Segmental Phonetics & English Pronunciation

Phonetics lecture

Review exercise

Segmental phonetics and English pronunciation

PhoneticsWhat is ‘Phonetics’?

Phonetics = the study of speech sounds

Acoustics = the study of sound

Pronunciation = How to move tongue, jaw and lips in order to produce speech sounds

PhoneticsRhythm = sound pattern in speech caused by changing stress, length and pitch of speech sounds

Stress/Accent = increased energy in pronunciation (pitch + loudness)

Intonation = the song of speech; rise and fall of the voice while speaking (primarily pitch)

Segmental“Segment” = individual speech sound

Example: cat

[k] [æ] [t] — 3 segments

Example: tough

[t] [ʌ] [f] — 3 segments

Segments ≠ Letters

Phonetics Segmental PhoneticsSegments ≠ Letters

Speaking ≠ Writing

Pronunciation ≠ SpellingHomophones

peace [piːs](平和) ~ piece [piːs] (一切れ)

Homographslead: [liːd](導く)~ lead: [lɛd](鉛)

Alphabetic spellingalphabet = a set of symbols used to represent spoken segments in written form

‘alphabet’ ⬅ α ‘alpha’ + β ‘beta’

Greek alphabet: α, β, γ, δ, ε, ϛ, ϝ, ζ, η, θ,...

Cyrillic alphabet: а, б, в, г, д, е, ё, ж, з, и, к,...Roman alphabet: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l,...

(used for English, French, Italian, and most other European languages)

English spellingLetters ≠ Segments

‘cat’ (3 letters; 3 segments) ‘tough’ (5 letters; 3 segments)

Two letters > One segment

tough [f], think [θ], shell [ʃ]

One letter < Two segments

tax [ks], cute, music [ju]

English spellingLetters ≠ Segments

circus gorgeous

lab lamb

English spellingSymbol—Sound correspondence

Many-to-one: v, f > [v] love, of

One-to-many: g < [g] gift, [ʤ] George

English spellingSymbol—Sound correspondence

Many-to-many:" c < [s] circle; [k] car" " " " " " s < [s] say; [z] does

Digraphs: two symbols > one sound

sh: [ ʃ ] ship, shark, shyck: [k] black, neckth: [θ] think, bathth: [ð] this, bathe

oo: [ʊ] book, footau: [ɔ] launchea: [ɛ] bread, deadie: [ɛ] friend

English spellingone symbol < two sounds

x:" [ks] saxophone, oxygen, Mexico

" [gz] exam, exist, executive

‘Silent’ lettersknowpsychologylambnight

lateyachtislanddoubt

English spelling“Regularly” spelled words

bag, go, apartment, printer

“Irregularly” spelled words

photograph, psychology, women

island, yacht, doubt

tough, cough, though, thought, through

English spellingUnreliable for pronunciation

Problem: Segment-to-Symbol mapping

one-to-many

many-to-one

many-to-many

How can these problems be avoided?

Phonetic transcription

One-to-one Segment–Symbol mappings

IPA = International Phonetic Alphabet

International spelling

with [θ]

this [ð]

family [f]photo [f]

SegmentalAll the segments in a language

Different languages have different segmental inventories

English includes: [θ], [ð], [ɹ]

French includes: [y] ([ü]), [ø] ([ö])

Japanese includes: [ɾʲ] (留学, 旅行)

inventory SegmentalVowels (e.g., [a],[e],[o])

Glides (e.g., [j],[w],[ɹ])

Liquids (e.g., [l],[ɹ])

Nasals (e.g., [m],[n],[ŋ])

Obstruents (e.g., [b],[tʃ],[ð])

classes Segmental classesOpen vowels (e.g., [æ] in ‘sad’)

Airflow in speech is free; path through mouth made wide by lowered tongue

Close vowels (e.g., [u] in ‘food’; [i] in ‘see’)

Airflow in speech is free; path through mouth made narrow by raised tongue

Segmental classesGlides ([w] in ‘winter’; [j] in ‘yes’; [ɹ] in ‘red’)

Airflow in speech is free; path through mouth made narrow by raised tongue(Close vowel tongue position)

MOVEMENT of tongue or lips

FROM narrow path for airflow

TO narrow path for airflow

Segmental classesLiquids ([l] in ‘library’; [ɹ] in ‘red’)

Airflow passes fluidly around the tip of the tongue

Nasals ([m] in ‘mister’; [ŋ] in ‘sing’)

Airflow through the mouth is stopped;

Airflow passes freely through the nose

Segmental classesObstruents

Airflow through mouth is obstructed:

lipsteethtongue

Obstruction may be:complete — stop the airflowpartial — airflow causes noisy friction

Pronunciationpronounce = “to make speech sounds”

Learn phonetics in order to understand pronunciation

Pronunciation is an action that requires PRACTICE

PronunciationEnglish segments

Some segments are the same in both English and Japanese

Some segments are similar, but slightly different, in English and Japanese

Some segments are quite different

PronunciationEnglish ‘L’ [l] and ‘R’ [ɹ]

Why are these segments difficult?

both similar to the same Japanese segment [ɾ] (ら,り,る,れ,ろ)

ローマ字 spellingら= ra, り=ri, る=ru, れ=re, ろ=ro

[l] • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • [ɹ]

Pronunciation [ə] Pronunciation [l] Pronunciation [ɹ]

Vowel Practicehigh central (r-colored) vowels = [ɝ] and [ɚ]

Spelling(written English)

-ir--er--ur--or--ear-

bird [bɝd]certain [sɝtn̩]curtain [kɝtn̩]worm [wɝm]learn [lɝn]

shirt, first

service, alert

turn, burdenword, work

search, yearn

digraphs

trigraph

Approximants[ɹ] [l]

bellyaliveelectglassclimbfleeclowncloud

1. bury2. arrive3. erect4. grass5. crime6. free7. crown8. crowd

(Liquids + Glides)

rayrageracedrateriprentrightred

1. way2. wage3. waste4. weight5. whip6. went7. white8. wed

Approximants[w] [ɹ]

(Liquids + Glides)

1. raid2. rate3. ray4. red5. rot6. rye7. ride8. right

weighedwaitwaywedwhatwhywidewhite

laidlatelayledlotlieliedlight

Approximants (Liquids + Glides) SummaryPhonetics = The study of speech sounds

Pronunciation = Movements made to produce speech sounds

Segments = Individual speech sounds

Segment ≠ Letters

Spoken language ≠ Written language

SummaryEnglish spelling unreliable for pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Segment classes: V,G,L,N,O

Differ based on ”sonority”(voice + airflow)