เอกสารประกอบการสอนวิชาสัทศาสตร์

สัทศาสตรแ์ ละสรวิทยาภาษาองั กฤษ
English Phonetics and Phonology

Phramaha Sawai Siripanyo
Buriram Buddhist College
Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University

สทั ศาสตร์และสรวิทยาภาษาองั กฤษ
English Phonetics and Phonology

Phramaha Sawai Siripanyo

Buriram Buddhist College
Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University

2563

สทั ศาสตรแ์ ละสรวิทยาภาษาอังกฤษ
English Phonetics and Phonology

ผ้เู ขยี น พระมหาไสว สิรปิ ญฺโญ (เถาว์ยา) ป.ธ. 7

คณะกรรมการผ้ทู รงคณุ วุฒิ
พระศรปี รยิ ัติธาดา, ผศ.
พระมหาถนอม อานนโฺ ท, ดร.
ผศ.ดร.คมั ภีรภาพ อินทนู
รศ.ดร.เอกฉทั จารุเมธชี นม์

พิสจู นอ์ กั ษร

พระมหากิตตธิ ัช สิรปิ ญุ ฺโญ, ดร.
ดร. วริ ตั น์ ภทู องเงนิ
นายอนุศาสน์ วรบรู ณภ์ ูมิสุข
นายสทุ ธิวทิ ย์ วลิ ัยรดิ

แบบปก – รปู เล่ม นายนกิ ร พลเยี่ยม

จดั พมิ พ์โดย นายนกิ ร พลเยยี่ ม

A

Preface

The teaching material for the course 205 202 English Phonetics and Phonology has
been compiled with the aim of the students of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University
can use it as a document to search for educational knowledge in subjects related to audio
transmission. It is a phonetic symbol, study of the students' pronunciation problems and
solutions.

The preparation of this document is also aimed at the general public who are
interested in studying phonemic symbols. Problems and solutions to deepen the English
pronunciation this will help to enhance the knowledge and understanding about the
teaching of English. As for the content within the book, the author has presented
Introduction, Phonology, Phonetics, Articulatory Phonetics, Acoustics Phonetics, Auditory
Phonetics, Intonations, Consonant Sounds, Vowel Sounds, Syllables, Word stress, Sentence
Stress, Connected Speeches and Phonemics are divided into individual units for easy study.

The editors would like to thank the linguistics teachers for compiling documents for
future generations to study. Both the editors used the knowledge of those parents as a
component of the study and documented this. We sincerely hope that this document will
be useful to students and the general public.

Phramaha Sawai Siripanyo (Thaoya)
English Language Teaching Program, Faculty of Education
Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University Buriram Buddhist College

1 July 2020

Content B

Preface A
Content B

Chapter 1 Phonology 1
1.1 Air movement system 2
1.2 Phonatory system 4
1.3 The Airstream mechanism process 7
1.4 Acoustic Phonetics 14
1.5 Auditory Phonetics 15
1.6 Exercise 16
1.7 Reference 16

Chapter 2 Characteristics of English Sounds 17
2.1 Spelling and Pronunciation 17
2.2 International Phonetics Alphabets 19
2.3 Transcription 19
2.4 Comparison of Phonetics Symbols used in Different Dictionary 22
2.5 Broad of Phonetics vs narrow or phonetics Transcription 25
2.6 Exercise 25
2.7 Reference 26

Chapter 3 Consonants and Vowels 27
3.1 Consonants and Vowels 27
3.2 Consonants 27
3.3 Vowels 36
3.4 Exercise 42
3.5 Reference 43

Chapter 4 Syllables 44
4.1 Introduction 44
4.2 English Syllables Patterns 44
4.3 Syllable with –s ending 51
4.4 Syllable with – ed ending 52
4.5 Summary 52
4.6 Exercise 53
4.7 Reference 53

Chapter 5 Word Stress C
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Syllable Division 55
5.3 Stressed and Unstressed Syllable 55
5.4 Word Stress patterns 55
5.5 Summary 56
5.6 Exercise 57
5.7 Reference 64
65
Chapter 6 Sentence Stress 65
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Content Words 67
6.3 Functional Words 67
6.4 Stressed Functional Words 68
6.5 Summary 69
6.6 Exercise 75
6.7 Reference 76
76
Chapter 7 Connected Speeches 77
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Rhythm 78
7.3 Connected Speeches between Consonants and Vowels 78
7.4 Connected Speeches between Vowels and Vowels 79
7.5 Connected Speeches between Consonants and Consonants 80
7.6 Elision and Deletion 80
7.7 Juncture 81
7.8 Contraction 82
7.9 Summary 83
7.10 Exercise 84
7.11 Reference 84
84
Chapter 8 Intonation 84
8.1 Introduction 86
8.2 Function of Intonation 86
8.3 Intonation patterns 86
8.4 Tag Questions 87
8.5 Intonation Patterns that Effect the meaning 95
8.6 Exercise 96
98

8.7 Reference D
Couse Syllabus
Biography 99
100
112

Chapter 1
Phonology

Phonetics is a subject that deals with sounds in language, such as the study of
organs. It is used to articulate sound in language, the nature of sound in articulated
language, as well as the organs used to hear or perceive sounds in language. The study of
phonetics is therefore of direct benefit to linguists because linguists have The need to study
languages and language studies need to study sounds because language Contains sound and
meaning (Wilaiwan Khanithanan 2527: 1) It can be seen that those who have studied
phonetics are better at studying language analysis than those who have never practiced or
studied phonetics, especially being able to collect information, learn sounds, vocabulary,
mimic sounds as well as be able to understand various problems related to pronunciation
are also easy.

The study of Phonetics is divided into 3 branches (Pinthip Thuaycharoen 2525: 1 -
2) which can be summarized as follows.

1. Study the organ systems used to articulate in the language is a study that in
What organs are involved in human voices, studied from the diaphragm, lungs, trachea,
which produces the airflow, the larynx, the organ that controls the quality of sound (Voice
Quality), to the organs within the mouth functioning as a sound enhancement organ, for this
branch 1, Udom Warotsikkhadit (1970: 5) is called Articulatory Phonetics.

2. Study the physical characteristics of sound in a language. How is the sound of a
language the nature of sound waves? How often is this branch? Udom Warothsikkhadit, 1970:
5 called Acoustic Phonetics.

3. The study of auditory phonetics is the study of auditory perception of sound in
the language of the listener, what must be studied are the organs involved in the perception
such as the ears, the organs in the ear that are involved in hearing, the brain and the organs
in the brain, this field some linguists call audiovisual studies of the organ systems used to
articulate in language.

In order to utter sounds in a language, it requires different organs. These organs
normally perform functions on one of these organs, when performing one type of function
and the respiratory system and the digestive system, the other about the phonological
function in language: 3 systems are as follows;

1. Air movement system, the related organs are organs related to the respiratory
system (Respiratory System), related organs such as lungs, diaphragm, trachea, larynx, and
mouth.

2. Phonatory System means the organ that controls the quality of sound is the
larynx and vocal cords.

2

3. Airflow containment system (Articulatory System) is the vocal cords such as
vocal cords, soft palate, hard palate, buttons, gums, teeth, tongue, and lips.

1. Air movement system
These organs are the organs that cause the movement of the air currents, because

in order to vocalize the language, air-streams are required to affect the entrapment organ, so
there is a noise, vocalization in the language if there is no air flow. Assisted voices are not
loud at all. You can see that sounds in languages around the world rely on air currents,
sounds produced by peripheral organs, such as the upper and lower teeth or these
movements of the tongue, are not used in any language. The air currents may have different
starting points as described in the following.

1.1 The pulmonary airflow originates (The Pulmonic Airstream Mechanism) or more
simply called the pulmonary airflow. The airflow from the lungs is the inhalation air - out
there. The organs that cause airflow are directly involved in the respiratory system, such as
the lungs, diaphragm, and the windpipe, which work in harmony, that is, when inhalation,
when air enters the lungs, the lungs expand and press the diaphragm to move low. Down
into the abdomen, as they breathe, the diaphragm is pressed all the way down until it can
no longer slide down The diaphragm will move up, pushing the air in the lungs outward
through the trachea, which is exhalation. As can be seen in picture 1

The pulmonary air currents can be used to express sounds in language, egressive,
and ingressive air currents, and sounds in the languages spoken throughout the world. Most
of them are the air from the lungs that is the air stream out.

Figure 1 the movement of airflow from the lungs
1.2 The glottalic air-stream mechanism, or the larynx, the associated organs have
the larynx, throat, and mouth, with the following processes: Close the larynx so that the
airflow passes from the lungs when the larynx is closed, the air stream starts from the
larynx, tensing the larynx to move up, pushing the larynx airflow through the throat through
the mouth outward into the airflow from the larynx.

3

Likewise, an inlet can also be produced by closing the larynx first, then allowing
the external airflow to pass through the mouth and push the closed larynx downward in
Africa, Central, and North America.

Figure 2 the movement of the airflow from the larynx.
1.3 The Velaric Air (The Velaric Air - Stream Mechanism), or the airflow from the
soft palate, the associated organs have the soft palate and oral cavity by the following
process: lift the tongue base to the soft palate and use the soft palate to push the airflow
from the soft palate up to the lips to come out of the mouth, the sound in this airflow
language is called Clicks.

Figure 3 Airflow from the soft ceiling
2. Phonatory system

Some of these organs are called sound production systems, which the authors see
as translations that use the exact term the phonatory system, but can mislead the reader or
student as the sounding organ. Its direct important function is to produce a quality sound in
the language.

Organisms that produce this quality of sound are responsible for the sound in the
human language. Each individual differs in sharpness, shrouded, large, hoarse, clear, sweet,
reverberated, distorted, or broken, the main organ causes the sound quality of each
individual language is different:

2.1 Larynx, which Nisa Sakdejayon, Yupa Songsiri, and Jai-Euaa Buranasombat
(2526: 13-14) have clearly explained and shown the picture (Figure 4) that:

The larynx is a cartilaginous box located above the trachea. It consists of four
major cartilage pieces, the thyroid, which is the outermost cartilage protruding in the male's

4

neck. At this apex is the combination of the two Vocal Cords. The Cricoid, which resembles a
ring, acts as the base next to the thyroid.

There are two Arytenoids, which are pyramid-like, are placed on one coil, at the
end of each Arytenoids have a vocal cords, which are drawn straight from the meridians of
the thyroid. Grand both of these Arytenoids can be moved open and closed by a muscle
called thyrohyoid and other pliable tissues. This closed and open movement of the
Arytenoids pulls the vocal cords in an open or closed manner, producing different sounds of
different qualities. "

Figure 4 shows the cartilage in the larynx and vocal cords.
In conclusion, the larynx is an important organ in the production of sound quality,
the larynx itself is made up of cartilage, muscle, and most importantly, there are vocal cords
in the larynx.

Figure 5 shows the cartilage

5

Figure 6 shows the larynx and other organs of the cross section
2.2 Epiglottis, at the top of the epiglottis, is a lid that can be opened, perhaps
called the name "epiglottis", this epiglottis. It acts to keep food from entering the larynx or
trachea, that is, when swallowing food, the epiglottis closes the trachea, while breathing in
and out is open all the time. Breathe or swallow food while you are unable to speak, as
food particles can fall into the larynx and cause choking.
2.3 Extrinsic Muscles are responsible for connecting the larynx to the tongue. It is
a muscle that is linked to the hyoid bone, so it is also known as the hyoid bone muscle.
This muscle serves to pull the larynx up and down, forward, and back according to the
speaker's wishes.
2.4 Intrinsic Muscles are the muscles that connect the thyroid cartilage and the
arytenoid cartilage, hence the name thyroarytenoid muscle, which pulls the arytenoid
cartilage to move and. The vocal cords can reach one more time, for example, when the
speaker wants to breathe normally, the arytenoid draws the vocal cords open but when
hold or whisper is required, the vocal cords are drawn. Closed, but opens only the arytenoid
cavity, but while whispering, the airflow from the lungs pushes the vocal cords to vibrate,
whispering if it gets louder, the Breathy Voice in the back together If you close the arytenoid
channel But open the vocal cords near the thyroid cartilage and produce the sound like a
creaky voice.

6

2.5 Vocal Cords are two thin sheets of tissue, the front of which is attached to the
thyroid cartilage. (Visible as a male's apple), the back is separated into 2 lines; each line is
attached to the arytenoid cartilage on each side. The arytenoid muscle can force the vocal
cords to open as needed, such as allowing the airflow to pass easily or blocking the airflow.
In order to pronounce the echo, both the arytenoid and the vocal cords block the air from
the lungs, pushing the vocal cords to vibrate. The air flow that comes out like this if it hits
the sounding organ in the mouth. The rising sound will be an echo. But if both the arytenoid
and the vocal cords are open the air stream comes through easily when it hits the sounding
organ. The louder sound will be a noisy sound.

Figure 7 shows the nature and position of the arytenoid and vocal cords when
they are forced in different ways to make different sounds as described above.

Figure 7 shows the position of the arytenoid and the vocal cords
2.6 False vocal cords, located within the larynx, are located above the vocal
cords, forming vocal cords that can act as vocal cords, but the quality of the voice will be
different, such as hoarse or larger voice.

3. The airstream mechanism process
As mentioned above, in the system of airflow, that the sound in a language is

subject to the air that hits the organ, if we consider what organs the pulmonary airflow can
hit in the path it travels upward. Come on, we will find that any organ that the airflow hits
will make a sound from the windpipe, if we try to blow a bamboo tube or a coffee tube and
find that a sound is produced, that sound is caused by the airflow hitting the inner surface.
Of bamboo spout Or that coffee straw.

The diaphragm pushes the airflow from the lungs through the trachea. It is likened
to a sound like blowing a bamboo tube, which is what we call exhalation, human or animal,
of all means. This sound can be if the human or animal is able to breathe, the exhalation

7

sound should be considered a fundamental sound because it is a naturally occurring sound,
not a voice produced by the brain.

Later, as the wind stream has passed through the trachea and in the path
between the larynx to the lips, any part that can contract up to entrap the airflow will
produce a different sound from the basic sound, these organs are known as articulators and
any organs that are not flexible, they let the wind passed without any containment of the
wind stream.

The airflow containment system consists of the following three essential
elements.

3.1 Sound enhancement organs
The organs involved in the containment system can be divided into 2 groups:
1) Those who let the wind pass Or as a passage of the wind, including the

gastrointestinal tract, trachea, oral cavity
2) Sound-moderators are organs that can contain air currents, producing

different sounds from basic sounds. Most of these organs are located in the oral cavity. But
there is a place in the throat, namely the vocal cords and false vocal cords. These organs
may be paired with each other to block the airflow to act as a base (Points of Articulation).
The cooperative may be described separately for clarification as follows.

Active articulator means an organ that can move including
Lower lip
Lower teeth
Tip of the tongue
Front of the tongue
Mid of the tongue
Back of the tongue

Inactive organ bases (Passive Articulator) are:
Upper lip
Upper teeth
Alveola Ridge
Hard Palate
Soft Palate
Uvula

In addition to being paired with each other to contain the wind, or as the
articulation or Kanchana Naksakul (1977: 10), it is known as the location of the various
sounds, and each base has a method. Manners of Articulation can be paired together in
different ways, which can cause sound. What happens is different, as we will explain the
base and the movement of the base in the future.

3.2 Place of Articulation

8

The place of articulation where the oral or basal upper organ is an inactive organ
paired with the lower oral or articulator appendage which is a motionless organ that moves
up to the base one pairing of a base cooperative is called a 1-position base.

Figure 8 Sound Enhancement Organs

The mating of the plinth and the device is usually paired for convenience, such as

the upper lip to the lower lip, the front tongue and gums, middle tongue and hard palate,

the posterior tongue to the soft palate, the naming of the base. Paired in the usual way, this

is often not mentioned, but only the base because it is considered to be known such as the

name of the lip base, gum button, soft palate, hard palate, etc. For the base, if the wrong

pairing, such as the lower lip and the upper teeth calling the name articulation will refer to

both the base and the device, such as the base of the lower lip - upper teeth (Labio

Dental), etc.

From picture 8, it can be seen that the sound stabilizer organs can be paired

together to contain 11 pairs of air currents, resulting in 11 positions of the base as shown in

Table 1.

No. Sound organ paired Articulation

1 Lower lip – upper lip bilabial

2 Lower lip – upper teeth Labio dental

3 Teeth Dental

4 Tip of tongue – upper teeth Apico-dental

5 Tip of tongue – alveolar Apico-alveolar

6 Alveolar Alveolar

7 Front of tongue – palatal Lamino – palatal

8 Hard palate Palatal

9 Soft palate Velar

10 Uvula Uvular

11 Vocal cord Glottal

9

3.3 Movement characteristics of the place of articulation
Each pair of sound enhancement organs have a means of moving towards each other in
order to block the wind in various ways, such as getting closer together, very close but not
so close, a little closer together, and when moving together, separation They can also do
many other characteristics, such as close together for a short time, then slightly apart, or
closer together for a longer time and then separate from each other, etc. The movement of
this place of articulation may produce sounds in different languages, as summarized below.

1) Open air stream quarantine, the language sound produced by this type of
airflow is called the vowel, the associated sound laxative organs are tongue and lips, this
type of airflow containment is not classified as a base. Sound changes in language depend
on the shape of the vocal tract (Vocal Tract) changes, the tongue and lips move and shape,
causing the space inside the mouth to change its shape, for example, if the front tongue is
raised. The vowel that occurs while the tongue is in this way is a vowel, but if the posterior
tongue is lifted almost close. The soft palate is pronounced and the vowels are 0.

Figure 9 The gap in the mouth while pronouncing i Figure 10 Space in the mouth while pronouncing O

2) Restrain the unopened air currents, in this way the sounding organs are paired
with each other as a base and a base, each position has a different motion characteristic, the
sound in the resulting language is a consonant which characterizes the movement of the
base compound that produces the following types of consonant sounds.

2.1) The stop sound of a consonant (explosion) is caused by the movement of the
unit up to the base first and then let the flow the winds blows out. The consonant sound
must consist of 3 stages:

10

Figure 11 The containment of the air currents causing the consonant sound to burst
The sound of this consonant blast can be different in two different ones: aspirated

stop and unaspirated stop. While there is no wind blast, there is a normal air flow.
As mentioned above, the larynx is the organ that produces the quality of sound.

So the consonant sound exploded. (Or other consonant sounds may therefore have the
quality of the sound such as the reverberation or not the reverberation different Due to the
nature of the larynx, which is shown as follows:

As the base and the unit move together in step 1, if the vocal cords are open, the
wind will pass. It is also convenient in the 2nd and 3rd stages of this feature so that there
will be no echo of the explosion sound if the vocal folds are not open for air to pass
through. (The wind must be pushed out by itself) both the 2nd and 3rd stages will have an
echo of the explosion sound, If the line of the blast lets the wind pass when the 3rd stage is
finished then the sound of the explosion will not echo close for the air to push through at
the beginning of the 3rd stage (the vocal cords will vibrate at the beginning of the 3rd stage),
resulting in a consonant sound burst, no echo, no wind.

11

Figure 12 shows the formation of different types of blast consonants.
2.2) An affricate stop consonant sound to Friction is a consonant sound. The
bomb has a different 3rd stage, that is, in the third stage, the base and the unit is slightly
separated, allowing the wind to pass through all the time in this third step.

Figure 13 shows the birth of a semi-fricative consonant.
2.3) Fricative consonants caused by the movement up to almost near the base
(Close Approximation), causing the wind to pass through all the time

Figure 14 shows the birth of a fricative consonant.

12

2.4) The nasal consonant sound is caused by the movement of the consonant
upward like an exploding consonant, differs in that while allowing the air to pass through the
base of the cooperative, the palate is weakened, allowing the air to pass through the
nasopharynx.

2.5) The consonant is caused by the notation that the frontal tongue moves
upward against the base of the gum button, but allows the side of the tongue to hang so
low that the airflow can pass through the sides of the tongue.

2.6) The consonant sound of the vowel is caused by the slight movement of the
unit near the base as a base that allows the air to come out easily.

2.7) The trill sound of a consonant is caused by the expression of the front tongue
moving into the gum button at least 3 times.

2.8) Tapping the consonant sound (Tap) is caused by the notation is the front of
the tongue moving upwards and touching the gum button. In the way of tilting the tongue
or fluttering once

2.9) Sound consonant flap caused by the It is the fore-front tongue moving near
the hard ceiling and then comes back out and touches the gill button as the air blows out.
Then the tongue quickly returns to the resting position.

2.10) Retroflex consonants are caused by the tip of the tongue moving in such a
way that it rolls closer to the hard palate and then pronounces [r].

Fig. 15 shows the tip of the tongue while pronouncing the retroflex consonant.

4. Acoustic Phonetics
The physical study of sound in the language is the study of the sound as it exits the

speaker's mouth to the listeners' ear. The air masses can be compressed together and
distributed.

When we pronounce the energy of sound, it hits air molecules, but since the
movement of air is oscillate, the motion of sound is related to the movement of air, the
study of the movement of air. How much time each cycle takes is the study of sound
waves. In addition, the physical study of sound in language may study the frequency,
shortness of sound, the gap in the mouth, which is briefly described as follows.

1. Sound waves

13

As the energy of sound that travels against air molecules causes air to move in
cycles, it produces sound waves, which may vary if the energy of the dispersed sound waves
travels farther than there is. The amplitude of the amplitude (amplitude) is wider and the
number of turns in the same interval is shown in Figure 16. Picture 16 shows sound waves.

Figure 16 shows sound waves
From Figure 16, it can be seen that at the same time the sound waves A, B, C
differ as follows.
The B sound wave has the largest range of sound waves.

Sound wave A has the most frequency.
Sound waves A and C have the same amplitude.
Sound waves B and C have the same frequency, that is, at equal intervals, B
and C sound waves have the same number of cycles.
Because, the sound in language has different sound waves, therefore dividing the
sound into two groups according to the sound wave characteristics, that is:
A. Periodic Sounds is a sound that has the same duration of each cycle of the sound
waves for sounds in this language, this is a vowel sound.
B. Aperiodic Sound is a sound with different duration for each cycle of sound waves
for sounds in languages with this characteristic are consonants.
2. Frequency refers to the number of cycles per period, if a sound wave has a large
number of cycles it is considered high frequency. Usually, high-frequency sounds are louder
than low-frequency sounds.
3. The short-length of the sound is an important factor in describing consonant
sounds, for example, the blast consonant sounds and the fricative consonant.
4. The mouth gap is like an object that holds air inside. When the air inside the end
and explodes outside, a sound is produced, which is mechanically called a resonator.

5. Auditory Phonetics

14

The study of sound perception in language is the study of the organs of hearing,
perception and hearing.

1. The auditory organ is the ear. Usually, the ear performs three functions: receiving,
transmitting, and analyzing information. With such functional organs divided into 3 parts:
A) The outer ear consists of the auricle and the external auditory canal which receives
information.

1.1 The middle ear is a cavity made up of 3 cartilage pieces: hammer-shaped bones.
Both the stirrup and the stirrup bone, the hammer-shaped bone is attached to the eardrum,
the stirrup is attached to the inner ear and the eardrum, for the eardrum is like the front of
the drum, the bone is the drum, if the sound hits the eardrum will cause The eardrum
sounded and the vibrations continued to be sent to the inner ear.

1.2. The inner ear has two parts: the cochlea is responsible for the hearing and the
vestibular organ acts on the balance to the brain.

2. Sound perception, the system of hearing is unable to answer all sounds, as this is
inextricably related to the senses of the hearers. There are only four things that the listener
perceives as:

2.1 Pitch
2.2 Loudness
2.3 Quality
2.4 Length
3. Hearing is not prohibited if there is a sound that is loud and at the right volume,
we will hear only the intention. Therefore, there are times when we hear a sound but not,
or sometimes a sound we listen to but not hear that it is pronounced differently, for
example, Spin and Pin have a different consonant p, but a native speaker is an English
speaker. There was an opinion that it was not different.

Exercise
1. What is phonology?
2. Explain phonetics
3. What is articulatory phonetics?
4. What is acoustic phonetics?
5. What is auditory phonetics?

Reference
Tomlin, R.S. 1986. Basic Word Order: Functional Principles. London: Croom Helm.
Trudgill, P. 1974. The Social Differentiation of English in Norwich. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

15

Yamada, J.E. 1990. Laura: A Case for the Modularity of Language. Cambridge, Mass:
Bradford Book, M.I.T. Press.

Baker, A. 1982. Introducing English Pronunciation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fudge, E.C. 1973. Phonology. Harmondsworth: Penguin Book.
Christophersen, P. 1956. An English Phonetic Course. London: Longman.
Arnold, G.F. and Olive M. Tooley. 1973. Say It with Rhythm. Book I, London: Longman

Group Ltd.
Adam, C. 1979. English Speech Rhythm and Foreign Learner. The Hague: Mouton.
Abercrombie, David. 1967. Elements of general Phonetic. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University

Press.

Chapter 2
Characteristics of English Sounds

2.1 Spelling and pronunciation

First of all, it is necessary to make a distinction between the sounds of English and

the spelling of English. English spelling is quite confusing because there is no one-to-one

correspondence between the sounds that we hear and the letters that we see. That is, the

English spelling system fails to represent the sounds of English. The discrepancy between

spelling and sounds can pose problems for a number of reasons.

2.1.1 Difference letters represent the some sound

/i/ feel field me people receive sea see

/u/ bruise clue shoe Sioux suit threw through to too two

/ə/ bird circuit burger hector her burden nurse

/e/ aid face maid pain reign waist weight

/ɛ/ bread friend guess said text red pleasure

2.1.2 One letter represents different sound

e Egypt genre hermit leno screw spoken test

o brother doctor love motto now sock to

a achieve bake ball cap many pale Qatar

u but careful dude flute guff just lettuce

mull nurse nut put tube uncle virus

c cancer candy cello city council special success

g engine garage ginger glass giant

s busy cohesion design his measure son visual

i bikini famine file grind marine sign sin

2.1.3 Combinations of letters represent a single sound

aunt chaos character colleague coupe

course daughter elephant enough exhausted

graph field height hiccough laugh

league morpheme night ought paragraph

pearl pharmacy pluck psychology relieve

resource seal shampoo sphere thought

tongue tough triumph twelve typhoid

2.1.4 Letters represent no sounds (silent letters)

aisle answer apostle asthma autumn

baht beret biscuit bomb boutique

buffet business calm calf castle

comb could coup Connecticut damn

18

catalogue Chevrolet Christmas climb column

debt depot debris diaphragm doubt

doughnut dumb faux folk foreign

gherkin ghost gnat gnaw gnome

government half handkerchief hawk heir

height high honest hour Illinois

island isthmus John knead knee

kneel knife knit know knock

lake lawn listen monologue mortgage

numb opossum parliament phlegm phoenix

plague plumber pneumonia psalm pseudonym

psycho nudge precis raspberry receipt

rendezvous rhetoric reign rhyme rhythm

scissors should sign sophomore spouse

subpoena subtle surprise sword take

talk Thames Theresa Thomas thorough

though thought through tongue two

vague vegetable walk weigh Wednesday

whale where whistle whole womb

would wrestle wreck wrench wrinkle

wrist wrong write white yacht

Silent b aplomb bomb climb comb

dumb lamb limb numb succumb

tomb womb

Silent b (when in front of t) debt doubt subtle

Silent c scene scenery scent scepter

scientist scissors scythe

In order to avoid the problems that a spelling system like English poses for the

representation of sounds, it is essential to use the symbols that represent the sounds in

exactly the way they are produced. A phonetic alphabet is a symbol that represents only

one sound and each sound is represented by only symbol. Therefore, the vowel sounds in
the words see sea me people receive and field would be represented by one phonetic

symbol /i/ because each word has the same vowel sound. On the other hand, the s letter in

the words son measure and design would be represented by three different sounds (/s/,

/ž/, and /z/). Phonetic symbols are always placed in slants, / /, to indicate a sound of
pronunciation not a letter of spelling.

19

2.2 International phonetic alphabets
The set of International Phonetic Alphabets (I.P.A) is widely used throughout

the world and contains symbols for sound found in languages and dialects spoken by the
people of the world. The set of phonetic symbols used in this course for both consonant
and vowel sounds is an adaptation of the widely known Trager-Smith system (1957). The
symbols for consonant and vowel sounds, as well as key words illustrating the sounds, are
provided in Tables 8.1 and 8.2. However, different linguists especially those from Great
Britain are likely to use different symbols for some sounds. Moreover, there is no such thing
as a single set of correct phonetic alphabets, and several different phonetic alphabet
systems do exist. Within one course of study, consistently use a single system. Intermixing
symbols from different systems is discouraged.

2.3 Transcription
When transcribing a word into phonetic symbols, all distinctive sounds must be

represented by phonetic symbols. Therefore, transcription provides a record of speakers’
pronunciation across a variety of speech sounds. Learners of English should not be misled
by the traditional spelling. Silent letters are not pronounced, and thus not transcribed.
Doubled consonants do not mean that the consonant is pronounced twice, so they are
transcribed by a single symbol, for example, the word bidder is transcribed as /bIdər/. Many
of the symbols used are identical to the normal printed letters of the alphabets with
diacritical markings in the symbols of /š/, /Č/, /ǰ/, and /ž/. Bear in mind that not all the
letters prevalent in English spelling are needed as phonetic symbols. Those letters include
c, j, q, and x. The letter c, for example, is not a phonetic symbol because it is usually
pronounced as an /s/ as in the word city /sIti/, or /k/ as in the word car /kar/. Usually, x is
transcribed as /ks/ or /gz/ as in the word ox /ɔks/ and exact /Igzækt/.

Table 2.1 Phonetic Alphabets for Consonant Sounds

Symbols bit English Examples tab
1. /b/ duck black crab ride
2. /d/ fish dream bird laugh
3. /f/ god leaf phone drag
4. /g/ hat green dog who
5. /h/ king hill hole dark
6. /k/ love school back girl
7. /l/ luck ball

20

8. /m/ mat smile ham slim

9. /n/ nap snail ban van

10. /ŋ/ bang sing swing thing

11. /p/ peel spear grasp mop

12. /r/ race brain car star

13. /s/ sand soul bus mass

14. /Š/ ship shell mash splash

15. /t/ tone tree shut street

16. /θ/ think thumb bath both

17. /ð/ that those breathe bathe

18. /v/ van vase carve wave

19. /y/ year yell yield you

20. /w/ warn whale white swirl

21. /z/ zinc zoo rose knows

22. /ž/ casual measure pleasure vision

23. /č/ cheap chin catch watch

24. /ǰ/ judge joy edge region

Table 2.2 Phonetic Alphabets for Vowel Sounds

Simple Vowels (Monophthongs)

1. /I/ bit hit live rid
2. /i/ beat heat leave read
3. /ɛ/ bet bread get said
4. /e/ gate mate space way
5. /æ/ band span stand van
6. /ᴜ/ could full pull should
7. /u/ cooed fool pool shoed
8. /o/ hose moat note rose
9. /ᴐ/ bought caught ought sought
10. /a/ barn calf farm start
11. /ᴧ/ among cut other uncle
12. /ə/ among other sofa uncle
13. /ɚ/ bird hurt learn work

Diphthongs

21

1. /aI/ child pine sky

2. /aU/ bough count foul

3. /ᴐI/ coil moist point

In fact, there are other diphthongs in English, and these include the vowels in the
word of sure and tour /Uə/, air and fair /eə/, play and stay /eI/, and go and blow /oU/.

2.4 Comparison of phonetic symbols used in different dictionaries
Due to the variety of phonetic alphabet systems, Table 8.3 and 8.4 compare

phonetic symbols used in different dictionaries. Look up each key word in your dictionary
and transcribe it. To facilitate the task of transcription, write down the symbol that your
dictionary uses for the sound in bold.
Table 2.3 Variety of Symbols Representing Consonant Sounds

22

Key words Longman Webster Collins Cobuild This book Your dictionary
(if not any of
1. put Pp p P these)
2. bus
3. ten p
4. do
5. cat bb b b
6. game
7. fun tt t t
8. very
9. think dd d d
10. them
11. say kk k k
12. zoo
13. Ship gg g g
14.measure
15. choose ff f f
16. jet
17. room vv v v
18. luck
19. move θ th θ θ
20. not
21. sing ð th ð ð
22. yes
23. want ss s s
24. hope
zz z z

∫ sh ∫ Š

ʒ zh ʒ ž

t∫ ch t∫ č

ʤj ʤ ǰ

rr r r

ll l l

mm m m

nn n n

ŋŋ ŋ ŋ

yy y y

ww w w

hh h h

Table 2.4 Variety of Symbol Representing Vowel Sounds

Key words Longman Webster Collins Cobuild This book Your dictionary
(if not any of these)
ē i: i
1. Keep iʸ I I
2. sit I i

23

3. take eʸ ā eI e
eɛ
4. get ɛ e ææ
æ a ɜ: ə
5. bad ɜr Ər
6. bird ᴧᴧ
7. cut ᴧ ə
8. stop ᴐ: ᴐ
9. move a ä
10. good u: u
11. go uʷ ü
UU
12. born U ů oU o
13. night oʷ ᴐ: ᴐ
14. town ō aI aI
15. boy ᴐ aU aU
ô ᴐI ᴐI
aI
aU ī
ᴐI
aů
oi

To familiarize yourself with this type of representation, it is time to begin practicing

phonetic transcription. At the beginning, you will frequently feel frustrated; it will take a

while for you to train yourself to hear the fine differences between sounds and to stop

thinking of sounds as being letters. Be reminded that spelling and pronunciation are two

different issues. Start with the basic transcription list below.

1. boat 2. bush 3. but 4. cane 5. cart

6. change 7. coat 8. cough 9. drunk 10. Fight

11. force 12. god 13. hot 14. knight 15. Know

16. march 17. mice 18. niece 19. plain 20. range

21. rough 22. shout 23. sink 24. strength 25. strike

26. throw 27. tough 28. train 29. vat 30. witch

This word should be transcribed, according to the system used in this book as follow:

1. boat /bot/ 16. march /ma(r)č/

2. bush /bUŠ/ 17. mice /maIs/

3. but /bɅt/ 18. niece /nis/

4. cane /ken/ 19. plain /plen/

5. cart /ka(r)t/ 20. range /renǰ/

6. change /čenǰ/ 21. rough /rɅf/

7. coat /kot/ 22. shout /šUt/

8. cough /kᴐf/ 23. sink /sIŋk/

9. drunk /drɅŋk/ 24. strength /strɛŋθ/

10. fight /faIt/ 25. strike /straIk/

24

11. force /fᴐ(r)s/ 26. throw /θro/
12. god /gᴐd/ 27. tough /tɅf/
13. hot /hᴐt/ 28. train /tren/
14. knight /naIt/ 29. vat /væt/
15. knock /nᴐk/ 30. witch /wIč/

2.5 Broad or phonetic vs narrow or phonetic transcription
What you have seen or done so far is called broad or phonetic transcription.

Broad transcription is the transcription that uses a simple set of symbols to capture broad
differences between sounds. The other kind of transcription that captures the exact
articulatory details of each sound either by using more specific symbols or using allophonic
differences such as diacritics added to symbols to modify their value is called narrow or

phonetic transcription.

For example, the word pen is transcribed as /pɛn/, broad transcription which does

not show the details of how each sound is produced. The initial sound /p/ is in fact
pronounced with aspiration [ph] and the vowel is nasalized due to the following nasal
sound of /n/. Therefore, the word can be accurately transcribed as [phn].

Exercise
1. Explain the manner of articulation from your words.
2. What is the place of articulation?
3. What is voicing in linguistics?
4. How many stop sounds are there in linguistics sounds?
5. What is a fricatives sound?
6. What is an affricates sound?
7. How many nasals sound are there in English?
8. Explain the laterals sounds in your words.
9. What is the trill sound?

Reference
Tomlin, R.S. 1986. Basic Word Order: Functional Principles. London: Croom Helm.
Trudgill, P. 1974. The Social Differentiation of English in Norwich. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.
Yamada, J.E. 1990. Laura: A Case for the Modularity of Language. Cambridge, Mass:

Bradford Book, M.I.T. Press.
Baker, A. 1982. Introducing English Pronunciation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fudge, E.C. 1973. Phonology. Harmondsworth: Penguin Book.

25

Christophersen, P. 1956. An English Phonetic Course. London: Longman.
Arnold, G.F. and Olive M. Tooley. 1973. Say It with Rhythm. Book I, London: Longman

Group Ltd.
Adam, C. 1979. English Speech Rhythm and Foreign Learner. The Hague: Mouton.
Abercrombie, David. 1967. Elements of general Phonetic. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University

Press.

Chapter 3
Consonants and vowels

To pronunciation, it is vital to have an understanding of how the speech sounds of
English are produced. The knowledge obtained will help understand why a Thai learner has
a foreign accent because the accent results partly from an inability to accurately produce
the English sounds. Moreover, it will enable the learner to realize his/her own pronunciation
problems.

Speech sounds are made by the air moving out ward from the lungs through oral
or both oral and nasal cavities. The outward flow of air is called pulmonic aggressive
airstream mechanism. Other airstream mechanisms are possible but will not be discussed
here because all English sounds are created from pulmonic airstream mechanism. When the
airstream is altered in some way, different speech sounds are produced. The alternation is
caused by different positioning of various parts of the mouth. The airstream can also be
modified due to the tongue position and lip rounding.

In Figure 1, parts of the mouth for speech production are labelled. Some of them
are movable, while others are not. The movable parts of the oral tract are referred to as
articulators. The articulators approach the upper unmovable parts of the mouth, causing the
airstream to be modified in different ways. The unmovable parts are called places of
articulation or points of articulation.

3.1 Consonants and vowels
A basic distinction, in terms of how sounds are formed, is made between

consonants and vowels. Consonants are produced by a narrowing in the mouth which in
turn causes some obstruction or blocking of the airstream. That is, there is partial or
complete closure of the vocal tract at some place of articulation. But vowel sounds are
produced when there is no obstruction or closure of the airpath in the vocal tract. Try
pronouncing the word ‘cat’. You can feel your mouth spreading when you pronounce the
vowel sound and narrowing when pronounce the initial and final consonants.

3.2 Consonants
In order to describe consonants in terms of articulatory features, three basic

characteristics in this order need to be mentioned.
3.2.1. Voicing – whether there is a vibration of the vocal cords
3.2.2. Point of articulation – where in the mouth the airstream is obstructed.
3.2.3. Manner of articulation – the way in which the airstream is obstructed.

28

3.1.1. Voicing
All languages have some sounds that are voiced and some sounds that are
voiceless. Sounds can be voiced or voiceless depending on the state of the vocal cords and
glottis. Vocal cords or vocal folds are in a larynx (voice box) which is at the top of the
trachea (wind pipe). As a matter of fact, the distinction between viced and voiceless sound is
very significant in many languages including Thai and English. Some consonants are
voiceless, but all vowels are voiced.

Larynx: State of the Glottis
In order to understanding voicing, consider in the initial consonants in the word

Sue and zoo. The word Sue is pronounced with /s/, while zoo is pronounced with /z/.
These two sounds are identical in terms of point (alveolar) and manner of articulation
(fricative). However, they differ in voicing. The former is voiceless, and the latter is voiced.
To demonstrate the voiceless – voiced distinction, plug your ears and pronounce
“sssszzzzsssszzzz”. Or you can put your fingers on your Adam’s apple as you pronounce the
sequence of sounds. You will be able to distinguish clearly between the voiceless sounds
without vibration and the voiced sounds with the vibrating vocal cords.

The vibration that is heard when pronouncing the voiced /z/ sound is caused by
the vocal cords. Sounds that are made with the vocal cords vibrating are voiced, and
sounds made with no vibration of the vocal cords are voiceless. The vocal cords are bands
of muscle attached to the walls of the larynx or the voicebox. When they are held close
together, the air passing from the lungs into the mouth causes them to vibrate. When they
are apart, the air passing through causes no vibration.

29

A common problem among Thai learners involves not voicing certain consonants
in English when they occur initially and finally. Now try reading the following pairs of words
and notice the different in each pair.

Stops Fricatives Affricates
Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced

bet bed Asher azure chain Jane

cat cad ether either cheer jeer

come gum fan van rich ridge

pay bay glacier glazier

pest best lacy lazy

to do leafing leaving

tack tag racer razor

racing raising

Sue zoo

surf serve

thigh thy

Practice saying these statements and then respond accordingly.

1. He raised/ raced a horse.

A. Where did he keep it? B. Did it win?

2. We need a good president / precedent.

A. Help elect one. B. Let’s set one.

3. She prizes / prices old books.

A. Doesn’t she like new ones? B. Is that her job?

3.2.2 Point/Place of articulation
In English, there are seven places in the mouth where the airstream is obstructed
in the formation of consonants.

3.2.2.1. Both lips (Bilabial)
The initial sounds in pad, bad, mad, and wet are all made by bringing the upper

and lower lips together momentarily. The obstruction of the airstream occurs at the lips.
Thus, /p/, /b/, and /m/ are all bilabial sounds because the two lips are involved in their

production.
3.2.2.2. Lower lip and upper teeth (Labiodental)

30

Now produce the sentence ‘I feel very fine.’, paying attention to the first sounds

of the words feel, very, and fine. The initial sounds are made with lower lip touching the

upper front teeth and thus are labiodental. The phonetic symbols for these two sounds

are /f/ and /v/.
3.2.2.3. Tip of the tongue and the teeth (Interdental)

Say “Then the thin man thanked me.”, paying attention to the initial consonants
of the words then, the, thin and thanked. With these two sounds of /θ/ and /ð/, the
obstruction of the airstream occurs because the tip of the tongue is between the teeth.
Therefore, /θ/ and /ð/ are interdental consonants. The former is voiceless as in the words

thin, month, path, worth, and thank, whereas the latter is voiced as in the, then, father,
and weather.

The two sounds are notoriously difficult for Thai learners because they are not
common sounds in many of the world's languages. Even though not many English words
contain the /ð/ sound, the words that do contain this sound are among the most frequently
used words in English. For instance the words the, this, that, these, those, then, than, there,
though, them and they begin with the /ð/ sound. The /ð/ sound is also in such common
words as mother and brother. Thus, you can see how important in English.

3.2.2.4. Tip of the tongue and the tooth ridge (Alveolar)
When you pronounce the initial sound of the words tip, dip, nip, and lip, you

should feel the tip of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth just behind your upper
teeth. They are alveolar sounds. The phonetic symbols for these sound are /t/, /d/, /n/

and /l/. other alveolar sounds include the initial sound of the words sip and zip. The

phonetic symbols are /s/ and /z/ respectively. The initial sound of rip is also an alveolar

sound and is represented by the symbol /r/.
3.2.2.5 Blade of the tongue and the hard palate (Alveopalatal)

To pronounce the final sound of the words wish and beige, the blade of the

tongue approaches the hard palate just behind the tooth ridge. The phonetic symbols for
these sounds are /š/ and /ž/. Please note that the ź sound very rarely begins an English
word. Usually, words of foreign origin such as genre or Jacques begin with this sound.

One important aspect of the pronunciation of /š/ and /ž/ involves the lips. The
lips are rounded while pronouncing these sounds. The /š/ sound can be difficult for Thai
learners because it is often replaced by the /č/ sound. /č/ is also an alveopalatal sound as
in the words chain initially and watch finally. The initial consonant sound in the words jug,

jury, and jar is also alveopalatal and is represented by the symbol /ǰ/. The sounds /š/, /ž/,

/č/, and /ǰ/ are referred to as alveopalatal or palatal sounds because the tongue is

between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate when the sounds are produced.

31

3.2.2.6. Back of the tongue and the soft palate or velum (Velar)
Pronounce the word-final consonants in back, bag, and bang. The back part of

the tongue touches the back part of the mouth for a while, causing an obstruction of the
airstream. The back part of the tongue rises to touch the soft palate or velum. The phonetic
symbols for these sounds are /k/, /g/, and /ŋ/.

3.2.2.7. Glottis (Glottal)
Glottal sounds are made by closing or constricting the glottis just enough to
create a little friction. Try pronouncing the words hard and hill. Pay attention to the initial

sound. The phonetic symbol for the sound is /h/.
3.2.3. Manner of articulation
Sounds made at the same point of articulation are not necessarily identical

sounds. /p/, /b/ and /m/ are articulated at the two lips, yet they are certainly different
sounds. This is why it is important to know a consonant's manner of articulation. Manner of
articulation refers to the way in which the obstruction of the airstream, which characterizes
all consonants, is achieved. At the different places of articulation in the mouth, there are
three different ways that the airstream can flow.

1. The airstream is completely obstructed and stopped.
2. The airstream is partially obstructed.
3. The airstream is unobstructed and allowed to flow freely through the oral tract.
The 24 consonant sounds can be divided into six groups based on their manner of
articulation.

3.2.3.1. Stops
The air that flows from the lungs into the mouth can be co stopped momentarily
because the lips or the tongue actually certain part of the upper mouth. Then the air
pressure is releases form of a small explosion. Consonants that involve this a blockage of
the airstream are called stops. The initial sounds of pill, bill, till, dill, kill, and gill are stop

consonants. It can be seen that stops articulated at three points in the vocal tract. The air is
blocked when the two lips come together as in the sounds of /p/ and /b/. Thus, we
describe /p/ as a voiceless bilabial stop and /b/ a voiced bilabial stop. With /t/ and /d/,

the air is blocked because the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge. Therefore, /t/ is
a voiceless alveolar stop; /d/ is a voiced alveolar stop. The sounds of /k/ and /g/ are

made by stopping the airflow with the tongue back touching the velum. Thus, /k/ is a
voiceless velar stop, whereas /g/ is a voiced velar stop. Stop sounds in English can be

summarized as follows:
The Stop Consonants of English
Bilabial stops /p/ and /b/
Alveolar stops /t/ and /d/

32

Velar stops /k/ and /g/

3.2.3.2. Fricatives

For stops, the airstream is completely blocked at some point in the mouth. For
fricatives, the airstream involved is not completely blocked. The obstruction is made by
narrowing the air passageway so that the passing air will create friction. This friction will
cause the air to pass through the constricted opening "noisily”. These consonants are called
fricatives because the close approximation of the articulators causes turbulence in the

airflow.
Compare the initial consonants of the words tick and sick. Both sounds are made at

the same point of articulation-- alveolar ridge. They, however, differ in their manner of

articulation. The /t/ is made complete closure, whereas /s/ is made with partial closure of

airstream. Prolonging the /s/ is possible while the /t/ is not. In English fricatives are produced

at five points of articulation and can summarize as follows:

The Fricative Consonants of English

Labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/

Interdental fricatives / θ/ and / ð/

Alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/

(Alvoe)Palatal fricatives / š/ and / ž/

Glottal fricative /h/

3.2.3.3. Affricates

Affricates are in fact the combination of two sounds--a stop followed by a

fricative. There are only two affricates in English, /č/ and / ǰ / as in church and judge,

respectively. The initial and final consonant sound of church begins as the stop consonant

/t/, and is released as the fricative /š/. Similarly, the initial and final consonant sound of the
word judge begins as the stop consonant /d/, and is released as the fricative /ž). These two

sounds are thus represented by the symbols of /tš/ and /dž/ in some phonetic textbooks
which clearly reflect their pronunciation. However, for convenience in typing, the symbols of
/ č / and / ǰ / are chosen for this book.

The Affricate Consonants of English
(Alveo)Palatal affricates /č/ and / ǰ /
3.2.3.4. Nasals
All of the consonants mentioned so far are made with air passing through the mouth.

Nasal sounds, on the other hand, are made with air passing through the mouth and the
nose. The velum is lowered, allowing the airstream to flow through the nasal cavity and the
nose.

33

There are three nasal consonants in English: /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/ as in seam, sin, and

sing respectively. However, these three sounds differ in their point of articulation, the place

at which the oral cavity is closed. The /m/ is produced with the two lips touching. The /n/ is

produced with the tongue tip touching the alveolar ridge. The /ŋ/ is produced with the back

of the tongue touching the soft palate. The contact at different places blocks the air from

passing through the mouth.

The Nasal Consonants of English

Bilabial nasal /m/

Alveolar nasal /n/

Velar nasal /ŋ/

3.2.3.5. Liquids
The initial sounds of rip and lip are called liquids. Unlike other sounds mentioned, in

the pronunciation of these sounds, the air passes rough the mouth in a manner like
consonant sounds and vowel sounds.

A. Lateral /l/
The /l/ sound in English is made, obstructing the airstream by raising the tongue tip

or the blade to touch the alveolar ridge. The air is let passing out through the mouth over
the sides of the tongue. That is how this sound is referred to as a lateral sound.

B. Retroflex /r/
The sound is made with the tip curling backwards in the mouth. While many of the

world’s languages contain an /r/ sound, the particular way in which the /r/ sound is
produced can differ greatly from one language to another language. Even in same language,
British English and American English, /r/ is not produced the same. The word-final /r/ in
British English is usually not produced, whereas that in American English tends to be
pronounced as a retroflex /r/.

3.2.3.6. Semivowels, approximants, or glides
The initial sounds of the words wet and yet are called semivowels or glides. As the

same implies, the semivowels are partly like vowels and partly like consonants because
there is little obstruction of the airstream in the mouth.

To articulate the /w/ sound, the back of the tongue is raised to approach the soft
palate (or velum), and the lips approach each other. This is how this sound is referred to as
a bilabial glide.

To articulate the /y/ sound, the blade of the tongue is raised toward the hard palate.
Thus, this sound is referred to as a palatal glide.

The Semivowel Consonants of English

(Alveo)Palatal semivowel /y/

34

Bilabial semivowel /w/

Table 3.1 Consonant Chart Interdental Alveolar Palatal Velar

Manner Voicing Bilabial Labio- tk Glottal
dg h
(vd/vl) dental θ sš
ð zž
Stop vl p
Č
vd b
ǰ
Fricative vl f
nŋ
vd v
l
Affricative vl
r
vd
y
Nasal

vd m

Lateral

vd

Retroflex

vd

Semivowel

vd w

Describe the following consonant sounds

Sound Voiced/Voiceless Point Manner

p

t

k

b

d

g

f

v

θ

ð

s

z

š

ž

h

Č

35

ǰ
m
n

ŋ

l
r
w
y

3.3 Vowels
Vowels are differentiated from consonants by the free flowing of the airstream through

the mouth. That is, a vowel sound involves no narrowing of the articulators. Vowel sounds
are therefore sometimes called “open sounds”. Different vowels are due to different
positions of the tongue and lips. By changing the size or shape of the air space in the oral
cavity, different vowel sounds can be produced. In spite of differences prevalent among
vowel sounds, one thing they have in common is that all vowel sounds are voiced. in
describing vowels, up to four characteristics can be mentioned.

3.3.1. Height of the tongue – whether the tongue is high or low in the mouth
3.3.2. Frontness/Backness of tongue – whether the front or the back of the
tongue is involved
3.3.3. Tenseness/laxness – whether the muscles are tense or lax
3.3.4. Lip rounding – whether the lips are rounded or unrounded

3.3.1. Tongue height
Pronounce the vowel sounds in the word beat, bit, bait, bet and bat. The five vowel
sounds in these words are produced by raising and lowering the front part of the middle of
the tongue. When the vowel in beat and bit are produced, the part of the tongue behind
the blade will be relatively high (close to the roof of the mouth) and the jaw will be
relatively raised (the mouth will be relatively closed). They are both considered to be high
vowels.
The vowels of bait and bet are considered to be mid vowels because the tongue is
neither high nor low in the mouth. The vowel of bat is considered to be a low vowel
because it is made with the tongue below its rest position. Now pronounce the following
series of words ranging from high to low vowels:

boot – book – boat – bought

36

The vowel sounds in boot and book are pronounced with the back of the tongue

raised towards the velum. The mouth is relatively closed and rounded. They are both

considered to high vowels. The vowel in boat is a mid-vowel, and the vowel in bought is a

low vowel.

Table 3.2 Classification of English Vowels by Tongue Height

i I u
High U

e ɚ o
Mid ɛə
ᴐ
Low ᴧ

æa

3.3.2. Tongued frontness/backness
Considering the vowel chart above, you may have observed that the vowels in the first
column are produced involving different parts of the tongue. Say the words beat and boot

in succession. Both are high vowels because the tongue is raised above its rest position.

However, the vowel of beat is thus referred to as a high front vowel, whether the vowel in

boot is a high back vowel.
Similarly, the vowels in bat and bought are both low vowels, but the vowel of bat is

made with the front part of the tongue low in the mouth while the vowel of bought is with

the back part. Thus, the vowel in bat is called a low front vowel, and the vowel in bought
is a low back vowel.

Compare these two sets of words: beat – bit – bait – bet – bat and boot – book –

boat – bought. The first sets of words are pronounced involving the front part of the
tongue gradually lowering. The second sets of words are made with the lowering of the back
part of the tongue.

Certain vowels are neither the front nor back. They are referred to as central vowels.
The vowel sounds of the word but is not high or low. Moreover, neither the front nor the

back part of the tongue is involved. This vowel is called a mid-central vowel. The other

mid central vowel sound is the initial vowel sound of the word among. The vowel is called

schwa. The schwa is the most frequently occurring vowel in the English language especially

in unstressed syllables. The vowel sound /a/ in the word baht is also a low central vowel.

37

Table 3.3. Classification of English Vowels by Height and Frontness

Front Central Back
u
i
o
High
ᴐ
IU

e ɚ
Mid ə
ᴧ
ɛ

Low æ a

3.3.3. Tenseness/laxness
Muscular tension in the mouth can be another factor which differentiates vowel
sounds. Vowels produced with extra tension of the mouth muscles are tense. Vowels

produced with no tension are lax. Compare the vowels of heat and hit. Both of these

vowels are high front vowels. However, they differ in the degree of muscle tension with
which they are produced. The vowel in heat is pronounced with tension, whereas the

vowel in hit is pronounced comparatively in a relaxed way.

There are three pairs of vowels with tense – lax counterparts in general American
English, namely the vowels of beat and bit, bait and bet, and boot and book. Among

these pairs, it is the first member that is tense. Usually, the tense vowels are pronounced
with a higher and more definite tongue position vis-a-vis their lax counterparts. Apart from
that, the tense vowels tend to be longer.

Practice reading these sentences /i/ /I/ Lax
I bought another sheep/ship. /e/ /ɛ/
Do you have a pain/pen? /i/ /I/
She’s sleeping/slipping. /e/ /ɛ/
He tasted/tested it. /i/ /I/
Spell the word sea/sit. /U/ /u/
It was a long pull/pool. /U/ /u/
The soot/suit was black.
Tense
Tense vs lax distinction
Tense Lax

38

beat bit cheap chip
fail fell feel fill
feet fit fool full

gate get late let
leave live Luke look
neat knit pain pen
paper pepper pool pull
seat sit shade shed
shoed should taste test
wade wed waste west

3.3.4 Lip rounding
Besides tongue height, frontness/ backness, and muscular tension, lip rounding is
another important feature of vowel sounds. English has only four vowels made witth
rounding the back vowels as in boot, book, boat, and bought.

Table 3.4. Classification of English Vowels by Height, Frontness, and Lip Rounding

Front Central Back

i u
High I U

e ɚ o
Mid ɛ ə
ᴧ ᴐ

Low æ a

Tense Lax Lax Tense

3.3.5 Diphthong vowels
The vowels mentioned so far are single pure sounds (monophthongs). Diphthongs area
sequence of two sound segments a vowel and al glide or semi-vowel. The vowel sounds of
/i/, /e/, /o/, and /u/ in the words field, day, go, and blue actually have diphthongal quality.

However, English has only three real diphthongs. They are the vowel sounds in the words
buy, bough, and boy. The phonetic symbols for these three diphthongs are /aI/, /aU/, and

/ᴐI/.
To pronounce the diphthong in the word buy for example, the tongue at first is in the

position for a low central vowel /a/, and then it glides up toward the tongue position of high

front vowel /I/. To pronounce the diphthong in the word bough, for example, the tongue

begins at /a/ and glides back towards /U/. the last diphthong is found in the word boy for

example. The tongue begins at /ᴐ/ and then glides up toward the position of /I/.

39

Table 3.5 Diphthongs on the Vowel Chart

Front Central Back u
U
High i ɚ
I ə o
ᴧ
e
Mid ɛ

Low æ aᴐ
Tense Lax Lax Tense

Examples of words that have three principal diphthongs

/aI/ /aU/ /ᴐI/

alibi discount convoy

choir ground corduroy

enzyme however cowboy

ironic Macleod Freud

island outgrow Reuter

English vowel sounds together with their corresponding examples.

1. Simple Vowels (Monophthongs)

1. /I/ bit hit live rid
2. /i/ beat heat leave read
3. /ɛ/ bet bread get said
4. /e/ gate mate space way
5. /æ/ band span stand van
6. /U/ could full pull should
7. /u/ cooed fool pool shoed
8. /o/ hose moat note rose
9. /ᴐ/
10. /a/ bought caught ought sought
barn calf farm start

40

11. /ᴧ/ among cut other uncle

12. /ə/ among other sofa uncle

2. Diphthongs

1. /aI/ child pine sky

2. /aU/ bough count foul

3. /ᴐI/ coil moist point

Other less common diphthongs include those in the following words:

/Iə/ dear/deer fierce here

/Uə/ tour poor sure

3. Examples of individual vowel sound

/i/ be beacon believe boutique cheese
guarantee
chief clean either free niece

immediate key machine meager secret
forgive
police reason receive sea rich

/I/ bitter build busy city get
well
Itchy knit physical rhythm
young
village women
suppose
/ɛ/ bed bread egg empty
her
head hedge question ready work
food
/ᴧ/ budget country funky money through

/ə/ amateur asparagus color famous

/ ɚ/ burden courage girdle girl

hurt journey learn serve

/u/ blue boot brew canoe

mood screw soup suit

/U/ book could full good should

Exercise
1. Explained the manner of articulation for the following terms.
a. stop b. affricate c. nasal d. lateral e. trill
2. Give the active articulator and the passive articulator related to the following

terms.

41

a. bilabial b. alveolar c. velar d. dental
3. How are voiceless and voiced consonants?
4. How many sounds are there in the word ‘weight’?
5. What is the /s/ sound spelled with? Give examples
6. When we want to describe single vowel sounds, how many points do we have to
use? What are they?
7. What is difference between monophthongs and diphthong?
8. How is a diphthong when we produce them?
9. Which vowel sound is very common in word stress? Why?
10. Which English vowel sounds do we think are difficult for us to produce? Why?
Reference
Tomlin, R.S. 1986. Basic Word Order: Functional Principles. London: Croom Helm.
Trudgill, P. 1974. The Social Differentiation of English in Norwich. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Yamada, J.E. 1990. Laura: A Case for the Modularity of Language. Cambridge, Mass:
Bradford Book, M.I.T. Press.
Baker, A. 1982. Introducing English Pronunciation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fudge, E.C. 1973. Phonology. Harmondsworth: Penguin Book.
Christophersen, P. 1956. An English Phonetic Course. London: Longman.
Arnold, G.F. and Olive M. Tooley. 1973. Say It with Rhythm. Book I, London: Longman
Group Ltd.
Adam, C. 1979. English Speech Rhythm and Foreign Learner. The Hague: Mouton.
Abercrombie, David. 1967. Elements of general Phonetic. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press.

42

Chapter 4
SYLLABLES

1. Introduction

One word may have one or more syllables. A syllable is a small group of syllable
is a small grow of phonemes that normally contains one vowel (Anne E. Baker and Kees
Hengerveld,(2012 : 322) A unit of pronunciation typically larger than a single sound and
smaller than a word is called a syllable (David Crystal 2008 : 467). A syllable that has only
one vowel sound is called a monosyllable. But a word containing two or more syllables is
called a polysyllable word. For example, the word 'bus' has one syllable, buses' has two
syllables, and airbuses' has three syllables. From the examples, it is seen that a number of
syllables depends on a vowel sound. The word /bʌs/ 'bus' has one syllable because it has
only one vowel sound that is /ʌ/. But the others are the word /'bʌsız/ 'buses' with two
syllables because of two vowel sounds /ʌ/ and /‫ו‬/ and the word /'eəbʌs‫ו‬z, airbuses' with
three syllables because of three vowel sounds /eə/, /ʌ/, and /‫ו‬/. So a syllable is a group of
one or more vowel sounds. It may or may not be surrounded by consonant sounds because
the essential part of a syllable is a vowel sound (V), not a consonant sound (C). In this unit,
we focus on a one-syllable word.

2. English Syllable Patterns

There are many syllable patterns of a one-syllable word such as V, VC, CV, and CVC.
It means a C. It means a syllable has only one vowel sound, but it may have the consonant
(s) at the beginning (S) at the beginning or at the end of it. So we can group it into three
patterns: a one-syllable one-syllable word without any initial or final consonants, a one-
Syllable word with initial consonant(s), and a one-syllable word with final consonant (s).
Hera is syllable patterns of a one-syllable word.

Pattern Example
1. V /ə/ ’a’
2. VC /i:t/ ‘eat’
3. VCC /i:st/ ‘east’
4. VCCC /ænts/ ‘ants’
5. CV /gəʊ/ ‘go’
6. CCV /pleı/ ‘play’

45

7. CCCV /strɔ/ ‘straw’

8. CVC /kæt/ ‘cat’

9. CCVC /pleɪd/ ‘played’

10. CCCVC /str:t/ ‘street’

11. CVCC /west/ ‘west’

12. CVCCC /pænts/ ‘pants’

13. CCVCC /stænd/ ‘stand’

14. CCCVCC /strænd/ ‘strand’

15. CCCVCCC /strændz/ ‘strands’

16. CVCCCC /tempts/ ‘tempts’

17. CCVCCCC /glɪmpst/ ‘glimpsed’

2.1 One-syllable words without consonants

Some one-syllable words have only one vowel sound (V) without any consonant
sounds (C). The syllable pattern for this is V. For example, the word 'a' in the phrase 'a cat'
has only one syllable sound /ə/. Another example is the word "oh' which also has only
vowel sound /əʊ/. So this syllable oh' which also has only vowel sound 07. So this syllable
pattern can be divided into two as follows:

v

VW

Figure 5.1 Syllable patterns 1

In Figure 5.1, when a one-syllable word has only one vowel sound, the vowel sound
may be a single vowel (monophthong) or a double vowel (diphthong) as examples shown
above. The word 'a' has only single vowel sound /ə/, but the word 'oh' has one vowel
sound /əʊ/ by combination of /ə/ and /ʊ/. There are a few words for this pattern.

Here are other examples of syllable pattern 1.

/aɪ/ “l” /ɔ:/ or /aɪ/ ‘eye’

/eə/'air' /ɪə/ 'ear'

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2.2 One-syllable words with initial consonants
Some one-syllable words have one vowel sound (V) with initial consonants (C) as in
/ka:/ 'car', /ska:/ 'scar', and /spri:/ 'spree'. The syllable pattern for this type is CV. They can
have one or more than initial consonant sounds. Here are the syllable patterns of one-
syllable words with initial consonants.

CV

CV CCV CCCV
Figure 5.2 Syllable patterns 2

In Figure 5.2, the syllable pattern 2 is divided into three as CV, CCV, and CCCV CV
means one-syllable words containing one initial consonant and one vowel as in /nəʊ/ 'no'.
It has one initial consonant /n/ and one vowel /əʊ/. CCV contains two initial consonants
and one vowel as in /snəʊ/ 'snow'. It has two initial consonants and one vowel. And CCCV
means three initial consonants and one vowel as in /spri:/ 'spree'. It has three initial
consonants and one vowel.

It is not the problem when there is one initial consonant, but if they are more than
one, what is the combination of them? When we have two or three consonants together, we
call them a consonant cluster. It is a group of consonants which don't have intervening
vowel between as in the examples above /snəʊ/ 'snow' and /spri:/ 'spree'.

In English, there are two sorts of initial two-consonant clusters. One sort which is
composed of /s/ followed by other initial consonant is called pre-initial consonant (Peter
Roach, 2009: 57). For example, the word /sweə/'swear' has two initial consonants /s/ and
/w/. /s/ is followed by another initial consonant /w/. So it can be followed by the following
initial consonants:

Initial
p b t d k g m n ŋ f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ hlrwj
S + - + - + - + + - + - - - - - - - -+-+-

Figure 5.3 two consonant clusters with pre-initial consonant /s/