Descriptive Grammar of English Part 1: Phonetics and Phonology dr Iwona Kokorniak (with contribution from dr Jarosław Weckwerth) 4th January 2009.

Descriptive Grammarof English

Part 1:Phonetics

and Phonology

dr Iwona Kokorniak

(with contribution from dr Jarosław Weckwerth)

4th January 2009

2

English assimilation

Alveolar plosive and nasal sounds (t d n)

Change their place of articulation

To that of the following sound – velar or bilabial

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English assimilation: alveolar plosive

/t/ > /p/ before /p, b, m/e.g.: that person sat boldly fat mouse

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/t/ > /k/ before /k, g/e.g.: fat king smart girl

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/d/ > /b/ before /p, b, m/e.g.: bad person bad boy bad mother

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/d/ > /g/ before /k, g/e.g.: bad king bad girl

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English assimilation: alveolar nasal

/n/ > /m/ before /p, b, m/e.g.: sun bed sun protector sun movement

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English assimilation: alveolar nasal

/n/ > /ŋ/ before /k, g/e.g.: run quickly run gracefully

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English assimilation: fricatives

Alveolar fricatives /s z/ can change only to post-alveolar fricatives

/s z/ >/ʃ ʒ/ But no change in voicing!!! /s/ > /∫/ before /∫, t∫, d, j/ /z/ > /ʒ/ before /∫, t∫, d, j/

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English assimilation: fricatives

/s/ > /∫/ before /∫, t∫, d , j / E.g. this church

/z/ > /ʒ/ before /∫, t∫, d ,j/ E.g. these churches

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Alv. fricative place assimilation

this shoe

ðɪs ʃu: ðɪʃ ʃu:only if a post-alv. fricative

on the right

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English assimilation: summary

It is an optional process In connected speech More frequent in less formal situations

One ofphonostylistic processes

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A special case

would you?

wʊd juwʊdʒ juwʊdʒu

placeassimilation (?)

coalescence

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Coalescence Alveolar plosive or fricative Followed by /j/ 1st step: post-alveolar affricate

or fricative, /j/ stays 2nd step: /j/ disappears

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Coalescent assimilation Frequent phrases with you:

what you, could you, did you But may also occur

with other cases of /j/this year, bad Europe,is young, what use, etc. etc.

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Other assimilations: manner

Assimilation of manner Only in really fast speech

in the

ɪnðə ɪnnə

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Other assimilations: manner

Usually affects /ð/ in unstressed words

An example ofprogressive = perserverativeassimilation (left to right)

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Other assimilations: voice Very rare in English Only for a few fixed phrases

have to, of course

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Other assimilations: voice

'hæv tə 'hæftəəv 'kɔːrs əf'kɔːrs

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Elision = deletion Another phonostylistic process

Sounds are elided = deleted

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Elision

Alveolar plosive /t d/ elision

The most frequent

Quite similar to Polish

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Alv. plosive elision An alv. plosive may be deleted

At the end of a syllableAfter a consonant of the same voicing

If another consonant follows(but not /h/)

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Alveolar plosive elision

In other words, elision is common when:

a voiceless continuant + /t/ followed by a word with an initial consonant

/st, ft, ∫t/ + consonant e.g.: ‘next day’, ‘just one’,

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a voiced continuant + /d/ followed by a word with an initial consonant

/nd, ld, zd, ðd, vd/ + consonant e.g.: ‘bend back’

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word final clusters voiceless stop/affricate +/t/: /pt, kt,

t∫t/ voiced stop/affricate +/d/: /bd, gd/ may lose the final alveolar stop when the following word has an initial

consonant, e.g. ‘helped me’, lagged behind’,

‘judged fairly’

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/h/ elision

the loss of /h/ in pronominal weak forms

e.g. ‘him, his’ and other consonantal elisions typical of weak forms

auxiliary ‘have’: could have

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/h/ elision

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Elision of /ə/

weak vowels are dropped in casual speech, especially /ə/

initial /ə/ is often elided particularly when followed by a

continuant and preceded by a word-final consonant

e.g. ‘not alone’ [not `ləυn], ‘he was annoyed’

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Elision of /ə/

When final /ə/ occurs with following linking /r/ and word initial vowel, /ə/ may be elided, e.g.

‘father and son’

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Elision of /ə/

When a weak vowel precedes /w, l, r/ then the vowel is deleted and the next consonant will become syllabic.am

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A good source Maidment, J.

and Garcia Lecumberri, M.L.:English transcription course

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Another good source Notes on pronunciation

and phoneticsin Wells’ and Jones’ dictionaries

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Yet another good source Collins, B. and Mees, I.

Practical phonetics and phonology

‘The surprises of connected speech’

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Connected speech Assimilation and elision are

phonostylistic processes Because they depend on the

style of speaking Formal vs. informal, slow vs. fast (But remember: voicing

assimilationin Polish is obligatory)

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Connected speech But there are also other

processes in connected speech E.g. linking and intrusive R

(examples of liaison) And weak forms

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Rhoticity Standard British English, Australian, New Zealand etc.are non-rhotic

/r/ pronouncedonly before a vowel

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All varieties

right /raɪt/pride /praɪd/bury /'beri/

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Non-rhotic varieties

car /kɑː/stored /stɔːd/word /wɜːd/

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Liaison –Linking R

British English – a non-rhotic variety It retains word-final post-vocalic /r/

as a linking form when the following word begins with

a vowel and where ‘r’ occurs in the spelling

Thus, spelling justification needed for linking /r/

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Linking R

far out /fɑːr aʊt/4-8 /fɔːr eɪt/

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Intrusive R By analogy to linking R... ...in non-rhotic varieties only /r/ may be pronounced if

/ɑː ɜː ɔː ə/ are followed by a vowel

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Intrusive R

there is no spelling justification for /r/ to appear

law and order /lɔːr ənd ɔːdə/

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Intrusive R

a spa in the UK /spɑːr ɪn/drawing /drɔːrɪŋ/

the idea is /aɪdɪər ɪz/

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Linking J

In vocalic junctures - where the first word ends in / i: ı eı aı oı/

another word starts with a vowel a slight linking / j / may be heard

between two vowels, e. g. my arms

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Linking J: Zoom

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Linking J

not sufficient to be equated with phonemic /j/, e.g. ‘my ears’ vs. my years

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Linking W

linking [ w ] may be heard between a final /u: υə aυ/ and a following vowel

e.g. ’two-eyed’, ’too wide’

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Casual speech processes

AssimilationRegressive vs. ProgressiveOf place of articulation vs. Manner or

art. Vs. voicing Elision Liaison

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Weak forms Consider the ‘theoretical’ form This book is for John

ðɪs bʊk ɪz fɔː dʒɒn Actually, in connected speech

ðɪs bʊks fə dʒɒn

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Weak forms

ðɪs bʊks fə dʒɒn This may sometimes (but not

always!)be reflected in the spelling:

This book’s for John

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Weak forms In normal speech... ...function words... ...appear practically always... ...in their weak forms

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Function words? Articles Prepositions Pronouns Modal & auxiliary verbs

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Weak forms

a eɪ ə an æn ən

StrongYou say a book, but an apple. WeakI swallowed a fly. An alligator bit him.

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Weak forms

the ði: ðə, ði

Are you the William Shakespeare.

The tiger ate the hunter.

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Weak forms

andænd ənd, ən, n

Trifle or jelly? Ttrifle and jelly, please!

Bread an(d) butter.

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Weak forms

for fɔː|| fɔːr fə || fər

What did you do that for?

I’m doing it for fun.

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Weak forms

he hi: hi, i himhɪm ɪm his hɪz ɪz her hɜ: ||hɝ: hə, ə || hər, ər

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Weak forms

have hæv həv, əv, v

hadhæd həd, əd, d cankæn kən do du: də, du

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Weak forms Easier to say where they arenot used – exceptions:

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Weak forms not used

1. When the word is stressed or ‘cited’

I said Tom AND Ann rather than Tom OR Ann.

How is the word ‘FOR’ spelt?

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Weak forms not used

2. When at the end of a sentence or phrase (‘stranded’)

What are you looking at? I know I can.

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Weak forms not used

3. Usually, prepositions before pronouns at ends of sentences

I was looking for you. Stop staring at him.

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Weak forms not used

4. When the word is used as a ‘full’, meaningful, ‘lexical’ form

I usually have lunch at one. We have to go. He never does his homework.

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Weak forms – Special cases Negative contractions: No weak

formsdon’t dəʊnt || doʊntcouldn’t kʊdəntwon’t wəʊnt || woʊntcan’t kɑːnt || kæntwasn’t wɒzənt || wɑːzənt

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Weak forms – Special cases

aren’t

ɑːnt || ɑːrnt

=aunt

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Weak forms – Special casesthe, to, do, you Different forms before vowels

the apple the man

ði æpəl ðə mænto ask to go

tu ɑːsk tə goʊ

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have Only weak when used as a

modal/auxiliary verb

I have done it /aɪv/ I have lunch at ten /hæv/

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there’s (=there is, there has) Weakest form:

ðəz || ðərz

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that Only weak when used as a

conjunction

I know that you... /ðət/ (the relative pronoun)

I know that! /ðæt/ (the demonstrative ‘that’)

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Weak forms – Special cases Some weak forms may have a

special representation in the spelling (‘contraction’)

But even if it’s not used, a weak form may be employed

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Weak forms – Special cases Sometimes weak forms of

different words are the same

I’d = I had or I wouldI’d done it.I’d do it.

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it’s = it is or it hasIt’s been nice.

It’s nice.

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Weak forms – Special cases Even if they’re spelt differently,

the sound may be the same:

That’s a car /ðætsəkɑː/That’s her car

/ðætsəkɑː/

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Weak forms – Spelling traps He must of been here ??? Quite a frequent error among

native speakers because:

/mʌstəv/must of = must have

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Weak forms – Traps Some words that look as if they

must have a weak form Do not have one:I, your, by, my, nor, or, so, when,

one,up, off, on, then

mine, yours, hers, theirs

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Weak forms – Extreme gonna

‘citation’ form: gəʊɪŋ təassimilation: gəʊɪntə

smoothing: gəɪntəelision: gənə

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Weak forms Result from

ElisionsAssimilationsVowel reductions

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Weak forms

ɪt ɪz ɪtsElision of /ɪ/Progressive voice assimilation

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Weak forms

ænd əndVowel reduction

ənd ənElision

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Weak forms

hɪm ɪmElision

kæn kənVowel reduction

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Reduced vowels Notice: most of the time, English has reduced vowels in unstressed syllables

The so-called schwa is the most important one

A mid central vowel

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The schwa

əə•

PolishPolish /ɨ//ɨ/•

PolishPolish / /ɛ/ɛ/

•PolishPolish / /a/a/

•

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The schwa It is different from any Polish vowel!

Polish does not have reduced vowels

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Other unstressed vowels

/ɪ/ In many unstressed syllables with

<e> E.g. houses, wanted, record,

detect, effect Conservative variant in sickness,

private, careless

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/i/ <-y>, e.g. happy, lucky <i> before another vowel e.g.

radiate /'reɪdieɪt/

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/i/ Like FLEECE but usually not as long

May be between FLEECE and KIT

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/u/ <u> before another vowel e.g.

influence /'ɪnfluəns/

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/u/ Like GOOSE but usually not as long

May be between GOOSE and FOOT

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Connected speech You can’t go with us

ju: kɑ:nt gəʊ wɪð ʌsjə kɑ:ŋk gəʊ wɪð əs kɑ:ŋ gəʊ

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Connected speech Ten past ten

ten pæst tentem pæs ten

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Connected speech I can buy it

aɪ kən baɪ ɪtaɪ kəm baɪ ɪt

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Connected speech do you think

du: ju: θɪŋkdə jə θɪŋkdʒə θɪŋk

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Connected speech we should go

wi: ʃʊd goʊwi ʃʊg goʊ

Descriptive Grammar of English Part 1: Phonetics and Phonology dr Iwona Kokorniak (with contribution from dr Jarosław Weckwerth) 4th January 2009.

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