UNIT_1_PRACTICE

Silvia Barreiro Bilbao

Variaciones fonético-fonológicas en la lengua inglesa

UNIT 1. PRACTICE. Let’s get started! () () (2 h)

Contents Outline

Introduction to Transcription

Transcription Exercises
IPA Symbols and Diacritics
Symbols form the IPA used in
English

The contents of this unit are meant to be a first approach to transcription practice. It
includes several exercises related to English, preceded by some others about the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA from now on) that are not compulsory. Also, we
have added a brief theoretical introductory section that will help understand the topic
of transcription practice.

You do not need the textbook to do the exercises, but you will have to check some
websites, as indicated in the exercises.

INTRODUCTION TO TRANSCRIPTION

In this introductory section, we will explain what the symbols used for transcription
of the English language come from before going headlong into transcription
practice.

It is fair to start by saying that a system of written symbols that can be used to
represent spoken language is essential in English, a language with clear differences
between pronunciation and spelling.

In comparing features of different accents, one could use the resources of the Roman
alphabet and the spelling systems, although these ready-made resources are very
limited. Therefore, in 1888 linguists developed a special system of symbols for
representing pronunciation, known as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The
complete system has symbols for transcribing the speech sounds of all languages, -
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Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fonético-fonológicas en la lengua inglesa

not only those of English-, together with a set of marks called diacritics which help
the transcriber to make subtle distinctions between sounds of ANY language.

Scholars of a particular language adopt the IPA symbols to represent the phonemes
of their language according to two principles:

a) Using the phonetic symbols of the most frequent allophones (even if

they are non-Roman symbols).

b) Replacing then those non-Roman symbols arising from (a) by Roman

symbols where these are not already in use, what is called
Romanization. For example, the most common allophone of RP for
the initial sound in the word red is a voiced post-alveolar
approximant [ɹ], therefore, this could have been the symbol used
to represent the phoneme. However, as the nearest Roman symbol
‘r’ is not used to represent any other phoneme in English, /r/ is the
symbol to this phoneme in English. Another example, the vowel
quality of the initial sound in the word self is [ɛ], which is the most
common allophone in RP, therefore, this could be the symbol used
to represent the phoneme. But it tends to be represented as /e/
since this symbol is not used in RP English as the representation
of any other phoneme.”

However, sometimes this principle of Romanization is not fully implemented,

thus, even using the IPA, it is possible to construct different set of symbols for a
particular language.

Furthermore, since the phonemic symbols do not have to show precise phonetic
quality, it is possible to choose among several possible symbols to represent a
particular phoneme. In the case of English, there are various systems of phonetic
transcription in use; many of them follow the principles of the IPA. The differences
between them are very mild, and they mostly affect to the transcription of vowels.

We loosely call ‘phonetic transcription’ the way of representing the sounds of a

language in writing. However, and to be more precise and scientific, we should talk
about two main kinds of transcriptions:

 Broad (also known as phonemic or phonological) transcription, where

every speech sound is identified as a single phoneme and represented
with the appropriate symbol. Symbols are enclosed between slant lines.
For example, in the word ten one would show just the phonemes /ten/.

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Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fonético-fonológicas en la lengua inglesa

 Narrow (also called phonetic or allophonic) transcription, which

provides additional information about the exact qualities of the speech
sounds. Symbols and diacritics are enclosed in square brackets. For
example, in the same word ten one would show articulatory details such
as the aspiration of the plosive and the nasalization of the vowel [thẽ n].

In the present course (including the written exam) we will only use the phonemic
transcription, and with the transcription system you learnt in the subject
Pronunciación de la Lengua Inglesa, and used in many of the pronunciation
dictionaries, including the LPD (Longman Pronunciation Dictionary) by JC Wells. It is
the one which in recent years has been used in EFL works on British English. It uses
RP as the reference accent, the one with which other accents are compared.

Regarding the rest of the accents (inside and outside the British Isles), we will use
the phonetic symbols that are most frequently found in education and publishing
nowadays, and they will be shown in the corresponding unit.

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Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fonético-fonológicas en la lengua inglesa

TRANSCRIPTION EXERCISES

1. IPA Symbols and Diacritics (Optional = not compulsory)

All the exercises in this part are not compulsory. Just for those who want to know a
little more about the alphabet on which the transcription system in English is based,
the IPA. Otherwise, go directly to the next section 2. 

Focus: IPA consonant symbols visited (I)

Materials: International Phonetic Alphabet Charts
Time: 30 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low

Exercise 1: Look through the consonant symbols on the IPA charts. Notice
that some of them (the first three) are not found in English, the rest can
be found as allophones or phonemes of some English accents. Let’s
have a look at their articulation. Find the place of articulation and state of
the glottis (voiceless or voiced) for the following IPA sounds:

a) [χ]

b) [ɰ]

c) [β]

d) [ʍ]

e) [ɾ]

f) [ɱ]

Comments: Remember that when symbols appear in pairs, the one to the
left represents a voiceless consonant, and the one to the right, a voiced
consonant. Also, some symbols may be found under the label Other
Symbols.

Hint: You can listen to each sound by clicking on the Interactive IPA chart, if
any help.

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Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fonético-fonológicas en la lengua inglesa

Focus: IPA consonant symbols visited (II)

Materials: International Phonetic Alphabet Charts
Time: 30 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low

Exercise 2: Now, determine the manner of articulation for the following

sounds shown on the IPA charts:

a) [ç]

b) [ʔ]

c) [ʘ]

d) [ɗ]

e) [ʀ]

f) [ʎ]

Comments: Most of them are not sounds found in English either. Notice
that some symbols may be found in the IPA chart under the label Other
Symbols. Also, remember that when symbol appears on the left side it
represents a voiceless consonant, and on the right side, a voiced
consonant.

Hint: You can listen to each sound by clicking on the Interactive IPA chart, if
any help.

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Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fonético-fonológicas en la lengua inglesa

Focus: IPA vowel symbols visited

Materials: International Phonetic Alphabet Charts
Time: 30 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low

Exercise 3: Use the IPA chart to work out the tongue position (front,
central, back) and lip shape (rounded, unrounded or spread) of the
following IPA vowels:

a) [ɨ]

b) [ɞ]

c) [ʌ]

d) [ɛ]

e) [o]

f) [ɶ]
Hint: You can listen to each sound by clicking on the Interactive IPA chart, if
any help.

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Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fonético-fonológicas en la lengua inglesa

Focus: IPA diacritics visited

Materials: International Phonetic Association (diacritics)
Time: 30 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low

Exercise 4: Diacritics show articulatory features of a sound. Supply a

diacritic corresponding to the following labels, looking at the IPA
diacritics chart (place the diacritic after the symbol):

a) Palatalized consonant: C
b) Devoiced (or voiceless) sound: V or C
c) Rhoticity:
d) Creaky voiced sound: V or C
e) Apical consonant: C
f) Nasalized vowel: V

Comments: C stands for consonants, and V for vowel. Hint: You can listen
to how a sound with a diacritic symbol sounds by clicking on that section
of the Interactive IPA chart, if needed.

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Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fonético-fonológicas en la lengua inglesa

2. Symbols from the IPA used in English

Focus: IPA consonant symbols used in English

Materials: International Phonetics Association: The Alphabet Chart
Time: 30 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low

Exercise 5: Looking through the IPA pulmonic consonant chart, it is

easier to find out which symbols are used in English to represent their
consonant phonemes. In this exercise I want you to pay attention to their
articulatory features, namely, places and manners of articulation. Indicate
which IPA places and manners of articulation are used in RP
consonants. Also, are they all voiced or voiceless?

Focus: IPA vocalic symbols used in English

Materials: International Phonetics Association: The alphabet chart
Time: 30 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low

Exercise 6: Now, look through the vowel chart and indicate which IPA
symbols are used to represent the vocalic sounds of RP English. Again,
now pay attention to their place in the IPA chart that show their
articulatory quality. Have you noticed that the articulatory quality of the
vowel [ʌ] in the IPA chart is clearly different from that in RP English?
Can you guess why?

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Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fonético-fonológicas en la lengua inglesa

Focus: Suprasegmentals in English transcriptions (not compulsory, but highly

recommended)
Materials The document Focus & Intonation (unit 6) from the course
Pronunciación de la lengua inglesa (optional)
Time: 30 minutes
Level of difficulty: Mid

Exercise 7: Sometimes, we want to mark prosodic features in

transcriptions. You can see that the IPA charts also include
suprasegmentals. Nevertheless, to make it things easier, we will use those
learnt in the course Pronunciación de la Lengua Inglesa. So, check the
document mentioned above in materials, and then, try to supply intonation
marks for at the least two of the following labels, if possible:
a) Intonation unit
b) Stressed syllable (not accented)
c) High pre-head
d) Low simple head
e) High Fall nuclear tone
f) Fall Rise nuclear tone

Comments: You can download the document Focus & Intonation from
File Storage: Additional Phonetic Information: Key Documents from the
Course Pronunciación de la Lengua Inglesa, if needed. Also, you can
check all these prosodic terms in the key.

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