PART 2 Phonology

This part of KAL tests candidates’ knowledge of segmental and suprasegmental phonological features.

Segmental Features

• phonemes: the different phonemes of English and their places and manner of articulation e.g. bilabial plosive, voiced or unvoiced consonant; front or back vowels etc.

In this website not only will you be able to see the IPA chart, but you will also be able to click on the symbols and hear both the sounds related to each one of them and sample words including the sounds

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/phonemic-chart

Taken from http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/phonemic-chart.htm

Vocal tract: Parts of the body which contribute to the production of vocal sounds: the lungs, larynx, oral cavity(mouth), lips and nose

To facilitate the learning of the phonemes of standard English, we need to know

• how each sound is produced within the vocal tract :   manner of articulation

• where in the vocal tract each sound is produced :  place of articulation

The phonemic chart is arranged to convey much of this information visually.

Difference between vowels and consonants

The vowel sound: has no particular restriction to the air flow, though it does require a particular ‘posture’ of the tongue, jaw and lips.

Consonants:  begin with some kind of restriction to the air flow which you then release as you move into the following vowel. Most consonants have their own restriction to the flow of air, which is what gives them their unique sound.

Vowel Sounds

 Difference between monopthongs and dipthongs

Dipthongs: the tongue/jaw/lip posture changes during the sounding of the vowel, changes quality

Monopthongs :there is  no such movement, doesn’t change its quality

The characteristic sound of a vowel depends on the shape and size of the resonant space in the mouth. This is determined by:

·         the horizontal tongue position or location (front–center–back);

·         the vertical tongue position or height (high–mid–low);

·         the lip position (rounded–neutral–spread).

And there is a fourth characteristic of vowels which is not dependent on tongue or lip position:

·          the typical length or duration of the vowel (long–short)

Horizontal tongue position

·         Front: When the highest point of the tongue is below the hard palate          /i ː  ɪ  e   æ/

                   i:    leek         I      lick            e   leg             æ    lack

·         Back: When the highest point of the tongue lies below the soft palate           / ɑ:  ɔ:  ɒ  ʊ  u: /

                  ɑ:  lark      ɔ:  lord            ɒ lock          ʊ  look      u: Luke

·         Central: when the highest point of the tongue lies un an intermediate position at the junction of the hard and soft palates            / ʌ  ɜ:  ə /

                  ʌ luck         ɜ:  lurk         ə butter

Vertical Tongue Position

• ·         High or close:  denotes that the raised part of the tongue is relatively close to the roof of the mouth, and above the level it holds in ‘neutral’ position. / i:  u:/

                   i:    leek         u: Luke

• ·         Low or open:  denotes that the tongue is relatively distant from the roof of the mouth, and below the level it holds in neutral position. / ɑ:  ɒ /

                  ɑ:  lark      ɒ lock         

• ·         Mid indicates a neutral or middle position between these two extremes /e   ɜ:  ə/

-Close mid or Mid high:  /ɪ  ʊ/

-Open mid or Mid Low: / æ ʌ  ɔ: /

Lip position

•        Rounded:   vowels / ɔ:  ɒ  ʊ  u: /
•        Unrounded:  vowels  /i:  ɪ e  æ  ɑ:  ʌ   ɜ:  ə/

Adapted from "Sound Foundations, Learning and teaching pronunciation", Adrian Underhill, Macmillan, 2005.

Images taken from the same book "Sound Foundations, Learning and teaching pronunciation", Adrian Underhill, Macmillan, 2005.

Adrian Underhill on Using the Phonemic Chart!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=trEWW3ZlWfA