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CHAPTER Phonetics and Phonology

The aim of this book is to provide its readers with a short introduction to the phonetics and phonology of English within a structuralist framework and to give them a firm foundation from which they can proceed to other approaches to phonology. Limited space will allow consideration of only Standard British Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA). Topics will usually be illustrated from RP, but where GA is different, these differences will be discussed and illustrated too.

1 Difference between Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics is that part of linguistics in which we study the physical characteristics of the sounds which we hear in languages. It is interested in how we produce these sounds in the mouth, nose, throat and lungs, and in how the ear and the brain perceive and interpret them.

Phonology is the study of how particular languages use these sounds, e. g. what combinations of consonants a language allows at the beginning or end of a word or syllable, which sounds have a restricted distribution in the language, how some sounds affect neighbouring sounds in that language, etc.

Of what use is a knowledge of phonetics and phonology to students and teachers of English?

Students can improve their own pronunciation if they understand how the sounds of English (or another language) are produced physically (Phonetics) and how the sounds of English (or another language) function in that language (Phonology).

For example, German learners should be aware of the fact that the vowel in the German wordschön is said with rounded lips and that it should not be substituted for the non-rounded vowel in the English wordslearn orbird. This is phonetic knowledge.

Another problem for German learners is not to use the glottal stop at the beginning of an English word starting with a vowel. German words with an initial vowel begin with a brief closing and opening of the vocal cords in the throat, as when a person strains slightly. This glottal stop is rare in English pronunciation and only used before word-initial vowels in very emphatic speech. There is thus a very big difference between the German sentenceAnna aß ein Ei, where each word begins with a glottal stop, and the corresponding English sentenceAnn ate an egg, where the last consonant in the first three words is run onto the beginning of the word following it, almost as if it were an initial consonant. Thus the function of the glottal stop in the two languages is very different. This is phonological knowledge.

A knowledge of the phonetics and phonology of English can improve the student’s understanding of native speakers of English. Similarly, the English of non-native speakers can be more easily understood if the student has some knowledge of how the phonetics and phonology of the non-native speakers’ language works.

This kind of phonetic knowledge shows us why speakers of certain languages typically make certain kinds of mistakes.

Phonetics and phonology are also important for teacher