Riassunto esame Fonologia Inglese, prof Maggioni, libro consigliato A Handbook Of Present-Day English

SOV order is the norm, but global Englishes often show inverted word order: 1) OV order in

declarative sentences (ex: she her own house got); 2) resumptive pronouns in relative clauses (ex:

the guests whom I invited them have arrived); 3) indirect questions (ex: wonder were those actually

hay, or was that corn?).

• Tag questions

Global Englishes use the invariant tag isn’t it? (ex: she came yesterday, isn’t it?).

4.9. English as a language of power.

Another crucial aspect is the power of English, mainly related to its functionality in global

economy, communication technologies, business and education. The knowledge of English allows

and favours, at the individual level, social mobility and work opportunities, while at the macro level

it signals the integration of a speech community within the so-called global market. The aspects that

reflect the global nature of English are its so-called range and depth. The former indicates the main

functions and domains of use of PDE, the latter refers to the pluricentric nature of English and its

capacity to penetrate new socio-cultural environments. PDE has been defined as a post-national

language. Chapter 2 - The pronunciation of English

1. Accents of English

The two principal varieties of English are British English (BrE) and American English (AmE); their

respective pronunciation standards are Received (or BBC) Pronunciation and General American.

English language has many different accents. The "accent" is the way in which a language is

pronounced. The British Isles have the largest variety of accents. Accent variation dipenda on

factors such as social class, age, education, gender. We can distinguish between: native accents of

ENL (English as a native language) countries; non-native accents, used by speakers of ESL (English

as a second language); foreign accents used in counties where English is a foreign language (EFL).

2. Phonetics and articulators

Phonetics is the science that studies the physical characteristics of sounds. Articulatory phonetics

deals with sound production. The phonation is the contraction of the muscles of the chest and the

production of a flow of air that passes through some organs called articulators. They are: larynx,

made of cartilage and situated in the neck, when visible in men is called "Adam's apple"; vocal

cords, contained in the larynx they are two mucous membranes that vibrating or not produce voiced

or voiceless sounds; glottis, opening between the vocal cords, its closure interrupts the air stream

and it's called glottal stop; pharynx, a passage between the top of the larynx and the back of the

mouth; velum or soft palate, back part of the palate which can be raised or lowered to make the air

pass through the mouth or the nose; hard palate; alveolar ridge, rough surface between hard palate

and front teeth; tongue, the most important articulator, determines the type of sound produced just

changing its position; lips; teeth.

3. Graphemes and phonemes

A grapheme is a symbol like a letter of the alphabet. A phoneme, the minimum phonological

element in a language, is a sound that creates a distinction in meaning between two words. Note that

some graphemes are silent, so not pronounced. Two words: form a minimal pair if they have the

same phonemes (not graphemes!), except for one; are homophones if orthographically different but

phonetically identical; are homographs if orthographically identical but phonetically different. To

represent the phonemes and sounds of all languages we use the International Phonetic Alphabet

(IPA). By convention: phoneme symbols -> slant brackets //; phonetic transcription -> square

brackets []. Phonetic transcription could be "broad" (only phonemic values) or "narrow" (much

phonetic information).

4. English phonology

Phonology (or segmental phonology) is the study of the sound system of a language (in particular

phonemes); it is concerned with the systematic organisation of sounds in languages.

Suprasegmental phonology instead deals with larger units (syllables, phrases) and their related

phenomena (stress, rhythm, intonation). Phonemes can combine to form words, creating semantic

oppositions between them. Minimal pairs of words can create phonemic chains by substituting the

same phoneme more than once. Same phonemes can be pronounced differently: they are called

allophones. The allophones are the concrete realisation or variant of a phoneme, and are represented

əˡ ʰ

in transcription by diacritic symbols added to the phonemic ones. Ex: ten [tʰen], attack [ t æk ], sit

[sit ].

5. The pronunciation of British English

In English there are 43 phonemes: 11 vowels, 8 diphthongs, 24 consonants. Vowels are voiced

sound pronounced without any interruption of the airflow. Diphthongs are a sound consisting of a

glide between two vowels. Consonants can be voiced or voiceless depending on the vibration of the

vocal cords.

ɪ ː ɑː ʌ ɒ ɔː ʊ ː ɜː ə]

Vowels: / i e æ u / [

ɪ ɪ ɔɪ ə ʊə ɪə ʊ əʊ/

Diphthongs: /e a e a ʃ ʒ ʃ ʒ

Consonants: /p b t d k g f v θ ð s z h m n ŋ t d l r w j/

ə

Pay particular attention to the sound schwa [ ], used in unstressed syllables or as an expression of

hesitation.

5.1. Vowels.

Vowels can be classified considering the position of the tongue.

Vertical distance between the tongue and the palate

ʌ ɑː ɒ

- open: /æ / ;

ɜː ɔː

- half open: /e /

;

ː ɪ ʊ ː

- close: /i u / .

Depending on which part of the tongue is raised it may be:

ː ɪ

- front: /i e æ/;

ɜː ʌ

- central: / /;

ː ʊ ɔː ɒ ɑː

- back: /u /.

Depending on duration a vowel may be:

ː ɑː ɜː ɔː ː

- long: /i u / (length is indicated by length marks);

ɒ ʌ ɪ ʊ

- short: /æ e /.

Long vowels are also called tense, while short vowels lax, with reference to the tension of the

muscle at the back of the tongue.

Position of the lips:

ː

- rounded (/u /);

ː

- spread (/i /);

- neutral (/ɜː/).

5.2. Diphtongs.

A diphthong is a glide from a vowel to another. In English there are 8 diphthongs, divided in:

ɪ ɪ ɔɪ ʊ əʊ

-closing diphthongs (second element is a close vowel): /a , e , , a , /;

ə ɪə ə ʊə

-centring diphthongs (second element is the central unstressed sound [ ]): / , e , /;

Closing diphthongs may become triphthongs if a schwa is added.

ɪ ɪ ɔɪ ʊ əʊ ɪə ə ʊə ɪə

Examples: a - life; e -late; - boy; a - house; - no; - dear; e - share; - poor; a - fire;

ɪə ɔɪə ʊə əʊə

e - player; - royal; a flower; - slower.

5.3 Consonants.

Consonants may be:

-oral (air through the mouth) or nasal (air through the nose);

-voiceless (no vibration of the vocal cords) or voiced (vocal cords vibrate).

All consonants are oral besides three that are nasal: /m, n, ŋ/.

ʃ

Voiceless consonant phonemes are: /p, t, k, f, θ, s, , h/. Voiced consonant phonemes are: /b, d, g, v,

ʒ

ð, z, d , m, n, ŋ, l, r, w j/.

Consonants can also be divided according to:

a) place of articulation;

b) manner of articulation.

Place of articulation:

-bilabial: consonants /p, b, m/, semivowel /w/;

-labiodental: /f, v/;

-dental: /θ, ð/;

-alveolar: /t, d n, l, s, z/;

ʃ ʒ ʃ ʒ

-palato-alveolar: / , , t , d /;

-palatal: semivowel /j/;

-velar: /k, g, ŋ/;

-glottal: /h/.

Manner of articulation:

-plosives (air pressured and suddenly released producing a noise): /p, t, k, b, d, g/. N.B. Aspiration

ʰ ʰ ʰ

(phonemes at the onset of a syllable) determines voiceless plosives [p , t , k ];

ʃ ʒ

-fricatives (or sibilants, air produces a hissing sound): /f, v, θ, ð, s, z, , , h/;

ʃ ʒ

-affricates (combination of plosives and fricatives): /t , d /;

-nasals (air through the nose): /m, n, ŋ/. N.B. /g/ is never pronounced after /ŋ/ at the end of a

morpheme; ɪ

-liquid: /l, r/; N.B. /l/ has two allophonic realisations: 'clear' in initial position (ex. lip [l p]), 'dark' in

ɪɫ

final position or before another consonant (ex. hill [h ]). Only pre-vocalic /r/ is pronounced ( red

ɑː

[red]), post-vocalic /r/ is silent (car [k ]).

R-linking: if silent /r/ is followed by another word beginning with a vowel /r/ is pronounced to link

the two words.

Intrusive R: insertion of an [r] between a word ending in a vowel and another close one beginning

with a vowel (ex: law-r-and order). ʊ ɪ

-semivowels (or approximants): /w, j/. Phonetically similar to vowels / , /, but phonologically and

morphologically consonants: they precede vowels and both the use of 'a' or 'an' and the

pronunciation /ðe/ before words beginning with a semivowel are those associated with a following

consonant (ex. "a young man", "the European Union"). ˡ ɒ

Syllabic consonants: they form a syllable on their own (ex: bottle [ b tl ]); they are the nucleus of

ɪ ll

syllables instead of vowels (ex. middle ['m d ]). ʃ

Glottalisation (or glottal stop): complete closure of the glottis pronouncing /p, t, k, t / in final

ɒ

position (ex. stop [st ?p]); in some pronunciations the glottal stop can replace the the consonant

ɪ

(ex. Gatwick ['gæ?w k]).

6. The pronunciation of American English

There are some differences between British and American English.

6.1. Vowels. ɒ ɑː ɔː

The most important difference is in the pronunciation of the vowels / , , /. AmE realisation

ɒ ɑː ɒ ɑː ɔː ɑː ɔː

of / / is / / (ex. not [n t] - [n t]). In some cases / / can be pronounced / / (ex. small [sm l] -

ɑː ɑː ɑː

[sm l]. Moreover / / is replaced by /æ/ when followed by a fricative (ex. class [kl s] - [klæs]).

6.2. Consonants. ɻ

A principal difference is the realisation of the phonemes /r/ (always retroflex [ ]) and /l/ (always

ɫ

dark [ ]).

Rhoticity: orthographic 'r' is always pronounced.

Yod dropping: omission of the sound [j] after dental and alveolar consonants, leaving only the

ː ː ː

phoneme /u / (ex. tune [tju n] - [tu n]).

ɪ ə ɪ

T-tapping: /t/ is voiced (ex. later [le t (r)] - [le der]).

Elision of post-nasal [t] (ex. twenty ['twenti] - ['tweni]).

ʃ ʒ ʃ ʒ

Coalescent assimilation (see 10.3): [tj -> t ], [dj -> d ], [sj -> ], [zj -> ] (ex. education

ɪʃnl ʒ ʒʊ ɪʃnl ɪ ː ɪʃ ː ɪʃ ː

[,edju'ke , ed u-] - [ed ke ], issue [' sju , ' u ] - [' u ]).

6.3. Diphthongs. ɪə ə ʊə

In AmE the diphthongs / , e , / are absent due to rhoticity, instead AmE has vowels followed

ɪ ʊ ɪ ɪə ɪ ɪ

by [r]: [ r, er, r] (ex. severe [s 'v ] - [s 'v r]).

əʊ ʊ əʊ ʊ

BrE diphthong [ ] in AmE is [o ] (ex. gold [g ld] - [go ld]).

ʌ ɝ ʌ ɪ

Words with a mid vowel followed by /r/ have / / in BrE and / / in AmE (ex. worry ['w r ] -

ɝːɪ

['w ]).

6.4. Pronunciation diffe