SPANISH VOWELS

Handout phonetics I

SPANISH VOWELS

i

u

close

e

o

mid

a

open

front central close

ENGLISH VOWELS

Neutral

Spread

Close

Rounded

mid

open

front central back

VOWELS

Are sounds produced with no obstruction of the air.

CONSONANTS

Are sounds produced with some obstruction of the air.

SEMICONSONANTS

There are exceptions /j/ /w/ are called consonants but they are produced with no obstruction of the air. They are called consonants because of their position, before vowel. Are called semiconsonants, are they semivowels?

VOWELS

Articulatory phonetics. How sounds are produced. We have 3 criteria to define the vowels.

1.- A vowel can be: Close, Mid and Open.

Close: when there is a short distance between the tongue and the palate.

Open: when there is big distance between the tongue and the palate.

Mid: when the distance between the tongue and the palate is neither short nor big.

And can be:

2.- Front- Central- Back.

These depend on the part of the tongue we use, tip, centre, or back.

3.- The position of the lips Rounded- Neutral- Spread.

VOWELS

Checked(short)

free(long)

Need to be followed

by a consonant

Except the

Pure

diphthongs

Centring

Closing

Fronting

Backing

CHECKED VOWELS

Sonido mas breve y mas neutro (tirando hacia la e) que la i espaolabitChecked, close, mid, front, spread.

i spelling + comun: sit, ship, kid, ill

y: many,pretty, sorry

Common in non productive prefixes:

Become, belong, decide, prefer.Respect build:built, build, builder, always

Sonido parecido a la e espaola en el sonido mesamet HomophonesChecked, mid, front, spread.

e: bed, men, held, red.

ea: bread, spread, read (past), because read (present)is less usual:

aysays

aisaid

a..ymany, any

iefriend

ubury

Thames(river)

eileisure

Sonido algo mas breve y neutro que el de la a espaolacup

Checked, mid-open, central, neutral.

in spelling it can never be a. always o,u

oworry, money, brother, mother, monkey, tongue, son, onion

oucountry, double, trouble,

ooblood, flood,

oughenough, rough,

ucup, bus, sun

sun and son are homophones

cup and cap are minimal pairs

oedoes

Sonido producido con los labios mas extendidos que para articular una a. La posicin se acerca a la efatChecked, mid, open, front, spread.

acat, man, map.

a + rr marry, carry

but a + r is

it can never be spelt o, u. always a

exception meringueSonido similar a la o espaola, pero con los labios menos redondeados dog

Checked, back open, rounded.

olong, god, lot, pot, plot, got.

qua quality, quantity, squash.

quality

wa want, wander

want

Sonido ms breve y ms neutro ( tirando hacia la o) que en la u espaolabook

Checked, mid-close, central-back, rounded.

u (+ sh // + ll)push, bush, pull.

oo

good, foot.

ouldcould, should, would.

Also, very exceptionally: owoman, wolf.

If the oo is followed by k the sound is book, look, took

Es muy dbil. Es donde no recae el acento

This vowel can correspond to any spelling in unstressed syllables.

Checked, mid, central, neutral.

ernormally professions. Final er teacher, plumber.

a final a Sarah, China.

When there is-bt at the end, dont pronounce b

When there is -mb at the end, dont pronounce b

FREE VOWELS

Sonido mas largo que en la i espaola

Free, close, front, spread.(very similar to Spanish)

eesee, sheet, need.

easea, pea, seat, beat.

Productive prefixes.re-.de- sound: i:

Less usual:ierelief, believe, achieve.

eireceive.

iin foreign words:police, pizza, machine

notice quay and people Similar al sonido francs eur.

Free, central, mid, neutral.Always correspond to vowel plus r.

er

term, permanent, permit.

ear

learn, earn.

ur

burn, turn, purple.

iriyfirst, bird, shirt, skirt. myrtle wor-word, work, world, worm

Sonido mas largo que la a espaola. Se articula en la parte posterior de la cavidad bucal.Father

Open, central back, neutral.

arcar, far, park, farm.

Not always ar sounds /a:/ example: warm: War:

When before there is a w the sound is alcalm, palm (l, doesnt sound)

alfcalf, half.(l, doesnt sound)

am exampleask ask, basket, flask (garrafa), mask.

ananswer, plants, branch.

asspass, grass.

in some cases:aunt

bath

heartSonido mas largo que la o espaola, articulando con los labios bien redondeados.Pawmid open, back, rounded.

auautomatic, auction, auditory, laundry.

awawful, saw, law, paw

allall, tall, call, small.

war warm, war, warning,

In some cases:four

sore

quarter

Ought, aught-------

Sonido mas largo que la u espaola

Closed, mid-back, rounded.

ewnew, few, view, review. cons + j +u:

ouyoubut normally in last position. In other positions can be sound or .

ou there are some cases that is pronounced as diphthong au.Example: mouse, hour oofood, root, boot.

urude.

odo, two,

Double oo followed of K is always ueblue, true, clue.

uifruit, juice.

oo.eloose, choose.

o.elose, move, whose.

other cases shoe, beautiful, SOME TRANSCRIPTION

Worm

Laugh

Love

Monday

Tuesday

Thursday

Wednesday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

DIPHTHONGS

Closing fronting.

a.eape, late, page. ate,

ay

pay, say, gay, bay.

ai

available, aim, pain, again.

ea

break, steak.

ey

they.

eigheight, weight,

exception:height

Closing fronting.

i..epipe, side, bike, like.

ie

pie, tie.igh

might, sight, fight.

y.ethyme (tomillo)

y

why, shy, cry, bye, by.

Closing fronting.

oi

avoid, coin, noise, soil.

oy

boy, toy, joy, enjoy.

Closing baking

o..epoke, hope, home, close, those.

------opotato, tomato, go, no.

oa

soap, toad, load.Diff. Soup soap

oe

toe.

ow

flow, know, own, grown, snow.

o +ldold, cold, sold.

Closing baking

ou

house, blouse, trousers.

ow

now, how, cow.

CENTRING.

centring

ear

ear, fear, tear (lagrima)

eer

beer, cheer.

ia

India, sylvia.

ier/iest

happier, happiest, (comparative and superlative)

centring

ear

tear (rasgar), pear, bear.

air

air, pair, fair, fairy.

are

fare, care, prepare.

Curiosity:pear & pair are homophones

Fare & fair are homophones.

a veces suena oor

poor.

uresure,

pure: TRIPHTHONGSourflour

flower

ouer= power, lower., la pronunciacin es muy relajadasayer payer.

iar

liar (mentiroso).

+ (--er)higher, shyer.

ire

fire f

tired

royalemployer CONSONANTS

Can be:

VOICELESS (p, t) without vowel, doesnt vibrate.

VOICED(b, d) with vowel, vibrates.

--vocal cards vibrate.

Voiced consonants vowels

--vocal cards dont vibrate

voiceless consonants

--vocal cards wide apart

--vocal cards tightly pressed

Glottal stop (p, t, k) sometimes in final position.

Manner of articulation

Plosives Fricatives Affricates Lateral (cons) Nasal (cons) Semiconsonants / semivowelsPLOSIVES

They are consonants produced when we stop the air and then we release it.

LabialalveolarvelarVoiceless:

Voiced:

Spanish:

dental

velar

labial:

lips

alveolar:alveolar ridge + tongue

velar:

tongue + uvula

this

that

doAspirated in initial position.

Second (middle) no very aspirated.

If they followed an S they are never aspirated.

The spelling is the same that the sounds: p, t , b, d

c +(a,o,u)cake, coke, count, cup, customer.

c + (e,i)sound ceremonial, ceramic, cinema, city.

qu +(er,or)liquor, conquer.

qu +quote, question, quite, quiet.

mosquito g + (a,o,u)garden, go, gun.

g + (e,i) in generally it sounds but sometimes it sounds girl.

FRICATIVES

The consonants produced when the air is go out constant.

labiodentaldental

alveolarpalatal

Voiceless

Voiced

never at the end only in the middle. TelevisionThe fricative velar /j/ in English doesnt exit

Problematic spelling

almost always

c + (e,i)

cinema, circle.

s--------

some, so.

ss

essay, pass.

z

zoo, zebra.

EXCEPTION

Dessert

Posses

IMPORTANT

sh

shoe, ship.

ch

in French words.: moustache

s

sugar, sure.tion

information.

Important word: ocean s

television, pleasure, leisure.

* Lexical words: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs

* Grammatical words: articles, determinants, prepositions, conjunctions.

In lexical words:

Think

ThirdIn grammatical words:

the

they

that

Latin & Greek words:

Author

Method

MathematicsAnglo-Saxons words:

Brother Mother Father

BathPathBreath Bathe Breathe

th

Besides, some proper noun: THAMES AFFRICATES

They are one plosive add one fricative.

ch

church, chair.

In words came to Latin or Greek is pronounced as : Chemistry, Choir, Psychology.

ture

nature, adventure.

Minimal pairsHomophones/ heterographsHomographes / heterophones

Cup - Cap - - witch

- whichBow - Bow -

Is voiceless. No vibration

Is voiced..

g__g +(e,i)giraffe, gentleman, gin, general

There are some exceptions: get, Girl.

j

jam, jump, join, enjoy.

NASAL

They are sound produced when the air escape through the nose:

bilabial alveolar velar

& in the spelling are the same phoneme, m and n.

-ng

sing:

song:

finger : if ng, are part of the root of the word, these split apart and then, transcribe both and .

-ng-sing-er : when the word is made with a suffix, the g and the n join them in one

EXCEPT when the words are comparative and superlative. Example: LONGER then transcribe two: EXAMPLES

hunger

longing

hanger

thing

LATERAL

The air escapes through the side of the tongue.

alveolar

APPROXIMANTS

palato-alveolar

palatal

bilabial

To produce then the articulations approach each other but they touch complete.

Car:

carpet:

red: But when we find these words in a sentence we do linking r.

For instance:My

car

is

green.

y:yes:w:EXAMPLES

lorry

worry

truk

animals

TERMINATION -ed1. Example:

WORK-ED When a verb ends in voiceless consonant to make the past we add a ed, this termination sound as .

2. Example:

LIVE-D

When the verb ends in a voiced consonants or a vowel, the termination ed, sound as . 3. Example:

WANT-ED When the verb ends in a or in a , it then sounds.

TERMINATION -s

-S- Plural-nouns, third person, genitive, contraction.

Can sound:

1) Sound when the previous sound is a voiceless consonant: WORK-S 2) Sound when the previous sound is voiced or a vowel: LIVE-S 3) Sound when the previous sound is a Sibilal consonant

PASS-ESTranscription of Homographs / heterophones.

Tear

Dont tear the page.

Tear

She has tears on the cheek.

RecordCan you record that song?

Record Can I borrow your Elvis Presley record?

Lead this machine is made of lead.

Lead do you want to lead this group?

Transcription of Homophones / heterographs.

FlowerSo

FlourSew

SeaIll

SeeAisle

WitchHere

WhichHear

HiHire (rent)

HighHigher

HeirRead

AirRed

HairBlue

Hare Blew

MeatToo

MeetTwo

Examples

Watches

Oranges

Report

Television

Castle

Younger

IMPORTANT:

-tion:

-sion:

-v:/v/

-f:/f/normally

Examples

Question

Rained

Dropped

Polluted

Arrived

Posted

Finished

Passed

Mended

Washed

Walked

Laughed

Consonants VOICELESS

SYLLABLESWhat elements to make up a syllables

One consonant + vowel

noCons + vowel + consonant

yesVowel + consonant

eggVowel

ICONSONANTS CLUSTER (two or more consonants together)2 consonants + vowel

braVowel + 2 consonants

arms3 consonants +vowel

strawberry Vowel + 3 consonants

ants STRESSPet:/p e t/ CODA

syllable

Onset

NUCLEAR

Examples: monosyllabic words.

Pear:

chair: bear:

there:Touch:much: Dutch: such: Seen:

bean:mean: green: Map:tap:

cap:

clap: Sit:

bit:

pit:

lit:

/k l a i m d/

word

onset

NUCLEAR

CODA

If we want to have a rhyme we must have the same NUCLEAR and the same CODA.

E.g: night:

the sounds are the same

might: WordThe nuclear in the words is the stress syllable

Example:

Remember:

September:

The nuclear of one SYLLABLE can be a vowel or a syllabic consonant:

Stress

Simple words

Stem + suffix

Complex words

Prefix + stem

Compound words (ex: good looking) two or more lexical elements.

Connected speech (in a sentences).

Simple words

The words have two or more syllables have the stress in the 1 syllable:

Hungry, Carpenter, Table, Teacher.

Exceptions: When the words can mean two things or can be a verb and a noun, or adjective

abstract (adjective)

abstract ( verb)

When they are verbs, always put the stress in the last syllable.

If the words have 4 or more syllables carry the stress in the two before last syllable.Ex:democracy.Intelligent.

But, in fact, there are many exceptions in simple words.

Complex words (-stem + suffix) There are 3 groups of suffix:

1.-When the suffix carry the stress:

ee addressee.Employee

eerengineer

ese japanese

ette cigarrette

aire millionaire

ain entertain

ique technique

oon afternoon, cartoon, balloon.

2.- When the suffix doesnt change the stress of the word

-al arrival, proposal,burial.

-er

carpenter, teacher

-ess

stewardess, hostess

-less

homeless

-ness

tenderness-ed lived, wanted

-ing

living

-ish

Irish, childish

-ship

relationship

-y

funny

-ly

normally

-able comfortable

-age

storage-like /

businesslike

-wise likewise, clockwise

-fy

identify

-ous

poisonous

-dom freedom, kingdom

-some handsome

-ism

terrorism

-ment employment, enjoyment

3.- When the suffix change the stress of the word.

-eous ity

ion

ious

ive

ic

ical

ian

-graphy

Complex words (prefix + stem)

When one word has a prefix, the stress goes on the 1 syllable of the stem.

Example: forgive, defrost, believe

In the prefix OUT, OVER, UNDER, it depends on, if they are to make verbs or nouns.

If they are to make verbs, we put the stress on the stem of the verb.

Ex: outdo, overlook, underestimate

If they are to make nouns the stress goes on the prefix.

Ex: output, imput, underwear, overcoat

Compound words

Nouns

Adjectives

Verbs

Compound

Pronouns

Adverbs

Compound Nouns:

Usually the stress goes on the first noun, or element.

Ex: type writer.

Exceptions: when the word is referred to localisation or materials, the stress goes on the second element.

Ex: A plastic bag; The football grownA plastic bag (is a bag to introduce plastics inside)

A plastic bag (is a bag made of plastic)

If we stress in white house both of them words, we have a normal white house.

But if we stress only the first one word: White House, we are referring to where the president of the USA lives.

Compound Adjectives:

Ex:good looking: if use before a noun a good looking man

Good looking: if use after a verb he is good looking

Compound Verbs:

Ex:overcome: normally the stress goes on the verb.

Compound Adverbs:

Ex:head first: usually the stress goes on the second element.

Notheast

Compound Pronoun:

In the pronoun reflexives, we stress on the second one: myself, yourself..

In some, any, no: the stress goes in the first element: nobody, nothing, anywhere, somewhere.

CONNECTED SPEECH

-We are going to stress the lexical words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs)

-And we are NOT going to stress the grammatical words (pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessives, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs and modal verbs) NORMALLY, NOT ALWAYS!

-In the interrogatives or negatives sentences we MUST stress the grammatical words

-The demonstratives: we have to stress both of them, adjectives and pronouns.

-Possessives: only stress the pronouns not the adjectives.

Features of connected speech

Gradation: weak form / strong form

Linking:

Elision:

Assimilation:

Gradation: some grammatical words can have two pronunciations: a weak form and a strong form.

Usually grammatical words are WEAK form with weak vowels.

But is STRONG in certain context. For instance: they are STRONG when they are emphatic.

DeterminantsWeak

Strong (very rare)

A / an

The

WEAK before a consonant, STRONG before a vowel

His

In initial position in a sentence with h

Her

With r if this word is before a vowel

Your

With r if this word is before a vowelOur

Some

Pronouns

Weak

Strong

He

She

We

Him

Her

Us

You

We

Them

There

For adverb we use STRONG, for there are WEAK

Example:There is a map there.

ConjunctionsWeak

Strong

And

As

But

For si no we use STRONG, for pero we use WEAK

Than

That

Prepositions

They are strong when are emphasized and in final position.

Weak

Strong

At

For

From

Of

Sometimes v in WEAK form is omitted.

To

in WEAK form when the next word start with a vowel

Auxiliary verbs

We use the strong form in final position. Normally they are weak.

Weak

Strong

Am

Is

Are

Was

Were

Have

Has

Had

Do

Does

Shall

Should

Will

Would

Can

Could

Must

Omit the t in WEAK form when next word start with cons.

If the meaning of must its a prediction, we have to use the strong form.

The verb to be is always weak

The verb to have is always strong except when is auxiliary

Contractions and negative auxiliary forms

Lets

Im

Were

r if after goes a vowel

Youre

Theyre

Ill

Youll

Shell

TherellIve

Id

Hed

Isnt

ArentHasntHaventHadntDont

DoesntDidntCant

CouldntShouldntWouldntWasntWerentWontMustnt

LINKING

1. Linking

2. Linking

last sound

+ vowel

3. Consonant + Vowel

Vowel + Consonant

4. Consonant + Consonant: if the second consonant is labial or velar, the consonant before is labial or velar by assimilation.

LABIAL ASSIMILATION: + labial sound = that map

+ labial sound =

+ labial sound =

VELAR ASSIMILATION: + velar sound = that cake

+ velar sound =

+ velar sound = ENTONATION

TONALITY

The units in the spoken language: TONE UNIT. It corresponds to the punctuation marks in write language, between two pauses.

//I like chips//

Subject

//The man who come yesterday / said//

Subject

Pause when the subject is very long

//If you want to come / give me a ring//

Subordinated

Main

Pause that separated the main and subordinated

//You like apples / dont you?//

Pause in a question tag

TONICITY

In the tone unit we have a stressed word, that is the most important: its the tonic syllable.

The important information usually goes at the end, in the last stressed syllable.

But if we want emphasise another syllable, we can change the tonic syllable, then the meaning of the sentence changes.

Peters Spanish is perfect.

Compared to another person Is and no isnt Perfect, not bad

Compared to another language

I am listening

What are you doing?

Are you listening?

Who is listening?

I like red cars

People talking about likes

When you answer a question about do you like

Compare with other colours

When you mentioned before the information we cannot put the tonic syllable in this syllable.TONES

The melody used in the pronunciation of a tone unit.

HALLIDAY (5 tones).

1. FALLING.

-Used when you say something and the message is complete, positive or negative.

-Also used in WH question (when, why)

2. RISING.

-WH question in polite situations.

-Yes/No questions.

-Message that you give and you want that the listener talks with you, except to continue.

-Enumeration of things (all things except the last one).

3. LEVEL.

-When you read a list in class, call people on a class or counting

-Parents to little children (baby talk).

4. FALLING-RISING.

-It is used when you say something but you say too a but You havent finished. Transmite a feeling of the speaker. Its a little false tone. Polite.

-When you make a request.

5. RISING-FALLING.

-Some that the tone 1, but more emphatic: agreement, disagreement emphatic way.

Tone begin in the tonic syllable and end at the end of the tone unit.

QUESTION TAGS

You are tired/, 2 arent you?: expect an answer or confirmation.

You are tired/, 1 arent you?: its a commentary.

IMPORTANT

To have when means tener we use the STRONG form and to do, too.

To be is always weak.

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