Unit 3 · Phonology

Phonology is the study of the sound features a language uses to communicate meaning — in English, phonemes, word stress, sentence stress and intonation — and it gives teachers a precise way to describe and teach pronunciation.

◆What is phonology?

PhonologyThe study of sounds in a language or languages. When teaching new language, teachers focus on teaching sounds and on other phonological areas such as stress and intonation. click to keep open · see glossary is the study of the sound featuresFeatures such as speed of delivery and accent are part of connected speech click to keep open · see glossary used in a language to communicate meaning. In English these features include phonemes, word stressSee stress. click to keep open · see glossary, sentence stressSee stress. click to keep open · see glossary and intonationThe way the level of a speaker’s voice changes to show meaning such as how they feel about something; e.g. the level of your voice when you are angry is different from the level of your voice when you are pleased. Intonation can be rising or falling or both. click to keep open · see glossary.

◆Key concepts — phonemes and phonemic symbols

Do you know what these symbols represent?

/dʒ/  /æ/  /ɒ/  /f/

All these symbols represent phonemes. A phonemeThe 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. See phonemic chart. click to keep open · see glossary is the smallest unit of sound that can make a difference to meaning in a language. For example, the s in books in English shows that something is plural, so the sound /s/ has meaning and is a phoneme. Different languages use a different range of sounds and not all of them have meaning in other languages. For example, the distinction between /s/ and /ʃ/ is an important one in English, where it helps distinguishTo 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; ship/sheep. click to keep open · see glossary (notice or understand the difference between two things) between words such as so and show, sock and shock, sore and shore, etc. But in Cantonese, you can use either the /s/ or /ʃ/ sound in words without changing their meaning, i.e. in Cantonese these sounds are not two separate phonemes.

The phonemes of a language are represented in writing by phonemic symbolsThe characters we use which represent the different sounds or phonemes, e.g. /ɜː/, /tʃ/, /θ/. Words can be written in phonemic script (usually the International Phonetic Alphabet or IPA), e.g. /dɒktə/ = doctor. See phoneme, phonemic chart, phonemic transcripti… click to keep open · see glossary, such as /iː/, /æ/ and /ʃ/. Each phonemic symbol represents only one phoneme, unlike the letters of the alphabet in English where, for example, the letter a in written English can represent the /æ/ sound in hat, the /eɪ/ sound in made and the /ə/ sound in usually. Phonemic symbols help the reader know exactly what the correct pronunciation is. The phonemic scriptPhonemic script is a set of phonemic symbols which show in writing how words or sounds are pronounced click to keep open · see glossary is a set of phonemic symbols which show in writing how words or sounds are pronounced, e.g. beautiful is written /ˈbjuːtɪfl/, television is /ˈtelɪvɪʒn/ and yellow is /ˈjeləʊ/. When the symbols are written one after the other to represent a word or group of words they make a phonemic transcriptionPhonemic transcription means writing words using phonemic symbols, e.g. writing doctor as /dɒktə/. This is done in dictionaries to show pronunciation. click to keep open · see glossary. The phonemes of English are often shown in a chart, called the phonemic chartA poster with phonemic symbols click to keep open · see glossary.

◆The phonemic chart

(adapted from Sound Foundations by Adrian Underhill, Macmillan 1994)

The chart groups the sounds into vowels1. A sound in which the air is not blocked by the tongue, lips, teeth etc., e.g. /i:/ (eat), /ə/ (about), /e/ (egg), /ʌ/ (fun). Movement or vibration is felt in the throat because the voice is used. See consonant and diphthong. 2. In the alphabet, the letters … click to keep open · see glossary (sounds made with the mouth partly open and where the air is not stopped by the tongue, lips or teeth, e.g. /e/) in the top left-hand corner, diphthongsDiphthongs are vowel sounds. They are a combination of two single vowel sounds said one after the other to produce a new sound; e.g. /aɪ/ as in ‘my’ is pronounced by saying /æ/ and /ɪ/ together. There are eight diphthongs in English. See consonant and vowel. click to keep open · see glossary (a movement from one vowel sound to another within a single syllable, e.g. the vowel sound in make /meɪk/ or in so /səʊ/) in the top right-hand corner and consonants1. A sound in which the air is partly blocked by the lips, tongue, teeth etc., e.g. /θ/ in ‘thing’, /b/ in ‘boy’. See diphthong and vowel. 2. Any letter of the English alphabet which represents consonant sounds, e.g. d  /d/, c  /k/. click to keep open · see glossary (the flow of air is partly blocked by the tongue, lips or teeth when these sounds are made, e.g. /b/) in the bottom three rows. The consonants are arranged in an order according to how and where in the mouth they are pronounced and whether they are voiced soundsTo produce a voiced sound, the voice is used, e.g. /b/ in bad, /d/ in dentist. Movement or vibration can be felt in the throat. Vowels in English are voiced. See unvoiced sound. click to keep open · see glossary (spoken using the vibration of our voice, e.g. /b/, /d/, /dʒ/, /g/) or unvoiced soundsTo produce an unvoiced sound, no voice is used, e.g. /p/ in pad, /t/ in tomorrow. No movement or vibration can be felt in the throat. See voiced sound. click to keep open · see glossary (spoken without using our voice, e.g. /p/, /t/, /ʃ/, /k/).

Dictionaries always give phonemic transcriptions of words to show their pronunciation. They usually have a list of all the phonemic symbols at the beginning or end of the book, together with an example of the sound each symbol represents. There are several phonemic scripts with some small differences in the symbols they use. TKT and most learner dictionaries use symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as does the chart above.

◆Word stress

In the transcription of the word /ˈstjuːdənt/ you can see phonemic symbols and also another sign ˈ. Dictionary entries for words also use this symbol. The symbol is used to show word stressSee stress. click to keep open · see glossary. Sometimes you see word stress marked in other ways, e.g. /stjuːdənt/. When we give word stress to a syllableA part of a word that usually contains a vowel sound, e.g. pen = one syllable; teacher = two syllables – teach/er; umbrella = three syllables – um/brell/a. click to keep open · see glossary we say it with greater energy and usually higher, i.e. with more length and sound on its vowel sound. Compare the stressPronouncing part of a word (syllable) or part of a sentence louder and longer than other parts, e.g. VEGetable, I LOVE baNAnas. Some parts of words and sentences are stressed and some are unstressed. Contrastive stress is used when we compare or contrast and i… click to keep open · see glossary in the vowel sounds in the underlined stressed syllables with the other syllables in these words: pencil, children, important. We pronounce the other syllables with less energy, especially the unstressed or weak syllables, whose vowels get shortened or sometimes even disappear, e.g. the vowel sound in the last syllable of important, which is pronounced as a schwaThe /ə/ sound is called the schwa. It is a feature of many weak forms, e.g. /kən/ in I can play tennis. click to keep open · see glossary /ə/. There are many languages which, like English, give especially strong stress to one syllable in a word, e.g. the Portuguese spoken in Portugal. Other languages give equal length to all the syllables.

◆Sentence stress

In English, stress also influences how sentences and groups of words are pronounced. We say different parts of the sentence with more or less stress, i.e. slower and louder, or quicker and more softly. This is called sentence stressSee stress. click to keep open · see glossary. Normally one word in the sentence has primary or main stress. This is the word which the speaker thinks is most important to the meaning of the sentence. Other words can have secondary stressSee stress. click to keep open · see glossary. This is not so strong as main stress and falls on words which are not so important to the meaning of the sentence as the word with main stress. Other words in the sentence are unstressed. For example, in 'She came home late last night' or 'I can't understand a word he says', the words with the main stress would probably be the underlined ones, the words with secondary stress would probably be came, home, last, night and can't, understand, says, and the unstressed words she, I, a and he.

Main and secondary stress usually occur on content wordsContent words are nouns, verbs, adverbs or adjectives click to keep open · see glossary which carry meaning rather than structural wordsStructural words are prepositions, articles, pronouns or determiners click to keep open · see glossary. Content words are nouns, verbs, adverbs or adjectives, i.e. words that give information. Structural words are prepositions, articles, pronouns or determiners, i.e. words we use to build the grammar of the sentence. For example, in the sentence 'The girl ran to the sea and jumped in quickly' the content words are: girl, ran, sea, jumped, quickly. The others are grammatical words. You can see that normally these would not be stressed. Of course, there are exceptions to this. It is possible to stress any word in a sentence if the speaker thinks it is important. Putting the stress on an unexpected word in a sentence is called contrastive stressSee stress. click to keep open · see glossary. For example, 'The girl ran to the sea and jumped in quickly.' This stresses that she ran towards the sea and not, for example, away from it. Changing the stress of a sentence changes its meaning. Look at these examples:

• The girl ran to the sea and jumped in quickly. (i.e. not another person)
• The girl ran to the sea and jumped in quickly. (i.e. not to any other place)
• The girl ran to the sea and jumped in quickly. (i.e. not in any other way)

◆Connected speech — rhythm and linking

Sentence stress is a characteristic of connected speechSpoken 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 some sounds may be pronounced in a weak way or some words might join together, e.g. Is he busy  /ɪzibɪzi/. See linking, w… click to keep open · see glossary, i.e. spoken language in which all the words join to make a connected stream of sounds. Some other characteristics of connected speech are contractionsA shorter form of a group of words, which usually occurs in auxiliary verbs, e.g. you have = you’ve; it is = it’s. See abbreviation. click to keep open · see glossary, e.g. don't, haven't, vowel shortening in unstressed words and syllables, e.g. the schwa sound /ə/ in at home /ət həʊm/ or London /ˈlʌndən/ and weak formsIn connected speech, if a word is unstressed, the weak form of vowels is used. Words which do not carry important information in sentences are usually unstressed and their vowels are pronounced as weak forms – words such as prepositions, articles, conjunctions… click to keep open · see glossary (unstressed forms of words, e.g. /kən/ for can). These characteristics help to keep the rhythmThe rhythm of speech is the way that some words in a sentence are emphasised or stressed to produce a regular pattern, e.g. If I were YOU, I’d go by BUS. click to keep open · see glossary (pattern of stress) of speech regular. The regular beat falls on the main stress, while the weaker syllables and words are made shorter to keep to the rhythm. Try saying the sentences above and beating out a regular rhythm on your hand as you say them.

Another feature of connected speech which helps to keep it smooth is linking1. The way different sounds and words can join with each other in connected speech, e.g. it ’s a good day – /ɪtsəɡʊdeɪ/. See connected speech. 2. Joining parts of sentences (phrases and clauses), sentences and paragraphs to make text more cohesive, e.g. I went… click to keep open · see glossary. In connected speech we join (i.e. link) words together at the word boundariesWhere one word ends and the next one begins click to keep open · see glossary (where one word ends and the next one begins) rather than saying them separately. This happens particularly when one word ends in a consonant sound and the next one starts with a vowel sound, e.g. up above /ʌp əbʌv/, he did it /hiː dɪd ɪt/, or when one ends with a vowel sound and the next starts with a vowel sound, e.g. her English /hɜːr ɪŋɡlɪʃ/, go away /ɡəʊwəweɪ/. Linking is often represented in a phonemic transcription as ‿.

◆Intonation

IntonationThe way the level of a speaker’s voice changes to show meaning such as how they feel about something; e.g. the level of your voice when you are angry is different from the level of your voice when you are pleased. Intonation can be rising or falling or both. click to keep open · see glossary is another important feature of connected speech. It is the way a speaker changes the level of their voice to show meaning, i.e. the meaningful tune of a sentence or a group of words. Through it we can show emotions and attitudes, emphasiseWhen 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. click to keep open · see glossary (i.e. give special force to a word) or make less important particular things we say, and signal to other people the functionThe reason why we communicate, e.g. apologising, inviting or requesting; the purpose of an utterance. click to keep open · see glossary of what we are saying, e.g. that we are stopping speaking, asking a question or making a statement.

To hear some of these uses, try saying 'School's just finished' with these meanings:

• as a statement of fact
• with surprise
• with happiness
• as a question
• to emphasise 'just'.

You should hear the level of your voice rising and falling in different patterns. For example, when you say the sentence as a statement of fact, your intonation has a falling tone as follows: '↘school's just finished'. When you say it as a question, it has a rising tone, as follows: '↗school's just finished', and when you say it with surprise, you will probably say it with a fall-rise tone, as '∨school's just finished'. Different intonation patterns can show many different meanings, but there is no short and simple way of describing how the patterns relate to meanings. If you want to learn more about intonation, look at the book suggested in the Discovery activities on page 25.

◆Key concepts and the language teaching classroom

Read these tips and tick the ones which are most important for you:

• English has become a global language. This means learners need to understand a wide variety of accents in English and be understood by people from many different places. Listening to recordings of speakers from a range of countries helps them with this. They can also, of course, try to listen to TV, radio programmes, and some websites in English.
• Learners need practice in hearing and recognising sound features before they are asked to produce those features themselves.
• A regular focus in lessons on different aspects of pronunciation helps to make learners aware of its importance. This can be done as we teach new language by asking learners to repeat models1. A clear example of the target language for learners to repeat or write down or save as a record. If a teacher is focusing on the target language of a lesson, he/she usually chooses a model sentence and writes it on the board. The teacher often models the la… click to keep open · see glossary of the new language. We can also encourage clear pronunciation by correcting or asking learners to correct their pronunciation mistakes. We can use activities, too, which focus just on e.g. word stress, sentence stress or minimal pairsTwo words which are different from each other by only one meaningful sound (or phoneme), e.g. hit /hɪt/; heat /hiːt/. click to keep open · see glossary, i.e. words distinguished by only one phoneme, ship and sheep, hut and hat, thing and think, chip and ship.
• Teachers can find out which phonemes are problematic for their learners and focus on them.
• Many classrooms have a copy of the phonemic chart on the wall. This can help direct learners' attention to particular sounds when they learn new language or for correction. Learners may not need to learn all the symbols on the chart but just the sounds that are problematic for them.
• Teachers often introduce phonemic symbols to their classes a few at a time rather than all at once. This can help them remember them better.
• It is the teacher's decision whether to use (some of the) phonemic symbols with their classes or not. Some learners, e.g. 5-year-olds or learners unfamiliar with English script, may not find these symbols useful at all. Older learners may appreciate them, particularly as they help them to make good use of dictionaries.
• Teachers themselves will probably find it very useful to know all the symbols in the phonemic script as it helps them use dictionaries with confidenceThe feeling someone has when they are sure of their ability to do something well. Teachers often do activities that help learners to feel more confident about their own ability. click to keep open · see glossary and in the preparation of their lessons.

✎Follow-up activity

💡Reflect

🔍Discovery activities

✎TKT practice tasks

These multiple-choice tasks are exactly as in the book, but interactive: pick your answers, check your score, and retry anytime. The scoring uses the official answer key from the back of the book.

📖Glossary terms in this unit

Key terms highlighted in this unit — study them on the flashcards page.