INGLESE I

� Module Title: The Structure of Modern English;

� II Semester: Monday-Thursday 18:15-20.00;

� Prof. Stefano Mochi;

� E-mail: stefano.mochi@uniroma1.it;

Office Hours: Monday 17:15-18:15;� Office Hours: Monday 17:15-18:15;

� Bibliography:

� Jeffries, L. (2006) Discovering Language, New York,

Palgrave;

� Cruse, D.A., Croft, W. (2003) Cognitive Linguistics.

London, Cambridge University Press.

� Further material to be decided during the course. 1

PHONETICS

� Phonetics: the study of the sounds that human

beings use to communicate. It is mostly

concerned with individual speech sounds:

� [mɒp]: how many sounds?

� There are three subfields of phonetics:� There are three subfields of phonetics:

� Acoustic phonetics: how sounds are transmitted

through the air:

� Auditory phonetics: how hearers receive and

interpret sounds:

� Articulatory phonetics: how speakers create

sounds;

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PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION

� What is the difference between the two

conventions below?

� [Khæt] vs /kæt/

� [ðæ?] vs /ðæt/

What transcription are square brackets used� What transcription are square brackets used

for?

� What transcription are slashes used for?

� Received Pronunciation (RP): the prestigious

accent of the British upper classes. It doesn’t

mean, however, that it is a better accent;

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PHONETIC SYMBOLS

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THE VOCAL APPARATUS

� The process through which human beings

produce speech is called egressive pulmonary

airstream mechanism;

� Sounds are produced when we breathe out;

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THE VOCAL APPARATUS

� The lungs take in air release oxygen into the

bloodstream expel what is left (carbon dioxide);

� The expelling process is the egressive pulmonary

airstream;

� Before the expelled gases leave the body through the mouth

and the nose they pass through the larynx;and the nose they pass through the larynx;

� The larynx contains two folds of flesh known as the vocal

folds (or ligaments);

� The vocal folds are attached in the rear of the larynx by

muscles through the arytenoid cartilage;

� The arytenoid cartilage can pull the vocal cords

together or keep them apart;

� Also, the vocal cords are responsible for various functions:

intonation, pitch, voicing;6

THE VOCAL APPARATUS

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THE VOCAL APPARATUS

� At the top of the trachea there is a flap of

cartilage called epiglottis which sends food

down the oesophagus and into the intestine;

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THE ORAL AND THE NASAL CAVITIES

� Above the larynx there is a muscular tube called

pharynx;

� The pharynx is able to contract thus causing a set of

sounds that are called pharyngeals (e.g. as in Arabic);

� After passing the pharynx, the egressive airstream can

take two directions:

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take two directions:

� either escape through the mouth;

� or escape through the nasal cavity;

� When the sounds to be produced are not nasal, the velum

(or soft palate) is pulled back to make contact with the

back of the pharynx thus isolating the nasal cavity.

THE ORAL AND THE NASAL CAVITIES

� The nasal cavity also functions as a large

resonating chamber;

� If the velum prevents the air from escaping

through the nasal cavity, the air leaves through

the mouth;

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the mouth;

� The uvulum is a fleshy protuberance hanging

back from the velum (notice: there are no uvular

sounds in English, while there are in French);

� The velum can be either raised or lowered so as

to let the air flow or not flow through the nasal

cavity:

THE ORAL AND THE NASAL CAVITIES

� When the velum is lowered it is responsible for

the production of nasal sounds like /m/ (man) and

/n/ (nose) in English;

� In front of the velum there is the hard palate.

When the body of the tongue presses it, the When the body of the tongue presses it, the

airflow is constricted;

� The hard palate is responsible for important

sounds in English, like /ʃ/ (ship) or /j/ (yacht);

� The alveolar ridge is the place where the blade

of the tongue makes many of the most common

sounds in English like /t/ (tent), /d/ (doctor), /s/

(song) and /z/ (zebra); 11

THE ORAL AND THE NASAL CAVITIES

� When the tip of the tongue is protruded between

the teeth, it produces interdental sounds: /ð/

(‘this’, ‘thigh’);

� Other sounds like the retroflex ones are not

used in English;used in English;

� The blade of the tongue can be raised to meet

the alveolar ridge and produce many English

consonants: /t/ (tattoo), /d/ (dental), /z/ (zone);

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TO SUM UP

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SEGMENTS OF SOUNDS

� Consonants: they squeeze and constrict the

airflow to the point of even stopping it

completely:

� Vowels: unlike consonants allow the free

passage of air through the mouth and the nose, passage of air through the mouth and the nose,

with a variable shaped cavity, which makes the

sound resonate differently and causing different

vowel sounds;

� The boundary between vowels and consonants is

not absolutely clear. Semivowels like /w/, /r/, /j/,

involve movement of the articulators but not to

the extent to constrict the airflow significantly; 14

SEGMENTS OF SOUNDS

� There is also a set of vowels known as

diphthongs (or gliding vowels) which, unlike

pure vowels, require movement from one

position to the other, thus making the sound

resemble a consonant one;resemble a consonant one;

�Diphthongs vs Pure vowels:

� 1.[fɛəʳ]; 2.[fɑːʳ]; 3.[f3ːʳ]; 4.[faɪəʳ]

� Do the transcriptions above reveal a rothic or a

non-rothic accent?15

SEGMENTS OF SOUNDS

� The way in which consonants are described in

phonetic terms is based on:

� wheter the vocal folds vibrate (voice);

� where they take place;

� how they are articulated (manner);� how they are articulated (manner);

� Such a way of describing consonants is called

VPM;

� The transcription of phonetic symbols was

developed in the 1880s by English and French

language teachers who were members of the

International Phonetic Association (IPA);16

PLACE OF ARTICULATION

� Place of Articulation: consonants are articulated

between the lips and the larynx, the area of the mouth

where a significant obstruction of the airflow takes place.

� The tongue, lips, teeth, and various regions of the mouth

constitute places of articulation in the oral cavity. This

means that air coming from the lungs is constricted means that air coming from the lungs is constricted

somehow to create consonant sounds.

� In Place of Articulation, three stages are recognized: (a)

onset (b) hold and (release). In the first, vocal folds assume

the position of sound. In the second, full control is taken

and there is readiness for articulation and in the third,

organs produce sounds, leave the release stage and get

back to onset for more sounds.

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CONSONANTS: PLACE OF ARTICULATION

� Bilabial: are pronounced with the lips together:

/p/ (pat); /m/ (mat); /w/ (weird);

� Labiodental: are produced by raising the lower

lip to the upper teeth: /f/ (fine), /v/ (vine);

� Interdental: are produced with the tongue � Interdental: are produced with the tongue

between the teeth or just behind the upper teeth

(also called "dental"): /θ/ (think); /ð/ (though);

� Alveolar: are produced by raising the tip of the

tongue to the alveolar ridge, which lies right

behind the teeth: /t/ (tin), /d/ (day), /s/ (stone), /z/

(zest), /l/ (lane), /r/ (root), /n/ (nose);18

CONSONANTS: PLACE OF ARTICULATION

� Post-alveolar: are produced halfway between the alveolar

ridge and the hard palate. The body of the tongue is raised

towards the front of the palate: /ʃ/ (sure), /ʒ/ (pleasure);

� Palatal: the front or the body of the tongue is raised to the

palatal region or the domed area at the roof of the mouth:

/j/ (yacht);/j/ (yacht);

� Velar: are produced by raising the back of the tongue to

the soft palate (velum), the area right behind the palate: /ŋ/

(sing), /k/ (cat), /ɡ/ (get);

� Glottal: are produced by pivoting and closing the vocal

folds at the larynx (the glottis is the space between the

vocal folds): /t/(departmen?), /h/(house);

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MANNER OF ARTICULATION

� Manner of articulation: describes the degree of

narrowing in the oral tract (the degree of stricture).

� Manner also specifies the escape channel, the initiating

source of the airflow involved and certain acoustic or

perceptual characteristics.

The escape channel is either oral or nasal (or both –� The escape channel is either oral or nasal (or both –

nasalized segments), and when it is oral it can be central or

lateral.

� The airstream mechanism used for most speech

articulations is pulmonic. When the sounds are not

created by the lungs they are called non-pulmonic;

� The degree of stricture can be complete thus producing

stop and nasal sounds; 20

MANNER OF ARTICULATION

� Plosives (or Stops): This type of consonant sounds result

from a brief blocking effect on the airstream and then let it

go abruptly: /p/(pen), /b/ (back), /t/ (tea) /d/ (day), /k/ (key),

/g/ (get);

� Nasals: consonant sounds produced when the velum is

lowered and the airstream is allowed to flow out through lowered and the airstream is allowed to flow out through

the nose: /m/ (more), /n/ (nice), /ŋ/ (ring);

� Fricatives: are produced by almost blocking the

airstream and having the air push through the very narrow

opening, thus causing a friction: /f/ (fat), /v/ (view), /θ/

(path), /ð/ (other), /s/ (soon), /z/ (zero), /ʃ/ (ship), /ʒ/ (vision),

/h/ (also glottal: ahead);

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MANNER OF ARTICULATION

� Affricates: they are produced by combining a brief

stopping of the airstream with an obstructed release which

causes some friction: /tʃ/ (church) and /dʒ/ (soldier);

� Liquids: they are formed by letting the airstream flow

around the sides of the tongue as they make contact with

the middle of the alveolar ridge: /r/ (red), /l/ (love);the middle of the alveolar ridge: /r/ (red), /l/ (love);

� Approximants (or semivowels): they are produced by

narrowing but not blocking the vocal tract and placing an

articulator such as the tongue near another part of the

vocal tract: /j/ (yes), /w/ (war)

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VOICED AND VOICELES SOUNDS

� Voiced consonants: when the vocal folds

vibrate in the production of sounds. Put your

fingers on you throat while producing the sounds

below: What happens?

� /b/, /d/, /th/ (as in that), /v/, /l/, /r/, /z/, /j/ (as in � /b/, /d/, /th/ (as in that), /v/, /l/, /r/, /z/, /j/ (as in

Jane);

� Voiceless consonants: the vocal folds do not

vibrate. Again, put your finger on your throat

while producing the sounds below. What

happens?

� /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/, /sh/, /ch/, /th/ (as in thin);23

SUMMARY OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS

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INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET

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THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC

ALPHABET (REVISED TO 1993)

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INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET

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SUPRASEGMENTAL AND TONE

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HTTP://WEB.UVIC.CA/LING/RESOURCES/IPA/

CHARTS/IPALAB/IPALAB.HTM

� Narrow transcription: a very detailed

transcription that makes use of the full range of

diacritics;

� Broad transcription: which reflects only

meaningful differences in pronunciation and is meaningful differences in pronunciation and is

therefore closer to a phonological, rather than to

a phonetic, record of the sounds that are

articulated.

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