Unit 4 (Agosto / Septiembre) - The English consonants. Classification (voice-place-manner).

Incomplete release. Devoicing and fullvoicing. Linking “r”. Plurals, genitive and verbal
inflections. Lateral-nasal release. - Instability of final alveolars. - Semi vowels. Description.

Unit 5 (Octubre) - Types of pronunciation. R.P. ,General American, Scottish English, London
English, Northern English, Australian English. - The comparison with Argentinean sounds as
well as examples of every sound will be asked at any time

CONSONANTS. 24

Characterisitics. FIVE

VOICED or VOICELESS

SPEECH SOUND PROPER or CONSCIOUSLY PRODUCED GLIDES

The air can pass through the mouth, ORAL or nose, NASAL SOUNDS. When the velum is raised
the sound is oral and when the velum is lowered, it is nasal

PRODUCED WITH FRICTION, NARROWING OR OBSTRUCTION IN THE MOUTH CAVITY (It means
that the tongue moves touching the organs into the mouth cavity)

Consonant sounds cannot be: THE HEART OF THE SYLLABLE (except for some of them under
certain circumstances)

Classification. FIVE

According to voice: voiced / voiceless

According to muscular tension (energy):

lenis (you produce less energy) voiced
fortis (more energy) voiceless

According to the position of the velum:

oral (when the velum is raised) / nasal (when the velum is lowered)

According to the manner of articulation (type of release):

Plosive: The airstream is blocked, then the blockage is released causing compressed air,
producing plosion.

Fricative: The mouth passage isn’t completely closed, but it is narrowed at some point. The air
is forcing and it’s way past the obstruction produces friction.

Affricate: the airstream is blocked but it’s released slowly causing friction. Plosive and fricative

Nasal: there is a complete blockage in the oral cavity. The air escapes through the nose.

Lateral: there is a blockage btw the center of the tongue and the palate. The air escapes
through the slides of the tongue.

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Approximant: There is an approximation btw articulators. The vocal tract is narrowed but not
cause friction. They are like vowels.

According to the place of articulation:

Bilabial, lower and upper lips
alveolar sounds, blade and alveolar ridge
post-alveolar sounds, tip of the tongue and back part of the alveolar ridge
palato-alveolar sounds, blade and alveolar ridge
velar sounds, back of the tongue and velum
labio-dental, lower and upper teeth
dental sounds, tip of the tongue and upper teeth
glottal
palatal sounds, front of the tongue and hard palate
vilarised-bilabial
Some consonant sounds will be produced with COMPLETE CLOSURE, some with PARTIAL
CLOSURE, some with NARROWING WITH FRICTION and some with NARROWING WITHOUT
FRICTION.

According to the manner of articulation.

Plosives.

voiceless voiced
/p/ fortis, oral, plosive, bilabial /b/ lenis, oral, plosive, bilabial
/t/ fortis, oral, plosive, alveolar /d/ lenis, oral, plosive, alveolar
/k/ fortis, oral, plosive, velar /g/ lenis, oral, plosive, velar

voiceless voiced
/s/ fortis, oral, fricative, /z/ lenis, oral, fricative, alveolar
alveolar /v/ lenis, oral, fricative, labio-
/f/ fortis, oral, fricative, labio- dental
dental /ʒ/ lenis, oral, fricative, palato-
/ʃ/ fortis, oral, fricative, palato- alveolar
alveolar /ð/ lenis, oral, fricative, dental
/θ/ fortis, oral, fricative, dental
/h/ fortis, oral, fricative, glottal

voiceless voiced
/tʃ/ fortis, oral, affricate, /dʒ/ lenis, oral, affricate,
palato-alveolar palato-alveolar

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 voiced
/w/ lenis, vilarized-bilabial,
semi vowel
/j/ lenis, palatal, semi vowel
/r/ lenis, palato-alveolar,
approximant
/l/ lenis, alveolar, lateral
/m/ lenis, bilabial, nasal
/n/ lenis, alveolar, nasal
/ŋ/ lenis, velar, nasal

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ALLOPHONES

Phoneme: smallest unit of sound. You change a phoneme, you change meaning.
Example: / ‘sɪt / /'fɪt/

ALLOPHONE: It’s the variation of a phoneme in context. If you don’t use an allophone or
change it, you won’t change meaning but you will sound awkward. / 'thɒp /

ASPIRATION

it affects voiceless fortis plosives

/p/ /t/ /k/ + vowel sounds (followed)
in stressed positions
not preceded by /s/ (within the word) space
it is marked with a [h] following the plosives because it is an aspirate.Example: /'Phɒt/
strong aspiration: in initial position ‘pen
weak aspiration : at the end ‘pot
always is within the word
non-homorganic

It is the voiceless interval btw the liberation of a plosive and the voicing of the following vowel.
It’s heard as an extra puff of air. The voiceless sound needs a puff of air.

DEVOICING: refers to the loss vibrating in the v.f

It affects plosives, fricatives, affricates and they are voiced consonant sounds.
Preceded + /b/ /d/ /g/ /v/ /z/ /ʒ/ /ð/ /ʤ/ : 8 + followed voiceless consonant sounds
it is marked with a [o].
Example: / 'b̥ɪg̊/
within the word or at the word boundary
non-homorganic and homorganic

This means that fully voiced sounds loses part of their voice under these conditions. The
process by which a consonant that is usually voiced becomes devoiced
when it is at the very beginning, it loses vibration bc the v.f take a bit time to start vibrating.
when it is at very end, the v.f stop vibrating before reaching the end of the sound. The brain
sends a message to stop.

DEVOICING AS A RESULT OF ASPIRATION

/p/ /t/ /k/ + /l/ /r/ (fricative) /w/ /j/ followed
in a stressed position
not preceded by /s/ splash
Example: / 'pl ̥eɪ /
non-homorganic and homorganic

The latter are devoiced as a result of aspiration. They lose voice.

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DEVOICING OF NASAL
the bilabial and alveolar nasals are partially devoiced ONLY when preceded by a
voiceless consonant + /m/ and /n/
Examples: / 'sm˳ɔː ɫ /
within the word or at the word boundary
non-homorganic

They are partially (not completely )devoiced only when preceded by a voiceless c.

RELEASES: in the first stage, the air comes out in different ways.
stages:
closure: the articulators are approaching
compression (stop): the articulators form a complete obstruction
release: the air let out abruptly

-INCOMPLETE or non-audible
/b/ /d/ /g/ /p/ /t/ /k/ + /b/ /d/ /g/ /p/ /t/ /k/ʤ/tʃ/
two plosives, or plosive and an affricate come together.
within the word or at the word boundary
homorganic (same organs involved) or non-homorganic (different organs involved).
it is marked with a [ ]̚ in between the sounds involved.
Example: /ˈnæp kɪn / /lukt/

The first sound is normally released together with the second plosive or affricate. We don’t
hear the first plosive because the first plosive is unreleased .

-NASAL
Plosives are followed by a nasal
/b/ /d/ /g/ /p/ /t/ /k/ + /m/ or /n/
within a word or at word boundary.
homorganic or non-homorganic.
it is marked with a [ɴ] in between the sounds involved.
Example: /ˈmɪdɴnaɪt /

The release stage of the plosive is together with the nasal sound. The air escapes through the
nose. Instead of ploring your plosion, you’ re lowered your soft palate and the air goes through
the nasal tract.

-LATERAL
alveolar plosives is followed by the alveolar fricative
/t/ /d/ + /l/
within the word or at word boundary
it is always homorganic
it is marked with a [ʟ] within the sounds involved
Examples: /ˈmɪdʟɫ̩ / ǝtʟ 'lɑːst /

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The release of a plosive is released laterally.

DENTALIZATION

Alveolars are followed by the dental fricatives

/t/ /d/ /n/ /l/ + /θ/ and /ð/
it is marked with a [ ]̪ below the alveolar sound.
within the word or at word boundary
Examples: / ɔːɫ̪ˈðəʊ / / 'd˳əʊnt̪'θɪŋk /

The liberation stage of these consonants is dentalized. They become dental bc the tongue
anticipate the following sound.

Types of /l/ sound

CLEAR /l/
it occurs when it is
at the beginning of words
between vowel sounds
before /j/ ila semivowel

DARK /ɫ/
occurs when it is
before consonant sounds
before /w/ ula semivowel
pauses (end)
Clear /l/ = / 'lɒŋ / / əˈlaʊd / / 'ɔːl ˈjeləʊ /
Dark /ɫ/ = / 'weɫθ / / 'nɒt ǝt 'ɔːɫ/

The back of the tongue is closer to the velar. The tongue is curled.

Types of /r/ sound

-Approximant /r/
it occurs
at the beginning of words
between vowel sounds
after voiced consonant sounds except /d/
as a linking /r/ and the intrusive /r/
it is marked with a [ɹ̬ ]

/ 'ɹ̬ɪŋ / /ˈæɹ̬əʊ /

-Fricative /r/

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it occurs
voiceless consonant sounds and /d/ + R (after)
it is marked with a [ ɹ ]

/ 'fɹɒg° / / 'd˳ɹaɪv˳ /

-Tap /r/
it occurs only
/θ/ voiceless dental fricative + R (after)
it is marked with a [ʕ ]
Examples: / 'θʕiː /

Syllabicity

it affects the most sonorous consonants

consonant sounds + /m/ /n/ /l/ and /r/
it occurs in unstressed position. When the schwa is followed by these consonants, they take
place the vowel SCHWA and they become the heart of the syllable. The schwa is not heard and
the consonants became syllabic.
Nasal sounds are sonorous bc the airflow resonates through nasal cavity even when the oral
cavity stops. And the alveolar (l) and the approximant (r) they are sonorous too bc the air is
allowed to flow around the tongue.
within a word
it is marked with a [ ˌ ] below the sound

/ˈb˳ɒ,tnm˳/

Voicing of /h/

voiceless, glottal, fricative

/h/ is in between vowel sounds
within a word
it is marked with a [ɦ]
Examples: / b˳ɪˈɦaɪnd˳/

it cannot stop vibrating

Types of pronunciation.

RP (received pronunciation) standard pronunciation, there is acceptable

Received Pronunciation, or RP for short, is the instantly recognisable accent often described as
'typically British'. Popular terms for this accent, such as 'the Queen's English', 'Oxford English'
or 'BBC English' are all a little misleading.

prefined: speak by the royal family, education, military people, you sound more posh
regional: it’s a variety depends on you came from (cordoba, entre ríos)
london regional: Estuary English is an English accent associated with the area along the River
Thames and its estuary, including London.

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general: the sound is neutral, the listeners didn't know where they were coming from.

there’s a difference in the younger generation

-no accents
-non-rhotic: the /r/ sound is often not pronounced.
-the diphthong /eə/ is realized monophthongally as /3:/
-final /i/ replaced by /i:/ like in happy

General American (GA), standard pronunciation

The variety of English spoken in the greater part of the US, particularly with reference to the
lack of regional characteristics.
There is a division for pronunciation into Eastern, New England and New York City, Southern
between Virginia to Texas and General, all the remaining area.

It uses for the networks.

major differences between GA and RP:

-GA lacks the RP diphthongs /ɪə/ /eə/ /ʊə/ which correspond in GA to sequences of short
vowel plus by /r/ like in fare /fer/
-words which have /o/ like pocket or bottle are pronounced like /a:/
-In RP has /a:/ but in GA has /æ/
before a voiceless fricative like in æftər
before a nasal followed by another consonant plænt
-every /r/ is pronounced and the tongue is curled further backwards. APPROXIMANT
Are there more birds.
-dark L in all positions

London English or Cockney

The London English or Cockney is as much a class dialect as a regional one, unlike general
American and standard Scottish english.
Dialect: it means that there’s a difference btw grammar, spelling,vocabulary.
Lower class spoke it

-The h (voiceless glottal fricative) sound at the start of words is not pronounced. As in house
/’haʊs/ becomes /’aʊs/.
-The ð (voiced lenis dental fricative) sound is replaced by a v (voiced lenis labio-dental fricative)
sound. E.g. /’brʌðə/ becomes bruvah, leather becomes levah.
-The θ (voiceless fortis dental fricative) sound is replaced by an f (voiceless fortis labio-dental
fricative) sound. E.g. /θæŋk ju:/ becomes /fæŋk ju:/
-dark l becomes U (milk, miuk)

Northern English
The English language in Northern England has been shaped by the region's history of
settlement and migration, and today encompasses a group of related dialects known as
Northern England English (or, simply, Northern English in the United Kingdom).

-/ei/ into /e:/ like /fe:s/

-/uə into /ɔ:/ like /snɔ:/
-final /I/ into /i:/: like siti:
- /æ/ always

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Standard Scottish English (same as GA)
Scottish Standard English may be defined as "the characteristic speech of the professional class
[in Scotland] and the accepted norm in schools".

-These diphthongs /ɪə/ /eə/ /ʊə/ don’t exist and others tend to be long vowels.
-rhotic: it means that /r/ is pronounced. TAP
before consonants and at the end of words
-/a:/ and /æ/ are pronounced in the same way like ant, aunt
The same happens with /u:/ and /u/

Australian English (same as Cookney)

It is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia

They tend to abbreviate

-/I:/ and /u:/ become /əi/ like beat and /əu/ like goose
-non-rhotic like working
-there’s a regular t-voicing like university

Caribbean english
Islands where English is spoken as a first language: Jamaica, Trinidad (Tobago) and Barbados,
Guyana

-The absence of /ə/, this vowel is usually replaced by /æ/

e.g.father ['fɑ:dæ], woman ['wumæn].
The centring diphthongs: /ɪæ/ /eæ/ /ʊæ/ instead of /ɪə/ /eə/ /ʊə/
e.g. beer /beæ/.
-The absence of /θ/ replaced /t/ in words such as think and three and /ð/ replaced /d/ in
words such as this and then.
-/v/ replaced /b/ e.g river /ribæ/

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