Appunti del Corso English Linguistic and translation III

S+ (P, T, K) + (L, R, W, J)

Small group of initially consonantal-CODA – CONSONANT CLUSTERSYLLABLES

• A syllabic consonant is a consonant which either forms a syllable on its own, or is the nucleus of a syllable
• The diacritic for this in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the under-stroke, diacritic after must be entered the letter it modifies

SYLLABIC CONSONANTS

Examples from English are the continuants:

• -ism [ɪzəm̩] the suffix
• button [bʌt̚n̩]
• bottle [bɒtl̩]

SYLLABLE DIVISION

Problems to identify sometimes

• going [gəʊ.iŋ] definitely 2 syllables (onset + center + coda)
• extra [ekstrə] (5 consonant cluster in the middle of the word)
  1. e.kstrə
  2. ek.strə
  3. eks.trə
  4. ekst.rə
  5. ekstr.ə

MAXIMUM ONSET PRINCIPLE

Where two syllables are to be divided- any consonants between them should be attached to the right-hand syllable (within restrictions of onset and coda).

• Impossible onset [kstr] (four consonants)
• Impossible coda [ə]

1. Syllables ending in short vowels, i.e., / I, e, æ, ʌ, ɒ, ʊ/ and no coda do not occur; unless, ə(never have a short vowel by itself)ambisyllabic,t and r are belong to both syllables.
2. STRONG AND WEAK SYLLABLES

CHART OF ENGLISH 24 CONSONAT PHONEMES

BI-CONSONANT CLUSTERS

TRI-CONSONANT CLUSTERS

STRONG AND WEAK SYLLABLES: GENERAL NATURE

• One of the most noticeable features of English, some syllables are strong and some are weak
• Refer to phonetic characteristics of syllables
• A vowel in a weak syllable tends to be shorter, of lower intensity and different in quality

father [‘faː.də(r)]

• The second syllable is weak, is shorter, less loud and has a vowel that cannot occur in strong syllables. Like: bottle ['bɒtl]̩ -> the weak syllable contains no vowel, only a syllabic consonant
• Any strong syllable will have as its peak one of the long vowel phonemes, diphthongs or triphthongs-not/ə/, /i/, or /u/

If the vowel is short I, e, æ,

ʌ, ɒ, ʊ then the strong syllable will always have a coda aswell•

Weak syllables can only have a very small number of possible peaks

At the end of a word we MAY have a weak syllable ending with a vowel (i.e. with no coda)

1. The vowel ə,/'bet.ə/
2. A close front unrounded vowel in the area of i: ɪ, (symbolized i),/'hæp.i/
3. A close back rounded vowel in the general area of u: and ʊ (symbolized u),/'θæŋk ju/
4. We also find weak syllables in word final position with a coda, if the vowel is ə:/’əʊp.ən/, /’ʃa:(r)p.ən/
5. Inside a word, we can find the above vowel acting as peak without coda in weak syllables:/'fəʊ.tə.gra:f/, /'reI.di.əʊ/, /'In.flu.əns/

The vowel /ɪ/ can act as a peak without coda, if the following syllable begins with a consonant:/'a:.kɪ.tekt//ˈɑː.kɪ.tekt//ˈär.kə.ˌtekt/

The schwa is:

• mid in quality,
• central in place
• lax in energy

SHWA

Two-syllable words with weak first

/pə.ˈteɪ.təʊ/, /ˈkær.ət/

Spelt with ‘or’; strong pronunciation would have ɔ:

/fə(r).ˈɡet/, /æm.ˈbæs.ə.də(r)/, /ˌɒp.ə.ˈtʃuː.nə.ti/

Spelt with ‘e’; strong pronunciation would have e

/ˈset.l.mənt/, /ˈvaɪ.ə.lət/, /ˈpəʊst.mən/

Spelt with ‘er’; strong pronunciation would have ɜː

/pə.ˈhæps/, /ˈstrɒŋ.ɡə(r)/, /ˈsuː.pə.mæn/

Spelt with ‘u’; strong pronunciation would have /ʌ/

/ˈɔː.təm/, /sə.ˈpɔːt/, /ˈhæl.ɪ.bət/

Spelt with ‘ough’; there are many pronunciations

/ˈθʌr.ə/, /ˈθɜːr.oʊ/, /ˈbɒr.əʊ/, /ˈbɔːr.oʊ/

Spelt with ‘ou’; strong pronunciation would have /aʊ/

/ˈɡreɪ.ʃəs/, /ˈkæl.əs/

CLOSE-FRONT AND CLOSE-BACK VOWELS

Two other vowels are commonly found in weak syllables

One close front (region of i: and I)

One close back (region of u: and ʊ)

But in weak syllables the difference is not

so clear‘beat’ < ‘bit' ok, but in < ‘easy’ < ‘busy’?

EASY <> BUSY

Vowels in questions are more like i: u:when they precede another vowel, less when precede a consonant or pause

1. i:zi: bɪzi:
2. i:zI bɪzI
3. > i:zi > bɪzi

GOOD TO EAT <> FOOD TO EAT

u: and ʊ > ufu:d tu: i:t. -> food toeat gʊd tʊ i:t -> goodto eat aI wɒnt tu -> Iwant to

Where are these vowels found?

Close front unrounded vowels >/i/

1. Word final position, after one or more consonant letters, with final ‘y’ or ‘ey’
2. In prefixes such as ‘re’ ‘pre’ ‘de’
3. In suffixes spelt ‘iate’ ‘ious’, when they have two syllables
4. In the following words when unstressed: ‘he’ ‘she’ ‘we’ ‘me’ ‘be’ and ‘the’ when it precedes a vowel

In syllables containing a short close front unrounded vowel we can assign

/ɪ/

1. First syllable: resist - inane - enough - /ri.ˈzist/ - /ɪ.ˈneɪn/ - /ɪ.ˈnʌf/

2. Middle syllable: incident - orchestra - artichoke /ˈɪn.sɪ.dənt/ - /ˈɔː.kɪ.strə/ - /ˈɑː.tɪ.tʃəʊk/

3. Final syllable: swimming - liquid - optic /ˈswɪm.ɪŋ/ - /ˈlɪk.wɪd/ - /ˈɒp.tɪk/

Most often represented in spelling by the letters 'i' and 'e'.

WEAK SYLLABLES WITH /u/

They are not so commonly found. Most frequent in words like:

• You - To - Into - Do
• Through - Who

In all positions when unstressed.

Evacuation - Influenza

Found before another vowel within a word.

SYLLABIC CONSONANTS

Examples from English are the continuants:

• -ism [ɪzəm̩]
• button [bʌtn̚ ̩]
• bottle [bɒtl̩]

SYLLABIC L-

Occurs after another consonant and depends on the nature of that consonant:

1) with alveolar consonant preceding:

'cattle' /ˈkæt.l̩/

'bottle' /ˈbɒt.l̩/

/ˈres.l/ 'wrestle' /ˈmʌd.l/ with non-alveolar consonant preceding 'trouble' /ˈtrʌb.l/ 'couple' /ˈkʌp.l/ 'knuckle' /ˈnʌk.l/ 'struggle' /ˈstrʌɡ.l/

Such words usually lose their final letter 'e' when a suffix beginning with a vowel is attached, but the /I/ usually remains syllabic.

We also find the syllabic L in words with one or more consonants followed by 'al' or 'el'.

SYLLABIC 'N'

The most frequent syllabic nasal:

• Not made when weak syllables of plosive or fricative plus /ən/
• Usually in initial position of a word: tonight – canary, phonetic – sonata
• But made when medial or final: threaten – threatening /ˈθret.n̩/ - /ˈθret.n̩.ɪŋ/
• Most common after alveolar plosives and fricatives:

• Not after /l/, /tʃ/ or /dʒ/: sullen - christian – pigeon /ˈsʌl.ən/

/ˈkrɪs.tʃən/ - /ˈpɪdʒ.ən/

Not common as ‘on’ or ‘an’toboggan – wagon/tə.ˈbɒɡ.ən/ - /ˈwæɡ.ən/

After bilabial consonant, possiblehappen - happening- ribbon/ˈhæp.ən/ /ˈhæp.ən.ɪŋ/ /ˈrɪb.ən/

After velar similarthicken – waken/ˈθɪk.ən/ /ˈweɪk.ən/

After f or v syllabic is morecommon seven - heaven – often/ˈsev.n̩/ /ˈhev.n̩/ /ˈɒf.n̩/

SYLLABIC /M/ AND /Ŋ/

Both only occur in processes such as assimilation and elision

SYLLABIC /R/

In the rhotic accent, it is verycommon particular[per-tik-yuh-ler]pəˈtɪkjələ(r)/ ?

Both ‘r’s- hungry – Hungary (minimum pair)

THE NATURE OF STRESS

What are the characteristics of stressed syllables?

Observe production (speaker) and perception (listener)

Production: more muscular energy is used for unstressedsyllables. Stressed syllables seem more prominent

4 FACTORS INVOLVED IN STRESS

They seem more prominent because of 4 factors:

1.