Lecture 10
English consonants: realization/allophonic variation contd
SI! 8.1-2
Solving potential pronunciation problems
CEI 6.2
Intonation: analysing the use & meaning of intonation patterns
English consonants: realization/allophonic
variation
Important to note:
 Allophones concern the precise, phonetic
realization of phonemes according to
phonological surroundings. (Complementary
distribution)
 Allophonic variation is often a result of
phonetic assimilation, i.e. neighbouring
phonemes become more similar to each other.
 Different allophones are not marked in a
phonemic transcription.
Different realizations of the same phoneme can
vary with respect to
 voicing
 aspiration
 place of articulation
 manner of articulation
Variations in place of articulation
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 The alveolar sounds /t, d, n, l/ are articulated
as dental before the dental fricatives // and
//.
 /t/ and /d/ become postalveolar in front of the
postalveolar /r/
tea / tree, do, drew
 The articulation of the velar sounds /k, g, /
varies with neighbouring vowels:
o near a front vowel: contact between the
tongue and the velum is made further front
(pre-velar)
o near a central vowel: velar
o near a back vowel: contact between the
tongue and the velum is made further back
 Clear and dark allophones of /l/ (RP)
o The clear allophone (with the front of the
tongue raised) occurs before vowels and /j/
(lake, failure)
o The dark allophone (with the back of the
tongue raised) occurs before consonants
and word-finally (melt, fail)
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Variations in manner of articulation
 The frictionless continuant /r/ is articulated as a
fricative after /t/ and /d/ (try, dry)
 The frictionless continuants /j/ and /w/ become
fricatives (and voiceless) when they combine
with /h/ (huge, which)
The release of plosives
 Normally, the plosives have oral plosion, i.e.
the air is released through the mouth, with no
obstruction.
 Nasal release (i.e. the air is released through
the nose) occurs when the plosive is followed
by a homorganic nasal (i.e. /p, b/ followed by
/m/, /t, d/ followed by /n/, /k, g/ followed by //
(happen, button, bacon)
 Lateral release (i.e. the air is released along
the sides of the tongue) occurs when the
alveolar plosives /t, d/ are followed by /l/ (little,
middle)
 Inaudible release (unexploded stop) occurs
when the plosive is followed by another stop.
(suit – suitcase)
 Aspiration usually follows the release of the
fortis plosives /p, t, k/. The aspiration
3
disappears if the plosive is preceded by /s/
(within the same syllable) (key vs. ski)
English consonants – Solving potential
pronunciation problems
Pronunciation problems arise because
 English has phonemes that Norwegian doesn’t
have (differences in phonemic inventory).
o A Norwegian learner will have to learn how
to pronounce the “new” phonemes and
how to distinguish them from other, similar
phonemes
 English phonemes are articulated in a (slightly)
different way from corresponding Norwegian
phonemes
o A Norwegian learner will be understood,
but sound foreign, unless the precise
articulation is learnt
 An English phoneme may have a different
distribution from its Norwegian counterpart
o A Norwegian learner may need to learn to
articulate a phoneme in an “unusual”
position.
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Differences in inventory (RP/GA vs. Standard
Eastern Norwegian)
English affricates //, //
The fortis fricative //
The lenis fricatives /, , , /
The semi-vowel /w/
Examples on handout.
Distinguishing similar phonemes
,  (thought vs. taught)
Dental fricatives vs. alveolar plosives
(dental in Norwegian)
, (they vs. day)
More examples on handout
v, w (veil vs. whale)
Labiodental lenis fricative (‘bite your lip’) vs.
Labiovelar open approximant (rounded lips,
no friction)
More examples on handout
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Differences in place / manner of articulation
 /v/ has audible friction in English
 /t, d, n/ are apico-alveolar (apico-dental in
Norwegian)
 all allophones of /r/ are unlike the /r/-sounds in
Eastern Norwegian
 /l/ is always dark in GA and clear and dark /l/
are allophones in RP, with a different
distribution from allophones of the Norwegian
/l/
 /k, g, / are articulated at the back of the
velum after back vowels in English but not in
Norwegian. (rock vs. råk)
Differences in distribution
 The distribution of /r/ in RP (and other nonrhotic accents)
 /v/ does not occur after other consonants in
initial clusters (but /w/ does)
cp. Norwegian svett, tvinne, kvinne; English
sweat, twin, queen
Analysing intonation patterns
6
1. The intonation pattern itself: (prehead) –
(head) – NUCLEUS – (tail)
2. The sentence type (declarative, interrogative,
imperative, sentence fragment)
3. The context (i.e speaker A’s utterance + the
actual words used. It is also possible to
imagine a wider context, but don’t be too
creative!)
4. The communicative function: statement,
question, command, offer, request, apology,
suggestion, etc.
5. The attitudinal meaning of speaker B: e.g.
lively, involved, neutral, calm, interested,
casual, cheerful, hostile, annoyed…
6. The accent-placing: Note if accent placing
differs, the emphasis of the two utterances
may be different – or even the meaning of
words and phrases (see further Unit 7).
A conversation for analysis
a)I’ve got a feeling we’ve met be\fore
b)It’s Margaret \Johnson, | /isn’t it
c) Do you re member /my name
d) Let me \think for a minute
e)/Yes, |  Michael \Hughes
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f) What a sur \prise
g)What are you /doing | back in \London
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