1- Introduction to studying accents Flashcards
the level of phonology
J’adore la barbapapa que Papa m’a achetée. -> 10 /a/
This pig is big. 4 /ɪ/
Total tartan. 4 /t/
Those messages are composed of sounds that are distinctive (/ɪ/ is
different from /æ/ cf. bit vs. bat) and that have a mental reality. The
sounds taken at that level are phonemes. They are abstractions.
the level of phonetics
J’adore la barbapapa que Papa m’a achetée. -> 10 /a/
This pig is big. 4 /ɪ/
Total tartan. 4 /t/
The actual sounds as they can be measured by instruments (10 different
/a/, 4 different /ɪ/, etc.) are allophones of the phonemes /a/ and /ɪ/).
Phonology def
Phonology is branch of linguistics which studies the sound systems of languages
Out of the very wide range of sounds human beings can produce, and which are studied by phonetics, only a relatively small number are used distinctively in any
one language.
→ Those sounds are organised into a system of contrasts, which are analysed in terms of PHONOLOGICAL UNITS.
Main example of phonological units: phonemes.
Phonetics def
Phonetics is the science which studies the characteristics of human
soundmaking,especially those sounds used in speech, and provides methods for
their description, classification and transcription.
Three branches of the subject are generally recognized:
Three branches of phonetics
(a) articulatory phonetics is the study of the way speech sounds are made (‘articulated’) by the vocal organs; PRODUCTION
(b) acoustic phonetics studies the physical properties of speech sound, as transmitted between mouth and ear; PHYSICS
(c) auditory phonetics studies the perceptual response to speech sounds, as mediated by ear, auditory nerve and brain. PERCEPTION
Transcription diff btw phonemic & phonetic
1/ Phonemic / phonological / broad transcription / /
→ 1/ The only symbols that are used are those which represent one of the phonemes of the language. Extra symbols are excluded.
VS
2/ Phonetic / allophonic transcription. [ ] → 2/ In a phonetic transcription, the full range of phonetic symbols may be used
→ narrow phonetic transcription is one which carries a lot of fine detail about
the precise phonetic quality of sounds, while a broad phonetic transcription
gives a more limited amount of phonetic information
Trubetzkoy, phonic diff between 2 dialects may concern :
- the phonological system
- the phonetic realization of
the various phonemes, - the etymological
distribution of the phonemes in words.
Accordingly we shall speak of phonological, phonetic and etymological (distributional or lexical-incidential) differences between dialects and accents.
systemic differences
systemic (= phonological) differences
relate to the phonemic system (= the phonological
inventory), e.g.
- the size and nature of the vowel system
- presence/absence of specified oppositions, e.g.
- FOOT and STRUT, /ʊ - ʌ/, push and rush
- GOOSE and FOOT, /uː - ʊ/, pool and pull
phonetic
differences
phonetic (= realizational, allophonic)
differences
- relate to details of articulation, e.g.
- aspiration or nonaspiration of /p, t, k/
- environments in which aspiration is used
- type of /r/ used ([ɹ, ɻ, ʋ, ɾ, ʁ…])
- quality of a specific vowel, e.g. DRESS [e, ɛ̝, ɛ …]
START [aː, ɑː…]
GOAT [o, oː, ɵː, ɔː, oʊ, əʊ, ʌʊ…]
ex :
RP vs SAE
/eɪ/ → [eɪ] vs [aɪ]
/aɪ/ → [aɪ] vs [ɔɪ]
/ɔɪ/ → [ɔɪ] vs [oɪ]
distributional
differences
distributional (‘etymological’)
differences
lexical-incidential differences
relate to which phonemes are used in which words, e.g.
* does zebra have /iː/ or /e/?
* does graph have /æ/ or /ɑː/?
* does transition have /s/ or /z/?
* where is the stress in controversy?
Lexical sets : def
To help linguists compare accents, Wells
(1982) devised the system of lexical sets.
- Lexical sets are groups of words that have a
vowel in common, in a similar context and in
stressed position (a stressed syllable). - Each lexical set is defined through the
pronunciation of this vowel in Received
Pronunciation and in General American.
The lexical set bears the name of a word that
represents the entire group of words. It’s
customary to write it in capital letters.
Example Lexical Set
For instance, BATH refers to all the words that
have /ɑː/ in RP and /æ/ in GA in stressed
syllables
Advantages Lexical Sets
- This system allows you to refer to the
variation in the pronunciation of these
vowels across varieties/accents of English. - You don’t have to really insist on the
difference between the
phonological/phonemic or phonetic status
of the vowels described.
Consonants
Much less variation
- Is the accent rhotic (is post-vocalic /r/ pronounced?)
- E.g. hard /ˈhɑːd/ vs. /hɑːrd/
- How is intervocalic /t/ pronounced?
- E.g. better [ˈbetə], [ˈbetə̬ (r)], [ˈbeʔə]
- What about /p, t, k/ aspiration?
- How are consonants articulated?
- Assimilation processes (when two sounds become more similar, e.g.
palatalization) - Elision processes
Supra-segmentals
Two main things to take into account
* What about the INTONATION ? We usually concentrate on the NUCLEUS and the TAIL (what follows the nucleus)
* What about FULL VOWELS vs REDUCTION in relation to RHYTHM?
→ Most Inner Circle varieties (e.g. British English, American English, Australian English…) are marked by frequent reductions ; almost sytematic in unstressed
syllables : they are closer tobeing reall ‘stress-timed’varieties.
→ Most varieties of the Outer Circle (e.g. Indian English, Caribbean English…) have a more syllabic sort of rhythm, which implies fewer reductions and a greater number of full vowels (e.g. cottage [ˈkɒtɛdʒ], arrive [aˈraɪv], consider [kɒnˈsɪdə]).
