Portfolio phonology by Veredit

Portfolio of Phonology

Miss Leydi Veredit Fuentes Bran

COVER PAGE ..................................................................................................................................................... INDEX................................................................................................................................................................. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................................

1 2 3

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY ................................................................................................................................. 1. PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY ................................................................................................................... A) WHAT IS PHONETICS? ..................................................................................................................... B) WHAT IS PHONOLOGY .....................................................................................................................

4 5 5 6

PHONETICS VS PHONOLOGY .................................................................................................................................... 2. PHONETICS VS PHONOLOGY....................................................................................................................... VOCAL TRACT ...................................................................................................................................

7 8 12

3. THE PRODUCTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS.................................................................................................... A) ARTICULATORS ABOVE THE LARYNX ............................................................................................ B) PRINCIPAL ARTICULATORS ............................................................................................................

13 13 13

4. CONSONANT SOUNDS................................................................................................................................... A) PLACE OF ARTICULATION ............................................................................................................... B) VOICING ............................................................................................................................................ C) MANNER OF ARTICULATION ..........................................................................................................

17 17 18 23

5. VOWELS.......................................................................................................................................................... A) FEATURES DIFFERENTIATING VOWELS AND CONSONANTS ...................................................... B) VOWEL CHART ................................................................................................................................. C) CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH VOWELS ......................................................................................... D) EXAMPLES ........................................................................................................................................ E) DIPHTHONGS ....................................................................................................................................

27 27 28 29 32 33

THE SCHWA WAS HERE ............................................................................................................................................. 6. SCHWA............................................................................................................................................................ A) SCHWA: STRESSED [Ʌ].................................................................................................................... B) SCHWA: UNSTRESSED [Ə] .............................................................................................................. C) STRESSED SCHWA + R [ɝ] ............................................................................................................. D) UNSTRESSED SCHWA + R [Ə + R] [ɚ] ........................................................................................

35 36 36 36 37 37

7. LINKING.......................................................................................................................................................... A) CONSONANT TO CONSONANT LINKING OR LINKING IDENTICAL CONSONANTS...................... B) CONSONANT TO VOWEL LINKING .................................................................................................. C) VOWEL TO VOWEL LINKING ...........................................................................................................

38 38 39 39

8. INFLECTIONAL ENDINGS ............................................................................................................................. A) INFLECTIONAL ENDINGS /S/ /Z/ /IZ/ ........................................................................................ B) INFLECTIONAL ENDINGS /T/ /D/ /ID/.......................................................................................

40 40 41

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

ASSIMILATION .............................................................................................................................................. CLUSTER VS SPELLING CASE ....................................................................................................................... REDUCTION ................................................................................................................................................... ELLIPSIS ......................................................................................................................................................... CONTRACTIONS ............................................................................................................................................ DERIVATIONS................................................................................................................................................ BORROWING ................................................................................................................................................. MINIMAL PAIRS ............................................................................................................................................ HOMOPHONES AND HOMOGRAPHS .......................................................................................................... ALLOPHONES ................................................................................................................................................ STRESS............................................................................................................................................................ ELISION ..........................................................................................................................................................

42 43 44 45 46 48 49 50 52 54 55 56

You probably want to know what is the purpose of this portfolio is, and what you can expect to learn from it. An important purpose of the portfolio is to explain how English is pronounced in the accent normally chosen as the standard for people learning the English spoken in England. However at the comparatively advanced level at which this portfolio is aimed it is usual to present this information in the context of a general theory about speech sounds and how they are used in language; this theoretical context is called phonetics and phonology. In the present portfolio is necessary for anyone who needs to understand the principles regulating the use of sounds in spoken English. You will find all necessary for anyone who needs to know the principles regulating the use of sounds in spoken English of the manner clear and easy of understand. This is how, finally, it this portfolio is a little resume about Phonetics and Phonology. I hope that this portfolio was of big help for you. Blessings!

1. Phonetics and Phonology A) WHAT IS PHONETICS? Phonetics is the science of speech sounds, which aims to provide the set of features or properties that can be used to describe and distinguish all the sounds used in human language. Phonetics is concerned with how sounds are produced, transmitted and perceived (we will only look at the production of sounds). The central concerns in Phonetics are discovery of how speech sounds are produced, how they are used in spoken language, how we can record speech sounds with writer symbols and how we hear and recognize different sounds. In the first of these areas, when we study the production of speech sounds we can observe what speakers do (articulatory observation) and we can try to feel what is going on inside our vocal tract (kinesthetic observation).

B) WHAT IS PHONOLOGY? Phonology is the study of sound systems of languages. Phonology is the aspects of language related to the distinctive features of the representation and reception of sounds of language. Phonology is the study of the sound system of a given language and the analysis and classification of its phonemes. Phonology is concerned with how sounds function in relation to each other in a language.

In other words, Phonetics is about sounds of language, Phonology about sound systems of language. Phonetics is a descriptive tool necessary to the study of the phonological aspects of a language. Phonetics and Phonology are worth studying for several reasons. One is that as all study of language, the study of phonology gives us insight into how the human mind works.

2. Phonetics vs Phonology

Phonology is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages. is the study of the way sounds function in languages, including phonemes, syllable structure, stress, accent, intonation, and which sounds are distinctive units within a language; the way sounds function within a given language.

Here are some terms used for the study of phonology: a) Accent. Greater stress or force given to a syllable of a word in speech. It is used for varieties which differ from each other only in matters of pronunciation. b) BBC accent. British Broadcasting Corporation. There is much to be said for using the â&#x20AC;&#x153;formalâ&#x20AC;? BBC accent as a model for foreign learners wishing to acquire an English accent. BBC is looked up p by many people in Britain and abroad as a custodian of good English. c) Dialect. A form of a language that is spoken in a particular area and that uses some of its own words, grammar, and pronunciations. It also covers not only pronunciation differences but also vocabulary and grammar ones.

d) Intonation. The rise and fall in the sound of your voice when you speak manner of utterance; specifically the rise and fall in pitch of the voice in speech. It refers simply to the variations in the pitch of a speakerÂ´s voice used to convey or alter meaning. e) IPA. Abbreviation International Phonetic Alphabet Scientific basis. f) Phone. The term Phone has been used for a unit at the Phonetic level, but it has to be said that the term (though useful) has not become widely used; this must be at least partly due to the fact that the word is already used for a much more familiar object. g) Phoneme. The term Phoneme has become very widely used for a contrastive unit of sound in language. Phonemes any of the abstract units of the phonetic system of a language that correspond to a set of similar speech sounds. Any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified langue that distinguish one word from another for example p, b, d, and t in the English words pad, pat, bad and bat. h) Pitch. The difference in the relative vibration frequency of the human voice that contributes to the total meaning of speech. A definite relative Pitch that is a significant phenomenon in speech. i) Received Pronunciation (RP). The British pronunciation of words that is based on the speech of educated people and is sometimes considered to be the standard pronunciation. Has been for centuries the accent of British English usually chosen for the purposes of description and teaching, in spite of the fact that it is only spoken by a small minority of the population. j) Speech. A spoken expression of ideas, opinions. Intensity of utterance given to a speech sound, syllable, or word producing relative loudness. A syllable having relative force or prominence. k) Stress. It may refer to prominence given to a syllable, usually by the use of pitch. l) Transcription. It is the writing down of a spoken utterance using a suitable set of symbols. In its original meaning the word implied converting from one representation (e.g. written text) into another (e.g. phonetic symbols).

3. The production of speech sounds A) ARTICULATORS ABOVE THE LARYNX

All the sounds we make when speak are the result of muscles contracting. The muscles in the chest that we use for breathing produce the flow of air that is needed for almost all speech sounds; muscles in the larynx produce many different modifications in the flow of air from the chest to the mouth. After passing through the larynx, the air goes through what we call the vocal tract, which ends at the mouth and nostrils. Here the air from the lungs escapes into the atmosphere. We have a large and complex set of muscles that can produce changes in the shape of the vocal tract, and in order to learn how the sounds of speech are produced it is necessary to become familiar with the different parts of the vocal tract. These different parts are called articulators, and the study of them is called articulatory phonetics.

B) PRINCIPAL ARTICULATORS The principal Articulators are the tongue, the lips, the lower jaw, the teeth, the velum or soft palate, the uvula and the larynx.

The Oral cavity is the main cavity in the vocal tract.

a) The pharynx is a tube which begins just above the larynx. It is about 7 cm long in women and about 8 cm in men, and at its top end it is divided into two, one part being the back of the mouth and the other being the beginning of the way through the nasal cavity. b) The velum or soft palate is seen in the diagram in a position that allows air to pass through the nose and through the mouth. The other important thing about the velum is that it is one of the articulators that can be touched by the tongue. When we make the sounds k and g the tongue is in contact with the lower side of the velum, and we call these velar consonants. c) The hard palate is often called the â&#x20AC;&#x153;roof of the mouthâ&#x20AC;?. You can feel its smooth curved surface with your tongue.

d) The alveolar ridge is between the top front teeth and the hard palate. Sounds made with the tongue touching here (such as t and d) are called alveolar. e) The tongue is, of course, a very important articulator and it can be moved into many different places and different shapes. The tongue on a larger scale with these parts shown: tip, blade, front, back and root.

f) The teeth (upper and lower) are usually shown only at the front of the mouth, immediately behind the lips. The tongue is in contact with the upper side teeth for many speech sounds. Sounds made with the tongue touching the front teeth are called dental. g) The lips are important in speech. They can be pressed together (when we produce the sounds, p, b), brought into contact with the teeth (as in f, v), or rounded to produce the lip-shape for vowels like u:. Sounds in which the lips are in contact with each other are called bilabial, while those with lip-to-teeth contact are called labiodental.

4. Consonant sounds A) PLACE OF ARTICULATION Once the air has passed through the larynx, it comes up and out through the mouth and/or the nose. Most consonant sounds are produced by using the tongue and other parts of the mouth to constrict, in some way, the shape of the oral cavity through which the air is passing. The terms used to describe many sounds are those which denote the place of articulation of the sound: that is, the location inside the mouth at which the constriction takes place. To describe the place of articulation of most consonant sounds, we can start at the front of the mouth and work back. We can also keep the voiced-voiceless distinction in mind and begin using the symbols of the phonetic alphabet for specific sounds. These symbols will be enclosed within square brackets [ ].

1. Bilabials. These are sounds formed using both (=bi) upper and lower lips (=labia). The initial sounds in the words pat, bat and mat are all bilabials. They are represented by the symbols [p], which is voiceless, and [b] and [m], which are voiced. We can also describe [w] sound found at the beginning of way, walk and world as a bilabial.

2. Labiodentals. These are sounds formed with the upper teeth and the lower lip. The initial sounds of the words fat and vat and the final sounds in the words safe and save are biodentals. They are represented by the symbols [f], which is voiceless, and [v], which is voiced. Notice that the final sound in the word cough, and the initial sound in photo, despite the spelling differences, are both pronounced as [f]. 3. Dentals. These sounds are formed with the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth. The initial sound of thin and the final sound of bath are both voiceless dentals. The symbol used for this sound [ɵ], usually referred to as “theta”. It is the symbol you would use for the first and last sounds in the phrase three teeth. The voiced dental is represented by the symbol [ð], usually called “eth”. This sound is found in the pronunciation of the initial sound of common words like the, there, then and thus. It is also the middle consonant sound in feather and the final sound of bathe. The term “interdentals” is sometimes used for these consonants when they are pronounced with the tongue tip between (=inter) the upper and lower teeth. 4. Alveolars. These are sounds formed with the front part of the tongue on the alveolar ridge, which is the rough, bony ridge immediately behind and above the upper teeth. The initial sounds in top, dip, sit, zoo and nut are all alveolars. The symbols for these sounds are easy to remember [t], [d], [s], [z], [n]. Of these, [t] and [s] are voiceless whereas [d], [z], and [n] are voiced. Other alveolars are the [l] sound found at the beginning of words such as lap and lit, and the [r] sound at the beginning of right and write.

5. Palatals. If you feel back behind the alveolar ridge, you should find a hard part in the roof of your mouth. This is called the hard palate or just the palate. Sounds produced with the tongue and the palate are called palatals (or alveopalatals). Examples of palatals are the initial sounds in the words shout and child, which are both voiceless. The “sh” sound is represented as [ʃ] and the “ch” sound is represented as [tʃ]. So, the word shoe-brush begins and ends with the voiceless palatal sound [ʃ] and the word church begins and ends with the other voiceless palatal sound [tʃ]. One of the voiced palatals, represented by the symbol [ʒ], is not very common in English, but can be found as the middle consonant sound in words like treasure and pleasure, or the final sound in rouge. The other voiced palatal is [ʤ], which is initial sound in words like joke and gem. The word judge and the name George both begin and end with the sound [ʤ] despite the obvious differences in spelling. One other voiced palatal is the [j] sound used at the beginning of words like you and yet. 6. Velars. Even further back in the roof of the mouth, beyond the hard palate, you will find a soft area, which is called the soft palate, or the velum. Sounds prpoduced with the back of the tongue against the velum are called velars. There is a voiceless velar sound, represented by the symbol [k], which occurs not only in kid and kill, but is also the initial sound in car and cold. Despite the variety in spelling, this [k] sound is both the initial and final sound in the words cook, kick and coke. The voiced velar sound heard at the beginning of words like go, gun and give is represented by [g]. This is also the final sound in words like bag, mug and, despite the spelling, plague. 7. Glottals

The velum can be lowered to allow air to flow through the nasal cavity and thereby produce another voiced velar, represented by the symbol [ŋ], typically referred to as “angma”. In written English, this sound is normally spelled as the two letters “ng”. So, the [ŋ] sound is at the end of sing, sang and, despite the spelling tongue. It occurs twice in the form ringing. Be careful not to be misled by the spelling of a word like bang - it ends with the [ŋ] sound only. There is no [ɡ] sound in this word. 7. Glottals. There is one sound that is produced without the active use of the tongue and other parts of the mouth. It is the sound [h] which occurs at the beginning of have and house and, for most speakers, as the first sound in who and whose. This sound is usually described as a voiceless glottal. The “glottis” is the space between the vocal folds in the larynx. When the glottis is open, as in the production of other voiceless sounds, and there is no manipulation of the air passing out of the mouth, the sound produced is that represented by [h].

B) VOCING The aspects of Voicing are: Voiced Consonants (Those created by the vibration of the vocal cords during production); and Voiceless Consonants (Those created by the absence of vibration of the vocal cords during production). Phonemes are classified according to whether or not they are created via vocal fold vibration. Sounds can be Voiced or Voiceless. Voiced sounds require vibration of the muscles in the larynx that form the vocal bands. VOICED

V+ [VOICED]

VOICELESS

V- [UNVOICED]

VOICING

C) MANNER OF ARTICULATION So far, we have concentrated on describing consonant sounds in terms of where they are articulated. We can also describe the same sounds in terms of how they are articulated. Such a description is necessary if we want to be able to differentiate between some sounds which, in the preceding discussion, we have placed in the same category. For example, we can say that [t] and [s] are both voiceless alveolar sounds. How do they differ? They differ in their manner of articulation, that is, in the way they are pronounced. The [t] sound is one of a set of sounds called stops and the [s] sound is one of a set called fricatives.

Classification of places of articulation University of Iowa Bilabial

The English Language

Peter Roach

p,b,m,w

Bilabial

p,b,m,w

Bilabial

p,b,m,w

Labiodental

f,v

labio-dental

f,v

labiodental

f,v

Linguadental

θ ,δ

Dental

θ ,δ

Dental

θ ,δ

Lingualveolar

t,d,s,z,n l, č, ĵ

Alveolar

t,d,s,z,n l, č, ĵ

Alveolar

t,d,s,z,n l

Linguapalatal

r, j, š, ž

Post-alveolar

č, ĵ, š, ž, r

Retroflex

Palato alveolar/Post alveolar Palatal

Palato-alveolar

č, ĵ, š, ž

Palatal

k, g ,ŋ

velar

k, g ,ŋ

Velar

k, g ,ŋ

Glottal

velar Glottal

/p/

/b/

/k/

/ɡ/

/tʃ/

/t/

/f/

/ʃ/

/j/

/d/

/v/

/s/

/n/

/m/

/ð/

/ʤ/

/w/

/h/

/ʒ/

/ɵ/

/ŋ/

/z/

/r/

/l/

5. Vowels Vowels are produced with a relatively open vocal tract: no significant constriction of the oral (and pharyngeal) cavities exists. The airstream from the vocal folds to the lips is relatively unimpeded. Therefore, vowels are considered to be open sounds.

A. FEATURES DIFFERENTIATING VOWELS AND CONSONANTS

VOWELS

CONSONANTS

No significant constriction of the vocal tract

Significant constriction of the vocal tract

Open sounds

Constricted sounds

Sagittal midline of vocal tract remains open

Constriction occurs along sagittal midline of the vocal tract

Voiced

Voiced or unvoiced

Acoustically more intense

Acoustically less intense

Demonstrate more sonority

Demonstrate less sonority

Function as syllable nuclei

Only specific consonants can function as syllable nuclei

The four-sided form called a vowel quadrilateral is often used to demonstrate schematically the front-back and high-low positions. The form roughly represents the tongue position in the oral cavity.

B. VOWEL CHART

The terms tense/lax and open/close are also used to describe vowels. Tense and lax refer to the degree of muscular activity involved in the articulation and to the length of the vowels in question. The terms close and open refer to the relative closeness of the tongue to the roof of the mouth.

C. CLASSIFFICATION OF ENGLISH VOWELS

Front Vowels [i]

a hig-front vowel, unrounded, close and tense.

[ɪ]

a hig-front vowel, unrounded, open and lax.

[e]

a mid-front vowel, unrounded, close and tense.

[ɛ]

a mid-front vowel, unrounded, open and lax.

[æ]

a low-front vowel, unrounded, open and lax.

[a]

a low-front vowel, unrounded, close and tense.

Back Vowels [u]

a hig-back vowel, rounded, close and tense.

[ʊ]

a hig-back vowel, rounded, open and lax.

[o]

a mid-back vowel, rounded, close and tense.

[ɔ]

a mid-back vowel, rounded, open and lax.

[ɑ]

a low-back vowel, rounded, open and lax.

Central Vowels [ɝ]

a central vowel, rounded, tense with r-coloring. Rounding may vary, however, from speaker to speaker. Is a stress vowel. It is typically acoustically more intense, has a higher fundamental frequency, and has a longer duration when it is compared to a similar unstressed vowel such as [ɚ].

[ɚ]

a central vowel, rounded, lax with r-coloring. Again, lip rounding may vary from speaker to speaker. This lax vowel is an unstressed vowel.

[ʌ]

a lax, unrounded central vowel. It is a stressed vowel.

[ə]

a lax, unrounded central vowel. It is an unstressed vowel.

D. EXAMPLES

E. DIPHTHONGS

In addition to single vowel sounds, we regularly create sounds that consist of a combination of two vowel sounds, known as diphthongs. When we produce diphthongs, our vocal organs move from one vocalic position [a] to another [ɪ] as we produce the sound [aɪ], as in Hi or Bye. The movement in this diphthong is from low towards high front. Alternatively, we can use movement from low towards high back, combining [a] and [ʊ] to produce the sound [aʊ], which is the diphthong repeated in the traditional speech training exercise [haʊ naʊ braʊn kaʊ]. In some descriptions, the movement is interpreted as involving a glide such as [j] or [w], so that the diphthongs we are representing as [aɪ] and [aʊ] may sometimes be seen as [aj] or [aw].

While the vowels [e], [a] and [o] are used as single sounds in other languages, and in some other varieties of English, they are only typically used as the first sounds of diphthongs in American English. Diphthongs [aɪ] buy, eye. I, my, pie, sigh [aʊ] bough, doubt, cow

[oʊ] [ɔɪ]

[eɪ] bait, eight, great, late, say

boat, home, throw, toe boy, noise

6. Schwa

a ci o a A) Schwa: Stressed [ʌ]  Monosyllabic words

 Stressed syllable when more than one syllable are spelling cases “o”, “u”. Examples: us

/ʌ/

hug

/hʌg/

nut

blood /blʌd/

won

/wʌn/

trouble /trʌbl/

love

month /mʌnɵ/

some

/sʌm/

done /dʌn/

rough

/rʌf/

/ʌv/

but

cut

/kʌt/

come

/cʌm/

/lʌv/

/bʌt/

B) Schwa: Unstressed [ə]  Unstressed syllables  More than one syllable  Spelling cases “a”, “e”, “I”, “o”, “u”. Examples: ago

occur

circus

soda

upon

liquid

arrive

cement

/nʌt/

C) Stressed Schwa + r [ɝ]  Stressed syllables  monosyllabic words  Spelling cases Examples: urn

/ɝn/

herb

/hɝb/

stir

/stɝ/

bird

/bɝd/

fur

/fɝ/

curve

/kɝv/

third

/ɵɝd/

verb

/vɝb/

learn

/lɝn/

term

/tɝm/

blur

/blɝ/

earth

/ɝɵ/

D) Unstressed Schwa + r [ə + r] [ɚ]  Unstressed syllable words  Spelling cases “ar”, “er”, “or”, “ure”. Examples: nature

after

actor

sugar

dollar

feature

color

silver

grammar

doctor

flavor

father

paper

7. Linking When we say a sentence in English, we join or "link" words to each other. The Linking is a process by which groups of words are connected together within the same phrase or sentence in connected speech. The important thing in Linking is the sound, not the letter. Linking is the merging of multiple words together until they sound as if they are only one word. Examples:

Save it = Save it = Savit turn around = turnaround team mate = teammate

A) Consonant to Consonant linking or Linking Identical Consonants When the same consonant sound is found at the end of the first word and the beginning of the next, the words are linked. The final sound of the first word is formed but used for the following word, pronounce them as one long sound. Examples: epidemic cholera

team mate

that time

bad day

at two

unusual life

next time guess some

put together finish shopping

B) Consonant to Vowel linking If a word ends in a consonant and the next word begins with a vowel, the consonant links up with the following word. Final consonants can also link with initial (w, h, y, r) of the following word, specially in faster speech. Examples: Sweet oranges

fool around

For admission

that’s enough

Why am I this busy?

Stop it

It’s an interesting idea

Back out

I need it

Drop it

Play a son

Read a book

It’s over in an hour

it’s now or never

C) Vowel to Vowel linking When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound, we link the words with a sort of /y/ or /w/ sound between them.

Examples: /y/

/w/

She is = She/y/iz

to Atlanta = to/w/Atlanta

I answer = I/y/answered

Doing = Do/w/ing

Enjoy it = Enjoy/y/it

How old = Ho/w/odd

I’m = I /y/am

Go in = Go/w/in

8. Inflectional Endings Inflection is the name for the extra letter or letters added to nouns, verbs and adjectives in their different grammatical forms. Nouns are inflected in the plural, verbs are inflected in the various tenses, and adjectives are inflected in the comparative/superlative form.

A) Inflectional endings /s/ /z/ /iz/ The difference between the sounds /s/ and /x/ is very small, what is really important is to know how to pronounce the /iz/ sound. The s is pronounced /iz/ in verbs and nouns which end in these sounds /ʧ, ʤ, ʃ, ʒ ,s, z/ /-z/

appears after morphs ending in voiced morphemes, except the sibilants and affricates.

/-iz/

appears after morphs ending in sibilants and affricates.

B) Inflectional endings /t/ /d/ /id/ Another example of phonological conditioning the past-ed tense Represented by three phonological conditioned allomorphs /t/, /d/, /-id/ /id/

occurs after morph ending in alveolar stops /t and /d/ as in wanted and wedded

/d/

occurs after voice phonemes except /t/ as in loved, called, etc.

/t/

occurs after voiced phonemes except /t/ as in helped

Suffixes added to a word to add grammatical information

Verb tense

Noun plural

Adjective & adverb comparative & superlative

9. Assimilation If speech is thought of as a string of sounds linked together, assimilation is what happens to a sound when it is influenced by one of its neighbors. It is the process by which a sound is influence by its neighboring sound and carries its characteristics at word boundaries. Assimilation occurs when two sounds occur in sequence and some aspect of one segment is taken or â&#x20AC;&#x153;copiedâ&#x20AC;? by the other. Examples -

Vowel nasalization: as in pin or pan

Valorization: as in I can go.

Vowel reduction: you and me.

10. Clusters vs Spelling Cases In some languages (including English) we can find several consonant phonemes in a sequence, with no vowel sound between them: for example, the word ‘stray’ strei begins with three consonants, and ‘sixths’ siksɵs ends with four. Sequences of two or more consonants within the same syllable are often called consonant clusters. It is not usual to refer to sequences of vowels as vowel clusters. Spelling cases to know how to spell a word we have to use two kinds of knowledge: phonological knowledge, that is, what we know about regular correspondences between phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters).

11. Reduction Reduction is a phonetic phenomenon involving vowels in which they change their quality or even fall out when unstressed.

12. Ellipsis Ellipsis is the omission from a sentence or other construction of one or more words that would complete or clarify the construction, as the omission of who are, while I am, or while we are from I like top interview people sitting down. The omission of term that are understood. This allows to highlight the main idea and give greater emotion to the verse. It is another cohesive device. An occasion when words are deliberately left out of a sentence, though the meaning can still be understood. The leaving out of words or phrase from sentences where they are unnecessary because they have already been referred or mentioned. When you omit words at the end of a sentence within a quoted passage, keep the sentence’s end punctuation and follow it with the points of the ellipsis. Example: “That building was an earlyRenaissance confection of towers and turrets… I remember that next to the chateau was the town hall” Use three ellipsis points to indicate a pause in written dialogue.

Example: “Yes, but… oh, well, all right”, she said.

13. Contractions A contraction is a word formed from two words by the omission of one or more letters. An apostrophe (‘) shows the location of the omitted letter (s). Example: Must have is contracted to must’ve Can not is contracted can’t Did not to didn’t Its common in a conversation to make a stamen and the ask for confirmation. Example: It’s very hot, isn’t it? The later part “isn’t it?” Is called a QUESTION TAG.

14. Derivations The process or device of adding affixes to or changing the shape of a base, thereby assigning the result to a form class that my undergo further inflection or participate in different syntactic constructions, as in forming service from serve, song from sing, and hardness from hard. Derivation is the formation of a new word or inflectable stem from another word. It typically occurs by the addition of an affix. The derived word is often of a different word class from the original. It may thus take the inflectional affixes of the new word class. Derivation does not always cause the change of word class; but in such a case, the meaning of word will usually be significantly different from the root.

15. Borrowing Loanwords are words adopted by speakers of one language from a different language (the source language). A loanword can also be called a borrowing. The abstract noun borrowing refers to the process of speakers adopting words from a source language into native language. “Loan” and “borrowing” are of course metaphors, because there is no literal “returning” words to the source language. The words simply come to be used by a speech community that speaks a different language from the one these words originated in.

16. Minimal Pairs Minimal pairs are words that vary by only a single sound, usually meaning sounds that students often get confused by, like the “th" and "t” in "thin" and "tin”. Minimal pair is a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning. Consonant Sounds Minimal Pairs /b/ and /v/ (berry and very) Minimal Pairs /b/ and /p/ (buy and pie) Minimal Pairs /n/ and /ŋ/ (thin and thing) Minimal Pairs /l/ and /r/ (alive and arrive) Minimal Pairs /ʧ/ and /t/ (catch and cat) Minimal Pairs /s/ and /ʃ/ (sea and she) Minimal Pairs /f/ and /v/ (fan and van) Minimal Pairs /f/ and /h/ (fat and hat) Minimal Pairs /f/ and /θ/ (free and three) Minimal Pairs /s/ and /θ/ (sing and thing) Minimal Pairs /ð/ and /z/ (with and whizz) Minimal Pairs /ʤ/ and /z/ (page and pays) Minimal Pairs /d/ and /ʤ/ (bad and badge) Initial Consonant Sounds Minimal Pairs initial /f/ and /p/ (fast and past) Minimal Pairs initial /k/ and /g/ (came and game) Minimal Pairs initial /t/ and /d/ (two and do) Final Consonant Sounds Minimal Pairs final /k/ and /g/ (back and bag) Minimal Pairs final /m/ and /n/ (am and an) Minimal Pairs final /t/ and /d/ (hat and had)

Vowel Sounds Minimal Pairs /ɪ/ and /i:/ (sit and seat) Minimal Pairs /e/ and /ɪ/ (desk and disk) Minimal Pairs /e/ and /eɪ/ (wet and wait) Minimal Pairs /æ/ and /ʌ/ (bat and but) Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ and /ɔ:/ (so and saw) Minimal Pairs /ɒ/ and /əʊ/ (not and note) Minimal Pairs /æ/ and /e/ (bad and bed) Minimal Pairs /ɑ:/ and /ɜ:/ (fast and first)

Minimal Pair In phonology minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, which differ in only one phonological element, such as a phone, phoneme and have distinct meanings.

17. Homophones and Homographs

18. Allophones Each phoneme can be described as a maximal set of distinctive features. We have seen that /p/ must be described as “voiceless bilabial plosive” to account for all the oppositions it can be found in. Every sound which is a realization of a given phoneme must show the same set of distinctive features. The realizations of phonemes –or phones – are called ALLOPHONES. All allophones of a phoneme share the same set of distinctive features but each one can also show additional features. For example the phoneme /p/ is realized /p’/ in /p’ɪt/, as it would be every time it occurs in a word as initial consonant before a vowel, and as /p/ in all other cases. /ph/ and /p/ are said to be allophones because: 1) they can both be described as voiceless bilabial plosives and 2) if we substitute one for the other we do not get any change in meaning but rather an odd pronunciation.

19. Stress Stress is the rhythm of a language. In pronunciation, stress can refers to words, part of words, or even one word in a group of words that receives the most emphasis. Stress is one of the suprasegmental features of ulterances. It applies not to individual vowels and consonants but to whole syllables. In the level of word, a stressed syllables is pronounced with a greater amount of energy than an unstressed syllable. The primary stress is the strongest, it is marked by number 1, the secondary stress is the second strongest marked by 2. All the other degrees are termed weak stress. Unstressed syllables are supposed to have weak stress.

20. Elision Elision (deletion): the process of not pronouncing a sound segment (consonant, vowel, o whole syllable) that might be present in careful pronunciation