Phonetic Transcription

Semester I

Prof. Younnes ELKHADIRI

 Phonetics
• Phonetics is the study of the medium of spoken
language, that is, the production, transmission
and reception of the sounds of human speech.
• Spoken language is produced by the movements
of the organs of speech.
• All human beings have the same organs of
speech. So, theoretically speaking, every normal
human being can produce any of the sounds of
human speech.

2
 Sound Segments
• We are able to segment a continuous stream of
speech into distinct parts and recognize the
parts in other words
• Everyone who knows a language knows how
to segment sentences into words and words
into sounds
 Identity of Speech Sounds
• Our linguistic knowledge allows us to ignore
nonlinguistic differences in speech (such as individual
pitch levels, rates of speed, coughs)

• We are capable of making sounds that are not speech

sounds in English but are in other languages

– The click tsk that signals disapproval in English is a speech

sound in languages such as Xhosa and Zulu where it is
combined with other sounds just like t or k is in English
 The Phonetic Alphabet
• Spelling, or orthography, does not consistently represent the
sounds of language
• Some problems with ordinary spelling:
1. The same sound may be represented by many letters or combination of
letters:
he people
believe seize
Caesar seas
See amoeba

2. The same letter may represent a variety of sounds:

father village
badly made
many
 Cont.
3. A combination of letters may represent a single sound
shoot character rough
either Thomas deal
coat physics

4. A single letter may represent a combination of sounds

xerox
 Cont.
6. Some letters in a word may not be
pronounced at all
autumn sword write
pterodactyl lamb corps
psychology resign knot
7. There may be no letter to represent a sound
that occurs in a word
cute
use
 N.B.

• Remember: the sounds of spoken English do not

necessarily match up with letters of written English.

• How to solve this?

• One solution is to produce a separate alphabet with
symbols that represent sounds.

• The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

 Definition!

A phonetic transcription looks quite unlike a regular

(‘orthographic’) transcription. The transcriber notes
the way the spoken words are pronounced, using a
special alphabet of phonetic symbols. The most
common is the International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA).
 International Phonetic Alphabet
• In 1888 the International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) was invented in order to have a system in
which there was a one-to-one correspondence
between each sound in language and each
phonetic symbol
• Someone who knows the IPA knows how
to pronounce any word in any language
 Cont.
• It is claimed to have symbols to represent all
the sounds that exist in the natural languages
of the world.
• It is used to transcribe words of any natural
language.
• It is based primarily on Roman Alphabet and a
set of diacritics.
 Cont.
• You have probably seen IPA symbols in
dictionaries. Printed between a word and its
definition, you’ll find something like this:
/ˈɔː.di.əʊ/
• This is a phonetic spelling of “audio.” Like many
English-language words, it is not obvious how to
say “audio” if you are not a native speaker.
• But, when transcribed phonetically, each sound in
the word is represented by a symbol.
• Non-English speakers who know how to read
IPA can read back a phonetic transcription with
the correct English pronunciation, even if they
don’t know the meaning.
 Example!
• Here is an example of what the phonetic
transcription of a full sentence looks like:
• /hi ˈhæd hɪz ˈfɑːðərz ɪərz ənd hɪz ˈmʌðərz ˈəʊpn
ˈhɑːrt/
• Can’t make head nor tail of it? Here’s the
orthographic transcription of the same
sentence:
• He had his father’s ears and his mother’s
open heart.
 The Phonetic Alphabet
Dialectal and individual differences affect
pronunciation, but the sounds of English are:
 The Phonetic Alphabet
• Using IPA symbols, we can now represent the
pronunciation of words unambiguously:
 Vowels and diphthongs (double
vowels)
iː seat /siːt/, feel /fiːl/
ɪ sit /sɪt/, in /ɪn/
e set /set/, any /ˈeni/
æ sat /sæt/, match /mætʃ/
ɑː march /mɑːtʃ/, after /ˈɑftə(r)/
ɒ pot /pɒt/, gone /ɡɒn/
ɔː port /pɔːt/, law /lɔː/
ʊ good /gʊd/, could /kʊd/
uː food /fuːd/, group /gruːp/
ʌ much /mʌtʃ/, front /frʌnt/
ɜː turn /tɜːn/, word /wɜːd/
ə away /əˈweɪ/, collect /kəˈlekt/, until /ənˈtɪl/
 Diphthong!
• A diphthong is a combination of two vowel
sounds pronounced together, for example, /eɪ/ as
in play /pleɪ/ and /əʊ/ as in cold /kəʊld/.
• The first vowel sound is always longer than the
second. There are eight diphthongs in English,
but one of them is hardly ever used.
• Many native speakers use /ɔ:/ instead of /ʊə/. For
example, poor is usually pronounced /pɔ:/instead
of /pʊə/.
 Diphthongs!

eɪ take /teɪk/, wait /weɪt/

aɪ mine /maɪn/, light /laɪt/
ɔɪ oil /ɔɪl/, boy /bɔɪ/
əʊ no /nəʊ/, open /ˈəʊpən/
aʊ house /haʊs/, now /naʊ/
ɪə hear /hɪə(r)/, deer /dɪə(r)/
eə air /eə(r)/, where /weə(r)/
ʊə tour /tʊə(r)/, endure /ɪnˈdjʊə(r)/
 Consonants!
p pull /pʊl/, cup /kʌp/
b bull /bʊl/, rob /rɒb/
f ferry /ˈferi/, life /laɪf/
v very /ˈveri/, live /lɪv/
θ think /θɪnk/, bath /bɑːθ/
ð then /ðen/, with /wɪð/
t take /teɪk/, set /set/
d day /deɪ/, red /red/
s sing /sɪŋ/, rice /raɪs/
z zoo /zuː/, days /deɪz/
ʃ show /ʃəʊ/, wish /wɪʃ/
ʒ pleasure /ˈpleʒə(r)/, occasion /əˈkeɪʒn/
 Cont.
tʃ cheap /tʃiːp/, catch /kætʃ/
dʒ jail /dʒeɪl/, bridge /brɪdʒ/
k case /keɪs/, take /teɪk/
ɡ go /ɡəʊ/, rug /rʌɡ/
m my /maɪ/, come /kʌm/
n no /nəʊ/, on /ɒn/
ŋ sing /sɪŋ/, finger /ˈfɪŋɡə(r)/
l love /lʌv/, hole /həʊl/
r round /raʊnd/, carry /ˈkæri/
w well /wel/
j young /jʌŋ/
h house /haʊs/
Phonemic and phonetic transcription
Cont.
 Phonemic Transcription
• Phonemic transcription uses a restricted set of symbols to
capture the meaningful sound contrasts of a language.
• e.g.

• The first sound in these words are usually aspirated, but as

English does not contrast aspirated vs unaspirated
plosives (phonemically) the difference is not annotated in
a phonemic transcription.
 Phonetic Transcription
• Phonetic transcription uses a larger set of symbols to
capture more phonetic detail relating to the actual
production of the utterance.
• e.g.
• cat tat
• [ kʰæt], [ tʰæt],

• We use square brackets to enclose phones or sounds

and slashes to enclose phonemes.
Exercises!
Cont.
• Transcribe the following proverbial expressions phonemically.

• a. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

• b. Birds of a feather flock together.
• c. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
• d. A watched kettle never boils.
• e. Charity begins at home.
• f. Every cloud has a silver lining.
• g. Great minds run in the same channels.
• h. Many hands make light work.
• i. Still waters run deep.
• j. The early bird catches the worm.
• k. Time and tide wait for no man.
• l. Opportunity knocks but once.
• m. A fool and his money are soon parted.
• n. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
• o. A stitch in time saves nine.
• p. It takes two to make a quarrel.
• q. You can’t turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.
• r. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.