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Université de Savoie UFR-LLSH LCE1 UE 103

CM de Phonétique & Phonologie

Alice Hendersonahend@univ-savoie.frOffice 812

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Content of the five lectures

1) Introduction, Phonemes

2) Sounds in context: « connected speech »

3) Stress, accent & rhythm

4) Intonation

5) Conclusion

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General Outline: Lecture 1

Introduction, Why & How The IPA: History & Importance Generalities about spoken English & spoken

French Conclusion Bibliography

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Why have this lecture?

To better understand– how English is spoken– how spoken English can be studied

To arouse your curiosity– about a living language– about a potential subject of research

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Why phonetics? Why phonology?

to improve your hearing to improve your speaking to improve your communication skills to improve your understanding of:

– the unique features of spoken French (your L1)– the unique features of spoken English

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What is phonetics?

The study of sounds produced by human beings– « Branche de la linguistique qui étudie les sons

des langues naturelles » (Petit Robert)

A systematic approach to these sounds

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What is phonology?

« Science which studies the function of phonemes in natural languages. »

(Phonemes = « the smallest unit of spoken language »)

Source: Petit Robert

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What are the branches of this field?

General phonetics (acoustic & articulatory/physiological): studies the functionning of the human speech appartus and analyses articulatory capacities & the characteristics of the sounds produced, using acoustic measures

Descriptive phonetics : study of phonetic properties of a given language

Historical/evolutionary phonetics : study of the phonetic changes of a given language

Normative phonetics : prescribes rules for the « good » pronunciation of a given language

Forensic phonetics : study of phonetic properties for a medico-legal purpose

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What are the tools of descriptive phonetics?

A system of symbols which graphically represents human sounds

The IPA system (International Phonetics Association)

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General Outline: Lecture 1

Introduction, Why & How The IPA: History & Importance Generalities about spoken English & spoken

French Conclusion Bibliography

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Early days of the Association

Dhi Fonètik Tîcerz' Asóciécon (the FTA) To help children:

– pronounce foreign languages better– learn to read more easily

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Basic terminology

An articulatory definition for this lecture- consonants- vowels

Anatomy of the vocal tract

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Understanding the IPA chart

Pulmonic consonants Non-pulmonic consonants Vowels Other symbols Diacritic marks Supra-segmental marks: accent, intonation

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Pulmonic consonants (1/2)

Logical, methodical presentation– Modes/Manners of articulation (vertical axe)– Places of articulation (horizontal axe)– Pairs: unvoiced (left), voiced (right)

Symbols & examples

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Pulmonic Consonants (2/2)

Horizontal axis : bilabials, labio-dentals, dentales, alveolars, post-alveolars, retroflex, palatals, velars, uvulars, pharyngeals, glottals

Vertical axis: stops/plosives, nasals, trills, taps/flaps, fricatives, lateral fricatives, approximants, lateral approximants

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Non-pulmonic consonants

The air does not come from the lungs

Symbols & examples

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Try it ….

Exercises on the Web at UCL « Web Tutor »

Exercises with the terminology, adapted from P. Ashby’s Speech Sounds

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Answers …

Ex. 8.1.: palatal, uvular, uvular, bilabial, alveolar, alveolar, palatal, alveolar, velar, uvular

Ex. 8.2.: plosive (2), nasal (1,3), tap (8), fricative (4,6,10), approximant (9), lateral approximant (7), implosive (5). Lateral fricative

Ex. 8.4.: (see white board)

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Understanding the IPA chart

Pulmonic consonants Non-pulmonic consonants Vowels Other symbols Diacritic marks Supra-segmental marks: accent, intonation

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Vowels: the Cardinal vowels(1/2)

Vowel chart « reference points » = Cardinal vowels

Cardinal vowels chart

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Vowels: the Cardinal vowels(2/2)

Three aspects of the description of a vowel– degree of openness (height of the tongue):

open close (« près ») semi-close semi-open

– the position (what part of the tongue is « working »): frontal central back

– relative length:

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Other symbols

Scottish where ≠ wear Polish: siada, zieba church? /judge?

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Diacritic marks

Try … Aspirated Creaky voice, breathy voice Labialized Dentalized Rhoticity Nasalized (French vowels)

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Supra-segmental marks

Accent

Intonation

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Summary of the IPA chart

Pulmonic consonants Non-pulmonic consonants Vowels Other symbols Diacritic marks Supra-segmental marks: accent, intonation

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General Outline: Lecture 1

Introduction, Why & How The IPA: History & Importance Generalities about spoken English & spoken

French Conclusion Bibliography

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Spoken French

16 vowels, 20 consonants 4 nasal vowels

Πbain, bon, brun, banc 3 nasal consonants

/m n gemme, gène, geigne 3 semi-consonants

/j w / scier, suer, souhait; yacht, nuit, ouate no diphthongs, no triphthongs contracted forms stable tonic stress

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Spoken English

12 vowels, 24 consonants 3 nasal consonants, no nasal vowels

/m n seam, seen, sing 2 semi-consonants /j w/ yes, welcome 8 diphthongsbeer, moor, bear, bay, boy, buy, sew, cow 5 triphthongsplayer, fire, employer, tower, mower linking/liaisons: V + C, C + V, V + V, C + C contracted forms contractées, weak & strong forms variable tonic stress

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Summary: spoken French & English

16 Vs, 20 Cs 3 Cs & 4 nasal Vs

3 semi-Cs diphths, triphths.

liaisons

contracted forms

stable tonic stress

12 Vs, 24 Cs 3 nasal Cs, nasal Vs

2 semi-Cs 8 diphths., 5 triphs.

liaisons

formes cntrcts, weak & strong

variable tonic stress

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Spoken English: consonants

Obvious symbols–

Less obvious symbols

Bizarre symbols…–

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Spoken English: vowels

Three aspects of the description of a vowel– degree of openness (height of the tongue):

open : Œcat, car close (« près »): bee, moon semi-close : mi-fermée bid, took semi-open : bed, another, bird, bud, board

– the position (what part of the tongue is « working »): frontal : seat, sit, set, sat central : about, shut, shirt back : Œmoon, foot, four, pot, part

– relative length:

English vowel chart

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Spoken English: diphthongs (1/6)

8 diphthongs Two types:

Non-centring/Closing: pay, eye, boy, down,home Centring: clear, where, tour

Element most susceptible to change

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Non-centring diphthongs : /eI/

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Non-centring diphthongs : /aI/

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Non-centring diphthongs : //

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Centring diphthongs : //

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Centring diphthongs : //

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Spoken English: triphthongs

Examples Scottish triphthongs

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General Outline: Lecture 1

Introduction, Why & How The IPA: History & Importance Generalities about spoken English & spoken

French Conclusion Bibliography

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Bibliography & Useful Sources

English Pronouncing Dictionary CD-ROM Wells, J.C. (2004) « Materials for Summer

Course in English Phonetics », University College London

Ashby, P., Speech Sounds, Routledge, 2002 Cruttenden, A., Gimson’s Pronunciation of

English, 6th ed., Arnold, 2001 Différents sites Web (see photocopy)