* helps develop the fundamental skills of the phonetician
* investigates the various aspects involved in the production of speech sounds
* uses data-based material to reinforce each new concept
* includes examples from a wide range of languages
* provides dozens of exercises with solutions and cross-references
* can complement existing course or textbook material.
The second edition of Speech Sounds has been revised and updated throughout and includes new examples and exercises, a new appendix giving information on career prospects; and a fully updated further reading section.
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This chapter is concerned with the difference between spoken and written forms of language. The concepts ‘speech sound’, ‘vowel’ and ‘consonant’ are introduced. We also begin to explore differences between different varieties of spoken English.
SPEECH AND WRITING
Say aloud the English word peace in your usual pronunciation. Repeat it several times, and then compare your pronunciation of the word written piece. You will probably find that you pronounce the two words in exactly the same way. The words are written differently, and have different meanings, but for nearly all native speakers of English there is not the slightest difference between them in sound. Words which are pronounced identically are called HOMOPHONES (homo- ‘same’ + phone ‘sound’).
Homophone
EXERCISE
1.1 At least some of the English words in the following groups will be homophones for you. Try to decide which are and which aren’t.
boy
buoy
led
lead (metal)
fool
full
weight
wait
horse
hoarse
which
witch
groan
grown
luck
look
maize
maze
May’s
sees
seas
seize
C’s
or
awe
oar
ore
Comment
There is no single set of ‘right’ answers to this exercise – the answers you give will depend in part on the type of English you speak. For instance fool and full are homophones for many Scots, but not for speakers from England or Wales. Try to make objective decisions about your own speech, and then if possible collect answers from a speaker whose English sounds different from yours.
The homophones we have just considered happen to have distinct spellings, but this is not always the case. For instance, there are three different words tick in English:
tick
(the mark
)
tick
(‘credit’. For instance: he bought it on tick)
tick
(parasite living on cattle, etc.)
Similarly, there are three homophonous words all spelt till:
till
(= until)
till
(to dig and cultivate the ground)
till
(cash register)
Homograph
Words which are written the same way (regardless of how they are pronounced) are termed HOMOGRAPHS (homo- ‘same’ + graph ‘writing’). The words read (rhymes with feed) and read (rhymes with bed) show us that English words can be spelt the same way yet pronounced differently. So not all homophones are homographs, and not all homographs are homophones. The general conclusion is that sameness and difference of sound is a completely different issue from sameness or difference of spelling.
LETTERS AND SOUNDS
Phonetic transcription Symbol
The word cat has three letters c, a and t. Most people can agree that it also has three sounds. We can say the word slowly, splitting it up into parts and counting them out on our fingers. But letters and sounds are not at all the same things. The word cough has five letters in spelling – but when we say it, it too only has three sounds. The first is like the first sound of kite, the second is like the middle sound of top, and the last is like the end of roof. A more logical spelling for the wor...
