Ngữ âm học (B1&B2)

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Tài liệu "Ngữ âm học B1&B2" giới thiệu đến các bạn những kiến thức về ngữ âm học và âm vị học, phát âm học, các câu hỏi bài tập thực hành về ngữ âm học B1, ngữ âm học B2. Mời các bạn cùng tham khảo nội dung tài liệu để có thêm tài liệu học tập và nghiên cứu.

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Nội dung Text: Ngữ âm học (B1&B2)

COURSE SYLLABUS PHOBH51 & MORBH51 ENGLISH PHONETICS & PHONOLOGY WEEK TITLE TIME 1 Lesson 1: Introduction 19.01.2015 2 Lesson 2: The Organs of Speech 26.01.2015 3 Lesson 3: English Consonants 02.02.2015 Assignment 1 4 Lesson 4: English vowels & diphthongs 09.02.2015 5 Lesson 5: Phonological analysis 16.02.2015 6 Lesson 6: Syllable Structure 23.02.2015 Assignment 2 7 Lesson 7: Adjustments in connected speech 02.03.2015 8 Lesson 8: Weak forms 09.03.2015 9 Lesson 9: Stress 16.03.2015 10 Lesson 10: Intonation 23.03.2015 Assignment 3 ENGLISH MORPHOLOGY WEEK TITLE TIME 11 I. Introduction 30.03.2015 II. Identifying Morphemes and Allomorphs III. Free and Bound Morphemes 12 IV. Word Structure 06.04.2015 V. Word Formation VI. Derivation VII. Compounding QUY ĐỊNH VỀ TÍNH ĐIỂM THAM GIA THẢO LUẬN HỌC PHẦN: NGỮ ÂM HỌC (B1 & B2) Nhằm tăng cường tính tích cực của học viên khi tham gia chương trình đào tạo trực tuyến cũng như có căn cứ chính xác hơn trong đánh giá kết quả học tập, Đại học Đà Nẵng sẽ triển khai việc tính điểm tham gia mục Thảo luận (Discussion) từ các học kỳ bắt đầu vào tháng 01.2015. Nội dung và yêu cầu cụ thể như sau: 1. Cách thực hiện: Đầu kỳ mới, CCE gửi kế hoạch học kỳ kèm lưu ý học phần có tính điểm thảo luận. HV xem kỹ Course Syllabus các học phần trong học kỳ để biết rõ yêu cầu của học phần có tính điểm thảo luận. HV đăng nhập vào học phần, vào Discussion trên Menu bên trái màn hình, tham gia thảo luận bằng cách tự tạo chủ đề mới hoặc trao đổi về chủ đề học viên cùng lớp đã tạo sẵn. Thời hạn đăng bài trong Discussion: trước ngày thi kết thúc học phần. 2. Cách tính điểm: Mỗi bài đăng có nội dung cụ thể được tính 2 điểm. Điểm tối đa cho tổng số lần đăng là 10 điểm. Giá trị điểm thảo luận: • Được tính như điều kiện cần để hoàn thành học phần. • Tổng điểm thảo luận được tính như điểm của 1 bài kiểm tra giữa kỳ (tương đương 1 bài Unit Assignment). Các bài kiểm tra giữa kỳ gồm: • Các bài Unit Assignment • Điểm thảo luận Kết quả cuối học phần: Điểm TB KT giữa kỳ x 30% + Điểm thi cuối kỳ x 70% Rất mong toàn thể HV lưu ý thực hiện. LESSON 1: INTRODUCTION Phonetics and phonology Ngữ âm học và âm vị học Two terms are (often loosely) used to refer to linguistic Hai thuật ngữ này (thường lỏng lẻo) được dùng để chỉ các disciplines studying that part of the linguistic sign which de ngành ngôn ngữ học là một phần của các dấu hiệu ngôn Saussure called the acoustic image: phonetics and phonology. ngữ mà de Saussure gọi là hình ảnh âm thanh: ngữ âm học The importance of sounds as vehicles of meaning is và âm vị học. Tầm quan trọng của âm thanh như xe của ý something people have been aware of for thousands of years. nghĩa là một cái gì đó mọi người đã nhận thức cho hàng
However, systematic studies on the speech sounds only ngàn năm. Tuy nhiên, các nghiên cứu có hệ thống về các bài appeared with the development of modern sciences. The phát biểu của âm thanh chỉ xuất hiện với sự phát triển của term phonetics used in connection with such studies comes khoa học hiện đại. Ngữ âm ngữ được sử dụng trong kết nối from Greek and its origins can be traced back to the với các nghiên cứu như vậy xuất phát từ tiếng Hy Lạp và verb phōnein, to speak, in its turn related to phōnē, sound. The nguồn gốc của nó có thể được truy trở lại phōnein động từ, end of the 18th century witnessed a revival of the interest in để nói chuyện, đến lượt nó liên quan đến điện thoại, âm the studying of the sounds of various languages and the thanh. Sự kết thúc của thế kỷ 18 đã chứng kiến một sự hồi introduction of the term phonology. The latter comes to be, sinh của sự quan tâm trong việc học tập của các âm thanh however, distinguished from the former only more than a của ngôn ngữ khác nhau và sự ra đời của âm vị học kỳ. Sau century later with the development of structuralism which đó đến được, tuy nhiên, để phân biệt với cựu chỉ hơn một emphasizes the essential contrastive role of classes of sounds thế kỷ sau đó với sự phát triển của cấu trúc trong đó nhấn which are labeled phonemes. The terms continue to be used, mạnh vai trò thiết yếu đối chiếu của các lớp học của các however, indiscriminately until the prestige of phonology as a âm thanh có nhãn ghi âm vị. Các điều khoản tiếp tục được distinct discipline is finally established in the first half of the sử dụng, tuy nhiên, một cách bừa bãi cho đến uy tín của âm 20th century. vị học như một môn học riêng biệt cuối cùng cũng được Though there is no universally accepted point of view about a thành lập vào nửa đầu của thế kỷ 20. clearcut border line between the respective domains Mặc dù không có điểm giới chấp nhận quan điểm về một of phonetics and phonology as, indeed, we cannot talk about a đường biên giới rõ ràng giữa các lĩnh vực tương ứng về ngữ phonological system ignoring the phonetic aspects it involves âm học và âm vị học như, thực sự, chúng ta không thể nói and, on the other hand, any phonetic approach should take về một hệ thống âm vị bỏ qua các khía cạnh ngữ âm nó liên into account the phonological system that is represented by quan và, mặt khác, bất kỳ âm cách tiếp cận nên đưa vào tài any language, most linguists will agree about some khoản các hệ thống âm vị đó được đại diện bởi bất kỳ ngôn fundamental distinctions between the two. ngữ, ngôn ngữ học nhất sẽ đồng ý về một số khác biệt cơ bản giữa hai người. Phonetics Phonetics is the scientific study of speech. The central Ngữ âm học concerns in phonetics are the discovery of how speech sounds Ngữ âm học là nghiên cứu khoa học của các bài phát biểu. are produced, how they are used in spoken language, how we Các mối quan tâm trung tâm trong ngữ âm là những khám can record speech sounds with written symbols and how we phá về cách âm nói được sản xuất, làm thế nào chúng được hear and recognise different sounds. sử dụng trong ngôn ngữ nói, làm thế nào chúng ta có thể ghi In the first of these areas, when we study the production of lại âm thanh tiếng nói với các ký hiệu văn bản và làm thế speech sounds we can observe what speakers do (articulatory nào chúng ta nghe và nhận ra âm thanh khác nhau. observation) and we can try to feel what is going on inside our Trong lần đầu tiên của các khu vực này, khi chúng ta nghiên vocal tract (kinaesthetic observation). cứu việc sản xuất âm thanh tiếng nói chúng ta có thể quan The second area is where phonetics overlaps with phonology: sát những gì diễn giả làm (cấu âm quan sát) và chúng ta có usually in phonetics we are only interested in sounds that are thể cố gắng để cảm thấy những gì đang xảy ra bên trong used in meaningful speech, and phoneticians are interested in thanh quản của chúng tôi (quan sát kinaesthetic). discovering the range and variety of sounds used in this way Khu vực thứ hai là nơi mà ngữ âm trùng với âm vị học: in all the known languages of the world. This is sometimes thường trong ngữ âm học, chúng tôi chỉ quan tâm đến âm known as linguistic phonetics. thanh được sử dụng trong bài phát biểu có ý nghĩa, và ngữ Thirdly, there has always been a need for agreed conventions âm học quan tâm đến việc khám phá ra nhiều và đa dạng for using phonetic symbols that represent speech sounds; the của âm thanh được sử dụng theo cách này trong tất cả các International Phonetic Association has played a very ngôn ngữ tiếng thế giới; . Điều này đôi khi được gọi là ngữ important role in this. âm học ngôn ngữ. Finally, the auditory aspect of speech is very important: the Thứ ba, có luôn luôn là một nhu cầu cho các hội nghị đồng ý ear is capable of making fine discrimination between different cho sử dụng ký hiệu ngữ âm mà đại diện cho âm thanh sounds, and sometimes it is not possible to define in tiếng nói; Hiệp hội phiên âm quốc tế đã đóng một vai trò rất articulatory terms precisely what the difference is. A good quan trọng trong việc này. example of this is in vowel classification: while it is important Cuối cùng, các khía cạnh âm thanh của lời nói là rất quan to know the position and shape of the tongue and lips, it is trọng: tai là có khả năng làm phân biệt đối xử tốt đẹp giữa often very important to have been trained in an agreed set of âm thanh khác nhau, và đôi khi nó không thể định nghĩa về standard auditory qualities that vowels can be reliably related cấu âm chính xác những gì là sự khác biệt. Một ví dụ điển to (other important branches of phonetics are experimental, hình của việc này là trong phân loại nguyên âm: trong khi instrumental and acoustic). điều quan trọng là phải biết vị trí và hình dạng của lưỡi và môi, nó thường là rất quan trọng để có được đào tạo trong một tập hợp thống nhất về phẩm chất thanh tiêu chuẩn mà nguyên âm có thể liên quan đáng tin cậy để (ngành quan Phonology trọng khác về ngữ âm là thử nghiệm, nhạc cụ và âm thanh). The most basic activity in phonology is phonemic analysis, in Phát âm học which the objective is to establish what the phonemes are and Các hoạt động cơ bản nhất trong âm vị học là phân tích ngữ arrive at the phonemic inventory of the language. Very few âm, trong đó mục tiêu là để thiết lập những gì các âm vị là phonologists have ever believed that this would be an và đến hàng tồn kho âm vị của ngôn ngữ. Rất ít nhà âm vị adequate analysis of the sound system of a language: it is học đã từng tin rằng đây sẽ là một phân tích đầy đủ của hệ necessary to go beyond this. One can look at suprasegmental thống âm thanh của một ngôn ngữ: nó là cần thiết để vượt phonology the study of stress, rhythm and intonation, which qua được điều này. Người ta có thể nhìn vào suprasegmental âm vị học nghiên cứu căng thẳng, nhịp điệu và ngữ điệu,
has led in recent years to new approaches to phonology such mà đã dẫn trong những năm gần đây với các phương pháp as metrical and autosegmental theory; one can go beyond the mới để âm vị học như lý thuyết metrical và đoạn tự động; ai phoneme and look into the detailed characteristics of each unit có thể vượt qua được những âm vị và nhìn vào các đặc tính in terms of distinctive features; the way in which sounds can chi tiết của từng đơn vị về tính năng đặc biệt; cách thức mà combine in a language is studied in phonotactics and in the âm thanh có thể kết hợp trong một ngôn ngữ được nghiên analysis of syllable structure. For some phonologists the most cứu trong kết âm học và trong việc phân tích các cấu trúc important area is the relationships between the different âm tiết. Đối với một số âm vị học các lĩnh vực quan trọng phonemes how they form groups, the nature of the nhất là mối quan hệ giữa các âm vị khác nhau làm thế nào oppositions between them and how those oppositions may be chúng hình thành các nhóm, bản chất của sự đối lập giữa họ neutralised. và làm thế nào những người đối lập có thể được vô hiệu hóa. LESSON 2: THE ORGANS OF SPEECH Glossary: In addition to their normal names, many of the parts of the Ngoài cái tên bình thường của họ, nhiều người trong số các bộ organs of speech have fancy names derived from Latin and phận của cơ quan ngôn luận có những cái tên ưa thích bắt Greek. The adjectives we use to describe sounds made with each nguồn từ tiếng Latin và tiếng Hy Lạp. Các tính từ chúng tôi sử part are usually based on the Latin/Greek name. dụng để mô tả âm thanh được thực hiện từng phần thường được dựa trên tên Latin / Hy Lạp. In phonetics, the terms velum, pharynx, larynx, and dorsum are Trong ngữ âm, các từ ngữ chỉ màng khẩu cái, hầu họng, thanh used as often or more often than the simpler names. quản, và mặt lưng được sử dụng thường xuyên hoặc thường xuyên hơn so với những cái tên đơn giản hơn. Alveolar ridge sườn núi phế nang a short distance behind the upper teeth is a change in the angle of một khoảng cách ngắn phía sau răng hàm trên là một sự thay the roof of the mouth. (In some people it's quite abrupt, in others đổi trong các góc của vòm miệng. (Ở một số người nó khá đột very slight.) This is the alveolar ridge. Sounds which involve the ngột, ở những người khác rất nhẹ). Đây là những sườn núi phế area between the upper teeth and this ridge are called alveolars. nang. Âm thanh đó liên quan đến khu vực giữa răng hàm trên và sườn núi này được gọi là alveolars. (Hard) vòm miệng
(Hard) palate phần cứng của vòm miệng. Thuật ngữ "khẩu vị" của chính nó the hard portion of the roof of the mouth. The term "palate" by thường đề cập đến các vòm miệng cứng. itself usually refers to the hard palate. Soft palate/velum Soft palate / chỉ màng khẩu cái the soft portion of the roof of the mouth, lying behind the hard phần mềm của vòm miệng, nằm phía sau vòm miệng cứng. palate. The tongue hits the velum in the sounds /k/, /g/, and /ŋ/. Lưỡi chạm chỉ màng khẩu cái trong các âm thanh / k /, / g / và / The velum can also move: if it lowers, it creates an opening that n /. Các chỉ màng khẩu cái cũng có thể di chuyển: nếu nó làm allows air to flow out through the nose; if it stays raised, the giảm, nó tạo ra một khe hở cho phép không khí thoát ra ngoài opening is blocked, and no air can flow through the nose. qua lỗ mũi; nếu nó vẫn lớn lên, việc mở cửa bị khóa, và không khí có thể lưu thông qua mũi. Uvula Lưỡi gà the small, dangly thing at the back of the soft palate. The uvula bài, điều dangly nhỏ ở mặt sau của vòm miệng. Các lưỡi gà vibrates during the r sound in many French dialects. rung trong âm r trong nhiều phương ngữ tiếng Pháp. Pharynx Yết hầu the cavity between the root of the tongue and the walls of the khoang giữa gốc của lưỡi và các bức tường của họng phía trên. upper throat. Tongue blade Lưỡi Tongue the flat surface of the tongue just behind the tip. các bề mặt phẳng của lưỡi chỉ đứng sau đầu. Tongue body/dorsum Cơ thể Tongue / dorsum the main part of the tongue, lying below the hard and soft palate. phần chính của lưỡi, nằm bên dưới những vòm miệng cứng và The body, specifically the back part of the body (hence mềm. Các cơ thể, đặc biệt là phần sau của cơ thể (do đó "dorsum", Latin for "back"), moves to make vowels and many "dorsum", tiếng Latin "trở lại"), di chuyển để làm cho các consonants. nguyên âm và phụ âm nhiều. Tongue root Gốc lưỡi the lowest part of the tongue in the throat phần thấp nhất của lưỡi trong cổ họng Epiglottis Tiểu thiệt the fold of tissue below the root of the tongue. The epiglottis gấp của mô dưới gốc của lưỡi. Các nắp thanh quản giúp che helps cover the larynx during swallowing, making sure (usually!) thanh quản trong quá trình nuốt, làm cho chắc chắn (thường!)
that food goes into the stomach and not the lungs. A few Thức ăn mà đi vào dạ dày và không phổi. Một vài ngôn ngữ sử languages use the epiglottis in making sounds. English is dụng trong nắp thanh quản làm cho âm thanh. Tiếng Anh là fortunately not one of them. may mắn không ai trong số họ. Vocal folds/vocal cords Nếp gấp Vocal / dây thanh folds of tissue stretched across the airway to the lungs. They can nếp mô trải dài trên các đường hàng không vào phổi. Họ có thể vibrate against each other, providing much of the sound during rung động với nhau, cung cấp nhiều của âm thanh trong bài speech. phát biểu. Glottis Cửa hầu the opening between the vocal cords. During a glottal stop, the việc mở giữa các dây thanh âm. Trong một dừng thanh hầu, các vocal cords are held dây thanh âm được tổ chức together and there is no opening between them. với nhau và không có mở giữa chúng. Larynx Thanh quản the structure that holds and manipulates the vocal cords. The các cấu trúc chứa và thao túng các dây thanh âm. Những "quả "Adam's apple" in males is the bump formed by the front part of táo của Adam" ở nam giới là những vết sưng được hình thành the larynx. bởi các phần phía trước của thanh quản. Lungs Phổi the biological function of the lungs is to absorb oxygen from air các chức năng sinh học của phổi là để hấp thụ oxy từ không breathed in and to excrete carbon dioxide into the air breathed khí hít vào và bài tiết carbon dioxide vào không khí thở ra. Từ out. From the speech point of view, their major function is to quan điểm nói trên, chức năng chính của họ là cung cấp cho lực provide the driving force that compresses the air we use for lượng lái xe mà nén không khí chúng ta sử dụng để tạo ra âm generating speech sounds. They are similar to large sponges, and nói. Chúng tương tự như bọt biển lớn, và kích thước và hình their size and shape are determined by the rib cage that surrounds dạng của chúng được quyết định bởi khung xương sườn bao them, so that when the ribs are pressed down the lungs are quanh họ, để khi các xương sườn được ép xuống phổi được compressed and when the ribs are lifted the lungs expand and fill nén và khi các xương sườn được nâng lên phổi mở rộng và đầy with air. Although they hold a considerable amount of air không khí. Mặc dù họ nắm giữ một số lượng đáng kể của (normally several litres, though this differs greatly between không khí (thường là vài lít, mặc dù điều này khác nhau rất individuals) we use only a small proportion of their capacity nhiều giữa các cá nhân), chúng tôi chỉ sử dụng một tỷ lệ nhỏ when speaking we would find it very tiring if we had to fill and trong khả năng của họ khi nói chúng ta sẽ thấy nó rất mệt empty the lungs as we spoke, and in fact it is impossible for us to mỏi nếu chúng tôi phải điền vào và làm sạch phổi như chúng empty our lungs completely. tôi đã nói chuyện , và trong thực tế nó là không thể cho chúng tôi để có sản phẩm nào của chúng tôi hoàn toàn phổi. Oral cavity Khoang miệng the part of the mouth behind the teeth and gums that is bounded một phần của miệng phía sau răng và nướu răng là bị chặn trên above by the hard and soft palates and below by the tongue and bởi khẩu vị cứng và mềm và bên dưới của lưỡi và màng nhầy the mucous membrane connecting it with the inner part of the kết nối nó với phần bên trong của hàm dưới. mandible. Nasal cavity Khoang mũi the cavity on either side of the nasal septum, extending from the khoang ở hai bên của vách ngăn mũi, kéo dài từ mũi đến cổ nose to the pharynx, and lying between the floor of the cranium họng, và nằm giữa sàn của hộp sọ và vòm miệng. and the roof of the mouth.
LESSON 3: ENGLISH CONSONANTS Glossary: Producing a consonant involves making the vocal tract narrower at some location than it usually is. We call this narrowing a constriction. Which consonant you're pronouncing depends on where in the vocal tract the constriction is and how narrow it is. It also depends on a few other things, such as whether the vocal folds are vibrating and whether air is flowing through the nose. We classify consonants along three major dimensions: place of articulation manner of articulation voicing For example, for the sound d: Place of articulation = alveolar. (The narrowing of the vocal tract involves the tongue tip and the alveolar ridge.) Manner of articulation = oral stop. (The narrowing is complete the tongue is completely blocking off airflow through the mouth. There is also no airflow through the nose.) Voicing = voiced. (The vocal folds are vibrating.) Places of articulation The place of articulation (or POA) of a consonant specifies where in the vocal tract the narrowing occurs. From front to back, the POAs that English uses are: Bilabial In a bilabial consonant, the lower and upper lips approach or touch each other. English p, b, and m are bilabial stops. The diagram to the right shows the state of the vocal tract during a typical p or b. (An m would look the same, but with the velum lowered to let out through the nasal passages.) The sound w involves two constrictions of the vocal tract made simultaneously. One of them is lip rounding, which you can think of as a bilabial approximant. Labiodental In a labiodental consonant, the lower lip approaches or touches the upper teeth. English f and v are bilabial fricatives. The diagram to the right shows the state of the vocal tract during a typical f or v. Dental In a dental consonant, the tip or blade of the tongue approaches or touches the upper teeth. English θ and ð are dental fricatives. There are actually a couple of different ways of forming these sounds: The tongue tip can approach the back of the upper teeth, but not press against them so hard that the airflow is completely blocked.
The blade of the tongue can touch the bottom of the upper teeth, with the tongue tip protruding between the teeth still leaving enough space for a turbulent airstream to escape. This kind of θ and ð is often called interdental. The diagram to the right shows a typical interdental θ or ð. Alveolar In an alveolar consonant, the tongue tip (or less often the tongue blade) approaches or touches the alveolar ridge, the ridge immediately behind the upper teeth. The English stops t, d, and n are formed by completely blocking the airflow at this place of articulation. The fricatives s and zare also at this place of articulation, as is the lateral approximant l. The diagram to the right shows the state of the vocal tract during plosive t or d. Postalveolar In a postalveolar consonant, the constriction is made immediately behind the alveolar ridge. The constriction can be made with either the tip or the blade of the tongue. The English fricatives ∫and ʒ are made at this POA, as are the corresponding affricates t∫and dʒ. The diagram to the right shows the state of the vocal tract during the first half (the stop half) of an affricate t∫ordʒ. Retroflex In a retroflex consonant, the tongue tip is curled backward in the mouth. English ɹ is a retroflex approximant the tongue tip is curled up toward the postalveolar region (the area immediately behind the alveolar ridge). The diagram to the right shows a typical English retroflex ɹ. Both the sounds we've called "postalveolar" and the sounds we've called "retroflex" involve the region behind the alveolar ridge. In fact, at least for English, you can think of retroflexes as being a subtype of postalveolars, specifically, the type of postalveolars that you make by curling your tongue tip backward. Palatal In a palatal consonant, the body of the tongue approaches or touches the hard palate. English j is a palatal approximant the tongue body approaches the hard palate, but closely enough to create turbulence in the airstream. Velar In a velar consonant, the body of the tongue approaches or touches the soft palate, or velum. English k,g, and ŋ are stops made at this POA. The diagram to the right shows a typical k or g though where exactly on the velum the tongue body hits will vary a lot depending on the surrounding vowels.
As we have seen, one of the two constrictions that form a w is a bilabial approximant. The other is a velar approximant: the tongue body approaches the soft palate. Glottal The glottis is the opening between the vocal folds. In an /h/, this opening is narrow enough to create some turbulence in the airstream flowing past the vocal folds. For this reason, /h/ is often classified as a glottal fricative. Manners of articulation The manner of articulation dimension is essentially everything else: how narrow the constriction is, whether air is flowing through the nose, and whether the tongue is dropped down on one side. Stops Stops are consonants formed by completely stopping the flow of air somewhere in the vocal apparatus, and then releasing the air. Since the sudden release of the pentup air creates a small explosive sound, stops are also called plosives. Stops may be voiced (vocal cords vibrating during the articulation of the stop) or voiceless (vocal cords not vibrating during the articulation of the stop). Here is a list of the stops in English t, d, k,g, p and b. Fricatives In the stop t, the tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge and cuts off the airflow. In s, the tongue tip approaches the alveolar ridge but doesn't quite touch it. There is still enough of an opening for airflow to continue, but the opening is narrow enough that it causes the escaping air to become turbulent (hence the hissing sound of the s). In a fricative consonant, the articulators involved in the constriction approach get close enough to each other to create a turbulent air stream. The fricatives of English are f, v, θ , ð, s, z, ∫ and ʒ. Approximants In an approximant, the articulators involved in the constriction are further apart still than they are for a fricative. The articulators are still closer to each other than when the vocal tract is in its neutral position, but they are not even close enough to cause the air passing between them to become turbulent. The approximants of English are w, j, ɹ, andl. Affricates An affricate is a single sound composed of a stop portion and a fricative portion. In English t∫, the airflow is first interrupted by a stop which is very similar to t (though made a bit further back). But instead of finishing the articulation quickly and moving directly into the next sound, the tongue pulls away from the stop slowly, so that there is a period of time immediately after the stop where the constriction is narrow enough to cause a turbulent airstream. In t∫, the period of turbulent airstream following the stop portion is the same as the fricative ∫. English dʒ is an affricate like t∫, but voiced. Laterals Pay attention to what you are doing with your tongue when you say the first consonant of /li:f/ leaf. Your tongue tip is touching your alveolar ridge (or perhaps your upper teeth), but this doesn't make /l/ a stop. Air is still flowing during an /l/ because the side of your tongue has dropped down and left an opening. (Some people drop down the right side of their tongue during an /l/; others drop down the left; a few drop down both sides.) Sounds which involve airflow around the side of the tongue are called laterals. Sounds which are not lateral are called central. /l/ is the only lateral in English. The other sounds of English, like most of the sounds of the world's languages, are central. More specifically, /l/ is a lateral approximant. The opening left at the side of the tongue is wide enough that the air flowing through does not become turbulent. Voicing The voicing parameter specifies whether the vocal folds are vibrating. The vocal folds may be held against each other at just the right tension so that the air flowing past them from the lungs will cause them to vibrate against each other. We call this process voicing. Sounds which are made with vocal fold vibration are said to be voiced. Sounds made without vocal fold vibration are said to be voiceless. There are several pairs of sounds in English which differ only in voicing that is, the two sounds have identical places and manners of articulation, but one has vocal fold vibration and the other doesn't. The θ of thigh and the ð of thy are one such pair. The others are:
Voiceless p t k f θ s ∫ t∫ Voiced b d g v ð z ʒ dʒ The other sounds of English do not come in voiced/voiceless pairs. h is voiceless, and has no voiced counterpart. The other English consonants are all voiced: ɹ, l, w, j, m, n,and ŋ. Brief descriptions of English consonants Place of Manner of Voicing Spelling Articulation Articulation It is spelt p: plane or pp: opposite and only exceptionally gh in hiccough. /p/ voiceless bilabial stop / plosive The letter p is silent when followed by another obstruent or a nasal in wordinitial position:psalm, pterodactyl, pneumatic. It is spelt b: bar or bb: ribbon /b/ voiced bilabial stop/plosive The letter is silent in final position after m:limb, crumb, dumb and in front of t in words of Latin origin where the sound has long been lost: debt, doubt, subtle. /t/ voiceless alveolar stop/plosive It is spelt with t: toe, with tt: cutter or withth: Thomas, Thames /d/ voiced alveolar stop/plosive It is spelt d: read or dd: adder The sound can be represented by the letter c:comb or by cc: accuse, by k: kill, /k/ voiceless velar stop/plosive by ck: pick, by ch: architect, by qu: queen. In words like muscle and knave the letters can k are silent. The consonant can be rendered by g: get bygg: begged, or by g followed by h, as /g/ voiced velar stop/plosive inghastly, by ua, ue or ui, as in guarantee,guess or linguist, respectively. The voiced counterpart of /ks/, /gz/ can also be rendered by x in words like example. The phoneme is represented graphically bych: charm, chinchilla, rich or tch: kitchen, bitch or by t followed by u: creature, culturewhen the plosive is palatalized. /t∫/ voiceless postalveolar affricate In words like habitual, sanctuary the pronunciation with an affricate is a variant of /tj/. Exceptionally, we can have ce or cz as graphic representations of the sound in (violin)cello or Czech. It can be rendered graphically by j: justice, John, rejoice, pyjamas, by ge: gesture, agent, sage, by gi: giraffe, rigid; and gy:gymnastics. In certain words it can be spelt d followed byu: gradual, individual, procedure/al. In /dʒ/ voiced postalveolar affricate all these cases, however, there is an alternative pronunciation /dj/. In a number of proper names or common nouns originating in proper names ch is read /dʒ/: Norwich, Greenwich, S/sandwich. Another spelling can be dg in words like ridgeor edge. /m/ voiced bilabial nasal It can be spelt with m or mm: come, common /n/ voiced alveolar nasal It is spelt n or nn: dean, annual. This phoneme has a limited distribution: it always precedes the voiceless velar plosive /ŋ/ voiced velar nasal or occurs in syllablefinal position in front of an elided /g/: tank, ankle, sing, long. The sound can be spelt f: fine, fringe, feud, loaf, stifle, ff: effort, snuff, ph: physics, /f/ voiceless labiodental fricative graph, or even gh: enough, tough. The word lieutenant /lef’tenənt/ is a particular case. It is spelt with the letter v: vein, live, voice. (Exceptionally, by ph in Stephen, /v/ voiced labiodental fricative nephew andf in of). The sound is rendered graphically by th: thin, method, path. /θ/ voiceless dental fricative The sound often occurs in clusters difficult to pronounce: eighths,, depths, lengths.. /ð/ voiced dental fricative The sound is always spelt th, like its voiceless counterpart: within, then, they..
It is spelt s, ss or c in front of e, i or y: sour, say, hiss, assign, ceiling, cellar, cigarette, precise, cypress, bicycle. /s/ voiceless alveolar fricative Sometimes the spelling can be sce, sci orscy: science, scent, scene, scythe; s is silent in words like corps, island, viscount. The sound is spelt z. It is often spelt s when the sound does not occur in initial positon:nose, easy, desire, and, exceptionally, tz intzar. Similarly, when it marks the plural of nouns ending in a voiced sound (e.g. boys, balls, /z/ voiced alveolar fricative ribs) or when it is the voiced allomorph of the 3rd person singular present indicative of verbs ending in a voiced sound (e.g. plays, calls, adds) the spelling is s. Exceptionally, the sound can be spelt doubless in words like dissolve, possess. It is often spelt sh in words like shoe, cushionor push. It can also be spelt s: sure, sugar or ss:pressure, mission or ci: ancient, delicious,sci: conscious, ce: ocean, si: pension, mansion, ti: tuition, retribution. It is a variant of /sj/ in words like issue, tissue. /∫/ voiceless postalveolar fricative In words of French origin the sound is speltch: champagne, charade, chargé, moustache, attaché. The same spelling is used in proper names like Charlotte, Chicago, Chicoutimi, Michigan. It can be spelt either s when followed by u: visual or i: decision, or z if followed by u:seizure or ge: massage, espionage. /ʒ/ voiced postalveolar fricative In words like casual the alternative pronunciation /zj/ is possible, while in other cases the fricative is replaced by the affricate /dʒ/ (e.g. garage). /ɹ/ voiced retroflex approximant The sound is spelt r: rain, ring or rr: carry, marry The sound may be spelt y (as in year) while in words spelt with u, ue, ui, ew, /j/ voiced palatal approximant eu and eauread as the long vowel /u:/ the palatal sound is often inserted. It can be rendered graphically either by the letter w (the most common case) /w/ voiced labial + velar approximant (e.g. sweet) or by u (e.g. quite). The phoneme is spelt either l or ll in words like link or call, for instance. In many lateral words, however, before plosive sounds like /k/ or /d/ – cf. chalk, could; or before /l/ voiced alveolar approximant nasals like /m/ or /n/ – cf. calm, Lincoln; the labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/ – cf. calf, calves; the lateral sound is not pronounced. The conservative spelling of English has preserved the letter h after r in words of /h/ voiceless glottal fricative Greek origin where no h sound or aspiration is heard nowadays: rhapsody, rhetoric, rheumatism, rhinal, rhinoceros, rhombus, rhyme, rhythm.
Assignment 1: Click here to accomplish Assignment 1. LESSON 3: ENGLISH CONSONANTS Choose the best answer. Tick A, B, C, or D. 1. People have been aware of the importance of sounds as vehicles of meaning for ... A. a very long time B. some years C. a hundred years D. a thousand years 2. Systematic studies on the speech sounds only appeared with A. the modern life B. the development of foreign language learning C. the development of modern sciences D. the development of tape recorders 3. The term phonetics comes from the ... A. Geek language B. Italian language C. English language D. Latin language 4. The term phonology first appeared in ... A. the end of the 19th century B. the end of the 18th century C. the early of the 19th century D. the early of the 18th century 5. The structuralism emphasizes the essential contrastive role of classes of sounds which are labeled ... A. phonetics B. phonology C. phonemes D. phones 6. The terms phonetics and phonology was used indiscriminately until... A. the first half of the 19th century B. the first half of the 20th century C. the end of the 19th century D. the end of the 20th century 7. Some fundamental distinctions between phonetics and phonology will be agreed about by ... A. most teachers B. most students C. most language users D. most linguists 8. Which of the following is NOT CORRECT? The central concerns in phonetics are the discovery of ... A. how speech sounds are produced B. how they are used in written language C. how we can record speech sounds with written symbols D. how we hear and recognise different sounds 9. Articulatory phonetics generally refers to the study of how humans ... A. produce speech sounds B. perceive speech sound C. transmit speech sounds D. interact with speech sounds 10. The International Phonetic Association has played a very important role in ... A. designing conventions for using sounds in speech B. using phonetic symbols for speech sounds C. making use of phonetic symbols that represent speech sounds D. designing conventions for using phonetic symbols that represent speech sounds 11. Auditory phonetics is concerned with the ... A. production of phonetic sounds of words of a language B. hearing of phonetic sounds of words of a language C. transmittion of phonetic sounds of words of a language D. description of phonetic sounds of words of a language 12. Which of the following statement is NOT CORRECT? A. The objective of phonemic analysis to establish what the phonetic sounds are and arrive at the phonemic inventory of the language. B. The objective of phonemic analysis to establish what the phonemes are and arrive at the phonemic inventory of the language. C. The most basic activity in phonology is phonemic analysis. D. A large number of phonologists have believed that it is necessary to go beyond phonemic analysis.
13. Which of the following DOES NOT belong to suprasegmental phonology ? A. stress B. rhythm C. intonation D. transcription 14. "Distinctive features" are mainly concerned with A. the detailed transcription of each unit B. the detailed characteristics of each unit C. the detailed articulation of each unit D. the detailed rules of each unit 15. Phonotactics is mainly concerned with the way in which ... A. sounds can combine in a language B. consonants can combine in a language C. vowels can combine in a language D. words can combine in a language 16. The soft portion of the roof of the mouth, lying behind the hard palate is called the ... A. uvula B. velum C. palate D. cavity 17. The lowest part of the tongue in the throat is called the ... A. epiglottis B. tongue root C. dorsum D. tongue blade 18. The small, dangly thing at the back of the soft palate is called the ... A. uvula B. larynx C. glottis D. dorsum 19. The hard portion of the roof of the mouth is called the ... A. velum B. uvula C. hard palate D. soft palate 20. The structure that holds and manipulates the vocal cords is called the ... A. pharynx B. larynx C. velum D. glottis 21. The fold of tissue below the root of the tongue is called the ... A. epiglottis B. pharynx C. larynx D. vocal cords 22. The main part of the tongue, lying below the hard and soft palate is called the ... A. tongue blade B. dorsum C. tongue D. tongue root 23. The opening between the vocal cords is called the A. oral cavity B. nasal cavity C. glottis D. epiglottis 24. Which of the following DOES NOT belong to the major dimensions of consonant classification? A. place of articulation B. pronunciation C. voicing D. manner of articulation 25. In producing a consonant there is a ........... in the vocal tract. A. construction B. constriction C. opening D. height 26. In a .............. consonant, the lower and upper lips approach or touch each other. A. dental
B. labiodental C. bilabial D. palatal 27. In a ............. consonant, the body of the tongue approaches or touches the soft palate. A. bilabial B. velar C. postaveolar D. glottal 28. In a ............. consonant, the body of the tongue approaches or touches the hard palate. A. palatal B. velar C. dental D. labiodental 29. Which of the following statements is NOT CORRECT? A. The manner of articulation tells how narrow the constriction is. B. The manner of articulation tells where in the vocal tract the constriction occurs. C. The manner of articulation tells whether the tongue is dropped down on one side. D. The manner of articulation tells whether air is flowing through the nose. 30. The English t, d, and k are.... A. fricatives B. stops C. nasals D. approximants 31. In a ............... consonant, the articulators involved in the constriction approach get close enough to each other to create a turbulent airstream. A. fricative B. stop C. nasal D. lateral 32. The major difference between the two consonants /f/ and /v/ is the ...... A. manner of articulation B. place of articulation C. voicing D. sound class 33. Sounds which are made with vocal fold vibration are said to be .......... A. voiced B. voiceless C. lateral D. affricate 34. The place of articulation of a consonant specifies .......... A. whether air is flowing through the nose B. whether the tongue is dropped down on one side C. where in the vocal tract the narrowing occurs D. how narrow the constriction is 35. /h/ is a ............. sound. A. stop B. fricative C. voiceless D. B and C are correct 36. /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/ are ............ A. oral stops B. nasal stops C. lateral sounds D. approximants 37. Letter h is silent in the word .......... A. hear B. history C. honour D. horn 38. The letter x in the word example is pronounced as ......... A. /ks/ B. /gz/ C. /s/ D. /z/ 39. Which of the CAPITALISED letters in the following pairs have the same pronunciation? A. poSSession miSSion B. enouGH thorouGH
C. seiZure garaGE D. iSland hiStory 40. In which of the following words the CAPITALISED letter is silent? A. linGuist B. corpS C. Plane D. thoughT LESSON 4: ENGLISH VOWELS & DIPHTHONGS Glossary: In the last lesson, you were introduced to the classification of consonant sounds. The classification of consonants were shown to be based on three aspects of articulation: place of articulation, manner of articulation, and voicing. In this lesson, you will be introduced to vowel sounds and diphthongs. English vowels Vowels are the class of sound which makes the least obstruction to the flow of air. They are almost always found at the centre of a syllable, and it is rare to find any sound other than a vowel which is able to stand alone as a whole syllable. Classification of vowels The classification of vowels is based on five major aspects: tongue height, tongue backness, lip rounding, vowel length and the tenseness of the articulators. Tongue Height Vowels are classified in terms of how much space there is between the tongue and the roof of the mouth, which is determined by the height of the tongue. There are three primary height distinctions among vowels: high, low, and mid. /w/ /e/ /æ/ In English, examples of high vowels are /w/, /i:/, //, /u:/. These are vowels with a relatively narrow space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth. Examples of low vowels are /æ/, /Y:/, /Z/, /]:/. These are vowels with a relatively wide space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth. Examples of mid vowels are /e/, /∂/, /f:/, / /. These are vowels whose tongue positions are roughly between the high and low vowels. These classifications are quite relative, as different languages have different canonical tongue heights for different classifications.
As you can see from the above diagrams, the tongue height of the high vowel /w/ is much higher than that for the low vowel /æ/, while the tongue height for the mid vowel /e/ lies somewhere in between the two. Tongue Backness The second aspect of vowel classification that you will be introduced to is that of tongue backness. Vowels are classified in terms of how far the raised body of the tongue is from the back of the mouth, which is called the backness of the tongue. There are three primary height distinctions among vowels: front, back, and central. In English, examples of front vowels are /w/, /i:/, /e/, /æ/. These vowels are articulated relatively forward in the mouth. Examples of back vowels are //, /u:/, /Y:/, /Z/, /]:/. These vowels are articulated relatively far back in the mouth.. Examples of central vowels are /∂/, /f:/, / /. These are vowels whose tongue positions are roughly between the front and back vowels. These classifications, like the tongue heights, are quite relative, as different languages have different canonical tongue backnesses for different classifications. As illustration of tongue backness, observe the following diagrams for the vowels /w/, /u:/. /i:/ /u:/ As you can see from the diagrams, the articulation of the front vowel /i:/ is much farther forward than that for the back vowel /u:/. Lip Rounding Another aspect of vowel classification is the presence or absence of lip rounding. Some vowels, such as the vowels /u:/ and /]:/, are formed with a high degree of lip rounding. Such vowels are called rounded vowels. Some vowels, such as /i:/ and /e/, are formed without such rounding, and are called unrounded vowels. Vowel Length Vowel length is the length of time it takes to pronounce the vowel. We can measure this length in centiseconds hundredths of a second. Short English vowels: /w/, / /, /æ/, /Z/, /e/, /∂/, / / Long English vowels: /i:/, /u:/, /Y:/, /]:/, /f:/ Some languages, like English, vary the lengths of their vowels according to certain rules. Below you can see the typical or average length of some of the vowels in English. As we will see, there is not a clearcut long/short distinction. Typically, each vowel has its own length, with for
instance /æ/ holding a halfway position between lax and tense vowels. Also, lengths of different vowels overlap in different contexts: looking at /i:/ and /w/ we found the following situation. The lengths are given in centiseconds. Tense vs. Lax Another aspect of vowel classification is commonly characterized in terms of the tenseness or laxness of the articulators. Some vowels, such as the vowels /i:/ and /e/, are formed with a high degree of tenseness. Such vowels are called tense vowels. Some vowels, such as /∂/ and / /, are formed without a high degree of tenseness, and are called lax vowels. The general rule is: lax vowels (/w/, / /, /æ/, /Z/, /e/, /∂/, / /) are short. tense (/i:/, /u:/, /Y:/, /]:/, /f:/) vowels (including diphthongs: /ew/, /aw/, /]w/, /∂ /,/a/ , /w∂/, / ∂/, /ε ∂/) are variable in length, and often longer than lax vowels. English vowel charts
(Source: University of Stirling, Centre for English Language Teaching) Descriptions of the English simple (“pure”) vowels English front vowels There are four front vowel phonemes in English: /w/, /i:/, /e/, /æ/ Sound Description Distribution Spelling initial, medial and e: economy, remark /i:/ ee: eel, see, feet, front, close (high), long, final: east, dean, sea tense, unrounded ea: each, seal, plea ie: fiend ei: seizing i: machine ey: key ay: quay eo: people oe: Oedipus eau: Beauchamp initial, medial and i: ill, tick /w/ more retracted, front, short, final: ink, y: syntax, party lax, unrounded kill, aptly u: minute a: private o: women ay: Friday (a reduced unstressed vowel) front, short, lax, unrounded initial or medial: end, tell e: elf, fell /e/ ea: lead (n. = plumb), head or bread a: ate (the past tense of eat), many, any, Thames or Pall Mall /æ/ lowest, front, short, lax, a: act, fat initial or medial: ant, cat unrounded ai: plait, plaid English central vowels There are three central vowel phonemes in English: /ž/, /∂/, /f:/ // a central halfopen, short, wordinitial and medial u: under, but lax, unrounded vowel position:utter, subtle. It o: come, front, honey never occurs in word or ou: courage, southern, rough, tough syllablefinal position. oo: blood, flood
oe: does /∂/ a central, mid, lax, freely occurring in all basic unrounded vowel The reduced form of any simple vowel or positions, but only in even diphthong (seefatality, above) in unstressed syllables:aside, English and can consequently be rendered in collide, rather writing by any vowel letter with the exception of y which only represents the semivowel j or the vowel i. /f:/ ir: bird central, mid, long, tense in all three basic positions, ur: burn central vowel very often in monosyllabic er: fern words: err, first, curtain, yr: myrtle fur, refer ear: learn our: journey, journal, scourge English back vowels There are five back vowel phonemes in standard English: //, /u:/, /Y:/, /Z/, /]:/ initial, medial and final: are, /Y:/ a more advanced, low, long, ar: jar, carpet cart, far tense, unrounded vowel al: palm, calm, balm af (ff): after, staff ass: pass, class ath: path, bath as or an followed by another consonant: past, demand Exceptionally, other letters: aunt, Berkeley, hearth, father, sergeant, memoir , barrage /Z/ short, lax, open and slightly o: hot, lot rounded initial or medial:on, pot ou: cough a: want au: laurel aw: awl, drawn, thaw /]:/ initial, medial and final: au: August, taught a long, tense vowel, more awful, caught, flaw or: for, sore, port rounded than /Z/. It is the degree oor: floor, door of aperture being between open oa: board, broad, coarse, hoard and halfopen. ough: (n)ought, sought, wrought ou: course, source a: water, wrath // u: push, cushion, pull, put Being restricted to medial o: wolf, Worcester short, lax, rounded vowel which position; never occurring in oo: look, book, foot is considerably closer than /]:/, initial position and only its degree of aperture being a exceptionally in final ou: would, could, should little bit higher than the cardinal position. halfclose. /u:/ the highest back vowel of initial, medial and final: oom, u: rule, music, mutiny, deluge English. It is a long, tense, oomph, ooze, ugh, uhlan; ui: suit, fruit rounded vowel. rude, baboon, crew, chew, o: to, who, ado
oo: root, taboo tatoo ou: route, through, routine, douche oe: shoe, canoe, manoeuvre eau: beauty eu: feu English Diphthongs Classification of diphthongs Diphthongs are described as sequences of two vowels pronounced together, the two vocalic elements being members of the same syllable. The most important feature of a diphthong is that it contains a glide from one vowel quality to another one. According to the position of the more prominent element in the diphthong we can divide diphthongs into falling diphthongs – if the prominent element comes first – and rising diphthongs – if the less prominent element comes first. All English diphthongs belong to the first category. Diphthongs can then be opening if the degree of aperture increases with the glide or closing if the less prominent vowel is closer than the first. We can also differentiate between wide diphthongs – those in which the glide implies a more radical movement of the speech organs and narrow diphthongs – if the two vocalic elements occupy neighbouring positions on the vowel chart. There are also centring diphthongs – if the glide is from a marginal vowel in the vowel chart – either back or front to a central vowel. To make it simple, we can say that there are three diphthongs ending in / w/ (/ew/, /aw/, /]w/), two ending in /∂/ (/w∂/, / ∂/, /ε∂/) and three ending in / / (/∂ /, /a /). The easiest way to remember them is in terms of three groups divided as in this diagram: The descriptions of English diphthongs The centring diphthongs: /w∂/, / ∂/, /ε ∂/ Sound Description Distribution Spelling /ε ∂/ air: air, fair, chair, dairy, fairy initial, medial and final: air, are: fare, mare, care, care a centring, falling, narrow, in scarce, fare ear: bear, wear, tear (v.) most cases opening diphthong aer: aerial, aeroplane ere: there eir: their, heir ay: prayer, layer, mayor / ∂/ ure: endure, mature, cure, pure a centring, falling, narrow, only in word medial: jewel or oor: poor, moor opening diphthong wordfinal position:sure ou: gourd, bo /w∂/ a centring, falling, narrow, initial, medial and final: ear, eer: deer, peer opening diphthong deer, tier b: ear, weary, idea, tear, beard eir: weird
ier: fierce, pierce ere: here, mere ia: media(l), labia(l), genial eu: museum iu: delirium rse eo: theory, theology e: hero, serious, serial The diphthongs to /w/: /ew/, /aw/, /]w/ /aw/ a falling, wide, closing initial, medial and final: isle, i: ice, dime, loci diphthong bite, cry y: dyke, fly ie: die, lie, pie ye: dye, fye ei: height, either, neither uy: in buy, guy Note also the pronunciation of ay(e) /aı/, eye /aı/ and aisle /aıl/. /]w/ a falling, wide, closing initial, medial and oi: oil, toil diphthong final: ointment, boil, toy oy: oyster, Boyle, coy a falling, narrow, closing a: ace, lace /ew/ diphthong initial, medial and ai: aid, maid final: eight, plate, play ay: aye, clay ei: eight, reign ey: they, grey, ea: break, steak et or é: ballet, bouquet, chalet, café, fiancé, attaché, resumé Exceptionally, there are spellings like gaol, bass, gauge, halfpenny . The diphthongs to //: /∂ /, /a / /∂/ a falling, narrow, closing initial, medial and final: old, o: old, sold, no diphthong gold, flow oa: oak, roast oe: toe ow: own, known, row ou: poultry, dough eau: beau, bureau au: gauche oo: brooch ew: sew oh: oh /a/ a falling, wide, closing ou: oust, doubt, plough initial, medial and diphthong ow: owl, howl, how final: ouch, loud, bough eo: MacLeod