The sound system of English

            This appendix is about sounds and their spellings.  Regardless of what level and what
students a teacher is dealing with,  a minimum basic understanding of the sound system of
English and its connection to the English spelling system is necessary in order to provide
some understanding of the problems and difficulties our students face.   This appendix
attempts to provide that minimum, but without including much that does not relate directly or
indirectly to a teacher's needs.  

The sound system 

             Certainly, there is a relationship between the English sound system and the English
spelling system.  However, the relationship between sound and spelling is neither
straightforward nor obvious.  If it were,  many of us would spell more accurately than we do. 
What is obvious is that the sounds of English are not the same as the letters of English.  

Note:  Although it is obvious in an intellectual sense that sounds and letters are not the same
thing,  most students working through this appendix will on occasion make errors through
mistaking sounds for letters. 

            The patterning found in the sound system of English is a reflection of  the physiology
of the vocal tract.  The patterns of the English sound system  make sense in terms of how
sounds are made (and, particularly, for vowels, how sounds are perceived). 

            The basic principle involved is modification of the air flow.  When making a sound
air moves through the vocal cords in larynx, through the throat, and on out through the mouth
or nose.  As it moves,  the air flow is modified through vibrating the vocal cords, by opening
(or not opening) the velum to let part of the flow go out through the nose, and by constricting
the air flow partially or completely in the mouth.

            Once the English sound system is understood,  it becomes easier to make sense out of
the spelling system of English and it becomes possible to make some sense out of the
problems all students have learning to spell and out of the problems speakers of other
languages have in learning to pronounce English.   

Transcriptions
            In this book, sounds are always found transcribed (not spelled!) between two slashes. 
For example,  the four sounds  of the word things  would be transcribed between two slashes
as /QINz/.   The six letters of the spelling things  do not correspond one-to-one to the four
sounds in the word;  in the transcription /QINz/, each symbol corresponds to one sound.   

            A transcription is a representation of sounds—not an alternate spelling system.  

Transcriptions are done by listening to the sounds in a word.  Not all of the letters in certain
words correspond to sounds; some letters indicate not sounds but information about the word
formation system.
            Note 1: Sometimes students try to "transcribe" not by listening and writing down
symbols for the sounds but by looking at the spelling and writing down symbols for the
letters.    This writing one symbol for another symbol is not a transcription nor does it
produce the right answer. 

            Note 2: The process of writing a letter in one language for a letter in another language
is called transliteration.   Something written in the Greek alphabet could be transliterated into
the English alphabet by replacing each one of the Greek letters by one of the letters of the
English alphabet.  Notice this process has no direct connection with the sounds of either
language.

Minimal pairs
            Minimal pairs  are pairs of words which are nearly identical in sound, having only one
sound contrast between them.   Thus, Pete /piyt/ and pit /pIt/ are minimal pairs not because of
the spellings but because of the sounds (shown in the transcriptions).   Notice that the contrast
in sounds between the two words is carried in the difference between the vowels /iy/ and /I/.

I. Consonants
            Consonants are described in terms of three dimensions:   whether or not the vocal
cords are vibrating—voicing;  where the sound is being made—the place of articulation; 
and how the sound is being made—the manner of articulation.    All three are really just
descriptions of what happens as to the flow of air as a consonant is produced.   

Diagram of the vocal tract

showing the places of articulation

            Voicing.   If the vocal cords are vibrating when the air flow passes through the larynx
(in the voice box), the sound is described as voiced;  if not, the consonant is described as
voiceless. 

            It is possible to hear the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants.  Cover
your ears and pronounce a long, drawn-out /z/;  the vibration in your ears, head, and so on
results from the vibration of the vocal cords.   Now, still covering your ears pronounce a long,
drawn-out /s/.  There is no parallel vibration;  this sound is voiceless.  

            Place of articulation.  Consonants are made by constricting the air flow as it moves
through the vocal tract—through the throat and mouth.  The place of articulation is the place
where this constriction of the air flow occurs.    The horizontal row of labels across the top of
the consonant chart  lists the places in the mouth at which the air flow is constricted in
forming various English consonants.  The labels themselves are just names of the articulators
involved in the constriction.    The row of labels begins with the lips at the front of the mouth
and ends at the voice box.  Once the names of parts of the mouth become familiar,  the names
of most of the terms makes sense.

            bilabial:   bi- 'two' +  labi- 'lip' + -al  'adjective marking suffix'.  Sounds made with
two lips. 

            labiodental:  labio- 'lip' +  dent- 'tooth' + -al.  Sounds made with the upper teeth and
the lower lip.

            interdental:  inter-  'between' +  dent- 'tooth' + -al.  Sounds made between the teeth.

            alveolar:   alveol- + -ar.  Sounds made at the alveolar ridge, the bumpy ridge just
behind the teeth.  

            palatal:   palat- + -al.   Sounds made behind the alveolar ridge.

            velar:   vel-  + -ar.   Sounds made at the velum. 

            glottal:  glott-  + -al.   Sounds made at the voice box,  that is, at the glottis.

            Manner of articulation.   The manner of articulation is the way in which the sound is
produced.  The various labels for manner of articulation describe how the air flow is
modified.    In most cases,  the reason for the term is fairly obvious. 

            stops:  If the air flow is totally constricted, that is, stopped,  the consonant is
described as a stop.

            fricatives:  If the air flow is constricted enough to cause friction, but not completely
stopped,  the consonant is described as a fricative.  

            All but two of the fricatives occur both before and after vowels.  The /h-/ only occurs
before a vowel and the /-z&/  only occurs after a vowel.
                  bilabial labio- inter- alveolar palatal velar glottal

                              dental dental     

stops:

   voiceless         p                                     t                            k  ?

   voiced             b                                     d                           g

affricates:                                                            

   voiceless                                                             c& (=ts&)

   voiced                                                                               j& (=dz&)

fricatives:

   voiceless          f           Q            s                    s&                  h-

   voiced                               v          D            z                    -z&

nasals:                     m                                 n                              -N

liquids:

   lateral                                                      l

   retroflex                                     r

semi-vowel/

   consonants:      w                                                         y          w        

   (= glides)   

Chart of English consonant phonemes

            nasals:  nas- 'nose' + -al.   Nasals are characterized by air flow through the nose.  
Although the other two nasals occur both before and after vowels,  the /-N/ only occurs after
a vowel.

            affricates:  ad- 'to; toward' + fric-  cf. 'friction'.  On the chart,  the affricates have
been deliberately placed between the stops and the fricatives.   Notice that both the affricates
can be transcribed in more than one way;  that is, /c&/ can also be written as /ts&/ and /j&/
can also be written as /dz&/.   The two-symbol representation best shows the phonetics:  an
affricate starts off as a stop and finishes as a fricative.  If you were to tape record one of the
affricates and then play it back slowing down the tape recorder,  at some point the affricate
would impressionistically break into two;  that is, at some point it would sound not like one
sound but two.

Note:  The 'stop + fricative' character of affricates helps explain the substitutions that
speakers of other languages often make when learning English; for example, the French
speaker's frequent substitution of the fricative /z&/ for the English affricate /dz&/.  

             The 'stop + fricative' character of affricates also helps explain the "extra" stops that
English speakers add when they first learn to transcribe the sounds of English.    For
example,  beginners sometimes transcribe a word like much  as /m´tc&/ rather than as /m
´c&/;   here,  the /t/ is the /t/ in the affricate /c&/ (=/ts&/).   In words spelled with a -t- such as
witch (transcribed as /wIc&/),  the spelling makes the tendency for beginners to add an
"extra" /-t-/ even stronger.

            liquids:  Although most of the terms we have run into so far seem to have some fairly
transparent connection with the type of sound they label,  the term liquid  does not.   Perhaps
it is because they "flow"?  

            Anyway, there are two liquids:  /l/ and /r/.   The /l/ is called a lateral, because the air
flows over the side of the tongue (lateral '(to the) side').   The /r/ is called a retroflex because
during its production the tongue is bent back (retro- 'back' + -flex  'bend').

            semi-vowels/semi-consonants (glides):  As might be guessed from the variation in

the terminology, the glides are half-way between vowels and consonants.    The glides /y/ and
/w/ have counterparts in the vowel system:   the consonant /y/ has as its counterpart the vowel
/i/, and the consonant /w/ has as its counterpart the vowel /u/.    

            This variation between /y/ and /i/ and between /w/ and /u/ shows up in the spelling
system of English.  The sound /Oy/ is spelled as -oy in boy  but as -oi- in boil.  In a parallel
way,  the sound /aw/ is spelled as -ow- in brown  but as -ou- in found.

            The /w/ has been put in two places on the consonant chart.   It is placed with the velar
consonants because it involves constriction in the velar region of the mouth.    It is also
placed with the bilabial consonants because it has a bilabial component.

II. Vowels
            English is fairly rich in vowels, having at least seven short vowels and seven long
vowels.   The vowel sounds themselves are described in terms of tongue height and front-to-
back in the mouth.   The high front vowel /iy/ is pronounced about where the /y/ is
pronounced, while the high back vowel /uw/ is pronounced about where the /w/ is
pronounced. 

            There is a great deal of individual and dialectal variation in the pronunciation of
vowels—something that becomes clear once learners begin to do the transcription exercises.  

                                             front central               back

high
         long ('tense')                iy, yuw                                               uw

         short ('lax' )                         I (=È)                                     U (=Ë)

mid

         long ('tense')                 ey                                                  ow

         short ('lax')                          E                     ´                       O,   Oy (long)        

low

         long ('tense')                                   Ay,  Aw

         short ('lax')                          œ             A                 

Chart of English vowel phonemes (modified IPA)

            Short and long vowels.   Short vowels and long vowels are in contrast.    For our
purposes, this simply means that the long vowels and the short vowels sound different and, as
a consequence, are spelled different.

            The pronunciation of the short (or lax) vowels is essentially the same throughout the
length of the vowel.  Technically, these are monophthongs—one-sound vowels.   The seven
short vowels are /I, E, A, O, ´, œ and U/.   The difference between /A/ and /O/ is  ignored in
the transcription exercises because this difference has disappeared for many speakers of
English, and, in any case, the distinction is limited relevance to English language teachers.

            The pronunciation of the long (or tense) vowels begins with one pronunciation and
ends with another.   Technically, these are diphthongs—two-part vowels.  The eight long
vowels are /Ay, Oy, and aw/ as well as /iy, ey, ow, uw, and yuw/.   Notice that /Ay/, for
example, begins with the vowel /A/ and then moves in the direction of /y/ (essentially
where /iy/ is found);  similarly,  /Aw/ begins with the vowel /A/ and then moves in the
direction of /w/ (essentially in the direction of /uw/).   The five vowels /iy, ey, ow, uw, and
yuw/ are also long vowels as well as diphthongs.

            The vowel /-´/, sometimes called a schwa, is an extremely common English vowel. 
When stress falls somewhere else in the word, other vowels may be reduced to a schwa.   For
instance, the /œ/ in graph, becomes a /´/ in photography.   

            From a teacher's perspective,  what is crucial to learn is which vowel sounds are long
and which are short.  The difference between the short and the long vowels is central to the
English spelling system. In the English spelling system, the short vowel sounds are
overwhelmingly spelled with a single letter.   Except for /yuw/, the long vowels are usually
spelled with two letters.

Exercise:  Vowel chart. 

Place the following vowels on the blank chart (on the next page):       iy U E ey O Ay Aw
yuw Oy ´ ow uw I A œ
                                             front          central               back

high: long ('tense')

         short ('lax' )                

mid   long ('tense')

         short ('short')                                                 

low   long ('tense')

         short ('lax')                                           

http://www.csuchico.edu/~gthurgood/English%20sound%20system/Sounds0Overview.html