• Difference between phonetics and phonology;

• Consonants: the way and place they are produced, + voiced/voiceless;

• 3 plosives (/p/ /b/, /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/);

• 5 fricatives (/f/ /v/,/D/ /T/, /s/ /z/, /ʃ/ /ʒ/, /h/)

• 1 affricate (/ʤ/ /ʧ/)

• 3 nasals (/m/ /n/ /ɳ/)

• 1 liquid/lateral (/l/)

• 1 approximants (/r/)

• Semivowels/approximants: /w/ & /j/

• Vowels: their position open/close front/central/back

• 7 short vowels (/ɪ/ /ʊ/ /ə/ /e/ /æ//ʌ//ɒ/)

• 5 long vowels (/i:/ /u:/ /ɜ:/ /ɑ:/ /ɔ:/)

• 8 diphtongs

• 3 centring /eə/ /ɪə/ /ʊə/

• 5 closing /aʊ/ /əʊ/; /eɪ/ /aɪ/ /ɒɪ/

• Minimal pairs, homophones & homographs

To adequately define a vowel, we need to look at it in articulatory, acoustic, and functional terms:

• In articulatory terms, vowels are sounds articulated with no obstruction of the air stream (as in the
case of consonants), that is, with open articulation. There is lack of central closure of the air stream,
though the tongue may come into contact with the teeth on the sides.

• In acoustic terms, vowels are sounds that vary in pitch, which is determined by the quality of the
sound wave. Pitch is modified by changing the shape of the resonating chamber (the oral and,
sometimes, the nasal tracts) by changing the position and shape of tongue and lips and by lowering
or raising the velum. (Pitch = intensità di tono)

• In functional terms, vowels constitute the nucleus, or necessary part of the syllable, a 'unit of
pronunciation'. If we say that a word has one syllable or two syllables, that says something about
the rhythmic character of the word (differently from Italian, as in English syllable correspond to
sounds, not spelling).

• Mouse (1 syllable)

• Rabbit (2 syllables)

E.g.:

but  one syllable [but]

marriage  two syllables [mar/riage]

fertile  two syllables [fer/tile]

wonderful  three syllables [won/der/ful]

 • A syllable can be defined as a phonological unit made up of one or more phonemes. A minimum
syllable is made up of one vowel. Ex.: the verb are /ɑː/ or the conjunction or /ɔː/.

 Open syllables: not closed by a consonant. Ex.: tea /ti:/, zoo /zu:/;

 Closed syllables: when a syllable ends with a consonant. Ex.: all /ɔːl/, arm /ɑːm/.

Most common syllables in English: did, bag, look.

English vowels and dypthongs

• 12 vowels + 8 diphthongs

vs.

• 7 basic vowels in Italian

For consonants, we must consider four criteria: voicing, state of the velum (orality/nasality), place of
articulation, and manner of articulation. For vowels, we need to consider only one criterion: place of
articulation.

• All vowels are voiced and oral.

A monophthong is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed,
and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation. The monophthongs can be
contrasted with diphthongs.  In phonetics and phonology, checked vowels are those that commonly stand
in a stressed closed syllable; and free vowels are those that can stand in either a stressed closed syllable or
a stressed open syllable.

A diphthong, literally "double sound" or "double tone", also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of
two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable.

In phonetics, a  weak vowel normally occurs only in unstressed syllables. 

Long and short vowels: It depends on whether the vowel is in a stressed or unstressed syllable.

• There are short and long vowel pairs such as /ɪ/ and /i:/

• English vowels are tenser than Italian ones.

The schwa /ə/

• The most central vowel.

• The lips are neither rounded nor spread, the sound is neither open nor closed, neither front nor
back, high or low, so all articulators involved are in a relaxed or neutral position.

• In Neapolitan /jammə/.

Minimal Pairs

 A minimal pair is a set of different words consisting of all the same sounds except for one.

 In other words, minimal pairs are pairs of words in which a difference in meaning depends on the
difference of just one phoneme.

E.g.:

If we replace the phoneme /d/ in dog /dɒɡ/ with /l/, we obtain the word log /lɒɡ/.

 We could set up a phonetic environment, or a sequence of sounds, such as an environment

containing the sound sequence /æt/. If we then establish a blank slot preceding this sequence,

/_æt/, and substitute different consonants in this slot, we can see if we get different words. If we
do, then each of these consonants is a phoneme.

/_æt/: …………AT………………………………….

/_æt/: pat /pæt/, bat /bæt/, sat /sæt/, mat /mæt/, gnat /næt/, fat /fæt/, that /ðæt/, vat /væt/, cat /kæt/,
etc.

 We can conclude that /p/, /b/, /s/, /m/, /n/, /f/, /ð/, /v/, and /k/ are all phonemes. Thus, bat /bæt/
and cat /kæt/, for example, form a minimal pair, as do gnat /næt/ and vat /væt/.

 This same concept of a minimal pair holds true for vowels as well. Consider, for example, a
phonetic environment such as /p_t/. Substituting different vowels in the empty slot, we can
generate numerous minimal pairs:

/p_t/: ………………………………………….

/p_t/: pit /pɪt/, peat /piːt/, pate /peɪt/, pot /pɒt/, pout /paʊt/, put /pʊt/, putt /pʌt/, pat /pæt/, pet /pet/,
etc.

 We can conclude that /ɪ/, /i/, /eɪ/, /ɒ/, /aʊ/, /ʊ/, /ʌ/, /æ/, and /ε/ are all distinct phonemes.

Homophones and homographs

 Homophones: words which are pronounced the same but spelled differently

E.g.:

bear/bare /beə(r)/

meat/meet /miːt/

maid/made /meɪd/
some/sum /sʌm/

sent/scent /sent/

 Homographs: words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently.

E.g.:

lead /liːd/ (to go first) vs. lead /led/ (metal)

tear /tɪə/ (liquid from the eye) vs. tear /teə/ (to rip up)

wind /wɪnd/ (current of air) vs. wind /waɪnd/ (to turn round)