CHAPTER 2: PHONETICS

DEFINITION OF PHONETICS AND SOUNDS

• Phonetics is the study of how speech sounds are produced and what their
properties
are.
• Sounds in language are called phones or speech sounds ti their number is
finite.
THE SPEECH ORGANS
Three basic components used to produce speech sounds :
1. Larynx (voice box), containing the vocal folds (or vocal cords).
2. Vocal tract above the larynx, composing of the pharynx ti the oral and
nasal cavities.
§ Primary organ of the vocal tract: the tongue
§ It can be moved into different places and different shapes.
§ There are six areas of the tongue: tip, blade, front, center, back, and root
3. SubgloIal system below the larynx, which is part of the respiratory system.
THE PHONETIC ALPHABET
• As sounds and leIers are very different, linguists have invented a phoneIc
alphabet, a
system for writing speech sounds.
• Writing down speech sounds by using a phonetic alphabet is called
phoneIc
transcripIon.
THE CONSONANTS
• Consonants are speech sounds made by a narrowing somewhere in the
vocal tract,
which obstructs the flow of air from the lungs.
• Three aspects of consonants’ articulatory properties:
1. Voicing: whether the vocal folds vibrate or not
2. Place of arIculaIon: where the vocal tract is made narrow
3. Manner of arIculaIon: how close together or far apart the articulators
are
THE VOWELS
• Vowels are speech sounds made with no significant obstruction of the air
flow.
• Vowels are usually voiced
• Vowels form the basis of syllables → to count how many syllables in a word,
count the
number of vowels
• A diphthong = combination of two sounds, a vowel and a glide
• There are four aspects of vowel articulation:
1. Tongue height – whether the tongue is raised, lowered or in mid position
2. Tongue advancement - whether the tongue moves forward, backward,
or is in
normal position
3. Lip rounding – 2 types: rounded and unrounded
4. Tenseness – whether there is more tension of the tongue ti lips
THE WORD STRESS
• Stressed syllables become more prominent than unstressed ones: they
are usually
higher in pitch, louder, and longer in duration.
• In contrast, unstressed syllables are less prominent; they usually contain
vowels that are
reduced and pronounced as [ə] or sometimes as [ɪ].
THE INTONATION
• Intonation is the paIern of rises and falls in pitch.

Question 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8/42, 43

1. The spelling system is not an efficient tool for phonetic

transcription. Give examples in English for the following cases to
show the discrepancies between letters and sounds.
a. Find four words in which the sound [k] is spelled differently.

* k: kit, key, kick, kind

* c: cat, cot, cut, can

* ch: school, scholar, schedule, chrome

* qu: unique, antique, cheque, bouquet

b. Find four words in which the letter e is pronounced differently.

* e in "bed" is pronounced /e/

* e in "her" is pronounced /ɜː/

* e in "father" is pronounced /ə/

* e in "table" is pronounced /i/

c. Find four words in which one letter represents more than one sound.
* x: box (k + s), exist (ɡ + z), anxious (ŋ + k + ʃ + ə + s)

* a: father (ɑː), about (ə), cake (eɪ)

* i: ice (aɪ), machine (iː), dinner (ɪ)

* ough: though (əʊ), through (uː), cough (ɒ), thought (ɔː)

d. Find four words in which one letter does not stand for any sound.

* b in "debt"

* w in "answer"

* g in "paradigm"

* k in "knife"

e. Find four words in which a combination of letters represents one sound.

* sh: ship, wish, cash, push

* ch: chair, lunch, church, much

* ph: phone, photo, graph, phrase

* gh: ghost, spaghetti, Burgh, light

2. Determine whether the words in each of the following pairs

contain the same vowel sound? Then transcribe the vowel of each
word.
a. nine: [nʌɪn] price: [praɪs] (same vowel sound)

b. hit: [hɪt] key: [kiː] (different vowel sounds)

c. put: [pʊt] but: [bʌt] (different vowel sounds)

d. house: [haʊs] court: [kɔːrt] (different vowel sounds)

e. back: [bæk] drawn: [drɔːn] (different vowel sounds)

f. cake: [keɪk] leg: [leɡ] (different vowel sounds)

g. flow: [floʊ] boat: [boʊt] (same vowel sound)

h. ounce: [aʊns] flour: [flaʊər] (same vowel sound)

i. play: [pleɪ] drag: [dræɡ] (different vowel sounds)

j. full: [fʊl] fool: [fuːl] (different vowel sounds)

3. Transcribe the following words.
a. awesome: [ˈɔːsəm] k. agreement: [əˈɡriːmənt]

b. mailbox: [ˈmeɪlbɒks] l. psychology: [saɪˈkɒlədʒi]

c. hopping: [ˈhɒpɪŋ] m. knight: [naɪt]

d. announce: [əˈnaʊns] n. nature: [ˈneɪtʃər]

e. cooler: [ˈkuːlər] o. straight: [streɪt]

f. stun: [stʌn] p. hour: [ˈaʊər]

g. playground: [ˈpleɪɡraʊnd] q. written: [ˈrɪtn]

h. lucky: [ˈlʌki] r. needed: [ˈniːdɪd]

i. thought: [θɔːt] s. height: [haɪt]

j. notebook: [ˈnəʊtbʊk] t. juice: [dʒuːs]

4. Each of the following transcriptions contains one mistake.

Identify and correct the mistake in each word.
a. strength: [strenθ] (not [strenge]) i. shut: [ʃʌt] (not [sut])

b. crime: [kraɪm] (not [craym]) j. child: [tʃaɪld] (not [čild])

c. wishing: [ˈwɪʃɪŋ] (not [WIShIŋ]) k. football: [ˈfʊtbɔːl] (not [futbol])

d. wives: [waɪvz] (not [wayvs]) l. tiptoe: [ˈtɪptəʊ] (not [tipto])

e. these: [ðiːz] (not [θiz]) m. avoid: [əˈvɔɪd] (not [ævoyd])

f. hijacking: [ˈhaɪdʒækɪŋ] (not n. remain: [rɪˈmeɪn] (not [rıman])

[hayjækın])
o. umbrella: [ʌmˈbrelə] (not
g. chipping: [ˈtʃɪpɪŋ] (not [žıpıŋ]) [umbrelǝ])

h. yelling: [ˈjelɪŋ] (not [yelin]) p. joyful: [ˈdʒɔɪfəl] (not [joful])

5. Describing Consonant and Vowel Sounds

* a. [ŋ] - This is the velar nasal consonant, like the "ng" in "sing". It's
produced by lowering the velum (soft palate) to allow air to escape through
the nose while the back of the tongue makes contact with the velum.
* b. [y] - This is a high, front, rounded vowel, similar to the "u" in French "tu"
or German "ü". The tongue is positioned high and forward in the mouth, and
the lips are rounded.

* c. [s] - This is a voiceless alveolar fricative. It's produced by forcing air

through a narrow channel at the alveolar ridge (the area behind your upper
teeth). It's voiceless, meaning the vocal cords don't vibrate.

* d. [v] - This is a voiced labiodental fricative. It's made by touching the lower
lip to the upper teeth and forcing air through the constriction. It's voiced, so
the vocal cords vibrate.

* e. [ð] - This is the voiced dental fricative (also called "eth"). It's like the "th"
in "this". It's produced by placing the tongue between the teeth and allowing
air to escape with vocal cord vibration.

* f. [l] - This is an alveolar lateral approximant. The tongue makes contact

with the alveolar ridge, allowing air to flow around the sides of the tongue.

* g. [o] - This is a mid-back rounded vowel, similar to the "o" in "go" or "law"
(depending on the dialect). The tongue is in a mid-back position, and the lips
are rounded.

* h. [a] - This is a low-back unrounded vowel, like the "a" in "father" or "hot"
(depending on dialect). The tongue is low and back in the mouth, and the lips
are unrounded.

* i. [ɛ] - This is a mid-front unrounded vowel, like the "e" in "bed" or "dress".
The tongue is in a mid-front position, and the lips are unrounded.

* j. [A] - This is a low-central unrounded vowel, sometimes described as a

"low back" vowel. It's similar to the "a" in "cut" or "strut" (in some dialects).
The tongue is low and centrally positioned, and the lips are unrounded.

6. Identifying Shared Phonetic Features.

* a. [p t k d g] - These are all stops (or plosives). They are produced by
completely blocking the airflow in the vocal tract and then releasing it.

* b. [o u ɔ ʊ] - These are all rounded vowels. They are produced with the lips
rounded.

* c. [č ǰ š y] - These are all front (or frontish) consonants. They are articulated
relatively forward in the mouth. (Note: [y] is a vowel, but in this context, it
might be grouped based on its frontness quality in relation to the other
sounds.)
* d. [t d l r n s z] - These are all coronal consonants. They are articulated
using the tip or blade of the tongue (the "corona").

* e. [p b m w] - These are all labial consonants. They are articulated using

the lips.

* f. [ə] - This is a mid-central vowel (often called "schwa").

* g. [h ʔ] - These are both glottal consonants. They are produced using the
glottis (the space between the vocal cords). [h] is a fricative, and [ʔ] is a
stop.

* h. [f v θ ð s z š] - These are all fricatives. They are produced by forcing air

through a narrow channel, creating friction.

* i. [æ a] - These are both low vowels. The tongue is positioned low in the
mouth.

* j. [k g ŋ] - These are all velar consonants. They are articulated at the velum
(soft palate) in the back of the mouth.

8. Primary Stress Marking I'll mark the primary stress with an

apostrophe (') before the stressed syllable.
a. ba'na:na g. 'rekərd (noun)

i. ɪ'mædʒɪn h. rɪ'kɔːrd (verb)

b. 'næʃənəl j. 'kænsəl

c. do'neɪʃn k. kəm'baɪn

d. 'æmətər l. ɪm'pruːv
e. 'kænədə (Stress can vary slightly m. 'red 'koʊt (equal stress on both
depending on regional accent.) elements in the compound)

f. kə'neɪdiən n. 'redkoʊt (stress on the first

element in the compound)