-

UNIT 3 PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION AND

-- PMQNOLQGY
Structure
, 3.0 Objectives
3.1 Phonetic Transcription
3.1.1 Introduction
, 3.1.2 International Phonetic Alphabet
3.2 The Phoneme .
3.2.1 Allophones
3.3 Pl~oneticsa ~ i dPlionology
3.3.1 Sfudy of the Plio~lemicSystem
3.3.2 Phonemic Sequences and Syllable Structure
1

/
3.3.3 Supraseg~nentalPhonology
3.4 Let Us Suin Up
$
3.5 Keywords
I 3.6 Exercises
3.7 Answers to Exercises

3.0 OBJECTIVES

In this unit
@ We shall introduce you to the concept of the International Plionetic Alphabet
which has been devised to represent in writing the sounds, words, phrases
and sentences of any language of the world.
We shall sdow you the difference between phonetic and phonemic
transcrjption.
The difference between a phoneme and allophone will also be described.
e We shall also help you ~inderstandIiow both Phonetics and Phonology need
to studied in order to understand the use of sounds in tlle spoken ibrnl of a
particular language.
@ Finally, we shall toucl; on suprasegmental features.

3.1 PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION

3.1.1 Introduction
I Before we proceed with the description of the consonants and vowels of English on
, the basis of the criteria we had in Unit 2, we need to consider how these sounds must
i be represented unambiguously.
I
! One of the difficulties about English pronunciation is that there is no perfect
I
correspondence between spelling and sound. Since we are used to a fair degree of
correspondence between spelling and sound in Indian languages, we tend to
pronounce English words as they are spelt. Very often this results in incorrect
pronunciation. We therefore need to learn to make a distinction between letters and
sounds.

1
A. Let us look at the following words while we listen to them on tape.

1 1. Bough 3. Dough 5. Tllrough

2. Cough 4. Thorough 6. Tough.
4
j Notice that they all have the letters ozlgh, but in each word tlie letters ough is
{
i pronounced differently, that is, the vowel sound in each of the words is different even
I though the spellings are the same.
i
!
I
t
 [,isten to the words again. Can you find out in which words the letters g and h are
silent (not pronounced) ? They are pronounced in only two of tlie words. Do yo11
ltnow what consonant sound /g/ and Ill/ stand for? They stand for the sound If/ in
word flu?.

B. Now look at the following words and listen to each word carefi~lly.

1. Tild 4. mac h-ine 7. sqite

2. creed 5. pe6ple 8. these
. kg 6. rec~ve 9. treat

What do you notice about the pronunciation of the letters that are underlined? The
letters in each word, as yo11 can see are different, that is, k,. e, ea, but
ee. ey, j, i,i,
they all represent only u17c vowel sound, the vowel sound in the word bee. The
letters gj in suite are pronounced like tlie word we.

C. Now look at these pairs of words and then listen to them on tape:

I. seen scene pain pane

2. bad bade sew sow (verb)
3, boy buoy sight site
4. hear here too two
5. hair hare wo~~ld wood

Did you notice anything about tlie pronunciation of each of tliese pairs of words?

Here, though each word in every pair is spelt differently, it has the same
pronunciation. Can you think of other pairs of words that have different spelling but
the same pronunciation'?

D. Look at tlie some more words and listen to them on tape:

1, quality 4. quench 7. square

2. quatter 5. question 8. squash
3. queen 6. (1~1ilt 9. squirrel

Did you notice anything common to all these words? ,

They all have the letter q and this letter represents two consonant sounds, not one-
the first sound in cold and the first so~lndin watch.

E. Let LIS now listen to another set of words and repeat thcm, What do you find
coniliion to all the words?

1. excellent 6. Exhibition
2. exclusive 7. Exact
3. excursion . 8. Examine
4. excuse 9. Exa~nple
5. exercise lo. Exertion

All the words Iiave the letter x in colnlnon. In words 1-6 x represents two sounds -
the first sound in the word cane and the first sound in the word sun. In words 7-10,
the letter x represents two sounds as well, but tliese sounds are different fsom the
so~indsin words 1-6. The sound in words 7-10 is like the first sound in the word girl
and the second sound is likc tlie first sound in zero.
32
~h~~ we have seen that the written form of a word in English does not us any phoqet/c
indication of how it is be pronounced. Let U S go ovgr the point$ that have emerged! Transcripti~n

Words with the same spelling may represent different Sounds.

(4 Qne sound may be represented by different letters of the alphabet.
(b)
(c) Words with different spelling may be pronounced alike.
(dl One letter of the alphabet may represent two sounds. For example, q
and x.

3.1.2 International Phonetic Alphabet DLI

a 0 0

B . - . + r r 1 ., , .
*- -.- -. . . . ,

0- 0- 1+.-I :a) xq) q- u(

- -
1
.
:
.
x - ( '

Go u% %, D:at -1 +r cr, &[I

: I c , u
gf18ilq,,pllpflplig I t WG felt tliat in rile^^ 19 overcslne tlie problom uf the lack sf a one te aos
Q I ZP~ ~ o ~ o L Q & ~ ! ~ e~mspondence betweep spelling end sound, an alphabet had ta P@ evslypd. TI@
latern;rtional Phonetic 4!phaRet ( er 1P4) was one such alphrrbet. It wab P Y Q I Y @ ~
by the Jgternatio~!alPhongtjg 4~qegjali@!!and /s ~lsedextensiyely by phenerlcleng
all aye!:the world. The Asso~iatioy?evo!yed sy!nbols, which they olalmed F P U ! ~bg
used tq describe the sounds of all the languages of tlie'world. Most ofthe sy~nbolsare
based on the letters of the Roman alphabet. Some syinbo!~are modificqtioi of these
letters, eg, A and &are formed by ~iodificationof the I W r s v and a. Qther
sy~nbolsare borrowed from reek. Fo!: exama!e, @ 8 0& . In some cases the small
and capital letters oftlie Roman alpliabet have been use8 to represent different
soynds. For exa?nple,the s~nallr stands for one sound and the'capital R stands for
another. Qn tile cliafi, below the pllonetic alphabet, is also a set of diacritics or
moqifiers, which are used to modify given sounds. For example, tlie diacrjtjo n i g
:
used for a dental sound. [f n is placed below the syinbol for the alveolar consonant /t/
then we get the symbol /fj/ which stands for fi dental plosive as in thc Hindi word@.
In addition other symbols used to indicate pitch, stress, intonation, etc. are also shown
at the bottom of the chart.

4 s \rie have seen tile Internati~nalPllgnetic alphabet has k e n deyised to repies@ntIn

\~fifing s sentepces af any language of the world. queh
the sounds; wo~!ds,~ h p s e and
representation is called honet tic ti-anscriptiop. Por example, the English words csJJ
and call are transcribed as /sel/ and /k3:l/ . Tliaugh letter is c in both the
wards yet it is clear from the transcription that it different sounds and
is pronounced differently in the two words. On the other hand, words that are
pronounced alike but hive different spelling, are represented the same phaneti~
sytnbol. For example, in the words keep, pick, cap#, ck~rgctgr,q ~ w t ~acpnsr r , nt, tho
K sound will be represented by the phon8tic symkal .[k]. .

Phonetic transcription, as we have seen is based on the principle 'one sylnbol one
sayiid', t11at is, a sylnbol represents one and only one sound.

Tt.i's this ~ ~ i n c i pthat

! e wakes it p~ssib!efor d i ~ t i ~ ~ l a r10i ei s~ d i ~ a the
t e pronunclafla~i
in
(3f.aW B F ~ addition to its meani~g.Prono~ln~ing-d1~tl~na~l?! ef B~glisher
dictionaries of pn#lisli which g/yep r g n u n ~ i p ~gs ~ will fpr Instance at Q P C ~
i gwell,
show that the letter b is silpnt in the words climb, ?bymb, cplnb,

When we indicate the pronunciption of a word by using the sy~nbolsand dlacrltics

provided by the IRA we do a phonetic transcription. Phonetic transcrlptlon enables
, lang~iageteachers to teach pronunaiation a r to remedy il, and helps linguists and

phoneticians to compare the sound systems of different languages or different

vqrieties of the same language.

Phpnetic transcription is of many types. Of these, the two most widely used are
~hopemicor broad phonetic transcription and allophonic or narrow phonetic
trapscription. In phonemic transcription, only the distinctive sounds of a language or
its phonemes are represented.

sometimes, we use allophonic transcription when we wish to show those sound

features which are not distinctive in a language. We shall examine the difference
between a phoneme and an allophone in the next section.
I

3.2 THE'PHONEME
As we have already seen the human speech mechanism is capable of produclng an
34 infinite number of speed1 sounds. The International Phonetic Alphabet provides 11s
will1 tlie sy~nbpisfor tlie description of any Ia~igi~age ill tlie wprlcl. I:l,om the large
ll~llnber,of speech sounds we arc capable of producing, each language ~nalcesits ow11
selection. Tlie s o ~ ~ nselected
ds by a particular lang~~age are those that alc filnctional it1
that language, and are crucial for tlie purpose of camm~~nicatian. They are i~ilpo~.tant
for differences in tlie meanings of words. Let us take up tlie English words In~e,gale,
fate, rate, mute, bait, pate, wait, for instance. Noticc that all these words differ Trom
each other in respect of one sound only- tlie initial sound, and a substitution of one
sound far another brings about a cliange in tlie meaning orthe worcl. For example, the
substitution of g for I clianges the meaning of tlie word in gate and Inte. T ~ L tlie IS
difference between /I/ and lgl is called contrastive, so is the difference between If1 /I/
Iml ibl /p/ /w/. All tliese are phoncmes is Engllsli.
Thus all tliese phonemes occur in the same 'environment' or position in a word and
are contrastive. Let us take tlie English word lake for instance and substit~ltetlie
vowels in like, look, leak, lick, lock, lock, lzil-k,for tlie vowel in the luke. We find that
all these vowels are contrastive and are vowel phonemes ofE11glish.This process of
substitution can by and large help 11sto establisli the phonemes 01. ling~~istically
significant sounds of a language Every iangi~agehas.a limited nu~nberof phonemes
in its sound syste~n.For example, English has 44 plionemes in its sound system,
Hindi has 46, Tamil has 4 1, and I<annada 47. Since tliese phonemes are contrastive
units in tlie sound systcln of a language, they are valid only in relation to tliat
langilage. Sounds tliat are Phonemes in one lang~lagc]nay be only positio~ialvariants,
or allophones In another language. For example, the consonants sounds /p/ ( L ! ) and
/p"/ ('I. ,) which are different phoncnies in tlindi as in the words and ' I but are
allophones oftlie same plionenic /p/ in Enklisli as in tlie English words spot [spot]
and pot i t], respectively.

3.2.1 Allophones
As we have said earlier, R phoneme in a particulal. language niay be realisecl ancl
produced slightly differently depending 011 tlie position it occupies in words in tliat
language. For example, jilst as in tlie case of /p/, tlie phoneme It/ in English can occul-
as [t"] only at the beginning of accented syllables,[t 7] at end of words and [t] can
occur only afier Is/. They are phonetically similar but one cannot be substituted Sor
aiiotlier. tlowever, all tliese realisations are recognised a s /1/ by English speakers,
despite their differences. When we find this strict separation of places where
palticular realisations oav occur, we sqy tliat tjie realisations are in complelnentary
distribution. Such phoqetically similar sol~i~cls in coniplelllentary distributian
wit11 one anothcr, are callctl positiolial variants or allophones.
Usually we d o not inclicate different allophones when we writc symbols to repsescnt
sounds. We normally just use sy~nbols(phonemic symbols) to represent plioncmcs.
When we write sing phonemic sy~nbols we say we are writing a phonemic
transcription. For example, to write a plioncmic transcription of the English word
~ ~ tlie sy~nbols- / b r ~ r/ ~and slanting lines on both s ~ d e sof [lie
bring we W O L I Llse
word to indicate tliat tliese are plioneliiic sylnbols and not letters of tlie alphabet or
even alloplio~iicsylnbols, to iridicatc aspiration [t" 1, ancl inauclible release [17].

Thus, to indicate phoneniic transcription we use slanting lines / / ant! to

indicate allophonic symbols w e use [ 1.

3.3 PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY .

In Unit one we clescribed tlie Speech Mechanism and tlie systcnis tliai constitute it. In
Unit two we loolted at the contribution tlie organs of speech comprising tliese syste~iis
make to the prodi~ctionof speech SOLIII~S. On tlie basis of their fi~nclionswe set LIPtlic
criteria for tlic description of vowels and consonants. When we describc the sonncl we
use, with reference to tliese criteria we areconcerning oi~rselveswith matters of
 phonetics. When we talk qbout how phonemes function in language, and iq what
Ways they relate to e a ~ other
h in a language we are referring tothe abstract side of the
soy& of language. We are studying arelated but different subject: that we call
phqnology. Only by studying both the phonetics and the phonology of a lang~~age it
is possible to acquire a full understanding of the use of sounds in the spoken form of
that language. Let us look at the areas that come within the subject of phonology.

3.3.1 Study of the phonemic system

Each language has a fixed set of phonemes which can be distinguished from one
another. There may be slightly different realizations of the various phonemes of a
language, but it is important for us to make use ofthe full set of phonemes of a
language, in order to communicate successfi~lly.

3.3.2 Phonemic sequences and syllable structure

In every language there are restrictions on the sequences of phonemes that can occur
on words. In other words, it is important for us to examipe what the restrictions or the
combinatorial possibilities are in a language. This can usually be done by studying
the syllables of the language.
'
Let us take up a few examples of the restrictions on sequences af consonants in
English words, for example. In English the sequences /sl-I, /kl-I, /pr-I, can occur at
the beginning of words, such as slate, clock, and pretty. However, the sequences
/Is/,/~r/,/tl/,cannot occur at the beginning of words. Similarly, while it is possible to
have the combinations I-st/,/-kt/,/-nt/,l-$I, in the final position in the English words
first, act, stunt, bank; it is not possible for the colnbinations l-tW,l-pgl,lTztlto occur in
the final positions in English words. When we talk of sequence of consonants we
refer to sequences within one syllable. We shall talce up the syllable for study in the
next unit.

3.3.3 Suprasegmental phonology

Another aspect of the study of pl~onologyis features lhat go beyond the sludy of
segments. Phonemi6 contrast alone cannbt account fpr all jbp significant coitllgsts
thit there are in a language. Some contrasts in English, for eygmple, aye the qsult pf
stress. v h e n some english words of two syllable's are pronounced with the first
syllable sounding stronger than the second, English speakers hear it as a noun I
adjective, whereas when they are pronounced with the second syllable stronger than
the first they are heard as verbs. For example, the words, contact, present, prodpce.
Similarly, intonation can also bring about a contrast in the sentence type or intention
of the speaker, If the word 'yes' is said with the pitch of the voice rising, it is likely to
be heard as a question or as an invitation to a speaker to continue. The use of a
falling pitch, on the other hand, is more likkly to be heard as confinnation or
agreement. Thus these contrasts that extend over several segments (phonemes) are
called suprasegrnenta!.

In the next unit y e shall begin by studying the consonants and vowel phonemes of
English and describe thein using the phonetic criteria we looked at in Unit 2.

3.4 - LET US SUM UP

In this Unit we have seen that the differences between the spoken word an4 the
written word and consequently the lack of a one-to-one correspondence between
spelling and sound makes it difficult for the learner of a language to learn the correct
pronunciation of words. It was therefore necessary to evolve the International ,
36 Phonetic Alphabet based on the principle 'one symbol-one sound'. It has been
 devised to represeiil in \\.riting tlie s o ~ ~ n d\s\ ,. i ) l . ~Il ~~ ,h ~ . aa i~i cci scllttrlces
s of :in!.
language of the \zlor'ldiSuch representatioti is calicd pliorictir trnnscril~tion.'This
system oi'synibols malies it possible foi. dictiona~,ics10 ii~tiic~ltc' tl~cpronurlcintion of'
words. Wheveas a phonemic tr.anscril)tiol~~.cl)rcsciitsonl) tlie di.;tiricti\.c :;otriidr; o r
phonemes of a ianguage, a n allophonic tr:~nsciiptiori is L I S ~1' ~~sIiu\\: 1 1113s~li'ill~~rcs
that are not distinctive in a laiiguilge.

We have seen that \vliereas tlic phonemes o t a particular lang~lagea1.c minimill

meariingfi~lso~rndn nits of tlidt lang~~fige. rrf';~
ils allophones ore positinnill \.i~~.in~its
partic~ilarphoneme and are not clistiiicti\le i ~ thal
i lallg~lag,c.

Both the Phonetics and plio~iologyof a partici~larlongnagc. ha\ c !(I I>cstuclied ill orilcr.
to understand tlie use of s o ~ ~ n ill
d stlic spc~kc~i
l'o1'11iof tliat la11g~ln::c.

To study tlie phonology o f n language the scgrnents (plionc~iic~)

:IS \:ell (1s ~Iic
suprasegmental Scnti~reshavc lo bc sluclic'cl.

3.5 KEY WORDS

t?A -The 111ternationaI an inlernationally ogreeel set of cliaractc~.~

Phonetic Alphabet atld diacritics for scljresentitig speecli so~rnds.'I Iic
alphabet11 was devised by thc Intcrni~tionalPlio~i~&
Associalion arid is rnocliiie~llio~iitime lo tilnc.

Phoheme the basic sound ~ l l i i tfo~rnclin a perticular languagc.

Tlie ~ i ~ r ~ i iof'
b eplionclncs
r \ arries tiorii I O in 0 1 1 t
Urazilian language to over 100 ill 0 1 1 t ! \ t ' ~ . i ~ i ~ ~ i
language. Englisli Iias about 40 ~plio~ic~iics

~ll~~hone any onc of the plio~~cticnlly clit'li.r.cnt forms \\:liicll

can be assumccl by ii slnglc plionume i l l a language
' . ill different circu~nst:l~ices. For csa~iiple?tlie English
plione~nc/t!' is realiseel as [t"] iii tim: but as ,

~lnaspiratecl [I==] iri .r/ick. I t may'also he nas;llly

releasecl as ill c o / t n ~ i .

Phonetic transcription a type of trar~scr.iprio11\vliicll rcp~.cscntsthe phonetic

cliaractcr.i.t~icsof tlic speech sourids ~ ~ s e Tllissort
d.
of traiiscriptio~ir.cp~.cscntsa pl-ori~lrieii~tio~i ill ~uc!rc
detail rllerl il plione~nic~~.arisc~~ip[ic~~i
c ; ~ ~r)~.~)\,il:lc.
l .A
l)honctic transcr-iplio~iis enclosctl i l l s(lu:~~.c'
b~.:~ckets [tl'ill]- / ; I ?

Phonernic transcription a transcriptio~ioS\vards 01ol'co~~ricctcd speech i n a

particulal*spcecli viirie~!~i l l lerllls orllic' pl~onemcs
which have becn set up b!l llle ;~ll;rlystIhr that
\al.iety. Sucli a lra~iscriptronpra\~iclcs111crnininl~rln
int'or~liation ncccs.sary to co~isl~~uct u l?l~onl~ncintic~~i.
A phonc~liictranscription is c~iclosc.clill slas!~e.si l i ~ ~ !
- /ill
I'honetics the slutly ofsl~ecelisounds, con\/c~itic)~l;~lly ~I~videcl
into articulato~y,acoustic and auditor> ~lllonc~ics.
I'l~onctics deiils \\it11 t l ~ 1)llysic:rl
s n;il~:rc!of'ci,i:rt'il
sounds, alirl I I O ~\ \ 1111~ l i c i~clatiolls
~ lo olllc'r sl?eech
sounds ill p n ~ ~ i c ~Inngi~ugts.
rl:~~
 E~jglishPlronefics
nltri Plronolog~~-I Phonology the branch of linguistics dealing with the way speech ,

sounds behave in a particular language. For

examples, patterns of sounds, in terms of sequence
of soirnds thht are per~nissiblein a specific language.

Suprasegmental a phonological feature which can be adequately

described by referring to some unit higher than a
single segment, such as a syllable br a word. The
label is most often applied to stress, tone, pitch, etc.

3.6 EXERCISES

1. I-low Inany letters and how many sounds do the following words have? For
example; the word know has 4 letters and 2 sounds.

(a) plumbing, (b) thick, (c) window, (d) cunning, ( e ) watch , ( f ) cupboard,
(g)palms, (11) physics, (i) receive, (j) exist.

2. Substitute the first sound in the following words with another sound so that
you form new words which I-lave a different meaning. For example,

pit bit kit sit it writ fit knit

3. Substitute the second sound in the following words with another sound so
: that you form new words which have a different meaning. For example,

fit, fat, feet, foot, fill, pet, bun, bead, lack.

4. Transcribe the following words using phonemic transcription as given in

your dictionary - exercise, solemn, ~eceipt,singer, lungtiage, repetitive,
chai-acter, subtle, confusion, adjective.

3.7 ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

8 letters; hounds.
5 letters; 3 soynds.
6 letters; 5 sounds.
7 letters; 5 sounds.
5 letters; 3 sounds.
8 letters; 5 sounds.
5 letters; 4 sounds.
7 letters; 6 sounds.
7 letters; 5 sounds.
5 letters; 6 sounds.

2. (a) said (b) cat (c) mind (d) 'bill (e) pay
head bat kind hill bay
bed rat find kill day
readlred fat rind pill gay
fed mat bind gill fay
38 shed Pat hind nil they
 l ead(itietal) sat wind say
dead that hay ,
wed vat ray
hat may
eliat nay

3, (a) fill (b) pet (1 bun (d) bead (e) lack

feel pl t bin bid lick
fell Pat bean bed leak
fal l pa^ ban bad lark
fit l l Pet barn bard lock
fool P o ~ born bored look
fall pnt boon booed lurk
f'si l pont burn bud luck
flle bane bide lake
foul bone bowed
f6nl beard
fui-I , bared