Phonology
The following PowerPoint is to be used as a guideline for the important vocabulary
and terminology to know as you do your readings, answering questions, and forming
your thoughts and comments for your discussion with fellow classmates.
Week 3 – Part 1
Phonology—the sound system of a language.
Phonetics—the study of speech and sound.
Phones—the phonetic sounds that occur in a language.
Phonemes—the abstract basic units that differentiate words.
Allophones—predictable phonetic variants of one phoneme.

Acoustic phonetics focuses on the physical
properties of sounds

Auditory phonetics is concerned with how
listeners perceive these sounds

Articulatory phonetics is the study of how the
vocal tract produces the sound of language

Orthography, or alphabetic spelling, does not
represent the sounds of a language in a
consistent way.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) the
phonetic alphabet designed by the International
Phonetic Association to be used to represent the
sounds found in all human languages

The sounds of all languages fall into 2
classes: consonants and vowels.

Places of Articulation

Manner of Articulation
The horizontal relationship between the articulators.
See pg. 236-237 for explanation.
See pg. 236-237
Stops
are characterized by
involving complete
closure in the oral tract,
preventing the airflow
from exiting through
the mouth
Place of
Articulation
Bilabial
Alveolar
Velar
Voice
Symbol
Example
–
[p]
‘pig’
+
[b]
‘bear’
–
[t]
‘tiger’
+
[d]
‘dog’
–
[k]
‘cat’
+
[g]
‘gorilla’
Fricatives are classified by those sounds that produce a slight
hissing noise when they are articulated (e.g. /s/ /f/ /v/). They also
continuant consonants, which means they can be produced as long
as you have airflow. Affricates, on the other hand, start as plosives
and end as fricatives (e.g. only /tʃ/ /dʒ/). Plosive-fricative
combinations must be homogranic (i.e. made with the same
articulator) to be considered an affricate. What is more, there is a
controversy as to whether affricates should be identified as one
phoneme; this will be discussed in a later lesson.
Affricates
Fricatives
produced like plosives, in that they
involve a closing stage, a closure stage
and a release stage
produced when the active
articulator is close to, but
not actually in contact with,
the passive articulator.
Phonetically, then, affricates are similar voiced or voiceless
to a stop followed by a fricative, they
do not, however, behave like a
sequence of two segments
Voiceless palato-alveolar [tʄ], as in
‘chimpanzee’, and its voiced
counterpart [dʒ] as in ‘jaguar’
Labio-dental, dental,
alveolar, palato-alveolar,
glottal
Voiceless fricatives (produced with greater
force, generating a louder friction noise, and
shorten vowel sounds that precede them.)
/f/ = labiodental
/θ/ = dental
/s/ = alveolar
/ʃ/ = post-alveolar
Voiced fricatives (but produced with little or
voicing in initial and final positions)
/v/ = labiodental
/ð/ = dental
/z/ = alveolar
/ʒ/ = post-alveolar (*never occurs in initial
position)
/h/ = glottal
Affricates (voiced/voiceless pairs that
have post-alveolar articulation)
/tʃ/ = slightly aspirated and shortens
vowels when in final position
/dʒ/ = produced with rounded lips
glottal stop is voiceless since the
vocal cords cannot vibrate when
they are in contact
• if the glottis is closed then raised, the air above it (in the
vocal tract) will be pushed upwards, becoming compressed
behind the blockage in the oral tract; this air exits on
release of the closure in the oral tract
• ejectives – the stops produced through this mechanism
• ejectives are indicated by an apostrophe [p’]
the articulators are far enough apart to allow the
airflow to exit unhindered, that is, with open
approximation
1. Vowel height: high, mid, low
2. Vowels are classified horizontally: front, central, back
3. Attitude of lips – rounded and unrounded when making
vowel sounds
English monophthongs include:
Short
/ɪ/ = win
/ʊ/ = put
/e/ = ten
/ə/ = about
/æ/ = cat
/ʌ/ = up
/ɒ/ = bought
Long
/i:/ = sea
/u:/ = do
/ɜ:/ = word
/ɔ:/ = call
/a:/ = card
The classifications of 'short' and 'long' are relatively arbitrary and the
length of the vowel can be slightly altered, depending on the context
(e.g. whether a stressed or unstressed sound follows them).
/ɪ/ tongue position is close and front; the lips are slightly spread
/ʊ/ tongue position is a bit close and near the back; the lips are rounded
/e/ tongue position is between close-mid and open-mid, and it is front;
the lips are slightly spread
/æ/ tongue position is open and front; the lips are slightly spread
/ʌ/ tongue position is more open than open-mid and central; the lips are
neutral
/ɒ/ tongue position is between open-mid and open and it is back; the
lips are slightly rounded
/ə/* tongue position is between close-mid and open-mid and it is central;
the lips are neutral
* /ə/ will be discussed in much greater detail later in this course, as it
signifies weakness
In addition to length, they differ from short vowels in tongue placement
and lip positioning.
tongue position is more close and front than /ɪ/; the lips are only
slightly spread
/u:/ tongue position is more less close and back; the lips are only
slightly rounded
/ɜ:/ tongue position is open-mid and central; the lips are only slightly
spread
/ɔ:/ tongue position is between open-mid and close-mind, and back;
the lips are strongly rounded
/a:/ tongue position is more open and mostly back; the lips are neutral
/i:/
• Nasal vowels – vowels produced with a lower velum
• Oral vowels – vowels produced with a raised velum
• Nasalized vowels – a vowel preceding a nasal stop
will be produced with the velum lowered in anticipation
of the following consonant, as in ‘bean’. That is the
vowel assimilates to the nasality of the following stop
Another potential problem is the difficulty of hearing the
difference between /ə/ and an unstressed /ʌ/. To solve this
problem, phonologists have proposed that the schwa (/ə/)
phoneme replace the /ʌ/ phoneme, and that /ʌ/ be made into an
allophone for the other. The only problem with this proposal is
that the schwa phoneme often replaces many other vowel
phonemes to signify a weak sound (e.g. the 'a' in about and the
second 'o' in photograph are pronounced as a /ə/). Consequently,
other phonologists assert that /ə/ should be adopted as an
allophone of these unstressed sounds rather than its own
phoneme.
Liquids [l] [r] – some obstruction of the airstream
in the mouth, but not enough to cause ay real
constriction or friction.
Glides [j] [w] – the initial sounds of you [ju] and
we [wi] are produced with little obstruction of the
airstream.
Diphthongs are special types of
vowels in which the sound is
produced by producing one
vowel sound and ending in
another vowel sound. Thus,
diphthongs are typically vowels
that are composed of two
different vowel sounds.
Diphthongs consist of one vowel sound that glides into
another vowel sound. This collision creates a unique speech
sound. Often learners mistakingly pronounce them without
this glide, and therefore, they need to be guided away from
this error. One way to impress this upon them is to inform
that the first segment is always stronger than the second.
This, hopefully, will raise their awareness and encourage a
less 'foreign-sounding' pronunciation.
symbol
/ɪə/ = ear
/eə/ = air
/ʊə/* = sure
/eɪ/ = day |
/aɪ/ = time
/ɔɪ/ = toy
/əʊ/ = go
/aʊ/ = how
pronunciation
starts in the close and front and then glides down to a central and open
position
starts between close-mid and open-mid and the glides across to the central
and open position
starts a bit close and near the back and then glides down to the central and
open position
starts between close-mid and open-mid, and in front position and glides up
to a close position
starts between front and back, and in open position and glides up to a close
position
starts between a open-mid and close-mid, and in back position and glides
up to a close position
starts in the open and central position and glides up to the back position
starts in the open and mostly back position and glides up to the back
position
* usually replaced with /ɔ:/, but can still be helpful in highlighting the differences
sometimes heard between 'more' and 'moor'
Fromkin, Victoria, et al.
An Introduction to Language. 9th ed.
Boston: Wadsworth, 2011.
Davenport, Mike & Hannahs, S.J.
Introducing Phonetics and Phonology. 3rd
ed. London UK. Hodder Education.