limba engleza - fonetica - neagu mariana

Universitatea Dunrea de Josdin Galai

Facultatea de Litere

Specializarea:Limba i literatura romn Limba i literatura englez

Limba englez.Fonetic i fonologie

Prof. univ. dr. Mariana Neagu

Anul I, Semestrul 1

D.I.D.F.R.

Dunarea de Jos University of GalatiFaculty of Letters

ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION,SPELLING AND VOCABULARY

Course tutor:

Professor MARIANA NEAGU, PhD

DIDFR

Table of Contents

Contemporary English Language. Phonetics and Phonology 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 5

Unit 1 The Sounds of English 8Unit objectives

1.1 Phonetics and phonology1.2 The connection of phonetics and phonology with non-

linguistic and linguistic sciences1.3 The importance of phonetic studies1.4 Phonetic symbols and types of transcription1.5 Types of standard pronunciation

1.5.1 Received Pronunciation1.5.2 General American

SummaryKey conceptsFurther readingAnswers to SAQs

Unit 2 Differences between British English and AmericanEnglish

19

Unit objectives2.1. Pronunciation differences

2.1.1 The vowel system2.1.2 The consonant system

2.2. Differences in spelling2.2.1 Phonetic spelling tendencies2.2.2 The omission of superfluous letters

2.3 Lexical differences in main subject areas2.3.1 People and their immediate environment2.3.2 Human interaction and communication2.3.3 Social institutions2.3.4 Natural environment

SummaryKey conceptsFurther readingSAA No. 1Answers to SAQs

Unit 3 Pronunciation and Spelling 32Unit objectives

3.1 The spelling of consonants3.2 Vowel markers3.3 Keeping a spelling constant3.4 Silent letters3.5 Homographs and homophones3.6 Pronunciation and etymology


Unit 4 Aspects of Connected Speech 45

Table of Contents

Contemporary English Language. Phonetics and Phonology4

Unit objectives4.1 Linking /r/ and intrusive /r/4.2 Assimilation

4.2.1 Regressive assimilation4.2.2 Progressive assimilation4.2.3 Reciprocal assimilation4.2.4 Obligatory and non-obligatory assimilation

4.3 Elision4.3.1 Vowel elision4.3.2 Consonant elision

4.4 Strong and weak forms of function words4.4.1 Uses of weak forms4.4.2 Uses of strong forms


Bibliography 59

Appendix 1. List of symbols used 61

Appendix 2. Glossary 62

Appendix 3. Practice sets 89

Introduction


INTRODUCTION

The present course is primarily meant for Romanianteachers of English engaged in open and distanceeducation. In this course we discuss the most importantissues from the fields of phonetics, phonology, orthographyand lexis, focusing on difficulties encountered in thearticulation and perception of English sounds and in theacquisition of pronunciation and spelling rules.

Phonetics is the study and description of speechsounds and of the elements of pronunciation at large, sincepronunciation is a complex of sounds (vowels andconsonants), syllables, word accent and intonation.

Phonology studies the way in which phonetic elementsfunction in a language, the way in which phonemes areorganized in a given language, i.e. their combinatorialpossibilities. The phoneme is the minimal unit in the soundsystem of a language.

Orthography is very closely connected with phonetics,which in its turn is connected with lexicology, grammar andstylistics. Because of the notoriously confusing nature ofEnglish spelling, it is particularly important to think ofEnglish pronunciation in terms of phonemes rather thanletters of the alphabet.

Why is this course important?

Theoretically, the general theory about speech soundsand how they are used in language, i.e. phonetics andphonology, is needed by people who are going to work withEnglish at an advanced level (teachers included) and whoneed a deeper understanding of the principles regulating theuse of sounds in spoken English. Ideally, the teacher andthe learner of a foreign language should be able torecognize and to produce the sounds of the studiedlanguage just like a native speaker.

More specifically, phonetics is important because itformulates the rules of pronunciation for separate soundsand sound combinations. Thus, through the system ofreading rules, phonetics helps to pronounce correctlysingular and plural forms of nouns, the past tense and pastparticiple forms of English regular verbs (see sections 1.2and 4.2.2).

Secondly, through its intonation component, phoneticscan serve to single out the logical predicate of a sentence toshow that an affirmative sentence is a question, etc.

Thirdly, through the right placement of stress we candistinguish certain nouns from verbs (e.g. object - object),homonymous words and word groups (e.g. blackbird - blackbird).

Introduction


Course objectives

At the end of this course you will be able to:

- recognize and produce the sounds of English just like anative speaker

- be aware of and explain the phonetic and phonologicalphenomena that occur in connected speech

- use stress and intonation patters correctly in English- understand the complex relationship between

pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary.

How is this course book organized?

The first unit of the course is concerned with definingphonetics and phonology, explaining the connection ofphonetics with other branches of science, introducing thesymbols used for teaching the pronunciation of English andidentifying the main types of English standard pronunciation.

As an important purpose of this course is to explainhow English is pronounced in the accents normally chosenas the standards for people learning English, unit 2 isdevoted to discriminating British English from AmericanEnglish in terms of pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary.

Unit 3 looks more closely at the connection betweenpronunciation and spelling in English and shows that,because of the etymological nature of English orthography,learners of English have to cope with the discrepancybetween spelling and present-day pronunciation.

Although English spelling is not a reliable indicator ofpronunciation, the chapter presents some pronunciationpatterns and markers that can still be found.

Unit 4 deals with speech sounds as they occur innormal, connected speech, i.e. sounds that are not isolated,fixed and unchangeable, but units that undergomodifications and affect one another. This unit explainsphonetic phenomena that occur in casual speech: linkingand intrusive /r/, assimilation, elision, etc. As it is practicallyimpossible to speak English fluently unless thephenomenon of function word reduction is properlyunderstood and applied, the unit ends with the use of thestrong and weak forms of function (grammatical) words(articles, auxiliaries, modals, pronouns, conjunctions andprepositions).

Each of the units presented above ends with asummary of the main issues discussed in the chapter, a listof key concepts meant as a check list for revising the mainnotions before going on, and a brief section called furtherreading.

Each new technical term that is introduced in thecourse is printed in bold type and followed by an asterisk (*),meaning that the term will be explained in the glossary atthe end of the book.

The course book closes with three appendicescontaining a list of symbols used (Appendix 1), a completeglossary of technical terms (Appendix 2) and four practicesets (Appendix 3).

Introduction


The practice sets in Appendix 3 are based onexercises taken from Malcolm Mann and Steve Taylore-Knowles. 2003. Skills for First Certificate. Listening andSpeaking. Oxford: Macmillan. The tasks included in this lastsection are correlated with the units in this course andadapted to its specific objectives. Each practice set isallotted a four hour session of Assisted Activities.

The assignments

Every chapter contains reflection points (Think first!)and exercises of two types: SAQs (self-assessed questions)and SAAs (send-away assignments). The former type,SAQs, signalled by a question mark, is based on theinformation you have just read and consists in questionsthat break down the texts in order to clarify and consolidatecertain teaching points. You will find suggested answers toSAQs at the end of each unit.

The latter type, SAAs, signalled by an envelope,generally involves knowledge of the whole chapter and isplaced at its end. There are four assignments of this type (inunits 2, 3, 4 and 5) that have to be sent to the tutor,following the instructions given in each particular case. Theirassessment will take into account knowledge of theinformation contained in the chapter and correct use of theEnglish language.

At the end of the course, your final grade will includethe following:

attendance of and contribution to face-to-facemeetings with the tutor and to assisted activities, solving ofSAQs and SAAs: 40%;

final examination 60%.

The Sounds of the Language


UNIT 1

THE SOUNDS OF THE LANGUAGE

Unit outline

Unit objectives 2

1.1 Phonetics and phonology 2

1.2 The connection of phonetics and phonology withnon-linguistic and linguistic sciences

3

1.3 The importance of phonetic studies 5

1.4 Phonetic symbols and types of transcription 6

1.5 Types of standard pronunciation 91.5.1 Received Pronunciation 91.5.2 General American 10

Summary 11Key concepts 11Further reading 12Answers to SAQs 12



After you have completed the study of this unit youshould be able to:

define phonetics explain the connection of phonetics with other

branches of science point out the importance of phonetics for a teacher of

a foreign language recognize the symbols used for teaching the

pronunciation of English identify the main type of English standard

pronunciation.

1.1. Phonetics and phonology

Definition of phoneticsPhonetics is the science which studies the sounds

used in speech and provides methods for their description,classification and transcription*. (Crystal D., 1992: 259).

Speech sounds* can be analysed from several pointsof view:

a. acousticb. articulatoryc. auditoryd. functional.

Types of phoneticsa. The acoustic aspect falls under the scope of what is

commonly called acoustic phonetics* which studies thephysical (acoustic) properties of speech sounds astransmitted between the mouth and the ear.

b. The articulatory aspect of speech sound is analysedby the branch called articulatory phonetics which dealswith speech sounds from the point of view of theirproduction, i.e. what organs are used to produce them andwhat precise movements they perform in order to articulatethem.

c. Auditory phonetics* studies speech sounds fromthe point of view of their perception, i.e. the perceptualresponse to speech sounds as mediated by the ear, theauditory nerve and the brain.

d. Functional phonetics or phonology investigatesthe functional aspect of sounds, accent*, syllable andintonation.

Definition of phonologyWhile phonetics studies speech sounds as sounds, in

all their complexity and diversity, independent of their role inlanguage, phonology studies speech sounds, as these arecategorised by speakers of a given language; its study unitis called phoneme. The actually pronounced speechsounds are called variants or allophones* of phonemes.

In standard British English, there are 44 differentcategories of speech sounds called phonemes. Phonemesare said to differ from each other in terms of certaindistinctive features* such as voice, nasality, etc.

Unit objectives



Phonologists study both phonemes (vowels* andconsonants*) and prosody* (stress and intonation) assubsystems of a spoken language.

Branches of phonologyThe study of speech into distinctive units or phonemes

is called segmental* phonology, whereas the analysis ofprosodic and paralinguistic features in connected utterancesof speech is called non-segmental/suprasegmentalphonology*.

SAQ 1

In the spaces provided, mention which branch ofphonetics is concerned with the following:

a. the perception of the sounds and their interpretation inthe receiver ...b. the physical (acoustic) properties of speech sounds .c. the functional aspects of sounds ..d. the activity involved in the production of speech sounds..

Check your answers against those given in theAnswer Key.

1.2 The connection of phonetics and phonology withnon-linguistic and linguistic sciences

The connection with grammarPhonetics is connected with non-linguistic sciences

such as anatomy, acoustics and physiology. Forexample, sounds can be described with reference toanatomical places of articulation (dental*, palatal*), to theirphysical structure (the frequency and amplitudecharacteristics of the sound waves) and are articulated byour organs of speech.

Phonetics is connected with grammar because,through the system or reading rules, it helps to pronouncethe singular and plural forms of nouns correctly, the singularthird form of verbs, the past tense forms and past participlesof English regular verbs.

The study of the phonological, i.e. sound structure ofmorphemes is called morphophonology*. In manylanguages, English included, there are phonological ruleswhich can only be described with reference tomorphological structure. Thus, the morpheme s can bepronounced /iz/ (e.g. peaches, judges), /z/ (e.g. apples,rides) or /s/ (e.g. maps, lacks) depending on the finalconsonant* of the base form of the verb to which it isattached.



Think first!

Give some examples of the phonetic variationmorphemes undergo in combination with one another (e.g.hoof - hooves, half - halves).

In the next paragraph you will find more examples ofthis kind.

One of the most important phonetic phenomena -sound interchange - is another manifestation of theconnection of phonetics with grammar. For instance, thisconnection can be noticed in the category of NUMBER.Thus, the interchange / f-v /, /s-z /, // helps todistinguish singular and plural forms of such nouns as: calf-calves, house - houses, mouth - mouths, etc.

Vowel interchange helps to discriminate the singularand the plural of nouns of foreign origin: basis - bases /beisis - beisi:z / and also of irregular nouns such as man -men /mn - men/.

Vowel interchange is connected with the TENSE formsof irregular verbs, for instance: sing - sang - sung.

Lexicology, semantics, stylistics andpragmatics

Phonetics is also connected with lexicology andsemantics. Homographs* can be differentiated only due topronunciation because they are identical in spelling:

bow /bu/ - bow /bau/lead /li:d / - lead /led/row /ru/ - row /rau/tear /te/ - tear /ti/wind /wind / - wind /waind/

Phonetics is connected with stylistics throughrepetition of words, phrases and sounds, lying at the basisof rhyme, alliteration*, etc.

The connection with the other linguistic branches (i.e.semantics, pragmatics) is obvious due the role played byaccent, stress and intonation in the act of communication.For example, the position of word accent in units higherthan a word may have far - reaching semanticconsequences. If we consider compounds such asblackbird, yellow-hammer, blue-stocking, cheap-jack (inwhich the stress falls on the first syllable) and phrasescontaining apparently the same words blackbird,yellowhammer, bluestocking, cheapjack (in which thestress falls on the second syllable) we notice that thedifference in stress engenders differences in meaning.



SAQ 2

Which non-linguistic and linguistic sciences areconnected with phonetics? Fill in the blanks with thecorresponding term.

Since speech sounds are articulated by our organs ofspeech, phonetics is connected with...................... Since the sounds are transmitted in the form of soundwaves, phonetics is connected with ... Since some sounds can be described with reference toanatomical places of articulation, phonetics is connectedwith .. The connection between phonetics and can be proved by the differentpronunciations of the grammatical morphemes -s and ed. Homography is a study area common to bothphonetics and .. The close interrelationship between phonetics and.... can be seen in commands andrequests that are distinguished by means of intonationpatterns. When phrases coincide with compounds, the semanticdifference is made by means of stress, an issue studied by.. phonetics or phonology.

The answer is given at the end of this unit.

1.3 The importance of phonetic studies

Think First!

Before reading the next section, think of theimportance of phonetics for the foreign language teacherand write down your ideas in the space provided below.Your answer should not be longer than two paragraphs.

You will find some ideas as you read this section.

The connection of phonetics with linguistic sciences(grammar, lexicology, stylistics, semantics andpragmatics) points to its importance from both a theoreticaland a practical point of view. Theoretically, a completeunderstanding and description of a language is not possiblewithout a description of its sound structure and system. Forinstance, the loss of inflections in English is a grammatical



phenomenon which has phonetic causes, i.e. the strongdynamic stress on the first syllable of words resulted in thereduction, weakening and loss of the final unstressedsyllable.

Practically, knowledge of phonetics is indispensable inthe study and teaching of foreign languages. The teacherand the learner of a foreign language should ideally be ableto recognize and produce the sounds of the studiedlanguage just like a native speaker.

1.4 Phonetic symbols and types of transcription

The International Phonetic AlphabetTo describe the sounds of English (or of any other

language) one cannot depend on the spelling of the words.The most accurate method of representing sounds isthrough the International Phonetic Alphabet* (IPA)developed by the International Phonetic Association in1888; this can be used to symbolize the sounds found in alllanguages.

The symbols are based on the Roman alphabet, withfurther symbols created by inverting or reversing Romanletters or taken from the Greek alphabet. The maincharacters are supplemented when necessary by diacritics.

The International Phonetic Alphabet is less used inNorth America than elsewhere, but it is widely used as apronunciation aid for EFL (English as a Foreign Language)and ESL (English as a Second Language), especially byBritish publishers and increasingly in British dictionaries ofEnglish.

The broad/phonemic/phonologicaltranscription

When the sounds of a language are representedwithout going into any details about variations, the methodof broad/phonemic/phonological transcription is used.For example, in English, the /t/ phoneme is represented bythis symbol in all situations, regardless of the fact that thephoneme is realized by various allophones, e.g. beingaspirated* in a stressed initial position (time) andunaspirated* after s (stay), and ignoring also the fact thatit may not always have alveolar* articulation.

A broad phonemic transcription is generally felt to besimplest to use, but knowledge of the allophonic systems ofthe language is needed if such a transcription is to be readaloud, with approximate accuracy.

The narrow/allophonic/phonetic transcriptionVariations may be represented by what is known as

narrow//phonetic/allophonic i.e. a transcription whichmirrors all that is known about a sound in a givenenvironment.

The large number of diacritics makes it possible tomark minute shades of sound.

Conventionally, the narrow transcription* is givenbetween square brackets, while the broad transcription*uses slashes (slant lines).



Think first!

Look at the table below and consider the differencein number between the phonemes of English and those ofRomanian. Which sounds do you think are found in Englishbut not in Romanian?

Language Consonants Vowels Total

English 24 20 44Romanian 22 7 29

You can find such instances if you read the nextsection.

The English phonemic systemAccording to traditional phonological theories, the

minimal unit in the sound system* of a language is thephoneme. Each language operates with a relatively smallnumber of phonemes (Japanese has about 20 phonemes,Romanian has 29 and English has 44); no two languageshave the same phonemic system. The English phonemicsystem contains 24 consonants* and 20 vowels, whileRomanian has 22 consonants and 7 vowels.

The symbols used for teaching the pronunciation ofEnglish are the following:

Symbols Examples

[i:] Pete [pi:t][i] pit [pit][e] pet [pet][] pat [pt][:] part [p:t][ pot pt: port [p:t][u] put [put][u:] pool [pu:l][] pun [pn]:] perm [p:m][] parade [preid][ei] pain [pein][ai] pine [pain][ point [pint][u] pouch [pautu] poach [put[i] peer [pi][] pair [p][u] poor [pu]

Symbols forvowels anddiphthongs



[p] appear [pi][b] bubble [bbl][t] attend [tend][d] hiding [haidi][k] conquer [knk][g] begin [bigin][f] offer [f][v] cover] [kv][s] assist [sist][z] razor [reiz][] ether [i:][] mother [m] nation [nei measure [me][t cheese [ti:z[d joke [duk] summer [sm]

[ any [eni]] finger [fig][l] palace [plis][r] caress [kres][w] queen [kwi:n][j] yes [jes]

SAQ 3

What terms correspond to the following definitions?Write your answers in the spaces provided below.

1. A systematic method of representing in a rather generalway (normally using the symbols of the InternationalPhonetic Alphabet) how spoken language sounds...2. A system of written symbols designed to enable the

speech sounds* of any language to be consistentlyrepresented.3. A method which gives a much more accurate indication

of actual speech sounds but requires more symbols anddiacritics..

The answer is given at the end of this unit.

Symbols forconsonants



1.5 Types of standard pronunciation

1.5.1 Received Pronunciation* (RP)

DefinitionRP is the name for the accent generally associated

with educated British English and used as the pronunciationmodel for teaching it to foreign learners.

OriginReceived Pronunciation originates from the prestige

accent of the Court, well established in England by the 17thcentury. During the First World War, Daniel Jones (1917)called it PSP (Public School Pronunciation) because it wasmost usually heard in everyday speech in the families ofSouthern English persons who had been educated at thegreat public boarding-schools.

Who uses RP?RP is the pronunciation used by national announcers

and presenters on the BBC since its founding in the 1920sbecause it was the form of pronunciation most likely to benationally understood and to attract least regional criticism hence the association of RP with the phrase BBC English*.

Is RP still popular on radio and television?However in the 1970s-1980s there has been a move

towards modified regional accent among announcers andpresenters and towards distinct (but generally modified)regional accents among presenters on popular radiochannels and meteorologists and sports commentators ontelevision. In spite of the regionally marked forms of accentthat can be heard on some channels, RP remains thereference norm that is used for the descriptions of othervarieties of English.

Why are there differences in pronunciation?Differences in pronunciation result from various factors

such geographical origin, ones age and sex, social class,educational background, occupation and personality. Inaddition, Roach (1994: 190) mentions situation factors suchas the social relationship between speaker and hearer,whether one is speaking publicly or privately and thepurposes for which one is using language.

RP and EFL teachingRP is the accent that foreign learners of English are

expected to learn for the sake of convenience andsimplicity; learners of English need to be aware of the factthat this style/accent/variety is far from being the only onethey can meet. In practice, EFL teachers should do theirbest to expose their pupils to other varieties. Actually, inEFL teaching RP competes more and more with GA(General American*).



1.5.2 General American (GA)

DefinitionAn accent of English used in the United States that

lacks the especially marked regional characteristics of thenorth-east (New England, New York State) and the south-east (the Southern States).

As a concept, GA corresponds to the laymansperception of an American accent without marked regionalcharacteristics. It is sometimes referred to as NetworkEnglish being the variety most acceptable on the televisionnetworks covering the whole United States. (Wells, 1981:471).

Summary

This unit has introduced some major issues meant tounderline the idea that an understanding of the principles ofphonetics is a necessary basis for the study of otherbranches of linguistics, in the sense that many languagephenomena can be explained only in terms of phonetics.Therefore, phonetics is equally necessary in the theoreticaland practical study of language.

The difference between phonemes and allophones orin other words, between phonology and phonetics is soimportant that we also note this difference in transcription:phonetic (or narrow transcription) for which we use squarebrackets and phonological (phonemic, broad transcription)for which we use slashes.

Phonemic variants or allophones are very importantfor language learning and language teaching because theyare pronounced in actual speech and though theirmispronunciation does not influence the meaning of thewords, their misuse makes a person s speech soundforeign.

Because spelling is not a faithful representation oflanguage, it is useful to have a set of special symbolswhose values are generally agreed upon. This is thefunction of the phonetic symbols of the InternationalPhonetic Alphabet.

English is the national language in many countries,including the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Australia,New Zeeland, and South Africa. There are great differencesin the pronunciation of English in these countries and evenwithin the same country one may hear differentpronunciations. From this variety of pronunciations, forpractical purposes, it has been necessary to choose thosewhich are best suited for learning and using English, i.e.Received Pronunciation and General American.

Key concepts

The following key concepts have been introduced inthis unit. Use this list and others found at the end of eachchapter as a checklist to make sure that you are familiarwith each before going on.



acoustic phonetics allophone articulatory phonetics auditory phonetics broad transcription functional phonetics or phonology General American morphophonology narrow transcription phoneme phonemic system Received Pronunciation segmental phonology suprasegmental phonology the International Phonetic Alphabet

Further reading1. Finch, Geoffrey. 2000. Linguistic Terms and Concepts.Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 33-77.2. Roach, Peter. 1994. English Phonetics andPhonology. A Practical Course. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, pp. 3-47.

Answers to SAQsIf your answer to SAQ 1 is not comparable to the onesuggested below, please reread section 1.1.

SAQ 1

a. auditory phoneticsb. acoustic phoneticsc. functional acoustics or phonologyd. articulatory phonetics

If your answer to SAQ 2 is not comparable to the onesuggested below, please reread section 1.2.

SAQ 2

1. physiology2. physics3. anatomy4. grammar5. lexicology6. pragmatics7. functional phonetics or phonology


SAQ 3

1. broad transcription2. the International Phonetic Alphabet3. narrow transcription

Differences Between British and American English


UNIT 2

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BRITISH AND AMERICANENGLISH

Unit outline

Unit objectives 14

2.1 Pronunciation differences 142.1.1 The vowel system 142.1.2 The consonant system 16

2.2 Differences in spelling 182.2.1 Phonetic spelling tendencies 192.2.2 The omission of superfluous letters in American

English19

2.3 Lexical differences in main subject areas 212.3.1 People and their immediate environment 222.3.2 Human interaction and communication 222.3.3 Social institutions 232.3.4 Natural environment 24

Summary 24Key concepts 25Further reading 25SAA No. 1 25Answers to SAQs 25




discriminate British English from American Englishin terms of pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary

avoid a potential source of confusion caused bysome lexical items in the two varieties of English

try to develop a consistent way of speaking andwriting in English

English in the USA differs considerably from BritishEnglish. Pronunciation is the most striking difference butthere are also a number of differences in vocabulary andgrammar as well as slight differences in spelling.

Think First!

Before continuing to read this unit, think of whichvariety of English you tend to pronounce. Note down someof the distinguishing features you are aware of andcompare them with the information given in the sectionbelow.

2.1 Pronunciation differences

2.1.1 The vowel system

American drawlSome Americans are noted for their drawl, i.e. a

lengthening of stressed vowels; this is especiallycharacteristic of Southern pronunciation.

In contrast with the drawled nature of the way manyAmericans speak is the so-called clipped diction of BritishEnglish. This is accounted for by the greater tension andlesser degree of lengthening in stressed vowels.

The American drawl has to do with a less effortful wayof producing sounds and is an aspect of informality ofAmerican English (Kovecses, 2000: 241)

American nasalityVowels are often nasalized* in American English (the

American nasality or nasal twang*) especially by speakersfrom the Middle West. The nasal quality of American vowelsis explained by the longer duration* of the nasalized portionof a vowel following a nasal consonant

Many British people pronounce /:/ in some wordswhere Americans pronounce / /, when this vowel is

Unitobjectives



followed by fricatives* such as /f/, //, /s/; therefore, thepronunciation with // before the fricatives /f, s, / andbefore the nasals* /m/, /n/ is typical of American English:

British English AmericanEnglish

Examples

/:/+ /f/, //, /s//:/+ /n/, /m/

// + /f /, / /, /s/

//+/n/, /m/

laugh, after, bath, math, ask,

chance, example

The vowel // is pronounced without lip-rounding andsounds like /:/ in American English: stop, body, common,novel, problem:

BritishEnglish

AmericanEnglish

Examples

//| //

Tom, dollar, lot, hot, box, rock, dog, frog,crop, body, conflict, novel

The Americans have a tendency to pronounce // instead of/i/ in unstressed syllables:

The reduction of diphthongs* to simple vowelsIn British English, words like home, no, are

pronounced with the diphthong /u/ while in AmericanEnglish the diphthong* is reduced to //, especially inunstressed final position (in very casual or informal speech):potato, tomato, fellow, window, piano, mellow, etc. Thispoints to the well known American tendency towardssimplification. The same tendency can be noticed in thereduction of /ai/ to /a:/ and of /ei/ to //.

Similarly, the semi-vowel /j/ is dropped into /u/ whenpreceded by /t/ or /d/, a characteristic which shows that theAmericans pronounce the words almost the same wayas they are written:

British English American English Examples

/u/

/ai/

/ei/

/t/, /d/ or /n/+/j/+/u/

//

/:/

/t/, /d/ or /n/+/u/

potato, tomato, fellow

fire, buyer, tired, five

date, fate, great

student, tulip, during,numerous

British English AmericanEnglish

Examples

/i/ // minute, started, greatest



SAQ 1

Group the following words according to the vowelsound they contain in American English: class, aunt, dollar,glass, greatness, fast, pass, castle, window, due, nuclear,Tom, nude, got, interest, bottle, piano, tigress, mellow,dance, rock, frog, tune.

1. //: class, glass, 2. //: dollar, 3. // in unstressed syllable: greatness, 4. // in unstressed final position: window, 5. /u/: due,

Check your answers against those given at the end ofthis unit.

2.1.2 The consonant system

The flap*In British English /t/ remains unvoiced* between two

vowels or between a vowel and a voiced* consonant but inAmerican English intervocalic* /t/ is very close to /d/. Thistype of sound is called the flap because the tongue flapsagainst the alveolar ridge. In many areas of the UnitedStates, where it can be heard, the flap* makes words suchas matter and madder, writer and rider, latter and ladder,whiter and wider sound nearly or exactly the same:


Intervocalicunvoiced /t/|

Intervocalic voiced /t/,resembling /d/

writer,latter,whiter

Post-nasal /t/A well known distinguishing feature of American

pronunciation is complete disappearance or voicing of /t/ inpost-nasal position that is after a nasal consonant. Cases inpoint are winter, pronounced as winner, enter as enner andintercity as innercity, in which the voiceless consonant /t/ ispronounced as voiced /d/.

Further, /t/ and /d/ may be dropped altogether incasual speech after nasals: twenty /tweni/, candidate,/kn,deit/, understand /;nrstnd/

RhotacityIn standard British English /r/ is only pronounced

before a vowel. In American English /r/ is pronounced in allpositions in a word and it changes the quality* of a vowelthat comes after it. So, words like turn and offer sound verydifferent in British and American speech.

Consequently, American English is considered to be arhotic* accent of English, one in which /r/ is pronounced in



post-vocalic (e.g. bird) and final position (e.g. car).Pronouncing /r/ is the norm in the Northern, Midland, andWestern dialect region, that is, the greatest part of thecountry. Exceptions to this are New England and New York,which although geographically belonging to the North, donot pronounce the /r/ in a post-vocalic position and at theend of words.

Word stressWord stress tends to fall on the first syllable in

American English: princess, address, research, entire,museum, resource:


second syllable isstressed

first syllable isstressed

princess, address,research, entire,museum, resource

Most of the disyllabic verbs ending in -ate have thestress on the first syllable: dictate, frustrate, migrate, vibrate.As for the borrowings, they keep their original stress inAmerican English: barrage, bouquet, chalet, caf, gourmet,pt, ballet. In words that have three syllables, Americansemphasize the ending: secretary, dictionary, laboratory,conservatory, inflammatory.

SAQ 2

What British - American differences do you know relative to:

1. consonants2. word stress

Write your answers in the space provided below. Compare themwith the suggested answer given at the end of the unit.

2.2 Differences in spelling

Think first !

Before moving on to differences in spelling, look at theway some words are spelt in the two standards of English:

British English American English

1. labour 1. labor

2. centre 2. center



3. hospitalised 3. hospitalized

Can you give other examples?

You will find further examples as you read sections2.2.1.and 2.2.2.

American spelling, in the majority of cases is simplerand consistently shorter than British spelling. The process ofsimplification in spelling started with the spelling reforms atthe end of the eighteenth century, when big namesincluding Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster and Mark Twainattempted at changing the complicated system of English.

2.2.1 Phonetic spelling tendencies

The change from -re to -erAmerican spelling closely follows the sequence in

which the sounds are actually pronounced, namely it tendsto have what is called phonetic spelling.

For example, when we pronounce words like theatre(BE) - theater (AmE) and centre (BE) - center (AmE) thesequence of the final sounds is /t(r)/. Notice that in theBritish spelling the sequence of the actual sounds, /+r/, isreversed, yielding -re in writing.

The shift from -ce to -seAnother best known case of change related to the

phonetic spelling reforms proposed by Webster in 1788, andsubsequently preserved in American spelling is the shiftfrom -ce to -se, as in defense, pretense, offense.

The change from ise to -izeBoth the ending -ise and -ize are pronounced with a /z/

sound. As the letter z is a more conventional representationof the sound /z/ than the letter /s/, American English favoursthe spelling -ize as in analyze.

2.2.2 The omission of superfluous letters inAmerican English

A faithful orthographic representation of thepronunciation of words implies the omission of letters thatare believed to be superfluous, e.g. silent* letters.

The shift from -ll to -l, and from -mme to -mWords that normally have -ll in British English are

spelled with -l in American English: counsel(l), wol(l)en.Similarly, -mme in British English turns into -m in

American English: program(me), kilogram(me).

The shift from our to -or



In British English words ending in -our end in -or inAmerican English, e.g. colour /color.

The shift from -AmE, -oe to -eBritish English seems to have retained both -ae and -

oe spellings in addition to the -e spellings in words likemediaeval, foetus, paediatrician, oesophagus, manoeuvre,anaemia, amoeba. American English seems to prefer thesimplified -e spellings in these cases. Thus, in AmericanEnglish, the usual spellings of these words are medieval,fetus, pediatrician, esophagus, maneuver, anemia andameba.

SAQ 3

How do you spell these words in American English?

1. behaviour ....................

2. humour ....................

3. honour ....................

4. metre ....................

5. criticise ....................

6. organise ....................

7. industrialise ....................

8. defence ....................

9. offence ....................

10. licence ....................

11. mediaeval ....................

12. enquiry ....................

13. gipsy ....................

14. traveller ....................

15. marvellous ....................

16. woollen ....................

17. kidnapped ....................

18. focussed ....................

Check your answers against those given at the end ofthis unit.



Think first!

Can you avoid some of the most common confusionsarising between British and American speakers? Try thefollowing quiz.

1. Where would you take (a) an American visitor (b) aBritish visitor who said they wanted to wash up - thekitchen or the bathroom?

2. Would (a) an American (b) a Brit be expected to getsomething hot or something cold if they asked for somepotato chips?

3. Which would surprise you more - an American or aBritish man telling you that he wanted to go and change hispants?

4. You have just come into an unknown office block. If (a)an American (b) a Brit says that the office you need is onthe second floor, how many flights of stairs do you need toclimb?

5. If (a) an American (b) a Brit asks for a bill, is he or shemore likely to be in a bank or a cafe?

Check your answers against the information given insection 2.3.1.

2.3 Lexical differences in main subject areas

The main causes of the vocabulary differencesbetween British and American English are related to socialand cultural developments, technology and linguisticprocesses. The range of lexical differences can besuggested by the large number of lexical entries marked asAmericanisms in Websters New World Dictionary, i.e.11,000 items, out of which 4,000 items belong to ordinaryvocabulary.

Concerning the subject areas which provide most ofthe lexical differences, Kovecses (2000: 148) mentions thecentral theme of people and their immediate environment;slightly removed from this central theme we have the themehuman interaction and communication; next we can set upthe theme social institutions and finally, the theme ofnatural environment.



2.3.1 People and their immediate environment

This theme includes the subcategories household andbuilding, clothing, food and shopping:

British American

ground floor first floorlift elevatortap faucetflat (rented) apartmentcupboard closetflat (owned) condominiumdustbin trashcan

dinner jacket tuxedotrousers pantsunderpants shortswaistcoat vest

tin cansweets candychips French friesjam jellybiscuit cookie

bill checkqueue lineshop assistant sales clerk

2.3.2 Human interaction and communication

This subject area involves such subcategories astravel and accommodation, personal communication(telephone and post) and transportation (car, train, road).

luggage baggageleft luggage office baggage roomreceptionist desk clerkto book to make reservationstimetable scheduletoilet(s) restroomreturn ticket round trip ticketsingle ticket one way ticket

post code zip codering up call uppostman mailmanparcel package

car park parking lotpavement sidewalkmotorway freeway

Buildingandhousehold

Food

Shopping

Road, trafficandtransportation

Clothes

Accommodationand travel

Telephoneand postoffice



roundabout traffic circletaxi/cab cab/taxitraffic lights stop lightshigh street main streetunderground subwaycoach bustram street carsledge sled

2.3.3 Social institutions

This theme contains such subcategories as schooland education, business and banking, as well as media andentertainment.

lecturer instructorsenior lecturer assistantprofessorreader associateprofessorprofessor (full) professorhall of residence dormitorymark gradepostgraduate graduatesecondary school high schooluniversity

college/universitymaths math

current account checkingaccountdeposit account savingsaccountshares stocksnote bill

booking office ticket officefilm/movie moviecinema movie theaterinterval intermission

2.3.4 Natural environment

The subcategories of plants and animals can beviewed as parts of this theme:

maize corninsect bugladybird ladybugcock roosterAlsatian Germanshepherd

Plantsandanimals

Schoolandeducation

Entertainment

Businessandfinance



SAQ 4

Change the following into British English.

1. Pass me the cookies..2. One-way or round trip?.3. Its in the closet...4. He left the faucet on...5. Open the drapes...6. Were leaving in the fall.7. Weve run out of gas.8. I hate waiting in line.

Check your answer against the suggested answergiven at the end of the unit.

Summary

Speakers of American English have developed a formof communication that requires less attention and effort.This is reflected by the casual nature of their way ofspeaking, generally characterized by nasalizing and drawingout certain vowels. In contrast with this, the British way ofspeaking has a so called clipped nature.

Unlike British English, American English discloses atendency towards simplification proved by (1) the reductionof certain diphthongs* to simple vowels and (2) theelimination of some unnecessary letters in spelling.

American spelling differs from British spelling in thatthe former usually tries to correspond more closely topronunciation (showing a tendency towards phoneticspelling) while the latter preserves its etymological spelling.

British and American vocabularies also revealdifferences related to general themes such as (1) peopleand their immediate environment (2) human interaction andcommunication (3) social institutions and (4) naturalenvironment.

Key concepts

American drawl American nasality flap phonetic spelling postnasal /t/ rhotacity



Further reading

1. Iarovici, Edith. 1994. Engleza American. Bucureti:Editura Teora, pp.99-111

2. Kovecses, Zoltan. 2000. American English. AnIntroduction. Ontario: Broad View Press, pp.139-155,240-247

3. Neagu Mariana. 2001. Variety and Style in English.Buzu: Alpha, pp. 123-148.

SAA No. 1

Which variety of English is taught and preferred byRomanian teachers and students? Try to find out why thatparticular variety is preferred and point out its characteristics,using the information in Unit 2 and in the books recommendedunder Further reading.

Write a 250 word essay and send it to your tutor.The maximum score for this assignment is 20 points:- 10 points for providing solid arguments- 5 points for language accuracy- 3 points for identifying the variety features correctly- 2 points for organizing ideas in paragraphs.

Answers to SAQs

If your answers to SAQ 1 and SAQ 2 are not comparableto the ones suggested below, please reread section 2.1.

SAQ 11. :/ in British English (BE) is turned into // in

American English (AmE), when this vowel is followed byfricatives such as /s/: class, glass, fast, pass, castle. Thesame change, that is :/ in BE becomes // in AmE whenit is followed by the nasals /n/, /m/ followed by otherconsonants: aunt, dance

2. BE is pronounced without lip-rounding andsounds like // in AmE: Tom, dollar, got, bottle, rock, frog

3. /i/ in unstressed syllables in BE is replaced by //in AmE: greatness, tigress, interest

4. /u/ in unstressed final position in British Englishis replaced by // in American English: window, piano,mellow

5. /ju/ in BE is reduced to /u/| in AmE whenpreceded by /t/ or /d/: tune, due. The same reduction, that of/ju/ to /u/, occurs when /ju/ is preceded by /n/: nuclear, nude

SAQ 2 Intervocalic* /t/ in British English sounds like /d/

in American English: writer, latter, whiter



/r/ is pronounced in all positions in a word inAmerican English, while in standard British English /r/ isonly pronounced before a vowel: offer, turn, etc.

word stress tends to fall on the first syllable inAmerican English and on the second syllable in BritishEnglish: princess, address, research, entire, museum,resource.

disyllabic verbs ending in ate have the stress onthe first syllable in American English: dictate, frustrate,migrate, vibrate. In words that have three syllables,Americans emphasize the ending: secretary, dictionary,laboratory, conservatory, inflammatory


SAQ 3behavior, humor, honor, meter, criticize, organize,

industrialize, defense, offense, license, medieval, inquiry,gypsy, traveler, marvelous, woolen, kidnaped, focused


SAQ 41. Pass me the cakes2. Single or return (trip)?3. Its in the cupboard4. He left the tap on.5. Open the curtains!6. Were leaving in autumn.7. Weve run out of petrol8. I hate standing in a queue.

Pronunciation and Spelling


UNIT 3

PRONUNCIATION AND SPELLING

Unit outline

Unit objectives 28

3.1 The spelling of consonants 28

3.2 Vowel markers 29

3.3 Keeping a spelling constant 30

3.4 Silent letters 33

3.5 Homographs and homophones 34

3.6 Pronunciation and etymology 35



discriminate words or parts of words that are spelledexactly the same way but which are pronounced entirelydifferently.

acquire the markers, pronunciation patterns andspelling rules provided in the unit

Ideally, the spelling system should closely reflectpronunciation, as is the case in Romanian, but not inEnglish, which nevertheless presents many regularitiesbetween sound and written symbol. The problem in Englishis twofold each sound is represented by more than oneletter or by sequences of letters, and any letters represents

Unitobjectives



more than one sound, or it may not represent any sound atall.

Think first!

What group of letters corresponds to the // sound? Think ofwords such as ship, passion, ration, Asian, conscious, Confucian,issue, machine and luxury.

..Check your answer against the information given in section

3.1.

3.1 The spelling of consonants

Consonants with a single spellingMost consonants, at least some of the time, may have

a single-letter 'alphabetic' spelling: ; /k/ has a choice of or . But there isoften 'divergence', where one speech-sound has severaldifferent spellings and spelling may stand for differentspeech-sounds.

Consonants with multiple letter spellingIn spite of the available single-letter spelling , the

consonant at the beginning of foot has more complexspellings in physics, enough, offer. The in easyrepresents /z/, the in quick represents /w/ and the inof represents /v/. The consonant at the beginning of yet,yellow can also be found as part of the vowel spelt incue, cute, pure.

The most divergent consonant is /k/, which hasdifferent spellings in cool, chemistry, sack, accolade,chukker, key, quay, quite, and as part of the /ks/ in axe.

Six consonants, that is /, t do not have asingle-letter-spelling of their own and require at least twoletters, such as , or . These are theconsonants found in the middle of the following words:method, bother, wishing, measure, patches and theconsonant represented by in singer when no actual /glis pronounced.



The main cause responsible for the departure ofEnglish spelling from the phonemic principle* is thatconservative principles in orthography cannot keep pacewith the phonetic changes in the language.

SAQ 1

Identify the graphs corresponding to /f/, /k/, /s/, /z/,/in the following words. The first has been done for youas an example:

1.saphhire: phh: /f/2. back 3. acclaim 4. biscuit 5. school 6. dress 7. scene8. racing9. cousin 10. dissolve 11. dessert 12. mission 13. option 14. ancient 15. conscious 16. ocean

Fill in the blanks with your answers and then checkthem with the suggested answers given at the end of thisunit.

3.2 Vowel markers

Five pairs of vowels can have single-letter spellings: in scrap, scraping, in met, meter, in pip, piper, in cop, coping, in rub, ruby. There is also incryptic, cry, which duplicates the spellings. Theexamples given in each pair represent a 'short' and a 'long'vowel or diphthong.

For this letter-sharing to work, 'markers' are needed insome contexts to tell you which value the letter has.

Final silent -eTo get the long value of in a single-syllable word,

you have to add a marker , as in scrape. The inbathe, breathe, loathe, wreathe not only marks the vowel aslong but also marks the last consonant as 'voiced' ratherthan the 'voiceless'* one in bath, breath, loath, wreath.Other examples are lathe, lithe, swathe. Mouth and smoothused as verbs lack this marking.

The marker in browse, copse, lapse, please,tease, tense is used to prevent confusion with the pluralforms brows, cops, laps, pleas, teas, tens. It marks thebrowse group as single units and as such is called 'lexical '.



The double consonant ruleTo get the short value before a suffix beginning with a

vowel like , you double a final consonant letter, as inscrapping.

Therefore, the double consonant rule says that a finalconsonant in a stressed syllable must be doubled topreserve the short pronunciation of the vowel when followedby a syllable beginning with a vowel. Note, for example, thedifference in length between // and /u/ in the pair hopping- hoping.

The y to i ruleThis rule states that final y preceded by a consonant

becomes -i before a suffix (e.g. ed, -s) not beginning with i (e.g. -ing):

try tried, tries hurry hurries, hurried

but but

try trying hurry hurrying

SAQ 2

Can you give examples of a single vowel letter which can be usedwith two values, i.e. short and long, as in scrap - scrape, scrapping -scraping?

Write your answers in the space provided below.

Contrast them with the suggested answer given at the end of unit3.

Keeping a spelling constant

Think first!

Do you believe it would be a good idea if English spellingrepresented pronunciation more closely? Before you read the sectionbelow, think of possible disadvantages if English spelling were 100%phonemic.

Check your answer against the information given in this section.



The morphological principleEnglish spelling is based not only on the etymological

principle* but also on the morphological principle,according to which spelling has to preserve unchanged thegraphic form of every meaningful part of the word(morpheme) even its actual pronunciation changes, whichhappens when the given morpheme is combined with someother morphemes.

Well-known examples are the grammatical (bound)morphemes -s and -ed. For instance, the three homonymicmorphemes representing (1) the third person singularpresent tense -(e)s, (2) the possessive case of nouns s and(3) the plural of nouns -(e)s may have three pronunciations,each depending on the phonetic environment:

a. /z/ when preceded by a vowel or a voicedconsonant: stays, kills.

b. /s/ after a voiceless* consonant: takes.c./iz/ after consonants such as /s, z, t d:

sneezes, washes, watch, etc.

The verbal ending -ed sounds quite different inwished, begged, and wanted. If you think that they would bebetter spelt phonetically as * , ' , you arelosing the advantage of a constant spelling for the regularpast-tense ending. Therefore, -ed is pronounced:

/d/ after vowels and voiced consonants: opened /t/ after voiceless* consonants: worked /id/ after /t/, /d/: wanted, divided

SAQ 3

What do you think of Mark Twains plans for theimprovement of English spelling? Try to remake theetymological spelling of the words in italics and then rewritethe text.

For example, in Year 1 that useless letter c would bedropped to be replased either by k or s, and likewise, xwould no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase inwhich c would be retained would be the ch formation,which will be dealt with later.

Year 2 might reform w spelling, so that which and onewould take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might wellabolish y replasing it with i and iear 4 might fiks the g/janomali wonse and for all.



Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iearwith iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, andiears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and rimeining voist andunvoist konsonants. Bai iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibltu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez c, y and x bai now jasta memori in the maindz ov ould doderez tu riplais ch, sh,and th rispektivli..

Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wudhev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spikingwerld.

Compare your answer with the one given at the end ofthis unit

Phonemic variation in derivativesThe morphological principle is also of great help in the

case of derivatives. For example, one may think it awkwardto have Is/ spelt differently in sent and cent. That may be,but the spelling of both /k/ in electric and Is/ in electricitykeeps the spelling of that unit constant.

Another good example of this principle is provided bythe long and short pronunciations of single vowel lettersseen in word pairs such as:

atrocious - atrocityfemale - feminineomen - omenousaustere - austeritygrateful - gratitudereside residualchaste - chastitylegal - legislatesole - solitudecrime - criminalmine - mineralsupreme - supremacy

In these pairs the basic long vowel is shortened whenit comes three syllables from the end of the word.

3.4 Silent letters

Silent g, w, h and k



Keeping a constant spelling may involve the use of so-called 'silent' letters. The does not represent /g/ in sign,but it does in derived forms resignation, signal, signature,signify. Similarly we have malign and malignant. Changingto ", " would spoil the visual link. Should wekeep the of two because twenty, twin, between areremotely related? Should shepherd be re-spelt as *, a regularized spelling when used as a name?

On the other hand the of gnarled, gnat, gnash,gnaw, gnome and the of knee, knife, knight, knock,know, knuckle are quite empty letters. They are the debrisof history and are never pronounced in any derived word(except for acknowledge). It would be no loss to change to", '"



steak or one cooked for a minute.Words pronounced the same but spelt differently are

called homophones*: , , , or , or , , . These variant vowelspellings clearly make it harder for the writer, but it is oftenclaimed that such divergence is not always a bad thing forthe reader, since different words should look different on theprinted page.

Even so, a good number of words are bothhomographs* and homophones: sounding the same andlooking the same. These are sometimes called homonyms.For instance, hamper represents two completely differentunrelated words: either 'a basket' or 'to hinder'. Quarrymeans either 'a stone quarry or 'a hunted animal'.

SAQ 5

Give the correct pronunciation of the marked homographsin the following sentences.

Write your answers in the spaces provided.

1 a The lead singer in the group is great. .b Lead pipes are dangerous. .

2 a The wind blew the tree down. .b Dont forget to wind your watch. .

3 a Some students in Oxford spent more time learning torow well than studying. .b They shared a flat for ages until they had a row overmoney and they split up. .

4 a They live in a large old house. .b The buildings house a library and two concert halls aswell as a theatre. .

5 a The sow has five piglets. .b The farmers sow the weeds in spring..

6 a I bathed the baby this morning. .b We bathed in the sea every day when we were on

holiday. .

Check your answers against the ones given at the end ofthe chapter.

3.6 Pronunciation and etymology

French loansThe Old English of the Anglo-Saxons has given the

English their basic stock of words: life, death, earth,heaven, sun, moon, day, night, black, white, broad, narrow,teach, learn, seek, find, eat, drink, food, meat, fire, wood,tree, eye, knee, hand, foot and so on.

Words borrowed from French have sometimes beenaltered by anxious academics looking beyond the Frenchspelling to the distant Latin original. The words debt, doubt,were medieval borrowings of French delle 'debt', doute'doubt' without a . The 'silent' was inserted in thesixteenth century to resemble the original Latin debitum,dubitare, and to draw attention to the shared meaning of



related English words derived from the same roots, such asdebit, dubitative.

The spelling of the early French loan grocer is aregular English spelling (racer, slicer), so why not havegross spelt: on the lines of race, truce, slice? As itis, gross is the only English word in which does notsound as it does in boss, cross, doss, dross, floss.Ironically, the regular was a common medievalspelling that did not survive.

Since medieval times English has adopted culturalloanwords from French. The early ones included attach,certain, chance, conquer, courage, language, money, place,pleasant, royal, strange, sure, tender, value, and even aword as common now as very, which at first meant true'.Modern loanwords from French come with their presentFrench spelling and a close approximation to Frenchpronunciation: collage, entourage, rage, piquant, pirouette.

SAQ 6

The list of words given below includes loans fromLatin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutchand German.

apparatus, avalanche, capricio, bourgeois, mosquito,chamois, banana, champagne, hurricane, chandelier,tobacco, charade, cruise, coup, mirage, landscape,etiquette, brochure, plunder, burlesque, catastrophe,connoiseur, critique, circus, climax, memoir, drama,nuance, exit, genre, genius, symphony, omen, glacier,pathetic, picnic, pneumonia, espionnage, scheme,chauffeur, chef, catastrophe, chic, restaurant, stanza,depot, umbrella, caf, prairie, malaise, alligator, penchant,moto, essay, progress, atmosphere, , rendez-vous,moustache, debris, detail.

Underscore recognizably French loan words andcompare your choices with the suggested answers givenat the end of this unit.

Latin and Greek loansTechnical terms for use in science are often derived

from Latin or Greek. For example, aqueduct, subaquatic areLatinate counterparts in meaning to ordinary Englishwaterway, underwater. Similarly, Greek elements make upscientific terms such as photosynthesis, polyglot,pyromania. The of diarrhoea ('through-How')recurs in other Greek-based words such as catarrh ('down-flow'), seborrhoea ('grease-flow').

Scientists have to learn a mini-language of suchelements. When such terms escape into common use theyoften cause spelling problems for the ordinary person. Thatleaves a whole array of loanwords that are variously exotic':kayak is from Eskimo, felucca is from Arabic by way ofItalian. The now familiar tobacco comes from Arawak, anAmerican-Indian language.

These various subsystems are often marked by their



own peculiar spelling correspondences. If you know a yuccato be an exotic plant, you will not spell it *yuker. The ofchief, an early French loan, has the same sound as in nativecheap, cheese. The modern loan chef retains its presentFrench value of (like the of shop), as dochauffeur, charade. The spelling is not altered to * .This same will also spell /k/ in Greek-based wordssuch as character, chemist, synchronic. Similarly, is a(Greek' spelling for If I, as in diaphragm, philosophy, phobia,symphony.

Borrowing foreign spellings along with foreignloanwords is not the only way of doing it. In Swedish, forexample, foreign loans are usually spelt with ordinarySwedish spelling. So French loans coiffure, pirouette arespell in Swedish as and



SAA No. 2

After you have studied this unit, use the knowledgeyou acquired to do the following exercises:

1. What spelling differences correspond to thesepronunciations?

/tu:/ ./rait/ ./ail/ ./meil/ ./rein/ ..

2. Exemplify the reduction of these consonant clusters*:

kn -> n gn ->n .wr->r mn->m .mb->m .

3. Give the transcription of these loan words:

queue .buoy .silhouette ..

Write your answers in the space provided. Send thisassignment to your tutor. The maximum score for thisassignment is 20 points:

- 7 points for identifying the homophones correctly.- 10 points for exemplifying the reduction of theconsonant clusters- 3 points for the correct phonemic transcription.

Answers to SAQs

Should your answer to SAQ 1 be different from the onesuggested below, please reread section 3.1.

SAQ 1ck (back), cc (acclaim), cu (biscuit), ch (school): /k/ss (dress), sc (scene), c (racing): /s/s (cousin), ss (dissolve, dessert): /z/si (tension), ssi (mission), ti (option), ci (ancient), sci(conscious), ce (ocean): /


SAQ 2The letter o in hop - hope and hopping hoping.



Should your answer to SAQ 3 be different from the onesuggested below, please reread sections 3.1, 3.2 and3.3.

SAQ 3The fragment highlights the difficulties due to the

discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation inEnglish, where, in many instances, the same sound may berepresented by a variety of spellings and the same spellingis used for different sounds.

What Mark Twain seems to suggest is the greatertrouble the reader and speller might have if the Englishetymological spelling were reformed and turned intophonemic spelling.

Here is the etymological spelling of Twains text:

For example, in Year 1 that useless letter c would bedropped to be replaced either by k or s, and likewise, xwould no longer be part of the alphabet. The only case inwhich c would be retained would be the ch formation,which will be dealt with later.

Year 2 might reform w spelling, so that which andone would take the same consonant, while year 3 mightwell abolish y replacing it with i and year 4 might fix theg/j anomaly once and for all.

Generally, then, the improvement would continue yearby year with year 5 doing away with useless doubleconsonants, and years 6-12 or so modifying vowels andremaining voiced and unvoiced consonants. By year 15 orso, it would finally be possible to make use of the redundantletters c, y and x by now just a memory in the mindsof old dodders to replace ch, sh, and th respectively.

Finally, then, after some 20 years of orthographicalreform, we would have a logical, coherent spelling in usethroughout the English-speaking world


SAQ 41. The psychiatrist was knifed in the knee as he was

walking home.2. He should have whistled as he fastened his sword to his

belt.3. You should have left me half the Christmas cake on

Wednesday.4. They sang a psalm to honour the memory of the world-

famous psychologist as he was laid to rest in the familytomb.

Should your answer to SAQ 5 be different from the onesuggested below, please reread section 3.5

SAQ 51 a The lead /li:d/ singer in the group is great.

b Lead /led/ pipes are dangerous.2 a The wind /wind/ blew the tree down.

b Dont forget to wind /waind/ your watch.3 a Some students in Oxford spent more time learning



to row /ru/ well than studying.b They shared a flat for ages until they had a row/rau/ over money and they split up.

4 a They live in a large old house /haus/.b The buildings house /hauz/ a library and twoconcert halls as well as a theatre.

5 a The sow /sau/ has five piglets.b The farmers sow /su/ the weeds in spring.

6 a I bathed /bthe baby this morning.b We bathed /beid/ in the sea every day when wewere on holiday.


SAQ 6avalanche, bourgeois, chamois, champagne, chandelier,charade, coup, mirage, etiquette, brochure, burlesque,connoiseur, critique, memoir, nuance, genre, symphony,glacier, picnic, espionnage, chauffeur, chef, chic, restaurant,depot, caf, prairie, malaise, penchant, essay, progress,rendez-vous, moustache, debris, detail.

Aspects of Connected Speech


UNIT 4

ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH

Unit outline

Unit objectives 41

4.1 Linking /r/ and intrusive /r/ 41

4.2 Assimilation 424.2.1 Regressive assimilation 424.2.2 Progressive assimilation 434.2.3 Reciprocal assimilation 444.2.4 Obligatory and non-obligatory assimilation 45

4.3 Elision 464.3.1 Vowel elision 464.3.2 Consonant elision 47

4.4 Strong and weak forms of function words 484.4.1 Uses of weak forms 484.4.2 Uses of strong forms 50




After you have completed the study of this unit you should be able to: explain the phonetic phenomena that occur in casual speech. i.e.

assimilation*, elision*, etc distinguish carefully between cases when function words* are in

focal and non-focal positions use the strong and weak forms* of function words properly, thus

avoiding an unnatural, visibly foreign pronunciation (that can be apotential barrier to fluency and a source of misunderstanding)

discriminate careful, standard speech from rapid, non-standardspeech pronunciations

distinguish British from American pronunciation variants produce casual pronunciations of frequent sound sequences

Normal speech cannot be imagined to be spoken one word at a time,with pauses* corresponding to the spaces of the written language. Spokenlanguage is a continuous sequence in which each separate unit of sound isnot pronounced in isolation but as part of a larger unit. In this process,sounds undergo modifications due to the transition* from one sound unit toanother.

4.1 Linking r* and intrusive /r/*

Linking /r/Although British speakers pronounce car without the final r, the r often

does emerge if the following word begins with a vowel. Linking /r/ is thephoneme /r/ in word final position which is pronounced when the next wordbegins with a vowel. In standard RP a written word-final r is not pronouncedbefore a pause* or a following consonant sound. Compare, for example,the car is there with the car was there. In the first example the r ispronounced and gets attached to the following syllable. This is the linking/r/. Further occurrences of linking /r/ can be found in: Here it is, Far away ortheyre at home.

Intrusive /r/There are instances when the presence of an intervocalic /r/ is not

orthographically justified, as in law and order /l:r nd :d/. This inserted/r/ between two words or syllables in sequence, where the first ends in avowel sound and the second begins with one, and which has nocorrespondent r in spelling is called intrusive /r/.

Intrusive /r/ is much criticized, but is quite commonly heard instandard RP and other non-rhotic accents. It occurs after the vowels, e.g.:

//: idea (r) of it, umbrella (r) organization/:/: law (r) and order//: grandpa (r) is ill// a milieu (r) in whichBoth linking /r/ and intrusive /r/ are used in non-rhotic accents to

prevent the vowels of two adjacent syllables to directly succeed oneanother. By adding an /r/ the utterance* gains in fluidity. (Meyer, 2002: 91)

4.2 Assimilation

The effect on a speech sound of the articulation of other adjacentsounds is called assimilation. This is a common feature of speech, thoughone that many native speakers are unaware of. Assimilation varies

Unit objectives



according to speaking rate and style; it is more likely to be found in rapid,casual speech and less likely, in slow, careful speech. In every assimilationprocess we distinguish between assimilating and assimilated*phonemes.

4.2.1 Regressive assimilation

Types of assimilationAssimilation is regressive when the preceding sound is influenced by

the immediately following one. Regressive assimilation or assimilation ofplace (Roach, 1994:124) is most clearly noticeable in some cases where afinal consonant with alveolar place of articulation (e.g. /t/, /d/) is followed byan initial consonant with a place of articulation* that is not alveolar. Forinstance, the final consonant in that

/t / is alveolar /t/. In rapid, casual speech, the /t/ will become /p/before a bilabial* consonant (e.g. /p/, /b/) as in that person /p p3:sn /,the /d/ will become /b/ as in good people /gub pi:pl/, etc.

SAQ 1

Transcribe the unassimilated* and assimilated pronunciations ofthese phrases:

1. light blue ...

2 . good boy

3. a good man ...

4. this shop .

5. ten more ..

Check your transcriptions against those given in the answersection.



Think First!

Look at these spellings:

stay stays stayed staying

convey conveys conveyed conveying

study studies studied studying

cry cries cried - crying

Can you remember the y to i rule stated in theprevious chapter? If you do, write it down in the spaceprovided below; if you dont, find it in section 3.2 andthen copy it in the space provided below.

..

4.2.2 Progressive assimilation*

A reverse type of assimilation (progressive assimilation) is foundwhen a sound is changed by the influence of a previous one.

For instance, the third person singular -s suffix, the -s plural suffix andthe 's possessive suffix, are pronounced /s/ if the preceding consonant isfortis* (voiceless) and /z / if the preceding consonant is lenis* (voiced):jumps /dmps/ cats kts/, Pat s /pts vs. runs /rnz/, dogs /dgz/, Pams /pmz/.

The pronunciation of the endings s and -edProgressive assimilation is an established and regular feature of the

ending s of verbs and nouns, which usually has a voiced /z/ sound (or /z/after all sibilants*) but after voiceless sounds other than sibilants is /s/ (e.g.taps tabs, hats - heeds, docks - dogs, griefs - grieves). Similarly, the pasttense ed ending /d/ or /d/ is devoiced* to a /t/ sound after a voicelessconsonant other than /t/ itself: roped, lacked, roofed, pushed versus robed,lagged, grooved, hated, headed, etc.



SAQ 2

Give the phonemic transcription of these words to show theprogressive type of assimilation that can occur:

1. Keiths .

2. youths ..

3. eyes .

4. seems .

5. runs .

6. dolls .

7. pieces .

8. daisies .

9. offered .

10. fitted .

11. kidnapped .

Write your answers in the spaces provided and then comparethem to those given at the end of the unit.

4.2.3 Reciprocal assimilation

Assimilation is reciprocal (double) when both sounds (theassimilating and the assimilated one) undergo changes. In twice /w /becomes partly devoiced under the influence of /t/, while /t/ is roundedbecause of /w/.

A particular type of double assimilation is coalescence* in which twoadjacent phonemes mix to such an extent that a third phoneme emerges.Historically this has occurred in words like soldier, picture, or fissure, wherethe reconstructable earlier pronunciation /soldjr/, /pktu:r/, /fsju:r/ hasbecome /sld/, /pkt /, /f/.

In current colloquial English, similar assimilation occurs in phrasessuch as What dyou want? /wt wnt/ or Could you? /kdu:/. Thiscoalescent* assimilation is also known as yod coalescence orpalatalization*.

SAQ 3

Historically, the phonemes /d/ and /j/ coalesced, i.e. mixed tosuch an extent that gave birth to /d/ in a word like soldier. In the samemanner /t/ and /j/ fused and finally produced the affricate* /t/ inquestion.

What coalescent* variants can be heard nowadays in:

a. intuition .

b. grandeur .



c. duel .

Write your answers in the space provided at the right-hand side.Compare your transcriptions with the pronunciations given at the end ofthe unit.

4.2.4 Obligatory and non-obligatory assimilation

Synchronic assimilation may be obligatory (or established) andaccidental (or non-obligatory).

Certain occurrences of assimilation are obligatory in the sense thatthey represent the norm in the language. Here are such instances:

unaspiratedness* of /p, t, k/ after /s/ : speak, stake, school devoicing* of /l, r, w, j/ after voiceless plosives*: close, from devoicing of /m, n/ after /s/: smile, snake rounding of preceding consonants by /w/: twenty

Non-obligatory assimilation may be illustrated by thesepronunciations:

give me /givmi:/ or /gimmi/did you /didju:/ or /diddu:/let me /letmi/ or / lemmi/was sure /wzu/ or /w u/

You need to be aware of the phenomenon of assimilation in order tounderstand colloquial English and to make a proper use of assimilated*variants just like English speakers do.

4.3 Elision

Elision is usually referred to as the omission of a sound (sounds) inconnected speech*. This phenomenon occurs when sounds occur inclusters which are difficult to pronounce (e.g. last month, cost price, nextshop, landscape) or when they appear in unstressed syllables(e.g. roundthe corner, night time, handbag). Elision may involve both vowels andconsonants

Like assimilation, elision is typical of rapid, casual speech, and it canbe historical* and contextual or synchronic*. For foreign learners of Englishit is important to know that when native speakers of English talk to eachother; quite a number of phonemes that the foreigner might expect to hearare not actually pronounced.

4.3.1 Vowel elision

Elision of schwa* //Elision of vowels takes place in unstressed syllables. The common

vowels which are usually omitted are / / and /i/.// (schwa*) may be lost in an initial unstressed syllable when the next

vowel in the word is stressed as in correct /krekt/.



The consonant which usually follows schwa can be /l/ as in police/plis/, buffalo /bflu/, /r/ as in history /histri/, temporary /temprri/, reference/refrns/, or /n/ as in reasonable.

In British English the elision of schwa is firmly established in manywords ending in -ory (territory) -ery (nursery), -ary (customary), -ury, -ily,and adverbs ending in -fully, e.g. carefully.

Elision of /i//i/ may be lost in such words as geography /dgrfi/, university

/ju:ni'vsiti/.

SAQ 4

Give the corresponding spellings of these pronunciations that canoccur in casual speech:

a. /spuz/

b. /prps/ .

c. /kfli/ .

d. /tnait/ .

Write your answers in the spaces provided. Compare them to thespellings given in the answer section.

4.3.2 Consonant elision

Elision of /t/ and /d/The consonants that are most likely to be elided are /t/ and /d/

occurring medially in consonant clusters*.The elision of /t/ occurs when /t/ follows a fortis consonant and

precedes any consonant (e.g. mostly, exactly, first time /f:s taim/).The dropping of /d/ occurs when /d/ follows any consonant and

precedes any consonant (e.g. handsome, handbag, friendship)Final /d/ of the grammatical word and can be omitted before vowels as

well as consonants (e.g. ham and / n / eggs).

Elision of /k/, //, ///k/ is deleted only in a few forms, e.g. extraordinary /istr:dnri/,

expected /ispektid/, excursion /isk:n/.Elision also affects /l/ in rapid speech, when preceded by /:/ and

followed by a consonant: alright, already./, / are omitted in clusters which are difficult to pronounce: sixth,

months, twelfths, clothes.

In rhetorical terms, the removal of an element from the beginning of aword is known as aphaeresis (I' ve); the loss of a sound or letter in word-medial position as called syncope (eer instead of ever) and in word-finalposition apocope (snakes and /n/ ladders).

SAQ 5

In casual speech /t/, /d/ and /k/ when medial in three-consonantclusters may be dropped. Practise and transcribe these words and



phrases to illustrate the process:

a. last year

b. thousand points .

c. kindness .

d. asked him ..

Write your answers in the spaces provided. You will find ananswer in the key section at the end of this unit

4.4 Strong and weak forms of function words

A phonological phenomenon which is characteristic of the Englishlanguage and has no equivalent in Romanian is the existence of twopossible pronunciations for the grammatical function) words. Thus, aboutsixty words including articles, auxiliaries, modals, pronouns, prepositions,conjunctions adverbs, pronominal adjectives, may display two forms: astrong one, when they occur in accented (focal) position and a weak one,when they are unaccented (in a non-focal position).

Disadvantages of using only strong forms*It is possible to use only strong forms in speaking and some foreigners

do this. Usually they can still be understood by other speakers of English,but it is important to learn how weak forms are used. There are two mainreasons: first, most native speakers of English find an all-strong-formpronunciation unnatural and foreign-sounding, something that most learnerswould wish to avoid.

Second, and more importantly, speakers who are not familiar with theuse of weak forms are likely to have difficulty in understanding speakerswho do use weak forms; since practically all native speakers of BritishEnglish use them, learners of the language need to learn about these weakforms to help them to understand what they hear (Roach, 1994:102).

4.4.1 Uses of weak forms

Conjunctions and prepositionsThe most frequently used form is the weak one. Several words in

English have more than one weak form: and /nd/ can be /nd/, /n/, /n/:fish and chips, food and drink.

Prepositions are used with their weak form whenever they carry noaccent:

for is pronounced /f / when the word which follows begins with aconsonant (They called John for me) and /fr/ when it starts with a vowel.

from /frm/ becomes /frm/ in: from time to time, we walked fromschool to school

of has the weak form /v/ in: a cup of tea, the end of the road.



SAQ 6

Practise and transcribe the following phrases, using the weakform of the function words*:

as fast as he can .

for love nor money.

for ever and ever .

students and teachers .

time and money .

Check your transcriptions against those given at the end of theunit.

AuxiliariesAuxiliaries and modals are usually pronounced in their weak form:

am pronounced /m, m/: I'm in a hurry /aim in hri/ are pronounced /, r /: When are they coming /wen ei kmi/ does pronounced /dz, z, s/: What does it mean? /wt dz it

'mi:n/ have pronounced /hv, v, v/: Where have you been? /we v ju

bin/ was pronounced /wz/ : He was seen by everybody /hi wz si:n

bai evri bdi / were pronounced /w/ + consonant: Where were they working?

/we w ei w3:ki/ will pronounced /l/: I think I'll stop here /ai ik ail stp hi/

Think first!

Must is pronounced in its weak form /mst/, or in its strong form,/mst/, depending on whether it shows:

supposition (You must be exhausted)or obligation (You must study those books as indicated).

Give the pronunciation of must in the following sentences:

1. You must be tired.

2. Of course we must try.

3. They must obey the rules of the game.

4. You must have met him in England..5. He must buy it and so must I...

6. We must learn it by heart...



Compare your answers with the information below.

Modals could pronounced /kd/: He could have been more helpful /hi kd v

bin m: helpful/ should pronounced /d/: They should come earlier /ei d km 3:li/ must pronounced /mst/: I must answer that letter /ai mst ans t

let/.

Weak forms of modal verbs are more often used in colloquial speechthan strong forms.

SAQ 7

Practise reducing the auxiliary and modal verbs in the following:

have watched

were to do

could try

should go

would make

You can find the suggested answer in the key section at the endof unit 4.

4.4.2 Uses of strong forms

In general, function words are used in their strong (unreduced) formwhen they are uttered in isolation and for reasons of contrast (whenemphasis is implied).

PrepositionsPrepositions are used in their accented form when they are situated at

the end of sentences or sense groups:

at /t/: He was being laughed at. for /f:/: I was called for at ten. of /v /: What is it made of? to /tu/: Who are you talking to?

The strong or weak forms of prepositions may be used when theyoccur before unstressed pro

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