Phonetics and Phonology Summary

By : Omar al-Basha.

First of all, keep in mind that sounds are different from letters.

Phonetics
What is phoneme?
Each sound in English is called phoneme.
Phoneme = sound = tone = segment.
Accent Dialect
It deals with differences in It deals with differences in
sounds only. vocabulary and grammar.

Ex:
Ame Bri
Track Road
Left Elevator
Vacation Holiday
Apartment Flat
The team is/are (Bri).
The team is (Ame).
 Definitions:
The lungs: they are two and they are cone-shaped. They are
made up of air sacks in which the Oxygen we breathe in is
exchanged for the Carbone dioxide in the blood.
The trachea: inside each lung, there are many small tubes.
These tubes join together to form larger tubes and so on. Until
they end up in two large tubes, one in each lung. We call these
two tubes the bronchi. It is the plural of bronchus. The both
form the trachea. The function of the trachea is to carry the air
out of the lungs. (Trachea = wind pipe.)
The larynx: it is a box-shaped structure forming the upper part
of the trachea. Its front part is known as Adam's apple or voice
box.
The vocal cords: these are two horizontal bands of ligaments
and muscles lying across the air passage in the larynx. They can
open and close acting as a valve for air coming from the lungs.
The opening between the vocal cords is called the glottis.
The articulatory system:
The pharynx: operates as a link for integrating the adjustments
of the larynx and the mouth.
The uvula: it is a small dangly v-shaped extension of the soft
palate.
The soft palate (velum): it is the fleshy rear portion of the
mouth.
The hard palate: it lies a short distance behind the upper teeth
between the alveolar ridge and the soft palate. It is hard bony
concave. It forms a change in the angle of the roof of the
mouth.
The alveolar ridge: it is called by some as the teeth ridge. It lies
short distance behind the upper teeth and it has a convex
shape.
The lips: they can take different shapes and positions. They
play an important role in producing the vowels.
The tongue: it is the most flexible articulator. It can move in all
directions.
The mouth = The vocal tract.
The soft palate plays an important role in controlling the air
flow which comes from the lungs.
Oral sounds: raised position.
Nasal sounds: lowered position.
Nasalized sounds: lowered not close position.

English vowels:

Monophthongs Diphthongs Triphthongs

Vowels are sounds in which there is no abstraction to the flow
of air that passes from the larynx to the lips.
The tongue reaches a certain point, but it never touches the
roof of the mouth. When the tongue exceeds that point, we do
not produce a vowel but we produce a consonant sound.
To define any vowel sound, we should consider:
The length of the vowel (short or long vowel).
The part of the tongue which is raised or lowered
(front, central, or back).
The vertical distance between the upper surface of the
tongue and the palate.
The shape of the lips (rounded, spread, or neutral).

/i:/ long vowel, nearly fully front, nearly close. Pronounced

with slightly spread lips.
Eat, free, each, tree, east, knee, ease, three, heap, bee, B,
be, heat, glee, heave, chief, leave, grief, clean, and thief.
/I/ short vowel, retracted front, between close and mid-
close. Pronounced with slightly spread lips.
In, inn, nip, itch, bit, ill, kick, ink, fin, it, rim, is, trim, inch, if,
zip, hip, will, hill, and ship.
/e/ short vowel, fully front, between mid-close and mid-
open. Pronounced with nearly spread lips.
Eggs, yet, end, head, else, breast, edge, spread, hem, dead,
hen, death, men, ten, thread, bed, dread, leg, health, send,
and said.
// short vowel, fully front, between mid-open and open.
Pronounced with neutrally open lips.
Add, tack, ant, rag, lad, sank, axe, sad, apt, mad, hat, hand,
bad, glad, ham, wax, whacks, hag, back, match, man,
black, and rat.
/3:/ long vowel, central, between mid-close and mid-
open. Pronounced with neutrally spread lips.
Err, firm, fern, urge, stern, burn, jerk, murk, earth, curds,
earl, burst, learn, spur, pearl, purr, yearn, work, search, and
worm.
//short vowel, central, between mid-open and mid-close.
Pronounced with neutral lips.
Alert, away, alarm, amiss, alas, amaze, abet, alive, among,
matter, manner, gather, after, motor, manor, mixture,
culture, and measure.
// short vowel, central, between mid-open and open.
Pronounced with neutrally open lips.
Up, bunch, uncle, munch, lunch, ugly, much, trust, trussed,
jungle, such, run, jump, just, trouble, blood, flood, and does.
/:/ long vowel, advanced back, fully open. Pronounced
with neutrally open lips.
Arms, alms, art, charm, hard, car, heart, hart, hearth, bar,
far, martyr, scarred, dark, mark, marque, palm, calm, balm,
barm, ask, last, psalm, mask, masque, past, passed, clasp,
grass, glass, pass, and fast.
// short vowel, nearly fully back, between mid-open and
open. Pronounced with open rounded lips.
On, odd, ox, hog, hot, hop, top, shop, chock, gone, shone,
novel, knock, rob, box, sock, shot, wrong, knot, hovel,
cock, snob, wash, want, and what.
/:/ long vowel, nearly fully back, between mid-close and
mid-open. Pronounced with medium rounded lips.
Awe, awful, law, lore, sowed, sword, water, warm, wall,
walk, hall, haul, fall, also, ore, oar, form, pall, Paul, talk,
almost, although, war, wore, gnaw, nor, raw, and roar.
/U/ short vowel, advanced back, between mid-close and
close. Pronounced with closely but loosely rounded lips.
Put, push, pull, full, bull, look, hook, took, crook, shook,
nook, brook, cook, book, hood, wood, would, good, soot,
room, foot, could, and should.
/u:/ long vowel, slightly advanced back, nearly close.
Pronounced with closely rounded lips.
Shoot, hoop, loop, roof, tool, tooth, groove, food, root,
route, soon, mood, mooed, moon, stool, loose, lose, move,
true, flew, flu, flue, threw, through, and truth.

Diphthongs
Monophthongs are represented by one symbol, while
diphthongs are represented by two symbols. They are
usually long.
Diphthongs are a type of vowels. They are produced when
the tongue glides quickly and smoothly from one vowel
position to another.
Diphthongs are classified according to the finishing element.
(If the finishing element is a close vowel (high), we are
talking about closing diphthongs ).
 towards the
front vowel /i:/

closing towards the

back vowel /u:/

Diphthongs

centring
towards the
centring vowel
//

Closing diphthongs:
Towards the front vowel /i:/

/ei/ /ai/ /i/

Towards the back vowel /u:/

/u/ /u/
Centering diphthongs:
/i/ /e/ /U/

/ei/
Age, ache, ape, fate, late, same, face, frame, make, came,
grape, wave, waive, shame, shave, aim, aid, paid, raid, laid,
hay, say, pay, slay, bray, and they.

/ai/
Ice, kite, wide, white, Wight, ripe, tile, slide, shine, bite, bight,
cite, site, sight, mild, blind, kind, find, signed, bind, mind,
mined, isle, Ill, aisle, wild, whiled, night, high, height, and
bright.
/i/
Oil, moist, join, hoist, boil, toil, soil, coil, joist, void, voice, coin,
loin, choice, foil, boy, buoy, spoil, joint, cloy, toy, coy, and joy.

/u/
Home, hope, bone, choke, oak, oaf, tone, nose, knows, nose,
rope, Rome, roam, groan, soak, coal, foal, moan, boast, glow,
blow, and no.

/u/
Owl, town, bow, bough, round, sprout, snout, sow, how,
brown, drown, now, cow, found, mouse, house, doubt, and
shout.

/i/
Ear, tear, near, fear, clear, dear, deer, rear, cleared, spear,
beard, year, jeer, freer, queer, leer, seer, sere, and cheer.

/e/
Air, heir, eer, ere, chair, lair, hair, here, stair, fair, fare, care,
rare, share, square, pare, pear, pair, mare, mayor, there, their,
theyre, wear, where, and ware.

/U/
Poor, sure, tour, doer, dour, pure, fewer, lure, moor, brewer,
fuel, dual, duel, steward, manual, and furious.
 Triphthongs
They are sounds produced by having the tongue gliding directly
from one vowel position to another, then to a third vowel
position.
Triphthongs = closing diphthongs + // schwa.
/ei/ /ai/ /i/ /u/ /u/

player fire loyal lower power

payer higher royal thrower tower
layer wire lawyer rower flour,
flower
 Consonants

In English, each letter could represent more than one sound.

So, we dont have a one-to-one correspondence regarding
sounds and letters.
In vowel sounds, there is no obstruction to the air flow at all.
While in consonants, there is either complete closure or a
incomplete closure.
In order to classify a consonant sound, we need to know:
1 the state of the glottis (whether the vocal cords are vibrating
or not during the producing of any consonant sound.)
2 nasality (whether the sound is produced while the velum is
raised or lowered.)
3 place of articulation (where.)
4 manner of articulation (how.)
Voiced and voiceless consonants:

ALL ENGLISH VOWELS ARE VOICED.

Place of articulation:
The lower lip + the upper lip = bilabial /b/ /m/.
The lower lip + the upper teeth = labiodental /f/ /v/.
The tongue + the upper teeth = dental // //.
The tongue + the alveolar ridge = alveolar /t/ /d/ /s/.

The tongue + post alveolar = palatoalveolar /r/ //.

The tongue + the hard palate = palatal /j/.

The tongue + the soft palate = velar /k/ /g/.

The glottis = glottal /h/ //.

Manner of articulation:
1 plosive sounds : we have four stages to make a plosive
sound:
Closure phase :
The articulators here move to form a stricture, so that no air
escapes from the mouth.
Hold/occlusion/compression phase :
Here the articulators that were used to form the closure are
moved apart to allow the compressed air to escape suddenly.
Release or burst :
This period in which the sudden escape of the air produces a
noise like a small explosion.
Post Release phase:
The articulators are now further apart, and the air pressure at
the site of the obstruction has fallen so that the speech sound
is no longer a burst with energy in all frequencies, but bands of
aspiration which are more narrowly concentrated and which
move toward the formant values in the next phoneme.
The aspiration :
The release of /p/ /t/ and /k/ is followed by audible plosion-
that is, a burst of noise. There is then, in the post-release
phase, a period during which the air escapes through the vocal
cords, making a sound like /h/.
The aspiration comes when the plosives /p/, /t/ and /k/ are
initial.
2 fricative sounds : fricatives are consonants with the
characteristic that air escapes through a narrow passage and
make a hissing sound.
Fricatives are continuant consonants, which means that you
can continue making them without interruption as long as you
have enough air in your lungs.
3 affricates : affricates are rather complex consonants. They
begin as plosives and end as fricatives. // and //.
4 nasals : the basic characteristic of a nasal consonant is that
the air escapes through the nose. For this to happen, the soft
palate must be lowered.
All nasal sounds are voiced
5 lateral : the /L/ sound is the only lateral sound in English.
Lateral is an adjective means coming from the sides.
6 approximants : approximants = semi-vowels. An
approximant, as a type of consonant, is rather difficult to
describe; informally, we can say that is an articulation in which
the articulators approach each other but do not get sufficiently
close to each other to produce a complete consonant such as
a plosive, nasal, or fricative. (They are voiced sounds.)
 Place of articulation
Bilabial Dental Labio Alveola Palato Palatal Velar Glottal
dental r alveola
Manner of articulation

r
Voic Voicel Voic Voicel Voic Voicel Voic Voicel Voic Voicel Voic Voicel Voic Voicel Voic Voicel
ed ess ed ess ed ess ed ess ed ess ed ess ed ess ed ess
Leni Fortis Leni Fortis Leni Fortis Leni Fortis Leni Fortis Leni Fortis Leni Fortis Leni Fortis
s s s s s s s s

Plosives b p d t g k
Fricatives v f z s h
Affricates
Nasals m n
Lateral L
Approxi w r j
mants

Notes :
The sound // in the end of the words becomes // sound
when the word turns into the plural form.
Ex : path /p:/ > paths /p:z/

mouth /ma/ > mouths /maz/

we put /z/ sound after // because we produce the sound //

sound after voiced sound. We have some cases where //
sound does not ever change when we produce the plural of
some words. For example : moth /m / > moths /ms /.
In other cases, the part of speech of the words changes :
Breath /bre/ noun > breathe /bri:/ verb.

South /sa/ noun > southern /sn/ adjective.

Cloth /kl/ noun > clothe /kl/ verb.

 The suffix (s)

/s/ /z/
after
/IZ/
voiceless after voiced
after /s/,
consonants sounds exept
//, //,/z/,
exept /s/, /z/, // and
// // and //
// and //

The production of (the)

/I/ //
Before vowel sounds Before consonant
sounds
 The suffix (ed)

/t/ /Id/
/d/ After /t/ and /d/
After
After voiced sounds.
voiceless sounds, and when
Exeption : when we we have the wors
have the word 'aged' consonant
s. ends with a voiced
as an adjective, we
consonant, but is
produce the (ed) as
/Id/ and so on. an adjective.

The (ex)

/Iks/
/Igz/
When it is followed
When it is followed with a voiceless
with a voiced sound. consonant.
(Exertion)
(Export)

Clear /L/ and

dark //

/L/ //
Comes before vowels. comes after vowels and
before consonants.
 Silent /L/
We dont pronounce ay /L/ sound in these words :
Half, halve, calf, calves, alms, calm, almoner, behalf,
Holborn, chalk, walk, talk, palm, psalm, qualm, salmon,
folk, yolk, colonel, could, should, would, and salve.

Phonetics and phonology

Phonetics : is the field of study that looks into the
characteristics of the sounds of human languages.
Phonology : is the study of how these sounds come together
to form systems or patterns that are specific to a certain
language.
Phonetics is concerned with all languages i.e. language is
independent.
Phonology is concerned with the studying of certain
language i.e. dependent language.
Strong form and weak form
We have some words that might sometimes be produced or
pronounced either with strong form or with weak form
depending on the context they occur in.
Words are classified into :
Content words.
Function words.
Function words are always produced with their weak form
except these cases :
1 when they are produced in isolation.
2 when they occur at the end of the sentences.
3 when they are stressed for the purpose of emphasis.
4 when they are coordinated.
5 when they are quoted.
(schwa is almost in all weak forms because it is the weakest
vowel sound.)
Linguists divided words into two types :
Content or lexical words:
They are words that carry the meaning. They include: nouns,
adjectives, adverbs, and lexical verbs.
Function or grammatical words:
These are the words that perform a grammatical function.
They have nothing basic to do with meaning. They include:
pronouns, auxiliary verbs, articles, prepositions,
conjunctions, and the like.
Content words carry the meaning, whereas function words
perform the grammatical function.

In connected speech, there are changes in the way that

certain words are pronounced. They become completely
unstressed. Vowels may be reduced to schwa or may
disappear altogether.

Syllabication
Syllable means single speech parts made up of one vowel
sound with or without more closely combined consonant
sounds.
Syllabication guide :
1 every time you speak a vowel, your speech has a single
beat _ one clap.
2 every syllable has one and only one vowel sound.
3 never divide two vowels next to each other if they carry
one sound. Ex: bread
4 divide two vowels next to each other when each carries a
different sound. Ex: [Link]
5 a single consonant between two vowels goes with the
second vowel if the first vowel is long. Ex: [Link]
6 a single consonant between two vowels goes with the first
vowel if the first vowel is accented and short. Ex: [Link]
7 when two consonants come between two vowels in a
word, divide syllables between the consonants. Ex: [Link],
[Link], [Link]
8 two or more consonants between vowels go with the
second vowel if the first vowel is long. Ex: [Link]
9 the first consonant stays with the first vowel and the other
consonants go with the second vowel if the first vowel is
short. Ex: [Link]
10 unless the consonants form a blend in which case they
are not divided. Ex: [Link]
11 two identical consonants are divided when they occur
between vowels. Ex: [Link]
12 compound words are divided into the simple words that
form them. Ex: [Link]
13 When there are two vowels together that do not
represent a long vowel sound or a diphthong, divide the
syllables between the vowels. Ex: [Link], [Link], [Link]
14 prefixes and suffixes usually form separate syllables. Ex:
[Link], [Link]

Stress
There are : simple, complex, and compound words.
Simple word is the mere word.
Complex word is a word with a suffix or prefix (affixes).
Compound word is one word compound of two words.
Stressed syllable characteristics :
Pitch: a stressed syllable is pronounced with a raised pitch
unlike the unstressed syllable.
Loudness: a stressed syllable is louder than the unstressed
on the same word.
Length: a stressed syllable is longer than the unstressed one
in the same word.
Quality: a stressed syllable is clearer and more distinct than
the unstressed one in the same word.

Stress guide :
1 nouns and adjectives are always stressed on the first
syllable. (with some exceptions) Ex: alive /.lIv/.
2 verbs and prepositions (of two or more syllables) are
always stressed on the last syllable. (with some exceptions)
Ex: under/[Link]/ enter/[Link]/.
3 compound nouns are stressed on the first syllable whether
they are open, closed, or hyphenated.
4 compound adjectives and verbs are stressed on the second
syllable.

Aspects of connected speech

Assimilation:
Assimilation is when one sound couples with the
pronunciation of other sound (eats it).
Word word
Final initial
When we hear the initial one more, we call it regressive
assimilation. However, when we hear the final consonant
more, we call it progressive assimilation. (most assimilation
are regressive.)

Linking & intrusive /r/:

When the /r/ sound is followed by a vowel sound, we
pronounce it whether this vowel sound is in the same word
or in the next one. (linking /r/)
However, the different between linking and intrusive /r/ is
that when it is intrusive, the spelling of the word does not
end in R letter, and hence we insert the /r/ sound even if
there is no R letter in the spelling.
This happens when the first word ends with a vowel sound,
and the next one begins with a vowel sound. Here, the
intrusive /r/ comes between the two vowels.
Ex: the idea of, China and India.
Elision
In elision, the sound disappears.
Aspiration followed by a vowel sound: dropping.
In speed speech, and with the case of aspiration, the sound
is dropped to simplify the pronunciation.
Ex: perhaps /phaps/, police /plis/.

Consonant cluster:
If we have three consonant sounds following each other, it
will be a bit difficult in pronunciation, unlike when we have
two consonant sounds, where you can pronounce the word
easier.
Ex: aspect /aspek/, asked /a:st/.

Minimal pairs:
Minimal pairs are those pairs of words whose pronunciation
differs only in one phoneme.
/3:/ //

Girl Gull
Burn Bun
Fern Fun

Written by: Omar al-Basha.