Notalllanguagesdevelopedthei

rowntail
or-madealphabet
s.Thisisoftenduetotheaffect
sof
contactbetweenl anguagesandhasr esultedinmi xi
ng,matching,andadoptinggraphemes
acrosslanguages. Whenal anguageadoptsanalphabetor
igi
nal
lydesignedforanot
her,var
ious
adj
ustment smustbemadesi ncenotalll
anguagesusethesamespeechsounds.

Thet
hreepr
imar
ydev
icesf
orsuchadapt
ati
onar
e:

theadditi
onofnewgr aphemest otheal phabet(e.
g.theoldr unes?¡®et
h¡¯and?¡
¯thor
nderi
v ed
from Anglo-
Saxonandbr oughtintoLatin)
theadditi
onofdi acri
ti
cmar ksatoexistinggraphemes( e.
g.Spanish?)
theuseofdi graphs( sequencesoft wol ett
erstogetherrepresenti
ngonlyonesound,e.
g.,in
¡
®f i
sh¡¯thedigraphshr epresentsonesound. )
nolongerconsi der
ingsilentlet
ter
spar tofadi gr
aph,e.
g.sign
theuseoft r
igraphs,e.g.Ger man/Yi
ddishsch,
Engli
shbor r
owi ngsschnapps, schni
tzel,schmooze,schlep,schmaltz,

Fourormor
e¡.
­
chsi
inf
uchsi
a

Ofallt
hei nconsi
stenci
esfoundinEnglishorthographyasar esul
toftheaboveadaptati
ons,
¡
®sil
ent
¡¯letter
swreakthemosthav oc.Sil
entl
etter
sar egr
aphemesthatoncest
oodforsounds
t
hathavesincebeendeleted(
lost
)inthepronunciat
ionofwords¡ªe.
g.Engl
i
shlov
e,honest,
debt,
r
ight
.

Soremembert hatt
hereisadi st
incti
onbetweendigraphsandsil
entl
ett
ers.Adi gr
aphr epresent
s
aphonemenotr epr
esentedbyei t
herofitscomponentlett
ersonthei
rown, e.
g.,
Englishth,sh,ch,
Poli
shsz,cz,Spani
shch,l l
,Germanch,wher east hepresenceofanadjacentsil
entletterdoes
notchangethesoundoft heother.Forexample,weknowt hatt
hegin¡®sign¡¯i
ssilentsincenis
sti
l
lart
icul
atedandisnotalter
edbyt hepresenceofg.

Alll
anguageschangeovertime,andspokenlanguagechangesr el
ati
vel
yquickl
yincompar
isonto
writ
tenlanguage.Thi
sphenomenonpr ovi
desinsighti
ntopastpronunci
ati
onsandhowlanguages
mayber elat
ed.Manyor thogr
aphicinconsi
stenciesandirregul
ari
ti
esar ebasedinthi
sf act
.
Engli
shisapr i
meexample.

Considerthesef
acts:
Onegr apheme¡®i¡
¯canr
epr
esentt
woormor
esounds:
[
-son]

Onesoundsuchas/
i/canberepresent
edbymor ethanonegr
apheme.
e.
g.,
meat,meet
,mete,pi
ece,
receive,
peopl
e,Caesar

Si
ngl
egraphemescanr
epresentmor
ethanonesound
t
ax/ks/
,uni
t/j
u/,
schi
zoi
d/ t
s/

Somegr aphemes(
under
lyi
nggraphemes)ar
esi
lenti
ncert
ainwordsandpronouncedi
nothers
e.g.
,bombbutbombard,nightbutnoctur
nal
,signbutsignal
,copebutcopious,recei
ptbut
recept
ion.

6.Backt oSpeechSounds
6.1Transcr i
ptions
Whent ranscribingspeech,weusesy mbol sanddi acr
it
ics( smallmarkersthatshow added
featurest osounds) .Phoneticalphabets,suchast heInter
nat i
onalPhoneti
cAlphabetandthe
Nor t
hAmer icanPhonet i
cAlphabetprovideaonet oonecor r
elati
onbetweenaspeechsoundand
ar epresentation,repr
esent
ingallt hesoundsoft hewor l
d¡¯slanguages!Thatis,moreorless.
Sincenat urallanguageisaffect
edbyel ement ssuchasspeechr at
e,nei
ghbori
ngphonemes,and
dial
ectalvar
iat
ions,i
tisnotalway
spossi bl
etogiveanexactrepresent
ati
onofcertai
nsounds,
(especial
l
ywhent ranscr
ibi
ngvowels)howeverphonet
ical
phabets.Intr
anscr
ibi
ng,usesy
mbols
tothebestofyourknowledge.

6.
2Tr anscri
pti
onChal l
enge
Haveat ryattranscribingt hi
sexcerptfr
om Ri
char
dKr
ogh¡
¯spoem.
It
akei tyoualr
eadyknow
Oftoughandboughandcoughanddough?
Othersmayst umbl e,butnoty ou
Onhiccough,thor ough, sl
oughandt hr
ough?
Welldone!Andnowy ouwi sh,per
haps,
Tolearnoflessf amiliartraps?

Cl
i
ckher
eforabr
oadt
ranscr
ipt
ionandcompar
eyourr
esul
tst
oour
s.

Forpr
acti
ceatbet t
erunderstandi
ngthedif
fer
encebet
weensoundsandspel
l
ings,t
ryoutour
Count
ingSounds1.1exer
cise!
Wantmorepract
ice? CountingSounds1.
2.

ReturntoPhonet i
csTutori
alNotalll
anguagesdevel
opedthei
rownt ai
lor
-madealphabets.Thisis
oft
enduet otheaffect
sofcontactbetweenlanguagesandhasresult
edinmixing,
mat chi
ng, and
adopting graphemes across l
anguages. When a l anguage adopts an al
phabetor i
ginall
y
designedforanother,var
iousadjust
ment smustbemadesi ncenotalll
anguagesuset hesame
speechsounds.

Thet
hreepr
imar
ydev
icesf
orsuchadapt
ati
onar
e:

theadditi
onofnewgr aphemest othealphabet(e.g.theoldr unesð‘et
h’andþ’t
hornderi
vedfr
om
Anglo-Saxonandbr oughtintoLati
n)
theadditi
onofdiacriti
cmar ksatoexisti
nggr aphemes( e.g.Spanishñ)
theuseofdi gr
aphs( sequencesoft woletter
st ogetherrepresenti
ngonlyonesound,e.
g.,i
n‘f
ish’
thedigraphshrepresentsonesound. )
nolongerconsider
ingsi l
entlet
terspartofadi gr
aph, e.
g.sign
theuseoft r
igr
aphs, e.
g.Ger man/Yi
ddishsch,
Engli
shbor r
owingsschnapps, schnit
zel,schmooze, schl
ep, schmalt
z,

Fourormor
e….
chsi
inf
uchsi
a

Ofalltheinconsi
stenciesfoundinEngl i
shor t
hographyasar esultoftheaboveadaptations,
‘
sil
ent’l
ett
erswreakthemosthav oc.Si
lentlet
tersaregraphemest
hatoncestoodforsoundst hat
havesincebeendel et
ed( l
ost)i
nt hepronunciati
onofwor ds— e.g.Engl
ishl
ove,honest,debt,
ri
ght.

Soremembert hatt
hereisadi sti
ncti
onbet weendigraphsandsil
entl
ett
ers.Adigraphrepresent
s
aphonemenotr epr
esentedbyei therofit
scomponentl ett
ersonthei
rown,e.g.
,Engli
shth,sh,ch,
Poli
shsz,cz,Spani
shch,ll,Germanch,wher east hepresenceofanadjacentsi
lentlet
terdoes
notchangethesoundoft heot her.Forexampl e,weknowt hatt
hegi n‘
sign’i
ssi l
entsincenis
sti
l
lart
icul
atedandisnotalter
edbyt hepresenceofg.

Alll
anguageschangeovertime,andspokenlanguagechangesr el
ati
vel
yquickl
yincompar
isonto
writ
tenlanguage.Thi
sphenomenonpr ovi
desinsighti
ntopastpronunci
ati
onsandhowlanguages
mayber elat
ed.Manyor thogr
aphicinconsi
stenciesandirregul
ari
ti
esar ebasedinthi
sf act
.
Engli
shisapr i
meexample.

Consi
dert
hesef
act
s:
Onegrapheme‘
i
’canr
epr
esentt
woormor
esounds:
[
-son]

Onesoundsuchas/
i/canberepresent
edbymor ethanonegr
apheme.
e.
g.,
meat,meet
,mete,pi
ece,
receive,
peopl
e,Caesar

Si
ngl
egraphemescanr
epresentmor
ethanonesound
t
ax/ks/
,uni
t/j
u/,
schi
zoi
d/ t
s/

Somegr aphemes(
under
lyi
nggraphemes)ar
esi
lenti
ncert
ainwordsandpronouncedi
nothers
e.g.
,bombbutbombard,nightbutnoctur
nal
,signbutsignal
,copebutcopious,recei
ptbut
recept
ion.

6.Backt oSpeechSounds
6.1Tr anscr i
pt i
ons
Whent ranscr i
bingspeech,weusesy mbol sanddi acr
it
ics( smal lmar ker
st hatshow added
featurest osounds) .Phonet icalphabets,suchast heInter
nat i
onalPhonet icAl phabetandthe
Nor thAmer icanPhonet icAlphabetprovideaonet oonecor r
elati
onbet weenaspeechsoundand
ar epresent at i
on,representi
ngal lthesoundsoft heworld’
sl anguages!Thati s,mor eorless.
Sincenat urallanguagei saffectedbyelement ssuchasspeechr ate,nei
ghboringphonemes, and
dialectalv ariati
ons,itisnotal wayspossibletogiveanexactr epresentati
onofcer t
ainsounds,
(especi all
ywhent r
anscribi
ngv owels)howev erphoneti
calphabet s.Intr
anscribi
ng,usesy mbols
tothebestofy ourknowledge.

6.
2Tr anscri
pti
onChal l
enge
Haveat ryattranscribingt hi
sexcerptfr
om Ri
char
dKr
ogh’
spoem.
It
akei tyoualr
eadyknow
Oftoughandboughandcoughanddough?
Othersmayst umbl e,butnoty ou
Onhiccough,thor ough, sl
oughandt hr
ough?
Welldone!Andnowy ouwi sh,per
haps,
Tolearnoflessf amiliartraps?

Cl
i
ckher
eforabr
oadt
ranscr
ipt
ionandcompar
eyourr
esul
tst
oour
s.

Forpr
acti
ceatbet t
erunderstandi
ngthedif
fer
encebet
weensoundsandspel
l
ings,t
ryoutour
Count
ingSounds1.1exer
cise!
Wantmorepract
ice? CountingSounds1.
2.

Ret
urnt
oPhonet
icsTut
ori
al