Phonology

- It studies speech sounds and manual units and how they change in different contexts within
and among languages.
- Phonology tells us what sounds are in a language, how they do and can combine into words,
and explains why certain phonetic features are important to identify a word.
- The study of how speech sounds form patterns.

Phonetics is the scientific study of human speech sound systems and how they are produced,
received, and transmitted.

The word phonetics has been used in English since the 1800s, and it comes from the Greek
phonetikos, "vocal," which in turn has the root word phone, "voice or sound."

The Branches of Phonetics

1. Articulatory Phonetics - It is the study of the way the vocal organs are used to produce
speech sounds. (how sounds are produced)
2. Auditory Phonetics - It is the study of the physical properties of speech sounds. (how sounds
are received)
3. Acoustic Phonetics - It is the study of the way people perceive speech sounds, in other
words, it investigates the hearing process. (how sounds are transmitted)

Phonemes are the basic unit of sound.

The phonemic transcription tells us exactly how to pronounce words. Each sound (phoneme) is
represented by a letter or symbol from the English phonemic chart, which is derived from the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) - this means that no matter how crazy a word’s spelling is we
can always examine the phonemes to understand exactly how to pronounce it.

There are 44 phonemes in the English language (20 vowels and 24 consonant sounds). The 44
phonemes include:

● 18 consonants (b, c, d, f, etc.),

● Six digraphs (two consonants working together to create a new sound, i.e. 'sh' / ʃ / or ‘th’ /θ/ or
/ð/),
● 12 monophthongs (vowels that make a single sound, i.e. the 'a' in cat) and,
● Eight diphthongs (a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, i.e. the
'oi' /ɔɪ/ sound in coin).

The 44 phonemes of English can be found in the English phonemic chart.

Phonological rules

Each language's phonological system contains rules which govern the pronunciation of phonemes.

Phonological rules are related to the spoken or written principles which control the changes in
sounds during speech.

These describe the process of articulation (how a speaker produces speech sounds stored in the
brain). Phonological rules help us understand which sounds change, what they change to, and
where the change happens.

Assimilation

Assimilation is the process of changing one feature of a sound to make it similar to another.

This rule can be applied to the English plural system:

● The -s can change from voiced to voiceless depending on whether the preceding consonant is
voiced or unvoiced.

So, the English plural -s can be pronounced in different ways depending on the word it is part of, for
example:
 ● In the word snakes, the letter 's' is pronounced /s/.
● In the word baths, the letter 's' is pronounced /z/.
● In the word dresses, the letter 's' is pronounced /ɪz/.

Dissimilation

Dissimilation is the process of changing one feature of a sound to make it different.

This type of rule makes two sounds more distinguishable. It can help non-native speakers to
pronounce words.

● The pronunciation of the word chimney [ˈʧɪmni] as chimley [ˈʧɪmli], with the change of [n] to an
[l].

Insertion

Insertion is the process of adding an extra sound between two others.

For example, we usually insert a voiceless stop between a nasal and a voiceless fricative to make it
easier for English speakers to pronounce a word.

● In the word strength /strɛŋθ/, we add the sound 'k' and it becomes /strɛŋkθ/.
● In the word hamster /hæmstə/, we add the sound 'p' and it becomes /hæmpstə/.

Deletion

Deletion is the process of not pronouncing a sound (consonant, vowel, or whole syllable) present in
a word or phrase, to make it easier to say.

For example:

In the phrase “you and me” [ju: ənd mi:] it is possible not to say the sound /d/.

● You and me [ju:ənmi:].

This also occurs in some words:

● /h/ in him [ɪm].

● /f/ in fifth [fɪθ].
Speech sounds are separated according to their place of articulation and manner of articulation.

Places of articulation refer to where the articulators make contact in the vocal tract to create
consonant sounds. There are eight places of articulation:

● Bilabial: contact between the lips;

○ The English sounds [p], [b], and [m] are the bilabial sounds.
○ Example: man [m], pin [p], bed [b].
● Labio-dental: contact between the lower lip and the upper teeth;
○ The English sounds [f] and [v] are the labio-dental sounds.
○ Example: van [v], fan [f].
● Dental: contact between the tip of the tongue and the area just behind the upper teeth;
○ The English sounds [θ] and [ð] are the dental sounds.
○ Example: thing [θ], this [ð].
● Alveolar: contact between the tongue and the Alveolar ridge (this is the ridged area between
the upper teeth and the hard palate);
○ The English sounds [t], [d], [n], [s], [z], [l] are the alveolar sounds.
○ Example: stop [t], debt [d], run [n], suit [s], zoo [z], loop[l].
● Palatal: contact between the tongue and the hard palate or Alveolar ridge;
○ In English, [j] is the only palatal sound.
○ Example: yet [j].
● Post-alveolar: contact between the tongue and the back of the Alveolar ridge;
 ○ The English sounds [ʃ], [tʃ], [ʒ], and [dʒ] are post-alveolar sounds.
○ Example: sheep [ʃ], chill [tʃ] occasion [ʒ], and jump [dʒ].
● Velar: contact between the tongue and the soft palate;
○ The English sounds [k], [g], and [ŋ] are velar sounds.
○ Example: king [k], get [g], ring [ŋ].
● Glottal: restriction of the airflow at the glottis.
○ In the English, [h] is the only glottal sound.
○ Example: happy [h].

Manner of articulation is about how sounds are produced by the 'articulators'. Articulators are the
organs in the vocal tract that enable human beings to make sounds.

Here are some examples of the types of manners of articulation.

1. Plosives or stops

In phonetics, a plosive consonant, also known as a stop, is made when the vocal tract is closed and
the airflow is blocked as it leaves the body. The blockage can be made with the tongue, lips, teeth, or
glottis.

When analyzing a plosive, we consider the way the articulators are used (lips, tongue, palate); we
check the closure of the airstream and the release of the airstream when the vocal organs separate.
Manner of articulation: plosives examples:

In English, there are six plosives:

PLOSIVES

BILABIAL p, b

ALVEOLAR t, d

VELAR g, k

/ p /: purse, pot

/ b /: bell, bottle

/ t /: talk, stopped

/ d /: done, played

/ k /: kite, cone, queen, chronic, excited

/ g /: gone, exhaust

2. Fricatives

Like plosives, fricatives are restricted as they leave the body. We can use teeth, lips, or tongue to
limit the flow of air. Unlike plosives, fricatives are longer sounds (you can sustain a fricative, like the
phoneme / f /, but you can't sustain a plosive, like a phoneme / p /). Some fricatives have a hiss-like
quality. These are called sibilants. In the English language, there are two sibilants: / s / and / z /. For
example, sick, zip, and sun.

In English, there are nine fricatives:

FRICATIVES

DENTAL ð, θ

LABIODENTAL f, v

ALVEOLAR s, z

POST-ALVEOLAR ʃ, ʒ

GLOTTAL h

The fricative sounds / z, ð, v, ʒ / are voiced, and the sounds / h, s, θ, f, ʃ / are voiceless.

Manner of articulation: fricatives examples:

Voiced fricatives:

/ v /: vat, van

/ ð /: then, them

/ z /: zip, zoom

/ ʒ /: casual, treasure

Voiceless fricatives:

/ f /: fat, far

/ s /: site, cycle

/ h /: help, high

/ ʃ /: ship, she

/ θ /: think, north

3. Affricates

Affricates are also known as semi-plosives and are created by combining a plosive and a fricative
consonant. There are two affricatives: / tʃ / and / dʒ /.

Both sounds are post-alveolar, which means we create them with the tongue behind the alveolar
ridge (part of the palate just behind your upper teeth, before the hard palate). The sound / tʃ / is a
voiceless affricate, while the sound / dʒ / is a voiced affricate.

/ tʃ /: chair, choose

/ dʒ /: jump, jet

4. Nasals

Nasal consonants, also known as nasal stops, are made by blocking the airflow from the mouth, so it
comes out of the nose instead. In nasal vowels, by contrast, the sound is generated by lowering the
soft palate to allow the airflow out of both mouth and nose.

The consonants / m, n, ŋ / are not caused by the nose, but by the tongue or lips that prevent the
airflow. Because of the vibration of the vocal cords, we consider nasal consonants voiced.

There are three nasal consonants: / m, n, ŋ /.

/ m /: mirror, melody

/ n /: name, nose
/ ŋ /: working, long

NASAL

BILABIAL m

ALVEOLAR n

VELAR ŋ

5. Approximants

Without any contact, approximants are also known as frictionless continuants, created by air moving
between the vocal organs. Approximants, also known as lateral sounds, are created by allowing the
airflow to leave the sides of the mouth.

There are four approximant groups, as follows:

Bilabial approximant: the sound made by the lips almost closing but without any contact.

With / w / in words like where wind and we.

Palatal approximant: the sound is made by the middle of the tongue almost touching the palate.

With / j / in words like yell, yes, and you.

Bilabial and palatal approximants are semi-vowels, as the sound /w/ is similar to /u/ and /j/ is similar to
/i/. Semi-vowels have a similar sound to vowels, but they are not vowels because they are
non-syllabic. Non-syllabic means they have no nucleus for a syllable.

Alveolar approximants

Alveolar lateral approximant: the sound is created by the tip tongue forming a closure with the
alveolar ridge allowing the airflow to leave by the sides.

With / l / in words like mall, hall, and like.

Alveolar frictionless approximant: the sound is created by the tongue tip almost making contact
with the alveolar ridge.

With / r / in words like rose, run, and red.