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ERROR ANALYSIS OF SILENT LETTERS “H” AND “W”

IN ENGLISH WORDS

BY NON-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

TRIYOGA TYAS UTAMA

Student Number: 144214085

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2018

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ii

ERROR ANALYSIS OF SILENT LETTERS “H” AND “W”

IN ENGLISH WORDS

BY NON-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

TRIYOGA TYAS UTAMA

Student Number: 144214085

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2018






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It is not about the product that matters. It’s all about the process

to create the product.


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My parents, sisters, and the people who always support me,

this is all for you.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First, I would like to thank God because of His guidance and blessing I could

complete this study.

I would like to express my gratitude to my thesis advisor Arina Isti’anah,

S.Pd., M.Hum. for her support, suggestion, and guidance. I thank her for the

detailed corrections and immediate responses in the process of writing this

undergraduate thesis.

Next, I would say thanks to my family and friends who support me in

writing this undergraduate thesis. For my family, I thank them for the patience and

understanding. Then, for my friends, I thank them for their support.

Last, I am so thankful for the participants involved in this study. I thank

them for becoming my participants in conducting this undergraduate thesis.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE................................................................................................... ii

APPROVAL PAGE........................................................................................ iii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………....... iv

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA

ILMIAH……………………………………………………………………… v

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY…………………………………………..… vi

MOTTO PAGE……………………………………………………………… vii

DEDICATION PAGE……………………………………………………...... viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………… ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………… x

LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………...... xii

ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………….. xiii

ABSTRAK........................................................................................................ xiv

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION.................................................................... 1

A. Background of the Study……………………………………………… 1

B. Problem Formulation………………………………………………..... 5

C. Objectives of the Study………………………………………………. 5

D. Definitions of Terms…………………………………………………. 6

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE…………………………….. 7

A. Review of Related Studies…………………………………………… 7

B. Review of Related Theories………………………………………….. 10

1. Phonology……………………………………………………….. 10

Syllable Structure…………………………………………… 11

Phonotactic Constraints………………………………… 12

1) English Phonotactic Constraints…………………… 13

2) Indonesian Phonotactic Constraints……………….. 14

2. Silent Letter……………………………………………………… 16

a. Auxiliary Letter…………………………………………….. 16

b. Inert Letter………………………………………………….. 16

c. Empty Letter……………………………………………....... 16

3. Error……………………………………………………………... 17

C. Theoretical Framework………………………………………………. 18

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……………………………………….. 20

A. Object of the Study…………………………………………………… 20

B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………….. 21

C. Method of the Study…………………………………………………. 21

1. Data Collection………………………………………………….. 21

2. Data Analysis…………………………………………………… 22

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS…………. 24

A. The Type of Error Made by the Participants………………………… 24

1. Errors in Silent Letter “h”………………………………………. 25


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a. Initial Position……………………………………………… 26

b. Medial Position…………………………………………….. 28

c. Final Position………………………………………………. 30

2. Errors in Silent Letter “w”……………………………………… 31

a. Initial Position……………………………………………… 32

b. Medial Position…………………………………………….. 35

c. Final Position………………………………………………. 37

B. Phonological Factors Causing the Error…………………………….. 38

1. Indonesian Syllable Structure……………………………………. 38

a. Consonant-Vowel Form...……………..…………………… 39

b. Consonant-Vowel-Consonant Form……………………….. 41

c. Consonant-Consonant-Vowel Form………….……………. 42

d. VC, CVCC, and CCVC Form………………………………. 44

2. Indonesian Consonant Cluster .………………………………… 46

a. Silent Letter “h”.…………………………………………… ..46

b. Silent Letter “w”.………………………………………….. ..49

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION…………………………………………… 52

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………….. 54

APPENDICES……………………………………………………………... 56

Appendix 1………………………………………………………….. 56

Appendix 2………………………………………………………….. 66


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LIST OF TABLES

No. Table Page

1. Table 1. Position of Sounds in English 13

2. Table 2. Possible Sequences of Sounds in English 13

3. Table 3. Possible Sequences of Sounds in Indonesian 14

4. Table 4. Possible Structure of Syllable in Indonesian 15

5. Table 5. Type of Error of the Learner 17

6. Table 6. List of Words of Data Collection 21

7. Table 7. List of Words Given to the Participants 22

8. Table 8. Result of the Students’ Pronunciation of Silent 26

Letter “h”

9. Table 9. Pronunciation of Words Containing Silent Letter 28

“h” in the Initial Position


“h” in the Medial Position


“h” in the Final Position

12. Table 12. Result of the Students’ Pronunciation of Silent 32

Letter “w”


“w” in the Initial Position


“w” in the Medial Position


“w” in the Final Position


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ABSTRACT

TRIYOGA TYAS UTAMA (2018). Error Analysis of Silent Letters “H” and

“W” in English Words by Non-English Department Students. Yogyakarta:

English Letters Department, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

English is used in almost all around the globe and in many aspects of human

life. That fact encourages people to learn English. For English learners, the

phonological constraints of their mother tongue influence them how to perform

English. Indonesian people have been taught to use Indonesian since early age.

Thus, in their performance in using English, the Indonesian phonotactic constraints

are carried. The English silent letter is one of the hardest parts to be learned.

There are two problems discussed in this study. First is what types of error

are made by non-English department students in pronouncing silent letters “h” and

“w” in English words. Second is what phonological factors cause the error.

In conducting this study, the researcher used a voice recorder as an

instrument to collect the data. There are ten non-English department students

involved in the study. The researcher used 24 words in English containing silent

letters “h” and “w” in the initial, medial, and final position. In analyzing the data,

the researcher used phonological approach.

According to the data analysis, the students made 162 pronunciation errors

from the total of 240 pronunciations. There are two types of error made by the

students which are systematic and pre-systematic. The systematic error appears in

the pronunciation of the words containing silent letter “h” in all positions and silent

letter “w” in the final position. In the words containing silent letter “w” in the initial

and medial position, the participants made pre-systematic error. The result of the

analysis shows that the errors made by the students are caused by the Indonesian

phonological system. In the pronunciation error made by the students, the rules of

syllable structure and consonant cluster are applied.


xiv

ABSTRAK

TRIYOGA TYAS UTAMA (2018). Error Analysis of Silent Letters “H” and

“W” in English Words by Non-English Department Students. Yogyakarta:

Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Bahasa Inggris digunakan hampir diseluruh penjuru dunia dan di dalam

banyak aspek kehidupan. Hal tersebut memicu orang untuk mempelajari bahasa

Inggris. Bagi orang yang mempelajari bahasa Inggris, kaidah fonologi yang ada

dalam bahasa ibu mereka akan mempengaruhi bagaimana mereka berbicara dalam

bahasa Inggris. Orang Indonesia sudah diajarkan untuk menggunakan bahasa

Indonesia sejak masih kanak-kanak. Maka dari itu, dalam penerapan berbahasa

Inggris, kaidah-kaidah yang ada dalam bahasa Indonesia masih terbawa. Salah satu

hal yang sulit dipelajari dalam bahasa Inggris adalah huruf senyap.

Terdapat dua rumusan masalah yang dibahas dalam penelitian ini. Pertama,

tipe-tipe galat apa saja yang dibuat oleh para mahasiswa program studi nonInggris

ketika melafalkan huruf senyap “h” dan “w” dalam kata-kata berbahasa Inggris.

Kedua, apa faktor-faktor fonologis yang memicu terjadinya galat.

Dalam pelaksanaan penelitian ini, peneliti menggunakan alat perekam suara

sebagai instrumen untuk mengumpulkan data. Penelitian ini melibatkan sepuluh

mahasiswa dari program studi nonInggris. Peneliti menggunakan 24 kata berbahasa

Inggris yang mengandung huruf senyap “h” dan “w” pada posisi depan, tengah, dan

akhir kata. Peneliti menggunakan pendekatan fonologi dalam menganalisis data.

Berdasarkan analisis data, para mahasiswa membuat 162 galat dalam

pengucapan dari total 240 pengucapan. Terdapat dua jenis galat yang dibuat oleh

mahasiswa yaitu sistematis dan pra-sistematis. Jenis galat sistematis muncul dalam

pengucapan kata-kata yang mengandung huruf senyap “h” di semua posisi dan

huruf senyap “w” di posisi akhir kata. Pada kata-kata yang mengandung huruf

senyap “w” di awal dan tengah kata, para responden membuat galat jenis pra-

sistematis. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa galat yang dibuat oleh para

mahasiswa dipicu oleh kaidah-kaidah tata bunyi dalam bahasa Indonesia. Dalam

pengucapan galat yang dibuat, para mahasiswa menerapkan aturan-aturan

mengenai sruktur suku kata dan gugus konsonan yang berlaku di Indonesia.


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

English spoken language is commonly used by people around the globe.

English is widely-spread and mostly used in communication between people from

different countries. “It is a familiar story, in the history of the English language,

though operating now on a global scale” (Crystal, 2003, p. 177). The possibility of

English to become the language of the world is on the progress. In the era of

globalization, spoken English has a big role in communicating ideas between

individuals. Thus, the competence of spoken English becomes a necessity. In order

to perform fully-understandable English, the phonological terms of English must

be considered.

Phonology according to McMahon “is the language-specific selection and

organisation of sounds to signal meanings” (2002, p. 2). Phonology concerns the

rules of spoken language in a particular language. Those rules are different from

one language to another. Dardjowidjojo states that “Phonology does not deal with

how sounds are formed, produced, or perceived, but how they are arranged in

relation to other sound” (2009, p. 16). Phonology is different from Phonetics.

Whereas Phonetics deals with the production of sounds, Phonology is related to the

actualization of those sounds. The Phonology of a language is distinct from other

languages. English and Indonesian phonological systems have their own

characteristics of Phonology.


2

English and Indonesian phonological systems are different in certain

aspects. In English, we have words containing consonant clusters [l] and [p] in the

final position such as scalp, pulp, and help. However, those clusters are always

situated in different syllables in Indonesian, such as in the word al-pa, pul-pen, and

tel-pon. Therefore, Indonesians have difficulty in pronouncing those combinations

and tendency to spell those words by adding schwa [ə] between [l] and [p]. In this

case, Indonesian speakers have a problem in pronouncing English words regarding

to the limitation of Indonesian phonological rules. This phenomenon can cause

pronunciation error for Indonesian students who perform English spoken language.

The problem in pronouncing English words can be found in the words containing

silent letters such as debris, psychology, and subtle.

Error is a phenomenon related to the influence of the mother tongue on the

learning process. Error which made by the learners in the learning process is

inevitable. However, the errors made by the learners are systematic and not random.

Therefore, by studying the pattern of the error, the occurrence of the error can be

prevented (Corder, 1982, pp. 65-66). In this study, the researcher only focused on

the error of the second language learner.

According to Richard (2002) error is the use of a linguistic item, such as a

word, a grammatical item, or a speech act, in the way a learner of the language

shows incomplete learning (p. 184). The error phenomenon indicates not only the

effectiveness of the learning technique applied, but also the learner’s ‘levels’ in

mastering a language. The errors made by learners, referring to Richard in Ellis

(1994, p. 58), is related to three things as follows. Interference error, which occurs


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as the result of applying the rule of L1 on L2; Intra-lingual error, which occurs as

the result of faulty generalization, incompetence application of rules, and failure to

learn condition under which rules apply and development error, which occurs when

the learner attempts to conclude the rule of a particular language based on a limited

experience.

In this study, the researcher is observing the error made by non-English

department students in pronouncing silent letters “h” and “w” in English words.

According to Richard, the aim of error analysis is to find the causes of learner errors

(2002, p. 184). Then, the use of error analysis as the theoretical grounds of this

study is appropriate in order to identify the factors causing the error made by

English learners.

Silent letter is a letter which is present in spelling but omitted in the

pronunciation. According to Podhaizer (1998), “letters that are not heard making

their "usual" sound in a word as silent” (p. 88). Silent letter that is completely un-

pronounced in the actual speech is called empty letter. In English we have words

containing empty letter as “b” in “debt”, “w” in “wreck”, and “l” in “walk” which

are pronounced as [det], [rɛk], and [wɔ:k].

English silent letters were introduced in the Middle English and Early

Modern English period which is marked by major changes in grammar, vocabulary,

pronunciation and spelling. Most of the words which contain silent letters comes

from Latin and French. The introduction of silent letter at that time was a solution

since every letter had to be pronounced. Therefore, silent letters enable people to

stop pronouncing long consonants (Pospíšilová, 2014, pp. 8-10).


http://lingorado.com/ipa/

4

Non-English department students involved in this research are all under

graduate students from any majors who are not exposed by adequate English lesson

formally in class. This circumstance is chosen to fulfill the quality of the English

learners who mostly speak in Indonesian. The interference of the mother tongue is

one of the major factors causing the error, as Corder states, “This is called

interference and the implication of this term can only be that his mother tongue

habits prevent him in some way from acquiring the habits of the second language”

(1976, pp. 24-25).

In this study, the researcher focuses on analyzing the participants’

performance in pronouncing silent letters “h” as in the word “vehicle” and “w” as

in “saw”. Silent letters “h” and “w” are analyzed because the researcher does not

find any study analyzing the error pattern on silent letter “h” and “w”. The

researcher aims to prove that the distinct phonotactic constraints between the

Indonesian and English can cause errors. Then, the researcher aims to identify the

phonological factors causing the errors. In identifying the factors causing the errors,

the researcher compares the words in the test with Indonesian vocabulary. The

researcher also analyzes the syllabification in Indonesian to identify whether the

cluster is available in Indonesian.

This study is conducted to encourage the students to acknowledge errors in

pronouncing English words containing silent letters and urge them to pronounce

more appropriate English. This study also aims at finding the influence of the

mother tongue in learning English. As English has become the standard language

in academic world, it is essential for students in higher education to comprehend


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fully-understandable English. According to Crystal, English has become familiar

for people from around the globe and its presence is in every domain. “Similar

attitudes will be encountered in all parts of the world where English is developing

a strong non-native presence, and at all levels” (2003, p. 176). Therefore, acquiring

fully-understandable English, particularly in spoken English, becomes a necessity.

The results of the study are the possibilities in what position of silent letter

the learner made the error, the type of error the learner made in a particular position

of silent letter, and the factors causing the error. Thus, this study can be used to

identify the error made by the learners in a particular position of silent letter. The

study explains in what position the learners perform most pronunciation error.

Then, the study explains why such error occurs.

B. Problem Formulation

In this thesis, the researcher has two research problems. Those research

problems are:

1. What types of errors are made by non-English department students in

pronouncing silent letters “h” and “w” in English word?

2. What phonological factors cause the errors?

C. Objectives of the Study

Based on the problems formulated above, one of the objectives of this

research is to find out the types of errors made by non-English department students

in pronouncing silent letter “h” and “w” in English words. The participants’


6

pronunciation is recorded and transcribed. The data will be analyzed and the

researcher will categorize the errors into 3 (three) types of error which are pre-

systematic, systematic, and post systematic (Corder in Ellis, 1994, p. 56). The other

objective is to identify the factors causing the errors. Error analysis is used in

identifying the cause of the error. The researcher aims to prove the theory that the

phonological rules of the mother tongue will influence the pronunciation of the

second language.

D. Definition of Terms

In this section, the researcher intends to clarify some terminology that used

in this study. The first terminology is error. According to Taylor, error is the

inevitable uncertainty that attends all measurements (1997, p. 3). The word error

carries different definition with the word mistake or false. Error is related to the

sense of uncertainty.

The second terminology is error analysis. Corder defines error analysis as

the investigation of the language of second language learner (1982, p. 14). In all

measurement which is done in science, there is always uncertainty. Then, it is

important to identify this uncertainly and to maintain it as minimum as possible.

The third terminology is silent letter. Silent letter refers to the term used in

the teaching of reading, where letters are often supposed to 'speak' to the reader

(Carney, 2012, p. 40). Silent letters are letters which not pronounced or minimized

in order to perform more acceptable spoken English. Silent letter is presence on the

spelling but minimized or omitted in the actual speech.


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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In this chapter, the researcher provides theoretical review about the research

topic. There are three main sub chapters discussed here. They are review of related

studies, review of related theories, and theoretical framework.

A. Review of Related Studies

In this part, the researcher presents some studies which have similar topic to

the researcher’s study. Dealing with this study, there are four studies consisting of

two journal articles and two undergraduate theses which are previously conducted

by some researchers before. Those studies are presented below.

The research entitled “Error Analysis of Sundanese English Pronunciation

on Fricatives Sound” by Fauzi (2014) is conducted to find out the errors that

frequently made by Sundanese students of English Letters Department in the year

2013 in Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, who already took a

pronunciation class, in pronouncing a fricative sound. The focus of this study is on

the freshman students who have Sundanese cultural background to know their

accuracy in pronouncing some fricative’s words.

The collected data were analyzed through descriptive analysis technique and

the researcher was involved in the process of collecting data by observing the

respondents, recording their pronunciation, and analyzing the error on their

pronunciation. In conclusion, the researcher finds that Sundanese students of


8

English Letters Department made some errors of omission and addition on the

vowels and consonant sounds except the fricative sounds on their pronunciation.

Then, the error of selection occurrs both on the fricative sounds and the rest of the

sound. The researcher also finds that over generalization is one of the reasons why

the Sundanese students made errors in their pronunciation.

The second research is by Kurniawan (2016) entitled “The Error Analysis

of the Pronunciation of Dental Fricative Consonants /θ, /ð/ by The Students of

English Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education,

Sriwijaya University” which aims to find patterns in the errors of the pronunciation

of dental fricative consonants /θ, ð/ in the onset, in the middle and in the coda of a

syllable. The data are taken from the sample of 120 students who pronounce 30

words in which some of the words were distractors and the rest contained the

consonants on onset, in medial and coda. The pronunciation data were recorded and

then analyzed. In analyzing the data, a native speaker of English was involved. The

findings show that in pronouncing the two consonants, the most errors that arise are

that they were pronounced as [t] and [d] which is the closest equivalents of the

consonants in Indonesian. Meanwhile in other sounds, i.e. [s], [d], [θ], and [ð], also

occur but in much lower frequency. It is suggested that the result of the study can

be used in other similar studies and also used as teaching and learning material in

relevant courses

The third is thesis by Ardi (2005) entitled “An Analysis of Students’

Pronunciation Error of English Silent Letters” which is conducted to analyze the

students’ ability in pronouncing English silent letter and the students’ common error


9

in pronouncing English silent letter. The participants of this research are 34 students

of English department at IAIN Antasari Banjarmasin. The objects of this research

are the students’ pronunciation of English silent letters and the students’ common

error in pronouncing English silent letters. The data collected were analyzed in

descriptive qualitative method. The result of this research shows that mean score of

students’ ability in pronouncing English silent letters is 61.05% which falls to the

in fair category. The students’ common error of silent letters in the part II test is on

the empty letter “x” and “s” in the final position. There are 34 students (100%) that

pronounced incorrectly in pronouncing letter [x] in faux and [s] in debris.

The last research is a thesis by Widyaningtyas (2014) entitled “Error

Analysis on English Consonants Pronunciation Produced by Second Semester

Students of Study Program of English Universitas Brawijaya” which concerns at

analyzing the phonological errors made by second semester students of Study

Program of English in Universitas Brawijaya regarding English consonants. The

writer conducted her research using qualitative approach. In collecting the data, the

writer firstly recorded the participants’ pronunciation of 24 English consonants and

transcribed their pronunciations. The result is that the second semester students

have not mastered the pronunciation of English language yet because most of them

are still influenced by their first language pronunciation system.

The studies previously mentioned have contributions for the researcher to

develop his ideas on this study. The first, second, and fourth research help the

researcher in the use of the error analysis as the theoretical grounds. As the result,

the researcher was urged to conduct his research with the same theoretical grounds.


10

The third research helps the researcher gathers information about English silent

letters.

Furthermore, the researcher conducts this study as his concern to the

phenomenon that occurs in his surroundings and there are some differences from

the previous studies. The main distinction lies on the subject of the study which is

non-English Department students who are not exposed to formal English courses.

The other difference is on the specific object of this study which is the production

of silent letters “h” and “w” in actual speech. This study is developing a new idea

from the related studies. This undergraduate thesis focuses on the silent letter “h”

and “w” and aims to identify the factors causing the error among the learners.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Phonology

Phonology, as Odden states, is the study of sound structure in language

(2015, p. 2). The objective of Phonology is to examine language sounds as mental

units and focuses on how these units function in grammar. In studying the sound of

language, the term Phonetics cannot be omitted.

Phonetics focuses on analyzing the field of sound used by human in

performing their language. According to McMahon, articulatory Phonetics aims to

identify objectively which organs of speech are involved in producing different

sounds of the world’s languages (2002, p. 1). The Phonetics is related to the

anatomy, physiology, physics, and neurology.


11

Phonetics and Phonology are studying the field of sound structure of a

language, but they are different in the objective and the way to analyze the sound

of language. According to Gut, Phonetic deals with the production, properties, and

the perception of a speech sound of human languages, while Phonology deals with

how the speech sounds form a pattern in particular language (2009, p. 7). In

analyzing a sound of a language, Phonetics focuses on the production of the sound

of all human language and Phonology concerns with the actualization of the sound

of particular language in real conversation.

Syllable Structure

Syllable structure is a basic element of constituent structure that can be seen

physically. As Laurel and Donna say, the syllable represents a level of structure as

a unit that speakers of a language can identify (2010, p. 75). A syllable consists of

a vowel or nucleus and potentially carries stress. A syllable initiates with one to

three consonants, the onset of the syllable, and has one to four consonants, the coda

of the syllable. The syllable structure can be presented in a form of tree diagram.

The tree diagram below is the illustration of the syllable structure of the words

spring and quartz (in the form of orthography) by Laurel and Donna.

σ σ

/spr i ng/ /qu a rtz/


12

In the tree diagram above, the syllables of spring and quartz are divided into

three parts. The syllable spring has [spr] as the onset, [i] as the nucleus, and [ng] as

the coda. Then, the syllable [quartz] has [qu] as the onset, [a] as the nucleus, and

[rtz] as the coda.

The syllables which develop words consist of three segments. According to

Levis and Reed (2015, p. 88), the vowel or nucleus is considered as the main part

of the syllable, and is in peak position. One or more consonants, e.g., /taɪ/ in “tie”,

which preceded the nucleus is known as the onset. There may also be one or more

consonants, e.g., /aɪlz/ in “isles”, following the nucleus which is known as the coda.

Levis and Reed introduce the terms for syllables with an empty coda position as

open syllables, while closed syllable for syllable which have final consonants.

Phonotactic Constraints

Phonotactic constraints, according to Laurel and Donna, is a unique

combination of certain sound occurs in one language but does not permitted in other

language (2010, p. 59). Phonotactic is a constraints related to the positions and

sequences of sound in a particular language. Phonotactic of positions refers to the

initial, medial, and final position, while phonotactic of sequences relates to the

combinations of consonants, called consonant clusters, which may occur in the

beginning or ending syllable. Since different language carries different phonotactic

constraints, it can be used to analyze the problem of Indonesian as an English

learner. The phonotactic constraints of English and Indonesian are described below.


13

1) English Phonotactic Constraints

English phonotactic constraints as Laurel and Donna (2010, p. 59-63)

describe are the possible positions and sequences. The term of possible positions of

sounds in a language refer to word initial, medial, and final positions, and other

positions, such as syllable initial. Table 1 shows the positions of sound in English.

Table 1 Positions of Sound in English (Laurel and Donna, 2010)

Sound Position

/ŋ/ Medial and final only.

/ʃ/ Rare in initial and final but common in medial.

/h/, /j/, and /w/ Always syllable initial before a stressed vowel.

/j/ and /w/ In final only as part of a diphthong.

/ð/ Restricted in initial, occurs freely word medially and finally.

The term of possible sequences or combinations of sounds in a language is

concerned with the combinations of consonants, called consonant clusters, which

may begin or end a syllable. The table 2 shows the possible sequences or

combinations of sounds in English.

Table 2 Possible Sequences of Sounds in English (Laurel and Donna, 2010)

Syllable Sequences Sounds Words

Initial

voiced or voiceless stop +

approximant

voiceless fricative + approximant

/s/ + voiceless stop

/s/ + nasal

/s/ + voiceless stop + approximant

/pl, pr, br/

/fl, sl, th/

/sp, st, sc/

/sn, sm/

/str, spl/

play, price, bleed

fly, sled, three

spend, sting, scare

snail, sneak, small

strong, split

Final

liquid + consonant

nasal + obstruent

fricative + stop

stop + fricative

fricative + fricative

stop + stop

stop + fricative + stop

nasal + fricative + stop

nasal + stop + fricative

/rp, rm/

/nd, nt/

/ft, ed/

/ts, bs/

/ves, fs/

/pt, ched/

/dst, xed/

/nsed, umphed/

/mpse, nts/

harp, harm

bend, bent

lift, paved

mats, grabs

leaves, reefs

apt, ached

midst, boxed

rinsed, triumphed

glimpse, dents


14

Final

nasal + stop + stop

liquid + stop + fricative

liquid + stop + stop

liquid + fricative + fricative

liquid + fricative + stop

liquid + nasal + fricative

/mpt, mbed/

/rpse, lps/

/lped, rped/

/lves, rves/

/rst, rved/

/lns, rms/

prompt, thumbed

corpse, gulps

helped, warped

shelves, dwarfs

first, starved

kilns, terms

2) Indonesian Phonotactic Constraints

Indonesian phonotactic constraints permit consonant cluster on the final

position of a syllable. Foreign word which borrowed in Indonesian receive an

addition or deletion in order to be appropriate for Indonesian speaker, as the word

“mars” into mares or “lift” into lif (Alwi et al, 2003, p. 77). The sequences or

combinations of sounds in Indonesian are presented in the table below.

Table 3 Possible Sequences of Sounds in Indonesian (Alwi et al, 2003)

Syllable Sequences Words

Stop + stop /pt/ ptialin, pterosaur

Stop + fricative /ps/

/ts/

psikologi,

tsunami

Stop + liquid /pl/

/pr/

/bl/

/br/

/kl/

/kr/

/gl/

/gr/

/tr/

/dr/

taplak, pleno

prangko, semprot

gamblang, blangko

obral, ambruk

klinik, klasik

akrab, mikroskop

global, gladiator

gram, grafik

tragedi, sastra

drama, drastis

Stop + glide /kw/ kuitansi, kuintal

Fricative + liquid /fl/

/fr/

/sl/

/sr/

flamboyan, flannel

frustasi, fragmen

slogan, Slipi

pasrah, Sriwijaya

Fricative + glide /sw/ swalayan, swasembada


15

Fricative + stop /sp/

/sm/

/sn/

/sk/

/st/

spanduk, spora

smokel

snobisme

skandal, skema

stamina, stasiun

Fricative + stop + liquid

Fricative + stop + liquid

/str/

/spr/

/skr/

/skl/

Strategi, instruktur

sprei

skripsi

sclerosis

The table 3 shows that if there are two consonants occurs in one syllable,

the first consonant is stops and fricative, while the second consonant is /r/ or /l, w,

s, m, n, f, t, k/ in particular words. Indonesian prohibits consonant clusters at the

end of the syllable, except in the word pungut (Alwi et al, 2003, p. 77). Indonesian

phonotactic only allows consonant cluster in the initial position of a syllable. There

is only one possible combination of three consonants occurring in the initial

position in particular order that is fricative followed by stop and ended by liquid.

According to Alwi et al., there are eleven possible patterns of syllable

structure accepted in the Indonesian phonological system. The ideal syllable

structure is described in the table below.

Table 4 Possible Structure of a Syllable in Indonesian (Alwi et al, 2003)

No Structure Word No Structure Word

1 V a.mal 7 CCV slo.gan

2 VC ar.ti 8 CCVC trak tor

3 CV pa.sar 9 CCCV stra.tegi

4 CVC pak.sa 10 CCCVC struk.tur

5 CVCC teks.til 11 CCVCC kom.pleks

6 CVCCC korps

*) V=Vowel C=Consonant


16

2. Silent Letter

The letter is silent when its sound is not written and spoken in actual speech.

Carney defines silent letter as a condition where letters are often supposed to 'speak'

to the reader (2012, p. 40). There are three types of silent letter as mentioned by

Carney. Those types are presented below.

a. Auxiliary letter

Auxiliary letter is an extra letter to make up distinct complex graphical unit.

This type of letter can be seen in the letter “w” of [wr] in ‘wrest’ with [r] in ‘rest’

and “a” of [ea] in ‘leather’ with [e] in ‘tether’ (Carney, 2012, p. 40).

b. Inert letter

Inert letter is the type of silent letter where the letter is spelled and

pronounced in certain form, but unpronounced in other form. This type of silent

letter can be seen in the letter “g” which is occur in the ‘signature’ and ‘signal’, but

disappeared in the words ‘sign’ and ‘signed’ (Carney, 2012, p. 41).

c. Empty letter

Empty letters are letters which are unpronounced but they do not have a

special function like auxiliary letters or inert letters. The silent consonant can be

classified based on its letter and its consonant cluster. Consonant only found in the

onset and the coda of syllable. The letter containing empty letters in the onset like,

“h” in ‘heiress’, ‘honest’, and ‘ghost’. Empty letter on the coda is as in ‘hallelujah’,

‘myrrh’, and ‘rhythm’ (Carney, 2012, p. 42).


17

3. Error

The word error is related to the terms uncertainty and not associated with

wrong or mistakes. Error in a scientific measurement, as Taylor states, is the

uncertainty which occurs in every measurement (1997, p. 3). The error is inevitable

in all scientific measurement. The theory of error is used to determine the types of

error made by the students.

The analysis of error can be used to identify the factors causing the language

acquisition problems. According to Corder, “the study of learners' errors is part of

the systematic study of the learners' language which is itself necessary to an

understanding of the process of second language acquisition” (1982, p. 1).

Learners’ error is significance in understanding the problem in learning a new

language.

There are three types of error which used in this study to identify the error

of the participants. Corder in Ellis (1994, p. 56) categorizes three types of error

depending on their systematization as presented in the table below.

Table 5 Type of Error of the Learner (Corder in Ellis, 1994)

No Type Indicators

1 Pre-systematic The learner not aware of a particular rule.

2 Systematic The learner applied the incorrect rule.

3 Post-systematic The learner applied the correct rule but perform it

inconsistently.

According to Corder in Ellis, pre-systematic error occurs when the learner

cannot explain why a particular form is chosen, systematic error occurs when the

learner cannot correct the error but can explain the rule applied, and post-systematic

error occurs when the learner can explain the correct rule (1994, p. 56). The

researcher interprets the range of the percentage of error to categorize the data into


18

a particular type of error. The first type is post-systematic error which occurs in the

range between 0%-30%. The minimal error shows that the students already know

that a particular rule occurs. However, the students did not apply the rule

consistently. The next type is systematic error. Systematic error occurs between the

range of 31%-70%. The range indicates that the students applied the incorrect rule.

Last, the amount of error that occurs between 71%-100% is categorized as pre-

systematic error. The percentage reflects that the students are not aware of a

particular rule.

C. Theoretical Framework

The definitions of Phonology from Odden (2015), the theory of silent letter

according to Carney (2012), and the theory of error from Corder (1976) and Taylor

(1997) are the ground theories in this study. The aims of this study are to define the

theory of silent letter, the theory of phonotactic constraints, and the theory of error

are.

In designing the test, the researcher used the theory of silent letters. The

theory was used to find the appropriate words which contain silent letters in the test.

According to the theory, the researcher chooses 24 words which contain empty

letters in the initial, medial, and final position.

To answer the first problem formulation, theory of error is applied to

categorize the types of error made by the participants and the theory of Phonology

is used to analyze the sounds recorded as the data. To solve the second problem, the

researcher conducts a comparative analysis. The theory of English syllable structure


19

from Laurel and Donna (2010) and the theory of Indonesian syllable structure Alwi

et al. (2003) are used to identify the factors causing the error. As Indonesian is the

first language of the participants, the Phonology of Indonesian is needed to support

the analysis.


20

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the procedure of how the data were taken and

analyzed. The chapter consists of three main sub chapters. They are object of the

study, approach of the study, and method of the study.

A. Object of the Study

The main object of this study was the pronunciation of English words

containing silent letters “h” and “w” by non-English department students. The

pronunciation was taken from students from any majors who are not exposed by

English course intensively. The criterion of the participants is active students who

have received English course in their first year. Ten participants were involved in

this study. There were eight participants from Sanata Dharma University and two

participants from Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa University. The participants were

given 24 (twenty-four) words containing empty letters “h” and “w”. Empty letter

has no specific role as extra letter to make up graphic unit (auxiliary letter) or as a

letter pronounced in some forms of morpheme but omitted in other forms of the

morpheme (inert letters) (Carney, 2006, pp. 40-42).

To analyze the consistency of the pronunciation error of the participants, the

researcher used 3 (three) positions of the silent letter in a word which is in the initial,

medial, and final on the test. This technique is also used in identifying the error


21

pattern made by the participants of the test. The words are listed in the following

table.

Table 6 List of Words of Data Collection

Position

Words

“h” “w”

Initial

hour wry

heir wroth

honest written

honor whom

Medial

aghast answer

exhort awry

ghost hawk

nihilism brawl

Final

myrrh raw

catarrh draw

cheetah brew

messiah paw

B. Approach of the Study

Phonological approach concerns the sound systems in human languages.

According to Odden, one of the foci of phonological theory is to find the correct set

of features that defines the sounds and rule systems of all human languages (2013,

p. 77). Since the data in this study were sounds, the phonological approach was

suitable to analyze the data. Moreover, error analysis was used in this study to

analyze the type of error made by the participants as the first problem formulation.

C. Method of the Study

1. Data Collection

In this study, the researcher applied a purposive sampling method.

According to Creswell, the use of this method is to purposefully select participants


22

that will best help the researcher understand the problem and the research question

(2009, p. 179). The participants chosen were non-English department students.

The data were the audio recording of the pronunciation of the participants.

The researcher used a voice recorder, a Longman English Pronunciation Dictionary,

and the test sheet to collect the data. The Longman English Pronunciation

Dictionary was used to find the correct pronunciation of the words. Then, the test

sheet containing list of words and a sound recorder were prepared to collect the

data. The researcher asked the participants to read the words and their

pronunciations were recorded. The participants were limited to pronounce each of

the words once. The list of the words given to the participants is presented below.

Table 7 List of Words Given to the Participants

No Words Intended

Pronunciation

No Words Intended

Pronunciation

1 hour /ˈaʊə.r/ 13 wry /’raɪ/

2 heir /’er/ 14 wroth /’rɔːθ/

3 honest /ˈɑːn.əst/ 15 written /ˈrɪt.n/

4 honor /ˈɑːn.ər/ 16 whom /’huːm/

5 aghast /ə.ˈɡæst/ 17 answer /ˈæns.ər/

6 exhort /ɪɡ.ˈzɔːrt/ 18 awry /ə.ˈraɪ/

7 ghost /ɡoʊst/ 19 hawk /’hɑːk/

8 nihilism /ˈnaɪ.ɪ.lɪz.əm/ 20 brawl /’brɑːl/

9 myrrh /mɜː/ 21 raw /’rɑː/

10 catarrh /kə.ˈtɑːr/ 22 draw /’drɑː/

11 cheetah /ˈtʃiːt.ə/ 23 brew /’bruː/

12 messiah /mə.ˈsaɪ.ə/ 24 paw /’pɑː/

2. Data Analysis

Corder in Ellis (1994) says that there are 5 steps that used in the Error

Analysis research. Those steps are, (1) collection of sample of a learner language,


23

(2) identification of errors, (3) description of error, (4) explanation of error, and (5)

evaluation of error. In the study, the researcher only uses the first, second, and the

fourth step. The first step of analyzing the data was collecting the result of the

pronunciation test of the words containing silent letter “h” and “w”. Then, the

results of the test were transcribed using TranscriberAG (version 1.6.0), Phon

(version 2.1.8), and Longman English pronunciation dictionary referring to IPA.

The researcher focused on the silent letters of the words and omitted error of other

letters of the words. The result of the pronunciation was categorized into two parts

based on the silent letter contained. Then, the words were divided into three

positions: initial, medial, and final.

The table was used to find the percentage of the error of the silent letters and

to identify in which part did the participants performed higher number of error.

Then, the summary of the students’ pronunciation error was calculated using the

formula presented below.

𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 = {𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟

𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 } × 100%

In answering the first problem formulation, the data were analyzed using the

indicators of the type of error in table 4 and relate it by means of the number of

error performed by the participants. The second step was investigating the

phonological factors causing the pronunciation errors of the participants. To

analyze the factor, the researcher compared the intended pronunciation with the

result pronunciation. Then, the phonotactic constraints of L1 and L2 were related

to discover the phonological factors may cause the error.


24

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter consists of two subchapters. The first subchapter discusses the

analysis of the types of errors made by the participants in pronouncing silent letter

“h” and “w” in English words. The second subchapter discusses the phonological

factors causing the errors. The findings are presented below.

A. The Types of Error Made by The Participants

There were 10 (ten) students who participated in this thesis. In pronouncing

silent letters “h” and “w” in English word, the writer finds errors made by the

students. The writer analyzes three positions of the silent letter “h’ and “w” in the

different position in the words, there are initial, medial, and final position. Thus,

the analysis of the type of error consists of three parts: the analysis of error in the

initial position, medial position, and final position.

Corder categorize three kinds of errors as stated in chapter 2. There are pre-

systematic error which occurs when the learner cannot explain why a particular

form is chosen, systematic error which occurs when the learner cannot correct the

error but can explain the rule applied, and post-systematic error which occurs when

the learner can explain the correct rule.

In conducting the research, ten participants were involved in this study. The

participants were given 24 (twenty-four) words containing silent letters “h” and

“w”. The words are containing silent letter in three different position; initial, medial,


25

and final. In each position, there were 8 (eight) words to be tested which consists

of 4 (four) words containing silent letter “h” and 4 (four) words containing silent

letter “w”. In the result of the test, there are 240 pronunciations made by the

participants.

According to the result of the pronunciation test, there are 162 errors made

by the student in pronouncing silent “h” and “w” in English words from the total

240 data. In the result of the test, the participants made 67 pronunciation errors in

the words containing silent letter “h” and 95 pronunciation errors in the words

containing silent letter “w”. The result of the pronunciation error for each silent

letter is described below.

1. Errors in Silent Letter “h”

The 67 pronunciation errors made by the participants in silent letter “h”

consist of 28 errors in the initial position, 17 errors in the medial position, and 22

errors in the final position. In the initial position the participants made 70%

pronunciation error. The type of error applied in the position is systematic error.

Then, in the medial position, there are 42.5% pronunciation error performed by the

participants. The percentage of error shows that the participants made systematic

error in the medial position. In the final position, the pronunciation error made by

the participants is 55%. It is indicating that the participants perform systematic

error. In the pronunciation of the words containing silent letter “h”, the participants

made systematic error in all positions. The result of the students’ performance in

pronouncing words containing silent letter “h” is shown in the following table.


26

Table 8 Result of the Students’ Pronunciation of Silent Letter “h”

No Position Number of

words

Number of

error Percentage

Types of

error

1 Initial 40 28 70% Systematic

2 Medial 40 17 42.5% Systematic

3 Final 40 22 55% Systematic

The researcher divides the pronunciation into three positons to analyze the

consistency of the error. The discussion of error of the words for each position is

described below.

a. Initial Position

The pronunciation error of the words containing silent letter “h” in the initial

position is 70% of the total pronunciation. Thus, participants made systematic error

in pronouncing silent “h” in the initial position. The result shows that the students

do not apply the correct rule in pronouncing the silent letter.

In the word “hour”, the participants made the minimal error from the list of

words containing silent “h”. There are five participants who pronounced the word

“hour” with pronunciation error. The examples of pronunciation error performed

by the participants are [haʊər], [haʊr], and [hɒr] instead of the correct pronunciation

/ˈaʊə.r/. Participant 1 and participant 2 made the error by pronouncing the word as

[haʊər]. Then, participant 3 also made error by pronouncing the word as [haʊr]. The

last two pronunciation errors are performed by participants 9 and 10 by

pronouncing the word as [hɒr]. In the word “hour”, all the non-pronunciation errors

are in the form of the intended pronunciation. The result shows that the participants

who omit the silent letter have been exposed with the word adequately.


27

In the next word, “heir”, all of the participants of this study pronounced the

silent letter “h”. The word “heir” is the only word on the list which has 100%

pronunciation error. There are four similar pronunciation errors performed by the

participants. The participants pronounce the word as [hɛɪr], [heə], [hɛr], and [haɪə]

instead of the intended pronunciation as /’er/. In the result of the pronunciation,

participant 1 pronounced the word as [hɛɪr]. Then, participant 5 performs

pronunciation error as [hɛr]. Participant 8 made a pronunciation error by

pronouncing the word as [haɪə]. In the pronunciation as [heə], there are seven

participants involved in the pronunciation error. Participants 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10

made the similar pronunciation error. The result shows that all of the participants

do not silence the letter /h/ in the word “heir”.

The remaining words on the list which are “honest” and “honor” which have

six and seven pronunciation errors. In the word “honest”, the participants made

three forms of pronunciation error. The intended pronunciation of the word

“honest” is /ˈɑːn.əst/ and the error forms are pronounced as [hɑnəst], [hɒnɛs], and

[hɒnɪst]. The pronunciation error in the form of [hɑnəst] is performed by participants

1, 4, 5, and 6. Then, pronunciation error, [hɒnɛs], is performed by participant 3 and

[hɒnɪst] is performed by participant 9. There are 6 participants who pronounced the

silent “h” in the word “honest” and in the word “honor”, 7 participants still

pronounced the silent “h”.

In the word “honor”, the participants made two similar pronunciation errors

which are [hɒnɒr] and [hɒnər]. According to the Longman English pronunciation


28

dictionary, the intended pronunciation of “honor” is /ˈɑːn.ər/. The pronunciation

error of the word as [hɒnɒr] is performed by participants 1, 3, and 9. Then,

participants 2, 3, 4, and 6 pronounce the word as [hɒnər]. In the pronunciation error,

all of the participants pronounced the silent letter “h”. The following table shows

the result of the students’ pronunciation of words containing silent “h” in the initial

position.

Table 9 Pronunciations of Words Containing Silent Letter “h” in the Initial

Position

Position Words Number of

error

Total

pronunciation

Percentage of error

(%)

Initial

hour 5 10 50

heir 10 10 100

honest 6 10 60

honor 7 10 70

The table 9 shows the percentage of the pronunciation error made by the

participants. In the word “hour”, the participants made 50% of pronunciation error

and in the word “heir”, they performed 100% pronunciation error. Then, 60% of

the participants made pronunciation error in the word “honest” and 70%

participants performed pronunciation error in the word “honor”.

b. Medial Position

There is one pronunciation error in the word “aghast”. In the pronunciation

error made by participant 2, the word is pronounced as [ɑɡhɑs] instead of /ə.ˈɡæst/.

In the form of the pronunciation error, the participant pronounces the word in two

syllables. Besides, in the structure of omitted “h” pronunciation, the participants

pronounce the word in one syllable.


29

There are seven participants who perform pronunciation error in the word

“exhort” which is not in the intended pronunciation as /ɪɡ.ˈzɔːrt/. The participants

made two kinds of similar pronunciation error. There are six students who

pronounced the word as [ɛkzhɔrt] and one student pronounced the word as [ɪɡzhɔrt].

The form of pronunciation as [ɛkzhɔrt] is pronounced by participants 2, 3 6, 7, 8,

and 10. The only participant who silenced the silent letter “h” as [ɪɡzhɔrt] is

participant 9.

In the word “ghost”, there are many variations of the form of the

pronunciation. There are eight kinds of pronunciation made by the participants. The

participants pronounced the word as [goʊs], [gɒs], [gɒsʃ], [gɒst], [gɑʃ], [ɡəst], [ɡɒʃ]

and [ɡoʊst]. However, the participants made no pronunciation error in the word by

omitting the silent letter. It is caused by the similar rule of the consonant cluster of

English and Indonesian which prohibit the cluster of /gh/.

Then, in the word “nihilism”, the participants made nine pronunciation

errors. There are four kinds of similar error made by the participants. In the

pronunciation errors, the word is pronounced as [nɪhɪlɪzəm], [nɪhɪlɪzm], [nɪhɪlɪs], and

[nɪhɪlɪsm]. The [nɪhɪlɪzəm] is pronounced four times by participants 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Then, there is only one participant who pronounced the word as [nɪhɪlɪs] which is

participant 8. The last two pronunciation errors were performed twice, [nɪhɪlɪzm] is

pronounced by participants 6 and 7 while [nɪhɪlɪsm] is pronounced by participants

9 and 10. The result of the students’ pronunciation of words containing silent “h”

in the medial position is displayed in the table below.


30

Table 10 Pronunciations of Words Containing Silent Letter “h” in Medial

Position


error

Total

pronunciation

Percentage

of error (%)

Medial

aghast 1 10 10

exhort 7 10 70

ghost 0 10 0

nihilism 9 10 90

The table 10 displays the percentage of the pronunciation error made by the

participants in the words containing silent letter “h” in medial position. In the word

“aghast”, the participants made 10% of pronunciation error. Then, in the word

“exhort”, they made 70% pronunciation error. In the word “ghost”, all participants

omitted the silent letter “h”. Moreover, in the word “nihilism”, there was 90% of

pronunciation error performed.

c. Final Position

In the word “catarrh”, there is only one participant who made pronunciation

error. The pronunciation error is performed by participant 9 who managed to

pronounce the word as [kɑtɑrɑh]. The rest of the participants omitted the silent letter

“h” in this word. Then, in the word “myrrh”, the participants perform 20%

pronunciation error by pronouncing the silent letter “h”. There are two participants

who performed pronunciation error of the word as [meɪrəh] and [mɪrəh]. In the

pronunciation test, participant 9 pronounced the word as [meɪrəh] and participant

10 pronounced the word as [mɪrəh].

In the word “messiah”, there are 90% participants who made pronunciation

error. In performing the pronunciation errors, the participants made four kinds of


31

similar pattern; [məsɪɑh], [məʃɑh], [məʃɑɪɑh], and [məʃɪɑh]. There are four

participants who pronounced the word as [məsɪɑh]. The pronunciation error is

performed by participants 1, 2, 4, and 5. The word was pronounced as [məʃɑh] by

participant 6. The pronunciation error as [məʃɑɪɑh] was performed once by

participant 7. Then, [məʃɪɑh] is pronounced three times by participants 8, 9, and 10.

The word “cheetah” has 100% pronunciation error by the participants. In

performing the pronunciation error, all of the participants made similar

pronunciation. The participants pronounce the word as [tʃitɑh]. The result of the

students’ pronunciation of words containing silent “h” in the final position is

presented in the table below.

Table 11 Pronunciations of Words Containing Silent Letter “h” in Final

Position


error

Total

pronunciation

Percentage

of error (%)

Final

myrrh 2 10 20

catarrh 1 10 10

cheetah 10 10 100

messiah 9 10 90

The result of the pronunciation made by the participants in the words

containing silent letter “h” in final position is shown in table 11 above. The

participants performed 20% of pronunciation error in the word “myrrh”, 10%

pronunciation error in the word “catarrh”, 100% pronunciation error in the word

“catarrh”, and 90% pronunciation error in the word “messiah”.

2. Errors in Silent Letter “w”

The result of the test shows that the participants made 95 errors in the

pronunciation of words containing silent letter “w”. The total pronunciation error


32

consists of 35 errors in the initial position, 34 errors in the medial position, and 26

errors in the final position. In the initial position the participants made 87%

pronunciation error. The type of error performed by the participants in the position

is pre-systematic error. Then, in the medial position, the participants made 85%

pronunciation error. It shows that the participants made pre-systematic error in the

medial position. In the final position, there is 65% pronunciation error made by the

participants. The percentage indicates that the participants perform systematic error.

In conclusion, in the pronunciation of the words containing silent letter “w”, the

participants made pre-systematic error in initial and medial position and systematic

error in the final position. The result of the test is shown in the table below.

Table 12 Result of the Students’ Pronunciation of Silent Letter “w”

No Position Number of

words

Number of

error Percentage

Types of

error

1 Initial 40 35 87.5% Pre-systematic

2 Medial 40 34 85% Pre-systematic

3 Final 40 26 65% Systematic

There are three positions of silent “w” analyzed by the researcher. The

discussion of error of the words for each position is described below.

a. Initial Position

In the words containing silent letter “w” in the initial position, the

participants made 87.5% pronunciation error. Therefore, the pronunciation error

performed by the student in the words containing silent “w” in the initial position

is categorized as pre-systematic error. The number of the pronunciation error of the


33

words shows that the participants do not acknowledge the occurrence of the rule of

silent letter.

The participants made 90% pronunciation error in the word “wry”, “wroth”,

and “written” and 80% error in the word “whom”. Instead of pronouncing the word

“wry” as /’raɪ/, there are nine participants who made three similar errors: [wraə],

[wraɪ], and [wrɪ] in pronouncing the word. The pronunciation error as [wraə] is made

by participant 1. Then, participant 6 made a different form of error by pronouncing

the word as [wrɪ]. The pronunciation error as [wraɪ] is performed the most. There

are participants 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 10 who pronounced the word in such way.

In the word “wroth”, with the intended pronunciation as /’rɔːθ/, the students

made four similar types of pronunciation error. The students made pronunciation

errors as [wrɑɪt], [wrɑt], [wrɑθ], and [wrɑts]. The pronunciation error as [wrɑɪt] and

[wrɑts] is performed once. The pronunciation error as [wrɑɪt] is pronounced by

participant 1 and [wrɑts] is pronounced by participant 9. The next pronunciation

error, [wrɑθ], is performed twice by participants 7 and 8. The last form of

pronunciation error as [wrɑt] appeared the most in the test. There are five

participants who pronounced the word as [wrɑt], which are participants 2, 3, 4, 5,

and 6.

Then, the pronunciation error made by the participants in the word “written”

is 90% from the total pronunciation of the word. The participants made two similar

types of pronunciation error by pronouncing the silent letter “w” instead of

pronouncing the word as /ˈrɪt.n/. There are two participants who pronounced the


34

word as [wraɪtn] and seven participants who pronounced the word as [wrɪtn]. In the

pronunciation as [wraɪtn], the participants involved in the error are participants 1

and 9. The seven participants who pronounced the word as [wrɪtn] are participants

2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10.

The word “whom” is the last word of the list which has different percentage

of pronunciation error from the rest of the words. There are 80% pronunciation error

performed by the participants. The participants who made an error pronounced the

word as [wʊm] and [wɒm] instead of /’huːm/. Five participants who pronounced the

word as [wʊm] are participants 1, 2, 4, 8, and 9. Then, three participants pronouncing

the word as [wɒm] are participants 3, 6, and 7. The result of the students’

pronunciation test is displayed in the table below.

Table 13 Pronunciations of Words Containing Silent Letter “w” in Initial

Position


error

Total

pronunciation

Percentage of

error (%)

Initial

wry 9 10 90

wroth 9 10 90

written 9 10 90

whom 8 10 80

Table 13 above shows the percentage of the pronunciation error made by

the participants in the words containing silent letter “w” in initial position. In the

result of the test, the participants made 90% pronunciation error in the words “wry”,

“wroth”, and “written”. Then, in the word “whom”, they made 80% pronunciation

error.


35

b. Medial Position

The pronunciation error of silent letter “w” in the medial position with 85%

is higher than the pronunciation error made by the participants in the words

containing silent letter “h” in the medial position with 42.5%. Most of the errors in

the medial position are performed in the words containing silent “w”.

The percentage of the pronunciation error of each word is 60% or more. The

least number of pronunciation errors is in the word “brawl”. The result shows that

there are six participants who performed pronunciation errors. The participant made

three kinds of similar pronunciation error. There are four participants who

pronounced the word as [brɑw]. It was performed by participants 4, 5, 6, and 8.

Then, the error form of [brɑwl] and [brəwl] are pronounced once. Participant 3

pronounced the word as [brɑwl] and participant 9 pronounced the word as [brəwl].

In the word “hawk”, the participants made 80% pronunciation error. The

pronunciation errors are performed in three similar forms of error. There are [hɔw]

with one pronunciation, [haw] with two pronunciations, and [hɑwək] with five

pronunciations. The pronunciation error which pronounced as [hɔw] was performed

by participants 1. Participants 8 and 9 pronounced the word as [haw] and the

pronunciation error as [hɑwək] is made by participants 2, 3, 5, 6, and 10.

In the word “answer”, the participants made 100% pronunciation error. All

of the participants pronounced the silent “w” in the word. There are three similar

kinds of error made by the participants: [answər], [ænswər], and [ɑnswər]. The

participants who pronounced the word as [answər] are participants 1, 2, 3, and 4.


36

[ænswər] is pronounced five times in the test by participants 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10. Then,

[ɑnswər] is pronounced once in the test by participant 8.

The word “awry” also has 100% pronunciation error. In the word “awry”,

the participants made three kinds of similar pronunciation error. There are [ɑwrɪ]

with eight pronunciation errors, [ɔwrə] with one pronunciation, and [awrɪ] with one

performance. The pronunciation error as [ɑwrɪ] is performed by participants 1, 2, 3,

4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Then, [ɔwrə] is pronounced by participant 9 and [awrɪ] which is

pronounced by participant 10. In the word “awry”, all of the participants tend to

pronounce the silent letter “w”. The result of the students’ pronunciation is

presented in the following table.

Table 14 Pronunciations of Words Containing Silent Letter “w” in Medial

Position


Error

Total

Pronunciation

Percentage

of Error (%)

Medial

answer 10 10 100

awry 10 10 100

hawk 8 10 80

brawl 6 10 60

Table 14 displays the result of the pronunciation error made by the

participants in the words containing silent letter “w” in medial position. In the

result, all participants pronounced the silent letter “w” in the word “answer”. The

participants also made 100% pronunciation error in the word “awry”. Then, in the

word “hawk”, the participants made 80% pronunciation error and in the word

“brawl”, they performed 90% of pronunciation error.


37

c. Final Position

All participants performed pronunciation error in the word “raw”. The

pronunciation errors made by the student have one similar pattern of error. There is

[rɑw] which appeared nine times in the test. The pronunciation error of the word as

[rɑw] is performed by all participants except participant 7 who made no error in the

pronunciation.

In the word “draw”, there is 80% participant who made pronunciation error.

There is one similar error pattern performed by the participants. The pronunciation

as [drɑw] appeared eight times by participants 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 10.

In the word “brew” the participants do not make any pronunciation error.

Then, there are nine participants who pronounced the silent letter “w” in the word

“paw”. In performing pronunciation error, the participants made two kinds of

similar error patterns. Eight participants pronounced the word as [paw] and one

participant pronounced the word as [pɔw]. The participants who pronounced the

word as [paw] are participants 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 10. Then, [pɔw] was pronounced

once in the test by participant 6. The following table shows the result of the

students’ pronunciation of the words containing silent letter “w” in the final

position.

Table 15 Pronunciations of Words Containing Silent Letter “w” in Final

Position


Error

Total

Pronunciation

Percentage

of Error (%)

Final

raw 9 10 90

draw 8 10 80

brew 0 10 0

paw 9 10 90


38

Table 15 shows the pronunciation of the participants in the words containing

silent letter “w” in final position. In the result, there are 90% pronunciation error

occurred in the words “raw” and “paw”. Then, all participants omitted the silent

letter “w” in the word “brew” and 80% participants performed pronunciation error.

B. Phonological Factors Causing the Error

There are 24 English words containing silent letter “h” and “w” used in this

research. The words are divided into three categories based on the position of the

silent letter. Furthermore, each of the words has distinct characteristic that the

participants pronounce each word differently based on their phonological

knowledge. In analyzing the phonological factor causing the error, the researcher

focused on relating the error with the Indonesian syllable structure and Indonesian

consonant cluster. The phonological factor which causes the error for each silent

letters is discussed below.

1. Indonesian Syllable Structure

According to Alwi et al (2003, p. 77), there are six types of Indonesian

syllable structure applied in the pronunciation errors of the words. The participants

performed the pattern of Vowel-Consonant (CV), Consonant-Vowel-Consonant

(CVC), Consonant-Consonant-Vowel (CCV), Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-

Consonant (CVCC), Vowel-Consonant (VC), and Consonant-Consonant-Vowel-

Consonant (CCVC) as the member of possible Indonesian syllable structure. Each

type of the syllable structure is discussed below.


39

a. Consonant-Vowel Form

The application of the rule is seen in the pronunciation error of “hour”. The

participants pronounced the word as [haʊ.ər]. Instead of omitting the letter “h” as a

silent letter, the participants pronounce the letter to be in line with the Indonesian

rule. The same pattern occurs in the pronunciation error of the words “honest”,

“heir”, and “honor”.

In the word “heir”, the pronunciation error as [hɛɪ.r], [heə], and [haɪ.ə] was

performed. It is shown as well in the pronunciation error of the word “honest” as

[hɑ.nəst], [hɒ.nɛs], and [hɒ.nɪst] and “honor” as [hɒ.nɒr] and [hɒ.nər]. Furthermore,

in the words “honest” and “honor”, all of the pronunciation errors have similar form

of syllable structure. The participants reconstruct the words into two syllables. The

first syllable consists of two sound segments.

In the words containing silent letter “h” in the medial position, the result of

the test indicates that the participants also consonant-vowel type of Indonesian

syllable structure on the words. In all pronunciation error of the words “nihilism’,

the participants applied the same rule. It was pronounced as [nɪ.hɪ.lɪ.zəm],

[nɪ.hɪ.lɪz.m], [nɪ.hɪ.lɪs], and [nɪ.hɪ.lɪ.sm].

In the word containing silent letter “w”, the participants used the same

pattern. It appeared in the pronunciation error of the word “hawk”, “paw” and

“raw”. In the words, the participants pronounced it as [hɔw], [hɑw.ək], [haw], [rɑw]

and [paw]. The similar structure occurs in Indonesian words initiated with

Consonant-Vowel (CV), as shown in the words [ra.pat], [ho.nor], and [pa.gi]. The


40

syllabification of the pronunciation error of the words and the Indonesian words

containing similar pattern is presented in the tree diagrams below. The tree

diagrams only discuss the syllable which contains the error.

Diagram 1 Participants’ (CV) Syllable Structure of the Words and the

Similar Pattern in Indonesian Words

“honor” honor

σ σ

/h ɒ -/ /h ɒ -/

“raw” rapat

σ σ

/r ɑw -/ /r ɑ -/

The tree diagrams, above show that the participants placed the consonants

/h/ and /r/ in the onset of a syllable. The similar pattern also occurs in Indonesian,

as in the words honor and rapat. The consonant /h/ and /r/ can be placed in the onset

position and followed by a vowel to form a consonant-vowel type of syllable.

Moreover, since the syllabification of Indonesian allows the occurrence of letter

“w” and “h” in CV structure, the silent letters of the words “honor” and “raw” were

not omitted by the participants.


41

b. Consonant-Vowel-Consonant Form

The next type of Indonesian syllable structure applied by the participant on

the pronunciation errors is the Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) type. In

Indonesian, such rule occurred in the words bahas and jarah. It is pronounced as

[ba.has] and [ja.rah]. The word jarah also indicates that the sound /h/ can be placed

at the end of a word. The rule appeared in the pronunciation errors of the words

containing silent letter “h” in the initial, medial, and final position.

The consonant-vowel-consonant type is presented in the pronunciation error

made by the participants in the words “hour”, “heir”, “aghast”, “catarrh”,

“messiah”, and “cheetah”. The words are pronounced as [haʊr], [hɒr], [hɛr], [ɑɡ.hɑs],

[kɑ.tɑ.rɑh], [mə.ʃɑh], and [tʃi.tɑh]. The syllabification of the pronunciation error of

the words and the Indonesian words having similar pattern is displayed in the tree

diagrams below. The tree diagrams only discuss the syllable which contain the

error.

Diagram 2 Participants’ (CVC) Syllable Structure of the Words and the


“aghast” bahas

σ σ

/h ɑ s/ /h ɑ s/


42

“catarrh” jarah

σ σ

/r ɑ h/ /r ɑ h/

The tree diagrams above indicate that the sound /h/ can be placed in the

onset or coda. The occurrence of the sound /h/ on the onset is shown in the words

“aghast” and bahas. Then, the occurrence of the sound /h/ on the coda shown in the

words “catarrh” and jarah. In English, the sound /h/ which placed in the coda

position is uncommon. Therefore, in the words containing sound /h/ in the coda, the

sound is deleted in the pronunciation.

c. Consonant-Consonant-Vowel Form

The next pattern used by the participants in performing pronunciation error

is Consonant-Consonant-Vowel type. In Indonesian syllable structure according to

Alwi et al (2003, p.77), a syllable which has two consonants at the beginning, the

first consonant must be stops and fricatives /p, b, t, d, k, g, f, s/ and the second

consonant is limited in the consonant: /r, l, w, s, m, n, f, t, k/. The application of this

rule is seen in the word “draw” which pronounced as [drɑw]. The sound /w/ in the

word “draw” is categorized as a part of diphthong since it is occurred in the end of

a syllable. Nevertheless, there are words which do not follow the structure and are

still acceptable in Indonesian. Such exception occurs in the words wreda which

pronounced as [wre.da] and wrisaba which pronounced as [wri.sa.ba]. The same


43

pattern was applied by the participants in performing pronunciation error in the

words “wry”, “wroth”, “written”, and “awry”.

In the word “wry”, the participants made error by pronouncing the word as

[wraə], [wra.ɪ], and [wrɪ]. The similar pattern is shown in the pronunciation error of

the word “wroth” pronounced as [wrɑ.ɪt], [wrɑt], [wrɑθ], and [wrɑt.s], the word

“written” pronounced as [wraɪ.tn] and [wrɪ.tn], and the word “awry” which is

pronounced as [ɑ.wrɪ], [ɔ.wrə], and [a.wrɪ]. The discussion of the syllable which

contain the error and the Indonesian words having similar pattern is displayed in

the tree diagrams below.

Diagram 3 Participants’ (CCV) Syllable Structure of the Words and the


“draw” drama

σ σ

/dr ɑw -/ /dr ɑ -/

“awry” wrisaba

σ σ

/wr ɪ -/ /wr ɪ -/


44

The tree diagrams above show that the pronunciation error of the

participants has similar pattern with the Indonesian words. The syllable structure of

the word “draw” and “awry” have the similar pattern with drama and wrisaba. The

syllable of each word has the pattern of consonant-consonant-vowel.

d. VC, CVCC, and CCVC Form

The last patterns used by the participants in the pronunciation error of the

words were Vowel-Consonant (VC), Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Consonant

(CVCC), and Consonant-Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CCVC). In Indonesian

terms, the application of the VC type is seen in the word arti and ahli which are

pronounced as [ar.ti] and [ah.li]. The participants used this pattern in pronouncing

the error form of the words “myrrh” and “messiah” in the test. In the result of the

pronunciation error, the word “myrrh” is pronounced as [meɪr.əh] and [mɪr.əh] while

the word “messiah” pronounced as [mə.sɪ.ɑh], [mə.ʃɑɪ.ɑh], and [mə.ʃɪ.ɑh].

The word modern in Indonesian terms carried the syllable pattern CVCC. It

should be pronounced as [mo.dern]. In the pronunciation test, the participants

applied the same pattern in the pronunciation error of the word “exhort” which

pronounced as [ɛkz.hɔrt] and [ɪɡz.hɔrt]. Then, in the word “wroth”, “answer”, and

“brawl”, the participants applied the pattern of CCVC. The participants pronounced

the word “wroth” as [wrɑt], [wrɑθ], and [wrɑt.s]. It is also shown in the word

“answer” which are pronounced as [an.swər], [æn.swər], and [ɑn.swər] and the word

“brawl” which are pronounced as [brɑw], [brɑw.əl], and [brəw.əl]. In Indonesian

terms, the same pattern presented in the word swasta which is pronounced as

[swas.ta]. The syllabification of the pronunciation error of the words and the similar


45

pattern occurred in Indonesian words is presented in the tree diagrams below. The

tree diagrams only discuss the syllable which contains the error.

Diagram 4 Participants (VC, CVCC, and CCVC) Syllable Structure of the

Words and the Similar Pattern in Indonesian Words

“messiah” ahli

σ σ

/ɑ h -/ /ɑ h -/

“exhort” modern

σ σ

/h ɔ rt/ /d e rn/

“answer” swasta

σ σ

/sw ə r/ /sw a s/

The tree diagrams above indicate that the pronunciation error made by the

participants has similar pattern to the Indonesian words. In the pronunciation error


46

of the word “messiah”, the participants construct a syllable consisting of a vowel

and consonant. The same pattern can be found in the word ahli. Then, the

pronunciation error of the word “exhort” has similarities to the word modern which

has consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant structure. The word “answer” and

swasta have the same syllable structure of consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant.

2. Indonesian Consonant Cluster

a. Silent Letter “h”

In English, the sound /h/ is always syllable initial before a stressed vowel

(Laurel and Donna, 2010, p. 59). Then, it is possible to omit the letter “h” in the

initial position of a syllable if such situation occurred. However, such regulation

does not exist in Indonesian terms. The sound of letter “h” in the beginning of a

syllable in Indonesian is pronounced in most occasion. Furthermore, Indonesian

phonotactic constraints are different from the English phonotactic constraints. The

result of the pronunciation error performed by the participants shows that the rule

of Indonesian syllable structure influences how they pronounce the words

containing silent “h” in the initial, medial, and final position.

In Indonesian phonotactic constraints, the sound /h/ can be placed in the

initial, medial, and final position of a word. The regulation can be found in the word

hari, paha, and darah. Indonesian also prohibits the sound /h/ to be coupled with

other consonants as the immediate segment. This regulation is applied by the

participants in all pronunciation error of the words containing silent letter “h” in all

position.


47

In the initial position, the participants pronounce the sound /h/ in the word

“hour” as [haʊ.ər], [haʊr], and [hɒr]. The same phenomenon occurs in the words

“honest”, “heir”, and “honor”. In the word “heir”, the participants pronounced the

word as [hɛɪ.r], [heə], [hɛr], and [haɪ.ə]. The word “honest” was pronounced as

[hɑ.nəst], [hɒ.nɛs], and [hɒ.nɪst]. Then, “honor” was pronounced as [hɒ.nɒr] and

[hɒ.nər]. In all words containing silent letter “h” in the initial position, the

participants tend to pronounce the sound /h/ since it is acceptable in Indonesian.

In pronunciation of the word containing silent letter “w” in the medial

position, the participants also pronounced the sound /h/ as it occurred in Indonesian

phonotactic constraints. The word “aghast” was pronounced as [ɑɡ.hɑs] instead of

/ə.ˈɡæst/. The words “exhort” and “nihilism” also received the same regulation. In

the word “exhort”, the participants pronounced the word as [ɛkz.hɔrt] and [ɪɡz.hɔrt].

Then, the word “nihilism” was pronounced as [nɪ.hɪ.lɪ.zəm], [nɪ.hɪ.lɪz.m], [nɪ.hɪ.lɪs],

and [nɪ.hɪ.lɪ.sm]. Through the pattern, the Indonesian phonotactic constraints of the

syllable beginning with “h” is maintained. However, the participants who omit the

silent letter “h” and pronounce the word as [ɑ.ɡɑs] do not prove the

acknowledgement of the rule of silent letter in the word. The Indonesian

phonotactic constraints prohibit the pattern of the sounds /gh/ as well. In a syllable

which has two consonants at the beginning, the first consonant must be stops and

fricatives and the second consonant is limited in the consonants: /r, l, w, s, m, n, f,

t, k/. Thus, the pattern of /gh/ is prohibited in Indonesian phonotactic constraints.

The similar phenomenon occurs in the pronunciation of the word “ghost”. Although


48

all of the participants omit the silent letter “h”, the pattern is accepted in Indonesian

phonotactic constraints.

In final position, the English phonotactic constraints prohibit the sound “h”

to be present at the end of a syllable. As stated before, the sound /h/ is only present

in the initial position of a syllable and followed by a stressed vowel as in the word

“heat” which pronounced as [hiːt] (Laurel and Donna, 2010, p. 59). The rule enables

the sound /h/ in the words “myrrh”, “catarrh”, “cheetah”, and “messiah” to be

omitted. Nevertheless, Indonesian phonotactic constraints allow the sound “h” to

be placed at the end of a syllable. The rule is represented in the word asuh and jauh

which are pronounced as [asuh] and [ja.uh]. However, several words in Indonesian

carry the omission of the sound /h/ as in the words rumah and boleh. The

pronunciation of the words as [ru.ma] and [bo.le] are acceptable in non-formal

Indonesian.

The Indonesian syllable sequences do not allow the consonant cluster in the

end of a syllable. Therefore, the cluster of consonant /r/ which coupled with

consonant /h/ is uncommon. As in the words “myrrh” and “catarrh”, the sound /h/

is silenced to preserve the rule and avoid the uncommon sound. Then, Indonesian

phonotactic constraints prohibit a syllable consisting one consonant. In order to

obey the rule, the sound of /h/ is preceded with a vowel or inserting a vowel between

the sound /r/ and /h/. The application of the method is presented in the pronunciation

error of the words containing silent letter “h” in the final position on the test. The

construction of the word “catarrh” as [kɑ.tɑ.rɑh] and the word “myrrh” as [meɪr.əh]

and [mɪr.əh] carries the acceptable pattern in Indonesian phonotactic constraints.


49

The similar pattern presented in the word “messiah” which pronounced as

[mə.sɪ.ɑh], [mə.ʃɑh], [mə.ʃɑɪ.ɑh], and [mə.ʃɪ.ɑh] and the word “cheetah” which

pronounced as [tʃi.tɑh].

b. Silent Letter “w”

The Indonesian phonotactic constraints have similar rule of the sound /w/ as

English does. The sound /w/ is allowed to initiate a syllable if followed by a stressed

vowel. The example of the rule is occurred in English in the words “war” and

“won”. According to the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, the word “war” is

pronounced as [wɔːr] and the word “won” is pronounced as [wʌn]. In Indonesian, the

rule is contained in the words wajar and waktu. Furthermore, it is possible to place

the sound /w/ at the end of a syllable only if it is a part of diphthong. As seen in the

pronunciation of the English words “blow” as [bloʊ] and “sew” as [soʊ] and

Indonesian word kalau as [ka.law]. Nevertheless, there is a slight difference in the

Indonesian phonotactic constraints. It allows the sound /w/ to initiate a syllable

followed by vowel or the consonant /r/. The application of the rule is seen in the

word wreda and wrisaba.

Indonesian phonotactic constraints allow the sound /w/ to be placed in the

beginning of a syllable. Then, the pronunciation error of the word “wry” as [wraə],

[wra.ɪ], and [wrɪ] and the word “whom” as [wʊm] and [wɑm] are accepted in

Indonesian term. The similar pattern is shown in the pronunciation error of the word

“wroth” as [wrɑ.ɪt], [wrɑt], [wrɑθ], and [wrɑt.s] and the word “written” as [wraɪ.tn]

and [wrɪ.tn].


50

As stated in above, if a syllable has two consonants at the beginning, the

first consonant must be stops and the second consonant is limited in the consonant:

/r, l, w, s, m, n, f, t, k/. According to the rule, the form of the consonant cluster /wr/

as in the word “wry”, “wroth”, and “written” is not possible in Indonesian.

Nevertheless, consonant /w/ in Indonesian can be classified as a semi-vowel.

Through the rule, the form of consonant cluster /wr/ is acceptable. The word

contains the rule are wreda which pronounced as [wre.da] and wrisaba which

pronounced as [wri.sa.ba]. Then, Indonesian phonotactic constraints also permit the

combination of sound /wh/ in a syllable. The rule is applied in the word “whom”.

The participants pronounced one of the sounds /w/ or /h/ as the beginning of a

syllable in order to preserve the rule.

The application of the Indonesian phonotactic constraints are also presented

in the pronunciation error of the words containing silent letter “w” in the medial

position. The structure of a syllable as /sw/ is possible in Indonesian. It is shown in

the word swasta which pronounced as [swas.ta] and swalayan which pronounced

as [swa.la.yan]. Then, the sound /sw/ is common and acceptable in Indonesian. The

result of occurrence of such syllable structure is the pronunciation error in the word

“answer”. Instead of omitting the sound /w/ as the intended pronunciation in

English, the participants pronounced the word as [an.swər], [æn.swər], and [ɑn.swər].

As stated before, the form of consonant cluster /wr/ in the beginning of a syllable

is acceptable. It is applied by the participants in the pronunciation error of the word

“awry” as [ɑ.wrɪ], [ɔ.wrə], and [a.wrɪ]. The occurrence of the sound /w/ at the end of

a syllable appeared in the pronunciation error of the words “brawl” and “hawk”.


51

The error was made in the pronunciation of the word “brawl” as [brɑw], [brɑw.əl],

and [brəw.əl] and “hawk” as [hɔw], [hɑw.ək], and [haw]. The participants pronounce

the sound /w/ in the end of a syllable regarding to the Indonesian phonotactic

constraints which accept such pattern.

The Indonesian phonotactic constraints do not prohibit the occurrence of

the sound /w/ in the final position. The sound /w/ is presented in the final position

as a part of diphthong /aw/ which is seen in the pronunciation of the word walaupun

as [wa.law.pun]. The rule was adopted by the participants in the pronunciation error

of the word “raw”, “draw”, and “paw”. Instead of omitting the sound /w/, the

participants treat the sound /w/ as a part of the diphthong. The participants who

made error in the word “raw”, “draw”, and “paw” have similar pronunciation

pattern. All of the error form appeared in the words “raw” were pronounced as [rɑw],

in the word “draw” were pronounced as [drɑw], and in the word “paw” were

pronounced as [paw].

In the word “brew”, such error pattern did not appear regarding to the

Indonesian phonotactic constraints. The only accepted form of the sound /w/ at the

end of a syllable is as a diphthong /aw/. Then, in the word “brew”, the participants

swift the sound /ə/ and /w/ with a diphthong /əʊ/ which more acceptable in

Indonesian.


52

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

Based on the result of the analysis, the researcher concludes that the non-

English department students made many errors in the pronunciation of the words

containing silent letters “h” and “w”. There are 162 errors appeared in the test. The

participants made 67 pronunciation errors in the words containing silent letter “h”

and 95 pronunciation errors in the words containing silent letter “w”. In the test, the

students made two kinds of error: systematic error and pre-systematic error.

In the words containing silent letter “h” in all positions and silent letter “w”

in final position, the students made systematic error. In the pronunciation of words

containing silent letter “h” in initial position, the students made 70% error. Then,

the students performed 42.5% pronunciation error in the medial position and 55%

pronunciation errors in the final position. The systematic error also appeared in the

words containing silent letter “w” in the final position. There are 65% pronunciation

errors performed by the students. Within this category, the words “heir” and

“cheetah” have 100% pronunciation errors. Moreover, the students made no

pronunciation error in the words “ghost” and “brew”.

Pre-systematic error appeared in the words containing silent letter “w” in

initial and medial position. In the initial position the participants made 87.5%

pronunciation errors. There are two words which have 100% pronunciation error in

this position. All students in the test pronounced the words “answer” and “awry” in


53

an error form. Then, in the medial position, the participants made 85%

pronunciation errors.

According to the result of the test, the researcher concludes that the

phonotactic constraints of Indonesian as the mother tongue of the students affect

the pronunciation error they made. It is reflected through 162 pronunciation error

made by the students from the total 240 pronunciations in the test.

The result of the analysis shows that the pronunciation error is done by

applying the rule of Indonesian phonotactic constraints. It is the rules of syllable

structure and consonant cluster in Indonesian. In the error form of the

pronunciations, the students do not omit the silent letters “h” and “w” to maintain

the rules.


54

REFERENCES

Alwi, Hasan, Soenjono Dardjowidjojo, Hans Lapoliwa, & Anton M. Moeliono.

(2003). Tata Bahasa Baku Bahasa Indonesia (3rd ed). Jakarta: Balai

Pustaka.

Ardi. (2015). An Analysis of Students’ Pronunciation Error of English Silent Letters

(undergraduate Thesis). Universitas Islam Negeri Pangeran Antasari,

Banjarmasin.

Brinton, Laurel J. & Donna M. Brinton. (2010). The Linguistics Structure of

Modern English. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Carney, Edward. (2012). A Survey of English Spelling. New York: Routledge.

Corder. (1982). Error Analysis and Interlanguage. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.

Cresswell, John W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed

Methods Approaches (4th ed). California: Sage Publication.

Crystal, David. (2003). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dardjowidjojo, Soenjono. (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology for

Indonesian. Jakarta: Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia.

Ellis, Rod. (1994). The Study of Second Language Ac quisition (Oxford Applied

Linguistics). Philadelphia: Oxford University Press.

Fauzi, Fakhri. (2014). Error Analysis of Sundanese English Pronunciation on

Fricatives Sound. Al-Turas, 20(1), 199-217.

Gut, Ulrike. (2009). Introduction to English Phonetics and Phonology. Frankfurt:

Peter Lang.

Kurniawan, Dedi. (2016). The Error Analysis of the Pronunciation of Dental

Fricative Consonants (/θ, /ð/) by The Students of English Education Study

Program Faculty of Teacher Training and Education Sriwijaya University.

The Journal of English Literacy Education, 3(2), 157-163.

McMahon, April. (2002). An Introduction to English Phonology. Edinburgh:

Edinburgh University Press.

Odden, David. (2013). Introducing Phonology (2nd ed). Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Podhaizer, Mary E. (1998). Painless Spelling. New York: Baron’s Educational

Series.


55

Pospíšilová, Markéta. (2014). The Ability of Czech Speakers of English to

Pronounce Words with Silent Letters (Bachelor Thesis). Charles University,

Prague.

Reed, Marine & John M. Levis (Eds.). (2015). The Handbook of English

Pronunciation. West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.

Richard, Jack & Richard Schmidt. (2002). Longman Dictionary of Teaching and

Applied Linguistics (3rd ed). London: Pearson Education Limited.

Setawan, Ebta. Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia 2012-2017. Retrieved from

https://kbbi.web.id/ (on 8 March 2018-20 March 2018).

Taylor, John R. (1997). An Introduction to Error Analysis (2nd ed). California:

University Science Books.

Widyaningtyas, Ishardini. (2014). Error Analysis on English Consonants Produced

by Second Semester Students of Study Program of English Universitas

Brawijaya (Thesis). Universitas Brawijaya.


56

APPENDIX 1

The Result of the Participants’ Pronunciation

P1

No Words Position Pronunciation Error

1 hour

Initial

[haʊər]

2 heir [hɛɪr]

3 honest [hɑnəst]

4 honor [hɒnɒr]

5 wry [wraə]

6 wroth [wrɑɪt]

7 written [wraɪtn]

8 whom [wʊm]

9 aghast

Medial

[ɑɡɑs] -

10 exhort [ɛgzɔrt] -

11 ghost [goʊs] -

12 nihilism [naɪlzəm] -

13 answer [answər]

14 awry [ɑwrɪ]

15 hawk [hɔw]

16 brawl [brɑol] -

17 myrrh

Final

[mɪr] -

18 catarrh [kɑtɑr] -

19 cheetah [tʃitɑh]

20 messiah [məsɪɑh]

21 raw [rɑw]

22 draw [drɑw]

23 brew [brɛʊ] -

24 paw [paw]


57

P2


1 hour

Initial

[haʊər]

2 heir [heə]

3 honest [ɒnɛst] -

4 honor [hɒnər]

5 wry [wraɪ]

6 wroth [wrɑt]

7 written [wrɪtn]

8 whom [wʊm]

9 aghast

Medial

[ɑɡhɑs]

10 exhort [ɛkzhɔrt]

11 ghost [gɒs] -

12 nihilism [nɪhɪlɪzəm]

13 answer [answər]

14 awry [ɑwrɪ]

15 hawk [hɑwək]

16 brawl [brɑol] -

17 myrrh

Final

[mɪrtʃ] -

18 catarrh [kɑɵɑr] -



21 raw [rɑw]

22 draw [drɑw]

23 brew [brɛʊ] -

24 paw [paw]


58

P3


1 hour

Initial

[haʊr]

2 heir [heə]

3 honest [hɒnɛs]

4 honor [hɒnər]

5 wry [wraɪ]

6 wroth [wrɑt]

7 written [wrɪtn]

8 whom [wɒm]

9 aghast

Medial

[ɑɡɑs] -


11 ghost [gɒs] -


13 answer [answər]

14 awry [ɑwrɪ]

15 hawk [hɑwək]

16 brawl [brɑwl]

17 myrrh

Final

[mɪr] -



20 messiah [məsɪɑ] -

21 raw [rɑw]

22 draw [drɑw]

23 brew [brɛʊ] -

24 paw [paw]


59

P4


1 hour

Initial

[ou(ə)r] -

2 heir [heə]

3 honest [hɑnəst]

4 honor [hɒnər]

5 wry [wraɪ]

6 wroth [wrɑt]

7 written [wrɪtn]

8 whom [wʊm]

9 aghast

Medial

[ɑɡɑs] -

10 exhort [ɛkzɔrt] -

11 ghost [gɒsʃ] -


13 answer [answər]

14 awry [ɑwrɪ]

15 hawk [hoɑk] -

16 brawl [brɑw]

17 myrrh

Final

[mɪər] -




21 raw [rɑw]

22 draw [drɑw]

23 brew [brɛʊ] -

24 paw [paw]


60

P5


1 hour

Initial

[ou(ə)r] -

2 heir [hɛr]

3 honest [hɑnəst]

4 honor [hɒnɒr]

5 wry [raɪ] -

6 wroth [wrɑt]

7 written [rɪtn] -

8 whom [hʊm]

9 aghast

Medial

[ɑɡɑs] -

10 exhort [ɛkzɔrt] -

11 ghost [gɒst] -


13 answer [ænswər]

14 awry [ɑwrɪ]

15 hawk [hɑwək]

16 brawl [brɑw]

17 myrrh

Final

[meɪər] -




21 raw [rɑw]

22 draw [drɑw]

23 brew [brəʊ] -

24 paw [paw]


61

P6


1 hour

Initial

[ou(ə)r] -

2 heir [heə]

3 honest [hɑnəst]

4 honor [hɑnər]

5 wry [wrɪ]

6 wroth [wrɑt]

7 written [wrɪtn]

8 whom [wɒm]

9 aghast

Medial

[ɑɡəst] -


11 ghost [gɑʃ] -

12 nihilism [nɪhɪlɪzm]


14 awry [ɑwrɪ]

15 hawk [hɑwək]

16 brawl [brɑw]

17 myrrh

Final

[meɪr] -

18 catarrh [kətɑr] -


20 messiah [məʃɑh]

21 raw [rɑw]

22 draw [drɛʊ] -

23 brew [brəʊ] -

24 paw [pɔw]


62

P7


1 hour

Initial

[ou(ə)r] -

2 heir [heə]

3 honest [ɑnəst] -

4 honor [ɑnər] -

5 wry [wraɪ]

6 wroth [wrɑθ]

7 written [wrɪtn]

8 whom [wɒm]

9 aghast

Medial

[eɡəst] -


11 ghost [ɡəst] -

12 nihilism [nɪhɪlɪzm]


14 awry [ɑwrɪ]

15 hawk [hɔk] -

16 brawl [brɔl] -

17 myrrh

Final

[mer] -



20 messiah [məʃɑɪɑh]

21 raw [rɔ] -

22 draw [drɔ] -

23 brew [brəʊ] -

24 paw [pɔ] -


63

P8


1 hour

Initial

[ou(ə)r] -

2 heir [haɪə]


4 honor [ɑnər] -

5 wry [wraɪ]

6 wroth [wrɑθ]

7 written [wrɪtn]

8 whom [wʊm]

9 aghast

Medial

[eɡəst] -


11 ghost [ɡɒʃ] -

12 nihilism [nɪhɪlɪs]

13 answer [ɑnswər]

14 awry [ɑwrɪ]

15 hawk [haw]

16 brawl [brɑw]

17 myrrh

Final

[mɪer] -

18 catarrh [kɑθɑr] -


20 messiah [məʃɪɑh]

21 raw [rɑw]

22 draw [drɑw]

23 brew [brəʊ] -

24 paw [paw]


64

P9


1 hour

Initial

[hɒr]

2 heir [heə]

3 honest [hɒnɪst]

4 honor [hɒnɒr]

5 wry [wraɪ]

6 wroth [wrɑts]

7 written [wraɪtn]

8 whom [wʊm]

9 aghast

Medial

[eɡəst] -

10 exhort [ɪɡzhɔrt]

11 ghost [ɡɒʃ] -

12 nihilism [nɪhɪlɪsm]


14 awry [ɔwrə]

15 hawk [haw]

16 brawl [brəwl]

17 myrrh

Final

[meɪrəh]

18 catarrh [kɑtɑrɑh]



21 raw [rɑw]

22 draw [drɑw]

23 brew [brəʊ] -

24 paw [paw]


65

P10


1 hour

Initial

[hɒr]

2 heir [heə]


4 honor [ɑnər] -

5 wry [wraɪ]

6 wroth [rɔθ] -

7 written [wrɪtn]

8 whom [hʊm] -

9 aghast

Medial

[əˈɡæst] -


11 ghost [ɡoʊst] -

12 nihilism [nɪhɪlɪsm]


14 awry [awrɪ]

15 hawk [hɑwək]

16 brawl [brɔl] -

17 myrrh

Final

[mɪrəh]

18 catarrh [ketɑr] -



21 raw [rɑw]

22 draw [drɑw]

23 brew [bru] -

24 paw [paw]


66

APPENDIX 2

Pronunciation Test Given to the Participants

PRONUNCIATION TEST

Description:

This test aims at knowing how the non-English department students pronounce

English words.

Instruction:

Please read the following words once.

No. Words No. Words

1 hour 13 myrrh

2 answer 14 heir

3 catarrh 15 hawk

4 honest 16 cheetah

5 awry 17 honor

6 messiah 18 brawl

7 aghast 19 wry

8 raw 20 exhort

9 wroth 21 draw

10 ghost 22 written

11 brew 23 nihilism

12 whom 24 paw

This is the end of the test. Thank you for participating this test.


Documents

ERROR ANALYSIS OF SILENT LETTERS “H” AND “W” IN ENGLISH ... › 27360 › 2 › 144214085_full.pdf · ERROR ANALYSIS OF SILENT LETTERS “H” AND “W” IN ENGLISH WORDS