English Phonetics and Phonology of Reading

Week 3

Phonology: the study of sounds in a particular language

Phonetics: The study of the characteristics of speech sounds across languages

Phonemes: the smallest unit of

sound in a language that makes a

difference in meaning

Terms related to Linguistics: the study of language

Voiced and Voiceless Consonants

• The air from the lungs doesn’t vibrate vocal cords- Voiceless

• The air from the lungs repeatedly vibrates vocal cords as it passes through, creating a vibration effect- Voiced

Which one is voiced?With your partner, create a T-

Chart

apple, bar, place, starch, danger, elegant,Safe,germ, harm, ipod, jury, king, feel,charm,can, core, pick, queen, radio, state,foolish, table, bath, that, use, vowel, wood, fix,

yoga, zoo

Consonants

• Voiced consonants/b/, /d/, /g/

/v/, /z/, /th/

/ʒ/, /l/, /m/

/n/, /ng/

/r/, /w/, /y/

• Voiceless consonants

/p/, /t/, /k/

/f/, /s/, /th/

/sh/, /ch/

/h/

Manner of articulation ：How do we produce sounds?

– Nasals - open nasal cavity, closed oral cavity

– Liquids – no stop/turbulence

– Glides 　– most vowel-like consonants

– Stops - completely block airstream

– Fricatives - partially stop airstream

– Affricates - combination of stop and fricative

Place of Articulation• Bilabials

Sounds formed using both lips- /p/, /b/, /m/• Labiodentals

Upper teeth and lower lips- /f/, /v/• Interdentals

The tip of the tongue between the upper and lower front teeth- voiceless ‘th’ /θ/, voiced ‘th’ /ð/

• Alveolarssounds produced right behind the front teeth- /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/, /r/ as in ‘radio’

• Palatals/Alveo-palatal

Sounds produced by middle part of the tongue and the ceiling inside your mouth- foolish /ʃ/, chip /tʃ/, genre /ʒ/, gem /dʒ/

• Velar

Soft part of the ceiling inside your mouth- /k/,

/g/, thing /ŋ/• Glottals

No active use of tongue and other parts of the mouth- /h/ as in ‘hug’

Manner and Place of Articulation

• With your partner, find the place where and how the underlined sound is produced.

1. sick 2. bar 3. dish 4. gear5. save 6. that 7. hug 8. song9. thin 10. dog 11. lazy12. son 13. world 14. liar 15. yoga16. vision 17. far 18. Judge 19.

match20. pop 21. Tom 22. top 23. king24. button 25. butter

Manner and Place of Articulation - Answers

• With your partner, find the place where and how the underlined sound is produced.

1. sick (Al-Fr) 2. bar (Bi-St) 3. dish (Al/Pa –Fr) 4. gear (Ve-St) 5. save (La/De – Fr) 6. that (In/Dd – F)7. hug (Glo-Fr) 8. song (Ve-Na) 9. thin (In/De-Fr)

10. Dog (Al-St) 11. lazy (Al-Fr) 12. son (Al-Na) 13. world (Ve-Gli) 14. liar (Al-Li) 15. yoga (Al/Pa-Gli)16. Vision (Al-Fr) 17. far (La/De-F) 18. Judge ( Al/Pa-Af)19. Match (Al/Pa-Ar) 20. pop (Bi-St) 21. Tom (Bi-N) 22. top (Al-St) 23. king (Ve-St) 24. button (Glo-St)

25. butter (Al-St)

Vowels: Classified by position of tongue

• a, e, i, o, u (pure vowels)• height• frontness• roundedness• Diphthongs (ai, ei, oi, au) – two vowel

sounds are connected in a continuous motion as in “island,” “say”, “boy,” & “audience”)

• Schwa /ə/ - unstressed vowel, pronounced very lightly (about, medicine)

Pure Vowels

Front Central Back

High /i / (beet)

/u/ (boot)

Mid /e/ (baby) /o/ (boat)

Low /a/ (pot)

Vowel position

VowelsFront Central Back

High /i:/ beet

/ɪ/ bit, pit

/ɚ/ bird

/u/ move , boot

/ʊ/ could, book

Mid /e/ bait, baby

// bet, pet

/ə/ about, sofa //but

/o/ toe, boat

/ɔ / bought

Low/æ/ bat

/a/ pot

IPA Symbols that you want to remember!

• /ɛ/ dead, pet, said• /æ/ ban, laugh, apple• /ə/ above, sofa, medicine• /ʌ/ blood, tough, but• /u/ move, two, bruise• /ɪ/ hit, myth, women• /ɔ/ ball, caught, raw

• /θ/ bath, think, thing, thin• /ð/ that, then, there• /ŋ/ thing, sing,• /ʃ/ foolish, ship• /tʃ/ chip, attach• /ʒ/ genre, vision• /dʒ/ hinge, judge, geography

IPS exercise:http://www.agendaweb.org/phonetic.html

http://www.stuff.co.uk/calcul_nd.htm

Thumb challenge!

• Find a partner• You and your partner hold the opposite

side of the strip where it says ‘start’• One of you start translating the IPA

symbols on the strip to English words• If you run into a symbol that you fail to

translate, your partner will take over and start translating the symbol you failed

Why IPA? The Need for a Phonetic Alphabetfənɛtɪks ɪz fʌn !

The complexity of English phonology includes:

1) Different letters can represent a single sound : to-too-two, threw -clue -shoe

2) A single letter can represent different sounds: /eɪ/ dame, /æ/ dad, /a/ father, /ɔ/ call , /ɪ/ village, /ɛ/ many

3) A combination of letters may represent a single sound:

• /ʃ/ shoot , /k/ character, /f/ physics, /ð/ either, /i/ deal, /f/ rough

The Complexity of English Phonology

4) Some letter have no sound in certain words:• mnemonic , whole, psychology, bough, lamb,

ghost

5) Some sounds are not represented in the spelling. In many words, for example, the letter u represents a y sound followed by a u sound:

• cute, future, utility

Phonetic Transcription Exercise Part 1

• Referring to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), write the phonetic symbol for the first sound of in each of the following words according to how you would pronounce it.

• 1) judge: / / 2) psycho: / / 3) easy: / / • 4) pneumonia: / / 5) phone: / /• 6) contact: / / 7) think: / / 8) these: / / • 9) cheese: / / 10) she: / /

Phonetic Transcription Exercise Part 2

• Referring to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), transcribe the following words. Remember, you’re transcribing the sounds you hear when you say the word, not the letters themselves!

• 1) play: /________/ 2) gnome: /__________/• 3) crazy: /_________/ 4) merry: /__________/

• 5) marry: /________/ 6) lit: /_______/• 7) let: /_____/

Phonetic Transcription Exercise Part 3

• Try your hand at deciphering the phonetic alphabet. Write the following sentence using “our” alphabet (the Roman alphabet):

• ðə fɚst deɪ əv krɪsməs halədeɪz ænd ðə sʌn wəz ʃaynɪŋ braɪt

Phonetic Transcription Exercise Part 4 : Using the IPA to analyze students’ speech

Q1: You notice that an Arabic speaking student from Saudi Arabia pronounces the word /put/ as /but/. What might be a possible explanation for the student pronouncing the word in this manner?

Q2: How might you explain the correct pronunciation of the word to the student?

In-Class Activity: Using the IPA to analyze students’ speech

• Directions: It’s a new school year and you have a Spanish-speaking CLD student who has only been in the U.S. for a few months in your class. You overhear her saying:

/diys ar nat ʃip/ instead of /ðiyz ar nat tʃip/ reflecting the phonology of her native language.

• 1) Write what the student is saying in standard English (not in IPA): _________________________

In-Class Activity directions continued

• Select 2 phonemes that she’s pronouncing in a non-native like way and discuss how you might help her with her pronunciation difficulties. Be sure to refer to your place and manner of articulation charts when deciding what advice you’ll give her.

 

2 Phonemes Mispronounced

• 1) Phoneme student is pronouncing: /______/ Native-like pronunciation: /______/

• Pronunciation suggestions for the student:______________________________________________________________________________

• 2) Phoneme student is pronouncing: /______/ Native-like pronunciation: /______/

• Pronunciation suggestions for the student:______________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 4: Phonology of Reading

Week 3

Content Objectives

Our mission for this session is to:

– Define phonology and related terms in relation to

reading.

– Examine two views or perspectives on

phonemic awareness.

– Explore the linguistic and practical implications of

teaching phonemic awareness.

Key Concepts

• Phonology• Phonological awareness• Phonemic awareness ( 2 views)• Linguistic considerations (allophones,

dialectical variations)

Phonology & Phonological Awareness:

Phonology: The study of the system and patterns of sounds in a particular language

Phonological awareness: the Ability to distinguish larger units of speech

EX: the reader’s capacity to understand the relationships:

Between the words intervene and intervention

Explicit Teaching of Phonemic Awareness:Linguistic Concerns

• Phonemes as perceptual units versus

physical realities (i.e. Phonemes are not

always pronounced the same way)– Allophones: phonetic variations/variants of

phonemes (e.g., “pin – spin”, “bat – bad”).

– Do not maintain their physical properties.

• bitten, better, butter (the “tt” is a flap sound in

Am. Eng)

Explicit Teaching of Phonemic Awareness:

Linguistic Concerns• Phonological differences in languages.

Ex. /d/ and /ð/ as in “den” and “then” = 2 different phonemes in standard English, but allophones of the same phoneme in Spanish.

• Is minimal pair useful? Why/why not?

Organizing Pocket!

• Each group will be provided with an envelop with word strips in

• On each strip, you will find a word, definition or examples that are related to a manner of articulation, special vowels or phonemic awareness.

• Find the matching strips and put them in a pocket

• Pass your pocket sheet to the group on the right for the assessment