Fonetica e Fonologia Do Ingles

MODULE
English Phonetics and

Phonology
Universidade Pedagogica 2013
Departamento de Ingles
Ensino Distncia
Copyright
This Module cannot be printed for commercial purposes. In case of photocopying, reference should be
made to Universidade Pedaggica and to the Authors of the module.
Universidade Pedagogica 2013

Ensino Distncia
Rua Comandante Augusto Cardoso nr.135
Telephone: 21-320860/2
Telephone: 21-306720
Maputo - Mozambique
Fax: +258 21 320860-2

E-mail: f:linguas@yahoo.com.br
Website: www.up.ac.mz
Ou www.up.ac.mz/fclca
Acknowledgements
The Universidade Pedagogica, English Course, wishes to thank those below for their contribution to
this module:
The Universidade Pedagogica especially English The CEAD (Centro de Educao Aberta e a
Department for giving me this chance and all who Distncia) for giving me opportunity to develop
direct and indirectly contributed to do this this module that allowed me to exercise and apply
and without their help I would not make it. the techniques learned to develop materials for
distance education.
Copyright
Author: Carlos Victorino
Instructional Designing: Elias Peter
Language Review: Cristina Loforte
Graphic Designing: Valdincio Florncio Paulo
Edition: Valdincio Florncio Paulo

English Phonetics and Phonology
Contents
About this module 1
How this Module is structured? ........................................................................................ 1
The course overview ............................................................................................... 1
The course content................................................................................................... 2
Resources................................................................................................................. 2
Your comments ....................................................................................................... 2
Course overview 3
Welcome to English Phonetics and Phonology! ............................................................... 3
English Phonetics and Phonologyis this course for you? .................................... 3
Course outcomes ............................................................................................................... 3
Timeframe ......................................................................................................................... 3
Study skills ........................................................................................................................ 4
Need help? ........................................................................................................................ 5
Assignments ...................................................................................................................... 6
Assessments ...................................................................................................................... 6
Getting around this Module 7

Margin icons ..................................................................................................................... 7
Unit 1 8
Phonetics ........................................................................................................................... 8
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 8
Lesson 1 10
Definition of Phonetics; .................................................................................................. 10
The three branches of phonetics; .................................................................................... 10
Voiced and voiceless sounds .......................................................................................... 10
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 10
Branches of Phonetics .................................................................................. 11
ARTICULATION: Voiced and Voiceless sounds. ...................................... 11
Lesson 2 14
The Production of speech sounds ................................................................................... 14
Articulators above the larynx .......................................................................................... 14
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 14
Lesson 3 19
Vowels and Consonants .................................................................................................. 19
Lesson 4 24
Description of the positions of the vowels...................................................................... 24
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 24
Lesson 5 27
Primary Cardinal Vowels and English Short Vowels ..................................................... 27
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 27
Primary cardinal vowels .............................................................................. 27
Lesson 6 32
Long vowels .................................................................................................................... 32
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 32
English long vowels ..................................................................................... 32
Lesson 7 36
Diphthongs ...................................................................................................................... 36
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 36
Lesson 8 41
Triphthongs ..................................................................................................................... 41
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 41
Lesson 9 44
English Consonant Sounds - place of articulation .......................................................... 44
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 44
Place and Manner of articulation ................................................................. 45
Lesson 10 48
Manner of articulation or production .............................................................................. 48
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 48
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 52
Assignment ..................................................................................................................... 52
Assessment...................................................................................................................... 52
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 54
Unit 2 55
Phonology ....................................................................................................................... 55
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 55
Lesson 1 56
Definition of Phonology; ................................................................................................ 56
The Phoneme; ................................................................................................................. 56
Phones and Allophones ................................................................................................... 56
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 56
The abstract unit of sound ............................................................................ 57
Phonemes ..................................................................................................... 58
Phones and allophones ................................................................................. 59
Lesson 2 62
Minimal pairs and sets .................................................................................................... 62
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 62
Lesson 3 64
Distinctive feature analysis ............................................................................................. 64
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 64
Lesson 4 68
Phonological rules........................................................................................................... 68
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 68
What are phonological rules? .............................................................. 69
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 72
Assignment ..................................................................................................................... 72
Assessment...................................................................................................................... 73
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 75
Unit 3 76
The English Syllable ....................................................................................................... 76
Introduction: .......................................................................................................... 76
Lesson 1 77
The nature of the syllable................................................................................................ 77
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 77
Lesson 2 81
The structure of the English syllable .............................................................................. 81
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 81
Syllable Onset .............................................................................................. 82
Lesson 3 85
The syllable coda ............................................................................................................ 85
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 85
Lesson 4 89
Strong and Weak syllables .............................................................................................. 89
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 89
Lesson 5 93
The vowel ("schwa") ................................................................................................... 93
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 93
Lesson 6 98
Close front and close back vowels also found in weak syllables ................................... 98
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 98
Lesson 7 103
Syllabic consonants....................................................................................................... 103
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 103
Unit summary .............................................................................................................. 108
Assignment ................................................................................................................... 108
Assessment.................................................................................................................... 108
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 109
Unit 4 110
Stress in simple words .................................................................................................. 110
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 110
Lesson 1 111
The nature of stress ....................................................................................................... 111
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 111
Lesson 2 116
Levels of stress.............................................................................................................. 116
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 116
Lesson 3 119
Placement of stress within the word ............................................................................. 119
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 119
Stress placement within two-syllable words .............................................. 121
Lesson 4 126
Stress placement in three - syllable words .................................................................... 126
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 126
Lesson 5 129
Complex word stress ..................................................................................................... 129
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 129
Lesson 6 134
Compound words .......................................................................................................... 134
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 134
Lesson 7 138
Variable stress and stress placement within word-class pairs ...................................... 138
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 138
1. Variable stress ........................................................................................ 138
2. Word - class pairs................................................................................... 139
Lesson 8 141
Weak forms ................................................................................................................... 141
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 141
Unit summary ............................................................................................................... 145
Assessment.................................................................................................................... 145
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 146
Unit 5 147
Aspects of connected speech ........................................................................................ 147
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 147
Lesson 1 148
Rhythm.......................................................................................................................... 148
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 148
Lesson 2 154
Assimilation .................................................................................................................. 154
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 154
Lesson 3 159
Elision ........................................................................................................................... 159
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 159
Lesson 4 162
Linking .......................................................................................................................... 162
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 162
Unit summary ............................................................................................................... 163

Assessment.................................................................................................................... 164
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 165
Unit 6 167
Intonation ...................................................................................................................... 167
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 167
Lesson 1 168
What is Intonation? ....................................................................................................... 168
Forms and function in intonation .................................................................................. 168
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 168
1. It is a necessary condition that they should be under the speakers control; it
must be perceptible and contrastive. ................................................................... 172
Lesson 2 173
Tone and tone languages............................................................................................... 173
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 173
Lesson 3 176
Some functions of English tone .................................................................................... 176
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 176
Unit summary ............................................................................................................... 180
Assignment ................................................................................................................... 181
Assessment.................................................................................................................... 181
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 182
Bibliography
1. CRYSTAL, David. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language, 2nd Ed, Cambridge:
C.U.P., 1987
2. KENWORTHY, Joanne. Language in Action: An Introduction to Modern Linguistics,

Hong Kong: Longman, 1991
3. POOLE, Stuart C. An Introduction to Linguistics, New York, Palgrave, 1991
4. ROACH, Peter. English Phonetics and Phonology A practical Course, 2nd Ed.
Cambridge: C.U.P., 1991
5. YULE, George. The Study of Language, 2nd Ed. Cambridge: C.U.P., 1996
About this module

English Phonetics and Phonology has been produced by
Universidade Pedagogica 2013. All modules produced by
Universidade Pedagogica 2013 are structured in the same way,
as outlined below.
How this Module is structured?

The course overview
The course overview gives you a general introduction to the course.
Information contained in the course overview will help you
determine:
If the course is suitable for you.
What you will already need to know.
What you can expect from the course.
How much time you will need to invest to complete the course.
The overview also provides guidance on:
Study skills.
Where to get help.
Course assignments and assessments.
Activity icons.
Units.
We strongly recommend that you read the overview carefully

before starting your study.
1
The course content

The course is broken down into units. Each unit comprises:
An introduction to the unit content.
Unit outcomes.
New terminology.
Core content of the unit with a variety of learning activities.
A unit summary.
Assignments and/or assessments, as applicable.
Resources
For those interested in learning more on this subject, we provide
you with a list of additional resources at the end of this module;
these may be books, articles or websites.
Your comments
After completing English Phonetics and phonology we would
appreciate it if you would take a few moments to give us your
feedback on any aspect of this course. Your feedback might include
comments on:
Course content and structure.
Course reading materials and resources.
Course assignments.
Course assessments.
Course duration.
Course support (assigned tutors, technical help, etc.)
Your constructive feedback will help us to improve and enhance

this course.
2
Course overview
Welcome to English Phonetics

and Phonology!
English Phonetics and Phonologyis this course for you?
This course is intended for students who want to have knowledge

of the English phonemic system with the purpose of Teaching
English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).
Course outcomes
Upon completion of English Phonetics and Phonology, you will be
able to:
Have knowledge of the English phonemic system

including vowels, consonants and semi-vowels.
Be able to identify the sounds of the English language and
Outcomes transcribe them phonetically.
Be aware of the English prosodic suprasegmental features
(stress, rhythm, accent and intonation) and their role.
Timeframe
This course is organised in 6 units, corresponding to 150 study
hours distributed throughout academic semester.
How long? There will be 16 contact hours and
134 self-study expected hours.
3
Study skills
As an adult learner your approach to learning will be different to that
from your school days: you will choose what you want to study, you will
have professional and/or personal motivation for doing so and you will
most likely be fitting your study activities around other professional or
domestic responsibilities.
Essentially you will be taking control of your learning environment. As a

consequence, you will need to consider performance issues related to
time management, goal setting, stress management, etc. Perhaps you will
also need to reacquaint yourself in areas such as essay planning, coping
with exams and using the web as a learning resource.
Your most significant considerations will be time and space i.e. the time
you dedicate to your learning and the environment in which you engage
in that learning.
We recommend that you take time nowbefore starting your self-

studyto familiarize yourself with these issues. There are a number of
excellent resources on the web. A few suggested links are:
http://www.how-to-study.com/
The How to study web site is dedicated to study skills resources.

You will find links to study preparation (a list of nine essentials for a
good study place), taking notes, strategies for reading text books,
using reference sources, test anxiety.
http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/stdyhlp.html
This is the web site of the Virginia Tech, Division of Student Affairs.
You will find links to time scheduling (including a where does time
go? link), a study skill checklist, basic concentration techniques,
control of the study environment, note taking, how to read essays for
analysis, memory skills (remembering).
4
http://www.howtostudy.org/resources.php
Another How to study web site with useful links to time

management, efficient reading, questioning/listening/observing
skills, getting the most out of doing (hands-on learning), memory
building, tips for staying motivated, developing a learning plan.
The above links are our suggestions to start you on your way. At the
time of writing these web links were active. If you want to look for more
go to www.google.com and type self-study basics, self-study tips,
self-study skills or similar.
Need help?
In case of difficulties, please contact the following:
In Maputo:
Help Faculty of Languages: English Department

Rua: Comandante Augusto Cardoso no. 135 Maputo
Telephone: 21 420860-2 or 21 306720
Monday to Friday: 8:00 to 15:30
In the provinces:
In each province there is a resource centre available and a local
Provincial
English Advisor to help you.
5
Assignments
There will be one assignment for each session.
All assignments will be submitted to the local tutors, who, in turn,

will submit to the head lecturer.
Assignments
The assignments will be submitted at the end of semester and in the
order in which they are set.
Assessments
There will also be 2 written tests and a final exam.
Assessments All the assessments will be lecturer-marked assessments.
The assessments will take place after each contact sessions.
The assessments will last 90 minutes except the exam which will
take at least 2 hours.
The assessment results are expected to be delivered to the students

after 15 days.
6
Getting around this Module
Margin icons
While working through this module you will notice the frequent
use of margin icons. These icons serve to signpost a particular
piece of text, a new task or change in activity; they have been
included to help you to find your way around this module.
A complete icon set is shown below. We suggest that you
familiarize yourself with the icons and their meaning before
starting your study.
Activity Assessment Assignment Case study
Discussion Group activity Help Note it!
Outcomes Reading Reflection Study skills
Summary Terminology Time Tip
7
Unit 1
Phonetics
Introduction
As a language learner or teacher you must have noticed that there
are problems of pronunciation when people / students try to speak
in English. You may have come across a situation in which an
incorrect pronunciation of a word led to a misunderstanding of the
message. Moreover, as Mozambique is a multilingual country,
there is also the influence of the student's mother tongue and of the
Portuguese language when they learn English pronunciation. So,
these and other pronunciation mistakes can be solved by the
application of the phonetic rules. This course contents are of
paramount importance for the study of the English pronunciation.
Due to copyright issues, we are not going to use a variety of

sources for the design of this module as most of the sources we
have cannot be reproduced and copied without permission.
Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:
Use the knowledge of the English phonemic system

including vowels, consonants and semi-vowels for
transcriptions and pronunciation purposes;
Outcomes
Identify the sounds of the English language and transcribe
them phonetically.
8
Vowels: Sounds produced with relatively free flow of air.
Consonants: Sounds produced with an obstruction to the flow

Terminology of air.
Diphthongs: Sounds which are pronounced with a glide or

movement from one vowel to another - e.g. /eI/.
Triphthongs: Sounds pronounced with a glide or

movement from one vowel to another, and
to the third. e.g. eI.
There are 10 lessons in this unit.
9
Lesson 1
Definition of Phonetics;
The three branches of phonetics;
Voiced and voiceless sounds
Introduction
Phonetics is very important for the teaching of English
pronunciation. In this lesson you will be introduced to the concept
of phonetics and its three branches.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
1. define phonetics;
Lesson 2. distinguish and characterize the branches of phonetics;

Outcomes
3. Classify the sounds in terms of their voice.
You have 60 minutes to study this lesson.
Time
Definition:
According to Yule (1996:41), "Phonetics is the general study of the
characteristics of speech sounds".
Poole (1999:41), defines phonetics as the study of the speech

sounds.
What is the purpose of phonetics?
According to Roach (1991:3) the purpose of Phonetics and

Phonology is to explain how English is pronounced in the accent
10
normally chosen as the standard. Furthermore, the course is also

aimed at providing a general theory about speech sounds and how
they are used in language.
Why is it necessary to learn this theoretical background?
The theoretical material you are going to learn in this course will be
necessary for the understanding of the principles regulating the use
of sounds in spoken English (Roach, 1991: 3).
Branches of Phonetics
There are three branches of phonetics: Articulatory, Acoustic and
Auditory. In fact they are four branches, including the Forensic
(used for legal cases).
1. Articulatory: "the study of how speech sounds are made, or

'articulated" (Yule, 1996:41);
2. Acoustic: "deals with the physical properties of speech as sound

waves 'in the air'" (Yule, 1996:41);
3. Auditory (Perceptual): "deals with the perception, via the air, of

speech sounds (Yule, 1996: 41).
There is another branch called Forensic Phonetics, used for legal

cases.
As language teachers, we are more concerned with the articulatory

phonetics, because it investigates how speech sounds are produced.
ARTICULATION: Voiced and Voiceless sounds.

According to Yule (1996:41), "In articulatory phonetics, we
investigate how speech sounds are produced using the fairly
complex oral equipment we have". The oral equipment refers to the
11
organs of our body which take part in the production of speech

sounds - that is, when we speak, there are parts of our body which
allow speech to take place; without such parts, speech would not be
possible. For example, our lips (upper and lower) are very
important for the production of sounds such as /p/, /b/ and /m/. If a
person is impaired in one lip (upper or lower), s/he will not be able
to produce the aforementioned sounds.
How does speech take place?

Do you have an idea of how speech takes place? In a normal
conversation with your class mates you talk about a variety of
topics; you discuss issues that you have never heard and discussed
before, and also, those which are part of your routine. Now think
about how words are articulated. Any ideas? If you have no ideas,
do not panic because you must not be the only person who does not
know! But enjoy your reading because the next paragraph tells you
the process behind the production of speech.
First of all, the air is pushed out by the lungs up through the trachea
(the 'windpipe') to the larynx. So, the air is produced by the lungs,
they push it out through the channel called trachea, also known as
the 'windpipe' to the larynx (another organ responsible for speech).
Inside the larynx there are vocal cords which take two basic
positions as the air passes through them:
1. When the vocal cords are spread apart (open), the air from the
lungs passes between them unimpeded. The sounds produced with
the vocal cords spread apart are called voiceless.
2. When the vocal cords are drawn together, the air from the lungs
repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through, creating a
vibration effect. They are voiced sounds.
12
A good example of the two types of sounds is that, take two

English sound such as /z/ and /v/; because these are voiced sounds -
you should be able to feel some vibration as they are pronounced;
Keeping your fingertip in your 'Adam's apple', make the sounds /s/
or /f/. As they are voiceless sounds, there should be no vibration.
Problems understanding the lesson? Do the exercises below to help

you understand the main points. Concentrate on the way speech is
possible and the concept of voice (why a sound is voiced or
voiceless). If you still face difficulties, study lesson 2 which gives
some details of how sounds are produced. If you successfully
understood the lesson, congratulations because you are ready for
the next lesson(s)!
1. What is the purpose of phonetics?
2. Which branch of phonetics is more concerned with the
activity production of speech sounds?
3. Which sounds are voiced and voiceless in the following set? /b/,
/p/, /d/, /f/, /k/, /t/
Feedback
1. To know how English is pronounced in the accent normally
chosen as the standard.
2. Articulatory phonetics.
3. Voiceless sounds: /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/.
Voiced sounds: /b/, /d/
13
Lesson 2
The Production of speech sounds
Articulators above the larynx
Introduction
Roach (1992:8) says that "All sounds we make when we speak are
the result of muscles contracting". That is, in order to produce
speech sounds, humans are equipped with an apparatus which
allows them to produce speech. If you still remember, the
physiological adaptation of humans (the humans physical aspects
which allow them to produce human speech sounds) are the pre -
requisites for the production of speech sounds; such physical
aspects are not shared with animals. That's the reason why they do
not produce human speech sounds. Do you remember from General
Linguistics? Ok, if you do remember, that's very helpful for this
lesson because you will learn, in detail, about the organs which are
responsible for the production of speech sounds. If you do not
remember, your attention is very important now.

Time
By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

Identify different organs which take part in the production
of speech sounds;
Lesson
Outcomes
14
Read the following text from Roach very carefully, do not go

faster, you need to understand the role of each articulator or organ
in speech.
According to Roach (1991: 8), "all sounds we make when we speak

are the result of muscles contracting. The muscles in the chest that
we use for breathing produce the flow of air that is needed for
almost all speech sounds; muscles in the larynx produce many
different modifications in the flow of air from our chest to the
mouth. After passing through the larynx, the air goes through what
is called the vocal tract, which ends at the mouth and nostrils. Here,
the air from the lungs escapes into the atmosphere. Humans have a
large and complex set of muscles that can produce changes in the
shape of the vocal tract, and in order to learn how speech sounds
are produced it is necessary to become familiar with the different
parts of the vocal tract. These different parts are called articulators,
and the study of them is called articulatory phonetics".
The diagram below will help you understand the organs of speech.
It represents the human head, seen from the side, displayed as it
had been cut in half.
Fig. 1. The articulators (Roach, 1991: 8)
15
Now read through each articulator carefully and try to distinguish

them in terms of their characteristics and the place where they can
be found in your vocal tract.
1. The pharynx is a tube which begins just above the larynx. It is

about 7 cm long in women and about 8 cm in men, and at its top
end it is divided into two, one part being the back of the mouth and
the other being the beginning of the way through the nasal cavity.
If you look in your mirror with your mouth open, you can see the
back of the pharynx.
2. The velum or soft palate is seen in the diagram in a position

that allows air to pass through the nose and through the mouth.
Yours is probably in that position now, but often in speech it is
raised so that air cannot escape through the nose. It can be touched
by the tongue. When we make K and the tongue is in contact
with the lower side of the velum, and we call these velar
consonants.
3. The hard palate is often called the 'roof of the mouth'. You can
feel its smooth curved surface with your tongue.
4. The alveolar ridge is between the top front teeth and the hard
palate. You can feel its shape with your tongue. Its surface is really
much rougher than it feels, and is covered with little ridges. Sounds
made with the tongue touching here are called alveolar.
5. The tongue is, of course, a very important articulator and it can

be moved into many different places and different shapes. It is
usual to divide the tongue into different parts, though there are no
clear dividing lines within the tongue.
16
Fig. 2. Sub-divisions of the tongue
6. The teeth (upper and lower) are usually shown in front of the
mouth. The tongue is in contact with the upper side teeth for many
speech sounds.
7. The lips are important in speech. They can be pressed together

(when we produce p, b), brought into contact with the teeth (as in f,
v), or rounded to produce the lip-shape for vowels like u:. Sounds
in which the lips are in contact with each other are called bilabial,
while those with lip-to-teeth contact are called labiodental.
Summarising, the 7 articulators described above are the main ones

in the production of speech sounds; it means that a person will
produce a certain sound if he/she is normally equipped with the
organ responsible for the production of such sound.
17
Answer the following questions to help you understand this

lesson.
On the diagram provided, various articulators are indicated by
activity numbered arrows (a - e). Give the names for the articulators.
Feedback
a) soft palate or velum;
b) Alveolar ridge;
c) Front of tongue or tongue;
d) Hard palate;
e) Lower lip.
(Taken from Roach, 1991: 8-9;17).
18
Lesson 3
Vowels and Consonants

Time

Distinguish vowels from consonants in terms of their
production and the way they are distributed.
Lesson
Outcomes
You can identify vowels and consonants in Portuguese and English

languages. But what do they mean?
Fromkin and Rodman (1993:176) say that to describe the sounds, it

is necessary to decide what an individual sound is, and how each
sound differs from all the others.
That's very important! Speech sounds are different from one

another, but now let's start by distinguishing vowels from
consonants.
According to Fromkin and Rodman (1993: 199), the quality of

vowels is determined by the particular configuration of the vocal
tract (the organs responsible for speech). Different parts of the
tongue may be raised or lowered. The lips may be spread or pursed.
The passage through which the air travels, is never so narrow as to
obstruct the free flow of the airstream.
19
Vowel sounds carry pitch and loudness; that is, the frequency of
vibration of vowels is higher than some consonant sounds, and they
are also louder than some consonant sounds, they are voiced.
Vowels can be long or short; vowels are produced without any
articulators touching. So, Fromkin and Rodman have pointed out
some of the features through which vowels are produced. Now, you
can notice that vowels and consonants are very familiar sounds,
but, once again, what do they mean?
According to Roach (1992: 10 - 11), vowels are sounds in which

there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx
to the lips. For example, say 'ah' and try to feel the airstream from
the larynx; you will feel the air passing through your mouth
without any obstruction. Consonants, however, are sounds in which
there is obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to
the lips. As an example, say 'see' and try to feel the flow of air
from the larynx to the lips - isnt there an obstruction to the flow of
air? isn't it difficult for the air to pass through the mouth? Yes, it is.
As you have noticed, pronouncing vowels, the air from the lungs
passes through the mouth unimpeded; pronouncing consonants, the
air passes through the mouth impeded (blocked).
What is the difference between vowels and consonants?
From what you have studied so far, differentiate vowels from

consonants. Take a few minutes thinking about what you have read.
If you said that the difference is in the way they are produced you
are right, because vowels are produced without obstruction to the
flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips; and consonants
are sounds produced with obstruction to the flow of air from the
larynx to the lips.
However, if we say that difference between vowels and consonants

is a difference in the way that they are produced, there will be some
cases of disagreement. That's why the main difference between
20
vowels and consonants is not in the way they are made, but their
different distributions.
And we begin the study of English sounds in this module by

looking at vowels.
In what ways, however, vowels differ from each other? What is the
difference between these two vowel sounds you probably know the
most (I of pit and of cat)?
The first matter to consider here is the shape and position of the
tongue. When pronouncing I the tongue is held up close to the roof
of the mouth. when pronouncing the distance between the
surface of the tongue and the roof of the mouth is relatively greater.
So, the difference between I and is a difference of tongue height,
and I is described as relatively close vowel and as a relatively
open vowel.
On the other hand, in making the two vowels described above, it is

the front part of the tongue that is raised. We could therefore
describe I and as comparatively front vowels. By changing the
shape of the tongue we can produce vowels in which a different
part of the tongue is the highest. Thus, a vowel in which the back of
the tongue is the highest point is called a back vowel. For example,
if you make the vowel in the word 'card', which we write
phonetically as :, you can see or feel that the back of the tongue is
raised. You can also compare this with in front of a mirror; you
will notice that is a front vowel and : is a back vowel. The

vowel in 'food' u: is also a comparatively back vowel, but
compared with : it is close.
21
Fig. 3: Tongue positions for i: and
Now look at the diagram below (Fig. 4). See how the four vowels
differ from each other.
Fig. 4 Extreme vowel positions
Roach (1992: 12) advises that the diagram above is rather

inaccurate and he continues saying that Phoneticians need a very
accurate way of classifying vowels, and have developed a set of
vowels, arranged in a close-open, front-back diagram, which are
not the vowels of any particular language. They are CARDINAL
vowels, which you will learn in lesson 4.
Summing up, this lesson was about vowels and consonants - what
they mean and how they are produced. Unlike consonant sounds,
vowel sounds are not produced by creating barriers to air flow with
the tongue, teeth or lips, or by bringing the vocal organs very close
together so that a friction sound is produced as the air flows
through. Instead, a space of a particular shape is produced in the
oral cavity, and it is this characteristic shape of what is actually a
resonating chamber that gives each individual vowel its particular
quality. For example, for the vowel [i:] in the word beat a space
22
shaped like a curved narrow tube is made in the mouth. But for the
first vowel in father [:] the tongue is lowered and pulled back and
the mouth opened fairly wide to give the large space needed for this
vowel's quality. Even a very small change in the configuration of
the lips and tongue produces a different shape and therefore a
vowel sound of different quality (Kenworthy, 1991:41).
Found the lesson difficult or easy? If this lesson was difficult for
you read it twice or three times and focus your attention on what
differentiates the two types of sounds; in doing so, bear in mind the
airstream pushed from the lungs, whether it passes through with
obstruction or not - that is the difference in terms of production; or
whether the tongue shape and positions determine the sound type -
difference in terms of distribution. If the lesson was not difficult for
you, congratulations and we are sure that you can share what you
know with your mates who found it difficult.
1. Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false

(F).
a. The main difference between vowls and consonants is a
activity difference in the way that they are made. ____
b. It is possible to establish two distinct groups of sounds (vowels
and consonants) in another way. _____
2. In what ways vowels differ from each other?
Feedback
1. a. False, because the main difference is in the way they are
distributed.
b. True, we can establish the difference in the way they are
distributed.
2. We must consider the shape and position of the tongue, and

look at the tongue height and the part of it, between front and
back, which is raised highest.
23
Lesson 4
Description of the positions of the

vowels
Introduction
In the previous lesson you learned that vowels can differ from each
other. Do you still remember in what ways? Good, but refresh your
mind with Poole (1999:49) who stresses that "what differentiates
vowels is the way the tongue and the lips shape the channel through
which the air passes after leaving the larynx. That is, when
pronouncing the vowel [I], for example, the tongue height is low
and pushed forward as the air passes to the lips; that's why this
vowel is classified as front, because the tongue is pushed forward;
moreover, as we pronounce it, the lips shape are spread, which
makes the vowel unrounded as a result. Therefore, [I] is a front
unrounded vowel.
In the previous lesson you learned that vowels can differ from each
other. Do you still remember in what ways? Good, but refresh your
mind with Poole (1999:49) who stresses that "what differentiates
vowels is the way the tongue and the lips shape the channel through
which the air passes after leaving the larynx. That is, when
pronouncing the vowel [i], for example, the tongue height is low
and pushed forward as the air passes to the lips; that's why this
vowel is classified as front, because the tongue is pushed forward;
moreover, as we pronounce it, the lips shape are spread, which
makes the vowel unrounded as a result. Therefore, [i] is a front
unrounded vowel.
24
You have 90 minutes of studying time and exercise

completion.
Time
By the end of the lesson you are expected to describe and

identify the vowel quality and position.
Lesson
Outcomes
As you have seen from the introduction, the description of vowels

depend on the way the tongue and the lips shape the channel
through which the air passes. Now pay attention to some
description of positions.
A vowel may be classified as Open when it is produced with the

tongue height low and the lip the lip position neutral.
A front vowel is produced when the tongue is pushed forward, and

a back vowel is produced when the tongue is drawn back.
For example, say 'least' and feel the position of your tongue. Is it
raised at the front or back? Now say 'loosed'. Describe what
happens with your tongue. Is it raised back or front? Using the
same procedure, say 'last'. What happens? Is your tongue low or
pushed back?
On the other hand, manner of articulation for vowels is very easy to

describe. All vowels are made with unimpeded flow of air; all
vowels are voiced in all languages in the world, not only English.
What about place of articulation (the place where the sounds are
made or produced)?
It is not difficult to understand where vowels are produced in our

vocal tract. As a matter of fact, all vowel sounds are described by
using classifications based on how close the tongue is to the roof of
25
the mouth, and whether the tongue is pulled back or pushed

forward. As you have seen before, position of the tongue and the
lips determine the size and shape of the space created inside the
mouth and this gives each vowel its special vowel quality
(Kenworthy, 1991: 42).
1. Say the words heat, boot, father and at. Describe the shape of
the lips as you pronounce them.
activity 2. Say the word father again, and concentrate on how you make
the first vowel.
Feedback
1. For the vowel in heat the lips are spread apart, very like a smile;
for boot the lips are pursed and rounded, as in whistling; for
father, the lips are quite far apart (open); and for at they are
slightly spread, the corners of the mouth being pulled back.
2. For the first vowel in father the tongue is flattened, quite far
from the roof of the mouth, it is a low vowel, and pulled towards
the back of the mouth, it is a back vowel. So, the first vowel in
father is back and low vowel.
How was your performance in this activity? Good or quite

difficult? If you found the activity difficult don't worry, you will
have more exercises to practice at the end of this unit. However,
you can study the lesson with a partner who can help you
understand it. If you have successfully done the activity,
congratulations!
26
Lesson 5
Primary Cardinal Vowels and

English Short Vowels
Introduction
English has a large number of vowel sounds and they are divided
into short, long, diphthongs and triphthongs. In this lesson, you will
be exposed to the cardinal vowels and short vowels. You will first
study the cardinal vowels; concentrate on the description of these
vowels so that you can understand the nature of the following
vowel type.
You have 120 minutes to complete this lesson.
Time
By the end of this lesson you are expected to identify the

primary cardinal vowels and English short vowel.
Lesson
Outcomes
Primary cardinal vowels

These vowels are the most familiar to the speakers of most
European languages and there are also secondary cardinal vowels
that sound less familiar (Roach, 1992:13).
In the previous lesson you learned about the description and

positions of vowels; you were given examples of how a vowel
sound can be classified in terms of tongue height and lip shape.
27
Recall this information or revise the previous lesson so that you can
understand the description of the Primary Cardinal vowels. Thus,
the description of Primary Cardinal Vowels shows different
positions: Close, open, front and back. These Cardinal vowels are
numbered from 1 to 8 as shown in Fig 5 below.
Fig. 5: Primary cardinal vowels
According to Roach (1992: 13), Cardinal vowel no. 1 has the

symbol [i], and is defined as the vowel which is as close and as
front as it is possible to make a vowel without obstructing the flow
of air enough to produce friction noise; friction noise is, for
example, the sort of hissing sound that you can hear in ffff or ssss.
Cardinal vowel no. 5 has the symbol [] and is defined as the most
open and back vowel that it is possible to make. Cardinal vowel no.
8 has the symbol [u], is fully close and back and no. 4 has the
symbol [a] and is fully open and front.
As you study this lesson, please look at the diagram, which shows
the positions of the vowels in the vowel quadrilateral (the diagram
above).
Now, after establishing the positions of Cardinal vowels no. 1, 5, 8

and 4, it is possible to put in intermediate points vowels no. 2, 3, 6
and 7.
28
At this point, you have looked at how we can classify vowels

according to their tongue height and their frontness or backness.
There is another important variable of vowel quality and that is lip-
rounding.
At this level, according to Roach (1992:14), we will consider three

possibilities of lip-shaping: Rounded, spread and neutral (where the
lips are not noticeably rounded or spread).
After looking at Cardinal vowels, pay attention to some of the

English vowels, using the principles that have just been explained
before.
Lets look at English short vowels.
It is important to note that English has a large number of vowel

sounds: short vowels, long vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs.
Short vowels
Why are they called short vowels? Any ideas? Discuss with your
class mate before you continue.
Was the discussion interesting, boring or you had nothing to say?

Well, you might have said that they are short because they are
short; simple like that - if that was your opinion it is not wrong
because, Roach (1992:14) says that they are short because they are
relatively short; as we shall see later, vowels can have quite
different lengths in different contexts. Remember that each vowel
is described in relation to the cardinal vowels.
The symbols for the short vowels are: I, e, , , ,
Description of short vowels
I is used in words like 'bit', ;pin', 'fish', tin; it is more open

than cardinal vowel no. 1 [i]; the lips are slightly spread.
29
e you can find this vowel sound in words like 'bet', 'men',
'yes', tent, etc. it is a front vowel sound, between cardinal
vowel no. 2 [e] and no. 3 []. The lips are slightly spread.
This vowel is front and not as quite open as cardinal

vowel no. 4 [a]. The lips are slightly spread. You can find it
in words like 'bat', 'gas', 'fan', 'man'.
It is a central vowel and more open than the open-mid
tongue hight. The lip position is neutral. It can be found in

words like 'but', 'some', 'rush', 'gun', etc.
This is not a full back vowel; the lips are slightly

rounded. You can find it in 'cross', 'got', 'pot', etc.
It is an open and the lips are rounded. You can find this
vowel in words like 'put', 'pull', 'push', 'full', etc.
There is one other short vowel, for which the symbol is . This is a
central vowel, which is called schwa, it is a very familiar sound in
English; it is also a week vowel and can appear in different
environment; syllables containing this vowel sound are always
week.
Summing up, the English short vowels re pronounced with

relatively short length, and each vowel is described in relation to
the cardinal vowels.
If you found this lesson difficult try it again very carefully;

concentrate on vowel description in your vocal tract by feeling the
position and the shape of your tongue, as well as your lips shape.
Then do the activity which follows to help you check your
understanding of the lesson.
30
Write the symbols for the short vowels in the following

words.
1. pet 2. that 3. fan 4. foot 5. itch 6. fun 7.
activity gross
8. full
Feedback
1. e 2. 3. 4. 5. I 6. 7.
8. U
31
Lesson 6
Long vowels
Introduction
In the previous lesson the short vowels were introduced and you
must have learned that these vowels are short because of their
relatively short length when we pronounce them. In this lesson, we
look at other types of English vowel sound. Remember to call back
what you already know from the previous lessons; the previous
knowledge can always help you understand the current/next lesson.
Now concentrate yourself on English long vowels, diphthongs and
triphthongs.
You have 90 minutes to complete this lesson..
Time
In completion of this lesson you are expected to
Identify and describe these vowels in a vowel

Lesson quadrilateral.
Outcomes
Distinguish them in any word context (environment) they
can appear.
English long vowels

According to Roach (1992: 18) "these are the vowels which tend to
be longer than the short vowels in similar contexts." That is, long
vowels are pronounced with relatively long length compared to
short vowels when pronounced in the same context (environment).
For example,
32
lets take two words which are identical in form, thus, in the same
context, like fill and feel.- the vowel /I /in fill is relatively shorter
than the vowel /I / in feel. So, we can say that in terms of
length the two vowels are different and must be presented in a

different way. Thus, the vowel /I/ in feel will take a length mark
like /i:/; the length-mark indicates whether the vowel is long or
not; therefore, all long vowels will take a length-mark :.
In other words, the long vowels tend to be long and the symbols
consist of one vowel symbol plus a length-mark made of two dots
:.
These are the English long vowels: i:, :, :, :, u:.
They are five long vowels and no more. Any different long vowel
you can find from other authors is not described according to IPA.
The sound system we are using in this module are from selected
sources, whose analyses are based on IPA (International Phonetic
Association) standards.
Look at the symbols again before they are described individually as

in short vowels.
Long vowels individually.

1. Try to pronounce the following words carefully - peace, mean,
feel, peel, etc. This vowel is /i:/. As you pronounce the words, try
to feel your tongue height- is it low or high? You can feel that your
tongue is high; being so, it is relatively close vowel; and you can
also notice that the tongue moves forward as we pronounce it,
therefore, it is a front vowel. How about the lips? Are they rounded
or unrounded? You have noticed that they are slightly spread, so, it
is also an unrounded vowel like the short vowel /I/.
33
2. Pronounce the following words carefully as you did in 1 - bird,
girl, fern, purse, etc. This vowel is /:/. This is a central vowel
which is well-known in most English accents as a hesitation sound

(spelt 'err'). Foreign language or second language speakers and
learners find this vowel sound difficult to pronounce. The lip
position is neutral.
3. Follow the same procedure of 1 and 2 and pronounce the words

that follow - pass, card, cast, carve, etc. Pronounce the vowel
sound with relatively long length - you will notice that it is longer
in length : than short vowels. It is an open vowel in the region of
cardinal vowel no. 5 [], it is also a back vowel but not as back as
this. The lip position is neutral.
4. : this vowel can be found in words like roar, more, horde,

sort, etc. this vowel is fully back and has quite strong lip-rounding.
5. The last long vowel is u: and is not different from cardinal
vowel no. 8 [u], but it is not quite so back nor so close, and the lips
are only moderately rounded (Roach, 1992: 19). You can find this
vowel in words like goose, fool, pool, zoo, etc.
"You may have noticed that these five long vowels are different
from the six short vowels described in the previous lesson not
Note it! only in length but also in quality. If we compare some similar
pairs of long and short vowels, for example I and i:, or U with u:,
or with :, we can see distinct differences in quality (resulting
from differences in tongue shape and position, and lip position) as

well as in length. For this reason, all the long vowels have
symbols which are different from those of short vowels; you can
34
perhaps see that the long and short vowel symbols would still all
be different from each other even if we omitted the length mark ,
so it is important to remember that the length mark is used not
because it is essential but because it helps learners to remember
the length difference (Roach,1992: 19). This is very important in
the pronunciation of long and short vowels because you can fail to
pronounce put, for example, if you use long u: vowel sound in it,
as pu:t*, which is a wrong pronunciation.
Summarising, long vowels are relatively longer in length when

compared to short vowels and they must take the two dots :,
which indicate their length. They are also different in quality
when compared to short vowels.
This is the end of the lesson. Found it difficult? Read the lesson
again and ask for help whenever necessary. If the lesson was easy
congratulations! It means that you are learning and it is time for a
move to the next lesson about diphthongs and triphthongs.
Write the symbols for the long vowels in the following words:
1. broad 2. learn 3. calf 4. cool 5. team 6. err
7. seal 8. curl
activity
Feedback
1 : 2. : 3. : 4. u: 5. i: 6. : 7. i: 8. :
35
Lesson 7
Diphthongs
Introduction
In the previous lesson long vowels were introduced and you must
have learned that these vowels are long because of their relatively
long length when we pronounce them, compared to the short
vowels. In this lesson, we look at other types of English vowel
sound. Remember to call back what you already know from the
previous lesson; the previous knowledge can always help you
understand the current lesson. Now concentrate yourself on English
diphthongs and triphthongs.
What are diphthongs? Have you ever heard about these sounds?
Are they new for you? If you don't know it is not bad; there are
many people who do not know, even teachers who were trained as
language teachers. They only know some vowel sounds (some
short vowels).
You may not know them but surely you pronounce them every day
in your conversations.
You have 90 minutes to complete this lesson.
Time
In completion of this lesson you are expected to
Identify and describe these vowel sounds in a word.

Lesson
Outcomes
36
Definition: Diphthongs are sounds which consist of a movement or

glide from one vowel to another (Roach, 1992:20).
Yule (1996:49), diphthongs are combined vowel sounds.
Kenworthy (1991:43), diphthongs are vowel sounds made by

changing the position of the articulators during the production of
the vowel instead of holding a particular steady position.
From the definitions above, you can understand that there are two
vowel sounds in a diphthong and they are pronounced with a glide
or movement from one vowel to another. A vowel which remains
constant and does not glide is a pure vowel. In terms of length,
diphthongs are like the long vowels described in the previous
lesson.
The most important thing about all the diphthongs is that the first
part is much longer and stronger than the second part; for
Note it! example, most of the diphthongs eI (as in the word play) consists
of the e vowel, and only in about the last quarter of the diphthong
does the glide or movement to I become noticeable. As the glide
to I happens, the loudness of the sound decreases. As a result, th I
part is shorter and quieter. That's why you, as a foreign learner
must, therefore, always remember that the last part of English
diphthongs must not be made too strongly (Roach, 1992:20).
You have been presented six short vowels and five long vowels in
the previous lessons. How many diphthongs are there? See Fig. 5
below (next page).
37
Fig. 5: Diagram showing the three groups of diphthongs
The total number of diphthongs is eight. They can glide to the

center (being centring) and glide or move towards a closer vowel
(being closing). Thus, diphthongs can be centring, which glide and
end in schwa , producing (I, e and U); they can be closing,
ending in I, producing (eI, aI, I) and ending in in U, producing
(U and aU).
The description of diphthongs individually

1. I you can find this diphthong in words like fierce, peer, fear,
dear, etc. The starting point is a little closer than I in pin, sin, kin,
etc.
2. Say care, bear, spare, pair, etc. Which diphthong do you say?
You may have noticed that as we pronounce the aforementioned
words, there is a glide from e to the centre, where we meet the
vowel schwa . The symbol for this diphthong is e. If you
succeeded doing it, congratulations! If not, it is worth noting that
this diphthong begins with the same vowel sound as the e of bet,
pet, get, set, etc.
38
3. The words tour, poor, dour, sure are pronounced with U as the
starting point, ending to the center, where we find the vowel schwa
. The symbol for this diphthong is U.
4. When pronouncing day, pay, face, play, etc, the vowel sound e
glides towards I. The important thing to note here is that a glide
from a relatively more open towards a relatively more close is
produced (Roach, 1992: 21). The symbol is eI.
5. In tide, rite, slide, rhyme, etc, the vowel sound a glides towards
I. It begins with an open vowel which is between front and back.
The symbol is aI.
6. The last diphthong which glides towards I is I. The starting
point is : of born, for example, and it glides to I. We can find this

diphthong in words like boy, foil, coin, toy, etc.
The next pair of diphthongs glide towards U, so that as the tongue

moves closer to the roof of the mouth there is at the same time a
rounding movement of the lips. The first one is
7. U this diphthong can be found in words like home, toad, go,

code. The lips may be slightly rounded in anticipation of the glide
towards U, for which there is quite noticeable lip-rounding.
8. The second diphthong which glides towards U is aU. This
diphthong begins with a vowel similar to : but a little more front.

Since this is an open vowel, a glide to U would necessitate a large
movement. There is slight lip-rounding.
Summing up, diphthongs are vowels in which there is a glide or

movement from one vowel to another; the vowel which remains
constant (does not glide) is called a pure vowel.
39
Now revise what you have studied for consolidation. If necessary

start your review from lesson 5 and try to make a distinction
between short and long vowels, then these from diphthongs. Do as
many exercises as possible, not only from this module. Read
extensively, include other sources if possible.
Write the symbols for the diphthongs in the following words:

1. tone 2. style 3. out 4. way 5. beer 6. coil 7. hair
8. why 9. they
activity
Feedback
1. U 2. aI 3. aU 4. eI 5. I 6. I 7. e 8.
aI 9. eI
40
Lesson 8
Triphthongs
Introduction
After studying short and long vowels, and diphthongs, it is now
time to look at the last range of English vowel sounds. These
vowels are "the most complex English sounds of the vowel type.
They can be rather difficult to pronounce, and very difficult to
recognize" (Roach, 1992: 23). To produce triphthongs make sure
you first produce diphthongs, then the third vowel because there
are three vowels in a triphthong.
You have 60 minutes to study this lesson
Time
By the end of the lesson you should identify and describe

these vowel sounds in the words.
Lesson
Outcomes
How would you define a triphthong after reading the introduction

of this lesson? Do you have an idea? Ok, if you are studying in a
group, discuss this with your colleagues; if you are alone think
about how the tongue glides among the three vowels contained in a
triphthong.
How was the discussion? Have you found it interesting or

challenging? What have you said? And what have your colleagues
said? Now check your definition (s) below.
41
According to Roach (1992:23), "a triphthong is a glide from one

vowel to another and then to a third, all produced rapidly and
without interruption". Take the word hour as an example and
pronounce it from a vowel quality similar to :, go on to a glide

towards the back close rounded area (for which we use the symbol
U), then end with a mid-central vowel (schwa, ). The symbols to
represent the way we pronounce hour are aU.
Congratulations if you succeeded to define triphthongs! Learn more

about them - pay attention to the closing diphthongs which are the
component part of the five triphthongs.
The triphthongs can be looked on as being composed of the five

closing diphthongs described in the last section, with schwa
added on the end. That is, take the five diphthongs described in
lesson 7 and add on the vowel schwa . The result will be
1. eI + = eIa, found in words like layer, player, etc.
2. aI + = aIa, found in fire, liar, etc.
3. I + = I, found in loyal, royal, etc
4. U+ = U, found in mower, lower, etc.
5. aU+ = aU, found in hour, flower, power, etc.
Summerising, triphthongs are vowels in which there is a glide or

movement from one vowel to a second, then to a third. There are
five triphthongs made from the closing diphthongs described in the
previous lesson.
If you want to understand the nature of triphthongs, look at how

they are produced - from the closing diphthongs, you just have to
add on the vowel schwa .
42
For your lesson consolidation, do the activity that follow to check

whether you have understood the description of triphthongs or
whether you need some help.
Write the symbols for the triphthongs in the following words:
1. shower 2. tyre 3. tower 4. tired 5. coward 6. lower
activity 7. loyer 8. prayer
Feedback
1. aU 2. aI 3. aU 4. aI 5. aU 6. U 7. I
8. eI
43
Lesson 9
English Consonant Sounds -

place of articulation
Introduction
In the previous lessons you were presented to one type of the
English sounds - the vowels, which are produced with no
obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the
mouth. This lesson, however, will focus on another type of English
sounds, the consonants - sounds produced with obstruction to the
flow of air. To help you understand the lesson, it is important to
refer back to the articulators above the larynx (different organs
responsible for the production of speech sounds).
Time
By the end of the lesson you should be able to:
Indicate the place of articulation of the English consonant

Lesson sounds.
Outcomes
When we talked about articulation (voiced and voiceless sounds),

we said that speech takes place through the air flow from the lungs,
and once it passes through the larynx, it comes up and out through
the mouth and / or the nose. Most consonant sounds are produced
by using the tongue and other parts of the mouth to constrict, in
44
some way, the shape of the oral cavity through which the air is
passing.
The terms used to describe many sounds are those which denote the
place of articulation of the sound: that is, the location, inside the
mouth, at which the constriction takes place (Yule, 1996: 42).
Place and Manner of articulation
Fig. 7: Chart of English consonant phonemes (Roach, page 6)
Look at the description of the sounds, starting from the front of the
mouth and work back. Thus,
1. Bilabials. These are sounds formed using both (=bi) upper and
lower lips (=labia). For example, the initial sound in the words pat
and bat are both bilabials. They are represented by the symbols [p],
which is voiceless and [b], which is voiced. The [w] sound found at
the beginning of way, walk and world is also a bilabial.
2. Labiodentals. These are sounds formed with the upper teeth and
the lower lip. The initial sounds of the words fat and vat and the
final sounds in the words safe and save are labiodentals. They are
represented by the symbols [f], which is voiceless, and [v], which is
voiced. In phonetic analysis, notice that the final sounds of laugh
45
and cough, and the initial sound of photo, despite the spelling
differences, are all pronounced as [f].
3. Dentals. These sounds are formed with the tongue tip behind the
upper front teeth. The term interdental is sometimes used to
describe a manner of pronunciation with the tongue tip between
(=inter) the upper and lower teeth. The initial sound of thin and the
final sound of bath are both voiceless dentals. The symbol used for
this sound is []. Is the symbol you can use for the first and last
sounds in the phrase three teeth.
The voiced dental is represented by the symbol []. You can find
these sound in the words the, there, then, thus, father and bathe.
4. Alveolars. These are sounds formed with the front part of the
tongue on the alveolar ridge, which is the rough, bony ridge
immediately behind the upper teeth. The initial sounds in top, dip,
sit zoo and nut are all alveolar. The symbols for these sounds are
quite easily remembered - [t], [d], [s], [z], [n]. Of these, [t] and [s]
are voiceless, whereas [d], [z] and [n] are voiced.
See the consonant chat for more alveolar consonants.
5. Alveolo-palatal or palato-alveolar. These sounds are produced

with the tongue at the very front of the palate, near the alveolar
ridge. These sounds are called palato-alveolar or alveo-palatal.
Examples are the initial sounds in the words shout and child, which
are voiceless. See the consonant chat for the symbols.
6. [j] or [y] sounds are produced with the tongue in the middle of
the palate and are found at the beginning of words like you and yet.
These sounds are called palatal.
7. [k], [] and [] are sounds produced with the back of the tongue
against the velum or the soft palate. They are called velars
consonant sounds.
46
8. Glottals. [h] is a glottal sound and can be found at the beginning

of have and house, who and whose. It is produced without the
active use of tongue and other parts of the mouth.
The questions below will help you understand the lesson.

1. Try pronouncing the initial sounds of the following words and
then determine the place of articulation (e.g. bilabial, alveolar,
activity etc) of each.
a) hand b) foot c) toe d) belly e) chin
2. Which of the following words end with voiceless (-V) sounds

and which end with voiced (+V) sounds?
a) crash b) bang c) smack d) thud
Feedback
1. a) glottal b) labiodental c) alveolar d) bilabial e)
alveo-palatal
2. Words ending with voiceless sounds: crash, bang, smack

Word ending with voiced sound: thud
47
Lesson 10
Manner of articulation or
production
Introduction
In the previous lesson we concentrated our attention on describing
consonant sounds in terms of their place of production /
articulation. In this lesson, however, you are going to learn how the
same sounds are produced (manner of production or articulation).
Time
By the end of this lesson you are expected to:
Describe how consonant sounds are produced.

Lesson
Outcomes
Let's start the lesson by looking at the following sounds:
[p] and [m] - Are these sounds different? Which articulatory

feature do they share? Which they do not share? Well, we can say
that both sounds are bilabial in terms of the place of articulation -
but they differ in one respect. [p] is plosive or stop (Yule) and [m]
is nasal; that's in terms of how they are produced - manner of
articulation. That's why [p] is described as voiceless bilabial
plosive consonant and [m], as voiced bilabial nasal.
1. Stops or plosive. The sounds [p], [b], [t], [d,], [k], [] are all
produced by some form of complete stopping of the airstream (very
briefly) and then letting it go abruptly. This type of consonant
48
sound resulting from a blocking or stopping effect on the airstream

is called stop or plosive in terms of manner of articulation.
2. Fricatives. The manner of articulation used in producing the set

of sounds [f], [v], [s], for example, involves almost blocking the
airstream, and having the air push through the narrow opening. As
the air is pushed through, a type of friction is produced and the
resulting sounds are called fricatives. If you put your open hand in
front of your mouth when making these sounds, [f] and [s] in
particular, you should be able to feel the stream of air being pushed
out.
3. Affricates. If you combine a brief stopping of the airstream with

an obstructed release which causes some friction, you will be able
to produce the sounds [t] and []. These are called affricates and
occur at the beginning of the words cheap and jeep.
4. Nasals. Most sounds are produced with the airflow coming out
through the mouth - they are oral sounds. However, there are
sounds in which the airflow is allowed to come out through the
nostrils to produce [m], [n] and []. The sounds are called nasals.
5. Lateral. [l] is a lateral sound because as the air stream is

released, it passes through the two sides of the tongue, coming out
laterally.
6. Approximants. The articulation of these sounds is strongly

influenced by the following vowel sound. They are sometimes
called 'semi-vowels' or 'glides', because they are produced with the
tongue moving or 'gliding', to or from the position of a nearby
vowel. Both [w], [j] and [r]are approximants and voiced, occurring
at the beginning of we, wet, you and yes.
For a clear understanding of the production of the consonant

sounds, see the consonant chart above again, which shows the place
and manner of articulation.
49
Note that the segmental characteristic or a segmental feature of a

sound is analysed from the point of view of its voice, place and
manner of articulation. Thus, [s]is described as voiceless alveolar
fricative; [v] as voiced labiodental fricative; [f] as voiceless
labiodental fricative. We can say that [f] and [v] are both
labiodentals fricative in terms of place and manner of articulation,
but they differ in one respect, which is voicing, because [f] is
voiceless whereas [v] is voiced.
Answer the following questions to check your

understanding of the content.
activity 1. Write the symbols for the consonants in the following words.
a) pig b) bee c)tea d) din e) cap f) kin
2. Identify the manner of articulation (e.g. stop/plosive,

fricative, etc.) of the initial sounds in the following words:
a) silly b) crazy c) jolly d) merry
3. Which sounds would be described as
a) a voiced bilabial plosive
b) a voiceless dental fricative
c) a voiced alveolar plosive
4. Transcribe the following words phonetically. Use your

knowledge of vowel sounds to do this activity.
a) pig b) tea c) din d) cap e) cup f) chair g)

shave
Feedback
1. a) /p/; //
b) /b/
50
c) /t/
d) /d/
e) /k/; /p/
f) /k/; [n]
2. a) /s/ fricative
b) /k/ stop/plosive
c) // affricate
d) /m/ nasal
3. a) /b/
b) //
c) /d/
4. a) pI
b) ti:
c) dIn
d) Kp
e) kp
f) te
g) eIv
51
Unit summary
In this unit you learned about:
The articulators above the larynx.

Summary
The branches of phonetics.
The voiceness feature: Voiced (+v) and voiceless (-v)
consonants.
Short and long vowel sounds.
Diphthongs and triphthongs.
The place of articulation of consonant sounds.
The manner of articulation.
The transcription
Assignment
Most students from Fantasia find it difficult to produce the
voiceless alveolar fricative sound because it does not exist in their
mother tongue. Instead, they produce the voiced alveolar fricative.
Assignment What plan of action would you take to help the students solve this
pronunciation mistake?
Think of methods and techniques you would use to solve the

problem. You can also refer to ELT/PP lectures to help you discuss
this problem.
Assessment
After studying this unit, answer the study questions below, which
will help you understand the topics contained in this unit.
Assessment
52
Study questions:
1. What is the difference between a vowel and a consonant sound?
2. What articulatory feature do the following sets of speech sounds

have in common? a) [p]; [b]; [m]
3. Write the symbols for the initial consonant sounds in the

following words:
a) tin - din b) cap - gap
4. Which consonants are voiced and voiceless in 3a and 3b?
5Write the symbol for the vowels in the following words:
a) bread b) rough c) pull d) mat
6. Transcribe the following English words phonetically.
a) chair b) brad c) girl d) tower e) pier
7. Transcribe the following into phonetic script.
Leave the rest for Mike.
53
Feedback
1. The difference is that vowels are sounds in which there is no
obstruction to the flow of air as it passes through the larynx to the
lips. Consonants, however, are sounds in which there is an
obstruction to the flow of air as it passes through the larynx to the
lips or nostrils. On the other hand, they have different distribution.
2. The all share the same place of articulation - bilabial.
3. a) [t] ; [d] b) [k] ; []
4. Voiced: [d] ; [] Voiceless: [t] ; [k]
5. a) b) c) U d)
6. te b) brd c) :l d) taU e) pI
7. li:v rest f maIk
Bibliography
1. KENWORTHY, Joanne. Language In Action, Hong Kong
Longman, 1991
2. POOLE, S. An Introduction to Linguistics, N.Y.: Palgrave,

1999
3. ROACH, Peter. English Phonetics and Phonology - Practical

Course, Cambridge: CUP, 1992
4. YULE, George. The Study of Language, Cambridge: CUP,

1996
54
Unit 2
Phonology
Introduction
In unit 1 we discussed the physical characteristics of the speech
sounds. We hope that you have learned a great deal of concepts
about English speech sounds. Stop and check if you can teach
English pronunciation with the knowledge that you have just
acquired.
This unit is about the mental aspects of the speech sounds - the
patterns of the speech sounds in a language. As we saw in unit 1,
phonetics is concerned with the production of sounds, which can
serve as speech sounds in a language. Phonology studies sounds in
the context of languages and other speech varieties. It is concerned
with which sounds a language uses and how it arranges them. It is
also concerned with the contribution of sounds to the task of
communication (Poole, 1999: 55).
Distinguish phonetics from phonology;

Distinguish phoneme, phone and allophone.
Identify minimal pairs and sets in Phonology.
Outcomes
Carry out distinctive feature analysis.
Provide the phonological rules.
Phoneme Meaning-distinguishing sound in a language.

Phones: Different versions of a sound; phonetic units.
Allophone Versions of a phoneme.
Terminology
55
Lesson 1
Definition of Phonology;
The Phoneme;
Phones and Allophones
Introduction
Phonology is essentially the description of the systems and patterns
of speech sounds in a language. It is based on a theory of what
every speaker of a language unconsciously knows about the sound
patterns of that language. For this theoretical reason, Phonology is
concerned with the abstract or mental aspect of the sounds in
language rather than with the actual physical articulation of speech
sounds. Phonology is about the underlying design, the blueprint of
the sound type, which serves as the constant basis of all the
variations in different physical articulations of that sound type in
different contexts (Yule, 1996:54).
Time
By the end of this lesson you are expected to:
Distinguish the segmental units of a sound, such as

phonemes, phones and allophones.
Lesson
Outcomes
Lets start the lesson by explaining the concept of abstract unit of

sound.
56
The abstract unit of sound
In the previous unit you have studied the sound inventories and
according to Kenworthy (1991: 48) what we have not included in
these inventories are the variations in the set of sounds that occur
when people speak. For example, when English speakers say the
words keep and caught /kIp/ and /kt/, they actually make two
different kinds of /k/. In the word caught the sound at the
beginning of the word is voiceless, plosive/stop and velar. But there
is a slightly different sound in the word keep. Instead of being
velar, as it usually is, this /k/ is actually palatal in its place of
articulation the tongue is further forward in the mouth. The
phonetic symbol for the palatal voiceless stop is [c]. But it does
not mean that the sound [c] is part of the basic inventory of English
it is simply a variant of the sound /k/ which occurs in certain
circumstances. Why does this variant occur?
Kenworthy (1991: 48) continues saying that the variant of /k/ is

used whenever there is a following vowel which is produced in the
front of the mouth - a front vowel. Remember that the back of the
tongue is used in producing velar sounds, so it is almost as if the
speaker knows that a sound produced in the front of the mouth is
coming next and he or she gets ready for it, anticipates it, so the
tongue is pulled slightly forward in the mouth and a palatal
consonant is produced instead of the more usual velar sound. So,
the analysis of the different variants of /k/ is possible using
phonological principles.
Thats why Phonology, according to Yule (1996:54), is essentially

the description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in a
language as already mentioned in the introduction of this lesson.
Furthermore, (ibid) when we think of the [t] sound in the words
tar, star, writer and eighth as being the same, we actually mean
57
that in the phonology of English, they would be represented in the

same way. In actual speech, these [t] sounds are all different.
However, all those articulation differences in [t] sounds are less

important than the distinction between the [t] sounds in general and
the [k] sounds, or the [f] sounds, or the [b] sounds, because there
are meaningful consequences related to the use of one rather than
the others. These sounds must be distinct meaningful sounds,
regardless of which individual vocal tract is being used to
pronounce them, because they are what make the words tar, car, far
and bar meaningfully distinct. Considered from this point of view,
we can see that phonology is concerned with the abstract set of
sounds in a language which allows us to distinguish meaning in the
actual physical sounds we say and hear (Yule, 1996: 54).
Phonemes
What are phonemes? Look at the introduction of the lesson and the
variants of a sound like [t], [b], and [k]. Those are the articulation
differences of the same sound. However, we can take a word like
van to show the difference of meaning when we substitute the
initial sound [v] with [f]. The resulting word is fan, instead of van.
So, a phoneme is each one of the meaning-distinguishing sounds in
a language (Yule, 1996:54).
Thats why /f/ and /v/ in fan and van are phonemes of English, and
an essential property of a phoneme is that it functions contrastively.
Therefore, we can say that there are two phonemes /f/ and /v/ in
English because they are the only basis of the contrast in meaning
between the forms fat and vat, or fine and vine. This contrastive
property is the basic operational test for determining the phonemes
which exist in a language. If we substitute one sound for another in
a word and there is a change of meaning, then the two sounds
represent different phonemes. Now, the consonants and vowel
58
charts presented in unit 1 can be seen as the mapping out of the

phonemes of English (Yule, 1996: 55).
Phones and allophones

If phonemes are meaning-distinguishing sounds in a language,
what do you think phones and allophones are?
According to Yule (ibid), while the phoneme is the abstract unit or

sound-type (in the mind), there are many different versions of that
sound-type regularly produced in actual speech (in the mind). We
can describe those different versions as phones. Phones are
phonetic units and will appear in square brackets. When we have a
set of phones, all of which are versions of one phoneme, we refer to
them as the allophones of that phoneme. That is, phones are
variations or different pronunciation of the same phoneme;
allophones, on the other hand, are those variations (they can be
two or three) of the same phoneme.
For example, in English language, the sound // is pronounced

slightly differently in the word shoe than it is in the word she. The
// in shoe will be pronounced with rounded lips because of the

influence of the neighbouring rounded vowel sound /U/. So, we can
say that // is rounded when preceded by a rounded vowel. In
pronouncing she //, however, the lips will not be rounded, but
spread. We can say that there are two phones - // with lip-rounding
and // without lip-rounding. Therefore, the two //, with and
without lip-rounding, are allophones of //.
Lets take another example. In English, there is a difference in

pronunciation of the [I] sound in words like seed and seen. In the
second word, the effect of the nasal consonant [n] makes the
59
[I]sound nasalized. This nasalization can be represented by a

diacritic [ ], called tilde, over the symbol [] in narrow phonetic
transcription. So, there are at least two phones, [i] and [ ], used in
English to realize a single phoneme /I/. We say that both [i] and [ ]
are allophones of /I/.
The crucial distinction between phonemes and allophones is that

substituting one phoneme for another will result in a word with a
different meaning (as well as different pronunciation), but
substituting allophones only results in a different (and perhaps
odd) pronunciation of the same word (Yule, 1996: 56).
Summing up, phonemes are meaning-distinguishing units or sounds

in a language, and they work contrastively because substituting one
phoneme for another it will result in a different word and meaning,
as well as different pronunciation. Phones, on the other hand, are
phonetic variants of a phoneme, and all the variations of a certain
phoneme are called allophones of that phoneme.
How was the lesson? What have you learned from it? Do you feel
that the information contained in the summary is part of your
background now? If you do feel, congratulations! If you do not,
study the lesson again and focus your attention on the four concepts
phonology, phonemes, phones and allophones. Still have
problems understanding the lesson? Join your classmate who has
studied the lesson successfully, and do the exercises that follow.
1. Demonstrate, using examples, that [p] and [b] are two

phonemes of English.
activity 2. What changes occur in the course of pronunciation of the

word boy?
3. Demonstrate, using examples, that /t/ is allophonic.
60
Feedback
1. [p] and [b] are two English sounds. Taking the word pig, as
an example, if we substitute /p/ for /b/, it will result in a
different word, big and different meaning; the two sounds
are being contrasted to distinguish meaning in English.
Therefore, /p/ and /b/ are two phonemes in English
language.
2. In the course of pronunciation of the word boy [bI], the

lips start from the rounded shape to unrounded (spread)
because of the influence of the rounded vowel //, which
transforms the original feature of unrounded /b/ to round.
When the tongue glides to /I/, from // of the diphthong I,
the lips become unrounded (spread).
3. /t/ can be allophonic in the word like tent. When we

pronounce this word, the /t/ in initial position is produced
with aspiration (sort of puff of air), that is one phone [t];

the /t/ in final position is produced without aspiration (there
is no puff of the air), that is another phone [t]. So, the
production of /t/ in the word tent is allophonic because we
can analyse two different realisations [t] and [t] of the

same phoneme /t/.
61
Lesson 2
Minimal pairs and sets

Introduction
In the previous lesson you learned about phoneme, phone and
allophones. In this lesson you will be exposed to the phonemic
distinctions in a language.
Time
Identify a minimal pair and set of words.

Lesson
Outcomes
As we said in the introduction, there are phonemic distinctions in a

language and these phonemic distinctions can be tested via pairs and sets
of words (Yule, 1996:56).
Pay attention to the following pairs of words, pat and bat. They are
identical in form except for a contrast in one phoneme, occurring in the
same position, the two words are described as minimal pair in the
phonology of English.
Give other examples of minimal pairs in English language.
Other examples of minimal pairs in English would be, for example, fan -
van; bet bat; site - side, etc
62
However, when a group of words can be differentiated each one from the
others, by changing one phoneme (always in the same position), then we
have a minimal set as Yule (1996:57) says.
If a minimal set is a group of words that can be differentiated, each one

from the other, by changing one phoneme, give an example of a minimal
set, before you are given the example.
Were you able to give the examples? If not, don't worry. Pay attention
now, if you found this difficult.
Minimal sets based on the vowel phonemes of English would include

feat, fit, fat, fate, fought, foot, and based on consonants could be big, pig,
rig, fig, dig ,wig.
1. Which of the following words would be treated as minimal pair?
pat, pen, more, heat, tape, bun, fat, ban, chain, tale, bell, far, meal,
vote, bet, pit, heel
activity
2. Provide a minimal set in English.
Feedback
1. pat - fat; pat - pit; heat - heel; tape - tale; bun - ban; fat - far; bell -
bet; meal - heel.
2. An example of a minimal set would be like this: feat, fit, fat, fate,
foot.
63
Lesson 3
Distinctive feature analysis

Introduction
In examining the sound inventories of languages and the phoneme /
allophone distinction we have been treating sounds as units. But the
science of Phonetics clearly demonstrates that sounds are not
indivisible (kenworth, 1991: 50). Apart from what Kenworth says,
in a phonemic analysis, it is necessary to recognise smaller units
than the segment (phoneme), in order to explain how sets of sounds
are related (Crystal, 1987: 162).
Time
Analyse the phonological features of a sound in terms of

Lesson voice, place and manner of articulation (distinctive
Outcomes
features).
These smaller units (features) than the segment (sound) can be seen
by comparing any two contrasting segments, using the articulatory
criteria introduced in unit 1. For example, we can think of the
sound /s/ as having the features voiceless, alveolar and fricative. In
other words, we can talk in terms of bundles of features. When we
do this it is easy to show that some sounds resemble each other
very closely and other sounds do not share any features at all. If we
64
take the two sounds /s/ and /z/, we can present them as collections
of features. The sound /s/ is voiceless, alveolar and fricative, or:
/s/
- voice
+ alveolar
+ fricative
The plus and minus symbols work as a shorthand to say that the
sound either has the feature (+) or does not (-). If we do the same
analysis for /z/, we will have:
/z/
+ voice
+ alveolar
+ fricative
We can see that these two sounds /s/ and /z/ differ in only one
feature, voicing. But the two sounds /z/ and /p/ differ in all features:
/p/
- voice
+ bilabial
+ plosive
From this analysis we notice that all segments (phonemes) in a

language can be analysed in this way, either from an articulatory or
acoustic point of view, and the result is a set of contrasting
components known as distinctive features (Kenworthy, 1991: 50).
This way of analysing sounds shows some possible patterns in the
sound system of a language. Look at the two pronunciations of //

in English as in shoe and she. What reason might there be for the
pronunciation difference in the consonant? Pay attention to the
neighbouring vowel sounds after transcribing the two words
65
phonetically In shoe [U], // is followed by a rounded vowel /U/,
causing changes in the shape of //; and in she [I], // is followed

by an unrounded /I/ (spread) vowel, that is, the lips are spread,
causing no changes in the shape of //.
Summarising, distinctive feature analysis allows us to discover the

smaller units of sounds than the sound itself. It also shows us how
features which represent sounds as bundles of features can reveal
general patterns.
This is the end of this lesson. How did you find it? If you found it
difficult, study it again, or ask your partner to help you. If you
succeeded understanding the lesson, congratulations and help your
classmates who found the lesson difficult.
The activity below is going to help you consolidate what you have
learned from the lesson.
1. Analyse the following sounds into features.

a) /f/ and /v/
b) b) /k/ and //
activity
c) c) // and //
2. How would you analyse the features of the vowel sounds
contained in she and shoe?
66
Feedback
1. a) /f/ /v/
- voice + voice
+ labiodental + labiodental
+ fricative + fricative
/f/ and /v/ share place (both are labiodentals) and manner (both are
fricative) of articulation, but they differ in voicing because /f/ is
voiceless whereas /v/ is voiced.
b) /k/ //
- voice + voice
+ velar + velar
+ plosive + plosive
These sounds (/k/ and //) differ in voicing, /k/ is voiceless
whereas // is voiced. But they share the place (both are velar
sounds) and manner (both are plosive) of articulation.
c) // //
- voice + voice
+ palato-alveolar + palato-alveolar
+ fricative + fricative
// and // share place (both are palate-alveolar) and manner (both

are fricative) of articulation. But they differ in one feature
voicing; // is voiceless whwreas // is voiced.
2. The vowel sounds contained in shoe and she are: in shoe is

/U/ and in she is /I/.
Distinctive feature analysis:
67
/U/ /I/
+ voice + voice
+ high + high
+ back + front
+ round - round
/U/ and /I/ share two features (voicing and tongue height), but they
differ in two features (/U/ is a back vowel whereas /I/ is a front
vowel, and /U/ is rounded whereas /I/ is spread or unrounded vowel.
Lesson 4
Phonological rules
Introduction
According to Crystal (1987: 163) in traditional accounts of
phonology, a sound is described as occurring in a particular
position within a syllable or word, and that is all. No reference is
made to our knowledge of the relationships that exist between the
various types of sound in different contexts. Yet this information is
essential if we are to understand the way sounds systematically
relate to each other and to the grammar and lexicon of a language.
Time
Analyse and apply the phonological rules of sounds which

can occur in particular grammatical or phonetic contexts;
Lesson
Outcomes Establish the relationships between sounds.
68
To illustrate this point, we may consider such pairs of words as

telegraph and telegraphy. A phonological analysis of these words
is not complete simply by giving each a phonemic transcription:
/telr:f/ vs /tlerfI/. We also need to show that, despite the
different patterns of strong and weak vowels within them, the

pronunciation are systematically related, with other pairs of words
in the language displaying the same kind of relationship (such as
microscope / microscopy).
One of the main techniques for demonstrating such regularities in

the sound patterns of language has been through the use of
phonological rules.
What are phonological rules?

According to Crystal (1987: 163) phonological rules are general
statements about the relationships between sounds, or classes of
sound. They summarise what happens when sounds occur in
particular contexts (environment).
Pay attention to the following example, which will show you how a
phonological rule is worked out. In English, for example, [b] is
used at the beginning and at the end of words, but especially in the
latter position it loses some of its voicing: we say [] (jab),
with a voiceless sound. This observation can be summarised in the

form of a rule: [b] becomes [] at the end of a word.
Crystal (ibid), phonological rules are expressed in a special

notation to make the description as clear and succinct as possible
and to identify the essential theoretical properties of sound
systems. Thus, the above rule could be written as follows (the
symbol means becomes; means in the context of; and
# means word boundary):
[b] [] #
69
In generative phonology, such rule would be written using

distinctive feature notation:
+ voice - voice
+ bilabial + bilabial
+consonantal + consonantal #
+ plosive + plosive
That is, voiced oral consonants become voiceless oral consonants

before a word boundary.
Summarising, the phonological rules allow us to compare the

relationships between sounds, they show us what happens when the
sounds occur in particular grammatical or phonetic contexts. There
are many kinds of phonological rule. Some rules, such as the
above, change the distinctive features of segments. Others, from the
connected speech, would change, for example, [n] to [m] in the
phrase ten boys, because of the influence of the following [b]. Here,
the rule would summarise the fact that an alveolar nasal becomes
bilabial before a following bilabial consonant (Crystal, 1987: 163):
[n] [b] #
For consolidation, do the activity that follows. If you did not

understand the lesson do not do it, ask your local tutor to help you,
or one of your colleague who has successfully done the activity.
1. Look, again, at the two pronunciation of // in the words
shoe and she. How is // pronounced when // is the next

activity sound? Provide the rule.
2. Provide the rule for the changes that take place in the
course of pronunciation of the word toy.
70
Feedback
1. In shoe [ ], // becomes rounded because of the
influence of the neighbouring vowel sound []; in she [],
// remains with its features, the lips are spread
(unrounded). So, // is pronounced with rounding of the lips

when it immediately precedes a vowel sound which also has
lip rounding. If the next sound does not cause lip rounding
(as // does not) then there is no matching up of features.

The rule would be written as follows:
- voice - voice + voice

+ palato-alveolar + palato-alveolar + high
+ fricative + fricative + back
+ round + round
2. In toy [t], [t] is pronounced with rounding of the lips

because it immediately precedes a vowel sound which also
has lip rounding //. The rule would be written as follows:
- voice - voice + voice

+ alveolar + alveoliar / + high
+ fricative + fricative + back
+ round + round
71
Unit summary
In this unit you learned about phonemes, the meaning-
distinguishing sound in a language. When we substitute /p/ for /b/
Summary in pet and bet, we change the meaning; you also learned about
phones (different variations of a sound) and allophones (phonetic
variants of a phoneme); minimal pairs (when two words are
identical in form except for a contrast in one phoneme, for
example, pet and bet is a minimal pair); minimal set (when more
than two words are identical in form except for a contrast in one
phoneme, for example, pet bet get net is a minimal set
because there is a contrast in one phoneme the initial one);
distinctive features ( phonological characteristics of a sound
either from an articulatory or acoustic point of view); finally you
learned phonological rules, which are the relationships between
sounds or classes of sounds.
Thus, you learned:
Phoneme and its essential property.

Phones and allophones.
Minimal pairs and sets.
Distinctive features.
Phonological rules.
Assignment
Provide your own minimal pair and explain how you would
present the contrasting sounds in a classroom context.
Assignment
72
Assessment
After studying this unit, answer the study questions below,
which will help you understand the topics contained in this
Assessment unit.
Study questions:
1. What is a phoneme and what is the test to determine it?
2. Demonstrate, using examples, that the voiceless alveolar

plosive consonant sound can be allophonic. Provide the
phonological rule.
3. Can you consider surface and service as a minimal pair?

Provide a rationale.
Feedback
1. A phoneme, according to Yule (1996: 54), is a meaning-
distinguishing sound in a language. The test to determine it is
that, when we substitute one sound for another in a word and
there is a change of meaning, then the two sounds represent
different phonemes.
2. First of all, the voiceless alveolar plosive consonant is [t].

If we take the word tent as an example, we will notice that [t]
in initial position is aspirated [t] and in final position is
unaspirated [t]. the phonological rule is: [t] [t] - # (also,

see lesson 1)
Using distinctive feature notation, the rule would be:
73
- voice - voice
+ alveolar + alveolar - #
+ plosive - plosive
3. The words surface and service can be considered as a

minimal pair because phonetically we would transcribe them
as [s3:vIs] service and [s3:fIs] surface. From the transcriptions,
we can notice that they contrast in one phoneme /v/ to /f/.
74
Bibliography
1. CRYSTAL, David. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of

Language, 2nd Ed, Cambridge: C.U.P., 1987
2. KENWORTHY, Joanne. Language in Action: An Introduction

to Modern Linguistics, Hong Kong: Longman, 1991
3. POOLE, Stuart C. An Introduction to Linguistics, New York,

Palgrave, 1991
4. ROACH, Peter. English Phonetics and Phonology A practical

Course, 2nd Ed. Cambridge: C.U.P., 1991
5. YULE, George. The Study of Language, 2nd Ed. Cambridge:

C.U.P., 1996
75
Unit 3
The English Syllable

Introduction:
After studying the English phonemic system, it is important to have a

look at another aspect of language, which is of paramount importance for
the rhythm of speech. Like speech sounds, the syllable is a very important
unit (Roach, 1992:67). It is not easy to define what it is, but we can count
how many syllables there are in a given word or sentence we can even
do it by tapping our finger as we count.
You may ask why it is important to study syllable. That is because you do
not know how important it is for a teacher to be equipped with this
knowledge for the teaching of pronunciation.
Discuss the nature of English syllable.
Divide words into syllables.
Analyse the structure of English syllable.
76
Lesson 1
The nature of the syllable

Introduction
When we looked at the nature of vowels and consonants in unit 1 it
was shown that we could decide whether a particular sound was a
vowel or a consonant on phonetic grounds (in relation to how much
they obstructed the airflow) or on phonological grounds (vowels
and consonants having different distribution) (Roach, 1992: 67).
If you still remember the distinction between vowels and

consonants, it is important that you recall this aspect and bring it to
this lesson we said that vowels are sounds in which there is no
obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips,
and consonants, sounds in which there is obstruction to the flow of
air as it passes from the larynx to the lips. This difference is stated
in phonetic grounds; and you should also remember the main
difference between vowels and consonants it is not in the way
they are produced, but in the way they are distributed that is the
difference in phonological grounds.
Time
By the end of the lesson you are expected to:

Describe the nature and structure of a syllable;
Divide a word into syllables;
Lesson
Outcomes Classify syllables in terms of structure.
77
Now, after refreshing your mind about the nature of vowels, lets
look at the way syllable is defined.
When looking at syllable, we find a similar situation of vowels and

consonants, in that it may be defined both phonetically and
phonologically. Phonetically, syllables are usually described as
consisting of a centre which has little or no obstruction to airflow
and which sounds comparatively loud; before and after this centre
(that is, at the beginning and end of the syllable), there will be
greater obstruction to airflow and/or less loud sound (Roach,
1991:67).
By phonetically we mean in relation to the way we produce them

and the way they sound. At the beginning, syllables may consist of
consonant sound (s), and at the end may also consist of consonant
sound (s) and it is there where the airstream is obstructed.
Look at some examples:
1. Pay attention to the following words taken from Roach
(1992: 67) are :, or :, err :. When pronouncing
these words, you will feel that they are preceded and
followed by silence. They are called a minimum syllable.
So what is a minimum syllable?
A minimum syllable is a single vowel in isolation (Roach,

1992:67). Thus, isolated sounds such as m, which we
sometimes produce to indicate agreement, or , to ask for

silence, must also be regarded as syllables.
2. Some syllables have an onset (that is, they have more than just
silence preceding the centre of the syllable): bar b: key
ki:, more m:
78
3. Syllables may have no onset but have a coda: am m

eat i:t ill Il
4. Some syllables have onset and coda: run rn get et
read ri:d
How to divide a word into syllables? How to notice whether a word

is one syllable or more than one? It is important to note that there
are problems with the phonetic description of the syllable,
particularly in the matter of deciding on the division between
syllables (Roach, 1991:67). For example, the word going
[I], consists of two syllables. What is the dividing point of
the syllable? You may decide on [U] as the dividing point between
the two syllables, but that raises another problem does [U] belong
to the first or the second syllable? If you refer to phonological
grounds, [U] belongs to the first syllable because it is part of
diphthong phoneme U. But this is not a fact of phonology, but
phonetics.
How to avoid such problems?
Roach (1991:67) Looking at syllables from the phonological point

of view is quite different. What this involves is looking at the
possible combinations of English phonemes. It is simplest to start
by looking at what can occur in initial position in other words,
what can occur at the beginning of the first word when we begin to
speak after a pause. We find that the word can begin with a vowel,
or with one, two or three consonants. No word begins with more
than three consonants. In the same way, we can look at how a word
ends when it is the last word spoken before a pause; it can end with
a vowel, or with one, two, three or (in a small number of cases)
four consonants. No word ends with more than four consonants.
79
You may find this lesson difficult, but do not worry, your tutor will
give you some more input in the face-to-face lecture so that you
can understand the nature of the syllable. However, a syllable is a
combination of phonemes, occurring in initial position (consonant
sound(s)) or in final position (consonant sound(s) as well); it also
consists of a centre, which is a vowel sound, where there is little or
no obstruction to airflow. Thats why the number of vowel sounds
in a word will determine the number of syllables in that word. Note
that you should first, transcribe the word phonetically, and then
determine the number of vowels and therefore the number of
syllables.
Summing up, it is not easy to define syllables but we can count

them by tapping our finger or clapping. in order to understand the
nature of syllable, it is important to describe it either in phonetic
and phonologic grounds, that is, how they are produced and sound,
and whether before and after the centre there is greater obstruction
to airflow and /or less loud sound.
As a practising stage, do the activity that follows to check

understanding.
1. How would you define a syllable?

2. What is a minimum syllable and give an example?
activity
Feedback
1. According to Roach (1991:67) a syllable may be defined

phonetically, that is, in relation to the way it is produced
and the way they sound; they may also be defined on
phonologic grounds, that is, syllables consist of a centre
which has little or no obstruction to airflow and which
sounds comparatively loud; before and after the centre there
80
will be greater obstruction to airflow and / or less loud

sound.
2. A minimum syllable is a single vowel in isolation, like are
:.
Lesson 2
The structure of the English

syllable
Introduction
Onset, peak and coda are the component parts of the structure of
the English syllable. In this lesson, you will learn about the
structure of each component part of a syllable. We have selected
for this lesson, among other resources, English Phonetics and
Phonology a practical course, by Peter Roach because the
language used is accessible and the main points are explained in
detail.
Time
By the end of the lesson you should be able to describe the

structure of the English syllable onset.
Lesson Revision before we start this lesson, lets look at the

Outcomes component elements of a syllable described in lesson 1. A
syllable may have an onset without a coda; it may have a
coda without onset; it may also have an onset and a coda.
This will help you understand the structure of each
81
component element of a syllable to be described in this

lesson.
Syllable Onset
Let us look in more detail at syllable onsets. According to Roach
(1991: 68), if the first syllable of the word in question begins with
a vowel (any vowel may occur, though [] is rare) we say that this
initial syllable has a zero onset. For example, eat [i:t] is a one-
syllable word beginning with a vowel (long vowel [i:]); we say that
this syllable has a zero onset.
If the syllable begins with one consonant, that initial consonant

may be any consonant phoneme except //; // is rare.
We now look at syllables beginning with two consonants. When

there are two or more consonants together they are called a
consonant cluster. For example, skin [skn] begins with two
consonants, with pre-initial /s/. So, /s/ and /k/ are called a
consonant cluster and /s/ is a pre-initial consonant and /k/ is an
initial consonant. That is:
Pre initial Initial Final
S k n
Onset Peak Coda
According to Roach (1991: 71), initial two-consonant clusters are

of two sorts in English. One sort is composed of /s/ followed by
one of a set of about eleven consonants; examples of such clusters
are found in words such as sting [st], sway [swe], smoke
[smk]. The /s/ in these clusters is called the pre-initial
82
consonant and the other consonant (/t/, /w/, /m/ in the above
examples) the initial consonant. These clusters are shown in
table 1.
The other sort begins with one of a set of about thirteen consonants,
followed by one of the set /l/, /r/, /w/, /j/, as in, for example play
[ple], try [tra], quick [kwk], few [fju:]. We call the first
consonant of these clusters the initial consonant and the second the
post-initial.
There are some restrictions on which consonants can occur

together. This can best be shown in table form (see table 2).
When we look at three-consonant clusters we can recognise a clear

relationship between them and the two sorts of two-consonant
cluster described above; examples of three-consonant initial
clusters are: split [splt], stream [stri:m], square [skwe].
The /s/ is the pre-initial consonant, the /p/, /t/ and /k/ that follow /s/
in the three example words are the initial consonant and the /l/, /r/
and /w/ are post-initial. In fact, the number of possible initial
three-consonant clusters is quite small and they can be set out in
full (words given in spelling form).
POST - INITIAL
l r w j
p splay spray _ spew
S PLUS INITIAL t _ string _ stew
K sclerosis screen squeak skewer
In the diagram you can see the /s/ sound plus initials /p/, /t/ and /k/;
you can also see the post-initial sounds /l/, /r/, /w/ and /j/. The
diagram summarises this lesson, in which the structure of the
English onset was described. For consolidation, do the activity that
83
follows, but before you do it, revise the lesson with your partner
and discuss the points you found difficult to understand.
Analyse the structure of the following English syllable onset.
1. splay 2. few 3. spray

activity
Feedback
pre-initial Initial post-initial
1. s p l e
onset peak
Initial post-initial
2. f j u:
Onset Peak
pre-initial Initial Post-initial
3. s p r e
Onset Peak
84
Lesson 3
The syllable coda

Introduction
In the previous lesson we focused our attention on the structure of
the English syllable onset, which is a consonant or a consonant
cluster composed either of one, two, or three consonant sounds. In
this lesson, we are going to focus our attention on the syllable coda.
Remember that syllables can have onset without a coda; they can
have a coda without an onset and they can have both, an onset and
a coda. So, we will look at the final part of the syllable. Your
attention is important when you study this lesson.
We are now going to study the final consonant clusters. Here, it is

possible to find up to four consonants at the end of a word or
syllable. If there is no final consonant in a word we say that there is
a zero coda. When there is one consonant only, this is called the
final consonant.
Time
Describe the structure of the English one syllable coda and

Lesson The phonological structure of the English one - syllable
Outcomes
word.
According to Roach (1991: 71), "any consonant may be a final

consonant except /h/, /r/, /w/, /j/. There are two sorts of two-
85
consonant final cluster, one being a final consonant preceded by a

pre-final consonant and the other a final consonant followed by a
post-final consonant. The pre-final consonants form a small set:
/m/, /n/, //, /l/, /s/".
The example of pre-final consonants can be seen in words like
'bump' [bmp], 'bent' [bent], 'bank' [bk], 'belt/ [belt], 'ask' [:sk].
The post-final consonants also form a small set: /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, //;
example words are: 'bets' [bets], 'beds' [bedz], 'backet' [bkt],
'bagged' [bd], 'eighth' [et] (Roach, ibid).
Roach (ibid) claims that "there are two types of final three-
consonant cluster; the first is pre-final plus final plus post-final, as
set out in the following table:
PRE-FINAL FINAL POST-FINAL
'helped' he l p t
'banks' b k s
'bonds' bD n d s
'twelfth' twe l f
The second type shows that more than one post-final consonant can
occur in a final cluster: final plus post-final 1plus post-final 2. Post-
final 2 is again one of /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, //".
PRE-FINAL FINAL POST-FINAL 1 POST-FINAL 2
'fifths' f _ f s
'next' ne _ k s t
'lapsed' l _ p s t
On the other hand, "most four-consonant clusters can be analysed

as consisting of a final consonant preceded by a pre-final and
86
followed by post-final 1 and post-final 2, as shown below" (Roach,

ibid):
PRE-FINAL FINAL POST-FINAL 1 POST-FINAL 2
'twelfths' twe l f s
'prompts' prD m p t s
However, there are cases which require a different analysis from

the one shown above; instead of consisting of a final consonant
preceded by a pre-final and followed by post-final 1 and post-final
2, this case consists of a final consonant with no pre-final but three
post-final consonants. Pay attention to the following example,
which shows a cluster with pre-final, final, post-final 1, post-final 2
and post-final 3:
PRE-FINAL FINAL POST-FINAL POST-FINAL POST-FINAL

1 2 3
'sixths' s _ k s s
'texts' te _ k s t s
Summarising, the English syllable may be described as having the

following maximum phonological structure:
pre-initial initial post-initial VOWEL pre-final final post-final 1 post-final 2 post-final 3
onset peak coda

From the diagram you can notice that there must be a vowel (called
peak) in the centre of the syllable.
So, this lesson, like all others, is very important because analyzing
syllable structure as we have done can be useful to a foreign learner
of English and future teacher like you. Furthermore, an
understanding of the basic structures described in this lesson will
help you to become aware of precisely what type of consonant
87
cluster presents pronunciation problems either when learning or

teaching your students, and from this help your students as well.
This is the end of this class; if it was difficult for you, we

recommend you to study it in your own pace, do not follow the
time frame allocated for this class; if you found it not difficult,
congratulations, and we will be very grateful if you help your
colleagues understand it; please tell them the strategy you have
used to succeed understand it. Moreover, there is an end of the
lesson activity to help you check understanding. Do not check
feedback before you try to do it. Good luck!
Analyse the structure of the following one-syllable English

word:
activity 1. cramped 2. squeald 3. splash
Feedback
1. INITIAL POST-INITIAL PRE-FINAL FINAL POST-FINAL
k r m p t
ONSET PEAK CODA
2. PRE-INITIAL INITIAL POST-INITIAL FINAL POST-FINAL
s k w i: l d
ONSET PEAK CODA
3. FINAL POST-FINAL 1 POST-FINAL 2
e t s
PEAK CODA
88
Lesson 4
Strong and Weak syllables

Introduction
In English language, one of the most noticeable features is that
many syllables are weak. However, most foreign learners do not
know how these syllables are pronounced and where they occur in
English. You must have heard from some of your colleagues or
people you do not know, pronouncing a word like hotel wrongly;
instead of pronouncing the first syllable without stress mark, they
do so thinking that they are pronouncing it correctly. But the
correct pronunciation is that with stress mark in the second
syllable, as hotel [h'tel], or Japan ['pn], not ['pn]. These

and other pronunciation mistakes are common with foreign learners
because they do not know how weak syllables are pronounced and
where they occur. This lesson will focus on strong and weak
syllables so that you can understand the nature of these syllables.
Time
Distinguish a weak from the strong syllable and

Lesson
Be able to pronounce weak syllables and where they occur
Outcomes
in English.
Before we start with our lesson, it is important to say that the

distribution of strong and weak syllables is a subject of the next
unit of this module. For example, we will look later at stress,
which is a major factor in determining whether a syllable will be
89
strong or weak. In this lesson, we look at the general nature of

weak syllables.
What does "strong" and "weak" mean?
From daily life, we are sure that you have used the two words
several or endless of times. But in the context we want you to
understand, "we are using these terms to refer to phonetic
characteristics of syllables. We could describe them partly in terms
of stress (by saying, for example, that strong syllables are stressed
and weak syllables unstressed), but until we describe what "stress"
means such a description would not be very useful. The most
important thing to note at present is that any strong syllable will
have as its peak one of the vowel phonemes (or possibly a
triphthong) from unit 1, but not the vowel schwa //. Weak
syllables, on the other hand, as they are being defined here, can
only have four types of peak:
1. the vowel ("schwa")
2. a close front unrounded vowel in the general area of i: and
3. a close back rounded vowel in the general area of u: and
4. a syllabic consonant
When we compare weak syllables containing vowels with strong

syllables, we find the vowel in a weak syllable tends to be shorter,
of lower intensity and different in quality. For example, in the word
'father' [f:] the second syllable, which is weak, is shorter than
the first, is less loud and has a vowel // that cannot occur in strong
syllables" (Roach, 1991: 75).
The vowel schwa // is the most frequent vowel in English and it is

weak, cannot occur in strong syllable.
90
Now pay attention to the next example, which is different from the
first. The example word is 'bottle' transcribed [ bDt ]. This is a two
syllable word and the second syllable is weak. Notice that it
contains no vowel sound at all, but it consists entirely of the
consonant / /. This consonant is called a syllabic consonant
according to Roach (ibid).
So, the nature of strong and weak syllables is related to the vowel
phonemes. That is, strong syllables will contain vowel phonemes
which are different from schwa // and weak syllables will contain
the vowel schwa //. Look at the introduction of this lesson again
and see how the words hotel and Japan are pronounced. The vowel
schwa // is in the first syllable, that's why the first syllables of the
two words is a weak syllable, pronounced with lower intensity, it is
not loud and tends to be shorter than the second.
In other words, all syllables which contain the vowel schwa // are
weak syllables, or the vowel schwa // is always associated with

weak syllables.
What is a weak and strong syllable? Discuss these two concepts

after studying this lesson. Do not forget to give your own example.
To help you practice, do the activity below. Good luck and
congratulation for your progress in this unit.
Transcribe the following words phonemically. Do not forget to

choose the correct vowel for strong and weak syllables.
activity 1. shave
2. about
3. open
4. correct
91
Feedback
1. shave: ev in this transcription, we can notice that the first
syllable is stronger, louder and more prominent than the second
because it contains the diphthong e, which glides from e to ,
making it longer, stronger and more louder. The second is weaker

than the first because it contains the vowel schwa .
2. about: bat the transcription shows that the first syllable is
weaker than the second because it contains the vowel schwa .

That's the reason why this syllable tends to be shorter, with lower
intensity and less loud or prominence. The second syllable,
however, for the fact that it contains the diphthong a, tends to be
longer because there is a glide from a to ; it is also louder and
more prominent than the first syllable; that's why it is stronger than
the first.
3. open: pn from this transcription, we can see that the
presence of the diphthong , makes the first syllable stronger
than the second, which contains the vowel schwa . Thus, the first
syllable is longer and louder whereas the second tends to be shorter
and less loud.
4. correct: krekt this transcription reveals that the first syllable

k, contains vowel, therefore, it is weaker than the second, which
does not have , being strong (it is more louder and prominent).
92
Lesson 5
The vowel ("schwa")

Introduction
The vowel schwa is the most frequent vowel in English and it is
always associated with weak syllables. This lesson will focus on
'schwa', showing the contexts in which it can be found by providing
practical English words as examples.
Time
Identify where is appropriate and where it is not.

Lesson
Outcomes
In order to understand the nature of the "schwa" vowel, it is

important to describe its characteristics. "In quality it is mid (that
is, half-way between close and open) and central (that is, half-way
between front and back). It is generally described as lax, that is, not
articulated with much energy. Of course, the quality is not always
the same, but the variation is not important (Roach, 1991: 76)".
See the diagram below which shows not only , but also other
vowel sounds.
93
Fig. 8: English vowels received pronunciation
You can see the vowel in the same way it was described. The
most important feature is that it appears in weak syllables, which
are pronounced with less loudness and tend to be shorter, as we
said in the previous lesson.
However, "not all weak syllables contain , though many do

(Roach, ibid)".
As a learner or teacher of English, you need to know where this

vowel is appropriate and where it is not. "To do this, we must
consider spelling. The question to ask is: if the speakers were to
pronounce a particular weak syllable as strong instead, which
vowel would it be most likely to have, according to the usual rules
of English spelling? Of course, knowing this will not tell us which
syllables in a word or utterance should be weak, but it will give us
a rough guide to the correct pronunciation of weak syllables Roach
(ibid). In other words, what can happen if a speaker pronounces a
weak syllable as if it was strong? Which syllable would contain ?
Look at some examples which can guide you to the correct

pronunciation of weak syllables, provided by Roach (1991: 76).
1. Spelt with 'a'; strong pronunciation would have //
94
e.g. 'attend' [tend]; the second syllable is strong, the first is just
composed of and tends to be shorter than the second, which is

louder and more prominent.
In 'barracks' [brks] 'a' is pronounced with loudness and it is

longer than the second, schwa cannot occupy this position because
it is not associated with strong syllables; we wouldn't say [brks]
as that would lead us into a pronunciation mistake.
2. Spelt with 'ar'; strong pronunciation would have :
e.g. 'particular' [ptkjl]; the transcription shows that the first
and last syllables are weak (they contain vowel); the second is a
strong syllable and must be pronounced louder than others.
'molar' [ml] here we can see that the first syllable is strong
because it contains a diphthong, therefore it must be pronounced
louder and with high intensity; it also tends to be longer; the second
syllable is weak because it contains vowel (must be pronounced
with low intensity and tends to be shorter than the first syllable.
3. Adjectival endings spelt 'ate'; strong pronunciation would have
e, e.g. 'intimate' [ntmt] the transcription shows that this
word must be pronounced with high intensity and louder in the first
syllable; it means that the pitch of our voice raises and is louder
when we pronounce the first syllable, decreasing when we say the
second syllable, which contains vowel.
'desolate' [deslt] for this word, the first syllable is stronger

and the second and the third are weaker (they contain ).
4. Spelt with 'o'; strong pronunciation would have /D/
95
'tomorrow' [tmDr] the first syllable (it contains ) is weaker
than the second and the third.
'potato' [ptet] in potato, the first syllable contains 'schwa',
that's why it is weaker than the second and the third syllables.
5. Spelt with 'or'; strong pronunciation would have :
'forget' [fget] the first syllable must be pronounced with low

intensity, but the secont must be louder and produced with higher
intensity (it is stronger than the first).
'ambassador' [mbsd] the last two syllables of this word

are weaker because they contain .
So far we have shown you some contexts in which 'schwa' can be

found. Work in groups and try the pronunciation of weak and
strong syllables. You can also ask your tutors to help you with the
correct models of pronunciation so that you can later help your
students as well. This is the end of this lesson.
Have you faced any problems? If you have, please report to the
tutors so that we can improve this lesson in the next opportunity. If
you haven't faced any problems, congratulations! Do not forget to
help your colleagues with difficulties. Now you can practice the
lesson, doing the activity below. Do not check the feedback before
you try it yourself.
Which syllables are weak in the following words? Why are they
weak? Transcribe the words before you decide on the weak
syllable.
activity
1. character
2. monarchy
96
3. accurate
4. carrot
Feedback
1. character [krkt] the second and the third syllables are
weaker than the first because they contain .
2. monarchy [mDnk] the middle vowel, the second is weaker
that the first because it contains .
3. accurate [kjrt] the last syllables are weak because they
contain .
4. carrot [krt] the second syllable is weaker than the first

because it contains .
97
Lesson 6
Close front and close back vowels

also found in weak syllables
Introduction
The vowel is not the only one that can be found in weak
syllables. There are other vowels that can be associated with weak
syllables. These vowels are the close front and close back. As we
have mentioned in the previous lesson, we will use 'English
Phonetics and Phonology - A Practical Course', as our main source
for the reasons we have already stated before.
Like all other lessons, study this lesson carefully, do not go faster,
if possible, do this with a partner after you have finished your
individual study.
Time
Identify where // and // are appropriate in weak and

Lesson
Outcomes strong syllables.
As we have already said in the introduction, there are two other

vowel sounds associated with weak syllables, one is a close front,
which is in the general region of i: and , and the other close back
98
rounded, which is in the general region of u: and . According to
Roach (1991: 77), "in strong syllables it is comparatively easy to
distinguish i: from , u: from , but in weak syllables the
difference is not so clear. For example, although it is easy enough

to decide which vowel one hears in 'beat' or 'bit', it is much less
easy to decide which vowel one hears in the second syllable of
words such as, for example, 'easy', or 'busy'."
Using our phoneme symbols, we would represent what has been

said as follows:
'easy' 'busy'
1. i:zi: bzi:
2. i:z bz
This transcription shows that there are accents of English in which

the second syllable sounds most like the i: in the first syllable of
'easy', and others in which it sounds more like the in the first
syllable of 'busy'. There is uncertainty about the corresponding

close back rounded vowels. Looking at 'good to eat' and 'food to
eat', the question is that whether the word 'to' is pronounced with
the vowel phoneme of 'good' or the u: vowel phoneme of 'food'.

and which vowel phoneme comes in 'to' in 'I want to' (Roach, ibid).
Another aspect is that in the words 'easy' and 'busy', there is no way
of using the vowel phoneme 'schwa'. The only way out is to use the
vowels aforementioned to associate them with weak syllables.
Look at the transcriptions of 'easy' and 'busy' above. they suggest
two different pronunciations as explained above. There is no
'schwa', but for 'easy' the first syllable is pronounced in the same
99
way as the second (in 1), (in 2), the first syllable is more prominent
and tends to be longer than the second due to the influence of the
long vowel phoneme i:; in 'busy', the second syllable is pronounced
with more prominence and intensity, it is also longer due to the
long vowel phoneme contained in it (1), (in 2), the two syllables
represented by are pronounced in the same way.
However, RP (Received Pronunciation) speakers wouldn't be

satisfied with the transcriptions and pronunciations provided above.
Roach (1991: 78)), "there is a possible solution to this problem, but

it goes against standard phoneme theory. We can symbolize this
weak vowel as i, that is, using the symbol for the vowel in 'beat'
but without the length-mark". That is, the word 'beat' is transcribed
/bi:t/, but for the purpose of harmonizing the controversy in
transcription of 'easy' and 'busy', it should be transcribed as /bt/,
which is against the standard phoneme theory. Thus, we would

transcribe 'easy' and 'busy' as follows:
'easy' i:z
'busy' bz
Now let us look at where these vowels are found, beginning with
close front unrounded ones. We find i occurring:
1. In word-final position in words spelt with final 'y' or 'ey' (after
one or more consonant letters). For example, 'happy /hp/,
'valley' /vl/, and in morpheme-final position when such words
have suffixes beginning with vowels.
For example, 'happier' /hp/, 'esiest' /i:zst/,
'hurrying' /hri/
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0
2. In a prefix such as those spelt 're', 'pre', 'de', if it precedes a

vowel and is unstressed, for example in 'react' /rikt/,
'preoccupied' /priDkjpad/, 'deactivate' /diktvet/
3. In the suffixes spelt 'iate', ious', when they have two syllables,
for example in 'appreciate' /pri:iet/, 'hilarious' /hleris/.
4. In the following words when unstressed: 'he', 'she', 'we', 'me', 'be'
and the word 'the' when it precedes a vowel.
''In most other cases of weak syllables containing a close front
unrounded vowel we can assign the vowel to the // phoneme, as in
the first syllable of 'resist' /rzst/, 'inane' /nen/, 'enough' /nf/,
the middle syllable of 'incident' /nsdt/, 'orchestra' /:kstr/,
'artichoke' /:ttk/ and the final syllable of 'swimming'
/swm/, 'liquid' /lkwd/, 'optic' /Dptk/'' (Roach, 1991:78).
This vowel is most often represented in spelling by the letters 'i'

and 'e' (Roach, ibid).
Close back rounded vowels are not common. /u/ is most frequently
found in the words like 'you'. 'to', 'into', 'do', when they are
unstressed and are not immediately preceding a consonant, and
'through' and 'who' in all positions when unstressed. It is also found
before another vowel within a word, as in 'evacuation'
/vkjue/, /'influenza/ /nfluenz/ (taken from Roach, 1991:
78).
As a summary, we can say that is the most frequent vowel in

English and it is associated with weak syllables; it is in fact a weak
vowel, that is, it cannot be pronounced louder or with long length,
10
1
as well as with intensity. All pronunciation with intensity where

is present, that can be considered a wrong pronunciation. However,
this vowel ('schwa') is not the only one that it associated with weak
syllables; there are other vowels like // and //, but they appear
where 'schwa' cannot appear.
This is the end of our lesson; if you faced problems studying it,
please contact your local tutor so that he/she can help you. If there
are problems concerning the way we have put the ideas forward,
you can report that to the tutor for future corrections. If you have
not faced problems, congratulations! Do not forget to help your
mates and we thank you for your availability to do so. This lesson,
like all other lessons, has an activity at the end to help you check
understanding. It is important that you avoid looking the feedback
stage up before you complete the task.
Transcribe the following words phonemically; do not forget to

choose the correct vowel phonemes for weak and strong
syllables.
activity
1. ahead 2. oppose 3. forget 4. percent 5. Alan 6. open
Feedback
1. ahead /'hed/ 2. oppose /'pz/ 3. forget /f'get/
4. percent /p'sent/ 5. Alan / 'ln/ 6. open / 'pn/
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2
Lesson 7
Syllabic consonants
Introduction
In the previous lessons we have looked at vowels in weak syllables
(weak syllables containing vowel phonemes). But there are
syllables in which no vowel is found. That is why this lesson is
about syllables which do not contain a vowel phoneme.
Time
Identify syllabic consonants in a word and transcribe them

Lesson phonemically.
Outcomes
What can we do when a syllable does not contain a vowel

phoneme? Pay your attention here so that you can follow the lesson
easily.
When syllables do not contain a vowel phoneme, we must consider

consonant phonemes like /l/, /r/, /n/, /m/ and // as the centre of the
syllable instead of the vowel. That is why it is called syllabic
consonant. When a consonant is syllabic, it is identified by a small
vertical mark below it , for example 'tunnel' /tn/. You can see
the vertical mark below /l/, it means that // is a syllabic consonant.
Let us look at each consonant phonemes, which can function as

syllabic consonant.
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3
1. / / it is the most noticeable example of the English syllabic

consonant; it occurs after another consonant, and the way it is
produced will depend, to some extent, on the nature of that
consonant. "if the preceding consonant is alveolar, as in 'bottle'
/bDt /, 'muddle' /md /, articulatory movement from the
preceding consonant to the syllabic / / is quite simple. The sides of

the tongue, which are raised for the preceding consonant, are
lowered to allow air to escape over them (this is called lateral
release). The tip and blade of the tongue do not move until the
articulatory contact for the / / is released. The / / is a ''dark / /''
(/l/ pronounced after a vowel sound, that is, when a vowel precedes
/ l /).
We can find syllabic / / in a word ending with one or more

consonant letters followed by 'le' (or, in the case of noun plurals or
third person singular verb forms, 'les') (Yule, 1991: 79).
Examples:
1. with alveolar consonant preceding
'cattle' / kt /; 'bottle' / bDt /; 'wrestle' / res /; 'muddle' / md /
2. with non-alveolar consonant preceding
'couple' / kp /; 'trouble' / trb /; ''struggle' / str /
'knuckle' / nk /
The words above usually lose their final letter 'e' when a suffix
beginning with a vowel is attached, but the /l/ usually remains
syllabic. For example, in words like:
'bottle' - 'bottling' bDt - bDt
'muddle' - 'muddling' md - md
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4
'struggle' - 'struggling' str - str
(taken from Roach, ibid)
It would be a wrong pronunciation to insert a vowel between the / l/

and the preceding consonant. However, there are similar words, not
derived in this way, which do not have the syllabic / /. For
example, 'coddling' (derived from the verb 'coddle') and 'codling'
(meaning ''small cod''), derived by adding the diminutive suffix '-
ling' to 'cod') show a contrast between syllabic and non-syllabic /l/:
'coddling' / kDd / and / kDdl /
2. /n/, /m/ and // are syllabic nasals. The most frequent is /n/.
a. /n/ When should it be pronounced?
Pay attention to words like 'tonight' and 'canary'. In the two words
we can find // before /n/, as the transcription shows:
'tonight' / tnat /; 'canary' / kneri /. But in the middle and
final positions, as in words like 'threaten', 'threatening', there is a

syllabic consonant //, see the examples below:
'threaten' / ret / 'threarening' / ret /
According to Roach (1991: 80), ''syllabic // is most common after

alveolar plosives and fricatives, in the case of /t/ and /d/ followed
by // the plosive is nasal released by lowering the soft palate, so
that in the word 'eaten' / i:t /, for example, the tongue does not
move in the t sequence but the soft palate is lowered at the end of
/t/ so that compressed air escapes through the nose. We do not find
10
5
// after /l/ or /t/, //, so that for example 'sullen' must be
pronounced /sln /, 'Crhistian' as / krstn / and 'pigeon' as
/ pn /".
Syllabic // is equally possible in words like 'happen' / hp /,
'happening' / hp /, 'ribbon' / rbn /
3. /m/ and //
These consonants are not common as syllabic. They occur as a

result of processes such as assimilation and elision. In 'happen', for
example, we can transcribe it as / hp / or /hp /;
'uppermost', which could be pronounced as / pst / though
/ pmst / is also possible and more usual.
/ / would occur in words like 'thicken' / k / (where / kn /
and / k / are also possible) and 'broken key' brk ki:,
where the nasal consonant occurs between velar consonants ( or
n could be replaced by ).
4. /r/ In most American accent / /is very common. The word

'particular', for example, would probably be pronounced
/ptkjl/ by most Americans, while RP speakers would
pronounce this word /ptkjl /. This consonant is less common
in RP and in most cases where it occurs there are other acceptable

alternative pronunciations without the syllabic consonant. For
10
6
example, in 'history' we can pronounce / hst / or / hstr / (not
usually hstr);
Combinations of syllabic consonants
The syllabic consonants can also occur in combination, this is not

unusual. For example the word 'national' can be pronounced
/ n / with two syllabic consonants occurring together; the
word 'literal' also has a combination of syllabic consonants as we
pronounce it - / lt /; 'visionary' / vi / with two syllabic
consonants.
This is the end of this lesson. Summing up, we have said that there
are consonants that can function as vowels in a syllable - such
consonants are called syllabic consonants like / /, / /, // and / /.
They can occur in combination in a syllable.
This lesson can help you produce correct pronunciation with your
students, they are used to prevent from pronouncing vowel
phonemes, which would lead us to a mispronunciation. As a
controlled practice, do the activity below.
Transcribe the following words phonemically.

Choose the correct syllabic consonant for each
case.
activity
1. Hungary 2. papal 3. seven 4. often
Feedback
1. / hi / 2. / pep / 3. / sev /
4. / Df /
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7
Unit summary
In this unit you learned about
The nature of the syllable;

Summary
The structure of the English Syllable
Strong and weak syllables
The vowel (''schwa'')
Close front and close back vowels
Syllabic consonants
Assignment
No assignment is required for this unit.
Do the study questions that follow in the assessment section.

Assignment
Assessment
1. After studying this unit, answer the study
questions, which will help you understand the
Assessment topics contained in this unit.
Study questions:
1. Analyse the structure of the following one-syllable English
word: texts
2. The following sentence has been partially transcribed, but the

vowels have been left blank. Fill in the vowels, taking care to
identify which vowels are weak; identify syllabic consonants as
10
8
well.
a) A particular problem of the boat was a leak.
p t kjl pr bl m v b t
w z l k
b) Opening the bottle presented no difficulty.
p n b t pr z nt d n
d f k t
Feedback
Initial final post- post- post-
final final fianl
1 2 3
1. t e k s t s
onset peak coda
2. ptkjl prblm v
bt wz li:k
2. p bDt przentd n
dfkti
Bibliography
1. POOLE, Stuart C. An Introduction to Linguistics New

York, Palgrave, 1991
2. ROACH, Peter. English Phonetics and Phonology A
practical Course, 2nd Ed. Cambridge: C.U.P., 1991
10
9
Unit 4
Stress in simple words

Introduction
In the previous unit we talked about strong and weak syllables, and
we said that strong syllables are pronounced with more muscle
energy than weak syllables; therefore, strong syllables are stressed
whereas weak syllables are unstressed. We can notice here that we
have introduced the concept of stress, which has not been
developed in detail in this course. Thus, in this unit we are going to
provide you with more details about this concept (of stress). The
unit will comprise 8 lessons and most of the unit content will be
taken from Peter Roach (1991).
Pronounce one, two and three-syllable words.
Identify which syllable to place stress.

Outcomes
Prominence: Aspect of pronunciation which include four

factors: loudness, length, pitch and quality.
Loudness: It is a component of prominence from which a

Terminology syllable is more audible, louder than another.
Syllable Length: The syllable which is stressed tends to be

longer than unstressed one(s).
Pitch: The frequency of vibration of the vocal folds

as the syllable / word is said.
Syllable Quality : A different vowel, makes the syllable sound

different from others, e.g. /u/ and /e/ have
different quality (see unit 1 and 2).
11
0
Lesson 1
The nature of stress

Introduction
As we have said before, the concept of stress has been mentioned
several times in the previous unit. In this lesson, we are going to
explain how stress is placed and what is behind stress placement in
a word. Pay a maximum of your attention here because this is very
important in English pronunciation.
Time
Upon completion of this lesson you are expected to

discuss the nature of stress in English syllable;
place stress mark in a syllable;
Lesson
Outcomes identify the factors which determine prominence.
According to Roach (1991:85) ''the nature of stress is simple

enough practically everyone would agree that the first syllable of
words like 'father', 'open', 'camera' is stressed, that the middle
syllable is stressed in 'potato', 'apartment', 'relation' and that the
final syllable is stressed in 'about', 'receive', 'perhaps'.
Most people feel they have some sort of idea of what the difference
is between stressed and unstressed syllables, though they might
explain it in many different ways''. A stressed syllable will be
marked with a small vertical line ' high up, just before the syllable
11
1
it relates to; the words quoted above will thus be transcribed as

follows:
'f: p'tet 'bat
'pn 'p:tmnt r'si:v
'km r'le p'hps
As you can see from the transcription of the quoted words above,
the vertical lines ( ' ) indicate that the syllable is stressed.
You can notice from the above words that in a two or more than
two syllable words, one syllable is stressed and the other is
unstressed. Now, what are the characteristics of stressed syllables?
What enable us to identify them?
There are two ways of tackling these questions, one being to

consider what the speaker does when he/she produces stressed
syllables and the other being to consider what characteristics of
sound make a syllable seem to a listener to be stressed. In other
words we can study stress from the point of view of how it is
produced (production) and how it is listened (perception) (Roach,
1991: 85). That is, stress can be studied at the point of view of
production and perception.
When a speaker produces a stressed syllable he / she uses more

muscular energy than he / she uses when producing unstressed
syllables. That is, when producing stressed syllables the muscles
that we use to expel air from the lungs are more active, producing
higher sub glottal pressure - the stressed syllable is produced with
much more energy than the unstressed one.
Nevertheless, from the perceptual point of view, all stressed

syllables have one characteristic in common, and that is
11
2
Prominence. Stressed syllables are recognised as stressed because

they are more prominent than unstressed syllables.
Now, what do you think makes a syllable prominent? If you look

at the terminology list in the introduction of this unit, you will see
Reflection that the word prominence is part of the list; what can you say
about this concept? The aim of these questions is to make you
understand this concept so that the lesson content becomes easier
to follow.
Let us continue after a brief interactive exercise. Doesn't matter

how much you have understood the concept of prominence; the
most important thing is that, we want you to focus your attention
on stress placement and the two factors which make a stressed
syllable recognisable- a stressed syllable can be recognized from
the point of view of production and perception; and it is from the
point of view of perception we want you to focus your attention on
- prominence.
A syllable is prominent when at least four different factors occur:
1. A stressed syllable is louder than unstressed; it means that a

stressed syllable sounds louder than unstressed; in other words,
loudness is a component of prominence. For example, in a
sequence of identical syllables (e.g. ba:ba:ba:ba) if one syllable is
made louder than the others, it will be heard as stressed,
2. A stressed syllable tends to be longer in length than unstressed;

so, the length of a syllable is part of prominence. For example, if
one of syllables of the sequence (of identical syllables) you have
already seen in 1, (ba:ba:ba:ba:) is made longer than the others,
there is a strong tendency for that syllable to be heard as stressed.
3. Pitch - every syllable is said on some pitch, which is the

frequency of vibration of the vocal folds and the musical notation
11
3
of low and high pitched notes; for example, if one syllable of our
''non-sense word'' ba:ba:ba:ba: is said with a pitch that is noticeably
different from that of the others, this will produce the effect of
prominence and will be heard as stressed.
4. A syllable will tend to be prominent if it contains a vowel that is
different in quality from neighboring vowels. If we change one of
the vowels in our ''non-sense word'' (e.g. ba:bi:ba:ba:) the ''odd''
syllable bi: will tend to be heard as stressed.
''Prominence, then, is produced by four main factors: loudness,

length, pitch and quality. These four factors work together in
combination, though syllables may sometimes be made prominent
by means of only one or two of them. Experimental work has
shown that these factors are not equally important; the strongest
effect is produced by pitch, and length is also a powerful factor.
Loudness and quality have much less effect (Roach, 1991:86)''.
Summing up, the nature of stressed syllables can be discussed from

the point of view of perception (from a listener) and production
(from a speaker); from the perceptual point of view all stressed
syllables are prominent, that is, there are four factors which make a
syllable prominent - loudness, length, pitch and quality. These
factors work in combination, but pitch and length have the
strongest effect.
This is the end of our lesson, if you found it difficult study it again
or find a partner who can help you figure out those aspects or
points which were difficult for you. If you did not face problems,
congratulations! You can now do the activity we prepared for you
to check understanding of the lesson; do not check the key before
you try it yourself. Good work!
11
4
1. How do we show, in transcription, that a certain syllable is

stressed?
2. What are the characteristics of stressed syllables that enable
Activity us to identify them?
3. What are the components of prominence?
Feedback
1. We will show in transcription that a certain syllable is stressed

by placing a small vertical line ( ' ) high up, just before the syllable
it relates to.
2. From the production point of view, stressed syllables are

produced with much more muscular energy than unstressed ones;
from the perceptual point of view, all stressed syllables have one
characteristic in common, which is prominence.
3. The components of prominence are loudness, length pitch and

quality.
Was the activity difficult or easy?
If it was difficult for you, study the lesson with a partner or in a

group (groups are useful for discussion and you can learn from
your colleagues; there are many other benefits of studying in
groups).
If you have succeeded doing the activity, congratulations and we

would appreciate if you could help those with difficulties.
11
5
Lesson 2
Levels of stress
Introduction
When we talked about stress we did not make reference to the
intermediate level of stress, but we referred to stress as existing
between stressed and unstressed syllables. In this lesson, however,
we are going to talk about the two-level analysis of stress.
Time

Distinguish a primary from a secondary stress.
Lesson
Outcomes
Remember that we are dealing with stress within the word, that is,
we are looking at words as they are said in isolation, which is
artificial situation because in daily life we do not use the words in
isolation, but in utterances, phrases, sentences, etc. Nevertheless,
there are words that we do often say in isolation, such as 'yes', 'no',
'possibly', 'please' and interrogative words such as 'what', 'who',
''but looking at words in isolation does help us to see stress
placement and stress levels more clearly than studying them in the
context of continuous speech'' (Roach, 1991: 87).
11
6
Take the word 'about' 'bat as an example, where the stress

always falls clearly on the last syllable and the first syllable is
weak. ''From the point of view of stress, the most important fact
about the way we pronounce this word is that on the second
syllable the pitch of the voice does not remain level, but usually
falls from a higher to a lower pitch (Roach, ibid)''.
The pitch movement might be represented as shown below, where

the two parallel lines represent the speaker's high and low pitch
level:
Diagram
Thus, the prominence that results from this pitch movement, or

tone, gives the strongest type of stress, this is called primary
stress. In some words, there is a type of stress that is weaker than
primary stress but stronger than that of the first syllable of 'about'.
For example, in the first syllables of the words 'photographic'
ftrfk, 'anthropology' nrpDli. The stress in these

words is called secondary stress, represented in transcription with
a low mark ( ). The examples above could be transcribed as
ft 'rfk, nr 'pDli.
Another level of stress apart from primary and secondary levels, is

that of unstressed syllables, where there is no recognisable degree
of prominence. ''However, it is worth noting that unstressed
syllables containing , , or a syllabic consonant will sound less

prominent than an unstressed syllable containing some other vowel.
for example, the first syllable of 'poetic' p 'etk is more
prominent than the first syllable of 'pathetic' p 'etk.
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7
Summing up, there are three levels of stress in English language -

primary level, secondary level and unstressed syllables which are
less prominent; there are words which carry two levels of stress,
primary and secondary.
Now do the exercises below to check whether you have understood

the lesson or not. Do not check the key before you try it; good luck!
Mark the stress on the following words:
1. photography
Activity 2. confirmation
Feedback
1. f 'trfi
2. knf 'me
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8
Lesson 3
Placement of stress within the

word
Introduction
Stress placement in a word has been causing several problems to
foreign learners of English because it is not that easy to decide on
which syllable to give more prominence. That's why this lesson
will focus on ''how can one select the correct syllable or syllables to
stress in an English word?'' (Roach, 1991:88).
You have 90 minutes of self-study.
Time
Decide on stress placement within a word;

Lesson Outcomes
Use the four factors to be born in mind in stress placement.
As a starting point, it is important to say that in some languages

stress placement is not an object of discussion as it happens in
English language because in those languages stress can be decided
simply in relation to the syllables of the word, as in French (where
the last syllable is usually stressed), Czech (where the first syllable
is stressed) and other languages whose stress placement is decided
in relation to the syllables of the word. English stress placement is
''so difficult to predict that it is best to treat stress placement as a
property of the individual word, to be learned when the word itself
11
9
is learned. So, English stress placement is a highly complex matter''

(Roach, ibid).
In other words, it is important to note that when you teach

vocabulary to your students, you should always teach them the
correct pronunciation of the word; apart from just telling them the
meaning, you should look at the pronunciation of the word as part
of the whole linguistic sign (the association between the form and
the meaning). That's why Roach (ibid) says that the pronunciation
of an English word should be learned when the word itself is
learned.
Roach (ibid), goes further saying that ''in principle, it should be

possible to discover what it is that the English speaker knows and
to write in the form of rules. The following summary of ideas on
stress placement in nouns, verbs and adjectives is an attempt to
present a few rules in the simplest possible form. Nevertheless,
pratically all the rules have exceptions and readers may feel that the
rules are so complex that it would be easier to go back to the idea
of learning the stress for each word individually''. From Roach's
point of view, it is best to look at the rules in general (but regarding
the word class of each word) than learning stress when the word
itself is learned - that is, learning word by word, which would at
least be very much time-consuming.
Look at the information that you can use when deciding on stress
placement within a word.
''In order to decide on stress placement, it is necessary to make use

of some or all of the following information:
1. Whether the word is morphologically simple, or whether it is

complex as a result either of containing one or more affixes (they
can be prefixes, e.g. in the word unpredicted the particle un- is
called prefix, which means 'not' or 'no', always placed before the
stem (the root of the word, e.g. predict); and -ed is a suffix, which
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0
is showing the past tense) or of being a compound word (words

made of two or more than two words, both of which can exist
independently as English words).
2. The grammatical category to which the word belongs (noun,

verb, adjective, etc.).
3. The number of syllables in the word.
4. The phonological structure of those syllables.
This information is helpful because if you look at the

morphological structure of the word (e.g. polish, mother, recall,
about - they are simple words; but photography, interesting,
uncountable, ice-cream - they are complex words); the grammatical
category of the word also helps on stress placement because nouns
are pronounced differently from verbs and adjectives (e.g. the word
desert can be a noun when we place stress on the first syllable (e.g.
'desert), and it can be a verb when we place stress on the second
syllable (e.g. de'sert)); the number of syllables in the word is
important to take into account because knowing the number of
syllables, you will be able to examine which syllable is stronger, by
analyzing the phonological structure of each syllable (revise unit 3
for more details).
Stress placement within two-syllable words

Let us look at stress placement in two-syllable words; but before
we concentrate our attention on two-syllable words, it is worth
noting that single-syllable or one-syllable words present no
problems because when pronounced in isolation, as a single word,
not in a structure of phrase or a sentence, they are said with primary
stress (e.g. 'toy, 'play, 'tear, etc.).
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1
In two syllable words, however, the choice of the syllable to be

stressed is still simple - the first or the second syllable will be
stressed, not both syllables (will be stressed).
Now, how can one decide whether the first or the second syllable
carries stress (in two-syllable words)? Do you know how? Well,
before you continue, think about this question. If you are studying
in a group, have a brief discussion.
In fact there are rules which govern stress placement in this

situations. So what is the rule?
First of all, the rules that we are going to use for these situations are
those advanced by Roach (1991: 89 - 90) because they are easy to
understand and contextualized for classroom use.
After your short discussion about the rules, it is time for you to
concentrate your attention on the following:
1. With verbs, the basic rule is that if the second syllable of the
verb contains a long vowel or diphthong, or if it ends with more
than one consonant, that second syllable is stressed. Thus:
'apply' 'pla 'attract' 'trkt
'arrive' 'rav 'assist' 'sst
If the final syllable contains a short vowel and one (or no) final
consonant, the first syllable is stressed. Thus:
'enter' 'ent 'open' 'pn
'envy' 'envi 'equal' 'i:kwl
A final syllable is also stressed if it contains the diphthong (e.g.
'follow' 'fDl, 'borrow' 'bDr).
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2. Two-syllable simple adjectives are stressed according to the

same rule, as shown in the examples below.
'lovely' 'lvli 'divine' dv 'an
'even' ' i:v 'correct' k 'rekt
'hollow' 'hDl 'alive' 'lav
There are also exceptions with adjectives as with most stress rules,
for example 'honest' 'Dnst, 'perfect' 'p:fkt or 'p:fekt, both
of which end with two consonants but are stressed on the first
syllable. You can notice here that the rule says if the final or second
syllable of the verb (in this case we are talking about adjectives,
which have the same rules as verbs) ends with more than one
consonant, that second syllable is stressed. However, there are
exceptions with some adjectives like 'honest', and 'perfect' because
despite ending with more than one consonant sound, they are
stressed on the first syllable, not the second as the rule would
require.
3. With nouns, if the second syllable contains a short vowel the

stress will usually come on the first syllable. Otherwise it will be
on the second syllable. Thus:
'money' 'mni 'estate' 'stet
'product' 'prDdkt 'balloon' b 'lu:n
'larynx' 'lrnks 'design' dz 'an
From the transcriptions above, you can see that the nouns 'money',
'product' and 'larynx' are stressed on the first syllable because their
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3
second syllables contain short vowels; their second syllables,

however, are stressed in 'estate', 'balloon' and 'design' because their
first syllables contain short vowels and the second syllables contain
long vowels and diphthongs.
Adverbs and prepositions seem to behave like verbs and adjectives.
Summing up, in order to decide on stress placement within the

word it is important to know the morphological structure of the
word, the grammatical category to which the word belongs to, the
number of syllables in the word and the phonological structure of
those syllables. Once you have this knowledge, you can apply the
rules to which each grammatical category prescribes.
This is the end of this lesson, if you faced some difficulties during
your study, please jot down all the problems and address them to
your local tutor who will, in turn, address them to the Linguistic
group, in English department - Maputo). If you did not face any
problems, congratulations! Now it is time to continue because you
are progressing. Do not forget to do the activity that follows, so that
you can check understanding of the main points.
Mark the stress on the following words (transcribe the words

phonemically and mark stress):
Activity 1. Verbs
a) protect b) clamber c) festoon d) detest
2. nouns
a) captain c) career d) paper
Feedback
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1. a) pr 'tekt b) 'klmb c) fes 'tu:n d) d 'test
2. a) 'kptn c) k 'r d) 'pep
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Lesson 4
Stress placement in three -

syllable words
Introduction
In the previous lesson you studied how to decide on stress
placement in single-syllable words and two-syllable words and you
were explained that there are rules which can be applied for verbs,
nouns, adjectives, etc. This lesson will focus on three-syllable
words. If you feel that you need a revision, you are free to do so.
Time
At the end of this lesson you are expected to

Pronounce three-syllable words correctly and
Lesson use rules to help you teach English pronunciation.
Outcomes
In three-syllable words it is not easy to decide on stress placement,

but like verbs, nouns, adjectives, prepositions ,etc, there are also
rules that can help us with this matter.
For example,
1. In verbs, if the last syllable contains a short vowel and ends with
not more than one consonant, that syllable will be unstressed, and
stress will be placed on the preceding (penultimate) syllable. thus:
'encounter 'kant 'determine' d 't:mn
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If the final syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong, or ends

with more than one consonant, that final syllable will be stressed.
Thus:
'entertain' ent 'ten 'resurrect' rez 'rekt
2. Nouns: If the final syllable contains a short vowel or , it is
unstressed; if the syllable preceding this final syllable contains a

long vowel or diphthong, or if it ends with more than one
consonant. Thus:
'mimisa' m 'mz 'disater' d 'z:st
'potato' p 'tet 'synopsis' s 'nDpss
If the final syllable contains a short vowel and the middle syllable
contains a short vowel and ends with more than one consonant,
both final and middle syllable are unstressed. Thus:
'quantity' 'kwDntiti 'emperor' 'emp
'cinema' 'snm 'custody' 'kstdi
As you can see, most of the rules show stress tending to go on

syllables which contain a long vowel or diphthong and / or ending
with more than one consonant. However, three-syllable simple
nouns are different. The rule for these nouns is that,'' if the final
syllable is of this type, the stress will usually be placed on the first
syllable. The last syllable is usually quite prominent so that in some
cases it could be said to have secondary stress (Roach, 1991:90)''.
Examples:
'intellect' 'ntlekt 'marigold' 'mrgld
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7
'alkali' 'lkla
3. Adjectives need the same rule. Thus:
'opportune' 'Dptju:n 'insolent' 'nsnt
'anthropoid' 'nrpd
These rules do not cover all English words because they only apply
to major categories of lexical words like nouns, verbs and
adjectives. Function words like articles and prepositions cannot use
the same rules.
Summarising stress placement in three-syllable words can be

decided by rules as with two-syllable words; basically, you must
look at the phonological structure of each syllable to apply the rule.
What is your opinion, are the rules easy to memorize or no?
To answer this question, do the following activity without re-

reading the main points of this lesson. Then you can say whether
the rules are easy to memorize or not. Good luck!
Mark the stress on the following words:

1. Verbs
a) disconnect b) entering c) menace
Activity
2. Nouns
a) language b) connection
Feedback
1. a) dsk 'nekt b) 'entr c) 'mens
2. a) lgw b) k 'nekn
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Lesson 5
Complex word stress

Introduction
In the previous lesson the nature of stress was explained and some
broad general rules were given for deciding which syllable in a
word should receive primary stress. The words that were described
were called simple words (words which are not composed of more
than one grammatical unit). There were also explained the two-
syllable and three-syllable word stress placement. In this lesson,
you are going to learn how to decide on stress placement in
complex words. First of all the concept of complex word will be
explained, followed by suffixes and prefixes.
Time
decide on stress placement in complex words;

Lesson
mark primary and secondary stress in a word
Outcomes
According to Roach (1991:95) ''complex words are of two major

types: words made from a basic stem word with the addition of an
affix, and compound words, which are made of two (or
occasionally more) independent English words(e.g. 'ice-cream',
'armchair')''.
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Affix words are those words whose stem is attached either to a

prefix (which come before the stem) or to a suffix (which comes
after the stem), or to both, a prefix and a suffix. An example of this
is the word believe, which can be attached to the prefix un-,
resulting in the word unbelieve or it can be attached to the suffix -
able, resulting in the word believable, or it can be attached to both,
the prefix un- and the suffix -able, resulting in unbelievable. This
word is called complex because it is composed of more than one
grammatical unit.
Now, what is the effect of affixes on word stress?
Roach (ibid), ''affixes will have one of three possible effects on

word stress:
1. The affix itself receives the primary stress (e.g. 'semi-' + 'circle'
's:k 'semicircle' 'sems:k, '-ality' + 'person' p:s
'personality' p:s 'lti).
2. The word is stressed just as if the affix was not there (e.g.
'pleasant' 'plezt, 'unpleasant' n 'plezt, 'market' 'm:kt,
'marketing' 'm:kt).
3. The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but is shifted
(moved) to a different syllable ('magnet' 'mgnt, 'magnetic'
mg 'netk).
In this lesson we are going to focus on suffixes rather than prefixes

because ''stress in words with prefixes is governed by the same
rules as those for words without prefixes (Roach, ibid)''.
Pay attention to suffixes which carry primary stress themselves.
Look at the examples below:
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0
1. 'Japan' 'pn if we attach the suffix -ese we will have
the word 'Japanese', transcribed as p 'ni:z
In 'Japan' the primary stress is on the last syllable, but when we add
the stress-carrying suffix '-ese' the primary stress is on the suffix
and the secondary stress is placed not on the second syllable but on
the first. The concept of primary and secondary stress will be dealt
with later.
2. 'entertain' ent 'ten is a word in which the suffix (-ain)
itself is stressed.
3. Portugal 'p:tl if we attach the suffix -ese it will result
in portuguese p:t 'i:z. You can see that the suffix itself
carries primary stress.
Basically the primary stress is on the first syllable of the suffix. ''If
the stem (the word root) consists of more than one syllable there
will be a secondary stress on one of the syllables of the stem. This
cannot fall on the last syllable of the stem, and is, if necessary,
moved to an earlier syllable (Roach, 1991: 96)''.
Suffixes that do not affect stress placement
There are suffixes that do not affect stress placement, that is, the
stress will be placed on the stem. For example, if the word
'comfort', transcribed phonemically 'kmft, is attached to suffix -
able it will result in 'comfortable', transcribed phonemically
'kmftb.
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1
The word 'wonder', transcribed phonemically 'wnd, attached to
suffix -ful, will result in 'wonderful', transcribed phonemically
'wndf.
The word 'refuse', transcribed phonemically r 'fju:z, if we attach

the suffix -al, it will result in 'refusal', transcribed phonemically
r 'fju:z.
You can notice here that after attaching a suffix to the stem, the
stress remains in the same position and it is placed on the stem, not
on the suffix, that is why these suffixes do not affect stress
placement.
Are you following the lesson or not? If you get confused, start from
the beginning and try to focus your attention on the examples
given, then see how the rules work. Figure it out, it is not difficult,
but a bit challenging and challenges are part of our lives.
Suffixes that influence stress in the stem
The primary stress is placed on the last syllable of the stem. Look
at the examples below:
1. The word 'advantage' is phonemically transcribed like this
d 'v:nt, if attached to suffix -eous, it will result in
'advantageous', phonemically transcribed dvn 'tes.
2. The word 'photo' is phonemically transcribed 'ft, attached
to suffix -graphy it results in 'photography', phonemically
transcribed f 'tDrfi.
3. 'climate' 'klamt, if attached to -ic; 'climatic' kla 'mtk.
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You can see in the examples above that the stress shifts (moves)
from the first or second syllable to the last syllable of the stem due
to the influence of the suffix attached to the stem.
This is the end of our lesson, if you found some problems in the
course of your study, please report them to your local tutor.
As a summary, in this lesson you were exposed to stress placement

in complex words (words with more than one syllable, basically
those words whose stem can be attached to a prefix or to suffix, or
to both, prefix and suffix), the influence of prefixes and suffixes in
complex word stress.
As practice, do the activity below to check understanding.
Put stress marks on the following words (transcribe the words

phonemically and mark secondary stress as well):
Activity
1. powerless 2. devilish 3. refugee 4. proverbial
Feedback
1. 'pals 2. 'dev 3. refj 'i: 4. pr 'v:bil
How did it go? Was the activity difficult? Please study in groups
to help each other (if possible). Congratulations for you who
succeeded doing the activity - remember that it is always good to
help those with difficulties!
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Lesson 6
Compound words
Introduction
Complex word consists of a stem plus an affix. Another type of
word is called compound, and its main characteristic is that it can
be analysed into two words, both of which can exist independently
as English words (Roach, 199: 98).
Time
decide on stress placement in compound words and

Lesson word-class pairs;
Outcomes
What do you know about compound words? You must have heard
from the secondary school- try to remember as much as you can.
Reflection
Compounds, as Roach (ibid) says ''are written in different ways;

sometimes they are written as one word, e.g. 'armchair',
'sunflower, sometimes with the words separated by a hyphen, e.g.
'gear-change', 'fruit-cake', and sometimes with two words separated
by a space, e.g. 'desk lamp', battery charger'. The last case is not
that easy to notice that it is whether a compound or words that
simply happen to occur together quite frequently.
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As you have seen, a compound has two or three independent words

in English, but we are going to focus on two-word compound.
Therefore, the aim of this lesson is to explain stress placement in
compound words. Thus, having two separated words, when is
primary stress placed on the first word of the compound and when
on the second?
Roach (1991: 99) ''Both patterns are found. A few rules can be
given, though these are not completely reliable. Words which do
not receive primary stress normally have secondary stress, though
for the sake of simplicity this is not marked here. Perhaps the most
familiar type of compound is the one which combines two nouns,
and normally has the stress on the firs element, as in:''
'typewriter' 'taprat 'suitcase' 'sju:tkes
'car-ferry' 'k:feri 'tea-cup' 'ti:kp
'sunrise' 'snraz
Foreign learners may feel comfortable with the stress falling on the
first element on other compounds; however, compounds can
receive stress instead on the first element. For example,
''compounds with an adjectival first element and the -ed morpheme
at the end have this pattern (without transcription) (Roach, 1991:
99):
bad - 'tempered
half - 'timbered
heavy - 'handed
Compounds in which the first element is a number in some form

also tend to have final stress:
three - 'wheeler
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5
second - 'class
five - 'finger
Compounds functioning as adverbs are usually final-stressed:
head - 'first
North - 'East
down'stream
Compounds which function as verbs and have an adverbial first

element take final stress:
down - 'grade
back - 'pedal
ill - 'treat
This is the end of lesson 5. How did you find it? To understand it,
look at the rules carefully and try the activity below.
If you found it difficult, study the lesson again and focus your
attention on the examples and rules, then you can do the activity
Put stress marks (primary and secondary stress) on the following

words (transcribe the words phonemically first).
Activity 1. shop - fitter

2. birth - mark
3. roof timber
4. open - ended
Feedback
1. 'Dp ft 2. 'b: m:k
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3. 'ru:f tmb 4. p 'endd
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Lesson 7
Variable stress and stress

placement within word-class pairs
Introduction
Stress pattern is not always unchanging. When in isolation,
compounds receive stress according to its nature; but in a phrase or
sentence stress may change as a result of an influence of the
neighbouring word. Thus, this lesson will focus on variable stress
and stress placement in word-class pairs.
Time
Discuss the stress patterns of variable stress and

Lesson word-class pairs.
Outcomes
Why might stress vary its position?

Reflection
1. Variable stress
Pay attention to the compound words with an adjectival first
element and the -ed morpheme at the end. In this case stress falls
on the second element. However, this stress pattern is not always
fixed and unchanging in English words. According to Roach (ibid)
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''stress position may vary for one of two reasons: either as a result
of the stress on other words occurring next to the word in question,
or because not all speakers of RP agree on the placement of stress
in some words. The former case is an aspect of connected speech
(to be dealt with in unit 5). The main effect is that the stress on a
final-stressed compound tends to move to the preceding syllable if
the following word begins with a strongly stressed syllable. Thus
bad - 'tempered but a 'bad - tempered 'teacher
half - 'timbered but a 'half - timbered 'house
heavy - 'handed but a 'heavy - handed 'sentence
You can notice here that the stress has shifted from the second
element to the first due to the influence of the neighbouring words
(teacher, house and sentence, which all begin with a strongly
stressed syllables), thus, moving stress to the first adjectival
element, instead of the -ed ending second element (Roach, 1991:
99).
2. Word - class pairs

Word-class ''pairs refers to several dozen pairs of two-syllable
words with identical spelling which differ from each other in stress
placement, apparently according to word class (noun, verb or
adjective). all appear to consist of prefix + stem (Roach, ibid)''.
The rule for these words is that ''when a pair of prefix plus- stem
words exists, both members of which are spelt identically, one of
which is a verb and the other is either a noun or an adjective, the
stress will be placed on the second syllable of the verb but on the
first syllable of the noun or adjective (Roach, 1991: 101).
Examples: (V = verb, A= adjective, N= noun)
'abstract' 'bstrkt (A) b 'strkt (V)
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'conduct' 'kDndkt (N) kDn 'dkt (V)
'contract' 'kDntrkt (N) kDn 'trkt (V)
'contrast' 'kDntr:st (N) kDn 'tr:st (V)
'desert' 'dezt (N) d 'z:t (V)
'perfect' 'p:fkt (A) p 'fekt (V)
This is the end of this lesson, summing up, when there is a pair of
identical words (verb, adjective or noun), it is worth noting that the
stress will fall on the first syllable of the noun or adjective and will
fall on the second syllable of the verb. The activity below will help
you understand the main issues of the lesson.
Put stress marks on the following words:

1. protest
2. produce
Activity
3. record
4. subject
Feedback
1. 'prtest (N) pr 'test (V)

2. 'prDdju:s (N) pr 'dju:s (V)
3. 'rek:d (N) r 'k:d (V)
4. 'sbkt (N) sb 'ekt (V)
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Lesson 8
Weak forms
Introduction
In unit 3 we discussed the difference between strong and weak
syllables in English. In this unit, however, we are going to look at
words, not syllables, that is, we will move from looking at syllables
to looking at words, and we will consider certain well-known
English words that can be pronounced in two different ways, which
are called strong forms and weak forms (Roach, 1991: 102).
Time
Pronounce strong and weak forms correctly, in an

Lesson Outcomes utterance.
To illustrate what you have learned from the introduction, let us just
take the word 'that' as an example, and say that this word can be
Note it! pronounced t (strong form) or t (weak form). In the ''sentence
'I like that' is pronounced a lak t (strong form); the sentence 'I
hope that she will' is pronounced a hp t i wl (weak form).

There are roughly forty such words in English Roach (ibid)'...
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Why is it important to learn how weak forms are used, provided

that it is possible to use only strong forms in speaking and still be
understood by other speakers of English?
Two reasons for this. The first is that most native speakers of
English find ''all-strong-form'' pronunciation unnatural and foreign-
sounding, something that most learners would wish to avoid. The
second and more important is that speakers who are not familiar
with the use of weak forms (foreign learners or speakers) are likely
to have difficulty understanding speakers who do use weak forms;
remember that you have been facing difficulties understanding
native speakers or understand what actors say in moves, what
singers say, etc. This is due to the use of weak forms. As a matter
of fact, all native speakers of British English use them, that is the
reason why English language learners need to learn about these
weak forms to help them to understand what they hear (Roach,
ibid).
According to Roach (ibid), '' almost all the words which have both
a strong and weak form belong to a category that may be called
function words - words that do not have a dictionary meaning in
the way that we normally expect nouns, verbs, adjectives and
adverbs to have. These function words are words such as auxiliary
verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, etc, all of which are in certain
circumstances pronounced in their strong forms but which are more
frequently pronounced in their weak forms. It is important to
remember that there are certain contexts where only the strong
form is acceptable, and others where the weak form is the normal
pronunciation''. Now pay attention to the rules which will guide
you to use the strong form. The rules are fairly simple.
The strong form is used in the following cases:
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2
1. For many weak-form words, when they occur at the end of a

sentence. For example, the word 'of' has the weak for v in the
following sentence:
'I'm fond of chips' am 'fDnd v 'tps
but when it comes at the end of the sentence, as in the following
example, it has the strong form Dv:
'Chips are what I'm fond of' 'tps 'wDt am 'fDnd Dv
When pronouns occur in final position, they are pronounced with
weak-form, e.g. 'who is she?' 'hu: 'z i ;
'He was late, wasn't he?' hi wz 'let 'wDzt i
'They invited all of us' e n'vatd ':l v s
'Eat them' 'i:t m
2. when a weak-form word is being contrasted with another word,

e.g.:
'The letters from him, not to him' 'letz 'frDm m nDt tu:
'm
3. When a weak-form word is given stress for the purpose of

emphasis, e.g.:
'You must give me more money' ju 'mst 'v m 'm:
'mni
4. When a weak-form word is being ''cited'' or ''quoted'', e.g.:
'You shouldn't put ''and'' at the end of the sentence'
ju 'dt pt 'nd t i 'end v 'sentns
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3
There is a point about weak-form words that you need to

understand and avoid wrong pronunciation, which is of words
whose spelling begins with 'h' (e.g. him. have). These weak-form
words, when they occur at the beginning of a sentence, the
pronunciation is with initial h, even though this is usually omitted
in other contexts.
Some common weak-form words.
1. 'THE' weak forms: (before consonants, it is pronounced e.g.
'shut the door' 't 'd: ; before vowels, it is pronounced i,
e.g. 'wait for the end' 'wet f 'end
2. 'A', 'AN' Weak forms: (before consonants it is pronounced ,
e.g. read a book' 'ri:d 'bk ; before vowels it is pronounced n,
e.g. 'Eat an apple' 'i:t n 'p
3. 'AND' weak form: n, e.g. 'come and see' 'km n 'si:
4. 'BUT' weak form: bt 'it's good but expensive' ts 'd bt
ks'pensv
'HER' (when used with possessive sense, preceding a noun; as an

object pronoun, this can also occur at the end of a sentence.)
weak forms: (before consonants it is pronounced e.g. 'Take her
home' 'tek 'hm
before vowels it is pronounced r, e.g. 'Take her out' 'tek r
'at
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This is the end of this lesson, if you had problems understanding it

study it again, then do the activity below.
In the following sentence, the transcription for the weak-form

words is left black. Fill in the blanks, taking care to use the
appropriate form.
Activity
I want her to park that car over there.
a wnt p:k k: v
Feedback
a wDnt t p:k t k:r v e

Note that it is k:r due to the neighbouring vowel.
Unit summary
In this unit you learned about word stress (simple and complex
word stress) and weak and strong forms in English.
Summary
Assessment
1. Mark the stress in the following words. Do not forget to transcribe
the words phonemically.
Assessment a. festoon b) menace
2. Write the words in phonemic transcription, including the stress
marks (primary and secondary stress), in the following words:
a) eight-sided b) anti-clockwise
3.Ttranscribe the following sentence phonemically and do not forget
to take care of the use of weak-form words.
Has anyone got an idea where it came from?
14
5
Feedback
1. a) fes 'tu:n b) 'mens
2. a) et 'sadd b) nti 'klDkwaz
3. hz enwn Dt n ad wer t kem frDm
Bibliography
1. RICHARDS, Jack C et al. Dictionary of Language

Teaching & Applied Linguistics, 2nd Ed, UK: Longman,
1992
2. ROACH, Peter, English Phonetics and Phonology, 2nd Ed,

Cambridge: C.U.P. 1992
14
6
Unit 5
Aspects of connected speech

Introduction
Connected speech is very important for foreign learners of English
because native speakers (for example the British) do not speak as
non native speakers (for example you).
As a non-native speaker, you may have noticed that when listening

to the radio or watching movies you make effort in order to
understand what the actors say. This is due to the way they speak;
in a rapid speech, a native speaker tends to join either sounds or
words. In this unit, we are going to talk about these aspects of
connected speech so that you can be familiar with them and use
them when you listen to a native speaker or when you speak.
Use the four aspects of connected speech (rhythm,

assimilation, elision and linking) in speech and writing.
Outcomes Distinguish rhythmical intervals in speech.
Rhythm:
Are some noticeable events happening at regular
intervals of time
Assimilation:
A sound belonging to one word can cause
Terminology
modifications in sounds of the word next to it.
Elision:
Speakers of English when talking to each other,
quite a number of phonemes that you might expect
to hear are not actually pronounced.
Linking:
In real connected speech, we sometimes link words
together.
This unit has 4 lessons.
147
Lesson 1
Rhythm
Introduction
In this lesson, we are going to talk about rhythm, one of the aspects of
connected speech. When we talk, there are some noticeable events
happening at regular intervals of time; our heart beats at certain intervals,
meaning that we can detect the rhythm of a heart-beat or of a piece of
music. When you listen to a song, there is always a rhythm or an
association of rhythmical melodies that compose the whole song. English
is a rhythmical language, that is, the rhythm is detectable in the regular
occurrence of stressed syllables (Roach, 1991:120).
Time
Analyse speech in the light of the theories of rhythm

Lesson and the stress-timed rhythm theory.
Outcomes
The theory that English has stress-timed rhythm implies that stressed
syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular intervals whether they are
separated by unstressed syllables or not (Roach, ibid). That is, when we
speak, there are syllables which are more prominent than others, and
these prominent syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular intervals
of rhythm. For example, in a classroom context, when a teacher asks a
question like Is Bruno in the class today? He / she will use the
following rhythm: Is Manuela in the class to day
148
The theory that English has stress-timed rhythm implies that stressed
syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular intervals whether they are
separated by unstressed syllables or not (Roach, ibid). That is, when we
speak, there are syllables which are more prominent than others, and
these prominent syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular intervals
of rhythm. For example, in a classroom context, when a teacher asks a
question like Is Bruno in the class today? He / she will use the
following rhythm: Is Manuela in the class to day
Now look at the example below.
1 2 3 4 5
Walk down the path to the end of the ca nal
In the sentence, the stressed syllables are given numbers:
syllables 1 and 2 are not separated by any unstressed syllable, 2 and 3 are
separated by one unstressed syllable, 3 and 4 are separated by two
unstressed syllables and 4 and 5 by three.
Now go back to the classroom question is Manuela in class

today and carry out the same rhythmical analysis.
First of all you should have given numbers to all stressed

syllables, as follow:
1 2 3 4
Is Bruno in the class to day
After numbering all stressed syllables you should say that

syllables 1 and 2 are not separated by any unstressed syllable, 2 and 3 are
separated by two and 3 and 4 by one.
According to Roach (ibid), the stress-timed theory states that

the times from each stressed syllable to the next will tend to be the same,
irrespective of the number of intervening unstressed syllables. The theory
also claims that while some languages (e.g. Russian and Arabic) have
stress-timed rhythm similar to that of English, others (such of French)
have a different rhythmical structure called syllable-timed rhythm; in
149
these languages, all syllables, whether stressed or unstressed, tend to

occur at regular time-intervals and the time between stressed syllables
will be shorter or longer in proportion to the number of unstressed
syllables. Some writers have developed theories of English rhythm in
which a unit of rhythm, the foot, is used (with an obvious parallel in the
metrical analysis of verse); the foot begins with a stressed syllable and
includes all following unstressed syllables up to (but not including) the
following stressed syllable. The example sentence given above would be
divided into feet as follows:
l 1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5
l Walk l down the l path to the l end of the ca l nal
l l l l l
Some theories of rhythm go further than the analysis gives above

and point to the fact that some feet are stronger than others, producing
strong-weak patterns in larger pieces of speech above the level of the
foot Roach (ibid).
To explain how this could be done, let us just take the word
twenty; this word has two syllables, one stronger (Twen) and one weak
syllable (ty), forming one foot. Now look at the diagram of its rhythmical
structure below, where s stands for strong and w stands for weak.
Consider the word places and make the diagram of its

rhythmical structure.
How did you go? Did you find it difficult to represent the
diagram? Well, we think that you should start saying that the word
places has two syllables, one stronger (pla) and one weak syllable
(ces), forming one foot. The diagram of its rhythmical structure can be
made as follows:
150
If we consider the phrase twenty places, the word places will

normally carry stronger stress than twenty, that is, will be rhythmically
stronger than twenty. The tree diagram will look like this
According to Roach (1991: 122), by analysing speech in this

way we are able to show the relationships between strong and weak
elements, and the different levels of stress that we find. The strength of
any particular syllable can be measured by counting up the number of
times an s symbol occurs above it.
Pay attention to the sentence below:
Twenty places further back.
Analysing its rhythmical structure we would end up having the following

diagram:
151
It is worth noting that stresses are altered according to context as

Roach (ibid) states, sometimes we vary in how rhythmically we
speak; for example, politicians use a very rhythmical speech in
public speech while at other times we speak a rhythmically, that is,
without rhythm; for example, when we are hesitant or nervous.
Stress-timed rhythm is thus perhaps characteristic of one style of
speaking, not of English speech as a whole; one always speaks with
some degree of rhythmicality, but the degree will vary between a
minimum value (a rhythmical) and a maximum (completely stress-
timed rhythm) (Roach (ibid).
Rhythm occurs between stressed and unstressed syllables and you

already know that a stressed syllable is the one which is more
prominent than another, i.e. the rhythmical pattern will follow these
intervals between stressed and unstressed syllables. This is the end
of our lesson and it is very important to revise it before you
continue studying. When you finish revising the lesson, do the
activities below, which can help you understand the main points of
the lesson. Good luck!
1. Using the stress-timed rhythm theory, make the diagram of

the rhythmical structure of the following phrase:
Sony product.
Activity
2. Show that the word Japan can produce a strong-weak
pattern in a piece of speech.
152
Feedback
1. In this phrase the word Sony will normally carry stronger
stress than product, i. e. will be rhythmically stronger. The
tree diagram will look like this:
2. The word Japan has one weak (Ja) and one strong (pan)
syllable, forming one foot. A diagram of its rhythmical
structure would be like this:
153
Lesson 2
Assimilation
Introduction
According to Roach (1991:124), a significant difference in natural
connected speech is the way that sounds belonging to one word can
cause changes in sounds belonging to neighbouring words. That is
the nature of assimilation, in which a sound belonging to one word
can cause modifications in sounds of the word next to it.
Time
Analyse and identify instances of assimilation in a phrase

Lesson or utterance.
Outcomes
When we pronounce a word in isolation we know how the

phonemes of that word are realised, when we find a phoneme
realised differently as a result of being near some other phoneme
belonging to a neighbouring word we call this an instance of
assimilation. Assimilation is something which varies in extant
according to speaking rate and style; it is more likely to be found in
rapid, casual speech and less likely in slow, careful speech.
Sometimes the difference caused by assimilation is very noticeable,
and sometimes it is very slight. Generally speaking, the cases that
have most often been described are assimilations affecting
consonants (Roach, 1991: 124).
154
As an example, take two combined words, the first of which ends

with a single final consonant (which we will call C )and the second
of which starts with a single initial consonant (which we will call
C); look at the diagram which shows the word boundary below:
- - - - C C - - - -
word
boundary
If C changes to become like C in some way, the assimilation is

called regressive (the phoneme that comes first is affected by the
one that comes after it); if C changes to become like C in some
way, the assimilation is called progressive (Roach, ibid).
Now in what ways can a consonant change? To answer this

question you should recall the differences between consonants. Can
you think of the differences between consonants?
You should say that the differences between consonants are of

three types:
1. differences in place of articulation;
2. differences in manner of articulation
3. differences in voicing (some sounds are voiced and other

are voiceless).
Being so, we can identify assimilation of place, of manner and of

voicing in consonants; and Roach (ibid) states that assimilation of
place is most clearly observable in some cases where a final
consonant ( C ) with alveolar place of articulation is followed by
an initial consonant ( C ) with a place of articulation that is not
alveolar. For example, the final consonant in that t is alveolar
/t/. in rapid, casual speech the /t/ will become /p/ before a bilabial
consonant, as in: that person t p:s; so, in rapid speech it
155
will be pronounced p p:s; meat pie will be pronounced
mi:p pa, instead of mi:t pa. Before a dental consonant, /t/ will
change to a dental plosive, for which the symbol is t , as in that
thing t ; get those et z; before a velar consonant,
the /t/ will become /k/, as in: that case k kes, instead of t
kes; quite good kwak d, instead of kwat d (Roach,

ibid).
Assimilation of manner is much less noticeable, and is only found

in the most rapid and casual speech; generally speaking, the
tendency is again for regressive assimilation and the change in
manner is most likely to be towards an easier consonant one
which makes less obstruction to the airflow. It is thus possible to
find cases where a final plosive becomes a fricative or nasal (e.g.
that side s sad, instead of t sad; good night n nat,
instead of d nat), but most unlikely that a final a final fricative

or nasal would become a plosive. In one particular case we find
progressive assimilation of manner, when a word-initial // follows
a plosive or nasal at the end of a preceding word: it is very common
to find that the C becomes identical in manner to the C but with
dental place of articulation. For example, (the arrow symbol
means becomes) Roach (1991: 125):
in the n nn
get them et m et tm
read these ri:d i:z ri:d di:z
From these examples, it seems that the // phoneme frequently

occurs with no discernible friction noise Roach, (1991: 125).
156
There is also assimilation of voice, but again only in a limited way,

and it is only regressive assimilation. Regressive assimilation of
voice is found across word boundaries, and then only of one type; it
is very important for foreign learners of English. If C is a lenis
(voiced) consonant and C is fortis (voiceless) we often find that the
lenis consonant has no voicing; this is not a very noticeable case of
assimilation, since, initial and final lenis consonants usually have
little or no voicing anyway. When C is fortis (voiceless) and C is
lenis (voiced), a context in which in many languages C would
become voiced, assimilation of voice never takes place; consider
the following example: I like that black dog a lak t blk
dD. It is typical of many foreign learners of English to allow

regressive assimilation of voicing to change the final /k/ of like to
//, the final /t/ of that to /d/ and the final /k/ of black to //.
This creates a very strong impression of a foreign accent, and is
something that should obviously be avoided (Roach (ibid).
This is the end of this lesson; as a summary, it is worth noting that

assimilation is a phonological phenomenon which consists of
change in realisation of a neighbouring phoneme as a result of the
preceding phoneme, that is, the neighbouring phoneme acquires the
features of or changes into another phoneme (normally a
consonant) as a result of the previous phoneme. For example, in
good person, transcribed phonemically d p:s, there is

assimilation of place of articulation because /d/ of good becomes
/p/ from person; thus, we have p p:s. It is equally

important to note that assimilation occurs naturally in rapid speech
(normally with native speakers).
After you have studied the lesson successfully, we expect you to do

the activity below; if you did not learn it successfully, study it
157
again or ask your local tutor to help you and afterwards, do the
activity to check understanding.
Identify the type of assimilation in the following phrases:

1. That site
2. Bright colour
Activity
3. Quite good
Feedback
1. This is a case in which a final plosive /t/ of that t
becomes a fricative /s/ as a result of the initial fricative of
site sat; thus, we have s sat. That is why it is
assimilation of manner of articulation.
2. This is the case in which before a velar consonant, the /t/
will become /k/ in bright colour brak kl, instead of
brat kl; it is assimilation of place.
3. It is also assimilation of place because the velar consonant
/t/ of quite kwat becomes /k/ before a velar consonant
// of good d, thus it becomes kwak d, instead of
kwat d.
158
Lesson 3
Elision
Introduction
When we speak, under certain circumstances sounds disappear, that
is, in certain circumstances a phoneme may be realised as zero, or
have zero realisation or be deleted as Roach (1991: 127) states.
Time

Analyse and identify instances of elision in a phrase or
Lesson utterance.
Outcomes
As with assimilation, elision is typical of rapid, casual speech; the

process of change in phoneme realisations produced by changing
the speed and casualness of speech is sometimes called gradation
(Roach, ibid).
As a foreign learner you do not need to produce elision, but it is

very important to learn it because in your life you will probably
communicate with a variety of people, among them there are native
speakers who normally produce elision when they speak. So, native
speakers of English when talking to each other, quite a number of
phonemes that you might expect to hear are not actually
pronounced (Roach, ibid).
Now let us look at some examples:
159
1. Loss of weak vowel after /p/, /t/, /k/
In words like potato, tomato canary, today, the vowel

in the first syllable may disappear; the aspiration of the
initial plosive takes up the whole of the middle portion of
the syllable, resulting in these pronunciations (where
indicates aspiration): p 'tet; t 'ma:t; k'neri; t 'de
2. Weak vowel + /n/, /l/ or /r/ becomes syllabic consonant.
Examples: tonight tat; police pi:s; correct krekt.
3. Avoidance of complex consonant clusters. It has been said

that no normal English speaker would ever pronounce all
the consonants between the last two words of the following:
George the sixths throne d:d skss rn
Though this is not impossible to pronounce, something like
sksrn is more likely.
4. Loss of final /v/ in of before consonants.
Examples: lots of them lDts m; waste of money
west mni.
Now it is time for you to think about what you have studied in this
lesson.
Summing up, elision is one of the aspects of connected speech

which enables foreign learners to understand native speakers of
English; as we said during the lesson, when people speak, in rapid
speech, they omit phonemes and such omission causes problems
for foreign learners of English as they find it difficult to understand
them.
160
Was the lesson difficult? Ok if it was we suggest that you study it

again and if possible ask a partner or your local tutor to help you. If
you had no problems, please do the exercise below.
Rewrite the phonemic transcription as a broad phonetic one so as

to show likely elisions, in the following words.
Activity 1. Tomato tm:t (broad phonetic transcription)
2. Perhaps phps (broad phonetic)
Feedback
1. In order to show elision we will transcribe the word

phonemically, taking into account all phonological
implications when pronouncing the word; thus, we will
have tm:t; here we can see that the vowel

disappeared or is realised zero, giving place to aspiration of
/t/ phoneme.
2. The same phenomenon occurs for perhaps; we will

transcribe it into phonemic transcription, taking care of all
phonological implications in the course of pronunciation of
the word; thus, it is phps, where we notice that the
schwa vowel has been deleted, giving room to aspiration
of /p/.
161
Lesson 4
Linking
Introduction
In rapid speech we produce assimilation and elision, two aspects
which connect words rather than separate them. In mechanical
speech, all words would be separate units placed next to each other
in sequence; in real connected speech, however, we sometimes link
words together.
Time

Analyse and identify instances of linking in a phrase or
utterance.
Lesson Outcomes
How is linking made?
Linking is the term used for joining two different terms using
Reflection
r, thus, the term linking r.
The most familiar case is the use of linking r; the phoneme /r/
cannot occur in syllable-final position in RP, but when a words
Reading spelling suggests a final /r/, and a word beginning with a vowel
follows, the usual pronunciation for RP speakers is to pronounce
with /r/ (Roach, 1991: 128).
162
For example:
here h but here are hr
four f: but four eggs f:r ez

We can say that in pronouncing the phrases, we do it with /r/.
Many RP speakers use /r/ in a similar way to link words ending

with a vowel even when there is no justification from the
spelling, as in:
Formula A f:mjlr e
Media event mi:dr vent

This has been called intrusive r; it is used to link or connect words.
This was a short lesson and discussed the last aspect of connected
speech linking. For consolidation purposes, do the exercises
below.
Transcribe the following phrases phonemically, showing the

linking r.
1. Australia all out
Activity 2. For him
Feedback
1. strelr :l at
2. fr m
Unit summary
In this unit you learned the four aspects of connected speech
which are very important for foreign learners of English because
Summary native speakers use them quite often and, in order to understand
163
them, it is necessary to be aware of the four aspects (rhythm,

assimilation, elision and linking).
Assessment
Answer the questions below using the knowledge you acquired
in this unit.
Assessment
1. Divide the following sentences up into feet, using the
mark as a boundary symbol. If a sentence starts with an
unstressed syllable, leave it out of consideration it
doesnt belong in a foot.
a. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
b. Newspaper editors are invariably underworked.
2. Draw tree diagrams of the rhythmical structure of the

following phrases.
a. Christmas present
b. Rolls Royce
3. The following sentence is given in spelling and in a

slow, careful phonemic transcription. Rewrite the
phonemic transcription as a broad phonetic one so as to
show likely assimilation, elision and linking.
One cause of asthma is supposed to be allergies.
wn k:z v sm z spzd t bi lz
Feedback
1. a) A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

b) Newspaper editors are in variably under
worked
164
2. a)
s w
s w s w
Christ mas pre sent
b)
w s
Rolls Royce
3. w k:z v smrsspstbi lz
Bibliography
Roach, Peter. English Phonetics and Phonology, A practical Course
2nd Ed, Cambridge, C.U.P., 1991
165
Unit 6
Intonation
Introduction
The previous units focused on description of phoneme, syllable and
stress and connected speech. Stress has linguistic importance and is
therefore an aspect of the phonology of English that must be
described, but it is not usually regarded as something that is related
to individual segmental phonemes; normally, stress is said to be
something that is applied to syllables, and is therefore part of the
suprasegmental phonology of English. Another part of
suprasegmental phonology is intonation, and this unit is devoted to
this subject because when talking people tend to rise and lower the
pitch of their voice, and this has its linguistic significance.
identify some aspects of a speakers pitch;
differentiate form and function in intonation;

Outcomes
Pitch: Sounds or group of sounds in speech which are

relatively higher or lower than others (Richards,
Jack C. et al, 1992:278).
Terminology
Tone: A change in pitch which affects the meaning and
function of utterances in discourse (Richards, Jack
C. et al, 1992:382).
Tone unit: Also called tone group, is the basic unit of

intonation in a language, divided into several parts.
The most important part contains the syllable on
which a change of pitch begins: the tonic syllable
(Richards, Jack C. et al, 1992:382).
This unit has 3 lessons.
167
Lesson 1
What is Intonation?
Forms and function in intonation
Introduction
When speaking, people generally raise and lower the PITCH of their
voice, forming pitch patterns. They also give some syllables in their
utterances a greater degree of loudness and change their speech Rhythm.
These phenomena are called intonation. Intonation does not happen at
random but has definite pattern (patterns in the spoken form of a
language which are usually expressed by variations in pitch, loudness,
syllable length, and sometimes speech rhythm) which can be analysed
according to their structure and functions. Intonation is used to carry
information over and above that which is expressed by the words in the
sentence (Richards, Jack C. et al, 1992:190). In this lesson, you are
going to learn more about the concept of intonation and the forms and
function in intonation (2nd part of the lesson).
Time

Explain the wide range of the concept of intonation;
Distinguish messages from intonation;
Lesson Outcomes
Interprete pitch patterns in a discourse;
Identify the form and function in intonation.
In the introduction we said that intonation is the pitch of the voice

in that, people generally raise and lower the pitch of their voice
when they speak. However, no definition is completely
168
satisfactory, but any attempt at a definition must recognise that the

pitch of the voice plays the most important part. Only in very
unusual situations do we speak with fixed, unvarying pitch, and
when we speak normally the pitch of our voice is constantly
changing. One of the most important tasks in analysing intonation
is to listen to the speakers pitch and recognise what it is doing; this
is not an easy thing to do, and it seems to be a quite different skill
from that acquired in studying segmental phonetics. We describe
pitch in terms of high and low, and some people find it difficult to
relate what they hear in someones voice to a scale ranging from
low to high. We should remember that high and low are
arbitrary choices for end-points of the pitch scale. It would be
perfectly reasonable to think of pitch as ranging instead from
light to heavy, for example, or from left to right.
It is very important to make the point that we are not interested in

all aspects of a speakers pitch; the only things that should interest
us are those which carry some linguistic information. If a speaker
tries to talk while riding fast on a horse, the speakers pitch will
make a lot of sudden rises and falls as a result of the irregular
movement; this is something which is outside the speakers control
and therefore cannot be linguistically significant. Similarly, if we
take two speakers at random we will almost certainly find that one
speaker typically speaks with low pitch than the other; the
difference between the two speakers is not linguistically significant
because their habitual pitch level is determined by their physical
structure. But individual speakers do have control over their own
pitch and may choose to speak with a higher than normal pitch; this
is something which is potentially of linguistic significance (Roach,
1992: (133 134).
To say that the pitch is not linguistically significant means that it does not
carry any linguistic message. In order to carry linguistic messages, we
have established that for pitch differences to be linguistically significant,
169
it is a necessary condition that they should be under the speakers control.

There is another necessary condition and that is that a pitch difference
must be perceptible; it is possible to detect differences in the frequency of
vibration of a speakers voice by means of laboratory instruments. Finally
we must look for contrasts (see minimal pairs).
Summarising, Intonation is the pitch of a speakers voice in a discourse or

when speaking. This lesson has only been about the concept of
intonation. How did you infer it? Was it difficult to understand? If yes,
study the lesson again and then do the exercise below.
Form and function in intonation
To summarise, we want to know the answers to two questions

about English speech:
1. What can we observe when we study pitch variations?
2. What is the linguistic importance of the phenomena we observe?
According to Roach (1992:134), these questions might be

rephrased more briefly as:
1. What is the form of intonation?
2. What is the function of intonation?
As you can see, these two questions will drive us into form and
function in intonation; please pay attention to the examples and
explanations provided; do not forget to focus on the main points.
We will continue with our lesson by looking at intonation in the

shortest piece of speech we can find the single syllable. At this
point, we will explain the concept of utterance, which is a
continuous piece of speech beginning and ending with a clear
pause. For example, two common one-syllable utterances in
English are yes and no. The first thing to notice is that we have
a choice of saying these with the pitch remaining at a constant
level, or with the pitch changing from one level to another. The
170
word we use for the overall behaviour of the pitch in these

examples is tone; a one-syllable word can be said with either a
level tone represented in our utterances as yes or -no or a
moving tone represented in falling as (\yes) or (\no) and in rising
as (/yes) or (/no). If you try saying yes or no with a level tone
you may find the result does not sound natural, and indeed English
speakers do not use level tones on one-syllable utterances very
frequently. Moving tones are more common; if English speakers
want to say yes or no in a definite, final manner they will
probably use falling tone (\) one which descends from a higher to
a lower pitch. If they want to say yes? or no? in a questioning
manner they may say it with a rising tone (/) a movement from a
lower pitch to a higher one (Roach, 1992:135). So, the simple form
of intonation can be level, rising tone and falling tone. There are
other complex tones and pitch height that will be discussed in
lesson 2.
Summarising, Intonation is the pitch of a speakers voice in a discourse or

when speaking; the form of intonation is level tone, falling tone and
rising tone, in simple utterances. The function tells us about the
significance of the tone. This is the end of the lesson; If you did not
understand it, please ask your local tutor to help you or a partner doing
the same course; remember that it is always good to study in groups. Now
check understanding from the exercise below; do not resort to feedback
before you do the exercise yourself.
1. What is necessary for pitch differences to be linguistically

significant?
2. Which form of intonation gives the idea of finality?

Activity
3. Which one is used for questioning?
171
Feedback
1. It is a necessary condition that they should be under the

speakers control; it must be perceptible and contrastive.
2. It is a falling tone.
3. It is a rising tone.
172
Lesson 2
Tone and tone languages

Introduction
In the previous lesson we talked about three simple possibilities for
the intonation used is pronouncing the one-word utterance yes
and no. They were level, fall and rise. In this lesson we will use
symbols to show the tone. Your attention is important here.
Time

Identify and use the symbols used to show tone variation.
Lesson Identify the features of a tone language.
Outcomes
As we said in the introduction, it will often be necessary to use

symbols to represent tones, and for this we use marks placed before
the one-syllable utterance we have been talking about as shown
below:
Level _yes _no
Falling \ yes \ no
Rising / yes / no
If we wish to cover a great number of possibilities, that is, if it was

important to distinguish between a high level and low level tone for
English, we could do it as shown below:
High level yes no
173
Low level yes no
In English language, there are some occasions in which we do say

yes or no and on other occasions yes or no, but no speaker of
English would say that the meaning of yes and no was different
with the different tones. That is, English tones do not produce
difference in meaning as a result of changing tone. But there are
many languages in which the tone can determine the meaning of a
word, and changing from one tone to another can completely
change the meaning. For example, in Kono, a language of West
Africa, we can find the following (Roach, 1992: 136):
High level beng b (meaning uncle) buu (horn)
Low level beng b (meaning greedy) buu (to be cross)
Similarly, while we can hear a difference between English yes,
yes and yes, and between no, no and no, there is not a
difference in meaning as in Chinese (Peking dialect), where, for
example, ma means mother ma, means hemp and ma
means scold. Languages such as the above are called tone
languages.
Summing up, tone languages are those languages in which the tone
can determine the meaning of a word, and changing from one tone
to another can completely change the meaning. was it difficult to
understand the lesson? No? If no, congratulations for the progress;
if yes, study the lesson again and ask for help if you still face
problems. For checking understanding, do the exercise below.
Think of a one-word utterance in your own mother tongue and

state the difference in meaning as you change from one tone to
another.
Activity
174
Feedback
This is an open question in which each student will try to find a

one-word utterance which can change meaning according to
variation of tone.
175
Lesson 3
Some functions of English tone

Introduction
In this lesson we are going to talk about a very small part of
English intonation. We will see if it is possible to state in what
circumstances the different tones are used within the very limited
context of the words yes and no said in isolation. We will look
at some typical occurrences; no examples of extra pitch height will
be considered in this lesson. Please pay attention to the explanation.
Time

Describe the functions of English tones in one-syllable
Lesson words yes and no.
Outcomes
Lets start with Fall yes no
According to Roach (1992:138) this is the tone which least needs

to be said, and which is usually regarded as more or less neutral.
If someone is asked a question and replies yes or no it will be
understood that the question is now answered and that there is
nothing more to be said. The fall could be said to give an
impression of finality.
176
Rise yes or no
In a variety of ways, this tone conveys an impression that

something more is to follow; a typical occurrence in a dialogue
between two speakers whom we shall call A and B might be the
following:
A (wishing to attract Bs attention): Excuse me.
B: yes
(Bs reply is, perhaps, equivalent to what do you want?).
Another example is that when we give directions, the person being

given direction will use rise tone as in the example below.
A: turn left at the first roundabout.
B: yes
A: and our house is the second on the left.
In A: Have you seen John?
If B replies no, he implies quite clearly that he has no interest in

continuing with that topic of conversation. But a reply of no would
be an invitation to A to explain why she is looking for John, or why
she does not where she is.
Similarly, someone may ask a question that implies readiness to

present some new information. For example:
A: Do you know what the longest balloon flight was?
If B replies no he is inviting A to tell him, while a response of

no could be taken to mean that he does not know and is not
expecting to be told.
177
Fall-rise yes no
The fall-rise is used a lot in English and has some rather special
functions. In the present context we will only consider one fairly
simple one, which could perhaps be described as limited
agreement or response with reservations. Example:
A: Ive heard that its a good school.
B: yes
Bs reply would be taken to mean that he would not completely

agree with what A said, and A would probably expect B to go on to
explain why he was reluctant to agree. Similarly:
A: its not really an expensive record, is it?
B: no
The fall-rise in Bs reply again indicates that he would not

completely agree with A. fall-rise in such contexts almost always
indicates both something given or conceded and at the same
time some reservation or hesitation.
This is used to convey rather strong feelings or approval,

disapproval or surprise. It is not usually considered to be an
important tone for foreign learners to acquire, though it is still
useful practice to learn to distinguish it from other tones.
Examples:
A: You wouldnt do an awful thing like that, would you?
B: no
A: Isnt the view lovely!
B: yes
A: I think you said it was the best so far.
B: yes
178
Level _ yes _ no
This tone is certainly used in English, but in a rather restricted

context: it almost always conveys (on single- syllable utterances) a
feeling of saying something routine, uninteresting or boring. A
teacher calling the names of pupils from a register will often do so
using a level tone on each name, and the pupils would be likely to
respond with _ yes when their name was called. Similarly, if one is
being asked a series of routine questions for some purpose such as
applying for an insurance policy, one might reply to each question
of a series like Have you ever been in prison?, Do you suffer
from any serious illness?, Is your eyesight defective?, etc, with
_ no (Roach, 1992: 140).
Summing up, a few meanings have been suggested for the five
tones that have been introduced (fall, rise, fall-rise, rise-fall and
level), but each tone may have many more such meanings.
Moreover, it would be quite wrong to conclude that in the above
examples only the tones given would be appropriate; it is, in fact,
almost impossible to find context where one could not substitute a
different tone. This is not the same thing as saying that any tone
can be used in any context; the point is that no particular tone has a
unique privilege of occurrence in a particular context (Roach,
ibid).
This is the end of the lesson and of the unit.
Now read the exercise below and answer the questions before you
resort to the answer key. If you do not succeed to do the exercise,
study the lesson again focusing your attention on explanations and
examples. Remember that you can also ask your local tutor to help
you.
179
What is likely to happen in the following As question asking B?

A: Do you know Alex?
Activity
Feedback
One possible reply from B would be yes, inviting A to continue

with what he/she intends to say about Alex after establishing that B
knows him (Alex).
To reply instead yes, with a falling tone would give a feeling of

finality, of end of the conversation; that is, if A did have something
to say about Alex, the response with a fall ( ) would make it
difficult for A to continue.
Unit summary
In this unit you learned some form and function of intonation in
one-word utterances, yes and no, tone and tone languages and
Summary some functions of English tones. Tone languages are those in
which the tone can determine the meaning of a word, and
changing from one tone to another can completely change the
meaning.
The form of intonation is level tone, falling tone and rising tone, in
simple utterances. The function tells us about the significance of
the tone.
180
Assignment
No assignment is recommended for this unit.
Assignment
Assessment
In the following sentences and bits of dialogue, each underlined
syllable must be given an appropriate tone mark. Write a tone
Assessment mark just in front of each of the syllables.
1. This train is for Leeds, York and Durham
2. Can you give me a lift?
Possibly Where to?
3. No! Certainly not! Go away!
Feedback
1. This train is for Leeds, York and Durham.
2. Can you give me a lift
Possibly Where to
3. No Certainly not Go a way
181
Bibliography
1. RICHARDS, Jack C et al. Dictionary of Language Teaching &

Applied Linguistics, 2nd Ed, UK: Longman, 1992
2. ROACH, Peter, English Phonetics and Phonology, 2nd Ed,

Cambridge: C.U.P. 1992
182
English Phonetics and Phonology is a language awareness course for students who need
English language skills for teaching purposes. It provides a sound basis for the study of
English language to students of TEFL. Moreover, it ensures complete motivation through
interesting situations and enjoyable activities.
Students are advised to study this module in groups. There is no problem if you live far from
your mates, however, make sure that you meet your colleagues regularly.
Enjoy your studies!
183

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MODULE

English Phonetics and

Universidade Pedagogica 2013

made to Universidade Pedaggica and to the Authors of the module.

Universidade Pedagogica 2013

Fax: +258 21 320860-2

Instructional Designing: Elias Peter

Language Review: Cristina Loforte

Graphic Designing: Valdincio Florncio Paulo

Edition: Valdincio Florncio Paulo

Getting around this Module 7

Unit summary ............................................................................................................... 163

2. KENWORTHY, Joanne. Language in Action: An Introduction to Modern Linguistics,

3. POOLE, Stuart C. An Introduction to Linguistics, New York, Palgrave, 1991

About this module

How this Module is structured?

If the course is suitable for you.

What you will already need to know.

What you can expect from the course.

The overview also provides guidance on:

Where to get help.

Course assignments and assessments.

We strongly recommend that you read the overview carefully

The course content

An introduction to the unit content.

Core content of the unit with a variety of learning activities.

Assignments and/or assessments, as applicable.

Course content and structure.

Course reading materials and resources.

Course support (assigned tutors, technical help, etc.)

Your constructive feedback will help us to improve and enhance

Welcome to English Phonetics

This course is intended for students who want to have knowledge

Have knowledge of the English phonemic system

How long? There will be 16 contact hours and

134 self-study expected hours.

Essentially you will be taking control of your learning environment. As a

We recommend that you take time nowbefore starting your self-

The How to study web site is dedicated to study skills resources.

Another How to study web site with useful links to time

Help Faculty of Languages: English Department

All assignments will be submitted to the local tutors, who, in turn,

Assessments All the assessments will be lecturer-marked assessments.

The assessments will take place after each contact sessions.

The assessment results are expected to be delivered to the students

Getting around this Module

Activity Assessment Assignment Case study

Discussion Group activity Help Note it!

Outcomes Reading Reflection Study skills

Summary Terminology Time Tip

Due to copyright issues, we are not going to use a variety of

Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

Use the knowledge of the English phonemic system

Vowels: Sounds produced with relatively free flow of air.

Consonants: Sounds produced with an obstruction to the flow

Diphthongs: Sounds which are pronounced with a glide or

Triphthongs: Sounds pronounced with a glide or

to the third. e.g. eI.

There are 10 lessons in this unit.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Lesson 2. distinguish and characterize the branches of phonetics;

You have 60 minutes to study this lesson.

Poole (1999:41), defines phonetics as the study of the speech

What is the purpose of phonetics?