Suprasegmental phonology

In connected speech, especially in fast and fluent speech, there are several phenomena of articulary accommodation and effort economy, such as • similitude• linking• assimilation• elision• vowel reduction and weak forms

Similitude• eighth []

[] is dental because of its proximity to dental //

• can’t BrE [] the vowels are nasalized because of the presence of nasal []

Similitude is the accommodation of a sound segment to an adjacent segment, so that they become similar

Linking• r-linking for example [ ʳ • black cat ( linking between the same

consonant in final and initial position)

• Linking is a smooth transition across word boundaries

Assimilation

• this shop [ ]

• bad boys [ ]

• shut your eyes [ ]

Elision• the dropping of a sound which once existed (historical

elision) or which exists in slow speech (contextual elision)

• know []

• Tell him [ tel ɪm] with the elision of <h>• first class [ ]• didn’t think [ ] • I am going to buy some (I’m gonna buy some)

[ ]

Vowel reduction and weak forms

• remarkable differences between the pronunciation of words in isolation and in connected speech

• the reduction of strong, longer vowels and diphthongs to a weak vowel, to the neutral schwa sound [] or to the short vowels [] and [], in a weak, unstressed position

Rhythm

• English is a stress-timed language, based on the regular alternation of stressed or prominent syllables and unstressed or weak ones

children believe in fairiesa week at the seaside is just what I need

• The prominent syllables are one-syllable words of major word classes (e.g. nouns, verbs) and the stressed syllables of polysyllabic words of major word classes

• The non-prominent, or weak, syllables are words of minor word classes (e.g. articles, auxiliaries, prepositions) and weak syllables in polysyllabic words

VOWEL REDUCTION: TYPICAL OF GRAMMATICAL WORDS IN

UNSTRESSED POSITION

auxiliaries (are, have), modals (can, must), articles (a, the), conjunctions (and, but), personal pronouns (you, he) and prepositions (to, from)

e.g. she must try harder [] he comes from Boston [] wait and see [ ]

Transcribed passage

Idioms are not a separate part of the language which one can choose either to use or to omit. Instead they form an essential part of the general vocabulary of English. Present-day English is changing and becoming more idiomatic

Passage in phonetic transcription

ʷ ʳ

Difficulties for Italian speakers

Speakers of languages( like Italian) which do not require a weakening of unstressed syllables tend to pronounce all the syllables as if they were prominent.

• eg. * ‘The ‘cat ‘is ‘on ‘the ‘chair• Rather than The ‘cat is on the ‘chair

Intonation

• where do you come from Intonation is the variation in voice pitch (acutezza,

altezza) in connected speech. Together with gestures and facial expressions, intonation helps communication

• Intonation phrase is an utterance having it own intonation pattern or tone ( usually a simple sentence) and containing a nucleus

• The nucleus is the syllable which receives the greatest prominence and is normally the most prominent lexical word in an intonation phrase

Tones• falling: finality, definitenessOur English friends are coming round todinner

• rising: questions and incompletenesswould you like a cup of teaI phoned her several times but she was never there

• fall-rise: uncertainty

are you sure you won’t mind

• rise-fall: surprise

that was a marvellous idea

Grammatical function of intonation• I fed her dog biscuits

(I gave her biscuits for dogs)

• I fed her dog biscuits (I gave her dog some biscuits)

• the houses which were de stroyed were of great historical interest

• the houses which were de stroyed were of great historical interest

Discourse function of intonation• The standard type of intonation phrase is a clause with the

nucleus on the last lexical item, which is the expected new information.

• foregrounding: the nucleus is placed elsewhere in the sentence to stress important new information

are you flying to Romeno I’m flying to Milan

are you flying to Romeno there’s a strike tomorrow

American English vowels• BrE and AmE are becoming more similar in the 21st century

• BrE // AmE // e.g. not [] BrE [] AmE

clock [] BrE [] AmE

• ‘bath’-words BrE // //e.g. bath [] BrE [] AmE

class [] BrE [] AmE

American English vowels

• BrE /, , / AmE [, , ] e.g. severe [] BrE [] AmE

• BrE // + /r/ AmE /ɜ/ e.g courage [] (BrE), [ɝ] (AmE)

American consonants

• elision of post-nasal [t] twenty [] []

• assimilation of some plosives and fricatives followed by [j]e.g. education [, -] BrE [] AmE issue [, ] BrE [] AmE

American consonants

• rhoticity: orthographic <r> is always pronounced

• the omission of the sound [j] after dental and alveolar consonants and followed by the phoneme /u:/ (yod dropping): e.g. tune [] BrE [] AmE

news [] BrE [] AmE

• t-tapping: intervocalic // is voiced latter [] rhymes with ladder []

Differences in the pronunciation of words in AmE

• -ile e.g. missile [] (BrE), [] (AmE)

BrE AmEeither [] []ate [, ] []Muslim [] []schedule [] []advertisement [] []leisure [] []dynasty [] []directory [, -] []

More differences in the placement of stress in AmE

• stress placement

e.g. address [] cigarette [] AmE [] [] BrE

• pronunciation of the endings -ary -ery -ory

e.g. library [] laboratory [] BrE [] [] AmE

PRONUNCIATION IN DICTIONARIES

• Most dictionaries for EFL learners use IPA, but some dictionaries use different conventions: e.g. door ()], [], [*]

• British English is usually favoured with respect to American English (always read the dictionary Introduction!!!)

• Many dictionaries for native speakers use a simplified transcription, called “respelling”, e.g. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, www.merriam-webster.com

• Pronunciation dictionaries are devoted to pronunciation, e.g. include syllabification, the pronunciation of inflected forms; proper, geographical or historical names; different varieties of pronunciation and usage notes

Dictionaries (paper, electronic, online)

• http://dictionary.cambridge.org (with phonetic transcription)

• http://www.ldoceonline.com(without phonetic trascription)http://dizionari.hoepli.it/Default.aspxitaliano-inglese, inglese-italianoLongman Pronunciation Dictionary 2008

(specialised dictionary)MacMillan English Dictionary (MED) secon edition 2009

The pronunciation of English as a lingua franca: a controversial issue

A Lingua Franca Core (Jenkins 2000) of phonological features that are essential in communication:

1. The /r/ sound should always be pronounced, according to the American model

2. Pronunciation should be kept as close as possible to spelling, e.g. matter or twenty

3. Correct pronunciation of most consonants (except for and ), aspiration of [, , ], distinction between short and long vowels and use of /ɝ/

4. Stress-timed rhythm and placement of nuclear stress

from Wells’ Longman Pronunciation Dictionary 2008

• Proper namesRachel []Anthony []Aileen []Burton []Hirst []Vaughan []Sarkozy[]

• Geographical namesGalapagos []Caribbean ]Yorkshire [-]Kuwait []Piedmont []Cornwall [ -]Thames []

Example of exam question( see many more in the book)

• What are minimal pairs? Give one example for vowels and one for consonants in English

• Minimal pairs are words that are made up of the same phonemes but one

e.g. for vowels fit [fɪt] and feet [fɪ:t] for consonants tin [tɪn] and thin [ɪn]

Example of phonetic transcription 1

Trascription and spelling

I’ve been reading some interesting research about how people’s moods are affected by sunlight. People from southern countries aresupposed to be more outgoing than those

Transcription and spelling

from the north. Some scientists have shown that, if you are not exposed to a certain minimum amount of sunlight, you may well become depressed

TRANSCRIBED PASSAGE

I’ve been reading some interesting research

about how people’s moods are affected by sunlight. People from southern countries are supposed to be more outgoing than those from the north. Some scientists have shown that, if you are not exposed to a certain minimum amount of sunlight, you may well become depressed

Example of phonetic transcription 2

ʳ

TRANSCRIBED PASSAGE

A passionate Peruvian boyfriend was arrested and jailed for twenty-four hours for kissing his fiancée inside the palace of justice. The man was accused of not showing the building proper respect