A brief but complete summary of the English proficiency 2 classes, which will prepare you for the theoretical part of the exam. The exam counts for 40% of the total mark. These notes are plenty to prepare and practise for the exam. The OWS units are NOT included.
Phonetics = the study of speech sounds and which symbols are used to represent these.
-> three subfields:
Articulatory phonetics focuses on speech sound production X
Acoustic phonetics focuses on speech sound transmission
Auditory phonetics focuses on speech sound perception/reception
Phonology = the classification of the sounds within the system of a particular language X
Major structure for the organisation of sounds is the syllable (= consonant +vowel)
Categorisation of human sounds:
Meaningless sounds
Meaningful sounds that are not speech sounds
Meaningful sounds that form part of speech
Consonants
= speech sounds that involve a closure or narrowing of the vocal tract such that a complete or partial
blockage of the flow of air is produced.
Characterisation of consonants:
1) Place of articulation
2) Manner of articulation
, = the way in which the obstruction of the air flow is accomplished
E.g. for oral stops/plosives, air builds up and then is released suddenly (/p/, /t/ and /g/)
whereas in fricatives like /f/ and /z/ the airstream is partially obstructed but a continual
(turbulent) airflow can be produced.
3) Voice (voiceless or voiced)
A voiced consonant = a consonant that is produced with the help of the vocal chords
touch fingers to throat to test if it is voiced (vibration)
A voiceless consonant = a consonant that is produced without the help of the vocal chords
when touching throat, you will only feel rush of air flowing
voiceless consonants in blue
Pronunciation differences between British and American English in terms of consonants:
How the letter R is pronounced
o In British RP accent, the “r” is only pronounced when followed by a vowel (e.g. really,
kangaroo), whereas in GA it is nearly always pronounced (e.g. “teacher)
How the letter T is pronounced
o In BrE this consonant is almost always realised as /t/
o In AmE, when you have “t” between two vowel sounds or after an r and before a
vowel sound, the “t” sound becomes a “flap t” (closer to “d” sound). E.g. “water” and
“party”, but “tomorrow” and “photography”
Whether there is a /j/ sound
o /j/ sound between consonant and “ooh” sound
“tuna”, “news”, “duty” in BrE, a /j/ is added between the consonant and
the “ooh” sound, whereas in AmE usually no /j/ is added
Transcribing consonants
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