks /-s/ in English fortis, voiceless • he plays /-z/ in English lenis, voiced, sometimes voiceless /pleI∑z/ • bets /-s/ in English fortis, voiceless • beds /-z/ in English lenis, voiced, sometimes voiceless /bed∑z/ • parked /-t/ in English fortis, voiceless • begged /-d/ in English lenis, voiced, sometimes voiceless /beg∑d/

Note: In Czech, progressive assimilation of voice is rare. It occurs in the cluster sh- as pronounced in Bohemia, and sv- as pronounced in some Moravian dialects:

• na shledanou [na sxledanou] • svatý [sfati:]

The Moravian pronunciation of sh- displays regressive assimilation:

• na shledanou [na zhledanou].) The neutralization of the opposition voiced vs. voiceless at the end of a Czech word before a pause (the pause is voiceless!!!) is the manifestation of regressive assimilation: voiced con-sonants are devoiced (voiceless): led and let are pronounced in the same way [let].

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The assimilation of place (regressive)

• that person [D&p pE:sn] • meat pie [mi:p paI] • ten men [tem men] • this shape [DIS SeIp] • those years [D@UZ jI@z]

Very often /t/ is realized as a glottal stop when followed by another consonant:

• eigth boys [eI? bOIz] The assimilation of manner (regressive) (only in rapid speech):

• that side [D&s saId] • good night [gUn naIt]

A note on the assimilation of tension between words

Between English words, if the final consonant is fortis (back) and the initial consonant of the next word is lenis (door), the assimilation never takes place:

• back door [b&k dO:] (never [b&g dO:] as is common with Czech speakers)

In Czech, there is regressive assimilation between words:

• jak do lesa, tak z lesa [jag do lesa, tag z lesa]

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11. Elision. Linking.

Elision means that under certain circumstances sounds disappear. In other words, a phoneme has a zero realization or is deleted.

• the loss of a weak (unstressed) vowel after /p/, /t/, /k/

• potato /ph"teIt@U/ • today /th"deI/ • canary /kh"ne@ri/

• a weak (unstressed) vowel + /n/, /l/, /r/ becomes a syllabic consonant:

• police /pl!i:s/ • tonight /tn!aIt/

In connected speech, we link words together. Sometimes, however, the pronunciation becomes difficult, so we try to make it easier by means of special ways of linking.

• The most familiar case of linking is linking r. If one word ends in -r or -re in spelling and

the next word begins with a vowel, the RP speakers pronounce /r/ between the words:

• four eggs ["fO:r"egz] • before our eyes [bI"fO:r"A:r"aIz] • close your eyes ["kl@UZ@r"aIz]

• Many RP speakers use /r/ in a similar way even when there is no “justification” in

spelling. This /r/ is called intrusive r:

• formula A ["fO:mjUl@r"eI] • India Office ["IndZ@r"QfIs]

• When the sounds /I/, /i:/, and /aI/ come at the end of a word and the next word begins

with a vowel, there is often an extra /j/ to link them:

• the apple [DIj"&pl] • my uncle [maIj"VNkl]

• A similar situation is with /u/-sounds, /w/ may be inserted:

• blue eyes [blu:w"aIz] In all the cases cited above, the English try to avoid hiatus [haI"eIt@s] between words. (Hiatus is the contact of two neighbouring vowels which belong to different syllables.)

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12. English intonation. The Tone Group. The Fall-and-Rise pattern.

No definition of intonation is absolutely accurate. Yet we will agree that intonation is closely related to the pitch and its changes.

• Detailed research into English intonation was done by the London school of phonetics,

especially by J. D. O’Connor and G. F. Arnold. The present survey is based on their book Intonation of colloquial English (see Bibliography).

The Tone Group

The basic unit of intonation is the Tone Group. The Tone Group consists of an optional pre-head, an optional head (or onset), the obligatory nucleus, and an optional tail.

• Here are some examples of sentences representing one Tone Group (with varying

numbers of optional members):

pre-head (unstressed)

head (onset) (stressed)

nucleus (stressed)

tail (unstressed)

It was an un "usually dark _night.

"Where’s _John? I could have `kicked myself.

I "haven’t _seen her. But "I `saw her.

'Did you? _Yea. "Good `heav- -ens! "Don’t be a _fool!

The Tone Group is usually represented by a clause or a noun phrase, exceptionally by two or more clauses.

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Pre-heads are either low or ⎯high

Low Pre-head is represented by It was an un- in the following example (O’Connor & Arnold 1973:22):

High Pre-head is represented by But you (O’Connor & Arnold 1973:25):

Heads are either %low, "high, falling or rising

Low Head is represented by Don’t upset yourself about (O’Connor & Arnold 1973:19):

High Head is represented by Why did you tell me you couldn’t (O’Connor & Arnold 1973:19):

Falling Head is represented by Everyone’s bound to see it (O’Connor & Arnold 1973:20):

Rising Head is represented by How did you manage to do (O’Connor & Arnold 1973:21):

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There are seven nuclear tones. (Reprinted from O’Connor & Arnold 1973:16-17.)

• Tails just follow the intonation contour of the nuclar tones if there are some further

syllables after the nucleus. The table below surveys the types of Pre-heads, Heads, and Nuclear Tones within a Tone Group:

Pre-heads (optional)

(unstressed)

Heads (optional) (stressed)

Nuclei (obligatory)

nuclear stress

Tails (optional)

(unstressed) Low Pre-head %Low Head _Low Fall ⎯High Pre-head "High Head `High Fall Falling Head /Low Rise Rising Head /High Rise Fall-Rise Rise-Fall Level

if present, they follow the contour of the nuclear tones

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O’Connor and Arnold (1973) found out that out of 105 possible combinations of the various pre-heads, heads, nuclei, and tails (not all of them have to be present in the Tone Group), there are only ten groups that are used in colloquial English. One of them, called High Dive, consisting of a Fall-and-Rise contour (usually with some syllables between the Fall and the Rise), is especially important for foreign learners as is shown below. The Fall-and-Rise intonation pattern in English

• What is achieved by means of word order in Czech is often achieved by means of

intonation in English:

• My "mother came from _Sheffield.

theme (what is talked about) rheme (what is said about it)

Moje matka pocházela ze Sheffieldu.

theme rheme

• My `mother came from 7Sheffield.

rheme! theme

Ze Sheffieldu pocházela moje matka.

theme rheme

• The "little old man in the `corner’s been waiting 7longest. (O’Connor &

Arnold 1973:85)

Nejdéle čeká ten stařeček v koutě.

A more detailed description of the ten intonation patterns exceeds the scope of the present e-learning text, and we refer the reader to the relevant literature.

Bibliography

Crystal, D.: A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2001.

Gimson, A.S.: An introduction to the pronunciation of English. Bristol: Edward Arnold, 1973.

Jones, D. and P. Roach: English Pronouncing Dictionary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Kavka, S.: Mluvená a psaná forma současné angličtiny. Ostrava: Ostravská univerzita, 1990.

O’Connor, J. D. and G. F. Arnold: Intonation of colloquial English. London: Longman, 1973.

Roach, P.: English Phonetics and Phonology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Roach, P.: Introducing Phonetics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Wells, J. C.: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, Longman, 1990.

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