INTRODUCTION
This unit introduces you to various preliminary issues involved in the description of the basic sounds (of English) and then a formal description of such sounds.
3.1 Preliminary Steps to a Description of Vowels and Consonants
We have made the point in this course that sounds are better referred to by the use of symbols. That is precisely our targets in this section: to use symbols to represent sounds. Meanwhile, it is important to note that speech sounds in natural languages are traditionally known to fall into two groups: vowels and consonants. The vowels are those sounds which are generally produced (or realized) without any definite obstruction to the outflowing airstream used in their production. The realization of consonant sounds, on the other hand, always involves some definite form of obstruction which could be partial or total.
At this stage in your study, you are exposed to the basic sounds of one language (English) with appropriate illustrations. You are instructed to apply the same principles in the determination of basic sounds in your language. At the next section of this unit, you will be in a position to learn to describe each basic sound as a way of ensuring your greater mastery of the subject. The issue of speech organs is also very important. Turn to unit 5 of this Module and familiarize yourself with specific organs which produce specific sounds. After that, study the following full list of vowels and consonants as preparatory steps to their description.
(a) Vowels -DO NOT ITALICIZE SYMBOLS/SQUARE BRACKETS PLS
1. [i:] as in eat, beam,fee.
2. [ɪ ] as in it, sit, city.
3. [e]as in egg, bed,fed.
4. æ ] as in atmosphere, pan, tan.
5. [a:] as in ark, part, bar.
6. [ p ] as in on, pot, dot.
7. [ ɔ:] as in order, port, war.
8. [o] as in took,full, pull.
9. [u:] as in ooze, pool, too. 10 Λ ] as in up, bud, cut.
11. [3:] as in early, girl, stir.
12. [a] as in ago,forward, after
These twelve are generally referred to as the pure vowels or the monophhongs. Beyond these, there are 8 sounds, each of double symbols – the first one marks the starting point in the realization and the second one marks the direction of movement. These are called diphthongs. The 8 diphthongs are:
13 [еI] as in age, maid, say.
14 [aI] as in eye, tied, thy.
15 [OI ] as in oil, toil, boy.
16 [au] as in ago, home, so.
17 [au] as in now, pound, how.
18 [I）] as in ear, here,fear.
19 [ea] as in pair, chair, hair.
20 [ua] as in poor, tour, sure.
As can be observed, each vowel in the 8 diphthongs, had already been listed, so the diphthongs are made up of selections from the pure vowels; a diphthong is a single vowel with two elements.
Still under the vowels, English has 5 triphthongs. Triphthongs are three sounds in one, usually with a diphthong followed by [a]. The triphthongs are:
21 [ei+ a; eia] as in player.
22 [ai + a; aia] as in fire.
23 [OI + a; ia]as in lawyer.
24 [au + a; aua] as in lower.
25 [au + a; aua] as in hour
(b) Consonants
We have shown in section 3.0 that consonants constitute the second set of basic sounds in a set of basic sounds in natural languages, in this case English. In line with our approach, we list below the consonant sounds of English with appropriate illustrations for the obvious reason that we shall revisit them for the purpose of description.
The consonants of English are: -ITALICS REMOVED HERE PLS
[p] as in pin, tipper, leap.
[b] as in boy, baby, babe
[t] as in tin, sitting, dart.
[d] as in do, divider, did.
[k] as in king, market, kick.
[9 ] as in good, plugging, mug.
[f] as in fire,fifty, life.
[v] as in voice, reviving, survive.
[θ] as in thigh, thought, path.
[ð] as in th is, breathing, bathe.
[s] as in sing, past, brass
[z] as in zoo, losing, booze.
[ ∫] as in shoe, washing, push.
[ 3] as in measure, treasure, vision.
[h] as in hide, rehearse.
as in change, preaching, teach.
[够] as in John, enjoy,judge.
[m] as in man, naming, comb.
[n] as in know, burning, none.
[日] as in bring, singing.
[l] as in love, lulled, pull.
[r] as in rice, price.
[w] as in war, bewitch
[j] as in young, yes, mayor.
3.2 Formal Description of the Consonant Sounds of English
You are now in a position to combine your knowledge of the speech organs and of the consonant sounds of English to make sense of the following descriptions of English consonant sounds:
[p] voiceless bilabial plosive.
[b] voiced bilabial plosive.
[t] voiceless alveolar plosive.
[d] voiced alveolar plosive.
[k] voiceless velar plosive.
[g] voiced velar plosive.
[f] voiceless labio-dental fricative.
[v] voiced labio-dental fricative.
[θ] voiceless dental fricative.
[ð] voiced dental fricative.
[s] voiceless alveolar fricative.
[z] voiced alveolar fricative.
[ʃ] voiceless palato-alveolar fricative.
[3 ] [h] [ʤ] [m] [n] [ŋ] [l] [r] [w] [j]
Below is the voiced palato-alveolar fricative.
voiceless glottal fricative.
voiceless palato-alveolar affricate.
voiced palato-alveolar affricate.
voiced bilabial nasal.
voiced alveolar nasal.
voiced velar nasal.
voiced alveolar liquid (lateral).
voiced alveolar liquid (rolled).
voiced bilabial semi-vowel.
voiced palatal semi-vowel.
English Consonants Chart
Bilabia l
Labio
-
dental
Denta l
Alveola R
Palato- Alveola
r
Palata l
Vela
r
Glotta l
Plosive
p b
t d
k g
Nasal
m
n
ŋ
Liquid
(lateral)
Liquid
(rolled)
Fig. 5 English Consonant Chart
Self-Assessment Exercise
(a) Attempt a clear description of the following consonant sounds: [r, d, z, ?, m] (b) Briefly distinguish between vowels and consonants from the viewpoint of production.
3.3 Formal Description of the Vowel Sounds of English
Just as you have done in the case of consonants, you are now in a position to describe the vowel sounds of English.
The twelve English vowels which qualify as pure vowels or monophthongs have conventionally been assigned numbers. These are PLS DESCRIBE CORRECTLY!!
1. [i:] close,front, unrounded, long.
2. [ ] between close and half-close,front, somewhat retracted, unrounded, short.= half-close,front, unrounded, short..
3. [e]between half-close and half-open,front, unrounded, short.
4. [æ ] between half-open and open,front, unrounded, short.
5. [a:] open, almost back, unrounded, long.
6. [ ] nearly open, back, rounded, short.
7. [ :] between half-open and half-close, back rounded, long.
8. [u] between close and half-close, back, rounded, short.
9. [u:] close, back, rounded, long.
10 [ʌ ] half-open, central,unrounded, short.
11. [3:] between half-close and half-open, central, unrounded, long.
12. [ə] between half-open and half-close, central, unrounded, very short.
The other vowels of English are combinations which result in either diphthongs or triphthongs, as we can see later in this section.
Below is the English Pure Vowels Chart- ENLARGE THE SYMBOLSPLS
Fig. 6 Diagram illustrating the formation of the pure vowels of English
4.0 CONCLUSION -
NO EXPLANATIONS ON THESE PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING THESE SOUNDS, VOWELS IN PARTICULAR- why so called?!!
You have in this unit seen the differences between the vowels and the consonants and have learnt the formal description of each set of basic sounds. You can listen to the realization of the vowels and consonants as recorded on your enclosed audio tapes.
5.0 SUMMARY
From this unit, you have been exposed to the conditions which help you to understand the formal description of the vowels and consonants of English. You are also now in a position to appreciate the formal description of the basic sounds of English.
6.0 TUTOR MARKED ASSESSMENT
Select any 5 vowels and any 5 consonants of English and attempt a formal description of them. Do not include any entries from the self-assessment exercise of this unit.
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Eka, D. & Inyang Udofot (1996): Aspects of Spoken Language: Calabar, BON Universal Ltd.
Eka, D. (ed.) 1993: Fundamentals of Communication in English: Calabar, BON Universals Ltd.
Gimson, A. C. (1980): An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, London: Edward Arnold.
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