NASALS and OTHER

CONSONANTS
 DEFINITION
Nasal sounds occur when a complete
closure is made somewhere in the
mouth, the soft palate is lowered, and
air escapes through the nasal cavity.
 NASAL
CAVITY
LIPS

ORAL
CAVITY

TEETH
VELUM
(SOFT PALATE)

GLOTTIS
(VOICE)
TONGUE
Consonants
Continuants
They usually have no friction noise
But in other ways ---> different from
each other.
 THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF
NASAL SOUNDS
 BILABIAL SOUND: Total closure is made by both
lips.
 ALVEOLAR SOUND: The tongue blade closes
against the alveolar ridge, and the rims of the
tongue against the side teeth.
 VELAR SOUND: The back part of the tongue
against the soft palate, the back part of the
roof of the mouth.
 NASAL CONSONANTS:
THERE ARE THREE KINDS

BILABIAL SOUND ALVEOLAR SOUND NASAL SOUND

 CHART OF ENGLISH
CONSONANT PHONEMES
• (i) Never in initial position
• (ii) In medial position  quite frequent  BBC
English (rule)
•  When may / ŋ/ be pronounced without a
following plosive? /g/ /k/
• “nk”  middle of a word  /k/ always  THINKING
/θɪŋkɪŋ/
• “ng”  middle  sometimes / ŋg/ or/ŋ/

2 morphemes
MORPHOLOGY  “sing” +“er”
MORPHEMES “hang” + “er”

-/ŋ/ without /g/ at the end of a morpheme

-/ ŋg/ if it is in the middle of a morpheme
• Words ending orthographically with “ng”  ALWAYS /ŋ/
e.g. song, bang, sing, thing, long

• EXCEPTION TO THE MORPHEME-BASED RULE

• Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives single

morpheme
longer /lɒŋgə/ longest /lɒŋgəst/
stronger /strɒŋgə/ strongest/stɒŋgəst
/
• (iii) It rarely occurs after a diphthong or long vowel

PHONETICALLY SIMPLE BUT PHONOLOGICALLY COMPLEX

EXERCISE
- /ŋg/ or /ŋ/? Transcribe phonemically these words
younger – language – single – ringing
/jʌŋgə/ /læŋgwɪdʒ/ /sɪŋgl/ /rɪŋɪŋ/
• LATERAL APPROXIMANT
• Complete closure between the centre of the
tongue and the alveolar ridge
• Air escapes along the sides of the tongue
• DISTRIBUTION
• Initial, medial and final position /lɒk//pleɪ/ /kɔ:l/
• BBC English REALISATION of /l/ before vowel
sounds different in other contexts

DARK /l/ CLEAR /l/

“eel” “lea”
/i:l/ /li:/
• Clear /l/ never occurs before consonants or a
pause
• Dark /l/  never occurs before vowels

Allophones of the phoneme /l/ in complementary

distribution
• Another allophone of /l/  when it
follows /p/,
/t/ beginning of a stressed syllable. e.g. “play”,
“clear”

• /l/  devoiced and pronounced as a fricative

• POST-ALVEOLAR APPROXIMANT
• Approximant an articulation in which the articulators approach
(

each other but do not get close enough to produce a “complete”

consonant)
• ARTICULATION  tip of the tongue approaches the alveolar area never
makes contact with any part of the roof of the mouth (post-alveolar)
• Beginning of a syllable  preceded by /p/, /t/, /k/ 
voiceless
& fricative
• Tongue slightly curled backwards, tip raised (retroflex)
• Lips slightly rounded (don’t exaggerate)
• DISTRIBUTION BBC Accent  /r/ occurs only before
vowels
(i)

(ii)
)
(iii

Accen
ts
• /r/ in
final
• APPROXIMANTS
• PHONETICALLY like VOWELS
• PHONOLOGICALLY like CONSONANTS
• ARTICULATION
• /j/ practically the same as a front close vowel [i], but very
short
• /w/  [u]
• DISTRIBUTION
• We use them like consonants:
- They occur before vowel phonemes e.g. /ju:nɪvɜ:sɪtɪ/
- “ an apple” , “ an umbrella” – “a way”, “a yard”
- “the aunt” , “the wild”
• We hear friction noise in /j/ or /w/  Preceded by /p/ /t/ /k/ at
the beginning of a syllable.

• e.g. /pleɪ/, /treɪ/, /kwɪk/, /kju:/  have devoiced and fricative

/l/, /r/, /j/, /w/
THE SYLLABLE
 In this chapter:
• The nature of the syllable
• The structure of the English syllable
• Syllable division
 What a syllable is?
Many people find it easier to count
how many syllables there are in a
word/sentence more than defining
what a syllable is.
 SYLLABLE
The syllable is the basic unit of
speech studied in both the phonetic
and phonological levels of analysis.
THE NATURE
OF THE
SYLLABLE
 Syllable

Phonetically phonologically

The relationship
The possible
between how
combination of English
we
phonemes
produce them & how
they sound
 SYLLABLE
(Phonetically)
consist of a center which has little or
no obstruction to airflow and which
sounds comparatively loud; before and
after it there will be greater
obstruction to airflow and/or less loud
sounds

Minimum syllable Onset Coda

(a single vowel (one or more consonant (end with one or Onset & coda
preceding the center of more
in the syllable)
isolation) consonants)

æm Sæt
ʃ bɑː
m ɔːt fɪt
kiː
iːz
mɔː
 SYLLABLE
(Phonologically)

What can What can

occur at initial occur at final
position position

Vowel, 1 or 2 or Vowel, 1 or 2 or
3 consonants 3 or 4 consonants

Phonotactics: The study of the possible

phoneme combinations of a language
STRUCTURE OF
THE ENGLISH
SYLLABLE
syllable

Onset Rhyme

C (c) Nucleus Coda

V (v) C (c)
 ONSET SYLLABLE
Zero onset (Question) The syllable
1st syllable of the word begins with one
begins with a vowel consonant

Any consonant may

Any vowel may occur,
occur, though (ŋ,ʒ)
though (ʊ) is rare
are rare
 CONSONANT CLUSTERS
2nd:Two-consonants 3 consonants
1 :Two-consonants
st

Begins with one of a A relationship

(s) Followed by one
set of 15 consonants, between them & the
of a small set of
followed by one of 2 sorts of 2
consonants
the set (l, r, w, consonant clusters
j)

Consonant cluster: 2 or more consonants

together
 1st: TWO-CONSONANT CLUSTERS WITH
PRE- INITIAL (s)

Initial

p t k b d g f θ s ʃ h v ð z ʒ m n ŋ
spɪn stɪk skɪn - - - sfəɪ - - - - - - - - smel snəʊ -

Initial or post-initial
l W J r
slɪp swɪŋ sjuː srɪndʒ
 2nd : TWO-CONSONANT CLUSTERS WITH
POST- INITIAL ( l, r, w, j )
t
Post- k b d g f θ s ʃ h
p
initial
l pleɪ - kleɪ blæk - gluː flaɪ - slɪp - -
r preɪ treɪ kraɪ brɪŋ drɪp grɪn fraɪ θrəʊ ?4 ʃruː -
w - twɪn kwɪn - dwel ?1 - θwɔːt swɪm ?5 -
j pjɔː tjuːn kjuː bjuːti djuː ?2 fjuː ?3 sjuː - hjuːdʒ

Post- v ð z ʒ m n ŋ l r w j

initial
l - - - - - - - - - - -
r - - - - - - - - - - -
w - - - - - - - - - - -
j vjuː - - - mjuːz njuːz - ljuːd - - -
1- Many Welsh names (including some well known outside wales) –
such as girls’ names like Gwen and places names like the country of
Gwent – have initial gw and English speakers seem to find them
perfectly easy to pronounce

2- The only possible occurrence of gj would be in the archaic word

‘gules’, which is in very few people’s vocabulary

3- θj occurs in the archaic word ‘thew’ only

4- Some people pronounce the word ‘syringe’ as srɪndʒ; there are no

other cases of sr unless one counts foreign names (e.g. Sri Lanka)

5- Two cases make ʃw seem familiar: the vowel name ‘schwa’, and the
name of the soft drinks brand Schweppes. This is ,however, a very
infrequent cluster in English
 Clusters
*The number of possible initial three-consonant clusters
is quite small and they can be set out in full

Pre-initial Initial Post-initial

l r w j
p ‘Splay’ ‘spray’ - ‘spew’
s t - ‘string’ - ‘stew’
k ‘sclerosis’ ‘screen’ ‘squeak’ ‘skewer’
 FINAL SYLLABLE

Zero coda Final consonant

No final consonant at Only one consonant
the end of a word

Any consonant may be a

final consonant except
(h, w, j)

(r) is a special case: it

doesn’t occur as a
final
consonant in BBC
pronunciation
 Consonant final cluster
Final three- Four-
Two-consonant
consonant consonant
final cluster
cluster cluste
r

Final Final Pre-final +

consonant consonant Final +
Pre-final + final +
followed by post-final Final + 3
final + post-final
preceded a post-final +post-final
post-
post-final + post-
by pre- final
consonant
final consonant
final
s
consonant
 Final consonant preceded by pre-final consonant

m Bump bʌmp
n Bent bent
ŋ Bank bæŋk
Pre-final
l Belt belt
s Ask ɑːsk
Final consonant followed by a post-final consonant

s Bets bets
z Beds bedz
t Backed bækt
d Bagged bægd
θ Eighth eɪtθ
Post-final
Point of
pronunciation
The release of the 1 plosive
st of a
plosive- plus-plosive cluster such as
the g (of gd) in bægd or k (of kt) in
bækt is usually without plosion and
therefore practically inaudible.
 Pre-final + final + post-final

Pre-final final Post-final

Helped he l p t

Banks bæ ŋ k s

Bonds bɒ n d z

Twelfth twe l f θ
 Final + post-final +post-final

final Post-final Post-final

Fifth fɪ f θ s

Next ne k s t

lapsed læ p s t
 Pre-final + final + post-final + post-final

Pre-final final Post-final Post-final

Twelfths twe l f θ s

Prompts prɒ m p t s
 Few cases
Final + 3 post-final consonants

Final Post-final Post-final Post-final

Sixths sɪ k s θ s

Texts te k s t s
 Post- Post-
Pre- Post- Pre-
Initial Final Post- Final
initial Final
initial final Final 1 2 3

ONSET VOWEL CODA

 syllable

Onset Rhyme

peak coda

vowel optional
SYLLABLE

DIVISION
It often happens that one or more consonants from the
end of one word combine with ne or more at the beginning
of the following word, resulting in a consonant sequence
that could not occur in a single syllable

Maximal onsets principles: Two syllables are to be divided,

any consonants between them should be attached to the
right-hand syllable

Consonants are assigned to the right-hand syllable as far

as possible within the restrictions governing syllable onsets
and codas

Ambisyllabic: When one consonant stands between vowels

and it is difficult to assign the consonant to one syllable or
to the other
Extra /ekstrə/
I. e.kstrə
II.ek.strə
III.eks.trə
IV.ekst.rə
V. ekstr.ə
NOTES:

Sonority theory of syllables:

Sonority corresponds to loudness,
and some sounds have greater
sonority than others

Vowels have the greatest sonority

(S) has greater sonority than (k, t)

Strong and Weak
Syllables
 Weak and Strong Syllables

 one of the most noticeable features of

English is that many syllables are weak; this
is true of many other languages, but it is
necessary to study how these weak
syllables are pronounced and where they
occur in English.
 Description of weak and strong syllables

We could describe them partly in

terms of stress (by saying, for
example, that strong syllables are
stressed and weak syllables
unstressed.)
 Weak Syllables will have…..

Four types of peak:

 i) the vowel (" schwa") ə
 ii) a close front unrounded vowel in the general area of i:
and I
 iii) a close back rounded vowel in the general area of u:
and ʊ
 iv) a syllabic consonant
The vowel ( " schwa" ) ə
 i)Spelt with " a '; strong pronuciation would be æ
‘attend’ / ətend / ‘character’ /kærəktə/
‘barracks’ / bærəks /

 ii) Spelt with " ar" ;strong pronuciation would have ɑ:

‘particular’ / pətIkjələ/ ‘molar’ /məʊlə(r)/
‘monarchy’/mɒnəki/

 iii) Adjectival endings spelt " ate" ; strong pronunciation would be eI

‘intimate’ / IntImət / ‘accurate’ /ækjərət /

‘desolate’ /desələt/

There are exceptions to this for example ‘private’ is usually /praIvIt /

 iv) Spelt with " o " ; strong pronuciation would have ɒ
‘tomorrow’ /təmɒrəʊ / ‘potato’ / pəteItəʊ /

‘carrot’ / kærət /

 v) Spelt with " or " ; strong pronunciation would have ɔ:

‘forget’ / f əget / ‘ambassador’ / æmbæsədə /
‘opportunity’ /ɒpətju:nI tI/
 Other examples

 vi) Spelt with “ e “ ; strong pronunciation would

have e
‘settlement’ /setlmənt/ ‘violet’ /vaIlət /
‘postman’ /pəʊstmən /

 vii) Spelt with “ er “; strong pronunciation would

have ɜ:
‘perhaps’ / pəhæps / ‘superman’ /su:pəmæn /
 Viii)Spelt with “ ough” ( there are other
pronunciation of the letter sequence “ ough” )
‘Borough’ / bʌrə/ ‘thorough’ / θʌrə /

 ix)Spelt with “ u “ ; strong form would have ʌ

‘Autumn’ / ɔ:təm/ ‘support’ / səpɔ:t /
‘halibut’ / hælIbət/

 x)Spelt with “ ous”

‘Gracious’ /greIʃəs / ‘callous’ / kæləs/
 CLOSE FRONT and CLOSE BACK
VOWELS
 Two other vowels are commonly found in weak
syllables, one close front i ( in the general area of
i: and i) and the other close back rounded u( in
the general region of u: and ʊ ) . In strong
syllables it is easy to distinguish i: from i ,u:
from ʊ , but in weak syllables the difference is
not so clear .
Examples

Possible pronunciation
Easy busy
i) i:zi: bIzi:

ii) i:zI bIzI

Using Weak Syllable

i:zi bIzi
More Examples
 i) In word-final position in words spelt with final “ y”
or “ ey” ( after one or more consonant letter e.g.
‘happy’ / hæpi / ‘valley’ /væli /
o and in morpheme final position when such words have
suffixes beginning with vowels, e.g.
‘happier’ / hæpiə / ‘easiest’ /i:ziəst /
‘hurrying’ / hʌriIŋ/

 ii) In prefix such as those spelt “ re” , “ pre” , “ de” if

is precedes a vowel and is unstressed,for example in
‘react’ / riækt / ‘preoccupied’ /priɒkjəpaId/

‘deactivate’ /diæktIveIt /
 iii)In suffixes spelt “ iate”, “ious” when
they have two syllables, for example in
“appreciate”, “hilarious”

 iv)In the following words when unstressed:

“ he”, “ she” , “ we” “ me” , “ be” and the
word “ the” when it precedes a vowel.
Examples of Close front rounded vowel
 In most other cases of weak syllables containing a
close front unrounded vowel we can assign the
vowel to the phoneme, as in the first syllable of “
resist”/rIzIst/ “Inane” / IneIn / “ enough”
/Inʌf/ and the middle syllable of “ incident” and
the final syllable of “ swimming” / swImIŋ/
liquid / lIkwId / Optic / ɒptIk /.

 It can be seen that this vowel is most often

represented in spelling by the letters “ i’’ and
“ e” .
 Weak syllbles with close back rounded vowel are not
so common.Their most frequent occurrence is in the
words “ you” , “ into”, “ to”, “ do”,when they are
unstressed and are not immediately preceding a
consonant, and “ through” and “ who” in all
positions whey they are unstressed.We also find
weak syllable where the vowel tends to sound more
like the ʊ vowel of the book;usually this is found
with a preceding j glide, as in ‘evacuation’
/ IvækjueIʃn /.
 An example of such a vowel without a preceding j
is ‘Influenza’ / Infllʊenza /.
 Syllabic Consonants

 Syllabic ‘l’ with alveolar consonant preceding

‘cattle’ / kætl / ‘bottle’ / bɒtl /
‘muddle’ /mʌdl/
 With non-alveolar consonant preceding
‘Couple’ /k ʌ pl/ ‘trouble’ / trʌbl /
‘Knuckle’ /n ʌ kl/
 Suchwords usually lose their final letter “ e”
when a suffix is beginning with a vowel is
attached, but the l usually remains syllabic.
Thus:
Bottle-bottling /bɒtlIŋ/
Mudlle-muddling / mʌdlIŋ/
 We also find syllable l in words spelt with, at the end, one
or more consonant letters followed by ‘al’ or ‘el’, for
example:

‘panel’ /pænl/ ‘papal’ / peIpl /

‘Petal’ / petl / ‘parcel’ / pɑ:sl /
‘Kernel’ / k ɜ:nl/ ‘Babel’ / beIbl /
‘Pedal’ / pedl / ‘ducal’ /dju:kl /
Strong and Weak Forms
Strong forms are often found:
1) When they occur at the end of a word
2) When a word is contrasted with another word
3) When a word is stressed for emphasis
4) When a word is being quoted.
  Strong Weak form Example
form

Prepositions      

to tu: tə   I went to the market.

For fɔ:(r) fə(r)   Wait for me!

From frɒm frəm   She's from York.

Into ɪntu: ɪntə   Put it into the box.

Of ɒv ə(v)   A bottle of wine.

As æz əz   ..as good as gold...

at æt ət   He's not at home.

Auxiliary verbs
  Strong Form Weak Form   Example

Do du: də Where do you live?

Are ɑ: ə(r)* John and Mary are here.

was wɒz wəz I was quite interested.

Were wɜ: wə(r) They were bored.

Would wʊd wəd She said she would be here.

Could kʊd kəd What could I do?

Should ʃʊd ʃəd They should be here by now.

Can kæn kən What can you do with it?

Must mʌst məs(t) You must be a bit more patient.
 Others  
 
  Strong Form   Weak Form   Example

And ænd ənd, ən, n̩ Rock 'n' roll.

but bʌt bət ...but one of the main points...

Than ð æn ðən It's faster than mine.

that (as a relative) ð æt ð ət The dog that bit me ...
you (as object pronoun) ju: jə Where do you live?
your jɔ: jə (r) Where's your jumper?

her (as object pronoun) hɜ:(r) (h)ə(r)* I'll give her a ring later.

A eɪ ə Take a good book.

an æn ən He's an idiot!
The ði: ðə, ði (before a vowel) What's the time?
           
Importance of teaching weak forms
 There are two good reasons why weak forms ought to be
taught. First, teaching weak forms can help students
improve their production of spoken English. Because of
the influence of their first language, foreign students
tend to pronounce every word very clearly. As a result,
their speech always sounds foreign, sometimes
unintelligible, because enunciating each word in a
sentence can disrupt the natural rhythm of spoken
English. Second, not knowing the weak form may inhibit
students' comprehension of the English spoken by fluent
speakers. Therefore, acquiring weak forms is important
not only for students' production of spoken English but
also for their listening comprehension.
Thank you