Gimson's Pronunciation of English

Since it was first published in 1962, Gimson sPronunciation 01English has beenthe essential reference book for anyone studying or teaching the pronunciationofEnglish.

This eighth edition has been brought fully up to date, describing what is nowtenned General British (GB) as the accent of principal consideration and relin­quishing the outdated expression 'RP', and the accompanying transcription hasbeen updated in line with recent changes in pronunciation. This latest editionalso includes completely rewritten chapters on the history of the language andthe emergence of a standard, alongside an explanation for the change from RPto GB.

A further bonus to this important text is its extensive and attractivenew companionwebsite (www.routledge.com/cw/cruttenden). which now includes moment-by­moment commentaries on videos showing the articulation of all GB consonantsand vowels in spoken phrases, as well as cross-referencing between the bookand these videos. The companion website also includes new recordings of OldEnglish, Middle English, and Early Modem English, and features links to recordingsof recent and current GB with comments and transcriptions.

Comprehensive yet accessible, Gimson sPronunciation 01English remains theindispensable reference book for anyone with an interest in English phonetics.

Alan Cruttenden is Emeritus Professor of Phonetics, University of Manchester,and Fellow of the Phonetics Laboratory, University of Oxford.

'Under Alan Cruttenden's exeellent stewardship, Gimsons Pronunciation ofEnglisheontinues to be the ultimate authority on the subjeet of English phoneties; nostudent or teaeher of this subjeet ean do without it.

Cruttenden's rejeetion of the term "Reeeived Pronuneiation" in favour of"General British" is, in my opinion, timely and his transeriptional revisions toeertain vowel symbols refleetive ofeurrent trends in General British pronuneiation.

The eommentaries on artieulation added to the MRI videos on the eompanionwebsite are partieularly elueidating. I will definitely be referring my students tothis informative material.'

Jane Setter, University 0/Reading, UK

'This well-respeeted volume eontinues to be an invaluable authority on the pro­nuneiationofEnglish, and the on-going effortsby Alan Cruttendento keep it updatedare exeeptionally weleome. This latest update will ensure this volume eontinuesto be an essential resouree for anyone teaehing or researehing the pronuneiationof English, espeeially with the eontinued development of on-line resourees toaeeompany the book.'

David Deterding, University 0/Brunei, Darussalam

'There are books whieh you need to read, possibly from the library, and bookswhieh you need to own. Together with a pronouneing dietionary of English, thisexeellent update of Gimson's classie deseription ofthe pronuneiation ofEnglish,now eompletely rewritten by Alan Cruttenden, should be on the bookshelf ofevery serious student or teaeher of English.'

Daniel Hirst, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University,France, and Tongji University, China

'Unique and unrivalled, ofCruttenden's four sueeessive brilliant re-workings andupdatings upon the famous Gimson foundation, this is the most remarkable yet,not least for its groundbreaking new audio-visual eompanion website.'

Jaek Windsor Lewis, formerly 0/ the University 0/Leeds, UK

Gimson's Pronunciationof English

Eighth Edition

Alan Cruttenden

Eighth edition published 2014by Routledge2 Park Square, Milton Park,Abingdon, Oxon OXI4 4RN

and by Routledge71 I Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2014 Alan Cruttenden

The right of Alan Cruttenden to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by himin accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and PatentsAct 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any formor by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, includingphotocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,withoutpermission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Produet or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published as An Introduaion to the Pronunciation of English by Edward Arnold 1962Seventh edition published by Hodder Education 2008

British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Pub/ication DataCruttenden, Alan, 1936-

Gimson's pronunciation of English / Alan Cruttenden. - Eighth Edition.pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.I. English language-Phonetics. 2. English language-Pronunciation. I. Gimson, A. C. Introduetionto the pronunciation of English. 11. Title. 111. Title: Pronunciation of English.

PEI135.C782014421'.58-dc23

2013026284

ISBN:978-0-415-72174-5 (hbk)ISBN:978-1-4441-8309-2 (pbk)ISBN:978-0-203-78496-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Romanby Graphieraft Limited, Hong Kong

IPA Chart, http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/ipachart.html. available under a CreativeCommons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License.Copyright © 2005 InternationalPhonetic Association.

Contents

Foreword to the First Edition (1962) XIV

Foreword to the Eighth Edition (2014) xviList offigures xviiiList 01 tables xxList 01 text boxes xxiList 01phonetic symbols and signs and abbreviations xxiii

PART I

Language and speech

1 Introduction 31.1 Language and linguistics 3

1.1.1 Phonetics as part of linguistics 31.1.2 Phonetics, phonology and phonemics 31.1.3 Pronunciation and spelling 4

1.2 Change and variation 41.3 Leaming 5

1.3.1 Functional load, phonetic cues and redundancy 51.3.2 Acquiring English as an LI 61.3.3 Acquiring English as an additional language 6

2 The production of speech: the physiological aspect 82.1 The speech chain 82.2 The speech mechanism 8

2.2.1 Sources of energy-the lungs 92.2.2 The larynx and the vocal cords 92.2.3 The resonating cavities 12

2.2.3.1 The pharynx 122.2.3.2 The mouth 14

1

vi Contents

3 The sounds of speech: the acoustic and auditory aspects 183.1 Sound qua1ity 183.2 The acoustic spectrum 20

3.2.1 Fundamental frequency: pitch 223.2.2 Intensity: loudness 233.2.3 Duration: length 243.2.4 'Stress' 24

3.3 Hearing 25

4 The description and classification of speech sounds 274.1 Phonetic description 274.2 Vowel and consonant 274.3 Consonants 28

4.3.1 Egressive pulmonic consonants 294.3.2 Voicing 294.3.3 Place of articulation 294.3.4 Manner of articulation 304.3.5 Obstruents and sonorants 314.3.6 Fortis and lenis 314.3.7 Classification of consonants 324.3.8 Ingressive pulmonic consonants 324.3.9 Egressive glottalic consonants 324.3.10 Ingressive glottalic consonants 324.3.11 Ingressive velaric consonants 34

4.4 Vowels 344.4.1 Difficulties of description 354.4.2 Cardinal Vowels 364.4.3 Nasality 384.4.4 Relatively pure vowels vs gliding vowels 384.4.5 Articulatory classification of vowels 39

5 Sounds in language 415.1 Speech sounds and linguistic units 415.2 The linguistic hierarchy 425.3 Phonemes 43

5.3.1 Diversity of phonemic solutions 445.3.2 Distinctive features 445.3.3 Allophones 455.3.4 Neutralisation 475.3.5 Phonemic systems 47

5.4 Transcription5.5 Syllables

5.5.1 The sonority hierarchy5.5.2 Syllable constituency5.5.3 Syllable boundaries

5.6 Vowel and consonant5.7 Prosodie features5.8 Paralinguistic and extralinguistic features

PART 11

The sounds of English

Contents vii

4950505152535454

57

6 The historical background 596.1 Evidence for phonetic reconstruction and change 59

6.1.1 Latin and Runic as base 596.1.2 Intervening values 606.1.3 Rhymes and metre 606.1.4 Direct evidence 60

6.2 Sound change 616.2.1 Phonemic change 616.2.2 Contextual change 616.2.3 Lexical change 626.2.4 Foreign imports 626.2.5 Accentual change 626.2.6 The influence of spelling 63

6.3 Old English (OE) 636.3.1 Classical Old English sound system 64

6.4 Middle English (ME) 656.4.1 Late Middle English sound system 65

6.5 Early Modem English (eModE) 666.5.1 Early Modem English sound system 68

6.6 Towards current General British (GB) 696.6.1 Direct evidence 696.6.2 Changes since Shakespeare 70

6.7 Overview of changes from OE to current GeneralBritish (GB) 716.7.1 Categorical change, gradual change and variation 716.7.2 Vowel changes 726.7.3 Consonantal changes 73

viii Contents

7 Standard and regional accents 747.1 The emergence of a standard 747.2 Early uses of 'received' and 'received pronunciation' 767.3 Daniel Jones, the BBC, RP and GB 777.4 'Modem RP' 787.5 Other names for RP 787.6 General British (GB) 807.7 Conspicuous General British (CGB) 817.8 Regional General British (RGB) 817.9 GB and foreign leamers 827.10 Recent changes in GB 83

7.10.1 Changes almost complete 837.10.2 Changes weIl established 837.10.3 Recent trends 85

7.11 Systems and standards other than GB and theirinfluence on RGB 85

7.12 Comparing systems of pronunciation 867.12.1 General American (GA) 877.12.2 Standard Scottish English (SSE) 887.12.3 London English, Estuary English (EE) and

Multicultural London English (MLE) 897.12.4 General Northem English (GNE) 917.12.5 Australian English (ANE) 927.12.6 Caribbean English 93

8 The English vowels 968.1 The distinctive vowels 968.2 Vowel glides with preceding Ij,wl 988.3 Glides to [;J] 1008.4 Vowel length 100

8.4.1 Phonetic relationships 1008.4.2 Morphophonemic alternations 102

8.5 Transcriptions of English vowels 1038.6 Acoustics of GB vowels 1048.7 Leaming of vowels 109

8.7.1 Acquisition of vowels by native leamers 1098.7.2 Advice to foreign leamers 109

8.8 Descriptions of the vowels 1108.9 (Relatively) pure vowels 111

8.9.1 li:1 1118.9.2 hl 113

8.9.3 lei8.9.4 IE:I8.9.5 lai8.9.6 !AI8.9.7 la:18.9.8 1'018.9.9 I~:I

8.9.10 lul8.9.11 Iml8.9.12 13:18.9.13 I~I

8.10 Diphthongal vowel glides8.10.1 lell8.10.2 lall8.10.3 I~II

8.10.4 I~ul

8.10.5 laul8.11 Diphthongs + [~]

8.12 Centring diphthongs8.12.1 !I~I

8.12.2 lu~1

8.13 Vowels in syllables without primary accent8.14 The frequency of occurrence of GB vowels

9 The English consonants9.1 The distinctive consonants

Class A: Obstruents9.2 Plosives

9.2.1 The phonetic features of English plosives9.2.2 Acoustic features of English plosives9.2.3 Acquisition of plosives by native leamers9.2.4 The release stage of English plosives9.2.5 Bilabial plosives Ip,bl9.2.6 Alveolar plosives It,dl9.2.7 Velar plosives /k,gl9.2.8 Glottal plosive [f]

9.3 Affricates9.3.1 Palato-alveolar affricates If,d:31

9.4 Fricatives9.4.1 Acoustic features of English fricatives9.4.2 Acquisition of fricatives by native leamers

Contents ix

116118119121123126128130132135137140140142144146148150153153155157158

161161

162162163167169169173175179182186188192194195

x Contents

9.4.3 Labiodental fricatives If,vl9.4.4 Dental fricatives 18,019.4.5 Alveolar fricatives Is,zl9.4.6 Palato-alveolar fricatives IS,319.4.7 Glottal fricative Ihl

9.5 Voiced and voiceless as phonological categories

Class B: Sonorants9.6 Nasals

9.6.1 Bilabial nasal Iml9.6.2 Alveolar nasal Inl9.6.3 Velar nasal 11)1

9.7 Oral approximants9.7.1 Lateral approximant 11/9.7.2 Post-alveolar approximant Irl9.7.3 Palatal and labial-velar approximants

(or semi-vowels)9.7.4 Unrounded palatal approximant Ij/9.7.5 Rounded labial-velar approximant Iwl

9.8 The frequency of occurrence of GB consonants

PART 111

Words and connected speech

10 Words10.1 Accent10.2 Accent and prominence10.3 Word accentual patterns

10.3.1 Roots10.3.2 Suffixes10.3.3 Prefixes10.3.4 Secondary accent10.3.5 Compounds

10.4 Word accentual instability10.5 Distinctive word accentual patterns10.6 Acquisition ofword accent by native learners10.7 Word accent-advice to foreign learners10.8 Elision and epenthesis10.9 Variability in the phonemic structure of words10.10 Phonotactics

10.10.1 Word-initial phoneme sequences10.10.2 Word-final phoneme sequences

196198200203206208

209209211213215217217222

228229232235

239

241241242244244246248248248252253255255256258259260261

Contents xi

10.10.3 Word-medial syllable division 26310.10.4 Inftexional suffix formation 26510.10.5 Acquisition of phonotactics by native learners 26710.10.6 Phonotactics-advice to foreign learners 267

10.11 Consonant harmony in the word structure of nativelearners 268

11 Connected speech 27011.1 Accent 27011.2 Prominence, accent and rhythm 27111.3 Weak forms 27311.4 Acquisition of rhythm and weak forms by native learners 27611.5 Rhythm and weak forms-advice to foreign learners 27611.6 Intonation 277

11.6.1 The forms of intonation 27711.6.1.1 Intonational phrases 27711.6.1.2 Primary accents 27811.6.1.3 Types of nuclear tone 27811.6.1.4 Secondary accents 28111.6.1.5 The pitch of unaccented syllables 282

11.6.2 The functions of intonation 28411.6.2.1 Intonational phrasing 28411.6.2.2 Primary accents and new information 28611.6.2.3 Primary accents on function words 28811.6.2.4 Focusing adverbs 28811.6.2.5 Some special accentings 29011.6.2.6 The meanings of tones 29111.6.2.7 The use of secondary accents 298

11.6.3 Regional variation in intonation 29811.6.4 Pitch range 29911.6.5 Intonation and punctuation 30011.6.6 Acquisition of intonation by native learners 30011.6.7 Intonation-advice to foreign learners 301

11.7 Hesitations 30211.8 Voice quality 302

12 Words in connected speech 30512.1 Citation forms and connected speech 30512.2 Neutralisation of weak forms 30512.3 Variation in the accentual pattern of words 30712.4 Phonetic variations within words and at boundaries 308

xii Contents

12.4.1 Allophonic variations 30812.4.2 Phonemic variations 31012.4.3 Voiced/voiceless variations 31012.4.4 Nasality and labialisation 31112.4.5 Variations of place 31212.4.6 Elision 31312.4.7 Liaison 31512.4.8 Juncture 318

12.5 Stylistic variation 31912.6 Frequency of occurrence of monosyllabic and

polysyllabic words 32012.7 Advice to foreign learners 321

PART IV

Language teaching and learning 323

13 Teaching and learning the pronunciation of English asan additionallanguage 32513.1 The place ofpronunciation 32513.2 Models and targets 326

13.2.1 Native speaker targets 32613.2.2 GB and Regional GBs 32613.2.3 Amalgam English and International English 327

13.3 GB and Regional GBs: priorities and tolerances 32813.3.1 Consonants 328

13.3.1.1 Plosives 32813.3.1.2 Fricatives 32913.3.1.3 Affricates 32913.3.1.4 Approximants 32913.3.1.5 Nasals 32913.3.1.6 Consonant clusters 330

13.3.2 Vowels 33013.3.3 Accent and rhythm 33313.3.4 Sounds in connected speech 33413.3.5 Intonation 334

13.4 Amalgam English: priorities and tolerances 33513.4.1 Consonants 336

13.4.1.1 Plosives 33613.4.1.2 Fricatives 33613.4.1.3 Affricates 337

Contents xiii

13.4.1.4 Approximants 33713.4.1.5 Nasals 33713.4.1.6 Consonant clusters 337

13.4.2 Vowels 33813.4.3 Accentuation, intonation and connected speech 34013.4.4 Summary: Amalgam English 340

13.5 International English: priorities and tolerances 34113.5.1 Consonants 341

13.5.1.1 Plosives 34113.5.1.2 Fricatives 34213.5.1.3 Affricates 34213.5.1.4 Approximants 34213.5.1.5 Nasals 34313.5.1.6 Consonant clusters 343

13.5.2 Vowels 34313.5.3 Accentuation, intonation and connected speech 34313.5.4 Summary: International English 344

13.6 Teaching methods 34513.6.1 Consonants 34613.6.2 Vowels 34713.6.3 Accentuation 34813.6.4 Intonation 349

13.7 Pronouncing dictionaries 34913.8 Assessment 350

13.8.1 Comprehension 35013.8.2 Production 351

Selective glossary 353References 358Index 374

Foreword to the First Edition (1962)

The phonetic detail of the pronunciation of British English has already beendescribed in several excellent works, notably those ofDaniel Iones. This presentbook, written after a number of years of teaching the spoken language both toEnglish students and to foreign leamers, sets out to place the phonetics of BritishEnglish in a larger framework than has been customary. For this reason, emphasisis given to the function of the spoken medium as a form of communication. Sometreatment of the historical background and the linguistic implications of the presentsound system is included, as well as information conceming the acoustic natureof English sounds. Those sections in Part 11, in which detailed descriptions ofthe realizations ofphonemes are given, deal with spelling forms, articulatory andacoustic features, variants and chief historical sources. In addition, throughoutParts 11 and III, general advice to the foreign leamer is included.

The book is intended to serve as a general introduction to the subject whichwill encourage the reader to consult more specialized works on particular aspects.Though my own views and observations intrude both in the material and in itspresentation, much of the information given is derived from the numerous sourcesquoted in the Bibliography. In particular, new evaluations, which seem to meto reflect more nearly the current trend of RP forms, are made of the phoneticcharacteristics of certain phonemes. In the acoustic field, where so much remainsto be investigated and where research proceeds so rapidly, an attempt has beenmade to sum up the results of work done in the post-war period, though manyof the conclusions must as yet be regarded as tentative. It was tempting to applyto British English a logical, elegant and economical phonemic analysis suchas is now commonplace in the United States, involving a very much simplifiedphonemic notation. If this has not been done, it is mainly because a type ofanalysis was required which was explicit on the phonetic level as well as reasonablytidy on the phonemic level; it seemed easier, for instance, to deal with phoneticdevelopments and variants in terms ofthe largely traditional (for British English)transcription which has been used.

Throughout the book, the influence of my teachers, Professor Daniel Ionesand Dr H. N. Coustenoble, will be obvious. To them my sincere thanks are due,not only for their teaching over the past 25 years but also for the example of

Foreword to the First Edition (1962) xv

dedication which they gave me. My gratitude is also due to Professor D. B.Fry and all my colleagues of the Department of Phonetics, University College,London, whose brains I have constantly picked during the writing of this book.In particular, I have valued the help of Mr J. D. O'Connor and Dr A. J. Fourcinwho have read sections of the book, made corrections and suggested improve­ments. I am also much indebted to Professor Randolph Quirk for his helpfulcomments on several points of Old English phonology. I am most grateful, too,to Mr J. C. Wells, who has generously allowed me to use unpublished figuresresulting from his work on the formants of RP vowels.

A. C. GimsonUniversity CollegeLondonDecember; 1961

Foreword to the Eighth Edition (2014)

I have now edited four editions of this book (besides having a minor role inan earlier fifth). Throughout my editions I have thought to change it from beingprimarily a textbook to being a reference book. In keeping with this change, whileupdating the book I have regularly introduced references in end of chapter notes.At the same time, to fit with modem styling, I have often revised the writing tobe rather simpler where sometimes the original was somewhat convoluted or tiedwith 'hedges'. In my editions I have also at different times thought it necessary tosubstantially rewrite most chapters. Some of the changes from the fourth editionto the seventh included rewriting the sections on intonation, on word accent, andon L2 teaching and leaming; and adding in sections on LI leaming, on regionalvariations and on spellings. A major change in layout in the seventh edition sawthe introduction oftext-boxed information on spellings and on sources for vowelsand consonants. The seventh edition also saw the setting up of a companion website.

This eighth edition continues the text-boxing by introducing boxes for thedescription of phonotactics. It revises and adds to the companion website: theMRI video scans introduced in the seventh edition have now been organised sothat there is a commentary on what the articulating organs are doing at eachstage; and specific references are made in Chapters 2, 4, 8 and 9 to particularpoints in the videos. The references are in bold and take the form, for example,(see video 1.2) or (see videos 1.2, 3.18), where the digits before the stop showthe number of the video and the digits after the stop refer to the relevant pointon the scale beneath the video. Also on the companion website there are spokenversions of the transcriptions of Old English, Middle English and Early ModemEnglish; and there are recordings to show how the language has changed overthe last eighty years.

The only parts of the book which I had not previously changed much wereChapter 6 on the history of English and the first part of Chapter 7 on the evolutionof a standard language. These I have now completely rewritten.

Two major changes have been made in the book to reflect current changes inthe language and attitudes to it.

First, I no longer regard the book as describing RP (Received Pronunciation).Despite the fact that land other phoneticians have sought to describe changes

Foreword to the Eighth Edition (2014) xvii

in RP to make it a modem and more flexible standard, many, particularly in themedia, have persisted in presenting an image of RP as outdated and becomingeven more than ever the speech only ofthe 'posh' few in the south-east ofEngland.For this reason I have dropped the name RP and now consider myself to bedescribing General British or GB. I have dealt in more detail with the backgroundto this change in Chapter 7.

Second, I have made three substantial transcriptional alterations: (1) l-cel hasbeen changed to lai. This change is long overdue in transcriptions of English.The symbol l-cel has always been an oddity even in the IPA alphabet: nowhereelse is there a separate symbol for a value intermediate between two CardinalVowels (showing an English bias-the symbol dates from Old English). Moreoverthe value ofthis vowel in current GB is much closer to Cardinal [al than it wasfifty years ago. (2) le<!1 has been changed to teit. The centring diphthongs in GB(and in other parts of the world) are being progressively monophthongised; theprocess is most advanced with the diphthong formerly transcribed le<!/, so thisis recognised here by the new transcription le:/. (3) li,ul are transcribed withoutlength marks finally and before vowels, e.g. reaet /riakt/, doing /'dUIl]/, eopy/'kupil and in common pronunciations of the, me, he, she, we and you. Theseforms are described as allophones of Ir,ul but are nevertheless transcribed withslant brackets (as in a phonemic transcription); it particularly seems importantto show that pronunciations with Ir/, though not uncommon, are generally con­sidered part of an older or nowadays more 'conspicuous' General British or CGB.It also follows the practice in the three pronouncing dictionaries (see further onthis topic in §8.9.2).

I keep to my own view of English rhythm. Knowing how many differencesof opinion there can be about where the 'stresses' are in sentences, I continuenot to believe in 'rhythmical stress' and in 'stress-timing'. I analyse utterancesonly in terms of pitch accents and full and reduced vowels, which are generallyless ambiguous and account for rhythm better (see §11.2). In a related matter Ikeep ' for the primary accent in cited words as reflecting their usual pronunciationwith a falling tone.

Finally a few thank yous for help. To Gim himself for educating me in phoneticsthrough this book, for giving me a book to recommend to my students and forcontinuing to give me something to revise. Also to Ted Camey whose monumentalwork on spelling I continue to plunder. And to Jack Windsor Lewis, who hasgiven me the benefit of his huge knowledge of English phonetics and who hasread the whole book and given me the benefit of both numerous corrections andsuggestions, besides being an expert proofreader. Finally to Rachel Daw and SarahMay at Routledge, with whom I cannot imagine a better co-operation.

Figures

1 Organs of speech 102 The states of the voca1 cords as seen from above 113 Spectrogram of the phrase Manchester music shops as said

by a male speaker of GB 204 Tongue positions for [i:] and [al] 355 The primary Cardina1 Vowe1s 376 The vowe1s of learn and line 397 Articu1atory labels combined with the Cardina1 Vowe1 diagram 398 Spectrograms of the GB re1ative1y pure vowe1s in the frame

Ih-dl as spoken by a male speaker of GB 1069 Spectrograms of the GB diphthongs in the frame Ih-dl

as spoken by a male speaker of GB 10710 Formant frequencies for some GB pure vowe1s said in citation

form and in connected speech (male speakers) 10811 Formant frequencies for some GB pure vowe1s said in citation

form and in connected speech (female speakers) 10812 Variants of li:1 11213 Variants of III (including Ii/) 11514 Variants of lei 11715 Variants of final IE:I 11816 Variants of lai 12017 Variants of lAI 12218 Variants of la:1 12419 Variants of Inl 12620 Variants of I:J:I 12921 Variants of lul 13122 Variants of lu:1 13323 Variants of 13:1 13624 Variants of I<JI 13825 Variants of leII 14126 Variants of lall 14327 Variants of I:JII 145

List of figures xix

28 Variants of kml 14729 Variants of laul 14930 Variants of /aro.aoe/ 15131 Variants of final Ir;:l,u;:ll 15432 Noise bursts and formant transitions for plosives before lai 16833 Spectrograms of /barI, Idar/, Igarl and of 16:1, 18;):/, Is;):/,

If;):1 as spoken by male speaker of GB 16834 Section of Ip,bl 17435 Section and pa1atogram of It,dl 17736 Section and pa1atogram of /k,gl + li:1 18137 Section and pa1atogram of /k,gl + la:1 18138 Section and pa1atogram of stop phase of If,d:3/ 18939 Section and pa1atogram of stop phase of Itr,drl 19240 Section of If,vl 19741 Section and pa1atogram of 18,01 19942 Section and pa1atogram of Is,zl 20243 Section and pa1atogram of If,31 20544 Spectrograms of 11~k/, Ir~k/, /wtek/, Ij~kl and of /reem/, Ir~n/,

Ir~1)1 as said by male speaker of GB 21045 Section of Iml 21246 Section and pa1atogram of Inl 21447 Section and pa1atogram of 11)1 in song 21648 Section and pa1atogram of c1ear [1] 22049 Section and pa1atogram of dark [t] 22050 Section and pa1atogram of Irl = [J] 22551 Vowe1 diagram and pa1atogram for Ij/ 23152 Vowe1 diagram and pa1atogram for Iwl 23453 GB monophthongs: acceptab1e areas 33054 GB closing diphthongs: acceptab1e onset areas 33255 GB centring diphthongs: acceptab1e onset areas 33256 Amalgam English: short vowe1s 33957 Amalgam English: long vowe1s 33958 Amalgam English: diphthongs 33959 International English: vowe1s 344

Tables

1 The International Phonetic Alphabet 332 Principal isolated vowel changes from OE to GB 723 Contrasts in GB vowels established by commutation 964 Formant frequencies for GB (relatively) pure vowels

(in citation form) 1045 Formant frequencies for GB diphthongs (in citation form) 1056 Formant frequencies for some GB (relatively) pure vowels

in connected speech 1057 Vowels in syllables without primary accent 1578 Text frequencies of vowels in GB 1599 The distinctive consonants of English 161

10 Minimal oppositions among English plosives 16311 VOT differences in English in lead, leader, done, stun, ton 16512 Distribution of homorganic sequences of plosive plus fricative 18613 Fricatives in different word positions 19314 Text frequencies of consonants in GB 23515 Initial CC(V) clusters in GB 26116 Final (V)CC clusters in GB 26217 Final (V)CCC clusters in GB 263

Text boxes

1 Articulators used in speech2 Spellings of li:13 Sources of li:14 Spellings of III including final Ii!5 Sources of Irl6 Spellings of lei7 Sources of lei8 Spellings of Id9 Sources of 1f.:1

10 Spellings of lai11 Sources of lai12 Spellings of lAI13 Sources of !AI14 Spellings of la:115 Sources of la:116 Spellings of Inl17 Sources of Inl18 Spellings of I:J:I19 Sources of h:120 Spellings of lul21 Sources of lul22 Spellings of lu:123 Sources of lu:1 and Iju:124 Spellings of 13:125 Sources of 13:126 Spellings of I<JI (excluding function words)27 Sources of I<JI28 Spellings of leII29 Sources of leII30 Spellings of lall31 Sources of lall32 Spellings of I:JII

17111112113115116117118119119121122123124125126127128129130132133134135137138139140142142144144

xxii List of text boxes

33 Sources of I;nl 14534 Spellings of I<lul 14635 Sources of I<lul 14836 Spellings of laul 14837 Sources of laul 15038 Spellings of h<ll 15339 Sources of h<ll 15540 Spellings of lu <11 15541 Sources of IU<lI 15642 Spellings of Ip,bl 17443 Sources of Ip,bl 17544 Spellings of It,dl 17645 Sources of It,dl 17946 Spellings of /k,gl 18047 Sources of Ik,gl 18248 Spellings of If,d31 19049 Sources of If,d31 19150 Spellings of If,vl 19651 Sources of If,vl 19752 Spellings of 18,01 19853 Sources of 18,01 20054 Spellings of Is,zl 20155 Sources of Is,zl 20356 Spellings of If,31 20457 Source of If,31 20658 Spellings of /hl 20759 Sources of Ihl 20860 Spellings of Iml 21161 Sources of Iml 21262 Spellings of Inl 21363 Sources of Inl 21464 Spellings of 11)1 21565 Sources of 11)1 21666 Spellings of 111 21867 Sources of 111 22168 Spellings of Irl 22369 Sources of Irl 22670 Spellings of Ij/ 22971 Sources of Ij/ 23172 Spellings of Iwl 23273 Sources of Iwl 234

List of phonetic symbols and slgnsand abbreviations

(Letters additional to the Roman alphabet are given Unicode names)

a

re

u

D

ANANEb6ß

C.c<;o

d

cl

cf

doö

e

eModEo

f

3

Cardinal Vowel no. 4 (GB vowel in cat); also used for the firstelement of the GB diphthongs ltu! and laulfront vowel between open-mid (Cardinal 3) and open (Cardinal 4)(older pronunciation of the GB vowel in cat ('ash')Cardinal Vowel no. 5 (a retracted pronunciation of the GB vowel incar) ('alpha')Cardinal Vowel no. 13 (GB vowel in dog) ('tumed alpha')Anglo-NormanAustralian Englishvoiced bilabial plosive (Eng. b in labour)voiced bilabial implosive (see §4.3.1O) ('b with hook')voiced bilabial fricative (sometimes heard for /in a sequence like0/blue) ('beta')Cardinal Vowelvoiceless palatal plosive (sometimes for qu in French quai)voiceless palatal fricative (as in German ich) ('C with cedilla')Cardinal Vowel no. 6 (approximately as in German Sonne) also usedfor GB 1;):1 in saw and first element of diphthong 1;)11 ('open 0')voiced alveolar plosive (Eng. d in lady)voiced retroflex plosive (common pronunciation of English d inIndian English) ('d with tail')voiced alveolar implosive (see §4.3.1O) ('d with hook')voiced palato-alveolar affricate (Eng.) in}am) ('d-ezh ligature')voiced dental fricative (Eng. th in other) ('eth')Cardinal Vowel no. 2 (approximately as in French the); also used forGB lei in bed, and for the first element of the diphthong lellEarly Modem Englishunrounded central vowel (Eng. initial and final vowels in another)('schwa')Cardinal Vowel no. 3 (approximately as in French pere) ('open e')unrounded central vowel (GB ir in bird) ('reversed open e')

1

xxiv List of phonetic symbols and signs and abbreviations

3' unrounded retroflexed central vowel (General American ir in bird)('reversed open e with hook')

f voiceless labiodental fricative (Eng.j in Jour)J voiced palatal plosive (sometimes in French guide)

('dotless j with stroke')GA General AmericanGB General BritishGVS Great Vowel Shift9 voiced velar plosive (Eng. g in eager)9 voiced velar implosive (see §4.3.10) ('g with hook')G voiced uvular plosive (see §4.3.3) ('small cap G')y voiced velar fricative (Spanish g in luego) ('gamma')r Cardinal Vowel no. 15 (a realisation of Eng. lul in some varieties)

('ram's horn')h voiceless glottal fricative (Eng. h in house)11 voiced glottal fricative (sometimes Eng. h in behind) ('h with hook')

Cardinal Vowel no. 1 (approximatelyas in French si); also used forEng. li:1 in seeunrounded elose central vowel (a realisation of English li:1 in somevarieties) ('i with stroke')centralised unrounded elose-mid vowel (Eng. vowel in sit)('small cap I')

j voiced palatal approximant (Eng. y in you)j voiced palatal fricative (sometimesj in Eng. yeast) ('j with crossed tail')k voiceless velar plosive (Eng. c in car)LI learning as a first language (in this book, of English)L2 learning as an additional language (in this book, of English)LF lexical frequency (i.e. as in dictionaries)1 voiced alveolar lateral approximant (Eng. I in lazy)I voiced alveolar lateral approximant with velarisation (GB II in ill)

('1 with middle tilde')I voiceless alveolar lateral fricative (Welsh ll) ('1 with belt')ME Middle Englishm voiced bilabial nasal (Eng. m in me)llJ voiced labiodental nasal (Eng. m in comforty ('m with hook')UI Cardinal Vowel no. 16 (like Eng. lu:1 with spread lips) ('turned m')MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging (in Chapters 2, 4, 8 and 9 reference is

regularly made to number and point of MRI videos on companionwebsite, e.g. 3.15 refers to video 3, point 15)

NE Northern (England) Englishn voiced alveolar nasal (Eng. n in no)IJ voiced velar nasal (GB ng in sing) ('eng')J1 voiced palatal nasal (French gn in vigne) ('n with left hook')OE Old English

1

1

1

List of phonetic symbols and signs and abbreviations xxv

OF Old FrenchON Old Norseo Cardinal Vowel no. 7 (approximately as in French eau)o Cardinal Vowel no. 10 (approximately as in French peu)

('0 with stroke')ce Cardinal Vowelno. 11 (approximatelyas in French peur) ('ligature oe')p voiceless bilabial plosive (Eng. p in pea)q voiceless uvular plosive (see §4.3.3)r voiced alveolar trill (an emphatic pronunciation of r in Scottish

English)J voiced post-alveolar approximant (GB r in red) ('tumed r')L voiced retroflex approximant (sometimes for General American r in

red) ('tumed r with hook')R voiced uvular trill (an emphatic pronunciation of French r in rouge)

('small cap R')I> voiced uvular fricative or approximant (French r in peur)

('small cap inverted R')f voiced alveolar tap (sometimes r in Eng. very) ('r with fish hook')SSE Standard Scottish Englishs voiceless alveolar fricative (Eng. s in see)f voiceless palato-alveolar fricative (Eng. sh in she) ('esh')TF text frequency (i.e. as in continous texts)t voiceless alveolar plosive (Eng. t in tea)f voiceless palato-alveolar affricate (Eng. eh in cheese)

('t-esh ligature')t voiceless retroflex fricative (common pronunciation of English t in

Indian English) ('t with retroflex hook')e voiceless dental fricative (Eng. th in thing) ('theta')u Cardinal Vowel no. 8 (approximately as in French doux); also used

for Eng. lu:1 in daü rounded elose central vowel (a realisation for Eng. lu:1 in some

dialects) ('U bar')u centralised rounded elose-mid vowel (GB. u in put) ('upsilon')v voiced labiodental fricative (Eng. v in ever)A Cardinal Vowel no. 14; also used for Eng. !AI in cup ('tumed v')D voiced labiodental approximant (a speech defective pronunciation

(but see §9.7.2) of Eng. r in red) ('v with hook')w voiced labial-velar approximant (Eng. w in we)A\ voiceless labial-velar fricative (sometimes Eng. wh in why) ('tumed w')x voiceless velar fricative (Scottish English eh in loch)y Cardinal Vowel no. 9 (approximately as in French hut)A voiced palatal lateral approximant (Italian gl in egli) ('tumed y')z voiced alveolar fricative (Eng. z in lazy)3 voiced palato-alveolar fricative (Eng. s in measure) ('ezh')

xxvi

11

1

I///[ ]

[.][-][:][, ]

n[0]

[e]

[.][']

[J

nLl[V]

n[>][=]['][,][-]["][J[J[J[J[J[.][-]--->

<>*t<>

List of phonetic symbols and signs and abbreviations

alveolar lateral click (the sound to make horses 'gee-up')dental click (as in the Eng. vocalisation written 'tut-tut')glottal plosive (as at onset of emphatic pronunciation ofEng. accident)boundary between intonational phrases (see §11.6)phonemie transcriptionphonetie (allophonic) transcriptionalso situational setting for intonational transcriptions (see §11.6.2.6)indieates a syllable boundaryindieates a morpheme boundaryindieates long vowel, e.g. [fi:d]indieates half long vowel, e.g. [fi't]indieates short, non-prominent, vowel, e.g. [wmdfo]indieates full vowel without pitch accent (in interlinear tonetietranscriptions) (see §11.6.1.3)indieates full vowel with pitch accent (in interlinear tonetictranscriptions)indieates reduced vowel (in interlinear tonetic transcriptions)high falling nuclear tone (and used to indieate primary accent incitation forms), e.g. 'yeslow falling nuclear tone, e.g. .yeshigh rising nuclear tone, e.g. 'yeslow rising nuclear tone, e.g. .yesfalling-rising nuclear tone, e.g. "yesrising-falling nuclear tone, e.g. "yesmid-level nuclear tone, e.g. "yesstylised tone (high level followed by mid level), e.g. "sorrysyllable carrying (high) secondary accent, e.g. 'come ,heresyllable carrying (low) secondary accent, e.g. I ,like ,thatnasalisation, e.g. [ölcentralisation, e.g. [ölmore open quality, e.g. [Q]closer quality, e.g. [9]devoieed lenis consonant, e.g. [~] (above in the case of [D,3,9])syllabic consonant, e.g. [1,1] (above in the case of nj)dental artieulation, e.g. [1]fronted articulation, e.g. [t.] or mretracted artieulation, e.g. [t-] or [1]is realised (pronounced) asdeveloped from/less thandeveloped to/greater thanOB (Figs 12-31)COB (Figs 12-31)

orthographie form

1

1

Part I

Language and speech

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Chapter I

Introduction

1.1 Language and linguistics

1.1.1 Phonetics as part of linguistics

PHONETICS as a subject of study is nowadays considered to be part of linguistics.But in departments of linguistics in universities it is still a subject with moreautonomy than other areas, for various reasons: it is the only section of linguisticswhich deals almost entirely with the spoken language (the exception being therelationship between sounds and spellings); it is often heavily dependent oninstruments and even more dependent on computers than other areas of languagestudy; it depends on data more than other areas of linguistics; and it depends onscaled measurements more than other areas of linguistics.

Nevertheless phonetics does overlap with and inform almost all other areasof linguistics. Phonetics informs MORPHOLOGY, particularly inflexions, e.g. themorphophonemic alternations in plural formation in English as illustrated bythe /s/ in in cats, the /z/ in dogs, the /rz/ in losses (see §10.10.4(2)). Phoneticsinforms SYNTAX, e.g. it highlights word class differences, e.g. between the accentplacement in the noun /'t~:ment/ and the verb /torment/ (see §10.5). Phoneticsinforms PRAGMATICS, particularly in the way intonation is used, e.g. it shows the'reservations' in a phrase such as Weil I like 'salmon (i.e. but in general I amnot keen on fish) where the v indicates a fall and then rise in pitch on salmon(see §11.6.2.6(1)). Moreover phonetics plays a leading part in analyses in socro­LINGUISTICS, including variations in dialect (see, for example, §7.12) and style(see, for example, §12.5).

1.1.2 Phonetics, phonology and phonemics

We talked above about 'phonetics' but we must talk more precisely of 'phoneticsand phonology', since this book is concemed with both. The PHONETICS of alanguage concems the concrete characteristics (articulatory, acoustic, auditory)of the sounds used in languages while PHONOLOGY concems how sounds functionin a systemic way in a particular language. The traditional approach to phonology