Introductory Phonetics and Phonology

A Workbook Approach

Linda I. House

• Publisher: Psychology Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781138469167
• eBook ISBN: 9781134995684
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

Success in mastering any language requires knowledge in speaking, reading, and writing the language. The speaking component requires the understanding and use of correct pronunciation, emphasis, and syntactic patterns. The written component requires mastery of the alphabet, spelling, and the ability to write, print, or type the pattern. Very early in the learning process, speakers of the English language become keenly aware of the language's lack of sound to symbol correspondence. To help speech/language researchers, media personnel, individuals learning English as a second language, and others interested in correct pronunciation, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) was devised.

Extensively class tested, this book offers a practical understanding approach to phonetics and the IPA in a workbook format. It will be welcomed by professionals, students, and trainees in the fields of communication science, communication disorders, speech pathology, and linguistics.

Part I

Understanding Phonetics and Phonology

Chapter 1

The Basis of Phonetics and Phonology

Success in mastering any language requires knowledge in speaking, reading, and writing the language. The speaking component requires the understanding and use of correct pronunciation, emphasis, and syntactic patterns. The written component requires mastery of the alphabet, spelling, and the ability to write, print, or type the pattern.

Very early in the learning process, English-language speakers become keenly aware of the language’s lack of sound to symbol correspondence. Any young child studying the alphabet can point out that cat starts with the letter c that sounds like a /k/ and the word race ends in the letters ce but sounds like an /s/.

In order to help speech/language pathologists, linguists, media personnel, individuals learning English as a second language (ESL) and others interested in correct pronunciation the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) was devised.

International Phonetic Alphabet

In 1886, a group of phoneticians from France, Germany, Britain, and Denmark met to discuss the adoption of a universal system of pronunciation. The IPA based on an alphabet written by British phonetician Henry Sweet, represented the first successful attempt to systemize the pronunciation of speech sounds across most languages.

The IPA provides the user with a universally accepted symbol for each of the speech sounds. The IPA is phonetic, not phonemic in design. In other words, a particular symbol is used to represent the pronunciation of a speech sound, not to delineate a change in meaning. Linguistically significant, the IPA symbols summarize present linguistic theory. The IPA has been revised several times over the past century, the most recent changes taking place in 1996.

The International Phonetic Association, the agency governing the IPA, has a system of detailed principles applied to the formation and variation of the alphabet. In its present form, the IPA provides detailed information on vowels, consonants, other additional symbols, diacritics and suprasegmentals. (See Fig. 1.1 for a copy of the IPA.)

Fig. 1.1. The IPA (revised to 1993, corrected 1996).

Basic Terminology

Allophone: The individual variation of the phoneme caused by such factors as position in the word, anatomical structure, and surrounding allophones. Allophones are nondistinctive variations of a phoneme. The use of an allophone does not change the meaning of a word.

Bisyllabic word: A word having two syllables.

Broad transcription: A general type of transcription using phonemes that appear in the vowel and consonant sections of the IPA. This type of t...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Part I Understanding Phonetics and Phonology
• Part II Stress and Theory
• Appendix A Background of the English Language
• Appendix B Old English (ErƷlisć)
• Appendix C Middle English (Englysshe)
• Appendix D The Modern Period
• Appendix E Alphabets, Writing, Spelling, and Dictionaries Throughout the Years
• Appendix F Loanwords
• References
• Index