ISABEL M.

IGO MORA

A COURSE IN PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

AND ENGLISH SPEAKERS

Sevilla, 2005

FOR SP ANISH

CONTENTS
UNlT I. ACQUISITION OF A SECOND LANGUAGE PHONOLOGY 1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4

Acquisition of an Ll vs. acquisition of an L2

PhonoIogical processes involved in the acquisition of an L2
Contrastive Phonetics
Foreign accent

UNIT 11.APPROACHES TO PRONUNCIATION TEACHING

.I
II
I

2.1
2.2

lntroduction
Main Methods

2.3

Dingnosliclcsls

28

Phonemes and Allophones

:
Spelling and Pronunciation
Phonemic and Phonetic Transcription
Excrci scs

53

The speech mechanism

Description and cIassification of speech sounds
Exercises

UNIT V. CONSONANTS
Comparison of Spanish and English systems
Plosives
Fricatives and afTricates
Nasals

5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8

Approximants vs. Liquids

Distributional problems
Allophonic variations
SpelIing systems

5.9

@ Isabcl M" Iiiigo Mora

ISBN: 84-()09-6863-4
Depsito

Legal: SE-442 1-05

Edita: Fnix Editora. Avda. dc Cdiz, 7 - 1C

fenixcdi.tora@tclcfonica.net
Telf. 954 412991
- 41004 SEVILLA

83
84
89
92
95
104
106
114

Excrciscs

11 R

Vio VOWELS AND DlPIITHONGS

Comparison ofSpanish and English systems
Vowels
Diphthongs
Hiatus and syneresis
Distributional problcms
Allophonic variations
SpelIing systems
Exercises

UNIT VII. PHONOT ACTICS

7.1 The structure ofthe syllable

53
62
73

83

5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4

UNIT
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8

37
37
40
43
4ft

UNIT IV. THE ORGANS OF SPEECH

4.1
4.2
4.3

21
21
23

UNlT Ill. PHONETICS ANO PHONOLOGY

3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4

1
8
9
17 .

127
127
131
140
144
145
146
]47 '
151

159
:

159

7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
UNIT
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
8.6
8.7
UNIT
9.1
9.2
9.3
9.4

Initial clusters in Spanish anu English

Final clusters in Spanish and Eng\ish
lntrasyllabic clusters in Spanish and English
Juncture
Excrciscs
,
VIII. LEXICAL STRESS
Prominence
Degrees of Stress
Strong and Weak Fornls
Rules for accentuation in English
Rules for accentuation in Spanish
Distinctive Function of Stress
Exercises
IX. RHYTHM
;
Rhythm in English and in Spanish
Weak and Strong Forms of Words
Linking and Pausing: Pause groups
Excrciscs

163

165
166
169
171
177
177
180
181
]88
192
193
196
20 1
201
203
206
21 O

I INIT X. INT()NI\TION
1n.1

'1'111' Mcaninl'.

01' Inlonalion

10.:2.

'1'!IeSlrllclure

01'

~~ll

~~
~

215
21)

aTolle LJllil

218

10.3 Delinition ofN~lclear Stress: Prominence

10.4 Rules for Locatmg Nuclear Stress
10.6 Tonality, Tonicity and Tonc

220
220
223

:~:
~~~~r~~s~:~
..~.~.
~~~~
~~~.
~.~.~
..~

~~.~.i.~~.
~.~.t.~.~.~~.i.~.~.::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::
;;~
0.5 Tone and lntonation Languages
221
UNIT Xl. CHECK YQUR KNOWLEDGE
235

APPENDIX: THE ENq./SPAN.

B lB LI OG RAPHY

CONSONANT

PHONEMES

239
241

PREFAC':

This is a textbook in Phonetics and Phonology for Spansh and

English spcakers. It includcs both thcoretical ano practical issucs which
aim to help the learners of both languages improve their pronunciation.
The book is divded into eleven chapters. The jirst ten chapters
are ': review of the main theoretical and practical issues which students
of Eng!ishlSpanish
shou!d know in order to be ab!e to improve their
pronunciation.
In fact, the first two chapters dea! with the prob!ems of
the acquisition of second language phonology and with approaches to
pronunciaton
teachng.
Each chapter
includes
a final section of
exercises where students can revise their knowledge.
Finally, the last
chapter comprises a Jist of true/false questions where the student can
update the information provided in all the previous chapters.
1 wish to express IIIY gratitlldc lo alt 01' I11Y stlldellts beeallse as a
reslllt 01' Iheir slIggcstions und opinions I huve becn uhlc !o illlprove Ihe
original dran 01' this book. Their ncccssitics al1(l \Vishes have illullIinllcd
my work.
Finally, 1 would like to thank Dra. Ma Teresa Lpez Soto, who
also worked on the original draft of this book. Her suggestions and ideas
wcrc of grcat hclp.

To Miguel

,i

UNlT l. ACQUlSlTION OF A SECOND LANGUAGE

PHONOLOGY

1.1 Acquisition of an Ll vs. acquisition of an L2

When a child acquires his Ll (first language), he normally attains an
excellent phonological competence. However, when an adult acquires his
L2 (a second or foreign language), it is possible that he may obtain a
good phonological competence, but it is more than likely that he will
have a noticeable foreign accent which will not disappear (except in the
case somc speakers, after many years of cxpcrience).
So, many linguists mi psycholinguists \Vonder IIbout the reasons I~H'
lhese diffcrcnces. During lhe 1960's many studies showed the sleps
which a speaker follows when learning an LI and an L2. There are
several different theories, which complement each other rather than
oppose each other.
11

!
i

I!
r

l'
!"\

'1

The first thing we have to take into account is that when a child goes to
school, he has normally acquired a more 01' less full competence of his
Ll. When a baby starts to talk, he do es so by hearing the sounds his
parents make and then imitating them. So, obviously, we can observe a
close relationship between oUt'hearing and the way we acquire our L l.
Production is highly related to perception. A child develops his
pronunciatignJro1!Lhis developing perceptual system. At first, all babies
produce common babblings,lITespective of what language they hear. Six
months later, they start to babble in a different way depending on the
~~p~~nt:".~~Jffants
spec.ific .Ianguage they ~ear. As ~~jor (~9/9L~r3J,
receve mput they acqUlre the abIlty to map the vanable speech. waves
onto a finite set of sound categories, which are probably innate and not
language-specific." Eimas (1974) showed that infants can discriminate

Acquisition of a Second Language Phonology

Acquisition of a Second Language Phonology

place and voioing contrastso So, the child's mispronunciations

are due to
production difficulties and not to perceptual difficulties because he has
the right Undcrlying Rcprcscntations of the soundso This is something
characteristic
of phonology and not common to semantics, syntax or
morphologyo When a child is trying to pronounce the sound ISI and he
utters the sound Is/, he knows that the right one is the first oneo A child's
phonological
competence is v'irtualIy the same as that of the adult. But
when a child says something Iike: "My mommy love me", he do es not
know that the right sentence is"My mommy loves me"o But as children
grow older they start to lose this "abiIity" to recognise new soundso As
Major (2001 :56) concludes: "Cross-linguistic
speech perception research
consistentIy
indicates that experience
with a particular
Ianguage is
correlated with decrease perception for some nonnative contrasts but
increased perception for native contrastso" So, when an aduIt L2 Iearner
learns new sounds, he normaIly does so in terms of his Ll perceptual
systemo In this sense, Ll and L2 phonoIogicaI
acquisition
are very
different: "In Ll phonoIogicaI acquisition the child knows what the aduIt
NS target is; howevcr, in 1,2 phonological acquisition the learner may 01'
may not have thc same target as thc adult NS, just as this is truc in L2
morphoIogical and syntactic acquisitiono" (Major, 2001:54)0

For exampIe, if a Spanish speaker has to pronounce the three English

words "tin, this, din", he wiII probabIy facei an important difficulty
concerning
the initial soundso At a phonological
level, the Spanish
speaker has onIy two boxes ItI and Idl and the English has three It/, 101
and Id/. And even the common sounds (/t! and Idl) are not articlllated in
the same wayo Although in both languages Itl is a plosive, voiceless
sound and Idl is a plosive voiced sound, in Spanish both of them are
dental sounds whereas in English they are aIveolar.
. ENGLISH

ItI
IdI

101

This means that whenever

to boxes ami explains

that (1980:2):

.. o when we listen to our own language,

Plosive, dental
Plosive, dental

a Spanish speaker has to pronounce

10/, he wiI\ look for the most similar

the sound

in his native language,

that

ItI

ItI

'--:'111"
I 101-:..-. ------.

,~

Idl

Idl

So, Ihe O!1ly way lo pronou!1ee lhese !1ew English sOll!1ds eorreelly

is:

o.. to build a new set of boxes corresponding

to the sounds of
English, and to break down the arrangement of boxes which the
habits of our native languagc have so strongly huilt up. We do
this by establishing l1ew ways of using our speech organs, new
speech habits. (O'Connor,
] 980:3) .

we hear the sounds and

we put it into the right box, and when we speak we go to the

boxes and take out the sounds we want in the arder we want
themo And as we do this over the years, the boxes get stronger
and stronger untiI everything
we hear, whether it is our own
Ianguage or another, has to be put into one of these boxes, and
everything \Ve sny comes out of one of them. But every language
hns n di!lerenl nl1lubcr o!' boxes. nmI (hc hoxcs arc arrangcd

Up to this point we have deaIt with two" terms wbich have not yet been
I'..WJ,.!'! nc!
'/ student of a
defined yet. Although It IS taken from gramea
tluite every
second language knows the meanings of LI (first Ianguage or native
Ianguage)
and L2 (second
language),
this distinction
is not so.
o

straightrorwardo
Llc (1997:41) defincs an L2 in thc rollowing way: "Sc
considcra L2 o Icngua cxtranjera a toda lengua quc sc adquicrc cn cdad

di tTcrent!y o
2

sound/s

is, he wilI go to his set of boxes and wiII pick up one of his sound/so In
th is case, the sounds IU 01' Id/ ..

I
O'Connor (1980) also explains that the sounds of our native language do
IlO! Id liS aeqllire Ilew sOllllds alld Ihal is why adlllts el1llll01 piek IIp Ihe
sounds of a foreign Ianguage as a child cano As he explains, in our native
Ianguage there is a smaII number of sound-units which we combine in
order to form words and sentenceso As we get oIder, we are dominated by
this fixed number of sound-llnits. O'Connor compares these sOllnd-units

SPANISH

Plosive,alveolar
Plosive, alveolar
Fricative, dental

Acqui.l'itioll o/ a SecolJd Langllage Phonology

Acqllisition o/ a Second Langllage Phonology

, adulta, despus de que el individuo~ adquirido ya otra lengua (L!) en la

infancia". But this definitionrp~s
some problems: What about a child
who learns another language different from his 11 when he is only ten?
Should this language be called an L2.? It is generally agreed that this
language is an L2 because (mainly in phonology) the acquisition of an L!
is almost always completed when the child is 4 or 5 years old. However,
it is very difficult to reach a universal agreement about this. McLaughlin
(1978:73) states that if a child acquires two languages before he is 3, it
could be said that he has acquired two L! s at the same time. And if this
process takes place after he is 3, he would have acquired an Ll AND an
L2 in a succession. But this is just one theory. There are cases of
influences of an L1 over another language (an L2?) when the child is
younger than 3 (Lle, 1995). That is why some authors say that 3 is too
late. In an experiment carried out by Sebastin-Galls and Soto-Faraco
(1999), a group of highly proficient Spanish-dominant Catalan-Spanish
bilinguals (who had been exposed to Catalan between the ages of 3 and 4,
but who, previous to this age, had been exposed only to Spanish) and
anothcr group of Catalan-dominant bilinguals (who had hccn cxposcd to
Clllllllln rroll1 birth) were cOll1pared. The results showcd Ihat Spanishdominan! bilinguals pcrrorll1ed worsc th:Ithe group orCatalan-doll1inant
bilinguals whcn tryingto distinguish L2 phonemic contrastsl.

language" when the student is living in a community where thts target

language (TL) is not spoken outside he classroom.
Apart from the L2 and the 11, it is necessary to mention a third "type of
language" called Interlanguage2
(IL). According to Lightbown and'
Spada (1999: 176) an IL can be defined as:

The leamer's developing second language knowledge. It may

have characteristics of the learner's first language, characteristics
of the second language, and some characteristics which seem to
be very general and tend to occur in all or most interlanguage
systems. Interlanguages are systematic, but they are also
dynamic, continually evolving as leamers receive more input and
revise lheir hypotheses abollt (he second langllage.

Lle (1995:43) offers the following

phonological acquisition of an L2:

characteristics

conceming

the

(a)

There are cases of substitutions

and simplifications in the
Interlanguage (IL). The phonology ofthis IL is much simplcr than
that of the L2. So, we may find cases of substitutions of some
sounds for others, elisions (mainly consonants), insertions, etc.
(b) There are similarities between the ILs of different learners; in
fact they can be grouped according to the L 1.
(c) There are important differences in the pronunciation of the same
speaker.
(d) This process (learning this L2) normally stops at some point and
we speak of fossilization. As Selinker (1972:215) states:

There are two types of acquisition of an L2: guidcd and non-guided (or
natural). The first one is related to the learning of a foreign language in a
clss with a teacher, a methodology, a prograrnme and so on. When
talking about this type of acquisition, so me authors use the term "to
learo" an L2. The second)s related to a natural context without a teacher
or pedagogical orientation; in this context, the leamer belongs to the
linguistic coml'l'1W1ityof this L2. This situation is similar to the
acquisition of an 11 and for this reason the term "to acquire" an L2 is
normally used. In fact, some authors only use the term "second
language" in this situation, that' is, when the student is living in the
speech community of this, L2; andothey prefer to use the term "foreign
plbcedu'11C l/te:

1 Therprocedure
is explainedby
Sebastin-Galls
and Soto-Faraco (1999:111) in
the following way: "We developed a variation of the(giiI~procedure that
inc\uded a two-altemative [orced choice test after each fragment was played. The
dirfercnccs betwecn thc two altcmativcs consistcd ofphoncmic contrasts cxisting
in Catalan but not in Spanish."

This tcrm was first introduccd by Sclinkcr (1972). Scc also: Brown (1994),
Cook (1993), Ellis (1994), Gass and Sclinkcr (2001) ..

4
r

UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA
. Fac. Filologa BiblioleciJ

Acquisition ola Second Language Phonology

Acquisition ola Second Language Phonology

Fossilizable linguistic phenomena are 1inguistic items, rules, and
subsystems which spcakers 01' a particular NI} will tcnd to kcep
in their IL relative to a particular TL 4, no matter what the age of
the leamer or amount of explanation and instruetion he reeeives
in the TL.

For exarnple, all languages have vowels but their nurnber and qualities,
differ from language to language. As Major (200 1:41) explains, the
following examples are the result of universals, not produets of languag~
specifie transfers:

(a) any L2 learner acquires voieed obstruents

in initial position
before final position beeause ofmarkedness;
of American
(b) any L2 leamer may exaggerate the pronunciation
English Ir! beeause of hypereorreetion;
(e) any L2 learner of English whose L1 does not have final

This is something typical of phonology

and not eommon to syntax,
morphology
or semanties. Although we may be approaehing
more and.
more to the grammar of an L2, we normally stop at a given point in the
phonology
of this L2 before we can acquire a native competenee.
Fossilization can also be found in grammar but it is mueh more eommon
in phonology. One way or the other, we must remember that there are
important individual differenees.

consonants

may

pronour..ce

league

as

[Iix]

because

the

Ig/

devoices and spirantizes;

.
(d) any 1..2 Icarncr whosc 1.1 docs not distingnish bctwccn Ibl I1l1dIvl
will tel1d to pronounce the distinction more accllratcly in a \Vord
list than in a conversation;
"
\\ H
t ~'~~
beca use 01' constrai1t nnkings, any L2 Iearncr without tinal
~ (e) obstruents may produce monosyIlabic words with final voiced
obstruents as disylIabic words, but devoiee these same obstruents
in disyllabic words.

The term Interlanguage

is a very interesting one when talking abollt the
acquisition ofa second language. According to Major (2001 :4): "oo. an IL
is a product of and combination of parts of the LI, parts 01' the L2, and
universals (that are not already part of LI and L2)." So, this undedying
system contains elements due to: (1) negative and/or positive transfers
(LI); (2) structures correctly learned from the L2; and (3) errors which
are the result 01' universals 01' language aequisition. The last one is related(l)
to the faet that leamers with different language baekgrounds
often make
the same mistakes. Aeeording to Chomsky and his followers, Universal
Grammar.(UG)
is composed of principies and parametcrs.
Haegeman
(1991: 14) postulates the following lwo properlies 01' UG:

,oOo",,i,-,

. ("

l
') 7

The term markedness

is a key factor when talking about universals. It is
common to both Ll and L2 acquisition and it is based on implicational
marked than y if the presenee 01' x implics the
viee
versa." (Major,
200 I :4::n\
In terms
01'
of oeeurrenee.
lt is hierarehical
because
we can
frequeney,. we can say that x is marked beeause it is unnatural or not
mJ<eli ! A~6rding
to Eekman's
(1977)
Markedness
Differential
Hypothesis (MDH), unmarked phenomena are aequired before marked
phenomena. For example, in Ll aequisition, it seems that ehildren acquire
front unrounded vowels before front rounded ones and, in L2 acquisition,
say that "x is more

UG eontains
a set of absolute
universals,
notions and
principIes whieh do not vary from one language to the next.
Oi) There are language-specific
properties whieh are not fully
determined by UG but which vary eross-linguisticaIly.
For these
properties a range of choiees is offered by UG. One parameter
along which languages vary concems word-order.
O)

3
4

,1 lhierarChies
presenee ofandy frequency
but not
O

Spanish-speaking
learners of English modify three-member
frcquently than lwo-mcmbcr onscts (Carlislc, 1997).

Nativc Language.
Target Language.
6

, 7

onsets more

AC(jui.l'i/iollola Seco/lcl 'IiI};uuge

PJOIIO~Ogy

ACqllisi/ioll ola Second Langllage Phonology

I
1.2 Phonological
L1e (1997)
phonoh'gical

processes

involved

in the acquisition

offers the following classification

processes involved in theacquisition

of an L2

of the most
of an L2:

common

iI
I
I

i
I

(1) Vocalic cpenthesis (Oller, 1974):.We can find this process either
in consonant clusters 01' just in final consonants. For example
[thari:]

for "tree"

01' ,[

seke]

for "sack".

In the same way, cases

!
I

I
I
1.

of elisions may be also found. Tarone (1980) has found that both
processes can be found in a language like English if its syllabic
structure is more complex than that of L l. So, in order to
simplify the syllabic structure, a Vietnamese will tend to elide
one of the consonants in an English final consonant cluster so
that the final syllable will be CVC.
(2) Substitutions
of some L2 sounds: The incorrect sound normally
OJ\C- single
sOllnd of L2 ean he
heIongs to L 1. Sometimes,
slIbslilllled by dincrent sOllnds in l1n IL. Llc (1997:'15):

1L..2..=::

--/[r]
[d]
Iwl
Ivl
Irl
[v]
ItV
[w]
[[R]
[z]
[b/P
[v]
R]
z] . ]

I ': 11 1',1b J

1.3 Contrastive

Phonetics

The first modelused

to explain Ihe phonologicnl proccsses of the IL \Vas
Contrastive
Analysis (CA). 1t was introduced by Lado (1957) and il
tries to predict al1 the possible difficulties in the acquisition of an L2 and
these predictions are based on a comparison ofthe phonological systems
of Ll and L2. It is a matter of fact that it will be much easier to learn
those elements which are similar to Ll (positive transfer)
and much
more difficult to learn those which are different (negative transfer).
In
fact, this negative
transfer 01' "interference"
is the origin of the
difficulties involved in the acquisitionof
an L2.
Before Lado (1957), Weinreich (1953) had already
types oftransfers5 These transfers"are the fol1owing6:

(1) Sound Substitution:

A Iearner
LI sOllnd which is vcry similar
when cOll1paring the Spanish
syslclIIs IIre Ihc English dcntal

[s]
[5]
{&"[,

described

seven

slIbslitlltes an L2 sOllnd rOl" nn

lo this new 501ln<l. Onc cxamplc
a!HI lhe English phonologicaI
li"iclllivcs 1(\0/ IIml fhc Spanish

dental plosives /d,t!. Haugen (1956) terrned sound substitution

as simple identifieation.
ta the transfer
of
(2) Phonological
Proccsscs:
This refcrs
allophones. An English speaker would normally use the velar

[ 1]
(3) Elisions of unstressed syllables, reduplication
01' harmony
are
not normal1y found in the IL. Contrary to what we find in the
acquisition of an, Ll, an L2 do es not start with very simple
structures, absence of cortsant clusters 01' simple syl1ables of
the strvd:ure CV. It can start with very complex phonetic
structures (in comparison to the acquisition of an L 1) B UT with
a strong tendency to simplifiction.

(3)

when

trying

to' pronounce

/
--......
6
7

clear

[1]

in

postsyIlabic position.
Overdifferentiation:
It refers to those cases where two
phonemes
of Ll correspond
to one single phoneme in L2.
Haugen (1956) termed overdifferentiation
as convergent. When
comparing the phonological systems of Spanish and English we
can find the following examples7:

Spanish

Ile uscd Ihe term "inlcrlercncc" ..

They are dcscribcd in Major (200 1:31-2).
When L I = Spanish and L2 = English.

!
'-

J
r

"-u ( ....
,,/:Xl.Tlc-C

.ft;'\I.Clll.s
u

I{'

, I

'1
ti

--'"------~..----------- ..-----------------------------

ACqllisitiOl1 ola Secol1d La"~lIa~e

ACQllisitiOl1 ola Second Lan~lIagePhon%f!Y

Phol1%f!Y

English

Spanish

At an allophonic

level, we can find another instance:

If/: rol! ("vibrante mltiple")

English

Spanish
Ir/:
Ir/:

approximant

tap ("vibrante simple")

[1]: alveolar, voiced, latera9 /

At an allophonic

English

---.

[b] : bilabial, voiced, plosive

[~ ] :.bilabial, voiced, fricative

[b] : bilabial, voiced, plosive

(5) Reinterpretation of Distinctions: Whereas some features can

be considered primary and distinctive, others can be regarded as
secondary or redundar.t. In American English, the qualitative
tense/lax
"bit"

(4) Undcrdiffercntiation: It refers to those cases where one single

phonemc ofLI corresponds to two diffcrcnt phonemes ofL2. It
seems
that
this
one
presents
more
problems
than
overdifferentiation.
Haugen (1956) termed underdifferentiaton

/ .'1)
..' <SClLlllcl
'.

"-

\
1

/,'
.

Some examples8:

-/ ! i "~-

~C
Spamsh

English

11

/s/: alveolar, voiceless, fricative

/s/: alveolar, voiceless, fricative

~

/v: alveolar, voiced, fTicative

[bIt~n]

distinction

[bIt])

German,

as divergent.

[ 3:] : velar, voiced, lateral

level, we can find another instance:

Spanish

[1]: alveolar, voiced, lateral

is considered

and the quantitative

the opposite
are considered

primary
di fference

("beet"

[bi:t] vs.

is secondary.

occurs,

"bieten"

[bi:t;m]

different

due to a difference

In

vs. "bitten"
in length.

in syllable
(6) Phonotactic Intcrfcrcncc: It rcfers to differences
and word structures. For example, although in English it is very
frequent to find a word starting with "sp-, st-, sk-", in Spanish
no word has this onset, which explains why Spanish speakers
insert an le/ sound: "estress'" instead of "stress" when speaking
English.
(7) Prosodic Interference: It refers to the tendency to transfer
prosodic pattems from Ll. So, a Spanish speaker would use a
syllable-timed
rhythm instead of a stress-timed
rhythm when
speaking English.

Moulton (1962) also offered another classficaton

of transfers when
comparing German and Englsh. He distngushed
the following types:
(a) phoncmic crrors; (b) phonctic crrors; (e) allophonic crrors; and (d)
distributional errors (phonotactics).

9 This only refers to Standard Spanish because we can also find a velar or dark
[3:] in the Spanish spoken in Catalua.

Also L 1 = Spanish and L2 = English.

10

11

C(., "

Acquisilion ola Second Language Pho/J%gy

Acquisilion vj ~ ;)ccut/l.i Lw:guage Phon%gy

i,,,

(,

l~lIt alicr a0cw y~ars, :omc c;lIntcrcxamplcs

werc attcstcd. Somctimes,
, wherc lhe CA predicted an error, there was, no such error, and it was also
proved that some errors were not due to any type of interference with L 1
but to universal factors. For this reason, Wardhaugh (1970) proposed a
distinction between a "strong" and a "weak" version of the CA. The
weak version would explain those difficulties
already found when
learning an L2 and would be based on real proof. It would make
reference to both systems (L 1 and L2) only in arder to explain those
cases of interference that had been already found. Oller and Ziahosseiny
(1970) also suggested a "m~derate
version" of CA 10. This moderate ';
version is based on the idea that similar phenomena are harder to acquire
than dissimilar phenomena because "whenever patterns are minimally
distinct in form or meaning in one or more systems, confusion may
result." (OIJer and Zahosseiny, 1970: (86). There are psycholinguistic
reasons which support this idea. It isbelieved that human beings process
better those stimuli which are salient, and it is obvious that mnimal
difTerences (in contrast to gross difTerences) are less salient and so
hardly noticed 11.

Agc: It has not becn shown Ihat thcrc cxisls

bctwecn age and abTIty to pronouncc a secon

Quantity of cxposition: Thollgh vcry importanl, it docsn't sccm

to be an essential requisite in the development ofthis ability.
Pbonetic
ability: Every single speaker has what Kenworthy
caIls a "basic equipment".
Id~ntity and ~ttitude: Some studies have shown a relationship
between
pronunciation
and a positive
feeling towards the
speakers ofthe language being learnt.
Motivation
for a good pronunciation:
it seems to be a good
aid when learning an L2.

clcar e()rr~lalion

dI angllagc-. l'

Nowadays, there are still numerous studiesl3 which, although insisting

on the importance of transfers, recognise other factors. The so-caIled
Loan phollology (Yip, 1(96) is un cxlrcmc cx!\mple 01' Ihis Icndcncy in
that it

AdditionaIJy, some authors such as Mackey (1966) or Tarone (1980)

havc staled Ihat Ihese conlrasts will not show the real reasons for these

... uSllally involves a very rudimentary forro of L2 f1~quisition,

whcrc L 1 trans(cr complclcly dom inalcs. USllally,ioim words IIre
completely
nativized, meaning there is nothing from the L2
system that is incorporated. This situation is synonymous with a
person whose foreign accent is so heavy that he or she is onIy
using their L1 phonology; that is, the speaker is reaIly speaking
the 11 with L210an words. (Major, 2001:136-7).

interfcrences
if the CA is limited to two languages, LI and L2, only.
Thcrc are important ir:dividual difTercnces in the phonological systems
of learners. Mackey (1966) shows h9W the non-existence
of the
phoneme 101 in the French (and Spanish) phonological system do es not
explain the reason why some speakers produce Isl or IzJ and others ItI or
to produce this 101 sound.

Idl when attempting

Apart from the native language, J. Kenworthy (1990:4-9)

some important factors in the acquisition of an L2. These are:

So, it seems obvi~us that when a sound of the target Ianguagc is

physically similar to one ofthe native language or is distributed similarly,
it will not be a problem. But when a sound is different, it must be learned
as a different sound. Mott (1996: 126-7) suggests that to find these
different sounds we must compare the two phonoIogical
systems by

names

S~e also Wode (1983), Young-Scholten (1985), and FJege (1987).

This proposal is somchow rclalcd lo Ihe Information Proccssing' modcl of
human learning. According lo this modcl, when a learner is trying to understand
any aspect of the language, first of all he has to pay attenlion to it. Richard
Schmidt (1990) supports the idea that every linguistic aspect we learn is first
noticed consciously.

12 This topic will be discussed at greater length in Ihe next seclion. Thcrc is more
research against than in favour ofthis statement.
13 Zampini (1996), Eckman and Iverson (1994), Archibald (1992),

12

13

10
11

Acquisition of a Second Language Phonology

Acquisilion of a Second Language Phonology.

means of a list or table. Then we take each phoneme of the target

language separately and ask:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

(iii) Are the phol1emes and their variants similady distributed?

Final consonants in English are difficult for Spa~ish speakers. Although
the Spanish phonological system has the phoneme Id/, Spanish speakers
will probably omit it in final jJositions as' in "card, beard, heard". So, it
seems that this is not an articulatory problem but rather a distributional
one. In the same way, although the combinations [sp,sk,st,sm,sn,sl] are

Does the native language have a phonetically similar phoneme?14

Are the variants ofthe phonemes similar in both languages?
Are the phonemes and their variants similarly distributed?
What is the functionalload of each phoneme?

possible both in English and Spanish, they do not occur initially in

(i) Does the native language have a phoneticalIy similar phoneme?

Spanish. In examples such as "estudiar: espaol, escuela" the [s] and the
[ t], the [p] and the [k] are not tautosy lIabic, that is, they do not be long

When the native language has a similar phoneme, this will be transferred.
Such is the case of Spanish lel and Id! and English ItSI and Id!. If there is
no closely similar phoneme in the native language, some other less
similar phoneme from the native stock will be used by the leamer. That is
the case of English 1hI. The Spanish speaker will normally omit it15 or
substitute it for !-xl. Other new sounds for the Spanish student of English
are Iv,o,z,J,3,d3/. Sounds which are completely new and which cannot be
compared to any sound (Le. phoneme or allophone) in the native
language (e.g. cIicks ofsome African languages for English people) have
to be leanled expressly, with no external hclp.

to the same syllable. The syllabification of these words is: es-tu-diar, es':,
pa-ol and es-cue-la. For this reason, when the Spanish student of English
tries to pronounce a word such as "study", he will produce "es-tudy".
(iv) What is the functionalload

We can say that a phoneme has a low functionalload when its occurrence
is somehow limited and it is not used frequently. That is the case of the
phoneme 13/, which is a phoneme of restricted occurrence because it is
not found in initial position16 and when in final position 17 it altemates
with Id3/18. Mott suggests that for this rcasan, \css attention need be paid
to it than to other areas of di ffic uIty in the English phonological system.

(ii) Are the variul1ts ofthc phol1emes similar in both lal1guuges?

One example is the fricative aIlophone ([

(5 ])

of each phoneme?

of the Spanish plosive Id!.

To conclude this section, let us look at the results of a very interesting
empirical study which shows the main areas of difficulty for Spanish
speakers, particularly Andalusians. The study was carried out with
students who were bctween fifteen and seventeen years old and who
receivcd only three hours a week of instruction. The results are shown in
Cuenca (1996:318-9):

In fact, the plosive realisation of the phoneme Id! is only produced as

such: (1) in initial position of a phonic group (Le. after pause): "dedo"
[doo]; and (2) after the nasal [n] and the lateral [1]: "un dedo" [~
doo]. But in English there are two phonemes 161 and Id! and so we can
find minimal pairs such as "breeding" and "breathing". A Spanish
speaker will probably pronounce both words with the sound [6].

14 If the answer to this qucstion is affirmative, we proceed to the following

considerations.
15 In Spanish, this grapheme is mute.

Except for a few French loariwords such as "genre" or "gigolo".

Also French loan words.
18 For example, "beige" can be pronounced Ibe131 or IbeId3/.

16

I
t

17

15

 \,'\
\:1(\'
\v.~0\.ftJ
\

t/('(llIi.l'itiol/
AC(/lIisiliol/

(!f'a ,)'(!CO/li! /,a.'I,,~/(/g(! /'/Ui/w/ogy

/-~

o/u

.\'(,o/IIII,(III,L:lla,L:

/'//(I/lOIO,I~\'

lA Forrign !leernt

Use of the vowel system of the mother tongue. (100 % students)( J..ucvc!/J1e
Use of the palatal aITricatc instcad
lt
-+'/
l. of th~ English alveolar Ij/: "~,
yo u". (53 % students).c-,).(:' -,;J.-i eu.
3. Use of the Spanish dental plosive instead of the English alveolar:
"dear, don't". (85 % students)
4. Use of the paIatal affricate instead of the English palato-alveolar
fricative: "she, share". (52 % students) Su.6.si/hct( 0((
5. Use of the bilabial plosive instead of the labio-dental fricative: "van,
1

vanish" (65 % students) lliL~dif{"

6. Use of the voiceless instead of the voiced
trees" (100 % students)

The best way to start this section is to offer Major's

of global foreign accen:

When listeners hear another

consciously or unconsciously

:
alveolar

fricative:

Lkd?I

:)

~ ']sounds

?00,.~1l!'~":~

7. Use
of the
dental(17plosive
instead of the voiceless dental frieative:,
"think,
lhollght"
% sludenls).
8. Wrong pronllncialion
01' lhe suflix -ed in lhe simple pasl and pasl

definition

person speaking the listener's NL,

they make jlldgcments whcthcr the

pcrson in a NS or NNS of thcir languagc. The ovcrall impression

concerning NSs form whether or not and to what degree a person

I
I

"play s,

(2001:19)

\.

..&-(

'J,-'P .

native or nonnative

is ealled global foreign accent.

The besl wuy lo delccl

u roreign

or NN accenl

is by lislening

lo un

9. Lack
of aspiration ofregul",
in the voice]ess
plosives moved"
/p,t,k/: "pen,
(61 %,I1(Vc~ .,le,
. ,\, til.. detect
when
reading a word
list. other
The reason
this is
utteringto
p"'ticipleforms
vc<bs: "Iooked,
(100 %time"
students)
informal
conversation.
On the
hand, for
it wil]
bethat
mo"when
difficult
j
a wor~ in iso]ation, the speaker tends .to av~id some segment.al and
st.u?ents)
.'\
7;.:::' l (.
] O. ElIslon
of consonants
and consonant
clusters m final positions:
prbsodIc
phenomena
(no stress, no mtonatlOn,
more attention
to
"Spanish, stops" (73 % students) Phouoio.~
consonant clusters, ete.). In contrast to this, in syntax or semantics it is
11.Insertion of the vowel lel before the consonant elusters Ist-, sp-, sk-/:
easier to avoid certain phenomena
and so the foreign accent muy go
"Spain, stay, sky" (89 % studcnts) 'Y [u:X...lotclcircs
undetectcd. Major names lhe example 01' Henry Kissingerl9,
a German
immigrant
to the United States wel1 known for his eloquent use 01'
12.Use 01' lhe voiceless labio-dental fricative instead of the voiccd one:
"nI', have" (37 % stlldents)
(
Eng1ish and his German accent (Le. "lhe Joseph Conrad phenomenon",
13. Pronunciation
of silent leUers, espeeially "1": "would, walk" (91 %l
I(J.
. ",7 Scovel, 1988).
{
.
;
(~,,~
t'i11("
~.G e
d
- )Ic
~~se
\ ,.,<stu ofthe
ents) vOlcedLU
velar
IC ploslve
(Q~(~}('ybefore(- Iw/:
E' I"went,
V ~llQOj2-.
we" (54 % students)
"\1 ho \.,,-0 'Y(O\ c.e~'
7'
The learner's age of arnval
... m the eountry where the TL IS spoken and the

t~

f"

15~Use of the voiceless alveolar

alveolar frieative: "confusion,
16.Lack ofweak

fricative instead of the voiced

television" (98 % students)

forms: "and, of" (96 % students)

((j(J.SQ97LlQ.ll

The above resuIts wou1d point to' two basic types of error:
l. Those where we linu all example of subslitulioll
for a Spanish one whieh is rather similar.
2. "fhose which are due tO.differences

of distribution.

palato-

1 _

UALJ.er

Cez

'\

e{
f

"::.): r \D..Scr

of all English sOllnd

age when he is exposed to this languagc for the first time seem to be
erucial factors when determining
whether the learner will acquire a

i).

-'-t

~ativeiike accent. Nevertheless, there seem to be contrastive views on.this

lssue. There are soIi1e researchers (Bohn and Flege, 1992; Flege, Fneda
ami Nozawa,
1997; Markham,
1(97)
who claim lhal nalivclike

i ~~('?_~-----\0~~

h'_

eOl11pelence can be achievcd

Major (2001:7):

(01 ~

19

16

alter the Critical

A fonner United States statesman.

17

Pcriod

(CP). According

to

Acqllisition of a Second Language Phonology

Acqllisition of a Second Language Phonology

The Critical Period Hypothesis
claims that a person must be
exposed to a language during a certain period oftime (also called
sensitive period for those more sensitive to the term critica!) in
order to acquire that language natively; otherwise, if exposed to
that language after the critical period (CP), nativelike competence
cannot be achieved.

Looking at this table, the first obvious concIusion is that adolescents and
adults learned faster than children during, the first months. Overall, it was
the adolescents
who reached the best levels of performance.
As this
seemed to chaIlenge
the Critical
Period
Hypothesis,
Snow and
Hoefnagel-Hohle
concluded that there is no Critical Periodo In contrast to
this interpretation,
Lightbown and Spada (1999:67) make the foIlowing
remarks:

In a study carried out by Snow and Hoefnagel-Hohle

(I978)20, they
compared the level of performance attained by a group' of children (aged
3 to 10), a group of adolescents (I2 to 15 years) and a group of adults (I8
to 60 years). A large number of tasks was used: (I) pronunciation;
(2)
auditory discrimination
test; (3) morphology; (4) sentence repctition; (5)
scntencc translation; (6) sentence judgement
task; (7) Peabody Picture
V ocabulary test; (8) story comprehension
task; and (9) storyteIling task.
They were tested three times: the first time took place within six months
of their arrival in Holland21, and then the second and the third at four- to
fivc- intervals. Lightbown and Spada (1999:66) show the rcsults or this
rcsclln:h ill (hc I"ollowillg (abk:

Xy
XYAdult Child
Adolcsccllt
XLJ
lask

yLL
Y
y*

(1) Some ofthe tasks were too hard for young learners24
(2) y oung childrcn eventually catch up and even surpass
adults and adolescents if their exposure to the language',
takes place in contexts where they are surroundcd by the
language on a daijy basis. Adults and adolescents may
learn faster only in the early stages of second language
development.
'
(3) Adults and adolescents can make considerable and rapid
prol'.rcss towanls
mastcry or n sccond lanl'.ual'.c in
cDlltexts
daily

XY
Xy

whcre

they cln IIl11ke IIse Di' Ihe 1IIIII',IIilI',C DI! 11

basis in social,

persollal.

prol"essiollill,

01'

I1cadclllic

intcradion.
Although the CP was first proposed for L1 acquisition,
it was soon
extended to explain L2 acquisition. Most studies carried out in this field
(Long, 1990; Major, 1997; Neufeld, 1997; Patkowski, 1994) suggest that
there is a CP in phonology (Le. nativelike phonological
acquisition of a
second language is only possible at an early age). However, there is no
general agreement as to when this CP ends. Some authors say that it lasts
up to puberty but others claim that this is too late and suggest the age of
six 01' seven. Facing this situation, Major (200 1: I 0-1 1) concIudes that:

* These tests were too difficult for child learners.

\~(

\\o.~.~.A1thQugh
They studicd English speakcrs Icarning Dutch. The study was carricd out in
Iolland.
21 When they taok their first tests they had been working 01' attending schaal far
no more than six weeks.
20

cr{l~O~r~he
" ,'\
'--"

evidence

is mixed regarding

(hllt Ihe gi"\)\IP WIIS (he best nll he les( lit the beginll ing nI' (he yellr.

18

01'

not of

CJ>, th;:cis-ovcrwhelming
evidence Ihat age does inOuence
aCljuisitiol1. Evel1 though there may be a small l1umbcr of older
learners who attain nativelike
phonology
(thus calling into

~ lndicfltl~s th~ ~f()Up thnt did best nt the t'nd of the yenr.
:' Indkllles

the existence

H Fnr cxamplc: scnlcncc Irnnslntion or jlldgemcnt.

19

Acquisitioll

question
majority

o/u :',eculld LUllglluge l'}OIlO/O!Y

more nativelike

TO PRONUNCIATION

TEACHING

the pronun?iation.

Magen (1998) studied two nativc Spanish speakcrs of fluent but heavily
accented English and tried to assess the contribution of various phonetic
and phonological factors to the perception of global foreign accent. The
following factors were consideredto
contribute to the perception of this
foreign accent: (1) those affecting syIlable structure (initial epenthetic
schwa, non-initial epenthetic schwa (-ed cnding,
(2) those afTecting
vowel quality (vowel reduction,
tense-Iaxness),
(3) those affecting
consonants (final/sI deletion, manner (/tSI-IS/), fricative voicing (/zJ-Is/),
stop voicing), and (4) those affecting stress (Iexical stress and phrasal
stress). Somehow surprisingly,
thc results revealcd that native Englishspeaking Iisteners were not sensitive to voicing differences. They were
most sensitive
to syllable structurc
factors, final /s/ dclction
and
consonant

\'TNIT n. APPROACHES

the CP if stated
as a yes/no proposition),
the vast
of the research indicates that the younger the learner the

::!tff1!,;5~

ll1anncr.

2.1 Introduction

I
I

The tl:aching of the pronunciation

of a Jangllage ill1plics not only
knowing the sound systell1 of that langllagc. but also the eirclllllslances
that surrollnd the whole process of tcaching and learning. Teaching how
to pronounce an L2 is not a simple task and it demands especial artention
to both the functional and emotional factors that charactcrize the process
of speaking. In this respect, pronunciaton
should also be considered
connected to the "grammar of specch", which includcs how to build
coherent
constrllctions
in the different
spokcn
modalities.
Thcse

;e and cOlltmllcdare
([)1ll0dalilies

spccch. Spontaneous
speech has lo do with instances 01'
lIslIaIly divided in two Illain grollpS: spolltam'ous
Sp(~('ch
speech
where
thc speaker
communicates
naturally
without
any
preparation
nor any visual aid. When there is any kind of visual aid,
whether wrirten or with images, we describe that speech as being
controlled. The degree of control goes from minimal (for example, whcn
a speaker uses slides lo follow a line in a presentation) to total (when we
read a tale to a child).
PronUl1ciation, then, has to do with speech, but it specifically refers to the
way we use our vocal traet to produce the sounds that transmit the
message .ve want to communicate.
Pronunciaton,
therefore, implies a lot
of physical trainillg. This is an important aspect to remember bccDusc

20

21

(j)

ApfJfoaches

Approaches /0 Pronuncia/ion TeachiJig

linguistic sounds25 are always produeed by the action of different muscles
and articulators.
This physical training really starts when the chld is
bom, after constant
exposure to the oral language and continuous
exposition to the sounds that he hears from his mother and earers. Such a
long proeess in the case of the Ll really determines
the way we
understand language: psyehologists and neurologists think that Ll shapes
the way we organize the world around us using a linguistic notation. The
same happens with the phonology of the language, the more we hear and
practice some specifie sounds, the more prepared we are to produce those
sounds. That is the reason whylittle
children go through a preparatory
process that begins with bubbling and passes through adaptation and
regularization
processes where they mispronounce
or shift syllables.
Similar processes sholllcl be expectecl from lcarncrs of an 1.2. Ilowcver.
the eonnotations are different and the procedures diTer since the function
of an L2 and the environment
where that L2 is leamt is usually very
different from the case of the L 1. First, the L2 is often considered a
forcign languagc
(special trcatment shollld be given to the case of
bilingunlisl11, bullhal willnol be our concern here). \ roreign language is
usually a language that is spoken only in specific situations: at work,
travelling, etc. away from our natural and familiar environment.
Many
times, the foreign language is only used at school before it is actually
used in a real communicative
situation. Second, the L2 is not acquired in
the same way as the Ll (apart from the case of blinguals) and it is often
constructed on the basis of the Ll. For example, many kids do not !eam
an L2 till they actually know how to read or write in their L l. AII these
special connotations: the functionality and the 1earning process of the L2
will determine how we approach the teaching of pronunciation.

/0

wilI study in detail

pronunciation.

specific

2.2 Main Methods

2-2\10[0'1

Pronuncia/ion Teaching

techniques

that

are used

lJ1

a coursc

III

Kelly (1969) considered

pronunciation
the "cinderelIa"
of foreign
language teaching. The truth is that pronunciation has becn and stil1 is not
really considered important for language teachers who usual1y care more
for the leaming of syntax and vocabulary.
However,
pronunciation
teaching has a "place in the history" of pronunciation
and different
approaches
have been used in the last 2 centuries. In the folIowing
scclions we will scc a bricf rcvicw of how pronllnciation
tcaching has
been in the last 2 centuries and we wilI finalIy study how pronunciation
teaching is seen today.

1.

TI lE DIRECT METHOD

Following the intuitive-imitative26

approach, teachers in the 1800s and
early 1900s provided students with imitative models of pronunciation that
basical1y consisted on exercises on repetition. First, the teacher was the
only source, then, when recording systems were devised, the student
could listen to other sources of information. The main idea behind this
approach was that the L2 had to be learnt fol1owing natural mcthods
were similar to those found in the leaming ofL! in a familiar setting.

that

In this course, wc wilI concentrate on how to teach the pronunciation

of
an L2 in the cIassroom. We will not, therefore, consider the case of
biIingllals. We will analyse differcnt approaches and Illcthodologics and
25 When we speak of "linguistic
sounds" we actually refer to the sounds that
belong to the inventory of units in a language. Extralinguislic sounds can also
communicate but they are not used lo make up words. For example, the sound
\\'l' 11\:\\..1.' \\'Iwn \\'1.' td\ \1r ti kid tnl.'tlns :\ h1t hut it is no! considcrcd lo hclong to
Ihc systcm. The kL)' to know whcthcr a sound is lingllistie or not is lo check
whcthcr that sOllnd can combine wilh olhers to crcale higher lInils: \\'ords,
scntenccs, ctc,

'Y)

26 This inllliti"c-imitalive approach dcpends on the learner's ability to hear and

imitate the sOllnds and rhythms or the t'oreign language, The idea is to provide
the studcnt with as many realmatcrials as possible and to design an environment
where the earner is in constant contad with the oral vcrsion 01' the langllage,

Approacl/l:s

,,) j'rulllllu;iuliun

Teaching
rr'

TIIE REFORM

11.

-\.\

MOYEMENT
\

<:

~
Or<>\,-\nC-~~ljCo..".'.

I'\? , " .
,{.,.

~'J~,-,.\

fF

Appruucl/es

.t

...
\

'"
.

which ater devcloped the,lntcrnaiional

Phonctic Alphabct (IP A). This
C~\d&11 ve
alphabet includes a series of symbols that are used to represent the sounds
of every
language
spoken.
The last revision
dates from
1993. ( .. E.el)
Pronunciation
teachers could then use a visual aid to help their studcnts
learn the pronunciation of the fon~ign language. This was, of course, done
at levels where students could already manage the written form In their
own language. In the case of the English language, the alphabet is really
useful considering
the gap that exists between thespelling
and the
pronunciation.
This is a serious problem for students who can actually
read and follow textbooks in class to leam an L228 This association has
influenced pronunciation
teaching enonnously
and has created a whole
philosophy where the arca of Phonetics has also devcIoped incrcdibly.
From thcir point ofview:
Phonctics training is nccessary for both teacher and student
Speking skills are so important that they sh,<:)Uldbe taught first
<,'s.

~,f!

~'i-,N""::;'

",'/\lj).t
ftj.(,'..j~_.+-,c,D o I/'~
_

\'?

,?-:~.'/lA:::'
.-J-'\

,o\}Jl.,<s?'\
"""r\ .b....-..r;.~"('-\O->'
n:<:_,~
"'-, v

In fact, the Reform Movement and the creation of the IP ' Alphabet have
had such a huge impact on language teaching that they have modified the
w,hole concept of pronunciation
teaching. The main consequence
has
been a shift towards a more eclectic approach whe~e both the imitative
,'. de 6,P{II!GIK$
It
.....,..c~('!~t<liC'(:.t(J
,

27 The analytic-linguistic
approach uses linguistic tools: the IPA alphabet,
articulatory description, visual descriptions of the vocal tract, and detinitions
based on Contrastive Phonetics.
28 The use of the written form in the pronunciation classroom can be seen as an
advantage or an impediment for the learning process. In instructional settings,
where students can manage reading in their own language, the use of the written
text is inevitable but it must treated carefully, specially when the orthography
can be misleading. In the following section, we will see how spelling must be
included in the preparation of a course on pronunciation and we willleam how
to make the best of spelling :when we teach how to pronounce in English.

pronunciation

teaching,

(' Se.. V Cl..t!

III.

eli

t""

n::k-

,q

as we shall see.

<.:

=un,J,.s
';
7 G \c,-i'i'O

, r( (

O....a_,,".
r"-

AUDIOLINGUALISM

ANO THE ORAL APPROACH

"ct)1

As it has just be en stated, the 20th century has gained ffom th'e
complementation
of both the imitative and the analytic approaches. This
complementation
has
increasingly
developed
new
teaching
methodologies
that progressively
integrate techniques
inspired by both
perspectives.
The first one is traced
in the United
States with
Audiolingualism
and in Great Britain with the Oral Approach
during
the 40s and the 50s. The teacher (or a recording machine) models a sound
that the student has to imitate and rcpeat. Howevcr, the teacher usualIy
makes use of diffcrent phonetic materials, inc!uding the phonctic alphabet
and illllstrative charts and graphics.
Coming from the strllcturallinguistics
!lotion that each linguistie clcmcnt
gets into a specific paradigm, the minimal
pair drill cnhanees the
acquisition
of phonological
skills by means of repetition of different
words that differ by a single sound in the same position. This techniquc
folIows the definition of the phoneme as being a distinctive sour:d unit
(Bloomfield
1933) and is used in both listening and speaking practice.
For example the rcpetition of pairs such as "sheep vs. ship" to practicc
long /i:/and short Ir/.

IV.
The
1960s

COGNITIYE

APPROACH

7~~l.L:"ClLa.Al <4'{ lc.CL1LW

C1. f f Q...ucl
X
of the transformational-generative

development

(C.hQn:~l5.y_ 1959,

1965)

has

also

\
16

dVJoUe

I
~"LL

kelta 25

c"<.,

I~pe'b:d.u y c.~U(
grammar

influenced

pronunciation
teaching. Ouring this period, pronunciation
seen as a wast&oftime
in the sense that it was considered
J

24

f'~(L~

and the analytic approaches

merge to build a holistic modcl taki!lg
advantnge of the benctits of the two perspect ives. One more conscql1encc
has be en the applicatio!1 of phonctie fndings to thc fkld of lnngungc
teaching. In this sense, much of thc Codrastive
Phonetics theory that we
will study in this course will be easily applicable
to the field of

f'

00'

teaching. Important phoneticians,

such as Henry Sweet, Wilhelm Vietor :;
nnd Palll Passy fOllnded in 1886 (he In(crnational Phonctic Association,
;

\",1L-"PlO((
~

Teuching

';"('0

As part of the Rcform

Movement\
in language teaching, the 1890s ';
witnessed the first analytic-linguistic27
contribution
to pronunciation.
\.;

a)
,- b)

lo Pronu//cialiun

the

a.

,,"L. ~ '//

in the (f,

arca

or

teaching was
impossibk rOl"

11.1'

,1
,.

,tI
\,

Approaches to Pronunciation Teaching

t
'"

an L2 student to gain qualitative competence in the pronunciation of the

foreign language. Phonology
was seen as a rule-govemed
behaviour
rather than as a habit formation. Considering that cognitive psychology
(Neisser 1967) also defended the idea of an L1 goveming every area of
linguistic competence,
including phonology, this decade was not very
fruitful in the appearances of new methods in the field of pronunciation
teaching.
Unfortllnutely,

mllch of the langllage

teaching

nowadays

stillstems

THE SILENT W A y

L().s1

~eu.

ptUJ ..k:r y

-el

In the 1970s
Sllcnt Way method
revolutlOl1lsedteaching,
the field too.
of language
teaching
and,thcparadoxicalIy,
of pronunciation
In this
method, the teacher speaks as little as possible and tries to use body
langllage to sllbstitute real words, so that students have an opportunity to
speak. In this respect, the Silent Way mllst be considered very similar to
the Direct Mcthod. The main difference being that in this case, the
teaeher does not rnakc use of the phonetie alphabet or any other lingllistic
explanalory
aid: the attention is foclised on the sound system alone.
Typical in this method are the sound-colour chart, the Fidel charts, word
charts, and colourcd rods that help represent both language and reality 29

~!.Ua.~,
bcLYYC\.f;
29

For more nforialion on this intcrcsting approach, see Blair (1982), LJ.;sen-

Frccman

(1986) anel Stcvick

(1980).

,\..("

~"l

.,

I
T'
\l\.l.',)
'.

\,

,'r

.
;.-,

't

l'.
-

'," ,\\.\ !;

l"'~

" t,
,., '.

,f'

le

ti

.!

\"

t'; \

r\ 'r

.'f', , \L
',,\\n\~

'(

\.',

'

tC

'/.

.~ (Si.

.'

(e

1-

\
\f-

' .

0,;;,

(\ \.. '

~~

o-.-~'

Approaches to Pronunciation Teaching 'lO '-~"\'("..lIV

,/1 ''(., \ j(}, <,~,'"
( "
-L~
COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE LEARNING
E) t~'<;}t{a:.,
d1.c(i.k

,!) l'

(.j

.i-,

;yz. Ianguage, tOllching and gestures, to make the student feel comfortable
whilc listening to the foreign language, facilitating
the production
of
natural speech. AfTcctive langllage learning, which is pragressivcly
gaining popularity among researchers, is concerned on the way learners
acquire a language, considering
personal priorities before instructionaJ
necessities. For the developing of speaking ski lIs, affective faetors are
very important if we acccpt the idea that spontaneous speaking transmits
our most inner feelings and thoughts. A methodological
approach [hat
do es not consider how to motivate, and enhance personal skills towards
communication
is bound to fail. More and more, pronunciation
teachcrs
(and language teachers in general) design teaching programs that take
into account the personality of each stlldent and the communication
links
that students
establish
with their
peers
in arder
to facilitatc
communication
in the forcign language. Speaking is dircct and implies a
face-to-face
interaction. If we want to make the most of our students'

ru..I''r t~+(LQU..LQJl,Je c.cd lo.~.

_S\:u..oJ.o ..b:.~

V\.'

'VI. ,

,.)("

<_"

l\

, c!:..<2

(both listcning and rcading) more than thc Jcarning of active skills
(writing and, in our casc, spcaking). Lcarning to spcak and improve thc
student's
pronunciation
demands the creation of a more naturalistic
environment
and the provision of real material, which challenge the
capabilities ofthe school organization.

V.

; ,.~

'I ,

Other approaches in pronunciation

teaching are more related to the socalled affective language
learning.
The so-called affective language
learning approach takes into account emotional! factors in the learning
(and also teaching, but to a lesser degree) of foreign languages One earry
approach
was Cornrnunity
Languagc
Learning
(CLL) where the
instructor/teacher
makes a11 the necessary movements,
inc1uding body

fram ~

this philosophy where native-like pranllnciation

is seen as an unreahstic
goal and much of the efTort in langllage learning is devoted to the
acquisition of syntactic and lexical structures. One of the reason for the
success of the Chomskian
perspective
in the L2 classroom
is the
readibility of materials that facilitate the teaching of the passive skills

,,:,11
1,

\:)!If\

"'{; \
lLC'~V\,;

\,J ,\.

abilities, we should consider emotional and personal factors such as

motivation, self-esteem, self-image, confidence and an optimistic view of
tQ.fdlCcJI,L.
! r
life. Special attention is also paid to one's limitations and creativity.

cd.u.n,n~/~

Much of the philosophy that inspired affective language learning is also

bchind the present-day
concern (for both edllcationaJ authorities
and
teachers)
to dcsign teaching
programs that are learner-centred.
The
Icarncr-ccntrcd
tcaching emphasizes the necessity to shapc the tcaching
methodology
so that is adapts to each student in particular
Thus,
particular capabilities,
skills and levels of competence
are considered,
going away fram generalistic and unifying criteria where the student is
seen as part of a gr~up and not as nn individual himsclf. In the case of
pronunciation
teaching, as we will see in the rollowing section, ihis is
in
imperative.
In the case 01' speaking in general and pronunciation
particular, students usually vary as to the competence they achieve and to

h,,'

{i{if'(JW:!/{'.I'

Iu

'/'OIl/lIIciul

iUI/ 'j (:uc/ l/K

, (he goals (hey aim to. On the O1\ehand. even sinn\\ gronps are fur from
being homogeneous as to how competent students are. In the ficld 01'
pronunciation, competence has to l,~ seen as a complex one: one student
can rcally show a high pcrformance in the pronunciation of some vowcls
while, at the same time, a low performance in the rronunciation of
consonants. The opposite can be true for another student. In other words,
the number of skills to be tested in the pronunciation classroom is so big
that it wiII be difficult to delimit similar groups of students organized
according to their level of competence. On the other hand, and as a
consequence of what has just been said, our students will have different
goals to achieve during the pronunciation course. One specific element of
pronunciation teaching that makes it radically different from other areas
in the leaming of an L2 is the evaluation process. In the case of
pronunciation teaching, evaluation is not only a necessary tool, but it is
present at every singlE? point during the learning process. As we will see
below, evaluation will be the only instrument to know at which point our
students start, how they develop during the course, and which aims they
reach to at the end of the course. Evaluation wi1\ always centre on the
student as an individual considcring both perform(Jl1ce and personal
pcrspectives.
The following section will analyse evaluation and, more specifically
initial evaluation, in the pronunciation classroom.

2.J DlagJlostic

tcsts

In the design of a pronunciation course, as in any other course, one ofthe

most important tasks is determining the goals of the course. As stated
above, in the case of pronunciation goals can differ from student to
student: some studcnts are good at vowels and bad at word linking and
the opposite. For this reason, the initial evaluation process is imperative
so that the general objectives of a course can be
shaped and redefined
so
""Q,!o;te
that all students get equal success at the exp-ense of gomg through
different milestones. The objective of the diagnostic test is, therefore,
double:

1{i!)f'(wc!II!.I'

lo '/'ml/lllcillliol/

'/'wc/ing

,!

n) To disl:\.)vcr the stmknl's specitic comp<.'t\.'1\c\;, l)1\th~ dit1~'r~l\l B-l);ds

as beil1g spccilied 011the syllabus.
r I-: ti"
b) 1'0 redefine the syllabus including personal ex~ecttives and
p;CccJ c-hovJ5
modifying (if nccessary) the objectives.

,
That is, any program designed for a course in pronunciation must always'
be considered tentaiye and will need further brpshin~ once the initial test
takes place. rmvl5t:uAl
::>I\ kuJ..&

A diagnostic test implies three different stages:

(i)

Design ofthe test

Delivery ofthe test
(iii)----Evaluation ofthe results
Oi)

/"

tph'0.q(I\,~
'-t:O()'

Dcsing of the test

A diagnostic test usually consists of different exercises to check the

student's pronunciation of the L2. How do we select the material to be
included in the test? Several elements must be considered:
a) The level of competence of thc students in the L2: beginncrs,
intcrl11cdiatc, advanccd, cte.
b) The objectives of the course: tests will differ according to the goaIs
the course aims at; for example, ~l!lE:,_ cour~
emphasize
SR0t1!lne01.!s_sRe~Eh,
others aim at heJping the students get a nativelikepr-oiiUTiCiaIon (some cou[ses_are'
desjgn~d2~U_baLstud~nt~
Jose
..
_~
..
their foreign accent, as with immigrants), etc.
c) Ti~;-b~~kg;o~~-cr;-f the students: students may be required to have
knowledge ofPhonetics, etc.
d) Other factors refer to the environment ('J,jt~therthe course takes place
in the country where the foreign language is spoken), to the
instructional setting (some courses are restricted to professionals, lo
schoolchiJdren, etc.), to the materials available (sometimcs real
,.

29

..

Approaches to Pronunciation Teaching

Approaches to Pronunciation Teaching

material js readily available, such as cable TV, newspapers, native

speakers, etc.)
Once all these factors are considered, one more factor must be taken into
account: a contrastive phonetic analys;s of the L2 in relation with the
Ll ofthe learners. Just as we were seeing before, the development ofthe
scientific arca ofPhonetics has permitted a deeper insight into the field of
pronuncialion teaching. In this case, Contraslivc Phonetics allows us to
see the foreign language from the perspective of the leamer. If
theoreticians are correct, the acquisition ofa mother tongue deeply
influences the acguisition ora foregnlangu;ge. If our students can also
manngcthe writing and reading systetSi their own language, this
influence is even bigger: the reality is that most of om students will tend_
to rely on the knowledge they have about language, which is shaped
Qi!:ough"tneeyes;'of-their
motm~Tt?E.gue,_whenjiley-race aaifff;t
language. This_1WlY.~seem--aalsadVantage to th~procesSonearnig-the
prolmnci;tion of an --i:2-:-butwecan actually tak---8"dvantageofthe
knowledg thTiftfie ~o_~asii~~J~~o.neticysis can-~.~.~pr?~i~J' \!_~~:...-.,....-

.....

-.

This contrnstive nnlllysis opcrntes on Ihe bnsis 01' Ihe so-callcd prediction
of crnus. Tllc pllollclician allalyscs lllc sOlllld syslcl11 01' tllc Icarner in
conlrast with tllc sound systcm 01' the larget language and cstablislles a
series of milestones to be achieved. That is, a typology of errors are
established that may prevent the acquisition of the target sounds by
inscrling mothcr tongue sounds on a gradation. These errors can be of
dilTcrcnt kinds:
a)

Errors at the segrnental level (Le. individual sounds/intonational

constructs)
b) Errors at the suprasegmentaI
level (both stress rhythm and
intonation)
e) Errors at the connected speech level (Le. how sounds co-articulate30)

Errorsmust be considered from a double perspective:

a) The same sound/construct exists in both systems and in the same
environments
b) The same sound/construct exists -'but they occur in different
~nvironment (for example, in different places in the syllable, in
combination with different sounds, ete.3!) .
e) Sometimes a sound/construel is specific 01' one langungc (both thc
source and the target systems).
The study of the prediction of errors helps us situate the departure point
of the learner towards the preliminary objectives of the course, in
conjunction with other factors earlier mentioned: general level of
competence, objectives and expectatives, etc. It particularly serves', to
include concrete elements to be evaluated: some particular vowels, some
particular combinations
of sounds, somc spccilic
inlonational
constructions, etc. These elements. are usually considered from a
generalistic point of view. We must remember that the function of the
diagnostic test is to provide the teacher/instructor with the necessary
information so that the final objectives ofthe cOllrse can be devised. Only
vcry gcncral phcnolllcna will bc considcrcd rol' (hc ltIaterial lo be
includcd in the diagnostic test. Thc rcsulls 01' Ihis inilial cvalualion will
determine which individual aspects' are reaJ]y weak points for our
students and which ones are already.completed. This is the most difficult
task: selecting exercises that will let our students freely show how they
perform on difTerent aspects ofthe language, so that we can then establish
a gradation that will let LISknow where the degree of aceeptabilily, the
average performance and the Iimitations are to be found. Alter tlle
diagnostic test, we must be able to know whether an initial objective is
realistic or not, to what extent, lInder which circumstances, and not only
how each student perform each tested element.
Becallse pronunciation has to do with speaking, pronunciation also refers
to listening. Depending on the age and level of our students, the prior

Different phenomena are eharaeteristie

dclction, inscrtion, strcss-shift, cte.

30

lO

01'

eonneeted speeeh: assimilation,

The arca
Phonotaetics

31

01'

Phoneties that dcals with syllable composition is ealled

31

Afifi/'Oachcs

lo

!J/'olllll1cialio/l

Tcadlil1,1;

time of exposition
to the language, their linguistic
exercises in the diagnostic test will have to be balanced
a)
b)

Speaking
~istening

(active) skills
(passive) skills

Afifi/'oachcs

background,
between:

etc.

1)/'o/llllll'i,lIio/l

Tcaching

1CQJJ...!(.!"on

can be inferred fram the paragraphs above, there is a lot oflearnerin the way we construct a diagnostic test: the
specific needs and skills ofthe students are considered in order to design
the activities that wiII serve for our initial evaluation.

f'HU'

Here you have a basic diagnostic

As

lo

?\-'oV'>

"

-Q-Q live
{- /
./
diserimination
Prominenee
Consonant
elusters
cJustcrs
Word
stress
Vowcl
Promincnee
Intonation
diserimination
For young learners, beginners and students who
do,,q...l._Jp
not
foreign
PRODUCTION
Wnrd
Rhythm
stress
Rcduecd
speceh
PERCEPTION
s' )i'j,{" 1(-'1
-~~' ,,",'Y,,
c.int the
,
language country, a great emphasis has to be put on the listening skills.
Before we are even ready to start speaking our mother tongue, a lot of
prior training has taken place in the fonn of passive activity (i.e.
listening). The same happens in the case ofthe foreign language leaming:
young students must be exposed to a 10t of listening input. If we will have
to face similar activities in the classraom,
the diagnostic test is the
moment when our students'
listening skilIs will have to be evaluated.
Listening requires as much training as speaking, but it is even more
important. Considering
that we first necd to crcate (01' so it seems to)
general abstract patterns in our mind before we are uble to produce an
output, the skill of pronunciation
in the L2 demands a lot of listening so
<~

centred methodology

.o

test:

'"

..

Intonulion
(C
qasspeeeh
Environment:
or
as a-knowledge
Foreign
Janguage
.spontaneous
Role-play
-- -an
-- Controllcd
-students:
-L2
-Consonant
Background
Spontancous
Reduecd
spcceh
ofthe
ofPhoneties,
cte.
Level
Objeetives
ofcompetence:
Novicc
basie
(novicc-low,
eommunieation,
novicc-mid,
novice-high)
spcceh,
V owcls
Consonants
(...J of the eourse:
Rhythm
spccch
- PRELIMINARIES
-\l'f'
::}r-(,~ ') 0 ''"'
native-like
pronuneiation,
lose their
foreign
aeecnt, interrnediate-high),
cte.
Advaneed (advaneed,
advaneed-plus)
and Profieiency.
Intcm1cdiatc
(intcrrncdiate-low,
intennediatc-mid,

that we can:
11)

b)

I )islingllish
lile dilTcrenl
IlIIilatc anu rcpcal Ihosc

cklllcnts
clclllcnls

in Ihc sOllnd syslcl11

in 1'01'11101' olltpul thal is m:ccptablc

The diagnostic test must also include both spontaneous

and controlled
speech activities.
As it happens with the dichotomy
speaking
vs.
listening, the selection of more 01' less spontaneous activities will depend
on the characteristics
of our learners (or, at least, on the expectations we
have). More advanced students are better at spontaneous speech than are
heginn~~;;)ne'm-reaosons
~~_!ha! .they llave bee~.~xpg?~4~iore-::.tjlie
language sot1eYl:ave-already
~quired
alarger
voca!mlary ~\'ld have
asstnTlated'-more
_<~<?rn.ple~_~y~t~ctic":os-~ctios,_
This h~_ ..~~~ect
cOEfl~~~they
show_ and how they are able iO
consequnces9E-=-~~
combine sounds to express their feelings an-d opinions. They may al so be
able to u~e different speech techniq~e,.s, such as introduction-'of th~'topic,
organization of ideas and eX'position of the conclusions. Y oung learners
and/or beginners usualIy rely upon written text. and so the ~~a!igD
orthogrphy
vs. pronuCiation_
also be
thoraughly
analysed while
"'0 __,
_
._."""
I
' " will

studying the results ofthe evaluation.

32

01{

33

Cx

Approaches to Pronunciation Teaching

(ii)

Approaches to Pronunciation Teaching

Deliver.y of tbe test

(iii)

The most important part in the process of a diagnosis evaluation is that of

the delivery of the test. This stage consists in' giving the
exercises/activities to the student and colIect the data. For this stage,
affective-Ianguage learning factors will be seriously analysed, so that
we can be sure and certain that the data we are colIecting actually reflects
the reallevel of competence of our students.
Experts usually advised on creating the ideal environment so that the
student feels relaxed while taking the test. The results must be filed, so
the teacher/instructor usualIy utilizes a recording application (whether a
cassette player or a computerized system) to colIect such an information.
The recording process is very important, as the teacher must see with
precision which elements must be reinforced in each case. This is not
possible ifthe data is not filed, thus allowing for revision and re-analysis.
Howcver, the recording of onc:'s voice is not always a relaxing
experience. The teacher should be careful with the layout ofthe recording
application so that it do es not rcpresent any kind of "psych<?l,ogical thrcat
or pressure" on the student.
.::!.tsi (1 ,,'ut,{ I
",.

",$(' '(f'l<:'/ClO'

The flow of the conversation must

be natural, too. It is advisable to
Consonant diserimination
evaluate one student at a time (students many times feel shy when they
speak in front of their peer). For that reason, the refation betwcen the
tcacher/instructor and the student must be fricnoly ano caring. Thc
student should not see this process as a prize-punishment exercise but
rather as a fun and creative activity. They should not even know what is
the purpose ofthe test beforehand.
VJI'Y'L.u.o.too'rieilt<- (\f dilJ,L'\ te
Although it is commonplace in the practice of pronunciation teaching and
evaluation, the teacher/instructor should not be taking notes while thetest
takes place. That will prevent a fiuent conversation between the teacher
and the student as well as it will create a sense of severe criticism on what
the student is performing (even if the notes indicate a successful
achievement!).

34

Evaluation

oftbe results

The recording of the interview is necessary ,so that the teacher can
evaluatc the studcnt's results afier the intervicw has actualIy takcn place.
1t is now when notes have to be taken. Many: teachers design specific
evaluation sheets where they annotate evt:ry single aspect on the student's
performance. These sheets are usualIy very descriptive on which the
objectives of the test are. They should be designed in a way so that there
can be established an easy comparison between students. That will help
in the process of redefining and specifying the course objectives.
But the evaluation test is not only useful for the teacher and the course
programo 1t is necessary that each student receives a copy of his/her
personal report so that they are aIl aware on their specific expectatio!1s
and objectives,which
will be different from student to student. The
teacher wil! have to advise each students on how to achieve those
milestones, afier the evaluation' test and during the whole process of
learning.
Hcrc you have an example of an evaluation sheet:
Elements

of Sneerh

Vowcl
discriminalion
Consonant
Word
stress
elustcrs
Consonant
Intonation
diserimination
Prominence
Rhythm
Reduced
speeeh

Examnles
Diffirulties

Approaches to Pronunciation Teaching

,1

The diagnostic test is the preliminar step towards final evaluatioa and,
therefore, the final achievement of goals. However, continuous
evaluation
is essential if we can stay at the leamer-centred
methodological point. Students will develop their skills in different ways
and redirection and redefinition wiU be needed throughout the process.
During the whole leaming process and also at the end of the course,
students wiII pay attention to their personal diagnosis report so th~tthey
are aware of which points they should eoneentrate on. The leaming of
pronuneiation implies speeific physical activities that require a lot of
concentration and self-awareness.
During final evaluation, the results of the initial test wiII be analysed and
compared to see ifthe learner has actually achieved ~if personal goals.

KIs

UNIT III. PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

3.1 Phonemes and Allophones

Linguistics is that area of research that analyses human language and
human communication, rrom any perspective. In our case, the interest is
to study the sounds of the language. So, when we refer to a specific
subarea of Linguistics in relrrtion with the study of human sounds, we are
really speaking of either Phonology 01' Phonctics. These terms are uscd
when \Ve describe a research activity related to the study of sounds, but
the n'lo terms differ slightly in their perspective. So, in the following
paragraphs, we wil! eoncentrate on the definition of eaeh term separately.

I.

PIIONOLOGY

ANO PIIONEMES

Phonology is the description of the systems and pattems of sounds that

oecur in a language. The systcm of sounds we already know means the
set of sounds that are characteristic of each language, whereas the
pattems of sounds means the combination of these sounds and other
features related, for example, to intonation. Because each language
presents its unique set of sounds, these sounds are said to be distinctivc
sounds. To be distinctive means that e.hanging one sound for another in
the same word will 'change the meaning ofthat word. For that reason, the
first task of Phonology is to determine which sounds can convey a
difference in meaning. Sounds in this sense are also known as phonclIlcs
allophones
noL Phonemesrrom
determine
that one
se! of sounds
stands fol'
and
must bearedifferentiated
allophones.
Phonemes
are distinctive,
one specific reality (see the production stage in the previous sectiolJ)
while allophones simply identifY the speaker, or the speaker' s aceent. For
example, in Spanish we can pronounce the word "solo" in 2 ways (lit
leas!): olle way is /solo/ and the othcr possihlc prolluneiatioll is /0010/
l'

36

37

(f)

Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics and Phonologr,
K2C{lt~(".

dex.aL;;$

pronunciations mean exaetly the same: "alone". So the ehange in this

ease ispeopIe
not distinctive,
use it~fioesthe
not spaE~~ninSUIa).
ehange lhe meaning ofBoth
the
(for
in Cdiz,becasouth
word. In EngIish, the word "Iull" shows the same consonant at the
beginning and at the end. However, the same consonant is pronounced
slightly different: when pronounced at the beginning this English /11 is

phonological types of representation that will then be materalized once

the articulation actually takes place. This gap between what is
happening at the mental level and what will finally come out of the
vocal tract is what establishes the differene between Phonology and
Phonetics.

similar to Spanish /1/, while at the end its pronunciation resembles the
Catalan one32 In short, we can then define a phoneme,as a distinetive
sound in a language and an aIlophone as a particular pronunciation of a
phoneme. The phoneme is not a single sound, but a group (a "family" of
sounds). Phonemes are abstraet units. Each of the members of this
family is a varant of the same phoneme. In phonetics, we are interested
in describing and leaming to use these variants of the phonemes of
English.
Phonctics is, thcrcforc, closcr to what spcakcrs of English do whcn thcy
pronounce English. It is interesting to note, however, that English
speakers are normally not aware of allophones. They would say that the
beginning sound of"lu1\" is the same as the final sound. That is, they hear
both /1/ and [i] as the same sound /1/.
This is because we normally hear only the phonemes of our language,
those sounds that have a contrastive function: all English speakers will
hear perfectly the difference between the two words "dull" and "Iull".
Thus, Idl and /1/ are phonemes, because they differentiate words. Using

11.

PHONETICS
Ol-e-

Phoneties deals with what takes p]ace once the sounds ~ actualIy

~
\!I
produeed,
acoustic features
that is, of
Phoneties
sounds refers
and th~erception
t~e
activityofofspeech.
the vocal
These
tract,three
the<LI
stages also establish three different branches in Phonetics.
1) Articulatory
Phonetics deals with the articulation of sounds ..
Within Articulatory Phonetics rcsearchers lIsllal1y study the different
parts and activities of the vocal traet and the sounds that can be
produced there: vowels and consonants.
2) Acoustic Phonetics' deals with the physieal aspects of sounds, how
sounds are in fact the effeet ofthe alteration ofthe air particles.
3) Auditory Phonctics is a branch of phonetics which studies how
sounds are perceived, the psychological
and neurological
implications ofsuch an activity.
In order to illustrate the speech communication process Finch and Ortiz
(1982:3) offer the following figure:

wrong phonemes will make your English sound intelligible. Using wrong
allophones will make your English sound foreign (but sometimes also
difficuIt to understand).
Going
Phonology
sounds. It
previous

]2

If\

on with our definition of Phonology, we must say that

actually refers to a linguistic view of the nature of human
really concentrates on the production stage (as seen in the
section), where sounds are merely general distinctive

This spccific nllophonc oflll is spccifically dcnotcd as [3. ]and known as "dark

IIr'.
1<)

Phonetics and Phonology

SPEAKER

Motor nerves
BRAIN
SPEECH

Fhonetics and Phonology

LlSTENER
Sound WUVl'

Scnsory nervcs
EAR
BRAIN

MECHANISM

has be en said before, this is especially true in the case of th~, English
language,
When studying
the sound system
of English, . students
(especially those for whom English is not thcir nativc language) must also
be phoncmieally
aware to realize the great eomplexity o' this language,
On the other hand, phoneticians are exeh~~ively concemed on how words
are pronouneed, so the written representation
does not reaIly matter. For
that reason, the International
Phonetic Alphabet
was devised3-3-by tl1ect'tll (~/JI.
International
Phonetic Association
in 1886, The latest version of the Cllktdrdc Q
IPA Alphabet was published in 1993 (updated in 1996i4,

3.2 Spelling

and Pronunciation

One of the big probIems that phoneticians

and pronuneiation
teaehers
have to faee when teaehing English is that, in this language, there is not a
one-to-one relationship between spelling and pronuneiation,
Spanish is,
however, written, more or less, how it reads, There are some exceptions:
<h> is never pronouneed (unless it appears in the cluster <eh, <qu> and
<gu> precedes <e>, <i> but they actually stand for <c>l<k> and <g>
respectively

and the letter <x> really refers to two phonemes:

/k! and Is/.

English, however, presents a huge gap between what is written and what
is rcad, This phenomena ean be trace9 in the history ;:f the Ianguage,
since the writing system was estahlished
much hefore the different
!\111',lo-Saxol1 dialccts cOl1verged il1to OI1C unique llIodel 01' speech. [n
lile!, l1owadays, lile English lal1guage presents a lI1uch wiJer dialectal
variety than Spanish does. Just as an interesting remark, we can say that
there are more dialeets/aecents
in the United Kingdom than those that can
be found worldwide.
When tcaching young children to read, teaehers and parents try to hclp
the kid beeomc phoncmicalIy
nwarc, This phoncmic awnrcllcss simpIy
m.eans that the kid needs to know that there is not a one-to-one
relationship between tht1 [ctters on a book and the sounds that rcad. As it

40

Scc http://www2.arts.gla.ae.uk/IPAI
Acknowledged to the International Phonetic Association (Dcpartll1cnl
Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, School of English, Aristatlc Univcrsity
Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, GREECE).
33
34

41

01'
01'

Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics and Phonology

THE
~)N:~(J~:~

INTERWl1l0NAL

P b
11\1
Tnn

PHONETIC

ALPHi\13ET

(rev;,ed

10

184

1993)

I.M.n_'ID~IC)

7~,~=-r~~t~~:~
I~ o

11)

The PA chart shows all possible symbols to rcprcscnt cvcry sound in

every world language. The procedure is simple: every symbol stands for a
single sound. There are usually 2 types of representation, as explained
below.
Recordings are necessary to analyse and study the articulatory (image
mainly), acoustic (both audio and imagc) and auditory characteristics, of

the language. B~ the phonetician many times needs to represent those

sounds in a 1tn(yo~ieway. In this course we will make use of the phonetic
symbols as they are represented in the IPA alphabet. The exereise of
representing speeeh with sueh symbols is eaBed a transcription.

,-1-1 h ...,._

,t~_
f -..
e el_
.j,~
.w..
eeg_lj
k'
~ ....e t'e:
J~'
I ~"'.~

e
t'~'fII.u~
.......
.oI.,
V\\jo,;.t~..,..
<.'ON5ONANTS
,..1 ..-1 C' ..
(NQN-I'(JU.tQN1C)
tLoa...,
-1><.>
Do
: \'tl..,
t .
S
AI~lr;n.tt
111......

".
V.h'f
11t.-w4Q,
p"lI~uh,
n.Ja"'.aJ
W.T~)"""
...fot'-"'U.
n.",
h~I..w... .d.;t:k.r ['),..",W,I~

r y
eI_ .,

(>r-....J

..
e.""'."."

st fPRA."i EC:j.,\fENT
A IJoCo;tq(_J~

Il~.".

WOWAC"C'D-n

.!oun:J'uI;m

ti:

3.3 Phonemic ami Phonetic Transcription

I>IA(:Rm(:s

o--~
c.

~o--.y. o
re-3\o-At:>

ALS

~~

_,rw~~~_.t\"iMI"'IJtro."'-~.&.o

. ~

i~"
..

-~--:~:~i ! ~~..~~=~:=-t-~I~:
...l.-8 ...;-b ....
""", (hUh ...
~_~.
1,., ~,

"

,,_i~i~_tu,u
a m_ ...L..Q. D

: ~-

...

The p~oncmic
reprcsentation
(also known as phonological
representation,
phonological transcription,
phonological labelling)
aims at representing sounds as they belong to one language. That is, it
represents the phonemes employed in the produetion of a word or an
utterance. This representation is very general and abstraet, as it considers
sounds in thcir distinetivc way. Specific dctails are not shown. A
phonemie representation is always made between solidi "j".

,,_

"'- .,.-......."...

--

,..... .

--

-... _1

,...

I,~~:.~..::~
......... \1 .
1

C.~pJ.o<.oJ"""'-"
\V ..
w..~

Loo ......--

..vv...t.~n.

-J...

q ...
"'...
w.w.I"'LMo,I~_ fj , .
H

v._."" ...J ._

.......

~~..,

-:;. 1:fo4~""''''''-

..........

Jy ;::~
V.I .__

-j~j-I
P
m~:;:~~
_~,
dV

"---C11 "'"'_
...(1tll
('_.ti ~

~..~ ..S)il"'"'

v.." ""...,..,..,....,
1: .

1 1.., ~

N-.,1I. ~
~_~~

I-

.....
~ ...

<;

(~

~"'..I_

dI

An example would be:

.:.-::.:
ti'
t

loa' SAn drd ',nDt

.... ~ . f_
)

2.(.~-:-~....hi[~~J

w_J.z:~T-....-- _~__.

arn

'o:loffit

'kau1d

'kau1d

'wet

that represents the phonemic transeription of:

,
The sun did not shine
it was too wet to play
so we sat in the house
all that cold, cold, wct dai5

35

42

11

rt WDZ I tu: 'wet t a 'pIer "

, sau wi 'Sffit rn oa I haus

..-

1,4_._.:'=:.~~~_~._,, ...
l._,.

'S

From Dr. Seuss's Thc Cat in the Hat

43

'der

111

l'/ol1ctics Gl1dPhol1%gy

Phol1ctics Gl1d Phol1%gy

[a' 1]: longcr diphthong

Special

diacritics

pauses:

I for a short pause (like that of a comma in the written form) and

11

in a phonemic

transcription

are the stress

and the
C0l1s0nants:

for a long pause or end of utterance.

Not everybody
uses the same symbols. Por example, whereas Jones
accounts for 8 pure vowels and emphasizes the differences in quantity (he
uses the same diacritics and adds diacritics to emphasize the quantity
distinctions),
Lewis accounts for 12 pure vowels (he uses different
symbols for each vowel phoneme but he does not add tI,,, vowel length
mark, he emphasizes the quality distinction). And Gimson accounts for
12 pure vowels because he uses different symbols for each vowel (
quantity and quality distinctions are equally important):

[~]: Retracted

articulation

ofthe

consonant.

[k]:
Advanced
+

articulation

ofthe

consonant.

[kh]: Aspiration

[~]: Labinlization
[k>]: Unrealised

realization

[k t]: Coarticulation
[!:1]:

GIMSON
LEWIS
!kotl
!k
!k8:tI
8titi:tI JONES
!k8
/sitl
!kDtI
/SItI
/sitl
/si:t/
/si:tI
/srtl
!k8

Dentalization

[z]:
Devoieing
o

(f]:

Dark or velar

/1/

1*/: This sign following

potential
beginning

devoted to diacritics.
Diacrities are simply extra labelling symbols that
are addcd to formal phoncmic symbols to show evcry possible nuanc~LUl
Allophones (and, thus, a phonetic transcription) are represented between
square brackets [ ]. Here you have a list of commonly used diactitics:

Vocalic:
[Y, ti

]:

8:1

[o]:
closer realization
o
[9 ]: more open real ization

/pIte* /

"Peter is": /plten7}

We can say that allophones
or in free variation:

can be found in complementary

(1) In complementary

~istribution:
They can't occur in the place of
another. They are mutually exclusive => it's possible to predict which
allophones
of a phoneme will occur in any particular context or
position in the word. The different articulations
are going to be

+ la:/ (back vowel) -+ VeJarizcd.

(b) Position in the word or syIlable: final, middle, end:

"Iull" [IAl]

[ i . ]: shorter long vowel

44

distribution

1k

"car" [1.]: Ik/

[] : nasalisation

with a vowel, esp~;cially within the same sense group.

conditioned by:
. ft Lle.
(a) Context: the surrounding or adj~~ntqsotTnds:
"key" [k]:
Ik/ + /i/ (fTont vowel) -+ Palatalization.
+

ccntralization

indicates

Irl link (the speJling containing a Ietter "r") before another word

"Peter":
The phonctic rcprcscntation
includes every single aspect of every single
sotllld. It r,ives l1Iore illfoJ'lJlatioll Ihall a sil1lple phonel1lic trallscription in
the scnse lhal il aims al represcnting allophones. '1'0 do so, extra symbols
are used. If we go baek to the IPA ehart, we will find a special section

final la, la, ea, ua, 8a, a:,

45

Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics and Phonology

(2) In free va.-iation: These allophones do not depend on context or

position. They depend on regional or individual habits. Example: the
English fortis plosives before a pause:

example "donde"
find either:

[!,1]

in Spanish and "tenth"

[!,1]

in English. So, we can

(1) Intrinsic allophones: Those whichoccur in:a natural way and which
do not require a previous knowledge of/frol11 the student:

With release or plosion

{+

+ pause

(scmi)vowcl

key [ki:]:
instead of being velar is advanced.
+
cool [h:uJ:]: instead ofbeing advanced is velar.
out there [auJoea]:

Without release
"all right"

{in

With a simultaneous

the ItI sound is dentalised.

final position (very colloquial)

in stop clusters: "grabbed" ['gl re b_d]

ItSI

+ pause, consonant or between

(2) Extrinsic allophones: You have to make an effort in order to know

that for example in "feel" [fi:l] the lateral sound is dark or velarised
and not a c1ear IV. You have to know that this allophone is produced
in a specific way: Both !In/s \re phonetically identical. The daih
means that this Inl is replaig; vowel. The vocalic nucleus has b-een
occlIpicd by this sound:
';

glottal stop vowels

+ pause o consonant
{/P,t,k/

.,

'<

({

e1::to (

Some other examples of allophones in free variation:

Button
[b\t;]
Not
[lIot]

'J.C,,:::,:,.

o_(CVVi;(J<'C

~y

1. The "lnp" [r]

in AII1English: /l,dl norll1ally pronounced with a tap:

"later", "butter".
-'--2:'--Yhe
"tap" [r finRP Irl when between vowels: "Mary".
3. Some cases of nasalization where the vowel can even substitute the
final nasal sound: "man" as [m].
4.

lip-roundings in Irl

Additionally, some allophones are just functional because they

are not produced in a natural way and so they are not shared by two
different languages. For example, the aspiration of Ip,t,k! which we can
find in English is not found in Spanish.
Gn the other hand, there are some allophones which are produced

due to physioIogical or natural reasons, for example the dental cont<:fur

which some consonants assume whcn in contact with dental sounds; for
\6

AI~other possibility is to have a contrast of phonemes that is, in so me

positions, neutralizcd. You wiIl have realized that there is no differencc
between words like "writer"lrart'
I and "rider" Irard' I when
Americans pronounce them: they sound exactly the same. The
explanation for this is that the contrast between the phonemes Itl and Idl
is neutralized in this position (between vowels), and both phonemes are
pronounced with a sound transcribed as [R] (called a tap; it sounds
exactly like the I in Spanish "para").
In the phonemic transcriptions wordslike "very", "happy", or "she" are
transcribed with a final Ir/. This final Irl is an unstressed vowel, and it
is difficult to know whether we hear a short Irl or a long li : /36. This is
because the contrast between short Irl or a long / I is neutral ized at the

i:

36

Also reprcsentcd

as

li -I
47

UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA
".',

j'/lOlIelics

cnd ot'words:
the phonetie

{lI/(I

/'//CJ/lelics

jll/CiII()i()~1

vcrY, happY, shE. This "neutralized

symbol

[i), that

i" is

reprcsentcd

{lI/(I

f'}ullu/U,I!..}'

with

is, a vowel that is neither short nor long.

3.4 Exercises
Exaetly

the same happens

'unstressed

syllables:

neutralized

[u].

with the eontrast

"you",

"to",

"into"

between
are

/37

in

with

/u/ and /u:

all transeribed

l.

Consider

the following
I

There are somel principies

,
a)
b)
e)

d)

to follow whcn we do a phonetie transeription:

.__
.
~

We represent sounds as authentieally as possible: identifying

allophoncs
Wc rcprescnt the diflerent things that happcn when sounds are in
contact: conncctcd spccch
The main difference
with phoneniic transeription
is that at the
phonetic level we transcribe words exactly as they are spoken,
without any interruption, that is, one word after the other in scquence.
Speeeh is like a ehain of sounds, and in phonetic transcription
we
re flect 111is faet
Nasal
Place
The symbols llscd in phonetic transcription
are those we use for a
YoicinLphoncll1ie lranscription. Therc arc, howcvcr, spccial sYll1bols (callcd
diacritics) lo rcprcscnl allophoncs

.--J

Bit:

2.

Pin:
lo J

forms and transeribe

I,

,-

(':]y'

:'...c"

Bid:
Bin:

Fill in the featme matrices

shown as an exampJe:

for "bin",

voicc
Inl
+
voicc
-111
-nasal
VOICC
\:\ +
labial

+ alveolar
nasal
PJN

(('-

,,-\ +-'CQ,
I -j I '[0
\X)
-\')0
)~ ( <:Q
t 0
~c"r,~'~-,

,,'

Nasal
Place

37

Yoicing

'Also represented as lu: I

48

"bid"

Ipl

'.

them phonctically:

49

-\.,r

.
~).,...,
(~ ().,..\

l1lN

and bit"; "pin "

IS

Phonetics and Phonology

__~I,_){)'
()
\ \c!
r CL
r
1:;:
~! /d
I...vr
c("'

Place

Phonetics and Phonology

~-Y'\BID

5.

There are exactly 6 segments (five consonants

in the four words. List them below:

6.

Y ou can practice doing some transcription

110/

,
"

(-,I
{\C-"IC

.BIT

,j() ,"_.'
(--.\,
CJ;: / ~J
-"IO(
I-ic, ( r ,G"
,e,'

http://www.umanitoba.ca/facu

' (1

lb 1
7.

3.

at:

Ities/arts/l in guistics/russe
pract1.html

11/]3 8/practi cel

Reverse transcription:
A reverse transcription
is when you have
the phonctic symbols and thcn Y0l! have to write the standard
form for each word. Y Ol! can practice
on your reverse',
transcription at this site:

What are the fom minimal pairs?

http://cltlb,te]epolis.com/phonetics!bphtranscri
and

.)

f_,

4.

and a vowel) used

What are the distinctive

each mnima] pair?

Minimal

pair (i):

Minimal

pair

nnll

and

features that distinguish

the two words in

(ii):

\)C

':...9

Minimal pair (iii):

Minimal pair (iv):

.\'

50

'\',,-

51

pt02,htm 1

UNIT IV. THE ORGANS OF SPEECH

l'

-'. 1

4. t Thc spccch mcchanism

1.

\
/'

When describing the chain which links the speaker's and the listener's
brains, we have to take into account three different stages: the
i

'psvcholo!!ical, tt~J1Vsiolopic.nl and the ohvsicnL The rst one refers to

the neural activity\~%ch-t1kes
place i'O'O'tIr"the speaker's and the
listener's brains. First of all the speaker has to arrange his thoughts into a
linguistic and phonological form in order to encode a message and then

J
-i.._

(,

(!

THE SPEECH CHAIN

J~_~

--

(f)

the lister.er ~as to decode tpis message. The physiological stage has to do ~
with the speaker' s motor activity and the listener's hearing mechanism.
First, the speaker's brain activates the correspov~;ng muscles which
control the movements of the tongue, lips, vocal folds, cte. and then the
impulses,
listener's sensory
to the brain.
nerves Finally,
carry the
the message,
physical stage
in therefers
fonn toof thenerve
air ~I!::.\
disturbances produced by the movement of the articulators, they are
called sound waves.
The study of each of these three stages corresponds to the three different
speaker' s
areas
df phonetics:
a~ ~bQnct~'re~~iCS hstener's(thephysiological
physiological
stage), the the
auditorv
stage),
the aousti~
stage). But we have to
take
intoand
account
that al t~hQIle1j'CS
ese areas (,trrncoustic
are interdependent.

53

o/ Speech

The Organs
1I.

THE O~GANS

Man's

(iv)

is made up of a series of organs and cavities:

Respiratory
apparatus:
iungs and muscles ofthe chest.
Larynx.
Rcsonators
(supraglottal
cavities):
pharynx
(pharyngeal
cavity), mouth (oral cavity) and nose (nasal cavity).
Articulators:
palate, tongue, teeth, and lips.

We can see all these organs and cavities in the following

1997: 17):

figure (Kreidler,

o/ Speech

several cases: (1) urging horses, (2) kissing, and (3) disagreeing.
Our utterances are conditioned by the physiological
limitations
imposed by the capacity of our lungs and by the muscles: (1) we
are obliged to pause in articulation in order to refill our lungs,
and (2) we are obliged as well to submit to the behaviour of the
muscles which activate the lungs: syllabiC impulses and dynamic
stress. Once the air leaves the lungs through the trachea or
windpipe, it passes through the larynx, containing the so-caBed
vocal folds.

OF SPEECH

speech mechanism

(i)
(ii)
(iii)

The Organs

(ii)

The larynx: Thc larynx is a sort ofbox within the throat fuI!
of muscles and cartilages: the cricoid (at the base, it is ringshapcd),
the thyroid
(Adam's
apple) and two nritcl10ids
(pyramid-shapcd,
it is oppositc Adam's appIc). It contains lwo
little films coming from the thyroid to the two aritenoids. They,
are subject to open and close easily, they are called vocal folds or'
vocal cords (Finch and Ortiz, 1982:8):
-

Front
fJ

ac ~

~pi:lotli!
(ruis"d)

Adarns

!hyroid

carlila:"

3pplc
a!~cnoicl
carlibgc
"'1::.

r_1'"

-ec'(o~~

/<'\ .c. r' .~

(i)

cricoid

carldag"

The respr'atory
apparatus:
The lungs provide al! the air
necessary for the production of most of the sounds of language.
The l1lajority of languages lIse c~rcssivc l1ir, that is to say, that
thcir speakers exhale air from the lungs to produce phonemes. On
the other hand, there are certain languages (African tribes) in
which thc nir ncccssnry for thc production of spccch is tukcn
11-0111olllsidc inhaling it (i.ug"Tsd~
1\iJ;J. English and Spanish
have "qick~".

which are sounds

54

sent with ingressive

tr;.chea

Figure 2

air. just in

55

Thc Organs ofSpccch

The cJrgans o/,";peech

Thc vocal folds vibratc bctwecn 1..Q.0'and ISO times a sccond in men and
200-325 eyeks pcr sceond (eps) in WOI11CI1. This piteh 01' frcqllcncy of
vibration can be -moditicd 01' ehanged whcn he speaker desircs. The

having

thc

larynx

is the

pharynx . .I.W:..

gocs 11"1)111 ~Iht: t:piglotlis to (IIL' 1'1:111' pllrt M I lit'

In tI\lS place there is an organ call.t:d uvula which
controls the passing of air from the other places, either to the
mouth Qr to the noseorwto both directions. When the~softpalate ls
raised,-the_ajr stream is~prQY~ntf:dp
frQ[11goi.Dg.!!.pwards jnto the
nasal cuvity, un oral sound isproduced 1 r the son pulale is
lowered, two different processes take p]ace: (a) normal breathing
occurs and the air goes through the nose and the mouth.
Example: nasaliscd English ~ SDanish vowels: or (b) the air;
Oly escapes through the nose~beciUse there is a closure in the
mouth which prevents the current of air coming out. Then,~ a
nasal sound is produced. Depending on the typ~ Q.f ogans
involved in the closure,_we may have different nasal sgupds: aIJ
'Iirillthdips); an lr(the tongue against the alveolar ridge); aq'/p/
caYit~

lJharvngl'al

~ccurs, voiced sounds are .pr~duced); ando (d) the two ~I

folds ar.e
,ir"
"
tghtly closed (the lung mr IS absolutely pent-1Jl)low itam:rtt.rt:;--l~ [lc.tam
phcnomenon is callcd glottal~op[?T38).
In the production of vocalic
sounds (in contrast to ~oiced!onso;-;nts j' the vocal folds are tenser, (he
frequency of vibration -,./is}hl"gher and so the pitch is higher. Thcse four
different stages oftheJglottis can be seen in the following figure:

(the tongue against the hard palate); or an~/1J1(thetongue

against
w
the soft palate). In fact, if your nasal passage were congested a
greeting such as "good moming" would sound like ['gud

C9-""-

.<~., ::7"51..."~

through

.Ji9ft pulatc.

_~is
used to refer to the opening b~tween the vocal folds. "These
vocal .folds.can.describe.four diffQ.f'tI\tpositions.or shapes: (a) wide apart
'describing a big gap or opening (breathing); (b) open~(the air pass es
through two scction~ 01' tlw two cn!:.tjJng~t(voicck:ss sOllllds); (c) the air
passes through the vocal folds but they are very close together (~ibration

~(,:;!V-.

passed

::.:....f",

10

'b::J:dJg]. tLnthe following figure we can sce the profiJes of thrcc

bilabial sounds: two of them are oral Ip,bl and one nasal Iml
(Kreidler, 1997: 19):

(~:~l~
~

-:D

Figure 3
(iii)

Resonators (supraglottal' cavities): .If we compared the

human speech mechanism with a Spanish guitar, we could say
that the vocal folds act as the strings and the supraglottalcavities
as the hollow body which amplif!..esthe sounds. That is why thcy
are caBed resonators, they proviae the necessary amplification.
The first of thesupraglottal cavitieswhich the air reaches after

38It norrnally precedes the energetic articulation 01' a vowel when emphasising
something: "co-education" [,bu?edju:'keISJ;1].It also reinforces or even replaces

C>

t:~c\.....

/:::-

..

---~

\'(':L'',..- --:=:--'::'~."

SI
[p bJ

(m]

Figure 4
Ibis nasal cavitr. is constant in shape and size. As Mott
(1996:50) explains "The acoustic effect ofusing the nasal cavity
as a resonator is to add, not a resonance; but anti-resonancc,

thy plosive sounds [p, t, k] : "that" [ore?t]; "that way" [ore?weI].

56

57

The Organs 01Speech

which q1eans that the strength of a particular
is reduced".
(iv)

The Organs olSpeech

range of harmonics

the mouth cavity because the height betWeen the surface of the
tongue and the roof of the mouth is quite wide (vowels); and (2)
close(d) articulatiou:
a very narrow gap or a complete closure is
described (consonants) ..
The lips play an important role in the articulation of some sounds.

The oral cavity contains severa) articulators:

the,J.W'..(upper
and lower), the -~~(upper
and lower), the ~(upper
and
39
lower), the .1onru(', the".palate.
and the ~g.gaLcayity
....
So me of these are~
because they are capable of movement
(the lower jaw, the tongue, the lips and the soft palate with its
pendent uvula) but others are..p~
or"(i.&a,Cthe upper jaw, the
teeth, the hard palate and the pharyngeal wall). Thc tongue can be
divided nto three main parts: the JWbI. (theJ.Ln..nnd the ~,
the ~Lc.entpr/hod..Y
(the front, the back) and the ~
(the
lowest part of the tongue in the throat). The edges are called the
tims.(Ladefoged,
1982:4):

Most back vowels are roundedand

that is why when a consonant
is in contact with one of these rounded, vowels, it tends to be
pronounced rounded or labiaiised40. The lips can be held apart in
six positions: (1) lose position: they are. close together but
describing a ittle fricion between thcm; (2)jspread position: thcy
are he Id sulliciently
f"ur apart "(no f"riction) but remaining-f"airly
close together and energetically spread; (3) neutral position: they
are held in a relaxed position with a medium lowering of the
lower jaw; (4) open position: they are wide apart with no marked
rounding; (5) close rounded position: they are tightly purscd with
a small and rounded aperture; and (6) open rounded position~
they are wide apart and absolutely rounded.
The palate can be divided into 3 main parts: (1) the al~e.glaG.
~(behind
the upper teeth); (2) the ~p-alate
(lies over the
centre of the mouth); and (3) the soft Qf!late-(at the back)
(Ladefoged, 1982:3):

ha"rd alate
/

_-50([

--

ridf:c .

I~c(h

l~alvc()I~f"~

Figure :;

(veJ;;rn)
pala~e

"'"

..

')X::'~
Figure 6

Although lhey are not in the mouth, the vocal folds can also act as articulators

bccause they produce two consonantal sounds: the glottal stop [?]
glottal fricative [h].

and the
40

58

liJa

The tongue plays an important

rale in the difference
of
articulation
between what we call traditionally
vowels and
consonants.
The tongue, thus, describes
two main types of
nrticulntion: (1) .J}ucn nrticulation:
the air pnsscs frccly through
39

lJ'

Note the pronunciation ofthe /1/ in "pul!" or "rool".

59

'he Urgalls (~/Speech

1'('

As a r~vi~\V 01' l!lis s\:dion \Ve are going lo olTer u tigure devis\:u by Motl
(1996:40) where he shows the exact place of all the organs of speech
previously mentioned and below this profile he provides their translations
into Spanish:

III.

11101

MAIN
DIFFICUL TIES
NA TIVE SPEAKERS.

FOR

sr ANISWENGLISH

NON

According to Mo~roy Casas (1980), there are some general articulatory

characteristics
which a Spanish/English
student of English/Spanish
should take into account:
1. The position of_the.Jip~ It's rather tense in English. This is
something obvious if we remember that English has a much more
complex vocalic system. But apart from that there three more
phenomena
English
positions
of very
the common
lips: the inabialis~

('Iasal c~ ...
l1y

ca ....ldad n.u.r

oral

c..evkjod bvcaJ
labio
di_nI

~
G

7
o
9

cavlty

IlpI

hH,lh

a!yeoln

.1....
40Ita

hnrtJ

IJ4'IIiI.
1011 patal.
u...ula

~Gl.o'.H

ton-ouo

11
12

b!).(je

tront

b.ck
(00'

pr.aorao

10

14
15
, n

, I
In
1

tlp

(ap$x)

20

"OC11

2 ,

trnchQo

of the

(lAmina)

t.la

oull.l)
.ryn

the~~osure
<.:::.J

/f\
c.v

2. Thc nosition oe tlu:-i~: !t's slig!llly morc opcn in English. This is

due to the large number of alveolar consonants in English, in almost
half(11) ofthem you have to use your alveoli.

('pIC9~

p<:atoo(&o

_w
p'H"Vf\~
~JlI\JhJIlI.
o.uQphtli\JI~' (........,.,
f"(a.~

\6'
~
~w.mtion
plosive co~ants~nglWl..
....
of the VQ~c!,::ss p'lo.s.iv~and

duro
blA"dl.) (v/,1lo)

p.rad.r
...
ul.
Ignoua
pLlola
corona

which
largely consonan~
depend on the
of some

"'ancJltHd.

'.11"0.plul(lIa

t"'J!V<.J

larln'W'.
cuardo.s

J;

eo'''s

3. Qu;.,P.Q.siti.Qu.o~hc-ton~ln

Ir 4QuQ.

( ...
lflpipQ)

English, the

1110st

active articulatar is

the tip of the tongue which strongly presses against the alveoJi. On
the other hand, in Spanish, the most active art:culator is the bladc of
the tongue which makes contact with the pre-alveolar area and in a
much weaker way. Sometimes, the tip ofthe tongue may even touch
the inner side 'of the upper teeth in Spanish, Apart from that, the

vO<::.J.lo!l.

Figure 7

,,:.'
:;(~~~
~~:,!
.~:)

position

of the front of the tongue

in English

is nonnalIy

in Spanish is much more flat and relax.

4.

~"\i.elar .~

and

I
.
e-Jjeclut

~~

- f'

This part is much more active and is nonnalIy much

tenser in English than in Spanish. This is due to processes such as (he
velarisation
in some consonants. And in the case of the vowels, we

must remember
that _ alI semi-open
and f\IIIy oren
characterised by a movement towards the velar arca.
60

taperfd

61

vowels

are

The Organs of Speech

The Organs ofSpeech

4.2 Description,and

classification of speech sounds

A vowel sound is one in the production of which the current air comes
out through the mouth (or mouth and nose in the case of nasalised
sounds) where it finds an open articulation. AII other sounds in English
are consonants, which are sounds in the production of which the air
stream comes into the glottal cavities and encounters a pattern of close( d)
articulation (a noise component from the acoustic point of view).
But a complete analysis must consider the linguistic point of view, apart
from the phonetic or articulatory ones. In that view, which takes into
account the behaviour 01' sounds in the language, a vowel is defined as
the central element in the sylIable. Whereas, on the other hand,
consonants wiII be those unts whose function is ~inal
in the
oo:lvlIabIe..Jnthis way, we can describe or divide a syllable into two main
sections in any language:
(Margin)- Nuc leus-(Margin)
Consonants are trnditionally considercd ~llallic_and
vowels have
been always regarded as non-marginal.
But in the following two
examples, the opposite occurs:
Britain: [bllq]
Way:

[WCI]

(syl1abic consonant)
(marginal voweI)

The result is a problem between the phonetic and the linguistie paint al'
view. Phonetically speaking, in the first example [~] is a consonant, and
in the second one [w]

is a vowel. Linguistica!ly, the opposite occurs.

The possible s01ution is to distinguish two kinds of terrns for each point
01' vicw. Thc rcsult is thc crcation 01' two new words for the phonetic
point ofview41:

These. two tenns were invented by the American phonetician Kenneth Pike
( 1(43).

.41

62

Vocoids: Units produced with open articulators.

Contoids: Units produced with close(d) articulators.
In contrast to vocoids, which largely depend on very slight variations of
tongue position, contoids ai~ most easily d7scribed in terms of
articulation since we can generally feel the contacts and movements
involved.

CONSONANTS

1.

From the phonetic point of view, the description of a consonantal sound

is as follows:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)

Egressive - Ingressive
Voiced - Voiceless
Oral- Nasal
Place of articulation
Manner of articulation '

(i)

Egrcssivc - Ingrcssivc

As it was previousIy mentioned, the miority of languages use egressive

air, that is to say, that their speakers exhale air from the lungs to produce
phoncmcs (pulmonic air). English and Spanish have "clicks", which are
sounds sent with ingressive air, just in severa1 cases: (1) urging horses,
(2) kissing, and (3) disagrceing. But thcse elieks are extralinguistic in
English and Spanish.
(ii)

Voiced - Voiceless

Vibration 01' the vocal folds is not a distinctive factor by itself because
voiced sounds can be partially or completely devoiced in certain contexts.
For this reason, there is a parallel distinction where consonant sounds are
distinguished by the degree of breathand muscular effort involved in the
articulation. Those consonants articulated with relatively weak energy are
called lenis and those with great energy .,[,o...tis
.. Voiced consonants are

6]

The Organs of:::,'peech

La

V.
lenis and
~onsonant

voiceless
consonants it will
fortis.always
Even bein lenis.
those cases where a voiced
may be devoiced,
When contrasting
the Spanish and English consonant
phonemes we
discover that they differ greatly interms
of their voice. Almost aIl
English consonant
phonemes42 are arranged
in pairs because every
voiceless phoneme has a voiced counterpart and vice versa. In the case of
'the Sp: '-h consonant phonemes, we find that most of them lack the
voiced or the voiceless counterpart. Normally, it is the voiced phoneme
the one which is missing. Historically,
Spanish also had the voiced
co\Interparts
but for diachronical
rcasons they disappeared.
Cataln
(1 ()!\<J) explains sOl11e 01' these proeesses in the following way. At first,
Spanish had the three pair5: Iy, 7), IS5,sl and Ixj/:
affricate,
/21: affricate,
/ss/: fricative,
/s/: fricativc,
/x!: fricative,
Ij/: fricative,

Ic;l:

dental, voiceless.
dental, voiced.
apicopa!ata!, voiceless.
apicopalata!, voiced
velar, voicelcss
velar, voiced.

In the case ofthe

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

Both changed from affricate to fricative sounds.

Both changed from dental to interdental
The distinction
voiceless-voiced
was lost and
prevailcd ..
FinaIly, the result is present 18/.

sufri

[ ... ] al rozar el soplo en el punto de articulacin

las

mucosas

de la lengua

dcl

[ ... ]. En el gencral

ablandamiento

habla, este soplo debi hacerse insuficiente para el rehilamiento,

y la glotis fue parejamente
proveyendo
de ms soplo con una
creciente abcrtura supletoria; cl soplo sigui as acudicndo cn;
abundancia,
pero implic
la supresin
de las vibracioncs
larngeas.

does not sharc this position

(iii)
the

voiceless

is not very

clear.

Oral-

and adds that (1989:20):

"Me

Nasal

In the articulation of a nasal consonant, the soft palate is in its lowcred

position and a total closure is made within the mouth. As a result, thc airstream escapes freely through the nose. For this reason they are called
c.ontinuants
but they differ from fricatives43 in that no audible friction is
produced. That is why they are caIled w~ionless
continuants.
English
has three nasal consonants:
one bilabial ImI, one alveolar InI, and onc
velar IrJ/. Spanish also has three nasals: one bilabial ImI, one alveolar In/,
and one palatal IJ1/.

Except for nasals and approximants /I,r,w jl because oftheir vowel-like nature.
The only truly exception is the glottal voiceless /hJ which has no voiced
counterpart at a phonologicallevel. Anyway, it has a voiced allophone [fi].

42

64

[fricatizacil)]

qlH.: conduce
a la
parece incorrecto atribuir !\ la incrcia nrticulnlorin,
lenicin,
un fenmcno
como el ensordecimicnto
de -z-, -s- y -jintervoclicas,
cuando precisamente el entorno, siendo voclico, favorece
la sonoridad."
Cataln concludes saying that (1989:20): "No se trata,
creo, de una evolucin fontica, sino de una crisis fono lgica, nacida en
el sistema y no en el sintagma."

pair Iy,z/, the process was as follows:

sounds

"pocos aos despus de este proceso

adicional

But Cataln

The reason for the devoicing of aIl these

According to Amado Alonso (1955:379-80):

/zJ

otro de ensordecimiento,
comn a las tres sibilantes sonoras
(z,sj). Ambos entran igualmente
en el general ablandamiento
articulatorio que sufri el espaol en el siglo XVI. Las sibilantes
sonoras tienen rehilamiento
(o temblor local): una vibracin

43

Also calIed continuants.

65

The Organs of Speech

The Organs ofSpeech

(iv)

Sometimes,
seeondary

Place of articulation

The chief points of articulation

systems are:

in the English

and Spanish phonological

(active

The front of the tongue

+ passive

). English Jjf4;

against

Spanish

]1,

IJ.

Eost-alveolar:
The blade or the tip against the post-alveolar
region (active + passive).
English Ir/. In so me cases
(American English) this sound muy be articulated with the
tip of the tongue curled back pointing at the part of the hard
palate immediately
behind the alveolar ridge (retroflex
artieulation).
A.lvcolar: The blade or tip of the tongue against the alveoli
(active -1- passive). English It, d, s, z, n, 1/; Spunish Is, n, 1, f,

d.

Q.c.I1JY;,

The tir 01' the tongue against

English 10,0/; Spanish It,d/.

Labiodental:

The lower lip against

the upper and

the teeth (active

B.ilabia~

Both active lips against eaeh other. English

Ip,b,m/; Spanish Ip,b,m/.
Labio-velar
The baek of the tongue against the soft palate
or velum and a considerable
lip rounding (active + passive;
and two active). English Iw/.
111(he cnse oi' (11CEl1glish

zj/lherc

is 110 cOl1tact,

jllSt

the velum

(v)

Manner

at the

of articulation

~.

A com~

eonsonantal

sounds

can

c1osure:

Ti1ere is a b loekage at some point

consonants
into two main eategories
articulatian:

in the vocal traet.

according
to this

We divide
manner of

ilial..s1QpA.(,g.pillsiy.-Cs).;. In addition to the bloekage of air in the vocal

traet, the soft palate is raised so that the nasal traet is bloeked off.
Pressure in the mouth wiII build up. When the articulators come apart the
air stream will be released in a smaII burst. If these artieulators are: (a)
the two lips, this is a bilabial oral stop (English Ip,b/; Spanish Ip,bl); (b)
the tongue and the upper teeth, this is a dental oral stop (Spanish It,dl); (e)
the tongue and the alveolar ridgc, this is an alveolar oral stop (English
It,d/); (d) the tOl1gue ami the velar arca, this is a velar oral stop (El1glish
Ik,g/; Spanish Ik,g/).

the upper teeth (active

+ passive). English If,v/; Spanish If/.

,14

raising of the back of the tongue towards

(v~arisatioQ).
In the case of the sound Iw/, the lips are rounded
same time that the tongue moves towards the velar area.

Taking into aceount the manner of articulation,

be elassified into five main eategories:

ala~ai:V~
The tongue touches the palato-alveolar
region with its rims, blade and tip (active + passive).
English ItS, d3, S, 3/.

passive).

there is an essential

the hard palate

le,],

J.n.tg~Whe
tip of the tongue between
lower teeth (active + passive). Spanish 10/.

a
a

Mcondary
articulation
for the complete produetion of the eonsonant
(eo-artieulation).
Two examples of this phenomenon
is the realisation of
IV and Iw/. In order to pronounee 11.1, in additionto
the alveolar contact,

Glottal: The production of this type of sound takes place

between
the two vocal folds, which are two active
articulators. English fhI.
~lat.;. The back of the' tongue against the soft palate or
velum (active + passive). English Ik, g, 1)/; Spanish Ik, g, xl.
~lataL

when deseribing a sound from its region of artieulation,

place is needed.
Certain eonsonantal
sounds require

nrrroximatiol1.

~asal sto~
The air is stopped in the oral cavity but the soft palate is
down. So, the air can escape through the nase. If this blackage in the
vocal tract is produced by (a) the two lips, a bilabial nasal stop is
produced (English Im/; Spanish Iml); (b) the tongue and the alveolar
ridge, an alveolar nasal stop is produced (English InI; Spanish In/); (e) the
tongue and the palatal area, a palatal nasal stop is produced

(Spanish

1]11);

71/C Orgalls o/c)'peech

(d) the tongue and the velar area, a velar nasal stop is produced (English
11)/).

l'he Urgalls ofSpeech

(j>.

This is the manner of articulation of the affricae. sounds: there is a

complete blockagc at some point in thc vocal tract, but the scparation of
the two organs is not rapid (as for stops) and at thc same time thcy remain
close enough as to produce friction. There are two affricate sounds in
English (the palato-alveolar ItS,d3/) and one in Spanish (the palatal le/).
These can be represented in the following diagram:

Therc are thrcc maio s.1a~ in thc production of a stop sound: (]) the
approximation stage (the articulators approach each other); (2) the
blockage or compression or stop stage (the air is compres sed behind tile
articulators); and (3) the release stage (the air is released in a small burst).
These three stages can be seen in the following diagrammatie
representation ofthe sounds Ip,b/:

()A pproxlmatlOnstage
..

~OCkage

Complete cl.ill'-~ and cIose narrowing_

stage
approximation stage

blockage stage

,':7 .}U~

_A

stricture of c10se ~proximation

(a close narrowing)

-.:

A partial c10sure (lateral sounds)

The air passes through two organs approximated to sueh a way that he
rassing air produces frietion (hissing noisc). Thcy are ea1Jed fricativc
sounds.

A parta1 elosure is made at some point in the mouth, the air-stream being
allowed to escape on one or both sides of the contaet. The result is a
continuant sound, with no stopping of air. The main lateral sO\lnd in
English is the alveolar /\/. There are two lateral sounds in Spanish: the
alveblar 11/ and the palatal I IJ.

There are 14 fricative sounds in English and Spanish (9 in English and 5

in Spanish): labiodental (English If,v/; Spanish If/); dental (English /8,5/);
interdental (Spanish 18/); alveolar (English Is;zJ; Spanish Is/); palatoalveolar (English IS,3/); palatal (Spanish 0/); velar (Spanishlx!) and
glottal (English /h!). Fricative sounds45,can be represented with following
diagram:

. Friction stage

(~

elosure
the~or~

Spanish

-_/\_--

has one articulator

tap Ir! in the
of which the tongue taRs
once a~ainst
1'h~(
fea., a
passive
(theproduction
alveolar ridge):

ffIn
Exccpt for the glottal sOllndIhl whcre two active articlllators are involved.

An ;nter~ent

There are two main types: the~orJlw!.and

,
'I~

friction stage

/u;.1.P'-

the case of the rolls, a series of rapid intermittent taps are madc wth
the tongue. One example is the Spanish sound If/:
,
,/"./_ \, I .._~_,
1, "

/ ,/'

(.{,

68

,-

69

\:;;:
,\;'

\ I

-,

;.'\

.'
'

';~.\.
.-', 1

~ \

j,,?

,: " .,'

i"

The Organs ofSpeech

The Organs of Speech

V\_
@).

Approximant

(open articulation)

(4)

..Il.Ef1!r~eof etcwioJLof
the ton~
Taking into account this
distinction we can distinguish four positions: open, half-open,
close amI half-close.

(5)

IntensitY- It refers to the energy necessary for the production

of the sound. This is made by the muscular effort and the
tension organs adopt. They can be tense or lax.
. Duratio~
It is highly related to int~nsity: long vowels are
tenser than short vowels ..

(6)

One articulator
is close to another but without the vocal tract being
narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent air-stream is produced (noise
component). The sounds produced in this way are also called rrictionless
continuants. There are three46 main approximant sounds in English: the
palatal/j/, the labio-velar Iwl and the post-alveolar Ir/.

(7)

(8)

VOWELS

Ir.

There are eight main factors which have to be taken into account
describing a vowel sound. These are the following ones:

(1)

when

. Position of the soft palate: Phonologically

speaking, it is
normally nllscd iilEl1glish
and Spanish. From the phonetic
point of view we have to distinguish
between oral and
nasalised vowels. These last ones are produced when the
vow~1 is between two nasal consonants47: "man" or "mantel".

(2)

Part o[ thLtongue
which
into: front, central and back.

(3)

E-OJ!ition and shape o the Iips: It is related to the degree and

aperture formed by the Jips. In both, English and Spanish,
back vowels are rounded48

raises

most:

We divide

vowels

In order to provide a precise means of identifYing the vowel sounds of a

language, Daniel Jones (1881-1967) devised a set ofstandard
reference
points. These standard points are called.&,.I;.dinaI-v..o.w.eI~. In the same
way that the cardinal points of the compass indicate four basic points
(l1orth, sOllth, cast and west) which help YOll to locate YOllrscl f whcncver
you are, the cardinal vowels can hclp you to identir,y any vowcl sOllnd 01'
any language. This systcm is bascd on a combination of articulatory and
auditory factors. Basically, these cardinal vowels are described using two
parameters: (1) the part of the tongue which is being raised (rront, central
or back); and (2) the tongue height: from the highest position to which the
tongue can be raised without producing audible friction (close position)
to the lowest position the tongue is capable of (open position). Taking
this into account, we can identifY eight primary cardinal vowels: CV 1
[i],

The lateral IV is also considered an approximant sound because there is no

noise component in the release stage. AdditionaIly, some authors (see Catford,
1988) also consider nasal consonants approximants for the same reason.
47 When the vowcl is just followed by a nasal consonant,
there couId also be
;so me nasalisation: "and" or "pan".
IK Thc only exccpliol1 is thc English back vowcl la:/. Allhough
it is back, the lips
46

are neutrally open.

CV8

CV2 [e],
[u].

CV3

[3],

The highest

lowest CV5 (back).

obtain CV2, CV3
position, we obtain
are front, and from
49

70

~.~
Phonological
speaking, all vowels are voiced but
from the phonetic
point of view there couId be so me
devoicing.
There is a phenomenon
calIed aspiration which
implies the devoicing ofthe folIowing vowel49.
f.uJ::C I Gliding. A gliding vowel is that in the production of
which avariation
or change of level takes place (diphthongs).
Apure
vowel does not change its original level when it is
uttered (monophthongs).

CV4 [a],

position

CV5

[a],

of the. tongue

CV6 [J],
is CVl

CV7 [o]
(front)

and

and the

If the tongue is lowered from its highest position we

and CV 4. If the tongue is raised from its lowest
CV6, CV7 and CV8. From CVI to CV.4, all vowels
CV5 (o CV8 all vowels are back. All fron( voweIs are

This wiIl be discussed later on.

71

The Organs of Speech

CV/
"

unrounded but not all back owelsare rounded. There is one back vowel
~he Or ms ofSpeech
which is unrounded: CV5. A secondary series of voweJs (the secondary
cardinal vowels) can be oblained by reversing the posilion of the lips
(from CV9 to CV16) and then six more vowels were added to the central
are a (from CY17 to CY2250). Mtt(1996:7l-2):
~(~/c;
'fJ...))(/\~

\ /I\IJ
"i',)
,

".--/

'c1'

4.3 Exercises

l.
I

Label the organs of speech on the following

their transJations nto Spanish51:

diagram

-;o

50

3 9

x'

:(

6 45 2 1

Numbers 17-19 unrounded and numbers 20-22 rounded.

72

e u

- -~
'--~_<:l...
t 0<.--1
,."
=::.
d/0
,,;'
C, d 0'1"r'J')
.p(01r l''):(-','('
~/o',____
,,-'
/0 -c_
e,~:.Q
',r,
e'
",J,'rb
)'2t--j~'>
rC..Q
-',,c..
~",;o.~"",
( rSPANISH
-1
-)---< Vl_)
J\?
",J
")( . Lo
.---)~iO'
')'~_,,-:
~__ 'FC)!....;"">
ENGLISH
.)("c\
\" O.Y"
,rA
~'
c.>1 (J~F~
e

k.

10

51

..,..

__,

1...;.(,

This exercise has been adapted fTom Mott (1996:52).

73

\,

and provide

The Organs 01 Speech

11

,).'

"b '*+~
l' A

~.
'-rf"2;
L )(;''''
C".--r)
--.s
P':\-""",,'
Jf'J
,/,{
,r~'Vr)k
f~j '?J;
,)r-c_
'(C>.'0
VI
ci-t2s.("'t:
'.-<~

c:>

,~

The Organs 01 Speech

,-, 'eL,
00(,

{",-l!:'-o..
r-o~)\
~j-./
,.j<....'ye,C,,(
!,;:
'C\, C/.,)

14

(e)

2.

(1)

Figures (a)-(g) illustrate al! the p1aces of articulation of consonant

sounds in the
words "centenarian"
and "centenario".
Choose
the correct profile for each

18,t, rI and English-Spanish

sound:

(English

In/).

@ FriartivaIAlu-eeeaJr;~~
l--.-

Is, t, r/; Spanish

Od,Llb-tvo. j

,~

~u

(a)

deu.,V) .'

serch., C~IJ

/
',LEj/
I

(g)

3.

lllustrate
the position
of the vocal organs during the first
consonants in each ofthe fol!owing words. Use a wavy line at the
glottis ifthe sound is voiced and a straight line ifvoiceless.

ce&f<Z-9-{

e tftLLLcil

(a)
(b)
(e)
(d)

day

da

boy
voy
(e) gnaw
(1) gente

(d)

(e)

74

Ls.

f.i>.~

r
____"t:/~

'lu2. uvuJ.t.t

75

The OrguJ/S

The Organs ofSpeech

aj ::;peech

4.

Dcscribc (hc consonnnls

chart below:

in lhc \Vonl "ccnlenarinn"

llsing

(he

Place
Manner
of arto
of arto
OraJ/Nasal
VoicedIV oiceless
~

"-.CC-

v../

Isl

InI
Irl
ItI

--".",.

(b)

~~~:~\
~\

'\
(f)
(d)
~'\

5.

C--..

~.~

"'i~7\

Describe
below:

the consonants

in the word "centenario"

using the ehart

Manner
of arto
of
OraJ/N
asa!arto
Voieed/V Place
oiceless

181

ItI
Inl
Irl

6.

Circle the word that:

(a) that begin with a bilabial sound:

mam

pap

nio

mother

father

child

(b) that end with a stop:

pan

mantel

constreir

(c) in which the consonant

bajo

atar

casa

consonant

in themiddle
putting

hissing

(d) that bcgin with a nasal sound:

no

76

nio

gnat

knot

77

knee

lamb

is voiced:
lenis

Bob

The Organs of Speech

The Organs ofSpeech

(e) that begin with an alveolar sound:

tonto

soso

nene

dental

till

see
8.

(1) that end with a voiced sound:

pequeos

los

azahar

house

houses

Place the following words

account how you pronounce

in the suitable square taking into

the following English and Spanish

vowels52:

pour

(g) that contain a front vowel:

mi

me

tan

pea

said

--- dQOr..,...,-'-....:.heatCi - eat "yf"

- e r ~ tu -

.r'Bl~ase

book

,/

(h) that contain a c10se vowel:

ven
(i)

plan

tea

pit

mum

'-

CENTER
BACK
c.a.)'"
FRONT .
rf.et(
:tl:
door
he~rd
f&;1,.!>-<:..
l)Cl/7
CLOSE
MID
(HALF)OPEN

- tren

- pan
-

for

eaeh

td

that contain a rounded vowel:

pan

7.

mis

/'"

con

sin

pool

him

who

ClassifY the following saunds taking into aeeount

artieulators involved in their pronuneiation:

- --.-- ...-------

9.

Pravide
the appropriatc
fallowing sounds:

phonetie

symbol

....
-.-'-.---....--.--.---.-.-_._ _._.~-_
--..." ....
-.--.......
--.... --- --

(Span.
(English)
&
/':ng.)
ti /m/
!f/
(Span.
& Eng.)
Eng.)
(Span.
&
/1'/
(Spanish)
&
Eng.)
(Span.

the type of

..

.. ..

Activc+Passivc
Passivc+Passivc
Activc+i\ctivc

/I
.--.---~--._---_ --._----_.-...

Voiccd.
i'ricalivc
Voicclcss,
vclar,
Voiu'd,i'ricativc
dvcolar,
V--oiccd, palatal,
latcral
-dcnlal,

--.----.---.----

,,-

----

----.-.,.--.-

__

,.

____

l'ricativc

'0 ___ ----

I/

u.

-- .. -

Spanish

.. __

V oiceless,
oral stop
V oiccd,dental,
alvcolar,
oral stop

52

Pay attcntion

to the position

of your tongue.

79

........

--.

/I
English

of

the',

(i) The primary cardinal vowels are

10. Complete each ofthe statements below:

(a) In

English

the

sounds

/w,

are

jI

also

called
U) The

(b) In Spanish there are two vibrating consonants

are

sounds

in

the

cardinal

production

of

cardinal

vowels

are

which

(d) In the production ofthe English sound /h/ two

articulators are involvcd.

(e) Lenis sounds are produced

(f) English and Spanish have

sounds which

are sounds sent with ingressive air. They are used in just a few
cases:

(1'.)

Approxilllallts

alld

Ilasals

are

alke

bcc:tuse

(h) The main differ~nce het~een a plosive and an affricate is found

in the production of the

stage.

80

vowels

are

obtained

' and
(k) The

(c) Contoids

secondary

81

usefut

in

order

to

describe

UNIT V. CONSONANTS

5.1 Comparison of Spanish and English systems

IJIC E...nglish consonant system is made up of six plosives (lp,b,t,d,k,g/)
plus the optional glottal stop (171)53, nine frieatives (/f,v,8,o,s,z,J,3,hl),
two

affrieates

(ltJ,d31),

three

nasals

(/m,n,1J1)

and four

approximants

j,

(l1,r wl). The Span ish eansanant system has six plasives (/p,b,t,d,k,gl),
five fricatives (/f,O,sJ,xI), one affrieate (/el), thr~c nasals (lm,nJ1l), twa
laterals (/I,A:I) and two vibrants (lr,rl).
Aceording
difTcrcnecs
phonemcs:

to Finch and Ortiz Lira (1982:61-2) there are four main

whieh distinguish
the Spanish and the English eonsonant
.

2. English has l pair of affrieatc and 4 pairs of frieativc phonemcs;

l. English makcs use of24 consnnan! oppnsi!ionsi~panish only 19.
Spanish has l single affricate and 5 single frieatives.
3. Almost half the English phonemes (Le. 11) are normally artieulated
in the alvealar regian, as opposed to only 5 in Spanish.
phOnCl11CS havc similar
Spanish
4. Only <) al' thc 2/1 English
eorrcspanuents:
Ip,b,k,g,m,n,l,f,s/.

Due to these differenees an English/Spanish

learner of Spanish/English
may face a series of difficulties which O'Connor (1980: 145) summariscs
in the following ist:
l.
Ivl and Ibl are confused; sometimes Ibl replaees Ivl and sometimes
the reverse. In English, Ibl must be a complete stop in all positions, and
Ivl a lip-tecth friction saunu.

The glattal plasive /71 accurs frequently but it is of less importance, since it is
usually just an altcrnatiw pronunciation 01' /p,t.k/ in ccrtain contcxts.

53

83

CO/JSOJ/i1llIS

CO/JSO/J(1/J/S

2.

151 and Idl are confused;

sometimes

replaces

151 and

complete

alveolar stop in all positions,

3.

Igl

is often

somctimes

replaced

the reverse.

IdI (a very

dental

In English,

IdI must

variety)
be a

and 151a dental friction sound.

by a similar

friction

sound;

this

does

not

generally Icad to misunderstanding

but should be avoided. In English, Ig/
must be a complete stop in all positions ..
4. Isl and IzJ are confused, Isl usually being used for both, though only
, II occurs before voiced consonants. Isl before other consonants is very
'wcak and is often replaccd by Ihl in Latin Amcriean Spanish and
A Jalllsian.
5.

131occurs in Argentinian

131 are then replaced

Spanish but not elsewhere

and both

ISI

and

by Is/.

6.

Id31 and Itjl are confused,

7.

In Latin American

Icl being uscd for both.

Spanish

Ihl is usually acceptable

for English.

In

Peninsular Spanish /hI is replaced by a strong voiceless friction sound

made between the back of the tongue and the soft palate. This does not
cause confusion, but creates a disagreeable effect, and the mouth friction
must be avoided.
8.

IfJI does not occur independently

in Spanish and is replaced

by InI

01'

IfJg/
9.

111is always

10.

11'1

clear in Spanish.
in Spanish is a tongue-tip roll 01' tapo
11. Ip,t,kl are not aspirated in Spanish.
17.. ('onson:lI1( scq\lcnces in Sp:lnish consist or:ln initi:ll stop or Irl +
1I'.I.wl 01' li/. (>lIwl' il1itiull'lInslllllll1t~; I1II1Y11l' lillow('d 11l1lyhy fil 01' Iw/.
I\lul1Y ,,1' 1111~1':I1'.li:;l1il1iti;" :;('IIII('IICCSUl1d11II110s11111rillul Sl~qll(,IIC(,SIII'C
vcry diniclllt and need 11111chpraetiee.

air 15 finalIy released it do es so in a kind of explosion. We have. different

types of plosives depending on the place at which this blockage of air
takes place: alveolar, bilabial, velar, etc. If the air is released through the
mouth, this is an oral sound, but if it is through the nose, this is nasal
sOllnd. When \Ve rcfer to hoth oral and nasal plosiws, \Ve nonnnlly USe
the term stop. English has six plosive consonants:
t\Vo bilabials (lpl
voiceless and Ibl voiced), two alveolars (lt/ voiceless and Idl voiced), and
two velars (M voiceless
and Ig/ voiced). Spanish has six plosive
phonemes: two bi1abials (lpl voiceless and Ibl voiced), two dentals (ltl
voicelcss and Idl voieed), and t\Yo velars (/k/ voiceless and Ig/ voiCl.:d).
When talking about Spanish plosives it is very important to distinguish
them from {t4fricatives
because all Spanish voiced plosives (lb,d,gI)
have a fricative reali~:ltion. The main difference between a fricative and a.
pIosive sound is that in the production of the first the air is allowed to
escape through a small passage and so it makes a hissing sound.
AdditionalIy,
fricatives are continuant consonants, \Vhich means that you
can continue making them without interruption
as long as you have
enough air in your lungs.
These fricative realisations
of the Spanish voiced plosives are usuaJIy
transcribed as [0,5,'Y]. A1though it has traditionalIy
be en assumed that
the fricatives are the subordinate aIJophones, recent research on Janguage
acquisition among Mexican children has shown that the fricatives are
acquired first and remained dominant. These fricative realisations
are
produced in the folJowing contexts:

Ib/:

(bl (dc.:lilldl ullopllllll(,: liS plllsivc.:):

in initial posilion 01' a phonic
pause): "bote" [bte]
after the nasal consonant
"m"

5,2 Plosivcs

01'

grollp

(Le. 1Iit:r

[m] (orthographically

"n"): "un bote" [m bte]

[P] (fricative aIJophone):

lthough the term "oclusiva"
is generaIJy used in Spanish rather than
"plosiva", they both refer to the same type of sound. A plosive sound is a
type of sound in the production of which there is a complete closure at
. some point which prevents the ,air from escaping. When this compres sed
84

in any other position:

85

"ese bote" [se pte]

Consonants

Id/:

Consonants

[d] (default allophone: as plosive):

in initial position of a phonic
pause): "dedo" [d5o]

group

(Le. after

after the nasal [n] and the lateral [1]: "un dedo"

[ ~ d50 ]

2. Non-audible
release:
Before pauses; it is produced by a weak
opening of the stop: such plosives are said to be incomplete and are quite
frequent in familiar speech; lack ofrelease is common in "all right!,,54.
3. Non-audible
release in stop clusters: oral plosive + oral plosive or
oral plosive + affricate. Either within a word or at word boundaries, the
first plosive

has non-audible

release:

"dropped"

[o] (fricative allophone):

in any other position:

"ese dedo" [se 5oo]

[g] (default allophone: as plosive):

in initial position of a phonic
pause): "gasa" [gsa]

Ig/:

group

(Le. after

after the nasal [n] (> [IJ]): "un gato" [lJ gto]
[y] (fricative

in any other position:

['gud> ,-,lb:)'!]; "object"

factor

to take

into account

when

difTerent syllables)

"se gato" [se Yto]

now" [Inof '-'l1a'u]; "cotton"

dealing

with the different

CVC

['gJerf,-, d3eukC]

Nasal relcase: When a plosive is followed by a homorganic nasa55 either syllabic or initial in a following syllable oi word- the release stage
is performed nasally. That is, the third stage only consists in the loweririg
of the soft palate, so that the air compressed behind the oral stop escapes
through the nose. This can occur either within words (in the same or

realisation):

rcalisations of Spanish plosivcs is thal Spanish shows a gencral tcndcncy

to produce open syllablcs,
that is syllables
of with the structure
"consonant + vowel" (CV) as in "ca-sa, pa-p". So, when a phoneme is in
an impIosive ("implosiva")
position -Le. after a syllabic nucleusit
tends to be modified or even to disappear: CVC => CVCI or CV:
CVCI
"acto" [yto,
CV
"bside"
[Bsie]
aeto]
[kto
]
[bsie]
[sie]
I [Mo]

[Iob>'-' d3ek> '-'t"]; "great joke"

4.

5.
Another

['dJDP>'-' t"]; "good boy"

,o

Lateral

or at word boundary:

release:

"sllbmerge"

[seb> ,-,'m3:d3]; "not

['khof ,-,'11].

When It,dI are followed

by IV, both plosives

are

normally released lateraIly. Lateral release occurs whether the following

is syllabic or initial in thc ncxt syllable or word: "cattlc" ['kh ref ,-,'t],

/1/

"regardless"

[IJrga
:d>.
les], "bad :)ght" ['bred>
o
o

lart"]. It is never in initial

....

clusters: "play".
As Finch and Ortiz Lira (1982:62) point out, Spanish
occur together very freqllently; therefore, non-audible,
types of release are of exceptional
occurrence,
the
appearing in the same syIlable, and none ofthem in final

plosives do not
nasal and lateral
first two never
position:

Non-audible
release: Ipt/ and Ikt/ (as in "apto,
acto") are the only examples. Whenever a lenis
plosive interven es it is realised as a fricative [OY ]

In the prodllction of an English plosive we have to take into aceount that

the release stage can takc place in five difTercnt ways:

and [BoJ as in "Edgardo,

l.

Nasill release: It,kl are the only two plosives

which can have nasal release in carerlll Spanish
("tnico, tcnica"). ln familiar style, though, these

Complete

plosive:

When 3 stagcs occur (closllre, stop, releasc).

54

For teaching purposes it is not necessary to mark this allophonic variant, which

is in free variation
\\ Tllal is, seqllenccs

86

abdicar"

with the oral relcase.

Ip,bl I Im/; It,JI I Inl or Ik,gl

87

I 1r)/.

Cvnsvmmls

Consonanls

seqllenccs tcnd to be realised as ton] and ['tn]

[f)n]

respectively.

Pre-nasal

lenis

01'

... the voicing 01' the vowel does not begin togethcr \\'ith the
rdense stage 01' the plosiw, but some time latel'. When the lips
separate after the stop for the first segment in "purse", for
instance, the tongue is already in position for the vowel, but only
breath comes out ([ 3o D before the vocal folds start vibrating. This
voice!ess interval between the release stage of a plosive Ilnd (he
voicing 01' a lollowing vowcl is caIIcd aspiration, and although it
consists of a voiceless vowel, convention has assigned it the
diacritic [h J. AlIophonically, then, "purse" is transcribed [lph3'S J

plosives

become fricative: [om] and [~m] as in "admirar,

dogma"
Lateral release: ItI is exploded laterally in just a
fcw instances: "atlas".
Another phonetic process which is typical of Eng]ish plosives is
aspiration. Although the first phase (Le. the closure) in the production of
a plosive is similar in English and Spanish, vocal folds are not completely
closed in the production of an English plosive. So,the released air do es
not come only from the mouth butalso from the lungs, and that is why a
strong aspiration is produced. On the other hand, in Spanish, there is a
complete closure of the vocal folds. So when air escapes, this comes only
from the mouth. When an English speaker is trying to produce an
accurate Spanish plosive he will have to avoid this aspiration. He will
have to produce a perfect closure ofthe glottis, something similar to what
he would do when producing a vowel in initial position. In the following
picture (Quilis and Fernndez, 1996: 84) we can compare the production
01'an Eng!ish am! a Spanish plosive:
OCLUSIVA

INGLESA

OCLUSIVA

cierre

obertura

cierre

d. la
boca

ESPAOLA

oberturo

d. la

d. la baca

d. la boca

boca

i~lstead of [lp~3SJ, though both notations are correct, phonetically

speaking, since [h] is nothing but a voiceless variety of any
vowel quality.

There are various degrees of aspiration: ~

and strong aspiration.
English voiceless plosives are weakly aspirated in unaccented syllables
and generally in word-final position: [lIp"]. These plosives are
unaspirated when preceded by Isl ([Skld]) or when followcd by II,r,w\i/.
In the case of 11,1', w j/, the aspiration of Ip,t,k/ makes them devoiced:
"please": [pli:z l "try" [uaI l "quick" [kWIkl "nure" [piU::1]. Aspiration is
o o'
o'
~e~4'f~~
J
easy to recognise because it implies a "puff of air". A good practice is to
hold a sheet of paper in front of your mouth: it will flap if you have
asplralcd 11.

entrada In vibracin
d. los cu.rdos vocales

Figure

cierre

88

~.

5.3 Fricatives and affricates

d. la glotis

This aspiration is produced when the English fortis plosives Ip,t,k/

precede vowel sounds in an accented syllabIe. As Pinch and Ortiz Lira
(1982:54-5) explain:

t.,"t'

Frieatives can also be called "spirants" Latin "spirare" = "to

breathe") or breathed consonants. English has nine fticatives: two
labiodentals (lf/ voiceless and Ivl voiced); two dentals (181 voiceless and
101 voiced); two aIveolars (lsl voiceless and IzI voiced); two palatoalveolars (19 vokeJess and 131 voiced) and one glottaJ (1hI voiceless).
There are five fticative phonemes in Spanish: 1 voiceJess 1abiodental/f/,
1 voiceless interdental/8/,
1 voiceIess aJveoJar Is/, 1 voiced .paJatal Ijl and
89

Consonants

1 voieeless
(alIophone

velar

Ix/.

of lb/); 1 voieeless

dental [o] (allophone

IS/);

2 alveolars:

(allophone
voieeless

PhonetiealIy,

Consonants

we

labiodental

find:

of Is/); 1 voiced
[x] (aIlophone

[s] (allophone
palatal

bilabial

W]

[f] (alIophone of If/); 1 voieed

of Id/) and 1 voiceless

1 voiceless

1 voieed

interdental
of

Is/)

m(allophone

of/xI) and 1 voieed

["6"]

[8] (aIlophone

of

and 1 with voieed

[]

of Ij/); and 2 velars:

(allophone

of/g/).

Although

the Spanish

phoneme

(English

Although

this realisation

followed

that many teachers at primary ::hool use this sound to help their students
to write correctly some words such as "vino", which must be written with
"v" and not "b". This phenomenon is ealled hypercorrection.

system

by a voiced

sound:

"muslo"

"este" [hte],

eolloquial

speeeh

is when

it precedes

The voiced palatal fricative

Is/-/OI

is

lleLltralised and words such as "caza" and "casa" are pronounced in the
same way. Just the opposite can also happen, that is, that speakers do not
use lhe sound Isl <lne!they only employ 10/. This is something typical 01'
sOl11e AndalLIsian villages and it is calIed "ceceo". For these speakers,
there is no di f1crcnce betwecn "serrar" and "cerrar".
Spanish Isl and English Isl are not identieal.
your tongue in the production of a Spanish
English Is/ you use the blade. In fact, the
(approaching the baek of the alveolar ridge)
English ISI. For this rcason, somc English
prooucing

n soulld similar to thcir

IJ'I

Whcreas

you use the tip of

of an
tip is the part of the tongue
used in order to produce an
speakers think a Spaniard is
Is/, in the produetion

whcn in fi.Jct it is an

Is/.

[mh~o].

by a pause, nasal

01'

lateral. In these cases

initial position

("yo"

(j]),

Spanish:

palatal sound [j]

In

it can even

[iral],

"las rejas"

one voiceIess

phoneme

01'

when spoken with emphasis'

we get an allophone

which

is a

[d3]. So, we have two affrieates

01'

in

(lel or ftS/) and one voiced allophone:

are

ItL

d3/. Some phoneticians

treat

the Itrl am! Idrl 0(' words like "trial" am! "dream" as single-unit phonelllL:s
and put them in the alTricate category, too. Those who support this view
argue that the realisation of the phoneme Irl is a frieative realisation afld
rol' this rcason we havc a plosive plus a fricative and there is no reasoll to
betweell
difTercntiate
them Irom ItSI and Id3/. Thc main dincrcncc
Spanish and English aflrieates is that the seeond are produccd in a more
advanced point of articulation. Apart from their point of artieulation, they
also differ in their distribution.
Whereas both English phonemes can
appear

either

in pre-

or post-nuclear

"judge"

Idy,d3/), both Spanish

position:

"chico"

[eko]; "el yugo"

sounds

position

("ehureh"

can only oeeur

ItJ3:tJI

01

and

in pre-nuclear

[el jYo]. So, the main problem

Orthographically, it eorrcsponds to "e + e, i" and "z + a, o, u".

90

Finally,

fr/: "Israel"

Spania~d is one of distribution,

mainly when
together: '~Which George" "Each judge", ete.
,"6

[mmo].

U] is realised as sueh when it is not preceded

[3] or [d3]. The English affrieates

distinetion

"mismo"

[Iarxas] .

This

The

it tends to oecur when

[mlo],

"mismo"

voiced affrieate

as "seseo".

Is/: [].

Andalusia) when this sound is in a

produced as a laryngeal frieative, a

There are plaees in Spain and Latin America where speakers do not know
the Spanish interdental sound 18/56 and they only use the alveolar one Is/.
is known

alveolar

of the phoneme

disappear and modifY the preeeding vowel (making it more open): "dos."
[d:,)]. This phcnomcnon
is vcry eommon in somc arcas of Eastcrn
Andalusia.
Another eontext in which this sound can disappear
in

in absolute

phenomenon

lacks a v;oieed frieative

allophone

is' not very constant,

some are as of Spain (for example

postnuclear position, it is normally
kind of aspiration:

As eXplained previously, many ofthe voieed counterparts disappeared in

the Spanish phonological
system and it is among fricative consonants
where this phenomenon
is mueh more evident. One example which is
worth mentioning is that of the voiced labiodental Ivl which disappeared
at the beginning of the Modero Age. Many Spanish speakers still believe
that this sound really exists in our language. This could be due to the fact

eonsonant

1zJ), it has a voiced

they oeeLlr very

for a
close

( 'U".\'U"III1I,I'

( 'UII.I'U"c/lIIS

5.4 Nasals

to t::kc into considcratil)n

s that \\'l' ha\'c
positions: initial, medial and final:

The basic characteristic

of a nasal consonant is that the air escapes
through the nose because the soft palate is lowered. So, the air does not
pass through the mouth, it is prevented by a complete closure in the
mouth at some point. There are three types of cIosure in both English and
Spanish but only two ofthem are identical: the bilabial (lips): 1m! and the
alveolar (tongue blade against the alveolar ridge): InI. Apart from these
two common to both English and Spanish, English has a velar nasal (back

].

2.

("bacon"

("rhythm"

/non~/)

and

finally

the vejar

3.

4.
The phonemes Iml and InI represent no problem for Spanish/English
learners of English/Spanish
because apart from being identical in their
articulation,
thcy can occur in prc- amI post-syllabic
positions in both
languages57
Howcver, the English velar hJI gives considerable problems

of distribution,

Final:

word ("pum!").

found in Spanish before Ipl and Ibl: "improbable, imbcil".

Syllable-final

[m] is .

with /h, r,

"n k" always

Vowels

that

3, w, j/).

corresponds

to [1Jk], that is, you

wit!1out thc

folIow: A fourth way in which the distribution

r g]

of IfJI is

un usual is that it never occurs after a diphthong or long vowel, and in

fact there are only 4 vowels which can precede this consonant: h, ~,
/\, DI.

Nasals (mainly the alveolar one) assimilate very readily in both English
and Spanish. There is a long list of a1!ophones in both languages. The
main 7 alIophones of Spanish InI are:
In!

[n]

(Le. alveolar):
in prenuclear

syllabic position:

"cana" [kna]

in postnuclear
syllabic position followed by an
alveolar
consonant
or vowel:
"insociable"
[ins08j13le];

[m]

"un eje" [n xe]

(Le. bilabial):
in postnuclear

syllabic

bilabial consonant:
92

It is a phoncme

As the final position of a word is also the end of a rnorpheme,

the first thing we have

5: English has 1m! in all positions bu! Spanish ]acks this phoneme in word-final

position, except in the onomatopoedic

The spelling

(together

it seems obvious that "ng" wi1! always be pronoullccd

sound: "ring" [lltJ].

IbeI kIJ/).

[slJg]. In relation to the problems

occurrence

in this position.

n\:\\n

that when the word can be divided into two morphemes, Ig/ will not
be pronounced ("singer" = "sing" + "er"). But when the word cannot
be divided, Ig/ will be pronounced ("finger"). As with every single
rule, it has an exception: the ru]c ,'redicts that the Igl wilI not be
pronounced
in super]atives
and comparatives
but the opposite
happens: "Ionger" [Iol)gg] and "Iongest" []DIJgrst].

onc

to Spanish speakers for two reasons: (1) the Spanish phonological system
lacks this phoneme; and (2) the distribution of this phoneme s unusual.
In relation to the first point it is worth mentioning that although Spanish
lacks this phoneme, it has a velar allophone of the alveolar InI. The
problem is that Spanish speakers only produce this sound when followed
by a velar sound ("ganga", "anca"'). For this reason, when a Spanish
speaker tries to pronounce words such as "song" [SDlJ], he pronounces

MediaIly:

IfJI never occurs

th\\\.'

always pronounce
the sound [k]. But the spelling "ng" may be
rule which predicts
pronounccd [IJg] or [IJ]. There is a morphologcal

I.rl.

IndI,1/); thcn the bilabial

position:

of restricted

,of thc tongue against the soft palate): IfJI and Spansh has a palatal nasal

Thcy are also calIcd frictionlcss

continuants
because, the samc as
fricativcs, YOll can go on making thcm as long as you have enough air in
your lungs but they are frictionless
because no audible friction is
produced. For this reason they resemble vowel-type sounds, In fact, they
may perform thc syIlabic function of vowcIs. Thc most common nasal
cansonant which can be syllabic nucleus s the alveolar one ("ridden"

In initial

ll) distingu\sh

93

position

followcd

"un vaso" [m bso]

by a

Consonants

(Le. labiodental):
followed

by a voiceless

"infme"

[illJ fme ]

labiodental

fricative

If/:

(Le. iI)terdental):
fol!owed by a voiceless

interdental

fi'icative 18/:

"once" [I)8c]

-}

Consonants

English learners of Spanish

palatal I]l! -orthographical!y

also have to leam a new nasal sound: the

represented by "". It is rare word-initially

(Sp. "oo") and does not appear in final position in Spanish. This
position is particularly interesting to note in the case of al! Spanish nasal
sounds.
Quilis and Femndez
(1996: 116) describe
the process
of
neutralisation of Spanish nasal consonants in post-syllabic position in
thc folIowing way:

(i.c. dcntal):

[n,]

fol!owed

by a voiced

or voiceless

"donde"

[dI;1de]; "lento"

[lI;1to]

Los fonemas

It,d/:

by a palatal

consonant

[c] or

[J]:

encuentran
"un

como tales nicamente

distintivos.

silbica

implosiva,

En esta situacin,

postnuc1ear,

/k,g/:

will represent

an

of English Inl are:

5.5 Approximants vs. Liquids

~
[rl)]
[velar
n]
[n]
[uJ
[IJ]
[1J]
[L1]
voiced:
"many"
labiodcntal,
bcft)rc
J:ain"un
rortunatc"
dental
(beforc
[8,5]):
"tenth"
advanced
retracted
(before
(before
(fol!owed
[k,g]
[r]):
inf:v
bytwo
"umest"
front
different
vowel):
words):
"tenet"
"ten or
slightly
devoiced
whcn
contact
with
a pause
Is/: "snorc"
when a"ten
voiceless
cups",
girls". consonant precedes, espccialIy
In!

pierden

los fonemas 1m, n,]11

For this reason, minimal pairs sueh as "thin" and "thing"

important diffieulty for Spanish speakers ofEnglish.

Some of the most common aJlophones

cuando se

no se oponen, se neutralizan. Por lo tanto, en el plano fonolgico,

es necesario sustituir todos los alfonos dados para Inl por el
arehifonema INI: 1Nf, N8, Nt, Nd, Nk, Ng,Nb, Np, Ne, NJ, Ns/.

(Le. velar):
followed by a voiced or voiceless velar
"manco" [mar:ko]; "un gato" [lJ gto]

en posicin

sus caracteres

chico" [n, cko]

[r:]

nasales funcionan

encuentran
en posicin silbica prenuclear,
explosiva: cama -:cana - caa (/k-ma, k-na, k-Jla:/). Por el contrario, cuando se

but not so palatal as IJl/):

(Le. palatalized:
followed

dental

If thc articuIators nearly make contact but do not actual!y constrict the air
passage as to produce a friction noise, then we produce what are known
01'
frictionlcss
continllnnts;
which in English are
as npproximants
II,r,i,w/~K as in "Iip" Illp/, "rcal" 11'1:11/, "YOIl" fill:/, "was" IWlJz/. Thne i.';
no dividillg line bclwcen tlH: consonant category ami thc vowel catcgory,
we arc dealing with degrces of stricture. If we widen the articulatory
channel, we will produce a vowel; if we narrow it, we wil! utter a
fricative. In contrast to fricatives, in the produetion
there is no noise component or turbulenee.

of an approximant

Some phonetitians (notably Catford, I988, chp. 4) a]so cJass the nasal
consonants Im,n,r:J/ and the c]ose vowe]s /i,u/ as approximants because the air
58

flow becomes turbulent when they are devoiced. ]n Spanish linguistic manua]s,
the nasal consonants are often referred to as "continuantes".

l)1

C<J//soll<1II1s

COIlSOllallls

In the scale of promincnce,

approximants
are almost as prominent as
vowels59 and much more prominent than the rest of consonants. I-Iere is a
verticalline
representing the different degrees of prominence:

+ prominent
open vowels
close vowels

Th.: sounds

Il,m,n,I]1 could

be considered

contoids

and vocoids

at the

samc time. The sound 11/ is a contoid beca use the tongue tip is in contact
with the alveoles but a vocoid because the air is exploded lateraIly
without obstruction.
SimilarIy, .the nasals can be considered
contoid
because there is an obstruction
in the mouth (the lips; the tongue +
alveoles; the back of the tongue + the soft palate). But at the same time
they can al so be considcrcd
vocoids because the air escapes freely
through the nose. Their (/l,m,n,I]/) vocoid quality is stressed by the fact
that they can be a syIlabic nucleus.

approximants
nasals and Il/
'yoiccd eonsonants
voiecIcss consonants

The approximant Irl has fallen from pronunciation

in Standard English in
post-syIlabic
position but in many American dialccts it is retained as a
retroflex consonant (the tip of the tongue is curled back). When this postsyIlabic Irl is pronounced it mereIy gives the preceding vowel a particular
rcsonancc. This vowcl bccoll1cs an "/r/-colourcd"
or rhotacizcd
vowc1.

- prominent

If we take into account that the nucleus of a syllable represents

the peak

of promincnce in the syllable, it is not jllSt a coincidence that sounds sllch

as /m,n,I],r,1/ can be a syllabic nucleus. Marginal
positions are occupied
by the rest of the eonsonants. Thc only obligatory clcment in a syIlable is
the nucleus; the onset and the coda are optional elements. I-Iere you have
some examples:
.
_ ... __ . __
--.0_'--~-_.
---.---- .-.-....-.-.----.------- ..
111
Ir
LI
Itl
'" 111
hlll
Ikl
ItI
0Peak
ItI
/tIMarginal
Coda
position
Nucleus
Marginal
/I)l
/)/

------

/'.C/

RP and
Africa,
England
Ireland,
as "car"
a rhotic

all of south-castcrn
England, Australia, Ncw Zealand, SOllth
and, variably, the sOllthern United St:\ks ami Enstcrn Nc\\'
are non-rhotic. Northcrn and wcstern England, Scotland, Wales,
Canada, and most ofthe United States are rhotic. So, a word such
wi1l be pronounced as Ika:/ in a non-rhotic accent and as !ka:JI in
accent.

On the other hand, /j,wl are vocoids because they arc open artieulation
but consonants
because of their ~arginal
position in the syIlable and
because they combine with vowels just like a1l consonants.
In fact,
articles have their pre-consonantal
rrom when they are followed by /jI or
Iw/: "lhe univcrsity"
lo;,jll:m'v3 :s;,til and not */oju:m'v3 :s;,til ami "lhe
water"

li')';I'w;,:I';I1 and not "'li~I'w:1:t';l/.

Ir/"I>Ois !lol uscd whC!l a Ij/

01'

Additiol1ally,

Ihe so-calkd

Iwl follows: "They are young"

"lillki,1I'.

is lcI~ljArJI

and not loeI~J'jAI]/; and "They are wet" is loeI~lwetl and not IOeI~j'wctl.
The articulation.
articulation ofthe

of each approximant
may vary depending
on the
following vowel. Check the position ofyour tonglle in

In non-rhotic accents, it is possible that a linking Irl is pronounccd if the

following word begins with a vowel and the preceding one en~s wilh an Ir/:
"He's got a ear and a bike" /hrz'gvta'ka:J;mda'bark/
60

Vowels are the most prominent sounds, and among these, open vowels are
more prominent than close vowels.

59

96

97

Consonants

the pronunciatiop. ofthe fel10wing pairs: ''\ve-water'';

law"; "yes-yokel". Gimson (1989: 214 and 216):

"reed-raw";

"leave-

Consonants

aproximantes tienen un grado menor de estrechamiento

del canal
supragltico,
de tal manera que deja de percibirse claramente el
ruido de frotamiento que caracteriza a las fricativas. Adems, la
tensin articulatoria
y la cantidad total del sonido es bastante
menor. Se escucha como una leve modificacin
de las vocales
contiguas. 1\. Martine! las llama "cspirnntes"
... No obstante el
nL."u~e ingls tiene otro problema .. Nos referimos
a la
identificacin
de las glides (semjconsonantes
y semivocales)
y
aproximantes.
En castellano esto es inadmisible, pues el sonido
consonntico
interior de la palabra "mayo" es diferente por
complcto del segundo de la palabra "pie". El primero es ms
cerrado y menos tenso que el segundo, que suele ser un sonido
transitorio,
prximo a una vocal. As pues, adoptaremos
la
denominacin
inglesa,
pero para nosotros
sern diferentes
siempre
las aproximantes
y las glides. Las glides son los
elementos que acompaan al ncleo silbico en los diptongos,
mientras que las aproximantes
son siempre consonantes, que no
intervienen para nada en los diptongos.

Figure 2

Basically,

the term approximant

called up to now the fricative

would be used to describe

realisations

(W,,Y]) ofthe

what we have
voiced plosives

(Ib,d,gl). Martnez Celdrn points out that a fricative like /s/ is basically
ditTerent from a sound like [(.~]beca use the friction componcnt of thc first
Figure 3

In relation to the use of the term approximant

Ccldrn (1986: 170) explains that

in Spanish

Martnez

isrnuch more noticeable. In this way, the tel'll1 approximant

would be
used to describe two very different types of sounds in English ami in
Spanish: in English they are open articulation sounds (there is no noise
component)
and in Spanish there is so me friction and turbulence
(although less than in a fricative). And finally, they have to be kept
distinct from the glides. In Spanish, the sounds [jJ and [w] are
semiconsonants
and are part of the Spanish rising diphthongs. For this
reason, they are very different from the sounds W,,Y]. SO, Martnez

Articulaciones
aproximantes.
ste es un neologismo, procedente
del ingls, que hemos adoptado porque nos parece totalmente
necesario. Este tipo de articulaciones son frecuentes en castellano
y

conveniente

distinguirlas

nctamentc

98

de las

fricativas.

Celdrn concludes, they (U,w]) cannot be included

approximant sounds.

Las

99

in the same group of

Consonants

We can appreciate these differences

Celdrn, 1986: 173):

in the following

b,I ,j1

ap..-o;O:;IJI,utt.:

EJ.

Consonants

\'000.:;,01

t:j.

}1411k1

p;sIOlt

diagrams

(Martnez

pa1JC~ 01' preceded by In,1I'2. Similarly, th:; first sound in the English word
"we" is different fram the first sound in the Spanish word "guitarra" and
the first sound in the English word "wood" is different from the first
sound in the Spanish word "bueno".
In the first examp:::: ("we" "guitarra")
we have to take into aecount two featurcs: (a) the Spanish
sound is a plosive (Le. there is closure); and (b) the English sound is also
labial. In the second example ("wood" - "bueno")
it is important to
remember that: (a) the Spanish sound is a plosive (Le. there is closure);
and (b) the English sound is also velar. So, none of these substitutions is
acceptable. Nevertheless,
there is a strong tendency to substitute English
Iwl for Spanish Ibl when this sound is followed by Iv, u:1 01' even h:1 and

plW

to substitute it for Spanish Ig/ in the rest of the cases. Mott (1996: 137)
suggests that "Just as Eng1ish Ij/ is best practised as a shortened li:1 by
Spanish people, Iwl can be considered a shortened form of lu:/."
In relation

to the Spanish

sounds

11, 1..., f, r/, they are labelled

"liquids"

("lquidas").

dp!I,).,imJ.lIl('
t--:j

1'.\1<\1.11

",ltK d.l poll"I"

EJ. n!/lvu;r

nhl'ro

Figure 4

So, Ij/ and Iwl cannot be compared in both languages because apart from
the faet of (1) being very short elements and (2) and never oeeurring as
syllabic nuelei in English and Spanish, these two sounds61 do not share
any 01 her fcature. They are di ff'crent from Engl ish in that they can be part
o!' III[~ I)['al, 01' Ihe syllnbk

("picrna").

The main characteristics

of Spanish liquids are: (1) they
represent the maximum opening among consonantal
sounds; (2) they
have the highest tone in the consonantal
system; and (3) despite their
degree of opening, there is some noise component. Liquids are made up
of lateral s and vibrants ("vibrantes").
Quilis and Femndez
foIlowing way:

(1996: 122)

define

lateral

consonants

in the

Las consonantes
lateralcs son aqucllas cn las quc durantc su
emisin el aire fonndor sale a travs de IIn cs1rech:lIl1icnlo
producido por un lado o los dos de la lengua y el reborde o los
reborde s homlogos de la regin pre o mediopalatal. Las cuerdas
vocales vibran siempre durante la emisin de estos sonidos.

So, Ihey dilTcr in Ihcir phonoloF.il.:al

distribution.
The Spanish speaker has to take into aceount that the first sound in the
English word "yes" is radieally different fram the first sound in the
Spanish word "yo".' The Spanish saund is pranaunced
with frlctian al'
even closure (affricate) when uttered 'with emphasis, in contact ",ith a

Spanish leamers of English should keep IjI distinct rrom

minimal pairs like "yacht" /jDt/ and "jot" /d3Dt/.

62

(,] Which are hornographones in both languages.

100

101

Id3/

as thcrc are

Consonants

PhonologicalIy"
Phonetically,

there

there are 4 allophones:

[,1], and 1 interdental

and it has 3 main
devoiced

are 2 laterals:

Consonants

1 palatal

Ifj

and

1 alveolar

l palatal [], I alveolar

[1], l dental

[!]. In English there is just one lateral phoneme

allophones:

l alveolar

[lt3,

1 velar

11/.

Quilis andFernndez
following way:

[] se pronuncia

[l]M , and

el paladar duro." (Quilis and Fernndez,

vibrant

consonants

in the

Se da el nombre de consonantes. vibrantes

a aquel grupo de
sonidos cuya caracterstica principal es la de poseer una o varias
interrupciones
momentneas
durante la salida del aire fonador,
producidas por contacto entre el pice lingual y los alvolos. Las
cuerdas vocales vibran siempre durante ]a emisin de estos
sonidos.

speakers should be aware of this velar 1,

because they al so has th1s velar l in their
to English students, they should pronounce
when trying to pronounce Spanish IIJ. "La

en un tiempo, y con un amplio contacto

define

11/

UJ65.

Although standard Spanish

Catalan speakers should not
phonetic inventory. In relation
something like [Ij] ("million")

(1996:129)

de la lengua en

1996:123).

i
i

Phonologically,

there are 2 vibrant

and 1 multiple!rl.

PhoneticalIy,

consonants

in
I Spanish:

there are 2 allopnones:

1 simple Ir!

1 simple [r] and 1

Due to a process
pronounced

of "deslateralizacill"

this [] has disappeared

and is

U]. This is called "Yesmo". So, you

like a central fricative:

may hear [k]e] instead of [ke] ("calle").

For many Spanish

speakers

"pollo vs. poyo ", "olla vs. hoya ",

"halla vs. haya", "valla vs. vaya". Therefore, the distinction IJI - 1IJ is

the following

pairs are homophones:

lost in these areas66 On the other hand, those who distinguish 1IJ and IJI
(northern Spain and marginal arcas of AndaIlIsia) are called "/Iel\"tas".
Yesmo is so widespread nowadays that it cOllld be said that lIesmo is
becoming a recessive feature " in modern Spanish. For most Spanish
speakers the 1IJ has become a IJ/.

multiple

[r].

In English

Ir/. Whereas

approximant

by " ... la formacin

there

is. just

the articulation

one

phoneme

and

it is an

of Sp~nish Ir! is characterised

de una breve oclusin

del pice de la lengua contra

by" ... la
los alvolos", the production of a multiple !rI iQ characterised
formacin de dos o ms oc]usiones del pice de la lengua contra los
alvolos."(Quilis
and Fernndez,
1996: 129-30). The graphemes which
represent multiple rr; are: (1) "r" in initial positions of a word or in
internal positions when preceded by n or 1; and (2) "rr" in internal
positions. Multiple rrJ occurs in initial and medi~1 positions or preceded
by [n, 1]: "roca"
[arre5e5r]

[rka],

"perro"

[pero],

Enrique

[enrke],

"alrededor"

(Irl and

positions.

1t

depends on the emphasis used when speaking. So, the word "puerta"
normalIy represented with the archiphoneme IR!: /puRtal.

is

These two phonemes

Ir/) are neutralized

in implosive

63 AIso calIed cIear I. It is pronounced

as such before vowels or [j], initial
position: "Jeave, silIy".
64 AIso caIled "dark 1". It is pronounced as such before consonants, pauses, and
[w]: "steel works, cold".

Within RP, an English speaker may pronounce

a tap in intervocallc
position ("Mary") and following 18,61 ("three", "with respect") and

Following accented or aspirated plosives [p,t,k]. Considerably less devoicing .

occurs alter [s,f,8,J] or unaccented [p,t,k].

Americans
generally
"matter" and "Iater".

65

use

a tap articulatin

Mainly in Madrid, Toledo, Ciudad Real, Extremadura. Murcia, Andaluca y

Canarias.

66

102

1ni

for the

ItI

in words

like

Consonants

5.6 Distributional

problems

ftI'
tgbd
dr
kP
d3

Finch and Ortiz Lira (1982:63-4) summarise

main problems of frequency and distribution
phonetic systems:

1. Consonants

J,~,2, ..eEngliSh~~

~:\(}.\%

in Spanish.

(\ (\' \ :..,'; (')\

,\ ;- /v,
,1'

3.

f(

occur a lirtle more rrequently

"

\ (f.;:;;,

>

el Consonants

VG{,U

Voicc
Nail
Zoo
Red
Yet
Must
Wet
Same
VisionIJ I
Tree
Tea
Guest
zm
l'Again
hRubber
Ahead
w
River
Extra
Dinner
nAffect
Thin
Desk
Word
Choose
CheeseRicher
Think
Hammer
Much
Faith
Some
Look
Come
Drivc
Addrcss
Weak
Echo
Boot
Rush
FaI!
Miss
Horse
Live
Pin
Medial
Fina]
Final
sReason
Rib
TIJose
SureOcean
()
Futher
Hangcr
lnitial
Fancy
Soothe
Verv
Beyond
Away
Joy
Region
Charge
Laugh
Buy
Earthy
Massage
3Medial
Rouge
Rug
Long
JBurter
Lady
SAllow
lnitial
U
pper
Top

v8
tS
in the following points the
in the Spanish ys. English

in English than in Spanish.

have an occurrence ofjust over 20 %, as opposed to 14

A phonetic count shows that Sp./b,d,g/ are realised as

plosive.s only. in one fifth of the cases, and as fricatives

01'
approxlmants 111 the rest.
Thc distributional
tablc of thcEng1ish
consonant phoncmcs shows
qnly cighC6i1plY-~,
out of a total of scvcnty-cigh: Itr, dr67, h, 1',
w, jl in final positions and 1368, 1]1 in initin] position69 If we fillcd in
thc slots corresponding
to phonemes common to both languagcs, we
wOllld find lhat more than half thc resulting tab]c wOllId rema in
cmpty. This wOllld be particularly noticcable in IinaI position becausc
Spanish words tend to end in vowels (some of the slots could be
fillcd in with a few loan words). Distributional
table of English
consonant phonemes:

;:':7

:=..

4.

Spanish Ib,d,gl are mainIy rcaIiscd as fricativcs

5.

Spanish

[J]

01'

[f3J, an allophone

after Inl ("cnyugue"

occurrence.

6.

Spanish

[s]

positions in Argentina,
replaced by [h].
7.

For some authors (like Finch and 0rtiz Lira) the sequences ItI + Irl and Id! + Irl
are considered one phoneme each, for the same reasons that ItI + !S! and Id! + 131

Spanish

ofljl, can be hcard most frequentIy

['kond3uxe D. Eng.

is normally

dropped

[d3]

is of much

in pre-consonantal

freer

and

final

aad Andalusia

and

Isl used by some nationalities

(i.e.

Chile, Central

L~],a voiccd allophone of

[j3,o;~"].

Colombian,
Castilian),
occurs
only
("mismo" ['mizmo]). Eng. [z] is ofmuch

America,

before voiced
rreer occurrence.

consonants

67

8.

to some Andean
9.

69

104

[IJ], an allophone

['olJgo D. Its occurrence

are also considered one phoneme each. In the case of the sequences Itrl and !dr!
the Ir! h<:sa fricative reaIisation. And in the case of ISI and 131 in ItS! and Id31 the
friction is shorter.
68 nitial 13! can be found injust a few loan'words: "gigolo, genre".
There are six phonemes of restricted occurrence in English: /hl (not found in
final position); Ir! (not found in final position in RP); !3! (not found in initial
position, possibly in a few loan words); Ir)! (not in initial position); !j,w! (not in
fina] position).

Spanish

70

of In/, oc;: 's only before velars ("hongo"

without t1e intervention

and Central American

of vchrs

nationalities.

Eng.

is restrictcd
IrJ/

occurs

medialIy and finally, with 01' without the presence of other velars.
Spanish 11/ is realised as a clear variety in all positions70 Eng.
cIear only preceding vowels and Ij/.

It depends on the variety spoken. Catalans also produce a dark f.

105

11/

is

[k]

riations

I
III

--*
[g]
[15]
Consonants
[ph]
[b]
[pC]
[9]
[!]
m
[kh]
--*
[cj]
Ibl
[t]
[k]
[,n
Idl
[12]
->
dental
allophone
(advanced
+[0,8]):
NOT
advanced
tongue
(pre-velar,
+
front
vowcl):
GOSPEL
*--*
lackofaspiration
of
explosion,
and
non-audible
release:
aspiration
final
position:
130;\
T THE
Ig/
rslight
etractcd
[d]
[th]
(+
[g]
[d]
[r]):
TRY
lack
aspiration:
PHONETIC
BAKER
weak
in
final
position:
POP
in
final:
CAKE
non-audible
initial
CAKE
TOOL
aspiration
in postalvcolar
accented
initial
position:
PIE
KING
--*
--*
oral plosive
+ oral plosive: TOPCOA T
THlCK
DUST
[p]
nasal relcasc:
DARK
NlGl-lT
phonetic
systems:
*Spanish
lateral
release:
LlTTLE
oral
plosive
+ nasal:
TOPMOST
[tC]

106

--* --*

--*
--*
--*

Consonarlts

retractcd tonguc (post-velar, + back vowel):

COOL
voiced (between voiced sounds): HUSBAND
partially or complctely devoiced in contact with a
pause or a fortis consonant: ROBE, OBST ACLE
* lack of explosion, and non-audible release:
OBTAIN,OnJECT
* nasal release: SUBMERGE
voiced, between voiced sounds: HIDING
partially or completely devoiced in contact with
I

pause or fortis consona~t: GADFL Y, MAD

* lack of explosion, and Jan-audible release:
HEAD BOY,GOOD JUrDGE
* nasal release: SUDDEN
* lateral reJcasc: I-IEADUESS
I

dental alJophone (advanc~d + 18,0]): SAID THE

retractcd (+ postalvcolari[r]): DRY
voiced (between voiced sounds): AGO
partially or completcly devoiccd in contact with
pause or fortis consonant: GO, EGG SPOON
* lack of cxplosion, and non-audible release:
RUGBY, BIG CHIN
* nasal rclease: I3IG MAN
advanced articulation (prcvelar + fron! vowcl):
GEESE
retracted articulation (postvelar + back vowel):
GOD

107

-*

occurs altcr [s,f,O,S] or lInacccntcd 11/

[p,I,k]. -*
A
-*
Isl
IzJ
-*Iso in
ISI
If/
voiceless:
HEA
Tvoiced
voiced:
[d3]
->
[n]
[m]
[[~]
[3]
[Q]
11]]
DEMON
-*
[8]
[3]
[h]
[1.1]
m
[O]
[IJ]
[z]
[J]
between
MANY
sounds:
LEA
THER
/hJ
181
Ivl
[t]
central
[s]
[ti]
[T1}]
[f]
[v]
m
[o]
[1]
or
normal:
SUNG
labiodental,
['{]
ZEST,
before
voieed
SAYS
[f,v]:
UNFORTUNATE
PLEASURE
slightly
dental
devoiced:
advanced
dlabiodental
evoiced,
(before
(between
devoiced
(folJowed
following
GENRE,
alJophone
[8,0]):
when
PRESTIGE
by
accented
TENTH
(+
front
in
sounds):
[f,v]):
contact
vowel):
orCOMFORT,
aspirated
PIECES
with
TENET
a pause
or
131
voiced
r[tSJ
ctracted,
beforc
voiced
[r,t,d]:
ALREADY,
NEPHEW
CHILDREN
velar
retracted
partially
dental,
or
[d3]
(bcforc
before
partially
or
(before
(postalveolar
(prevelar
THERE,
totally
[k,g]
[8,0]:
[r]):
or
devoiced:
in
preceded
WITH
ALTHOUGH
completely
UNREST
two
preceded
diffcrent
VAIN,
by
front
by
dcvoiccd:
words):
back
LEA
vowel):
VE
vowel):
TEN
voiccd
(bctwccn
voiccd
sOllnds):
MIDGET
AHEAD
clear,
dark,
before
before
consonants,
vowels
or
[j],
pauses,
initial
and
position:
[w]:
STEEL
-*
Consonwll.l'
Consonanls
[9]
101
t GIN,
contact
with GIRLS
pallsc: LATE, PLAY.
EDGE
CUPS, TEN

108

[q]

LA TERALS
FRICATIVI~S
SILL y dcvoicing
pIosivcs
Lcss VE,
considcrabIy
WORKS,[p,t,k).
COLO.LEA

109

[r]

H after
W] /k/

-t -t

Consonants
nasal
[d]
[5]
-}
[n]
[k]
lb]
[D]
PUNE
the
. In!
voiced:
[J]
[j]
[w]
[m]
[nJ]
--'t
A
W
ARE
consonant
[vd
W
[m]
"casa"
as [tla]
[ksa]
plosive):
"tela"
[t]
alveolar
(i.e.
fricative):
flap,
following
[8,5]:
THREE,
WITH
mainly
between
vowels:
MIRROR
"pera"
[p]
[pera]
[g]
pause):
"bote"
[bte]
devoiced
following
accented
or contact
after
[p,t,k]
(PRA
Y),[p,t,k]
fricative,
or
Idl

[y]

after
with pause:
RESPECT
in initial
positon
of TUNE
a phonic group
[m bte]
with
pausc:
TWICE
SEMIVOWELS
APPROXIMANTS
ORAL STOPS:

(i.e.

I
I
II I
If

Iml
Ig/

Consonants

(Le. as plosive):
in initial position

of a phonic

after pause): "dedo"

after the nasal
dedo"

[;I

group

(Le.

[d50]

[n] and the lateral

[1]: "un

d5o]

(Le. as fricative):
in any other positioi1: "ese dedo" [se 55o]
(Le. as plosive):
in initial position

:
iof a phonic
I

group

(Le.

[n] Ii (> [1)]): "un gato"

[l)

after pause): "gasa'! [gsa]

I

after the nasal

gto]

(i.e. as frcative):

in any other rositian:

NASAL
"mam"

"~e gata" [se Yto]

STOPS:

[m'i'lfl1]

(Le. alveolar):
in prenuclear
[kna]
in postnuclear
an
alveolar
"insociable"

sylIabic

pasitian:

"cana"

syllabic positian falIawed by

consonant
or
vowel:
[inso8j0Ie];

"un eje" [n xe]

(Le. labiodental):
followed by a voicqless
If/: "infme" [iI1Jfme]
(Le. interdental):
folIawed by a voiceless
/8/: "once" [l)8e]

11 ()

\ \ \

labiodental

fricative

interdentaI

fricative

( 'O/l.\'Olllll/I,\'

( 'O!/S 011111 /1,\'

in some arcas it disappears and mod,ifies the

timbre ofthe previous vowel making it more
open: "dos" [d::>]
(i.e. dental):

[0]:

foj]owed

by a voiced

It,d/: "donde"

or voiceless

[d6;de]; "lento"

(Le. palatalized:
followed

but not so palatal as

by palatal

consonant

[J]:

[c] or

when not preceded

by
lateral: "cayado" [kaJ50]

"caa" [k]1a]

[tJ]: "muchacho"

[x]

-?
-?
-?

181

Isl

[f]:

"caf" [kaf]

[8]:

"caza" [k8a]

[s]

(Le. voiceless):

L]:

(Le. voiced):

[mucco]

11/

"caja" [kxa]

[1]

[11]:

(i.c. as a laryngcal

(i.c. alveolar):
in prenuclear

syllabic position:

"pala" [pla]

in postnuclear
syllabic position but when
followed by voweI, pause or any consonant
except

[t,

d,

8]:

"mal"

[ml];

"alfrez"

[alfrc8 ]
"casa" [ksa]

(i.e. interdental):

whenever
it precedes a voiced consonant
(this realisation
is not constant): "muslo"
[m)lo]

-?

or

LATERALS

FRICA TIVES

Ifl

nasal

JYo]

AFFRICA TES
[c] or

pause,

whcn preceded by pausc, nasal or lateral or

when spoken
with emphasis
in absolute
initial position:
"yo" [JJ; "el yugo" [cl

lxi

Icl

[iral]

[J] or [d3] (i.c. as affricate):

(Le. velar):

[p.]

M: "Israel"

(Le. as fricative):

[J]:

followed by voiccd or voiceless velar Ik,g/:

"manco" [malJko]; "un gato" [lJ gto]
1]11

style):

1]1/):

"un chico" [n, cko]

-,

in colloquial

when /s/ precedes

[ll)to]
IJI

[11,]

(i.e. it usually disappears

dental

-,

in postnuclcar

fricativc in some arcas of Spain &

Latin America):
in postnucJear
[hte ]

position:

syllabic

"este"

112

"llave"

[l..Pe]

113

and followed

position and followed

by dental soi.ll1d (/t,d/): "toldo"

11..1

syllabic

in postnuclear sylIabic position

by [OJ: "calzado" [k'\,IOoo]
(i.c, dental):

[t,ldo]

Consonants

Consonants

VIBRANTS

Ir!

(i.e. simple, in internal positions

"pero" [pro]

[r]

(Le. multiple,
preceded

of a word):

in initial and medial positions

If/: it is always represented

18/: it is represented

"e" or
or

by [n,l]): "roca" [rka]; "alrededor"

"f'.

by the letter "z" and "e" (when followed

by

"i").

Is/:

it is always represented

/j/:

it is represented

[aIreBeOr],

by the letter

by the letter "s".

by the letters "y" ~md "hi" (followed

by "e" or

"a") .

Ix/: it is represented

"e" or

by the letters

"j"

ancl "g" (when followed

by

"i").

5.8 Spelling systems

Whereas Spanish has 28 spellings to represent its 19 phonemes, English
has 120 spellings for its inventory of 24 phonemes (Fineh and Ortiz Lira,

le/: it is always represented

by the letters 'reh".

,

Im/: it is represented by the letter"m"

"b" at the beginning of a worcl).

In/:

it is always representeo

by the IcHer "\1".

IJl/:

it is always represented

by the letter "~".

1982:65).

Here is a list of some spelling rules you have to take into aeeount
studying Spanish:

when

Ibl: it is represented

ItJ:

Id/: it is always represented

Ik/: it is represented
"u"), "qu" (when
words 72).

71

/1'/: it is always representedby

the kUcr "1'''. Whcn followcJ
"s", it is not pronouneed: "psicologa"

by

by the letters "v" and "b".

it is always represented

by the letter ''t''.

by the lcHers "e" (when followed by "a", "o",

followed
by "e" or "i") and "k" (foreign

11/:

/1../:

it is always represented
it is always rcprcscntcu

Ir!: it is represented

by the etter "1:'.

I
by the IcUcr "'11".

by the letter "1'''

of a word or (b) it is not preceded

by the letter "d".

it is represented
beginning of a word

,IN:

/ks/: it is rcprescntcd

if (aY it is not

by "n", f'I",

01'

at the beginning

"s".

by the lettcrs "1'1''' and "1''' (if it is at thc

preceded by "n", "1", or "s").

01'

by thc IcHer "x". Somctimcs

it is simplifico

to [s].

Ig/: it is represented by "g" (when followed

"gu" (when followed by "e" or "i").

"p" or

qr "n" (preeeding
:

by "a", "o", "u") and

/k8/:

it is represented

simplified

by the

letters

"ee".

Somctimes

it

IS

to [8].

Ano here is a list of some spelling

aeeollnt when studying English:

ruIes YOll have to take into

"e": the hard "e" is pronollneed

like /k/ and the soft
pronollneed like Is/ (when preeeding "e", "i" or "y").

01' [.r] for contrastive reasons.

Sometimes it is possible to use both spellings "qu" 01' "k". For example
"kiosco" ,and "quiosco" 01' "kilmetro" and "quilmetro", The second option is
Ih~'\'n~' whkh i~t~(\'mm~'\\\kd.
72

\\.,

115

"e"

is

C0I1SO/Iil/I!S

LU/lS<i/HIIIIS

"x": it is normally pronounced like

("exam").

Iksl

and exceptionally like

"s": island

Igz/

"t": -stle, -sten: apostle, chasten

"q": it is nearly always followed by "u". It represents /kI.

"sh": it represents a single consonant phoneme:

"ch": it represents a consonant phoneme:

"j": it rcprcscnts a consonant ph<:H1cl11c:

Id3/.

"g": the hard "g" is pronounced like Ig/ and the soft "g"
pronounced like Id31 (when preceding "e", "i" or "y").

"th": it rcprcscnts two dilTcrent phoncmes:

"ng": it has two possiblc pronunciations:

"y": it represents the phoneme

"w": wr-, wh-: wrong, who, also in "answcr"

ISI.

ItSI.

IS

101 and 10/.

IIJg/

and

IIJ/73.

Ij/.

Silent Ictters are an additional problcm for Spanish speakers becausc

Spanish has no more than 4 silent letters74 English has a total of 14 silent
letters, most of which are of extremely common occurrence. Here is a list
of some common silent lerters:

"b": -mb, -bt: tomb, doubt

"e": musc1e
"g": -gm, -gn, gn-: diaphragm, assign, gnaw
"h": honest, rh: rhetoric, -ham: Durham
"k": kn-: knee
"1": -Ik, -1m: folk, calm
"n": -mn: autumn
"p": cupboard
7~
74

See previous explanations.

"h" is the most common one.

116

fI

117

Consonants

Consonants
2.

Match

the initial sounds

of each word in the left-hand

with the initial sound of a word in the right-hand

column

column:

5.9 Exercises
cetceo
hacer

1. bo bo
l.

Match the final consonant of each word in the left-hand column

with the initial consonant of a word in the right-hand column -if
there is such a match (sound, not letter). An example is given.
Then, answer the following questions: (a) Two of the words in
the left-hand column have final consonants for which there is no

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

match in initial position. What are the words? (b) Three words in
the right-hand column haye initial consonants for which there is

7. galn
8. veinte

no match in final position.

9. kilogramo
10. grave

What are they? (Kreidler,

l. beige
2. breathe

__

6.collgh
7. door
8. face
9. Jane
Jedge
lick
maid
meat
nave
nose
robe .

17.
18.
19.
20.
21.

rogue
rung
rush
Ruth
sail

pitch

__

goal
choke

__

jell
fun
think
safe
valll

_6_

__

__

118

they
zone
mode
name
lace
rake
yeIl
wet
head
shift

__

geranio
bien

__

yogurtera
kilo
llorar

__
~

ejemplar
gente

__
__
__
__
__

gorila
querido
suspensin
queso
guerrero

VInO

I I . caridad

12. situacin
13. casa

team
kilJ
bad
dame

3. chip
4. coach
5. comb

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.

2004:31).

yacer
zeta
antes
llover
herbvoro

14. gitano
15. jinete
i

3.

Look for examples of minimal pairs whi~h contain the following

sounds and decide if they are phohemes.
(Adapted
from
I
Machuca, 2000:67)
,
Spanish:
[n] vs. [IJ]:

[s] Ys. L~]:

YS.

[J J or

_
[d3J:

[b] ys. [0]:

[f] ys.

[e]:

119

CUllso/ltll/ls

CO/Jsonanls

English:
Gwcn:

[n]

YS. [IJ]:

[s] vs. [z]:

Did YOll see Victor on Wedncsdny, Wemly?

y cs. We wcnt rOl' a walk in lhc woods nellr lhc

Wendy:

railway.
Wasn't it cold on Wednesday?
Yeso ft was very cold and wet. We wore warm
clothes and walkcd quickly to kcep warm.
!t's lovely and quiet in the woods.
Yes. Further away from the railway it was very
quiet, and there were wild squirrels everywhere.
We counted twenty squirrels.
How wonderful! Twenty squirrels! And did you
take lunch with you?
Yes. About twelve we had veal sandwiches and

Gwen:

Wendy:

[j]

vs.[d3]:

[b] vs. [v]:

[J] vs.

[e]:

Gwen:
Wendy:

Gwen:
Wendy:

4.

Ask a non-native speaker ofSpanish

to read aloud the following
text. Then, study the different realisations
of the phonemes
Ib,d,g/.

sweet white wine, and we watched

It was a very nice walk.

the squirrels.

(A. Baker, 1981:126)

Barrabs lleg a la familia por va martima, anot la nia Clara
con su de1icada caligrafa. Ya entonces tena el hbito de escribir
las cosas importantes
y ms tarde, cuando se qued muda,
escriba tambin las trivialidades,
sin sospechar que, cincuenta
aos despus, sus cuadernos
me serviran
para rescatar
la
memoria del pasado y para sobrevivir a mi propio espanto. El da
que lleg Barrabs era Jueves Santo. Vena en una jaula indigna,
cubierto de sus propios excrementos
y orines, con una mirada
cxtraviada de prcso miserable e indefenso, pero ya se adivinaba por el porte real de su cabeza y el tamafto de su esqueleto- el
gigante legendario que lleg a ser. (Isabel Allende, La Casa de
los FS[Jritus).

5.

6.

Look for eighl Spanish

consonant:

---

.----_.
--

------..
----,--.--- ..
-'''A.j__

lo'

Ask two non-nativc

spcakcrs of English to rcad aloud the
following dialogue. Then, study the different realisations of the
phoneme /w/.

120

havc al least oIJe al\'colar

(Nuo lvarez and Franco Rodrguez,

E
eXANAoZYRDRM
N
II
B
1/
S
[)
A
n11
lS.TEFIREOA'1 THRM
P1
I
GI
U
O
L
P
D

C
L ()
B
A

----A(,
E
lJ
B
1
D
L
A

words which

121

2002:89):

Consonants

Consonants

7. Fill in the following sentences with the suitable letters. Then,

classify the words in 6 different groups taking into account the
sound uttered: [b,d,g,~,o;t]. (Adapted from Nuo lvarez and
Franco Rodrguez, 2002:55 and Quilis and Fernndez, 1996:203)

d.

The sounds 11,, f, rl are caIled

e.

The sound Ir! is called a

f.

English Irl is an

sound and

Spanish frI and Ir! are

1. La
mujer
del
ar ero
los
s a os
come
puchero.
2. A_r_ate
por fe_rero
con _os
capas
y un
som rero.
3. Na_a
du_a
cl que na_a
sa_c
4. A_oga_o
sin conciencia merece _ran sentencia.
5. No to- o se da a to - os
6. Tanto
ale el hom re cuanto vale su nom re.

g.

There are pIaces in Spain and Latin America where

speakers do not pronounce the sound
use the alveolar one

Is/;

181

and they only

this phenomenon is known as

_______________
amI thc oppositc is cnllcd
h.

[b]

[y]
[d]
[g]
[o]
[0]

The voiced palatal fricative []] is realised as such when it

is not preceded

by

-----,...

Otherwise, you pronounce an

J.

Nasals

J.

In the scale of prommence,

almost

are

as

also

prominent

, or
sound.

calletl

as vo~els

are
and

much

more

prominent than the rest of consonants

8. Complcte the foIlowing:

a.

9.

The Iwl and the Ijl are approximants

10

b.

in English and

Spanish.

The allophones [0,O,y] can be called

FiIl in the blanks in the following text to obtain a summary of the

major difficulties Spanish people have when producing English
consonants. (Brooks, 2000:30)
a.

I I does
I

______
c.

not exist in Spanish and is wrongly replaced by

or

I and I l.

(it depends on the author).

Spirant is an alternative name for

consonants.
122

123

COI/so/Ja//Is

b.

Irl is an

The English

Ir! is a consonant.

Spanish

sound can sometimes

othcr

problem

Spanish,

Attempts

cancerning

the

consonants

to produce

this

cause

this

saund
before

is that,
a

unlike

r" (e.g. "father and mother".

Ihl docs not normally

occur in

by a Spanish

Thc nasal

person speaking

English or

speaker may wrongly

e.

not exist inSpanish

I does

words of Spanish origin and so is sometimcs

[o
f.

_____
g.

Ip/, I

Id! are

Smiths'

house

sounds

stops

in

in English.

Spanish
such as

speaker
/111

=1

should

therefore

previous

example.

and

these only
when

they

(e.g. the

/). Even a cluster af

as in "He attempts strenuaus

provide

assimilated

Spanish

__

statclllcnts

fewer

exercises"

problems

than

trtlc or fldsc? Corn:ct

A Spanish speaker

tends to pronounce
[IJ] san

c.

__

There are no lateral elusters in Spanish.

d.

__

The sOllnds 1!,m,n,I]1 are eontoids

the

e.

or

through

and not a

pronoLJnce

oecaLJse the air is

the

__
The English sound Irl has a fricative
the sequences Itrl and Idr/.

125

t'alsc

[I]g] instead

Spanish
speaker
wil! wrongly
[jAIJ gg] instead of [jAIJ g].

exploded
late rally
obstruction.

but

any

allophone

__
A
"younger"

1, and lkI are not aspirated in Spanish.

124

than Spanish,

b.
not occur in

I l.

ItI and

unfamiliar

for the

of [IJ] because the sound

phoneme in Spanish.

and the Spanish

replace it by In/.

The palato-alveolar

cantain

lO. Arc thc following

statCI11cnt.

a.

I does

difficulties

clusters)

and is

else overemphasised.
d.

(consonant

seven consanants

or at the end af a word (e.g. "bar") except in

the case ofa "linking

either omitted

whereas

lead to a Iwl instead of an Ir/. The

it is not pronounced

(e.g. "shirt")

c.

( '0//.1'0//(1//1.\'

nose

withaut

realisation

in

Consonants

f ~_

The English

occurrence

sound

(together

ITJI

is a phoneme

UNIT VI. VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS

of restricted

with /h, r, 3, S, w, jl)

g.

__
The English word "tenth" and the Spanish
"once" both share a dentalised aIlophone of In/.

word

h.

__
The English word "wonder" nnd Ihe Spanish
"donde" both share a dcntalised allophone aUn/.

worlJ

C.S

Voiceless
voiced ones.

1.

__

J.

__

The second

consonants

syllable

are more

prominent

of the word "apple"

nucleus, only an onset [p] and a coda [1].

\j;::') ~J--je.:~

:': ../:.~:,",r ;. f/~X-~~_~',;:

6.1 Compal"ison of Spanish ami English systcms

than

has no

A phonetic lan~ua~ is a language in which orthography appro;ximates

closely to the sounds represented
by it (Finch and Ortiz Lira, 1982).
Whereas
Spanish is a phonetic
language,
the relationship
between
orthography and sounds is much more compJex in English. 80th English
and Spanish use the same five vowel lctters (a, e, i, o, u), but whereas
Spanish uses them to represent five vowel sounds, English uses them to
represent twelve.
'
As it has been prev iously said, there is no conta~t in the production of a
vowel sound and so it is impossible to "feel"i the movements
of the
tongue. For this reason, vowel sounds are generally learnt auditorily. Xray photographs of the tongue are used to show the different positions of
the tOI)gue. In order to describe a vowel soun(l, we have to takc into
account (a) which part of the tongue is being ra/sed and to which level;
(b) the shape of the ]ipS75; and (e) the position ofthe velum. Differences
in "yowel Quality," are due to variations produced by ehanging the shape
of the mOllth resonator (Finch and Ortiz Lira, 1982). Ir we link the
highest poinl reaehed by the tongue to the lowesl one we get nn oval
shaped arca callcd Ihe "YOWCLU.LC~(. This oval arca is subscqllcnlly
simplified and the final result is a vowel diagram. Finch and Ortiz Lira
(1982: 12) illustrate this in the foIlowing figures:

Front vowel sounds are unrounded in both langllag~s; back ones are rounded
(cxccpt 10:/ in English) ..
75

\27

full't'is

(inel

f)//Jill!wngs
J

and followed
anot!ler"

'oll'ds llIld

by a nasal consonant:

Dip!Jr!Jongs

"ham"

[heem]; "man" [meen]; "bring

[bJIIJ3InA;,]; "every night" ['ev1nalt].

of vowel
"mano"

sounds
[mImo];

boundary:
It should

is common
and

"enfermo"

between

it is also

nasal

common

In Spanish,
sounds:

at the

nasalization

"nio"

beginning

[iJ1o];
of word

[eI1]frmo].

also be noted that the Spanish

vowel system

is tenser than the

English one, which has a strong tendency towards 'iU~gisatiol!.

For
example, words such as "feel" are normally pronounced
as Cfi:~f]. AS
Carr (1999: 162-3) states:

Either a triangle or a trapezium

can be used to describe the position of
the tongue during the articulation of the vowels of a given language. If
the vowel sound system is small, we use a tTiangle (like Spanish)76; ifit is
Jarge, we use a trapezium (like English). Navarro Toms (1985:38) shows
the Spanish triangle in the folIowing picture:

Diphthongal realizations ofvowel phonemes may be triggered by

an adjacent consonant, as in the [i:~] rcalization of /i:/ bcforc dark
1,

I/

01' m!lY OCClIl' "spol1t!ll1collsly";

\Ve huve scel1 1l\!lI1Y eX!l111pks 01'

~-/~

the latter in General American, New York City English,

Australian, London English, Rp ~md Tyneside English.

According
to Mott, this English tendcncy
exrlajns the development of some present-day
(1996:] ]9) expJains that:

Figure 2
The vowel
sounds
of English
and Spanish
share two common
characteristics:
they are voiced sounds (i.e. there is vocal folds vibration)
and they are usualIy oral sounds (Le. the air escapes only through the
l1]outh). In some cases, vowel sounds could be "devoiced"
and
"nasalii'.ed". Aspiration in English is heard as a kind 01' voiceless vowel.

Of the nine English diphthongs,

This is possible

when the vowel sound is followed

towards diphthongisation
English diphthongs. Mott

it wiII be recalled

that there are

four which we calLccntring...2!: ccntripctal:

/r~, E~, ;);', u';J/. Thc
01'
origin 01' these diphthongs is to be found in diphthongisation
long vowels before /1'/ 01', to use Well's term (1982: 213-218),
~,E:.R...IlREAKI~G.
Arter the additional
process 01' ~
.s.CI-UY.A..L~ING_the
diphthongs are formed; thus, we have the
following development:

In facl a word slIch as "peace" cOllld be represented as [phi's] 01' [pjis]. In

Spanish,
final vowels in words like "pronto"
could be voiceless .
Voiceless
vowels
are common
in languages
such as Cheyenne,
Comanche, Malagasy and Portuguese. In relation to nasalization, we can
find nasalized vowel sounds within words 01' at word boundaries
in
English.

General'

01' preceded

76,There is no front-back opposition in Spanish at the open position.

128

j
' ..

129

Vowels and Diphthongs

beer
Pre-R Breaking
Prc-Schwa Lax.ing

chair

Vowels and Diphthongs

more

sure

Mott (1996: 264):

[bi:r]

[tSe:r]

[mo:r]

[Ju:r]

[bi:;}r]

[tSe:gr]

[J u:;}r]

[b;-)r]

[tSE~r]

[mo:;}r]
[m~~r]

BEGINNING OF
INfI1AL VOWEL

[Ju~r]

gloois
closed

This English tendency towards diphthongisation is transferred into

Spanish by English speakers. So, they tend to diphthongise Spanish [-e]
and [-o], or use [-i] instead of [-et. Thus, "libre" (['li13re]) is
articulated

as

['1 i: breI]78.

~NGL!SH

PANISH

But /e/ and /ei/ are in phonological

opposition in Spanish, as can be seen in the following words: le -ley, rerey (Mott, 1996).

gloois
op<:n

END OF
FINAL VOWEL

vibrntio/1

thal charnctcrizcs

calIed HARD A TT ACK.

77

English vowels, lre,e,A,o:

711

BUI

Id

nnd

Idl

this kil1d of articulnlio/1

re,a:,A
D,O:
u,u:
e,3:,e
i:,I

f~ --.:
vocal cord
vi bracion

vocal cord
vibracion

opiJosition

130

glottis
clOsM

6.2 V owcls

In the fol1owing chart Finch and Ortiz Lira i (1982: 42) show some
correspondences between the Spanish and the English vowel systems.
-------ua
au
-------ea
al
la
o
ei
eI
O,ou
e
a
u
aI
u
O
--------oI
----------------l
Spnnish
English --------f':nglish
Spnnish

is
ue
ee
Ie

1, are nOI1 final.

are in phonologicnl

glottis
op<:n

Figure 3

In the articulation of English vowels the vibration of the vocal

rolds bcgins abruptly and dies away slowly. On lhc olhcr hand, in
Spanish and Catalan the opposite happens: vocal fold vibration
begins gently and stops brusquely (see fig. 26). This means that
English vowels, especially syllable-initial ones, are preceded by a
glottal stop (see 2.3). The phenomenon ofthe sudden onset ofthe
conl

vibrJtion

F===~~:----~>

Finally, English and Spanish vowels begin and end very differently.
According to Mott (1996: 263):

vocal

vocal cord

vocal cord
vibrat;oo

in Spnnish (le/ley or re/rey).

111

Vowe!s amj Diplll/ongs

Vowels and Diphlhongs

As it can be seen in the above ehart, there are some important differenees
. between both vowel systems: (1) there are many more English pure
vowels (twelve vs. five)79; (2) there are central vowels in English; and (3)
no English vowel so un , matehes any Spanish one
,
,..

,'.

,:...-:1,

",,1

h.)

(b)

1 .'.r1..C'L

'r.o t'rf~ (!r . \!) .;

. Our frst priority must be to get the ~i~;1~r to master a larger number of
pure vowel oppositions, plaeed articulatorily and auditorily eloser to
eaeh other, than those of his mother tongue. This will imply the
separation of qualities, e.g. lFEI- IAI and IDI - 10:/, and the use of the
central part of the vowel area.
According to Finch and Ortiz Lira (1982: 42-3), there are 3 important
points concerning vowel quality whieh any Spanish learner should take
into account when leaming English vowels:

l'dl is in a line between

English

hesitation noise in English.

not produce a Spanish Ia/.

The learner should take eare and

le-a:/.

It is the typical
..

Irl can be elicited by going from li:/ to l'dl.

(e)

lul is half-way

(d)

lrel is between lel and Spanish Ia/.

(e)

10,0:1 can

(t)

varieties of Spanish 101 respectively.

la:1 must not be as far baek as CV 5 lal, sinee this will
sound affected.

(g)

1'd,3 :,a:1 must be praetised

rounded

betwecn lu:! and !'J/.

be elieited

by

produeing

opener

and

closer

with spread lips; lul with loosely

lips; 101 with open lip-rounding,

and 18:1 with close

lip-rounding.
1.

Spanish

li,e,a,ul

are

near

equivalent

to

English

li:,e,A,u:/.

(h)

Nevertheless,
this is not an advantage,
there are important
differences and the student will need good practice. The leamer will
have to note that:

2.

(a)
(b)

EngJish lel is opener than Spanish le/.

English IAI is not so open as Spanish Ia/.

(e)

English li:,u:1 are not so close as the Spanish vowels,

will often be heard as slight diphthongs.

English
frequeney

le(3),I,ul

deserve

of oeeurrenee

of

special

attention

le,rl and the difficulty

to

the

high

in produeing

The numerical proportion is reversed in the case of diphthongs: eight in

English vs thirteen in Spanish.
HO

There are no miel-central

vowcls

in the Spanish

132

vowel system.

behind the

CLASSIFICATION
VOWELS

ANO

OESCRIPTION

OF

SPANISH

and

qualities within the central area80. New vowel qualities can be taught
providing a sound at an intermediate
point between two already
known vowel qualities. Examples:

79

with the tongue-tip

lower teeth, so as to avoid any r-eolouring. Spelling r is to

be pronounced
only when a vowel sound follows
it.
Exeeption: 'iron' laI'Jn/.

I.

duc

la:,a:,3 :,'dl must be practised

From a physiological or articulatory point ofview, Spanish vowels can be

elassified according to the different functions ofthe articulatory organs as
well as the different. forms they adopt, that is, thcir manner and placc 01'
articulation:

1. Manner of articulation:
If the tongue approximates
as close as possible to the palate, we get a
series of vowels known as "close vowels" (vocales de pequea abcrtura,
vocales cerradas, vocales altas o vocales extremas), such as Ii/ and lu/.
If the tongue keeps away from the palate, we get the vowels Icl and 101
known as "mid vowels" (vocales medias o de abcrtura medii).
133

Vowels and Diphthongs

Vowels and Diphthongs

If the tongue ke.eps further away rrom the palatal region, thus being as far
as possible from the palate, we get the vowel/a/ known as "open vowel"
(vocales de gran abertura, vocales abiertas, o vocales bajas)8!:

::o .I

o'

.. "'10.0 . --."""

""0"(-'.'-

i\:

po~l.rior

untrat

anlerior

!!

; .

II
._._.-!~._._.

"o

t!

Generally speaking, back vowels are usually pronounced with rounded or

labiaJized lips whereas front vowels are pronounced with unrounded or
spread lips. Thus lul and 101 are rounded, whereas liI, lel and la! are
unrounded or spread.

- .-. _.~_._.

.~.
.m._i
.
.2. I
.z!I

I
i
j

.=~.,,~

!
J

Figure 4

b) When it is the post-dorsal part the one that approximates to the

palate, \Ve refer to these set of vowels as "back vowels" (or velar
vowels). In Spanish both lul and 101 are back vowels ("vocales
posteriores o velares").
c) FinaIly, when it is the central part 6f the tongue the one that
reaches the palate, we talk about "central vowels". In Spanish, we
only have one central vowel: la! ("vocal central").

vs

"" ~'-'-r-c.."~----~
,
.

-.['I/,-t'f("'5

F,i /1 -~7
,
,/"'.'.
.-"{'"
.. _.1'\~~

We can also take into account some other factors such as: nasalization,
the intensity (or loudness) in their emission, and their length or quantity.

3. Nasalization:
,

r"S'

A!though al! Spanish vowels are oral, they can: be nasalizcd in ccrtain
contexts. Machuca (2000: 44) states that: "los sonidos voclicos pueden
nasalizarse cuando aparecen en posicin inicial absoluta seguida de nasal
o entre consonantes nasales". So, the vowel sdunds in words such as
"infiel" or "mente" are nasalized.
!
I

We do not need the labels "mid or half close" and "m id or half open" for
the Spanish set of vowe]s as we do for English. The English language
nccds to be more specific in its classiJicalion as lhe number 01' vowels is
greater.

2. Place of articulation:
A further classification has to do with the part of the tongue which
reaches the palatal region:
a)

When it is the pre-dorsal part of the tongue the one that

approximates to the palate, we talk about "front vowels" (or
palatal vowels). In Spanish the vowels Ii/ and lel are front vowels
("vocales anteriores o palatales").

'5' V'lO -.

4. Intensity or loudness:

'i

I Ci

'-f.

y')"-,';y-")'~:j

1') I

C',

o ~.

Those vowels which receive the greatest degree of muscular jeffort are
known as "accented vowels" (vocales acentuadas o tnicas). On the
contrary, those vowels which receive a lesser degree of muscular effort
are referred to as "unaccented vowels" (vocales inacentuadas o tonas).
Unaccented vowels "presentan menor estabilidad en su timbre y menos
perceptibiJidad que las tnicas" (Quilis and Femndez, 1996:55). Finally,
only in very specific contexts can we talk about "relaxed vowels"
("vocales relajadas"). Quilis and Femndez (1996:55) state that:
En el sistema voclico castellano apenas si es posible hablar de vocales
relajadas. Se realiza de este modo la que se encpentra en posicin fina]

~I

Quilis y Fernndcz (1996: 52).

134

135

l' uH'eLs and ulpllLhungs

dcl grupo fnico, cuando precede

nc(an1Cnte su timbrc caractcrstico.

a una pausa,

VOH'eLs una'

y aun as, conserva

Nevertheless,
English speakers have to take into aecount that Spanish
long vowcls are not as long as English ones ('.lee!, .\'(i(i!l ') mI the S11Or!
vowels are not as short as the unaccented English vowels.

5. Length or quantity:
Length is not a distinctive
feature in the Spanish vowel system.
Nevertheless,
in words such as "azahar" 01' "pase" it is possible to talk
about longer phonetic realisations
of the vowel sounds. Quilis and
Fernndez (1996: 146-7) describe five different circumstances:
a)

"Cuando las dos voca]s que se haIlan en contacto son tnicas, la

solucin preferente es la de una vocal larga tnica. Ejemplo: "pap
ha venido" [pap:Bendo]".

b)

"Cuando las dos vocales que se hallan en contacto son tonas o

inacentuadas,
la preferencia es hacia el resultado de una vocal

c)

d)

e)

breve tona. Ejemplo: "a ninguna atiende" [a nIJgnatjnde]".

"Cuando concurrcn dos vocales homlogas Monas o inacen!uadas,
pero una de ellas pertenece
a un vocablo tono (artculos
determinantes,
preposiciones,
conjunciones,
etc.) el resultado es
tambin una vocal breve inaeentuada. Ejemplo: "para arriba y para
abajo" [pararBaj paraBxo]".
"Cuando concurren dos vocales iguales de las que la primera es
tona o inacentuada y la segunda tnica o acentuada, la solucin
preferente es una vocal larga acentuada.
Ejemplo: "est en lo
hondo" [est en l:r;do]".
"Cuando concurren dos vocales homlogas, la primera acentuada
y la segunda inacentuada,
la solucin preferente es una vocal
breve tnica. Ejemplo:

Finally, from an auditory point of view, Spanish vowels

according to their timbre as follows:

high (agudas): when the tongue occupies a front position

mouth cavity. Here we find two vowels: Ii/and le/.

b)

low (graves): when the tongue occupies

vowels lul and 101 fit into this category.

c)

neutral (neutras):
when the tongue occupies a mid position,
thus creating two resonating cavities, one back and one front, of
equal dimensions. The vowcl la! represents a neutral vowel.

CLASSlrICA
VOWELS

TION

AND

a back position.

DESCRIPTION

OF

in the
The

ENGLlSJ-I

The English vowel inventory includes seven short vowels(all

pure) and
five long vowels. We shall first offer a short articulatory description 01'
English vowel phonemes.
a)

English Long Vowels:

front, unrounded, almost fulIy close. It is nearer
CV2. Examples: 'free, beaf, peace, mean '.

li:/:

/3 :/: central, unrounded

be defined

between

half-open

to CVI

and half-close.

in relation to CVs. The lip position

is neutral.

than

It cannot
Examples:

'hird, Jan, girl, pllrse'.

10:/: almos! flllly back, lInrollllCkd, flllly open. Examples:

pass, card '.

h:/: back, rounded,

speech [aG:r].

held close together.

136

can be classified

a)

11.

"Juan est alegre" [xwn estlne]."

Anyway, as Quilis and Fernndez (1996: 149) add: "Esta prolongacin

aparece cuando la diccin es lenta o enftica, pero en la conversacin
normal tiende a suprimirse, apareciendo el sonido resultante con la misma
duracin que si se encontrarse en posicin intervoelica." So, "azahar" in
cllsual, ,!!lick spccch is nonllally pronollnccd laOr] anJ in carcflll, slow

Diphthongs

bctwecn half:'open and half-closc.

Examples: 'board, fom, horse'.
137

'co/',

/oU:

Thc lips are

I!

Vowels and Diphthongs

allJ10st fully

lu:/:

baek,

roul1Jed,

almost

fully

retracted,

unrounded,

elose.

Vowels and Diphthongs

Examples:

'moon, ood, soon, loose'.

b)

English Short Vowels:

111:

front, though

half-close,

slightly

but almost half-close.

between

close and

Clase to CY 2. Examples:

'ship, bit,

pin,jish'.

le/: front, llnraunded,

between

half-clase

and half-open.

Examples:

'leg, bet, men, yes'.

1A1:

-Illt.~ twclv('

between front and central, but nearer central; unrounded;

opcn and half-opcn,

but ncarcr hall' opcn. F:\amplcs:

/-dl

'.1'1111. hui. sO!lle.

fe,'/

t'

.1

~. lO:!

(schwa):

Examples:

central,
'Qho/lt.

unrounded,

between

half-open

and half-close.

1r1

.t; .:1

10/: back,

rounded,

open. Examples:

/a:-/ (ash):

between

d'J

but almost

bctwccn

halr-opcn

J)/

,. \/

;)s in puf
~s ~r. sc,,:n
(l';
,,';

lu/: between

1""

!t1

rlft
bl."(1

Ule ~L'c()nd

sylf:'hi11-1

of

bn ..J!l1t?r

Figure 5

anu open. Examplcs:

6.3 Diphthongs

back anJ central, rOllnded, bctween clase amI half-clasc

(almost half-clase).

111

fully

'eat, man, gas, bat'.

c.Jrt.

'dog, pot, gone, eross'.

ti'ont, unroundcu,

(",Ir

:01

1 "

and open,

1(\

as ;r~ lo:
/:):/ as In aff

1 (1

half-open

phOTlCrnC5

h/~cJ

'3:tI

fJf.I'f}/lOfJS'.

,l~

,:~ ;;)/ .:l~

vuwel

! .. /i:1 as In cal

between

I'ush' .

[~nglish

Examples:

'put, pul!, pllsh '.

j-jere is a picture which shows all English pure vOwels (Mott, 1996: 60)

Diphthongs
categorised

i)
ii)

can be classifed
artieulatorily
and auditorily.
according to (Finch and Ortiz Lira, ] 982):

are

The distancc the tongue travels: they can be "wide" (when the
glide is long) and "nan-ow" (when the glide is short).
The direction 01' the movemcnt the tongue makes in producing
diphthongs: English diphthongs can be "closing" al' "centring",
and Spanish diphthongs
can be "closing"
01' "opening".
If a
diphthong

138

They

is closing

that l1leans that the glide 11l0ves towards

139

Vowc!s (lnd Diphl/wngs

Vmvc!s {1m! IJiphilu!I1gs

iii)

closer position; if it is eentring, towards a central position; and if

it is opening, towarJs a lJIorc open position.
The prominence ofthe elements: diphthongs can be "falling" (the
first element is more prominent than the second), and "rising"
(the second is more prominent
than the first). All English
diphthongs
are generall)' falling. Spanish diphthongs
can be
falling or rising: all Spanish falling diphthongs are closing, and
most Spanish rising diphthongs are opening. English diphthongs
Figure 8

(Mott, 1996: 67):

1.

CLASSIFICATION
DIPHTI-!ONGS

Qllilis and Fernndez

(1

<)<)G:

AND

DESCRIPTION

OF

SPANISH

(5) definc a dip/{/ong as:

La existencia de dos vocales en la misma slaba constituye un

diptongo. Una de cstas dos vocales prescnta la mayor abertura, la
mayor energfa articulatoria,
y constituye
el ccntro o nc!co
silbico; la otra es margensilbico
prcnuclcar o margen silbico
postnuclear.

There
Figure 6
Spanish diphthongs

(Finch and Ortiz Lira, 1982: 36 and 37):

Figure

140

7,

are two types

of diphthongs

in Spanish:

(1) rising

diphthongs

("diptongos crecientes") and (2) falling

diphthongs
("diptongos
decrecientes"). Rising diphthongs are defined by Quilis and Femndez
(1996:65) as:

Los que llamamos diptongos crecientes, en los que la vocal que

forma el ncleo silbico est situada en posicin secundari", por
lo que los rganos articu]atorios,
principalmente
la lengua, se
desplazan dcsde una posicin cerrada a una abierta. La vocal ms
cerrada recibe en este caso el nombre de semiconsonantc,
y ocupa
una posicin silbica prenuc]ear. Se transcribe fonticamente
por
estos signos. [j] o [w].

141

Vowe/s and Diphthongs

In this way, we have the following

rising diphthongs

jo, ju, wa, we, wi, wo]. Some speakers

uu]

and

[wi]

as [i~] and

diphthong

[we]

pronounce

the sounds

[el.wBo],

"hueco"

Vowe/s and Diphthongs

tend to pronounce

[uj] as in "ciudad"

is in word

initial

[g] or [.]

in Spanish:

position

many

before it: "huevo"

the diphthongs

"ruido".

01'

[ja, je,

speakers

[gwBo],

When

the

tend

to

"el huevo"

When there are three instead 01' just two consecutive vocalic elements in a
syllable, this is call a "triphthong" ("triptollgo"). As Quilis and
Fernndez explain (1996:69): "Como en el diptongo, la vocal ms abierta
es la que fonna el ncleo silbico, y posee tambin la mayor energa
articulatoria.
Las otras dos vocales sern semiconsonante
o semivocal,
segn vayan situadas antes o despus del ncleo silbico.": "despreciis"
[despreOjjs];

"buey"

[bwj].

[gwko].

On the other hand, falling

Fernndez, 1996: 66-7):

diphthongs

are described

as (Quilis

and

n.

CLASSIFICA TION
DIPl-ITHONGS

English diphthongs
Los llamados diptongos decrecientes,
en los que la vocal que
forma el ncleo silbico est situada en primera posicin, por lo
que los rganos articulatorios
se desplazan desde una posicin
abierta a una cerrada. La vocal ms cerrada recibe en este caso el

a)

ANO

can be central

Centring
Oiphthongs:
(sehwa) vowel:

These

01'

OESCRIPTION

elosing:
diphthongs.

[aj, ej, oj, al1, ell, 011] as in

"baile, ley, hoy, jaula, deudor, lo~unt". In this way, Spanish scmivowcls
and semieonsonants
are vowel allophones.
The distinction
between
semiconsonant
and semivowel depends on its pre 01' post-nuclear position
in the syllable:

Ii/
lul

IJI

the

ldI'd1 , "beard "plan ~erce"

i

le'dl 'there'

/':1;1

dling diphtllOngs:

gl de towards
,

/'dl "dear"

loe'dl, "aired, sca.rce"

I

IU'd1"pOOl''' lpu'dl, "moored,

me si:\: Spanish

ENGLISl-I

nombre de semivoeal y ocupa una posicin silbica postnuclear.

Se transcribe fontieamente por los signos [j] and [!;I].

There

OF

"before"

moljrn,
tour"
I

Ibl'I':1;\I, "storc, !loor', your"X2

I

b)

Closing diphthongs:
Thcse diphthongs haJeI the characteristic
they al! end with a glide towards a cJos:er vowcl. Three
diphthongs glide towards /I and two glide tqwards lu/:
le!1 "play"

ALLOPHONES
PHONEME
[!;I] semivowel
semivowel
[j]
[j] semiconsonant
[w] sem ieonsonant

Iple!/,

01'

that
the

"paid, pain, face"

lall "die" Idar/, "ti de, time, nice"

I'JII "boy" Ib'JI/, "void, loin, voice"

laul "mouth"

ImauO/, "Ioud, gOWi1, house"

IJul "go" Ig'du/, "Ioad, horne, most"

82

Some

authors

(see

Mott,

1996)

include

this

diphthong

among

diphthongs,
Although old h;:/ diphthong dcvclopcd ;into nowadays
still rctaincd both in conscrvativc
RP and in many regional aspccts.
142

143

h:/,

centring
/Ja/

is

In English, all falling and closing diphthongs

. be followed
possible

by

Ig/

within

(i.c. /CI, aJ, ~I, ;:)u, aul) may

es/te/ tiem/po

the word: / elg, alg, ~lg, gUg, aug/. This is

in three main circumstances

(Gimson,

As a suffix: "employer"

3.

As a separable
I'naUgdelz/.

6.5 Distributional

604 Hiatus

morpheme).

de la Vega):

11

syllables

instcad

of

problcms

IIm1pblg/.

element

in a composite

form:

First of all, it has to be mentioned that the frequcncy 01' occtI!Tcncc 01'
vowel phonemes in English and Spanish is different; Spanish presents a
higher proportion of vowel sounds than English (43.49% vs. 39.21%).
Secondly, whereas Spanish shows a high frequency of occurrence of the
three most open vowels (la,e,ol totallillg 33.65%), the cClltralizcd vowcls
(l8,I,A,8U,U,3:,I8,uel.1 totallillg 23.98'1'0) pn:dominatc
ill Ellglish.

"nowadays"

Ncvcrthelcss,
there is a tcndency in rapid and advanccd RP to omit the
second clemellt (M or lu/), especially in the sccond illstance (i.e. as a
separable

(Garcilaso

1989):

1. A ~ :;:1 : ,separable part of the word: "tire" I'fal;:)/.

2.

aldi/vi/no"

13 .

This process is known as "smoothing".

Additionally,
English strong vowcls occur two or tl1n~c timcs
frcquentIy in unacccnted syIlablcs than in accented oncsS4.

and syncrcsis

Whereas all Spanish vowels can occur in all three positions in the word
(initial, medial and final), English vowels are subject to so me restrictions:

In Spanish, when two vowels come together in a word, one ofthem being
[i,u], the other being [e,o,a], they may not form a diphthong. Thus, each
vowel will remain in a different syllable, constituting a syllabic nucleus
by its own. We refer to this phenomenon
as "hiatus" ("hiato"). Some

(a)

/g/ is not normally

(b)

examples include: "ta" [i-a]; "re" [i-e], "lo" [i-o], "acenta"

[u-a],
"site" [u-e], "huir" [u-i], "cuota" [u-o], "pas" [a-i], "Iesmo" [e-i],
"odo" [o-i], "reno" [eu]. There is aIso a hiatus when the same vowel is

/e;~,D,u,A/ never occur tinally in a word. Possible

in 'to' and 'into '; IAI in 'uh-huh' /A' hA/.

(c)

lu,u;:)/ do not occur word

repeated: /aal, /ee/, /il, /00/, /uu/: "Arahal", "vehemente", "alcohol".

This is also true for the sequences of vowels [eo,oe], [ea,oa,ae,ao]. Sach
vowel in a sequence constitutes a syllabic nucleus, thus not forming a
diphthong.
Some examples
are: "veo, poeta, lea, toalla, caer" ane!
"ahora". Frequently in casual speech those vowels that constitute the
"hiatus" are pronounced
together in a syllable. Thus, words such as
"bohem io" ("bo-he-mio")
and "real" ("re-al") are pronounced as "bohemio" alld "rcal". This phCIlOIl1CIlOIl is rcfcrred
to as "sYllcresis"
("sinresis").
FinalIy, when two consecutive vowels belonging to two different words
("sinalefa").
are pronounced
together,
that. is called "synaloepha"
Synaloepha is normal and usual in Spanish verse: "Enl tan/to, /que en/

144

lcss

accented.

initially.

Exceptions:

exceptions:

/ul

lu/ in 'oomph'

/urnfl (bro), 'umlaut' and 'Uruguay'.

6.6 AIIophonic

variations

The most important allophonic vanatlons

are related to differences
in
quantity in the English vowel system and important modificalions
in the
quality of three Spanish vowcls: la,e,o/. In relation (o (he English vowcls,
it hus to be noted that long vowcls lIl1dcrgo UI1important rcductiol1 wht.:11
they are followed by voiceless consonants. In this way, we can establish 11

83

The most common contralized vowels are

84

AII these figures have been extracted fTom Finch and Ortiz Lira' (1982).
145

Ig/

and

//.

Vowels and Diphthongs

kind of continul!m from long to short vowels

(Le. the reduced long vowels):

Vowels and Diphthongs

with an intermediate

point

The sound laI presents

J)
[i:]-[i']-[r]

a paJatal allophone

as in "seed, seat, sit"

[::>:]-[::>"]-[0]as in "poured,
[u:]-[u}[u]

consonants

port, pot"

as in "mood, boot, book,,85

[a] is produced

Ic,,Jl,jl

"despacho".
a velarized allophone

2)

three allophonic

as

in

varieties:

when the sound precedes

the

words

tlley

are

In open

palata;

"facha"

or

[a] is produced when this phoneme precedes

the vowels 101 and lul and the eonsonants

English diphthongs
can also become longer when
syllable or even when followed by a voieed eonsonant:

"malla",

111 and Ix!, e.g. "pausa",

"palma" or "maja".
the default allophone [at7 is found in those contexts where the
other allophones do not oeeur. For example: "caro" or "comps".

3)

"say" [ser] or "veil" [veri] vs. "eight" [ert]

"so" [Sgu] or "old" [::>uid] vs. "both" [b08]
"idea" [al'(j::>] nr "wcird"
Regarding the three Spanish
quality variations:

vowels

[wl::>d] vs. "cree" [fl::>s]

6.7 Spclling systcms

la,e,ol, they undergo the following

Whereas the relationship

between phonology and orthography
is quite
straightforward
and predictable in Spanish, the situation is quite different
in English.
i

Thc sOllnds lel and 101 becol11e opener

cuses:

IN (rr), as

( [El

[::>1

in the Collowing

in contact with the sound

2)
3)

when preceding the sound Ix!, as in "teja" or "hoja".

when being part of a falling diphthong, as in the words "peine"
"boina".

4)

the open allophones

by a consonant86:

[::>]and [8] appear in all those syllables

"pelma"

In Spanish thc l110sl notcworthy cxal11plc is that pC thc phoncl11c lil which
has two possible spellings "y" ("y griega") and 'ji" ("i latina"). The etter
"y" is pronounced as liI in the following contcxtsr8:

in "perro, "torre" or "roca".

1)

;
I

l.
2.
3.

or

closed

or "costa".

Yau also have to take nto account the followingrulcs:

1.

2.

85
86

Examples

fram Finch are Ortiz Lira (1982).

In the case of the al1ophone

d.I\\,';.n,O .

[8], any syl1able

When alone: the eonjunction "y": "Mard y Pedro".

When followed by a consonant: "Ybarra'f.
In word final position: "rey".
'

c\osed

by consonant

cxcept

y ou use an "i" whcn the sound lil is at word initial position and
"iglesia, idea, isla".
followed by a consonant89:
y ou use a "y" when it is at word or sy lIable initial position and
followcd by a vowcl. In tbis context, it is prollOllllccd as a

87

It is represented

88

EIscwberc

with the same symbol as the palatal.al1ophone

it is pronollnccd

as

T (i.c.

~" Lxcept propcr na111es sllch as lndurin

a palata\.

fricati"c.

/ Yl\durin:

[aJo

voiccd sOllnd).

riarte / Yriarte, dc.

I

y oweis

ami

DlpllilJOngs

fricativc, patatal, voiced consonant /]lO: "yeso, yugo, mayor,

cobaya".
3. At word final position you can use "i" or ''y''. If it is "tnica"
(strcsscd), you writc "i"; if it is "Mona" (unstrcssed), yo writc
"y": "bisturf, fui, huf, aquf, vi" and "buey, ley, rey, hay, muy'\
4. Words ending in "y" have two possible plural forms: "-y es" and
"-is". If it is a new word, you normally change the "y" to "i" and
pinning //
add an "s": 'jerseys, espris, bonsais". If it uoeais !ln oId word, you
just add an "es": "reyes, leyes, bueyes".
You also have a silcnt vowcllcttcr in Spanish. This is the leltcr "u" when
preceded by "g" and followed by "e" and "i": "guerra" [gera], "guiso"
[giso]. Ir the letter "g" were not foIlowed by a "u", it wouId be
pronounced as [x]: "gitano" [;-citno],"geranio" [xernio].
The relationship between sound and spelling is much more complex in
English. This complexity is mainly due to the distinction between lax
(short) and tense vowels (long pure vowels and diphthongs). According
to Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin (1996:272)91 there are four main
mIes which heIp us to guess the pronunciation ofvoweIs:
1. Lax sounds are often spelled with a vowel letter followed by at least
one consonant lettcr (VC). Tense vowels are often spelled with a
vowel lettcr followed by a consonant plus a word-final sitent "e"
(VCe):
Letter

101
IAI
rot
cut
metIrl
1'6:,1
lel
rat
bit
rate
leTI
Lax
vowel
bite
metelarl
li:1
Tense
Vowel
rote
I:;)ul
cute
Iju:1

VoweLs and Diphthongs

Some syllablcs with lax vowels end in two consonant letters (which
may be identical or different): add, telL off, pend, fc!!, lo.f!.
2.

Anothcr mcans of signalling lax vowcls is through medial consonnnt

Icttcrs doubling, which does not occur with tense vowcls:
Lerter

3.

4.

Eddie
lel
IAI
rubble
/'6:,1
lartervowel
mopping
mb]e
Edie
101ing
li:1
lu:1
Lax
later
lerl
Tense
Vowel
moping
Iml
I:;)ul
pin

In c10sed syIlables, tense voweIs can be signaIled by the use of a

voweI digraph92 before the final consonant: eat, meet, boot, boat, bgil,
boil, bawl, bowI93.
In open syllabIes, tense vowels are signalled through the use of a
voweI digraph ending in w or y: low, how, m-y', b!!y. In closed
syllabIes, tense vowels can be signalled with a vowel digraph ending
in w: howI, dawn, sewn.

To sum up, in English:

a)
b)
c)
d)

The same vowel phoneme is usually representcd by several

spellings. Example: le/: "set" and "dead".
One speIling may represent several vowel phonemes. Example: "a":
"that" and "many".
Two or more vowel letters may represent only one vowel phoneme
("mean").
One vowelletter may represent no vowel phoneme at all ("fac~").

Finally, the mos~ common silent voweI letter in English is "e" in final
position: "pIcase, name, tease"
owel digraphs are scqllences 01' (wo vowcl lelters tha( may be the same or
different.
93 This combination does not always signal a tense vowel. There are nurncrolls
exceptions in words spelled with the digraphs ea, 00, and ou: bread, look, cOllld.
91 V
90

Except words beginning with "h" and ceratin words: "itrico, iota, IOn,

raranoia".
1 See also Dickerson (1994).
148

149

Vowels and Diphthongs

FinaIly, as Finch and Ortiz Lira (I982: 44) point out: "The Iearner can
also make use of the rules goveming vowel aIternations, i.e. those rules
that prcdict variations in the vowel quality of roots when affixes are
added". Examples:

Inl -4 III
Derive

-4

Vowels and Diphthongs

6.8 Excrciscs

1.
li:1

-4

lel

leI/-4

I<EI

derivative

ivic .. ilc -4 mobility

Hostile -4 hostility
Blblc -4 blblical
Arthritis -> arthritic

A) Put your own vowels in the first chart, using a set of words.
Listen to each vowel carefully and try to judgc how it sounds
relative to the other vowels.
B) Try to find a speaker of a dialect different from your own (or
perhaps a foreigner who speaks English/Spanish
as a foreign
langllage ). Repeat section \ llsing the second chart.
f<irst chart:

high

back

low

150

151

Vowels and Diphthongs

Vowcls and Diphthongs

Sccond char!:

4.

Do YOll think that thcrc are homophones

name five (provide the transcription):

in Spanish.

(1)

I f possibk

(2)

back

low

5.
2.

3.

Compare the vowels in the English words "car, cart, calm, cat" to
the vowels in the Spanish words "carpintero, cateto, camilla", do
!hcy havc any thing in common? Is there any diffcrcncc? Now
say the sentence "Dale esto a Ana". Do you notice something
special in connection to the previous words?
"Homophone"
is a term used to refer to words which have the
same pronuneiation
hut differ in meaning, for example "mect"
and "meat" /mi:tI. Each of the following transcriptions represents
a set ofEnglish homophones, write the words they represent:
/sart/:

-------~--------

/si:/:

(3)

(4)

(5)

Circle the English words that ...

Con!ain a long, fron!, clase,

tree - reason - machinc - sit - fill~

Begin with a short, front, half-close

vowel sOllnd:

girl

and half open, unrounded

else - Eddie - edgy - mine - ate - her

~

Begin with a short, front,

unrounded vowel sound:

between

close

and half-closc,

_
eel-

/raIt/:

1I11t'OlllHledvo\Vcl sOllnd:

------------------

/sed/:

each - earo - ibis - Ibiza - idiom

Contain a closing diphthong:

_
my - dear - below - toe - sewer - cure

152

153

Vowels and Diphthongs

>-

Vowels and Diphthongs

End with a centring diphthong:

d.

__
The English
both marginal.

e.

__

share - tour - hoe - foe - sure - rare

6.

Transcribe

the following

Spanish words:

sound Ij! and the Spanish

All Spanish falling diphthongs

f.. __

Spanish has no mid, central vowels.

Ybarra:

g.

__

English li:1 is tenser than Spanish li/.

h.

__
Lenthening
is a cornrnon
colloquial Spanish speech.

Ij! are

are closing.

Yerno:

Reyes:

sound

phenornenon

in

rapid,

position

in the

Hielo:
~
Convoyes:

7.

Justify the use of"i"

hur
. yata
quilmay
yaqul

siboney
yegua

and hiatus in mid-word

Muchos aos despl!.s, frente al pelotn de fusilami.21to, el

coronel ~reliano
B\~,nda hab.li!. de recordar aquella tarde
remota en que su padre lo llev a conoce~ el bielo. Macondo era

or ''y,,94:

zahor
velah

Identify a11 the diphthongs

following text:

entonces
una al~
de vciPte casas cie barro y caabrava
constrWi1as a la oI;illa de un ~o de ~g!!ill' dillfanas que se
precipitaban por un lecho de pj~ras puli?as, blancas y enormes
que
como h~os
pr~stricos.
El mundo era tan re~te,
muchas cosas careci!,n de nombre, y para menc.tiwarlas hab.ia. que
sealarlas con el dedo. (G. Garca Mrquef, 1967:1)

Yemen
jabal
quibey
yerno

S.

Say whether thc following

statclllents

diphthongs

are true or false:

a.

__
Spanish
diphthongs.

are more numerous

b.

__

Spanish vowels are tenser than English vowels.

c.

__

There are no centring diphthongs

su m 111 aty of difficulties

10. Fill in the blanks in the following

. I
k '15 .
_S panlS1SpCa"Cr

than English

AII the

diphthongs

/) must be pronounced

without

This cxcrcisc

is includcd

1, leg/,

95

This exercise

is included

in M. Brookes

and I

in RP. It
pronollncc

i1 Spanish.

in the book: Larolisse Ortografa.

1,,-1

(1

an

should bc notcd that, cvcn thollgh i\lI1cricans

'14

for the

(2000) Pronollnce English.

thc "r" -

Vowel,\' (lml Diphlhong.l'

VOlI'eI,\,

(/1/(1

f)il fll hong,l'

thc phcnomenon of rhotacization ("r" colouring of a Yo\\'cl, C.g.

"beard") this "r" in no way resembles the Spanish "r".
h-;;I

words such as "coin" and "

should be clearly distinguished from both the close, tense

front vowel

"

as well as

in words like "beer",

le:;)1

", and "

Similarly
words

lu:;)1

such

"

and "tore".

."

must remain distinct from

as "

lu:1

" and

so as not to confuse
"two",

"sure"

and

"

ICII should not be confuscd with the purc vowcl Icl (e.g. the

" I "pcn", "bail"

oppositions"

I"

I:ml must not be assimilated tothe open, lax back vowel I

").
l.

This wOllld make it impossib.le to differcntiate between words

such as "phoned" and "

", "

"

and "rod".
Nor ShOllld I:>ul bc confllscd with thc
vowel

"

h:1 (cf. the oppositions

"low"

back
I "

",

" I "hall") .

. 156

157

", "

UNIT VII. PHONOTACTICS

7.1 The structure ofthe syIlable

It is very hard to define a syllabJe scientifically in phonetic terms because
no one knows what physical action of the speaker creates a syllable. So,
most scholars W;ll try to define a syllable in phonological terms. For
example, we know that the word "going" Ig~UIIJI has two syllables and
we know that the sound lul is the dividing point; but does lul belong to
"

the first or to the second syllable? I~ul is a phoneme (Le. a diphthong)

and that means that this is one segment and we cannot break it. But this is
a phonological explanation, not a phonetic one. Gimson (1989) mentions
different theories which try to define the syllable:,
l.

The ~r.omi!1.Cllj;~_s~Uahle: Syllablesi would be peaks of

i
prominence.
2. The Pulse theo~Syllables
would be c11estpulses accompanied
i
by increases in air pressure.
3. The ~gl!i..s.tic_alW~:
The syllable! would be defined with
reference to the structure of one particular language.
I

Different languages have different kinds of syIJable structure. The basic

syIlable structure in both English and Spanish Is V (i.e. one vowel by
itself). This vowel is the _"uclcus or ~
df the syIlable and the
marginal

(pre- an~ post-) posi.tions are typica~ly occupied by. consonants . .Ji'\

~'\

of sounds which can be ::'j lIabic nucleus and the other is related to the

But thereof are

two which
Important
dIfferences,
one IS C.oncerned
the typescu..g;'
number
words
can occupy
the marginal
positions. wlth
In relation
to

1~()

l' !wllo[ae[

6)

ies

the first one, it has to be noted that English has a set of consonants
1,r/)96which can be syllabic nucleus:
.

l'hOllol<ldics

(1m,

, IJ,

When a syllab!e has no onset, this is called "emp.t)r.o_ns~~ when there is

more than one consonant, we refer to it as "branching_ons..e.t:.': In the
same, we can talk about '~~ty_cQda~,
':br.aItching codas~' and
~bing.....!!l!de~".
When there is no coda that is an .QP~Jlabl~
("slaba abierta") and the vowel is fW.,"vocallibre").
On the contrary,
when the nucleus or peak is followed by a consonant (i.e. it has a coda)

n,

"bortom" lbDtn;V
"burton" lbAt~
"bacon" lbelk61

Syllabic consonants are very common in English. In contrast, we can

""OYiiiaatcw examples of syllabic consonants in colloqllial Spanish in
interjections such as "anda" (/~da/), or "pan" (lp~.

that is called a "closed syllablc" ("slaba cerrada") and the vowel is a

"fhccked vowel" ("vocal trabada"). A branching nuc!eus is a type of
umt which has a long vowel or diphthong as its nucleus. If the nucleus is
a short vowel, this is a ~on-branching
nucleus". The verb "sit" is an
example of a non-branching nucIeus and the veros "seat" and "sail" have
a branching nllclellS. The peak and coda are ealled the rhyme. In "put" the
anset is Ipl and the rhyme is lut!. In wards such as "and" the rhyme is
equivalent to the whale syllable.

It is paradoxical that English speakers pronounce words such as "canoe"

with a sy!labic consonant (['kl,1U:])bllt non-indigcnous words sllch as

Delattre (1965:41) offers the following fcnlures for the four l11os1frcqtlcnt
syllable types:

"bubble" l'bAb,ll
"particular" Ipr'tIkj;)lrt7
,
,

"gnu" is pronounced with an s,nenthetic vowel ([~u:])

because the
As
Carr
(1999:79)
explains:
"The
sequence Igol is not an English onsel.
Spanish
English
strllcturc
important arc
point
dcfincd
to be in
made
tcrms
hereof ispcrmissiblc(phono!ogical
that constrtints on English
syIlable ' ..:~
seqllence_~
rather than phonetic ones."
O~"Ckcih.{I ft,lQ\'"CL \'.S\nUJ.:

3.1
55.6%
11.9
27.6
10.2%
%
%
%
eev
ve
3].8
19.8%
4.0
%
%
ev
eve

As it can be seen in the above table, Spanish clearly favours the CV type.
Obviously, this means that in English there is a predominance of cIosed
syllables .

syllable may take up to three consonants before the vowel (Le. the
@ onset~),
The second
much
more
Whereas
the take
English
and difference
up to fOllr is
after
it (Le.
the remarkable.
.coda): Spanish
can only
two
consonants before, and one --exceptionally two- after:
English syllable:
Spanish syIlable:

96

There are _uniyersal

and Iangill!ge-specific
constraints
on the
syllabification of seqllences of segments. We can mention two universal
constraints: (1) sequences of segments are syllabified in accordance with
a sonority scale; and (2) the Maxil}lLOn~principle.
According to the

(CCC)V(CCCC)99:
"sprain, texts"
(CC)V(CC):
"trans-bor-da-dor"

(b) as one approaches the nucleus, sonority increases. [,here is one

sonority scale
principie:
(a) the
sonarous
element
nucletis
and
exception
to the
second rule:
s +most
consonan~
onset
clusters Only
[sJ-initial
onsets violate the sonority hierarchy. In words such as "spray" thc
sonority dccrcascs rathcr than incrcases as OlJe approachcs the nllclells;

iS1

Same speakers also syllabifY fTicatives. Words such as "suppart" can be

pronaunced [S~lph;):t]ar ['~ph;):t].

97 Only in rhotic accents.
"cabeza" or "arranque" in Spanish.
')K

'i'i

FOllr C0l1S0llallt codas are ollly possiblc whcll a surlix with thc phal1eme
01' 101 i: addl'd lo ollll'r l'OIl:Ollilllls: "1<:lIlpl:;" 11l'lIIpls/.

Itl

ar

Id/, /::/ 01' I/J,

160
.0:

161

,1

Phonotactics

Phonotactics

4.

the [s] sound is;nore sonorous than the [p] sound. As we may remember,
the sonority scale takes the following form 100:

Low vowels

5.

High vawels
Approximants
N asals
V oiced fricatives
V oiceless fricatives

There are some important

l.

Voiced stops
Voiceless stops

3.

4.

theory, both could be correct because (1) Iprl is an acceptable onset and
(2) Ipl can be a coda in words such as "cup" and Irl can be an onset in

l.

CV-type

appear

to be the syllablc

types

that human

2.

children first utter when they begin to speak (e.g. [ba], [maD
regardless of what language their parents speak.
In many cases of aphasia, CV syllable structures also appear to be
the sort that first begins to appear as the patient recovers his or her
speech.

A, DI

restrictions
dnot

do not occur finally

Initially:
a. IfJI and

13/102

precede final IfJ/.

101.

do not occur.
clusters are possible with ItS, d3,

b.

no consonant

c.

Ir, j, wl can occur in consonant

5, zJ.

clusters only as the non-initial

Finally:
a. only 111may occur before non-syllabic
b. Ih, r, j, wl do not occur103

1m,

ni.

i
i

7.2 Initia} clustcrs in Spanish and English

i
I

We can find two-consonant

initial clusters in bqth English and Spanish.
In English, we can find the following combinatiohs:
I

l.
2.

+ Ip,t,k,f,m,n,l,wj/:

sph4re, smack, snack,

swab, super"
:
pIe;' ~ or fricative or nasal (/11 in a few words) + approximant:
>Ipr-I and /fl-/: quite common: "pride,fluent".
Isl

"speak,

steak,

sIab,

As one proceeds from the bottom to lhe top of the scale, sonority incrcases.

These are called "checked" vowels. In contrast to these vowels which can
occur word finaJly are called "free" vowels. In Spahish they are called "vocal
trabada" and "vocal libre".
102 In native English words. There are words such as "Gisel1e" 01' "gigolo"
with
an initial 131 bUllhe are of Frcnch origino
10) 11'1 may occur in this posilion in rholic accents.

162

163

101

3.

no

in English:

element.

in the following onset which is preferred." (Carr, 1999: 74). For example,
the word "appraise" l~pre!ZJ' could be syllabified 1~.prelzJ or l~p.relzJ. In

words such as "red". But the Maximal Onset principIe predicts that only
the first aptian is the correcto This principIe is connected with a universal
fact: "that syllables with an onset consonant are in some sense more basic
than those withaut, and that presence of onset cansonants
is in some
sense more basic than presence of coda consonants." This means that the
most basic syllable structure in human languages is CV and Carr (1999:
74-5) name several types of evidence which support this:

phonotactic

Long vowels and diphthongs

2. le, re,

The Maximal Onset principIe predicts that " ... where the languagespecific phonotactics will allow for two or more syllabificatins
across a
syllable boundary, it is the syllabification
which maximizes the material

syllabIes

Coda consonants
are much more likely to undergo loss of
articulation
in the course of the historical
development
of
languages than onset consonants.
There are no known languages which have VC-type syllabIes but
lack CV -typc syllables, whcreas the reverse is not the case

Languages which have both onset and coda consonants typically

allow for a wider range of consonants to occur in onset position
than in coda position.

/'holJolaclics

l'honolaclics

>-

Igw-, dw-, Jr-, 8w-/: rare: "Gwen, Dwight, shrink, thwart".

>-

limited to "sphere, sphinx, sforzando".

18j-, gj-, gw-/: uncommOn word-initiaIly but may appear in

>-

>>-

>-

>-

7.3 Final cIusters in Spanish and English

Isf-/:

In English, there is a large number of possible final clusters

two main difficuIties for Spanish speakers of English:

syIlable-initial position: "enthusiasm, argue, language".

Isj-, lj-/: old-fashioned in some words: "suit, lurid".
Isl + Ir/: "Sri Lanka". But [Jj-] is preferred as in: "shriek,
shrew" .
Ipw-, bw-, fw-, vw-/: only found in foreign words because
English does not allow two labial consonants in initial
groups: "pueblo, bwana, foie gras, voyeur".
Ivl-, vr-, Jw-/: only in foreign words: "Vladimir, Schweppes,
schwa".

On the contrary, in Spanish, only those consonants combined with 11/ or

Irl can form a consonant cluster. Machuca (2000: 63) points out that
"Cualquier fonema consonntico puede formar parte de un ataque simple,
salvo la vibrante simple Ir! en posicin inicial de palabra. En cambio, slo

Non-indigenous
words sucli as "atleta" are syllabilied
"al. le. la".
11" /spw-, sll-/ ami h;lw-/ are nol possible (Ipw-, tI-/ are nol possiblc
possiblc "lwellly").
1(1-1

164

bul /lw-/ is

There are

1.

Four final consonant clusters: "glimpsed" /'glrmpst/, "texts" heksts/.

2.

Isl

+ cons. + Isl in word-final position: "asks, wasps, masts".

In Spanish, there are no final consonant groups in word-final position but

"En cuanto a la coda compleja, slo la Isl puede aparecer como segundo
segmento de una coda compleja." M. Machuca (2000: 65): "ins.truc.cin,
cons.tre.ir, trans.por.te". AIthough 1-1, -n, -r, -s, -8, -d, -xl can appear in
word final position, they are unstablc ( there is a predilection
consonant-vowel syllable structure)I07:

constitl~ye~ ~n ataque ~omplejo en espaol los siguientes gr~~40~

consonantlcos. Ipr-, tr-, kr-, br-, dr-, gr-, fr-, p!-, kl-, bl-, gl-, 0-1 .
Clusters of the type Isl + consonant are particularly difficuIt for Spanish
speakers. So, in words such as "s peak" or "school" the sounds Isl plus Ipl
or /kI are not tautosyIlabic for Spanish speakers; they are pronounced as
"es.peak" and "es.chool".
W e can also find three-consonant clusters in English. These clusters are
formed: Isl + unvoiced plosive + approximant: Ispl-, spr-, sp}, str-, stj-,
skl-, skr-, skj-, skw_/105:"splash, sprain, spew, sclerosis, scrabbIe, skew,
square". In Spanish, they can be possible if we consider Iw, j/ as
consonants: "pliegue". FinaIly, in the same way that there are no groups
Isl plus consonant in Spanish, there are not Isl plus two consonant
clusters.

106.

>-

loss is common in Andalusia: "cual".

I-n/: velarizes in some varieties of Spanish (Peruvians,
Ecuatorians).
I-r/:
dropping is a wide-spread feature of non-standard
Spanish.
I-s/: becomes an aspirated consonant ("muslo") or drops
completely ("dos") in large areas of southern Spain.
1-8/: is aIso lost in Andalusia ("luz").

>-

I-dl: is usuaIly lost but some Castilian speakers (mainly In

>-

Madrid) use 18/: "verdad".

I-xl: is rare. The most cornrnon word in which it occurs is

>>>-

>-

for

1-1/:

"reloj" but it also has a less prestigious pronunciation [rsl].

Finally, final plosives of foreign words like "club, autostop, light, chip,
spot" are either weakened or elided108:

106 Duc lo Ihc fael Ihat plural ami vcrbal !I1orphc!l1cs arc usualIy suffixcd
a support vowcl: "books", "sits".
107 Mott (1 ')%; 274).
IOH Mott (1')96: 274-5).

165

withouI

Phonotactics

>

I-rd/: rcduccd

>

I-d/: it is cithcr droppcd

>
>

I-SI: usually

>

I-m/: may be pronounced

"filme" .

>

to

11'/:

"standard"

articulated

01'

=:>

bccomcs

>

"standar".
fricativc "raid"

=:>

[rai()].

as Is/: "squash, flash".

I-r:/ last vowel nasalized

Other examples:

Phonotactics

pronounced

01'

"adquirir"

>

as In/: "camping".

with a support

When Ib,dl are followed by a voiceless plosive, they are

devoiced ([p,t)) 01' weakened ([[3,0)): "obtener [pt] - [[.H];

vowel:

"film"

When Ib,dl

[tk] - [ok].
are followed

become fricatives:

=:>

>

"lor(d), sprin(t), stan(d), relax [r8I(k)s]".

"abdicar"

When a plosive is followed

it becomes
a voiced
"atmsfera"

by a voiced

[cm];

plosive,

[po]; "advertir"

both of them

[013],

by a nasal consonant 01' fricative,

fricative:
"abnegacin"
[0n];

"tcnica"

["(n];

"eclipsar"

[~s];

"subyugar"

7.4 IntrasyIlabic

>

c1ustcrs in Spanish aud English

In Spanish, intrasyllabic clusters show combinations whose components

do not exist independently in syIlable-initial 01' syllable-final clustersl09:

>

/-b/: is l10l typical 01' Spanish and lends to be devoiced 01'

even elided in foreign words like "club" 01' "esnob".
However, it may be voiced across syllable boundaries as in
"submarino".

>

l-kJ: there may be voicing ofthis plosive in "tcnico".

I-s/: normally pronounced
in standard Spanish but lost before
Irl ("Israel"). Also at word boundaries: "las ranas".

>

>
>

1.

VCV ~ V.CV: the consonant is always

syIlable: "ala" ("a.la") 01' "hora" ("ho.ra").

2.

VCCY:

the onset of the following

'

i
I

a.

in some areas of Spain and in a quite coIloquial and rapid

is
speech it is possible
to hear an Ir! sound: "algo"
pronounced as [afYo].

b.

1-1/:

intrasyllabic

When there are two consecutive

first one is weakened
"suscriptor"

01'

groups by weakening

voiceless

the first

V.CCY: If the second consonant is an "1" 01' an "r", both

consonants
form an initial
consonant
cluster:
"abril"
("a.bril") 01' "doble" ("do.ble").
VC.CV: If the second consonant is neither an "1" nor an "1''',
each consonant belong to a different1syIlabIe. So, the first one
is the coda of (he preceding syIlaDe and the second is the
onset of the foIlowing syllable: "este" ("es. te") 01' "puerta"
("puer. ta").

stops (/ptl, Iktl) the

even lost: "septiembre"

110

[pt] - [t];

[~t] - [t].
110

109

these postsyllabic plosives are substituted

"tcnica" [1m]; "admira" [hm]; "adquirir"

11

In Spanish, when we find one 01' several consonants in an intrasyllabic

position, we have to take nto aecount several rules in order to know how
to syIlabifY the word:

I-m/: Spanish does not have word-final/m/

but it does appear
intrasyIlabicaIly
in "cambiar". Also at word boundaries: "un
vino".

Spanish very often simplifies

consonant:

>

[0J].

In some varietiesl
by an aspiration:
[hk], etc.

Mott (i996: 275).

111

166

Oficn omittcd from thc spclling (RAE).

Very common in Andalusia.
167

Pho;:aclics

I'hollolaclics

.3.

YCCCY:

2.

YC.CCY: If the third consonant is an "1" or an "r", the

seco~:d and the third are the onset of a different syJlable:
"comprar" ("com.prar") or "inflar" ("in.flar").
b. YCC.CY: Ifthe second consonant is an "s", the flrst and the
second are the coda o'f the preceding syllabIe: "inspirar"
(ins.pLrar) or "substancia" ("subs.tan.cia").

VCnY: If two vowels are separated by a consonant cluster ,syJlable

divisiol1 depends 011what consonants are in the cluster:

a.

4.

YCCCCY ~ YCC.CCY: The flrst and the second consonant form a

consonant cluster which is the coda of the flrst syJlable and the third
and the fourth constitute another consonant cluster which is the onset

a.

Y.CnY: If the cluster is of the type which can occur word

initially and the following vowel is strong, thc who1e cluster
is part of the syllable with the strong vowel: "decline"
IdI.'kIam/.

b.

V'CnY: Ifthe second voweI is weak the flrst consonant ofthe

c.

of the following syllable: "construir" ("cons.truir") or "transplante"

("trans. plan.te").

cluster in ambisyJlabic: "sacred" isetknd/.

YCI. C2 Y: Ifthe consonant cluster is one which cannot occur
in initial position, the consonants are divided in such a way
that the second syJlable l: _ :s with a single consonant or a
"atlas"
cluster that can occur initially: "emblem" /em.blgm/;
/ret.lds/;
"candy" /kren.di/.

In English, when we flnd one or several consonants in an intrasyllabic

position, we have to take into accoullt several rules in order to know how
to syllabifY the word:

7.5 Juncturc

1. VCV:

There is a narrow :elationship between one sOllnd and the sOllnds that
immediately precede and follow it even at word boundaries. The
relationship bctween Iml and lall , between ItI and 13:/, and betwcen 13:1

a.

Y.CY: If one consonant occurs between two vowels and

the second vowel is strOr.gI12, wh6ther stressed or not, 'the
consonant is part of the second syllable: "vacation"
IV:1.'kcl.II,1/.

b.

V vCV: Ir onc consonant occurs betwcen two vowels and

the second vow'e1 is a weak one, the consonant is
ambisyl!abic (i.e. in certain contexts it would go with the
following voweLand in others with the preceding one):
"vacation" IVd.'kc{J;/; "copy" /kDvpi/.

and In! in the phrase "my turn" is one of "close juncture". On the other
hand, Iml and Inl are said to be in a position of"cxternal open juncture"
bccause they are preceded (1m!) and followed (In!) by silencc. Finally, the
relationship bctwccn Iml and ItI is more difficult to cbssify; is it diffcrent
01' similar to the relationship between larl and ItI in "might earn"? This
kind of relationship is cal!ed ,"internal open juncture"
(or just
"juncture") and it is highly connected to syl!able division at word
boundaries.
In Spanish, when the last sound of a word is a consonant and the flrst of
the foIlowing word is a vowelJJ3 they are pronounced as ifthey belonged
to the same syllable. This is called "enlace". Wc can also find a similar
casc when the last sOllnd is n vowcl and Ihe frst nnothcr vowcl whcncvcr

112 That is, closing diphthongs, long vowels and short vowels folIowed by two
consonants.

168

113

Obviously, ifthey are in !1:~same tane group.

169

Phonotactics

Phonotactics

is yowe] is u~ unstressed Ii/ or lu/. ] n th is way, the coda o r the last

syllable of the preceding word becomes the onset of the first syIlable of
the foIlowing word:
tl1

"un amigo" ~ u - na - mi -go.

"los otros" ~ lo - so - tros.
"el hombre" ~ e - lhom - bre

7.6 Exercises

l.

If the ]ast sound of the first word is a vowel the link is carried out in the
foIlowing way:

El sol cae a plomo sobre la gran llanura. La frente del prncipe

descansa sobre las rodi11as de su esposa. Todo a su alrededor
calla o duerme. En los pases tropicales, el medioda es la noche
de la Naturaleza. Slo interrumpen esta calma profunda el grito
breve y agudo del bengal, el zumbido montono y tenaz de los
insectos que voltean en el aire, brillando a la luz del sol como un
torbellino de piedras preciosas, y la acelerada respiracin de
Siannah, respiracin sonora y encendida como la del que suea
embriagado con opio. (Bcquer, 1967: 91)

"su hijito" ~ suhi - ji - to

"hombre imbcil" ~ hom - breim - b - cil
"lo uso" ~ lou - so

In this way, we can find funny examples such as:

"el hado" YS. "helado"
"en ojo" vs. "enojo"
"en aguas" vs. "enaguas"
"el hecho" vs. "helecho"

Say how each of the underlined words in the following text is

sy llabified.

2.

Transcribe the previous words and cqmment on any possible

dialectal variety you consider worth me~tioning.
i

Something similar happens in English in expressions such as:

"at tease" vs. "at ease"
"nitrate" vs. "night rate"
"might raili" vs. "my train"
"he lies" vs. "heal eyes"
Nevertheless, it is possible to distinguish these pairs in connected speech
thanks to allophonic variations. For example: (l) the ItI in "tease" is
aspirated; (2) the Irl in "nitrate" has a [ricative realisation; (3) the Ir! in
"train" is devoiced and has a fricative realisation; and (4) the 11/ in "heal"
is a dark or velar "1".

170

3.

Say how each of the foIlowing words is syIlabified and why

altemative syllabifications are ruled out::
i

Apprehension:

IlJiterate:

EJJipse:

Aspect:

Equable:

ApJenty:

171

Fhonolaclics

Atrium:

lhe

only English fricativc

____

, occurring

only

which can fllow init!nl Isl is

in a tew

words

Greek

01'

onglll.
e.
4.

Of the foIlowing words, say which

non-English.
Support your Ianswer

are English, and which are

with arguments
related to

f.

The only English

syllabic

sequence

sonority hierarchy

is

The first syllable

in the Spanish

which

violates

the

_
word "huevo"

has an

sy ]labificat!OIhr\()Ji
r ""A~,\..(r c9~ ~~~ jQ:(
N0 f"V'"

~ri:d'yl()

Ipsarl

I~i:k/

(1" ~ ~D
Of the fol Q~ \\ .words,
non-Spanish.

Il

tt,
(;lVI~/'

I I srL:

Isfregngm/5L.

L~~
tI"

IlgUlJI tJr

Ipegrl

Ihhl

Iswreg!

tI

Si

7.

',WitW-div..

.
t.~-IRcctL 5.

I ()..!; ~-?bi.e..-

Afraid:
d.

Phonolaclics

Support

your

OelYSYIla,bification:'I~,).\e

,eck.~i~r.."'Y'

~"fv rP'

Isrimel

11

answer
'0\1.'
\.'"

onset whereas

_____

syllable st. '.:cture.

Look for the Spanish names

thcir orthographic forms:

the English word "hue" has a

of six different

animals

and writc

and which are

witll arguments

related

to
/gu/

~iff1L"~
~ ~S\.f.\.
Irja]!
Ixcl
Isel
/kol

/bron/
/Ikwel
dra]!
wa!
Ifasl
Isa!
Ita!
Inel
Idril
Isubsl
Idad!
Itransl
Imenl
Iflol
Idol
Inol
Irol
Itol
Ira!
laml
Ixol
,/ta!
/bjol
lfijol
Ipjol
Iga!
Ilju/
Ifrjol
Ikjcl
Ipel

Ict~(\e~LO-~o- Iga!

lt.9 ~~&~
,ye--

r)~,,~Ltp
Ito~1

Iv...

Iglabr;)l.:J

say which are Spanish,

_____

J!;

ItenJka!-

"

MC~f

Idrapearl

ISPJrtI)1

r\v el1
iR,-

6.

Complete
a.

c.c~

the following

statements:

In English words with a CCC- onset the first consonant

is
8.

b.

The

first vowel

preceded

c.

of any native

by any single consonant

English
except

word

may be
or

Write three words in English or Spanish or English and Spanish

11' any
01'
these
with the .following
syllabic
structures.
combinations
is not possible in either of these two languages,
explain why.

In Spanish words with a CC- onsct the second consonant

is

or

./ r ,'.,"'\."'7

!-': .:..:\
(;.

172

173

..":,

\ I

\',

CVCCCC
V+CV+CV
VC+CV
V+CCV
CCV+CV
VC+CVC

Phonotactics

Phonotactics

10. For each of the fol1owing words, say how it is syl1abified and
why alternative syllabifications are disallowed:

Eng.
Eng.
Eng.
Eng.
Eng.
cv+cv Eng.
Span.
Span.

II

9.

Suspect (verb and noun) - circumscribe - paediatrician bachelor - daffy - geological- squelched .
Activar - advertir - salchichn - examen - toalla - almohada constancia -:-haba.

Which oi' (hc consononts ond consonont clustcrs bclow occur os n

coda afler laI/? Think of a word that ends in larpl like "pipe", and
so on. When you finish, try to make a general statement about the
constraints.
I-pl ; I-b/; I-t/ ; I-dl ; l-d31 ; l-kJ ; I-g) ; I-f/; I-vl ; I-sl ; I-v ; I-ml ;
I-nl ; I-DI ; 1-1/
I-mp/'

, I-nt! , I-nd/ ,. I-spl ., I-st! , I-skl ., I-Ibl ,. I-Ig/

Which of these consonants and clusters occur after laul? What

constraints do you find?114

114

Exercise adaptcd

li-orn

Kreidlcr (1997: 96).

17\

175

UNIT VIII. LEXICAL STRESS

8.1 Prominence

Stress is one of the so-called

rhythm and intonation.

suprasegmental

features,

along

with

Aeeording to Trask (1996: 336) stress is u eertuin type 01' promincnee,

which in some languages,
is present upon certain syllables. Native
speakers
and phoneticians
usually find it easy to determine
which
syllables bear stress, and even to distinguish varying degrees of stress, but
the phonctic charactcrization
of stress is exccedingly
dimcult: stress is
variously
associated
with greater loudness, higher pitch and greater
duration, any of which may be most important in a given case, and
sometimes also with vowel quality. Earlier attempts to identify stress with
greater intensity of sound are now discredited, and current thinking holds
that stress is primarily a matter of greater muscular effort by the speaker,
and that hearers take advantage
that effort.

of several types of information

to identify

In fact Laver (1994:511) states: "Other things being equal, one syIJable is
more prominent than anothcr to the extcnt that its constitllcnt scgments
01' greater
display
higher pitch, greater loudness,
longer duration
articulatory excursion fram the neutral disposition ofthe vocal tract."
Stress actually refers to perception. When a syllable is perceived as more
prominent, that syllable is said to be stressedllS There is a combination of
factors in making a syllable stresscd: grc'ater loudncss, higla::r piteh und
greater length contribute to this perception of stress.
115 Ultimate
syllable, penultimate and antepenultimate
are adjectives that are
used to refer to the last syllable, the second syl1able tTom the right and the third
syllable to the right, respectively ..

177

'\.. ''f!J
Rl \f.':/

~~ G\.

Lexical Stress

Lexical Stress

In English, stress is actuaIly gradual: a stressed syIlable in English can

show some or a1l of these characteristics, which results in different levels
of stress.

specific sound. Stress as being prominent is perceived when there is a

contrast between what the listener expects to hear and what they reaIly
get. That is, an already prominent sound like a vowel, can be enhanced to
produce a "stressed version" which is' perceived as being specifically
highlighted in a particular context.
'

Loudness
means that the sound has be en produced with more energy,
usuaIly with an open vocal tract and voicing. That is why vowels are
naturaIly louder than consonants. And, as we saw in a previous unit, are
described as being sonorant116 Sonority is, in many respects, similar to
loudness. But loudness has al so to do with a greater 'muscular e ffo rt,
which results in a more dense and bigger airflow. Al! other things being
equal, the same sound can be produced with more or less energy,
depending on the inspiration process and the muscular tension along the
vocal tract, starting from the diaphragm and ending at the lips.

~\
. Kr.

'fJ

hado.d./I~h.ue"--

Pitch means
that amount
the Va'eofvibration
That is,
given
the sarne
of time, the ofthe
vocal vocal
folds folds
showis greater.
more cycles
of
vibrations. Pitch can be seen as a synonyrn of tonc: for example, the pitch
at the end of Ihe qllestion "Are YOIl te/linK me YOIl 're not coming?" when
pronollnced
showing discredit and anger, is higher than it is at Ihe
beginning 01' the question.
Lcngth

has to do with the duration in the production

of a sound.

Accent is sornetirnes used instead of stress. However, the terro accent

wil! be lirnited here to prorninences where pitch is involved (hence it is
equivalent to PITCH ACCENT). Word-stress
will be used to refer to
those syllables which would be'rnarked as stressed if stress were marked
in a lexicon or dictionary and which therefore have a potential for
"accent" in utterances. Sentence-stress
will be used to refer to those
words which show stress in a sentence, in correlation
emphasis and focus, as will be explained below .
Mott (1991: 215-216) divides the languages
on the basis of stress. There are:

with meaning,

of the world into two groups

1CiJLanguages
which have a fixed place rol' the stress in words: In
French, Turkish or Modern Hebrew the stress, is always on the last
syllable of a word. In Hungari2n, Finnish and Cz~ch the stress is a]ways
on the first sy Ilable of words.

i
I

There is, as we have already said, a close connection between sonority

and strcss. Both sonority and stress have to do with prominence.
The
diffcrcnce is that, while sonority is related to the inherent characteristies
of a sound, stress has to do with temporary qualities enhanced for a
li Sonority must be seen as a progressive quality. In general, sounds produced
with a more open articulation are said to be more sonorant. Voiced sounds are
also more clearly perceived than voiceless ones. The sonority hicrarchy
cstablishcs a scqllcncc of sonorant vs. obstrllcnt sOllnds. SOllnds which show a
greatcr dcgrce of stricture are not as clearly perccived as those which are
produced with a more open articulation. The progression (from more to less
sonorant sounds) for English sounds could approximateJy be the one that
foIlows: High Vowels - Mid Vowels - Low Vowels - Approximants - Laterals
_. Nusal Stops .- V oict'd Fricnti\'cs

\'l)kckss

'\m'k:\tes

.-. V oiL't'lt'SS Fricnti\'s

Yoked Plosives

"'~Languages
in which there is no fixed placei for the stress in words
(Dynamic Stress Langllages). Languages like E$glish, Spanish, German
or Russian have variable word stress. Spanish has the advantagc of using
a graphic accent to rnark irregular stress (trminq, termin as opposed to
termino), but English uses no such device to assist the earner. However,
English stress cannot be entirely unpredictable! because native EnglislJ
speakers are able to place the stress to unfarniliar words with at least
some degree of success, which means that English stress pJacement rnust
be rlllc-bollnd.

- V oiccd A fTricfI!cs -

Yoicckss Plosivcs,

In

179

8.2 Degrees

of Stress

Every word in English has at Jeast one stress in its citation formo But
some types of words most commonly occur in an unstressed form in
connectcd specch. Olher typcs of \Vords 1l10st commonly
occurring
without a stress (and with reduced vowels) are auxiliary verbs, personal
pronouns
and shorter prepositions
and conjunctions,
whereas
the
majori:y
of nouns,
main verbs,
adjectives,
adverbs,
numerals,
quantifiers, and personal pronouns commonly occur with a stress. Thc
exaet syllable on which the stress occurs wiII, of course, be detcrmined
by mies for word-strcss.

follo\Ving different criteria, some of them morphological,

but, mainly,
semantic. That is, important words carry more prominencc than, words
that carry less important information in the message. This distribution is
always done in the discoursal contcxt. In Spanish, on the other hund, the
dilTerel\ce bctweel\ prominenl syllnblcs (i.e. slresscd syllablcs) 1I1\d1\01\proll1inent ones (i.e. uIlstressed syl!ables) is not as cJearly stnted as it is
in English. That produces a more static or monotonous
rhythmical
impression to Spanish. In Spanish, every word carries primary stress. In
English, on the contrary, only so me words are stressed in the sentence.

8.3 Strong and Weak Forms

We will distinguish

three such degrees of stress/accent.

1)

PRIMARY
STRESS
(or PRIMARY
ACCENT),
involving the
principal pitch prominence in the word. We mark the strongest or
primary stress with a short raised stroke [ '].

2)

SECONDARY
STRESS (or SECONDARY
ACCENT), involving a
subsidiary pitch prominence. We mark the middle level or secondary
level with a short Jowered stroke [ ,].

3)

UNSTRESSED,

involving

a non-prominent

pitch change and one ofthe vowels

syllable

containing

no

Ir, u, el.

Many words in English are pronounced

both with and without stress
depending on the structure of the sentence. The presence or absencc of
stress changes the quality of the vowel. This altemation is defined as the
alternation
Generally,

This accentual pattern in English, as we wil! see, has to do with the way
English prominence
is distributed
along the speech chain. English
rhythm is characterized by an alternation of strong and weak syllables,
that is, ofprominent
and non-prominent
syllables. These syllables, being
part of the different words that make up each statement, are chosen

180

conjunctions,

and

pronouns which have this alternation, that is,_functional

word~ verbs,
nouns, adverbs, and adjectives, that is, lexical wQ11l~,_generally do not
have this alternation. Alternation in weak vs. strong forms is, basically, a
qualitative and quantitative alternation: the vowel becomes reduced in a
weak form and, sometill1cs, \VCmay find dclclion 01' consonants as in (lml
or

Every word unit has at least one primary stress and one or more
unstressed syllables. Polysyllabic words in English al so show, in general,
primary
and secondary
stress,
apart
from
unstressed
syllables.
Polysyllabic in English uSltally reCcrs to words with 3 syllablcs or more
and compounds. Spanish words only show a primary stress. Thcre is one
exception,
and it is the case of adverbs ending in -mente. In these
adverbs, the adjective keeps its original stress and mente carries stress on
the penultimate syllable.

strong vs. weak fQ..l.:..nl

of a word unit.
it is words such as articles, prepositions,

hi/ll

(strong forms

/amd, hrml vS. weak lorms lend, en, rm/).

The loss 01' stress can only take place when the word appears in a
sentential context, and never in isolation. When the word is emphasized,
stress can not be Jost cither. Stress rcmains whcn the word occurs finaIly,
for example

in Who 's comingl 1 am or Where do you come fi'om l.

In the foIlowing

sentence,

say those words are~g..rhese

for example

some words carry a stress: we can

are the lexicaUY..o_t..ds.

It was the best car for Us to buy

181

Lexical Stress

Lexical Stress

words,
and they are
The remaining, words are the grarnrnatical
unstressed
or we~k. However, if each grammatical
word is said in
isolation, it has a different sound.
(1) PRONOUNS:
(1.A) Personal:
Weak

Strong

y ou 117

Iju:1

Ijulljal

!118

/hi:1

/hII Irl li:1

.!le.

ISi:1

~~

Iwi:1

ISII
IWII

1j,;y~20

loeII

loel

Weak

;(QJ.lr.scLf...

Ij::J:'selfl

Ij::Je's-1 Ijue's-I

Himself12\-

Ihlm' sel fl

11m 's-I

when

the

ImI's-llme's-1

ImII

y ou 123

Iju:1

Ijulljal

Him

/hlm!

Irm!

-.--Herl24

/h3:1

13:1/hel lel

US\25

Il\sl

lasllsl

loeml

loem! 10m! lem! Iml

--

Ije's-I

Weak
/huI lu:1 lul

Whom

Ihu:ml

Ihuml

~hose ...

/hu:z/
lo re ti

lu:z/
loatllotl

(l.F) Demonstrative Pronouns:

Strong

Weak

~,~,;?

10ISI

loesl

Strong

Weak

/he's-113:'s-lle's-1

la:' s-I

laue 'selvz/

preceding

Me

Thae26

(2) AUXILIARIES:

1l7When "you" is weakly stressed and preceded by a word ending in "d", the two
words are joined closely together as if they formed a simple word with the
affricate Id31 linking the two parts: "Did you fail?" /'dld3ufeIl/. The same
happens

Weak

(l.D) Relative Pronouns:

Strong
Who
/hu:1

Strong
Imm'sclf/

/h3:'se1fi'

Strong
Imi:1

Them

(I.B) Rcnexives:

HerseJe2 Ourselves

--

(I.e) Object Pronouns:

sound

ends

in "t":

"Don't

you

lbi:1

IS128

Irz/

JrzJ

Are129

10:*lla:rl

le * 1 Irllarl

ipII
I

IsI

bow?"

IdauntSa'nau/.
Ijul occurs as a strong form in the express ion "you are" when "are" has

its weak fonn la*l. "You are" in this case is also written "you're".
\18The weak fonn is lIsllaI1y pronollnced without "h" cxccpt at thc bcginning of a
sentcnce.
119/wll also occurs as an strong form in the single expression "we arc" when
"are" has its weak form la*1 ("we're")
12/Gel

occurs as a strong form in the single express ion "they are" when "are" has

lis \Ven\.:. I'orm 10*1 ("they'rc").

121Theweak form Irm's-I is ~scd when not initial.
122The

weak fonn 13:'s-1 and le's-I are used when not initial.

182

I23Same restrictions as before.

124Samerestrictions as before.
125Theweak fonn IsI is only used in "let's".
\26The strong form is seldom used, except in very delicatc speech 01' whcn the
word is said in isolation ..
127Itis used in "this moming, aftemoon, evening"
128/z/ is used when the preceding word ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant
Id3/.
other than Iv, 13101'
Isl is uscd only whcn the prcccding word cnds in a voiccless consanant
ather than Is/, ISI al' ItJ/.
1r7) is used after Is,z,J,3,tJ,d3/.

lR3

-..
Was

Can 130
Could

~l

Lexical Stress
Iwo'll
IW3:*1

Lexical Stress
Iw'li Iwe'li

(wea)

/kcenl

Iwa*llwrl
/kanl !kQI !k1)1

/kud!

/kad! /kd!

IS B J/

ISal/ 1S,1/
ISel ISI

ud!

ISad! ISd! 1St!

Shmdct.:.32

IS

WiIJ

IWII/

Would

Iwud!

Iwed! led! Id!

Must

Im/\stl

Imastl Imesl Imstl

11/Iwal/ lel/

(3) CONJUNCTIONS:
(3.A) Coordinating:
Strong

--

Weak

lBnd!

In! Irj! land! lan! Ind!

But

lb /\tI

Ibatl

Forl34
---

IfJ:*llfor/

Ifa*1 If*/ Ifrl

Or

I~:*I

/a*/

Nor

In~:*1

Ina*1

/soul

Isal

----

SOll1ehow

115

/'

150m-llsm-1

5/\ll1huu/

(3.B) Subordinating:
Strong
For136
1f'J: */ Iforl

Ifa * 1 Ifol If* 1

01'137

i':J:*1

la*1

Than

15Bnl

15enllonl

IOBl!

loel! lotl

13M

That139

Weak

(4) DETERMINERS:
(4.A) Articles:

--

Strong

Weak

~o

10i:1

1011loal 101

A141

leII

lal

An142

Icen!

len! In!

(4.B) Possessive Adjectives:

Strong

Weak

ImaII

ImII

Ij~:*/ Ij~a*/ Ijua*1

Ij

a *1

135/'sl\maul is used occasionally in quick speech.

136Samerestrictions as before.
129The strong fonn 10:1 and the weak fonn lal are used when followed by a
consonant. And the strong fonl1 10:1'1 ami [he weak forms 181'1and 11'1whcn
followcd by a vowel.
.
13Thefonn /k01 occurs only before words beginning with "k" or "q".
131Thefonns ISal ISI are chiefly used when "we" 01'"be" folIows.
132Theform 1St! occurs only before voiceless consonants.

137The weak fonn is chiefly used in common phrases, such as "two or three
minutes".
I3KThe slrong rrm is norrnally lIscd only when the word is isolated.
139Thc strong form is rarcly uscd
J4/oi:1is sometimes used as a weak fonn before vowels.
1011and loi:1 are used before vowels.
loel and 101 are used before consonants.

133Thefonn ImI occurs only next to Ipl or (bl and the fonn 101 only occurs next to
"k" or"q".
134/forl occasional strong fonn before vowels.
Ifl altemative weak fonn before consonants.
Ifrl altemative weak fonn before vowels.

(at Eton ColIege) to the expression "My tutor" and "My dame". Some use ImII in

The strong fonn If~:1 and the weak fonn Ifal only occurs folIowed by
consonants.

common expressions such as "never in my life" but not elsewhere.

144Thestrong fonn Ij'J:I and the weak fonn Ijal are used when followcd hy

The strong fonn lf'J:rl and .the weak forms Ifarl and Ifrl only followed
by vowcls.

consonant. The strong form Ij'J:rl and the weak form Ijerl when followed hy
vowel.

IX4

14llel is used before a consonant.

142/an! is used before a vowel.

143Manypeople confine the use of ImII to the special expression "My Lord" a11(1

IX5

11

11

-His145

~46

Their147

Lexical Stress

Lexical Stress
IluZ!

Irz!

In all the weak or unstressed

/h3:*1

13:*1 /he*1 le*1

name

loee*1

15erl

difficult to hear exactly, and it is always unstressed. Ifyou think there is a

vowel in a word but you can not hear exactly what it is, it is probabIy

Strong

is the Hebrew

lel is used. The technical

word schwa. This sound

is often

schwa.

(5) PREPOSITlONS:

l~tI

Weak
le ti

f3y

Iba!1

1b!1Ibel

----

for this vowel

forms, the vowel

~1'IK

If':):" I If'-J:rl

Iferl Ife" I Ifrl !f* I

fum

Iffoml

Ifreml IffmI

Into 149

Imtu:1

Imtellmtul

0[150

lovl

le vi Ivl !f/ lal

Onl~1

lonl

lanllnl

T0152

Itu:1

Itul Ital ItI

le 'pon!

lapan!

Some people beIieve that this is a careIess way of speaking and that we
shollld pronollnce all our syllables equally clcarly, as ir they were all
strong forltls. Ilowever, English spoken with only strong fonns sOllnds
most unnaturaI and does not heIp the listener to distinguish emphasis or
meanmg.
Because our speIling does not show whether a word is weak or strong, we
are often' unaware of the changes we make every time we speak. In
spelling, some weak forms are shown as contractcd forlTIs: can '1, >van '1,
didn '1, J '!l, he 's, she 'd, etc.
A similar phenomenon can be foundin Spanish. Many unstressed voweIs
can be pronounced
weaker when they are not stressed. Yet, what
characterizes
the English language is the gap that exists between weak
and strong forms. The reason for doing s'o is the necessity
for

14~lrzJ

is not used in initial position.

146/3:1 and lel

147/5erl
14KThe

-----

accommodating
prominent words with a more d~gree of length, 10udness
and pitch. This is caIled the borrowing rulc! This theory' states that
stressed syIlables can be made much more prorrj.inent because unstressed

are used in initial position.

syllables

are greatly weakened.

is used when followed by a voweI.

slrong

consonanls,

form If':):1 anu

Ihe weak

forms

Ifel

anu Ili

are

followeu

by

I
I

The slron forrn If'-J:rl anu lhe weak forrns Ilorl anu Ifrl by vowcls.

variant l'mtu:1 occurs chiefiy at the end 01' sentences. I'mtel

before words beginning with a consonant.
150Thefonn Ifl occurs only before voiceless consonants.
151/enl is very rare.
149The

is used only

152/tu:1is occasionally uscd as a weak form, espccially in tina! positions.

Itul is also uscd as a strong fonn before vowels,
Itu:1 or ltul are only used before vowels.
Ital is used before consonants,
ItI is an occasionally used weak fonn before consonants
IX?

!.('xical.'';ress

!.exiCil! Stress

8.4 li.ulcs for acccntuation in English

B.

T1m::e-s\'lIabk

words

Verbs:
SIMPLE

1.

WORDS

1 _

if the last syIlable:

than one consonant

"determine" /dr't3:mrn/

A.

Two-sylJable

(stress

words

NOllns: require a different

2nd

syllable.:

(a) contains

a long vowel or diphthong;

or (b) ends
_

with more than 1

/;:)'S1st/

consonant:

"apply''' /;:)lpla1/; "arrive" /;:)lra1v/; "assist"

1__ : ir tlle final syllable:

(a) contains

consonant; (b) ifit

"folJow" I'fTIbu/

contains

Adjectives: are stressed

according

"correct"

/b'rekU;

"Iovely"

a short vowel and ends with no more

on

the

preceding

-penultimate-):

__ 1_: if the last syIJable: contains a long vowel or diphthong,

with more than one
consonant: "entertain" /ent'J1tem/.

Verbs:
_ 1_ : if

contains

rule:

If: (a) the final syllable

contains

a short vowel

or eu;

(b) the

syllable preceding this final syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong,

or if it ends with more than one consonant: "disaster" /dlza:st'J/

a short vowcl and onc (or no) final

/'du/: "enter"

1__

or ends

: Ir: (a) Ir the final syllable

contains

a short vowel; (b) tbc middle

l'ent'J/; "eqllal"

l'i:kw'Jl/;

sylJable contains a
consonant: "qllantity"

to the same rllle: "divine"

/dl1vam/;

Adjectives: seem to need the same mle, to produce stress pattems such as:
"opportune"

I'Lw.li/.

short vowel and ends

/Ikwotlti/

witb not more

than one

l'op'Jtju:n/

NOllns: require a different rule:

j
1 __

ifthe

2nd

sylJable: contains a short vowel: "money"

_1_: the rest of the cases: "design"

words sllch as adverbs

behave like verbs and adjectives.

SUFFIXES

Suffixes affect stress in one ofthree

/dIZa1n/

* Other two-syIlable

n.

I'mAni/.

and prepositions

seem to

I
't

ways:

(1) They may have no effect on the stress pattem of the root word:
"child" vs. "childhood".
(2) They may
"kitchenette"

receive

strong

stress

themselves:

"kitchen"

vs.

(3) They may cause the stress pattem

syIlable to another:

"advantage"

in the stem to shift from one

vs. "advanillgeous".

When the sllffix has no effect on the stress pattern of the root word it is
callcd a neutral suffix. Most ncutral sulTixes are or Gcrmanic origin: -cn
188

189

Lexical Stress

Lexical Stress

(widen), -er (b~er), -fui (wonderful), -hood (childhood), -ing (amazing),

-ish (devilish), -less (powerIess), -Iy (hurriedIy), -ship (relationship).
Nevertheless, there are some other neutral suffixes whieh are not of
Germanic origin: -able (comfortable), -al (refusal), -dom (kingdom), -css
(hostess), -ling (yearling), -ness (yellowness), -some (irksome), -wise
(otherwise) and -y (funny).

In some cases of such compounds the second element is unaccented and

has the weak vowel le/: chairman, postman, saucepan.

When the suffix receives the stress it is called a strong suffix. Most of
them are of Latn origin: ~aire (millionaire), -ee (refugee), -eer
(mountaineer), -ese (Vietnamese), -esque (picturesque), '-ique (antique), eur/-euse (chaufTeur), -oon (saloon), and -ette (cassette).
And finally, suffixes can also cause a shift Df stress in the root word: they
cause the stress to shift to the syIJable immediately preceding the suffix: eous (advantageous), -graphy (photography), -ial (proverbial), -ian
(Parisian), -ic (climatic), -ieal (ecologieal), -ious (injurious), -ity
(tranquillity), and -ion (perfection).

IlI.

COMPOUND WORDS

English words with 3 or more syllables show two stress leveIs: primary
and secondary stress. 80th of thern In\'olve a pitch change, but to a lesser
extent in the case of secondal)' stress. Primal)' stress usually comes last,
although this can change depending on the regional accent.

Some other compounds, however, bear the primary accent on the second
syllable: downstairs, first-class, ground-floor, mincepie, short-term or
even on the third syllablc: country-hollse, secondhand, broken-hearted,
easy-going.
The placement of stress on English words is extremely complex, and the
main reason for this complexity is that the English language is a largely
mixture of Romance and Germanie (Mott 1991: 216). Ir we look at
suffixation in these twolanguage groups, we find two opposite principIes
acting on words. In the Romance languages, if a suffix is added to a
word, the stress is moved up onto it. For example, in Spanish, estpido,
estupidz, In the Germanic languages, on the other hand, the stress stays
where it is. For example, in English, jllow, jllower, fllowing. The
problem is that English has adopted both principIes but very often
regardless of the origin of worJs. To take one example, catholic Lat.
CATHOLICUS < Gr. katholikos) wouldbe expected to bear stress on the
second syllable, as in Greek and Latin, but the word has undergonc
Gcrmanic stressing and the stress has been frontcd.

Compound words (i.e., words composed of separable root morphemes,

whether or not the compound is hyphenated in the spelling) normally
contain a single primary (nuclear, tonic) accent on one eIement of the
compound, the othcr elcment or elcments carrying secondary accent.

While it is not possible to predict the stress in ~I1English words, there

are m~ny others which follow general principies br mIes. Stress mIes are
basecj on three kinds of information: syntactic, morphological and
phonologjcal information (Krcidler 1989).
!
Di/Terent rules apply to the difTerel1t parts of speech (nOllI1S,vcrbs,
adjectives and adverbs). The noun nsult is streksed differently from the
verb inslt; simiIarIy, compare the adjectivei prsent with the verb
presnt.

The most eommon type of compound has the primary accent on the first
element: backache, blackmail, birdcage, bookcase, bridesmaid, bulldog,
cardboard, crossword, earthquake, footprint,
highbrow, liftboat,
nightdress, teapot, windscreen.

On the other hand, themorphological composition of a word has a role in

determining stress. Different kinds of suffixes are relevant in determining
the place of stress. The followingare examples of words with tonie
endings: employe, ballon, kitchentte, Chinse, millionire, or antque.

The place of stress in particular words depends in part on the nature of

the last t\\'o syl1ah1cs, nnd occnsionnl1y on the nature of an carlier
190

191

Le.xica/ Sfress

Le.xica/ Stress

syllable. We need to consider whether a syllable has a free vowel (long

vowel or diphthong) and the number of consonants which close the
syllable, that is, whether it is stressable (free vowel or short vowel
followed by two consonants) or noto

("eXHmen", "salas", "crema"). If the last sound of a llana word is an "n"

or an "s" preceded by another consonant153, the word is orthographically
stressed: "cmics", "cmpings". Finally, esdrjulas and sobresdrJulas
words are always orthographically stressed: "baco", "dolo", "deficit",
"pancreas", "devulvemela".

Since phonological facts interact with, morphological and syntactic facts,

we.;shall see that rules are different for nouns, verbs and adjectives.
I.
In compound words or words made up of two elements, there are again
some general pattems.
1.

If the first part of the word is broadly speaking a noun, then the first
element will nonnaJJy carry more stress:
typewriter cal'erry suitease tea cup

2.

Ir

the first part is broaoly speaking an adjeclive, then the secano

element will carry more stress:

COMPOUND WORDS

It depends on the degree of consolidation as a single word in the

languagc. If there is a hyphen between the two words, then each word
folIows the normal accentuation mIes eXplained above: "hispano-belga",
"fsico-qumico", "terico-prctico". On the contrary, if they are not
separated by a hyphen they lose the original stress which they had when
they were t\Vo sing1e words ami they are stresscd as ir they \Vere onc
single \Vord (in fact, they are a single ward now): "decimosptimo".
"asimismo", "viandante".

loudspeaker bad-tempered black market young learner

8.6 Distinctive Fllnction of Stress
8.5 RuIes for accentuation

in Spanish

In Spanish, words are usually stressed on the penultimate syllable. In this

case, the word is said to be llalla. A great percentage of words is also
stressed on the last syllable. These words are called agudas. Finally,
some other words can be stressed on the antepenultimate syllable, also
known as being esdrjulas. Only very few words are stressed on the
syllable
before the antepenultimate.
These
latter are called
sobrestlrljula ..An aguda word is orthographically stressed (i.e. it has
the diacritic ') if the last sound is a vowel, an "n" or an "s": "comer",
"patn", "adems". If the word is monosyllabic ("pie") or the last sound
is a consonant different from "n" or "s" ("afinidad") or is a diphthong
("caray") or the "n" and the "s" a~e preceded by a consonant ("Isern",
"robots"), the word is not orthographically stressed. On the contrary, a
llana word is orthographically stressed if the last sound is a consonant
different from "n" or "s": "hbil"; "carcter", "csped". If the last sound
is an "n" nr an "s" nr a vnwel, the word is not orthographically stressed

In English, stress has a distinctivc function. That is, stress can be used to
establish a distinction in meaning between two words, where the only
difference is the place where stress is shown. Here are some examples:

import
export
transfer
record
conduct
rotest

mercase

153

192

NOUN

Only in rorcign words.

193

Lexical Stress

Lexical Stress

con
tract
dcscrt
rebel
insu]t
convict
conflict
obiect
subicct
produce
suspect
project
present

conflict

As a consequence of the alternation, the words in the first column always

finish with a weak voweI (unstrcsscd 'ultmate sylIable) /::1t/, while the
words in the second colllmn finish with a strong
sy lIab le is stressed in th s case) t CIt!.

vowel

(the 1Iltmate

Other words change their meaning, and not only the morphological
category. Here are some examples taken from Dauer (1993):
l.

Note that when the word functions as a noun, the stress is placed on the
penultmate
syllable, while it appears on the last one for verbs. The
alternation in the stress pattern also afTects the quality of the vowels in
the words. When the syllable is unstressed, the vowel wil! usually be a
schwa, while a strong vowel wiIl appear in strong syIlables.
record I'rekgd/

a. invalid = a sick person

b. inv. : .. = not val id

2. , a.
b.
3. a.
b.
4. a.
b.
5. a.
b.

Augllst = a month
august = magnificent, grand
personal office = private office
personnel office = staff office
trust y = reliable
trustee = a person who manages someone
consol = control panel in a cal'
con sale = to make someone feel bctter

vs. record /n'k):d/

A similar phenomenon

In other cases, the distinction

verbo as in the following tablc:

else's property

is made between

Stress in the
antepenultimate
syllable ='
NOUN IADJECTlVE
I'aduate

noun

01'

Stress in the ultimate

syllable = VERB

separate
estmate

adjective

approximate
alternate
moderate

appropriate
elaborate
de Iibernte

appropriate
elaborate
deliberate

---

194

in Spanish.

Below are some examples:

and
l.

a. tnnino
b. termino
c. termir.~

2.

a.
b.
c.
a.
b.

3.

duplicatc
aDproximate
altemate
moderate

happens

= tinishing line
= l tinsh
= he/she finshed

pe = he should make the sound of a bird

pie = foot
pi = 1 made the sound of a bird
olvido = l forget
olvid = he/she forgotl54

In Spansh, the alternaton of accentual

change in the quality ofthe vowels.

patterrts

wilI not determine

154 In general, the I si person singular simple present i'n Spanish is stressed in the
penultimate syllable, while the 3rd person singular simple past is stressed in the
ultimate syllable. Other examples are: canto ys. cant, guiso Ys. gu:j (1 sing vs.
he sang, 1 cook YS. he cooked), cte.

195

Lexical Slress

Lexical,)/res.\

vegetable
evenll1g
chocolate

8.7 Exercises

family
1.

The addition of suffixes and prefixes can determine a shift in the

accentual patterns of words in both English and Spanish. Below
you will find an example for each language. That stress shift is
mainly due to the use of suffixes that attract stress. Provide some
more examples.

naturally
generally

3.
asesinato
asesino
ENGLISH
refr16eration

SPANISH

~i

. 2.

i jI
,

= interesting

tcmperaturc
miserable
laboratory
elementary
deliberate
favourite
different

196

Read the following English words aloud. Check the syllables

can be deleted. Follow the examp1e:
interesting

~
,

e.
d.
b..
c.
gf.

.1

that

h.
offered
understand
ddistribute
istribut ion J.1.a.
prefer
misunderstand
offering
preference

II
~i
1.J

Say how many syllables

syllable is stressei.l?
individually
individual

there are in the following

197

words. Which

Lexical Stress

'1. The foll(1wing words in English have a rolllanic origino Pine! the
Spul1ish translalion.

lJl1derlinc Ihc sll'cssed wOl'ds in eaeh case .

Lexical Stress

.0 oitit isis a11vcrh

oAlways
whclI
whcn
1101111
AlwHYS.

SP ANISH

ENGLISH
industrious
personal
mathematician
dcmonstration
pronunciation
refrigerator
fortunately
photography
contemporary
politics ize
autobiography
competence
personal
spontaneous

5.

Organize the following words

from Vaughan-Rees,
2002).
repeat
rebel
answer
debate
suspect
rcplay

subject
rewrite
mcrease
object
fiddle
produce

198

in the columns

below

vamish

contrast

damage
present
export
treasure
account

escape
credit

(adapted

regret
reply
pcrvert

199

UNIT IX. RIIYTHM

9.1 Rhythm in English and in Spanish

Every language has its own rhythm. The languages of the world are
generalIy classifed into two types on the basis of their segmental timing.
'~llable-tim~"
languages,
sueh
as
Spanish,
are
considered
jSQcht.o.n..ou~ exhibiting a highly regular pattem of sy llabie duration. In
contrast, are the "stress-timed 155" languages, such as English, whose
syllable timing varies greatly, both within and across sentential domains,

~llable-time_d_du1hm

means that aIl syIlables are equaIly distributed

along the speech chain, in the sense that the inherent quality and quantity
of each sOllnd is kept throughout the pronunciation
of the message. There
will be slight variations depending on the position of the stress. On the
contrary, a stress-timed rhythm implies an emphasis on prominent
syllables,
which show a greater duration in comparison
\Vith nOI1prominent syllables. Jt has traditionally been stated that sentences like:
The dog chases the cat
The QQR- \Vas chasing the cat
The dog has been chasing the cat

take more or less the same duration in their pronllnciation

given the fact
that aIl ofthem have the same l1umber ofprominent
syllables.
The borrowing rule explains that prominent syl1ables take up part of the
duratlOn inherent to Ilon-prominent (and thus, unstressed) syllables. This
155 Stress-timed
"syllable-timed"

rhythm or English rhythm

201

is stress timing. The same for

Rhylhm

phenomenon explains the great gap that exists in English between

stressed and unstressed sy llables, that is, between stressed and unstressed
words in a message. We could actually say that the time cmployed in
uttcring a scntcnec in English depends on the number of prominent
words. On the other hand, the time used to pronounee a Spanish sentenee
depends on the number of syllables. Given the same cireumstances, the
perception of Spanish will be noted as being more monotonous than that
of English.
So, the rhythm of English involves an alternation of stressed and
unstressed syllables, the former being _strong. and the latter normally
weak, .rcd~~d"" Having a number of stressed syllables in suceession is
unnatural in English, and this is ealled,staccaJp r.hy.thm. An essential
characteristic of English rhythm is 'that stressed syllables are longer,
clearer and higher in piteh and unstressed syllables are shorter, unelear
and lower in piteh. In Spanish unstressed syllables do not ehange their
quality and their vowels do not disappear.
This means that the difference between stressed and unstressed syllables
in a seIltence is very marked in English, espccially in familiar, rapid
speeeh.
In Inngllngcs likc Spanish, on thc contrary, thc contrast bctwccn strcsscd
nnd unstrcsscd syllablcs is not so l1larkcd, ano unstrcssco syllablcs arc
only a bit shorter than stressed sylIables, and normally they are as elear as
stressed sylJables.
However, this is not completely true, many studies have demonstraled
that, even in a language as theoreticalJy isochronous as Spanish, the
duration of sylJabic segments is as variable as their English counterparts.
Experimental studies have also shown that things do not really work this
way in the real world and that the more important difTerenee bctween
languages like English and Spanish is that EngIish differentiates very
markedly between stressed and unstressed syllables, making the first
mueh ]onger, elearer and louder.
In addition, stressed and unstressed syllable in English tend to altcrnate in
the Strcam of speech, which is the rcason why too many stressed syllables
202

Rhylhm

souno 'bad', as we have seen. This is precisely why we fino a particular

phenomerJ\hat is called stress shiftjqg" In sentences like the folIowing:
l. Mary just turned nineteen
2. May is nineteen years old
3. Sheila lives right next-door
4. The Flints are our next-door neighbors
5. Let's go to New York!
6. 1 used to read the New York Times on Sundays
The stress of words such as "nineteen", "next-door" and ''New York"
change depending on their syntagmatic position. The stress is shifted to
the first syllable if the word is in contact with another stress syIlable (as
in 2, 4 and 6). 111ishappens beeause of a necessity in English to kcep an
altemation of stress and unstressed syIlabJes. When the stress is shifted it
is called strcss-shifting.

9.2 Wcak amI Strong Forms of\Vords

In an English sentence eertain words are stressed, spoken with a clear,
full vowel, and other words are normally lInstresscd, spokcn rather
quickly and not vcry elcarly. This lattcr fcatme or English pronunciation
is thc rnain rcason why s01l1etirncs learners ~r English as an L2 have
difficulty understanding spoken English. In general, content words
(nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs and demonstratives) are more
important 'in the message. They are llsllalIy pronounced with a long,
strong vowel. On the contrary, function words or grammatical words
(artieles, auxiliary verbs, pronouns, prepositio:ns and conjunctions) are
pronounced with a short, weak vowel.
i
I

I
I

In order to aehieve a good rhythm in English, S;)anish spcakers need to

(a) slow down, (b) streteh out, and (e) very clyarly pronounee stressed
syllables. And they a]so need to reduce unstressed syllabJes. The two
most common mistakes made by non-native speakers are pronouncing
stressed sylJables too qllickly, and not redueing fllnetion words and
llnstrcssed sy lIables. Stress is the main sign' of word bOllndaries in
I

203

Rhylhm

Rhyllll/'

spokcn Innguagc (cquivalen( (o spaccs in wri((cn I!\nguagc),

Ihc listcncr where words bcgin and end.

which (ell

J{)"" Hnd .l0nn)' tb:lded tu b)' !\ rI'III. !\nd \\'h0n (hey' d hu~~htthl' ran".
they w<nlcd to sll it. (No stress on "ji.1J'I1I").
'

01' course, grammatical

words may also be pronounced
with more
prominence,
depending
on their importance
in the message. So, for
example, when a preposition is emphasized, it will be pronounced with a
long, strong syllable, as in the following example:

(Mott, 1996: 212-3)

Mott (1996: 212-3) mentions
>-

ExcIamatory

a few more exceptional

cases:

what is unstressed:

She c1imbed up the ladder, not down

What a bautiful
where the
inrormation.

preposition

"up"

is

emphasized

as

being

the

>-

Prepositions are also pronounced

the end ofthe sentence, as in:

pcture! What lvcly wather!

correct
The word slreet in names of streets is never stressed:

in ther strong form when they appear at

xford Street, Dwning Strect.

But Prk Lne, Chring Cross R6ad.

What are you looking at?

>-

Note that in Spanish it would not be normal to stress the preposition and
destress the noun unless special emphasis were demanded by the context:

In phrases
unstressed:

of

a parenthetical

nature

the

words

are

often

The various parts of the verb to be are generally unstressed

when they are a principal verb, except in final position:

even

"IIw do YOll d", M r Sm th.

"Y 6s," .he said.

- Quire habitacin en bo, o sn bo?

- Con bao.

>-

- Me ha dcho sn bo, n?
- He dcho en bao!

The trin was lte.

In this last sentence there is now a note of impatience, which warrants
the use ofthis special stress in Spanish (Mott, 1996: 212)
New information
is also emphasized,
as in "1 don't like grapes, 1 like
applcs" but when a sentence contains a word which has been used just
before, that word is not generally stressed. This is called the "anaphora
rule". Examples:

1 was witing for yu.

1 dn't know whre it s.
I lre we rc.

Hw many tmes have you ben there? Thre times. (No stress on

"t~mes").

So, in summary, words show a strong 01' weak form depending on their
role in the message. This has to do with sentenee stress. In a sentence,
only important words are stressed. This importance
is giving by the
wcigh cach sClllantic unit has in thc IlIcssagc, considcring (he discollrsal
contcxt: new information, change oftopic, emotional weight, and isolatcd
units are usually stressed. On the contrary, old information and most of
grammatical words are not stressed.

l,

t
204

205

Rhythm

Rhythm

9.3 Linldng and, Pausing: Pause.groups

Good rhythm in English also means speaking at a regular speed with
correct phrasing and pausing. Grouping function words together with
content words into phrases also helps the listener understand you. Pausing
(equivalent to punctuation marks in writing) lets the listener know where
the main grarnmatical unit ends and gives the listener time to figure out
the meaning. In l'act, pauses, together with other crit~ria" are used to
indicate intonation-groups, also known as tone units.
Pauses can be classified
classification) :

into two groups

(this

is one possible

a) Physiological pauses
b) Linguistic Pauses

when they indicate a special state ol' mind or interest on the part ol'
the speaker, as in "Mis amigos / son estupendos,,156
5. Meaningful pause: The meaning ol' the sentence changes drastically,
as in "Los libros / que son verdes / son mos" (meaning that there are
books elsewhere)" and "Los lib:'os que son verdes / son mos" (where
"que son vedes" only provides complementary information).
Another classification
(1997):

l'or pauses could 'be the l'ollowing, Cruttenden

1) The unfilled pause (i.e. silence)

2) and the filled pause.
Pauses, whether unfilled or not, are used as a phonetic criterion to de! imit
ton e units, together with changc of pitch Icvcl or pitch direction of
lInaccen ted syl1ables.

They coincide many times, meaning that we stop to breathe in at an

adequate point in the pronunciation ol' the message. That is, we take
advantage ol' a physiological necessity to distribute and organize the
message we want to transmito

Pauses seem typically to occur at three places in utterances:

(i)

Linguistically speaking, pauses delimit tone units. Tone units are chunks
ol' inl'ormation, with a specific intonational weight which is in connection
with the message we are sending. According to Quilis & Fernndez
(1996), Spanish pauses can be classified into the l'ollowing groups:
l. Final absolute pause: at the end ol' a statement
2. EnZ/merative paZ/se: in a sequence ol' items, as in "me gusta saltar /
reir / cantar..."
3. Explicative pause: when we extend or clarifY a piece ol' inl'ormation,
as in "el comandante de la nave / muy emocionado/ recibi su
condecoracin".
4. Potential pause: it depends on the intention ol' the speaker; they are
called hyperbatic when the canonical order of the sentence is altered,
as in "cuando llegamos / estaba cantando"; they are called expressive

Oi)

At major constitllcnt boundaries (principally bctwcen

elalises alld bctwcclI subjcct alld prcdicatc). Thcrc is a
correlation between the type ol' constituent boundary and the
length of pause, i.e. the more major the boundary, the longer
the pause.Moreover,
pauses tend to be longer where
constituent boundaries ,(usually i in this case sentence
boundaries) involve a new topie.
Before words ol' high lexical con~ent or, putting it in terms
ol' inl'ormation theory, at poihts ol' low transitional,
probability. So words preceded bya pause are oiten difficult
to guess in advance. This sort bf pause typically occurs
bel'ore a minor constituent boundary, generally within a
noun-phrase, or adverbial phrase, ie.g. between a determiner
and l'ollowing head noun.

156 When the subjeet is placed after the predicate, as in "Son estupendos mis
amigos", this typc ofpallsc docs not occur.
.

20()

20?

"",lll'llj

,\".,./J'"

(iii)

After thc first word in an intonation-group.

This is a typical
position for other 'crrors of performance',
e.g. corrections of
false starts and repetitions.

Pause type (i) is generally to be taken as indicating an intonation-group

boundary. Although this type of pause will typically be unfilled,it
may
sometimes be filled, and in such cases the filling seems to be used as a
turn-keeping device, particularly in conversation, i.e. it is used to prevent
an:>ther potential speaker interrupting the current speaker. AIso it cannot
be assumed that every intonation-group
boundary will have such a pause.
Pauses at intonation-group
boundaries, even where these occur at major
constitllcnt bOllndaries, may sometimes be obliterated rather than filled as
an allcrnativc method 01' tllrn-kceping. Whcn such oblitcration occurs, it
is frequentIy followed by a pause type (iii).
Pauses types (ii) and (iii) are generally to be taken
hesitation phenorncna. Typc Oi) indicatcs a word-finding

as examples
:rficulty.

of

Instrumental
measurements
have not demonstrated
conclusivcly
a
correlation between pause-type and pause-Iength.
lndeed tbe mnimum
threshold at which a pause is perceived has been put at different levels,
varying from one second down to one quarter of a second. A better
system for measuring pause may be to relate it to the length of syllables
or rhythm-groups
in surrounding speech. Whichever way of measuring is
used, most investigators find bOllndary pallses to be longer than hcsitntion
pauses.
It should by now be apparent that the criterion of pause as a marker of
intonation-group
boundaries
cannot be used on its own. Despite its
explicit or implicit lIse as sllch in muny studics !lnd textbooks
on
inton!ltion, pause does not always mark intonution boundaries, nor me
intonation boundaries always marked by pausc. Pallse can only be uscd as
a criterion for intonation boundaries
if considered together with other
external and internal criteria.

A hesitation pause before the nucleus (for the moment this can be thought
of as the accented syllable of the most prominent word in an intonation
group) is of rare occurrence.
But evidence from slips of the tongue
indicates that the word carrying the nuc\eus is planned well in advance.
Thus a hesitation pause of type (ii) will occur before a word of low
transitional probability although it is unlikely before a word carrying the
nucleus ofthe intonation-group
in which it occurs.
Pause !ype (iii), occurring afier the first word of an intonation-group,
seems to serve a planning function, i.e. it i<: essentially
a holding
operation while the speaker plans the remainder ofthe sentence.
Pauses types (ii) and (iii) are not ta1.:cn as markers 01' intonation-group
boundaries, beca use they do not resuIt in ut1erance chunks each 01' which
has a pitch patlern typically contained within an intonation-group.
Pause
types (ii) and (iii) are more common in all types ofunscripted
speech than
in rcading or prcparcd specch.

208

209

I
f.

c.
e.

b.

d.

Rhythm

Rhythm
a.

9.4 Exercises
1. Look at the following sentences. Underline the syllable that takes
the main stress in the words or phrases printed in italic.
a.

I always like working ouoors.

3.

I'm reaIly lucky to have

l'
found an ~utdoor job.
b. Put the TV on. We'I1 be just in time for the ten o 'clock news.
c. As a novelist I'd say he isfirst-'rate. But he's really a ~~econdrate poct.
d. My friend's Chihese - she plays in thelChinese orchestra.
e. I live in PiccaUilly, near 'Piccadilly Circus
f. 1 reaIly hatc'over-cooked vegetables.
g. They always wear reaIlY}llp-to-date cIothes.
h. y ou can take a hoat llpsfream from Grccnwich to
Westm inster.
I. y our food wiII be stone-~old if you don't eat it now.
j. She's a iwell-known actress, but I don't thnk she deserves
being so "well-igown".
k. My husband is a ~ood-Iooking guy, but yours is not so goodIlooking.
!. We only buy Jarm-fresh eggs.
m. The chips you bought were oven-~eady.

In the following exercise, underline sentence stress (stressed

syIlables, whether they are tonic or not) taking into account the
discoursal organization of information:
A. What did YOlldo with the books?
B. What do you think I didwith the books? 1 eft the books
where they should be.
A. Well, 1 don't think so. I cannot find them!
B. They are in the bookshelf.
A. l am talking about my Economics textbooks.
I3. Well, your textbooks are on the desk. Your fiction books are
on the shelf.

4.

Read the foIlowing sentences and ask a native speaker of English

to read them aloud as wel!. Measure the time with a
chronometer157

Telegraph: ARRlVING BJ!.NFORD STATlON

SATURDAY NOON. PLEASE~EET, LOVE JANE

2. Not aIl syIlables in a sentence are stressed in Bnglish. OnIy

important words bear stress in the sentence, this is what we calI
sentence stress. Besides, when a stressed word in a sentence is
eonsidered primarily stressed, it is said to bear a tonie syIlablc.
"Tonie" here is connected to the piteh level at that syIlabIe, that
is, the word is central in the intonation-grollP as showing a
ehange in the pitch level, thus forming part of what is caIled
nuclear tone. In the foIlowing series of sentences, underline
strcsscd syllablcs nnd doublcundcrline tonic syllnbles (Le.
primary stress in the intonation group) .

FlllI note: 1 shall be arriving at Bahford Station on Saturday

at noon. Please can you meet me? iIWith love from Jane
I

Now try saying the whole note as TUM ti TUMS, keeping your
TUMS at strictly regular intcrvals oftirhe:
ti ti ti ti TUM I ti ti TUM I ti TUM I ti ti TUM
TUM I TUM I ti ti TUM I ti ti TUM I ti TUM.

ti ti ti

......

1~7

210

(When do you have meat?) I always eat meat on Fridays

(A. I don't like tea). B. Do you fancy a cup of coffee?
(A. Are they Scottish?) B. My cousins are from the north of
England.
I think we wiII have fish and chips, for a change
I'd like to speak with Laurie.
I don't want to go to Cardiff, but I'd like to go to Edinburgh.

Excrcisc adapted from ]>onsollby's!!mv

211

1100V,hro\1'11 cmv!

1"\'

! "''''.

6.

Conseclltive

stresses

Long walk
Brown dog

taIl rnan
bright sun

159:

1 shall be ar I ri I ving at I Ban I ford I Sta I tion on' Sa

tllrday at I noon

11

Picase

can YOlll meet

froin

5.

Practice with the following

me, with

love

Jane.

blue sky
rnain road

green grass
fresh fruit

Shc went lar a long walk

I've bought a brown dog
He's looking for a tall rnan
[ love the bright sun
What a wonderful blue sky

nursery rhymesl58:

Te market, to markct,
To buy a fat pig.
Heme again, home again,
J iggcty ig.

T o market, to market,
To buy a fat hog.
Home again, home again,
Joggety jog
Humpty Dumpty saton a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fal!.
AIl the King's horses, and aIl the King's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again
Littlc 130 Peep
Has 10st her sheep,
And doesn't know where to find them.
Leave them alone

And they'lI come home,

Wagging thcir tails bchind thcm .

.
j

I
158

Exercise adapted from Ponsonby's How now, brown cow?

159

Exercise adapted from Ponsonby's How now, brown cow?

1
212

1
J

213

black cat
whole cake

UNIT X. INTONATION

10. 1 The Meaning of Intonation

In this section we will analyzc how nuent speakers of English segment

speech and highlight important information in discourse. The basic
function of nuclear stress and intonation in Cnglish is to focus the
listener's attention to what the speaker feels is important in his or her
message; in this sense, it is one of the fundamcntal fcaturcs of spokcn
English.
On the other hand, intonation also serves the very important function of
signaling the grammatical function of an utterance, and sometimes it
also conveys the speakers' attitude or emotional state. We will study
more closely the first two roles of intonation: semantic and grammatical.
Intonation is actually the sequence of pitch levels, as they are perceived
by the listener. Some ofthe sounds that we use:in specch (both in English
and Spanish) are produced with a vibration ofthe vocal folds. When the
vocal folds vibrate, the sound emitted is said t6 be voiced; when they do
not vibrate, the sound is defined as being a vpiceless sound. The vocal
folds are two elastie tissues situated at the glottis. When they
approxilllllte, the air stream that goes through ~cts the lolds into motion,
producing vibration. It is this vibration which i~ perceived as the piteh, or
tone. A higher rate of vibration will be percdived as a higher pitch; a
lower rate of vibration at the vocal folds willl be perceived as a lower
pitch. In reality, change in pitch is produced initwo ways: by tensing the
vocal cords, or by increasing subglottal pressur~.
I

In the pronunciation of an uttcrance, an aliernation of voiced and

voiceless sounds will occur. However, the listener will not perceive the

71'i

illlollalio/l

i/1l0llallOlI

gaps in 10ne between voiced ane! voicclcss sOllne!s, but rathcr the pitch
contour,
or \Vhat \Ve kno\V as intonution
will be perceived as a
eontinuum. This is the effect of a mental abstraction.

!
\'

11.

The possibility of alternating different rates of vibration at the vocal folds

and, therefore,
of producing different intonational
eontours,
is very
productive in lhe language. Spcakers usc intonation all the timc, wi1h
different functions. lntonation has four principal funeticns: grammatieal,
attitudinal, accentual and discourse.

r.

A TTITUDINAL

Inlonation reflecls lhe IIttitudc or emolional stale oflhc speaker: friendly,

business-like, hostle, happy, sad, ete. or even if the speaker is expressing
a partal or a complete agrecment. Basically conveyecl by means of pilch
range and pitch direction. For example, in greelings:
a. high

GRAMMA TICAL FUNCTION

lt has to do with the division into major constituents. The listener is able
to recognize the grammatieal and syntaetie strueture of what is being said
b:y using the information contained in the intonaton, for example such
things as the placement of bOllndares between phrases or sentenees are
marked by the tone lInits. This is the grarnrnatical
function of intonation.
COllper-KlIhlen

(1986) illustrates

the so-called

English intonation, (ha( is, in(ona(ional

by means ofthe following examples:
a. John's

going

'\o

contras(s

grammatical

fllnction

FUNCTION

III.

11

good

/ morning // cheerfuJ and frendly

morning /1 routine and perfunctory

b. low // good

'\o

ACCENTUAL

FUNCTION

It highlights important words. Intonation contributes to produce the effect

of prominence on the nuclear stress of a tone unt, this is the accentual
fllnction of intonation.

of

related to scntcnce-typc,

home.

IV.

DISCOURSE

FUNCTION

b. John's going / home.

c. Shullhe '\o door.
d. Shut lhc /

A lone-group is a unil 01' informalion, and tonicily is lhe location 01' the
key word in a unit of information.
Changes in tonicity show us what
information
is new and what is given. There are also cues to indieate
whether it is our turri to speak and what sort ofresponse
is expeetcd ..

door.

The use of a rising contour as opposed to a falling contour appears to tllrn

a statement (a) into a qllestion (b), a command (e) into a request (d).

Intonation can signal to the listener what is new and old nformation, or
, can suggest when the speaker is indicating some contrast with material in
another tane unit (contrastive stress). These functions are examples ofthe
discourse function of intonation.

On the other hand, intonation is claiined to disambiguate

what would
otherwise be an ambiguous syntactic construction. For example:

Al: //1 met / Mary and Elena's mother / at themall yesterday //

A2: //1 met / Mary / and Elcna's mother / at themall yesterday //

216

ii

j,

217

intonation

intonation

According to Brazil et alii (1980) a falling (proclaiming) tone marks the

information
as 'new, whereas a fall-rise (referring
tone) marks the
information as given:

of this physiological
necessity and, if possible, tries to make them
coincide with key points in the speech. That is to say, we pause to breathe
in at points where a tone unit finishes. We must remember here that a

n. Qucstiol1: When will he be twcnty?

Answer: 11 He'll be '\ /' twenty 11 in '\ August

tone unit is a linguistic structure with a specific function in spcech,

coherent structure from the point of view of syntax and semantics,
cohcsivc unit with a compact fllnction in the message.

a
a

11

Each tone unit typically:

b. Queslion: How old will he be in August?
Answer: 11 He'll be '\ twenty 11 in '\ /' August

1.
2.
3.
4.

11

A rising (marked referring) tone means that the area of convergence

needs reactivation.
And with a rise~fall (marked procIaiming tone) the
speaker is simultaneously
adding inforrnation both to the common ground
and to his own store of knowledge, this meaning is more evident in
responses to unexpected news.
c. 111went to the /'

cinema

and then 1 went back homell

The

10.2 Tbe Structure

l'

Arthur//

of a Tone Unit

Pauscs havc trnditionally

been used as a marker to delimit tone units.
Pauses are necessary in speeeh: they are used so that we can inhale air in
the respiration process, we would not be able to go on speaking without
air coming out of our Iungs. However, the human being takes advantage

"Grupc; jnico" or "tonema" in Spanish.

218

element

is a syllable

that receives
stress),

what

we will call

and this is precisely

(The

Intonation units are the same as the pause groups we have seen above.
This is ho\V the speech streal11 is divided into structured ullits. Other
.
"
. 160 . TIlere IS
terms j'or pausc group are: mtonatIon
groups or tone umts
not a general agreement as to which terrn should be used, and different
authors use different terrninology.

160

prominent

nuclear stress (in what is known as sentence

the nucIeus of a tone unit.

speaker is Iying when he says he wenl lo (he cinema)

d. Do you know who's been chosen? ~/\;.

is set off by pauses before aJILlafier,

contains one prominent element,
has an intonation contour of its own,
has a grammatically coherent internal structure.

I
j

There is no infallible way to divide an lltterance into tone units. In rapid

speech, tone urtits may be fairly long; in slow speech, they may be
shorter, and breaks between units will be therefore more frequent. Where
the utterance division falls will also dcpend on the individual speaker,
with some speakers producing fewer or more brcaks than others. FinaJJy,
such divisions
are dependent
on the cantext.
Public speakers,
for
exampIe, tend to pause frequently to make their message cIearer or more
el11phatic, as in a political statement:

1 prornise / to serve / my fellow citizens / toI 1110bcst / of Il1Yability

Takt; also into account that too many pauses I (and in consequence
tone
units) can slow down speech and create too Inany prominent elements, .
causing lilc listener a difficu:ty in comprehendiing the overall message.
1

There are other criteria to identify tone units. Generally, the last syllable
in a tone unit is lengthened. AIso, the last prbminent syllable in a tone
unit (also called the nuclear stress, that is, ce~tral stress in the tone unit)
shows a variation in the direction ofthe pitch leve!: at that point, the pitch
can sllffer an increase or a decrease, going up dr down.

219

/lI/r}/Jull(l1l

lO.4

According

(o Quilis

& Fernndez (1996), Spanish (one units are typically

eomposed of 8 to 11 syllables, although there could be 1 syIlable long

tone units, as in a yes-no answer. The duration of a tone unit, both in
English and Spanish, really depends on the syntactie and semantic
structure of the utterance, the rate of speech and the discoursnf context.

The basic structure ofthe tone unit is:

(pre-head) (head) nucleus

01'

1I

tonic sy]]abIe (tail)

TOllic syIlable: the syllable in the tone unit which stands out because
it carries the major pitch change.

Head: all that part of a tone group that extends fTom the first stressed
syllable up to (but not including) the tonic syllable. Ifthere is no stressed
syllable preceding the tonie sylJable, there is no head.

Pre-head:

alJ the unstressed syllables in a tone group preeeding the

first strcssccl sy lIable.

Rull'S rol' LOl'nt!lI~ NlIl'knr Strt.'ss

There are three basic rules to know which word has nuclear stress. The
first is where the speaker places prominence on new information. Within
a tone unit, words expressing old 01' given information (this rneans
infonnation that is semantically predictablc) are unstressed nnd spoken
with lower pitch, while words expressing new infom1ation are spoken
with strong stress and higher pitch. Normally, it is the last content word
that tends to have prominence:

Patricia:
John:
Patricia:

AILAdy's urrlbrella?
i
f
iyES, atlady's um~rella with STARS on it. 'GREEN1stars

Ariadna:
Jan:
Ariadna:

He perdido mis gaLLEtas

Tus galletas de chocoLAte?
SI, las del paquete con esTREllas. Las estrellas aZUles.

I've lost an umBRELIa

Tail: any syllables between the tonie syllable and the end ofthe tone
lInit.

In this eX3.mple, "umbrelIa"

inforl11ation;

10.3 Definition ofNucIear Stress: Prominence

As we have seen, just as individual utteranccs can be divided into words
and these words into syllables, so to the ]arger stream of speech can be
broken into smaller units, which we have ealled pause groups 01' tone
units. One characteristic of these tone units is that they contain at least
one prominent eIement, which is the most stressed word in that group.
The discourse context generally inf1uences whieh stressed word in a
given utterance receives prominencc, that is, which word the speaker
wants to emphasize.

howcwr,

in

the first tone unit fllnctions as

in John's

reply

"Iady's"

rel:civcs

nc\V

promincnl:c

because it is new information. In Patricia's second utterance, both

"umbrella" and "I",oy's" are old information, whereas "stars" and "green"
are new information, thus receiving prominence. A similar analysis can
be done of the Span ish conversation.

I
I

A second circumstance goveming 'the placement of prominence is

emphatic stress, when the speaker wants to place special emphasis on a
particular eIement. In the phrase "I'm NOT going to class today", for
instance, the speaker rhight want to mean a strong negative attitude
toward the fact of going to class.

The third circumstance goveming the placement of prominence is

contrastive stress. In this case, two parallel elements can receive
prominence within an utterance. For example, in the utterance "I didn't
rncet the PREsident, 1 met the EX-president" both "president" and "ex"
are prominent, they are contrasted by the speaker.

220
221

lntonation

lntonation

1) they should be under the speaker' s control,

2) they must be perceptible to the human ear,
3) they are capable of contrasting with another item.

10. 5 Tone and ~ntonation Languages

Languages of the wor/d are different according to how they treat
intonation within their linguistic structure. There are tone Ianguages like
Chinese and many African languages, in which differences in tone signify
differenccs ofmeaning within a word. The classical examplc comes from
the root ma in Mandarin Chinese, which means:
ma with a level tane means "mother"
ma with a with a rising tone means "hemp"
ma with a low fall-rise means "horse"
ma with a with a faJling tone means "scold"
These languages therefore use ton e to difTerentiate words; tone is then a
phonoIogical feature. However, in language like English or Spanish tone
is used in a different way, different tones do not change the fundamental
meaning of a word, rather they reflect the discourse context within which
a word occurs. Consider the following example:
Yes with a level tone denotes boredom or tiredness from the part of the
speaker.
Yes with a rising tone indicates that the speaker is ready to listen.
Yes with a falling-rising tone means that the speaker is unsure or dubious.

10. 6 Tonality, Tonicity and Tone

Intonation is concerned with three matters:

1.

TON E

As in the example above, yes with a rising tone [,/] signals a question,
whereas yes with a falling tone [\o] it is a factual answcr. Thcsc
differences are of tone. Tone in a tone unit is selected from a number of
tone-patterns. Languages do not use rises and falls in identical ways:
Spanish uses rising contours in questions much more than English and
that is why Spaniards very often have to ask English speakers of Spanish
whether they are asking a question or making a statement. Every
language or dialect has its own characteristic intonation patterns and
th:.::se are more noticeable in some language varieties (as Welsh and
Galician) than in others because of the "sing-song" quality of the
pronunciation

Herc, the word "yes" docs not changc its fundamental meaning, it simply
implies different attitudes [rom tbe part oftbe speaker.
Languages which do not use tone for lexieal contrast but have a melody
spread over a complete utterance, such as English or Spanish, are called
intonation languages. By varying the direction of the pitch in these
languages, we introduce attitudinal or grammatical changes, not lexical
ones.
As Roach (1983) explains, we will not be interested in all aspects of a
speaker's pitch, but only in those which carry 1inguistic information.
There are three necessary conditions for pitch differences to be
linguistically significant:

222

11.

TONALITY

In tonality the choice is that of the i location of the tone unit

boundaries. The particular part of a sentenc~ over which a particular
pattern of pitch extends is called a torie unit oritone group. Whenever we
have a complex sentence, each of its compohents has a different ton e
unit. A ton e unit is a unit of information rhther than a syntacticaJly
defined unit. However, there is a strong tendel~cy for the tone unit to be
co-extensive with the clause; and the nuclear tqne mostly falls on the last
1exical item in lhe ton e unit.
:

223

illlUlI<lllOl/

/1//oll<l/iOI/

// He's a teacher / a cook / and a painter //

// He's going / because he's young //

i
A: Excuse me
13: Yes?

],

4.

TONICITY

11r.

Fall-Rise

['"

l']: the piteh descends and then rises again. This tone is

used a lot in EngIsh and it has rather special functions. It may rnean
"Iimited agreement" or "response with reservations".
It is al so used
when the speaker is unsure, and it is also used in parentheticals
like

Tonicity is a synonym for prominence.

As we have seen, this refers to
the position ofthe prominent word within a tone unit. For example,

well, really.
1 want you to LEA VE
and
1 want YOU to leave

A: 1've heard phonetics

13: Ves .oo
5.

differ only in tonicity. In tonicity the choice is that of the location of the
nuclear tone in the tone unit (tonie syllable or nucleus).

10.7

The Forms

According

of English

and Spanish

Level [~]:

2.

FalI ["']:

Intonation

So me scholars distinguish between high

each speaker has his or her own normal
pitch) and a bottom level (low pitch), that
In ordinary speech the intonation tends to
ofthe speaker's pitch range, and emotional

from a higher to a lower pitch. This tone is

regarded as more or less "neutral". If someone is asked a question

and replies yes or no with a falJ it wilI be understood that the question
is answered and there is nothing more to be said. This tone gives an
impression of finality. It is used in statements, wh-questions,
and
Falling
Rising
eommands, and in tag-questions eliciting agreement.
Please come here!

the piteh rises and then it descends.

Here you have a summary

movement

from a lower pitch to a higher one. In a variety

of ways, this tone givcs an impression that something more will

folIow. It is therefore used in yes/no questions, repetition-questions,
unfinished statements, open~choice questions, enumeration,
and tag
questions signaling uncertainty.

,,

224

ofEnglish

Complete
Business-like
Forcing-to-agree
Strong
Something
commands.
excJamations.
and
mQre
--(neutral)
definite
isquestions
toquestion.
folIow:
statements.
wh-questions.
invitation
toMain functions
Normally
used
in tag
enumerations
(and
ShOli,
quite
short
(yes
/ no).relatcd
continue.
except the lastelements):
one ( which
falling). parts,
co-ordinated
the isdifferent

Rise [l']:

IS

or surprise.

falJ and low fall, ete. In fact,

pitch range: a top level (high
is, there are no absolute values.
take place within the lower part
speech within the upper parto

with the main functions

3.

disapproval

This tone

A: Your girlt'ricnd is rcally nicc

13: Ves!!

it sounds very unnatural

it descends

[l' "']:

used to convey strong feelings of approval,

to Roach (1983) the folJowing are the tones of English:

1.

Rise-Fall

is a lot of fun
oo.

225

tones:

~I
!

Intonation

---c.
b.

A
questioning
When
Correcting
somebody
somebody.
feels
tired.
Greetings.
Yes!
Question
Warnings.
No
questions
Tags:
(the
tone).
Exc1amations
"Quite
Grumbling
Usually
It's
Soothing
Wh-qucstions:
generally
intcrestcd"
on
or
asingle-syllable
encouraging
-statement:
associated
about
-exc1amation.
Rcpcating
tone
something
for
reproaches,
to
statements
what
utterances:
wh-questions.
limited
unexpected.
someonc
agreement
(attracting
it part
askcd
Reserved
statements,
complete,
first
of
-usual
Not
ShJrt
forcing-to-agree
questions
after
tag
a not
command.
questions;
Same-way
question
tags;
and
a.
attention
).
or
response
with
reservations
("but").
conjunction.
auninteresting
statement
before
a pause
orsomething
before
a routine,
you.
complaints.
names
conveys
ofastudents
feeling
of
from
saying
a register).
or boring
(a
teacher
calling
the

According
Spanish:

to Quilis & Fernndcz

(1996)

the following

Intonation

AdditionalIy,
Spanish:

Aguijar

(2000)

expJains

are the tones of

1. Level [~]: (suspensin, tonema horizontal)

2. Fall [\o]: (cadencia, tonema descendente)
3. Low FalI: (semicadencia, tonema descendente)
4. Risc [)']: (anlicadencia, lonema ascendente)
5. Low Risc: (semianticadencia, tonema ascendente)

226

227

that there are five "tonemas"

inlonation
ANJ'/('/If

Jf'.N('f:l

(11)

El plinto + alto de la

lnea Ional de lInafrase,

Semianticadencia (t)
del entorno meldico.
Suspensin (~)
la lnea tonal de lafrase.
Semicadencia (.J,)
del entorno meldico.

Movimiento

Movimiento descendel,lte
El punto + bajo de la

80th the semicadencia and the semianticadencia

the nevcr mark thc end of

are in utterance interna! positions and

1) Level
[-1-]:
(suspensin,
tonema
horizontal)
It indicatcs
incompIeteness, so it appears every time a scntence is not inishcd, whcl1
the speaker is looking for a word or preparing what he/she is going to say
next. AIso in enumerations.
El sobrino, totalmente agotado, abri la puerta de su casa
In the example, the first tone unit ("el sobrino") shows a level con tour,
the second ("totalmente agotado") a rise intonation, and, the last one
("abri la puerta de su casa") has a fall intonation.

thc dtterancc. Hcrc you havc somc cxamplcs of questions:

Absolutasl61:

(a.!) Se va maana?

According to Quilis & Fernndez (1996), these are the gramlll:!tical

functions of Spanish intonation:

Ausencia de cambio en

CADENCIA (JJ)
lnea tonal de una frase.

(A)

ascendente

11

(a.2) ,Quicrcs aprender ms ingls

t y en menos tiempo?

(13) I'rolJuminales12:
(b.l) Dnde 11 vas? JJ
(b.2) Qu 11 esperan ustedes de ellos?

11

2) FuI! [\ ]:(cadencia, tonema descendente)

but also in some qllestions.

Typically

in s(atcl11cn(s,

JJ

Me voy a mi casa
3) Low FaIl: (semicadencia, tonema descendente). It is used to indicate
that the message is not completely defined, it shows uncertainty, that the
speaker is not confident on what he/she is saying.
4) Rise [./]: (anticadencia, tonema ascendente). It is uscd in qlJcstions
(especially yes-no questions), but aIso in sllbordinate clauses, between the
main clause and the subordinate one.
A quien madruga Dios le ayuda
The intonation rises at t"'e end of the subordinate
madruga".
5) Low Rise: (semianticadencia,
opposition or a contrast.

16\
](,2

tonema ascendente).

Yes/No questions.
Wh-word qllestiol1s.
228

229

clause "a qUien

It indicatcs an

lntonation
I Iere you haye a ,summary

01'

the main Spanish tonaluses:

never
normal
are
as
or
more
abut
two
ameanmg
choice
bofetwcen
statements,
conveying
questlOns Normal
Tone
used
Simple
questions
end
in
a rising
Questions
statements
which
end
elicitinan
information
aanswer
falling
When
a yes/no
qucstion
clicits
thatend
ents
because
they
pitch
rises
with
each
is
pitch,
pitch
always
begin
with
choice,
option.
and then
falls
the same
final
ons
pattem
in
a falling
pitch.question
Thiswith
iswords,
the

lntonation

10.8 F.xcrciscs
1,

In the following English sentences

(extracted
from
dialogues) underline which word should bear contrastiye
. Example:

different
stress.

l.a. We would like to order two white coJJees

l.b. No, 1 want a black coffee

2.a. My daughter goes to bed arB.30

2.b. Mine goes to bed at 9.00 .

3.a. I'd like to meet al 2.15

3.b. I'd better meet at a quarter to two

4.a. Would you like an ice cream?

4.b. I don't like ice cream

S,a. Did YOll buy that green cardigan?

S.b. No, I got the red one

6.a. So your Jather works as a doctor

6.b. No, my mothcr docs.

7.a. You 'refrom New York, lllnderstand

7.b. I'm from Indiana
Finally, Spanish speakers
1)

Spanish

speakers

8.a. 1 used to live in South Dakota, like you

have to take into account that:

S.b. Ilived

9.a. Wuuld yuu like tu go tu the cinema'!

seem to use too narrow a pitch range. In contrast,

English spcakcrs start quite high and finish fairly low in thcir rangc. so
that's why Spanish studcnts fail to convey "involvement"
or "interest" in
convcrsations with English speakers.
2) Final falling pitch moycment (i.c. statemcnts Or last items in a lisl): It
may not sound low enough.
3) Thc rise-fall seems difficult perhaps due to the pitch-reversal
itself.
Especially on short phrases or on one sy llable ("Oh" or "W onderful
idea! ").

9.b. I'd p,cfer to stay at home

I O.a.

So you \I'ork as a tele;/one operatm'

10.b. I am an engineer
2.

In these scntenecs
primarily stressed.
example:

\,

1 don't know

\, Jane

Jack

/', bu~ 1 do know her

\, fath /' er

I
I
I

a.
b.

Do not eat the banana pie; led have so me apple pie

Carrots are much hcalther thm1 chips

c.

Wc're not going to Paris thisl weekend, we're going to

!
,
London.
My father was born in 1936, aIjd rny mother in 1945

d.
230

some words are in contrast and, therelore, are

Underline the heavjly stressed words as in the

Example:
A good intonation, i.e. the use 01' an appropriate intonational contour, is many
times more important than a good pronunciation 01' individual sounds. This is
vcry important for L2 leamers. Intonation is perceived as a continuum all
through the utterance: even if some segments were not clearly pronounced, the
final impression 01' a gooo intonation, will somehow compensate for a
mispronunciation
at
the
segmental
leve!.

in NortL "akota

231

llllUIJUIIUIJ

ill/Ollil/IOII

~.
r.
g.

I wcnt to South Amcrica

Ameriea in the fall

h.
i.

1 don't like bananas, but 1 love banana split

My friend Brittany Jives in New York, but her boyfriend
lives in Spain
1 didn't say "green", 1 said it was red

J.

algunos botes pero yo me tuve firme

era su amo castigndoJe con la espuela
el pecho y retcnindole
por la hrida
pucsto dc pic sobrc los cuartos trascros
doblar mansamente la rodilla haciendo

He worked as a telephone operator in 1989, and as an

engineer in 1990
The fonner was built in 1970, thc latter in 1977
in thc

summcr,

to North

y sereno mostrndoJe que

tocndole con el ltigo en
Luccro quc casi sc haha
sc humill cntonces hasta
una reverencia.
V ALERA: Pepita Jimnez

5.

In the foIlowing
be placed.

text, indicate where the pauses

would probably

1
3.

Find the parenthesis:

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
1.

j.
4.

The president of USA George W. Bush was re-eJected

Queen EJizabeth Prince's Charles mother got sick after
her first pregnancy
Nick NoIte the famous actor got the Oscar award
Armstrong
thc American astronaut left the NASA 10
years Jater
Manchester
United the famous soccer team didn't win
the championship that year
Hugh Grant the 13ritish actor presented his new film
AIJ our friends who were at the party got fooci poisoned
Cervantes the famous Spanish writer spent some time in
pnson
My parents both from Florida got married in Miami
Elvis Presley the welJ-known singer was from Memphis

In the foIlowing
be pJaced.

text, indicate where the pauses would probably

Libya this country has been begging to play the part for some
time Icd by the cross-dressing
Muamar Khaddafi Libya mccts
many of the nccessary requirements
for Most-I-Iated Status we
think they may have had something to do with blowing up Pan
Am flight 103 (suspicion alonc is enough for us to scnd in thc
Marines the proof we can always manufacture
later) Libya also
keeps trying to make nuclear weapons and in a slap to the rest of
the world it refuses to field a team for the Winter Olympics but it
has no probJem sending miIJions of dolJars to Louis Farrakban.
MICHAEL MOORE: Downsize tbis!

I,

6.

!
,

232

(1)

A:
B:
A:
B:

(2)

A: What do you think?

B: 1 don't like the colour

!
,

I
No bien sinti Pepita el ruido y alz Jos ojos y nos vio se Jevant
dej la costura que traa entre manos y se puso a miramos Lucero
que segn he sabido despus tiene ya la costumbre de hacer
piernas cuando pasa por delante de la casa de Pepita empez ,a
retozar y a levantarse un poco de manos yo quise calmarle pero
como extraase al jinete desprecindoJe tal vez se alborot ms y
ms y cmpcz a dar resorlidos
a hacer corvetas y aun a dar

Read the foIlowing dialogue with a partner. Then listen to a

native speaker. Pay attcntion to the differences in tonicity163:
Can 1 help you?
I'm looking for a dress
They're on the second floor.
Thank you

A: I thought you liked red.

13: 1 prefer blue

(3)

1(,1

Exercise

A: ShaIl we eat here?

B: Let's sit over there

adapted

Crom M. 1!ewings's
233

Pro/lu/lcia/io/l

Tasks.

lntonation
A: Under that tree?
B:'The other one.

7.

Rend the f'ollowing dialogue wilh n pnrtner. Then listen

native speaker. Pay attention to the differences in tonalityl64:

UNIT XI. CHECK YOUR KNOWLE

to a
);>

(1)

A: Was it expensive?
B: Quite expensive
A: How much?
B: A thousand

(2)

1dentify the following

o

1.

2.

pounds

statements'as

TRUE (T) or F ALSE (F)

At first, babies produce different

depends on the language they hear.
1nfants
can discriminate
place
contrasts.

babblings,it
and

voicing

'T

3.

__
The
child's
mispronunciations
are due to
production difficulties and not to perceptual difficulties,
he has the right Undcrlying
Representations
of the
sounds.

r:::

4.

__
L1
similar.

~\

5.

A: 1s it stilJ raining?
B: 1 think so.
A: Heavily?
B: Not vcry.

(3)

'; E

and

L2

phonological

acquisition

are

very

__
Thc acquisition
of an L 1 is almost always
completed when the child is 7 or 8 years old.
6. __
There are two types of acquisition of an L2: guided
and non-guided (or natural). The first one is related to
"learning" and the sccond to "acquisition".
7. __
Lcarning
English as a t'orcign 01' as a sccond
"
language are similar terms.
~'i' 8. __
1nterlanguages are systcmatic and static.

A: What's on TV tonight?
B: A horror fi1m.
A: Is it good?
13: 've heard it is

~~\_9.

__
There
are no cases
of substitutions
and
simplifications
in the Interlanguage (IL).
~\l O. __
There are similarities between the 1Ls of different
learners; in fact they can bei grouped depending on the
i
LI.
11. __
12. __

The speaker is constant ~n his/her pronunciations ..

are linguistic
Fossilizable
linguistic i phenomena

items, mIes, and sUbsysters

which speakers
of a
particular NLl65 wilJ tend to ~ecp in their IL relative to a
particular TL 166, no matter what the age of the learner or
I

165
164

Exercise adapted fram M. Hewings's Pronul1ciatiol1 Tasks.

234

166

i
i

Native Language.
Target Language.

I
I

235

Check yo

amount

111'

Check YOIll' Kl1oIV/edge

KI/o\l'/edge

of cxplanation

and instruetion

he reeeives

in the

TL.

explain those cases oi' nterfcrence

fOllnd.

that had becn already

13. __
Fossilization can al so be fOllnd in phonology but it
is much common in grammar.
14. __
According
to Eckman's
(1977) Markedness
Oifferential
Hypothesis
(MOH), unmarked phenomena
are acquired before marked phenomena.
15. __
Vocalic epenthesis is a phonological process where
one element is elided.

23. __
J. Kcn\\'orlhy
(19l)O:'1-9) llames some imH\rl:ml
factors in the acquisition
ol' an L2: Age; Quantity 01'

l6. __

25. __
We can say that a phoneme has a low funetional
oad whcn its occurrence is very freqllent.

Contrastive

Analysis

(CA) was introduced

by Lado

(1857).
l7. __
CA tries to predict all the possible difficulties in the
acquisition of an L2 and these predictions will be bascd
on a comparison of the phonological systems of L! and

L2.

exposition;
Phonetic ability; Identity and attitude; and
Motivation for a good pronuneiation.
24. __
When the native language has a similar phoneme,
this of course will be transferred.
This is the case of
Spanish lel and Idl and English ItS! and Id/.

26. __
The best way to detect a 1'oreign or NN aecent is
rcading a word list. On the contrary, it \ViiI bc more
difficult
to detect
when
listening
to an infonnaI
conversation.

18. __
It is sllpposed (CA) tl1at it will be Il1l1cl1easier to
learn those elements which are similar to L! (negative
transfer)
and much more difficult
those which are
different (positive transfer). In fact, this negative transfer
or "interference"
is the origin of the difficulties in the

27. __
The learner's age 01' arrival to the eOllntry where
this TL is spoken and the age when he was exposed to
this language for the firsttime seem to be crucial factors
in order to determine whether this earner wiIl acquire a
nativelike accent.

aequisition of al! L2.

Before Lado (1957), Weinreich (1953) had already
described seven types of transfers: Sound SlIbstitution;
PhonoJogical
Processes;
Overdifferentiation;
Underdifferentiation;
Reinterpretation
of Oistinctions;
Phonotactic Interference; and Prosodic Interference.
20. __
Overdifferentiation
refers to those cases where two
phonemcs of L2 correspond to onc single phoneme in

28. __

]9. __

LJ.

21.

lJnderdiffercntiation

refers

to those

cases

whcrc

The Critical Period Ilypothesis claims that a person

must be exposed to a language during a certain period of
time (also ealled scnsitive period for those more sensitive
to the term eritical) in order to acq lIire that language
natively; otherwise, if exposed to that language after the
critica! period (CP), nativelike competence
eannot be
achieved.

29. __
Although
acquisition,
it
acc]\lisition.

the
was

CP was first proposed

for
soon extended
to explain

L2
L1

onc single phoncll1c of,LI corr(:sponds to t\Vo dilTerent

phonemes oI' L2.
22. __
Wardhaugh (1970) proposed a distinction between
a "strong" and a "weak" version of the CA. The weak
version would only cxplain thosc diffieulties
already
found when learning an L2. So, this weak version of the
CA was based on real proofs and it should make
reference to both systenis (L! and L2) only in order to

236

237

UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA
Fac. Filologa Biblla!eC3

~ _..

--

.--.--.

----~~__-._'

__ k""" __

'_~_"_'~

__ ._~

~_.

..._

THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH CONSONANT

- tI del
k/g
h ------~1s/z
-w
-Palato1)
J- Labio-xl
---Alveolar
s/Velar
Glottal
Interdental
Palatal
--.-alveolar
PostLabiodental
f/- k/g
Bilabial
DentaJ
8 1-tI- df..J1--1} f/v
8/5
m
English
--Engli~
English
Jp/b
13

IV
v..>

-r alveolar

rI

PHONEMES

tJ I- d3

~_""-_._-......-

.__

..

BlBLlO(;RAPllY

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