Update: 2011-12-31 11:20 PM +0630
informD-G.htm
Daniel Jones. Edited by Peter Roach, James Hartman and Jane Setter. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Scanned by Maung Kan Tun and edited by U Kyaw Tun, M.S. (I.P.S.T., U.S.A.). Not for sale. Prepared for students of TIL Computing and Language Center, Yangon, MYANMAR .
Information panels D to G
|
21. Dark L |
22. Dental |
23. Devoicing |
Diacritical marks |
24. Diphthong |
25. Elision
|
26. Flap |
27. Fortis |
28. French words and phrases |
29. Fricative |
•
Glottal Fricative [h] |
30. Glottal stop
|
31. Glottalisation |
p136. A type of LATERAL sound, recognizably different from CLEAR L.
Examples for English
If, when pronouncing the sound /l/, the back of the tongue is raised as for an [u] vowel, the quality is [u]-like and 'dark'; this effect is even more noticeable if the lips are rounded at the same time. This sound is typically found when /l/occurs before a consonant or before a pause, e.g.:
<help> /help/ [heɫp]
<hill> /hɪl/ [hrɫ]
In several accents of English, particularly those close to London, the dark L has given way to a [w] sound, so that <help> and <hill> might be transcribed /hewp/ and /hɪw/; this process is known as 'L vocalization'.
In other languages
The process of L vocalization took place in Polish some time ago, and the sound represented in Polish writing with the letter /ɫ/is almost always pronounced as [w], though foreigners usually try to pronounce it as [l].
p144. A sound in which there is contact between the tongue and the front teeth.
Examples for English
In English, the dentals usually referred to are the FRICATIVES /θ/ and /ð/, of which /θ/is voiceless and /ð/is voiced. In a careful production of these sounds, the tongue tip may be protruded between the upper and lower teeth; the sounds are sometimes referred to as 'interdental' for this this reason, e.g.:
<thigh> /θaɪ/ <thy> /ðaɪ/
<ether> ˈiː.θər/ (US) /-θɚ/ <either> /ˈaɪ.ðəʳ/(us)/-iːðɚ/
<breath> /breθ/ <breathe> /briːð/
p149. A process affecting a sound which we would normally expect to be voiced but which is pronounced without VOICING in a particular context.
Examples for English
In English, the /l/in <blade>/bleɪd/ [bleɪd̥] is usually voiced, but in <played> /pleɪd/ [pl̥eɪd] the /l/ is usually voiceless because of the preceding voiceless plosive. Note also that the /d/at the end of the word in each case is devoiced if it is followed by a voiceless consonant or a pause.
The notion of devoicing leads to a rather confusing use of phonetic symbols in cases where there are separate symbols for voiced and voiceless pairs of sounds: a devoiced /d/can be symbolised by adding a diacritic that indicates lack of voice -- [d̥] (U0064 U0325), but one is then left in doubt as to what the difference is between this sound and [t]. The usual reason for doing this is to leave the symbol looking like the phoneme it represents.
It is claimed that by use of diacritical marks, every sound in every language may be represented by IPA characters.
•[ ̃ ](U0303) -- Nasalisation (Combining tilde)
"Nasalisation is phonemically contrastive in French, where we find 'minimal
pairs' such as <très>/trɛ/(very) and <train> /trɛ̃/
(train), where the [ ˜ ](U02DC) diacritic indicates nasality." -- DJPD16 See
VOWEL.
--
Combining Diacritical Marks, Range 03033-036F, The Unicode Standard, version 4.0,
www.unicode.org
• [ ̥ ] (U0325) -- Devoicing or voiceless (Combining ring below)
"The notion of devoicing leads to a rather confusing use of phonetic symbols in
cases where there are separate symbols for voiced and voiceless pairs of sounds: a
devoiced /d/can be symbolised by adding a diacritic that indicates lack of voice --
[d̥](U0064 U0325), but one is then left in doubt as to what the difference is
between this sound and [t].The usual reason for doing this is to leave the symbol
looking like the phoneme it represents." -- DJPD16 See DEVOICING.
--
Combining Diacritical Marks, Range 03033-036F, The Unicode Standard, version 4.0,
www.unicode.org
• [ ̬ ] (U032C) -- Voiced (Combining caron below)
--
Combining Diacritical Marks, Range 03033-036F, The Unicode Standard, version 4.0,
www.unicode.org
• [ ̩ ] (U0329) -- Syllabic (Combining vertical line below)
--
Combining Diacritical Marks, Range 03033-036F, The Unicode Standard, version 4.0,
www.unicode.org
p152. A sound in which there is a glide from one vowel quality to another.
UKT: See MONOPHTHONG and TRIPHTHONG for comparison.
Examples for English
BBC English and US English contain a large number of diphthongs: in both accents, there are three ending in [ɪ] (/eɪ aɪ ɔɪ/), sometimes referred to as 'front closing', and two ending in [ʊ] (/aʊ əʊ/), sometimes referred to as 'back closing'. In US English, the preferred transcription of the BBC vowel/əʊ/is /oʊ/, which indicates a rounded initial vowel.
BBC English also has three diphthongs ending in [ə] (/ɪə eə ʊə/), which are sometimes known as 'centring'. The /ʊə/diphthong is now less commonly used than /ɔː/. These diphthongs usually appear in US English with an /r/ final (/ɪr er ʊr/), as words containing them generally end with an r in the spelling, e.g.:
<bay> /beɪ/ <boy> /bɔɪ/
<buy> /baɪ/
<go> /gəʊ/(US)/goʊ/ <cow> /kaʊ/
<pier> /pɪə/ (US) /pɪr/ <poor> /pʊə/ (more often) /pɔː/ (US) /pʊr/
<pear> /peə/(US)/per/
Opinions differ as to whether diphthongs should be treated as phonemes in their own right, or as combinations of two phonemes.
UKT: Bama and its script Myanmar has no diphthongs as can be seen from the following:
• The entry in DJPD16 for <poor>: / pɔːʳ , pʊəʳ (US) pʊr /
• To a Myanmar, <poor> sounds like:
something between{po:wa:} and
{pu:wa:}, but not
{pwa:}.
• There is no way in which to transcribe <poor> in Myanmar, unless we introduce special vowels like
.
p175. The omissions of sounds which are normally present if words are pronounced
slowly and clearly but appear not to be pronounced when the same words are produced
in a rapid, colloquial style, or when the words occur in a different context. These
missing sounds are said to be 'elided'. See also
CONNECTED SPEECH PHENOMENA.
UKT: See also
Elision in
the Introduction.
Examples for English
It is easy to find examples of elision, but very difficult to state rules that govern which sounds may be elided and which may not. Elision of vowels in English usually happens when a short, unstressed vowel occurs between voiceless consonants, e.g. in the first syllable of <perhaps>, <potato>, the second syllable of <bicycle>, or the third syllable of <philosophy>.
Elision also occurs when a weak vowel occurs between a PLOSIVE or FRICATIVE consonants and a consonant such as a NASAL or a LATERAL: this process leads to SYLLABIC CONSONANTS, e.g.:
<sudden> /ˈsʌd.ən/ /ˈsʌd.n̥/
/ˈɔː.fʊl/ /ˈɔː.fl̥/
<awful> (us)/ˈɑː-/ (US) /ˈɑː-/
Elision of consonants in English happens most commonly when a speaker 'simplifies' a complex consonant cluster, e.g.
<acts> /ækts/ /æks/
<twelfth night> /ˌtwelfθˈnaɪt/ /ˌtwelθˈnaɪt/or /ˌtwelfˈnaɪt/
In <twelfth night> above, it seems much less likely that any of the other consonants could be left out: the /l/and the /n/seem to unelidable.
It is very important to note that sounds do not simply 'disappear' like a light being switched off. A transcription such as /æks/for <acts> implies that the /t/phoneme has dropped out altogether, but detailed examination of speech shows that such effects are more gradual: in slow speech the /t/may be fully pronounced, with an audible transition from the preceding /k/and to the following /s/, while in a more rapid style it may be articulated but not given any audible realisation, and in very rapid speech it may be observable, if at all, only as a rather early movement of the tongue blade towards the /s/position. Much more research in this area is needed (not only on English) for us to understand what processes are involved when speech is 'reduced' in articulation.
A type of consonant sound that is closely similar to the TAP. It is usually voiced, and is produced by slightly curling back the tip of the tongue, then throwing it forward and allowing it to strike the alveolar ridge as it descends. The phonetic symbol for the sound is [ɽ ] (U027D).
Examples in English
This sound, although occurring in some accents of English, is not a PHONEME, and is uncommon in British English. It appears, however, in US English, where it is sometimes heard in words like <party> and <birdie>, where the /r/consonant causes retroflexion of the tongue and the stress pattern favours a flap-like articulation, e.g.:
<party> /ˈpɑː.ti/(us)/ˈpɑːr.t̬i/ [ˈpʰɑːɻ.ɽti] <birdie> /ˈbɜː.di/ (US) /ˈb̥ɝː.ɽi/
In other languages
A flap is most commonly heard in languages which have other RETROFLEX consonants, such as languages of the Indian sub-continent; it is also heard in the English of native speakers of such languages, often as a realization of /r/.
p212. Fortis sounds are said to be made with a relatively high degree of effort.
Examples for English
It is claimed that in some languages (including English) there are pairs of consonants whose members can be distinguished from each other in terms of whether they are 'strong' (fortis) or 'weak' (Lenis). These terms refer to the amount of energy used in their production, and are similar to the terms TENSE and LAX more usually used in relation to vowels. It is argued that English /b d g v ð z ʒ/often have little or no voicing in normal speech, and it is therefore a misnomer to call them voiced. Since they seem to be more weakly articulated than /p t k f θ s ʃ/it would be appropriate to use the term lenis instead, e.g.:
<pin> /pɪn/ [pʰĩn] <fine> /faɪn/ [faĩn]
<bin> /bɪn/ [b̥ĩn] <vine> /vaɪn/ [v̥aĩn]
UKT: "/k/and /g/ are one of the pairs of consonants said to be distinguished from each other by being FORTIS or LENIS rather than voiced or voiceless." From DJPD16: VELAR consonants.
p215. French has provided a substantial proportion of English vocabulary since the Norman Conquest in 1066, with new words being incorporated all the time. The longest-established and the most commonly-used words are usually the most completely anglicized, and the most noticeable changes from the French original are found where English phonology does not easily accommodate them. Often there are many possible anglicised pronunciations: see for example the many listed for <restaurant>.
Examples
Word-final /r/: this is not usually pronounced in British English unless followed by a vowel in a following word. However, it is pronounced in US English, e.g.:
<savoir faire>/ˌsæv.wɑːˈfeəʳ/ (US) /-wɑːrˈfer, -wɑːˈ-/
Nasalized vowels: although some English speakers who have a good command of French may attempt to produce the French nasalized vowels /ɛ̃/(U025B U0303) /ɑ̃/(U0251 U0303) /ɔ̃/(U0254 U0303) and even occasionally /œ̄/ (U0153 U0304), these are pronounced by many people with a following /ŋ/(U014B). <Croissant> is given the pronunciation /ˈkwæs.ɑ̃ːŋ/ for British English, indicating that the vowel in the last syllable will be pronounced with a nasalised vowel but possibly also a velar nasal consonant. In US English, however, a velar nasal is not usually produced following a nasalised vowel, and <croissant> is pronounced /kwɑːˈsɑ̃ː/ .(It should be noted that in both cases other pronunciations exist.) This example also shows the simplification of the initial consonant cluster /krw/, which occurs in French but not in English.
Word-final stress: many French words and names with final stress are modified by British English speakers to have the stress at the beginning of the word. In US English, this occurs in some words, but not in others, e.g.:
<ballet> /ˈbæl.eɪ/ (US) /bælˈeɪ, -ˈ/
<Paris> /ˈpær.ɪs/ (US) /ˈper-, ˈpær-/
<restaurant> /ˈres.tər.ɔ̃ːŋ/ (US) /-tə.rɑːnt/
The phoneme /ʒ/: while this phoneme occurs frequently in the middle of words, it is rare at the beginning and end. Many such cases are in words of French origin. English speakers sometimes substitute /ʤ/for this sound, e.g.:
<gigolo> /ˈʤɪg.ə.ləʊ, ˈʒɪg-/ (US) /-loʊ/
<garage> /ˈgær.ɑːʒ, -ɪʤ, -ɑːʤ/ (US) /gəˈrɑːʒ, -ˈrɑːʤ/
p216. A type of consonant made by forcing air through a narrow gap so that a hissing noise is generated. This may be accompanied by VOICING, in which case the sound is a voiced fricative, such as [z], or it may be voiceless, such as [s].
Examples for English
British and US English have nine fricative phonemes:/f θ s ʃ h/ (voiceless) and /v ð z ʒ/(voiced).
All except /h/ are permitted to occur in all positions in English, but/ʒ/ as in <measure> /ˈmeʒə/is of rather low frequency compared to the other eight sounds. /h/may not end a syllable.
The quality and intensity of fricative sounds varies greatly, but all are acoustically composed of energy at relatively high frequency -- an indication of this is that much of the fricative sound is too high to be transmitted over a phone (which usually cuts out the highest and lowest frequencies in order to reduce the cost), giving rise to confusion that often arise over sets of words like English <fin>, <thin>, <sin> and <shin>. In order for the sound quality to be produced accurately, the size and direction of the jet of air has to be very precisely controlled.
A distinction is sometimes made between 'sibilant' or 'strident' fricatives (such as [s] and [ ʃ ]) which are strong and clearly audible and others which are weak and less audible (such as [θ]and [f]).
UKT: See VOCAL FOLDS.
p229. A consonant made by closure of the VOCAL FOLDS. The phonetic symbol for a glottal stop is [ʔ].
Examples for English
In some British accents, a glottal stop can actually replace the voiceless alveolar plosive [t] as the realisation of the /t/ phoneme when it follows a stressed vowel, e.g.:
<getting better> /ˌget.ɪŋˈbet.əʳ/ [ˌgeʔ.ɪ̃ŋˈbe̞ʔ.ə]
This type of pronunciation is found in many urban accents, notably London (Cockney), Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and others, and is increasingly accepted among educated young people.
Sometimes a glottal stop is pronounced in front of a /p t/ or /k/if there is a not vowel immediately following (see GLOTTALISATION).
In a true glottal stop there is complete obstruction to the passage of air, and the result is a period of silence. In casual speech it often happens that a speaker aims to produce a complete glottal stop but instead makes a low-pitch creak-like sound.
p229. The addition of a glottal stop before a consonant.
Examples for English
Adding a glottal stop before certain consonants has the effect of making the preceding vowel somewhat shorter. In English this usually happens before a voiceless PLOSIVE or AFFRICATE consonant if there is not vowel immediately following (e.g. in <captive>, <catkin>, <arctic>; a similar case is that of /ʧ/when following a stressed vowel or when syllable-final, as in <butcher>). This addition of a glottal stop is sometimes called 'glottal reinforcement', e.g.:
<back> /bæk/ [b̥a̝ʔk] (US) /bæk/ [b̥æʔk]
<captive> /ˈkæp.tɪv/ [ˈkʰa̝ʔp⌝.tɪv] (US) /ˈkæp.tɪv/ [ˈkʰæʔp⌝.tɪv]
<catkin> /ˈkæt,kɪn/ [ˈkʰa̝ʔk⌝.kɪ̃n] (US) /ˈkæt.kɪn/ [ˈkʰæʔk⌝.kɪ̃n]
<arctic> /ˈɑːk.tɪk/ [ˈɑˑʔk⌝.tɪk] (US) /ˈɑːrk.tɪk/ [ˈɑˑɻʔk⌝.tɪk]
<butcher> /ˈbʊʧ.əʳ/ [ˈbʊʔ.ʧ̑ə] (US) /ˈbʊʧ.ɚ/ [ˈbʊʔ.ʧ̑ɚ]
This feature of English is an important one for perception. As the difference in voicing between /p t k ʧ/and /b d g ʤ/in syllable-final position is negligible, it is the length and the vowel rather than the voicing of the final consonant which contributes strongly to a native speaker's decision of whether a speaker has produced e.g. <back> or <bag>.
End of TIL file