CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTORY CONCEPTS

1. Definitions of Phonetics and Phonology

Both phonetics and phonology are important components of linguistics, which is the science that
deals with the general study of language. While phonetics is the study of the sounds made by the
human voice in speech, phonology is the study of how sounds pattern and function in a given
language (Lodge, 2009).
Phonetics describes the concrete, physical form of sounds (how they are produced, heard and
how they can be described), while phonology is concerned with the function of sounds, that is
with their status and inventory in any given language. In other words, phonetics studies the actual
sounds that we produce while phonology studies the abstract patterns of the sounds in our
mind (Ladefoged, P. & Johnson, K., 2011).
2. Types of phonetics
Ashby (2013) believes that speech can be examined in various ways, corresponding to the stages
of the transmission of the speech signal from a speaker to a listener.
a. Articulatory phonetics is concerned with the articulation of speech, i.e. the position,
shape, and movement of articulators, such as the lips, tongue, and vocal folds.
b. Acoustic phonetics is concerned about the physical nature of the speech signal.
c. Auditory phonetics is the study of how the ear receives the speech signal.

Articulatory phonetics Acoustic phonetics Auditory phonetics

Pressure

High Frequency Wave

Time
Period
Low Frequency Wave
Pressure

Time

Period

3. Letters, sounds, and symbols

In the study of phonetics, symbols are used to represent sounds. We cannot use the ordinary letters
of the alphabet to symbolize sounds as there are obvious differences between pronunciation and
ordinary spelling. These letters may have totally different values from those which learners are

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accustomed to. In addition, many English sounds may be spelt in a large number of different ways.
(Skandera & Burleigh, 2005).
4. Accents and dialects in English
Accents are several ways in which the language can be pronounced. Dialects refer variations in
grammar and vocabulary. Varieties refer all these aspects of language variation – pronunciation
together with grammar and vocabulary (Skandera & Burleigh, 2005).
One variety of English pronunciation which has traditionally been connected with the more
privileged section of the population is variously referred to as ‘Oxford English’, ‘BBC English’
and even ‘the Queen’s English’, but none of these names can be considered at all accurate. For a
long time, phoneticians have called it Received Pronunciation (or RP). The term ‘Received
Pronunciation’ seems to have caught on with the media and has begun to have wider currency with
the general public (Roach, 2009).
5. Segments, phonemes, and allophones
Speech is a continuous flow of sounds with interruptions only when necessary to take in air to
breathe, or to organize our thoughts. The process of dividing up this continuous flow into smaller
chunks that are easier to deal with is called segmentation, and the resulting smaller sound units are
termed segments (Lodge, 2009).
A phoneme can be defined as the smallest distinctive, or contrastive, unit in the sound system of
a language. In other words, a phoneme contrasts meaningfully with other speech sounds.
Phonemes are abstract, idealized sounds that are never pronounced and never heard. Actual,
concrete speech sounds can be regarded as the realization of phonemes by individual speakers, and
are referred to as allophones (Skandera, & Burleigh, (2005).
The allophones of a particular phoneme typically have phonetic similarity.
• They usually sound fairly similar to each other.
• They are usually articulated in a somewhat similar way.
The occurrence of allophones in this instance is predictable. They can be considered as
complements to each other; where one occurs the other cannot. Such an allophonic patterning is
termed complementary distribution (McMahon, 2002).

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 Example

6. Phonemic and phonetic transcription

According to Lodge, (2009), phonetic transcription can be defined as a system of alphabetic
writing in which each symbol represents one and only one distinct elementary speech sound and
one of the phonetic alphabets that are widely used is that of the International Phonetic Association.
A phonetic transcription can indicate minute details of the articulation of any particular sound by
the use of differently shaped symbols, e.g. [Ɂ ɹ], or by adding little marks (known as diacritics) to
a symbol, e.g. [ẽ ḅ]. In contrast, a phonemic transcription shows only the phoneme contrasts and
does not tell us precisely what the realisations of the phoneme are.
A broad phonetic transcription may be defined as a transcription obtained by using the minimum
number of symbols requisite for representing without ambiguity the sounds of the language in
question (without reference to other languages).
If it is desired to have separate symbols for all the sounds occurring in several languages and
dialects, a very large number of symbols and diacritical marks will be necessary. Transcriptions of
this kind are called narrow phonetic transcriptions.

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 SYMBOLS FOR VOWEL PHONEMES
Monophthongs Diphthongs

ɑː park ə potato aɪ light eə there

æ flat ʌ cup eɪ play ɪə fear

e bed ɜː third ɔɪ toy ʊə tour

ɪ ship iː feet əʊ coat

ɒ not ɔː four aʊ house

ʊ look u: food

SYMBOLS FOR CONSONANT PHONEMES

Voiceless Voiced
p pen b bad
t tea d did m man r red
k cat ɡ get
s see z zoo n now
ʃ shoe ʒ vision w wet
tʃ chain dʒ jam ŋ sing
f fall v van
θ thin ð this l leg j yes
h hat

7. Minimal pairs and minimal sets

McMahon, (2002) defines a minimal pair as a pair of words distinguished by a single sound. For
example, if we take the word ‘man’, and replace the first sound by /p/, we get a new word ‘pan’.
Meanwhile, a minimal set is a set of words distinguished by replacing one sound with another.
For example, man, ban, tan, ran, etc. can make a minimal set. Instead of changing the initial
consonant, we can also change the vowel (e.g. mean, moan, men, mine, moon) or the final
consonant (e.g. man, mat, mad).

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 8. Homophones and homographs
Another feature of English is that some pronunciations correspond to multiple spellings. According
to Ashby (2013), homophones are words that look different but sound exactly the same.
Example:
• Cs, seas, sees and seize are all pronounced /siːz/,
• rowed and road /rəʊd/,
• file and phial /faɪl/
• passed and past /pɑːst/
• two, too, and to /tuː/
Homographs, on the other hand, are words which are pronounced differently but spelt exactly
the same.
Example:
• bow /baʊ/ (‘bending from the waist or the front end of a boat’) and bow /bəʊ/ (an elaborate
knot in a piece of ribbon or about a piece of musical equipment)
• lead /led/ (‘a kind of metal’) and lead /liːd/ (‘to go first’)
• wind /wɪnd/ (‘current of air’) and wind /waɪnd/ (‘to turn round’)

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PRACTICE
Activity 1.1
Decide whether these statements describe phonetics (A) or phonology (B). Write A or B.
1. This is the science of speech sound. ____________
2. It deals with the abstract side of the sounds of a language. ____________
3. It deals with “actual” physical sounds as they are manifested. ____________
4. It is the study of the selection and patterns of sounds in a single language. ____________
5. It is the term used for the study of sound in human language. ____________
6. It is the business of describing the sounds that we use in speaking. ____________
7. It is concerned with the function of sounds. ____________
8. It describes the concrete, physical form of sounds. ____________
9. Phonologist is the term used for linguists who study this. ____________
10. Phonetician is the term used for linguists who study this. ____________

Activity 1.2
Decide which branch of phonetics, (a) articulatory, (b) acoustic or (c) auditory, these statements
describe. Write (a), (b) or (c).
1. It describes how sounds are made. ____
2. It is concerned with the perception, categorization, and recognition of speech sounds. ____
3. It studies the vibrations in the air caused by sounds travelling in the air from the speaker’s
mouth to the hearer’s ear. ____
4. It informs theories of speech production. ____
5. It deals with the physical nature of speech sounds. ____
6. It is related to listening to speech sounds and thinking about exactly what they sound. ____

Activity 1.3
Compare the sounds in bold in the following words and decide if they have the same or different
pronunciations. Explain your answer.
1. the a’s in father, fall, any, ago, watch
2. the i’s in grind, machine, bird

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3. the u’s in rule, put, hut
4. the o’s in stove, move, love
5. the ea’s in meat, head, great, bear

Activity 1.4
Underline the word in which a consonant is not pronounced.
0. pencil, hour, cousin
1. cupboard, pub, pupil 6. country, child, knife
2. bird, tiger, snake 7. island, address, some
3. wall, science, cave 8. window, paint, pencil
4. tall, desk, half 9. hundred, green, white
5. Wednesday, Monday, Sunday 10. lamp, autumn, bath

Activity 1.5
Put the following words into sets that begin with the same sound.
knight, cat, king, get, gnat, guest, calm, quay, quest, west, vest, want, vase

Activity 1.6
Complete the sentences with the right words given.
dialect accent regional variety social
1. A(n) ______________ is a way in which the language can be pronounced.
2. The term ‘______________’ is used to cover variation in grammar and vocabulary.
3. A ‘______________’ refers all these aspects of language variation – pronunciation
together with grammar and vocabulary.
4. ______________ variation involves differences between one place and another.
5. ______________ variation reflects differences between one social group and another.
This can cover such matters as gender, ethnicity, religion, age and, very significantly,
social class.

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Activity 1.7
How many phonemes are there in the following words?
Word No. of phoneme Word No. of phoneme
1. booth 6. through
2. debt 7. writer
3. yacht 8. lesson
4. key 9. homophone
5. bought 10. imagination

Activity 1.8
Look at these words. Three of the four words include the same phoneme – which word is
different from the others?
1. a. church b. Chester c. such d. ridge
2. a. shape b. hiss c. push d. passion
3. a. German b. justice c. chicken d. postage
4. a. yacht b. university c. major d. you
5. a. gate b. pig c. germs d. great
6. a. cat b. nice c. ceiling d. sensitive
7. a. think b. mother c. mammoth d. thanks
8. a. vision b. buzz c. zip d. lazy

Activity 1.9
Decide whether phoneme(s) or allophone(s) fit the blanks in the following sentences.
1. A _______________ is a member of a set of abstract units which together form the sound
system of a given language and through which contrasts of meaning are produced.
2. Only the _______________ of a _______________ can exist in reality as concrete
entities.
3. _______________ are real and they can be recorded, stored and reproduced, and
analyzed in acoustic or articulatory terms.
4. The _______________ is an abstract unit which may be realized as any one of a number
of _______________.

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Activity 1.10
Write the CV-patterns for each of the following English words:
Word Pattern Word Pattern
1. spin 6. attack
2. cream 7. psychic
3. tomato 8. assign
4. Spain 9. text
5. wrong 10. announce

Activity 1.11
Look at the phoneme for each question: which one of the four words contains that phoneme?
1. /ʌ/ a. month b. mouth c. math d. test
2. / ɪ/ a. bean b. buy c. pine d. pill
3. /ʊə/ a. tour b. took c. pure d. food
4. /e/ a. the b. feed c. then d. this
5. /ɑː/ a. call b. park c. one d. cap
6. /eɪ/ a. our b. lime c. crack d. game
7. /eə/ a. fear b. bar c. beer d. bear

Activity 1.12
Are the following pairs of words minimal pairs? Circle Yes or No.
1. right - write Yes / No 6. sitting – seating Yes / No
2. caught – court Yes / No 7. chews – choose Yes / No
3. three – tree Yes / No 8. bowl – bowel Yes / No
4. knot – not Yes / No 9. walk – work Yes / No
5. pool – pull Yes / No 10. grate – great Yes / No

Activity 1.13
Create two minimal pairs with each given word by replacing the consonants in different word
positions.

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Consonant Initial Medial Final
0. /t/ tea pea, sea charter charmer, charger seat seed, seal
1. /p/ pack mapping ape
2. /m/ mate slimming room
3. /s/ seek leasing class
4. /ʃ/ sheet mashed bash
5. /l/ lash rolling coal
6. /f/ feel refined staff
7. /n/ knee sneak bone
8. /d/ dash budding bed
9. /ɡ/ gain plugging wig
10. /z/ zip buzzing seize

Activity 1.14
Create three words with contrasts by supplying different vowels in the following consonantal
frames.
0. /b__t/ beat, bait, bet 6. /l__n/
1. /s__l/ 7. /k__n/
2. /pl__/ 8. /d__m/
3. /sp__k/ 9. /t__k/
4. /m__θ/ 10. /ɡr__nd/

Activity 1.15
Look at each pair of words: are they homophones or not? Choose True if you think they are
homophones, False if you think they are not.
1. where / wear True / False 6. out / ought True / False
2. sow / saw True / False 7. flour / flower True / False
3. sum / some True / False 8. peace / piece True / False
4. wood / would True / False 9. caught / court True / False
5. thought / fort True / False 10. chews / choose True / False

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Activity 1.16
Which word does not rhyme with the word given?
1. eight a. straight b. wait c. white d. mate
2. bright a. feet b. tonight c. white d. bite
3. tall a. ball b. hole c. small d. crawl
4. hen a. when b. ten c. again d. pain
5. sew a. go b. though c. mow d. flew
6. nose a. laws b. grows c. froze d. toes
7. fun a. one b. moon c. sun d. son
8. mean a. seen b. teen c. men d. clean

Activity 1.17
The following spelling errors would be impossible for most computer spelling checkers to deal
with. Supply a suitable homophone to correct each of the sentences.
Correction
0. You’ll get a really accurate wait if you use these electronic scales. weight
1. Why don’t you join a quire if you like singing so much?
2. The people standing on the key saw Megan sail past in her yacht.
3. Harry simply guest, but luckily he got the right answer.
4. Passengers are requested to form an orderly cue at the bus stop.
5. The primary task of any doctor is to heel the sick.
6. For breakfast, many people choose to eat a serial with milk.
7. Janet tried extremely hard, but it was all in vein, I’m sad to say.
8. Why is the yoke of this egg such a peculiar shade of yellow?
9. The gross errors in the treasurer’s report are plane for all to see.

Activity 1.18
Transcribe the following sets of homographs.
Homograph Transcription Meaning
0. live /laɪv/ ‘not dead’

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 live /lɪv/ ‘to be alive’
1. refuse to decline
refuse rubbish
2. close near
close to shut
3. convict prisoner
convict to find guilty
4. desert sandy wasteland
desert to run away
5. invalid not legally acceptable
invalid sick person
6. sow to scatter seeds
sow female pig
7. tear liquid from the eye
tear to rip up
8. house building for living in
house to provide accommodation
9. wound injury
wound past tense of ‘to wind’
10. bass low pitch
bass kind of fish

Activity 1.19
Fill in the gaps in the following sentences.
1. When a word is written with phonetic symbols we say it is _____________.
2. The sounds of spoken language are divided into two basic types, _____________ and
_____________.
3. Many phonemes may be pronounced (“realized”) in more than one way; these different
realizations are called _____________.

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4. We can add marks to phonetic symbols to provide more information about them. These
marks are called _____________.
5. The symbols that we use are based on the Alphabet of the _____________.
6. A phonetic transcription that gives a lot of detail is called a _____________transcription.
7. When we consider two related sounds in a relationship where one of them can only occur
where the other cannot occur, we say that the sounds are in _____________.

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