ALLEAH MARIE D.

JUARBAL ABEL-2A ELS204 OCTOBER 19,2022

Academic Prompt 1: English Phonology

1. Is nasality a distinctive feature of English vowels? And of English consonants?

One characteristic of some languages is the nasality of the nasal vowels. A language
disparity nasalized vowels with oral vowels phonetically. Linguists employ minimal
pairs to determine whether or not the nasality is significant from a linguistic
perspective. For instance, in French, nasal and oral vowels are separate, and the
vowel quality can affect how a word sounds. The basic pair of terms beau (/bo/ for
"beautiful") and bon (/b/for "excellent") contrasts only the vowel nasalization, albeit
bon's / is a little more open. There are no vowels in English that have nasal
resonance, unlike some vowels in French. With the exception of "M," "N," and "Ng,"
no consonants can be nasalized either.

2. Which is similar more to /m/: /p/ or /b/? Why?

When you put your fingers in your larynx, you can feel the vibration when you
repeatedly utter the letters /m/ and /b/. /p/ on the other hand, the vocal folds are apart
and stationary so therefore your larynx is not vibrating.