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Phonetics

Phonetics the branch of linguistics that studies the sounds of speech.

•Transcription: how speech sounds can be written down •Branches of phonetics: •articulatory phonetics: how sounds are produced •acoustic phonetics: the physical properties of sound waves produced in speech •auditory phonetics: how sounds are heard and perceived

Articulation and Acoustics

Speech Production:

Primary vocal organs:

Lungs source of moving air

Trachea connection between the lungs and the vocal tract

Larynx (sound source) the larynx (sometimes called the voicebox) contains:

o vocal folds the opening between the vocal folds is known as the glottis.

o vocal tract (sound filters) pharynx, oral cavity, tongue, velum (soft palate), and nasal cavity

vocal tract: made up of oral tract and nasal tract

articulators: the part of the vocal tract that can be used to form sounds (tongue and lips)

4 main components of speech production:

airstream process: includes all the ways of pushing air out (and, as we will see later, of sucking it in) that provide the power for speech

phonation process: name given to the actions of the vocal folds (vocal folds are vibratingvoiced, and sounds in which they are apartvoiceless

oro-nasal process: determines the possibility of the airstream going out through the mouth, as in [ v ] or [ z ], or the nose, as in [ m ] and [ n ]

articulatory process: the movements of the tongue and lips interacting with the roof of the mouth and the pharynx

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Sounds are divided into two major categories: consonants and vowels. •Vowels sounds produced with no major obstruction in the vocal tract so that air can flow relatively freely through the mouth. •Consonants produced with some constriction in the vocal tract so that there is some obstruction in the flow of air out of the mouth. Consonants are classified according to three dimensions:

voicing

place (of articulation)

manner (of articulation)

Voicing refers to the activity of the vocal folds

•If the vocal folds are close enough together so that they vibrate during the articulation of a sound, the sound is voiced. (eg. v in vat)

•If the vocal folds are held far enough apart that air can pass through without creating vibration, the sound is voiceless. (eg. f in fat)

Place of Articulation Upper articulators:

lips

teeth

alveolar ridge

hard palate

soft palate (velum)

uvula

pharynx

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Lower articulators:

lower lip (labial)

the tongue: o tip (apex) o blade (lamina) tip + blade = coronal o front/body o back (dorsum) body + back + root = dorsal o root

Place of articulation refers to where in the vocal tract, and with what articulators, the constriction is made.

(bi)labial

postalveolar

labiodental

retroflex

dental

palatal

alveolar

velar

labio-velar

glottal

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Manner of Articulation

Stops – formed with complete closure and no air passing through the vocal tract o Oral Stops (plosives): complete closure in the nasal cavity, raised velum and air passing

through the mouth o Nasal Stops (nasals): complete closure in the oral cavity, lowered velum and air passing

through the nasal cavity

Fricatives – formed with a constriction narrow enough to cause friction

Approximants – formed with a constriction that is not narrow enough to make frication

Laterals – complete closure at the center and approximation of articulators at one or both sides of the vocal tract

Affricates – complete closure with a fricative release

Trill

Flap

Vowels Relevant to vowel production are:

Tongue height (high/mid/low)

Tongue frontness/backness

Lip position (round/unround)

tense/lax (tension of the vocal tract muscles)

Sound Waves:

•Variation in air pressure caused by vocal organs results in sound waves.

•Hearing sounds is a result of vibration of ear drum by sound waves in the air. • Frequency (Hz)

• Amplitude (dB)

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Suprasegmentals

properties of speech that apply to larger units than individual segments (consonants/vowels):

Pitch Intonation Stress Length

English Consonants

Careful vs. Connected Speech •Phonetics uses special symbols for sounds – transcribes sounds

•IPA (International Phonetic Association/Alphabet)

•Diacritics: marks added to the main phonetic symbols to modify their values; little symbols (eg. tiny h for aspiration)

Phoneme vs. Allophone - Phoneme: sounds that are contrastive in a given language, can create a difference in meaning. Referred to in broad transcription (broad transcription: just include the phonemes) -Allophone: variants of a phoneme. Do not create a contrast in meaning. Referred to in narrow transcription (narrow transcription: narrows down to a particular pronunciation) Brackets (slash vs. square): •/ / with phonemes or broad transcription

•* + with allophones or narrow transcription

In English, the orthography does not correspond to the pronunciation

Eg. /ʃ/ sure /ʒ/ pleasure /s/ sin /ɹ/ corn /ʃ/ ship /ʒ/ closure /tʃ/ cheap /dʒ/ jeep /θ/ thick /ð/ they /ŋ/ king

Transcription of vowels: •Monophthongs: no significant change in quality throughout production (consists of just a vowel)

Eg. he /hi/ •Diphthongs: involves movement from one vowel to another (two symbols are used)

Eg. hay /heɪ/

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English Consonant Chart

English Vowel Chart

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Aspiration: tie vs. die vs. sty [ ʰ]

For voiced stops, the closure is shorter

•Shorter vowels before voiceless fricatives: rice [raɪs] vs. rise [raɪz]

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•Devoiced final fricatives: prove it vs. improve Devoicing [˳] diacritic used to indicate devoicing

NOTE: word in English starts with *ŋ+

•Syllabic nasals: hidden [hɪdn ] sadden [sædn ] sudden [sᴧdn ] leaden [lɛdn ]

Approximants •Central approximants: *ɹ], [w], [j]

Eg. rack, whack, yak •Lateral approximant: *l+

Eg. lack •Rhotic: [ɹ] •Liquids: *ɹ], [l] •Glides: *w+, *j+ •*w+ vs. *ʍ]

Eg. witch [wɪʧ] vs. which [ʍɪʧ] Velarized: [ɫ]

Ex. leaf [lif] feel [fiɫ]

• /ɹ/ can be pronounced in two ways, intra-speaker free variation 1. the tongue tip is curled up and back towards the back of the alveolar ridge – retroflex

2. the tongue tip is down and the tongue body is up and back - bunched

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Overlapping Gestures sometimes we must rely on the context to know what the speaker is saying Coarticulation [ ] [ ] Ex.

•that’s a straight issue.

•that’s a stray tissue.

•that’s a straight tissue.

•Articulators overlap results in shortening of the first consonant in a sequence of two identical consonants. (Eg. straight tissue)

Allophones of English Consonants Phonemes and Allophones: 1. A phoneme – contrastive in a language; minimal pairs, difference in meaning 2. Allophone – a member of a phoneme family

Ex. pete /pit/ beat /bit/ phonemes /p/ and /b/ pit [phɪt] spit [spɪt] allophones [p] and [ph] level phonemic /p/ allophonic [pʰ] [p]

Broad and Narrow Transcription 1. Broad transcription: no allophones or allophonic details are presented /p/ 2. Narrow transcription: allophones and allophonic details are presented [p] & [pʰ] allophones pit spit [phɪt] [spɪt] *[pɪt] [sphɪt]

Consonantal Allophonic Processes (12) Aspiration Voiceless stops are aspirated at the beginning of a stressed syllable, when followed by a vowel or an approximant

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Devoicing approximants are devoiced after /p, t, k/ (aspirated) voiced obstruents are devoiced word-finally (partial devoicing) Velarization /l/ is velarized in the syllable coda (or in the case of a syllabic l, the nucleus) or before velars

Tapping/Flapping /t d/ becomes a tap/flap [ɾ] between two vowels when the second vowel is not stressed Ex. bitten: /bɪtən/ [bɪɾən]

City: /sIti/ [sɪɾi] NOTE: (In some dialects of English, a glottal stop [ʔ] is produced instead of a flap. e.g. beaten [biʔn ]. We only use flapping rule in this course)

Velar Fronting velar stops are produced with an articulation more forward in the oral cavity when followed by a front vowel

Rounding all consonants are pronounced with lip-rounding before rounded vowels /ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ/ are produced with lip rounding in any context, always (inherent rounding)

Eg. sheet [ʃwit]

Inaudible Release or No Release oral stops are unreleased word-finally Ex. d in said Homorganic Nasal Assimilation Nasals assimilate in place of articulation to the following consonant (consists of two morphemes)

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Ex. m in pamphlet Dentalization Alveolar consonants /t d n l/ are realized as dentals before (inter)dental fricatives Ex. the n in tenth becomes dental

Coarticulation When two oral stops (plosives) occur next to each other, the closure for the second stop is formed before the closure for the first stop Ex. in contempt, the coarticulation symbol is on the pt

Syllabic Nasals and Liquids /n, m, ɹ, l/ are syllabic at the end of the word immediately after a consonant.

Eg. leaden [lɛɾn ] whistle [wɪsl ]

Retroflexion Alveolars assimilate to the preceding retroflex /ɹ/ (t, d, s, z, n, l) they get the little curvy things on the end

Phonotactics rules that determine where sounds can occur and how sounds can be combined •There are restrictions on where some consonants can occur. Ex. *ŋ+ can only occur at the end of a syllable as in fling [flɪŋ+ or before velars as in sink [sɪŋk+;

[h] occurs only at the beginning of a syllable as in ham [hæm].

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Some more allophonic variation in English consonants

Allophones of /h/: [ɦ] [ç]

•/h/ is realized as a *ɦ] when in occurs between vowels. Eg. ahead

•*ɦ] is a murmured version of the following vowel produced with some vocal fold vibration but with the vocal folds still far enough apart to allow a lot of air through. •The voiceless palatal fricative *ç+ is an allophone of /h/ that occurs before /j/ as in

Eg. human [ˈçju.mǝn]

Yod Coalescence

across word boundaries, /j/ coalesces with alveolar obstruents and causes a type of palatalization: Ex.

get you /gɛt ju/ [ˈgɛʧʊ] miss you /mɪs ju/ [ˈmɪʃʊ]

Primary and Secondary Stress ▪ All words have primary stress: usually louder, more prominent syllable ▪ Longer words might also have a secondary stresses ▪ Sometimes, for words that have secondary stress, English speakers may find that some allophonic processes that are dependent on stress are less likely to happen; e.g. flapping or aspiration

English Vowels

Vowel phonemes Vowels are described in terms of:

backness: front, central, or back active articulator: the front, central or back part of the tongue Eg. front: beat, back: boot, central: but

height: high, mid, or low

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active articulator: (front/central/back part of the tongue) is positioned high, mid or low Eg. high: beat, low: bat/bought, mid: bet

rounding: rounded or unrounded (all of the non-low back vowels are rounded in English) active articulator: the lips i.Rounded: boot ii.Unrounded: spread beat

Monophthongs and Diphthongs

Simple Vowels (Monophthongs)

NOTE: ignore mirrored/backwards a

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Diphthongs

consist of a sequence of two vowels (or a simple vowel & a glide). /eɪ/ bait (ej)

/aɪ/ bite (aj)

/aʊ/ loud (aw)

/oʊ/ boat (ow)

/ɔɪ/ boy (oj)

NOTE ON VOWELS: In Canadian English: caught and cot are both /kɑt/ (not true in every English dialect)

Unless before /r/(upside down r) eg. port

Mid central vowels ə •Schwa, *ǝ], is a mid, central, unrounded vowel that occurs in unstressed syllables.

Other vowels are often reduced to schwa in unstressed positions.

•Caret, *ʌ], is also a mid, central, unrounded vowel and the two vowels sound very similar.

We will use…

[ʌ] to transcribe a mid, central vowel that occurs in stressed position

[ǝ] to transcribe a mid, central vowel in unstressed position.

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Tense vs. Lax •Muscles of the vocal tract are tense (tongue and/or lips) Eg. tense: beat, lax: bit/pit •Tense vowels: i, eɪ, aɪ, aʊ, u, oʊ, ɑ, ɔɪ* •Lax vowels: ɪ, ɛ, æ, ʌ, ʊ, ǝ * Book p.99: /ɔɪ/ is not a lax vowel, it’s a tense vowel.

Tense vowels are inherently longer than lax

Phonotactic restrictions: •Tense vowels can occur in open (ending in V) or closed syllables (ending in C).

•Lax vowels can only occur in closed syllables.

•Schwa (*ǝ]) is exceptional in this respect. It is a lax vowel which can occur in open syllables as well.

Reduced Vowels /ə ɪ/ /ə/, the neutral vowel is reduced • In unstressed syllables - /ə/ • In stressed syllables - before /ɹ/ /I/ can occur instead of schwa next to coronal sounds

Ex. the segment of e in acted

Allophones of English Vowels

Allophonic Processes Nasalization • A vowel is nasalized when followed or preceded by a nasal sound December [dǝˈsɛ mbǝɹ ˈ ɛ ǝ

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Vowel Lengthening a.) Contextual length: the length depends on the context/phonetic environment • All vowels are longer before voiced sounds and/or syllable-finally b.) Inherent length: by nature, always regardless of the phonetic environment • Tense vowels and diphthongs are by nature always longer than others: Eg. seat /sit/ [siˑt] boat /boʊt/ [bʷoʊt˺]

NOTE: tense vowels as well as vowels in the CV or CVC[+voice] positions ALWAYS have one length marker, and the vowel has 2 length markers when it is a tense vowels in the CV or CVC[+voice] position

When diphthongs receive contextual length this is shown with a raised dot following the vowel portion of the diphthong. Eg. date [deˑɪt˺]

Canadian Raising [ᴧɪ ᴧʊ] •The diphthongs /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ begin at a higher place of articulation when they occur before voiceless sounds in Canadian English. Low vowel /a/ becomes mid vowel /ᴧ/

Ex. knife vs. knives about the house NOTE: carot can appear in open syllables, while other lax vowels cannot Rhotacized Schwa •/ə/ becomes retroflex when followed by a retroflex /ɹ/

Mid Central Vowels •/ʌ/ - mid central vowel in a stressed syllable (not followed by /ɹ/)

Ex. buzz, cluster •/ə/ - mid central vowel in an unstressed syllable (and in a stressed syllable ending in /ɹ/)

Ex. blanket, courage

Note: If there are two processes, apply both:

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FOR EXERCISES

Upper and Lower Articulators:

Format:

Upper articulator Lower articulator Voiced/voiceless Oral/Nasal What they look for in drawings: -lips -tongue -velum -glottis

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Implant

m lips the lips have closed tonguethe tongue is down velumthe velum is lowered glottisthe vocal folds are vibrating p lips---- tongue---- velum velum raises glottisthe vocal folds stop vibrating l lipsthe lips open tonguethe tongue is raising to touch the alveolar ridge velum ---- glottisthe vocal folds are vibrating

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Citation form vs. Connected speech •Citation form refers to the form of the words when it is pronounced in isolation. •Less variation, full form, emphatic •Connected speech form: speech as it is produced in normal conversation •Lots of variation, more reduced form, various degrees of emphasis

Eg. Assimilation like Homorganic nasal place assimilation *tʰɛn θ+ Weak form vs. Strong form of a word (degree of emphasis/stress)

Suprasegmentals •Sounds (vowels and consonants) are segments •More than one segment - suprasegmentals:

Eg., syllable, word stress, sentence intonation…

Syllable • Units of speech consisting obligatorily of a vowel (or a syllabic consonant), and optionally of preceding or following consonants

Eg. σ book /bʊk/

Evidence for syllables: a.) Speaker intuition b.) Syllabic writing systems (Japanese hiragana) c.) Some phonological processes (eg. nasalization??)

Syllables linguistic units of structure greater than the segment. Each syllable must have a sonority peak the nucleus. Every vowel, diphthong, and syllabic consonant can be the nucleus of a syllable.

σ σ a book /ə.bʊk/ /./ button [bᴧ.ɾn +

Parts of the syllable: • Nucleus: The sonority peak of a syllable. The only obligatory component of the syllable.

• Onset: Consonants occurring before the nucleus.

• Coda: Consonants occurring after the nucleus.

• Rhyme (or rime): A constituent consisting of the coda and the nucleus.

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NOTE: tense (long) vowels as well as diphthongs take up TWO spots for branching

closed syllable: CVC open syllable: CV

Ex. /sit/ /sɪt/ /si/ /sowfə/ /plej/ Branching node

a.) branching onset please /pliz/

b.) branching coda wax /wæks/

c.) branching nucleus style /stajl/ lead /lid/

Phonotactics •The composition of consonant clusters in onsets and codas is highly restricted.

Eg. In onset clusters, an obstruent may be followed by a liquid or a glide, although not all combinations are possible. /s/ can precede a voiceless stop.

Systematic gap: forms that do not occur because they violate structural conditions of the language

Eg. /bnɪk/, /tlɪp/ Accidental gap: forms that would conform to the structural conditions of the language but are not found

Eg. /blɪk/, /lʊt/

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Some phonotactic constraints of English that make reference to syllable structure:

/ŋ/ cannot occur in an onset

lax vowels cannot occur in open syllables

/h/ cannot occur in a coda Examples:

Onset: spit, stick, skid, slack, smack, snack *sr *sb *sg *sz….

blur, break, please, pray, clutch, creek, glad, greed… *bn *pn Nucleus: /si/ */sɪ/ Coda: *__ h

Syllabification: Dividing a string into syllables

I. Step 1. Locate Nuclei First, find nuclei by locating sonority peaks. Label these N. Off-glides of diphthongs also

associate to N.

II. Step 2. Maximize Onsets Attach as many consonants as possible in onset positions within sonority restrictions of

the language. Label these O.

III. Step 3. Add Codas Attach any unassociated consonants as a coda to a preceding syllable consistent with

template and sonority restrictions. Label these Co.

plate [ p l eɪ t ]

• If you are drawing a syllable tree, complete steps 1-3 above.

• Then join the Coda and the Nucleus to a higher Rhyme node.

• The Rhyme node and the Onset node are then joined to a higher syllable node.

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Ambisyllabicity In English, a consonant, which is an onset of an unstressed syllable, will also be syllabified as a coda of a preceding syllable

If this syllabification does not violate any of the constraints on English syllable structure. • Cf. syllable trees diagrams of appeal and happy:

Sonority •Relative loudness (intensity) of a sound compared to other sound when length, stress and pitch are comparable.

Sonority Hierarchy (SH) • Consonant closer to the nucleus is of higher sonority than consonant further away from the nucleus proof /pɹuf/ *rp & warp /wɔɹp/ *pr

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- A sound is more sonorous if it is more loud and/or open

-Vowels are the most sonorous types of segments and this is why syllable nuclei are typically vowels. -If there is a consonant cluster in the onset, the segments tend to rise in sonority up until the nucleus. -clusters in a coda tend to decrease in sonority until the end of the syllable.

Consonant /s/ is exceptional in that it occurs very freely in clusters without following the typical sonority pattern.

Eg., spit, skunk, splice. Obstruents followed by nasals are not possible onset clusters in English although they rise in sonority.

Onset

Eg. (i) stop < fricative, so in the onset we should find stop + fricative

English? *tf_, *gs_

(ii) stop < nasal, so in the onset we should find stop + nasal English? *bm_, *pn_

(ii) fricative < liquid, so in the onset we should find fricative + liquid English? flee, fry, shrink

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(iii) fricative < glide, so in the onset we should find fricative + glide

English? few, sweat

Coda Eg. (i) fricative > stop, so in the coda we should find fricative + stop

English? loft, dust (ii) nasal > stop, so in the onset we should find nasal + stop

English? bump, lint (ii) liquid > fricative, so in the onset we should find liquid + fricative

English? harsh, elf (iii) glide > fricative, so in the onset we should find glide + fricative

English? (diphthong)

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Two or More Syllable Word, no internal consonant clusters: clever

I. Step 1: Transcribe the Word clever /klɛvəɹ/

II. Step 2: Divide the Word into Syllables

1.) find the nuclei (vowels) /klɛvəɹ/ 2vowels → 2 syllables 2.) first syllable: all consonants preceding the 1st vowel are the onset of the 1st syllable; second

syllable: all consonants following the 2nd vowel are the coda of the 2nd syllable 3.) (cont’d)

Ex. Two or more syllable word, internal consonant clusters: cluster /klʌstəɹ/

What do we do with /st/? Do both consonants belong to:

i.) the coda of the 1st syllable /klʌst.əɹ/ ii.) the onset of the 2nd syllable /klʌ.stəɹ/ iii.) one belongs to the coda of the 1st syllable and the other to the onset of the 2nd syllable

/klʌs.təɹ/

Rule: English words /st _ / (stamp)

→ /st/ is an allowed onset in English → Maximum Onset Principle: assign /st/ to the onset of the 2nd syllable

Ex. Two or more syllable word, internal consonant clusters: bumper

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/bʌmpəɹ/ What do we do with /mp/? Do both consonants belong to:

i.) the coda of the 1st syllable /bʌmp.əɹ/ ii.) the onset of the 2nd syllable /bʌ.mpəɹ/ iii.) one belongs to the coda of the 1st syllable and the other to the onset of the 2nd syllable

/bʌm.pəɹ/

Rule: No English words /mp_ /

→ /m/ to the coda of the 1st σ, /p/ to the onset of the 2nd σ

understand /ʌndəɹstænd/

1.) 3 vowels → 3 syllables

2.) English words /nd_ /? no → /n/ to the coda of the 1st σ, /d/ to the onset of the 2nd σ

3.) English words /ɹst_ /? no English words /st_ /? yes → /ɹ/ to the coda of the 1st σ, /st/ to the onset of the 2nd σ

Formalizing Syllable Structure Analysis /ʌn.dər.stænd/

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Reminder: Ambisyllabicity

Ambisyllabicity: a consonant which is in the onset of the unstressed syllable can also at the same time belong to the coda of the stressed syllable

Conveniently solves the following problem: in English, lax vowels cannot occur in open syllables Ex. Divide the following words into syllables:

1.) explosion [ɪk. ˈsplwoˑʊ. ʒwn + or *ɛk. ˈsplwoˑʊ. ʒwn + •/spl/ is an allowed onset in English (words begin with /spl/), so /spl/ goes to the onset of the second syllable, according to the Maximize the Onset Rule •/ʒ/ is ambisyllabic, but we cannot represent this here, only in the syllable tree

2.) psycho *ˈsʌˑɪ. kwoˑʊ] •/k/ is ambisyllabic

3.) instructions [ɪ ˑ n. ˈstʃwɹʌk. ʃwə ˑnz + •/nstɹ/ is not an allowed onset in English, so separate /n/ from /stɹ/, and assign /n/ to the coda of the first syllable •/stɹ/ is an allowed onset in English, so /stɹ/ goes to the onset of the second syllable, according to the Maximize the onset Rule

Ex.

1.) Draw the syllable structure tree for the following words. a.) [ʌʊt. ˈdwɔ:ɹ ] b.) [ɪ ˑ n. ˈstɹʌk. ʃwn +

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Some allophonic rules that make reference to syllable structure

•/t/ and /d/ are realized as *ɾ] when they are ambisyllabic. •/l/ is realized as dark *ɫ] when occurring in a coda.

Stress auditory impression; stressed syllable is produced with a greater amount of energy than an unstressed syllable and is perceived more prominent than others louder, longer, and of higher pitch Pitch: rate of vocal fold vibration

-For individual words we distinguish three levels of stress:

primary stress (indicated with a raised vertical mark)

secondary stress (indicated with a lowered vertical mark)

unstressed (unmarked)

elevator /ˈɛlǝˌveɪtǝɹ/

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operator /ˈɑpǝˌɹeɪtǝɹ/ phonetician /__foʊnǝ__tɪʃən/ ?

/ˌfoʊnǝˈtɪʃən/ No stress is marked in monosyllabic words. Generally speaking, words of major word classes (noun, verb adjective, adverb) are stressed, while function words such as prepositions, conjunctions, etc. are not. Function words can be stressed in certain circumstances, however. Stressed = strong form: entire syllables with non-reduced vowels

Eg. and [ænd]. Unstressed = weak form: reduced vowels and deleted consonants

Eg. and *ǝnd, ǝn, n +. Ex.s ˈUniverse Uniˈversity Uniˈversal ˈMelon Baˈnana ˈBlueberry ˈIce-cream ˈPatio ˌAfterˈnoon Eˌlectrifiˈcation ˌUnimˈportant ˌobjecˈtivity

Intonation

Pitch: the auditory property of a sound that enables a listener to place it on a scale from high to low; corresponds to the rate of vocal fold vibration Intonation: refers to patterns of pitch changes within a phonetic phrase. Tonic syllable: main stressed syllable in a phrase.

•Some languages, such as Chinese, use pitch contrastively to make differences of meaning among words.

•English does not do this but uses different intonation contours for different sentences and sentence types.

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English intonation patterns/contour:

1. Statements

2. (i) Questions without inversion and (ii) Questions without question words

3. (i) Yes-No Questions with Inversion and (ii) Question with Questions Words

4. Lists