PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

What is Language?
A pure linguistic sees language as a closed system: it has phonology, phonetics, morphology,
syntax, lexis, semantics and pragmatics. Language is therefore a scientific system of systems.
A social scientist would not answer the question on what language is but would prefer the
question “What is language for?”
Different linguists would differ in answering the question.
Linguistics is a scientific study of language because experiments can be set up after working
assumptions, then observe and record what is seen and get results. Conclusion can then be drawn
and recommendations made.
The task of a linguist is descriptive rather than prescriptive. He describes the way language
works.
An applied linguist suggests the way a language should be used. Their assumptions are that:
 Wherever humans exist, language exists.
 There are no primitive languages in the world. All languages are equally complex and
capable of expressing any idea in the world. The vocabulary of any language can be
expanded to include new words for new concepts.
 All languages change through time and they are sensitive to change.
 The relationship between sounds and meanings of spoken languages and the gestures
(signs) and the meanings of sign languages are mostly arbitrary. Arbitrary means
abstract- no connection between the sound, the meaning and the object described.
Voluntary means deliberate, decidedly, choosing. In many ways language is controlled by
the speaker.
 All human languages utilize a finite set of discrete sounds. Individual sounds combine to
form meaningful elements or words.
 All grammars contain rules for the formation of words and sentences of a similar kind.
 Similar grammatical categories are found in all languages and every language has a way
of referring to the past time, negotiating, and forming questions, issuing commands etc.
Any normal child is capable of learning any language to which he is exposed.
What does it mean to know a language?
When you know a language, you can speak and be understood by others who know that language
i.e. you have the sound and meaning. This means you have the capacity to produce sounds that
signify certain meanings and understand and interpret sounds produced by others. Knowledge of
the sound system.
Knowing the language means knowing what sounds exist and what are missing.
It also means knowing which sounds may start a word, end a word and follow each other e.g. if
the word is yolk, then you say kloy, there is a problem in it. This is called sequence of the sounds
which build up to make words, concepts etc. the speaker must know boy, girl, toy etc. but when

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you change the spelling like yot instead of toy, then the word changes. This leads to knowledge
(competence) and performance.
There is a difference between linguistic knowledge and competence. Performance means using
knowledge in actual situations. Thinking of a skill, all of us must think of something before
producing.
What is Phonetics and Phonology?
Phonology is the branch of linguistics which investigates the ways in which sounds are used
systematically in different languages to form words and utterances.
Phonology is the component of a grammar made up of the elements and principles that determine
how sounds pattern in a language. In order to understand phonology therefore, one must grasp
the basic sounds of phonetics.
Phonetics is the study of the inventory of all speech sounds which humans are capable of
producing.
Phonetics can also be identified as a branch of linguistics that examines the inventory and
structure of the sounds of a language.
The study of speech sounds can be approached from various angles. The three major branches of
phonetics are:
1. Acoustic phonetics which is the study of the physical properties of speech sounds using
laboratory instruments. Sounds must be put in a certain sequence in order to produce
words.
2. Auditory phonetics which is the study of speech perception (by hearing/listening and
getting to understand.
3. Articulatory phonetics is the study of speech production.
Reading assignment 1:
How are English sounds produced?
(i) Types and production of English vowel sounds.
(ii) Types and production of English Consonants sounds.
References:
1. Daniel Jones: An Outline of Phonetics.
2. Katamba: Introduction to Phonology. (1989) Longman.
3. Hayward, K. (2000): Experimental Phonetics: An Introduction. Harrow: Longman.
4. Knowles (1987). Patterns of Spoken English: An Introduction to English Phonetics.
5. Francis Katamba: Learning about language: An Introduction to Phonology.
6. Grady et al. (1996) Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction. London: Longman.
7. Cristal David: an Encyclopedia of Language.
Sounds of a Language

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All languages of the world have sounds both consonant and vowel sounds. But these vowel and
consonant sounds differ in all languages. Some languages have more sounds whereas others have
fewer sounds.
The English language has more distinctive phonemes than most of the Ugandan languages. For
instance, Luganda does not have the following consonants /ʤ/, /∫/ as in the words, rather,
through and think.
Lango does not have the sounds /∫/ and / /, they substitute these sounds with the sound /c/ such
that words like such and thing are pronounced as cac and cing respectively. They do also have
problems pronouncing words that begin with the sound /o/. They tend to add the sound /h/ to
such words and so a word like our is pronounced as hawa.
Lugisu does not have the sounds /g/ and /b/. These are substituted with the sounds /k/ and /p/
respectively. In this case, words like going and boy will be pronounced as koing and poy
respectively.
Lunyankole, does not have the sound /l/. This sound is always substituted with /r/. We can hear
the people say:
‘Today I will eat lice and meat.’
‘Harro, you are rost’.
Some substitute the /s/ sound with /sh/; I would rike to marry a shaved girl.
In Teso, it is common to hear people say ‘my pada’ instead of my father. This is because they
lack sounds /f/.
As seen above, there is a tendency to substitute these consonant sounds with those nearer in
sounds to those of the mother language.
Two or more languages may share the majority of their distinct sounds but they may use these
sounds in very different ways. This is to say that although a greater majority of Ugandan
languages have all the voiced and unvoiced stops just as in English, such rules as accounts of
inspiration, devoicing or unexploision of the final stops are lacking.
Also the phonological rules which are applied to the English consonants to show us how they are
used are not essentially the same as those of the Ugandan languages. English and any local
language like Lusoga may be having the sounds /l/ but the rules that show us how this sound is
used in English and in Lusoga are different. In English /l/ in the word well may be different
from /l/ in the word like. In all Ugandan languages, the sound /l/ is used in different ways.
The vowel sounds are equally different. Some languages have many and others have few. Luo is
believed to have many vowel sounds and so they are better in speaking English than other
learners of English from different language backgrounds.
As a result of these differences in sounds between English and other languages, we tend to have
more problems in the learning of a foreign language.
The production of speech.

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Speech is organized utterances which contain sound. Sounds are changes of pressure in the air.
Sounds can also be referred to as noise. A sound wave therefore is energy caused by change in
the water or air. Wave (or energy) is the pattern in which some types of energy such as sound,
light, heat, are spread or carried.
According to Atkinson et al sound goes through three stages:
1. Generation which requires movement of a physical body.
2. Transmission which requires a medium capable of carrying the sound. Sound generated
in a vacuum is not transmitted/heard because there is no medium.
3. Reception which requires a device sensitive enough to pick up a signal.
4. In the case of normal hearing, the ear picks up the signal from the surrounding air and
transmits it to the brain where the sensation of hearing is felt.
Sound waves
Sound is generated by the vibration of a physical body e.g. a tuning fork. The vibration is
induced by the application of a force to the body. This force displaces the body from its place of
rest.
Reading assignment 2
1. Feature Analysis- explain the characteristics of individual sounds e.g. it is voiced,
sonorant, a fricative, affricate, a glide.
Reference: Katamba F. An Introduction to Phonology.
Reading assignment 3:
With examples of the English language, explain how voicing and whispering occur in speech
production
Reference: Daniel Jones-An Outline of Phonetics.
Voice Production
Sounds can be defined as vibrations with characteristics of frequency, intensity, and duration
which produce certain sensations of audibility when impinging upon the ear. Vocal sounds result
when a stream of air in one or more chambers is set into movement by an initiator, i.e. some
mobile part of the walls of an air chamber which by moving makes the chamber larger or
smaller.
Sibilant is a term for hissing sounds like [s, z, ʤ, ʧ].
The generation of actual speech sounds involves the manipulation of certain anatomical
structures, and this constitutes the subject matter of articulator phonetics.
The basic generator of the speech sound is contained with the larynx. The larynx can be thought
of as a box situated at the top of the trachea or windpipe, in the neck and it is made up of soft
tissues held by a system of cartilages linked to each other by joints that allow movement. The
cartilages are: at the base, the cricoid, which is ring-shaped and also constitutes the top of the
trachea; in front, the thyroid; at the back, the two arytenoids.

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The gaps between the laryngeal cartilages are filled by a membrane known as the conus
elasticus, which continues above the cricoid and closes up the space enclosed within it. To allow
respiration, there is a slit at the top of the conus elasticus and each of the two thick edges of this
slit constitutes a vocal fold (vocal ligament or vocal cord); one end of each vocal cord is attached
to the thyroid and the other to the base of the arytenoids, at the opposite end to the one which
links with the cricoid.
The vocal folds have such basic functions as the prevention of choking, and the trapping of air in
the chest to help with lifting weights and similar exertions but they also play a crucial role in
speech. During respiration they come apart to allow the air through. The vocal fold opening is
known as the glottis and it is produced by abduction of the arytenoid cartilages.
As already said, the existence of sound requires the presence of a vibrating body at the source.
The most important source of speech sound is vocal fold vibration. If the glottis is not too widely
open or too tightly closed and if air comes out of the lungs at a sufficient speed, the vocal folds
will be the set in motion, thus creating an open and closed glottis in succession. The outgoing
airflow is therefore not a continuous one, rather the air comes out in successive puffs which will
cause vibration in the bodies of air contained in the vocal cavities.
When the vocal folds are held loosely in relative proximity to each other, the outgoing air causes
a drop in intra-glottal air pressure (i.e. air pressure within the space of the glottis itself), known
as the Bernoulli effect, and this causes the vocal folds to come together, since no opposing
muscular forces are being exerted on the arytenoids. At this point the air that continues to be
pumped out of the lungs can no longer escape so that air pressure builds up below the closed
glottis (i.e. the sub glottal pressure increases). Eventually the magnitude of the sub glottal
pressure reaches a critical point and the vocal folds are forced apart. The process can now restart.
As already mentioned, the successive opening and closing of the glottis causes the air to come
out in rapid puffs and these puffs constitute the most important speech sound known as voice.
(This is incidentally, the basic mechanism involved in humming).
The two stages of the glottis thus far described (voiceless i.e. glottis too wide open for the
Bernoulli effect to take place, and voice) do not exhaust the number of possibilities. There are
also two more important states.
For whisper the vocal folds are brought near each other forming a narrow slit. Acoustically,
whisper consists of glottal noise caused by the turbulence created at the glottis by the rapid
moving airflow.
A dictionary definition states that whispering is using the breath but no vibration of the vocal
cords.
For breathy voice the arytenoids are kept apart, while the vocal folds form a slit still narrower
than for whisper. The vocal folds can now vibrate and the result is a simultaneous production of
periodic sound and aperiodic sound (i.e. noise, in the technical sense).
For the creaky voice the arytenoids are pressed tightly together and only the anterior portion of
the vocal folds is allowed to vibrate.
Phonation is the vocal fold vibration.
The Phoneme and Allophone

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Phonemes:
We need to identify sounds of language and give distinctive phonetic properties. Every language
has its own sounds different from other languages. All sounds are distinctive in their nature and
they are called phonemes. These are sets of information which makes them distinct e.g. /t/ and
/d/ are all alveolar sounds but when we use them in words tip and dip, they give different
meaning.
Phonemes are therefore used to contrast/distinguish the meanings of words. They are minimal
units of sound capable of distinguishing one unit sound from the other. A phoneme cannot be
broken down into smaller units. Phonemes that contrast must occur in the same environment. If
one occurs. A phoneme according to Katamba et al is a phonological unit like /p/, /l/, /k/, /n/, /m/
into which predictable variants of non-constructing segments are grouped. (Barbara M.H Strang
1971 Modern English Structure. Edward Arnold, pages 52-59).
Allophones of the phonemes occur at the onset of words such that we have aspirated sounds.
This mostly happens with voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ and /b/.
/b/ has the following lobe, bead, did
/l/ lead, bill, bottle, love, look
In the word bottle, the l is not fully articulated. The variant in love and phoneme in bottle are in
complementary distribution. The actual realization of a phoneme is the allophones (or variants).
Not only do the 45 basic sounds of English vary from region to region, from class to class, and
even from speaker to speaker within a class or region: they also vary in a systematic way within
the speech of individuals. There are a wide range of phonetically different forms which the
native speaker will accept as pronunciations or realizations of the same phoneme. Sounds can
simultaneously be the same but different.
The variant forms of any phoneme are called the allophones of that phoneme and phonemes are
groups related and non-contrasting sounds.
Variations in the phonemes depends on the position of the sound – the other sounds that are
adjacent to it, the part of the vowel that it occurs in.
Most phonemes are probably due to the influence of the neighboring sounds.
A phonemic transcription: is where the same symbol is used for transcribing different phonemes.
It is based on the principle “one symbol per phoneme” and it is also called linguistically broad
transcription. It is usually placed between oblique lines or slashes e.g. /t/, /e/, /wᴐ:tǝ/.
A phonetic/ allophonic transcription: allophones are special members of the phoneme. A
transcription which provides special signs for allophones is called allophonic or linguistically
narrow transcription. It is where finer distinctions are made e.g. [pha:k] and [spa:k].
Square brackets are usually used for allophones whether free variants.
Minimal Pairs signal the difference in meaning by changing the class of the word. The minimal
pair [seal] and [zeal] show that [s] and [z] represent two contrasting phonemes. The only
difference is the voicing difference. S is voiceless and z is voiced. It also distinguishes cup and

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cub [p] and [b]. When two words are exactly alike except for one phonetic feature, the phonetic
difference is distinctive since the difference alone accounts for the contrast or difference in
meaning.
Binary Valued Features
Voicing or voicelessness can be considered as the presence or absence of a single feature,
voicing. A feature can be thought of as having two values; a positive sign which signifies its
presence and a negative which signifies its absence. [b] is therefore [+ voiced] and [p] [- voiced].
Similarly the presence or absence of nasalisation can be designated as [+ nasal or – nasal]. In
other words it is [+ nasal and – oral] etc.

P b m
Stop + + +
Labial + + +
Voiced - + +
Nasal - - +

The above are Binary features. Features are analysed according to various categories. The major
class features are the following: consonants and non-consonants; syllabic and non-syllabic and
sonorants and non-sonorants (obstruent). Others are cavity features – oral or nasal; tongue body
features; are those at the tip and blade of the tongue; laryngeal features; manner features and
prosodic features (supra-segmentals).
Distinctive Features
Distinctive features are phonetic features. A distinctive feature is that which is able to signal a
difference in meaning by changing its plus (+) or minus (-) value, for example, the feature
[voiced] in the words peer or pea and bee, peas and bees.
peazs beezs
[+ voiceless] [+ voice]
[-voiced] [-voiceless]
The nature of the sound determines the sign + or -. By saying a sound is positive, we are
allowing for other features to be described.
Distinctive features are used to describe classes of sounds. All the sounds described under
phonetics combine to form larger, more general classes that are important in the pattering of
sounds in the world’s languages. They are:
A. The major class of features:
Under this we have features that represent the classes: consonants and non-consonants, obstruent
and sonorant.
Consonants:

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Consonants are sounds produced with a major obstruction of air in the vocal tract. They include a
number of sub-classes: stops, fricatives, liquids, affricates and glides.
Stops are sounds produced when the airstream is stopped completely in the oral cavity for a brief
period. They include [p, b, t, d, k, g] and nasal [m, n, ]
Affricatives are sounds produced by a stop closure followed by a slow release of the closure.
They are [t∫] as in church and [ʤ] in judge.
Fricatives: in their production, the articulators are brought together leaving only a very narrow
channel through which air squeezes on its way out, producing turbulence in their process. They
are [s,z,f,v, θ, ᵭ , ∫, ӡ h ]
Liquids: in their production, there is some obstruction of the airstream in the mouth, but not
enough to cause any real constriction or friction. They are [l, r]. l is a lateral liquid.
Glides are produced with little or no obstruction of the airstream in the mouth. When occurring
in a word, they must always be either proceeded or followed directly by a vowel. They are [j,w].
In their articulation, the tongue moves rapidly in gliding fashion either towards or away from
neighboring vowel. They are transition sounds that are sometimes called semi vowels.
Non-consonants (Vowel)
The class of non-consonants include; oral, nasal, front, central, back, mid and low vowels.
Obstruent and sonorant
Sonorants are sounds produced with relatively free airflow either through the mouth or nose that
thus have greater acoustic energy than their obstruent counter parts. They are: vowels, glides
[j,w], liquids [l,r] and nasal [n,m, ].
Obstruents are produced when the airstream is either fully obstructed in its passage through the
vocal tract as in non-nasal stops [p,h,t,d,k,g], affricates [t ,d ] and partially obstructed in the
production of fricative [s,z,f,v, θ, ᵭ , ∫, ӡ h ].
Syllabic and Non-syllabic
The syllabic sounds include the vowels, the liquids [l, r] and the nasals [m, n, ,j]. Syllabic sounds
function as syllable nuclei; non-syllabic sounds occur at margins.
B. Cavity Features
Oral sounds are sounds produced with the velum up, blocking the air from escaping through the
nose. They include the vowels and other consonants.
Nasal sounds are produced when the velum is lowered and air is allowed to escape through the
nose. They are [m,n, ].
C. Laryngeal features.
Under here we have the voice and voiceless:

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Voiceless sounds are produced when the vocal cords are held wide apart i.e. the glottis is open
and air passes between them freely. They are [ p, t, k, f, θ, s, f, ᵭ , h]
Voiced sounds are produced when the vocal cords are drawn together and air is forced between
them so that they vibrate: vowels, [b, d, g, m, n, v, z, , , , ].
D. Place features:
These include broad groups of place of articulation features.
Labials: The class of labials includes sounds articulated with one or both lips. It includes the
class of bilabial sounds [p, b, m] with both lips and labiodentals [f, v] – lower lips and front
teeth.
Coronals are sounds articulated with the tongue tip or blade raised. They include alveolars [t, d,
s, z, l, r, n], dentals [θ, ] and palate alveolars [ , , , ]
Anterior are sounds articulated with the front part of the mouth in front of the palate alveolar
region. Examples are bilabials [p, b, m], labiodentals [f, v], dentals [ , ] and alveolars [t, d, l, r,
n, s, z]
Sibilants/stridents sounds are characterized by an acoustic, rather than and articulatory property
of its members. The friction created in the production of the fricatives [s, z, , ] and affricatives [
, ] causes a hissing sound. These sounds are in a class of sibilants/strident.
E. Dorsal features:
Dorsal features represent placement of the body of the tongue. We have;
High sounds are produced with the tongue body raised [+ high]. It applies to both vowels and
consonants. High consonants are [j, k, g] and vowels are [i:, i, u, u:].
Low vowels made with the tongue body distinctively lowered from a central position in the oral
cavity [+ low]. They are [æ, a:].
Back sounds are any sounds articulated behind the palatal region in the oral cavity. [k, g, ] , [ᴧ,
ᴐ, ᴐ:, ə, ᴣ, , ]
Tense captures the tense-lax distinctions among vowels. Tense vowels are [i:, :, ᴐ:, u:, ᴣ ]
Reduced sounds include only the schwa.
F. Manner features:
These are features that represent manner of articulation. They include the following:
Nasal includes all sounds made with the velum lowered [+ nasal]. They are [m, n, ].
Continuants and non-continuants:
Stop sounds are non-continuants. They are produced with total obstruction of the air stream and
can be distinguished from all other speech sounds which are called continuants, because the
stream of air flow continuously out of the mouth. The nasal stops are non-continuants.

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The continuants are those with free or nearly free air flow through the oral cavity. They are
vowels, fricatives, glides and liquids.
Lateral: In its production, air is obstructed by the tongue at a point along the center of the mouth
but the sides of the tongue are left low so that the air is allowed to escape over one or both sides
of the tongue [l].
Delayed release: All and only the affricative consonants [ , ] are [+ delayed release].
When these features are distinguished in a table, the positive (+) and negative (-) signs are used
to indicate the presence or absence of this feature.
Importance of analyzing features
- They are the foundations for the basis of the analysis of rhythm.
- They aid in distinguish between meanings of words.
- They help reduce pronunciation problems – give a foundation for good speech; proper
articulation and being precise.
Knowledge of distinctive features helps in: pronunciation, articulation, enunciation,
assimilation and general production of meaning.
- They create some degree of musicality – rhythm.
- They facilitate the flow of speech and therefore give meaning.
- They assist in retaining the interest of the audience.
Syllable:
It is the basic unit of pronunciation. It is pronounced by making the voice activate only once.
Some words have the voice being activated more than once e.g. syllables has three activations of
the voice.
Syllables have vocal nucleus and there is the initial and final consonant. The simplest syllable is
the vowel e.g. /æ/. This is a monosyllabic word (single syllable). Vowels are the basis of the
syllables and they form the nucleus of the syllables. Vowels are therefore used to identify the
syllables.
A syllable is a peak of sonority surrounded by less sonorant elements. It has three basic parts:
onset, nucleus and coda. Onset is an initial consonantal cluster.
In every spoken word or phrase there is at least one sound which is heard to stand out more
distinctively than sounds next to it e.g. in the English word letter the /e/ and /ǝ/ are heard more
distinctively than /l/ and /t/. The prominence of sound may be due to:
1. Inherent sonority (carrying power)
2. The length i.e. whether its aspirated
3. The stress
4. The special intonation
5. The combinations of the above
Therefore in every sentence there is a kind of undulating i.e. wave like motion of prominence
which is easily perceived by the hearer. These are called peaks and troughs (strong and weak).
Each sound which constitutes a peak of prominence is said to be syllabic and the word or phrase

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is said to contain as many syllables as there are peaks of prominence. In the word buttonhook,
there are three peaks of prominence and so three syllables.

The syllable is composed of a nucleus and its associated non-syllabic segments. The organization
of a syllable is shown as:

Onset (O) Rhyme (R)

S P r
Nucleus (N) Coda (C)

i n t

The Nucleus is the syllable’s only obligatory member; it is a syllabic element that forms the core
of a syllable. The Coda consists of those elements that follow the nucleus in the same syllable.
The Rhyme is made up of the nucleus and the coda. The Onset is made up of those elements that
precede the rhyme in the same syllable. A syllable with a coda is called a closed syllable.
The Production of Consonants.
The production of consonants involves four major parameters.
1. The air string mechanism, the way in which the moving air that provides the power for
speech production is generated and how and where it moves to.
2. The place of articulation.
3. The manner of articulation.
4. The psycho- psychological mechanism.
Speech sounds are produced by interfering in some way with a body of moving air. Phoneticians
use the term Air Stream Mechanism to describe a body of moving air used in speech production.
The commonest air stream mechanism used in the world’s languages is the pulmonic egressive
mechanism. When this mechanism is employed, air is expelled from the lungs, up the windpipe
and gets out through the mouth, or through the nose, or through both. Continuing its outward
journey the air reaches the larynx (the voice box, Adams apple) that cartilaginous membrane at

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the top of the wind pipe. Once in the larynx, the air must go through the glottis. This is the space
between the vocal cords.
All speech sounds are produced when air is pushed for the lungs up the wind pipe (also called the
trachea, more technically). Continuing its journey the air reaches the larynx (or voice box- that
cartilaginous membrane at the top of the windpipe which is called the Adam’s apple in everyday
language). Once in the larynx, the air must pass through the glottis. This is the space between the
vocal cords. If the vocal cords are apart, i.e. if the glottis is open, the air escapes unimpeded.
Sounds produced in this way are said to be voiceless.
If on the other hand, the vocal cords are very close together, the air will blow them apart as it
forces its way through. In doing so, it will make them vibrate, producing a voiced sound.
The noise that causes vibration in the larynx when felt with the finger as the sound vv is
pronounced and the low buzzing sound which is felt when fingers are put in the air when saying
the same sound is voicing. Voicing is linguistically important.
The difference between voiced and voiceless sounds is functional. In many languages, there are
many consonants which come in pairs, with the two sounds in question differing in voicing.
pull /p/ bull /b/ ten /t/ den /d/
cot /k/ got /g/ fast /f/ vast /v/
sink /s/ zinc /z/ chew /ʧ/ Jew /ʤ/
The organs of speech production include: the lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, velum (soft
palate), uvula, tongue tip, tongue blade, front of the tongue, back of the tongue, mouth cavity,
nose cavity, pharynx, epiglottis, esophagus, glottis and, the larynx.
The term vocal tract is used to refer to the air passage which the air enters on leaving the larynx.
The vocal tract has two parts:
1. Oral tract which is the air passage offered by the mouth.
2. Nasal tract which is the air passage provided by the nose.
Consonants are produced by obstructing in some way the flow of the air through the vocal tract.
We can identify the place (or point) where the obstruction takes place, and the organs involved.
The parts of the oral tract such as the tongue and lips which can be used to form speech sounds
are called articulators.
Places of Articulation

Place Articulators Examples

1. Bilabial both lips [b] beat
[m] meat
2. Labial- dental lower lip and upper front teeth. [f] fine
[v] vine
3. Dental tongue tip and upper front teeth. [ θ ] thigh
[ ᵭ ]thy
4. Alveolar tongue tip or blade and the alveolar [t] tip

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 ridge. [l] lip
[r] rip
[d] dip
[s] sip
[z] zip
5. Palate- alveolar blade of the tongue rising towards the [∫] sheep
alveolar ridge and the front of the hard [ʧ] cheap
palate. [ʤ] jeep
6. Palatal front of the tongue and the hard palate. [j] yes
7. Velar back of the tongue and the velum. [k] cot
[g] got
[ ] song
8. Labial-velar simultaneously using both lips and [w] win
raising the back of the tongue towards
the velum.
9. Glottal vocal cords. [h] hot

Besides describing the place where the obstruction occurs in the production of a consonant, it is
also essential to consider the manner of articulation i.e. the nature and extent of the obstruction
involved because sounds made at the same place of articulation and which are both voiced and
voiceless, can still differ depending on the manner in which the airstream is modified.
1. Stop:
The articulators come together and completely cut off the flow of air momentarily, then they
separate abruptly stops like [p, b, t, d, k, g] which are made with the pulmonic egressive
airstream mechanism (as the speaker breathes out through the mouth) are called plosives. Sounds
[m, n, ] are also stops but they are not plosives; they differ from plosives in that they are formed
by completely blocking off the airstream in the mouth while at the same time allowing it to
escape through the nose.
2. Affricate:
In the production of an affricate, first the articulators come together and completely cut off the
flow of air, just as they do in a stop; then they gradually separate. Examples are [ʤ] judge and
[ʧ] chain.
3. Fricative:
The articulators are brought very close together leaving only a very narrow channel through
which the air squeezes on its way out, producing turbulence in the process. Examples: [f, v, h, s,
z, , , , ]
4. Approximant (semi vowel):
The articulators are brought near each other but a large enough gap is left between them for air to
escape without causing turbulence. Examples are [r, w, j] as in read, weed, yield.
5. Nasal:

13
Nasal sounds are pronounced with air escaping through the nose; the velum is lowered to allow
access to the nasal tract. Examples include [m, n, ]. The final sounds in all these words are nasal:
sum, sun, sung.
On the other hand, to produce oral sounds like [p, t, k, g] the velum is raised right up against the
back of the wall of the pharynx, cutting off access to the nasal cavity and making air escape
through the mouth.

6. Lateral:
To produce a lateral, the air is obstructed by the tongue at a point along the centre of the mouth
but the sides of the tongue are left low so that air is allowed to escape over one or both sides of
the tongue. Example; [l]
Types of sound
There are three classes of sounds: the consonants, vowels and diphthongs.
A consonant is a sound made when the airflow is interrupted or slowed down. The English
consonants sounds are described as follows:
Description of individual consonant sounds.
1. [m] voiced bilabial nasal male, man, made, must

2. [n] voiced alveolar nasal noise, pin, neck ,nor, neither

3. [ ] voiced velar nasal singing, hearing, swing

4. [l] voiceless alveolar lateral like, late, leg, lake, list, call

5. [p] voiceless bilabial plosive pen, pot, pin, potato, put

6. [b] voiced bilabial plosive bat, bird, baby, cob

7. [t ] voiceless alveolar plosive toe, cat, tight

8. [d] voiced alveolar plosive dent. did

9. [k] voiceless velar plosive kill, kettle

10. [g] voiced velar plosive girl, gather, go

11. [f] voiceless labiodental fricative father, full, foolish

12. [v] voiced labiodental fricative voice, very, volume

14
 13. [Ɵ] voiceless dental fricative think, thumb

14. [ ᵭ] voiced dental fricative then their whether, father

15. [s] voiceless alveolar fricative set, sell, suffer, safe

16. [z] voiced alveolar fricative zoo, booze

17. [∫] voiceless palate-alveolar fricative pleasure, measure

18. [Ӡ] voiced palate-alveolar fricative vision

19. [h] voiceless glottal fricative hot

20. [ʧ] voiceless palate-alveolar affricate church, such

21. [ʤ] voiced palate-alveolar affricate judge, jam

22. [j] voiced palatal approximant Yes

23. [w] voiced labial-velar approximant Wet

24. [r] Voiced alveolar (post alveolar) red

approximant
Tongue, alveolar

hard

and
Lower lip, upper

tip,

tip,
blade alveolar
upper front teeth

Lips and velum

Vocal cords
ridge palate
front teeth
Both lips

Tongue,
Tongue

Tongue

Tongue
velum
palate
ridge

Plosives p t, d k, g
b
Fricatives f, v ᵭ,θ s, z Ӡ, ∫ h
Affricate ʤ, ʧ
Nasal m n ….
Lateral l
Approximant w R j
Labiovel
Alveolar

alveolar

alveolar
Bilabial

Palate-

palatal
Labial

glottal
dental
dental

Velar
Post-

ar

The Production of Vowel Sounds

15
Vowels are more difficult to describe accurately because there is no noticeable obstruction in the
vocal tract during their production.
Vowels are typically voiced, but they have no place or manner of articulation. In a vowel sound,
voice is switched on, and the mouth cavity is left unobstructed, so that air passes out freely.
The quality of a vowel is determined by the position of the tongue, lower jaw and lips because
these can change the shape of the cavity that the air passes through, and different shapes give
different resonances. The tongue is the most important part. If we raise part of our tongue, we
divide the mouth passage into two cavities of different sizes: one at the back and one at the front.
The quality of the vowel is, to a great extent, determined by the relative sizes of these two
cavities. To describe any vowel sound therefore, we specify the position of the highest part of
the tongue: we can do this in terms of its height (open, half-open, half-close and, close) and of its
retraction (front, central, central and back).
The different positions of the tongue to create different vowel sounds can be shown by means of
a vowel diagram.

Front Central
Close Back
i: (beat) u: (boot)

i (bit) u (put)
Half-close
ʒ: bird
e (bet)
ǝ (father)
Half open ᴐ: (saw)
ʌ (cup)
æ (bat) ᴐ (cot)
Open
a: (father)

The quality of a vowel is also affected by the position of the lips which can be spread wide, held
neutral or rounded more or less tightly. In most forms of English, lip-rounding plays no
independent part, for it is an automatic accompaniment of the four back most vowels, and the
tightest of the rounding varies directly from the closeness of the vowel.
Vowels can also differ in lengths, but they fall into two broad groups, the long and short. The
short vowels are /i/ pick, /e/ peck, /æ/ pack, /u/ put, /ʌ/ cut, and /ᴐ/ cot, the short central vowel
which is heard in the ‘er’ of father /∂/ and the /a/ of about.
There is a correlation between the tongue height and jaw opening; when the tongue is high, the
jaw is not lowered but when the tongue is low, the jaw is also low and the mouth is wide open.
Vowels produced with the highest point of the hump in the tongue close to the roof of the mouth
are said to be high. Those produced with the highest point of the tongue barely rising above the
floor of the mouth are said to be low. The intermediate position is referred to as mid.

16
There are two main groups of vowels:
1. Pure vowels (cardinal vowels) are vowels produced when the organs of speech remain
approximately stationary.
2. Diphthongs: produced when the organs of speech perform a clearly perceptible
movement. The speech organs change their position in the course of the sound. They are
also called glides. They are [ei, əu, ai, au, əi, iə, eə, uə] as seen in words make, note bite,
now, boy, here, there, poor. During most of the sound, the speech organs are moving
though they may remain in the initial position for a short time before the gliding
movement begins.

Diphthongs are represented by arrows in a vowel diagram.

Front Central
Close Back

iə (here)

Half-close
ᴐu (home)
ei (make)
Half open

ai (hide) au (house) ᴐi (boy)

Open

Tripthongs; are vowel glide that contains a peak of prominence. These are a diphthong followed
by /∂/ sound known as a schwa. They are /eiə/, /əuə/, /əiə/, /auə/, /ᴐuə/ as in player, lower, tire,
tower and employer respectively.
Laxness and tenseness: one element considered to be of importance in determining vowel quality
is the state of the tongue and lips as regards muscular tension. Vowels are differentiated by
degrees of muscular tension. Long vowels are tense and short vowels are lax.
Description of the English Vowels in Detail
English vowel 1: i:
This is a member of the English i: - phoneme used when the vowel is relatively long.
The following is a formal description of the manner of forming the vowel:
i) Height of the tongue: nearly ‘close.’
ii) Part of tongue which is highest: center of front.
iii) Position of lips: spread or neutral.
iv) Opening between jaws: narrow to medium.
v) Position of the soft palate: raised
vi) Action of vocal cords: vibrating, producing voice.

17
i: is the so called ‘long’ sound of the letter e; example tree /tri:/, see /si:/, even /i:vn/, complete
/k∂m’pli:t/, immediate /imi:di∂t/. i: is also the sound of ea, ie, ei and i in many words examples:
sea /si:/, east /i:st/ field /fi:ld/, seize /si:z/ machine /m∂∫i:n/.
English vowel 2: i
The letter i without the length mark stands for the members of the English i -phoneme used when
the sound is relatively short. The distribution of these members in words is determined by the
nature of the surrounding sounds in sequence and on the degree of stress.
In pronouncing this sound, the general position of the tongue and lips resembles that of the long
i:, but the tongue is lower and retracted. For short i the speech organs are ‘lax’ or held loosely,
while for the long i: they are tense.
The following is a formal description of the manner of forming this English short i:
i. Height of tongue: nearly ‘half-close’
ii. Part of tongue which is highest: the hinder part of the ‘front’.
iii. Position of lips: spread or neutral.
iv. Opening between the jaws: narrow to medium.
In normal speech the tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth. As with all normal vowels, the
soft palate is in its raised position and the vocal cords are in vibration.
The air passage is considerably wider than in the case of the long i:
i is the ‘short’ sound of the vowel letters i and y; examples; fit, rich /rit∫/, king, symbol /simbl/.
English vowel 3: e
The English phoneme e, has several allophones i.e. it comprises several shades of sound, the use
of which is determined by the nature of the surrounding sounds in the sequence. The differences
are, however, slight and of no importance for the foreign learner. If the foreign learner always
uses the principal member of the phoneme, his pronunciation will always sound correct.
Tongue-position for the principal English e is shown by the position of the dot in the figure. The
following is a formal description of the manner of forming the sound:
i. Height of tongue: intermediate between half-close and half-open
ii. Part of tongue raised: the ‘front’
iii. Position of lips: spread or neutral.
iv. Opening between the jaws: medium.
In the normal speech the tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth. As with all normal vowels, the
soft palate is in its raised position and the vocal cords are in vibration.
e is the so-called ‘short’ sound of the letter e. Examples are pen, red, head, breath.
English vowel 4: æ
It comprises one sound. The tongue is low in the mouth and occupies a position which is roughly
intermediate between the positions for cardinal Ԑ and cardinal a.

18
Description:
i. Height of tongue: between half-open and open
ii. Part of tongue which is highest: the front.
iii. Position of lips: spread or neutral.
iv. Opening between jaws: medium to wide.
In normal speech the tongue-tip touches the lower teeth.
/æ/ is the so called short sound of the letter a; glad /glæd/, bag /bæg/, pad, cut, lamp. The sound
is regularly represented by the letter a, the only expectations are plait, paid.

English vowel 5: a:
Relatively long and written with a length mark. It will be seen in the dot of the table of vowels
that in forming the English a:. The tongue is held very low down in the mouth, and that the
vowel is nearer to cardinal than to a.
Description:
i. Height of tongue: fully open
ii. Part of tongue which is highest: a point somewhat in advance of the center of the back.
iii. Position of lips: neutral
iv. Opening between the jaws: medium to wide.
The tip of the tongue is generally, though not necessarily, somewhat retracted from the lower
teeth.
Sound a: is the usual southern English sound of the sequence of letters or when at the end of a
word or when followed by a consonant: examples: far /fa:/, part /pa:t/ garden /ga:dn/. A has the
sound a: in half, calm, and several other words in which the l is silent; also in numerous words
when followed by ff, ss or by f, s, or n followed by another consonant e.g. staff, class, pass, after,
fast, castle, ask, command, grant, cant, also in most words ending with ath e.g. bath; also in some
words of recent foreign English origin e.g. moustache, drama, tomato, vase. Note also words ah
a:, are a:, aunt a:nt, dra:ft, laugh la:f etc.
English vowel 6: ᴐ
Without a length-mark is a member of the English ᴐ - phoneme used when the vowel is relatively
short. Seen from the dot in the table, when forming short ᴐ the tongue is held in the lowest and
most backward position possible. The vowel has the tongue-position of cardinal vowel (a)
combined with open lip-rounding.
Description
i. Height of tongue: fully open.
ii. Part of the tongue which is highest: the back
iii. Position of lips: open lip-rounding.

19
 iv. Opening between the jaws: medium to wide.
The tip of the tongue is generally, though not necessarily somewhat retracted from the lower
teeth.
It is a short sound of the letter o; examples include: not, pond, dog, sorry, solid. O is also
pronounced ᴐ with a variant ᴐ: in many words where /f, s or θ/ follows e.g. off, often, loss, cost,
cloth. ou is similarly pronounced in cough /kᴐf/ and trough /trᴐf/. a often has the sound ᴐ when
the vowel is preceded by w and not followed by k, e.g. want /wᴐnt/, what /whᴐt/, squash /skwᴐ∫/,
quality, wag, twang.
Learners must learn to pronounce the English short ᴐ with the tongue held as low down and as
far back as possible. Usually the best way of acquiring the vowel is to aim at a sound
intermediate between /a/ and their variety of /ᴐ/.

English Vowel No.7. ᴐ:

A member of the English ᴐ phoneme used when the vowel is relatively long. Its tongue position
is low, though not quite as low as for the short ᴐ. The lips are rounded so as to leave an opening
which is much smaller than in the case of short ᴐ. The vowel differs from cardinal ᴐ in two
respects:
1. It is formed with the tongue a little lower than for ᴐ
2. The lips are more closely rounded than for ᴐ.
Description:
i. height of the tongue: between half open and open
ii. part of the tongue which is highest: the back
iii. position of the lips: between open and close lip-rounding
iv. opening between the jaws: medium to fairly wide
The tip of the tongue is generally, though not necessarily, slightly retracted from the lower teeth.
Ɔ: is the regular sound of aw and au; examples include: saw /sᴐ:/, lawn /lᴐ:n/, author. It is also
the regular sound of or when final or is followed by a consonant; e.g. nor, short, form. The group
ore, oar, are also commonly pronounced ᴐ: though a diphthong ᴐǝ is also frequently used in such
cases e.g. more, roar, board. /a/ frequently has the value ᴐ: when followed by l final or followed
by a consonant e.g. appeal, all, halt.
English Vowel: No 8: u
u without a length mark is a member of u phoneme used when the vowel is relatively short.
The tongue position is relatively higher than that of the English long ᴐ: and somewhat advanced.
The tongue is not as high as for long u. The lips are rounded fairly closely but not so closely as
for the u:. The distance between the jaws is less than for ᴐ and ᴐ:. Some writers call this sound a
lax vowel.

20
Description:
i. height of tongue: just above half close
ii. part of the tongue which is highest: the fore part of the back
iii. position of the lips: fairly close lip-rounding
iv. Opening between the jaws: medium.
v. Tip of the tongue just the same as for ᴐ:.
It is the short sound of the letter u. Examples include: put, full, bush, cushion. oo has the sound u
when followed by k as in book, look and in the following miscellaneous words foot, good, hood,
stood, wood, wool. Note the miscellaneous words bosom /buzəm/, bouquet /bukei/, could,
courier ‘/kuriǝ/, should, wolf /wulf/ etc.
English Vowel No.9: u:
Denoting members of the English u phoneme are used when the vowel is relatively long.
The sound is noticeably different from cardinal vowel u, its tongue position is relatively lower
and more forward than the cardinal sound. The lips are fairly close rounded; the lip rounding is a
little less close than that of cardinal u, but when pronounced with exaggerated distinctness the
close lip-rounding of cardinal u may be used. The distance between the jaws is less than for the
short u. It is called a tense vowel by some writers.
Description:
i. height of tongue: nearly close
ii. part of tongue which is highest: the back
iii. position of the lip: close lip rounding
iv. opening between the jaws: narrow to medium
v. Tip of tongue as with u:
The most important subsidiary of long u: is an advanced variety. It is used when j precedes, as in
music /mju:zik/, tube /tju:b/, deluge /delju:ʤ/. By calling it advanced is meant that the part of the
tongue which is highest is the central part - a part more forward than the back.
u: is the so-called log sound of the letter u e.g. rule, June, blue. oo has the sound u: in most words
in which the oo is not followed by r or k e.g. too, food, spoon. o has the sound u: in ado /ǝdu:/,
do /du:/, to /tu:/, who /hu:/, whom /hu:m/, loose /lu:z/, move /mu:v/, prove /pru:v/, tomb /tu:m/.
ou has the sound u: in some words, the principal being /su:p/, /gru:p/, /ru:t/, /θru:/, /wu:nd/, /ju:/,
youth /ju:θ/. u is also the usual sound of eu, ew, and ui e.g. feud /fju:d/, /nju:/, /sju:t/, /fru:t/.
Note the exceptional words beauty /bju:ti/, shoe /∫u:/ canoe /kə’nu:/, manouvre /mə’nu: və/.
English Vowel No.10:Ʌ
Comprising one sound; there are no members of the phoneme differing to any marked extent
from this sound. It is heard in such words as cup /kʌp/, lump /lʌmp/.
It is like an advanced ᴐ pronounced with lip-spreading. The distance between the jaws is wide;
the sound cannot be pronounced properly with narrow opening between the jaws.
Description:

21
 i. height of tongue: half-open
ii. part of tongue which is highest: the fore part of the back
iii. position of lips: spread
iv. opening between jaws: wide
The tip of the tongue generally touches the base of the teeth. ᴧ is one of the two short sounds of
the letter u: e.g. cut, mutton, hurry. o has the sound ʌ in a good many words; the principal are
among, come, comfort, done, honey, front, none, one, once, onion, some, son, cover won, above,
worry, colour, trouble etc. ou has the value ʌ in few words the principal are tough, trouble, flood,
blood, rough, southern etc. ʌ is intermediate between ǝ: and a:
English Vowel No. 11: ǝ:
This is a member of the ǝ-phoneme used when the vowel is relatively long.
ǝ: is a central vowel; in other words the central parts of the tongue is raised in order to make it.
The tongue is raised to about mid-way between the half-close and half-open positions or perhaps
a shade higher than this. The lips are spread almost as for i:. The opening between the jaws is
narrow; it is impossible to make the sound properly with a wide open mouth: the sound is in this
respect very different from ʌ.
Description:
i. Height of tongue: about half-way between open and close
ii. Part of tongue which is highest: the central part, culminating at the junction between
front and back.
iii. Position of lips: spread
iv. Opening between the jaws: narrow.
The tip of the tongue generally touches the base of the lower teeth, but as long as it is
near the lower teeth, its precise position does not appreciably affect the quality of the
sound.
ǝ: is usually the sound of stressed er, ir, ur and yr when final or followed by a consonant e.g.
her, /hǝ:/ fern /fǝ:n/, fir /fǝ:/, bird /bǝ:d/, fur /fǝ:/, turn /tǝ:n/. ear followed by a consonant is
generally pronounced ǝ: e.g. earn, earth /ǝ:θ/ heard /hǝ:d/. or is generally pronounced so in
attorney, our is pronounced ǝ: in adjourn, courteous, courtesy, journal, journey, scourge. Note the
exceptional words colonel /kǝ:nl/, amateur, chauffeur and a number of words ending in eur.
English Vowel no 12: ǝ
It is used to denote the ǝ-phoneme used when the vowel is relatively short. An ǝ of intermediate
quality is often called “the neutral vowel”, or schwa. It is very near to ǝ: but it is always
extremely short in English, so that its exact value is difficult to observe or describe.
ǝ is the sound of a in the words along, attempt, admit etc.
The English Diphthongs
A common form of Received Southern English contains 12 essential diphthong phonemes. These
are ei, ou, ai, ǝu, ᴐi, iǝ, ԑə, ᴐə, uə. Rising diphthongs are ǔə, ǔi and ίə.

22
A diphthong can be regarded as the succession of two vowels, it is a gliding sound. The less
prominent part of a diphthong is commonly said to be consonantal.
English Diphthong No 13: ei
ei is the long sound of letter a, as in came /keim/, make /meik/. It is also the usual sound of the
letters ai and ay e.g. plain /plein/, day /dei/, play. ei and ea have the sound ei in a few words e.g.
weigh /wei/, veil /veil/, great /greit/, break /breik/.
The diphthong ei starts at about the English e and moves in the direction of i.
English Diphthong No 14: ou.
ou is the long sound of the letter o; e.g. so /sou/, home /houm/, noble /noubl/, roll /roul/, bolt
/boult/, both /bouθ/, only /ounli/, don’t /dount/. ou is the regular sound oa when not followed by r
in road and toast.
ow is pronounced ou in many words; e.g. know, sow, growth. ou is pronounced ou in the
following words: dough, mould, poultry, shoulder, smoulder, soul, though etc.
It starts with an advance tongue position and somewhat lower than that of cardinal o, and a lip-
position of medium rounding; the speech organs then move in the direction of u.
Description:
i. Height of tongue: a little nearer to half-close than o half-open.
ii. Part of tongue raised: the fore part of the back
iii. Position of lip: slightly rounded
iv. Opening between jaws: medium
Examples: old /ould/, whole /houl/, rolls /roulz/, bowl, bolt, cold, go, post, both,
choke, cold, told, know, no, show, sole, though, vote, foe, yoke, yolk etc.
English Diphthong No 15: ai
It is the so called long sound of letters i and y e.g. time /taim/, idle /aidl/, night /nait/, child, find
and, fly. ie has the value ai when final as in pie, tired cries. ei is pronounced ai in the words
height, sleight, either, neither. Other words are buy, eye choir /kwaiǝ/ aisle.
In pronunciation it starts at a and immediately proceeds in the direction of i.
Description
i. Height of tongue: low
ii. Part of tongue raised: the front
iii. Position of lips: spread neutral
iv. Opening between jaws: rather wide
English Diphthong No 16:au
It is the usual sound of au in loud /laud/, house /haus/, out /aut/, bough /bau/. It is also a
frequent sound of ow e.g. cow, town, flower. eo has value au in the Mcleod.
Description:

23
 i. Height of tongue: low
ii. Part of tongue raised: the hinder part of the front
iii. Position of lips: neutral
iv. Opening between lips: rather wide.
English Diphthong No 17: ᴐi
This is the regular sound of oi and oy e.g. oil /ᴐil/, noise /nᴐiz/, boy /bᴐi/, employs /implᴐizi/,
employer, royal, etc.
The chief member of the ᴐi-phoneme is a diphthong beginning about half-way between the
English vowels ᴐ and ᴐ: and terminating near i.
Words for transcription: point, toy, coin, choice, joint, noise, loyal, royal, foil, voice, soil, hoist.
English Diphthong No 18: iǝ
Is a falling diphthong which starts at about the position of the short i and terminates at about ǝ.
The beginning part of this vowel is uttered with stronger stress than the end part.
iǝ is the usual sound of eer as in deer /diǝ/,peering /piǝri / and steerage. ear, ere, eir, ier, ea, ia,
also have the same sound iǝ in some words like ear, beard, here, weird, pierce, fierce and, idea.
English Diphthong No 19 ɛǝ
ɛǝ is a diphthong which starts about half way between the English vowels e and æ. The starting
point of diphthong ɛǝ is about e. The mode of forming this initial part may therefore be
summarized as follows:
i. Height of tongue: half-open
ii. Part of tongue raised; the front
iii. Position of lips: spread to neutral
iv. Opening between the jaws: rather wide
ɛǝ is the regular sound of the group of letters air; e.g. pair /pɛǝ/, fair, cain /kɛǝn/. It is also the
sound of ear and are in many words e.g. bear /bɛǝ/, spare /spɛǝ/. Note the exceptional words
there and their/ᵭԑə/ , scares /skɛǝs/ and aeroplane /ɛǝrǝplein/.
English Diphthong No 20: ᴐǝ
It starts very near English vowel ᴐ: and proceeds in the direction of ǝ. The lip-rounding of the
initial part is less close than for ᴐ:.
The initial part of the diphthong may be described shortly as follows:
i. Height of the tongue: somewhat below half-open
ii. Part of tongue raised: the back
iii. Position of lips: open lip-rounding
iv. Distance between jaws: medium to wide.
The diphthong ᴐǝ may be heard in the pronunciation of many speakers in words written with oar,
ore and in some words with our e.g. course, score, four, course. It may also be heard in the words
door and floor /flᴐǝ/.

24
English Diphthong No 21: uǝ
It is a diphthong which starts at u and terminates at a sound of the ǝ type. Its beginning is uttered
with stronger stress than the end part. It is a falling diphthong.
This diphthong is used in two categories of words:
a) Most words written with ure and oor and their derivatives e.g sure, cure, endure, poor,
moor surely, cured, poorer. It also comprises many words spelt with ur followed by a
vowel e.g. curious, duration, security. It comprises further some words spelt with our,
such as four, gourd, bourse etc.
b) These do not have variant pronunciations with u;ǝ but they nearly have variants with
diphthong oǝ. Thus sure, tour, curious are pronounced by some as /∫oǝ/, /kjoǝriǝs/ and
/toə/.
English diphthong No 22: iǝ
This is heard in such words as hideous /hidiǝs/, glorious /glᴐ:riǝs/, happier, easier, area,
aquarium, radius, theoretical, axiomatic, realistic, archaeological, etc.
It is unstressed, its exact nature is difficult to establish. iǝ has a certain resemblance to the
sequence je but it is a gradual glide.
English Diphthong No 23: ŭǝ
Resembling diphthong uǝ but yet differing from it in some respects is a sound that may be
represented by the notation ŭǝ. It is heard in such words as influence, incongruous, arduous,
vacuum, valuer, valuable, argue, Papua, usual, fluorescent etc. It is always unstressed.
English Diphthong No 24 : ŭi
Not uncommon, always unstressed, occurs in such words as valuing, issuing, ruination.
Reading Assignment:
1. Explain the different types of assimilation.
2. What is; palatalization, labialization, voice assimilation, nasalisation, place of
articulation assimilation?
3. Read and make notes on the following:
i. Phonological rules
ii. Problems of pronunciations in Uganda and generally Africa; phonological
adaptions in the Ugandan context.
Principles of Transcription: Levels of Representation.
A transcription based on the principle ‘one symbol per phoneme’ is called a phonemic or
‘linguistically broad’ transcription. A transcription which provides special signs for the
allophones (special members of phonemes) is called an ‘allophonic’ or ‘linguistically narrow’
transcription.
A speaker of a language does not articulate just one holistic speech sound at a time. Speech
sounds are the result of many separate articulatory gestures which are made simultaneously. The
speaker changes the position of the vocal cords as the utterance progresses; at the same time the

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soft palate is raised and lowered; the shape and position of the tongue and the lips is also
modified while all that is going on.
Sounds are not neatly separated from one another in the way suggested by the self-contained,
separate letters in a line of print.
Phonology focuses on functional differences and is sometimes referred to as functional
phonetics.
A phonetic transcription uses a much larger number of symbols together with diacritic marks to
distinguish subtle nuances of pronunciation.
A Guide to Phonetic Transcription.
This gives a few practical hints about transcription.
i. Start by reading the word or passage aloud several times in a manner which is as
close as possible to the natural conversation.
If possible, make a recording of your reading so that when doing a transcription you
work from the recording.
ii. Write on alternative lines.
iii. Avoid using the letters of the alphabet (such as the capital letter A) which is not part
of the phonetic alphabet. Avoid using capital letters in the beginning of sentences or
in proper names) because they may have a different phonetic value from that of lower
case letters e.g. [n] is an alveolar nasal but [N] is a uvular nasal.
iv. Do not confuse the spelling of a word with its pronunciation.
v. Mark off intonation group boundaries using vertical lines like these | | e.g.
/The aim of this exercise / is to identify some of the phonemes in your speech.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
vi. Avoid confusion. Do not use any of the standard punctuation marks like a question
mark because many of them have a different value in the phonetic alphabet e.g. the
colon[:] represents length; and the symbol for a glottal stop [ ] looks like a question
mark [?] without the dot.
vii. If you are transcribing English, remember that unstressed vowels are in most cases
realized as [ǝ] (or [ ] or [ ] e.g. [ ], for banana.
viii. You may mark off those syllables which carry stress by a raised, small vertical line
before the syllable carrying the main stress of a word e.g. [entǝ].
Why study phonology?
Theoretical motivation:
Theoretical linguists are interested in exploring the ways in which language uses the medium of
sound, which is in itself meaningless to build words which convey an infinite range of meanings.
They are interested in the restrictions on the ways in which sounds can combine to form words;
the ways in which phonology relates to grammar and meanings. They are interested in both
language specific and universal dimensions of these questions.

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Psycholinguistics investigate the acquisition of phonological knowledge by infants and
disintegration of that knowledge in aphasia (the loss of linguistic ability through brain damage).
These are windows through which the nature of human cognition in general can be glimpsed.
Historical linguists investigate the evolution of sound systems because it provides the surest
evidence of languages sharing common descent. There tends to be a significant degree of sound
– meaning correspondence between languages descended from a common ancestor.
Sociolinguistics investigate the correlation between geographic dialect, social – groupings and
pronunciation.
Other specialists working with language need to be able to analyse and represent speech in a
more sophisticated way than that provided by the standard orthography. They should have the
grasp of spoken English and its relationship with the standard orthography which is derived from
a study of phonology (literacy experts and literacy workers).
Teachers in foreign languages need a good understanding of phonetics and phonology for it
facilitates the diagnosis of learners’ errors and provides the concepts and notation needed to
represent accurately both the learner’s speech and the target pronunciation.
Actors need to be convincing mimics of a wide range of accents. An understanding of the
phonological characteristics of social and geographical dialects hinted above is invaluable in that
profession. Phonetics (in some form) is usually one of the subjects studied at drama schools.
Speech therapists treat patients with special defects which sometimes are due to inability to
produce certain sounds, or a failure to produce certain allophones of phonemes, or again a failure
to master some principles that govern phonological patterning. They need to be able to transcribe
their raw data phonetically and analyse aspects of their patients’ pathological speech case
histories and have a thorough knowledge of normal phonological behaviours which their patients
are expected to approximate.
For this same reasons, specialists in speech hearing science and teachers of the deaf need to have
a good understanding of phonetics and phonology in order to enable their speech – impaired
clients to communicate using the spoken language.
Neurologists and neurolinguistics often have to treat aphasics (brain damage patients) who have
lost the ability to produce or process the spoken language but who may in some cases, have
retained the ability to communicate through the written word. They need to know about the
neurological writing responsible for speech, and they need to know how sounds are organized in
speech, in order to help restore speech in their patients.
Speech is a very important personality trait: in everyday life we all make judgment about people
on basis of how they talk. We can judge whether they are lugubrious, excitable or depressed on
basis of their voice quality, volume, tempo, and so on. In a professional context, psychiatrists can
diagnose certain mental abnormalities by focusing their attention on these and other aspects of
speech.
The police too, have increasingly used “forensic phonetics” in order to track down suspects on
the basis of their geographical dialect, occupation and social class as well as physical
characteristics such as sex, age, and size which can be established on the basis of their speech.

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 - For telephones
- For computer.
Phonological Processes:
Phonemes often have several allophones, these allophones are selected in a particular position
being dependent on the other sounds that are adjacent to it. The commonest phonological process
responsible for this is assimilation.
Assimilation is the modification of a sound in order to make it more similar to some other sound
in its neighborhood. It is when one segment is spread or is seen to spread its features to another
sequential phoneme thus making the two phonemes almost similar. For example:
Bob [bob] and bomb [bom]. The second b has been assimilated by the nasal m.
It can also be referred to as the influence of one segments on another resulting in a second
becoming more like a nearby sound in terms of one or more of its characteristics, for example, in
English unrounded consonants like t and k become rounded when they are followed by a round
vowel as in cooper and took, too and two, cool and cooks.
The advantage of having assimilation is that it results in smoother, more effortless, more
economical transcriptions from one sound to another. It facilitates the task of speaking. The
speaker usually tries to conserve energy by using no more effort than is necessary to produce an
utterance.
The principle that determines the shape of the suffix is voice assimilation; this suffix must
always agree in voicing with the preceding sound [The alternation in the phonological
realizations of a morpheme can be accounted for in terms of a morpheme]. Turning voicing on
and keeping it on throughout or alternatively, not turning voicing on at all is much easier than the
alternative of turning it on or off part – way through a sequence of sounds.
The alternation in the shape of a morpheme is phonologically conditioned. This means that
allomorph of a morpheme that occurs in a given context is partly or whole determined by the
sounds found in the allomorphs of the adjacent morpheme. It is not merely a coincidence that is
responsible for the allomorphs of the plural morpheme and the third person singular being [-z, s,
iz]. The suffix agrees in voicing with the preceding sound. The rule can be provisionally stated
as:
The plural suffix is realized by a voiced or voiceless alveolar fricative depending on whether the
noun ends in a voiced or voiceless segment.
Progressive assimilation occurs when a sound becomes more like the sound that precedes it. In
the English examples given above, the suffix consonant (-z) is made to agree in voicing with the
root segment that precedes it. Hence, the rule of suffix voice agreement is an instance of
progressive assimilation.
Regressive assimilation on the other hand is where a sound is modified so that it becomes more
like the sound that follows it. This type is also called Anticipatory.
Bidirectional assimilation – the nasals have the same place of articulation as the following
consonant exemplifies regressive assimilation; but the strengthening of continuants so that they

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are realized as stops when they are preceded by a nasal stop is an example of progressive
assimilation.
Assimilation Processes:
Palatalisation:
Examples: key /ki/; car /ka/; keep /kip/, calm /kam/
When a velar consonant is followed by a front vowel, there occurs some slight anticipation
fronting of the part of the tongue that makes contact with the roof of the mouth. The effect of the
fronting is that the velar consonant is made partly in the palatal region. The process is called
Palatalisation.
Velar consonants often have slightly palatalized allophones which occur before front vowels
because the tongue is raised towards the hard palate in the production of front vowels and
speakers anticipate that gesture and start making it before they have completed the articulation of
[k] and [g].
It is also possible to palatalise anterior consonants. In fast, casual spoken English, alveolar
consonants are usually palatalised when they occur at the end of a word and are followed by
another word which begins with an alveolar consonant:
his shoes [hiz ∫uz] - [hiʒ ∫uz]
nice shirt [nais ∫ʒt] - [nai∫ ∫ʒt]
issue [isju] [i∫ju] [i∫u]
Labialisation:
Palatalisation is not the only vowel feature which can be acquired by consonants. Examples:
A B
Peel [pil] pool [pwul]
Tea [ti] two [twu]
She [∫i] shoe [∫wu]
The words in B are said with some degree of lip rounding. Anticipating the next segment, which
is a rounded vowel, the speaker starts rounding the lips before the articulation of the consonant is
completed. This assimilation process is called labialisation or lip rounding. It can be indicated in
a phonetic transcription by using the raised w after a consonant.
Place of articulation assimilation:
The nasal in the malay word |gali| is homorganic with the consonant that goes after it i.e. the
nasal shares the place of articulation of the following consonant. Hence the use of the label
Homorganic Nasal Assimilation to refer to this assimilation process. The assimilation is
automatic and it applies whether a nasal is followed by another consonant in the same word.
Examples in English are:

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[in] in-appropriate
[im] im - plausible
[in] in – decent
[i ] in – gratitude
[ʌn] un – exciting
Homorganic nasal assimilation is not an automatic and obligatory rule of English phonology. It
applies selectively to certain forms and is not triggered by phonological alone. There are words
which contain non-homorganic nasal. The homorganic nasal assimilation rule normally applies
to in- but not to un-, except in casual speech where, for example, unkempt and unpleasant may
be pronounced [ʌ kempt] and [ʌmplezǝnt] respectively.
Nasalization
This is a process whereby an oral segment acquires nasality from a neighboring segment. The
articulatory motivation for this is self-evident. In order to produce a nasal segment, it is
necessary to lower the velum (soft palate) and allow air to escape through the nose.

Dissimilation:
If we recognize the fact that phonological systems have to meet the needs of language users both
as speakers and hearers, we can easily appreciate that while assimilation (by making sounds
more similar to each other) facilitates speech production, it does also have the undesirable effect
of making the hearer’s task of discriminating between sounds somewhat more difficult.
Phonological processes which ensure that differences between sounds are enhanced so that
sounds become more auditorily distinct make speech perception easier. Dissimilation is the term
used to refer to processes of this kind. The effect of dissimilation is to make sounds more distinct
from other sounds in their environment. After a dissimilation rule has applied, phonological
elements are less like each other than they were before the rule applied. In English, the adjective
forming suffix –al has two phonetic manifestations. Sometimes it is –al and other times it is –ar.
Noun Adjective Noun Adjective
electric electrical angle angular
region regional circle circular
orbit orbital table tabular
title titular
culture cultural single singular

The pattern above is clear. The shape –al is the base form. It is the form which is added in
column A where the last consonant of the noun is a sound other than [l]. The shape –ar is the
alternant which is normally added where the last consonant of the noun is {l].
Elision:
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Elision is the dropping of a sound which once existed or which still exists in precise speech.
Glottalisation:
When voiceless stops [p,t,k] occur in word final position, there is glottal reinforcement – with a
glottal stop coinciding with or slightly anticipating the allophones of /t, p, k/ as in tip, pit, kick
[ti p, pi t, ki k].
Some Phonological Rules in English
Phonological rules are simply descriptions of language behavior. From purely phonetic scientific
point of view, rules are formalization of a description of speech in terms of a set of precise
statements.
Examples of types of sound changes in English from which we can make up specific rules:
Voiced stops [b d g] and fricatives [f, v, s, z, θ, , ∫, ӡ h] in English are not voiced throughout the
articulation when they occur at the end of an utterance or before a voiceless sound. Note that the
voiced stop becomes partially devoiced when it occurs next to another voiceless stop t.
In this case, we can summarise this information in one precise statement as follows: Voiced
obstruents [b, d, g, r, z, ӡ, ʤ] become partially voiced when they occur in syllable finals except
when followed by a voiced sound.
Alternatively, we could make another statement which is quite close to the above.
Voiced stops become partially voiced when they occur is syllable initial except when preceded
by a voiced sound. Another rule tackles almost all consonants in English and it can be simply
stated thus:
Consonantal sounds become longer when used at the end of a phrase e.g. when you pronounce
such words as bib, did, Don, nod, bob etc., you will feel that the last sound tends to be longer
than the initial sound.
It has further been noticed that in English sounds which we referred to as approximants i.e. /w, j,
l/ become devoiced after initial voiceless/aspirated stops /p, t, k/. Examples are: play twin, cue
which are phonetically transcribed as [plei], [twin], [kju]. In a statement then we can say:
Approximants become devoiced after aspirated stops.
There are also some rules which are applicable to the vowel sounds only e.g. Vowels become
shorter before voiceless sounds in the same syllable. Examples of words where this can be
exemplified are as follows: cap as opposed to cab; back as opposed to bag.
The next statement reveals the fact that some voiceless stops become unexploded in such words
as apt, act which can be transcribed as /əpt/ /əkt/ where the raised zero on specific sounds reveals
the unexploded nature. Stops become unexploded before other stops.
There is also another important rule in English which reveals that lateral sounds like /l/ become
syllabic when used at the end of a word and after another consonant. This statement accounts for
the way the English pronounce such words as puddle, whistle [padl], [wi∫l]. We can therefore
state the rule: Laterals become syllabic when used at the end of a word after another consonant.

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However the syllabic /i/ does not only occur after stops and fricatives as shown above but also
after nasal sounds as in /kenl/, [t∫nl] – syllabic /l/ occurs after stops, fricatives and nasals.
In spoken English, it can also be noticed that when alveolar sounds occur next to dental stops,
then they become dentalised as in words like, sixth, eight, tenth, wealth transcribed as [sixθ],
[eiθ], [tenθ], [wԑlθ]. Dental sounds have the symbol . The statement that can adequately capture
this situation is: Alveolar sounds become dentalised before dental sounds.
You may also have noticed that in English, the velar sound /k/ tends to become increasingly
fronted when it occurs before a front sound. Note for example the difference between the
pronunciation of these words (calm, kept, kit, key, kill). In these examples there is a slight
fronting of the /k/ sound as we move from the low vowel /a/ right up to the high vowel /i/. This
can be stated as: Velar sounds become more fronted before mere front vowels.
It has also become observed that vowels tend to sound longer when used in open syllables. Open
syllables are those which end in a vowel, while a closed one ends in a consonant. Thus vowels
used in such words as: sea as contrasted to seed; sigh as contrasted to side. The rule can be stated
as: Vowels become longer in open syllables.
Alternatively, when vowels occur just before nasal sounds, they tend to be nasalized also. This
can also be stated as: Vowels become nasalized before nasal consonants e.g. pan, bean, pang,
sing. If the vowels in such words are contrasted with the vowels found in the words such as pat,
beat, pass and sit, you will definitely hear a real difference in their pronunciation.

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