Concepts and terminology for describing language: PHONOLOGY Flashcards
PHONOLOGY
Connected speech
Spoken language in which the words join to form a connected stream of sounds. In connected speech some sounds in words may be left out or may be pronounced in a weak way,
e.g. Is he busy —> /ɪziːbɪziː/
See linking, stress, weak forms.
consonant
A sound in which the air is partly blocked by the lips, tongue, teeth etc.
Any letter of the English alphabet which represents these sound:
d ——-> /d/
c——–>/c/
See vowel
Contrast
To compare the differences between two things.
Contrastive stress
is used to express an unusual or emphatic meaning in a sentence. It involves stressing the important word according to the different meanings,
e.g.
-It was my AUNT who bought the car (not my uncle)
- My aunt bought the CAKE (not the biscuits)!
Contraction
A shorter form of a group of words, which usually occurs in auxiliary verbs, e.g. you have = you’ve; it is = it’s.
Diphthong
A vowel combination which is pronounced by moving from one vowel to another, e.g. / aɪ/ as in my is pronounced by moving from / æ / to /ɪ/.
Discriminate, distinguish
To identify the difference between two or more things, e.g. sound discrimination is hearing the differences between sounds, particularly minimal pairs, e.g. not/lot.
Emphasis (noun), emphasise (verb), emphatic (adjective)
When special force or attention is given to a word or information because it is important, e.g. I want to start the lesson at SIX o’clock not seven o’clock.
Feature (e.g. of connected speech)
A feature of something is an interesting or important part or characteristic of it,
e.g. in *I can play tennis *
can is pronounced /kən/ the weak form /ə/ is a feature of this sentence.
Identification (noun), identify (verb)
To recognize something.
Intonation
The way the level of a speaker’s voice changes, to show meaning such as how they feel about something, e.g. if they are angry or pleased or to make speech sound polite in English. Intonation can be rising or falling or both.
Linking
The way different sounds can link into each other in connected speech,
e.g. it’s a good day
/itsəgudeɪ/.
Main stress: see stress.
Minimal pair
Two words which are different from each other by only one meaningful sound,
e.g. hit / hɪt / ; heat /hiːt /.
Phoneme
The smallest sound unit which can make a difference to meaning
e.g. /p/ in pan, /b/ in ban.
Phonemes have their own symbols (phonemic symbols), each of which represents one sound.
Words can be presented in phonemic script (usually International Phonetic Alphabet or IPA), e.g. / dɒktə/ – doctor.
Phonemic transcription is used in dictionaries to show pronunciation.
Rhyme
- Words that sound similar because they have the same ending, e.g. hat, cat.
- A song or poem with words that sound the same at the end of each line :
I believe I can fly .
I believe I can touch the sky .