KIRCHNER ON PHONOLOGY.

WORKSHOP
Names: Mariana Ramos - Geraldine Rangel
Leyder Góngora - Juan Felipe Perdomo

1. Why is written language considered more important than spoken language to most of sciences?
Because language is thought of principal in terms of the written word, so in this form we usually
make permanent records of important ideas.

2. Why does linguistics consider spoken language more important than written language? (three
options)
a. Written language appeared before spoken language.
b. All of the languages have a writing system.
c. Spoken language appeared before written language.
d. Not all the languages have a writing system.
e. Written and spoken languages are learnt at the same time.
f. Spoken language is easier and faster to learn.

3. Read both definitions and complete the chart:

PHONOLOGY PHONETICS
It investigates the mental system for
It deals with measurable, physical properties of
representing and processing speech sounds
speech sounds themselves.
within particular languages.

4. Indicate if the following statements are true or false.

PROPOSITIONS TRUE FALSE
a. Spoken language is the axis of linguistics studies. F
b. Phonetics and Phonology are the same science. F
c. The most important in phonetics is the way words are spelled. F
d. The IPA is an American system of transcription, in which the symbols
T
correspond straightforwardly to sounds.
e. Spanish and English have the same amount of consonant sounds. F
f. Spanish has less vowels sounds than English. T
5. Indicate the number of letters and the number of sounds each word has. /5
Words Letters Sounds
Phonetics 9 8
Sound 5 5
Speech 6 4
Language 8 7
Spell 5 4

6. How many diphthongs are there in the English language? Please write them
In English, we have eight diphthongs, which are:
● ai (hide)
● aʊ (round)
● əi (avoid)
● iə (there)
● ei (way)
● eə (fair)
● ʊe (tour)
● əʊ (show)

7. What is the most important thing to consider when you need to make a phonetic transcription?
When you are doing a phonetic transcription, you need to focus in the sounds of the words,
nt in the letters.

8. Exercise 1 (page 8) from the Kirchner on Phonology document.

a. Shain - ʃaɪn
b. bjuty - bjuː·ti
c. Wrentʃ - rentʃ
d. papr - peɪ·pər
 e. jampiŋ - dʒʌmpiŋ
f. sævædʒ - sæv·ɪdʒ
g. uzr - juː·zər
h. ʃed - ʃed
i. tichr - tiː·tʃər
j. his - hɪz
9. Exercise 2 (page 9) from the Kirchner on Phonology document.

a. Box
b. Bled
c. seen
d. Cloth
e. Sang
f. Stair
g. Boot
h. Rod
i. Yam
j. Each
10. Exercise 3 (page 9) from the Kirchner on Phonology document.

a) Board: bɔːd
b) Touch: tʌʧ
c) Queen: kwiːn
d) Graph : grɑːf
e) Feelings: fiːlɪŋz
f) Laundry: ˈlɔːndri
g) Crime : kraɪm
h) Thigh: θaɪ
i) Shoot: ʃuːt
j) Belong : bɪˈlɒŋ

11. Exercise 4 (page 9) from the Kirchner on Phonology document.

Why is English spelling so inconsistent?

English spelling reliable corresponds to pronunciation is the language was spoken of words has
changed dramatically in that time, but spellings haven't been systematically updated to reflect this
sound changes. Acceptance also erase due to borrowing from other languages. The spellings are
often borrow too and the results frequently conflict with normal English spelling rules, for example
Italian (were the letter C is pronounced "Ch") versus English cel (were C is pronounced S)