Introduction III

Recording speech. Notation of sounds and phonemes

This part of the discussion focuses on the special symbols used in recording speech. Aftera presentation of the symbols in a chart form, there is an overview of the most importantproblems related to their correct usage.It is essential to carefully consider the notes provided below the chart, as they may

prove helpful in clarifying many aspects connected to usage, as well as in explaining thecauses responsible for the most frequent mistakes arising from lack of practice or properhandling.

The following is a chart of the symbols used in phonemic1 transcription. It is asimplified variant of the set of symbols provided by the International Phonetic Alpha-bet (IPA). You can find this set in the pronunciation charts included with many of thepresent-day monolingual English dictionaries. Other dictionaries of British (and espe-cially of American) English may rely on different charts, but the aforementioned is highlypreferable due to its simplicity and phonetic accuracy. In your practice, it is advisableto use exclusively the symbols exemplified here.For a description of the phonetic qualities of the sounds represented by these symbols

you should refer to the charts of English vowels and consonants included in the nextchapter of the course.

Vowels

I: see [sI:]I bit [bIt]e ten [ten] cat [kt]A: arm [A:m]O hot [hOt]O: saw [sO:]U pull [pUl]

u: two [tu:]2 but [b2t]@: fur [f@:]@ ago [@"g@U]eI age [eIdZ]@U home [h@Um]aI time [taIm]aU how [naU]

OI boy [bOi]

I@ near [ni@]

e@ pair [pE@]

U@ sure [SU@]

aI@ tired ["taI@d]

aU@ flower ["flaU@]

1 For practical purposes students are required to know and use phonemic (or broad) transcription.This marks only the relevant features of sounds (i.e. it is used for rendering only the phonemes of alanguage) and is especially suitable for learning the correct pronunciation. This is the transcriptionmost pronunciation charts (e.g., in dictionaries) are based on. It does not normally make use ofadditional symbols (diacritics), except for the ones mentioned in this section. By contrast, phonetic(or narrow) transcription, marks all features of soundsrelevant, irrelevant and those resulting fromthe acoustic environmentand includes a wide range of diacritical signs. This course will occasionallyrely on phonetic transcription (e.g., in the context of studying allophones).

The chart provided here has been adapted after the Oxford Students Dictionary.

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Consonants

p pen [pen]

b bed [bed]

t tea [tI:]

d did [dId]

k kit [kIt]

g get [get]

f fall [fO:l]v voice [vOIs]T thin [TIn]D then [Den]s see [sI:]z zoo [zu:]S she [SI:]Z vision ["vIZ@n]h how [haU]

tS chin [tSIn]

dZ July [dZU"laI]

m man [mn]

n no [n@U]

N sing [sIN]

l leg [leg]

r red [red]

Semivowels

j yes [jes]w wet [wet]

Notes on the usage of phonemic/phonetic symbols

1. The monophthongs [2], [A:] and the first constituent (nucleus) of the diphthongs[aI] and [aU] are rendered using different graphical symbols. For transcriptions ofStandard British English (SBE), the symbol [a] is used when rendering diphthongsand triphthongs only. The reason for this consists in the fact that the vowel rep-resented by this symbol is phonetically distinguished from the two aforementionedmonophthongs and it also embodies qualities different from those signalled by thecardinal vowel /a/ (historically, the nucleus of these compound vowel sounds hasundergone a process of vowel harmony/vowel attraction). Thus, words like cut,farm, time or town should be transcribed, respectively, [k2t], [fA:m], [taIm] and[taUn] (such transcriptions as [kat], [fam], [t2Im] and [t2Un] are incorrect.

2. Different pronunciation charts (such as those found in various popular dictionaries)may provide distinct symbols for some of the phonemes enumerated above. Thefollowing are a list of some of these different renderings and their equivalent in ourtranscription chart:

a) [O] vs. [o] The sounds rendered by these symbols are phonetically different.Present day SBE uses the former. The latter is a peculiarity of some regionaland age accents, as well as of General American (GenAm). For transcriptionsof SBE you should use the first symbol, e.g., hot [hOt].

b) [O:] vs. [o:] The sounds rendered by these symbols are phonetically different.For some time the tendency in present day SBE has been to shift towards thelatter. However, there isnt yet common agreement between specialists as towhich prevails. For now, you can reliably use the former, e.g., sport [spO:t].

c) [U] vs. [u] The two symbols are equivalent and render the same vowel phonemes.However, in some more recent transcriptions there appears to be a preference

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for the former. Use whichever you want, but use them consistently (i.e. donot alternate them in one and the same transcription), e.g., put [pUt] or [put].

d) [E@] vs. [e@] The sounds these symbols render are phonetically different (be-cause the nuclei of these diphthongs are distinct). Nevertheless, some pro-nunciation charts fail to consider this, most of them preferring the latter forits simplicity. In addition to this, there is a tendency to realize the respectivediphthong as an allophone whose nucleus coincides loosely with the monoph-thong (vowel No. 3 [e]). This is not, however a generalised phenomenon. Theambiguity is enhanced by the fact that the nucleus of the allophone [E@] doesnot fully coincide with the qualities suggested by the cardinal vowel. Untilagreement is reached, you can reliably use the symbol [E@] for transcriptionsof SBE.

e) [@] vs. [@:] These two symbols should never be confused, as they representdifferent phonemes that stand in a peculiar relation of complementary dis-tribution (unstressed vs. stressed syllables, respectively). You should usewhichever is the case depending on the phonetic environment and the pro-nunciation of the words, e.g., never [nev@] but prefer [prIf@:].

3. Diphthongs and triphthongs are long composite vowel sounds, but in English theircomponent vowels are short. As a result, it is useless and inappropriate to markany of their constituents as long. Thus, [E@:] or [a:U] are incorrect transcriptions(the correct ones being [E@], respectively, [aU]).

4. Special care should be taken in using the symbol [j]. This stands for a semivowelwhich is restricted in distribution to initial and prevocalic positions in a syllable,e.g., you [ju:] or tune [tju:n]. Therefore it cannot be used for the glide [i] indiphthongs and triphthongs. Such renderings are incorrect: [aj] [ej] [aj@]. Thecorrect symbols in these cases are [aI] [eI] [aU]. Note that in English, unlike inRomanian, diphthongs and triphthongs do not contain semivowels! For the samereason, the semivowel [w] cannot be used as the nucleus of the diphthong [U@] oras a glide in [aU] and [aI@]. Therefore, such transcriptions as town [tawn] or flower["flaw@] are incorrect.

5. Some non-native speakers (esp. the German and Hungarian) should be attentiveto the pronunciation and transcription of words containing the sounds [v] and [w].They are different phonemes, the former being a labio-dental voiced fricative (aconsonant), while the latter is a bilabio-velar semivowel (a gliding voiced sound).

6. Foreign speakers should make sure they do not confuse the following voiceless voiced consonantal pairs: [S] [Z], [tS] [dZ], [T] [D]. Refer to their descriptions inthe table of English consonants and consult a dictionary if you have doubts aboutusing them in words.

7. Do not confuse [N] and [n]. They are both nasals, but the former is velar, the latteris alveolar. Consider the peculiar contexts for using the velar consonanti.e. only

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in the vecinity of another velar sound.

General notes on the use of diacritics

1. Normally, no diacritics are needed with phonemic transcription, except for thebrackets [ and ] , which mark the boundaries of the transcribed sequence and signalthe difference between ordinary speech/letters and phonemic symbols. Shortersequences (e.g., isolated phonemes, words or short phrases) may be delimited byslashes /.

2. The slashes / and double slashes // may be used within a transcribed sequencedelimited by brackets in order to signal interruptions (shorter or longer, singleslash or double slash, respectively). However, to simplify the transcription andavoid confusions, you may omit them.

3. Other diacritics that may be allowed or required are the parentheses (round brack-ets) ( and ) and the stress (accent) marks " and . The parentheses signal soundsthat are optional in pronunciation, such as a schwa [@] that may be omitted, e.g.,suddenly ["s2d(@)nli], or an additional yod [j], as in tune [t(j)u:n] or new [n(j)u:](the yod is usually not pronounced in such positions in GenAm). The two stressmarks differ in that the former signals a primary (strong) stress, whereas the lat-ter is used for a secondary (weak) stress, which may be the case with some longerwords, usually derivatives, e.g., metaphorical [met@"fOrik(@)l].

4. It should be kept in view that all symbols used in transcription are lower case. Nosound or word (be it a proper name) is rendered by upper case/capital symbols.

5. Unlike with transcriptions of some languages (e.g., French), the asterisk * is notused in transcriptions of texts spoken in English. An asterisk would signal aproper name transcribed in a sequence, but, since transcription renders speech,not orthography, it is unjustified. Consequently, do not use it.

6. Do not use punctuation marks required by orthography. The full stop, colon,semicolon, quotation marks etc. are inappropriate when transcribing speech, astranscription is not a means of signalling orthographical conventions (see No. 5above).

Note on variable pronunciations

If a word in English can be pronounced in two or more ways, you may use and transcribewhichever pronunciation you want, if it is of a written text. However, if you are supposedto transcribe a sample of spoken or recorded speech, you should render the pronunciationof the speaker. Be especially careful with strong and weak forms of auxiliaries, modals,connectors etc. Generally, you should use reduced forms (which make use of the schwa),whenever possible.

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