Allophonic rules of English consonants (part one)

1. Aspiration of stops

/p, t, k/ [p^h, t^h, k^h]

Voiceless oral stops are aspirated when they appear at the beginning of a stressed syllable.

e.g.

common /k m n/ [k^h m n]

compare /k m'pe / [k m'p^he ]

people

important

picture

paper

penny

positive

patient

until

table

content

temple

hotel

because

capital

discover

culture

When / p, t, k / precede / l, r, w, j / the aspiration is manifested as the devoicing of /l, r, w, j/

clean /kli:n/ [kli:n]

pray /pre / [pre ]

quick /kw k/ [kwɪk]

queue /kju:/ [kju:]

No aspiration takes place when a fortis (voiceless) stop is preceded by /s/

spin /sp n/ [spɪn]

despite

speed

speech

spider

instead

still

style

understand

discuss

school

telescope

2. Obstruent devoicing

/b, d, g, , v, z, , d / [b, d, g, , v, z, , d]

Lenis (voiced) obstruents are partially devoiced when they appear:

after a pause

…..Dolores! /d l :res / [ d l :res]

after a fortis (voiceless) obstruent

get Dolores /get d l :res/ [get d l :res]

b)

before a pause

he said /he sed/ [hi sed]

before a fortis (voiceless) obstruent

dog food /d g fu:d/ [d g fu:d]

dog

off glide

egg salad

rude face

3. Nasal release of stops

/p, t, k, b, d, g/ [pⁿ, tⁿ, kⁿ, bⁿ, dⁿ, gⁿ]

Oral stops have a nasal release before homorganic nasals

Putney /p_^tni/ [....tⁿ…]

chipmunk /t pm k/ [t pⁿm k]

topmost

chutney

Courtney

4. Inaudible release of stops

/p, t, k, b, d, g/ [p , t , k , b , d , g ]

Oral stops have an inaudible release (are unexploded) when:

1. they appear before a pause (optional environment)

cap /k p/ [k^h æp^┐ ]

rock /r k/ [rɒk^┐ ]

2. they appear before oral stops or affricates (obligatory environment)

act / kt/ [æk^┐t]

wrapped /r pt/ [ræ p^┐ t]

Thus, when before a pause:

worked /wɜ:kt/ [w ɜ;k ^┐t]

[w ɜ;k^┐t^┐ ]

book

rug

pet

rubbed

white post

locked

big boy

5. Lateral release of alveolar stops

/t, d/ [t^l, d^l]

The alveolar oral stops are released laterally when they are followed by /l/.

atlas / tl s/ [ t^l l s]

medley /medli/ [med^lli]

at last

regardless

bad light

lead lime

red light

good luck

6. Dentalisation

/t, d, l, n/ [t, d, l, n]

When followed by dentals /t, d, l, n/ change the lace of articulation from alveolar to dental.

breadth /bred / [bred ]

tenth /tent / [tent ]

win the

turn these

at them

on these

bad thing

7. Retraction

/ t, d, n, s, z, (l) / [t, d, n, s, z]

1. / t, d, n, s, z / are retracted when followed by /r/

Henry /henri/ [henri]

dry /dra / [dra ]

2. / t, d, n, s, z / are retracted when followed by /t /

question /kwest n/ [kwest n]

inch / nt ] [ nt ]

3. / t, d, n, s, z / are retracted when followed by /d /

change /t e nd / [t e nd ]

4. / t, d, n, s, z / are retracted when followed by / /

ancient /e n nt/ [e n nt]

hundred

strong

contrast

drink

can ride

slight rain

sponge

injure

punch

retension

censure

8. Sonorant devoicing

/n, m, , w, j, r, l/ [n, m, , w, j, r, l]

Sonorants are devoiced when preceded by /s/

snake /sne k/ [sne k]

slight /sla t/ [sla t]

smite

swear

issue

less right

toss my

Allophonic rules of English consonants (part one)

1. Aspiration of stops

/p, t, k/ [p^h, t^h, k^h]

Voiceless oral stops are aspirated when they appear at the beginning of a stressed syllable.

e.g.

common /k m n/ [k^h m n]

compare /k m'pe / [k m'p^he ]

people

important

picture

When / p, t, k / precede / l, r, w, j / the aspiration is manifested as the devoicing of /l, r, w, j/

clean /kli:n/ [kli:n]

pray /pre / [pre ]

quick /kw k/ [kw k]

queue /kju:/ [kju:]

No aspiration takes place when a fortis (voiceless) stop is preceded by /s/

spin /sp n/ [sp n]

despite

discuss

school

telescope

2. Obstruent devoicing

/b, d, g, , v, z, , d / [b, d, g, , v, z, , d]

Lenis (voiced) obstruents are partially devoiced when they appear:

after a pause

…..Dolores! /d l :res / [ d l :res]

after a fortis (voiceless) obstruent

get Dolores /get d l :res/ [get d l :res]

b)

before a pause

he said /he sed/ [hi sed]

before a fortis (voiceless) obstruent

dog food /d g fu:d/ [d g fu:d]

dog

off glide

egg salad

rude face

3. Nasal release of stops

/p, t, k, b, d, g/ [pⁿ, tⁿ, kⁿ, bⁿ, dⁿ, gⁿ]

Oral stops have a nasal release before homorganic nasals

Putney /p_^tni/ [....tⁿ…]

chipmunk /t pm k/ [t pⁿm k]

Courtney

4. Inaudible release of stops

/p, t, k, b, d, g/ [p , t , k , b , d , g ]

Oral stops have an inaudible release (are unexploded) when:

3. they appear before a pause (optional environment)

cap /k p/ [k^h p ]

rock /r k/ [r k ]

4. they appear before oral stops or affricates (obligatory environment)

act / kt/ [ k t]

wrapped /r pt/ [r p t]

Thus, when before a pause:

worked /w :kt/ [w :k t]

[w :k t ]

book

big boy

5. Lateral release of alveolar stops

/t, d/ [t^l, d^l]

The alveolar oral stops are released laterally when they are followed by /l/.

atlas / tl s/ [ t^l l s]

medley /medli/ [med^lli]

at last

red light

good luck

6. Dentalisation

/t, d, l, n/ [t, d, l, n]

When followed by dentals /t, d, l, n/ change the lace of articulation from alveolar to dental.

breadth /bred / [bred ]

tenth /tent / [tent ]

win the

bad thing

7. Retraction

/ t, d, n, s, z, (l) / [t, d, n, s, z]

5. / t, d, n, s, z / are retracted when followed by /r/

Henry /henri/ [henri]

dry /dra / [dra ]

6. / t, d, n, s, z / are retracted when followed by /t /

question /kwest n/ [kwest n]

inch / nt ] [ nt ]

7. / t, d, n, s, z / are retracted when followed by /d /

change /t e nd / [t e nd ]

8. / t, d, n, s, z / are retracted when followed by / /

ancient /e n nt/ [e n nt]

hundred

strong

contrast

8. Sonorant devoicing

/n, m, , w, j, r, l/ [n, m, , w, j, r, l]

Sonorants are devoiced when preceded by /s/

snake /sne k/ [sne k]

slight /sla t/ [sla t]

swear

issue

Exercise I.

Transcribe the following words phonemically and allophonically, stating which allophonic rules operate in each case.

paper

penny

patient

smite

until

regardless

bad light

positive

lead lime

table

content

censure

temple

hotel

capital

discover

culture

because

less right

toss my

drink

topmost

can ride

slight rain

sponge

turn these

rug

pet

rubbed

chutney

spider

white post

locked

at them

on these

injure

punch

speech

retention

speed

instead

stiff

understand

Allophonic rules of English consonants/vowels (part two)

9. Syllabic /n, l/

/n, l/ [n, l]

Word (syllable) final /n/ or /l/ following a plosive may become syllabic without a support from a vowel.

table /telb^Wl/ [t^helb^Wł]

[t^helbł]

cotton

sudden

mission

listen

Britain

final

camel

10. Glottal stop - a voiceless (fortis) plosive, produced by the closure of the vocal folds.

The glottal stop is used by many RP speakers to mark syllable boundary where hiatus occurs (e.g. co-operate [kW;'?üpWreçt], geometry), or to reinforce an initial accented vowel for emphasis (e.g. It's [?] empty).

It can also have a more extended (optional) usage as:

1. glottal replacement

2. glottal reinforcement

• ad.a.(glottal replacement)

/p, t, k/ [?], commonly at the end of a word or morpheme, mainly before consonants, especially homorganic, or syllabic sonorants, but sometimes in any position.

that table

football

it was

Scotland

button

• ad.b (glottal reinforcement)

/p, t, k, tS / [p^¿, t^¿, k^¿, tS^¿] in word final position (especially when the word is final in the utterance, or when the net word begins with a consonant)

leap

sharp

cup

much

11. Labiodentalisation of /m/ and /n/

/n/

[M] before labiodental sounds /f,v/

/m/

info

comfort

12. Velarisation of /l/

[l] immediately before vowels and before /j/

/l/

[ł] before all consonants (with the exception of /j/) and before a pause

When [ł] is pronounced the back of the tongue is brought up close to the velum. The sound is frequently referred to as `dark l', as opposed to the unvelarised variant [l] called `clear l'.

fill

self

help

owl

feel it

calling

collar

Some allophonic rules for English vowels

1. Pre-fortis clipping

Vowels and sonorants preceeding fortis (voiceless) consonant are shorter than the `same' vowels and sonorants preceeding lenis (voiced) consonants. This is particularly noticeable with long vowels and diphthongs.

peas /pi:z/[p^hi:z]

peace /pi:s/[ p^hi^.s]

2. Nasalisation

Vowels become slightly nasalised before nasals.

fun /fUn/ [f U n]

contact

important

simple

think

3. Retraction of vowels before `dark l'

Many vowels are pronounced with an additional `offglide' if followed by [ł]

feel /fi:l/ [fi:^Wł]

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