English Phonology FAQ

English Phonology FAQ

Questions calling for elaboration

K8N1

1. What is meant by IC/Binary Analysis?
2. What is the diaphragm?
3. Why are there many different symbols in transcription in different dictionaries?
4. Teacher’s definitions vs. Definitions in reference books
5. What is meant by “non-syllabic”?
6. What are the nine vowel phonemes and the three semi-vowel phonemes in (American) English?
7. What are the (primary) cardinal vowels?
8. Should we use American accent of British accent? Which material should we use in practicing American accent?
9. When do we use the term “fortis/lenis”?
10. How do we pronounce // as in “casts”?
11. I have a lot of problems in pronouncing consonant clusters. What should I do to pronounce them fluently?
12. What is a pure vowel?
13. Why is the compression phase (in plosive production) also called the hold phase?
14. Why is the word “anxious” // pronounced with // instead of //?
15. How to study phonology effectively?
16. Where is the pre-final position in the English syllable structure?
17. According to Peter Roach, the lateral // is not included in the group of approximants. Why?
18. Why are the five triphthongs in English not included in the system of vowel phonemes?

K8N2

1. According to Peter Roach, the lateral // doesn’t belong to the group of approximants. Why?
2. Explain “glottalization.” What does “glottalized pronunciation” mean?
3. What do we mean when we say that language is arbitrary/symbolic/etc.?
4. How can we improve our pronunciation?
5. Most American people, people from Scotland, and people who live in the west of England speak English with rhotic accent. Do they have the same origin?
6. What is a coronal sound?[1]
7. Which syllable in “disestablishmentarianism”[2] receive primary stress?
8. Distinguish “rhyme” and “rhythm”.
9. What are the Primary Cardinal Vowels?
10. What are the functions of intonation in English?
11. Make a distinction in pronunciation between “singer” // and “finger” //.
12. What is the function of stress.
13. What is meant by “maximum onset principle”?
14. How can we decide on the division between syllables? (syllabification)  Consult your dictionary!!! (e.g. syl-lab-i-fy)
15. What is the distinction between primary and secondary cardinal vowels?
16. What is meant by “tense/lax”?[3]
17. Why do dialects have a tendency to be regional and social? Why do dialects have regional and social forms?
18. Does “u” belong to the first or second syllable? (????)
19. What are the problems in defining syllables?

Questions already answered

K8N1

1. What do you notice about the articulation of the front vowel sounds?

1. What does neutral mean?
2. How can we classify vowel sounds? What are the criteria used in classifying vowel sounds?
3. What is a resonant?
4. What is the difference between vowel and consonant sounds?
5. What is a diacritic mark?
6. What is a syllabic consonant?
7. What is the common pitch pattern in English?
8. What is a segmental phoneme?
9. What is the difference between oral and nasal articulation?
10. Is the uvula an articulator in English?
11. Describe the occurrence of the syllabic consonants?
12. What is the difference between dialect and accent?
13. What are diacritic marks used for?
14. What does “vocoid/contoid” mean?
15. How can we distinguish “contoid” and “consonant”?
16. What is the difference between the production of vowel sounds before // and that of vowel sounds before //? Why?
17. What is a syllable?
18. How many stages/phases are there in plosive production?
19. What does “complementary distribution/free variation” mean?
20. What is RP short for? Which people use RP?
21. What is the difference between phonemic and phonetic transcription?
22. When does a consonant become syllabic?
23. I can’t make a distinction between // and can’t pronounce them.
24. What does “rhyme” mean?

K8N2

1. Why are there only 19 vowel phonemes in English?
2. What is an allophone?
3. What do we mean by manner of articulation?
4. What is the difference between fricatives and stops/plosives?
5. What is a complete consonant?
6. What is meant by suprasegmental phonemes?
7. What does compression/closing phase mean?
8. minimum vs. minimal
9. Define “complementary distribution/free variation.”
10. What do we mean by consonant clusters?
11. Draw face diagrams to show the articulation of //.
12. What is the difference between tone and intonation?
13. Why are // called semi-vowels?
14. What is the difference between resonant[4] and obstruent?[5]
15. What does aspiration mean?
16. Triphthongs are the most complex of the English vowels. How can we pronounce and recognize them?
17. How can we discover all the phonemes of English?

Clumsy questions

K9N2

1. What is a vertical stroke?
2. What is the difference between peak/onset/coda and central/initial/final position?
3. According to tongue height, there are two mid vowel sounds //; according to the openness of the jaws, there are 3 open-mid vowels //. What are the differences between them?
4. Why do we have to classify short vowel sounds into different kinds according to different criteria?
5. What does it mean by “structure of the English syllable”?
6. What are the rules of phonology?

K9N2

1. Are the vocal organs articulators?
2. What does “cartilage”[6] mean?  Consult your dictionary!!!
3. Why does the “r” sound have many things to be discussed? Produced or not in different accents; approximant or not?
4. How many weak/strong syllables are there in English?
5. How many vocal cords[7] are there?
6. How can we distinguish a diphthong from a triphthong?
7. Are there syllabic[8] vowels?
8. Which is smaller: the phoneme or a speech sound?  This is not a matter of size!!! It’s a matter of abstractness.
9. How many diacritic marks are there?
10. How to realize differences between accents are of two main sorts, phonetic and phonological? (sic)

Irrelevant Questions

1. What is lexical morphology?

[1]coronal = (of a speech sound) articulated with the blade of the tongue raised.

[2]disestablishmentarianism = a person who favors the separation of church and state, esp. the withdrawal of special rights and support granted an established church by a state.

[3]tense = (of a speech sound) pronounced with the muscles of the speech organs relatively tense, as the vowel (e) in seat.

lax = (of a vowel) articulated with relatively relaxed tongue muscles.

[4]resonant = a speech sound produced without occlusion or audible friction, as a vowel or one of the voiced consonants or semivowels (m, n, ng, l, r, y, w) in English.

[5]obstruent = (of a speech sound) characterized by stoppage or obstruction of the flow of air from the lungs.

cf. continuant = a consonant sound, as (f), (l), or (s), that may be prolonged without change of quality.

[6]cartilage = a firm, elastic, whitish type of connective tissue; gristle.

[7]vocal cords = either of two pairs of folds of mucous membrane stretched across the larynx, the lower pair of which produces sound or voice as it is made to vibrate by the passage of air from the lungs.

[8]syllabic = (of a vowel) dominating the other sounds in a syllable; sonantal.

sonant = (of a speech sound) voiced (opposed to surd); capable of itself forming a syllable or the nucleus of a syllable; syllabic.