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Fundamentals
of Phonetics
A Practical Guide
for Students
Larry H. Small
Bowling Green State University
@ Pearson
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
T that would coincide with the lecture material I used when teaching my own
phonetics course. So I began to write my own book. Little did I know I would
be revising the text for this fifth edition more than twenty years later!
One of the guiding principles I followed when writing the first edition was to
ensure that anyone could pick up the book and understand the material. I have
tried to follow this principle in all subsequent editions. This fifth edition is quite
similar to earlier editions in terms of basic layout and organization. Each chapter
has been revised with updated material and new exercises. The book is filled with
a wealth of exercises to assure that students become experts in basic phonetic
transcription of American English. Answers to most of the exercises can be found
in the back of the book so that students can immediately receive feedback on their
progress.
It is not possible to learn phonetic transcription without having an abundance
of listening exercises. Therefore, audio recordings of many of the exercises are
available as Audio Practice files in the e-textbook. These recordings are essential
in helping students learn the subtleties of pronunciation, both in relation to the
segmental and suprasegmental characteristics of speech.
sound system; / r/ has been used in phonetic transcription over the years by
many speech and hearing professionals.) In order to remain consistent with
the principles of the IPA, and to avoid confusion, turned r will be used when
transcribing consonantal "r."
Acknowledgments
I would not have been able to write this new edition without the assistance of
many individuals who made the first four editions possible. First of all, I must
thank the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Ohio Univer-
sity (Athens) for providing the learning environment necessary for me to become
knowledgeable in the area of phonetics. Specifically, I would like to thank my
mentor Dr. Zinny Bond for her unfaltering support and friendship throughout the
years.
A big thank you goes to Erik Trentrock and Mark Bunce at Bowling Green
State University who assisted me in the creation and recording of the audio
tracks that accompany this text. Also, I would like to thank Rob Fox and Ewa
Jacewicz at Ohio State University for allowing me to make several recordings in
the Department of Speech and Hearing Science.
I would like to thank my previous Executive Editors with Pearson, Steve
Dragin and Ann Davis. Their support was immeasurable throughout the first four
editions. Many thanks to my current Executive Editor, Aileen Pogran, who has
been incredibly supportive and encouraging. In addition, I want to extend a huge
thank you to my Development Editor, Krista McMurray, who really helped in the
transition to a new editorial team.
A final thank you goes to the reviewers for this fifth edition whose contribu-
tions greatly assisted me in the editing process: Andy McMillin from Portland
State University; Barabara Prakup from Cleveland State University; Joy E. Good
from Arkansas State University, Jonesboro; Mary Dale Trabue Fitzgerald from
Tennessee State University; and William F. Katz from University of Texas at Dallas.
Brief Contents
1 Phonetics: A "Sound" Science 1
4 Vowels 53
5 Consonants 109
References 331
Appendix 381
Glossary 383
Index 389
vii
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Contents
Preface v
4 Vowels 53
Learning Objectives 53
English Vowel and Diphthong Production 53
Transcription of English Vowels and Diphthongs 57
Chapter Summary 94
Review Exercises 94
Study Questions 99
Online Resources 99
Assignments 101
ix
x Contents
5 Consonants 109
Learning Objectives 109
Consonants Versus Vowels 109
Production of English Consonants: Manner, Place, and Voicing 111
Transcription of the English Consonants 113
Chapter Summary 150
Review Exercises 150
Study Questions 154
Online Resources 154
Assignments 155
References 331
Appendix 381
Glossary 383
Index 389
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Fundamentals
of Phonetics
This page intentionally left blank
Chapter 1
Phonetics: A ''Sound''
Science
m Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to:
Exercise 1.1
The expressions below are written two separate ways: (1) formally and (2) casually.
Examine the differences between the two versions. What happens to the production
of the individual words in the casual version?
Formal Casual
1. Are you going to eat now? Ya gonna eat now?
2. Can't you see her? Cantcha see 'er?
3. Did you go? Ja go?
through the text and complete the exercises. Chapter Summaries, at the end of each
chapter, provide a summary of the Leaming Objectives in a bulleted format.
By now you may have noticed that exercises are embedded in the text. It is
important that you complete the exercises as you go along instead of waiting until
after you have completed the chapter. These exercises emphasize particular points
by highlighting the material you just completed, thereby assisting in the learning
process. If you are unsure of an answer, simply look in the back of the text for as-
sistance in completing the embedded exercises.
At the end of each chapter, you will find a series of Review Exercises so that
you may gain expertise with the material presented. The Review Exercises help
drive home much of the material discussed in each chapter. All of the answers to
the Review Exercises are located at the back of the book. Similar to the embed-
ded exercises, providing the correct answers for the Review Exercises will provide
you with immediate feedback, helping you learn from your mistakes. There is
no better way to learn! To aid in the learning process, all new terms are in bold
letters the first time they are used. In addition, all new terms are located in the
Glossary at the back of the book.
Study Questions at the end of each chapter will help you explore the major
concepts presented. Online Resources also are provided to supplement the material
presented in the text. Assignments at the end of the chapters were designed to be
collected by your instructor to test your comprehension of the material. There-
fore, the answers for Assignments are not given in the text.
There are several conventions that are adopted throughout the text. When
there is a reference to a particular Roman alphabet letter, it is enclosed with a set
of quotation marks: for example, the letter "m." Likewise, references to a particu-
lar word are also enclosed with quotation marks: for example, "mail." Individual
speech sounds are referenced with the traditional slash marks: for example, the
/ ml sound. When a word and its transcription are given together, they appear in
the following format: "mail" / merl/.
Audio Practice files provide a wide range of listening exercises to accompany the
text. Clinical practice generally requires phonetic transcription of recorded speech
samples. Reading words on paper and transcribing them is not the same as tran-
scribing spoken words. The Audio Practice files are designed to increase your lis-
tening skills and your ability to transcribe spoken English. Exercises requiring the
Audio Practice files are indicated with a speaker icon in the text. The speaker icon
will alert you to the presence of an audio file in order to complete the exercise.
The nice thing about Unicode fonts is that they can be used on multiple plat-
forms (e.g., Macintosh, Windows, Linux) and with all word processing software
packages. Unicode fonts also can be used when creating HTML documents for
online use. In the past, cross-platform fonts did not exist. Also, there was a limit
to the number of characters contained in any one font package; most fonts were
limited to 256 characters. Fonts of different languages existed separately as well,
making it difficult to switch between writing systems in the same document.
Another advantage of using a Unicode font with IPA symbols is that once the
symbols have been typed into a particular document, you can switch to a differ-
ent Unicode font and all of the symbols will remain intact. The only difference in
appearance between fonts would be related to a particular font's size and shape
and whether it is a serif or sans serif font. Prior to the utilization of Unicode, it
was not possible to switch fonts without obliterating all of the IPA symbols in a
document. Trust me, I know!
A number of Unicode phonetic fonts are available online. Many are available
for free and are really quite easy to download and use. The phonetic symbols in
this text were created with Charis SIL, a Unicode font available from SIL Inter-
national (refer to the "Online Resources" at the end of this chapter). This font
contains over 2000 characters. Doulos SIL and Gentium are two other Unicode
phonetic fonts available for free from the SIL International website.
There are three ways to enter IPA symbols from a Unicode font into a docu-
ment: (1) make use of software that creates an alternate keyboard layout; (2) enter
the code point for each IPA symbol; or (3) insert each symbol individually by using
character maps available as part of the Windows and Macintosh operating systems.
The easiest method is to use an alternate keyboard layout. I obtained a
specialized keyboard for entering the IPA symbols in this text from the website
of University College London (UCL) Psychology and Language Sciences (refer to
the "Online Resources" at the end of the chapter). Once the keyboard was in-
stalled, all I had to do to enter the symbol /J/ was to simply type SHIFT+ "s."
Without such a keyboard, it would be necessary to type the unique code point for
each character (which is a tedious and time-consuming task). In Microsoft Word
(Windows), you would have to type the four-character code point, followed by
the sequence ALT+ "x," for entry of a particular symbol. For instance, typing the
sequence "0283" followed by ALT+ "x" will yield the IPA symbol /J/ (without
the slash marks). With Mac OS, you would need to go to System Preferences; se-
lect Keyboard, Input Sources; and then Unicode Hex Input. Also, select show input
menu in menu bar. Once Unicode Hex Input is selected, hold down the ALT key,
and type the code point sequence for the particular phonetic symbol you want.
Alternatively, you could use the "insert symbol" function (Windows) or use the
"character viewer" (Macintosh) to enter the symbols individually from a character
map that shows all of the symbols associated with a particular font. This process
is much more tedious and time-consuming.
Exercise 1.2
Configure your computer so that you can enter code points into a text document
(refer to the "Online Resources" at the end of the chapter for help). Then enter the fol-
lowing code points, and write the corresponding IPA symbols in the blanks provided.
Code Point IPA Symbol
1. 0259
2. 0388
3. 028A
4. 0271
5. 0279
6 Phonetics: A "Sound" Science
Chapter Summary
• Phonetics involves the study of how speech sounds personal habit, how strictly the IPA is followed, and
are produced, how individual speech sounds are which symbols are adopted for transcribing disor-
combined to form syllables and words, and the in- dered speech.
struction of phonetic transcription for manually • The use of a Unicode font is useful when transcribing
recording spoken utterances. The International Pho- speech by computer. Unicode fonts provide a univer-
netic Alphabet (IPA) is a unique alphabet designed sal character set of over 137,000 characters (mapped
to represent the sounds of words of a language, not to a unique alphanumeric code point), including the
the spelling of words. Use of the IPA permits consis- IPA. Unicode fonts can be used on multiple platforms
tency among professionals in their transcription of including Macintosh, Windows, and Linux.
typical or atypical speech.
• Variation in phonetic transcription exists for several
reasons, including differences in methods learned,
Study Questions
1. What is a phonetic alphabet?
2. Why is it important to use a phonetic alphabet in transcription of individuals with speech sound disorders?
Chapter One 7
Online Resources
Search online for Symbol Codes Home Penn State University. This website provides several resources related to
phonetic fonts and keyboards for both Windows and Macintosh.
Search online for SIL International. From the organization's website, select "resources" and "software and fonts" for
a vast list of phonetic font resources, including downloads for the Unicode fonts Charis SIL and Doulos SIL.
Search online for The Unicode Consortium for information regarding the most current Unicode standard, access to
character code charts for all the world's languages, the IPA, and many different symbol and character sets.
Search online for University College London Psychology and Language Sciences. From the home page of the website,
search for "resources and tools" in the search bar at the top right of the page. This site has a wealth of
information relating to Unicode fonts and keyboarding.
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Chapter 2
Phonetic Transcription
of English
B Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to:
"OK, Mary. Now, let's think about the word 'cat.' It's spelled C-A-T, but the
first speech sound is a / k/ as in 'king,' the second sound is an / re/ as in 'apple,'
and the third sound is a I t/ as in 'table.' Notice that the first sound is really a
! kl even though the word begins with the letter 'c.' When 'c' begins a word,
it may sound like /k/ or it may sound like / s/ , as in the word 'city.' Actually,
Mary, there is no phonetic symbol in English that uses the printed letter 'c.'"
Obviously, this type of interchange would cause children to lose any desire to read!
10 Phonetic Transcription of English
Exercise 2.1
Many oddly spelled English words, and those that contain silent letters, are often
related to the origin of a word and usually reflect a spelling common to the lan-
guage from which it was borrowed. For example, words such as "pneumonia,"
"rhombus," and "cyst" are derived from the Greek language, helping explain their
particular spellings. In addition, we borrow entire words from other languages,
keeping their spelling intact. This only adds to our spelling irregularities. Exam-
ples of some words borrowed from other languages include:
Examine the word "through." The word has seven graphemes but only three
speech sounds: "th," "r," and "oo." Now examine the word "phlegm." How many
sounds (not letters) do you think are in this word? If you answered four, you are
correct-"f," "l," "e," and "m." Letters only tell us about spelling; they give no
clues as to the number of sounds in a word or the word's actual pronunciation. It
is imprecise to talk about a sound that may be associated with a particular alpha-
bet letter (or letters) because the letters may not be an accurate reflection of the
sound they represent. For instance, the grapheme "s" represents a different sound
in the word "size" than it does in the word "vision." What do you think is the
sound associated with the letter "g" in the word "phlegm"?
Exercise 2.2
Say each of the following words out loud to determine the number of sounds that
comprise each one. Write your answer in the blank.
Examples:
Because the Roman alphabet contains fewer letters than the number of speech
sounds in English, one alphabet letter often represents more than one speech sound.
For instance, the grapheme "c," in the words "cent" and "car," represents two dif-
ferent sounds. Likewise, the grapheme "o" represents six different sounds in the
words "cod," "bone," "women," "bough," "through," and "above." Sometimes
the same sequence of letters represents different sounds in English. For instance,
the letter sequence "ough" represents four different vowel sounds in the words
"through," "bough," "cough," and "rough." (Note that the spelling "ough" also rep-
resents the inclusion of the consonant / f/ in the last two words.) These examples
provide further evidence of why it is inappropriate to discuss sounds in association
with letters. After reading the previous information, how would you answer the
following question: What is the sound of the letter "o" or the letters "ough"?
Exercise 2.3
For each grapheme given, provide two words that demonstrate the varied use of
that grapheme.
Examples:
continues
12 Phonetic Transcription of English
_i_
__g_
_ f_
_ z_
Another way sound and spelling differ is that the same sound can be repre-
sented by more than one letter or sequence of letters. Allographs are different
letter sequences or patterns that represent the same sound. The following groups
of words contain allographs of a particular sound, represented by the underlined
letters. You will note that the sound associated with some allographs is predict-
able, while the sound associated with others is not. Keep in mind that for each
example, although the spelling is different, the sounds they represent are the same.
lQQP, through, thr~ fruit, canoe
mfill, conv~, h~te, steak
trite, try, trkd, filsle, hright
for, laugh, Illioto, muffin
shoe, .S.ean, caution, pregous, ti~ue
scene, mi~ ~ame, fensure
jam, exaggerate, gem, logge, soldier
Note in some of the examples that pairs of letters often represent one sound
because there are simply not enough single alphabet letters to represent all of the
sounds of English. These pairs of letters are called digraphs. Digraphs may be the
same two letters (as in "hoot," "heed," or "ti~ue ") or two completely different
letters (as in "shoe," "steak," or "trkd").
Exercise 2.4
Examine the underlined sounds (letter combinations) in the words in each row.
Place an "X" in front of the one word that does not share an allograph with the
others.
Example:
Exercise 2.5
A. For each item below, think of another word that shares the same morpheme.
Example:
create creation
1. deduce 3. potent
2. protect 4. scrutiny
continues
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So they waxed rich and happy, and there never was a time when a
man was hungry that he did not have some good things to eat, and it
very seldom happened that any of these hard workers found himself
without an appetite at meal-time.
For people who work hard and well are very apt to have all they
want and to want all they have. If they do not want it to use
themselves, they want it to sell or give away.
So, in time the people of this country became not only very
comfortable but very wealthy.
They had great barns full of grain and vast stores of everything
needful for their use and livelihood, and as they often sold their
surplus productions to other nations, they had great vaults full of
money.
But they all worked away every day, just the same as they used to,
because they were so accustomed to toil, that they would not have
been happy without work.
So, of course, they became richer and richer, and jollier and jollier
until at last they became so prosperous and happy that other nations
began to take notice of them. It was rather unusual, in those days to
see a whole nation so jolly.
The people in the adjoining countries were by no means so happy
and prosperous. Most of them were much better pleased with
fighting than with work, and it, therefore, often happened that they
were hungry when there was very little to eat.
For war is a very bad thing for crops. It is sometimes as injurious
as a long drought. For somebody must plant and hoe or there will be
little to eat in a land, and if the people spend most of their time in
warfare there cannot be much agricultural work going on.
But these outside people, especially those who lived in the land of
Voldor to the north of the country of the Cabordmen, had an idea that
it was a great deal easier to make war and capture supplies than to
raise crops themselves.
This is why, after having carefully watched the Cabordmen for
some years, and noting their great possessions, they resolved to
make war upon these industrious and jolly people.
So they gathered together an army, which was an easy thing for
them to do, and invaded the country of the Cabordmen.
Our jolly friends were much astounded and distressed when the
great army of the Voldorites marched over their borders.
Away they went over the hills and the plains, and in two hours
there was not a Voldorite in the land of the Cabordmen.
Then uprose Adar Ip, and fled towards the southern border to
inform his countrymen of their happy deliverance.
They all returned quickly and found everything as it had been left.
Nothing had been taken, for none of the invaders wanted anything
that had been in a land where such a terrible mortality had prevailed.
Great was the joy and great the gratitude exhibited towards the
ingenious young Ip. The people presented him with a well filled
granary, and ordered him to paint on its walls at the public expense,
the history of his exploit.
“I wonder,” said one old man, “who they thought buried all these
people, if everybody was dead.”
“I don’t know,” said Adar Ip. “But I think that they had such a high
opinion of the industry and prudence of our people that they
supposed we had doubtless made suitable arrangements for a
contingency of this kind.”
After this, the Cabordmen were never again disturbed, and they
became jollier than ever.
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