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MARCELA FUENTES D.

ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY UCSH

ENGLISH ALLOPHONES

The following table lists the 24 English consonants and their main allophones, which have been given an articulatory label.

Long and short consonants, glottalised stops and fronter and backer variants have not been included in this table. In the

case of sounds whose variations do not differ much from the given form, only the latter has been included.

Phonemes Allophonic Distribution Examples


variants

/p / [ p H] aspirated + accented V [»pHUt| »pHen t´ »pHe>Ip´]


[p |] unreleased + plosive / affricate [´ »tHÅp| ten »pl•e˘´]
[p< ] nasally released + nasal C [»stÅp< »na˘U] [tÅp< mÅd:… ` ]
[p] unaspirated after [s]; in unaccented syllables [»dZQp´»ni˘z sp´>Uk´n]

/b / [b] voiced between vd. sounds [´»ba>Ut ´ »bç˘I ñ ba>I »nIk »hç>mbi]
[b8] devoiced before and after vl. Cs and pauses [»b8Åb8| »tHÅm´s Iz ´t5 D8´ »pH√b8]
[b|] unreleased + plosive / affricate [hiz ´ »lQb| tek<nISn`]
[b<] nasally released + nasal C [»kl•√b< memb´z »´>Unli]

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MARCELA FUENTES D. ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY UCSH

/t/ [tH ] aspirated + accented V [»tH´>Uni ´n »tHIm]


[t|] unreleased + plosive / affricate [»mi>t| dZe>In ´t| »d8e˘Ivz8]
[ t5] dental + [T, D] [wi w´®4 ´t5 D8´ »Ti>´t´®4 at5 »TR8i˘]
[ t=] post-alveolar + [®] [»t=®•a˘I ´»gen]
[t< ] nasally released + nasal C [a>I »bç>t5 D8´ »kHŒ>t<n`z In »b®4It<n`]
[t:] laterally released + [l] [a>I lef D8´ »bÅt:… 8 neks t´ D´ »kHet:… 8 ]
[ t] unaspirated after [s]; in unaccented syllables [»lets »st√di t´»geD´]
[t§ ] voiced alveolar tap AmEng unaccented intervocalic [t§ ] [»wA>t§ ´ »dŒ’t§ i »sIt§i]

/ d/ [d ] voiced between vd. sounds [le>Idi da>I»Qn´ da>Id8| »t=®•QdZIkl•i]


[d 8 ] devoiced before and after vl. Cs and pauses [»d8Ån t=®8a˘Id8| t´ »he…p< mi]
[d |] unreleased + plosive / affricate [Its »bed8|ta>Im]
[d 5 ] dental + [T, D] [D8´ »tSI…d=®´n »stUd5 De>´]
[d = ] post-alveolar + [®] [´ »bQd= »d=®i˘m]
8 8
[d <] nasally released + nasal C [ »gç>d<n`z In5 D´ »bQk| »gA>d<n`]
[d :] laterally released + [l] [»la>It ´ »kHQnd:…, pl•i˘z8]

/k/ [kH] aspirated + accented V [D8´ »kHIN »kHe˘Im Int´ hIz8 »kHA>s…]
[k|] unreleased + plosive / affricate [»Qk|tIN Iz »Qk|tS´li ´»t=®8Qk|tIv8]
[k<] nasally released + nasal C [»dA>k<n´s] [»TIk<n´s]
[k] unaspirated after [s]; in unaccented syllables [a>I »tHUk ´ »bUk f®•m` »sku˘…]

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MARCELA FUENTES D. ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY UCSH

/g/ [g] voiced between vd. sounds [Siz ´ »gç>dZ´s, »ve®4i »gUd: lUkIN »gŒ˘…]
[g*] devoiced before and after vl. sounds and pauses [»TQNk| »g*Åd8]
[g|] unreleased + plosive / affricate [´ »lÅg* »kHQbIn]
[g<] nasally released + nasal C [»bIg< »ma>UT]

/tS/ [tS] voiceless all positions [hiz8 »tHe>IkIN ´ »pIk|tS´®4 ´v D´ »tSŒ>tS]

/dZ/ [dZ] voiced between Vd. sounds [»dZ*Ån IM»va>ItId5 D´ »dZ√dZ In »dZu˘n]
[dZ**] devoiced before and after Vl. Cs and pauses [»dZ*QnIs »dZ*´˘Unz8]

/f/ [f] voiceless all positions [»f®8QNks »fla>IIN bQk ´t »fç˘]

/v/ [v] voiced between vd. sounds [ma>I »sIst´ »vIvi´n »lIvz IM »venIs]
[v8] devoiced before and after vl. Cs and pauses [´v8 »kHç>s a>I… vIzIt »v8Ik|t´]

/T/ [T] voiceless all positions [»smIT »Tç>t It ´>Uv´ »T√®4´li]

/D/ [D] voiced between vd. sounds [D8i √D´ »de˘I De>I »went| t´ D´ »mu>viz8]
[D8] devoiced before and after vl. Cs and pauses [D8Is Iz »nÅt5 »D8e˘´z8]

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MARCELA FUENTES D. ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY UCSH

/s/ [s] voiceless all positions [ma>I »sIst´ »su>zn ´n h´ »kHQts]

/z/ [z] voiced between vd. sounds [wi »vIzItId5 D´ »zu˘ Ån wenzde>I]
[z8] devoiced before and after vl. Cs and pauses [D8´>Uz8 »tHu˘ »tSe˘´z8]

/S/ [S] voiceless all positions [aIm »Sç˘ »SŒ>li »wÅSt h´ »hQndz8]

/Z/ [Z] voiced between vd. sounds [»leZ´®4 ´m »pl•eZ´]


8 8
[Z] devoiced before and after vl. Cs and pauses [In5 D´ »gQ®4A>Z]

/h/ [h] voiceless all positions [h´»l´˘U h√ni]

/m/ [m] voiced all positions [»mÅm ´m »betsi]

/n/ [n] voiced all positions [a>I »kHA˘nt si> »ne>ITn]


[n5] dental + [T, D] [Ån5 »TŒ>zde>I]
[M] labiodental + [f, v] [IM »venIs ÅM »f®8a>Ide>I]
[N] velar + [g, k] [IN »g®4i>s ´N »kHQn´d´]

/N/ [N] voiced all positions [»sININ ´»lÅN]

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MARCELA FUENTES D. ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY UCSH

/l/ [l] voiced clear + Vs; + [j] [»l´U »vQlju˘]


[l•] devoiced clear [p, t, k] + [l•] [»pl•e˘I wID »kl•e˘´]
[…] voiced dark […] + C; + [w]; + pauses [hi »ç>…we>Iz8 »he…p pi>p…•]
[… 5 ] dental dark [… ] + [T , D ] [»g*Ud8 »he…5T]

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/r/ [®] voiced fricative [d] + [®] [»d==®a˘Iv8 t´ DIs ´»d=®es]
[®4 ] approximant before and between Vs; after [b, g, v] [»b8®4IN ®4ed »®4´>UzIz8]
[®•] voiceless fricative after [p, t, k] [»t=®8a˘I »p®8e>IIN Ån ´ »k®8u˘z8]

/j/ [j] voiced before vd sounds; after pauses [ju »lUk »j√Ng´]
• •
[j•] devoiced after [p, t, k] [»pæ碮4 ´N »kæ8 u>t]

/w/ [w] voiced before vd sounds; after pauses [»wet »weD´]


[w8] devoiced after [p, t, k] [»kw8a>It| »kw8Ik]

References

Finch, D. & H. Ortiz Lira (1982). A Course in English Phonetics for Spanish Speakers. London: Heinemann.

Cruttenden, A. & A. C. Gimson (2007). Gimson’s Pronunciation of English (7th edn.) London: Arnold.

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